Easy Chocolate Espresso Cake

This cake is embarrassingly easy to make.  I mean it.  If it wasn't so delicious, I wouldn't post it, because it makes me feel like such a cheater to make it.  The base is a box cake, and I hate that only because Sandra Lee makes me want to gnaw my own arm off just so I have something to throw at her.  It's not the business of semi-homemade, it's personal.  I can't stand that lady and her coordinated to the point of vomit inducing "Table Scapes."

The point is, although the idea of jazzing up a box cake makes me queasy, it really is good and worth the embarrassment.   So give it try, and don't tell anyone there's a box involved.

Easy Chocolate Espresso Cake
1 box Devil’s Food cake mix

1 box Cook and Serve chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp instant espresso powder

Put all the ingredients in the bowl of your mixer and beat on medium-low speed until combined.  Pour batter into the cake pan of your choice and bake 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean...don’t over bake it! It’s wonderfully moist!

Challah...L'chiam!

Ok, so I'm definitely not Jewish, but that does not mean I don't drool over a fresh baked challah, or savor the salty bite of gefilte fish...ok, you got me. I can't think of too many other things I hate more, than gefilte fish, but I do ADORE challah.  It's bread enriched with eggs, oil, and a touch of sweetness, AND it makes the most amazing french toast (as described in the previous post.)

I made challah last night, and again this morning to test the difference between dough that rose 3 times in a warm place, and one that rose overnight in the fridge before braiding, and rising again.  The first loaf had a good flavor, but it was rather dense and a little dry, although I may have overcooked it a little.  I tried my hand at a 2 level braid, as the recipe instructed and it was pretty much an aesthetic disaster.  Not only did it look like my 2 year old did it, but one end was much bigger than the other.  If you stood it upright on the counter it bore an uncanny resemblance to my own disproportional shape.  This made for tricky baking, because I was worried about the generous end (that's what I call mine too) cooking through, while the smaller one was sure to dry out.  The loaf I made this morning, was better, but still a little flat.  Don't get me wrong, it tasted wonderful, but I was looking for those elastic strands I know and love, and it was more crumby than that.

So here's the recipe I got from Smitten Kitchen's blog.


Best Challah (Egg Bread)
Adapted from Joan Nathan
The secrets to good challah are simple: Use two coats of egg wash to get that laquer-like crust and don’t overbake it. Joan Nathan, who this recipe is adapted from, adds that three risings always makes for the tastiest loaves, even better if one of them is slowed down in the fridge.
Time: about 1 hour, plus 2 1/2 hours’ rising
Yield: 2 loaves
1 1/2 packages active dry yeast (1 1/2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup olive or vegetable oil, plus more for greasing the bowl
5 large eggs
1 tablespoon salt
8 to 8 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup raisins per challah, if using, plumped in hot water and drained
Poppy or sesame seeds for sprinkling.
1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water.
2. Whisk oil into yeast, then beat in 4 eggs, one at a time, with remaining sugar and salt. Gradually add flour. When dough holds together, it is ready for kneading. (You can also use a mixer with a dough hook for both mixing and kneading, but be careful if using a standard size KitchenAid–it’s a bit much for it, though it can be done.)
3. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Clean out bowl and grease it, then return dough to bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until almost doubled in size. Dough may also rise in an oven that has been warmed to 150 degrees then turned off. Punch down dough, cover and let rise again in a warm place for another half-hour.
4. At this point, you can knead the raisins into the challah, if you’re using them, before forming the loaves. To make a 6-braid challah, either straight or circular, take half the dough and form it into 6 balls. With your hands, roll each ball into a strand about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. Place the 6 in a row, parallel to one another. Pinch the tops of the strands together. Move the outside right strand over 2 strands. Then take the second strand from the left and move it to the far right. Take the outside left strand and move it over 2. Move second strand from the right over to the far left. Start over with the outside right strand. Continue this until all strands are braided. For a straight loaf, tuck ends underneath. For a circular loaf, twist into a circle, pinching ends together. Make a second loaf the same way. Place braided loaves on a greased cookie sheet with at least 2 inches in between.
5. Beat remaining egg and brush it on loaves. Either freeze breads or let rise another hour.
6. If baking immediately, preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush loaves again. Sprinkle bread with seeds, if using. If freezing, remove from freezer 5 hours before baking.
7. Bake in middle of oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden. (If you have an instant read thermometer, you can take it out when it hits an internal temperature of 190 degrees.) Cool loaves on a rack.
Note: Any of the three risings can be done in the fridge for a few hours, for more deeply-developed flavor. When you’re ready to work with it again, bring it back to room temperature before moving onto the next step.

