La Cocina de Leslie: Chocolate

Showing posts with label Chocolate. Show all posts

One of my favorite things about the world of food blogging are the various groups I've joined over the years. There is always much fun to be had discovering new blogs, trying new recipes, and making new friends. Some of my closest friends are friends I've made through bloggging. Well, I've gone and joined another group called The Secret Recipe Club (SRC). It's like a virtual recipe swap with another blogger, except I'll be assigned a different food blog each month, and the participants have no idea who is cooking something from their blog until reveal day. Sounds fun, right? I think so. The blog I was given this month was Things I Make (for Dinner) written by Sarah.

After reading through Sarah's blog about the recipes she prepares for herself and her hubby, I had a list of recipes I wanted to try: Shirley Temple Cupcakes, Pineapple Sangria, Peanut Butter Crunch Cake, Pecan Pie Muffins, Monkey Muffins, Pork Fried Rice, and Chicken Gyros. I was leaning heavily towards the Chicken Gyros because I haven't had one in like 15+ years, but I decided to ask Hubby and kiddies for their opinions as to what I should make. As soon as I said the words "peanut butter" they were sold. So, Peanut Butter Crunch Cake it was! But those Chicken Gyros are high on my list of things to make.

Oh, where do I start with this cake? I've always loved peanut butter, but it's been way too long since I've made (and eaten) a peanut butter dessert. I had forgotten how much I love peanut butter desserts. This snack cake reminded me of one of my favorite cookies, Nutter Butters, that I haven't had since I moved to Mexico 13 years ago. I couldn't stop tasting the cake batter, it was that good.

I did have to make one change to this cake. The original recipe calls for chocolate chips and peanut butter chips, but since I don't have access to those I decided to substitute plain m&m candies. The result was a major hit with my family. Jack, my youngest, has already requested I make this cake again for El Día del Niño (Children's Day) in April, and Hope and Nick, my teenagers, have both requested this cake for their birthdays. Thank you, Sarah, for sharing this recipe!

Peanut Butter Fun Snack Cake - lacocinadeleslie.com

09 March 2014

Secret Recipe Club: Peanut Butter Fun Snack Cake

I can't think of a better way to celebrate Leap Day than with a party. A chocolate party! It's time to round-up all of the decadent, sinfully delicious, chocolate recipes a few of my friends around the blogosphere made for this month's Food of the Month Club.

To get our little Chocolate party started, let me offer you something to drink, like this gorgeous Chocolate Margarita from Vianney of Sweet Life. I don't know what I love more: the homemade chocolate syrup, the shaved chocolate around the rim, or the chocolate "Amor" garnish... Simply stunning!

Ready for a little dessert? Corina from Searching for Spice whipped up this gorgeous Chocolate Microwave Cake. I could swim in that rich, luxurious pudding that magically forms when done cooking in the microwave!

Since February is el mes del amor (the love month), Heather from Girlichef baked up these super cute heart-shaped Chocolate Fudge Brownies with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. It fell in love just looking at them.

For those of you who aren't all that crazy about chocolate desserts, Sarah from Kitchen Procrastination,, made us these Seared Steaks with Red Wine and Chocolate Sauce. The sauce sounds amazing!

Still in the mood for something sweet? My friends at Peru Delights made these sweet candy confections called Chocotejas. So many flavors and textures in one tiny piece of candy. (Sigh!)

Then we have this dreamy Chocolate Chip Chocoflan from Nicole at Presley's Pantry. So much chocolate-y goodness in one incredible dessert.

Now to end our little party, I send you hugs and these sweet, irresistible Monkey Kisses from Ericka at Nibbles & Feasts. Bet you can't have just one!

A big THANK YOU, to my wonderful foodie friends for joining me.

If you would like to be included in next month's Round-Up, be sure to tune in tomorrow to find out our Food of the Month for March.

What's your favorite way to use chocolate?

29 February 2012

FOTMC Round-Up: Chocolate

If you have liked learning new ways (Mexican Chocolate Brownies & Chocolate Chip Cookies) to use Mexican chocolate tablets for recipes other than Mexican Hot Chocolate, Champurrado and Mole Dulce, then you are going to love today's recipe: Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie.

I have been craving a Chocolate Cream Pie pretty much all summer, but since I didn't have a fridge, I couldn't make it. But last week, that all changed. Someone got a new fridge and is now going to be able to make all kinds of icebox goodies.

My Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie starts with a Maria's Cookie Crust filled with a creamy Mexican Chocolate Pudding with just the slightest hint of cinnamon and topped with a light and airy meringue that is just sinfully delicious!

Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie

Ingredients:

Galletas Maria's pie crust
2 large eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch (I used unflavored Maizena)
2 pinches of salt (about 1/4 teaspoon)
2 cups milk
1 tablet Mexican chocolate (Abuelita or Ibarra brand)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Directions:
If you haven't already done so, prepare the Maria's Cookies Pie Crust; refrigerate until ready to use.

