Chocolate Nutella Strawberry Trifle

I think the name says it all!  This is really such a yummy dessert! Be prepared to share, it makes a ton! I found the original recipe here, but tweaked it a bit.  Besides being delicious all together, this is the best "from scratch" chocolate cake recipe I have ever made!  It really needs its own post but I couldn't wait to share this with you!

Chocolate Nutella Strawberry Trifle

Cake

2 cups (250 g) cake flour
1 t (6 g) salt
2 t (10 g) baking soda
1 t (5 g) baking powder
3/4 cup (69g) unsweetened cocoa
2 cups (400 g) sugar
3/4 cup (180 ml) vegetable oil (I used avocado oil, it is healthier and you can't tell at all)
1 cup (240 ml) hot coffee (I am not a coffee drinker so I used Choffy.  It is roasted cocoa beans, seriously amazing stuff!)
1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk
1/4 cup (60 ml) cream
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk
2 large eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla bean paste

Preheat oven to 350.  Line 2, 9inch round cake pans with parchment paper circles. Spray with cooking spray.
Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa, and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
Add the *hot coffee or Choffy, oil, milk, cream and buttermilk and beat for 2 minutes.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the vanilla and eggs. Beat for 2 more minutes. It will be very liquid-y.
Pour batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake for about 30 minutes.  The cake is ready when the cake springs back when lightly touched or when a toothpick comes out clean.
Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes in the pans.  Loosen the sides and remove to a cooling rack. Cool completely.

*This needs to be really hot to help dissolve the sugar and flour

Nutella Mousse

1 cup (250 ml) Nutella
5 T water
2 T (30 ml) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups (250 ml) whipping cream

Set a heat proof bowl over a pot of simmering water (The bottom of the bowl should NOT touch the water) and melt the Nutella with the 5 T water.  Mix until smooth.  Add the butter and mix until combined. Remove from heat.

In another bowl, whip the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whipped cream into the melted Nutella.  Now add the rest of the whipped cream and fold until fully incorporated.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Whipped Cream

2 cups whipping cream
1 t vanilla
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Whip all ingredients together until stiff peaks form.

2-3 cups sliced strawberries

Assembly

Cut cooled cake into pieces.  Using a trifle bowl place a layer of cake on the bottom.  Spoon on 1/2 of the Nutella mousse. Top with 1/3 of the sliced strawberries.  Add another layer of cake, them the rest of the mousse.  Add another 1/3 of the strawberries.  Add another layer of cake and then top with whipped cream.  I left the last strawberries whole to put on the top.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Lemon Drop Cookies

I LOVE lemon!  Anything lemon! So when my dear friend made these for a luncheon and I ate half the plate, I knew I was in trouble!  {Thanks Ashley ;) }They are soft and chewy and tart and sweet!  I know, perfect, right?! Just wait until you make them, I dare you to not eat half the plate! The original recipe is found here.

Lemon Drop Cookies
about 4 dozen

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 t vanilla
1 t lemon extract
4 cups flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
zest of 1 lemon
6 oz. lemon drops, crushed (NOT lemon heads)

1  1/2 cups powdered sugar
juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and flavorings and blend well. Sift the dry ingredients together and slowly add to the wet ingredients. Add the lemon zest and crushed lemon drops and mix until combined.  Drop tablespoonfuls onto a cookies sheet covered in parchment paper** and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand or a fork.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  While they are baking whisk together the lemon juice and powdered sugar to make the glaze. Let the cookies cool for 1 to 2 minutes and then brush the glaze over them with a pastry brush. Let them cool completely.  After they were cooled, I drizzled a little more glaze over the top to make them look striped.

*Lemon drops can be hard to find, I found them at my speciality grocery store and I also saw them at Michaels Craft store

**Make sure you don't skip this step!  The little candy bits will totally stick to the cookie sheet and make it hard to get your cookies off! Plus, when you are brushing the glaze on, it tends to drip and this makes cleaning the pans or starting another batch a snap!

