This is the Black Magic Cake recipe Paxye shared with me last year when I made it for Lily’s 6th birthday. This time I made it for Leif’s 3rd birthday. It’s damn good. You should try it the next time you’re in the mood for some ridiculously yummy chocolate goodness. I made only slight changes. Here’s what I did:
Chocolate Birfday Cake
2 cups Sugar
1-3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
3/4 cup Cocoa
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
2 eggs
1 cup Buttermilk (I used almond with 2 tbsp of vinegar added)
1 cup Americano (2 espresso shots with hot water to fill the cup) or strong coffee or cocoa
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line with parchment paper two 9 inch round baking pans or two 8-inch square pans or one 13 × 9 baking pan.
Whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, cooled coffee, oil and vanilla.
Add wet to dry and combine. The batter will be thin.
Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost as desired.
Cocoa Butter Cream Frosting
1/2 cup Butter
2 2/3 cups Icing Sugar
3/4 cup Cocoa Powder
1/3 – 1/2 cup Cream
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
In a medium bowl or food processor, whisk or mix together all.
How can three come so soon? You turned two just yesterday… at least it seemed like just yesterday.
You’ve grown so much this last year. No doubt in part because of all the change we’ve faced with moving to a new city and into a new home. We’ve tried a lot of new things like going out on a boat to fish and explore. All new parks and trails. New friends.
Things haven’t always been easy.
But it’s safe to say it’s been more often enjoyable than not. You always make me laugh.
And giggle and laugh some more. You’re not as shy as you were and will be silly in front of friends too!
But you’re not just a ham. You’re often quiet and thoughtful as well. I love these moments.
In fact, I love all my moments with you and while I may secretly wish you’d stay small, I’m loving watching you grow.
Thanks to Megan for the inspiration. I made plenty of changes to Paula Dean’s original recipe and it still tasted almost over the top! I think this would make a really great breakfast or brunch shared with friends. The best part is making it the night before so it’s ready to go in the morning.
Here’s what I did:
Baked French Toast Casserole
1 loaf French Bread
8 large Eggs
2 cups Soy Creamer (or Half-and-Half for dairy users)
1 cup Milk (I used almond)
2 tbsp Demerara Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
dash Salt
Slice bread into 1 inch slices and place in 9 x 13 inch casserole pan two layers thick.
In a bowl, whisk together the rest of the ingredients until combined but not too bubbly.
Pour over and coat bread.
Cover casserole dish and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, preheat oven 350′F.
Make praline topping and distribute over the top of the casserole.
1/2 cup Butter, softened
1/2 cup Demerara Sugar
3/4 cup Pecans, chopped
1 tbsp Honey
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 ttsp Nutmeg
Bake for 40 minutes and serve! If this isn’t rich and sweet enough for you, serve with maple syrup.
I love these quick easy muffins. This recipe is a yogurt free version of the blueberry muffin recipe in the Hollyhock Cookbook. Here’s what I did:
1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup All Purpose Flour
3 tbsp Wheat Germ
2/3 cup Demerara Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup shredded Coconut (more for sprinkling on top)
2 cups Blueberries, fresh or partially thawed
2 cups Apple Sauce
2 Eggs
Preheat oven 400′ and lightly grease a 12 muffin tin.
In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients.
With a pastry cutter, cut in butter.
Add blueberries and coconut and mix in.
In a separate smaller bowl lightly whisk eggs and stir in apple sauce.
Fold wet into dry enough to combine but don’t overmix. It will be a bit lumpy.
Divide batter into 12 portions in the muffin tin. sprinkle the tops with coconut.
Bake 20-25 minutes until golden and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for a few minutes before lifting them out of the tins.
You could very easily omit the wheat germ or coconut and add a couple tbsp of lemon or other citrus zest. You could also use yogurt instead of apple sauce if you prefer.
For your viewing pleasure, I share a stop motion film my friend made called Pillow Line. He won the Cold Smoke Photo Face-Off Slide Show in Nelson, BC with this film and donated the winnings to Medicin san Frontiers Haiti Earthquake Relief and Reporters Without Borders. I can only imagine how many shots it took and the time he put in to create this impressive film. Made me have a few of my own ski dreams.
Not a place I like to visit often when the bugs are biting, this shaded looped pond near our house is a great place for a slow meander and explore. There’s a creek to peek into, hills to run up, rocky crags paralleling the dirt pathway to bushwhack through, beavers to look for, mushrooms galore, a fish ladder to watch when fish are spawning…
It’s easy to lose track of time at this pond. I don’t even mind when I do.
