DEVIL DOGS: History & Recipe for National Devil Dog Day

Today is National Devil Dog Day! This food holiday has nothing to do with devils or dogs. A Devil Dog is similar to a hot-dog shaped whoopie pie. It has a smooth fluffy filling between two devil's food cake fingers. The Devil Dog is produced by Drake's Bakeries, originally known as Drake's Cakes, and they've been making them since 1926. National Devil Dog Day was started by Sean Alexander Sobel, who as a child ate Devil Dogs with his grandfather, Howard Leslie Sobel, and wanted to share the history of the snack. In 2017, the same year Sobel created the day, Drake's introduced Fudge Dipped Devil Dogs. The holiday began being celebrated the following year.
 
The term "Devil Dogs" dates to 1917 or 1918—it is believed the name was coined by Germans to describe American soldiers during World War I and alluded to their tenacity. The term was picked up on the homefront: the German word for it, Teufel Hunden was used on Marines recruiting posters in 1918, and newspaper stories also mentioned the phrase that year. The name became firmly associated with the Marines at that time but began being used for the snack eight years later.

Want to make your own Devil Dogs? Here's a recipe for Home-Made Devil Dogs.  Use a Devil Food Cake mix, but be sure and follow this filling recipe.

HOME-MADE DEVIL DOGS

Ingredients

Cake
1 egg
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 -1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Filling
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 7-ounce jar marshmallow creme (1-1/2 cups)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions

Cake
Preheat oven to 400
In medium bowl, blend together egg, shortening, sugar with electric mixer. Continue to beat while adding milk and vanilla.
In anotehr  bowl sift together remaining cake ingredients -- flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder.
Spoon Tbsp of batter into strips about 4 inches long and 1 inch wide on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 5-6 minutes until done. Cool.

Filling:
Put butter in bowl of stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and cream until fluffy (about 4 minutes). Add confectioners sugar, marshmallow cream, and vanilla and continue mixing on low speed until combined, fluffy and smooth (about 2 minutes). But cream in pastry bag with large tip (or ziploc bag with corner cut in wide way). Pipe onto cakes as below.

Pipe marshmallow cream over surface to cover, chill 10 minutes so cream stiffens, then place second cake on top to make sandwich. Repeat with remaining cakes and filling. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour before serving. Will keep in refrigerator (covered) for up to 5 days. Can freeze for 2 months.

Makes a lot of Devil Dogs!

Want another recipe for Devil Dogs? Serious Eats has a more 'serious' recipe. I haven't tried this one yet. If you do, let me know what you think. Thanks!

The Cat Who ... Cookbook: Vonda's Chocolate Whoppers - Independent Bookstore Day

Today is Independent Bookstore Day. What a great day to celebrate! Many independent bookstores have 'used' book sections, and I often find out-of-print cookbooks there. 

So for today's Independent Bookstore holiday, I chose a Chocolate Recipe from one of my "Tie-in" Cookbook collection. This recipe is for Chocolate Whoppers from The Cat Who ...  Cookbook: Delicious Meals and Menus Inspired by Lilian Jackson Braun by Julie Murphy and Sally Abney Stempinski (2000).

'The Cat Who ...  series' of mysteries was created by Lilian Jackson Braun starting in 1966 with The Cat Who Could Read Backwards. Two more followed in 1967 and 1968, but it was 18 years before the next book was published in the series. But after that,  Braun wrote another 27 novels. All and all, she wrote 29 "Cat Who.." books.

The main characters in the books are James Mackintosh Qwilleran and his Siamese cats Koko and Yum-Yum. These books are what I would call 'palette cleansers': light reading in the world of mystery fiction. However they include three things I enjoy: Good Food, Siamese Cats, and a Mystery.

The recipe I chose for today's Tie-in Cookbook post is for Vonda's Chocolate Whoppers. The Chocolate Whoppers appear in The Cat Who Moved a Mountain. These are fabulous cookies with chocolate and walnuts chunks... and, yes, 'they're a trifle excessive...', as Vonda says.

Chocolate Coffee Zucchini Bread: Zucchini Bread Day

Tomorrow is National Zucchini Bread Day, but I have no zucchini in my garden. Luckily for me, it's available at my market. If you don't find any, save this recipe for the summer when your garden is filled with zucchini!

The 'secret' ingredient in this particular Chocolate Zucchini Bread is 'Coffee.' If you've been following my daily posts, you know that coffee enhances the flavor of chocolate, and you'll find that happens in this recipe! As always, your final results will only be as good as your ingredients. Use the very best cocoa, fresh oil, and good coffee.

Chocolate Coffee Zucchini Bread 

ingredients
1-1/2 cups shredded fresh zucchini (approximately 1 zucchini)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup brewed coffee, cold
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg + 1 egg white
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened DARK cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup walnuts,  chopped (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Lightly oil 9 × 5 bread pan.
Shred zucchini using fine shredding disc on food processor or hand shredder. I usually wrap the shredded zucchini in a paper towel and squeeze after shredding to get out excess moisture. Do this before measuring.
Measure 1-1/2 cups and set aside.
Beat together oil, brewed coffee, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients until incorporated, then beat together until smooth. Fold in shredded zucchini and walnuts (optional). Once zucchini is incorporated, pour into prepared pan and bake 55 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out dry. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Remove from pan after cooling for 15 minutes.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY CHEESECAKE: Cherry Cheesecake Day!

In celebration of National Cherry Cheesecake Day, I am reposting an easy delicious recipe for Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake adapted from Pillsbury.

I make my own tried and true Chocolate Cookie Crust! About the crust. Sometimes I bake it first, and sometimes I don't. It won't matter in this recipe, but I like it to be a bit more crunchy for texture, so I usually bake it before adding filling.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY CHEESECAKE

Chocolate Cookie Crust
About 40 chocolate wafers (2 cups crumbs)
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
Pinch of salt

Directions
Process cookies in food processor until finely ground.
Transfer crumbs to mixing bowl & combine crumbs, butter, salt. Stir until crumbs are moistened.
Press mixture evenly across bottom of 10-inch springform pan and all the way up sides of pan. Pack tightly so crust is even.
Bake in 350° oven for 6-8 minutes or until crisp.
Let cool completely before filling. You can put it in the refrigerator while you make the filling.

Filling 
4 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whipping cream
20 ounces cherry pie filling  (I use Chukars Sour Cherry Pie Filling but use what you like)

(Optional) Glaze 
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup (or about 6 ounces) dark chocolate, chopped

Directions
Make crust as above.
In large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium until smooth. Add 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. Add 1/2 cup whipping cream; blend well.
Spoon 3 -1/2 cups cream cheese mixture into crust-lined pan, spreading evenly. Carefully spoon 1 cup pie filling evenly over cream cheese layer (reserve remaining pie filling for topping). Spoon remaining cream cheese mixture evenly over pie filling.
Bake 1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes or until center is set. Cool in pan on wire rack 1 hour.
Serve topped with remaining cherry pie filling.

Optional: I don't think you need to add this, but if you want more chocolate!
In 1-quart saucepan, heat 1/2 cup whipping cream to boiling over medium-high heat. Remove from heat. Stir in chopped chocolate until melted.
Line cookie sheet with waxed paper. Remove side of pan. Place cheesecake on paper-lined cookie sheet. Before adding the extra cherry pie filling -- Spread chocolate glaze over cooled cheesecake, allowing some to flow down side. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.