Brown Sugar Cinnamon Rolls

Here's a recipe I've been working on for a while. I found the original here, but it's been adapted so much since then that you'd hardly recognize that they even started in the same place. All I have to say about them really is that they are amazing.

Really freaking amazing.

Like Holy-Crap-these-are-good amazing..

I'll stop now.

But really, you HAVE to try them.. Ok. They take a bit of work, and a fair amount of waiting, but they are oh-so worth it. You'll see. This is the recipe I'm the proudest of. Can you tell? :P

So without further ado, I give you...

The best damn cinnamon rolls you've ever tasted (probably).


Ingredients:
4 cups milk
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 pkgs. or 2 Tbsp. Dry Active Yeast
9 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar
A whole lot of cinnamon

Directions:
~Combine milk, oil, white sugar, vanilla extract, tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg,
and 1/4 tsp. ground cloves in a large saucepan. Heat it all up on medium heat to scalding (just before it begins to boil), stirring fairly often.
~Take it off the heat and continue stirring for a few minutes after to stop a white foamy layer from developing on top.
~Let sit for 20 minute to 1 hour (however long it takes the mixture to cool to warm/luke warm).
~Sprinkle yeast over the top and let sit for a few minutes.
~Mix in 8 of the 9 cups of flour.
~Cover saucepan and let sit for at least an hour.
~Mix in the last cup of flour along with baking soda, baking powder, and salt (I usually combine them in a separate bowl while I'm waiting for the dough to rise).
~Transfer dough to a clean, floured surface, and roll out (I usually do it one half at a time) into a nice big rectangle. The dough should be about a quarter to a half inch thick.
~Spread 1/2 cup room temp. butter evenly onto one half of the dough.
~Spread 1 cup brown sugar evenly over the buttered dough.
~Shake cinnamon (as much or little as you'd like.. I tend to go all out with the cinnamon, even adding other spices when I feel like it) evenly over the dough.
~Starting with the long edge of the rectangle begin rolling the dough towards you as tightly as possible. When you get near the end, pull the end up and stretch it a little, pushing it onto the roll to make it stay. I also roll it over so the edge is on the bottom of the dough roll.
~Cut the roll into 1-ish inch slices and place into buttered, floured pans.
~Let them sit for 15-30 minutes to rise a bit more.
~Bake in the oven at 400ºF for 15-18 minutes until they are golden brown on top
~Let cool for 10-15 minutes, then pour on your favorite frosting.
~Enjoy!!

"Portal Cake" aka German Chocolate cake with Chocolate Coconut Pecan Frosting

So earlier this month, both my brother and my mother celebrated their birthdays. You saw my mums lovely cake, and now I'll show you what I did for my brothers.

When I asked him what kind of cake he'd like me to make for him, he originally answered "Rainbow cake!" which is essentially boxed cake mix, dyed with food colorings, and layered. I looked at him like he was crazy, then responded with, "uh huh..... So what kind of cake do you want me to make for your birthday?" Now, it may sound a bit harsh, but I think my 24 year old brother can handle it....

After a bit of thinking, he came up with 'portal cake' which is this:



A cake from a video game.
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Challenge Accepted!

The only thing I had to go on was that picture and this video, which heavily emphasizes the use of fish shaped objects and rhubarb as garnishes. I looked around a bit to see what other people had done, but found an overwhelming number of recipes in which the outside texture was obtained by throwing on chocolate shavings, or chocolate chips, or whatever else they thought might work...


























After watching the video a few times, I realized that the recipe from the game called for 'coconut pecan frosting.' Would ya look at that? Coconut pecan frosting already has about the right texture, all it needed now was some cocoa powder to darken it a bit! Now, me being the little baker that I am, decided not to use a pre-packaged chocolate cake mix, but if you're looking to make a portal cake and aren't as enthusiastic about baking as I am, you can go ahead and skip the cake making part of this recipe and skip straight to the frosting bit.

Now without further ado, I give you Portal Cake (or just a really yummy German Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Coconut Pecan Frosting originally adapted from this recipe.)

German Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 1 pkg (4oz) Baker's German’s sweet chocolate
  
• 1 cup (2 sticks) Butter, softened
  
• 2 cup Sugar
  
• 4 Eggs, separated
  
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
  
• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
  
• 1 tsp Baking soda
  
• 1/2 tsp Salt
  
• 1 1/4 cups Buttermilk
  

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350ºF
   
2. Use double boiler to melt chocolate, and let cool.
   
3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
   
4. In a separate, larger bowl cream butter and sugar together.
   
5. Beat in egg yolks.
   
6. Stir in vanilla extract and chocolate.
   
7. Beat in flour mixture alternately with buttermilk
   
8. Separately, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (do not overbeat), and fold into batter.
   
9. Butter and flour 2 9in springform, or high-sided layer pans, and pour in batter.
   
10. Bake for 30 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly pressed in.
    
11. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 min before removing and letting cool on wire rack.
    

Chocolate Coconut Pecan Frosting

Ingredients

• 4 egg yolks
  
• 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
  
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
  
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
  
• 1 pkg (7 oz) Flake Coconut (about 2 2/3 cups)
  
• 1 1/2 cups finely Chopped Pecans
  
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  

Directions

1. Beat egg yolks, milk and vanilla in large saucepan with wire whisk until well blended.
   
2. Add sugar and butter and cook on medium heat for 2 min., stirring constantly.
   
3. Add vanilla extract, coconut, and pecans. Mix well.
   
4. Add cocoa powder 1/4 at a time, stirring in between additions.
   
5. Continue cooking about another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until thickened.
   
6. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature for best spreading consistency.
   

Assembling Portal Cake

(this is where it becomes a non-lie)

Directions

1. Spread frosting onto the top of what will be the bottom layer of the cake.
   
2. Put the top layer onto that, and spread frosting evenly over outside of cake.
   
3. Pit (REAL) cherries, and set aside. (I used a potato peeler and it worked out brilliantly.)
   
4. Either make your own whipped cream, or buy some canned whipped cream and put 8 evenly-spaced, evenly-sized dollops around the outside edge of the top of the cake.
   
5. Place pitted cherries, hole side-down in top of whipped cream dollops.
   
6. Place a single white candle w/candle holder in the middle of cake.
   
7. Garnish plate as desired (I used fish shaped cookies, and sediment shaped sediment!

xx

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake with Chocolate-Kahlua Frosting

This is one of my favorite recipes so far. I adapted the original from here. If you're looking for a creamy dessert or are just craving some chocolate (like a lot of chocolate) then you're definitely at the right place! Now I'll just get out of your way so you can enjoy (and drool as necessary).

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust

• 1 1/2 cups chocolate graham crackers, crushed (or if you're feeling decidedly lazy, you can buy 2-3 pre-made oreo cookie crusts)
  
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
  

Cake

• 4 (8oz) packages of cream cheese, softened to room temperature (It's important to let it soften. Don't get too impatient! It doesn't end well, trust me.)
  
• 2 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  
• scant 1/4 tsp salt
  
• 4 eggs
  
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
  
• 7 oz 60% (or higher) dark chocolate, chopped and melted
  
• 1/4 cup milk
  
• 1 heaping cup 60% chocoalte chips (I'm a hug fan of the Ghirardelli chocolate chips)
  

Chocolate-Kahlua Sauce

• 2/3 cup Kahlua
  
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
  
• 1 heaping cup 60% chocolate chips (again Ghirardelli is definitely the way to go)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Start by making the Chocolate-Kahlua Sauce by combining the ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the chocolate has melted, and the mixture is smooth.
  
• Let the mixture cool a bit, then stick in in the fridge for later
  
• If you're making the crust, combine the graham cracker crumbs and the butter and press onto the bottom of a 9in springform pan. Otherwise you can just look at your pretty pre-made ones with excitement.
  
• In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth.
  
• Add flour and salt.
  
• Slowly beat in sugar.
  
• Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
  
• Add melted chocolate.
  
• Stir in milk and chocolate chips.
  
• Pour yummy mixture into prepared crust (or crusts as it may be.) The first time I made this I opted for lazy but only bought two crusts, and ended up with some batter left over. Try three, but don't overfill them and it should work out fine.
  
• Bake at 475 for 10-12 minutes
  
• Reduce heat to 300 and bake for 40-50 minutes longer (until filling is barely set in the middle)
  
• Remove from oven and let stand for 1 hour, removing the springform bit after about 15 minutes.
  
• Refrigerate several hours, or overnight.
  
• Remove the Chocolate-Kahlua sauce and let stand at room temperature for about 20min before covering the cheesecake with it.
  
• Add any other garnishes you'd like. I opted for Strawberries and homemade whipped cream. Yummm. Now go to the store and get your insane amounts of cream cheese!

xx