Breakfast Scramble for One

Some mornings {ok, most!} I struggle to just get my kids to school. Forget the fact that I have to feed them, pack lunches, make sure their crazy bedhead won't embarrass me as a mother, etc… BUT, then, after I drop them off, its just me and my little {big} guy at home.  So, once I have started my washing machine and sometimes my dishwasher, I finally get to think about me.  This can be VERY short lived! But eating a good breakfast seems to make my day less daunting.  This breakfast scramble has been my go to, the last couple of days.  Inspired by these beautiful, fresh eggs my sweet neighbor brought me!  Don't they look all Easter-y?!  They just called to me to make a light healthy breakfast out of them.  So I went to work, and sat down {ALONE} at my table, grabbed my Kindle, and just savored my minute alone! Hope you enjoy this with a little quiet time of your own! HAPPY SPRING!

Breakfast Scramble for One

2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 T diced onion
diced ham or bacon
2 T diced tomato
a small handful of fresh spinach
shredded cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a pan over medium heat.  Add onion and ham.  Cook until onion is soft and ham just starts to brown on the edges.  Add eggs and stir until eggs are cooked.  Add tomato and spinach and continue stirring until the spinach is wilted.  Salt and pepper to taste. Top with shredded cheese.

Cheesy Potatoes

This is a recipe my Grandma Twinkle always made to go with a Honey Baked Ham.  They go together perfectly!  This makes such a great Easter meal!

Cheesy Potatoes

1 lb. frozen hash browns

1 cup chopped onions

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup butter, melted

8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375.  Grease a 9x13 pan.  Mix all the ingredients together until combined.  Press potato mixture into prepared pan.  Bake for 1 hour or until golden brown on the edges.

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies

I needed these today! Just a moment of weakness or a burst of inspiration, either way, they were YUM!  Sometimes I just like to go in the kitchen and start throwing ingredients together to see what I come up with.  There is nothing special in these, just a different combination of measurements but I am digging how they turned out! Maybe they are just better because they are bigger

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
about 15 BIG cookies
(cookies are about 4 inches across)

3/4 cup butter, softened (1 and 1/2 sticks)
1/4 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 t. vanilla
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325. Cream together butter and coconut oil.  Add both sugars and mix well.  Add vanilla, mix again.  Next add egg and egg yolk and mix until incorporated.  Add baking powder, baking soda and salt, mix.  Add the flour and mix until there is no more white.  Add the chocolate chips last.  Once it is all combined, make ice cream scoop size balls and put 6 on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper.  Make sure to leave lots of room for spreading. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes or until golden brown on the edges.

*When you are making cookies this size, baking for longer time on lower temp allows for the cookie to cook at the way through.

Aebleskivers

This is a recipe that my family made growing up.  They were always a favorite special breakfast for us and I love that I can carry on the tradition with my kids!  They were a little skeptical about these but when I explained they were simply round pancakes, they jumped on board quickly!  We love topping these with fresh strawberry jam and powdered sugar but lots of things are delish.  Some things to try are: Syrup, nutella, apple sauce, fresh berries… I could go on, but I think you get the picture.  These do need a special pan.  It is called an Aebleskiver pan, Amazon has them for around $20.  It is a cast iron pan with round holes in it.  Aebleskivers are a Danish tradition.  The Danish cooks liked to use a long knitting needle to turn them in the pan.  You can use a fork, or I like to use a kabob skewer, it was just easier for me.

Aebleskivers
makes about 30

2 cups buttermilk
2 cups flour
2 eggs, separated
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
2 T. sugar
4 T. melted butter
oil for cooking

Separate eggs and beat the whites until stiff peaks form. Mix all the other ingredients, except the egg whites, together and mix until smooth.  Fold in the egg whites last.  Put about a tablespoon of oil in the bottom of each Aebleskiver pan cup, heat until oil is hot. Once the oil is hot, pour about 2 Tablespoons of batter into each cup.  When they start to bubble around the edges, turn quickly. Continue turning and cooking the ball to keep it from burning.  It is done when the entire outside is golden brown and it is cooked through the middle.  I inserted a toothpick in the middle to check for doneness (Is that a word?). Once it is done, place on a paper towel covered plate.  Serve hot with any toppings you desire.

Croissants

I love croissants!  They are definitely my favorite pastry.  I have never made them before but I recently read a fiction book about 3 girls who inherited a bakery from their Grandmother they had never met.  The book went into detail about these women learning to make croissants and I instantly knew I wanted to give it a try.  While they can be labor intensive, they are not difficult! I actually loved the process and the outcome.  I filled about half with good quality chocolate chips and those were the best! Don't let these lovely pastries intimidate you, give them a try, you will not be disappointed! I found this recipe over at King Arthur Flour's website. Make sure to read through the whole recipe as there is quite a bit of fridge time needed! But don't worry, they are totally worth the wait!

