2 Minute Vegan Chocolate Mug Cake

I have seen many recipes for the single serve 2 or 5 minute mug cake. I admit I was a bit leery of them; I didn’t think they could taste very good. Oh, how wrong I was.

A month or so ago I was craving some kind of chocolate dessert. One problem, I was out of eggs, a key ingredient. I look at numerous websites, looking at recipes, trying to find a non-egg version. No luck. No problem, I thought, I’ll just make up my own, which is what I proceeded to do. The first draft was pretty dry, but edible. So I spent a lot of time tweaking and changing ratios and ingredients, until I finally achieved what I was looking for, a dark, moist, chocolaty cake.

I have made it will all the add-ins I listed. Sometimes alone, others times I’d combine them.

Another thing I did was experiment with oats for flour, just to try to make it a bit more “healthy.”

The best thing about this recipe is that in under 5 minutes of a chocolate craving, you'll be digging into a delicious chocolaty delight.

Toasted Coconut Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream Frosting

I have been a horrible food blogger. I barely cook anymore; too much energy is required. I made these cupcakes recently. I knew Mr.Surly wouldn't touch them because they have coconut in them. They were a great accompaniment to my morning coffee.

My frosting didn't turn out well, it was kinda runny. I needed to add more powdered sugar (I added less than what the recipe calls for), but I didn't because I didn't want an instant cavity from too sweet frosting. Luckily, these were rolled in toasted coconut so you can't even see the no-so-pretty icing.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

I have really been slacking in the kitchen lately. Poor Mr.Surly, I'm barely able to scrape together enough food to feed him; I just don't have the energy. I'm going through a "rough patch" medically, waiting for it to pass so I can get back in the kitchen. I have a long list of recipes bookmarked I need to get started on.

I forced myself to make these cupcakes because I have been craving chocolate and peanut butter. Maybe because Target is in Easter mode and I saw my favorite treat; Reese peanut butter eggs. But since my stomach can't handle them right now, I thought I'd try to incorporate these flavors in cupcake, not candy, form.

The result was phenomenal. The cupcakes are moist and spongy, and the frosting tastes just like bakery icing--extremely sugary sweet, which complemented the cupcake perfectly. I even left out some of the sugar the recipe called for in the icing. I'm glad I did that, otherwise, to me, the frosting would have been too sweet and sugary.

Dark Chocolate Espresso Cake

I should call this cake death by chocolate it's so rich. The first time I had this recipe was 2 years ago, when I was gluten free (for my elimination diet). It was love at first bite. I like that this flourless cake doesn't have a lot of butter in it. A lot of flourless chocolate cake recipes call for 2 sticks of butter--no thank you, my stomach would be in knots for days.

This recipe is perfect. The cake is so dense,moist, and delicious. It's wonderful served with whipped cream and raspberries. A note about the cake; it rises when it bakes and falls when it cools, resulting in a crackled top. But don't worry, the cake will be gone before anyone notices a cracked top.

Tiramisù

Here is another recipe typed up from my sister. We both love tiramisù. I remember the summer I spent in Italy, I ordered tiramisù while out to dinner with my cousin and her friend while visiting Milan. The waiter, who had been friendly and joking with us American girls, stood behind me and, putting his arms around me, picked me up. I was confused. He then explained to us that, in Italian, tiramisù, literally means "pick me up." Don't worry if you find this dessert a bit runny, authentic Italian tiramisù should be that way. It's an involved recipe that takes a bit more effort to make, but in the end it's worth the extra work.

Also, sorry about the crappy photos. I forgot to take my camera flash to Philly, so the photos didn't turn out well. But don't worry, it still tasted amazing.

And now onto my lovely sister for the recipe.....

Tiramisù is one of my favorite desserts. I’ve started with Williams-Sonoma’s recipe and found it made WAY too much, so after many experimentations, I came up with these ingredient proportions that make just the right amount for me. This recipe is a commitment; however, even with using an electric mixer to perform the whisking, be prepared to use a lot of cooking bowls and utensils (for those more along the lines of being culinary neophytes, although it may be tempting to just reuse your whisk(s) and bowls between steps, remember the cream and egg whites (separately) should be whisked in a clean bowl with a clean whisk. Get a sink full of soapy water and wash things in between steps (running under cold water for the final rinse) if needed.