I like how losing track of time can lead us to just be present in the moment.
I thought I’d make a separate post to respond to some of the comments I’ve had about my Useless Baby Product posts.
You’re so judgemental!
Yes, well you’d be the best judge of that. (I say this with humour because irony is funny!)
Having opinions and making judgements are a good way of figuring out one’s values and what’s important to us. Certainly judgements can turn unproductively personal but more often than I’m sure we’d all like to admit, they look ugly because someone feels defensive in their choice to do something different than the “judger” would.
Even outwardly unproductive judgements can be productive if they’re used as red flags for unmet needs.
Don’t underestimate the leash. It gives a wandering child a sense of freedom while keeping them near and dear. <snip> My son was able to walk and wander as aimlessly as I let him. Like I said, he has autism and I have other children. I suppose I could have kept him strapped into a stroller when we went on walks to keep him safely restrained….
This brings up a good point. What about children with disabilities?
I don’t have children with disabilities which probably explains why I don’t write about them. I was talking to a friend (who does have children with disabilities) last week about an autistic child who purposely hits his head repeatedly on concrete outside if it’s available. He may be a prime candidate for a helmet like the one I wrote about in my first post. I’m not sure how the silly little ears on top of the helmet are of any purpose but who am I to say.
The point is, perhaps there is usefulness to some of these products but not when it comes to most people, most children, most families and certainly not to anyone interested in parenting in a more natural or unrefined way and yet these products are all marketed to the general public for everyday use.
In my not so humble opinion (it is my blog anyway), a more natural approach to parenting would never look for a way to “restrain” a child unless in the case of using Protective Use of Force. In my opinion, it’s worth finding ways for children to be free and use their natural curiosities whether they have disabilities or not. It would be a sad life indeed if you only ever got to experience it from the end of a leash or strapped into a stroller. Certainly it must be more work to find ways to give disabled children the opportunity to live without restraint but it would be well worth it- in my opinion, of course.
the crib tent can be helpful as a tool to keep pets out of the crib (it’s not simply a way to keep a child in). my brother & SiL had their children in the crib from day 1 and used the crib tent to both keep the cats out and the kids in.
Crib cage/tent is useless because cribs are completely unnecessary. Babies are meant to be close to mom and are better off for it. Babies can easily nap on a bed with or without mom beside them. The key is whether or not mom is present, literally, intellectually and emotionally. If she is than the kind of “safety” a baby needs changes drastically. You don’t have to rely on *stuff* to take responsibility for your dear child.
Night time parenting is a hot topic. There are many parents out there that struggle with the idea that our children are not gadgets to switch off or be trained to have their needs ignored when the sun goes down. Babies and young children will most probably need to nurse every couple hours (at least) and even more so when they have growth spurts. They will need to nurse often when they are teething or sick. They may wake because they have to pee or are in a wet diaper. These are all facts that many parents seem to want to ignore. Parenting your child at night doesn’t have to be as difficult as so many parents make it. It’s much more satisfying for everyone involved to take a relaxed, no pressure, no agenda, compassionate stance and meet your small child’s needs and not do cio and other baby training to your child.
It’s a choice to buy into the birth/baby/child industry and buy any of these baby products you do not need and your baby is undoubtedly better without. I don’t get it but there’s no question it’s “normal” in the world we live in today to want to amass stuff. This stuff, that stuff, new stuff, old stuff, the latest stuff, the stuff we see famous people amassing.
Unconventional supper? How about if I told you I made these hotcakes with Brown Basmati Pudding with coconut, cardamom and ginger to go with it. What can I say? I was having one of those days. Cam was in the middle of working night shifts, my house looked ransacked and all I wanted was breakfast for supper. It could have only been better with my go to comfort food, hashbrowns.
Thanks Rebar Cookbook for this great recipe. You’re always there when I need you.
Whole Wheat Hotcakes with wheatgerm and buttermilk
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Wheat Germ
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
2 Eggs
3 cups Buttermilk
2 tbsp Butter, melted
1 tsp Vanilla
In a large bowl, whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a small bowl lightly whisk eggs, buttermilk, butter and vanilla.
Add wet to dry and combine. Don’t overmix! Let batter sit for a few minutes before making the hot cakes.
Consider adding any of the following to make the hot cakes more interesting:
