Joe, I have no idea what makes it "Cuban" but it sounds so good, I don't care LOL! And ghohunter, great explanation about the Opera Cake - I love it! I am attachingthe link to the original recipe for anyone that is interested...... Here is a link that might be useful: Cuban Opera Cake

Marilyn, that's such a pretty cake. I've only made once before, but this one is completely covered with the glaze (it's a recipe I tried from Bon Appetit). You're right - they're not difficult at all to make, but they sure do have a "wow" factor to them, don't they?! For cake 12 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces 6 large eggs, separated 12 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract For glaze 1/2 cup whipping cream 1/2 cup dark corn syrup 9 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped Chocolate shavings Make cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper or waxed paper; butter paper. Wrap outside of pan with foil. Stir chocolate and butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Cool to lukewarm, stirring often. Using electric mixer, beat egg yolks and 6 tablespoons sugar in large bowl until mixture is very thick and pale, about 3 minutes. Fold lukewarm chocolate mixture into yolk mixture, then fold in vanilla extract. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 6 tablespoons sugar, beating until medium-firm peaks form. Fold whites into chocolate mixture in 3 additions. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cake until top is puffed and cracked and tester inserted into center comes out with some moist crumbs attached, about 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack (cake will fall). Gently press down crusty top to make evenly thick cake. Using small knife, cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Remove pan sides. Place 9-inch-diameter tart pan bottom or cardboard round atop cake. Invert cake onto tart pan bottom. Peel off parchment paper. Make glaze: Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Place cake on rack set over baking sheet. Spread 1/2 cup glaze smoothly over top and sides of cake. Freeze until almost set, about 3 minutes. Pour remaining glaze over cake; smooth sides and top. Place cake on platter. Chill until glaze is firm, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; store at room temperature.) Garnish with chocolate shavings or leaves. Serve at room temperature. Serves 10 to 12. Bon Appétit January 1999 Lori

Posted by lpinkmountain (My Page) on Sat, Sep 18, 10 at 12:01 I made Terri's Cappicinno muffins this morning since I had some coffee and chips to use up. I did two small tweaks, used 1/2 WWH pastry flour for some of the flour, and used 3/4 cup sugar instead of 1 cup. They were great with my morning coffee! I didn't bother with the white chocolate glaze--they were sweet enough and I'm a terminally lazy cook. It's a sunny day and me and BF are going to a festival. That does it for me for chocolate, I am all out, lol! o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by sally2 (My Page) on Sun, Sep 19, 10 at 8:49 I'm a chocoholic, and I can't believe I've not been testing every recipe here, but I've just not had the opportunity to make anything yet. Plus, it's still just so hot, or actually so humid, I haven't been in the mood to bake much. But, I realized I have some chocolate pasta I never did anything with, so I'm going to try something out with it. I decided I'm going to make a desert type mac and cheese, using the chocolate pasta and marscapone or cream cheese. I figured I could make a ganache, or some sort of bechemel, add the marscaone and some sugar, and mix it with the cooked pasta. I'll fold in some raspberries and put it in a baking dish. Then I'll top it off with some kind of crumbly walnut type topping, and bake it a little, or at least run it under the broiler to brown the topping, maybe. That part I'm a little shaky on. Maybe I won't bake it. But I picture it all topped with some shaved chocolate. I've never used the pasta because it just seems like it would be so heavy of a desert. But this cookalong gives me a good excuse to use them. I'll report back on how it turns out. Sally o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by empress (My Page) on Sun, Sep 19, 10 at 15:24 Wow! I have gotten so many wonderful recipes from this forum over the years, I cannot believe I can contribute some that I know are wonderful that I have not seen here before. Here are three of my favorite chocolate recipes: Dessert Cheeseball Soften: 8 oz. of cream cheese 1/2 cup butter (1 stick). Mix together well with: 2 tablespoons of brown sugar 1/2 cup of powdered sugar Stir in: 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips After that is all mixed together, press firmly into a round bowl and chill completely - I recommend overnight. Remove from bowl, retaining shape as well as possible (maybe you should line the bowl with plastic wrap before pressing cheese mixture into it....). Ultimately, you want to shape this into a nice cheese ball and roll it into more mini chocolate chips. Place on center of serving dish and re-chill. Serve surrounded by graham crackers, vanilla wafers, chocolate wafers, apple wedges, or whatever sounds good to you. Enjoy! ~~~~~~~~~~~ One-pan