Baking with Blondie - Black Forrest Cake

BLACK FOREST CAKE

Traditional Black Forest Cake coming together with dark chocolate cake layers, a fresh cherry compote, whipped cream frosting, and a dark chocolate drip.

Author: Mandy | Baking with Blondie

Recipe type: Cake

INGREDIENTS

• Dark Chocolate Cake
• ⅔ cup sour cream
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
• 3 whole eggs + 1 egg white
• ½ cup dark chocolate cocoa
• ½ cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
• 1 Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Cake Mix
• ¼ cup all purpose flour for high altitude
• 
  
• Cherry Compote/Filling
• 1½ Cup Fresh Cherries, Pitted and roughly chopped
• ½ Cup Water
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
• ¼ Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• *optional: ⅛ teaspoon almond extract
• 
  
• Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting
• 1 Tablespoon Knox Gelatine (1 packet 1.8g)
• ½ cup water
• 3 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
• 3 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 
  
• Chocolate Ganache Drip
• 1 cup dark chocolate candy melts
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 
  
• Garnish
• Fresh Cherries

INSTRUCTIONS

1. FOR THE DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prep three 6" cake rounds with a wipe of shortening and dust of flour. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Sift in the cocoa, cake mix, and flour, and toss in chocolate chips. Stir until just combined.
3. Split cake batter evenly between prepared cake rounds.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until center is fully baked. Do not overbake. Remove rounds from the oven, let cool in the pan for 2 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Wrap up in plastic wrap twice for each round, then freeze for at least 3 hours until solid. You want to frost this cake when it's cold for better results.
5. FOR THE CHERRY FILLING: In a saucepan, stir together all the ingredients except for the vanilla and almond extracts. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes on low until thickened. Stir in vanilla and almond, then store in a covered container in the fridge until cooled completely.
6. FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING: Place metal mixer bowl and metal mixer whisk in the freezer. You want them chilled!
7. Place gelatin in a microwave safe bowl with water and let sit for 5 minutes. Microwave for 10 seconds, then let cool slightly.
8. Whip up whipped cream in chilled mixer bowl on low speed for 1 minute, then gradually increase the speed to high and whip until stiff peaks form. Add in soft cream cheese, gelatin, and vanilla and whip up again until stiff peaks form.
9. Add in powdered sugar and whip up again until it's thickened and ready!
10. FOR THE GANACHE: Stir together the chocolate and heavy cream in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds and stir until combined and smooth. Add another 5 seconds if needed.
11. ASSEMBLY: Place down first cake layer and pipe on a thin layer of whipped cream frosting. Spread flat, then pipe a thick rim around the outside rim of the cake layer to act as a dam. Spoon in about ¼ cup of the cherry filling. Top with the next layer and repeat. If you notice things moving around, add a temporary dowel down the center to stabilize.
12. Crumb coat, then freeze for 20 minutes. Add drip, then freeze for 2 minutes to set. Pipe on some of the whipped cream frosting with a Wilton 8B piping tip, then top with fresh cherries. Serve cold with some whipped cream and cherry compote on the side.

Crispy Ginger Beef

• Ingredients
• 200g sirloin or rump steak
• 400g cornflour seasoned with 1⁄2 teaspoon salt and 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
• a thumb-size piece of ginger
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 fresh bird’s-eye chillies, deseeded
• a large handful of coriander
• vegetable oil, for frying

The Marinade

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• A large pinch of granulated sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 egg

The Sauce

• 1⁄2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons tomato ketchup
• 6 tablespoons Chinkiang black rice vinegar
• 4 tablespoons honey

Preparation

First, peel and finely dice the ginger and garlic, before slicing the chillies into thin rings and placing all together in the same bowl. Remove the leaves of the coriander to be used later as a garnish, and then finely chop the coriander stalks, adding them to the bowl along with the garlic, ginger and chilli.

In a separate bowl or ramekin, thoroughly mix all the sauce ingredients together, making sure to dissolve the honey.

Now, cut the meat into thin strips roughly 3mm wide and place in a mixing bowl. Add the marinade ingredients and, using your hands, massage the pieces until they are evenly coated. Set up a large mixing bowl with the seasoned cornflour, and then add the marinated beef. Rub flour into the meat until fully coated; the meat will stick together in clumps at first but will start to separate as you continue to massage it. Once all the meat has completely separated, and you have shaken off any excess flour, it is ready to be fried.

BUILD YOUR WOK CLOCK: place your meat at 12 o’clock, then arrange the bowl of ginger, garlic, chilli, coriander, and the sauce bowl clockwise around your plate.

Cooking

Half-fill a large pot, wok or deep-fryer with vegetable oil and heat to 180°C (350°F), or until the tip of a wooden chopstick or skewer starts to fizz after a second or so in the oil.

