My best chocolate cake so far

The hubs wanted a little office soiree at our backyard pool, patted me on the head, said not to worry about food preparations, he had it all handled. Our local favorite bbq joint would take care of the major workload, so I got to add my own personal touches. So looking over some recipes, I picked out a truly deep south cake recipe, tweaked it a little, and was pleased with the results. But I was not pleased when the caterers arrived with nothing but potato salad and ribs. Okay Dave, where is the beans,coleslaw, all the other stuff that goes on the plate around the meat. He didn't order it, because according to his stomach, all it takes is potato salad and ribs to make HIM happy. I was dumbfounded, astonished at his total ignorance, had one hour before 30 people showed up for dinner. Threw open the cabinets, pulled out cans of ranch style beans, mixed them with a can of grilling beans (thank you Bush family), threw them in the oven, and put a pasta salad together, along with a fruit salad. I guess the old saying if you want something done right, do it yourself, and don't depend on someone who thinks potato salad should be a food group.

Okay, for my recipe

Dr Pepper Cake

Mix in a large bowl

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

In a saucepan bring to a boil

1 cup butter

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup Dr Pepper

1/2 cup buttermilk

When heated, pour into flour mixture, mix with a whisk

add

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract.

Throw in a handful of chocolate chips, more chocolate the better in my book

Bake 30 minutes 350 degrees 9x13 pan, do not over bake this

For the icing

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup Dr Pepper

another dash of cinnamon

Bring to a boil, then stir in 4 cups of powdered sugar, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts,

pour over hot cake.

Yum, rich, gooey,chocolate heaven.

Hope you enjoy this, especially with barbeque

Patrice

New Bathroom

Finally, new bathrooms. I have got to start decorating. Yeah for Canfield construction.

New Bathroom

Finally, new bathrooms. Good bye to the old fiberglass bathtubs that were beyond a disgrace.

Yeah for Canfield construction, the whole team did a great job.

New Bathroom

New Bathroom

Finally, hubby broke down, opened up the wallet, and had the bathrooms remodeled. I guess he figured it was cheaper than a divorce, honestly, the bathrooms were beyond a disgrace. New porcelain bathtubs, granite countertops, custom cabinets. Now just gotta start the decorating.

New Bathroom

Hooray for the Red, White, and Yummy

I felt like some holiday baking, and thisn Pioneer Woman cookie recipe worked pretty well. Easy to cut out, cookies did not lose shape as they baked. I will tell you about my tweaks as I go along.

Pioneer Woman Cut Out Cookies

2/3 cup shortening

3/4 cup sugar

4 tsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 egg yolks, separated

2 tbsp water

food coloring

Cream the shortening, and sugar until creamy. Add milk,vanilla, and stir in rest of ingredients.

Let dough chill for at least a half an hr, then roll out. I will add a little more milk next time, the dough was just a little crumbly. You want these cookies a little thick when rolled out. Whne the cookies are all cut out, and on cookie sheets, mix the egg yolks, water, and food coloring. Take a pastry brush and brush the egg mixture over the cookies, then bake 350 degrees 8-10 minutes.

When the cookies are baked, make the glaze.

1 cup powdered sugar

1-2 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

The glaze needs to be fairly thick, so it won't flow all over the cookies. Spoon the glaze in a pastry bag, or ziploc bag and snip a corner off. Drizzle the glaze on the cooled cookies, and let the glaze dry. I may use, vanilla/almond extract in the dough next time. These are easy, and yummy.

Happy 4th

Patrice