Chocolate Cherry Stack Cake

 I made this for Valentine's Day.  I don't have 6 inch cake pans, so I doubled it and used 10 inch cake pans.  I cooked them a little longer, and it worked great.  For some reason my frosting didn't make stiff peaks, but it still tasted great! 

 

 Chocolate Cherry Stack Cake

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup sour cream

 Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 6x2-inch round cake pans or springform pans. Mix 1 teaspoon each flour and cocoa powder; dust pans. Set pans aside.
2. In bowl combine 3/4 cup flour, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.
3. In large bowl with electric mixer beat butter on medium to high for 30 seconds. Add sugar; beat until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth. Beat in sour cream and flour mixture. Pour batter in pans; spread evenly.
4. Bake 22 to 26 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched and edges begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool in pans on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool on rack.
5. Use serrated knife to horizontally cut cakes in half to make 4 layers total. Place bottom layer on plate; spread with 2/3 cup frosting. Repeat with layers. Place top layer on cake. Heap remaining frosting, swirling in peaks. Refrigerate. To serve, top with Chocolate-Dipped Cherries. Serves 8.

Cherry frosting
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 8 ounce carton sour cream
• 1 cup whipping cream (do not use ultra-pasteurized whipping cream)
• 2 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice

 Directions

1. In a chilled large mixing bowl combine powdered sugar, sour cream, whipping cream, and cherry juice. Beat with the chilled beaters of an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 3 to 5 minutes or until fluffy.

Chocolate Dipped Cherries

Ingredients

• 16 maraschino cherries with stems
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
• 1 teaspoon shortening

Directions

1. Drain cherries; pat dry with paper towels. In small microwave-safe bowl combine semisweet chocolate pieces and shortening. Cook on 50 percent power (medium) 1-1/2 to 2 minutes or until melted, stirring once. Dip cherries in chocolate; place on waxed paper until set. Store, covered, up to 24 hours.

Chipotle Southwest Sauce

One evening for dinner Aaron wanted to spice up the hamburgers on the menu and found this sauce.
Chipotle Southwest Sauce
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tsp lime juice
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp minced fresh cilantro (we didn't have this on hand)
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp white vinegar
• 1/2 tsp water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp ground chipotle chile
• pinch dried thyme
• pinch dried cumin

Directions
Mix all ingredients in a small bowl.  Cover and chill for an hour.

Mounds Brownies

Aaron found this awesome recipe and made these for dessert on Sunday. It's a good thing he took half of them to work on Monday, or I may have eaten the whole pan myself.

Mounds Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 Family Size (9x13) pan of brownies, prepared
• 5 1/3 Cups shredded coconut (1 pkg)
• 14oz Can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 ½ Cups powdered sugar
• 1 Can of chocolate frosting

Directions:

1. Prepare brownies and let cool completely.
2. In the bowl of your mixer combine coconut, sweetened condensed milk, and powdered sugar until all ingredients are incorporated.
3. Spread coconut mixture over brownies.
4. Place can of frosting in the microwave for 10 seconds (please be sure to remove foil liner and lid) until pourable.
5. Pour frosting over the coconut mixture. Let cool and set up.

Black Bean Quinoa Bread

Aaron found this recipe on Chef Brad's website.  He tweaked it a bit, and came up with this: 
Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp yeast 
• 2/3 Tbsp salt
• 1 c. bean flour (we've used black and red)
• 2 2/3 c. Bread flour
• 2 cups water
• 3/4 c cooked quinoa (we used black)

Directions:

1. Mix dry ingredients together.  Then add the water and quinoa. Knead in stand mixer for 8 minutes.  Add flour as needed.
2. Shape into loaf (round or oblong).  Spray baking sheet or using parchment paper. Let rise for until double in size, about an hour.
3. Preheat oven to 450.  Place a pie tin of water on the bottom rack.  Put loaf in the oven on middle rack.  Spray loaf with water. Turn down oven to 400.  Bake for 40-50 minutes until done.

So hearty and delicious!  To get the bean flour he took dry beans and used a wheat grinder to make them into a flour.  There's a video on Chef Brad's link.

