Eka Bakie: Indestructible Chocolate Cake

I love baking, especially for others. There is something so satisfying about seeing people enjoy something that I made. It's also nice knowing that I can bake, give my creation away, and not have to worry about those calories finding a new home on my hips.

You can imagine my excitement when my Lala (My sister's sister-in-law. My sister-in-law, in-law. My Lala) asked me to make her wedding cake and cupcakes. 

I'm making a wedding cake & 200 cupcakes!! :D

That excitement brought a friend along for the ride - fear

Holy crap. I'm making a WEDDING CAKE and 200 cupcakes! O.O

Not gonna lie, I peed my pants a little when the weight of producing that volume of cake hit me.

I spent the next few months testing out new recipes, tweaking existing ones, creating my own, and crying. 

This was for a wedding. Weddings, by nature, must be perfect and therefore, so must be the cakes I am baking. Daunting. But as the wedding drew closer I became more confident in my abilities,though a small sense of failure still loomed in the back of my mind. 

The Tuesday before the wedding I packed my bags with all of my equipment and flew from Las Vegas to Utah. Yep, everything but my Kitchen Aid. Wednesday I shopped for ingredients and Thursday, on 3 hours of sleep, I baked all day. And I mean. All. Day. 6AM until well past 6PM. 3-4 batches of 4 different cakes in the kitchen of my parents' house. 

Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Icing

Chocolate with Raspberry Buttercream 

Vanilla with Vanilla Bean Buttercream

Tre Leches with Coconut Cream

And for the main cake, Chocolate with Custard Cream and Berries

The drive to the venue was less than a blur but we made it safely and without casualty. At the venue the hubs and my BFF helped me set up the cupcake display while I fiddled with the main cake. I was (and still kind of am) astonished that everything went off without a hitch. It was, as all weddings should be, perfect. 

Then we went to the ceremony, which was beautiful BTW. 

Then it rained. 

I cried. The bride and groom thought it was romantic, and in hindsight it truly was. I mean, who doesn't dream about being kissed in the rain by their true love. I'm sure it's what Nicholas Sparks' dreams are made of. But in that moment the months of preparation, anxiety, failed batches, 2 days of sleep-deprived baking and frosting that went oh-so smoothly came down to 5 minutes of rain. 

By the grace of God all cupcakes and the main cake itself survived and were enjoyed by all, most importantly by my Lala and her husband. 

I'd like for you to be able to enjoy that cake, too. Here's the recipe for my Indestructible Chocolate Cake:

2 C sugar

1 3/4 C flour

3/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder (I prefer Dutch process)

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 C milk

1/2 C oil or applesauce

2 tsp vanilla

1 C HOT water

*Whisk together all dry ingredients in a large bowl or that of a Kitchen Aid

*In a separate small bowl or 2C Pyrex, whisk eggs, milk, oil (or applesauce), and vanilla

*Stir wet mixture into dry

*Gently incorporate the hot water into the batter.

*The batter will be THIN

*Divide batter into paper-lined cupcake tins or into two well greased 9" cake pans

*Bake at 350* 

Cupcakes- 15-20 mins. There should be moist crumbs on a toothpick inserted into the center cake

-or-

Cake- 35-40 mins. Toothpick test should render similar results. If it comes out clean, cakes have been over baked. 

Eka Bakie: Pizza

It has been said that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. If this were true for my husband, pizza would be a love potion-infused chocolate cauldron. (See Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) Here's how I make the dough for my pizza.

1 pkg (or 2 1/4 tsp) Active dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 C warm water

1 tsp salt

2 T olive oil

2 1/2- 3 C flour

*Add yeast and sugar to a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the warm water and let proof for about 5 minutes. If the yeast doesn't look somewhat foamy or smell yeasty after 5 minutes, either the water used was too hot or the yeast was old. 

*Mix in the olive oil

*Add 1 C of the flour, then your salt, topped by another cup of flour and start to mix. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour about 1/2 C at a time. 

*Once the flour is mixed in, knead for a couple of minutes or until the dough clears away from the sides of the bowl. 

*Once the dough is off the sides of the bowl I will spray one hand with cooking spray so I can pull the dough off of the dough hook and also give the bowl a mist of oil as well. Then I just put the dough back in the bowl to rise, covered, for an hour or until doubled in size.

*After the dough has risen I spread it out on a greased pan and let it rise for 15-30 minutes, depending on if I want a thinner or thicker crust. 

*Top the dough with sauce and your favorite toppings and toss it in the oven at 400F for 10-15 mins. *It's good to know your oven. I'm still adjusting to our new oven so I ended up over baking ours :/ Just keep an eye on it.

