THE BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE from Growing Up Cali

This is yet another one of those cakes that uses cocoa powder, in this case the Dutch process type, vegetable oil and boiling water. It comes from Growing Up Cali. I made half in a 9"x1.5" round pan. Mine was a little overcooked in 24 minutes, 11 minutes less than the minimum time given in the recipe. I added more salt and doubled the vanilla and it could have used more salt. Other than that it's a good recipe. 

I made my own peanut butter frosting for it: 1 3/4 c. powdered sugar (not weighed out), 2 T. softened butter, 3 T. Jif creamy peanut butter, 1/2 t. pure vanilla extract, 4 teaspoons milk. Beat well with hand mixer.

I give this 4.5 star because of it being overcooked though I gave it far less time, and it needing more salt.

THE BEST (AND EASIEST) ICE CREAM YOU'LL EVER MAKE from Barefeet in the Kitchen

This comes from Barefeet in the Kitchen. I turned it into an ice cream cake. The ice cream is very good, nice and creamy. I used far, far less vanilla extract than called for, just 1/2 t. and I think it could have used less. It's also very sweet and could have used more salt. Like the recipe stated, it made four cups. I reserved about 3/4 c. of it to spread on top of the cake like it was frosting. The ice cream took 25 minutes in my Hamilton Beach ice cream maker and the bowl was in the freezer beforehand for 26 hours but required about 20 hours for my particular brand.

I grade it an A- because it needs more salt to balance out the incredible sweetness and the amount of vanilla we're to use, one whole tablespoon, would have ruined this.

For the cake part I used half a box of Betty Crocker Devil's Food Cake and baked it in a standard 9"x5" 2 qt. loaf pan. I messed up the three layers because I was too impatient to chill the cake before slicing into layers and they crumbled badly in areas, especially the middle layer. I was so disgusted with myself that I omitted the fudge sauce and ground almonds that I was to drizzle on each layer of cake. When the cake cooled it shrunk away from the sides of the pan. When I spread the just-made/soft serve ice cream between the layers it went down between the cake and the pan so the finished cake looks like I frosted it, but I didn't, just the top.

The Food Lion (grocery store) brand  heavy whipping cream that I used cost just $1.65 for 2 cups and came from a 1 quart container. The half box of cake mix was just .75 cents. I don't know the cost of sugar and 1 c. milk but it couldn't have been much. The whole cake was probably around $3-$3.50 to make!

CHOCOLATE FUDGE PUDDING CAKE from The Chocolatess

This recipe is from The Baking Chocolatess. It turned out good. I used two less tablespoons of cocoa powder in the pudding part because I know for a fact 4 tablespoons would have been way too much and would have been bitter. I also used Dutch process cocoa. I also used both light and brown sugar in the pudding along with the white that it called for. I used 1 teaspoon of vanilla in the cake, not 1.5 teaspoons. I always pour the hot water for the pudding into a measuring cup containing the sugar and cocoa powder and stir until it's disolved, then I pour that over the top of the cake. It makes no sense at all to sprinkle the mixture over the cake then pour hot water on top of that. I've been making pudding cakes since 2006 and I do this every time. I used (I always use this size) a 1.5 qt. baking dish. This baked in the time stated. 

I give the written recipe 4 stars and not 5 because of the excessive amount of cocoa powder in the pudding. With my changes, using two less tablespoons, I give this 5 stars. 

HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE CAKE from Liv for Cake

This comes from Liv For Cake. It turned out good. It's yet another one that uses cocoa powder, this time Dutch process kind, vegetable oil and boiling water. I made half in a 9"x1.5" round pan. It was a little too much batter for the pan and took 26 minutes to bake. I did use one less tablespoon of cocoa. It's a sticky cake so make sure you line you cake pan/pans fully with foil that's been sprayed with nonstick spray. It's very moist. I used my own frosting recipe.

I give this 5 stars and would make it again.

