No Bake Chocolate Cake

How LUSCIOUS does that look?!

I saw this recipe while trolling Pinterest. It looks rather labor-intensive, but also VERY good!

The inside of the cake has tiny "biscuits" as the recipe calls them. They kinda remind me of dessert croutons!

You can find the full length recipe here with all the directional photos, but I'm also posting it below! I'll warn you that it's NOT the healthiest, but a cake like this once in awhile is TOO much fun!!

NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE BISCUIT CAKE RECIPE

Yield: 12 slices

Ingredients

For tiny biscuits:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons  baking powder

Pinch of salt

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 large egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon homemade vanilla extract (double the amount if using store-bought)

For Nutella Ganache and Glaze:

1 cup heavy cream

200 grams bittersweet  chocolate, chopped finely

2/3 cup  Nutella

1/4 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons butter, cut into small cubes and softened

Lacquer chocolate glaze 

Method

1. To prepare the tiny biscuits, sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium speed for a minute. Add the sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, for about 3 more minutes, scraping down the sides with a spatula as necessary. Add the egg yolks and beat until fully incorporated. Beat in vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and mix just until combined.

2. Cut a large piece of parchment paper, fold it in half, then fold over the three open sides to create a 6-by-10 inch envelope. Unfold the envelope, place the biscuit dough in the center of the 6-by-10 inch rectangle, flatten slightly with your hand, fold the envelope again, making sure to crease it firmly and roll out the dough from the center to the edges until you obtain a 6-by-10 inch flat dough. Transfer it on a cutting board and place in the freezer until hard, for about 15 minutes.

3. Preheat your oven to 350 F.

4. Take the dough out of the freezer, peel away the top parchment and cut the dough lengthwise into 21 even strips and then crosswise into 13 even strips to yield 273 squares.

5. Place the biscuits on parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving about a quarter of an inch space between them. Bake 12 to 14 minutes, rotating sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until the tops are dark golden brown. Let the biscuits cool on sheets. Biscuits can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days or longer in the refrigerator.

6. To prepare the chocolate and Nutella ganache, put the chocolate in a heatproof mixing bowl. Bring cream to a boil and pour over the chopped chocolate. Let stand for half a minute, then gently stir with a spatula until completely melted. Add Nutella and continue stirring until melted. Stir in salt and butter pieces.

7. Lightly grease a 4-cup mold and line with plastic wrap, leaving two inches of overhang for easy removal. Pour 1 cup of ganache in the mold and swirl to coat the inside.

8. Put the biscuits in a mixing bowl, pour over the remaining ganache and stir gently to coat the biscuits. Transfer the mixture into the mold and get rid of air pockets by rapping the mold against the counter. Cover the top tightly with plastic wrap, pressing it against the surface to create an airtight seal. 9. Freeze until completely hard, for 30-45 minutes.

10. In the meantime, prepare the lacquer chocolate glaze according to the recipe at the bottom of this post.

11. Place the cake on a cooling rack sitting on top of a baking sheet. Pour the glaze in an even circular motion on top, starting with the sides, allowing it to cascade over and coat them completely. Start pouring in the middle and as the glaze starts going down the sides, pour the glaze about an inch from the edge to help cover the sides evenly. Reapply glaze as needed. 1+1/3 cups of glaze is enough to cover the cake in a single shot, but you can use the glaze accumulated in the baking sheet if needed.

12. Allow the cake to sit until the glaze stops dripping, then move the cake to a serving plate and place in the refrigerator to set (don’t allow it to harden), for 30-60 minutes.

13. Wrapped airtight, the cake will keep fresh for a week in the refrigerator. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

This might get added to my summer to-do file! I really want to try it, and I'll let y'all know how it is if I try it!! It's perfect for my house since there's no baking involved, and it won't heat up my entire living floor!

xxKatie

Cakepops

I tried making cakepops for the first time during my birthday weekend!

They were fun to make, but not as easy as I thought!! I didn't follow any specific recipe, but instead, just went with a lot of the reading I did on everyone else's cakepop endeavors! 

We used one box of cake to one can of frosting. We used two bags of white chocolate to coat the pops and middle size skewers. I was the musher and combined the cake and frosting and balled them up for Miss Skyler to coat. They ended up significantly larger than we expected which is my fault and I just didn't realize how big they were!! Anyway, it was a blast to make!!

Got any cakepop making tips? Have you ever made them yourself?

xxKatie

Seven

There are few things in life that I can ALWAYS say yes to under nearly all circumstances.

Yesterday, one of them just happened to land on my doorstep.

A double-flavored Caroline's Cake was sent to my apartment a la my wonderful Mom.

1/2 of the cake is Caramel:

1/2 of the cake is Seven Layer Delight:

I tried to find a zoomed in picture so you could see all the alternating layers.

All seven layers of cake on BOTH sides is too good to put down! The arrival of all these luscious layers brightened my week and made the rest of my finance studying not AS bad. (It was still pretty awful...finding beta is only tolerable for so many hours...)

Anyway, needless to say even though I arrived home around 12:15pm for the first time since about 9:00am, I cut myself a slice and poured myself a cup of milk. 

DELISH!

xxKatie

P.S.: Make sure to enter the Lemon & Lime Giveaway!

Sweet Tooth: Momofuku's

It's no secret I have a huge sweet tooth. Actually with all the sweet teeth I have, it's like I have an entire sweet mouth really. I love all things sweet. Just yesterday we got some caramels to get us through the rest of the workday! Candy and sweet snacks are an everyday occurrence for me (I know, all you dentists and health critics are shaking your heads in shame...). Just the other day I reblogged this from ichatblog on tumblr:

I think I've found the sweet find of a lifetime though! I was stumbling (via stumbleupon...yep) and came across these:

Momofuku's Birthday Truffles 

How GOOD do they look?!

I really want to try to make these on my own! With the rise of Cakepops and how everyone's attempting their own spin on those, I think Birthday Truffles could be the next big thing! Imagine how fun you could decorate these? Personalization? Everything! The possibilities are endless!!

The recipe for these Birthday Truffles is very elusive...you know what that means? That these MUST. BE. THAT. GOOD. It means that the recipe is vaulted somewhere with the likes of Coca-Cola, McDonald's french fries, and Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream...that good.

Anyone ever been? Let me know! I'd love to hear about it!!

xxKatie

Feeling Famous!

Local delish bakery, Caroline's Cakes is going to be THE Caramel Cake of the movie "The Help"!

If any of you read the novel, you're aware that these cakes are almost a character in them self! I am so excited because we are frequent customers over at Caroline's and my mom has even sent me 2 while I've been at school! (I'm so lucky!)

I read "The Help" last summer after my mom read it and passed it along to her friends. Needless to say I read it in a couple of days and loved it! I am so excited to see if the movie does it justice. Check out the trailer here:

The Caramel Cake from Caroline's is easily my favorite and I look forward to any time we get them. I can't wait to see a little local celebrity on the silver screen when the movie comes out!!

xxKatie

Southern Wedding Week: The Traditions and Winners Announced!

Reese Witherspoon as Melanie Smooter in Sweet Home Alabama

Southern weddings tend to be steeped in tradition. Whether it's the type of flowers used in the decorations or the ceremony or the cake served, most every part of a SW has some tradition linked to it. Typically your southern brides will always be given away by their daddy, wear white, have their shoulders covered (after mom and grandma officially OK the dress...thank you Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta for teaching us all that lesson) and carry white flowers.

Cake pulls are another southern tradition still used today. Small silver charms intended for bridesmaids and members of the bridal party. Each charm tells a fortune or prediction for the future and is a quaint memento of the wedding celebration said one site selling the charms. Each charm has a different meaning: rings, hearts, red beans, stars, anchor, four leaf clovers, all mean something different.

