My Easy Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake frosted with Boiled Frosting

My husbands all time favorite cake is my Chocolate Mayo Cake made from a cake mix.  Yes you read that right.   The mayo makes the cake very moist and delicious.    My other secret is to add a couple teaspoons of instant coffee to bring out the chocolate flavor. 

Yes, you can make it from scratch but I have found a few short cuts from back in the day when I worked a 40 hour week and needed some schort cuts.   This one has remained, although it has turned out badly twice, both funny stories.    Once my husband tried to make it by measuring with a batter bowl as a measuring cup and added way to much water.   The second time my husband was making brownies and I thought he was making a cake and I told him the ingredients to add for the cake mix.  It doesn't work with a brownie mix.  Ha,ha,ha.   Lessons learned.

This time I frosted it with boiled frosting and torched the top for a dramatic look.   Recipes for both the cake and frosting are below.     This cake however, lends itself to many different frostings.  I have done peanut butter frosting, Chocolate butter cream, Ganache, and a few others.   I have to say after having it with the boiled frosting it is by far my favorite.  It is like eating an over sized old fashioned whoopie pie. If  you skipped putting the boiled frosting on the top layer and poured ganache over it instead you would have Ding Dong Cake.   I think that is what I will try next. Hope  you give it try.

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Turn those Weeds into something Delicious

I have never thought of Dandelions as a weed.   I grew up in a family where every spring my father would take us out for a ride and we would forage for Cowslips, ramps,  and young Dandelion plants.   When we got back home my mother would clean them and saute them with a little butter and oil.   After I married my husband, I learned that the Italians liked to add them fresh into green salads.

The Dandelion plant in its entirety can be used for cooking, baking, tinctures, tea, wine and list goes on and on.   With that said, you should heed warnings, that you should research and study their uses and side effects.

On a whim I thought I might try it some in a cake mix and see how it came out.   First, you need to pick some Dandelions flowers.  I only used the flower part of the plant.  Be sure to pick where no one has sprayed the plants with a weed killer or fertilizer.   

Next you need to wash them in cold water to remove the bugs and other debris that may be in there. Set on paper towels to pat dry.   After washing the Dandelion flowers you will need to remove all green parts.   Prepare enough to make a cup of Dandelion tea and enough to add to the cake mix.

You can make dandelion tea from any part of the Dandelion plant.  Tea made with the flower tends to more delicate and sweet than those made with other parts of plant.   If you don't want to make your own you can purchase Dandelion Tea from many stores or online. 

To make the tea from the flower, pick, clean and sort enough of the flower petals to fill a quart jar.   In a small sauce pan or tea pot heat water to boiling.    Poor boiling water over the petals and let steep to your liking.   Once it is to your liking strain out the flower petals and store in refrigerator.  You can then use in the manner of your liking.

For the cake you need one cup Dandelion Tea to replace the water in the cake mix recipe.

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St. Joseph's Bread

This lovely recipe was one I found in my mother-in-laws recipe box.   It is a nice simple dough that comes together quickly and easily.    With my kitchen aid mixer and dough hook it didn't take long at all. When baked it has a nice brown and delectable texture on the outside while the inside is light and airy. 

The history of this recipe comes from the Italian heritage where like many of their holidays and celebrations has it's own menu of which contains a specific bread.   The Patron St. Joseph is celebrated each year on his own special day of March 19th also known as St. Joseph's Day.

This dough is also very versatile.  Some recipes I have seen contain anise seeds, dried fruits, and honey.  Other recipes add uncooked colored eggs tucked into the braids to make wonderful Easter breads.   This dough is very pliable and therefore you can use it to make a variety of shapes and loaves.  While the traditional loaf is braided in either 3 or 5 strands.  You can search Google or Pinterest to learn many other shapes and forms to make your loaves artistic and unique.

Although this bread is named for a special occasion, it is a great bread to make year round.   Feel free to try it out and let me know what  you think.  

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Tis The Season for Rhubarb

I can remember the patch of rhubarb that grew at my mother's house, my childhood home.   I also remember in the spring time when the rhubarb would get about foot tall and underneath those big dark green leaves you could find bright red stalks.   As a young girl I would pick a stalk and go running back to the house to find the sugar bowl, where I would take that fresh picked stalk of rhubarb and stick it straight into the sugar bowl and then take a bite of the rhubarb and all of the sugar that would stick to it.   This ritual would continue until the entire stalk had been dipped in sugar and then devoured.   Great combination of sweet and sour.  What I don't remember is my mom making anything with the rhubarb.   That's not to say she didn't, I just don't remember or I didn't like it once it was cooked. 

Now days I have a few small patches of rhubarb growing in my yard. I have trying to grow them for at least 10 years.  They are slow in spreading but provide me with enough to make a few batches of Jelly or other treats.   My backup plan involves good friends who have a large patch and they often let me pick my fill if I ask nicely.   

This year I expanded my repertoire from just making Rhubarb Jelly to making a few other things.   

I took my Raspberry Bar Recipe and turned it into Rhubarb Blueberry Squares.  

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Next I swapped out half the blueberries in my Blueberry Lemon Loaf recipe for an equal amount of fresh chopped Rhubarb.   Scooped the batter into paper lined muffin tins and made Blueberry Rhubarb Muffins.  

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Lastly, was twist on Puff Pastry Straws using my Rhubarb Strawberry Jelly as the filling. 

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All of these were big hits with family and friends, I can tell because there were no leftovers. 

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Nonna's Faggots aka Onion Pie (pronounced Fah-gotz)

This recipe comes from my mother in laws side of the family.   My husband remembers sitting with his grandmother while she made Faggots also known as Onion Pie.   Not a traditional american pie but rather an Italian Pizza Pie. 

She began by making her pizza dough and then turning it into a delicious Pizza Pie by adding the fillings.   I was not able to find any recipe as a starting point on the internet, so I turned to his family  and found a couple of cousins that remember their mother making Faggots.  Wah Lah!  A family recipe to cherish for generations to come.  

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The ingredients of onions, oil cured pitted black olives and anchovies sounds very peculiar and unappealing, but don't knock it till you try it.   It is actually quite good as long as you don't over due a good thing.   

Notes and Swaps

I took a short cut and purchased a good pizza dough.   This cuts down on the time to making this recipe. 

In his grandmother's recipe she would lay the anchovies on top of the pizza before covering with the tip dough.   I changed this by stirring them into the onions for more of an equal distribution of flavors.    

Don't add any salt, between the salty anchovies and salty olives you do not need any extra salt.  

Enjoy!

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