50 Women Game Changers in Food-#4 Martha Stewart's Velvet Cocoa Cake with Instant Buttercream

Last week I came across Mary at One Perfect Bite, she and a few other bloggers have decided to tackle the list from Gourmet of the top 50 women chefs. For the next 46 weeks, I plan to go along with them. There are some on the list that I have not heard of, so I hope to learn a little bit along the way. I have missed the first three being 1-Julia Child, that is no surprise to me, 2-Alice Waters, and 3-Fannie Farmer. This leads us to #4, Martha Stewart.

Martha is one that you either love or hate. I like her, although she will not be the first one that I run to for a recipe as I have not had much luck with her recipes. Although this chocolate cake is a keeper. The one reason that I decided on this cake was because of the frosting, there is no powdered sugar, marshmallow cream takes the place of it and if you know me, I can't turn down anything that has marshmallow in it.

Next week: M.F.K. Fisher

Wanna see more of Martha:

Mary-One Perfect Bite

Val-More than burnt toast

Taryn-Have Kitchen will Feed

Susan-The Spice Garden

Claudia-A seasonal Cook in Turkey

Heather-Girlichef

Miranda-Mangoes and Chutney

Jeanette-Healthy Living

Velvet Cocoa Cake with Instant Buttercream Frosting

By: Martha Stewart

For the cake:

12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

3 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

For the frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 jars (7.5 oz each) marshmallow cream

2/3 cup cocoa

2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled

1 Tbsp vanilla

To make the cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9 inch round cake pans. In a bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well incorporated. Beat in vanilla.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three additions,alternating with buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape bowl as needed.

Pour batter into pans. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes before inverting cakes onto wire rack to cool completely.

To make the buttercream:

In a mixing bowl, beat butter and marshmallow cream until fluffy. Beat in cocoa, chocolate and vanilla.

Place 1 layer on platter and spread top with 1 cup buttercream. Place the second layer on top and frost entire cake with remaining buttercream.

Hot Cocoa Bread-Week 9

I know, I am late. I am sorry. With the Holiday and family gatherings..time just got away from me. I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! I did, and I am sure I added a few pounds around the waistline as well.



This week I decided to do a quick bread. A few weeks ago I was contacted by Allison from Lake Champlain Chocolates asking if I would be interested in sampling some of their cocoa. It is organic and Fair Trade and would be perfect for any baking that I would be doing. Of course, I would love to try it!! And since this bread only uses cocoa, it would be perfect and I was not disappointed! I will be making this bread in mini loaf form, and will add a chocolate ganache to the top and add some mini marshmallows. My boys loved this so much that they finished the loaf in a day, and it was a big loaf! The recipe warned that it would make a big loaf to use the biggest loaf pan, I used the biggest one I had, and should have split it into 2 loaves. It overflowed from the top and took a little longer to bake.


This week is the first of December which means that we only have 3 more weeks of cookies left! And I need to tell my fellow cookie bakers, that I have not been ignoring your posts. My work place has decided to put a new firewall on our computers..which enables me to comment. I can look all day, but it blocks me to leave a comment. Once I get home for the day, the mommy in me takes over and I don't get alot of time to be online to comment. I mean, what do they expect me to do here?? work?? :)


Now, I have a surprise for you...keep reading on down and you'll see!

Hot Cocoa Bread:

from: Chickens in the Road

1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup mini marshmallows

Combine cream cheese, butter, and sugar. Cream with a mixer. Add egg and vanilla. Mix again. Add the cocoa powder and about 1/2 cup of the buttermilk; mix well. Add all the remaining ingredients (except the marshmallows) and stir to combine. Stir in the marshmallows.


Spoon into a greased loaf pan. This makes a large loaf–use your largest loaf pan.
Bake at 350-degrees for one hour.


Storey Publications sent me a copy of this book, A World of Cake to review. It is beautiful! I have to admit, I love a book with pictures...probably, if you don't have pics in the book...I am going to pass it up. The book gives you a world tour in cake form...have you ever wondered how they make the moon cakes that you see on blogland?? The recipe is in the book...funnel cakes?? it's there...name the cake, it is in there! You want a copy??? Just leave me a comment on this post. Tweet it, Facebook it...blog about it, come back and leave me another comment for more chances.

I will draw the winner and announce on This Friday's, December 3rd, cookie post.

