#97 - Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Praline Chocolate Crunch

For Christmas Eve, we were responsible for dessert. Since it's a big occasion - and most likely the last dessert of the Hungry Hundred - we decided to go big or go home.

And what could be bigger than this? A crazy-complex cake from Next Iron Chef runner-up Elizabeth Falkner.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Praline Chocolate Crunch

From Elizabeth Falkner If you couldn't tell from the ingredients, this is a chocolate-hazelnut cake. You need chopped hazelnuts, hazelnut butter, hazelnut oil, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and cocoa powder. This recipe has a hundred components, and a million steps, so instead of stepping you through it, we're just going to let the pictures do the talking. We knew this cake was gonna be crazy. But it was also crazy good. All the layers in the cake - the sponge cake, the praline mousse, the nut ganache, and the chocolate glaze - are all delicious.

But the best part, by far, was the praline chocolate crunch. We could eat that by itself forever. It was crispy and crunchy, sweet and salty, hazelnuty and chocolatey. It was really good. If you don't have the patience or energy to make this ridiculous dessert, just make the crunch. You'll like it. We promise.

Praline Chocolate Crunch

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups blanched hazelnuts, toasted
• 1 tsp hazelnut oil (or vegetable oil)
• 4 oz dark chocolate, chopped
• 4 oz high-quality milk chocolate
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 3/4 cup puffed rice cereal

Preparation

1. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Stir the sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves.
3. Increase the heat, and cook without stirring, occasionally swirling the pan until amber in color, about 7-8 minutes.
4. Stir in the hazelnuts.
5. Pour the mixture onto one of the prepared sheets, separating the nuts.
6. Let cool completely.
7. Transfer candied nuts to a food processor.
8. Add the hazelnut oil and puree until smooth to make the praline paste.
9. Combine both chocolates and 3 Tbs of the praline paste in a medium metal bowl, reserving the remaining praline paste for later.
10. Set the bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water.
11. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
12. Remove bowl from heat and stir in the salt and then the cereal.
13. Spread the mixture out in a thin layer on the second prepared baking sheet.
14. Chill until set, about 30 minutes.

Cocoa Sponge Cake

Ingredients

• Unsalted butter
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 8 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 2 tbs corn syrup
• 1/2 cup brandy or orange liqueur

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Line a 17x11x1-inch sheet pan with parchment paper and butter the paper.
3. Sift flour and cocoa powder into a medium bowl and set aside.
4. Separate 4 eggs, placing the yolks in a large bowl and the white in a medium bowl.
5. Using an electric mixer, beat the yolks with 1/2 cup sugar on medium speed until thick and light yellow, about 3 minutes.
6. Beat in the other 4 whole eggs, one at a time, blending well between each addition.
7. Using clean, dry beaters, beat the egg whites with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the corn syrup until slightly thickened and frothy, about 2 minutes.
8. Add the egg white mixture to the egg yolk mixture and beat to blend.
9. Add the flour-cocoa mixture, and fold just to blend.
10. Spread out evenly on the prepared sheet pan.
11. Bake about 15 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
12. Let cool completely.
13. Invert the cooked cake onto a large cutting board and peel off the parchment paper.
14. Brush cake all over with brandy.

Nut Ganache

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup hazelnut butter
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

Preparation

1. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil.
2. Puree the hot cream, hazelnut butter, and salt in a food processor.
3. Let cool to room temperature.
4. With the food processor running, add the butter, 1 Tbs at a time, pureeing until smooth between each addition.

Praline Mousse

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 oz dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup hazelnut praline paste (reserved from praline chocolate crunch)
• 5 Tbs unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed
• 1 3/4 cup chilled heavy cream, divided

Preparation

1. Combine chocolate, praline paste, and butter in a medium bowl.
2. In a small saucepan, bring 3/4 cup cream to a boil.
3. Pour heated cream over the chocolate mixture.
4. Let stand for 1 minute, and then stir until melted and smooth.
5. Beat the remaining 1 cup chilled cream until soft peaks form.
6. Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture.

