The Perfect Chocolate Cake

The Perfect Chocolate Cake
(I picked this recipe up from McCall's magazine many years ago, and started making it in the early 1990's for a 4th of July party, and now I make it every year.  The cake is very moist, make the cake a day ahead to give the frosting time to sit, refrigerate the cake or the frosting gets soft- enjoy!

Cake: 

 1 c. unsweetened cocoa

2 c. boiling water
2 3/4 c. sifted flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 c. butter-softened

 2 1/2 c. granulated sugar

 4 eggs

 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

* In medium bowl, combine unsweetened cocoa with 2 c. boiling water, mixing with wire whisk until smooth.  Cool completely.

*  Sift flour with soda, salt and baking powder. 

* Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease well and lightly flour (3)  9 x 1 1/2 inch layer cake pans.

*In mixer bowl beat at high speed, butter with sugar, eggs and vanilla - scraping bowl occasionally until light and fluffy-about 3 min.  At low speed beat in the flour mixture (in fourths) alternately with the cocoa mixture (in thirds)
*begin and end with flour mixture.  Do not overbeat.  Divide evenly into pans, smooth top with spatula.

*  Bake for 25 to 30 min. or until surface springs back when gently pressed with fingertip.  Cool in pans 10 min.  Carefully loosen sides with spatula

*Remove from pans, cool on racks.

 
Filling: 

 1 c. heavy cream 

1/4 c. powder sugar,

1 tsp. vanilla
*Whip cream with sugar and vanilla until it holds shape and put in fridge.

Frosting:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (6oz)

 1/2 c. light cream

 1 c. butter

 2 1/2 c. powder sugar.  

*  In medium saucepan combine chocolate, cream and butter, stir over medium heat until smooth, remove from heat, with whisk blend in 2 1/2 c. powder sugar, turn into bowl and place over ice ( I put ice in bigger bowl and set the bowl with the icing in it, this cools off the frosting and lets it set) Beat until the frosting holds it's shape, this make take a few minutes.

* to assemble cake:  on plate, place a layer top side down, spread with half the cream mixture, place 2nd layer top side down, spread with rest of cream.  Place 3rd layer, top side up.  Frost cake, sides first, covering whip cream, use rest of frosting on top swirling decoratively.  Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.  Serves 10 to 12 ( this is very rich and I slice mine very thin and can serve about 17 people or more)

Fried Zucchini Rounds

Fried Zucchini Rounds

(this comes from another favorite Pinterest recipe, I make this and the ranch dressing from this blog, my family loves this!)

Slice zucchini about 1/8 inch
dip each round in flour
then into whisked egg with a little water
then into a mixture of :

 1c. panko bread crumbs, 1/2c. fresh grated Parmesan Cheese, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1/4 tsp. seasoning salt.

Fry in hot oil until golden brown, serve warm and enjoy!

A good use of all that summer zucchini!  

Pat's Strawberry salad with Strawberry Poppyseed Dressing

Pat's Strawberry Salad with Strawberry Poppyseed Dressing
(this recipe came from my mother in law's Relief Society, we love the flavors and it's a nice summer salad )


Salad:  salad greens ( I just used a bag of lettuce) , Feta cheese (to your own taste),
toasted-sugared slivered almonds, Strawberries-sliced, as much as you like

Dressing:   1 1/2 c. sugar, 2 tsp. dry mustard, 1 tsp. salt, 2/3 c. rice vinegar, 4 Tbsp. chopped red onion, 4 fresh strawberries, 1 Tbsp. water, 1 1/2 c. olive oil (my mother in law used Canola), 
4 tsp. poppy seeds - Put all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.

Enjoy!  My family loves this!

Melissa's Ranch Dressing / Dip

                                                                                    Melissa's Ranch Dressing/ Dip 

 (this is such a good recipe for a nice homemade ranch dip!  I love it for my salads and for my veggies, without all the artificial ingredients that are so unhealthy!)

This makes a lot, I usually 1/2 the recipe

1 qt. Mayonaise (Add a little more to make this dressing a little thicker about 1/4 c to 1/2 c more)

1 qt. Buttermilk

1 Tbsp. Parsley

1/2 tsp garlic powder (I usually add 1 tsp.)

2 tsp. onion powder ( I add 1/2 tsp to this)

3/4 tsp pepper

2 1/2 tsp. salt

( this recipe calls for 2tsp. Accent, which is MSG, if you choose not to use this, just play with the garlic powder and onion powder to where you like it, this is why I add extra of each to the recipe) - whisk together and enjoy !  Melissa makes this by the gallon for her family reunions, it is that popular!