Contradictory Egg Nog Challah French Toast

It just occurred to me as I was about to write this, that it's pretty funny that I made french toast this morning with Challah and Egg Nog.  Being someone that celebrates neither Christmas or Hanukkah, the delicious contradiction never crossed my mind while I was making it.  Nevertheless, it WAS delicious, and I wanted to share.  Hopefully, you can be as lax as I am, forget about the sacreligiousness of it all and just enjoy it!

Egg Nog Challah French Toast


1 loaf of challah (because why would you want to use any other type of bread!...except maybe panatone)
4 eggs
2 cups whole milk
1/2-3/4 cup egg nog (depending on how strong you want the flavor to be)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Butter for greasing (and eating!)
Maple syrup (please, don't ruin it with Log Cabin like my kids do!)


If you have time, slice the bread a couple of hours before you plan to make it, so it dries out a little, or use slightly stale bread to begin with.  Combine all the ingredients but the bread in a 13x9 dish and wisk until frothy.  Soak the slices of bread while the griddle heats up and press down to make sure it gets good and wet.  Grease the griddle with butter and cook until brown on both sides.  Keep warm on a cookie sheet in your oven on the lowest setting while you finish the whole loaf.  Enjoy, This stuff is GOOD!

Woodberry Kitchen

Thursday, January 7th I am going to dinner with my three favorite fellow foodies.  We're going to Woodberry Kitchen, the hot, local / seasonal, probably overpriced, but famously yummy restaurant in Baltimore city.  My husband agreed to watch the kids (que the happy dance) as our usual babysitters are two of the three I'm dining with (Hi Moms!)  I have been dying to try this place since the time my husband and I went on a Wednesday night, which happened to be graduation day for Johns Hopkins University, and every seat in the house was taken by people with sailboats and seersucker, and sweaters tied around their waspy shoulders. The menu is always drool inducing (Seriously. Check it out here), and changes with what's available locally.  This is a very hot concept in cooking right now, and I'm all for it, but not because it's ecologically responsible.  I'm a fan of seasonal and local cooking because stuff just tastes better when it doesn't have to travel far to get on my plate and in ma' belly!   I will definitely take pictures report back.

As you can see, I just recently became a member of foodbuzz.com and I'm pretty excited about it. Hopefully it will increase the traffic to this blog, so that someone who's not blood related to me will read it (love you guys!), and they have a program where you can sign up to test food and food gadgets for free!...Free, people.  Free is my 2nd favorite word (don't ask about the 1st.)  They will also pay for you to go out to dinner once a year with other members in your area, in exchange for a post about your experience.  I am all over that.

As far as the Challah, I am going to attack it this Saturday.  We are supposed to get a snow day, and there is nothing I love more than cooking on a snow day...except maybe something free.

Pure and Utter Abandonment

That is all I can say about why it's been so long since I've written. It's not for lack of want, or even that I was SO busy (even though I have been pretty busy.) I can't even say it's for lack of inspiration. I've made lots of yummy things lately, and I posted very eloquently about them in my head. I think I just had a temporary lapse in confidence. Temporary. So, in short, I am back, and cheesily enough I was inspired because of watching a movie about a food blogger...yes that's right people, (get those cringing muscles warmed up) Julie and Julia. I FINALLY saw it today on this, the first real snow day of the season. I had fully intended on seeing it with my Mom in the theater, but the short people always seem to make that next to impossible, that is, unless we're going to see something in the computer animation genre. So my loving other half illegally downloaded it for me, and promptly left the room. I did really enjoy it, but I found myself feeling like the parts about Julie Powell were the commercials I had to suffer through to get to the good stuff. (sorry, Julie!)

I mean no disrespect to Julie, and am sincerely happy for her success, but as the movie progressed, I became more and more interested in Julia Child, and really just wanted more about her. I really hope someone makes another movie, solely about her and her life, and My Life in France is definitely my next read.

I am embarrassed to say I don't have, and have never even in person, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but that will also be my next cookbook purchase. French cooking has never been my friend, with all it's complicated sauces, and expensive ingredients, but french FOOD, on the other hand...well, I'll put it to you this way - Fillet Bearnaise was my favorite food when I was in elementary school. That, and Chicken Fingers.

So the next recipe I have decided to test is Challah...Holla! (Sorry, I couldn't resist) I know, some may say, I've let brioche kick me in the proverbial arse, but it's not so. The truth is, I am still a little angry with brioche and until it calls to apologize, I am on strike.

So onto it's Jewish, and slightly more forgiving cousin...