Dessert-Tunnel of Fudge Cake

Okay, I am doing my best to cut back on sugar and eat healthy. Just because I am devoted to giving up the wonderful desserts doesn't mean that I will stop posting recipes that I have tried in the past or those recipes that make me stop for a moment and wonder about baking. So here's one that not only looked yummy, but made me want to run to the kitchen and start cooking.

TUNNEL OF FUDGE CAKE

Cake:

2 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 & 3/4 cups sugar

1 & 3/4 cups butter, softened

6 eggs

2 cups confectioners' sugar

2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans

Glaze:

3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 to 3 tablespoons milk or half and half

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12 cup Bundt pan with butter and dust with flour.
2. Combine flour and cocoa powder and set aside. In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add confectioners' sugar and mix thoroughly. Stir in flour mixture by hand until well blended. Gently stir in nuts. (Batter will be thick) Spoon batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until the top is set and the edges begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool upright in pan on wire rack for 1 & 1/2 hours to allow fudge to set. Invert onto serving plate to cool thoroughly.
4. To prepare glaze, combine confectioners' sugar and cocoa. Add 2 tablespoons milk. Mix thoroughly, adding only enough milk to create a smooth but pourable glaze. Spoon glaze over top of cake, allowing some to run down sides. Serves 20

Need a Digital Camera

I do need to get a digital camera to snap pictures and then post them here on my food blog. I just don't know which kind or what features to notice when looking for one. Usually I think maybe a new feature will be available if I wait just a little longer or they will improve on a feature. Really, to be truthful it seems that when I buy something it goes on sale at a reduced price ten minutes after I have paid for it. So if any want to share info about your digital camera and the features you find most important for food picture or any picture taking, leave comments. I do need help with spending my money on just the right camera. Help! SOS!

The Foodie BlogRoll

I have joined The Foodie BlogRoll. It has many blogs that are filled with great recipes and ideas. If you want to become a member just look in the column, locate The Foodie BlogRoll, and give it a click. You will be given the information you need to become a member.

Dessert-Milky Way Cake

I love to find and try Paula Deen's recipes. This Milky Way Cake is one that I have tried and love. It is rich so a little piece is about all that I need. Everyone that tries it loves it too.

MILKY WAY CAKE

Cake:

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting pans

Eight 1 3/4-ounce Milky Way bars

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter

2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs, well beaten

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1 cup chopped pecans

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing:

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup marshmallow cream

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

6-ounces chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease three 9-inch cake pans and dust them with confectioners' sugar. To make the cake, melt the Milky Way bars with 1 stick of butter. Remove from the heat and let cool. Cream the remaining 2 sticks of butter with the granulated sugar. Add the beaten eggs and the cooked chocolate mixture. Sift the floor and the baking soda together. Alternately add the flour and buttermilk to the batter, blending well. Add the nuts and vanilla. Divide the batter among the prepared pans and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the cake is firm to the touch. Cool for 5 minutes, remove from the pans, and place on cooling racks. While the cake cools, prepare the icing. Combine the sugar and milk in a heavy saucepan. Cook to the soft-ball stage (234 degrees on a candy thermometer). Remove the pan from the heat and add the marshmallow cream, butter, and chocolate chips, stirring until melted. Add the pecans. When the cake has cooled completely, frost each layer, sides, and top of the Milky Way Cake.

Dessert-Cinnamon Roll Cake

This is another cake made with a cake mix. Hmmmmmmm, it came from a newspaper clipping and I haven't tried it as of yet. It sounds wonderful and I just might have to break down, get out the mixing bowl, and start adding and stirring. Remember I am on a mission to shed pounds so I am trying to be good. These recipes are giving me the jitters and may break me down to cook just one more sweet treat.

CINNAMON ROLL CAKE

1 Cinnamon Swirl cake mix

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream(some use low fat)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1/3 cup cinnamon chips(look for them in the same place as chocolate chips)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix cake mix, eggs, sour cream, oil and water, and beat for 2 minutes on medium with electric mixer (or by hand until smooth). Swirl the package of cinnamon mixture(included in the cake mix package). Use a spoon, and do not over mix. Place half of butter in a greased or sprayed tube or Bundt pan. Mix the brown sugar, nuts, cinnamon and cinnamon chips in a small bowl, and sprinkle half of this mixture over the half of batter in pan. Then pour on the remaining batter, and top with remaining cinnamon chip mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until tests done with a toothpick. Let stand in pan for about 10 minutes and then place on cake plate to cool. (It is prettier if you invert it onto another plate and then carefully turn it over on to a cake plate so that the cinnamon-nut topping is on top.)

Hint-Chopping Onions

For those that don't have HELOISE in your newspaper I wanted to share a hint that was posted today. This poster to HELOISE uses a food processor to chop five or six cooking onions in one session. Then she places them in 1/2 cup increments in plastic sandwich bags, places the bags in a heavy plastic freezer bag and freezes them. Then the onions are measured and ready to pull out as needed for the dishes she is making. I thought this was a neat idea and wanted to pass it on to you.

Breakfast-Yogurt Pancakes

I don't eat pancakes that much, but love to eat wheat and nuts pancakes at IHOP. It is so nice to drizzle that warm syrup and melted butter over the top. I found this recipe in the newspaper and it was in a book called, "Recipes Old and New." I plan to give it a try on one of my get up early and cook pancakes morning day. Actually, I would much rather go to IHOP and have them cook and serve me the pancakes, but here's a recipe just in case for me and you want to cook pancakes.

YOGURT PANCAKES

1/2 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup yogurt, plain or fruit

1 egg

1 tablespoon cooking oil

Mix dry ingredients. Mix together yogurt, egg and oil. Combine dry ingredients with yogurt mixture. Cook on hot griddle. Some make 3 recipes for three or four and usually use 2 eggs, 1 egg white and only one-third the amount of oil when they triple the recipe. Some use plain, low or nonfat yogurt.

New Year's Day

Do you have those black eyed peas ready to cook for good luck? I do. Let's see, I think we need something green for hopes of money during the 2008 year. We usually cook cabbage, but today it may be turnip greens. Do you think that will do for something green? I think the menu today will be that good chicken spaghetti that is frozen, those black eyed peas, some turnip greens, and don't want to forget the garlic bread. Oh, yes, I think we will get that frozen cake out that our friends sent us for Christmas. That will top off our meal for today. I can already tell that it is going to be one of those lazy days that I will sit around, maybe exercise a little, and read a book or watch a good movie. Hope you all have a great day and don't forget to prepare those black eyed peas and something green in your home today.