Carefully add the marinated meat, making sure to not overfill the wok, and deep-fry until golden brown, about 2–3 minutes. Remove the pieces carefully with a slotted spoon and drain well on a plate covered with kitchen paper. (TIP: to get an even crispier finish to your beef, double-fry it! Add the raw marinated beef strips to the oil and deep-fry for the first time for just 30 seconds to 1 minute before draining and removing. Making sure that the oil remains at 180°C, return the beef pieces to the wok and fry again for 2-3 minutes until truly crispy and a deep golden-brown, then remove and drain once more.)

In a clean wok, heat 1⁄2 tablespoon of vegetable oil over a high heat until smoking-hot. Add the ginger, garlic, chilli, and coriander, lower the heat to medium and stir-fry for 30 seconds until fragrant.

Pour over the sauce mixture and bring to a vigorous boil, then add the crispy meat and give the wok two or three tosses to mix everything together. Spoon into a serving bowl and scatter over the coriander leaves to finish.

Serve immediately.

TIP: Popping your rump steak in the freezer 30 minutes before slicing will harden the meat and make it much easier to cut into even-sized pieces.

https://schoolofwok.co.uk/tips-and-recipes/crispy-chilli-beef

Notes:
Jakob made this and it was delicious!! Included link because it has a great video tutorial. we subbed out the black vineger for rice because it's what we had. Look forward to making it with all of the right ingredients!

m&m Cookies

1/2 c. Sugar
1/3 c. Brown Sugar
1/2 c. Butter
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c. Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 c m&m / chocolate chips mixed

Cream butter, sugars, egg and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients.
Stir in blend of m&m and chocolate chips.
Bake at 350°F for 8-11 minutes.

Neurotic Mom CInnamon Rolls - EASY!

The recipe: 
Dough: 
1/2 cup milk (4 oz. or 120 mL) 
1/2 cup heavy cream (4 oz. or 120 mL - may substitute milk) 
1 Tablespoon yeast (15 grams) 
2 Tablespoons sugar (25 grams - I accidentally said teaspoons in the video) 
1 teaspoon salt (5 g) 
4 Tablespoons salted butter (56 grams) 
1 egg 
3-4 cups AP flour (360-480 g) 

Warm Milk until luke warm in microwave. If not using instant yeast, sprinkle yeast on milk and let sit 10 minutes. With whip attachment combine milk, cream, yeast, sugar, salt, butter, and egg. Combine. Add 1/2 cup of flour then switch to dough hooks. Add flour gradually until dough is no longer sticky to touch. Knead in mixer for 5 ish minutes or knead by hand. place in greased bowl and cover. Let rise in warm place for 20 min until double.

Roll out into large rectangle.

 Filling: 
1/2 cup salted butter (113 g) 
1 cup brown sugar (213 g) 
2-3 tablespoons cinnamon to taste (30-45 g) 

Melt butter and comine in cinnamon and sugar. Spread evenly over rectangle dough.  roll up dough into a sausage. Using floss cut rolls. place in pan spread evenly. Cover and let rise until double. Bake in oven at 325F for 20ish minutes until just barely golden brown.

Glaze:
 4 oz. cream cheese 
4 tablespoons salted butter (56 g) 
1 1/2 - 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (170-285 g) 
1 teaspoon vanilla (5 g) 
2-3 tablespoons milk (30-45 g/mL) 

 IMPORTANT! I ended up baking around 20-24 minutes at 325° F (163° C) In the video I said 14-18 minutes but I must have made them extra thick and gooey this time.😉 just keep watching them until they are light golden brown. Happy baking’

Sweet Sloppy Joe

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce or 1 tbsp tomato paste and 6 oz of V8 juice
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried mustard
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon red wine
• 1 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 8 Sandwich buns, split

• In a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, combine beef and onion. Cook until the meat is mostly browned, about 5 minutes. Drain well.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together raining ingredients.
• Pour sauce ingredients over drained beef and stir until evenly coated. Simmer uncovered 20 minutes, stirring occasionally (cover if you prefer a sloppier Sloppy Joe). Serve in buns.

Chicken Ramen

Ingredients

For The Soup:

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 onion sliced
• 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger root
• 4 garlic cloves pressed or finely minced
• 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms stems removed and sliced
• 1/2 - 3/4 pounds baby bok choy sliced into quarters lengthwise
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 1-2 packages fresh yakisoba noodles* one package is about 7 ounces. Use two packages if you like lots of noodles. Fresh noodles are usually found in the produce section of the grocery store

For The Ramen Egg**

• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 3/4 cup water

Additional Toppings (Optional)

• sliced green onion
• cilantro
• chili garlic sauce
• sesame seeds
• lime wedges

Instructions

To Prepare The Ramen Egg:

• Whisk together the 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1/4 cup of rice vinegar and 3/4 cup water, set aside.
• Prepare an ice bath by filling a bowl with ice and water.
• Bring a pot of water to boil (make sure there is enough water to cover the eggs). When boiling, carefully lower the eggs into the water using a slotted spoon or spider. Reduce heat if necessary to keep the water just barely boiling. Cook for 7 minutes, then remove from pot and place eggs in the ice bath. Leave in the ice bath for 3 minutes. Remove from ice bath and gently peel (egg will be soft). Place peeled eggs in the marinade and make sure they are completely covered with the marinade. Leave in the marinade for several hours or overnight. If keeping longer, discard the marinade and store in the refrigerator up to 3 days. Reheat the egg in the ramen broth (don't leave in the broth very long before serving or the egg will overcook).