Chocolate Glaze

Ingredients

• 9 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 4 1/2 Tbs unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 Tbs corn syrup

Preparation

1. Combine chocolate and butter in a medium bowl.
2. Bring the cream and corn syrup to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often.
3. Pour the heated mixture over the chocolate.
4. Let it stand for 1 minute, and then stir until melted and smooth.
5. Let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Praline Chocolate Crunch

Ingredients

• Cocoa Sponge Cake
• Nut Ganache
• Praline Mousse
• Chocolate Glaze
• Praline Chocolate Crunch
• 1/4 cup roasted hazelnuts

Preparation

1. Spread the nut ganache over the cake and chill in freezer until set, about 15 minutes.
2. Spread the praline mousse over ganache and chill in freezer until set, about 15 minutes.
3. Cut the cake crosswise into thirds, and stack the layers on top of each other.
4. Trim the edges, and then spread the chocolate glaze over the top and sides of the cake.
5. Freeze until set, about 1 hour.
6. Place in refrigerator and chill overnight.
7. Let cake stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
8. Break up praline chocolate crunch into large shards and arrange on top of the cake.
9. Garnish with hazelnuts.

#90 - Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

So for Thanksgiving, we didn't just make the Caramel Apple Cheesecake. We also made the other half batch of those pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (we had frozen half of the cookie dough). Oh, and these Oreo cupcakes from Bakerella.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

From Bakerella So this dessert is an Oreo-and-chocolate cupcake, with Oreo-infused icing, and topped with some sort of Oreo topping. So besides your usual chocolate cupcake ingredients, you're gonna need - you guessed it - Oreos. So to get the chocolate cupcakes infused with Oreos, you crumble one and put it in the cupcake liner. When you pour in the batter, the chunks will float up and fill the whole cupcake. See? Then when you're making the icing, you sprinkle Oreo crumbs in it to get little black speckles in the white frosting. Oh my gosh, these were good too! We completely rocked Thanksgiving dessert! The cupcakes were very chocolatey, but it didn't go overboard. They may have been a little bit sweet, but if there's one day to splurge, it's Thanksgiving. Any other day, you probably don't need the Oreo on top. Here's what you need to do to turn your standard chocolate cupcakes into something that'll turn heads.

Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 24 Oreos, plus more for crumbs

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Line cupcake tray with 12 paper liners.
3. Break apart 12 cookies and place the broken pieces in each cupcake cup.
4. Mix the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl using a wire whisk.
5. Add the eggs, oil, vanilla, and milk and mix well until completely combined.
6. Add the hot water and mix until combined.
7. Transfer the batter to a large measuring cup.
8. Pour batter into each baking cup so it's about 3/4 full.
9. Bake for 16-18 minutes.
10. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

Ingredients

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 lb powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3-6 Tbs milk
• 2 or more tsp Oreo cookie crumbs

Preparation

1. Beat the shortening in a mixer until smooth.
2. Add vanilla and mix until combined.
3. Add the powdered sugar in three additions, scraping down the sides after each addition.
4. Add a tablespoon of milk at a time and mix together until desired consistency is reached.
5. Add the cookie crumbs and mix until completely combined.
6. Place frosting in a decorator bag with a large tip and swirl on top of each cupcake.
7. Insert a cookie on top of each cupcake.

#89 - Cousin Johnnie's Caramel Apple Cheesecake

We saw this recipe on Food Network while we were flipping channels after work one day, and now that it's Thanksgiving, it's time to give it a shot.

Cousin Johnnie's Caramel Apple Cheesecake

From Paula's Best Dishes It's a Paula Deen recipe, so you know it's going to be good and that you're going to need some butter, y'all. You start out making the graham cracker crust, by mixing graham crackers, butter, and sugar in the food processor and then baking for 10 minutes. Then you make the filling, pour it in the cooled crust, and bake the whole thing, floating in a water bath. Ours sank a little in the middle, but other than that it already looked really good at this point. Then that needs to sit overnight in the fridge, until it's time to work on the topping - caramel apples and pecans. And if that doesn't look delicious, look at how the cheesecake came out when we took it out of the springform pan. This was awesome! Our last attempt at a cheesecake was not the greatest. The no-sugar-added-nonsense made it a little bland, there wasn't any exciting topping, and a lot of cracks formed in it (maybe due to the lack of a water bath). But this cheesecake was unbelievable. It was rich and tasty but not too sweet (a first for a Paula Deen dessert). The crust was delicious, and the topping was crazy. All in all, a perfect Thanksgiving dessert. Try this at home now, and you can claim you're just practicing for next year's Turkey Day.

