Guinness Chocolate Cake with Baileys Frosting

Chocolate cake is not my friend.  Really, it's cakes in general--I find them all rather temperamental, moody little things that throw a fit and refuse to come out right if I mis-measure by even a quarter of a teaspoon.  

Actually, strike that.  I have measured and followed a recipe exactly, sifting when sifting is required, counting hand strokes for mixing (really) and carefully making the high altitude adjustments and I still don't have a chocolate cake recipe that I adore except my favorite chocolate ganache cake which starts with a box mix.  

Recently, I embarked on a journey to find the PERFECT homemade chocolate cake recipe.  I started with a recipe for Chocolate Heaven cake from the Back in the Day Bakery.  Five star bakery in Savannah, five star cookbook, and rave reviews for this cake, I was sure I'd finally found the go-to cake recipe.  

Cake flour, eggs and sour cream and room temp and unsweetened chocolate bars...you would think this recipe is on it's way to the winners list. 

I always give myself a pat on the back when I use more than one pan for a cake. 

And then an extra pat on the back when I pull out a pastry bag and pipe anything.  Piping is sometimes fun, sometimes annoying.

Alas, I was able to screw up a cake recipe that everyone else seems to be able to nail.  My version was dense, not chocolatey enough, and well, dense.  Maybe the problem is that I expect cakes to be fluffy.

Chocolate cake number two was a Pinterest recipe that was touted to be the world's best sour cream chocolate cake.  

Surely cream cheese buttercream (yes both) chocolate frosting is the secret to perfect chocolate cake.  

Or not.  This cake was a  lot fluffier but that frosting was killer sweet and there definitely wasn't enough chocolate in the cake or the frosting.  It was more like a "kind-of chocolate" cake.  

I should have mentioned that the chocolate cake by which I gauge all other cakes is Cheesecake Factory's Chocolate Tower Truffle cake which is probably more truffle than cake.  

Strike two. 

After all of the effort of the two prior chocolate cakes, I went back to one of my standards--Nigella's Guinness chocolate cake.  I would categorize this as an overall fantastic cake rather than a fantastic chocolate cake.

Best part is that it's super simple and made right in the saucepan.

I know I posted this recipe 4 years ago when I made it into Irish Car Bomb cupcakes, but while not the perfect truffle-like chocolate cake, it's a pretty delicious cake....definitely a keeper recipe for when you want to throw together something super quick and easy.

Only one saucepan and  one baking pan to clean up.

Chocolate Guinness Cake
Adapted from Nigella Lawson Feast

1 cup Guinness stout
1 stick unsalted butter, sliced
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1.5 cups sugar
¾ cup sour cream
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2.5 teaspoons baking soda

Baileys frosting
-8 ounce cream cheese
-1 cup confectioners’ sugar
½ cup Baileys

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and line bottom with parchment paper.
2. Pour Guinness into a large saucepan, add butter and heat until melted. Whisk in cocoa powder and sugar. In a small bowl, beat sour cream with eggs and vanilla and then pour into brown, buttery, beery mixture and finally whisk in flour and baking soda.
3. Pour cake batter into greased and line pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack.
4. When cake is cold, gently peel off parchment paper and transfer to a platter or cake stand.
5. Place cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a mixing bowl, and whip with an electric beater, until smooth
6. Add cream and beat again until you have a spreadable consistency.
7. Ice top of cake, starting at middle and fanning out, so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint.

Chocolate Strawberry Leibniz S'mores

S'mores are one of those great outdoors requirements and seemingly universal loves.  I don't like them.  For some reason, I spent a lot of my life hiding this fact....do you have any idea what stigma disliking s'mores can cast upon a child? I hid it for a long time.  Sure, I'd accept s'mores but when no one was looking, I'd throw them in the fire.  

As an adult I finally came to accept that it was okay to not like Hershey's milk chocolate or graham crackers.  I would willingly forgo all chocolate before eating milk chocolate.   You can throw Nutella in that category too to understand the pressure I feel with my apparently weird dislikes.  I however, learned to embrace my uniqueness and stood my ground when s'mores pushers tried to get me to cave.  Nope, just ooey, gooey roasted marshmallows for me. 