To Prepare The Noodles:

• If using fresh noodles:
• Bring a pot of water to a boil. When boiling, add the noodles and simmer for 3 minutes. Strain and rinse with cold water. Toss with just a little oil if necessary to keep them from sticking (mine already had a little oil on them, so I didn't need to). Set aside.
• (If using another type of noodle, follow package instructions)

To Prepare The Soup:

• Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the onion and sauté until starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the sliced mushrooms and sauté for another 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and stir fry for about 30 seconds, just until fragrant so that they don't burn. Add the chicken broth and 1 cup of water, soy sauce, rice vinegar, oyster sauce, fish sauce, chili garlic sauce, stir to combine. Bring back to a simmer.
• When broth reaches a simmer, add the chicken thighs. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked through and reaches a temperature of 165°F.
• Remove the chicken and shred it with two forks. Add it back to the broth along with the bok choy and cook for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.

To Serve The Ramen:

• In a bowl, place a serving of noodles, then pour the soup over them. Top soup with ramen egg, sliced green onions, cilantro and sesame seeds if desired.

Notes

*Keep the noodles seperate from the soup until just before serving. For leftovers, store the broth and noodles seperately.**The egg is optional but I really recommend it. If you don't have time to marinade the egg, you can just skip the marinading step. You can also serve with a fried or poached egg if you prefer.

Nutrition

Calories: 369kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 41g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 235mg | Sodium: 2694mg | Potassium: 925mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 6545IU | Vitamin C: 66.7mg | Calcium: 218mg | Iron: 4.1mg

Nutritional information is an estimate for your convenience. If you have strict nutritional needs, please do your due diligence to make sure this recipe fits your needs.

Instant Pot Roast

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons seasoning salt (I use Lawry's)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 lb beef chuck roast Or another, cut in half
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 cup low sodium beef broth
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1.5 lb Little Potatoes
• 3 large carrots peeled and cut into thick slices
• OPTIONAL: corn starch to thicken juices

Instructions

• In a small bowl, combine seasoning salt, garlic, parsley, onion powder and pepper. Sprinkle over roast to season.

• Turn Instant Pot to saute. When it reads "hot", add the oil and sear roast on all sides. To do this, place the roast in the pot and do not move for 2-3 minutes. When you flip it, it should release from the pan easily.
• To the Instant Pot add broth, tomato paste, vinegar and Worcestershire sauce -- if there are brown bits stuck to the bottom from the meat, give them a scrape and they should release easily. Stir to combine. 
• Put the lid on and turn the valve to sealing. Select Manual or Pressure Cook and set the cook time for 55-65* minutes on high pressure, depending how large your pieces are. (see notes below) 
• When the cook time is over, turn the Instant Pot off and let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes before turning the valve to venting and opening the lid.
• Add the Little Potatoes and carrots, put the lid back on, turn the valve to sealing and select Manual or Pressure Cook for 3 minutes.
• When the cook time is over, let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes before moving the valve to venting, releasing remaining pressure and opening the lid. 
• Remove beef from the Instant Pot and slice or pull as desired. Serve with potatoes and carrots.
• OPTIONAL: If desired, combine equal parts corn starch and water, stir into the remaining juices and turn the Instant Pot to saute. Whisk continuously until juices are thickened and serve with pot roast.

Notes

*Please note that while the cook time is only 58-68 minutes, the total time including the time it takes to build pressure and natural pressure release is roughly 1 hour 40 minutes to 1 hour 50 minutes. 

** All of my recipes are tested in a Smart Bluetooth 6 quart Instant Pot -- please take into consideration your model and its requirements before making the recipe.

***I know that some have found their meat is not tender after 55-65 minutes and have had to add more time. This will vary depending on your model of pressure cooker, the size and type of your roast, if you sear the meat first, how you like your meat cooked, among other things. My roast is fork-tender at 55 minutes, but you may cook yours up to 90 minutes depending on the things listed above.

Nutrition (this is an estimate)

Nutrition Facts

Instant Pot Pot Roast

Amount Per Serving

Calories 407Calories from Fat 189

% Daily Value*

Fat 21g32%

Saturated Fat 8g50%

Cholesterol 117mg39%

Sodium 832mg36%

Potassium 1102mg31%

Carbohydrates 18g6%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 2g2%

Protein 35g70%

Vitamin A 3875IU78%

Vitamin C 18.8mg23%

Calcium 49mg5%

Iron 4.5mg25%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 caloriies