Food

Easy Double Chocolate Glazed Cake Donuts

Making cake donuts is as easy as making brownies or cupcakes. We start with a batter and put them in donuts pans and then bake in the oven. These aren’t traditional deep-dried donuts so they aren’t going to be light and fluffy. They are thick and will be more like a cake donuts.

Whether you call them donuts or doughnuts, they are still fun to make and fun to eat. We use a baking mix and Devil’s food cake mix to make ours but you can also make cake donuts from scratch. Let us know if you have a favorite way to make cake donuts.

How to Make Double Chocolate Cake Donuts

Our recipe makes 10 to 12 cake donuts

Cooking Supplies Needed

Donuts pan
Cake icing spatula
Large bowl (for donuts batter)
Small bowl (for glaze)
Large mixing spoons
Cooking spray oil (to grease the pan)

Cake Donuts Ingredients:

We actually used Stonewall Kitchen’s Donuts mix to make our donuts but you can use this simple recipe below as well to achieve the same type of cake donuts.

Devil’s Food Cake Mix (15 oz box)
1 cup Baking Mix (Bisquick or Jiffy Mix)
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten

TIP: you can use 1/2 Cup of Bisquick and add 1Tbsp of vegetable oil if the recipe seems too dry. Very rich and tasty. More fluffy then dense.

Donuts Glaze Ingredients:

1/2 cup chocolate frosting
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon water

Chocolate Cake Donuts Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a doughnut pan with cooking spray oil.

In a large bowl, mix cake mix, baking mix, sugar and salt. Stir in milk and eggs. Mix everything until well combine.

Use a piping bag or a spoon to fill each doughnut cup about half full to 3/4 full making sure the center is clear. Remember that the donuts dough will rise up as they bake so you want to allow room so don’t overfill it.

Bake until doughnuts spring back when touched, about 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool slightly for about 10 minutes before removing from pan. When they come hot out of the oven they will look similar to brownies.

While the doughnuts are cooling, stir in frosting and water in a small bowl. We used a cake icing spatula to spread the sweet chocolate icing glaze on top of the chocolate donuts.

Did you try the Chocolate Cake Donuts Recipe at home?

How to Dye Easter Eggs And Keep Them From Cracking

It’s that time once again to dye eggs for Easter and here are a few tips to help keep them from cracking and make them easy to dye. Did you know that Americans dye and decorate more than 180 million eggs during the Easter season each year. First, you must gather your supplies to dye Easter Eggs. You will need fresh eggs, Distilled white vinegar, food coloring or Paas color tabs, saucepan, water, spoons, and small dishes or cups. Distilled white vinegar is easily found in most grocery, big box, and drug stores around the country and is very affordable at around $1.34 for a 16-ounce bottle.

How to Dye Hard Boiled Eggs for Easter

You can also prepare hard-cooked eggs in the oven instead of boiling them.

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

2. Place uncooked eggs into muffin tins.

3. Cook for 30 minutes.

4. While the eggs are cooking, fill a large bowl with cold water.

5. When the eggs are done, remove them using a pot holder and transfer the eggs, one at a time, to the cold water in the bowl. Be careful because the eggs will be very hot.

6. Wait 10 minutes and remove the eggs from the water.

Eggs cooked in the oven will have brown spots on the egg shells where the eggs were in contact with the hot metal from the muffin tin. The discoloration may fade in the water but it may also leave marks on white eggs.

Tips for Preventing Cracked Hard-Boiled Eggs

To help make your Easter egg colors vivid and bright, add one Paas color tablet or 3 drops of food coloring and three tablespoons of Distilled White vinegar to a mixing cup. Once the tablet has dissolved (no waiting for food coloring), add 1/2 cup of water and gently stir.

To help keep hard-boiled eggs from cracking, add two tablespoons of Heinz Distilled white vinegar per quart of water before placing the eggs in the pot to cook. By adding vinegar the shells will also peel off faster and easier when you are ready to eat them after egg hunting is over.

Do not over cook the eggs.

Quickly cool the eggs after cooking by running them under cold water.

Wait until the boiled eggs have cooled and refrigerate eggs in their shells until they are ready to use.

Tip Source: Heinz Vinegar.

How to Make Chocolate Easter Eggs

Centuries ago, eggs were given as gifts to mark the season of the equinox in ancient Egypt. This egg gift-giving tradition is later used by the Christians to represent Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead, a symbol of rebirth and new life. This tradition evolved in France and Germany in the 1800s, as people started to exchange chocolate eggs.

Easter chocolate eggs are everybody’s favorite treat during the Lenten season. Did you know that rather than spending tons of money purchasing chocolate eggs, you can make and decorate your own Easter chocolate egg are home?

How to Make Chocolate Easter Eggs

Supplies Needed:

plastic egg molds
double boiler
mixing spoon
large block of chocolate
small party favor toys or candy such as M&Ms

For a hollow chocolate egg, you need to use a plastic egg mold. These plastic molds are fairly cheap and come in a variety of sizes. You will also need a double boiler.