Recently the bazillion different s'mores ideas on Pinterest alone made me realize that there could be more to s'mores than graham crackers and Hershey's chocolate.  Interesting. 

 I think after a bit of experimenting, I now like s'mores.  Of course anything probably tastes pretty good after a long morning of this...

I really do love snowshoeing, I just forgot how much I disliked walking uphill.  A couple celebrating their 50th anniversary passed me going up the trail.  True enough.  As I gasped for air and cursed altitude, this sweet little couple breezed past me with smiles on their face.  Smiling while hiking uphill at altitude...funny right?  There is a special Colorado type that has evolved to live without requiring oxygen but I am not one them.

The views were all worth it though and there was still a good bit of snow up at 10,000 feet. 

 After all that uphill walking torture, s'mores in front of a roaring fire were actually quite awesome.

When I realized you could mix up the s'more's layers (duh right?), I grabbed my favorite Leibniz cookies.  Have you had these?  The Dark Choco Leibniz are absolutely my favorite cookie in the whole big wide world.  The chocolate is dark without being bitter and paired with the biscuit makes the perfectly not-too-sweet cookie.  Heaven will be full of Choco Leibniz.   The plain Leibniz cookies made a great graham cracker replacement.

See how perfect Choco Leibniz are? I think it's all about the chocolate to cookie ratio.

  They don't even need marshmallows.  

But I did give them a try with marshmallows...I think they need two marshmallows because that's a lot of chocolate.  

Since the chocolate seemed a bit much for s'mores, I  moved on to the plain Leibniz cookies, added just one square of dark chocolate, marshmallows and sliced strawberries.  I'm not sure if it qualifies as a s'more but dark chocolate and strawberries can never be wrong.  And when s'mores pushers come at me next time, I'll feel prepared with my new knowledge that Leibniz make great s'mores.  

I would never throw this s'more in the fire.  

Coconut Oatmeal Fudge Bars

I can't explain why it delights me to dress this girl up every year.  I also can't explain why I spend the $ to buy something that she will wear for exactly 5 minutes.  But delight me to no end it does. Wearing costumes once a year for 5 minutes is how this dog earns her keep and pays me for a year's worth of room, board and puppy treats.  

Yes, this is the look of death I get from Ms. Snarl Tooth  every Halloween. 

And when Brooklyn became the owner of a costume that she hated, I became the owner of PJs that I adore.  Thank you Nick and Nora--Boston Terrier costume goodness and Boston Terrier PJs in one happy Target trip.    Seriously, Boston Terrier Pajamas...can you believe it? Happy Halloween indeed.

So the food part of the post.  

I saw a recipe on pinterest for PB and oatmeal bars made with coconut oil.  It was touted as health food.    I wouldn't go that far, but it was very similar in concept to my Grandma's chocolate coconut oatmeal bars which made me wonder what would happen if I swapped out the butter in my Grandma's recipe.

The warehouses are starting to carry Coconut Oil in bulk...I saw the big tubs in both Costco and Sams.  It seems coconut oil is the current food phenomenon. 

 My grandma made these Coconut Oatmeal Fudge bars EVERY Christmas so this is one of those recipes that has a bazillion memories attached to it.  When my grandma passed on, my mom and my aunts made this every Christmas.  I can't recall a Christmas Eve ever when we didn't have these bars on the cookie tray.    I was a little hesitant to mess with nostalgia, but thought that since it wasn't technically Christmas, it might be okay.

These are a no bake bar so this recipe is really as easy as melting the oil with sugar and cocoa, bringing to a boil and then adding the remaining ingredients.  It takes 10 minutes tops and I truthfully couldn't tell the difference between the butter version and the coconut oil version.  These are definitely not health food given the 1 1/3 cups of sugar, but I loved that coconut oil could easily be subbed for butter.  I don't have the world's biggest sweet tooth so I've adjusted the sugar in these bars.   My grandma's recipe calls for a full 2 cups of sugar.  If you like your sweets, this recipe will work perfectly with 2 cups of sugar as well.



While we always had these for Christmas, these are not the typical Christmas cookies that you can whip up and leave in a Christmas tin throughout the holiday season. These are gooey and soft the first day but the oatmeal quickly begins drawing in all the moisture in the bars and these are pretty dry by day three.  If they last that long---but they never did at our house.