HERSHEY'S "ESPECIALLY DARK" CAKE II

This recipe comes from Hershey's and it's also printed right on the container of unsweetened cocoa powder. They have two recipes with this exact name but one uses their Special Dark cocoa, which is Dutch-processed, and the other uses regular. This one uses regular and it's not as good as the Dutch processed version I made a few months back. The texture is slightly different and the flavor is a bit "off" though still good. 

I made half the recipe and used two 6"x2" round pans. The cake baked in 27 minutes and is about 3.5" tall. I used two tablespoons less cocoa and I'm glad I did. I made my own buttercream for the center and my own pourable chocolate frosting for the outside, using their Dutch-processed cocoa, 1 T. per 1 c. powdered sugar.

I give this 4 stars and I wouldn't make it again because their other version is better.

CHOCOLATE PUDDING CAKE from Pretty.Simple.Sweet.

This comes from Pretty.Simple.Sweet. My only complaint is that the pudding part is very bitter from way too much cocoa powder. It only needed no more than half the amount called for but I stuck with the recipe and used the full amount. I shouldn't have and I'm ticked at myself. I've been making these cakes for 15 years and have had to adjust the amount of cocoa most of the time.

I used half the amount of vanilla and it was enough. The full recipe called for almost one tablespoon (2/3 of one, anyway.) I like the combination of both brown and white sugar in the pudding and for that reason alone I'll make this again. The amount of salt and cocoa in the cake was perfect and I added a pinch to the pudding mixture too since I always do. I put my piece of cake upside down in the bowl so you could see the pudding and I always eat it with vanilla ice cream.

I grade this an A- and not an A solely because of too much cocoa in the pudding.

EPIC'S HOT FUDGE PUDDING CAKE from Epicurious

This comes from Epicurious. I made half in a 9"/2 qt. stoneware dish. I added 1 t. pure vanilla extract to the cake though the recipe called for none. It turned out great, no complaints. I did omit one tablespoon of cocoa powder from the pudding part because I was worried it would be too bitter. I baked this on 350, not 325.

"ESPECIALLY DARK" CAKE from Hershey's

Excellent recipe. It comes from Hershey's. This is my first time using Dutch process cocoa powder. I used Hershey's brand and they call theirs "Special Dark." I did use one less tablespoon for half the recipe. This is one of those cakes that uses vegetable oil and you add boiling water at the end. This has to be the six or seventh one like it that I've made over the last ten years. It's as moist as a boxed Devil's Food cake and just as good, if not better, tasting. 

I made half the recipe and used this Wilton 8-cavity mini loaf pan. My eight mini loaves baked in 17 minutes and I used just over 1/3 c. batter for each (each cavity holds 2/3 c.), to half made a little less than 2 3/4 c. batter. I would suggest you use 9"x2" baking pans and not the standard 1.5" deep ones. These are sticky but after cooling only the top remains (very) sticky. Make sure you line your baking pan fully with foil or parchment paper, or use liners for cupcakes. 

I made my own pourable chocolate glaze for the tops of these. The frosting Herhey's uses for this recipe is similar but you only melt the butter, not the milk too. I couldn't use that because for half the recipe, which is what I'd have needed, they have you use 1/3 c. Dutch process cocoa (5 1/3. T.) I only used 1.5 T., almost 1/4 c. less. I used my own buttercream frosting recipe (using Blue Bonnet spread and an almost equal amount of shortening) and layered it between each loaf that I'd cut in half after they'd cooled, then poured my cooled down thick glaze on it. Each little loaf is about 2" tall after frosting and glazing it.

I grade this recipe an A++ even though I used one less tablespoon of cocoa.

CHOCOLATE CAKE from Crisco®

This recipe is from Crisco®. It's made with all shortening. I made half the recipe and instead of using a 9" round, I used two 6"x2" rounds*. They baked in 22 minutes in a Breville Smart Oven. The frosted cake is only 3.5" tall. I doubled the vanilla. This needed a little more salt. It's moist but lacks flavor. I think it has too much cocoa powder. So less cocoa and more salt would have likely made a difference. Twenty-four hours later it seemed to be just as moist but close to two days later it was drier. For those reasons I wouldn't make it again because I've had better.

