Cocholate Cake for my Big Boy's Birthday!

My little / big boy has turned 8 today! I am so very excited for him, because he looks so happy and overjoyed! While Andre was enjoying his new toys and games, I was enjoying making him a cake.... he wanted a Chocolate Cake!

 This cake called "Devil's Food Cake" , by James Peterson.

Needed:

Butter and flour for the cake pans.
1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 tspn. baking soda
1 tspn. baking powder
1/4 tspn. salt
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup sugar (I have used brown)
3 eggs
Preheat the oven to 350F.
In bowl mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Combine butter, sour cream, chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Stir until smooth, once the chocolate has melted, remove from the heat.
In large bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth. Stir in the chocolate mixture and the flour mix over. Mix!
Pour the mixture into the pan. Bake for about 25-35 min. until the toothpick comes out clean from the centre of the cake.

And here is the left over for tomorrow, and a closer look at the texture of this pretty good cake!

Scones for Breakfast...Oh, and a Last Night's SECRET!

Sometimes we are out, and there is a coffee and a nice fresh scone... usually toasted with butter in it. Tastes great, a specially if it's a chili cold day!
The other day I saw a post on Joy The Baker's blog. There are so many different recipes for making scones!!! I have tried this one Chocolate Coconut Almond Scones so easy to make, and super tasty with tea!

Last night the kids were in their room....shushing about something!
They wouldn't let me go in and said it was a Secret. Once everything was ready and set up, we walked into the room to see the reading chair full of beautiful messages with drawings of all of us! I had to run and grab the camera, because these moments make us remember this special feeling and love that is surrounding us as a family!

Love, love my boys!!!!

Salsa Salad

This Saturday! Finally I had all the ingredients at home.... I keep forgetting to buy either tomatoes... or cilantro!

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic

2 firm red tomatoes
2 jalapeno peppers
1 bunch of green onion
Juice of one lime
Handful of cilantro/coriander
1 teaspoon cumin powder
Half teaspoon black pepper powder
Salt

Olive oil

Chop the vegetables as finely as you can. Don't forget to remove the seeds from the peppers before chopping.

Mix it all up in the large bowl. Top with the spices and seasoning and add freshly squeezed lime juice with olive oil.

Chill it in the fridge before serving!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

I have to admit that there is no taste of pumpkin in this cheese cake....There was a thought to make a pumpkin pie, since it was my goal this fall to make something... well anything out of pumpkin! But then I chickened out, and here it is.... a Cheese Cake!

I have based my cheesecake on this recipe, right here Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake

You need:

3/4 cup graham crumbs

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

3/4 cup packed brown sugar, divided

3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cup pumpkin, I have boiled my pumpkin until soft and off to the mixer (or canned pumpkin)

3 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

3 pkg. (259 g each) brick cream cheese, softened

1 tbsp. cornstarch

First mix graham crumbs, nuts, 1/4 cup each brown and granulated sugar, and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Refrigerate 1 hr.

Heat oven to 350F.

Whisk pumpkin, remaining brown sugar, eggs and spice until well blended. Beat cream cheese, remaining granulated sugar and cornstarch in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add pumpkin mixture; mix just until blended. Pour over crust.

Bake for 45 to 50 min. Cool completely and refrigerate 4 hours. Top with anything.

Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcakes for Halloween! I have used this new recipe for the first time (or at least I have based my cupcakes on this recipe), and it's worth of repeating!

Here is the link to Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting!

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tspn baking soda
1 tspn. salt
1 tspn. cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil (I have used canola oil)
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tspn. white distilled vinegar
1 tspn. vanilla extract
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar
Chopped pecans and fresh raspberries or strawberries(optional)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pan with cupcake papers.
In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.
Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

Garnish with chopped pecans and a fresh raspberry or strawberry.