Coconut Oatmeal Fudge Bars

Ingredients
1/2 cup coconut oil

1 1/4 c white sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla 

3 cups regular cooking oats
1 cup coconut plus more for topping

Directions

1. Heat sugar, milk, cocoa powder, vanilla, and coconut oil to gentle boil over medium high heat.
2. Boil for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly 
3. Take pot off stove.
4. Stir in vanilla.  Mix in oats and coconut.
5. Spread in greased 8x8 pan and top with additional coconut
6. Let cool before slicing. 

Chocolate Coconut Cream Pie

For some reason, the thought of making pies seems like so much work.  This particular recipe has a few steps and a bit of waiting and cooling between crust prep and filling layers. This is definitely not a recipe you can throw together at the last minute--it took about 4 hours end-to-end.  Don't let that scare you though because each step is easy-peasy and the result is well worth it.  It has all of the creaminess of coconut cream pie but with the added fabulousness that is chocolate ganache. 

Chocolate ganache belongs in everything.  The End. 

Seriously, sometimes I just can't handle all of the cuteness radiating from this one.  

Chocolate Coconut Cream Pie

Ingredients

Crust:
1 pkg chocolate wafer cookies, broken into pieces
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Chocolate Ganache:

6 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick), cut into small pieces
1/3 cup heavy cream
pinch of salt

Coconut Cream:
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
2 3/4 cups milk (I used whole milk)
4 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Chocolate syrup for drizzling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
2. In a food processor, combine cookies and salt; process until fine crumbs form. 
3. With machine running, slowly pour butter through feed tube and process until mixture resembles wet sand. 
4. Press crumbs in bottom and up side of a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Bake until crust is set, about 20 minutes. Remove and let cool completely
5. Combine ganache ingredients in a small saucepan over med-low heat and whisk until chocolate begins to melt.  Remove from heat and continue whisking until chocolate is fully melted.  Pour into cooled pie shell, spread up the sides of the crust a bit and then refrigerate for 1 hour. 
6. In a medium heavy bottom saucepan, whisk together egg yolks, milk, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, and salt over medium heat. While whisking constantly, cook until bubbles form at the edge and mixture thickens, about 5 minutes.  Stir in coconut. 
7. Pour filling into cooled crust and smooth top. Lay plastic wrap over filling to prevent skin from forming and refrigerate until filling is chilled and completely set, about 2-3 hours.
8. To serve, whip cream until soft peaks form. Top pie with whipped cream and drizzled chocolate syrup.  Chocolate shavings and/or toasted coconut would also be fantastic. 

Oreo Peanut Butter Cups

Are you in your post holiday sweets aversion phase?  Does the very sight of Christmas cookies and goodies make you a bit nauseous?  Yeah me too, but I couldn't not post these little guys.  File it away mentally for next Christmas maybe or pick up some Valentine's muffin cups and make these sweets for your sweet in February.  If you love PB and chocolate, definitely make them sometime. 

The recipe itself is not innovative or ground breaking--it's pretty similar to buckeyes but with some graham cracker crumbs thrown in.  The crumbs add some pretty awesome texture.   

It's the Oreos that take these over the top.  Do you feel like a cookie or candy?  No need to decide. 

If you want to make these without the Oreos you just pat them into the muffin tins and then you'll top with chocolate.

I say O-R-E-O makes everything better.  Yes, I have a not-so-secret love affair with Oreos.  I keep the family pack in the house for my family of one.  If you ask I'll tell you it's because they package them in 5 stay fresh packages that last longer.  If you press me I'll admit it's because Oreos are the greatest store-bought cookie in the world.  Universe perhaps.  

Double Stuf of course.  The only thing that would heighten my love affair with Oreos would be if they were to spell "stuff" correctly.  Maybe even change it to a past tense verb.  Does Nabisco mean these cookies have double the stuff(ing) or that they've been double stuffed?  Noun? Verb? Should food really be so ambiguous?  I look the other way only because, well, they are Oreos. 

No need to press the PB filling on the bottom if using Oreos.  Just plop one small scoop in the tin and press your Oreo in pretty firmly.  The PB filling should ooze up and around the Oreo to fill in all the crevices. 

