Chocolate Glazed Baked Vanilla Doughnuts

Mmmmmm...doughnuts. I finally joined the ranks of bakers who make their own doughnuts. Yummy, cakey, chocolately, goodness at any time, day or night. It took me awhile to take the plunge and buy a couple of doughnut pans, but boy was it worth it.

My first foray into the doughnut world was a simple one. I chose an easy vanilla doughnut with a chocolate glaze. I was a little surprised that it took me several batches before I came upon a recipe that I really like, and then several more tried for the glaze. What I ended up with was so yummy that I try very hard not to make them every morning.

These babies come out super fluffy and moist. The chocolate glaze is decadent and doesn't get flakey like most doughnut glazes. The first time I made them, they didn't stick around long enough to tell how well they stored but the next time I made them, I put some into an airtight container for the next day. I have to say, they were definitely better fresh. They were ok the next day but would really not last any longer than that for freshness.

Chocolate Glazed Baked Vanilla Doughnuts

Adapted from Gourmet Day to Day
And Just Baked

Ingredients

Doughnuts
2 Cups Cake Flour (or 1 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour + 1/4 Cup Cornstarch)
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
3/4 Cup Buttermilk
2 Large Eggs
1 Tablespoon Butter, melted

Chocolate Glaze
2 1/2 Tablespoons Butter
2 oz Chocolate Chips
1 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/8 Cup Hot Water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Liberally grease doughnut pans with cooking spray.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the butter, buttermilk, and eggs.
4. Sift in the dry ingredients.
5. Mix until just combined. (Over mixing will create tough doughnuts.)
6. Spoon the batter into the doughnut wells until about 2/3 full.
7. Bake 7-8 minutes, until golden and the tops spring back when touched.
8. Let cool in the pan for 2-3 minutes and then removed to a wire rack until cooled completely.
9. As the doughnuts cool, make the glaze.
10. Using a microwave safe bowl that is wide enough to dip the doughnuts into, melt the butter and chocolate chips in the microwave at 20 second intervals, until smooth and shiny.
11. Whisk in the sugar, vanilla, and water.
12. Dip the top of each doughnut into the warm glaze.
13. Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes for the glaze to set.

Yields: 12 Doughnuts

Carrot Cake

I love carrot cake. I could eat it almost every day. That's exactly why I don't make it very often. So, carrot cake has become a "special occasion" cake in our house. Thankfully, my brother-in-law and my neighbor both love it so I have extra birthdays to use as an excuse to make it.

Surprisingly, it took me many years to find a carrot cake recipe that I really liked. Many recipes are too dry or are too much like a spice cake. I wanted a sweet, spicy cake that highlighted the carrot flavor. And let's not forget the most important part of carrot cake...the cream cheese frosting. The frosting on this cake is pretty standard but it pairs with the cake like peas and carrots (thank you Forrest Gump).

I had been using a carrot cake recipe that my mom had given me for quite some time and it was pretty good. I most often made it as cupcakes but I also made it as a sheet cake to bring in to parties at work. It was one of these occasions that a coworker and I were talking about recipes and she gave me this one. She said that this was a family recipe and was requested over and over again. She was not wrong. I get constant requests for this cake. It is moist and flavorful. It has just the right amount of spice and a delicate carrot taste that is brought out by the walnuts.

It is an easy recipe. I've made this one as cupcakes, sheet cakes, and a layer cake. It is very versatile and a crowd pleaser.

Carrot Cake

From Susannah Dunbar

Ingredients
3 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
3 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
2 teaspoons Salt
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 1/2 Cups Canola Oil
4 Large Eggs
3 teaspoons Vanilla
1 8 oz Can Crushed Pineapple, drained
2 1/2 Cups Grated Carrots
1 Cup Walnuts, chopped

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
1 Stick Butter, softened
16 oz Powdered Sugar (1 box)
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 Cup Walnuts, chopped
Walnuts for garnish


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Liberally grease your baking pans (3-9 inch round cake pans, 1 sheet cake pan, 1 9x13 pan, 2 8x8 square pans, or 36 muffin cups) with cooking spray.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the cake ingredients and mix well.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool on a wire rack.
7. Once the cake is cooled, mix all of the frosting ingredients together.
8. Whip the frosting until fluffy.
9. Stack the cake layers with frosting in between each layer.
10. Cover the entire cake with the remaining frosting.
11. Sprinkle walnuts over the top and sides of the cake to garnish.

Yields: 16 Servings (from 3-9 inch pans)

Eclair Cake

Every Friday night a group of neighbors in my building go up to one of the penthouse apartments to have cocktails and a light dinner or heavy hors d'ouerves. My contribution to the night is dessert. I love that I can try out new recipes and not have to worry about having too much dessert in the house to tempt me. I'm pretty lucky that my neighbors and friends are good sports about my using them as guinea pigs.