Grooms cakes are another very popular southern tradition. I've seen countless grooms cakes on Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes pretty frequently as a fun way to honor the groom's hobbies, talents or interests! Most recently, I saw a fast food groom's cake, too much fun!

Rice throwing is also a very southern tradition. A sign of fertility, plentifulness and abundance! What a nice message to send your newlywed friends with!

A funny little guide to helping every southern bride out there was written a few years ago called Somebody is Going to Die if Lily Beth Doesn’t Catch That Bouquet: The Official Southern Ladies’ Guide to Hosting the Perfect Wedding! What a title, right? I also love the double name thrown in too, talk about southern tradition!

Now for our Southern Wedding Week winners:

Southern Weddings winner: living well

Natalie Franke Photography: raymond08

If you both will email me with your contact info I'll connect you with the right people!! Thanks for all the entries!!

Also remember that you can still qualify for Natalie's 10% off deal! Take advantage of that!!

xxKatie

Happy 91st Birthday to Me!

Today I had a birthday party for my 19th birthday! My official DOB is on Friday but I can't wait! Tonight just seemed to work better for people than on my real birthday, and I enjoy celebrating the real day with my little family, it's cozier and fun! We had such a fun day celebrating and chose a great local restaurant that seems to be extremely popular for birthdays. I owe a huge thank you to my parents since this dinner was a birthday present from them. I had such a great time and couldn't be more thankful for a great way to wrap up my Christmas break!!

I really ended up making my outfit decision at the last minute--and by last minute I mean I bought the shoes this morning, yikes! I got the dress yesterday also from Black Market White House (or whichever comes first in that title) for 50% off! Yes!! And the shoes I got are very NOT me, but they were super fun for a party and surprisingly comfy. Here's what I wore:

January 6 by letsbepreppy on Polyvore.com

We all had a fabulous night catching up and eating wonderful Thai food. It was a great dinner before we all go back to school. I head back on Sunday from the North Pole, although I hear its just as cold in SC...oh no! I swear it was 75 degrees the day that I left and I got funny looks going through the airport in my wintery clothes. I'm thinking about hosting some kind of giveaway (maybe a set of my painted letters since they got such great reviews from everyone...?) for some event soon, I've never hosted a giveaway and I think it's just about time for me to do so! Just a thought for now...maybe a Valentine's giveaway? Or just a wintery-slump giveaway? Who knows, more details to come obviously.

Back to my birthday though. You're all probably wondering why my title is happy 91st, right? Well friends, it is not a typo. When the waiter brought out my cake (a fabbbbb 7 layer caramel cake, which coincidentally is very southern) they waitstaff put the number on wrong. The numbers were not only in reverse, but the 1 was also facing the wrong direction! My friend Caroline was snapping photos of that moment because I was almost crying I was laughing so hard, I'll have to post a few once she sends them to me, or post a link to her blog if she posts them. She got a fancy new camera for Christmas and had a great time being our photog!

I'll be sure to post soon with birthday greetings!!

xxKatie

Ace of Cakes

How many people watch "Ace of Cakes" from the Food Network? Well I do, and its one of my favorite shows since I love cakes and cupcakes and Duff Goldman, THE Ace of Cakes, is from Baltimore. His bakery is called "Charm City Cakes" and some of the most eclectic characters work for him. Today, at USC there's a cake decorating contest going on and Duff is the head judge. Well, I MET HIM!!!

(And I was wearing my FAVORITE Lilly sweater as an added benefit! I'm thinking its now good luck!)

He was checking out the cakes that the students were making. Some students were amateurs while some were seniors in the culinary school. One team was even a freshman and her sophomore RM!

Here he's checking out the design plans for this team's cake. Their cake was 4 tiers of BRIGHT colors that they were beginning to apply fondant designs to.

