Chocolate Ganache

Tags

cake topping, chocolate, dipped strawberries

My. All. Time. Favorite. Thing. Ever. 
I use this to top chocolate cakes and cheesecakes, drizzle down the sides of cakes, dip strawberries, and lick the pan!  This is what heaven is like, I’m sure.  Feel free to double the recipe.  You won’t be sorry!

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup (6 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use only Ghirardelli)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Place whipping cream in sturdy sauce pan and heat until you see the first hint of a boil bubble.  DO NOT actually let it boil.  Remove from heat and add chocolate chips all at once.  Stir to melt the chips and get them smooth.  Sometimes, I had to briefly place the pan back on the burner for a second or two just to get a little more heat into the chocolate.  When they are smooth, stir in the vanilla.

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Seven Minute Icing

Tags

BHG cookbooks, icing

I remember my grandmother talking about Seven Minute Icing when I was knee-high to a grasshopper.  Imagine my delight when one of my customers specifically requested it!  (Note:  7 minutes is a really long time when you’re standing over a stovetop holding a mixer in your hand!)  This one, too, is from the Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Cookbook.

1 ½ cups sugar
2 egg whites
¼ tsp cream of tartar OR 2 tsp light-colored corn syrup (Karo)
1 tsp. vanilla

In the top of a double boiler combine the sugar, 1/3 cup cold water, egg whites and cream of tartar (or syrup).  Beat with a portable electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds.  Place over boiling water (upper pan should not touch water).  Cook, beating constantly with mixer on high speed, about 7 minutes or until stiff peaks form.  Remove from heat; add vanilla; beat 2-3 minutes more until easy to spread.

Italian Creme Cake

Tags

BHG cookbooks, cake, coconut, frosting, icing

When I first tasted Italian Creme Cake in a restaurant, I was sorely disappointed! Everything I had heard about it being sooo deliciously wonderful was proven wrong with that first piece, and subsequent pieces at other locations. Honestly, I just didn’t see what all the fuss was about. Then a co-worker asked if I could make one for her, and I promised to find a recipe and charge her half-price if she was willing to be my guinea pig. I took the recipe from a trusted old friend, the Better Homes and Gardens baking cookbook. I made enough batter to reserve some for a smaller cake so I could taste it too. One bite, and I was hooked! Italian Creme reigned supreme after that.  And Bella Dolci had at last found its pièce de résistance.

You should see how messy this page is in my cookbook…that’s the sign of a great recipe!

1 ¾  c. all-purpose flour
1 ½  tsp Baking powder
¼  tsp Baking soda
½  c. Butter
1/3     c. Shortening
1 ¾  c sugar
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
¾  c buttermilk or sour milk
1 (3½ oz.) can flakes coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
4 egg whites

Grease and flour three 8’ round pans, set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda; set aside.

Beat butter and shortening on medium-high speed for 30 seconds.  Add sugar and beat until fluffy.  Add egg yolks and vanilla; beat on medium speed until combined.  Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to egg yolk mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.  Fold in coconut and chopped pecans.

In small mixing bowl with VERY CLEAN BEATERS, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight).  Fold one-third of egg whites into cake batter to lighten; fold in remaining whites.  Pour batter evenly into prepared pans. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.  Cool cakes in pans 10 minutes; remove from pans onto cake racks and cool completely.

Frost with Pecan Cream Cheese icing:

12 oz cream cheese
6 T butter
1 ½ tsp vanilla
6 cups sifted powdered sugar
½ cup chopped pecans

Beat together until smooth.  Gradually add 6 cups sifted powdered sugar, beating on low until smooth; stir in pecans.

*Pecans are optional.  If you plan to decorate the cake, as in with a decorator bag and piping utensils, do not add the pecans.  Make sure your icing is piping consistency.  If it’s too thick, you will have to work too hard.  😉