I grade this a B. 

*I bought the set of pans from Amazon. Model number 21055636.

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CAKE from Ina Garten

This recipe comes from Ina herself at her site Barefoot Contessa. I made half the recipe, which yielded one 9"x5" 2 qt. loaf, and it baked in 42 minutes. I made a thick vanilla glaze for it. I omitted the coffee granules. I used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of full size ones. It's incredibly moist with an ultra-fine crumb. The only negative is that it tastes very buttery, which I don't care for. Flavorwise this reminds me of most homemade brownies that I've made with all butter.

I grade this a B and I wouldn't make it again because of the strong butter flavor.

HERSHEY'S OLD FASHIONED CAKE from Hershey's

This comes from Hershey's. I made half and got ten cupcakes. It tastes basically like boxed Devil's Food Cake, so I'm real happy with it. I did use 1/4 c. of cocoa powder, not 1/3 c., not weighed out, and I doubled the vanilla. I made my own vanilla buttercream frosting for it. The cake is made with water though I wonder how it would do with milk, or part milk, part water. It's very moist and I'd definitely make this again. 

I grade this an A.

CHOCOLATE PUDDING CAKE II from AllRecipes

This is your typical chocolate pudding cake and the recipe is from All Recipes. You have an eggless chocolate cake batter that you pour a mixture of sugar, cocoa, and hot water over once it's in the baking dish. I used a 1.5 quart dish. The cake bakes normally and the sauce that you poured on top ends up on the bottom and thickens slightly, making a "pudding." I followed the instructions for the cake but for the pudding I only used half the amount of brown sugar and half the amount of cocoa because it made no sense to use the full amount called for. Even with me using just half the amount of cocoa and sugar it was still too much cocoa for that amount of sugar and was slightly bitter before baking but after it baked, it seemed alright. The cake itself had a good flavor along the edges.

I grade this an A because of the changes I made.

COOKIES AND CREAM OREO BUNDT CAKE from Bunsen Burner Bakery

I'm reviewing the cake only, which came from Bunsen Burner Bakery. I used my own frosting recipe to which I added crushed Oreo cookies, about three tablespoons worth from about two or three Oreos. I made half the cake in a 9" x 1.5" pan and it baked in 23 minutes. It uses melted butter and the usual ingredients, aside from black cocoa, which I didn't use. I used all regular cocoa powder as the recipe said we could do, minus two tablespoons. I left the chopped cookie pieces out of the batter. It's a good cake that I'm happy with but I've made better tasting ones.

I grade it a B.

THE BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE from Sugar Spun Run

This recipe comes from Sugar Spun Run. I turned this chocolate cake recipe into a Mississippi Mud Cake, which is a chocolate cake that has mini marshmallows, in my case marshmallow creme, spread on top and topped with a pourable chocolate frosting that sets up as it sits. My review is for the cake itself. It's extremely moist but it's bitter from too much cocoa and possibly too much baking soda. Usually a 9" cake will need no more than 1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa in my opinion and this used two tablespoons more, so I'd like to try it again with less cocoa.

I grade this a B.

HOT FUDGE CHOCOLATE PUDDING CAKE from Cafe Delights

This recipe comes from Cafe Delights. I used one less tablespoon of cocoa powder in the cake and one less tablespoon in the pudding and the cake part was still bitter but edible. I've been making pudding cakes for 14 years and I knew this recipe called for way too much cocoa in each of the two parts so instead of using just two tablespoons in the cake like I wanted, which is half of what's called for, I cut back by just one because I didn't want to tamper too much with it. I'll make this again but my way.

I grade this a B because of the issue with cocoa amount.

BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE from Life, Love and Sugar

This recipe comes from Life, Love and Sugar. I made half of this cake and I've made it twice. I didn't use the frosting recipe. I left out two tablespoons of cocoa and this turned out great. It's one of those cakes, and there are many of them on the Internet, that use vegetable oil instead of butter, and you pour boiling water or coffee into the batter right at the very end. You cannot go wrong with those type, usually. I do advise you to line your baking pan completely with foil that's sprayed with nonstick spray or use nonstick foil if you plan to remove the cake from the pan you baked it in. The cake is very sticky and wants to stick to the pan. If you only line the bottom, like I did the first time, you're going to have a problem. The first time I made this I used a round 9" x 1.5" pan and it baked in 20 minutes. The second time I used a square 8" x  2" pan and it took four minutes longer since it's a deeper pan.

I grade this an A+.

BAKING STEP BY STEP: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO START BAKING NOW! by Better Homes and Gardens

PUBLISHER:  BHG, 3/2015
GENRE: Cookbooks/Baking
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: A-

FROM PUBLISHER: Better Homes and Gardens Baking Step by Step is the ultimate guide and idea-generator for anyone who wants to learn to bake or hone their technique. This stunning book uses clear, step-by-step photos—more than 900 of them—to illustrate essential skills from folding batter to forming a lattice pie crust. Home bakers can make 350 classic and modern treats, both sweet and savory.

Learn to roll and bake the perfect flaky tart or frost and decorate a celebration-worthy cake—or start simple with Peanut Butter Blondie Bars or Blueberry Crisp; Skill Level icons flag recipes easy, easier, or easiest to make. Complete with an Intro to Baking covering everything from stocking the kitchen to using a rolling pin, this colorful book makes baking fun and accessible for everyone.

THINGS I'VE BAKED 

TWO-CHEESE VEGETABLE QUICHE

Now this was good and is something I'll make for the rest of my life. It has eggs, a little milk, two cheeses, finely chopped carrot, condensed cream of broccoli soup, garlic, pepper, and I used dried chives in place of fresh green onion. This is basically a frittata in a pie crust with the addition of soup- anything you'd add to your scrambled eggs/omlet you can add to this, including leftover finely chopped cooked veggies and any seasonings you'd like. You could also use condensed cream of potato (which has good flavor. I use it for pot pie) or cream of mushroom.

You prebake the pie crust for about 15 minutes at a high temperature, which I don't think is necessary, pour your egg mixture into it, and bake until a toothpick comes out clean. That will happen after the top browns slightly and puffs up. Mine baked in 37 minutes on 350 degrees. It was almost 1 1/2 c. too much mixture for a standard 9"/1qt. pie plate so I had to throw the extra out. Next time I'll use my 10" pie plate. I think there's a bit too much cheese, 1c. total, so I'll cut back next time. I finely chopped my cheese instead of shredding it in the food processor. I won't use a crust next time either- I'll line the pie plate with foil and spray it generously with nonstick cooking spray and pour the mixture right into it. The egg will set up and be firm and will come right out of the foil-lined dish. If you love the taste of store-bought or homemade pie crust, use it. I don't care for crust so the foil method will be what I use.

EDIT: I made this using foil sprayed heavily with nonstick cooking spray and the egg stuck just a little in a few places. I made it again a few weeks later using nonstick foil and nothing stuck at all.

The quiche bakes up to a pretty thin layer, just under an inch in height. This doesn't get that awful browned egg taste either.

HERBED CHEESE AND BACON BISCUITS

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These didn't turn out too good. They're doughy inside, outside has a smooth batter-type look, and they barely browned on top. The flavor is alright. I can't taste the herbed cheese much and I can't taste the cooked onion at all. I didn't use bacon. The bottom of the biscuit has a good taste. I definitely wouldn't make these again.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

This cake is perfect but needed a pinch more salt. Tastes like a boxed devil's food cake and uses unsweetened cocoa powder. I made half the recipe and lined the bottom of the pan with wax paper for easy removal of the cake. There was too much batter for a 9" x 1 1/2" round pan but it didn't spill over. You can see in my photo that the cake is thick because of it. I recommend using 9" x 2" round pans for this if you have them. It took 28 minutes to bake.