Crust

Ingredients

• 3 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 9 Tbs butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Wrap the bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan tightly with foil.
3. In a food processor, mix the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar.
4. Press the mixture into the bottom and halfway up the sides of the prepared pan.
5. Bake the crust for 10 minutes.
6. Remove crust from the oven and let it cool completely.

Filling

Ingredients

• 4 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 Tbs cornstarch
• 1 16-oz container sour cream
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 5 eggs

Preparation

1. With an electric mixer, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and cornstarch until smooth.
2. Add the sour cream, orange juice, and vanilla and blend until smooth making sure there are no clumps.
3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, blending until just combined.
4. Pour the filling into the crust.
5. Put a roasting pan on a rack in the center of the oven and transfer the cheesecake to the pan.
6. Fill the roasting pan with hot water to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan and cover it loosely with foil.
7. Bake until the center moves only slightly when the cake pan is shaken, about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
8. Check the water level about 1 hour into the baking, adding more water if needed.
9. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and transfer the cake pan to a wire rack to cool.
10. Refrigerate overnight.

Topping

Ingredients

• 8 Tbs butter
• 1 1/2 lbs Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Preparation

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet over high heat.
2. Add the apples and pecans and cook, stirring, until they are coated with butter, about 2 minutes.
3. Add the sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves and the liquid comes to a boil, about 3 minutes.
4. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the apples and pecans to a bowl.
5. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook the remaining liquid, stirring often, until it turns a deep amber color, about 6 minutes.
6. Remove the skillet from the heat to stop the cooking and add the cream, being careful not to splatter.
7. Return the skillet to the heat and bring to a boil, whisking constantly.
8. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the apples and pecans.
9. Allow mixture to cool until lukewarm.
10. Spread the caramel-apple mixture evenly over the top of the cheesecake.
11. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

#68 - Carrot Cupcakes

Cooking new fish meals is nice and everything, but sometimes you just need more desserts.

Carrot Cupcakes

From Take 5 Urban Market These are going to be carrot cake cupcakes, so you're going to need to have carrots, a lot of sugar and spice, and then some ingredients for the cream cheese frosting. This was a super easy recipe to make, so the hardest part may of been peeling and shredding all the carrots. Once you have your carrots all ready to go, you mix some dry ingredients, mix some wet ingredients, combine the two, and fold in the carrots. Then you plop them into cupcake liners, and put them in the oven. Oh my goodness. Carrot cake is delicious. And carrot cupcakes are the perfect way of having your carrot cake in a reasonable portion with the right amount of frosting. Yum and yum. We will definitely be making these again. You should probably make these:

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots
• 4 Tbs unsalted butter, softened
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Line 14 muffin tin cups with paper liners and spray with vegetable-oil spray.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
4. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs with the canola oil.
5. Gradually beat in the sugar at medium-high speed and beat until thick, about 3 minutes.
6. Beat in the vanilla.
7. Fold in the dry ingredients with a spatula and then fold in the carrots.
8. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups.
9. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
10. Let cool slightly, then transfer the cupcakes to the freezer to chill.
11. In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter with the cream cheese until smooth.
12. Beat in the vanilla and confectioners' sugar, then beat at high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy.
13. Fill a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch plain tip with the frosting and pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes or use a knife to spread.

#62 - Whoopie Pies with Mint Filling and Chocolate Ganache

You ever heard of whoopie pies? Well, we hadn't until we started watching Top Chef: Just Desserts and they talk about them all the time. Now that the second season has just started, we figured it was about time for us to try and make our own.

