Cinnamon Chocolate Cake

I have enjoyed many meals with our family friend Georgia. She is an excellent cook and she is an excellent baker too. I have had this cake many times at her home and love it. I have had several requests for her recipe. It is similar to a Texas Sheet Cake but not the same. I thought about calling Mexican Hot Chocolate Cake because it reminds me of Mexican Hot Chocolate. The cake is very moist and I love the fudgy frosting. As promised, here is the amazing recipe.

Cooking the chocolate sauce on the stove for the cake batter.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup chocolate baking powder

2 eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 pan. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. In a saucepan, combine water, oil, butter and chocolate baking powder. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well. Add eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and baking soda and mix well. Pour into prepared baking pan and bake 35-40 minutes until cake tester comes out clean.

Check out this fudgy frosting! 😋

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1/3 heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup chocolate baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

While cake is baking in the oven, make frosting. In a saucepan, combine butter, cream, chocolate baking powder and cinnamon. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat and add sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Spread over hot cake. Cool completely. The frosting will harden on top of the cake as it cools. Enjoy!

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Blueberry Cheesecake Tart

I love tarts. For those of you who are intimidated by making cheesecakes, this is a great simple alternative. The crust only bakes about 10 minutes, otherwise it’s an easy no bake dessert.

Crust Ingredients:

1 package of shortbread cookies, plus one sleeve of another cookie package, crushed. I used Keebler Sandies

4 Tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor or put cookies in a large ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to crush them. Mix butter with cookie crumbs and press into a tart pan with a removable bottom. My tart pan was 10 1/2 inches. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool completely before adding cream cheese filling.

Ingredients for cream cheese filling:

1 8 ounce plus 4 ounces of another package of cream cheese

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Refrigerate mixing bowl and attachment(s) in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Beat cream cheese, sugar, and extracts together until smooth. Add whipping cream and beat until soft peaks form. Spread evenly into tart shell.

Blueberry topping:

2-4 cups of blueberries, mine were frozen but thawed it was about 2 cups*

1/2 cup blueberry preserves

3 Tablespoons honey

Melt preserves and honey in a sauce pan. Let cool completely. Arrange blueberries on top of tart. Stir preserve/honey mixture and lightly brush or spoon over blueberries. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Enjoy!

*make sure if you are using frozen blueberries that they are thawed and drained well

Cinco de Mayo Burger #Burger Month

This post is part of a kick-butt burger grill giveaway hosted by GirlCarnivore but the Cinco de Mayo burger epicness is all my own.

I have always loved Mexican food and cheese hamburgers. For National Burger Month, I combined my two favorite foods, cheeseburger and Mexican food.

Ingredients and Preparation:

Season meat with cumin, garlic salt and pepper and grill to your liking.

Sauté onion slices in a pan with a pat of butter and a teaspoon of sugar to caramelize them. The caramelized onions add a sweet taste. Keep warm.

Grill poblano pepper until charred. Place pepper in a plastic bag to steam skin. Remove most of charred outside. I like to leave some char on the pepper. Cut open and remove seeds and cut into pieces to fit on your burger. This grilled pepper adds a delicious smoky taste.

Add your pepper jack cheese and watch it melt. Assemble your burger with the toppings.

Add a dollup of your favorite refried beans. I can’t enjoy Mexican without them. Yum!

Put a generous spoonful of fresh pico de gallo. This replaces all of your condiments.

Sponsors and Giveaway Swag!

American Lamb Board –  Ground lamb, cutting board, and apron

Anolon – Anolon SureGrip Cutlery Bronze 3 Piece Chef Set & Anolon Advanced Bronze 11″ Deep Square Grill Pan w/ Pour Spouts

Cabot Cheese – $25 Cabot Legacy Gift box – Includes eight bars of Cabot Cheddar, cheese knife, and a wine opener. Award-winning cheese brought to you by the 1,000 farm families who own Cabot Creamery Co-operative.

Melissa’s Produce – Grilling Veggie Box

Microplane – Herb And Salad Chopper, Microplane Elite Series Extra Coarse Grater, Microplane Spice Mill

New York Beef Council  – Beef, It’s What’s for Dinner Swag Bag including a tote, knives, oven mitt and apron

Red Duck – Gourmet Ketchup Variety

Spiceologist –  4 Rub Grilling Spice Set

Veal Made Easy – 5 lbs Veal and grilling gear

Weber Grilling Pack – Weber Tumbler and Weber Grill Hat

1 winner will be drawn for every week of burger month!

