truffles

i made truffles. three of them. because that's how much ganache i had leftover from the german chocolate cake... left to right: cocoa powder, ginger nibs, coconut.

german chocolate cake

because i'm feeling lazy, i'll just tell you that this recipe is from epicurious-- it's called "inside out german chocolate cake." can we all agree that when the coconut/dulce de leche/pecan is on the outside, it kind of looks gross?? oh- i took a shortcut with this. i bought dulce de leche, rather than boiling or slow-cooking condensed milk-- i used 2 13 oz cans, and they worked great. it just needs to be softened/warmed on the stovetop before the rest of the filling ingredients are mixed in. and use good quality chocolate for the ganache. oh, and definitely make sure that you have a sweet boy to help you transport the finished product during weekend rush hour on western avenue.

molasses whoopie pies

this was a little bit tricker than the chocolate whoopie pies. i found a recipe from martha stewart for molasses sandwich cookies, but they seemed to be crisp and more ginger snap-y than i would want. the recipe wasn't tooooo too different from the chocolate whoopie pie one, so i just made a few changes (increased flour, baking soda, added buttermilk...) and this is what i ended with:

2 c flour
1 1/8 t baking soda
1 1/4 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 c light brown sugar
1 stick butter
1 egg
1/4 c molasses
1 t vanilla
3/4 c buttermilk

same procedure as with chocolate cookies.

chocolate whoopie pies

alright, here goes. 2007 was the year of the brownie. 2008 looks to be the year of the whoopie pie. only seven months left to perfect my art!

it's hard to find a good, basic recipe for whoopie pies-- filling or cake. through my "research," i've discovered that shortening is favored in both elements of these tasty treats, which doesn't seem necessary (or appealing) to me at the moment. i've settled on 2 good (and very different) shortening-free fillings. now i'm accumulating some good ideas for cake. i'd like to have at least three or four cake flavors, working off of the same basic recipe-- the chocolate pie, my recipe for which was adapted from epicurious.

here's the chocolate recipe:

2 c flour
1/2 c cocoa powder
1 1/4 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 c buttermilk
1 t vanilla
1 stick butter
1 c br sugar
1 egg

combine dry ingredients; combine buttermilk and vanilla. cream butter and sugar. mix in egg. keeping mixer running, but scraping down sides of bowl as necessary,alternate additions of wet and dry ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry. spoon onto lined cookie sheet (tablespoons of batter). bake at 350 until cakes are springy.