Smore's Sandwich Bar Cookies

I have been away from The Cookie Carnival for some time now and when I got the email from Tami showing the new cookies for this month I knew I would be making these as soon as I could! You see, I have an addiction to gooey, roasted marshmallows. I just can't help myself when it comes to them...not sure where it comes from. Tami decided that for the Summer months we will have a kid friendly recipe along with the normal cookie recipe. As you can see, I went straight for the kid friendly one and let me tell you...I am so glad that I did. I couldn't get Abby or my boys in the kitchen to help me with these, but that's quite alright, they did their share in eating them! Seriously, these are amazingly good! Healthy, not so much...but honestly, it's worth the splurge!

I did have to improvise on a couple of things...I didn't have any Hershey bars, so I used semi sweet chocolate chips and no mini marshmallows, I had the large ones and just lined the top. I'm thinking next go around will have to include homemade marshmallows, you just can't go wrong with them.


S'mores Sandwich Bar Cookies
From: Hershey

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/3 cups (8-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S Mini Milk Chocolate Bars OR 5 HERSHEY'S Milk Chocolate Bars (1.55 oz. each)
3 cups miniature marshmallows

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 8-inch square baking pan. 2. Beat butter and sugar until well blended in large bowl. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Press half of dough in prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes. 3. Sprinkle mini chocolate bars over baked layer or arrange unwrapped chocolate bars over baked layer, breaking as needed to fit. Sprinkle with marshmallows; scatter bits of remaining dough over marshmallows, forming top layer. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or just until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. 16 bars.

Hot Chocolate Souffle

I found this recipe a few weeks ago from Taste of Home, and knew as soon as I saw it I needed to make it. I love Taste of Home recipes, they are simple, tried and true recipes and most of the time, I am not disappointed by them.

Over the weekend, we had a little heat wave. It was in the 60's and sunny. Of course everyone in TN was out and about, wearing their capri's and flip flops and planning to cook out for dinner. We had some of our best friends over on Saturday for burgers and I made these for dessert, the recipe says that it will serve 12 and that was one to feed everyone here. While the guys were at the grill, I melted the chocolate and butter, mixed all the other ingredients together, put them in the ramekins and baked while we ate. These were the perfect dessert for the evening. The marshmallows got all toasty, my favorite part, and we all decided that next time I will add crumbled graham crackers and more marshmallows and make it a smore souffle. :)

Just a work of warning, make sure that you eat them immediately, or they will deflate and the marshmallows fall through. Still tastes the same, just a little flat!

Hot Chocolate Souffle

1 cup butter, cubed
8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups plus 2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp baking powder
1 cup mini marshmallows
4 1/2 tsp cinnamon-sugar

Grease the bottoms only of twelve 6 oz ramekins; set aside. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter and chocolate; stir until smooth. Set aside

In a large bowl, beat eggs and yolks on high speed on 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar, beating until thick and lemon-colored, about 5 minutes. Beat in chocolate mixture. Combine flour and baking powder; beat into egg mixture just until combined.

Fill prepared ramekins half full; sprinkle with marshmallows. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar; serve immediately. Refrigerate leftovers...if there are any!

Saturday Night

This past Saturday night, we had friends over and what better way to finish off the night with chocolate fondue? in fountain form! You can find these little home fountains just about anywhere these days and they are inexpensive. Adults love it, kids love it..just don't worry about the mess it will make though. :)

We had marshmallows and strawberries....

and you can't forget peanut butter balls!

I could do this every weekend!

Peanut Butter Balls:

2 sticks margarine

1 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 (16oz) box powdered sugar

Melt the butter and peanut butter together in a large pot. Stir in vanilla and powdered sugar until combined. This will make the dough thick. Roll into balls and put on wax paper. Chill in the refrigerator. Dip into melted chocolate.

Mississippi Mud Cake

This cake is what I will normally turn to when I need a quick dessert to take somewhere. This cake is really rich, so only a little piece is all you will need to satisfy that craving. I made this recipe before, but in cupcake form and it turned out just as good! I really don't think that you can go wrong with chocolate, pecans and marshmallows. Don't have time to make your marshmallows? no worries, store bought will do just as good here!

Mississippi Mud Cake:

1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 all-purpose flour
Dash of salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped pecan
4 cups miniature marshmallows

Chocolate Frosting:
1 (16oz.) package powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup cocoa
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

Combine butter and coca in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until butter melts.

Remove from heat; transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and eggs; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Add flour, salt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Stir in pecans. Spoon batter into greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes for the cake. Remove from oven and sprinkle marshmallows over hot cake. If making the cake, immediately spread frosting over marshmallows.

To make the chocolate frosting:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; beat at medium speed until smooth, adding an additional tablespoon of milk if frosting is too stiff.

Mississippi Mud Cookies

The only thing that I can say about this cookie is..Go and make these now! These cookies are fantastic, and quite addicting!