All winners will be entered to win a Weber Spirit II E-310 gas grill!

Grand prize grill  winner will be announced June 4th

A huge thank you for their generous contributions to the #BurgerMonth sponsors,  American Lamb Board, Anolon,

Cabot Cheese, Melissa’s Produce, Microplane, New York Beef Council, Red Duck, Spiceologist,

Veal Made Easy, and Weber Grills

https://www.facebook.com/notes/burger-month-2018/burger-month-images/164862891013095/

Brands social Networks

American Lamb Board http://www.americanlamb.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AmericanLamb

https://twitter.com/fanoflamb

https://www.instagram.com/fanoflamb/

Anolon Cookware https://www.anolon.com/

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Cabot Cheese https://www.cabotcheese.coop/

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Melissas Produce https://www.melissas.com/

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Microplane https://us.microplane.com/kitchen_en_us/

https://www.facebook.com/Microplane/

https://twitter.com/microplane

https://www.instagram.com/microplaneintl/

New York Beef Council https://www.nybeef.org/

https://www.facebook.com/NewYorkBeefCouncil

https://twitter.com/nybeefcouncil

https://www.instagram.com/beefitswhatsfordinner/

Red Duck http://www.redduckfoods.com/

https://www.facebook.com/RedDuckKetchup/

https://twitter.com/RedDuckFoods

https://www.instagram.com/redduckfoods/

Spiceologist  https://spiceologist.com/

https://www.facebook.com/spiceologistco

https://twitter.com/spiceologist

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Veal Made Easy https://vealmadeeasy.com/

https://www.facebook.com/VealMadeEasy

https://twitter.com/vealmadeeasy

https://www.instagram.com/vealmadeeasy/

Weber Grills https://www.weber.com/

https://www.facebook.com/weberbbq

https://twitter.com/WeberGrills

https://www.instagram.com/webergrills/

Burger Month Week One

Spicy Keto Burger by A Southern Fairytale
Baja Seafood Burger OR Mexicali by Everyday Southwest
Spicy Lamb Burger by The Suburban Soapbox
Catalina Taco Salad Burger by Sweet ReciPEAs
Kentucky Derby Lamb Burger by Butcher Betties
Cinco de Mayo Burger by Tampa Cake Girl
Kurobuta Pork Burgers by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Beef Cordon Bleu Bacon Apple Fritter Burgers by Wildflour’s Cottage Kitchen
Jalapeno Yum Yum Burger by Adventures of Frugal Mom
Pierogie Burger by Seduction In The Kitchen
Mexican Burger by A Day in the Life on the Farm

A Day in the Life on the Farm
A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
A Southern Fairytale
Adventures of Frugal Mom
An Affair from the Heart
Bread Booze Bacon
Brocavore
Butcher Betties
Cluttercafe
Comfortably Domestic
Cookie Named Desire
Courtney’s Sweets
Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Eating Richly
Everyday Southwest
Family Around the Table
Family Food on the Table
Fearless Dining
Food Above Gold
Gimme Some Grilling
Girl Abroad
Grilling Montana
Grumpy’s Honeybunch
Hall Nesting
HORNS BBQ
Jolene’s Recipe Journal
Kecia’s Flavor Breakthrough
Kudos Kitchen by Renee
Life of a Ginger
Love and Confections
Mildly Meandering
Miss in the Kitchen
Moore or Less Cooking
My World Simplified
Palatable Pastime
Pastry Chef Online
Pook’s Pantry
RDelicious Kitchen
Sailrockland
Sarah’s Cucina Bella
Seduction In The Kitchen
Sumptuous Spoonfuls
Sweet ReciPEAs
Tampa Cake Girl
The Beard and The Baker
The Complete Savorist
The Crumby Kitchen
The Farmstand Market
The Farmstand Market
The Redhead Baker
The Schmidty Wife
The Spiffy Cookie
The Suburban Soapbox
Thyme for Cocktails
Wildflour’s Cottage Kitchen
Wok & Skillet

Rafflecopter Week One :

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Easy Peasy Homemade Banana Cake

So many times I hear people tell me that they can’t bake or decorate cakes. I wanted to create a recipe so easy, everyone can make this cake and be a rockstar. This is one moist and flavorful banana cake and that was my goal. Mix up the ingredients, cool and spread on the frosting. Easy Peasy.

