Today’s dessert is Hot Chocolate Fudge Cake from the most recent issue of Cooking Light. What’s special about this one is it’s a lightened up version of a classic make-ahead dessert that every chocolate lover will appreciate - -and this time of year that’s a real plus, because hosts have enough other aspects of the meal to worry about. And Hot Chocolate Fudge Cake, if well executed, never disappoints. It’s served hot so guests fall under the illusion that you went to a lot of trouble when really, all you did was slip away from the dinner table for 2 minutes to slip a tray of these into the oven and start the coffee.

And do these taste light? Well, they were ranked very high by the editors of CL and I can tell you that the ones I made tasted as good as you’d get in a restaurant. The secret is to measure your flour properly not to skimp on the good cocoa and chocolate. Use the best you can afford – and you’ll be able to afford the good stuff because the recipe only calls for a small amount. A little goes a long way.

Speaking of little. If you don’t have 4 oz ramekins, you can find them at most kitchen stores. I bought mine at a store here in Austin called Faraday’s. The 4 oz ramekins look tiny, but when you fill them with batter and actually bake up the little cakes, you’ll be satisfied with their size.

And one last thing, I didn’t bother with the 1 cup of egg substitute. It only cuts 20 calories off each dessert and eggs are cheaper and more convenient. I used 4 large eggs and would do it again that way. If you’re worried about egg safety, you could buy pasteurized eggs.

So all in all I’d say these were seriously good and I’ll be making them again soon.

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Hot Chocolate Fudge Cake from Cooking Light

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Good Morning!

Today I’ll be reviewing Cooking Light’s new recipe for Hot Chocolate Fudge Cakes. Until I get to it, here are a few cookies that caught my eye. The ranger cookies are from The Boston Globe and the other two are contest winners from The Arizona Republic.

Boston Globe Ranger Cookies

Caballero Chocolate Chile Cookies

Willie’s Unbaked Chow Mein Cookies

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Results are in! Readers were asked to come up with a tasty flavored candy Kiss that has some sort of super power.  Three winners were chosen and each will receive a goodie basket from Hershey’s Kisses.

The Winners

BECCA A. – What’s not to like about a white chocolate cranberry Kiss that makes you lose all the weight you gained over the holidays?

“A white chocolate kiss with a cranberry sauce inside (homemade tasting, not canned). It would make you drop all the weight you gained from the holiday festivities!”

JENINE – Judges also liked the flavor, descriptiveness, and pharmaceutical properties benefits of the Vanilla-Marshmallow Kiss that feels really good in your mouth. This was Jenine’s.

“I think I’d make a kiss that is warming and soothing. A shell of vanilla/marshmallow with a hint of cinnamon that melts gently and slowly away in your mouth, leading to a rich cocoa Hershey’s kiss middle with a touch of amaretto that very slowly fades away to a center of a burst of sweet sherry liquor that oozes into your mouth and warms your throat on the way down. What this kiss is invented to do is not only warm you on a chilly day, but also to comfort you and to lighten your spirits with an instantaneous form of mild and entirely non-habit forming antidepressant that will last for several hours to get you through some dreaded holiday shopping trip. Amazingly, this kiss doesn’t melt on it’s own. There needs to be the same combination of heat and moisture as a person’s mouth, to gently melt the kiss. So it is perfect for keeping a few in your pocket for last minute shopping trips. It is also advised to have some handy to give to your husband when he’s kicking his heels and dragging his feet during those shopping trips when you have to force him to come with you.”

JULIE – And finally, the judges liked the ginger/chocolate flavor combo and not having to hang lights. Julie’s entry.

“Mine would have to be a Chocolate Gingerbread Kiss. And as it would not only taste spicy and wonderful and like Christmas, it would have the remarkable ability of stringing Christmas lights. Now that’s a superpower!”

Judges were Katrina, Kristen, Theresa and my friend Joanne who is currently stationed in Iraq and had a lot of fun reading your entries. Judges chose 9 finalists and out of those, Joanne picked the top 3.

If your name is on the list and you didn’t provide an email for me to contact you, please contact me via the comment section so I can email you.

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Hi All,

I’m heading to the gym now, but will report the winners of the basket contest soon. Judges are still deliberating. For now, here’s a new cookie recipe. This one’s experimental, but it’s one of those super easy small batch versions that is worth a try — especially if you’re vegan. Besides, I could use some input.

Notes:

– At first I thought these were too sweet, but once they’d cooled and set, the sweetness level seemed about right. I wouldn’t go drastically cutting the sugar, but next time I’d use a scant 1/4 cup sugar and lightly packed 2 T. brown. The unsweetenend applesauce probably added a little natural sweetness too. Again, it wasn’t bad – but if you have some flax egg sub around, I think a tablespoon of that might work. Then again, you’ll get a flax-y taste.

– Just for fun, I made part of the batch without ANY applesauce or egg sub. The fat cookie on the right was the result. It was fat and sandy and didn’t hold together well until it was cool. If you like that kind of cookie, I suppose you could just leave out the egg sub completely and maybe use a more generous spoon of almond butter. I didn’t care for that cookie.

– I preferred the thin and crinkly with crispy edges. This is the one with the applesauce/egg sub.

– For the whole wheat pastry flour, I used Whole Foods brand.

– If you’re not vegan, you might want to try this with melted butter in place of oil and 1 tablespoon of beaten egg in place of applesauce. What’s nice about this recipe is it’s made in the food processor so you don’t have to worry about creaming the butter & sugar. Plus, I like what happens when you coat the flour with fat instead.

How’s that for a rambly post? Anyway. I’m outta here for a while.

Vegan Cookies

Some Experimental Vegan Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup (2 oz) whole wheat pastry flour (if no scale, lightly spoon and sweep)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 scant cup granulated sugar (evaporated cane sugar would probably work)
1 tablespoon almond butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 scant tablespoon unsweetened applesauce
Handful of vegan chocolate chips or chopped up vegan dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. I used an insulated cookie sheet.

Combine pastry flour and vegetable oil in food processor and pulse to coat flour in oil. Add both of the sugars, almond butter, vanilla, baking soda, salt and applesauce. Pulse until mixed. Stir in chocolate chips.

Makes about 6 to 8 – I forgot the yield.

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Oh no. I’m becoming obsessed with sweet potato pie. Argh.

Here’s one that caught my eye this morning. It’s spiked with whiskey. I wonder if the filling would work in bars?

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