Chocolate Lava Cakes

This is from my Family Fun magazine - in the Let's Cook segment (cooking with your child). Makayla helped me for a while until I kept making mistakes and had to keep back tracking. When they were done they were AMAZING - they rivaled anything you could get in a restaurant!

1 stick + 2 Tbsp unsalted butter

1cup (6oz) bittersweet chocolate chips or bittersweet chocolate bar broken in pieces

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 tsp granulated sugar

3 large eggs + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup flour

Big pinch of salt

1. Heat the oven to 450. Use a double boiler or create your own by filling a saucepan with an inch of water then fitting a heat-safe mixing bowl in the top of the pan. Combine the butter and the chocolate in the bowl over hot (but not boiling) water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes.

2. When it is completely melted, stir or whisk the chocolate mixture to fully combine the ingredients. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and stir in the vanilla extract. Set it aside.

3. While the chocolate mixture cools, butter six (8oz) ceramic ramekins or custard cups (the sides of each cup should measure no taller than 2 1/4 inches). Place 1 tsp of granulated sugar inside each one. Tip and turn the cups to coat them with the sugar, then set them aside.

4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk. Add the confectioners' sugar, and whisk again. The mixture will look lumpy at this point, but it will become smooth as more ingredients are added. Whisk in the chocolate mixture, then add the flour and salt, and stir with a wooden spoon until the batter is smooth.

5. Divide the batter among the 6 baking cups and set 5 of them aside. You'll use the sixth cake to conduct a trial run of the baking process.

6. Place your trial cake in the coolest part of the oven and bake it until the top is flat (not sunken or bulging), about 9 minutes. Be sure to monitor the baking closely so that the cake does not overbake and become set in the center.

7. Remove the trial cake from the oven - making not of your exact baking time - and place it on a pot holder to cool for 5 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the perimeter of the cake to loosen it from the baking cup. Place a dessert plate over the baking cup and, using the pot holder, invert the cake onto the plate. Wait 10-15 seconds, then carefully lift the cup off the plate. The cake should have a nice, round shape and be slightly sunken in the center. Use a knife to gently poke the middle of the ckae to find out if it's molten and lavalike beneath the surface.

8. Finish baking the cakes in 2 batches, adjusting your baking time up or down in one-minute increments as needed. Serve the cakes at room temperature (they need about 30 minutes to cool) with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. We recommend splitting each cake into two servings, as they are quite rich. Makes 6 mini cakes.

key lime cupcakes

found these on a blog I follow and they look so good I am going to have to make them!
Key Lime Cupcakes

½ C. butter, softened
1 C. sugar
3 eggs
1 C. milk
1 C. flour
1 (14 oz.) Can sweetened condensed milk
10 graham cracker squares, crumbled
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/8 t. salt
5 egg yolks
½ C. lime juice

è Start by creaming your butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Add the 3 eggs, one at a time.
è In a medium sized bowl, shift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix in the graham cracker crumbles.
è Slowly add the dry ingredients, and the milk, to the butter mixture. Make sure you alternate between the dry ingredients and the milk. (dry-milk-dry)
è In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks, condensed milk, and lime juice. Pour into your batter and stir slightly.
è Fill cupcake liners ¾ full and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350.

For the frosting, I made a basic cream cheese frosting with a little lemon extract.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 8 oz package softened cream cheese
¼ C. soft butter
1 t. lime or lemon extract
4 C. Powdered Sugar

è Mix the cream cheese and butter until combined.
è Add the sugar and extract slowly. Beat on high until fluffy.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

I got this original recipe off of allrecipes and changed it a bit to fit my needs better.

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 Tbls ground flax seed
4 Tbls water
(you could use two eggs in place of the flax and water)
1 cup Succanot
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup coconut or olive oil
3/4 cup apple juice concentrate, thawed
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup water (could use milk, or almond milk)
3 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
1 cup shredded carrots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. mix all dry ingredients together, then add the wet. Lastly add the zucchini and carrots and mixed until just moistened. Bake for 35-45 min or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Serve plain, or add this simple frosting recipe from Robyn, at greensmoothiegirl.com

1/2 cup powdered succanot (if you don't have powdered succanot just put succanot into a coffee grinder and make it)
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup water

My boys at this up like crazy! They loved it and I didn't mind so much letting them eat it!

Whole Wheat Angel Food Cake

I made this for Enrichment this week. Everybody raved about it! It really turns out light and fluffy!!!

¾ Cup whole wheat flour

¼ C cornstarch

1 ¼ C powdered sugar

12 large egg whites (I was going to try powdered, but I couldn’t find any.)

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp cream of tartar

1 C powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Grind ¾ C wheat on fine. Put the whole wheat flour, cornstarch and 1 ¼ C powdered sugar in a small bowl and stir until thoroughly mixed. Set aside. Separate egg whites from egg yolks, being sure there is no piece of yolk in the whites. Put the whites in mixer bowl. Add salt and cream of tartar. Whip on med speed until whites will stand in peaks. Turn the mixer down to low speed. Gradually add 1 cup powdered sugar and vanilla. Stop the mixer and sprinkle 1/3 of the flour mixture and blend again for just a second. Do not thoroughly blend. Add the remaining flour mixture and blend only until thoroughly mixed. Pour into angel food cake pan and bake 30-35 minutes at 375. Invert pan to cool.