I got this cookie recipe from Megan's Cookin and I am so glad that she shared! These cookies didn't even last a whole day in my household. We loved them!

Mississippi Mud Cookies
Southern Living, August 2007

Ingredients:
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup milk chocolate morsels
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. miniature marshmallows

Directions:
1. Microwave semisweet chocolate morsels in a small microwave-safe glass bowl at HIGH 1 minute or until smooth, stirring every 30 seconds.

2. Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Beat in vanilla and melted chocolate.

3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to chocolate mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in chopped pecans and 1/2 cup milk chocolate morsels.

4. Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Press 3 marshmallows into each portion of dough.

5. Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks

TWD-Marshmallows

This week was chosen by Judy of Judy's Gross Eats. I have made marshmallows before, but had never flavored them. This recipe was alot like the marshmallows that I have made before, but a little different. I chose to make the pumpkin spice, and I am so glad that I did. I had been wanting to make this flavor for a while, but just hadn't. This is just like eating pumpkin pie filling. YUM! The only problem that I had was a thin layer of gelatin settled on the bottom, but, it didn't effect the taste, only the look. I think that I like by previous marshmallow better, but I will definitely make different flavors, especially the pumpkin!

(Here you can see the thin layer that settled on the bottom)

Make sure to go and check out the other TWD chicks and see what flavors they came up with!


Next week's recipe is from Amanda over at Slow like Honey and she has chosen Bill's Big Carrot Cake.


Makes about 1 pound marshmallows

About 1 cup potato starch (found in the kosher foods section of supermarkets) or cornstarch
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 1/4-ounce packets unflavored gelatin
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
3/4 cup cold water
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar


GETTING READY: Line a rimmed baking sheet -- choose one with a rim that is 1 inch high -- with parchment paper and dust the paper generously with potato starch or cornstarch.


Have a candy thermometer at hand.

Put 1/3 cup of the water, 1 1/4 cups of the sugar and the corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Once the sugar is dissolved, continue to cook the syrup -- without stirring -- until it reaches 265 degrees F on the candy thermometer, about 10 minutes.While the syrup is cooking, work on the gelatin and egg whites.


In a microwave-safe bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the remaining cold water (a scant 7 tablespoons) and let it sit for about 5 minutes, until it is spongy, then heat the gelatin in a microwave oven for 20 to 30 seconds to liquefy it. (Alternatively, you can dissolve the gelatin in a saucepan over low heat.)


Working in the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in another large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until firm but still glossy -- don't over beat them and have them go dull.As soon as the syrup reaches 265 degrees F, remove the pan from the heat and, with the mixer on medium speed, add the syrup, pouring it between the spinning beater(s) and the sides of the bowl. Add the gelatin and continue to beat for another 3 minutes, so that the syrup and the gelatin are fully incorporated. Beat in the vanilla.Using a large rubber spatula, scrape the meringue mixture onto the baking sheet, laying it down close to a short end of the sheet. Then spread it into the corners and continue to spread it out, taking care to keep the height of the batter at 1 inch; you won't fill the pan. Lift the excess parchment paper up to meet the edge of the batter, then rest something against the paper so that it stays in place (I use custard cups).



Dust the top of the marshmallows with potato starch or cornstarch and let the marshmallows set in a cool, dry place. They'll need about 3 hours, but they can rest for 12 hours or more.Once they are cool and set, cut the marshmallows with a pair of scissors or a long thin knife. Whatever you use, you'll have to rinse and dry it frequently. Have a big bowl with the remaining potato starch or cornstarch at hand and cut the marshmallows as you'd like -- into squares, rectangles or even strips (as they're cut in France). As each piece is cut, drop it into the bowl. When you've got 4 or 5 marshmallows in the bowl, reach in with your fingers and turn the marshmallows to coat them with starch, then, one by one, toss the marshmallows from one hand to the other to shake off the excess starch; transfer them to a serving bowl. Cut and coat the rest of the batch.


SERVING: Put the marshmallows out and let everyone nibble as they wish. Sometimes I fill a tall glass vase with the marshmallows and put it in the center of the table -- it never fails to make friends smile. You can also top hot chocolate or cold sundaes with the marshmallows.


STORING: Keep the marshmallows in a cool, dry place; don't cover them closely. Stored in this way, they will keep for about 1 week -- they might develop a little crust on the outside or they might get a little firmer on the inside, but they'll still be very good.



Playing Around


RASPBERRY MARSHMALLOWS: Fruit purees are excellent for flavoring these candies.For raspberry marshmallows, you'll need a generous 1/3 cup of puree; reduce the vanilla extract to 1/4 teaspoon. After the batter is mixed, gently fold in the puree with a rubber spatula. You can use the same measurements and technique for other purees, such as strawberry, mango and passion fruit.


