{Choffy Recipe} Choffy Cake

Take all of your preconceived ideas of Coffee Cake and throw them right our the window!!  Choffy Cake is a creamy, light, moist, slightly sweet bit of heaven on earth.  Pair it with a warm cup of freshly brewed Choffy and my friends…you have a perfect afternoon treat!!

{If you are new to the world of Choffy click here to find out about this amazing new little treat to the culinary world!!}

Choffy Cake

2 1/2 sticks of butter {softened}

2 cups of sugar

4 large eggs

1/2 cup of sour cream

2 T of finely ground Choffy

2 cups of AP flour

1 1/2 cups of cake flour

1 1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1 cup of whole milk

1 1/2 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Take 4 tablespoons of Choffy and place in food processer, coffee grinder or small blender and grind into a fine powder.  Set-aside to incorporate into cake mix and streusel mix.

Cream the butter in stand mixer until smooth and light.  Add sugar and continue to mix until fluffy and fully incorporated.  Add sour cream and finely ground Choffy. Then add one egg at a time beating well after each egg. 

In a separate bowl mix both flours, baking powder and salt. 

In a wet measuring cup measure out milk and add the vanilla.  Add portions of the flour mixture and milk mixture to the electric mixer, alternating, starting and ending with flour mixture.

Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and pour half of the cake mix into the pan.  Sprinkle cake mix with streusel and add remaining cake mix on top of streusel layer.  Put remaining streusel mixture on the top of the cake batter.  Bake for 40-45 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Oven temperatures vary so cook until a cake tester comes out clean and the cake has pulled away from the edges of the pan.

Choffy Streusel

1/2 cup  light brown sugar

1/2 cup AP flour

2 T  finely ground Choffy

1/4 t salt

1 stick butter {cold}

Place light brown sugar, flour Choffy and salt into a small bowl.  Cut in cold butter until it forms a crumble. Set-aside to incorporate into Choffy Cake.

Choffy Glaze

1 cup confectioners sugar

4 T brewed Choffy

Place sugar into small bowl and add strongly brewed Choffy mix well with a small wire whisk or fork.  Drizzle over the top of the Choffy Cake once cooled.

Enjoy!

We’re linking up with…

• Tatertots & Jell-o

 

Chocolate Ganache Blocks

I admit it…I am a chocolate LOVER!!  I will take it in all forms, but I especially love this recipe.  It’s perfect on its own, but lovely when added to some warm milk to make the most heavenly hot chocolate! Add some homemade marshmallows and you’re all set for a cozy winter night!

Chocolate Ganache Blocks {Click here to print the recipe}

• 1/2 cup of heavy cream
• 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
• 3 cups of semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon vanilla {or any other flavoring that you would like, e.g. hazelnut, peppermint, coffee, or whatever would be good with chocolate}

Using a double boiler, (I use a heat-safe bowl on top of a sauce pan) place 2-3 inches of water in the sauce pan.  Bring to a low boil and then turn down to low. Place bowl on top of sauce pan.

Heat the cream and the sweetened condensed milk in the bowl of the double boiler.

Once warm add the chocolate and gently melt.

After about 10 minutes, whisk mixture until thick and smooth.  Add vanilla or the flavoring of your choice.

Whisk in the flavoring and pour into a parchment or foil lined 8x8 in. dish.

 

Let sit overnight to slowly set up.  Once set, turn out onto a clean surface and cut into 1 inch cubes or use a small circle cookie cutter to cut into rounds. {Note: it’s best to heat knife in hot water and wipe clean with each cut.}

This is wonderful as is, but pair it will a fluffy homemade marshmallow and melt it into 4-8 ounces of warm milk…it’s divine!!

 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzels

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzels:

I am a self-proclaimed peanut butter connoisseur.  I LOVE it.  Everything is better with peanut butter smothered all over it.  But only certain kinds.  If it's not the right kind of peanut butter, I won't even eat it.
I've received a lot of chocolate covered pretzels as "neighbor gifts" at Christmastime over the years, and I've always loved them.  But when the idea popped in my head to make pretzel rods covered in peanut butter and THEN chocolate, nothing was stopping me.  I made a bee-line to the grocery store and bought some pretzel rods.  I experimented with a few different ways and finally got a delicious peanut butter chocolaty treat that any sweet tooth would die for.