You can't really see it in the photo but I made a chocolate pourable frosting for this then put my own thicker vanilla frosting on top of that. This recipe gives you several frosting options but I chose to use my own. Very good and very simple to make, and I'll definitely continue to make this.

Edit- The recipe is on their site here and here.

CHOCOLATE CHIP-OATMEAL CAKE

This is a unique cake. You soak quick oats in boiling water for a short time. This also has a minuscule amount of unsweetened cocoa powder in it, 1 tablespoon for full recipe, and full size chocolate chips. It's very moist but has a slight spongy texture and needs more salt, probably 1/4 teaspoon more for half the cake. It's a bit off-tasting but that seemed to get better the next day. The chocolate chips sunk to the bottom. Because of the sponginess I wouldn't make this again though it's not a bad recipe.

I made half the recipe in an 8" x 2" round pan. I lined the bottom of the pan with wax paper for easy cake removal. It baked in 30 minutes. The recipe didn't call for vanilla extract but I added some. I used mini semisweet chocolate chips in the batter and they sunk to the bottom. I didn't sprinkle nuts and chocolate chips on top before baking like the recipe stated to do but did make my own pourable chocolate frosting for it and sprinkled it with lightly toasted and chopped pecans.

Pourable chocolate frosting: In microwave-safe quart size bowl heat together 2 tablespoons butter or margarine and 4 1/2 teaspoons whole milk until the butter has melted. Add to that 1 cup powdered sugar, one tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, and 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract. Mix well and pour over cooled cake. It will firm up slightly as it sits but will remain a bit moist. You can make this a thicker frosting by using room temperature butter and room temperature milk and beating all ingredients together at once with a hand mixer.

SUGAR COOKIE CUTOUTS

I added lemon extract to this dough. I formed the dough into a plastic wrapped log and refrigerated it to make them slice 'n bake cookies instead of rolling them out and using cookie cutters. I got twenty-two 1/2" slices/2" diameter cookies that baked up to be 2 3/4" wide. I baked them for nine minutes. These smell and taste good but they're cake-like and I'm not happy about that. The dough never got very firm and I just don't think this would make a good rollout dough. I through the remaining dough in the trash.

STREUSEL COFFEE CAKE

I made half of this in an 8" x 2" round pan. I lined the bottom with wax paper. This cake is supposed to have blueberries and a mixture of brown sugar and pecans layered between the batter and sprinkled on top. I used drained tart pitted cherries tossed with almond extract in place of blueberries, ground almonds and a mixture of light brown sugar and white sugar in the streusel instead of all brown sugar. The recipe had no salt in it so I added 1/4 teaspoon and it was perfect. The cake is alright, nothing special, and not as moist as I'd hoped. The flavor is decent but the moisture from the cherries mixing with the sugar from the streusel made it soggy in the middle. The amount of glaze I made was enough. You'll need to use at least three bowls to make this. I wouldn't make this again.

CHOCOLATE PECAN PIE

This recipe turned out to be almost perfect. I overcooked mine a little, which caused the pecans to overbrown, be a touch bitter, and store-bought crust to crumble away on the outside (which is fine by me since I don't like crust). I made half the recipe in my mothers ancient (from about the early 1980's) clear mini Pyrex pie plate. It's has a 2 1/2 c. capacity and measures internally 7" x 1 1/2".

I don't know why this recipe didn't have salt in it but I added 1/4 t. and it was perfect, even with the salty margarine I used. I used 1/3 c. bittersweet chocolate chips since I didn't have semisweet and I used 2/3 c. chopped pecans. It cooled at room temperature for almost three hours before I cut into it. It was still slightly warm but it held its shape perfectly when cut. This will be my go-to pecan pie recipe, with or without chocolate, and I'll make sure to not overbrown it. The pie didn't taste as burnt as it looks!

