STAR SPANGLED COCOA BUNDT CAKE: Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July! We have a lot to celebrate this year! 

I always say you should check out recipes on food product sites that you like, and for me, the Hershey's Kitchens site is a regular stop.

I grew up in Philadelphia. Since my Aunt lived in Harrisburg, Hershey's, being on the way, was a frequent stop. I remember the Hershey Factory tour that took us on catwalks over rooms filled with chocolate vats--without barriers. I always thought you could fall into the vats. Very pre-Willy Wonka. I'm sure my memory is impaired, but it was a child's paradise and fantasy. I know Hershey Park had lots of amusement rides, a roller coaster, possibly a pool or two, but our family never availed ourselves of those 'amusements.' We always went on the educational tour. We did have chocolate, though, at the end, so I'm grateful.

Hershey's always seems so American to me! Patriotic, even. So I'm not surprised that this Hershey's Kitchens' Cocoa Bundt Cake has become of my favorite recipes, and here it is, all dressed up for the Fourth of July. I've adapted the recipe slightly.

Star Spangled Cocoa Bundt Cake

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1-2/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk*
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup DARK Cocoa

1/2 tsp salt

Powdered sugar

Fresh blueberries and strawberries

Sweetened whipped cream

Directions
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 12-cup bundt pan (with a hole in the middle)*
Beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in large bowl until fluffy; beat in sour cream. Stir baking soda into buttermilk; set aside. Stir together flour, cocoa and salt; add alternately with buttermilk mixture to butter mixture. Beat 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until wooden pick inserted comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. 

Place cake on serving plate. Sift powdered sugar on top and sides of cake. Top with blueberries, strawberries. Serve with whipped cream.

STAR SPANGLED COCOA BUNDT CAKE: Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July! We have a lot to celebrate this year! 

I always say you should check out recipes on food product sites that you like, and for me, the Hershey's Kitchens site is a regular stop.

I grew up in Philadelphia. Since my Aunt lived in Harrisburg, Hershey's, being on the way, was a frequent stop. I remember the Hershey Factory tour that took us on catwalks over rooms filled with chocolate vats--without barriers. I always thought you could fall into the vats. Very pre-Willy Wonka. I'm sure my memory is impaired, but it was a child's paradise and fantasy. I know Hershey Park had lots of amusement rides, a roller coaster, possibly a pool or two, but our family never availed ourselves of those 'amusements.' We always went on the educational tour. We did have chocolate, though, at the end, so I'm grateful.

Hershey's always seems so American to me! Patriotic, even. So I'm not surprised that this Hershey's Kitchens' Cocoa Bundt Cake has become of my favorite recipes, and here it is, all dressed up for the Fourth of July. I've adapted the recipe slightly.

Star Spangled Cocoa Bundt Cake

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1-2/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk*
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup DARK Cocoa

1/2 tsp salt

Powdered sugar

Fresh blueberries and strawberries

Sweetened whipped cream

Directions
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 12-cup bundt pan (with a hole in the middle)*
Beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in large bowl until fluffy; beat in sour cream. Stir baking soda into buttermilk; set aside. Stir together flour, cocoa and salt; add alternately with buttermilk mixture to butter mixture. Beat 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until wooden pick inserted comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. 

Place cake on serving plate. Sift powdered sugar on top and sides of cake. Top with blueberries, strawberries. Serve with whipped cream.

Tip: If you don't have buttermilk, here's how to sour milk: Mix 1 Tbsp white vinegar plus milk to equal 1 cup.

Cake Photo: Hershey's Kitchens

HERSHEY BAR CHOCOLATE CAKE

Today is National Chocolate Cake Day! I may have celebrated a day early with the posting for National Pistachio Day with a Chocolate Pistachio Bundt Cake! I love chocolate cake.. in any form or variation! But it's no secret that this cake--the ultimate chocolate cake known as the Hershey Bar Chocolate Cake is a favorite and perfect for National Chocolate Cake Day!

Growing up in Philadelphia, my family often visited the Hershey Factory in near-by Hershey, PA. What an amazing Family outing. It truly was a Willy Wonka experience. At the end of the factory tour, each child was given a Hershey's Bar! I'm not talking mini, either, these were the 'regular' sized bars. Since I used to buying penny candy (remember that?), this was a huge treat. Visiting the Hershey factory was an experience I'll never forget, and even though I might now opt for more refined single origin organic dark chocolate, I'll never turn down a Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar.

So here's another Classic Chocolate Cake recipe. You'll find this in many of the older Hershey Cookbooks. And, yes, you can make it with high end dark chocolate and syrup, but try it first with Hershey chocolate bars and Hershey's syrup. This easy to make cake will satisfy any chocoholic!

