Tag Archives: dessert

No Muss No Fuss Chocolate Sheet Cake + 5 Spring Cake Links

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“Hold your breath…good.”

“Breathe.”

“Doing ok Ann?”

Not really. Four MRIs in a year, same result, still no answers.

“I’m good.”

“Ok, almost done. You’re doing great.”

Ann forced her eyes closed.  Staring at the white ceiling just a foot from her nose was more than she could handle at 6am on a Tuesday morning.  Maybe it was the exhaustion from the 4:30am wake-up time or the restless sleep she just endured but Ann found herself wishing for her mother. Tess would provide comfort once she endured her own anxiety.  Medical issues were avoided by Tess. And Tess tended to assume the worst. “It’s probably cancer Ann.”  “Why bother with the testing?” “ You don’t want to know what they will come back with.”  “You’re a damn fool, Ann.”

Jesus Tess not now.

Now was not the time to think of her mother. As much as Ann loved Tess, she found her difficult when she was alive and even more so now that she was dead.  Three years had passed, and the grief eased but a day didn’t go by when Tess didn’t come to Ann either in a memory or a dream. At times it was a relief to see her or hear her or remember her.  Yet other times memories and dreams of Tess left Ann frustrated like a child seeking an answer to a question when the answer is not known.  Ann understood grief changed forms.  Now she understood.  Whether what she felt was love, resentment, hate, or annoyance towards her mother it was all just grief. Grief, it turned never really ended. It wasn’t something to get over or bypass.  Grief demanded attention like a needy lover.  It required the bereaved to hold on with ripped bloody hands hoping at some point the pain would ease.  And it did and then left what remains.

Ann pushed Tess out of her mind.  Tess would be back but for now, Ann would silence her. Ann felt her wedding rings vibrate as the machine churned out images of her insides.  She thought of the day that lay ahead- school drop-offs and pick-ups, sports, follow-up phone calls and looked forward to being busy.  Maybe if there was time, she would bake a chocolate cake.  She had been craving chocolate lately.

No Muss No Fuss Chocolate Cake

Recipe adapted from my grandmother’s chocolate cake recipe and Hershey’s

Serves 12-16

Ingredients for cake:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon espresso powder- optional

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup hot water

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F.  Grease a 9x13x2 inch baking pan with baking spray.  Set aside.

Using a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients until well combined. Add oil, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla to the dry ingredients. Stir together until combined.  Add hot water and stir until completely blended.  Pour batter into the prepared pan.  Tap on the counter a couple of times to remove air bubbles.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.  Cool completely in the pan on the wire rack before frosting.  Once cool, frost the cake and decorate with sprinkles if desired.  Leftover cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.  Enjoy!

Ingredients for vanilla buttercream frosting:

11 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon heavy cream

Directions:

Sift confectioner’s sugar into a large bowl or a large piece of parchment paper and set aside.  Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment beat butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Turn the mixer off and add the confectioner’s sugar.  Beat on a low speed then increase the speed slowly as sugar blends with the butter.   Once the sugar is incorporated add the vanilla, salt, and heavy cream.  Beat on medium-high speed for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.  Frost the cake as desired.

5 Cake Links

A cake for rhubarb lovers.

Angel food cake with a twist.

Lemon lovers here is your cake.

An olive oil and ricotta cake that screams spring.

If you make only one cake this spring make this cake. It is delicious!

Cashew Chocolate Squares+ 5 Sweet Links to Start 2022

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Ann ended 2021 similar to the way she began 2021 in bed at 9:30. A few drinks eased the annoyance of the holiday but didn’t compel her to watch the ball drop in Times Square. Twenty years ago she loved New Year’s Eve, celebrating with friends, bar hopping, and drunkenly making out with her husband. Out with the old and in with the new. And yet twenty years later out with the old and in with the new seemed harder to achieve. Letting go was harder. Ann wondered if her age was to blame as she smeared overpriced eye cream over her dark circles and plucked stubborn little hairs from her chin. Maybe age was the culprit, maybe Ann had always struggled to let go. Tonight wouldn’t be the night to find out. She fell asleep.

What seemed like minutes later, Ann woke to the sound of honking Candian geese. She looked at the clock. 12:15am. The geese seemed to be announcing the arrival of the new year. Ann found this odd, comforting, and heartbreaking all at once. What an odd moment. She put her head back on her pillow. Mary Oliver’s poem “Wild Geese” popped into her head. “Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air are heading home again.” She thought of a friend who introduced her to that poem many years ago. She wished her well and released her into the night air. She could let go. What made her release that which no longer belonged she wasn’t sure. This would not be decided tonight. Now was the time to rest. Maybe the geese would return with the early morning light.

The start of a new year makes me anxious. What will this year bring? Will I be able to manage it? In an effort to find some comfort post-holiday madness I turned to a collection of recipes from my grandmother. I came across pecan squares which she wrote “delicious” next to in her perfect script. I knew she wouldn’t steer me in the wrong direction. I also realized I wouldn’t be able to make these bars with pecans due to a peanut allergy in our household. Finding pecans not processed in the same facility as peanuts is damn near impossible. Jerry’s recipe calls for pecans as well as Bits O Brickle. I didn’t feel like going to the grocery store specifically for Bits O Brickle so I opted to use cashews and chocolate chips. Success! The shortbread crust is perfectly buttery and slightly sweet. The chocolate chip, cashew, and sweetened condensed milk combination are reminiscent of a candy bar similar to Twix. Also, they are super easy to make- bonus! I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Cashew Chocolate Squares

Makes 16-18 squares

Recipe adapted from Jerry’s Pecan Squares

Ingredients:

2 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour

½ cup of confectioners’ sugar

1 cup or 2 sticks of unsalted butter

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1 large egg at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

7.5 oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped roasted cashews

Pinch of kosher salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Line a 13×9 inch baking pan with parchment paper allowing the parchment paper to hang over the sides.  Set aside.

Using a food processor mix the flour and confectioners’ sugar, pulsing several times until combined.  Next, add the butter.  Pulse the butter with the dry ingredients until well incorporated.  The dough should come together to form a ball.  Remove the dough.  Press the dough evenly into the prepared 13×9 pan.  (If you find the dough sticks to your fingertips dip your fingertips in confectioners’ sugar and proceed.)  Bake until the crust is golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and set aside. 

While the crust is baking mix the sweetened condensed milk, egg, vanilla extract, chocolate chips, cashews, and salt in a medium bowl.  Pour the wet ingredients over the still-warm crust, spreading evenly, and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes or until the bars appear golden brown.  Cool completely on a wire rack.  Once cool, cut into squares.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.  The bars taste best the day they are made.  Enjoy!

5 Sweet Links

Start the year off with a Toll House brownie you deserve it, after all, we are still in a pandemic.

I made these bars and they are excellent.

My grandmother’s chocolate chip halfway cookies are a family favorite. Check them out here.

This recipe is on my must-make list.

Make these brownies for someone you love.