Croissants
(2 dozen)

Dough

2 large eggs, plus enough warm water to make 2 cups of liquid
1/4 cup sugar
5 1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 t yeast
1/2 cup dry milk
1 scant tablespoon salt
2 T butter, melted

Butter
1 7/8 cup butter, cool to the touch
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

For the dough:
Male a sponge by cracking 2 eggs into a 2 cup measuring cup and add enough warm water to make 2 cups. Beat well and put into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your electric mixer.  Using the dough hook, add one Tablespoon of the sugar, 3 cups of flour and the yeast.  Mix until smooth, cover and set aside.

For the butter:
While the sponge is doing its thing, set up the butter inlay.  Mix the butter and flour together until it is smooth and there are no hard lumps.  You can do this using a spoon, food processor, mixer or by hand. Be careful not the use a high speed, that will incorporate air and we don't want that! Lightly flour a piece of plastic wrap and shape the butter into an 8 inch square using a dough scraper or a spatula. Wrap up the butter and place it in the fridge on a flat surface for at least 30 minutes.

Finish the dough:
Stir the melted and cooled butter into the sponge. In another bowl, whisk together 2 1/2 cups of the remaining flour, the sugar, the dry milk and the salt.  Add this to the sponge and mix until you have a soft but kneadable dough.  Check the dough after kneading for 4-5 minutes and add more the remaining flour if it is still sticky.

Once the dough is smooth and elastic, pat it into a square, loosely cover it and place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. (The goal is to have the butter and the dough the same consistency, that will make it easier to fold them together to create layers).

Rolling in:
Remove the dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured surface.  Roll it into a square about 12 inches across.  Unwrap the butter slab and place it in the center of the square at a 45 degree angle so it looks like a diamond in a square. Fold the flaps of the dough over the butter until they touch in the center.  Pinch them together to seal in the butter. Lightly flour the top and then turn the dough over so the seams are on the bottom.  Gently tap the dough into a rectangle using your rolling pin. Lift the dough to make sure it isn't sticking, dusting with flour as necessary.  Gently roll the dough from the center out until you have a rectangle 20 inches long by 10 inches wide. When you have reached this size, brush off any excess four and fold the bottom 1/3 of the dough into the center and the top 1/3 over that, like folding a letter. Turn the dough 90 degrees to the right so it looks like a book ready to open.  That is your first turn!

You need to do this a totally of 4 times.  Between each turn wrap the dough and return it to the fridge for up to 30 minutes.  This will keep the thin layers of dough and butter you are creating from breaking open.  Also remember to keep your surface and rolling pin lightly dusted with flour. (Don't worry if your layers break open, that is how I knew it was time to put it back in the fridge). Also, I would flip my dough and make sure the underneath was lightly floured, this seemed to help too. When my layer would break, I would just make sure that it was on the inside when I folded the dough into a book. Once you have done this 4 times, wrap the dough and place in your fridge for at least 1 hour but preferably overnight. 

Shaping the dough:
using half the dough at a time, roll it into a 12" x 18"rectangle.  Trim the edges, on every edge with a ruler and a pizza wheel.  (this will allow the croissant to puff up when baking). Cut the dough in thirds length wise and in half through the middle. This will give you six pieces.  Now cut each of those in half diagonally, making twelve total. Roll the dough starting with the point facing away from you.  It is ok to stretch them a little as you roll them.  If you want to put filling in your croissants, this is the time. (I highly recommend chocolate.)  Place a table spoon of filling at the wide edge near you and roll from there.  I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips, they were heaven! Make sure the tip of the croissant is tucked underneath. Place the croissants on a lightly greased or parchment papered cookie sheet. Cover and chill for 30 minutes, or you can freeze them at this point. 

Baking the croissants:
take the croissants out of the oven and preheat the oven to 425.  While the oven is heating, brush the tops with 1 well beaten egg mixed with 1 tablespoon of water. When the oven is hot, bake the croissants for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 and continue baking for another 15-20 minutes. The croissants should be a golden brown, even where the folds overlap so you don't have a doughy center.  Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.