Double Chocolate Skor Trifle (Oh Yes I Did!)

I was reading the latest issue of "Chatelaine" magazine, and came across an article with Jeanne Beker listing her favourite things to do when touring Northumberland County in Ontario.  One of the places she loves is a small tea room where they serve something called "Sex in a Bowl" - layers of chocolate pudding, cake, whipped cream and Skor bits.  I just had to have it.  Plain and simple.  Skor and chocolate and whipped cream?  Magic!  The title of this post is not "Sex in a bowl", for obvious reasons. I have a sneaky suspicion that the person putting "sex" into a google search is not looking for a wondrous dessert such as mine.  I'm sparing them the disappointment! And fending off pervs! 

My sis was in town with her girly girls for the weekend.  Her birthday, you see.  I welcomed her to the dark side of forty!  Weird to think that we are getting to be of a certain age, but the older we get the more we like each other.  There were days when we were growing up when we tried to scratch each other's eyes out.  Really.  Just ask my Mom.  It wasn't until we were in our mid twenties when we started to develop a closeness, and in the past few years, it's gotten even stronger.  She's the first person I call when something terribly good, or terribly bad has happened, and with the wonders of text, she's able to give me constant updates on the girls, such as "O said mama", "O peed in the potty!", "M cut her first tooth!", "M is walking!".  My sis pretty much rocks, and I love her to bits.  Which is why she ended up getting such an amazing dessert for her birthday. 

The kids love nothing more than pudding and cupcakes.  The request was made and the Auntie complied.  (I hadn't made any since these lovely red velvet cupcakes, and it was about time!) Saturday night was a round of cupcakes, then some pudding.  I'd been running around like a crazy person all day, and didn't have time to assemble the amazingness until Sunday, which is the birthday girl's big day anyway.  Wanting to be a little different I  made smaller trifles in pretty glass bowls, and we scooped out of them. Some shared, others didn't, it was that good.  I was holding Miss M, and all she kept saying was "Yum. Yum. Yum."  Kind of like her Auntie.  I think I was overheard saying I could eat Skor everyday.  Knowing there is a glass jar with Skor bits handy saves many a meltdown. 

This is my favourite chocolate cake recipe.  It's the real deal: dense and moist, full of chocolate richness, but not too sweet, and the coffee enhances the chocolate flavour even more.  And you'll never know there is only 1/4 cup of oil in it!  For Realz!!!  The buttermilk gives it a richness, you'll never know these are "low fat".  I even substituted in some whole wheat flour for Pete's sake.  You'll never notice that either.  Look at me sneaking fiber into your chocolate cake!  You can make cupcakes, or a 9"13 cake.  I like the cupcakes because they fit the glass bowls perfectly, and I had extras to freeze for a later time.  If making the cake, just cut some pieces for this, and use the rest for another use.  I'm sure you'll come up with something. 

Chocolate Cake with Buttermilk and Espresso

2 tbsp espresso powder
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/2 tsp each baking powder and baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350*F.
Dissolve espresso powder in boiling water.  Let cool.  Grease or spray a 9 x 13 inch pan, line bottom with parchment. Or line muffin tin with papers.  Makes about 18 cupcakes, just so you know. 
In the bowl of a mixer, add dry ingredients.  Beat in buttermilk, eggs, oil, vanilla.  Beat on medium for 2 minutes.  Pour into prepared pan, or scoop into muffin tin.  Cupcakes take about 22 minutes,
cake takes about 40-45 minutes.  Let cool. 

Now about the pudding.  If you want, you can buy the boxed stuff, I won't judge.  But seriously, this stuff made from scratch took no time, and it's pretty luscious.  Miss O devoured it, so there you go.  Kid approved!!!

Creamy Double Chocolate Pudding

2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups whole milk
4 oz.  good quality dark chocolate, around 55% cocoa, chopped (I used Camino)
1 tbsp butter

In a medium saucepan, whisk together cornstarch, sugar, cocoa, and milk.  Bring to a boil, whisking constantly until thick, about 3 minutes.  Turn off heat, and whisk in chopped chocolate and butter.  Pour into a dish, put plastic wrap directly on the surface so you won't get that icky "skin", and refrigerate.  Makes 6 servings.  Adapted from "Bon Appetit".

To assemble the trifle, you'll need:

some chocolate cake pieces
some chilled chocolate pudding
2-3 cups whipped cream, sweetened
1 cup Skor bits or 2 Skor chocolate bars, chopped. 

