Chocolate Cream Pie

So tomorrow is Mother's Day, and I wanted to make something special for my Mom.  I remember her loving chocolate cream pie when I was younger, so I decided to make that.  Believe it or not, I've never made it from scratch (meaning, I've made it using a pudding mix and some Cool Whip, but that's it!)  So I tried my hand at making it today, and it is super easy to do.  No more pudding mix for me!  

Ingredients:

8 oz. Cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. Sugar
Mini chocolate chips or shaved chocolate
Graham cracker pie crust 

A note on the pie crust -- you can buy one, or see my Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe from last Mother's Day for a recipe to make a graham cracker pie crust homemade (chocolate or regular works)!

Instructions:

You're going to need a mixer for this recipe!  In your mixing bowl, add the cream cheese (softened), the cocoa powder, the half cup of sugar, the milk, and the vanilla extract.  Mix this until it is a smooth and creamy pudding-like consistency.  It's not going to look as thick as store bought pudding or that from a boxed pudding mix.  It will be a little bit creamier.  Now, if you've bought the premade pie crust, pour the pudding into the pie crust and distribute evenly.  If you've made the crust homemade, just make sure it's cooled before you do that step.  Next, you're going to clean your mixing bowl and then add the heavy cream and the two tablespoons of sugar.  On a higher speed on the mixer, and using the whisk attachment, you're going to beat this together and let it go for about four or five minutes like this.  Just keep an eye on it and make sure you turn the mixer off when you see that it looks like the consistency of whipped cream and it has some peaks in it.  Now, smooth this whipped cream onto the pudding in your pie crust.  Make sure it covers the whole top of the pie.  Lastly, sprinkle on some mini chocolate chips or shave some chocolate on top.  All done!

Enjoy! 

Whoopie Pies

It was my Mom's birthday this week, but since we are celebrating it today, I had some time to bake her favorite dessert - whoopie pies!  I've never made these before, so I searched online for a good recipe and tried it out. I wanted to make the filling from scratch, but use a cake mix for the other part, so I found a recipe that used a cake mix.  It ended up being really simple to make these and the flavor is spot on!

Ingredients:

For cake:
1 devil's food chocolate cake mix, store bought
3 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil

For filling:
2 1/2 cups confectionery sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

Mix together the ingredients for the cake. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Then, with a ladel scoop out the batter into cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. You want the scoops to be as even as possible, and about 2-3 inches across in width. They will expand while cooking so keep them small!  Bake for about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the softened butter and confectionery sugar into a mixer, and mix until combined.  Add the vanilla extract and mix on a higher setting so that it whips the filling and makes it more airy and less dense.  I let it mix for about 3 minutes like this.

Once the cakes are done, let them cool completely.  Then, place some of the filling onto each  of the "bottom" pieces, smooth out with a rubber spatula, and then place the "top" pieces on.  And that's it!  Enjoy!

*yields about 6 pies, depending on size*

Coffee Crumb Cake

I made a homemade coffee cake today. I like to bake something special for Valentine's Day each year, and this is the treat I made this time around!

The recipe is very easy and the results are impressive. What a perfect thing to make as a dessert treat or to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee in the morning.

Ingredients:

Cake mixture:
1 stick of butter, softened
2 cups flour
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. Baking soda
Dash of salt
3/4 cup milk

Crumb topping:
3 tbsp. Butter, softened
1 tbsp. Cinnamon
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar

Instructions:

Cake mixture:
In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar, being sure to scrape down the sides of the mixer to get all of it incorporated. Then, add in the egg and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Now, in a separate bowl mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add about half of the dry ingredients into the mixer with the wet ingredients, and mix. Once combined, pour in the milk and mix again until the milk is mostly incorporated. Now, add in the rest of the dry ingredients and mix again. At this point the cake mix is done. The batter will be very stiff.

Crumb topping:
In a bowl, add the butter, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Use a fork to mash up the softened butter and pat together the ingredients until large crumb pieces are formed.

Assembly:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a square baking dish that is greased or nonstick, pour in the cake batter and smooth it out evenly. Now, sprinkle on the crumb topping evenly on the top. Bake for about 40 minutes until the center of the cake is completely cooked.

Enjoy!