So yes, afterward you may find yourself surrounded by a mound of accouterments, but since this delectable treat won’t be ready for 4 hours, this can be time well-spent.

No Bake Cookies

I haven't had a no bake cookie in a long time; I almost forgot about them. I remember when they were popular back when I was growing up; we used to make them often. I love chocolate and peanut butter, separately, together. Recently, I came across this recipe from my aunt for them and thought they would be perfect to make during these hot, summer temperatures. As an added bonus, they are quick to make, which is necessary for me, since recently I have been feeling more sick than usual.

I was a bit worried about making them with natural peanut butter and, as feared, they turned out to be runny. No problem, the next time I made them (the first batch didn't last long) I added more oats and it took care of the problem. I ended up with beautiful, delicious no bake cookies.

White Chocolate Macadamia Biscotti

I’m finally getting around to posting some recipes. I have just been so exhausted and lethargic the past week or two, all I felt like doing was sleep. But this week I’m trying to get caught up in posting. I wish I had an assistant to help me take and edit the photos, as well as type out the recipes and posts.

I love to have some kind of treat with my morning cappuccino. Biscotti is a favorite, so are cookies, date bars, etc. I had some macadamias, and decided to make a biscotti version of the best cookie ever. It took me a few attempts to get the right ratio of dry to wet ingredients, but all the disasters were still delicious, even if they were too crumbly.

These went fast, I had them with my morning coffee and again in the afternoon with some chai tea. Next time I’m going to make two loaves, as even Mr.Surly was a fan.

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

I have been trying to make some kind of new dessert this week. Monday, I tried to make a pie, but the filling didn’t set so it was really runny. I just chalked it up to being crazy on meds and forgetting to add some important ingredient. Besides, I’ve never been successful in making a fruit pie, despite numerous attempts. Tuesday, I decided to stick to what I know and make some biscotti.

This is how it turned out:



Disastrous, but delicious.

Still undeterred, I decided on Wednesday to make cupcakes. Finally, success! Third time must be the charm.

And the best thing about making eggless cupcakes; licking the bowl and not worrying about salmonella.

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I meant to post these earlier, but have just been feeling really run down and lethargic lately. I have some pictures I need to edit and posts I need to write. I woke up this morning and didn’t realize until I went to the grocery store that it was St. Patrick’s Day. Ooops. So I hurried to get this recipe posted today.

I originally wanted to make chocolate stout cupcakes for St. Patrick’s Day, but I didn’t have all the ingredients. So, instead, I decided to make these mint cupcakes. I figured the green icing would be Irish enough.

I knew I would not be allowed to eat these, since chocolate is on my “foods to avoid” list. Let me tell you, it’s really hard to give up chocolate and cocoa. But, if it makes me feel better, it may be worth it. I’m still trying to figure out the whole low oxalate thing, so I decided to cheat and eat one of these cupcakes. I mean, how could I post a dessert I hadn’t even tried? Yum, it was delicious. I love the combination of chocolate and mint.

You must add the ganache to these cupcakes, trust me. Mr. Surly, being eager to eat this tasty treat, grabbed one of the iced cupcakes before I had added the ganache. He said it was just ok. Once I gave him the ganached topped cupcake to try, he declared them perfect; the ganache just tied all the flavors together. He really liked theses cupcakes a lot, he asked me if I had done anything different when making these. I told him I just followed the recipe. He just seemed to like these better than the previous cupcakes I’ve made. I think it’s just how all the flavors come together, complimenting each other.

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I love chocolate and peanut butter, separately, together, it doesn’t really matter. So I was devastated this week when I found out that soon, probably this week, I would need to go on a low oxalate diet; chocolate and peanut butter are two of the foods not allowed. 

This is the story of how it all went down. If you aren’t interested in my medical issues, just scroll on down to the delicious truffle recipe. 

It all started this week when my nephrologist was analyzing a urine sample I had dropped off at his request that morning. Around noon he asks me to immediately come to the hospital to get a CT scan; my urine had tiny crystals of oxalate suggesting I had a kidney stone. Half an hour later, the doctor is giving me literature on kidney stones, a fun funnel to strain my urine, a prescription and a low oxalate diet guide. Then he sends me down to radiology for my scan and I’m sent home. 

