#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.

#94 - Pecan Caramel Bars

When Emily's grandmother passed away earlier this year, one thing that was left to her was a box filled with Grandma Jean's recipes. Since we're not big fans of Michigan's Upper Peninsula's cuisine, what we were most excited about was the desserts. Grandma Jean made lots of delicious cookies and bars, and when we found this one, we thought we'd give it a shot.

Pecan Caramel Bars

From Jean Beck These are pecan caramel bars, so you're going to need to have pecans and caramel candies. And we didn't know what Oleo was, so we used margarine instead. You start out making the dough, which is the base of the bars. Then you melt the caramels, and mix with pretty much all the other ingredients, and pour over the partially baked crust. Grandma Jean didn't let us down. These were really tasty and even though it seemed like they would be too sweet (with all the caramel candies and brown sugar), they actually tasted really good with some vanilla ice cream. Yum! Here's all it takes:

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup plus 1/4 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 28 Kraft caramels
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup pecans, chopped

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. Cream 2/3 cup margarine and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add the flour and mix well.
4. Press the dough into the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking pan.
5. Bake the dough for 15 minutes.
6. In a small saucepan, heat the caramels, water, and 1/4 cup margarine over low heat.
7. Melt, stirring occasionally until smooth.
8. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt.
9. Gradually add the caramel sauce and mix well.
10. Stir in the pecans.
11. Pour the mixture over the baked crust.
12. Bake for 15 minutes.
13. Cool completely and cut into rectangular bars to serve.

#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.

#84 - Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Originally, we had planned on making two batches of cookies for Halloween. Only one made it in time for the Monster Mash Bash, but since these cookies were not Halloween-specific (more fall-specific) we figured we'd make them now.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

From Food Network These are pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, so be sure you have pumpkin puree, chocolate chips, and the rest of these cookie ingredients. These were kind of fun to make because you combine a lot of things that smell like the holidays. That's probably the cinnamon and nutmeg. But even though it smells like pumpkin pie, you're still making chocolate chip cookies. And that's fun. These cookies were really good. They were fluffy and moist, and unlike some chocolate chip cookies that flatten out and get extra crispy, the pumpkin kept the whole thing light and delicious.

The biggest problem was that the recipe was that it made like a thousand cookies. We froze half of the cookie dough, and we still had plenty of these. The whole batch makes 60! If you like pumpkin pie and you like chocolate chip cookies, you'll like these.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 2 cups milk chocolate chips
• Nonstick cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray.
3. Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
4. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy.
5. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time.
6. Mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree.
7. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
8. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds.
9. Stir in the chocolate chips.
10. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons on to greased cookie sheets.
11. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges.
12. Remove cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes.
13. Take the cookies off with a spatula and let cool completely on a wire rack.

#83 - Sugar Cookies

We can't remember when, but a while back we got Halloween shaped cookie cutters. Since today is All Hallow's Eve, it's time for some Halloween shaped sugar cookies.

Sugar Cookies

Adapted from Good Eats A sugar cookie is a simple thing, so we figured what separates the good ones from the bad ones are the little things. So we looked to the expert in the little things, Mr. Precision, Alton Brown. So we got the right proportions of baking powder and sugar, we mixed everything together, we refrigerated in wax paper, and then it was time to roll it all out. And then it was time for our cookie cutters. We whipped together a simple icing, added some food coloring, and covered the cookies with a little extra sweetness.

These cookies came out pretty well. They can be a little too sugary with the icing (not in Alton's recipe) but they're really tasty and as long as you don't eat too many of them, it's worth having the colored icing to make them extra spooky. Hurry up and make these. Otherwise you'll have to wait a whole year, or get some more appropriate cookie cutters.

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 Tbs milk
• Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tsp milk
• 2 tsp light corn syrup
• Assorted food coloring

Preparation

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
2. Beat the butter and sugar in a stand mixer until light in color.
3. Add egg and milk and beat to combine.
4. Put mixer on low, gradually add flour, and beat until the mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl.
5. Divide the dough in half, wrap in wax paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
6. Preheat the oven to 375.
7. Sprinkle the surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar.
8. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from the refrigerator at a time.
9. Sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick, moving dough around to make sure it is not sticking.
10. Cut dough into desired shape.
11. Place cut dough at least 1 inch apart on greased baking sheets.
12. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time.
13. Let cookies sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes and then move to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
14. In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth.
15. Beat in corn syrup until icing is smooth and glossy.
16. Use food coloring to color icing.
17. Ice cookies using a knife or a paint brush.