Cumin Wheat Berry Soup

We inherited 100 lbs of wheat from Aaron's mom. So Aaron searched for a way to use the wheat besides grinding it.  He found this recipe and it was delicious.  I will forever regret moaning when my mother made soup with barley in it.  I'm looking forward to leftovers!  I'm still in the honeymoon phase with my pressure cooker.  So that's how I cooked the wheat.  Really easy and quick!  Aaron ate the leftover wheat berries for breakfast! 

• 1 1/2 cups French green or brown lentils, sorted and rinsed
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 4 cups cold water
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 large large carrots, finely chopped
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 cups Cooked Wheat Berries,
• 1 bunch rainbow or red chard, large stems discarded, leaves roughly chopped*
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Combine lentils, broth and water in a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, cover, and simmer gently until the lentils are tender, but not mushy, 25 to 30 minutes (brown lentils take a little longer than green).
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add carrots, onion, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to brown, about 15 minutes. Add garlic and cumin and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds more. Remove from the heat.
3. When the lentils are tender, stir cooked wheat berries and chard into the pot. Cover and simmer until the chard has wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in the carrot mixture and lemon juice.

 *We used spinach instead of chard.

Double Decker Pumpkin Caramel Pie

I made this pie for a ward activity.  If you don't like pumpkin pie you just might like this one.  I mean it has an Oreo crust and caramel whipped cream - wow!!!!  It was rich and delicious.  The Recipe Girl has some great tips on her post.

Ingredients:

25 Oreos (creme included), crushed into crumbs (about 2 cups)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
2 3/4 cups heavy cream, divided
One 15-ounce can unsweetened pumpkin puree
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
28 caramels, unwrapped
1 ounce semisweet chocolate, for grating

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, stir the Oreo crumbs and butter until combined. Press the mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan; freeze until set (15 minutes). Bake for 10 minutes; let cool.
2. Meanwhile in a large bowl, whisk together the 3 eggs, 1 cup cream, pumpkin, brown sugar, spice and salt until just combined. Pour into the cooled pie shell and bake until set, 40 to 45 minutes. When you shake the pan, the filling should no longer be jiggly. Let the pie cool at room temperature slightly, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
3. In a bowl, microwave the caramels with 1/2 cup cream until melted, 2 to 3 minutes- adding 1 minute increments, if needed, if they are still not completely melted. Stir until smooth, then let cool to room temperature - very important!!!
4. Using an electric mixer, whip the remaining 1 1/4 cups cream until soft peaks form. Drizzle in the cooled caramel and beat until well blended. Spoon the caramel whipped cream on top of the pumpkin filling and refrigerate until completely chilled. Before serving, coarsely grate the chocolate on top of the pie.

*I melted about 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips and put it in a shallow tupperware and cooled it in the fridge.  Then I popped it out and used a vegetable peeler to get the chocolate curls. I didn't need all the chocolate for the curls, but it made it wide (or deep) enough to make good curls and still have something to hold onto.  If you have a block of chocolate that would work well.

Quinoa Golden Pilaf

This is another one that Aaron made and it was fabulous!  It went well with the butternut squash recipe.
Quinoa Golden Pilaf

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups whole grain quinoa
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 heaping teaspoon salt
• 3 cups water
• fresh herbs for garnish (optional) (we used cilantro)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Rinse quinoa well under water until it runs clear (a few minutes)in a fine mesh strainer.
2. In the pre-heated pressure cooker, on medium heat add the oil and garlic. Saute for about 30 seconds and then mix-in the turmeric, cumin and salt.
3. Add the water, and tap the quinoa from the strainer into the pressure cooker – being careful to remove any stray quinoa from the lip of the pot.
4. Close and lock the lid of the pressure cooker. For stove top pressure cookers, turn the heat up to high and when the cooker reaches pressure, lower to the heat to the minimum required by the cooker to maintain pressure. Cook for 1 minute at high pressure.
5. When time is up, open the pressure cooker with the Natural release method – move the cooker off the burner and wait for the pressure to come down on its own (about 10 minutes). For electric pressure cookers, disengage the “keep warm” mode or unplug the cooker and begin counting 10 minutes of natural open time. Then, slowly release the rest of the pressure using the valve.
6. Tumble quinoa into serving bowl. Fluff with a fork and decorate with fresh herbs before serving