Fresh Pasta Dough

Mound the flour on a clean work surface. Hollow out the center making a well in the middle of the flour with steep sides.

 Break the eggs into the well.  At this point, you also have the option to flavor the pasta..use spinach, tomato paste, or fresh herbs.

 Add the salt, and olive oil to the hollow center and gently mix together with a fork. Gradually start incorporating the flour by pulling in the flour from the sides of the well. As you incorporate more of the flour, the dough will start to take shape.

 With your hands or a bench scraper continue working the dough until it comes together. If the dough is too dry, add a little water; if too wet or sticky, add a little flour.

Begin kneading the dough and keep kneading until it becomes smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. At this point, set the dough aside, cover it with plastic, and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes. You can store the dough in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, but allow it to return to room temperature before rolling it out.

Divide the pasta dough into 4 even sections. Keep each section covered with plastic wrap or a clean towel while you work with each one. Flour the dough, your rolling pin, your hands, and the work surface.

Flatten a dough piece into a thick oval disk with your hands. Flour a baking sheet for the rolled out finished pasta. Place the oval dough disk on a floured work surface, and sprinkle with additional flour. Begin rolling out the dough with a floured rolling pin working from the center of the dough outwards, constantly moving the dough and lifting it to make sure it's not sticking.

Either use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into strips, or flour the dough generously and roll into a tube.  Using a knife or bench scraper cut the dough into thin sections.  If making ravioli, cut into squares, fill, and seal with the prongs of a fork.  Or cut into thick strips for lasagna.

Unroll each section and place on floured cookie sheet.  Bring a large pot of water, oil, and salt to a boil.  Add fresh pasta, return to boil, and cook 7 minutes.

Pour into a strainer and enjoy with your favorite spaghetti sauce.

Grandma H's spaghetti sauce:

1/2 c onion slices

2 T olive oil

1 lb ground beef

2 cloves garlic

1 3 oz can mushrooms (I usually don't add this, not a huge mushroom fan)

4 cups canned tomatoes

2 8 oz cans tomato sauce

1 6 oz can tomato paste

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 t sage or oregano

1/2 t accent

1/4 t thyme

1 dash pepper

1 cup water

1 bay leaf

1/8-1/4 cup brown sugar

In a large skillet cook onion in hot oil until almost tender, but not brown.  Add garlic and ground beef, brown lightly.  add sliced mushrooms with liquid.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Simmer uncovered 2 hours or until thick, remove bay leaf.  (I put the lid halfway on while simmering)  Serve on hot spaghetti.

I hope you guys enjoyed it.  Sorry we ended up eating so late!!

Chocolate Couture Cake

This cake is really a tale of two cakes. A beautiful fairy tale in fact. One where two delicious cakes fell in love, got married and made an amazingly delicious baby. I came up with the idea for this cake last week while making the Chocolate Mousse Crunch Cake from our beloved friends at Our Best Bites. The cake calls for a baked Devil's Food cake, prepared according to the cake mix directions. Well, as soon as I read that, I thought to myself "hmm, this could definitely be better". This is due to the fact that I rarely make cake mixes without adding some "extras" to it. This made my mind think of Becky's Yummy Chocolate Cake recipe that I had also previously made. Ironically, or I'm going to say, by fate's design, Becky blogged about that cake that very day. We came to the conclusion that we needed to take these two awesome cakes to the next level by combining them. So there you have it, the tale of how this cake came to be.

Now, let's do this thing. Here's the rundown.

The Cake:

• 1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
• 1/2 Cup water
• 1/2 Cup oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 Cup sour cream
• 1 box instant chocolate pudding

You will mix all these ingredients together in a mixer for 10 minutes. Don't ask why, just do it. Because Becky said so okay?  Divide the batter evenly into two 8" round greased pans. Bake them in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 25-30 mins. Don't over bake these babies or you'll never forgive yourself. This cake when perfectly baked is moist and dense. 

The Chocolate Mousse:

 (This recipe was doubled to add additional mousse layers but you can choose to only to one mousse layer between 2 layers of cake. You know, if you're a sell out.)

• 1 tsp. unflavored gelatin
• 1 Tbsp. cold water
• 2 Tbsp. boiling water (just heat it in a small bowl in your microwave)
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 c. whipping cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla

In a small bowl, combine gelatin and cold water and allow to stand for about 1 minute. While gelatin is softening, bring 2 Tbsp. water to a boil in the microwave. Whisk into the softened gelatin and allow to cool slightly.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine sugar, cocoa powder, whipping cream, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until medium-stiff peaks form. Mix in gelatin mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Ganache Topping:

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Microwave together for a minute or so until the chocolate and cream are able to be stirred together into a smooth mixture. You may want to let it cool just a bit prior to pouring it over the cake.

Let's put this beauty together!

Begin by slicing your two layers in half, so you have four. Do this with a very sharp bread knife, preferably with the cake already chilled. (also, our layers were already pretty flat and level, but if yours aren't you'll want to level the top first)

Place the first layer, top side down. Spread a layer of mousse onto the layer of cake. I used a cake decorator but that's not necessary, just more fun.

