Count Down To Christmas

Count Down To Christmas

thasc11 Comment

Gingerbread Boy Chocolate Cake

Gingerbread Boy Chocolate Cake

Cake

  • 1 box German chocolate cake mix with pudding
  • 1-1/4 cups water
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (16 oz)

Frosting and Decorations

  • 1 container (1-lb) vanilla creamy ready to spread frosting
  • 1 container (1- lb) chocolate creamy ready-to- spread frosting
  • 3 large red gumdrops
  • 2 milk chocolate stars

Heat oven to 350F (if using dark or nonstick pans, heat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease bottom of 3×9 inch pan with shortening; line with waxed paper. Grease waxed paper with shortening lightly flour. Generously grease 5-inch round ovenproof bowl that holds at least 1 cup with shortening, lightly flour. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds or until moistened. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally pour ½ cup batter into greased and floured bowl; pour remaining batter into pan. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips on batter in bowl; sprinkle remaining chips on batter in pan. Bake bowl 17 to 22 minutes and pan 27 to 35 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool cakes in bowl and pan 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto cooling rack. Remove waxed paper. Cool completed, about 30 minutes. To easily cut and shape cake shapes, chill it thoroughly in refrigerator or freezer before cutting it in step 6. Invert onto flat onto flat serving tray or foil-covered cardboard, about 20×14 inches. Spoon ½ cup of the vanilla frosting into resealable food storage plastic bag. Seal bag; set aside. In medium bowl, blend remaining vanilla frosting and chocolate frosting. Using serrated knife, cut cake into body as shown in photo. Spread cut edge of neck with frosting; attach round cake for head. Spread thin layer of frosting over all cut areas. Spread remaining frosting evenly over cake. Cut off small corner of bag with vanilla frosting Pipe frosting onto cake and decorate as shown in photo.

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

Count Down To Christmas

thasc11 Comment

Cherry Spice Cake

Cherry Spice Cake

Cake

  • ½ cup butter or margarine, softened
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 ½ cups cherry pie filling

Frosting

  • 8 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 packages (8-ounces each) cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
  • 3 tablespoon milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • Red and green candied cherries, cut in half, to decorate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  For cake, cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  In another large bowl, sift together next 6 ingredients.  In a blender or food processor, process pie filling until cherries are coarsely chopped.  Add dry ingredients and pie filling alternately to creamed mixture, mixing until smooth.  Pour batter evenly into 3 greased and floured 9-inch cake pans.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.  Cool in pans 10 minutes.  Remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

For frosting, beat all ingredients in a large bowl until smooth.  Frost between layers, on sides, and on top of cake.  To decorate cake, refer to photo and place cherries on top of cake in wreath design.  Transfer remaining frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tip.  Pipe decorative border along bottom edge and top of cake.  Store in airtight container in refrigerator.  Serve at room temperature.

Yield:  about 20 servings

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

Count Down To Christmas

thasc11 Comment

Eggnog Cake

Eggnog Cake

 Ingredients:

  • ½ cup soft butter
  • ½ cup shortening
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 4 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 2/3 cup eggnog
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 tsp. nutmeg
  • 6 egg whites

 Cream butter and sugar. Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add alternately with water and eggnog. Stir in flavor. Beat egg whites in separate bowl. Add to dough 1/3 at a time. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 325 degrees F.

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

 THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

 

Count Down To Christmas

thasc1Leave a comment

Gingerbread House

Gingerbread House

  • 2 tablespoon light corn syrup
  • 2 tablespoons molasses
  • 2 tablespoon soft light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 eggs

Decoration

  • 4 oz white chocolate
  • 4 oz semisweet chocolate
  • Green and red food colorings
  • Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with waxed paper. Put syrup, molasses, sugar and butter in a saucepan. Heat gently, stirring occasionally, until melted. Sift flour and ginger into a bowl. Stir the baking soda into melted mixture, add to flour with enough beaten egg to mix to form a soft dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and free from cracks. Cut off 1/3 dough; wrap in plastic wrap. Roll out remaining 2/3 dough thinly and cut out thirty-two 1/1/2 in squares of dough and place, spaced apart, on a baking sheet. Roll out remaining 1/3 dough and cut out six-teen 2 ½ x 1 ½ inch oblongs. Cut an inverted “v” at one of the short ends of each oblong to create a ‘pitch’ for ‘roof’. Both equal sides of “v” should measure 1 inch. Place on baking sheet and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Cool on wire rack. Break up and place white and dark chocolate in separate bowls over hand hot water. Stir occasionally until melted. Divide white chocolate between 3 small bowls and color green and red with food colorings. Assemble each house using dark chocolate as glue. Glue 4 walls together by alternating 2 square and 2 “v” pieces. Place 2 other squares on top to form pitched roof. Leave to set. Spread remaining dark chocolate over waxed paper. When almost set, invert onto another piece of paper, peel off waxed paper and cut chocolate into ¼ in squares for roof tiles. Secure tiles onto roof with melted chocolate, working from base to top. Using colored chocolate, fill pastry bags, snip off points and pipe in doors, windows and colored beads down all the joins. Leave to set. Dust with powdered sugar. Makes 8

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

Count Down To Christmas

thasc1Leave a comment

Chocolate Yule Log

Chocolate Yule Log

  • 3 eggs
  • 2 2/3 tablespoons superfine sugar
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoons cocoa

Filling and decoration

  • 1 ¼ cups thick whipping cream
  • 4 oz semi-semi sweet chocolate
  • marzipan toadstools

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a 12 in baking sheet (with edges) with waxed paper.  Place eggs and sugar in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until thick and pale. Remove bowl from saucepan, continue whisking until mixture leaves a trail when the whisk is lifted.  Sift flour and cocoa onto surface of mixture and fold in carefully until mix is evenly blended.  Pour mixture onto baking sheet and spread out carefully to edges. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until it is firm to touch.  Cool slightly, turn out and remove paper, then trim edges and cut in half lengthwise.  Place ¼ cup cream in a bowl with chocolate.  Place over a pan of hot water,stir until melted.  Whip remaining cup of cream until almost thick.

When chocolate has cooled, fold it carefully into whipped cream. Using 1/3 chocolate cream, spread over each strip of sponge.  Roll each into a firm roll from the long edge. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm.  Cut each roll into 6 lengths, spread each with remaining chocolate cream, mark cream into lines.  Decorate with marzipan toadstools.  Keep the chocolate logs cool until ready to serve.

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com