HERSHEY BAR CHOCOLATE CAKE

Ingredients

1 cup buttermilk
2-1/2 cups flour
Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sweet butter, softened
2/3 cup Hershey's chocolate syrup
1-1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
6 Hershey's Milk Chocolate bars, melted and cooled

Directions

Heat oven to 350. Butter either a 12 cup Bundt Pan or 10" tube pan. 

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside. 

Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla with electric mixer. Add syrup and melted chocolate and mix completely. Blend in buttermilk. Gradually add flour mixture until well combined. 

Pour into prepared pans.
Bake in Tube or Bundt pan for 45 minutes to an hour -- or until done.
Cover with foil immediately to steam and make cake moister.
Keep covered until cake is completely cool.

Chocolate Sampler: December 11

CHOCOLATE SAMPLER: Every few weeks I like to do a round-up of Chocolate Stories, Reviews and News.

TRAVEL

• The World's Largest Chocolate Fountain at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas is among the World's 10 Weirdest Romantic Destinations. World renown pastry chef Jean Philippe Maury spent a year and a half in design and planning to build this structure. The chocolate fountain is 27 feet tall and circulates 2,100 pounds of chocolate at a rate of 120 quarts per minute. There are three types of chocolate in the fountain and while you may not be able to eat directly from the fountain, Jean Philippe’s bakery offers plenty of the prized chocolate. Read the entire article here.

• Looking for something fun to do in Santa Fe during the holidays or anytime, check out The Santa Fe Chocolate Trail: Kakawa Chocolate House, Todos Santos Chocolates and Confections, and CG Higgins Confections and Chocolate Smith, the last stop on The Santa Fe Chocolate Trail.

• I did a round-up of Chocolate Museums around the world a little while ago, and one of my chocolate friends of Estonian heritage sent me this article about the Kalev Chocolate Museum in Tallinn, Estonia.

• Chocolate Marmites: A Geneva Exclusive. Marmite here doesn't refer to the icky U.K. Marmite yeast extract blend; rather, every year, leading up to the weekend closest to December 12, bakery and chocolate shop windows all over Geneva proudly display chocolate cauldrons, or marmites as they are known, filled with marzipan vegetables and decked with red and yellow ribbons, Geneva’s colors. Families and businesses buy the cauldrons for a ritual that requires the youngest and the oldest member of any given group to smash the marmite open and then serve the chocolate shards and the brightly colored veggies to the others present. Read more at Suite101: Chocolate Marmites – A Geneva Exclusive: The Three-Legged Pots Are Filled With Marzipan Vegetables. Read more here.

• Planning a trip to Normandy? Alençon that has two of the best chocolatiers: Jacky Pedro and Chocolat Glatigny. Chocolate making has been a speciality in Alençon, a market town in Lower Normandy, for over a hundred years. Jacky’s premises have been the site of a “chocolaterie” since 1895. The adjacent Chocolat Glatigny shop has a more recent history, established in 1975 in a medieval timber-framed building opposite the entrance to the church. Glatigny specialities include Les Sieurs d’Alençon or Squires of Alençon made from hazelnut paste flavoured with calvados, coated with dark chocolate and rolled in icing sugar, and Le Point d’Alençon a caramel ganache flavoured with green apple compote, coated in milk or dark chocolate and finely decorated with a lacework of white chocolate. Read the rest of the article on the Velvet Escape website.

NEWS

• Megacompany Hershey debuted a new addition Hershey’s Bliss ® Chocolate line by introducing Hershey’s Bliss White Chocolate with a Meltaway Center. This new chocolate indulges Hershey’s Bliss Chocolate fans with rich and creamy white chocolate around a smooth, meltaway center. The domed-shape of the individual square fits the mouth, allowing the white chocolate to melt evenly. Lots of hyperbole in the press release, but I must admit it tastes great, but I'm a white chocolate fan.

Contests:

• Don't forget you have less than a month to enter the Scharffen Berger Chocolate Adventure Contest. I posted about it here. Great prizes, great adventure ingredients. Deadline for the contest is January 3.

• Hershey’s Bliss Chocolate: Share the Bliss ™ Essay Contest based on the New York Times best-selling book The Necklace. By taking a page from the book to help others experience the undeniable bliss of sharing just like the women of The Necklace, the Share the Bliss contest intends to connect women nationwide with the chance to share a 16.5-carat diamond necklace. Continuing through December 2009, consumers can visit www.hersheysbliss.com to enter the Share the Bliss contest by submitting their stories (150 words or less) of why they want to experience or be “blissed” the Hershey’s Bliss Chocolate diamond necklace. Lucky women will be selected to share the 16.5-carat diamond necklace for two weeks and will receive the necklace, a variety of Hershey’s Bliss Chocolate and a signed copy of The Necklace. Each winner will be asked to share their experience with the necklace through a blog on the Hershey’s Bliss Chocolate Web site and to help select the next winner, thus connecting women nationwide.
  

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