Separate the egg yolks and egg whites; set aside. (I do this step first, because this gives the eggs a chance to warm up to room temperature, which makes them easier to beat.)

In a medium saucepan, combine the 3 tablespoons cornstarch, the granulated sugar and a pinch of salt (about 1/8 of a teaspoon).

Slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly with a wire whisk to prevent any lumps from forming.

Add Mexican chocolate to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring contstantly, until the mixture begins to boil and thicken slightly.

Remove the saucepan from heat for a moment while you temper the eggs. Pour 1/3 cup of the hot chocolate liquid into the small bowl with the egg yolks, whisk immediately until well combined. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the saucepan and return the saucepan to the medium heat.

Let cook for one minute or until the mixture returns to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Voila! You now have Mexican Chocolate Pudding!

Pour the hot pudding into the prepared pie crust.

You can stop here and enjoy a nice No-Bake Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie! All you have to do is let it cool to room temperature. Top with whipped cream and refrigerate for at least 3 hours until ready to serve.

But you still have those egg whites sitting on the counter. You might as well take advantage of them.

Preheat your oven to 400F. In a small bowl, mix together the 6 tablespoons of powdered sugar, the teaspoon of cornstarch and the remaining pinch of salt.

Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 1 minute.

Whisk in the powdered sugar mixture, a third at a time, until well combined.

Continue beating the egg whites until the sugar has dissolved and the egg whites have turned glossy.

Spread the egg whites over the chocolate filling, making sure to seal the edges so that none of the filling escapes.

Bake at 400F for about 10 minutes or until the meringue has turned a light golden brown.
Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Enjoy!!!

Linking up with:

26 July 2011

Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie

Chocolate cake? Or vanilla?

Life is full of tough decisions.

If you're anything like me and have a hard time deciding between chocolate or vanilla cake, then you're going to love this month's Cake Slice Baker's selection...Zebra Cake! Just the name of this cake was enough to win me over. (It appealed to my inner Peggy Bundy. What can I say? I'm a red-head who's wild about animal prints!)

Zebra Cake is a vanilla and chocolate striped cake, very much like a Rainbow Cake, only with more stripes and without all of the bright colors. I didn't get as many stripes as I should have, because I baked the cake into two 9-inch rounds, so I could share one with my visiting sister-in-law.

I loved this cake! It was so light and tender. And the flavor was a subtle balance of butter, vanilla and chocolate. This Zebra Cake is definitely a keeper!

Zebra Cake
(from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan; set aside. (The recipe says to line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, then grease and flour the parchment as well. But you know me, I'm a rebel. I skipped this step and didn't have any problem getting the cake out of the pan.)

In a 2-cup measuring cup combine the milk, melted butter, vegetable oil and vanilla; set aside. (This step isn't part of the recipe, but I think measuring out and combining all of the liquid beforehand makes whipping this cake up that much easier.)

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

Combine the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

Beat with an electric mixer on high speed until thick and pale. (About 5 minutes.)


The whipped eggs and sugar looked so inviting, I wanted to dive in and take a swim.

With the mixer on low speed, add the milk, butter, vegetable oil and vanilla mixture, making sure to occasionally scrape the sides of the bowl.

Stir in the flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time.

Pour 1/3 of the batter (about 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 cups) into another bowl and whisk in the cocoa powder.

Pour 1/4 cup of the vanilla batter into the center of the cake pan, followed by 3 tablespoons of the cocoa batter directly in the center of the vanilla batter.

Continue alternating the vanilla and cocoa batters until you've used all of the batter. Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!!!

Printable Version

20 July 2011

Cake Slice Bakers: Zebra Cake

I can't believe it's been a year since I joined The Cake Slice Bakers. I've enjoyed baking with this wonderful group of women from around the world, some of whom have become very dear friends of mine. It was because of The Cake Slice Baker's that I discovered and fell in love with the Southern Cakes cookbook by Nancie McDermott. It has become one of my favorites.

But a new year has begun with the CSB's and that means that we will now be baking from a new book...Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman. Earlier this year, I received this book as part of a Cookbook Swap from fellow Cake Slice Baker Monica of Lick the Bowl Good.

The first recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes is a Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Pound Cake. A moist cake studded with chocolate chips and chopped pecans. I only made two small changes in the recipe. I substituted chunks of Carlos V chocolate bars for the chocolate chips and used pecans instead of walnuts.

I would never have thought to combine pumpkin with chocolate, but in this cake they really worked well together. And I can't wait to make this recipe again.

Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
(from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattham)

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, softened
1-1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
1 cup chocolate chips (I used Carlos V chocolate bars)
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Coat the inside of a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and dust with flour. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, cloves and nutmeg in a medium mixing bowl; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, scraping the bowl occasionally.

With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the eggs one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the pumpkin puree, vanilla and milk.

Turn the mixer to low speed and add the flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts (or pecans).

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake the cake until it is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 55 minutes to 1 hour. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, invert it onto a wire rack and then turn it right-side up on the rack to cool completely.