Super-Easy Chocolate Cake
Need a chocolate cake in a hurry? No mixer is required
Recipes
Crème Brûlée Cake Balls
These are utterly exquisite, if I do say so myself. First you prepare a rich custard, as though you were making a crème brûlée. Once chilled, it is combined with white cake and rolled into balls. After chilling, the balls are dipped in a deeply golden caramelized sugar mixture. Stunning. This is what my pastry […]
Confectioners’ Sugar Frosting for Cake Balls
This is a very easy frosting and probably the kind you loved when you were a child. It is the most commonly used in home baking and has that nostalgia factor. Confectioners’ sugar–based frostings require a bit of leeway. If the frosting is too thin, add a bit more confectioners’ sugar; if too thick, add […]
White Cake for Cake Balls
Use this white cake recipe as your foundation for any cake ball where you want to start with a tender, white cake base.
Peppermint White Chocolate Cake Ball
If you like chocolate and mint, you have two choices within this book. This cake ball recipe features white chocolate and red and white peppermint candy. You can adjust the strength of the mint filling easily by adding more or less of the peppermint flavoring. Makes about 48 golf ball–size balls 1/2 teaspoon peppermint flavoring, […]
Confetti Cake Balls
Whether you call them rainbow sprinkles or jimmies (as I do here in New England), you are probably used to seeing these tiny sugar embellishments on top of ice cream cones or cupcakes as decoration. In recent years, they have become very popular baked into white cake batter to create a colorful, speckled effect. Here […]
The Crunchie Munchie
If you are a fan of salty-sweet combinations, this is the perfect cake ball for you. The inside is moist milk chocolate brownie and milk chocolate ganache. Dip in your choice of chocolate (I use semisweet in the recipe) and then coat with a mixture of pretzels, potato chips, mini chocolate morsels, and caramel corn. […]
Milk Chocolate Bacon Bourbon Cake Ball
Bacon has found its footing in desserts recently, particularly when paired with chocolate. It seems to be part of the salty-sweet craze and works quite nicely with a hit of bourbon when combined with chocolate cake and a milk chocolate ganache. I used Four Roses Single Barrel bourbon while developing the recipe. Its long finish […]
Honey Orange Marmalade Cake
This fine-grained cake is moist, fragrant and a great keeper.
Mocha Toffee Crunch Cake
(Image courtesy of Melissa Punch; from The Birthday Cake Book) This is a big, important cake, perfect for significant milestone birthdays. Many of the components—the cake, the buttercream, and the ganache – can be made ahead. This cake elicits “ooohhhs and aahhhs” and once guests taste it they will be clamoring for the recipe. My good friend […]
Chocolate Glazed Marzipan Cake with Cognac Soaked Apricots
We all need a few cakes in our repertoire to rely on for special occasions and this one fits the bill. This cake was created for my cousin Rachel Jackson’s high school graduation, but it would work well for important birthdays, anniversaries and other significant times of life. It is elegant, sophisticated and actually improves […]
Coconut Snowballs
The image above is of the recipe as described, but with some candy-coated mini chocolate eggs pressed into each cookie before baking. The cracking was not expected and I deemed them a failure, but several friends loved the effect, so here you go! Simple buy a couple of bags of Cadbury Easter Candy Coated Mini […]
Shapely Rolled Sugar Cookies
This recipe is essentially the same as the “Master Recipe for Butter Cookies” from Chris Kimball’s The Dessert Bible (Little Brown, 2000). While he recommends cake flour, I used the same amount of all-purpose flour and a combo of vanilla, almond extract and nutmeg. I also refrigerate the cookies after cutting them out, as well […]
Brazil Nut & Chocolate Dacquoise Torte with Espresso Buttercream
Layers of soft, moist chocolate cake brushed with Kahlua (optional), interspersed with crisp Brazil nut dacquoise rounds and espresso buttercream, topped with dark chocolate ganache. This cake has several components, but they can all be made ahead somewhat, so take advantage of any do-ahead tips. The gilded Brazil nuts on top are also optional, but […]
Coconut Cake – No Rum, Not Needed
I knew I had a meeting coming up with a potluck lunch, which is always great for me because it means I can bake something fab and present it to a crowd. This might not seem like it would be an issue, but since I work at home, its not like I have an office […]
Coconut Cake with Pineapple Filling
This is a great basic coconut cake – when you want a pretty, feed-a-crowd, moist, impressive coconut cake.
Tropical Fruit Crisp with Palm Sugar
This was an experiment of mine when I needed to come up with a vegan and gluten-free dessert – and it turned out quite well! You might have to go to an Asian store to find the palm sugar. Look for the lighter colored palm sugar that can often be found in packages of small […]
Sour Cherry Trifle with Candied Almonds and Sherry
This trifle features the flavors and textures of an almond paste cake, sour cherries, vanilla pastry cream, whipped cream and candied almonds.