This group's cake was Chesapeake Bay themed, playing to a definite MD favorite. Right after I took this photo, they began painting the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Tonight is the final judging that Duff is doing and it starts at 8, but I have a floor meeting with our residence life coordinator. I think I may have to miss it, but thanks to some tactful stalking...I'd say Mission Accomplished.

xxKatie

Handmade Gifts

So obviously Christmas is fast approaching in only 4 days! I can't believe it myself! All of my friend's debutante stuff has kept me from really thinking about Christmas. One of my other friends, Maeve, just had an 18th birthday though too! It was a really fun night because it was just girls, and I couldn't remember the last time that I went to a party like that. I was a little overdressed because I thought it was a little dressier than it was in actuality. The gift I gave her, however, I had left up to the last minute, which is not something that I typically do. She held her party on the night of the day of our last exam (if the prepositional phrases in that sentence weren't confusing enough) so I barely had time to shop.

I was blog surfing and came across a site that had an entry on gift baskets for the holidays. I kept looking through it and then it came to me: MAKE YOUR OWN GIFT BASKET! Boy, did I run with this idea. I headed off to Target without a real idea other than what my friend really likes: cooking, baking, pastels, dark chocolate, etc. I knew that there were a few things that I would need: a basket of some sort, clear cellophane to wrap it all in, bows and ribbons to secure the top, and then the plethora of gifts to go inside.

I began browsing through Target and the first thing that I came upon was their "1$" steals section. It's a fabulous area of racks of one dollar items like festive/seasonal items, dog collars, cookie cutters, plates, plastic utensils, coloring books, no-name brand art supplies and everything like that. I found these GREAT pink sparkly plastic plates and bought 4 as a set in that $1 section. I tied them up with a square knot of pink raffia and decided that they would be my first part of the basket. I then decided that I'd have a pink theme of baking and snacks, a combo many girl's would like! Then I proceeded to the baking section because I knew that I would be successful there. I found a fabulous silicone baking mold for flower cupcakes and then a shape that when arranged next to its mirror piece would form a basket. There were about 8 flower molds, probably 2 or 3 different models of flowers, and then the 2 basket shapes (pictured). This was my second basket purchase. I continued throughout the store and ended up buying Funfetti Cake mix, pink Funfetti frosting, sparkling pink lemonade, a princess crown, a princess wand (both from the "circo" children's line at Target), some great Bliss dark chocolate that has a pink foil wrapping, sprinkles, and pink nail polishes and then a pink basket. It was a great basket.

My next OOB (order of business) was to find that cellophane wrapping. I didn't find any in Target, so I headed down to the party supply store by my house. I still had a hard time finding it there on my own until I hit THE LAST AISLE in the entire store. I found this great clear wrapping with white polka dots on it that I had to have. With all my purchases, I headed back home to put my basket together. Our kitchen table became a tornado of pink metallic "grass", white paper Easter grass, pink ribbon and clear very static cling-y cellophane wrap.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the basket itself, but thanks to a friend who enjoys taking pictures and Facebook, I got a hold of a few pictures. The top picture at the beginning of today's entry, although not the most flattering, shows the backside of the basket and you can see the great cellophane wrap! Here is the birthday girl herself in her crown and with her wand:P.S. Deb Ball Night #1 was SERIOUSLY the most fun I've had in a really long time. We had a ton of fun, stayed up too late, and I can't wait until the presentation on Tuesday! I'll keep you updated!

P.S.S. I got deferred :( but it was about 99% to be expected, the early action is a little weird for the Nursing College. That 1% was like exactly what my mom said, "Just a little part of me thought 'What if you did get it? How cool would that be?'" So, I'm fine now, moved on, and shall be hearing in a few months! Future: Wildcat, Stag, Duke, Fighting Blue Hen, Gamecock, or Tiger writing for you right now!!!!

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to everyone! Happy big 1-8 Maeve!

xxKatie