A few hours later the doctor calls to tell me I definitely have a small kidney stone. He tells me there is some underlying GI issue/syndrome that has caused my kidney stone, and quite possibly my gall stones back in 2009. As to what this undiagnosed issue is, he is unsure, but he will be discussing it with my GI doctor. Also, this stone is not causing my daily chronic pain, but it probably accounts for the severe night pain attacks I suffer where my body temp drops, I break out into a cold sweat, and it feels like someone is squeezing all the air out of me. 

 I admit I’m extremely nervous about passing this stone; I hear it can be quite painful. I’m drinking all kinds of fluids, juice, water, tea, Gatorade, even adding lemon to help breakup the stone and hurry along the process. I’ve got a bottle of painkillers within arm’s reach for when the pain starts. I just hate the waiting and not knowing when it will be over. 

Once I pass the stone, they will analyze it while I start on the low oxalate diet. Basically, all the foods I eat and love are going to be forbidden to me: green leafy veggies, sweet potatoes, whole wheat, berries, eggplant, chocolate, peanut butter, walnuts (any nuts), chai tea, etc. How could healthy eating cause a kidney stone? I don't understand. I have no idea what I’m going to eat. I’d just go back to being vegan, except soy and soy products are on the list of foods to avoid. But I’m used to rearranging my diet due to my GI issues, so I will just have to sit down and plan my meals more carefully. Until then I’m stuffing myself with all my food favorites, including these truffles. 

  

I Wanna Dip My (Cake) Balls In It!

Unless you watched The State you probably don’t get the title of my post.

Does anyone else remember the sketch comedy show “The State” that was on Mtv in the early 90’s? I think it came on after 120minutes. OMG, my sister and I loved that show. Barry and Levon were probably our favorite characters. $240 worth of chocolate pudding, anyone? We waited and waited for years for it to be released on dvd. It finally was back in may/jun of 2009. My sister pre-ordered copies for each of us on amazon and sent me mine while I was in the hospital recovering from my cholecystectomy (gall bladder surgery).

Louie was a recurring character on The State who carried around ping pong balls exclaiming, “I wanna dip my balls in it!” to everything. If you want to check a sketch with Louie, and get a good laugh click here. Each time I dipped my cake balls, I kept chuckling to myself thinking of that skit.

Anyway, back to the cake balls. I went straight to the authority, Bakerella, for instructions. It didn't look too difficult, sounded like something I could handle.

It took me three days to make these, but not because they were difficult, but because I was sick. I baked the cake one day. Then the next day I broke it up. I started trying to crumble it with my fingers, but that wasn’t very effective. So I used my hand mixer--not such a good idea. I had pieces of cake flying out everywhere. Once I added the frosting that helped out a bit with flying cake crumbs.

When it came time to roll the balls, I used various sizes of heart shaped cookie cutters to make cute hearts. I also left some round balls as well for variety.


By the time I had all the balls rolled and the cleaned cake off the walls and floor of the kitchen I had no more energy to dip the balls. So I covered the cake balls with waxed paper and left them in the fridge overnight.

Finally, on the third day I was ready to dip and decorate. Having never made cake balls before, I tweeted out asking for any tips/tricks. Haley, from The Girly Girl Cooks advised me to put a bit of shortening in the chocolate to help thin it out. It worked great, thanks Haley, for the tip!

I used dark chocolate and red vanilla wafers to dip. Once the balls were dry I added detail. I put a couple Tbls of chocolate and vanilla chips in snack sized Ziploc bags, and cut of the tiniest portion of the corner to pipe on designs and words. I added a bit of red food coloring to the white chocolate chips to make some pink for piping.

Since it made so many I put some in the freezer so that I can pull more out as needed. I'm definitely hooked on the cake ball craze.


If anyone has any more tips/tricks/hints, please, leave them in the comments.

White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

This week has been incredibly busy for me; full of errands and appointments. It’s been pretty stressful, therefore I decided I needed a special treat; I went with my favorite cookies.

A few years ago, I worked with a girl named Zara. She was from Sri Lanka and was (and is) the most genuinely nicest person I have ever met to date. I never saw her upset, nor even irritated. She would often bring some kind of baked treat to our meetings; cupcakes, cookies, etc. One day she brought these cookies. I think they were gone within 10 minutes. Everyone loved them and no one could stop eating them. I begged her for the recipe and, lucky for me, she gave me a copy. Thank you, Zara, for the best cookie I’ve ever eaten.

Be careful if you make these, you won’t be able to stop eating them.

