Chocolate Pudding Pie

Chocolate Pudding Pie

My son, who is 12 and my daughter, 14, are turning into able bakers in their own right. Both of them have no problem banging out a homemade chocolate cake, or a  batch of cookies or cupcakes. A couple of nights ago they announced they were going to make homemade chocolate pudding and that became the inspiration for their delicious Chocolate Pudding Pie. The pudding recipe is one I often used as a kid, which brought back memories of my early days in the kitchen as we all enjoyed this creamy chocolate pie.

Chocolate Crumb Crust

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

Mix together:

1 1/3 cups chocolate cookie crumbs

2 tbsp sugar

1/3 cup melted butter

Press evenly into the bottom and sides of a 9 inch glass pie pan and bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Chocolate Pudding Filling

In the microwave, scald almost to the boiling point:

2 1/2 cups whole milk

Sift together:

4 rounded tbsp flour

6 rounded tbsp cocoa

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

It is a good idea to run this mix through a sieve or flour sifter to ensure that there are no small lumps of cocoa in it.

Add the mixture to a medium sized pot over medium low heat and immediately add about 1/3 of the milk, stirring constantly. When the mixture begins to thicken, add another third of the milk and when that begins to thicken, add the final third of the milk. You have to stir this continuously during the cooking time. 

In a large measuring cup, whisk together 

3 egg yolks

Before adding the whisked egg yolks you have to temper them with some of the pudding to ensure they don't scramble and produce lumps. To do this, working as quickly as you can, remove from the heat and just add a ladle full of the pudding mixture to the egg yolks, whisking constantly then add them all at once back to the pudding mixture, still stirring the pudding constantly. Cook for another two to three minutes, stirring constantly.

Pour the hot pudding into the prepared pie crust and cool completely in the fridge. To prevent a "skin" from forming over the pudding as it cools, cover the surface of the pie with plastic wrap if you like.

When completely cooled and set, garnish the pie with vanilla whipped cream and grated chocolate before serving.

Vanilla Whipped Cream

1 cup whipping cream

2 tbsp icing sugar (i.e. powdered sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whip all together until soft peaks form.

Red, White and Blue Strawberry Cupcakes

I have another 4th of July treat to share with you!

These patriotic cupcakes are the trifecta of awesome baked goods...

Easy.

Cute.

Delicious!!

You start with strawberry cupcakes and cream cheese frosting,

topped with strawberries dipped in white chocolate and blue sugar.

Oh, how I love these strawberries! YUM!

You can find my favorite strawberry cake recipe here...you start with a cake mix!

It will make approx. 30 cupcakes (great for a family barbeque).

Bake the cupcakes at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes.

While they cool, make a batch of this frosting:

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in vanilla. Gradually add sugar, beating until smooth. Pipe on cooled cupcakes.

Rinse 30 small strawberries and pat them dry with paper towels.

Melt some candy melts or white chocolate chips in a small bowl.

Fill another small bowl with blue sanding sugar.

Dip the bottom 2/3 of each strawberry in the white chocolate,

then immediately dip the bottom 1/3 in the sugar.

Place on wax paper to harden.

Next, cover a small plate with blue sanding sugar.

Hold your cupcake sideways and press the edge of the frosting into the sugar.

Roll the cupcake, keeping just the edge on the plate.

Use a pastry brush to brush off any sugar on the cupcake liner.

When the strawberries have set up, place one on top of each cupcake.

Enjoy!

Looking for more red, white & blue treats? Check out my 4th of July Fireworks Cake and Patriotic Mini Star Cakes!

 I share my recipes & tutorials at these fun link parties.

And these holiday link parties...

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Chili Lime Cumin Grilled Chicken

You can't have too many simple marinades for grilled chicken and this one is quick, easy and very tasty. A quick dip in this marinade for 15-20 minutes and another 10 or so on the grill and this is dinner in about a half hour. We serve ours with a great pasta salad or a garden salad for a quick summer workday meal off the grill.

I almost always plan to grill an extra chicken breast when using this recipe so that I can make one of my favorite chicken salad sandwiches the next day for lunch. I mix it with some homemade lime chive mayonnaise and chopped red pepper and serve it on lightly toasted whole wheat bread for a very satisfying mid-day meal.

Serves 4

4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts

Marinade

Mix together in a large Ziploc bag

1/4 cup lime juice

zest of one lime, finely minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

Add the chicken breasts to the bag, seal it and let the chicken marinate in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Grill until completely cooked on a medium hot grill. Let the cooked chicken rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Oven-Roasted Beets Recipe (Vegan)

Richard loves beets. Pickled beets are probably his favorite. I prefer them roasted, so I came up with a recipe that has a little aged balsamic vinegar in it to give the beets a slightly pickled flavor. These beets are really good. They are perfectly roasted (not mushy and not too firm), and the balsamic sauce in the bottom of the pan is great poured over the beets and other items on your plate.

Oven-Roasted Beets Recipe

3 or 4 medium beets
Olive oil
Aged balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a cutting board, cut off both ends of each beet, then use the knife to peel the beets. Cut each beet in half, then cut the pieces into 3 or 4 more pieces of similar size. Lay them in a single layer in an 8x8 square baking pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Drizzle a little olive oil over the beets. Next, drizzle a little aged balsamic vinegar over the beets. Salt and pepper the beets to taste. Cover the baking pan with aluminium foil and put it in the oven for 30 minutes if the beets are fresh from the garden, or up to 1 hour if the beets are from the grocery store. Poke a beet with a fork when the time is up, and if the fork goes through the beet easily, they're done.  Serves 2-4 people as a vegetable side dish.