Last Friday I could not decide which recipe to make. I procrastinated to the point of not having enough time to bake the cake that I really wanted to try. So I took a poll to see what everyone would want. This cake won out. I was skeptical about how good it would be since it used all pre-packaged ingredients. But, it was quick, easy, and required no baking or cooling time. I could just whip it together and stick it in the fridge at my neighbors place until we were ready for dessert.

I had to improvise a little in making this since I ran out of several of the correct ingredients, but it still turned out fabulous. I didn't have any leftovers to take home and take pictures of, so you guys will just have to wait until I make it again.

The original recipe calls for vanilla pudding and graham crackers. I used white chocolate pudding and graham cracker crumbs. I would recommend sticking with the graham crackers instead of the crumbs for this but substituting different flavor puddings seems to work well. The best part of this cake is that it is so low in points. Only 4 points per serving! Granted, these are pretty small serving sizes but the cake is very rich and filling.

Eclair Cake

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients
2 Boxes Sugar Free-Fat Free Cheesecake Flavor Pudding
1 - 8 oz Tub Sugar Free-Fat Free Cool Whip
3 Cups Low-Fat (2%) Milk
24 Low-Fat Graham Crackers
1 - 16 oz Can Chocolate Frosting

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix the pudding, milk, and cool whip until smooth.
2. Set aside for a few minutes to firm up.
3. Line the bottom of a 13x9 casserole dish with 8 graham crackers.
4. Top with 1/2 of the pudding mixture.
5. Cover with 8 graham crackers.
6. Spread the remaining pudding mixture on top of the crackers.
7. Top with the remaining 8 graham crackers.
8. Place in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm up.
9. Microwave the frosting for a few seconds to make it easy to spread.
10. Spread the frosting on the top of the cake.
11. Chill in the fridge for 3-4 hours before serving. The longer it chills, the softer the graham crackers get, making it more cake-like.

Yields: 24 servings

The Best Chocolate Cupcakes on the Planet!

My mother-in-law gave me a new bundt pan for Christmas this year. I have never owned a bundt pan and was anxious to try it out. I looked up tons of recipes that would be perfect for it (and I'll get around to posting those soon) and this one came in at the top of my list to try.

I love me some chocolate and this cake has more than enough for even the biggest chocoholic. The original recipe is for a bundt pan and makes about 16 servings. Let me tell you, it is the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted. And that's saying something. However, at 16 servings (and it's really easy to cut yourself a bigger piece of cake than necessary) this cake was coming in at 18 points per serving!! That's half your daily points on a piece of cake! There's just no way I could justify that, even if it was chocolate cake that I would be willing to do unmentionable things for. So, in an effort to save myself from myself I made this into cupcakes. I don't think they would freeze well, but they really didn't last that long anyway. At least as cupcakes, they are in individual servings and I was able to get a lot more servings out of the recipe, bringing the points value way down.

So without further ado, the best chocolate cupcakes on the planet. Go make them right now!!

The Best Chocolate Cupcakes on the Planet

Adapted from Lick the Bowl Good

Ingredients
Cake
1 Cup Cocoa Powder
12 oz Bag Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Boiling Water
2 1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 1/4 teaspoons Salt
2 1/2 Sticks Unsalted Butter
2 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar, packed
5 Large Eggs
4 teaspoons Vanilla
1 1/2 Cups Sour Cream

Ganache Frosting
6 oz Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

Directions

1. Have all ingredients at room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 325F.
3. Line muffin cups with paper liners or liberally grease with cooking spray.
4. In a heat proof bowl, combine cocoa powder with half the bag of chocolate chips (about 6 oz).
5. Pour the boiling water over the top of the chocolate and whisk until the mixture is smooth and blended.
6. Set the chocolate mixture aside.
7. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy.
8. Add the sugar and beat until well blended.
9. Increase the speed of the mixer and continue to cream the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy.
10. Add the eggs, one at a time.
11. Add the vanilla.
12. Reduce the speed to low and add in the dry ingredients.
13. Mix until no lumps remain.
14. Add the sour cream.
15. Slowly pour in the chocolate mixture.
16. Beat until no white streaks are visible, stopping to scrape down the sides occasionally.
17. Stop the mixer and with a spatula, gently fold in the remaining chocolate chips.
18. Pour the batter into the muffin cups.
19. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
20. Let the cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack.
21. While the cupcakes are cooling, make the ganache.
22. In a microwave safe bowl, combine the ganache ingredients.
23. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until the mixture is smooth.
24. Top the cooled cupcakes with ganache and then let them set. This takes about 15 minutes.

Yields: 36 Cupcakes