Vice Cake

We all have our vices. A couple of my favorites are beer and coffee. Surprisingly enough, these two can be mixed together for a delicious dessert.

The inspiration for this recipe came from parties at my friend Danny's apartment. His roommate E-Train is a manager of a Starbucks, and instead of buying the classic red cups for beer pong, they use cups from the buck's.

 

Today is E-Train's birthday, and last night a party was thrown in celebration. I made him these vice cakes, because well, he loves these vices too.

The recipe...

Start by making the Oreo crumble crust. Crush about 1/2 a package of Oreo cookies and mix in 1/3 cup melted butter.

Set aside. Now for the beer cake.

Mix together 1/2 cup melted butter, 1/2 cup stout beer (Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout is delicious), and 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.

In separate bowl mix together 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/3 teaspoon salt.

In another bowl mix together 1 egg and 1/3 cup sour cream.

Combine three mixtures, and stir until even.

The final mixture should look something like this:

Now, the espresso cake.

Mix together 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1/8 teaspoon baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/8 teaspoon salt.

In separate bowl, mix together 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1 egg, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1/2 cup cooled brewed coffee.

Combine mixtures and stir until even. The final combo should look something like this...

Now for the layering. Grease a muffin pan. Pat a 1/8-1/4 inch layer of Oreo mixture into bottom of each hole, then pour a layer of the beer mixture ontop of the Oreo.

Fill the rest of the hole with the espresso mixture.

Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until they look done.

Allow the cakes to cool, then remove from tray. When completely cool, serve with whip cream topping, just like at Starbucks.

It's about time those vices paid off.

Blueberry Cheesecake with Chocolate Frosting

It's been 8 years since I've lived in one home for 12 consecutive months. I almost made it with my last one in Salinas, but one month early I moved to a new place. My roommate Alycia, her boyfriend Eddie, and their two dogs Caleb and Mia were wonderful roomies. Alycia bought me really beautiful measuring cups that look like flowers. To show my appreciation, I made her and Eddie cheesecake, using the new cups. It's blueberry cheesecake, because Alycia loves blueberries, and it has chocolate on top because Eddie loves chocolate.

Start by making the crust. Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup melter butter.

Press mixture into large baking dish and for 12 minutes at 375 degrees.

While baking, start on the cake. Mix together 16 oz. cream cheese with 1 cup sugar. 

When smooth, mix in three large eggs, one at a time, with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Pour mixture onto crust, and sprinkle desired amount of blueberries on top. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Heat 1/8 cup water in microwave safe bowl. When hot, add 8 oz. broken chocolate, or chips, to water and continue to microwave until melted. Stir until smooth. Pour chocolate onto baked  cheesecake. Return to oven for 5 minutes at 350 degrees.

Allow cake to cool, then refrigerate overnight. Cut into squares in the morning.

So far, i've lived in 11 different places. My favorite? It's always the current.

  

Garland Cookies

The second best thing about living on the central coast of California is being surrounded by breathtaking mountains. The best thing about living here, is being able to hike those mountains.

Having the characteristics of trail mix, but with added sweetness, like the scent of eucalyptus continuously lingering in the air, these cookies are perfect for a snack while hiking. They are named Garland in honor of one of my favorite regional parks to hike.

Now, for the recipe...

Cream together 1 cup sugar and 1 cup melter butter

Stir in 2 eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In separate bowl mix together 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Use fork to mash 3 large ripe bananas

Add mashed bananas, 2 1/2 cups quick oats, 1 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, and flour mixture to egg mixture

Stir until completely evenly blended

Drop small circles of mixture onto either greased pan or one lined with parchment paper

Bake in preheated over for 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove from heat and allow to cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Now go get your hike on, because it's beautiful out there.

 

 

Best Brownies

My mother always swore by recipes. Not a grain of salt more than it calls for. Well, I have come up with a reason to not always follow the written steps. The following recipe is a compilation of a few recipes, and using things that worked for other foods in the past.

Combine 1 1/2 cup sugar, 2/3 cup butter, 1/4 cup water in saucepan. Heat on stovetop over low heat, stirring continuously. Bring to a boil.

Turn burner off and add 12 oz. package of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Move to bowl.

Beat in 4 eggs

In separate bowl combine 1 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt

Stir dry mixture into wet and add 10 oz. package of peanut-butter chips

In separate bowl combine 4 oz. of cream cheese, 1/4 cup peanut-butter, and 1/4 cup sugar. This will be the peanut-butter cream cheese frosting.

Pour brownie mixture into baking pan and swirl cream cheese frosting with knife into top of mixture. Sprinkle M&Ms on top. 

Bake for 50 minutes at 325 degrees.

I made these for Adam Metterville for his birthday, and had personalized M&Ms made. Create you're own. WARNING: the words will melt when baked into the brownies, so add a few extra on top, and press into brownies immediately after coming out of oven.

Today is Adam's birthday. In honor of him turning 24, here's his video edit of this years Last Call.

Last Call 09 from Adam Metterville on Vimeo.

Stuffed with Love

Love can't be put into words, only felt. Or tasted. This dessert is handsome, comforting, and oh so sweet, kind of how I would describe that four letter head-over-heels word.

Start by making a boxed strawberry cake mix. You will need the mix, 3 eggs, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, and 1 cup water

Stir until completely smooth

Pour half of mixture into a medium sized cake pan and bake according to box (375 degrees for 20-25 minutes)

While the cake is baking, pull out some fresh strawberries and a sharp knife. Cut the tops off 10-20 (depending on how many servings you plan to make) strawberries, and then cut small V shapes in the tops. Use knife to shape into hearts.

Do not throw small Vs away! Now dice them into small pieces, along with whole strawberries, until you have 2/3 cup diced strawberries. Mix pieces with 1 cup Cool-Whip until even

Once the first cake mixture is done baking, let cool, remove from pan to continue to cool, and bake the second half of mixture

When both cakes are cooled, use small heart shaped cookie cutter to make heart shaped cake pieces

Now, for the stuffing. Place one heart shaped cake piece on plate. Spread 1/2 inch layer of diced strawberry Cool-Whip mixture on top of cake. Place another cake piece on top of this.

Spread remaining Cool-Whip over top and sides of layers. Sprinkle coconut onto whip. Place one heart-shaped strawberry on top of layers.

Grab a fork, a cute boy or girl to cuddle with, and eat these love stuffed treats until you're so googley eyed you can't stand

Speaking of love, take a peek at a video for one of my favorite love songs of all times