Want to give it a surprising twist? Put on a handful of sweets or small toys inside the egg shells before you join the two egg shell halves together. Want to make it colorful? Melt white chocolate and mix a little food coloring.

Melt Chocolate Block

Melt a large block of chocolate slowly over low heat in a double boiler. Melting it on a regular saucepan or melting it too quickly will cause the chocolate to burn or develop an unpleasant texture, making it very difficult to work with and spoil the taste.

For kitchens without a double boiler, you can do the slow melting by placing a few inches of water in the bottom of a large saucepan, and then place the smaller saucepan (containing the chocolate) inside. Don’t cover the saucepan. Heat and simmer the smaller saucepan; this will melt the chocolate slowly and safely, giving it a shiny and lovely texture, without spoiling the taste of the chocolate. However, you need to work faster and stir the chocolate before it starts to set.

Fill Molds with Chocolate

Pour the melted chocolate in both halves of the mold. Cover and place the mold together as evenly as possible. Spread the chocolate evenly inside of each mold half by slightly tapping and shaking the mold halves. You can also use a spoon to smooth the chocolate around.

You can use silicone egg molds instead of plastic egg molds.

Add Party Favor Toys

Put the chocolate-filled molds inside the fridge. Wait until the chocolate hardens completely.

If you are adding small party favor toys to your chocolate eggs, fill one half of the mold and then let them sit in the refrigerator for about 10 to 15 minutes so the chocolate is slightly cooled. Then press the toy into the warm chocolate and continue adding chocolate until the mold is completely filled.

If you are worried that the toy or candy may melt inside of the egg, use a regular plastic Easter egg and put the candy or toy inside of that and then press the plastic egg inside of your larger chocolate egg. You will have to use quite a large egg mold to do it this way.

Seal the Egg with Chocolate

Wait until the chocolate is completely cooled, about an hour. Remove the two halves of the mold gently. Brush the edges of each halves using melted chocolate, and then slightly press the two halves of egg together to make one whole egg.

Be Creative, Use Your Imagination

Make your chocolate eggs look more beautiful and attractive for the kids by decorating its shells. You can drip some white chocolate to the mold before you pour the melted chocolate. You can also use hokey-pokey variety rather than plain or milk chocolate.

Making chocolate Easter eggs is an amazing opportunity to be creative and use your imagination to make a lovely seasonal treats for your whole family and loved ones. The popularity of Easter chocolate recipes also makes it a lucrative business opportunity.

Easy Chocolate Easter Recipes

Chocolate and Easter always go together. Kids look forward to them and mothers love preparing them. But when you give away chocolate Easter eggs to kids on a yearly basis, it can be challenging to come up with creative ideas and recipes to excite them with the sweet treats! Thus, you can experiment with a few recipe ideas for your Easter chocolates to ensure that the kids will be excited to open up their baskets.

Photo Credit: bbcgoodfood.com

Chocolate Almond Biscotti Recipe

The first recipe that you can try is fairly simple

Ingredients:

2 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
butter
3/4 cup almonds
one cup of sugar
2 eggs
2 yolks
one tablespoon of water
almond liqueur
choice bits
baking cocoa

Instructions:

1. Start by pre-heating the oven to 320 degree.

2. Combine all of the dry ingredients.

3. Flatten up the dough into a pan and wrap it with plastic.

4. Put the flour mixture into the freezer for at least an hour before cutting it into thick slices and placing it into the baking tray. Make sure to grease the tray so the cookies won’t stick after baking.

5. Bake for approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

Photo Credit: foodonthefood.com

Creamy Chocolate Fudge Recipe

You will be needing only three ingredients to prepare this recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb. of cooking chocolate
one can of condensed milk
one teaspoon of vanilla extract
chocolate foil wrapped Easter eggs or small Cadbury eggs

Instructions:

1. Combine all of these ingredients in a saucepan, which is placed above another pan filled with boiling water.

2. Keep stirring the chocolate and thoroughly melted.

3. Pour the fudge into a separate container and line it up with baking paper.

4. Store inside the refrigerator and it should be easy to cut them into smaller pieces once cooled.

Photo Source: bakers-corner.com.au

If you want to stick with the traditional Easter egg basket when preparing your recipe, here is a great idea to try

Chocolate Crackle Egg Baskets

Aside from ensuring that your kids will enjoy eating them, they will also have fun preparing this recipe.

Ingredients:

Mars Bars
Rice Bubbles (approx. 3 cups)
a couple teaspoons of cocoa powder
3 tablespoons of thin cream
up to 2 dozen small eggs

Instructions:

1. Place your cup cake paper cases into a tray.

2. Chop up your Mars Bars into a bowl then mix the cocoa powder and cream into it.

3. Turn the microwave on medium and let the mixture sit there for about a minute. Make sure that the Mars Bars have completely melted or it has attained a rich but creamy consistency.

4. Add the rice puffs into the mixture and put them into the individual paper cups. Leave a hole in the center so you can place the eggs in it.