Look at all of the yummy bananas in this recipe.

Ingredients:

4 large ripe freckled bananas, mashed

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups buttermilk, room temperature*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 x 13 pan with butter or your favorite baking spray.

In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients, flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.

In your mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Mix in eggs one at a time. Add in vanilla. Add dry ingredients and alternate with buttermilk until all is incorporated together. Mix in bananas. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour until cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 stick of butter, room temperature

1 8 ounce block of cream cheese

1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla

1 pinch of salt

1 pound of powdered sugar

Blend cream cheese and butter together. Add vanilla and combine. Mix in powdered sugar until combined. Frost cake. Cover and store in refrigerator. Set out about 30 minutes before serving. Easy Peasy. Enjoy!

*About buttermilk. Buy it. You cannot make buttermilk with lemon juice or vinegar. You only make sour milk and that my friends is not buttermilk. Buttermilk is the best thing about how delicious this cake is.

Cheesy Garlic Bread

The key to good garlic bread is good bread. I always use sourdough. With that being said, use your favorite bread, but do not use thin slice.

1 loaf of your favorite bread cut regular to thick
1 container of Lawry Garlic Spread
Parmesan shreds
Mozzarella cheese
Smoky paprika or regular paprika

Preheat broiler. Spread each slice of bread generously with Lawry Garlic Spread. Sprinkle on Parmesan cheese. Put mozzarella directly on top of Parmesan. Sprinkle paprika on top of cheese. Place under the broiler until cheese is melted and bubbly. Enjoy!

I am not a paid spokesperson for Lawrys. I grew up eating garlic bread like this as a child. My parents used the powdered Parmesan. I use real cheese. You should be able to find Lawrys in the spice section of your supermarket. It does not come cold but needs to be refrigerated after opening.

White Chicken Chili

To be honest, I had never made white chicken chili and I had never eaten any. This was my first rodeo! I think I read 50,000 white chicken chili recipes before I came up with my own. I must say that I really enjoyed it both ways. The original crockpot version was more like a broth, tonight I thickened it with half and half and cornstarch. Both ways were delicious.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast

2 teaspoons of cumin

2 teaspoons oregano

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon chili powder

3 cans white chili beans, great northern, I used Bush’s

2 small cans of chopped green chilies

1 32 ounce carton of chicken broth

I onion diced

1 bell pepper, diced, I bought a package of tri colored peppers already chopped

Corn chips, crushed, optional

Sour cream, optional

Lime juice, optional

Shredded Mexican Cheese, optional

Cook on high for 4 hours, shred chicken and return to crockpot.

Thicker Chili

1 cup of half and half

2 – 4 Tablespoons of corn starch

Blend together and add to the chili.

For thicker, creamier chili, add 2 – 4 Tablespoons in one cup of half and half.

Peppermint Pound Cake

I have lost count how many Peppermint Pound Cakes I have baked in over 30 years. I have lost count. This cake is moist, and light on the peppermint flavor. It’s not overpowering at all. I have made these and given them to family and friends as gifts and now they expect them. I hope you enjoy this cake as much friends, family and I do. Happy Baking!

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix, Duncan Hines preferred

1 small box of vanilla instant pudding

1 cup water

1/3 cup oil, I used vegetable

4 eggs

1 teaspoon peppermint extract, not mint, there is a difference

One recipe makes 2 large loaf pans.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour your bundt pan or loaf pans*. I used Bakers Joy.

Whisk cake and pudding mixes. Add water and oil and combine. Put the eggs in one at a time and mix well. Add peppermint extract. Pour into prepared pan(s). If you are baking in a bundt pan, bake 45-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Loaf pans will bake quicker and the mini loaf pans will bake in 20 minutes or so. Cool bundt pan about 20 minutes and remove to finish cooling. Do not glaze until cake is completely cooled.

**Peppermint Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2-3 Tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Peppermint Candy Canes, I like the green and red stripe, crushed

Mix together and pour over poundcake(s). Add crushed candy canes.

*This is a wonderful poundcake that makes excellent gifts. You can usually 6-8 mini loaf pans or 2 good size loaf pans. After glaze is set, wrap in plastic wrap and deliver to your friends and family

**Additional glaze may be needed for individual pound cakes.