Chambord Drenched Double Chocolate Cake

This recipe is combination of a Williams-Sonoma chocolate cake recipe (cut in half and slightly altered) and my own added raspberry flair. This is the pan I used, and it is absolutely ideal for the recipe. Perhaps another pan would work as well if it had a textured top or if the top could be cut so as to absorb the syrup well.

Double Chocolate Cake

1 and1/4 Cups flour
1/2 Cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
dash of salt
1 stick of butter
3/4 Cup of sugar
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 milk
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate melted and cooled

Get all ingredients to room temperature. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour decorative pan.

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend well. Set aside.

Mix milk with sour cream and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a flat beater, beat butter on medium speed until creamy. Reduce speed to low and add sugar. Increase speed to high and beat 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs a little at a time. Beat 1-2 minutes. Stop mixer and scrape down sides on occasion. Beat in vanilla extract.

Add flour mixture and sour cream mixture alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Mix until just well blended. Then fold in the melted and cooled chocolate. Spread batter into the greased pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the syrup, dissolve 3/4 cup of sugar in 3/4 cup of water over medium heat. When sugar dissolves turn off heat. Add 1/3 cup Chambord and stir.

Turn cake out onto cooling rack and place wax paper underneath. Pour Chambord syrup evenly over the cake top. It should absorb it completely.

Move to serving tray when cooled and enjoy!

Don't forget to tell me if you make this.

Gingerbread Cake With Eggnog Icing

Gingerbread Cake with Egg Nog Icing

For the cake, I use a Suzanne Martinson recipe I originally found here and changed only slightly for my purposes.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup molasses
1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a nine inch cake pan. In a large bowl, mix cooled butter, sugar and egg and set aside. Sift dry ingredients together. Combine light or dark molasses with the hot water. Alternating, add dry ingredients and the molasses-water to the butter, sugar and egg. Blend just to combine. Pour batter into pan and bake 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cool for ten minutes and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

The icing is my own holiday rendition of a classic buttercream.

approx. 1/2 lb. confectioners sugar
1/2 a stick of butter at room temperature
egg nog to taste

Cream the butter and sugar together at medium speeds. Add egg nog one tablespoon at a time until the icing is a spreadable consistency.

Optional: Top cake with a dollar store pick-up. What is it about nutcrackers that my children love so much??