Tips:

*The sugar in this recipe isn't to add sweetness, but to feed the yeast. 

*The water used to proof should not be scalding. Think baby bath water.

*Never add salt to proofing yeast. Salt kills yeast and your dough will not rise properly.

*If you choose to make this dough ahead of time and refrigerate it for a day or so, let the dough come completely to room temperature before you bake it. Just as salt kills yeast, cold retards the growth of the yeast. If you bake cold dough, you'll end up with thin, tough, yucky crust. 

Eka Bakie: Chicken and Potatoes

While the husband and I appreciate fine foods with refined flavors, and multi-course dinners, at home we like simple food. One of our favorite no-nonsense meals is chicken and potatoes. It's simple, easy, and hits all sorts of spots.

I first wash 2-3 potatoes, dice them, and toss them in a pan. A 9x13 usually does the trick, but use whatever you have or prefer.
Next I drizzle on some olive oil and whatever seasonings sound good. Some nights I'll use Italian seasonings, others lemon pepper, but I always add salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder regardless.
I like to use a whole, sometimes partially frozen, chicken breast, and make him a nice spot in the center of the pan. I'll give the chicken a nice sprinkle of seasoning as well.
The first time I made this I didn't add any liquid to the pan aside from a squeeze of lemon, but I felt the dish was lacking and needed a sauce component. So every additional time I make this I will add about 1/2-3/4 C of chicken or vegetable broth and maybe a tsp of lemon juice
Then I dice up a couple tablespoons of butter and dot the pieces over the potatoes and chicken. This, coupled with the broth, helps to keep the chicken moist and tightens the sauce.
Pop the pan in a 400*F oven for 20 ish minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes aren't hard. I give things a stir every ten minutes, which also helps me keep an eye on the doneness of things.


Here's a picture of everything assembled and ready for the oven. I was too excited to eat once this was done so you don't get an after shot. Whoops.

Chicken and Potatoes

2-3 Potatoes

1 Chicken breast

1-2 T olive oil

1/2-3/4 C Chicken or vegetable broth

2 T butter

Salt and spices

Lemon juice (optional)

Dice. Drizzle. Season. Bake. Enjoy!

- Eka

Eka Bakie: Cake Batter Chex Mix

Here is a recipe I made this past Sunday for the SuperBowl - Cake Batter Chex Mix. It's super easy and tasty. This makes quite a lot, so feel free to halve or quarter.

1 box (approx. 10 cups) of Rice Chex - you can use other flavors, I just grabbed Rice
1 bag of white chocolate chips
4T (1/2 stick) butter
1 box of Funfetti cake mix
Splash of vanilla
Sprinkles
Husband suggestion: pretzel rods or twists

*Melt chocolate and butter together in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments until melted, stir in vanilla

*Pour over the Chex (& pretzels if using) and mix (I started out using a wooden spoon for this part but switched to my hands as they seemed to work better)

*Pour the powdered cake mix & sprinkles over the still wet chocolate-covered Chex and toss until coated

*Spread the mix on a large jelly roll pan/ cookie sheet to let cool and firm up

*Eat yourself into a coma

:]

Dinner Ideas

One of my friends posted on her blog how she budgets and shops for groceries, which is super helpful to me because I've been wanting to streamline our grocery shopping, meal planning, and meal production. So I sat myself down and started writing down all of the meals that the husband and I like to eat, what we usually eat, etc etc. I ended up with quite the list. Here it is, if you are needing ideas of what to fix for your fam. If you'd like recipes (I don't work with recipes a lot, so some meals listed are just made as I go, but I'll do my best at transcribing for you), just drop me a comment either here or Facebook, or text me. Whatever floats your boat!

Chicken & potatoes
Chow mein
Pizza (pepperoni/ BBQ chicken)
Pasta w/ red sauce and focaccia
Chicken with rice (wild or plain/brown) and veg
Chicken and rice soup
Baked ziti
Orange chicken
White beans w/ spinach and sausage
Beef & broccoli w/ rice
Cabbage and canelinni soup
Ham and white bean soup
Creamy taco soup
Beef stew
Zucchini lasagna
Ratatouille
Creamy tomato & spinach pasta
BBQ chicken w/ corn
Biscuits and gravy casserole
Stuffed shells
Mac & cheese
Ranch pasta salad
Roasted corn & tomato soup w/ grilled cheese
Ham & cheese / roast beef and provolone crescents
Chicken & wild rice casserole
Cheesy broccoli soup
Pulled pork sandwiches
Chicken salad sandwiches
Stromboli
Dad's chili