In a trifle bowl, or smaller glass dishes, layer cake, pudding, Skor, whipped cream, Skor, cake, cream, skor.  Or however you like.  As long as there are layers of pudding, cake, cream and Skor, you can't go wrong!

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Ganache and Raspberry Cream Cheese Icing

I had a date on the weekend.  Don't get too excited - it wasn't THAT kind of date; although Mindy-the-matchmaker is working on it (always!) No, I had a PLAY date with my big-girl nieces. (My little-girl nieces are just 1 and 2 years old, and not ready for sleepovers, but that will be super fun when it happens!) Sydney and Taylor, the awesome big girls that they are, came over on Saturday for one of our requisite hanging out sessions.  I don't have kids, so spending time with the nieces and nephews (I have 7 in total!) is my adventure into Kidland.  I find out about what they want to be when they grow up, and about their boyfriends (!!) and about how cool decimals are (oh grade 4 math!)  Being an aunt is a role I cherish...I love being the confidante, and the one who lets them stay up late and drink too much chocolate milk.  We watch the movies I watched when I was a kid, and I'll even sit and watch something Disney-ish too.  I let them pick out a vintage tea cup and saucer from my cabinet, and we have tea parties....they the chocolate milk, and Auntie Renee has, ahem, something a wee bit stronger in hers.  I make a sweet treat, and we sit back, cuddled on the couch, with our blankets and pillows and Sunny the cat curling up wherever he can.  Nights like this I'm hoping they will remember always. 

Red Velvet Cake has been intriguing me lately, and I know, everywhere you look there are recipes galore.  I really wanted to try it, and I LOVE that there are beets in this recipe (don't be scared!  You can't taste them!)  I found a pretty good recipe in  "Chatelaine" magazine, but I added melted butter instead of oil, because I wanted a richer flavour.  The dipping in ganache was something I thought would be amazing (and it is!), while the raspberry cream cheese icing is just the perfect touch to an already incredible chocolate cupcake.  Raspberry and chocolate is one of my favourite flavour combos in the whole world - they were simply born to be together!  The cake really isn't that red.  I have an aversion to food colouring, but if you wanted a redder looking cake, then by all means add a few drops. 

Oh. The kids adored these cupcakes.  As did their Auntie!

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Ganache and Raspberry Cream Cheese Icing

1/4 cup frozen raspberries
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 398ml can beets, rinsed, drained, patted dry
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup melted butter (OR vegetable oil)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 block light cream cheese (OR full fat), cubed
1/2 cup icing sugar

Leave the raspberries on the counter to thaw.
Preheat oven to 350*F
Line a 12 cup muffin tin with papers, or spray with oil.  Stir together dry ingredients.  Puree beets in a blender, or with the immersion blender.  Beat the sugar and oil in a medium sized bowl, using an electric mixer, for about 2 minutes.  Beat in the eggs, then the beets, and vanilla.  Gradually beat in one-third of the flour mixture, just until blended, then half of the buttermilk. Scrape down the bowl, repeat additions, ending with the flour mixture.  Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling 3/4 full.  I had batter left, as this recipe  makes about 18 cupcakes.  Bake in the centre of your oven for about 25 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.  Cool in pan on rack for 15 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely before dipping in ganache.

Chocolate Ganache

3/4 cup heavy cream
6 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

Place chopped chocolate in a bowl.  Heat the cream in a saucepan until boiling.  Pour over the chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth.  Let sit for about 10 minutes before you dip your cupcakes.  Plunge the tops in (I had taken the muffin papers off for a prettier look), and let rest on a cutting board or rack.  Let sit for a few minutes and plunge again.  Or just do a single dip, and that will still be amazing!  Wait until the glaze is completely set, before piping on your raspberry cream cheese icing. 

Raspberry Cream Cheese Icing

Strain your raspberries, reserving the liquid.  In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until soft, add the icing sugar and the raspberry  juice.  Blend until super smooth.  I had to add a bit more icing sugar until I got a thicker consistency.  You can pipe a dollop on top of your chocolate ganache cupcake, or you can completely omit the ganache dunking and simply smooth the cupcake with this icing.  The choice is yours!  These are best eaten the day of, but will be fine if refrigerated in an air tight container, for a couple of days.  And no one will know there are beets in their chocolate cake!