Triple Layer Cheesecake

I have wanted to make this cheesecake for a long time. I was just waiting until all the Christmas treats were gone. This recipe is courtesy of my grandma. Recently, I inherited all her recipes. After she passed away in 2007 they originally went to my aunt. A couple months ago I was craving my Grammy’s roast beef; it was her signature dish. Anytime I went to visit her (which was often) she would make it for me. I never thought to ask her for the recipe. Therefore, I emailed my aunt, asking if she knew how to make this delectable roast beef. Lucky for me she did. That email was all the incentive my aunt needed as an excuse to bring me over a box containing all Grammy’s recipes. My aunt was looking for someone to pass these recipes along to the “next generation” she said, and since I was the first to inquire about a recipe, and she lives near me, she gave me the whole stash; a whole treasure trove of recipes for me to sift through at my leisure.

Some of the recipes are typed, some handwritten, others were clipped from various newspapers ranging anywhere from 1941-2004. I came across this cheesecake and stopped. I don’t remember my grandmother ever making cheesecake. So this recipe intrigued me. I wondered where (or from whom) the recipe came and if Grammy had ever made it. It sounded rich and decadent, exactly the thing to curb my recent chocolate craving.

Since there are only two of us, I reduced the recipe by 1/3 to make one small, 4 ½ inch cheesecake. I’m so glad I didn’t make the full amount, this cheesecake is so rich that I could only eat a small sliver. Each of us had a piece and there is still ¾ of the cheesecake remaining, but we both agreed this was really, really good. If you want a full-sized, 9 inch cheesecake, multiply the ingredients by three scroll to the bottom of the post. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is not going to last much longer in our fridge.

Macadamia Fudge

I love chocolate but I’m not a big fan of fudge. I think it’s because I feel like eating fudge is a waste of calories; I’d rather just eat a square of dark chocolate.

I don’t have a go-to fudge recipe since I don’t eat it so I started looking around for recipes. I admit I was nervous, especially after all the trouble I had last week with the mint recipe. Most of the simple and easy recipes called for a jar of marshmallow fluff or mini marshmallows. I detest marshmallows and marshmallow fluff; way too sweet and sugary for my taste. I found it difficult to find an easy fudge recipe that did not include this stuff. I learned in my recipe research that fudge gets its smooth consistency from careful temperature monitoring. For people who don’t want to fiddle around with a candy thermometer to maintain the perfect fudge cooking temperature, marshmallow fluff is the secret to smoothness. So what about people, like me, who don’t want to deal with a candy thermometer nor add a jar of marshmallow fluff?

There had to be a recipe out there for me so I kept searching for a fudge that sounded appealing. I finally settled on this marshmallow fluff-free recipe. It turned out to be pretty good, a bit on the sweet side, but still good. Using evaporated milk instead of sweetened condensed milk might cut down on the sweetness factor. I ended up making a full batch and froze some. Though, at the rate that Mr. Surly is eating them up, the frozen ones might not last much longer.

Tonight I head north to the city of Brotherly Love for the next week and a half to be with family for Christmas. I envision myself snuggled up on the couch, watching movies while being attended to by worried, loving family members. It will be wonderful to be coddled and made much of. Though I’m not looking forward to cold temps and snow.

Peppermint (Penguin) Patties

This week I really struggled for some reason. I picked out a chocolate mint candy recipe. But when I tried to make it, this is what I ended up with:



Fail.

This was supposed to be mint candy squares. But it failed to set up for me, even after hours in the fridge. Obviously, I left out something vitally important, I'm just not sure what. Oh well. I still haven’t decided what to do with it, maybe try to salvage it into mint truffles.

My second attempt was a recipe for peppermint patties. Things went well until I decided to add food coloring to make the filling a festive green color. After rummaging around the kitchen, I finally found my food coloring. I proceed to combine the red and blue dyes to achieve a jolly green hue. Did you catch that? Red and blue. As I mixed the colors, I was confused because I was getting purple not green. I thought my mistake was that I had too much blue, I needed to add more red. Nope, still not green. I go to grab the back of the box to see what I was doing wrong. I felt like an idiot when I realized that red+blue=purple and I should have done blue+yellow. And the real kicker is that I had a bottle of green food coloring in the box; I didn’t even need to mix colors. Here I am, the daughter of an artist/art teacher mother, and I couldn’t even remember the basic color wheel. I practically grew up in my mom's art studio. How embarrassing.