Keep this in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

Feel free to add your own unique twist to these chocolate Easter recipes. It will be more fun if you can get the kids involved in the preparation so they will come to appreciate those giveaways even more.

Canning Cranberry Conserve Step-by-Step with Pictures

Since Spring is in the air, lots of people (including me!) are gearing up to plant our yearly gardens. Our family recently moved to a home with a much larger yard than we’ve ever had, so obviously we are planning a much larger garden than we’ve ever had before. Honestly I plan on growing so many vegetables that we can’t possibly eat them all fresh.

So recently I began exploring the world of home food preservation, specifically canning. Basically, you process all your surplus fruits and vegetables to they become shelf-stable, and you can enjoy the fruits of your labor (see what I did there?) all year long. Canning actually doesn’t involve cans, but glass mason jars with lids. You can can and preserve all kinds of things, from the traditional jellies and pickles to sauces, whole vegetables, and even meat and stews. There is lots of great information out there on canning, but unfortunately a lot of inaccurate information as well.

Before you attempt to can or preserve your own food, I suggest you invest some time and research into the proper tested techniques. Otherwise, you could can your food incorrectly and end up getting very sick or worse. Some of the best sources out there are the National Center for Home Food Preservation, and Jarden Home Brands Fresh Preserving (they are the manufactures of Ball and Kerr mason jars and canning products). Both these organizations have extensively tested recipes and procedures that guarantee food canning safety. I highly recommend both. Become familiar with what equipment you will need and the proper techniques for specific foods, and always follow a recently tested recipe (not all of grandma’s are going to be proven safe anymore).

The Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving offers 200 pages that will guide you while you learn about preserving. This book provides information about equipment and step-by-step instructions for each preserving method. Also included are over 500 recipes for canning, pickling, dehydrating, freezing food, and much more!

So anyway… I’ve been practicing my techniques in both pressure canning and water bath canning recipes. I came across this one in the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving and I thought I’d share it with you. It was relatively easy and yielded an AMAZINGly delish spread, perfect for a holiday turkey and simple enough for an accompaniment to a weeknight chicken or pork chop dinner.

From The Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving

“Are you looking for an alternative to traditional cranberry sauce for your holiday meals? This is it! Cranberry Conserve blends traditional flavors in a new way. Serve it with turkey, poultry, or pork. To add another layer of flavor, toast walnuts in a saucepan or oven for 3-4 minutes.”

Canning Cranberry Conserve Instructions

Yields about 4 half pint jars

Canning Equipment Needed:

half pint sized canning jars with new lids and bands
boiling water canner (heavy stock pot with high sides will do nicely)
rack for canner bottom (or if need be, a folded kitchen towel will do in lieu of this)
sauce pan
ladle
jar lifter
headspace measuring tool (optional)
jar filling funnel (optional)
A nice kit is available from Ball which includes all of these canning tools, this is what I use. I purchase most of my canning supplies at Walmart and from Amazon.

Cranberry Conserve Ingredients:

1 quart cranberries ( I had mine in the freezer from Christmastime)
3/4 cup chopped orange (about 1 medium, peel and all)
2 cups water
1/2 cup raisins
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Prepare canning jars and lids per manufacturer directions (mainly, wash jars, new lids, and bands. Keep jars hot in a simmering water bath; set lids and bands aside).

Prepare water bath canner: fill with water, heat to simmering (about 180 degrees).

Prep: Wash cranberries and orange under cold running water, sort and remove squishy or diseased berries, drain. Cut orange in half and remove seeds. Coarsely chop orange, peel and all, measure 3/4 cup of chopped orange.

Cook: Combine chopped orange and water in a large sauce pan with high sides to prevent boil over. Cook over medium heat until peel is tender. Add cranberries, raisins, and sugar, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Cook rapidly until almost to the gelling point (220 degrees on a candy thermometer). Add walnuts during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Remove from heat.

Fill: Ladle hot conserve into hot jar, leaving 1/4″ headspace. Remove air bubbles. Clean jar rim thoroughly with a clean damp cloth (I like to dampen my cloth with white vinegar). Center lid on jar and adjust band to fingertip tight only (this is important! Don’t over tighten or your lids won’t be able to seal). Repeat until all jars are filled. Place jars carefully into simmering water canner.

Canning Process

once jars are lowered into canner, ensure they are covered by hot water by at least 1 inch, and there should be about 3 inches of space between water and the top of the canner (to allow space for boil). Adjust heat to medium-high, cover canner and bring water to a boil. Process half pint jars at a gentle rolling boil for 15 minutes. Do not start timing until water is completely boiling! After 15 minutes, turn off heat and carefully remove cover from canner (lots of steam, so be careful!). Let jars and water cool for 5 minutes.

Carefully remove jars from canner, be careful not to tip or turn upside down. Let jars cool on a towel on your kitchen counter for a full 12 hours undisturbed. Do not attempt to remove bands or check seal until then. After complete cooling, remove bands and check for a vacuum seal on the lids. Wipe down jars, label and store!