Chocolate Pudding Cake from Land O' Lakes Cake: 1 cup flour 3/4 cup granulated sugar 3 tablespoons cocoa 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup milk 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 teaspoon vanilla Topping: 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup cocoa 1 3/4 cups boiling water or coffee Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, 3 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder and salt. With a fork, mix in milk, oil and vanilla. Spread the batter evenly in a lightly buttered 9-inch square baking pan. Combine brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa; sprinkle over the batter. Slowly pour boiling hot water over the batter and brown sugar-cocoa mixture. Bake chocolate pudding cake for 40 minutes. Let chocolate pudding cake stand for 5 minutes. Spoon into dessert dishes or cut into squares. Top chocolate pudding cake with ice cream or whipped topping. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a recipe I have served since the mid-70's, so I more than likely found it in a woman's magazine at that time. Brownie Mint Dessert 3 egg whites, room temperature 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup chocolate wafer cookie crumbs 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup whipping cream 2 Tbsp confectioner's sugar 1/4 cup soft peppermint stick candy, crushed chocolate curls grated chocolate Beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until mixture is glossy. Fold in crumbs, chopped nuts, and vanilla. Spread mixture into a buttered 8-inch square baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees F for 30 minutes. Cool completely. Beat whipping cream until foamy; gradually add powdered sugar, beating until soft peaks form. Fold in peppermint; spread over chocolate layer. Garnish with chocolate curls and grated chocolate. Cover and chill at least 3 hours. Cut into squares to serve. Store in refrigerator. This recipe is rich, but light and cool, so we enjoy it in the summer. I have successfully made substitutions in this recipe, such as scraping the cream out of Oreo cookies to use when I couldn't find the plain dark chocolate cookie wafers. I have used commercial whipped topping when I didn't have cream handy. I have also used regular peppermint candy, but now when I find the softer, puffed, peppermint I stock up and store it in the freezer just for this dessert. Enjoy! And thanks again for all the wonderful recipes, information, and especially inspiration I've received here. o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by terri_pacnw (My Page) on Sun, Sep 19, 10 at 18:11 Pink, I'm glad you made those changes. I too sub part WWP flour in a lot of things...and reduce the sugar in everything by atleast a 1/4c if it's 1c and 1/2 c for 2 cups of sugar. I agree the drizzle is over kill..but it's a nice addition on a treat plate. o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by loves2cook4six (My Page) on Sun, Sep 19, 10 at 18:47 Posting from my cell phone but I want to add that sheshebop's prizewinning Kahlua cake with Chocolate Mousse absolutely MUST be on this list. o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by lindac (My Page) on Sun, Sep 19, 10 at 19:55 This thread needs to go on forever!! When I think it's about ended I am going to copy and save it all!! here's anotehr goodie....good for make ahead. Frangos 1 cup butter 2 cups sifted powdered sugar 4 sq baking chocolate, melted 4 eggs ( I use refrigerated, pasturized egg stuff like egg beaters) 1 tsp pure vanilla 1/2 tsp other flavoring...peppermint, almond, hazlenut, raspberry etc. Vanilla wafer crumbs....about 1/2 a 7 oz box Place cup cake papers in the bottom of muffin tins and put a lite coating of crumbs in the bottom of each one. Cream the butter and sugar and add the melted chocolate and beat well, add the eggs and flavorings and beat again fill muffin cups and freeze. Makes 10 or 12....depending on how full you fill the cups. o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by denise8101214 (My Page) on Sun, Sep 19, 10 at 22:19 Link to all the Cookalongs. Here is a link that might be useful: All the Cookalongs o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by wizardnm (My Page) on Sun, Sep 19, 10 at 22:44 I have a few to add.. Rich Chocolate-Cherry Cookies Yields: About 3 dozen cookies Cook Time: 13 minutes per batch Total Time: 45 minutes plus cooling INGREDIENTS: 1 package (8 ounces) semisweet-chocolate squares, coarsely chopped 6 tablespoons margarine or butter, cut up 3/4 cup sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 large eggs 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 package (6 ounces) semisweet-chocolate chips (1 cup) 1 cup dried tart cherries DIRECTIONS: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In 3-quart saucepan, melt chocolate with margarine or butter over low heat, stirring frequently. Remove saucepan from heat and, with wire whisk, stir in sugar and vanilla until blended. Whisk in eggs, 1 at a time. With spoon, stir in flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Add chocolate chips and cherries, stir just until evenly mixed. 2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 1 1/2 inches apart, onto ungreased large cookie sheet. Bake 13 to 15 minutes, until tops of cookies are set. Let cookies remain on cookie sheet on wire rack 1 minute to cool slightly. With wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough. Store cookies in tightly covered container up to 2 weeks. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WORLD PEACE COOKIES Dorie Greenspan Servings: Makes about 36 cookies --These cookies, the brainchild of Parisian pastry chef Pierre Herm�, with whom Dorie Greenspan wrote "Desserts by Pierre Herm�," caused Greenspan's neighbor, Richard Gold, to say that a daily dose of these is all that is needed to ensure planetary peace and happiness. You can't eat just one. The salt is important to the taste; don't skimp on it. Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1 stick plus 3 Tbsps. (11 Tbsps. altogether) unsalted butter, at room temperature 2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 tsp. fleur de sel or 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store- bought mini chocolate chips 1. Sift flour, cocoa and baking soda together. 2. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, salt and vanilla extract and beat 2 minutes longer. 3. Turn off mixer. Pour in dry ingredients; drape a kitchen towel over stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Take a peek -- if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple more times; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds longer, just until the flour disappears into the dough -- for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don't be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only enough to incorporate. 4. Turn dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it into half. Working with half at a time, shape dough into logs that are 11/2 inches in diameter. Wrap logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you've frozen the dough, you needn't defrost it before baking -- just slice the logs into cookies and bake 1 minute longer.) 5. When ready to bake, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. 6. Using a sharp, thin knife, slice logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds may crack as you're cutting them; don't be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange rounds on baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them. 7. Bake cookies 1 sheet at a time for 12 minutes. They won't look done nor will they be firm, but that's just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are just warm, at which point you can serve them, or wait until they are room temperature. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wicked Chocolate Banana Cake Cakes Ingredients: CAKE 6 oz. sweet cooking chocolate 3/4 c. margarine or butter 4 eggs, separated 1/8 tsp. salt 3/4 c. granulated sugar 3/4 c. ground pecans 1/2 c. mashed banana (about 1 med.) CREAMY BANANA SAUCE 1 c. mashed bananas (about 2 med.) 1/4 c. whipping cream 2 tbsp. powdered sugar 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon Pecan halves, toasted Directions: Heat oven to 375 degrees. To prepare cake, grease and flour 8 x 2 1/2 inch springform pan. Heat chocolate and margarine in 1-1/2 quart saucepan until melted. Cool 5 minutes. Beat egg whites and salt in medium bowl on high speed until stiff but not dry. Beat egg yolks and sugar on medium speed until lemon colored. Stir into chocolate. Stir in ground pecans and banana. Gradually fold chocolate mixture into egg whites. Pour into pan. Bake until top is dry and knife inserted in center comes out slightly wet, 40 to 45 minutes. (Do not overbake). Cool completely. Remove from pan. To prepare sauce, beat together bananas, cream, powdered sugar and cinnamon until well blended. Makes 12 servings. Serve cake with sauce, garnished with pecan halves. Nancy o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by sally2 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 20, 10 at 9:06 World Peace Cookies have become a standard at my house. So good, so subtle, but so outstanding, too. I didn't have time to make that pasta yesterday, after all, but I'll try to get to it today, even if it's after the fact. I'll have to copy and paste this thread, too. There's so many recipes and so little time, and so much exercise to do to make up for it! Sally o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by wizardnm (My Page) on Mon, Sep 20, 10 at 9:42 I made AnnT's Boston Cream Pie...sooo good. But I'm a bad girl, I forgot to take a picture. I need to jot down names a then draw one... I'll be back in a little while. Nancy o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by lpinkmountain (My Page) on Mon, Sep 20, 10 at 11:10 Terri I've been lovin' up those muffins with my morning coffee! They'll also be a great quick and easy dessert (with the glaze) for an italian dinner party with liqueur flavored coffee! If I can ever regain control of my house from the disorganization gremlin! o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by cloudy_christine (My Page) on Mon, Sep 20, 10 at 12:29 Linda, do you remember the frango mints at Marshall Fields? o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by wizardnm (My Page) on Mon, Sep 20, 10 at 13:06 Ready to move on to a new topic? I'm drawing a name from those that posted on this thread.... It is >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Rosewitch <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Rosewitch, please post your choice here and I'll set up the new thread. Thanks. Thank You to all that posted all the chocolate recipes, I know I'll be referring to this thread over and over. Nancy o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by rosewitch (My Page) on Mon, Sep 20, 10 at 19:51 How about mustard? Both prepared from the jar and dry or mustard seed? I keep all of them but really can't say that I use them. Other than a chicken dish that calls for mustard and cream and topping a hot-dog, I never know what else to do with mustard. Yet on a recent trip to Lancaster, Pa, I came home with Horseradish mustard and Raspberry Honey mustard that have yet to be opened. I do keep Dijon and Colman's on hand but hardly use them. So I hope to get some great ideas and the nudge to open these jars. Thanks, Kat o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by lakeguy35 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 20, 10 at 20:06 Busy weekend here so I'm reporting in late. I made the flourless cake that Gina posted. I saw Linda's too but only had eight eggs in the fridge. I added some rasberries and sauce for serving. This is a wonderful and VERY rich cake. A small slice will take care of your chocolate fix for sure! Image Hosting by Image Hosting by Beverly asked me for this recipe a couple of weeks ago. I'm posting it here and hope she finds it. I don't have her email addy....might post a new thread so she can see??? A friend brought this over for Labor Day Weekend. We took a quick pic on her phone so it's not the best but you get the idea. She got the recipe from Women's World but they don't have a web site. We found this one on google and it's the same that was in the magazine. Deluxe Dirt Cake Posted by shirley on May 10, 2008, 6:59 pm in General ( Shirleys collections) Ingredients: 1 pkg. (18.25 oz.) devil's food cake mix eggs, oil and water 2 pkgs. (3.9-oz.) instant chocolate pudding and pie filling 1-1/2 cups + 3 tbsp. milk 1 cup butter, room temperature 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese room temperature 5-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar from 2 (1 lb.) bags 1 tsp. vanilla extract 36 Oreo cookies Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 (9-in.) round cake pans. Prepare cake mix according to package directions, adding 1 pkg, pudding filling to batter. Divide batter between pans. Bake 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10-minutes. Remove from pans to racks; cool completely. 2. In bowl, whisk remaining pudding filling and 1-1/2 cups milk until thickened. Chill until set, 15-minutes. On medium speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffly. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar, remaining tbsp. milk and extract, 1-minute. 3. Place 10 cookies in plastic food storage bag; crush coarsely with rolling pin. Stir into pudding mixture. Place 1 cake layer on plate. Spread with 1-cup frosting, then with pudding mixture, leaving about 1-inch border. Top with remaining layer. Transfer 1-1/2 cups frosting to pastry bag fitted with star tip; reserve. Frost cake with remaining frosting. Pipe reserved frosting around edge of cake. Break up 10 cookies; place in center. Press remaining cookies into bottom of cake, (Cookies form a bottom border.) Chill before serving. Yields: 16 servings Image Hosting by Another great collection of recipes to work through for sure! Kate, mustard sound like a good topic too. I have one in mind when Nancy starts the new post. David o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE/// clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by lakeguy35 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 20, 10 at 20:12 Forgot to thank Nancy for letting this run another week....THANKS! I love, love chocolate anything. David o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by wizardnm (My Page) on Mon, Sep 20, 10 at 20:32 Hey David, that dirt cake looks fun...but was it good? Your flourless cake has me drooling, hope my keyboard doesn't short out. Thanks Rosewitch....mustard it is. I'll get it set up right now. Nancy Here is a link that might be useful: Cookalong --- #35 Mustard o RE: Cookalong #34 ----- CHOCOLATE clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by lakeguy35 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 20, 10 at 22:45 Nancy, at two something in the morning it was a great treat for sure. LOL The kids loved it too earlier in the day. My friend and her partner went over board with the oreos on top....overkill for sure. More of a kid desset in my book though... but hey it is chocolate. : ) David

As long as it stays dry and out of strong light, it should be fine. Moisture would be the biggest culprit, I would think. I keep a jar, like Annie, for baking (espresso meringues are a favorite with DDH and DS's GF), but we also use it in a meat rub, so if you see someone buying more than one jar near the holidays, that could be me. The point being, it is good stuff to have and there seems to be better availability at the grocery stores now -- even one brand that runs about half the price of the original one.