Place the next layer of cake on top of that and repeat the process

And again....

After you place your top layer, you'll pour the ganache on the top.....

 Allow it to run down the sides....

isn't that looking divine?

If that wasn't enough, go ahead and sprinkle the top with Heath Toffee Bits, or crushed up Heath Bar, like we did (this part is optional and the cake is fantastic with or without)

Isn't it almost too pretty to eat?  

Well not as pretty as the layer cake Ashley made at our last meeting, but still pretty :)

 That definitely did not stop us.....

This cake is a great balance of rich and light flavors and textures and is sure to satisfy your chocolate craving! Make it for your foodie friends and they'll be impressed.

Layer Cake

Sorry it's taken so long to post this!
Here are the yummy food pics. 

Here's the recipe I used for the chocolate cake.  The recipe is intense to make, but so good.  I like it because it doesn't dome or sink.  I like the advice of putting a paper towel (or cooking spray) down on the rack when you get them out of the pan.  I made the cake the night before.  Chocolate cake tastes better after it's settled overnight. 

Here's the recipe for the filling and frosting.  The marshmallow cream is so yummy! The frosting, I didn't care for it (a whole pound of butter is too much).  I would use a different chocolate frosting.

Tips & Tricks for Splitting Cakes: from Sweetapolita
1. Always start with a cold cake: refrigerate for about 2 hours or freeze for about 30 minutes
2. With a good quality serrated knife (I only use my favorite Mac 10 1/2″ serrated bread knife–this thing is insanely sharp), trim any doming off the top of each layer.
3. Measure the height of your layer with a ruler, then create a score line on the halfway mark all the way  around the outside of the cake.
4. Lower yourself to almost eye-level to the cake. With a gentle sawing motion, slowly move the knife gradually towards the center of the cake, then turn cake 1/4 turn, and repeat until you have cut through the entire layer.

Also more good tips:
50 Tips for Baking Better Cakes

Recipe for simple syrup you can put on your cake or cupcakes to make them more moist. You brush it very lightly on or spray it on.  This is what the pros do.

Cheesecake

I am a HUGE Cheesecake fan, and this is by far the best cheesecake I have ever had. Its baked (the way cheesecake should be made) and it is very creamy and tastes awesome.

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 pkg. graham crackers
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter

Filling:
2-8 oz. softened cream cheese (soften at room temp for 2-3 hours.)
1 1/2 cups sour cream
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp. melted butter
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 325.
Combine crust ingredients in spring form pan, or pie plate.

Using a fork, mix together and shape into crust. Set aside.

In a blender, or food processor, combine all the filling ingredients until very smooth. No lumps people!

Pour the filling into the crust.

Bake at 325 for 35 minutes (or more) until cheesecake is set (doesn't wiggle in pan). No wiggling people. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

OBB Top Secret PB Cup Cheesecake Tarts

Okay...so I'm not sure if they'll post this on the Our Best Bites site or not, so I thought I'd better share it with you just in case. Since we're the honorary fan-club and all I figured they wouldn't mind.

 They are SO. GOOD.

Recipe from www.ourbestbites.com. Visit their site!!!

Hope you can read this....I was too lazy to type it all up, so I just scanned it. 

May need to click on the image and make it larger to read it well enough.

Cheese Soufflé

This is the Classic Cheese Soufflé Recipe from Betty Crocker.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Dash of ground red pepper
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz.) *
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
  
  When cooking, I like to use sharp Cheddar cheese because it always brings our the flavor a lot better.
  

Directions

Heat oven to 350. Butter 1-quart soufflé dish or casserole. Melt butter in 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt, and red pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in cheese until melted; remove from heat.

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in medium bowl with electric mixer on high speed until stiff but not dry; set aside. Beat egg yolks on high speed about 3 minutes or until very thick and lemon colored; stir into cheese mixture. Stir about 1/4 of the egg whites into cheese mixture. Fold cheese mixture into remaining egg whites. Carefully pour into souffle dish.

Bake 50-60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. Divide souffle into sections on individual plates and serve immediately.

Cannoli

I have always wanted to try cannoli, but finding the perfect recipe was hard. I searched on many sites and in many books, and took a lot of tips from different recipes and here is what I came up with.

Cannoli

• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp finely grated orange zest
• 12 cannoli shells
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted

Directions:

Dip ends of cannoli shells into melted chocolate. Lay on parchment paper to dry.
In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on high speed, beat cream until stiff peaks form. Beat in ricotta, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and orange zest until well combined.

Place whipped cream filling into a piping bag and pipe mixture into shells. Lightly dust additional confectioners' sugar on top of cannoli (we forgot this step).

Makes 12 cannoli.

I think these were really yummy, but the filling was a little too thin. I think I may have added too much riccotta cheese. However, I did add more powdered sugar to try and thicken it, and it didn't seem to work. Still yummy though!