Whoopie Pies with Mint Filling and Chocolate Ganache

From Bon Appetit A whoopie pie is basically a big cakey Oreo. This one has got a mint chocolate filling, so you can see all the ingredients for the chocolate cakes, the mint whipped cream, and the chocolate ganache. So all you do is make the cookie cakes, Make the ganache, Make the mint filling, And put it all together. What to say about these? We think they came out as they were supposed to, but we're still not sold on them yet. They were different, they were good, but we wouldn't say they were great. The whole cakey cookie thing was a little weird to us, and since Johnny's not a big mint fan, the mint-chocolate cookie was not his favorite. That may not have been the most glowing recommendation, but if you want to impress Hubert Keller, go ahead and make these.

Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 5 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/8 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup nonhydrogenated solid vegetable shortening, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 Tbs vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole milk

Preparation

1. Position oven rack in center of oven and preheat to 375.
2. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda into a medium bowl.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat shortening, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended, about 2 minutes.
5. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, beating until blended after each addition.
6. Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between cookies.
7. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are slightly puffed and spread but still soft, about 8 to 10 minutes.
8. Cool on sheets for 10 minutes.

Mint Filling

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons nonhydrogenated solid vegetable shortening, room temperature.
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups plus 3 Tbs powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup egg whites (from about 2 large eggs)
• Salt
• 3 to 4 drops green food coloring

Preparation

1. Using electric mixer, beat shortening, peppermint extract, and vanilla in a large metal bowl until blended.
2. Add powdered sugar, egg whites, and a pinch of salt, and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Add food coloring drop by drop for desired shade of green, and beat until well-blended.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

• 3 Tbs heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation

1. Bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan and remove from heat.
2. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth.
3. Cool until lukewarm but spreadable, about 15 minutes.

Whoopie Pies

Preparation

1. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Spoon 1 tsp ganache onto bottom (flat side) of half of the cookies and place, ganache side up, on prepared baking sheet.
3. Spoon mint filling into pastry bag fitted with medium star tip.
4. Starting at outer edge of bottom (flat side) of remaining cookies and working toward center, pipe mint filling in a spiral.
5. Place 1 mint-filled cookie, mint side down, atop each ganache-topped cookie, pressing slightly to adhere.

#51 - Apple Cake Tatin

At Johnny's recently former company, the 2010 Christmas party was toned down from previous years and instead of going out to a restaurant, they had a potluck at Sonny's building's recreation room.

Two good things came out of that party. One was that Johnny won a Wii by winning the Wii bowling tournament (kind of a bizarre feedback loop on that one). And the other good thing was this recipe.

Apple Cake Tatin

Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa
Johnny's recently former coworker Maraea made this dessert for the potluck, and when we asked for the recipe, she told us that it was an Ina Garten plum cake recipe, and she swapped out the plums for the apples.

That sounds like something that should be done with all plum recipes, and if you'll notice, there are no plums in our ingredients.
A Tarte Tatin is a French recipe for an upside-down tart with caramelized fruit. Since we're using apples, the first steps are to cut the apples, make the caramel, and put them together.
The next thing that we do is make a cake batter. We'll be putting it on top now, but since it's an upside-down cake, that will be on the bottom when it's eating time.
This was a great dessert. The cake is moist, the apples sweet and delicious, and the whole thing extra light and tasty. We added a bit of vanilla ice cream on top and it was a great alternative to an apple pie.
Take off your shoes and socks, and make this.

Ingredients

• 6 Tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the dish
• 4 to 5 apples, peeled and slice
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
• 2 extra large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• Confectioners' sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Generously butter a 9-inch glass pie dish and arrange the apples in the dish, cut side down.
3. Combine 1 cup of the sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over high heat. Swirl the pan but don't stir, until the mixture becomes a warm amber color, about 360 degrees on a candy thermometer.
4. Pour caramel mixture evenly over the apples.
5. Cream the butter and the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy.
6. Lower the speed and beat in the eggs one at a time.
7. Add the sour cream, zest, and vanilla, and mix until combined.
8. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer set to low, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, and mix until combined.
9. Pour the cake batter evenly over the apples and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
10. Cool for 15 minutes, and then invert the cake onto a flat plate. If an apple sticks to the pie dish, you can take it off and place it back on the cake.
11. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners' sugar.