Chocolate Zucchini Bread

INGREDIENTS:

3 Eggs
2 Cups white sugar
1 Cup plus 2 TBS Vegetable Oil
6 TBS Cocoa Powder
2 Cups grated zucchini
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 Cups All-purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 Cup Chocolate Chips


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans, or cupcake tin (or for easy cleanup line cupcake tin with cupcake liners!). Beat eggs and sugar together until creamy. Add vegetable oil, cocoa powder, grated zucchini, and vanilla. Beat well. Stir in flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake in preheated oven for 60-70 minutes int he loaf pan, 25-30 minutes in the cupcake tins. Insert a toothpick into the center of the loaf to check that it comes out clean.

Caramel Fondant

I combined a soft caramel recipe with a fondant recipe. A word to the wise... I should have thought before hand that I was adding two recipes together therefore I only needed half of the recipes of each... but I realized it too late. So now we have a LOT of caramel fondant, but it sure is yummy and makes a great little soft caramel candy! (The ingredients listed below are for the full recipe that I used, so you will be making a LOT and it takes a while... but it can stay in the fridge until you are ready to use it for the weeks ahead!)

Ingredients

2 Cups Heavy Cream

1/2 Cup Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 Cups Light Corn Syrup

1/2 Cup Water

2 Cups Granulated Sugar

1/2 Cup (1 Stick) softened butter, cut into small cubes

1 bag of Mini Marshmallows

2 Lbs Powdered Sugar

1/2 Cup Shortening

Directions

Combine the cream and sweetened condensed milk in a small saucepan, and place the saucepan on a burner to the lowest heat setting. You want to warm the milk and cream, but DO NOT allow it to boil.

In a large saucepan combine the corn syrup, water, and granulated sugar over medium-high heat. Stir the candy until the sugar dissolves, then use a wet pastry brush to wash down the sides of the pan to prevent sugar crystals from forming and making the candy grainy.

Insert a candy thermometer and reduce the heat to medium. Allow the mixture to come to a boil and cook until the thermometer reads 250°.

Add the softened butter chunks and the warm milk-cream mixture. The temperature should go down about 30°.

Continue to cook the caramel, stirring constantly so that the bottom does not scorch. Cook it until the thermometer reads 235°, and the caramel is a beautiful golden brown.

Remove the caramel from the heat and add the bag of marshmallows. Stir in the marshmallows until they have all melted.

Allow mixture to cool for about 30 minutes.

Prepare the counter and your hands by covering with shortening.

Pour some powdered sugar on the counter, then on top pour some of the caramel-marshmallow mixture. It will take a while to knead all the powdered sugar into the mixture.

After you knead the powdered sugar in. Cover the fondant in shortening and wrap in saran wrap and place in a ziploc bag overnight.

When you are ready to use the fondant remove from fridge and allow to sit for about an hour. This will allow it to come closer to room temperature and be easier to work with.

This Caramel Fondant can be used on cakes or it is great as a nice delicious candy!

ENJOY!!!

**Just so you know, making fondant does tend to leave things a little messy!!!**

Apple Spice Cake

My mom and I made a cake for my Grandmother's birthday this year. She likes apple spice cake and my mom and I thought it would be yummy to have a caramel fondant... so that's what we did!!!
I based the recipe off this one found at allrecipes.com.

Ingredients

2 Cups All-purpose Flour
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1 tsp Ground Allspice
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Cup Butter, Softened
2 Cups White Sugar
4 Eggs
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 TBSP Warm Water
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
3 Apples - Peeled, Cored and Chopped (or Grated)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Butter a 9x13" pan. Whisk together flour, spices, and salt. Set aside.
Cream together butter (or margarine) and sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Stir together soda and 1 TBSP warm water, and mix into the sugar mixture. Stire in flour mixture, and apples until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool in pan. Once cool, shake pan to loosen cake. Turn onto plate.

To frost the cake you can just dust with confectioners' sugar. Or you may use my recipe for caramel fondant. We used a Buttercream Frosting between the layers.

Icing

I usually am not a fan of eating a cake with fondant icing. But this recipe is one that I am actually a fan of. This was my first time trying out fondant, and I must say I really enjoyed it! The cake I made is a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and fondant decorations. So today I'm posting the recipe for the chocolate frosting and the fondant.

First the chocolate frosting. My favorite recipe for chocolate frosting is the one on the back of Hershey's Cocoa (natural unsweetened). This recipe makes about 2 cups of frosting.

Ingredients:

1 stick (1/2 Cup) Butter

2/3 Cup Hershey's Cocoa

3 Cups Powdered Sugar

1/3 Cup Milk

1 tsp Vanilla

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating on medium speed to spreading consistency. Add more milk if consistency is too thick, add more powdered sugar if too runny. Stir in vanilla.

Click HERE for the link to the fondant tutorial I used. Fondant can also be used as a fun thing for your kids to play with, the consistency is similar to that of play dough, however they may end up eating more of it than you would like!

Ingredients:

16 ounces white mini-marshmallows (use a good quality brand)
2 to 5 tablespoons water
2 pounds icing sugar (use C&H Cane Powdered Sugar for the best results)
1/2 cup Crisco shortening (you will be digging into it so place in a very easily accessed bowl)

Directions:

NOTE:  Please be careful, this first stage can get hot. Take OFF jewelry such as rings!!!

Melt marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave or double boiler: Put the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds, open microwave and stir, back in microwave for 30 seconds more, open microwave and stir again, and continue doing this until melted. It usually takes between 2-2 1/2 minutes total. Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix.

Now grease your hands GENEROUSLY (palms, backs, and in between fingers), then heavily grease the counter you will be using and dump the bowl of marshmallow/sugar mixture in the middle. Start kneading like you would bread dough.

Keep kneading, this stuff is sticky at this stage! Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more. Re-grease your hands and counter when the fondant starts sticking. If the mix is tearing easily, it is to dry, so add water (about 1/2 tablespoon at a time and then knead it in). It usually takes at least 8 minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cake.

It is best if you can let it sit, double wrapped, overnight (but you can use it right away if there are no tiny bits of dry powdered sugar). If you do see them, you will need to knead and maybe add a few more drops of water.

Prepare the fondant for storing by coating it with a good layer of Crisco shortening, wrap in a plastic-type wrap product (Saran wrap) and then put it in a re-sealable or Ziploc bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible. 

MM Fondant will hold very well in the refrigerator for weeks. It is best to store the fondant in it's natural white color, some food coloring colors can change the consistency of the icing. Please go to the tutorial here to check out how to roll out the fondant and get it on the cake.