Zombies can make cake!

I used to work at 5:00 a.m. every day. It was pretty miserable. I went to bed at 8:30 most nights and pretty much felt like a walking zombie all the time. Then I got promoted to a new position and with it came new hours. Better hours. Normal hours (most of the time). It appears that I am now going to have to work the 5:00 a.m. shift every other Monday. I really shouldn't complain, it is not that bad. However, this is my blog and I will cry if I want to!

Getting up at 4:00 a.m. every day is not fun, but I have discovered that getting up at 4:00 a.m. once a week is actually worse because my body clock is not used to it. I now go to bed around 11:00 or 12:00 so trying to force my eyes to shut at 8:30 isn't easy. Last night I went to bed at about 10:00 and tossed and turned the entire night! Literally, not a wink of sleep all night long. At a certain point it becomes mental, I know I have to get up soon so I will think "Ok, if I fall asleep now, I will get 5 hours of sleep." ummm.... "If I fall asleep now, I will get 3 1/2 hours of sleep." ugh... "If I fall asleep now, I will get a 1 hour nap." and then BEEP BEEP BEEP it is time to get up.

As painful as this was, it actually worked in my favor, rather than being my normal, sluggish, zombie self at 5:00 a.m. I was wide awake and ready to go. I had such a productive work day! Then I came home and made a German Chocolate Cake for my friend, Ellie. My eyes are kind of burning but other than that I am going strong.

All of that whining really means nothing. The point of this blog - the reason you are reading is... cake! I made a German Chocolate Cake and it is perfectly delicious. *secret* It is actually the same chocolate cake/ frosting recipe that I have posted before, I just added the coconut mixture and voila! a completely new dessert! Here is the recipe:

German Chocolate Cake

Cake:

9 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder

3 Tbs. vegetable oil

2 1/2 cups brown sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk w/ 1 Tbs. vinegar)

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1 cup boiling water

Filling:

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/4 cup butter

2 egg yolks, beaten

2/3 cups flaked coconut

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Frosting: 

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

6 Tbs. vegetable oil

3/4 stick of butter

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup warm water

2 1/4 tsp. vanilla

Mix cocoa and vegetable oil. Cream brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and butter. Add cocoa and mix well.

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder. Alternately add buttermilk and flour mixture to batter. Mix well. Add 1 cup of boiling water. Pour into two greased and floured 8" round pans. Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes.
Cool each cake and fill with coconut filling.

To make the Filling: 

In a saucepan combine sugar, evaporated milk, cup butter, and egg yolks. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in coconut, pecans and vanilla. Cool until thick enough to spread.

To make the Frosting:
Mix together all ingredients and frost the sides of the cake. Pipe a border around the top to hold the coconut filling. Carefully pour the filling on the top of the cake. 

Strawberry Pear Cobbler

It is a chilly, drizzly day here in SoCal. I LOVE it! I love rain so much, I think I would really enjoy living in Seattle. Being in San Diego, the weather is perfect 364 days a year so maybe that is why I love the rain so much, it is a break from the monotony of paradise (it's a rough life, I know). Today has been a very lazy weekend day. I started off going out to brunch with an old roommate at a local dive in the village. Then I came home and put on my "fireplace". Netflix has a streaming movie that is just a fireplace that burns and crackles for a couple of hours. That thing is amazing! I have a 42" TV so the fire looks big and lifelike. I know it is my head but I can actually feel the heat radiating from the TV. It is pretty awesome. In addition to the crackling fire, smells of chocolate cake are filling my house. I am making a german chocolate cake for my friend, Ellie's birthday (blog to come). I am pretty easy to please but I have to say- rain, a fireplace, whiffs of chocolate cake, hot tea, blanket and a good book is all I need for the perfect Saturday!

Today is my friend, Dave's birthday (Ellie's husband, incidentally) and I made his birthday dessert last week. He told me to get creative. He wanted a fruit cobbler but wanted me to branch out from my normal blackberry/peach or apple/cranberry (both of which are delicious, by the way) He asked for a pear/rhubarb cobbler. How interesting! I love it!!! I went online and started looking and lo and behold... there are recipes for pear/rhubarb cobblers. Unfortunately, I then realized that rhubarb is not available in January. I am totally bummed out, I have never baked with rhubarb and really think I ought to try. Oh well, I will get to it this summer.  I figured that pear/strawberry cobbler might be a good alternative so that is what I went with. It ended up being very tasty. Thanks, Dave for pushing me out of my box. I love discovering new flavor combinations.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

Filling:

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3 Tbs. all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

Dash of cloves

2 Tbs. lemon juice

6 medium pears, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

1 quart diced strawberries

Topping:

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

3 Tbs. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

3/4 cup buttermilk

4 1/2 Tbs. butter, melted

Combine all of the filling ingredients. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until hot and bubbly, stirring gently. Remove from heat and set aside.

Make topping. Place flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in mixing bowl. Beat on low speed of electric mixer for about 30 seconds. Add buttermilk and melted margarine. Continue to mix on low speed about 30 seconds, or just until blended.

Pour hot filling into 9”x9” pan. Top evenly with large spoonfuls of topping. Sprinkle with additional sugar, if desired. Bake at 375° for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pears are tender and bubbly and topping is golden brown. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Oooey goooey chocolate sheet cake

The holidays are over and after a couple of weeks of laying low, I am back in the kitchen! Last night my Community Group had mexican food for dinner and I made dessert. I am so used to taking requests for birthdays that it was kind of fun to just make whatever struck my fancy. I decided to make my Nana's chocolate sheet cake. I loved it as a kid but I have never made it myself so I wanted to give it a whirl. It is actually designed to go in an 11x16 sheet pan and be kind of "brownie-sized". Since I don't have a pan that size I made it in a 9x13 and it was more "cake-sized". Tastes delicious either way, just requires a bit more baking time for the thicker cake.

Usually everyone divvies up the leftovers so I don't have to bring any home but last night I think everyone was so full that I ended up bringing about 1/4 of the pan home. I am not going to lie, I had a piece of chocolate cake for breakfast. I feel delightfully guilty. (this is why you have to take the leftovers, people!)

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Cake:

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup shortening

4 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa

1 cup water

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla

Frosting:

1 stick of butter

4 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa

6 Tbs. milk

1 lb. powder sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans (if you are feeling nutty)

Directions:

Measure sugar and flour in large bowl. In saucepan place butter, shortening, cocoa and water; bring to a boil. Pour over flour and sugar and stir well. Add buttermilk, eggs, soda, cinnamon and vanilla; mix well and pour into greased 11“x16” pan.
Bake for 20 minutes at 400°F.
While cake is baking make frosting. Bring all ingredients except for powdered sugar and nuts to very hot but just shy of a boil. Add sugar and nuts and stir until smooth.
Take cake from oven and stab many holes in the cake with a knife. Pour hot icing over cake.