Flourless Chocolate Cake and Sea Salt Caramel

Happy Tuesday! I know I haven't posted my cookie recipe but I promise you, I will find it and share it. But for now I just want to share a recipe I found last night for Flourless Chocolate Cake. For added sweetness, enjoy with Talenti Sea Salt Caramel!

The recipe I chose was Shana Hillman's recipe "Flourless Chocolate Cake II" from Allrecipes.com. Instead of sugar, I used Sweetleaf Sugarleaf blend of stevia and raw cane sugar.

Flourless Chocolate Cake
adpated from Shana Hillman's recipe on Allrecipes.com

4 (1 oz) squares of semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup of salted butter
1/2 and 1 tablespoon of Sweetleaf baking sugar
1/2 cup of Ghiradelli sweet ground chocolate and cocoa powder
3 eggs beaten, room temperature
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Grease 8-inch round pan with butter and coat with some cocoa powder.
• On a double boiler, melt semisweet chocolate squares and butter. Once melted, remove from heat.
• Mix in sugar, cocoa powder, eggs and vanilla. Pour batter into pan.
• Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for at least 10 minutes, then turn onto plate or rack to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar or glaze with your favorite icing recipe. 

Allrecipes.com is a great site for any recipe! Thanks to the many cooks who make it possible.

Added more powdered sugar...hehe.

Something for My Husband

It's Thursday, one of my favorite days of the week. I would like to post my new cookie recipe but I need to find it in my kitchen! I've been baking off the top of my head lately and most of the times I lose my recipe notepad in the mess of it all. So I'll find it and post it tomorrow. (fingers crossed)

But for today, I found this video link on Pinterest from pinner Drew Hawkins. I don't know him personally but that's the beauty of Pinterest, you just pin what you like no matter who pinned it first. I dedicate this vid to my husband in hopes that it will bring a smile on his face during his lunch break. Happy Thursday!

Kara's Cupcakes

Did I forget to tell you about my travels to San Francisco? I think I did.
This summer has been one of the busiest summers our young married lives. My husband got accepted into Animation Mentor and we've been nonstop busy ever since. We traveled to San Francisco late July in order to attend Animation Mentor's annual BBQ on the Great Meadows (Fort Mason area). Read all about our travels and our journey as a couple learning and living through animation school on our blog The Animator's Wife.

Well, after we spent a full day of making new friends and putting faces to profile pictures, a crew of us journeyed to Ghirardelli Square. While we were there, we collected free chocolate samples, had decadent dessert and I made sure I got a taste of Kara's Cupcakes!

What a great location for cupcake and what a stylish little storefront in color and simplicity. Who could resist such a sweet place? I had a hard time choosing which flavor to try but I ended up happy with their seasonal Key Lime cupcake and one of their staple Chocolate Velvet cupcakes. It. Was. Delish.

So if you are every around Fisherman's Wharf or on your way to see the Golden Gate Bridge, stop by Kara's Cupcakes for a treat or two. Read more about how their unique and environmentally-friendly approach in their business.

Raspberry Whey Protein Shake

Happy Tuesday! There are days when I feel like drinking a healthy shake instead of having a full blown lunch. So for days like this, I prefer to create a shake with what I have in my pantry and fridge. I initially bought whey protein in hopes of having a daily meal substitute for lunch, but as it turns out, I suck at being consistent with my calorie intake. Oh, well, gotta pick myself up and keep trying. On a good note, I've started working out again...I'm on Day 2 but any start is a good start!

With no further delay here's my recipe for a delicious shake:

Raspberry Whey Protein Shake

1 heaping scoop of Whey Protein Powder
8 oz or more of Almond Milk (40 calorie carton)
1 cup of Fresh Raspberries or Frozen raspberries
1 to 2 packets of Stevia
If using fresh raspberries, add two to three ice cubes for chilled shake

• In a blender crush ice, then add the rest of the ingredients. Blend until desired consistency. Taste and adjust ingredients according to your preference. Enjoy! 

OC Fair 2012

Just some pics I wanted to share of our adventure at the Orange County Fair. It was such a hot day that I forgot to take pictures of everything we did because I was busy drinking water and staying cool. So glad we amped up our sunscreen that day. If not, my husband would have turned into a lobster and I would have more moles popping up on me. I'm not a fan of too many moles on my body. Speaking of, make sure you get your annual dermatology check up! I just did two days ago. I'm good to go for the next year. Stay cool and lathered.

Piggie Race,  #3 won.

Tropical Chocolate...what is does it meeeean?

Yeah, I wish...

Spiffy!

Remember these toys?? 

Where Cabbage Patch Kids come from.

Weird Al Yankovic. Great performance and I can't believe he has so much energy!

OC Fair 2012 Foods We Consumed

This post is not for the faint of heart or those allergic to grease. If you look in the dictionary of Fair Foods, the word "Diet" does not exit. Even if it did, it would be a diet from healthy foods, highly alkaline foods and so forth. But to be fair (ooh pun) to the OC Fair, they did offer some really good alternatives like fresh fruits and berries, chicken kabobs and such. I took a break from grease by eating a cup of juicy, cold, sliced nectarines. Man, it's good to be in California where fruits and veggies are plentiful.

 Anyway, back to our splurge. My husband ordered sausage and I got the giant corn dog. I figured, why not? I only eat corn dogs at fairs and this is the only fair I'm attending this year. So I took the challenge and ate most of that deliciousness on a stick. Towards the evening, we had Greek food, another normal-sized corn dog and topped it off with a Deep Fried Snickers bar and Mini Doughnuts sprinkled with Cinnamon Sugar. I'm proud to say I didn't finish that tub of minis but it was very hot, very soft, spiced and satisfying. Maybe next year, I'll have a nicer camera to take food pictures and share more fair foods. My husband was raised in the midwest but he's never been to the Iowa State Fair and THAT'S where I want to go next year. In fact, that's where anyone should visit at least once in their lifetime. Have a Happy Thursday!

Do I really need a caption for this? 

Deep Fried Snickers bar

Mini Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts

Curry Bison Burgers

I'm a big fan of Bison burgers. If you gotta have red meat go with bison or elk. The meat is leaner and it really tastes delicious without the gamey-ness. Lately, I've been wanting more excitement in my burger department, so I followed my heart and stomach and came up with this recipe. I'm so pleased with the tasty outcome, I just had to share it with you. Have a great supper!

Curry Bison Burgers

1 lb of Ground Bison
Half a White Onion, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon of Salt
1 teaspoon of Black Pepper
1 tablespoon of Madras Curry Powder
2 teaspoons of Garlic Powder
2/3 cup of Puffed rice cereal
1 egg lightly beaten
Coconut oil for pan
Whole wheat buns
Cubed ripened Ataulfo Mango
Sriracha Chili sauce
Veganaise

• In a large mixing bowl, add all ingredients together. Use you hands and squish away!
• Form meat mixture into round 4 ounce balls and pat down into burger patties.
• Heat pan on medium high. Add a tablespoon or so of Coconut oil. Once oil is heated pan fry patties about 4-5 minutes on each side.
• Remove patties on paper towel to drain excess oil. Lowering heat to medium, place both sides of bun face down on hot pan to lightly toast bread.
• Carefully remove buns after 30 seconds to a minute. Dress buns with Veganaise and Sriracha sauce. Place cubed mango on burger and enjoy!

For a side dish, I sauteed some Kale & Shredded Carrots in garlic infused coconut oil and a couple splashes of low sodium soy sauce.