Chocolate Gingerbread Cake

This is the dessert I brought to our church Christmas party this year.  I saw the recipe earlier and REALLY wanted to make it but since Tory's not a big fan of chocolate and I didn't really want to eat it all by myself, I figured the party would be a perfect time to make it and taste it.  It was sooo good!  I forgot to take a picture before we headed out the door so this is a picture of the last couple slices.  I made mine in a bundt cake pan but you can also make it in a couple loaf pans.  I also forgot to bring the whipped cream to the party.  That would just about make this perfect I'm sure.  I found the recipe on My Kitchen Cafe.  Check it out.  She's got much better photos.  If you still need a holiday dessert I would definitely suggest this one if you like gingerbread and chocolate!

Chocolate Gingerbread Cake

*Makes one bundt cake or two 8 1/2 X 4 1/2-inch loaves*


2 ½ cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¾ cup butter at room temperature
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup dark molasses
1 cup very hot water
One 12-ounce package mini semisweet chocolate chips

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-cup bundt pan or two loaf pans (8 1/2 X 4 1/2 inch).

-Whisk together 2 ½ cups flour cocoa and all remaining spices and soda.

-Toss chocolate chips with remaining 2 tablespoons flour in another bowl.

-Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed in a large, deep bowl, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

-Whisk together the molasses and hot water in a 4-cup glass measure or bowl. Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture alternately with the molasses mixture in 3 batches. Fold in chocolate chips.

-Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan and is firm to the touch but not overbaked and dry. Cool in pan for 20 minutes. Invert and cool completely. Serve, lightly dusted with cocoa powder and/or with sweetened whipped cream.

Microwave Cinnamon Popcorn

I got this recipe a long time ago from one of my Young Women leaders, Linda Y., from our Scott City, KS branch (church).  Our family has been making it ever since.  I always make sure to include some with my holiday goodies that I give out.  The hardest part is finding a store that sells the cinnamon oil.  The cinnamon oil just comes in little 1-2 tsp. glass bottles and can usually be found by the pharmacy.  (There are all kinds of other flavors, too, like peppermint, strawberry, butterscotch, etc.)  You just want to make sure you use the cinnamon OIL and not extract or other flavoring for this recipe.  I usually use the LorAnn brand flavoring oils.  If you are in Utah it might be easier to find.  I found some once just on a side aisle at my Mom's Albertson's store.  I've also seen it at cake/baking supply stores.  You will also need a large brown paper sack to make this in so either bag your groceries in paper or grab a couple extras to have on hand.  OK.  I think that's it.  Enjoy!

Mirowave Cinnamon Popcorn

3-4 quarts popped corn (can use microwave popcorn if you'd like)

-Microwave the following ingredients on high until a good rolling boil is reached.  Boil for 2 minutes:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margerine
1/3 cup corn syrup

-Stir in:

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. red food coloring

1/2 tsp. OIL of cinnamon (Make sure it's not extract!)

-Pour over popcorn in a heavy brown paper bag.  Roll top down.  Microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes.  Open and stir well.  (Do not put your face too close or you could be burned by the cinnamon oil fumes!  Believe me...it's happened to us before!)  Microwave on high 1 1/2 minutes more.  Open and stir well.  Pour onto waxed paper.  Cool and dry.  Break into small pieces and store in air tight container.

White Chocolate Peanut Krispies

Otherwise known as "White Chocolate Globs" for lack of a better name.  I just got this recipe about a week ago.  For our church Christmas party each family had to bring a favorite Christmas dessert to share.  Someone brought these and I loved them!  I loved the mild peanut butter taste, the crispie crunch of the Rice Krispie Cereal, and the miniature marshmallows.  You are supposed to use unsalted peanuts.  The only kind I could find were extra large peanuts so I roughly chopped them so that they would be a little smaller.  They really were HUGE!  These mix up very fast and look great with a plate of other goodies.  My boys gave some to their teachers this year.

