Hot Cocoa Station

OK, so even though I've been blogging since around 2005, it's really only recently that I've delved into reading other bloggers on a regular basis, and actually following certain blogs. I probably follow about 20, and they range from DIY Decor, home projects, decorating and foodie blogs. Love them, but often they pile up in my inbox for days at a time and then I realize I have several hundred posts waiting to be read.

yeah. thats SOME reading material.

Recently, I had some down time to work at chiseling away down those blogs and I found this.

A Hot Cocoa Station?

Seriously?

Apparently, this is common in blog-land. At least, according to Pinterest. Which btw you can see just how popular they are - HERE.

WELL.

Who knew??

So here I am, a competent blogger, who enjoys sharing all things DIY, decorating and foodie, and I don't have a Hot Cocoa Station set up in my kitchen? 

{I feel so deprived.}

I will have to fix that soon. And since it's still January, we have (3) more months of Winter to get through. Which means, for once? I am NOT too late! :)

Banana muffins mmmm yummy!

Are you following me on PINTEREST? 

you should, you know.

Follow me on Pinterest that is.

Why? Well, because I have an amazing, almost sinful addiction to pinning food recipes.
And then, If I pin them, I am probably going to make them.

And... If I make them, then I'm probably going to share with you here too!

So, go follow me on Pinterest, and then you can try the recipes yourself -
 instead of waiting for me to share with you.

Because you know, it's just not going to be as satisfying drooling over your keyboard

as it is for your family to be standing around your oven, drooling all over your floor, 

waiting for your newest delicacy to come forth from that hot cavern in the wall...  

{It just won't be. I promise.} 

So, we'll start with the recipe - which I originally pinned, and have now made twice. The first time, I followed the directions to the letter, and then baked them for 20 minutes in a mini loaf pan I have that makes 8 mini loafs. I got rave reviews from the guys at work, so I knew it was a keeper.

The recipe is courtesy of "Your Home Based Mom" - go check her out - she's pretty cool :) I don't mind!

"Best" Banana Bread Recipe 

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil (I substituted 1 stick butter and 1/2 cup oil) 
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (I used (3) banana's and just dumped them in my kitchen aid) 
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla 

1 1/2 cup flour 
1 tsp. baking soda
 1/2 tsp. salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. 
Line muffin tin with paper muffin wrappers.
In large bowl, beat together sugar, oil & butter.
Add eggs, bananas, sour cream and vanilla; blend well.
                                  (I let the kitchen aid do its thing for about 5 minutes on (3) here. ) 
Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. 
Add flour, baking soda and salt; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.
Scoop into muffin tin, each cup should be about 2/3rs full. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes clean.  Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan. 
Or, do like I did and immediately dump (2) onto your plate and devour, HOT.
With  a cold glass of milk. Then grab a 3rd one while it's still hot. Because that's what piggies do when muffins come out of the oven :) 

Pictures! 

This is 2/3rds full. They rise to about the top of the cupcake paper soooo

 if you want yours bigger, fill them up more. 

Do you know this trick? The recipe made 21 muffins. That left (3) tins with no batter. My mom taught me to add a little water to the empty tins so that the pan doesn't scorch and burn. Works like a charm!

Ah, a home baked pile of LOVE right there :) mmm delish.

hehee - I told you -I ate (3) of them - sooo good! Picture doesn't do the muffin justice. It's so moist and happy! Feel free to pin ya'll!

Come Party with me!

What's a little snow among friends?

Well this is {Buffalo}, where we basically have two seasons. Construction... And Snow.

And Snow... it did. 

11" worth of snow in the actual city.
More elsewhere. I'm pretty sure my mom got a little over 16". But she's out near Syracuse.
I think we got around 3" per hour but it started out slow an picked up - peaking around 9:30 or so.

I was bundled up with hot cocoa & imagining a beautiful fire place... lol
This is the back deck last night, around 11:30pm, after it had been snowing for about 4 1/2 hrs. 