The Best Red Velvet Cake

The Best Red Velvet Cake

Click the photo at the bottom of the post for our other velvet cake recipes, White Velvet, Orange Velvet and Lemon Velvet.

Our Red Velvet Cake is a hybrid recipe taking its inspiration from several versions of this classic southern dessert cake that I've tried over the years. In general, I've found that the simpler the recipe, the better the cake. This recipe really could not be more simple; it just combines the wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately and then brings them together to form a very pourable batter, which produces a very moist cake.

I've seen some recipes that also include an outrageous amount of red food coloring, which I am not particularly fond of using in general but infrequently will for special occasions and this recipe uses a very reasonable 1 1/2 tsp of liquid red food coloring. The upcoming Canada Day weekend seemed like a good time to feature the red in this cake with the white of our double cream cheese frosting, the two colors of our national flag.

Recipes also vary greatly on the amount of cocoa in a Red Velvet Cake, ranging from only a teaspoon to several tablespoons. I prefer the higher end of the cocoa scale for just a little more chocolate edge to this terrific cake. Some folks object to this because it produces a more brownish red cake so if this is a concern, you can cut back on the cocoa if you like but do not omit it altogether, the red velvet purists will hunt you down for that crime against cake! I've read from several sources that toasted pecans in the frosting between the layers is also a critical component. I'm going to call it optional but since I really love lightly toasted pecans, I think they add outstanding flavour and a crunchy component that I find irresistible.
Grease two 9 inch cake pans and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

The Best Red Velvet Cake

Sift together and set aside:

• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tbsp cocoa

In the bowl of an electric mixer blend together well:

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp liquid red food coloring
• 1 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix in the dry ingredients all at once and blend until smooth. Do not over mix the batter. As soon as it has no lumps in the batter, pour into the two prepared 8 inch cake pans.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Turn cakes onto a wire rack, remove the parchment paper and allow to cool completely. When the cake is completely cool, you can cut the two layers into 4 using a sharp serrated bread knife if you like or just have 2 layers in you prefer. I think the four layers helps to get a good ratio of cake to frosting in each bite.

• 1 cup chopped toasted pecans

Fill all of the layers and the top of the cake with double cream cheese frosting, sprinkling each layer with 1/4 cup of the toasted pecans.

Double Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) cream cheese
• 3/4 cup butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 kilo bag of icing sugar (About 8 cups)
• 1-3 tbsp milk; enough to bring the frosting to a spreadable consistency

Mix all the ingredients together and beat well until smooth and fluffy.

Click the photo below to see the other outstanding recipes in our 

VELVET CAKE COLLECTION

The Best Red Velvet Cake

Chocolate Bumbleberry Crepes - Our 850th Recipe!!

Chocolate Bumbleberry Crepes

Don't be scared of crepes. They are really simple to make and their intimidation factor is ill deserved. I think their fussy reputation may have originated before the Teflon revolution when they may have been more difficult to prepare. Today, with any good non-stick pan in hand they really are a breeze. The batter is very simple and the only difference in the batter for me is the omission of the small amount of sugar when using them in savoury rather than sweet applications. They are still a little labour intensive because they have to be prepared one at a time but when you present your friends and family with this beautiful dessert, the time spent making them will seem well worth it.

Crepes

Sift together and set aside:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon white sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Whisk together:

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

Whisk the dry ingredients into the milk and egg mixture until smooth.

Heat an 8 inch non-stick pan over medium heat and lightly oil the pan. I just use some paper towel dipped in vegetable oil to wipe the pan between crepes.

When the pan is heated ladle in 1/4 cup of batter for each crepe. Swirl the pan around to cover the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of the batter. Cook for only a minute or two per side until golden. Separate the crepes with parchment or waxed paper as you continue to fry the rest of the batch.

Fill the crepes with whipped ganache filling, roll and serve with bumbleberry compote over the top. Strawberry, raspberry or cherry compote all work well too if you prefer. Makes about one dozen crepes.

Whipped Ganache

To prepare the filling, melt together in a double boiler

3 cups dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup whipping cream

Stir constantly over a gentle simmer in the double boiler, just until melted and smooth throughout. You do not want this mixture to get hot, it should be just at the melting point and only lukewarm to the touch.

Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, whip to firm peaks:

2 cups whipping cream.

Add the whipped cream to the chocolate mixture in four portions, folding gently after each addition until the whipped cream is completely incorporated into the chocolate. 

At this point you will probably have to chill this frosting for a half hour or more in the fridge if it is too soft to work with. Just give it a quick fold with a rubber spatula every 10 minutes so that it cools evenly in the fridge.

Bumbleberry Compote

Bring to a gentle boil for 10 minutes:

4 cups fresh or frozen mixed berries, ( I used blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and cherries)

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

Thicken the compote with a slurry made my mixing together:

1 1/2 tbsp corn starch

1/4 cup water

Add the slurry, stirring constantly and cook for only an additional minute before removing from the heat and allowing to cool completely.