Chocolate Layer Cake with Nutella

After a few days off, I'm back and have plenty more to blog!
Let's start with this very yummy cake made from scratch.  It's a great cake if you are looking for something that is just sweet enough to meet a chocolate craving without going overboard.  The texture is fluffy, goes very well with vanilla ice cream.
I followed the original recipe exactly except I did not add the hazelnuts (was making for company and didn't know if they would care for them).  When I make again, I will likely leave them out again, as the cake was great without :)
Link to original recipe:
http://www.familycircle.com/recipe/chocolate-hazelnut-layer-cake/

Ingredients:

2 c. cake flour (not self-rising)
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces or chopped
2 tsp. canola oil
1 1/2 c. buttermilk
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces or chopped
1 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. Nutella

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 325°F.  Coat two 9" round cake pans with non-stick cooking spray.  Line bottoms of the pans with wax paper (I traced around bottom and cut out with scissors), then spray top of wax paper as well.

2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking soda, and salt.

3. In mixing bowl, beat butter until creamy.  Add sugar and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes.

4. Add vanilla and beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. Place unsweetened chocolate and oil in a small microwave-safe dish and microwave for 20 seconds, then stir. Repeat process two more times (for a total of 1 minute microwaving).  Stir until all chocolate has melted.

6. Beat chocolate into butter mixture.

7. On low speed, mix flour mixture into batter in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk in 3 additions.  After additions are complete, beat on medium speed for 1 minute.

8. Divide batter between the 2 prepared pans.

9. Bake for 35-38 minutes (or until fork inserted at center to test comes out clean).  Cool on wire racks for 15 minutes.

10. Turn cakes out onto wire racks and remove wax paper.  Cool cakes completely.

11. Place bittersweet chocolate in a medium-sized heat-tolerant bowl.  Bring cream to a boil (be careful with heating it and stir to make sure does not scorch), then remove from heat and pour over the chocolate.  Stir until smooth/all chocolate is melted.

12. Cool chocolate to room temperature, then cover and place in fridge for 30 minutes.  (I forgot to do first part of this step and it still turned out alright).

13. Place first layer of cake on serving plate.  Spread Nutella over top of this layer, then place second layer on top of Nutella.

14. Spread chilled chocolate mixture over top and sides of cake.  Let stand at room temperature until set.

15. Slice a piece and enjoy!

Pain Perdu

"Pain perdu" translates literally (from French) as "lost bread", which is what we typically call "French toast" here in the USA.  This recipe, surprisingly enough, comes from Cooking Light.  I followed it almost exactly, except I think I used a little more butter than it called for.  I also changed the strawberries part slightly and topped it with some maple syrup, too, so that might just have driven it off the map for "light".  Still, it is a great recipe and the only thing I will change next time I make it is to lower the heat slightly (just under medium would probably do better) and wipe the pan clean for second batch (my second batch came out much darker due to the leftover butter that had darkened in the first).

Here is the original recipe:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pain-perdu-0

Ingredients:

3/4 c. 2% milk
1 T. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. whole nutmeg, grated
1/8 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
8-10 slices, 1" thick, day old French baguette (mine was a day and half, had 10 slices because some were small)
1 T. butter (possibly more)

sliced strawberries
grated orange zest
turbinado or regular sugar

maple syrup (optional)
powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine first 7 ingredients (milk through eggs) with a whisk.

2. Place bread slices in a 13" x 9" baking dish and pour mixture over the bread.  Turn bread over to coat in mixture.

3. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes, turning bread over every 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, stir together desired amount of strawberries with a small amount of orange zest and some sugar (I sprinkle over top of strawberries just enough to coat).  Let set for 20 minutes to form glaze.

5. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over just less than medium heat.  Add half of bread slices to pan and cook on each side for around 3 minutes.  Wipe pan clean and repeat process for other half of bread.

6. Serve topped with powdered sugar, maple syrup, and glazed strawberries---mmmm!

Three Cheese Lasagna with Italian Sausage

Mmmmm lasagna!  I looked around for a while to find this recipe--wanted one that did not require béchamel sauce and had a good amount of layers and cheese.  I made the recipe with the original amounts for the ricotta mixture and shredded cheese and found it was a little excessive, so the amounts below are what I would cut it down to (approximately what I used, based on what was leftover).  If you like a lot of sauce, you will want to make 1 1/2 or 2 times what is listed here and increase the baking time slightly (I think I will do that next time).  I also modified a couple of other parts just slightly.

Original recipe:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/three-cheese-lasagna-with-italian-sausage-3152

Ingredients:

1 T. olive oil

1 c. onion

3/4 c. carrots

2 T. minced bottled garlic

6 oz. lean ground beef

8 oz. (2 links) Italian sausages, casings removed

1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes

1/4 c. tomato paste

1/4 c. chopped fresh basil

1 T. golden brown sugar

1 T. dried oregano

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper

9 lasagna noodles

22 oz. part-skim ricotta cheese

3/4 c. grated parmesan cheese

1 egg

1 package (8 oz.) shredded Italian 4 cheese blend

1 package (8 oz.) shredded Mozzarella

Instructions:

1. Process onion and carrots in food processor to finely chop them.

2. Heat oil over medium heat in heavy large skillet or saucepan.  Add onion, carrots, and garlic.  Sauté until softened, 10-12 minutes.