Here's how I did it:
Gather together some pretzel rods, some chocolate (I just used chocolate chips) of your choice... milk, semi-sweet, dark... whatever you like, and your favorite peanut butter.
Melt the peanut butter in the microwave so that it runs.  I melted about 3/4 cup in 30 seconds.  Dip your pretzel rod in the melted peanut butter and immediately put it in the freezer.  Continue dipping and freezing until you have all the pretzels that you want.  I like to freeze mine until they're nice and hard, to ensure that the peanut butter doesn't just slide right off when you dip it in the chocolate.  This should take 1-2 hours.
Next, melt your chocolate in the microwave in small increments (10-15 seconds) so that you don't burn it.  Make sure you stir it well in between.  Once it's nice and melted, take your pretzels out and dip them, fully covering the peanut butter, and put it back in the freezer quickly so that everything doesn't melt off the stick.  Once you've dipped all the pretzels, let them freeze until they've set up, 15-30 minutes.
Take them out of the freezer and give them away or eat them up, they're definitely hard to resist!

Snowflake Sugar Cookies

These fun snowflake cookies are made using the same recipe as my airplane sugar cookies.  I love this recipe for 2 reasons.  The first is that the cookies hold their shape really well, which is perfect for intricate cookies like these.  The second reason is that they're just yummy.  They really taste fabulous. 

Sugar Cookies (via cakecentral.com)
6 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 cups unsalted butter
2 cups sugar (white granulated)
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring (I like almond myself)
1 tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Mix dry ingredients, and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.  Chill for 1 to 2 hours.

Cut cookies and place on greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Once your cookies are completely cooled, you can frost them. I like to ice a border of royal icing around the edge of my cookies first, so that I don't have run-off.  It gives the cookie a crisp, professional look.

Royal Icing
3 large egg whites
1 lb. confectioner’s sugar
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until they reach the soft peak stage.  Add confectioner's sugar, a little at a time, until stiff peaks form.

To ice your cookies, fill a zippered sandwich bag with icing and cut a little off the corner.  Frost your border and allow a few minutes for the icing to harden.  Finally,  you'll want to fill in your cookie with regular icing.  I put about 2 cups of confectioner's sugar in a bowl and add a little milk until I get my desired consistency (not runny, but not stiff).  Fill another sandwich bag with this icing, snip the corner of the bag, and fill the cookie.  To get an even consistency, use a toothpick or your (clean) pinky finger to spread the icing. 

The cookie cutters were bought at Williams-Sonoma last winter, but I was just in their store a few weeks ago and they still have them!  I love the cookie cutters because you can be creative with how you design them.  Every snowflake can be different.

Jamie’s Family Cocoa Recipe

• 2 c. nonfat dry milk powder
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. cocoa powder
• 1/2 c. non-dairy creamer
• dash salt

Mix all ingredients and store in an air-tight container. For an 8 oz. serving, mix 1/4 c. of mix with 3/4 c. of boiling water. Serves 12.

For Heather’s gift presentation idea click here. Enjoy!

Petite Éclairs in a Jar

Harvest time is upon us. I have fond memories of our kitchen counter crowded with tall canning jars glistening with shiny red tomatoes, long slender green beans and jiggly jellies all ready to be tucked into our pantry for the cold winter months. Apples, pears and strawberries were peeled, chopped and boiled into sauces and jams. The line up was a moment of pride, a job well done after a hot summer of tending and watering. Even now, seeing a canning jar fills me with a craving for something delicious. You may not be the canning type, but you’ll definitely want to pick up some darling ½ pint jars for this recipe. It won’t get you through the long winter months, but it will transport you to a tasty place you’ll want to visit again and again. It’s called Petite Éclairs in a Jar. Believe me, it will top your list of ways to use your jars in years to come.

First you’ll need ½ pint jars. I found some in my local grocery store. They’re so cute you’ll want to buy every one in sight, but this recipe will make about a dozen.

Petite Éclairs in a Jar

• 1-2 sleeves Graham crackers
• 2 (3¼ oz.) boxes instant French vanilla pudding
• 3 ½ c. milk
• 1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping, thawed
• 1 tub chocolate frosting

1. Make sure your jars are clean and dry. Break graham crackers into small pieces and line the bottom of jars with them. Don’t be afraid to overlap a bit.

2. Mix up the cream. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine pudding powder and milk, beating at medium speed for two minutes. Fold in thawed whipped topping. Divide cream mixture among jars. Fill about 2/3 to ¾ full.

3. Top with another layer of grahams. Break up here and cover entire surface as well as possible. It will make the next step easier.

4. Finish off with a thick layer of frosting spread across the top like a lid. Use the edge of the jar as your finishing point.

5. Refrigerate for 8-24 hours. I don’t put lids on at first to let the frosting firm up, but after about 6 hours I put the lids on.

6. Serve with a spoon and a sigh of satisfaction for the harvest you’ve created.

Bon Appétit!

Christene