Tag Archives: Recipes to share

April 3, 2019 · 4:06 am

#L&SRWednesdayBloggingChallenge 4.3.19

I almost skipped writing this blog entry this week. My comfort food recipes are like  children to me: how can I choose my favorite?? Especially since each one serves to comfort in a different way, for different emotional needs??

There was really only one way to do it and that was to throw a mental dart at the ones that people request I make the most. I narrowed it down to three, then threw that dart. This is the absolute fav: CHOCOLATE TRIFLE. 

I find it very TELLING that my favorite comfort food is a dessert. But that’s a topic for another blog, so…..

Looks good, doesn’t it? It is, trust me.

So here’s the easy recipe:

You’ll need: chocolate cake, 2 tubs of  Cool Whip, instant chocolate pudding and a Cadbury Chocolate/Orange ball ( Or a Hershey’s chocolate bar – your choice)

For the cake you will need:

  • 2 cups granulated sugar, sifted
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted 
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, sifted
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup cold regular milk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup boiling water

To make the cake:

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Then grease and flour 2 9 inch round baking tins

  1. After sifting the dry ingredients mix the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder and the salt into a mixer.
  2. Add in the eggs one at a time, then the milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
  3. This is a weird step, but once the ingredients are mixed, slowly mix in the boiling water. The batter will become very thin. This is okay.
  4. Halve the mixture and pour each half into the 2 baking rounds. Then, bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean and flakey.
  5. Let the cake cook completely for about 3-4 hours. Then, slice the cake in half, length-wise to form 2 identical round discs.
To make the pudding: This one is easy. Just buy 2 large boxes of any commercial chocolate instant pudding mix and prepare them according to the box. Let them cool completely, even though they are instant. You want the pudding to be firmly formed, not watery or jiggly.
Once the cake is cooled and sliced, crumble one round and place it in the bottom of a trifle bowl. Press it down so the cake pieces cover the entire bottom of the bowl. Then, spoon in half the chocolate pudding, spreading it around the cake to form a layer ( refer to the picture above. ) Then spread a layer of cool whip -use about 1/2-2/3 of the tub. Again, refer to the above picture to see what it looks like.
So you now have 3 layers: cake crumbles, pudding, cool whip.
Do it again until you reach almost to the top of the bowl. If you have any pudding or cool whip left over, top the top off with it.
Take your Cadbury Chocolate orange and shave it using a small peeler to form chocolate shavings on the top.
Or, score a  Hershey’s chocolate bar into pieces for a bigger candy rush. On the above trifle I shaved the orange first then added Hershey’s pieces for a powerful chocolate punch.
Let the whole thing sit, covered with cellophane on the top, in the fridge, overnight.
Serve cold. Disclaimer: When I feel the emotional need to make this, NO ONE ELSE is allowed to have any.
Just saying.
WARNING: This is NOT for anyone on a  diet!!! hee hee.  You can reduce some of the calories by using SUGAR FREE INSTANT CHOCOLATE PUDDING and COOL WHIP FREE ( or FAT FREE COOL WHIP. )
Let’s see what some of the other authors in the blog challenge consider their fav recipes. L&SRWednesdayBlogChallenge
Bon Appetite ~Peg

Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me// Triber// BookMe // Monkey me //Watch me

Here’s the link to my TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DAMN BOOK podcast interview, just in case you missed it: TMAYDB

and the link to my recent interview on NewHampshirePublicRadio

And I can’t forget the OKRWA 2018 Award video

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December 8, 2017 · 10:10 am

How can I pick just one??

We’re winding down on the 52-week blog. Just a few entries left and today is such a hard one for me. I have to share a favorite recipe with you all. Just one. One recipe. I think I mentioned before I am a cookbook hoarder. Truly. I own upward of 130 cookbooks from all over the world and from all eras – case in point, I have a church-sponsored spiral bound cookbook from a Methodist church dated 1913. EVERYTHING, EVERY SINGLE RECIPE calls for whole milk, real butter, pork fat, or fresh cheese. Proof that nutritional times have changed greatly in the past 100+ years!

Any hoo…I digress.

I delved deep into my recipe card files, trolled through my holiday food prep books and came up with a family and friend favorite that’s easy, delicious, and depending on how you make it not too too too calorie-laden!

My Chocolate Trifle

I made this just last week for a holiday party and was smart enough- for once – to snap a pix.

 

Here’s the EASY recipe ( the harder one follows!)

Ingredients

1 box of any commercial brand chocolate cake

2 16 oz tubs of Cool Whip Lite

1 5 oz box of instant MyTFine Chocolate, sugar-free  pudding

Crumbled chocolate bar of your choice ( I use the Cadbury Chocolate Orange that comes out at the holidays)

Instructions

  1. Prepare and bake the cake as directed on the cake box using 2 9″ round baking tins
  2. Prepare the pudding and chill
  3. Once the cake is baked and cooled in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, place one complete cake round into the bottom of a trifle bowl. You can either place it in one whole piece, or crumble the cake up.
  4. next, layer one tub of cool whip lite over it. Smooth it out so you get two distinct lines of color
  5. next, layer 1/2 the pudding over the cool whip. Smooth it out so you get 3 distinct lines of color.
  6. Repeat steps 3-5 with the other cake round, the other tube of cool whip and the rest of the pudding.
  7. top with crumbled chocolate bar pieces or you can shave the chocolate on top if you prefer small chunks.
  8. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 2-4 hours.

Delish!
Now the harder recipe ( and the one I make!!!) And the reason the above picture has 3 cake rounds instead of two!

Ingredients:

a. for the Chocolate Cake:

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter at room temp

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup all purpose white flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup refined sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour cream

Instructions:

1.oven goes to 350 degrees to preheat. Take 3 9 inch cake pans and grease them

2.In a bowl, mix the cocoa, flour, and baking soda together and set the bowl to the side. With a mixer, cream the sugar and the butter until soft and light. Beat in one egg at a time on low speed. Add the vanilla and mix. Then add in half the flour and cocoa mixture, then the sour cream. Finish with the remaining dry  ingredients.

3. Pour into baking pans evenly, about a 1/2 -1 inch each to make even layers.

4. bakes for 20-25 mins, or until a toothpick comes back clean when placed in the center. Oven temps vary. Check at 20 minutes and every 5 minutes until this happens.

5. cool completely.

b. For the pudding:
Use either  Packaged instant or the packaged kind you have to cook. If you use the old-fashioned kind, make sure the pudding is completely cooled and set before the layering starts.

To assemble, see the instructions as above. Cake/cool whip/pudding. Finish with a  cake layer ( like my pciture_ and top with candy.

Both the easy recipe and the from scratch one are delish!!!! To save calories, substitute skim milk for any whole asked for,  use cool whip LITE and SUGAR-free pudding made with skim milk ( not whole)

Every single time I make this whether it is for a dinner party 0f 6 or a group gathering of 10+, it is GONE. I never have left overs of this dessert. Ever.

I can’t wait to see what recipes the other authors in this blog hop have to share. I’m sure to pick up some new goodies!

 

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