CAPPUCCINO MARSHMALLOWS: Sift 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon together into a small bowl. Stir in 1/3 cup boiling water and mix until smooth. Reduce the vanilla extract to 1/2 teaspoon, and add it to the espresso mix. After you add the sugar syrup and gelatin to the meringue, beat in the espresso mixture and continue.


LIGHT CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOWS: Melt 3 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate and stir in 2 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder. Reduce the vanilla extract to 1/4 teaspoon, and after the marshmallow batter is mixed, fold in the chocolate mixture with a large rubber spatula.


PUMPKIN SPICE MARSHMALLOWS: Whisk together 1/2 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg and a pinch of ground allspice. After the marshmallow batter is mixed, fold in the spiced pumpkin with a large rubber spatula.

Mississippi Mud Cupcakes

This months theme for Cupcake Hero is marshmallow. You could use marshmallows or marshmallow fluff, either in the batter, topping, or icing. This cake is my son, Blake's, favorite cake. He asks for this cake for his birthday. My one favorite thing to make is marshmallows. I make them for every occasion that I can. There is just something about sticking the white fluff in the fridge overnight, and then when you go to cut them, that they really did turn into marshmallows that makes me giddy!

This recipe normally makes a 9x13 inch cake, and you leave it in the pan, so you can pour the icing on while it is warm...I had a little trouble with that on these cupcakes. So, I waited until they cooled before I iced them.

Mississippi Mud Cupcakes:

1 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup cocoa

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 all-purpose flour

Dash of salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups chopped pecan

4 cups miniature marshmallows**

**Again, I made marshmallows and cut them into 1/2 inch squares

Chocolate Frosting:

1 (16oz.) package powdered sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup cocoa

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

Combine butter and coca in a medium saucepan. cook over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat; transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and eggs; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Add flour, salt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Stir in pecans. Spoon batter into greased 9x13 inch pan, or a cupcake pan lined with cupcake liners.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes for the cake, or about 15 minutes for cupcakes. Remove from oven and sprinkle marshmallows over hot cake, or top cupcake with marshmallows. If making the cake, immediately spread frosting over marshmallows. If making cupcakes, I would let the cupcakes and marshmallows cool before frosting.

This recipe made 2 dozen cupcakes.

To make the chocolate frosting:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; beat at medium speed until smooth, adding an additional tablespoon of milk if frosting is too stiff.

Makes 2 cups.

Marshmallows

A couple of years ago, I decided that I wanted to make "homemade marshmallows"....well, I used the Martha Stewart recipe and to make it a really short story, it ended up with my hands looking like the Michelin Man and a cookie sheet attached..that is a mental picture that I do not want to relive. So, as I was looking at different blog spots and came across Tartelette's I found her recipe and the picture above is what I ended up with. They taste great...look great...and were a hit at the fondue party that my husband, Jamey, and I just hosted. This will definitly be a Christmas gift and maybe I will try flavors...peppermint or coconut...Maybe be adventurous and try pumpkin spice. Here is the recipe and I would advise anyone who wants to tackle this project to do so. It is well worth the effort!!



Marshmallows




2 1/2 envolpes unflavored gelatin (2 Tbsp plus 1 1/4 tsp)

3/4 Cup cold water, divided

2 Cups granulated sugar, divided

2/3 Cup light corn syrup

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

2 Large egg whites

2/3 cup powdered sugar

3 Tbsp cornstarch



Line a 9X13 in baking pan with heavy duty plastic wrap, allowing plastic to extend 1 inch over sides of pan. Lightly coat the plastic wrap with cooking spray. Sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water in a small bowl, set aside. Combine remaining 1/4 Cup water, 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, and corn syrup in a large saucepan. Cook, without stirring, over medium-high heat until a candy thermometer registers 260 degrees (about 15 minutes). Remove from heat; gradually stir in softened gelatine (mixture will appear foamy).

While sugar mixture cooks, beat the vanilla, salt, and egg whites at high speed in a heavy-duty stand mixer with whisk attachment until foamy (about 1 minute).

Gradually add remaining 1/4 Cup granulated sugar, 1 Tbsp at a time, until stiff peaks form. Gradually pour in gelatin mixture, beating until very thick (about 5 minutes). Gently pour marshmallow mixture in prepared pan. Coat 1 side of another sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray. Place plastic wrap, coated side down, over marshmallow mixture. Chill 8 hours or until firm.

Sprinkle powdered sugar and cornstarch over a cutting board. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap. Invert marshmallow mixture over powdered sugar