And this is the deck this morning, around 6:30am after my son shoveled the first fall from last night.

Enjoy the pics! Btw this is from my phone so forgive the bad lighting and pic placement!

Black Forest Cake

Sometimes I think I'm just a foodie at heart.

I don't {MEAN} for this blog to be all about food. 

I don't {INTEND} to cause mouth-watering sensations every time I post. 

It isn't on {PURPOSE} that cravings abound on a regular basis. 

I swear. 

It's really not. 

But it often turns out that way doesn't it?

Well I hope you can forgive me. Because Seriously, this is pretty good stuff. 

Saturday, my mom's friend Carol, from Long Island, is coming to visit. I haven't seen Carol in a couple years and when she comes, she usually stays with me. And Mom, is coming to come up too. We have a FULL weekend planned with lots of fun stuff - and I think we are all a little bit excited :)

Of course, this is a great reason to bake.

"Any" reason is a great reason to bake, but THIS is as good a reason as they come, don'tcha think? 

We're going to have a delish menu of Pulled Pork, Mashed taters, and salad. Chocolate cake for dessert. Black Forest cake to be exact. 

[I don't know what anyone else is going to eat]

Black Forest Cake 

Dry Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups good cocoa powder 

2 1/4 tspn baking soda 

1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients  

2 sticks salted butter 

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar 

3 xl eggs, cracked and whipped in a small bowl 

3 tspn vanilla

3 sq bittersweet 100% cocoa 

1/2 cup buttermilk 

3/4 cup sour cream 

3 tblspn brewed coffee 

Frosting and Filling 

16oz heavy whipping cream

15oz can cherry pie filling 

Mix all dry ingredients together with a fork until well combined. Set aside. 

Pre-heat your oven to 350 and let it heat up while you get the cake batter ready. Prepare a double boiler. Or do like I do. Balance a large glass pyrex over a 3qt sauce pan  with about an inch of simmering hot water. 

In your mixer, beat your butter for about 5-8 minutes on high until very light and fluffy.

It will be almost white in color. 

While your butter is whipping, add your cocoa squares to your pyrex bowl and carefully stir while it melts. Add the brewed coffee and mix gently while the cocoa melts.

Mix together your buttermilk and sour cream until smooth. Carefully & slowly, add to the Cocoa/Coffee mixture. *note: If its too cool, the cocoa will start to harden again so add it slowly to bring the milk/sour cream up to temperature. 

Once your cocoa mixture is smooth and melted, remove from heat.

Now, scrape down the sides of the butter in your kitchen-aid, and add white sugar. Mix to combine. Then add brown sugar and mix again to combine. Whip on high for about 3 minutes, scraping down your sides at least once. 

Once the butter and sugar are well combined, add your eggs & vanilla. Whip again for about a minute, scrape down your sides.

Now it's time to incorporate the Cocoa & Flour mixtures - using your batter hook, add to the mixer in thirds, starting with the Cocoa mixture and ending with the flour mixture. As you add each portion, mix gently to combine only. Do not over mix!

Over mixing causes your cakes to become dry, and hard.
NOT FUN 

Once the batter is fully incorporated, pour (scoop) it into your prepared pans. Using Pan Grease is a great option - or you can use your favorite way to prepare your pans. I personally use PREP, a professional grease/flour spray that works great and is available at my local bakery supply store. 

Spread out your cake mix, because it's super thick and rich, and won't spread on it's own, even when heated. Spread it out nice and smooth, and then bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Now, whip up your Heavy Cream until stiff peaks form.

Spread half of your Cherry pie filling over the center of one of your cakes, and then top with the 2nd layer of cake. Frost and decorate to your little hearts desire.

{Take a picture} 

This cake is so good, it will be gone before you can even remember you spend all that time and effort baking it :) 

you can thank me later :)

Enjoy!

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