I do have an excuse, though. My GI doctor enrolled me in a clinical trial and the new medication I’m on is really affecting my mind. I thought I was crazy before, that was nothing compared to this. It’s a struggle for me to focus my mind on things. Perhaps this is why my first attempt at a minty dessert was a total disaster. Luckily, I’m only on this drug for 8 weeks. Then I can return to my original, slightly confused, state.

Finally, I attempted my third try at a mint treat; a new peppermint patty recipe that was simple; just a few ingredients. Third time’s the charm, right? Not quite for me. I wouldn’t call it a complete success, but at least this time it was my results were a bit more visually appealing. I used mini cookie cutters to make bite-sized mints. I haven’t had a peppermint pattie in years and found these surprisingly refreshing. I just wish they looked better. Oh well, maybe I’ll have better luck next week's treat.

Chocolate Espresso Shortbread Cookies

I’m slowly getting back into the kitchen this week. I haven’t made a dessert for us in awhile, and decided it was time to make one when I found Mr. Surly rummaging around the kitchen for something sweet. He’s used to having dessert around, since I’m supposed to be eating sugary delights, as per my doctor’s request. But with my new meds I have been constantly fatigued, the last thing I want to do is hang around the kitchen trying to bake. Since I really haven’t made anything in a (long) while, I forced myself to make a simple dessert. I chose this recipe because it required little prep time in the kitchen, with a break in between. I made the dough one day and baked the cookies the next day. I halved the recipe since there are just two of us and I don’t have much of an appetite. I chose to cut mine into bite-sized portions so they are easier for me to eat. These were good the day I made them, but even better the next. I had hoped they would be kinda crunchy and crisp, but these are soft. I don’t have any experience with shortbread so maybe that’s how they are supposed to be. They taste great and I feel that this halve recipe made the perfect amount of cookies. I think tonight I might serve them alongside some ice cream.

Dark Chocolate Espresso Bars

What is it about dark chocolate and espresso that is so magical when the two are paired? And why do I find myself craving chocolate more and more, the older I get? I have been craving chocolate espresso desserts recently. Since I haven’t been feeling well, I thought I could get away with buying some coffee flavored ice cream with dark chocolate chunks (specifically, Starbucks Java Frappuccino ice cream). It helped a little, but didn’t satiate my craving. Finally, I broke down and decided to make a simple dessert. While debating what kind of tasty treat to make, I remembered these bars. They are one of Mr. Surly’s favorite chocolate desserts. He’s not opposed to chocolate, but he’s not as into it as I am. “Perfect,” I thought, “I will make something Mr. Surly really likes, then I won’t be stuck eating the majority of the batch.” I’m pleased to say it worked--within days I watched, delighted, as these bars quickly disappeared. And I’m happy to report that I was not the one who ate more than half the batch.

These bars are dark, dense, and delicious, and the next day become even more fudgy. I cut mine into ~2 inch squares, which yields 16 bite-sized servings. Feel free to make your slices bigger. I love these plain, but they would be incredible with a small scoop of ice cream. Don’t feel guilty if you eat more than one at a time, I know I don’t.

Dark Chocolate Tartelettes with Gingersnap Crust

This week it was time to use up the extra ginger crinkles I had sitting around. I was really excited to make this chocolate tart. The original recipe makes one large tart, but I decided to halve the recipe and make individual tartelettes. With the hint of cinnamon, these tarts reminded me of the cappuccino brownies I made awhile ago. The combination of the gingersnap crust and the dark chocolate is fantastic. Next time (I will be making this again, for sure) I plan on adding a tsp or two of espresso powder because I just love the combination of chocolate and coffee. I had some strawberries in the fridge (since they are finally in season) which I used to garnish the tarts. You can’t go wrong with strawberries, dark chocolate, and whipped cream.

Mini Cappuccino Brownies

I love the combination of coffee and chocolate; I like to add espresso powder to regular chocolate desserts. While browsing Martha Stewart’s website these brownies caught my eye. I was intrigued by the addition of cinnamon and nutmeg. Usually, recipes just call for adding espresso or espresso powder to make a dessert cappuccino flavored whereas, this recipe also called for spices. I was anxious to make them and finally I felt well enough yesterday to make a simple dessert. They had great coffee flavor with hints of warm cinnamon; moist and almost fudgy. Even better the next day.