Chocolate Cake Truffles

This is such an easy recipe which was born as a result of me making chocolate cake for hubby's birthday. I had leftover ganache and the top of the cake layers that I trimmed off to make it flat and even so they sit on top of each other. Making this truffle was so much fun as it feltlike playing with play-doh because you have to squish ingredients together to form the balls. It has been a long time simce I made cake-based truffle that I have honestly forgotten how easy and fun they were to make, Be warned though as they will be messy, sticky, and gooey. It was a good thing that I planned ahead and lined my table with newspaper to catch any of the crumbs that falls off the bowl as well as any ganache that dripped. The formed balls has to be frozen for a little bit though to help form them together but that didn't take very long, maybe around 15 minutes...just long enough to help it harden a little then off to an even messier task of coating it with ganache...oh, what a joy it was...hahaha...BY the way, I used disposable kitchen gloves when I was forming the balls together to prevent it from sticking to my hand so the balls weren't as perfect as it would have been if I used bare hand.



Ingredients:

2 cups Chocolate Cake, broken into crumbs (recipe here)
1/2 package of Cream cheese, softened
Chocolate gganache: recipe here

1. Mix chocolate cake crumbs with softened cream cheese and mix well. (NOTE: hand mixing it works best for me, I use disposable kitchen gloves because this could get sticky and messy)
2. Take a small piece and shape it into a ball. Alternatively, you can use a melo baller to make even rounds.
3. Once you have finished making the ball, refrigerate it until it firms up slightly (about 15 minutes or so)


4. Once they have harden slightly, remove them from the refrigerator and coat with the ganache. To make it easier to coat these, use fork to dip them in the ganache and let the excess drip through the fork tines.
5. Refrigerate again to help ganache to harden and form a shell around the chocolate cake balls. Serve when ready.

Chocolate Lover's Cake

Who can resist chocolate? There would not be too many I am sure. There is something about it that makes people smile and happy. I think it is its theobromine and phenethylamine components which produces a physiological effect on the body as well as its ability to stimulate the production of serotonin in the brain. I would say though that it can be considered as one of the pleasures in life that I really enjoy and love. All the other reasons (physiology mambo-jambo) are insignificant...hehehe. Chocolate is thought to have originated from Central and South America where cacao has been cultivated for at least three centuries.

This is a very rich, chocolate-y cake that is sure to make any chocolate lovers smile from ear to ear. This is a cake that I made for hubby's birthday. It has a chocolate cake base, a nutella filling, topped with chocolate ganache and sprinkled with nuts. Hahaha. I told you it will be chocolate-y. I have to confess though, I love chocolate but only in small doses as it gives me a headache and I break out into the tiniest rashes (?) on my face but that doesn't deter me from enjoying them. The cake though is so rich that I could only partake a very small slice lest I want to have a full-blown migraine as a result of eating too much chocolate in one sitting...hehehe...As a bonus, I was even able to make chocolate truffles, the recipe of which I posted here as well.


Chocolate cake base:
adpated from Hershey's Kitchen

Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup good quality Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Filling :
Nutella (Chocolate Hazelut Spread)

Frosting;Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:
1 cup chocolate chips, semi-sweet
3/4 cup heavy cream


Directions for Cake:
1 Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.


2 Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.


3 Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

Direction for ganache:

1. Using a double boiler or heat proof bowl over a pan with water, place the crean on the bowl and heat gently until warm.
2. Add chocolate chips and stir until mixture is smooth and glossy.
3. Remove from heat and cool a little bit before using it to frost your cake.

To Assemble:

1.Take 1 of the cake and place it on yur cake server.
2. Trim to the top to make it flat. Do the same with the other cake (NOTE: You can save thatportion and use it to make chocolate cake truffles.)
3. Spread nutella on the top area and spread evenly.
4. Take the second cake, invert it and place it on top of the other layer.
5. Apply frosting and then refrigerate for an hour or more until ganache somewhat hardens.

Banana Nut Bread

I don't know what I was thinking when I went grocery shopping...bought tons of unripe bananas which ripened all at the same time. I haven't had the chance to eat them and it would be a waste to toss them out...Otoki? I put on my thinking cap on and viola! I thought of banana nut bread... Flour, eggs, butter, vanilla extract, sugar, cinnamon, banana...darn, no baking soda and sour cream which means I have to make another trip to the supermarket... hahaha...



Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 ripe banana
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp sour cream
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped



1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Sift together flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda. Set aside.



3. Mash banana using a fork and set aside.



4. In a separate bowl, mix eggs and sugar. Beat until light and frothy.




5. Add melted butter to the egg mixture and mix well.

6. Add vanilla and mashed bananas. Mix well.





7. Add all the dry ingredients. Make sure that everything is mixed in.




8. Transfer to an oiled loaf pan and bake for an hour. This proportion makes 1 loaf.



9. Remove from the oven and cool before removing from the baking pan.