Chocolate Cake

With everyone cooped up at home. Sales for flour and yeast are at an all time high. Robin Hood Flour can’t keep up with the demand and has had to settle with putting their flour in generic white bags, restaurants and commercial bakeries are trying to help with the demand by selling off their stock. It’s been a really interesting ordeal to watch!

Baking and cooking is a great way to keep your hands busy while the world goes through this roller coaster. I’ve never seen shelves at a grocery store this bare before even after working in the industry for almost a decade. My heart goes out to all the current grocery store workers out there, you are making a huge impact on our sanity and even more importantly our survival by risking your lives everyday to go to work. Thank you.

I’ve decided to release some of my favorite recipes during this time. Some of them I’ve shared with you before. Others I kept to myself to give my business a delicious edge in the industry ;). Now that my little one woman bake shop is closed until further notice I see no harm in sharing some of them.

My chocolate cake recipe is a standing favorite in my family. It’s known as “Nicole’s special chocolate cake.” The secret is just how moist it is. The batter can be messy to work with but it’s worth it!

This recipe was shared to me from an old college friend almost 10 years ago now, I’ve never found a better chocolate cake recipe.

Pair this chocolate cake recipe with the ganache recipe and you’ll be in chocolate heaven.

Chocolate Cake: Yields 2 8” cakes OR 24 cupcakes.

1 3/4 cup of Flour

2 cups of Sugar

3/4 cup of Cocoa

1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 1/2 tsp Baking Power

1 tsp Salt

2 Eggs

1 cup of Milk

1/2 cup of Vegetable Oil

2 tsp of Vanilla

1 cup of Boiling Water

1. Sift all the dry ingredients together (including the sugar).

2. Create a well in the dry mixture (dig a hole) and add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Mix well.

3. Stir in the boiling water gently.

4. Pour into a greased pan or a prepared cupcake pan.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

6. For the cake, bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. For cupcakes, bake for 25 minutes or until the tops of the cupcake have a good bounce to them.

Recipe: Granola Bar

With everyone cooped up at home. Sales for flour and yeast are at an all time high. Robin Hood Flour can’t keep up with the demand and has had to settle with putting their flour in generic white bags, restaurants and commercial bakeries are trying to help with the demand by selling off their stock. It’s been a really interesting ordeal to watch!

Baking and cooking is a great way to keep your hands busy while the world goes through this roller coaster. I’ve never seen shelves at a grocery store this bare before even after working in the industry for almost a decade. My heart goes out to all the current grocery store workers out there, you are making a huge impact on our sanity and even more importantly our survival by risking your lives everyday to go to work. Thank you.

I’ve decided to release some of my favorite recipes during this time. Some of them I’ve shared with you before. Others I kept to myself to give my business a delicious edge in the industry ;). Now that my little one woman bake shop is closed until further notice I see no harm in sharing some of them.

This granola bar recipe came from my time as a pastry chef at Saint Mary’s University, it was originally designed to make 5 large industrial sized sheet pans so it took a little work to get it down to a personal size but it was worth it.

This is by no means a healthy snack, but its filling and delicious.

Granola Bars: Yields one cookie sheet.

1 cup of Shredded Coconut

3 cups of Oats

1 cup of Chocolate Chips

1 cup of Sliced almonds (or your favorite sliced nut)

1/2 cup of raisins (or your favorite dried fruit)

1 can of condensed milk

1/8 cup of margarine or butter

1. Combine all ingredients by hand (DO NOT USE A MIXER- YOU WILL END UP WITH MUSH)

2. Spread mixture onto a greased cookie sheet.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. Bake for 20 minutes, turning the pan in the middle. If you have a convection oven you don’t have to turn the pan.

5. Carefully cut the bars to the desired size while it is still hot.

If you don’t cut the bars while they are still warm, it will be messy doing it after the fact- but still doable.

Feel free to substitute various ingredients into this recipe. The best part about it is having fun. In the fall I love putting pumpkin seeds in it.