3. Add beef and sausage to pan.  Sauté until cooked through, around 5 minutes, chopping into small pieces as cooks.

4. Add ingredients from crushed tomatoes through crushed red pepper.  Cover and simmer for around 15 minutes.  Discard bay leaf after simmering.

5. Meanwhile, cook lasagna noodles according to package directions minus one minute of cook time.  Drain and spray/rinse with cold water.

6. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Combine ricotta and 1/2 c. of Parmesan cheese in bowl.  Season with salt and pepper, and stir in egg.

7. Spread 1/2 c. of the pasta sauce on bottom of 13" x 9" glass baking dish.  

8. Place 3 noodles over top of sauce.

9. Spread half of ricotta cheese mixture over noodles.

10. Sprinkle a little over half of 4 cheese blend over ricotta mixture.

11. Spread 1 1/2 c. sauce over cheese blend.

12. Repeat layering process, using a little bit of the mozzarella with the remaining 4 cheese blend.

13. Place last 3 noodles on top.  Spread remaining sauce over top of last noodles and top with remaining mozzarella.

14. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil.  Bake for 40 minutes.

15. Remove foil.  Bake for additional 20 minutes.

16. Let lasagna stand for 15 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

Coffee Cake Muffins

This is another recipe from the "Easy Everyday Cooking" cards I have.  This was my first time making these, and it's yet another happy yummy discovery!  The original recipe has softened butter or margarine listed as an ingredient; I'd forgotten to set out some butter to be ready and didn't have time to wait, so I went with butter flavored Crisco as a substitute--worked great :)  The photo below is of the only 3 leftover from the batch--forgot to snap a pic of the finished product (made these for houseguests, so I was a bit more concerned with feeding them.)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg
3/4 c. milk (I used 2%)
1/3 c. butter flavored Crisco (or butter or margarine, softened)

3 T. melted butter
cinnamon-sugar blend, for dipping

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 12-cup muffin pan.

2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a medium bowl.

3. Beat egg and milk together in a small bowl.

4. Beat (by hand) butter flavored Crisco in a large bowl.

5. Add flour mixture and egg mixture alternately, mixing with wooden spoon after each addition.  Do not overmix.

6. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cup 2/3 full.  Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean.

7. Just after muffins come out of oven, remove them from the pan and put on cooling rack for 1-2 minutes.

8. Dip muffin tops in melted butter, then in cinnamon-sugar blend and serve immediately.  Enjoy!

Cheesy Potatoes

I hadn't made this recipe in quite a long time, so I wasn't really sure how it was going to turn out.  When I saw the amounts on the recipe card (not sure where I copied this one from), I had my doubts and increased them; this was probably an error.  While the potatoes did turn out good, they were not quite done enough and there was a lot more liquid than I would have preferred.  Thus, I am going to post the original amounts below and will use those when I make again :)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. russet potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly (I used food processor)
2 T. flour
1/3 tsp, garlic salt
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
8 oz. shredded sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese (I used the latter)
8 slices Swiss cheese
1 c. 2% milk

Instructions:

1. Spray 2 qt. baking dish with nonstick spray and preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a small bowl, combine flour, garlic salt, salt, and pepper.

3. Make one layer of potatoes in bottom of baking dish.  Sprinkle half of flour mixture over potatoes layer.

4. Make layer of Swiss cheese (4 of the slices) and then top with half of the cheddar.  Repeat layering process with remaining potatoes and cheeses.

5. Pour the milk over the contents of baking dish,

6. Cover and bake for 50 minutes.  Remove cover, then bake for additional 10 minutes (possibly more, be sure to check).  Enjoy!

Tuscan Porterhouse with Red Wine Peppercorn Jus

This is one of my favorite steak recipes--easy to do and produces wonderful results.  It is on the salty side, so if you prefer, reduce the amount of kosher salt and/or use low sodium chicken broth.  I have only modified the recipe very slightly.
Original recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/tuscan-porterhouse-steak-with-red-wine-peppercorn-jus-388552
(**when I made it this time, I was making for 3 people instead of 2, thus the pictures reflect this increase; however, the amounts below are for the original yield for 2**)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. porterhouse steak (1 to 1 1/2 inch thick)
2 tsp. black peppercorns, crushed (I put mine in plastic zip baggie and pound with mallet)
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 T. olive oil
2 T. unsalted butter, divided
1 T. bottled minced garlic
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 c. chianti (or other medium bodied dry red wine)
1 c. chicken broth (or stock)

Instructions:

1. Let steak sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450°F.

2. Pat steak dry and season both sides with pepper and salt.  Heat oil and 1 T. of butter in skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic, rosemary, and thyme.  Cook for 1 minute.

3. Add steak and cook 3 minutes per side.  Transfer skillet to oven and cook 5 minutes for medium-rare (add time if prefer more done; I did 7 minutes and it came out medium, but my steak was only 1 inch thick).

4. Transfer steak to a platter to rest while making the sauce.

5. Pour oil off from skillet, leaving garlic and herbs.  Add wine and boil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, scraping up browned bits.

6. Add chicken broth and any juices that have accumulated on the platter from the resting steak.  Boil for 5-6 minutes.

7. Remove from heat, remove herb sprigs, and stir in remaining 1 T. butter.  Optional: place steak back in pan to reheat and coat in sauce.

8. Serve steak topped with sauce and enjoy!  (Recipe for potatoes pictured here will be in tomorrow's entry :))