White Chocolate Peanut Krispies

1 pound white chocolate (or almond bark)
1/2 cup crunchy or creamy peanut butter
1 cup unsalted peanuts
1 cup Rice Krispies
1 cup small marshmallows

Place white chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave for 1 minute; stir.  Microwave for 30 seconds; stir.  Repeat as necessary until completely and evenly melted.  Add peanut butter and stir until it is also melted.  Add remaining ingredients and coat them well with the white chocolate mixture.  Drop in globs onto waxed or parchment paper on a cooking sheet and cool completely--either in the fridge or freezer--before serving.

Cranberry Chili Sausage Bites

Just when you thought you couldn't do anything else with a can of whole berry cranberry sauce...I introduce to you Cranberry Chili Sausage Links.  It has the best flavor.  Nice for something different besides the normal bar-b-que sauce that is usually served with this type of dish.  This is great as an appetizer or hors d'œuvre or it can be made into more of a main dish.  The last time I made it I served it over brown rice.  Plenty of sauce to soak into the rice.  And the sauce is delicious.  You'd never guess what was in it.  With only three ingredients and being cooked in a crockpot, it makes a very fast and easy dish for a party or meal.

Cranberry Chili Sausage Bites

1 (12-oz.) bottle Chili Sauce
1 (14-oz.) can Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
2 (16-oz.) ring cooked Polish sausage or kielbasa (You could probably use those Lil' Smokies as well)

In a medium sized crockpot, combine chili sauce and cranberry sauce.  Slice sausage into 1/2-1 inch wide circles (depending on how big you want your bites.)  Mix with sauce.  Turn crockpot on high and heat until bubbling and sausage is warm.  Serve with toothpicks as an hors d'œuvre or over brown rice.

Crêpes

I served a mission for my church in Belgium and France.  It was one of the best experiences of my life!  While I was there I definitely enjoyed the wonderful foods.  So many good things that I miss!  Chocolate for one.  Too bad I can't whip up a batch.  Something I did learn to make was crêpes.  And if you want to pronounce it correctly...say it with a short "e" sound as in "festival".  I like to make them for special occasions for my family.  I recently made them for our breakfast on Thanksgiving Day.  While crêpes originate from Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, their consumption is nowadays widespread in France and they are considered a national dish.  Crêpes are served with a variety of fillings, from the most simple with only sugar to elaborate savoury fillings.  The fillings I had most often on my mission were fruit spreads (jam), white sugar sprinkled with lemon juice (very good-you only need a little bit of sugar), yogurt (which of course is heavenly in France.  Oh how I miss it!), and of course Nutella.  You must have Nutella.  Of course there are many other fillings but those were the fillings most commonly served to me.  Fruit with whipped cream is yummy as well as cream cheese, ice cream, peanut butter, chocolate sauce, etc.  Then there's always eggs, cheese, vegetables or anything else to make them more of a meal.  This is the recipe I used on my mission.  I've never tried any others because this one works and tastes great!  To cook them I have a special crêpe pan that I bought in Belgium.  It is basically just a really good nonstick pan with 1/2 inch sides.  (See bottom photo.)  This makes it much easier to flip them.  A good, thin, flexible spatula is also handy for turning them.  I never grease my pan and I try to spread the batter as thin as possible.  I cook mine on medium heat.  The first one is usually a flop until the pan reaches the correct temperature but you need one to "sample" anyway so it all works out.  I can usually get about 12-14 out of one batch.  They are really very simple to make and enjoyable to eat!  :o)

Crêpes
 
1 1/2 c. flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. milk
 
Mix dry ingredients. In separate bowl mix eggs, vanilla, oil and milk. Mix about half of the wet ingredients with dry ingredients. Mix and mix with a wire whisk until there are NO lumps! Add rest of wet ingredients. Should be consistency of “melted McDonald’s milkshake”.


In a crepe pan or nonstick skillet, put about a 1/4 cup or less batter in a nonstick skillet and whirl skillet to coat bottom. You want them to be as thin as you possibly can make them. You can even spread it out with a spatula. Cook on first side until bubbles form. Then flip over. This takes practice and usually the first one or two don’t look good. It helps to have a flexible spatula to get underneath them. Cook on second side for just a few sec. Stack cooked crepes right on top of each other on a plate.  Place favorite topping in center and either roll up or fold in quarters. Refrigerate any cooked leftovers. Just cover with plastic wrap.