WHITE CAKE

These cupcakes turned out perfectly. I made just half the recipe and made cupcakes instead of a round cake. I used foil liners. I got ten standard size cupcakes that baked in 16-17 minutes. To the batter I added half of a small jar of maraschino cherries that were drained and puréed in the food processor for four seconds. The cake uses egg whites, not whole eggs, that don't have to be whipped up separately. It's extremely moist. I added 1/8 teaspoon of almond extract, which I always add to batter that uses maraschino cherries, but I couldn't taste it so I'll need to use 1/4 teaspoon next time. I made my own buttercream frosting for it though the recipe gave me several frosting options to use with it.

Edit- The recipe can be found here.

CHERRY COBBLER

This was great. I love tart cherries but hardly ever use them. I made a little less than the recipe stated. I used three cans of drained tart pitted cherries plus part of another can, for about 5 cups total, not six like the recipe stated. I used 1/4 cup less sugar and slightly less corn starch. I added 1/4 teaspoon of salt though the recipe called for none. Salt is 100% necessary in this filling. I added 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract and its taste is subtle and perfect. The mixture is a little too juicy and needed more corn starch. Next time I'll spoon off some of the sauce before baking it. The topping is a moist drop topping. You cut cold butter into dry ingredients then stir in an egg and milk and drop it evenly over the batter. I added 1/4 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract to the mixture. The topping needs more sugar but other than that, it's good. Good recipe and I'll make half next time.

I used Oregon™ red tart cherries. One can drained is about 1 1/2 cups.

CRANBERRY POUND CAKE

I cut this recipe in half and made six jumbo cupcakes (twice the size of standard ones) instead, using a heaping 1/3 c. of batter for each one. As you can see that was all the batter needed to fill these. I added orange extract too and slightly more dried cranberries than called for though they needed more. These could use more sugar too. The texture is nice but these aren't as moist as I'd hoped even though the batter has sour cream in it. In fact it's pretty dry. I also made a glaze for them. They baked in 25 minutes. I don't think I'd make these again.

DESSERT OVEN PANCAKE

This is baked egg custard so I'm not sure why they've called it a 'pancake', which is nothing like custard. It's very good and very unhealthy. It's made with three eggs, cream, whole milk (I just used half and half), and some other basic things.

I used very thinly sliced apples layered between the batter in place of plums or pears and I added cinnamon to the batter. Some of the apples rose to the top. I can't taste the salt at all so I'll double it next time to 1/4 teaspoon. I used far less vanilla than called for. I baked this the full time given, 55 minutes, in a 9" pie plate (1 quart capacity). It deflated to just under 1" in thickness. We were to 'generously grease' the dish so I just lined it with nonstick foil. I dusted the top with powdered sugar just for looks. This has the right amount of sugar in it. This tastes very good and I'll continue to make it. This can be made in a round or rectangular dish instead of a pie dish.

CHUNKY PATH BROWNIES

Chocolate never tasted so good. These cake-like brownies are make with a small amount of cocoa powder that you heat with butter and water, then mix into the rest of the ingredients. I made half in an 8"pan and they baked in 25 minutes. They're pretty thick, about 1 3/4", so I'd make them in a 9" square pan next time. I didn't put mini marshmallows on top nor did I make the chocolate 'topper' to pour on top of them. These needed double the salt since I can't even tell these have any in it, and that's with me already doubling the salt to 1/4 teaspoon. I dusted the top with powdered sugar and cut them into six pieces.

 

MY THOUGHTS: What fun it was baking from this for months. The book is a large paperback that's in full-color. There's photos for every recipe though not always of the finished product. The recipes are very simple to make, nothing complicated, fancy, or too time consuming, except for some yeast bread recipes. This has mostly sweets/dessert recipes with only a few biscuit and yeast bread categories. I would have liked more cookie recipes.

Only five out of twelve recipes that I've made are ones I wouldn't make again. There are so many more that I plan to try in the future. The two-cheese vegetable quiche recipe alone is worth more than the price of the book, as well as the chocolate cake recipe. The biscuits were the most disappointing.

I received this from the publisher in 2016 in exchange for an honest review.