Drop another scoop of PB filling on top and press all around the Oreo and then smooth out the top. 

Top with melted chocolate and refrigerate until firm.  I think these are so much better eaten cold-they get a little mushy at room temp. 

Without the Oreo.  Tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me. 

Oreo Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups melted butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs(about 1/2 box or 2 sleeves)

1 2/3 cup peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar

Oreos

Chocolate Topping
2 cups chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Directions:

1. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.  This recipe will make 15-20 depending upon thickness, whether you use regular Oreos, double STUFFED Oreos or no Oreos)
2. Combine graham cracker crumbs, peanut butter and powdered sugar in larger bowl.  Pour melted butter over and stir until well mixed.
3. Drop one teaspoon into each cupcake liner.  Place an Oreo on top and press down.  Top with another scoop of peanut butter filling and press down well around the edges to fully wrap filling around the Oreo.  Smooth out top.
4. Combine chocolate and pb chips in a medium glass bowl. 
5. Melt in the microwave for 30 seconds. Remove from the microwave and stir.  Microwave for additional 30 seconds, stirring once midway through.  Stir until smooth and spread on top of the peanut butter cups
6. Refrigerate cups until firm

Bourbon Sea Salt Caramels

The more I make caramels, the more I am convinced that these are one of life's culinary surprises....so quick and easy to make, but packs a punch with a definite "wow" factor.  Did you catch that first part?  Yes, SO quick and easy to make.  They fall into the same category as creme brûlée--people will think you worked so much harder than you really did. 

There are however two lessons I learned along the way:

Lesson 1: Don't stir while the caramel is cooking. It seems scary and when I first started making caramels, I thought this was a suggestion.  I had a block of rock solid grainy mess within minutes of of stirring and never stirred again.  This recipe calls for cream while cooking so stirring might be okay, but the horror of that first time my candy turned instantly into a rock has place the fear of stirring in my heart forever. 

All of the ingredients in the pan will melt together and blend all on their own.  Trust me she said. 

See.  Not a spoon in site. 

Lesson 2: Learn your candy thermometer.  I used to follow caramel recipes exactly and always found my caramels to be too hard and chewy.  I started using the ice water method (drop some of the caramel in ice water to cool it down and then roll it between your fingers to gauge the firmness) with the thermometer and found that 225 degrees was the caramel sweet spot on my thermometer. Turns out altitude plays a role in caramel temps... makes sense since water boils at a lower temp at altitude.  Duh me.  I don't know the exact science, but I do find 225 to the be perfectly chewy caramel temp when I make these now.  At a mile above sea level.  

The bourbon adds a pretty subtle flavor to this. If you are not so much a bourbon fan, you can substitute a tsp of vanilla extract.  Take care when stirring the bourbon or extract in as it will spit and bubble as you stir. 

Dipping in chocolate is optional if you happen to be in the category of people that think chocolate is really a choice and not a necessity.  I dipped of course. 

These seriously take about 10 minutes of stove time, two hours to cool in the refrigerator and then just the time it takes to dip.  So easy it doesn't have to be a holiday or special occasion to whip them up. These could definitely be dangerous. 

Bourbon Sea Salt Caramels

1 2/3 sticks of butter
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 tsp sea salt
3 tsp bourbon
2 cups melted and tempered dark chocolate
sea salt for sprinkling

Directions

1. In a heavy bottomed pot combine butter, sugars, cream and 1 1/2 tsp salt.  
2. Bring mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat without stirring. Attach a candy thermometer to pan.
3. Prepare an 8x8 inch pan by lining with parchment paper (wax paper will not work).  Set aside. 
4. Continue cooking caramel mixture until caramel is 225-230 degrees and mixture is a warm golden color (about 7-10 minutes)
5. Remove from heat and stir in the bourbon taking care as mixture will bubble and spit as you stir. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then pour into prepared 8×8 inch pan 
6. Cool caramels to room temp and then refrigerate until set (about 1 hour). Cut into small squares.
7. Dip squares into melted tempered chocolate.  Set on wax paper or parchment paper and sprinkle with sea salt.  Allow chocolate to harden before serving. 
8. Store in refrigerator but allow to come to room temp before serving.