This Chocolate Dream Trifle has to be one of my favorite desserts ever!  I would pick chocolate over any other dessert any day.  And this one right here is at the very top of my list.  The original recipe came from a Paula Deen  Magazine Chocolate Lovers issue.  It makes a very good and beautiful layered cake.  However, each time I’ve made it, I’ve told myself I should make a trifle with it.  This was a great decision indeed.  

All three delicious chocolate steps are super easy.  You just want to allow time for these steps, and I often begin by making the cake and the mousse the day before I need it.  The next day, I make the icing, let it cool, and then begin to assemble the trifle.

Not only is this cake gorgeous as a large trifle, but it is perfect in these individual dessert cups!  I made these for my daughter’s prom dinner, and they were a hit!  It’s definitely a little more time consuming making individual cups, but it is perfect for a party.  This recipe makes about 30 individual treat cups.

What do you need to make this Chocolate Dream Trifle?

For the cake:

• all purpose flour
• granulated sugar
• unsweetened cocoa powder
• baking powder
• baking soda
• salt
• milk
• brewed coffee
• vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs

For the chocolate mousse:

• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
•  cold water
• boiling water
• sugar
• cocoa powder
• heavy whipping cream

For the Chocolate Fudge Frosting:

• sugar
• heavy whipping cream
• unsweetened chocolate squares
• butter
• powdered sugar

Chocolate Curls:

• semisweet chocolate chips
• shortening

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Chocolate Dream Trifle

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Ingredients

Chocolate Cake:

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• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups of sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup brewed coffee
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs

Chocolate Mousse:

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• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• 3 tbsp cold water
• 1/4 cup boiling water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 3 cups heavy whipping cream

Chocolate Fudge Frosting:

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• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 5- 1 oz. squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 10 tbsp butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Chocolate Curls:

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• 3 tbsp semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp shortening

Instructions

1. For the cake:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 13 x 9 pan with cooking oil spray.  Mix all the dry ingredients.  Add oil, milk, coffee, and eggs.  Beat with electric mixture until smooth.  Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.    Let cool completely.

2. For the mousse:  In a small bowl, mix gelatin and cold water.  Let it stand for 2 minutes.  Add boiling water and stir.  In another small bowl, combine cocoa powder and sugar.  In a large bowl or using a stand mixer bowl, beat whipping cream at medium speed until foamy.  Gradually add cocoa/sugar mixture.  Beat until stiff peaks form.  Stir in gelatin mixture.  Cover and chill in fridge for 4 hours.

3. For the icing:  In a medium saucepan, bring sugar and cream to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes while stirring often.  Remove from heat, add butter and chocolate.  Stir until smooth.  Let cool for 10 minutes.  Whisk in powdered sugar.  Let it continue to cool.

4. Chocolate Curls:  Melt semisweet chocolate chips with 1 tbsp shortening in microwave stirring ever 20 seconds until melted. Pour this mixure into the bottom of a large sheet pan. Spread it out into a thin layer. Place pan in freezer for 5 minutes. Remove from freezer and use a spatula to slowly lift up and curl chocolate. Work quickly. If curls stop forming, stick it back in the freezer for a few minutes. Keep curls in freezer until ready to use.

5. Assemble the trifle:  Cut cake into large cubes.  Layer the bottom of the trifle with cake.  Layer chocolate mousse followed by chocolate icing.  Repeat layers two more times.  Top with grated chocolate and chocolate curls.

* For small trifle cups, place a small amount of cake in the bottom. Use a piping bag to pipe in a little chocolate mousse. Drizzle with chocolate icing. I also put a little of the icing at a time in a piping bag to make drizzling easier. Repeat layers one more time. Top with small chocolate curls.

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 Mamma Mia…is this good!  It was so easy too!  I’ve been on a real pasta kick lately with this pregnancy, and this recipe from Pioneer Woman did not disappoint.  At one point a few weeks ago, I told my husband that I had cooked an Italian pasta related meal for the last five meals.  I’m sure he noticed but was too fearful to say anything and was just glad I was cooking again!

 Give this one a try, and you too, will not be disappointed!

Baked Ziti

Yield: 8

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Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 lbs. ground round
• 1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes with juice
• 2- 14 oz. cans of tomato sauce
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 16 oz box Ziti Or Mostaciolli (cooked until almost al dente)
• 1 15 oz container of cottage cheese
• 1 16 oz. block of mozzarella, shredded
• 1/2 cup grated or shredded Parmesan
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• fresh chopped parsley (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. In a large pot, brown ground beef. Add onions and garlic. Saute for about 10 minutes or until onions are softened. Drain off some of fat, if necessary.
3. Add whole tomatoes and squish with a wooden spoon. Add tomato sauces and seasonings.
4. Let simmer for about 25 minutes. (In the meantime, boil your pasta).
5. Remove 3 to 4 cups of sauce to a bowl to cool.
6. In a separate LARGE bowl, mix together cottage cheese, 2 cups of mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, and salt and pepper.
7. Drain pasta, rinse under cool water. Add to cheese mixture and stir. Add cooled meat sauce and stir.
8. Spray a large casserole dish with cooking spray. Add half the pasta mixture to the bottom of the dish. Layer half the remaining meat sauce on top of pasta. Sprinkle some mozzarella. Repeat layers once more.
9. Bake for 20 minutes. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley if desired.

Notes

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

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French Puffs – A perfect light and fluffy muffin batter, baked up, and coated in butter and cinnamon and sugar.

Tips for making French Puffs:

• Spray your pan with cooking oil spray.
• Freeze the extras by placing them in a freezer storage bag lined with a paper towel to absorb moisture.
• I cut back on on the cinnamon and sugar mixture.  I felt like the original recipe made a lot extra.

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French Puffs

French Puffs - A perfect light and fluffy muffin batter, baked up, and coated in butter and cinnamon and sugar.

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Ingredients

• 3 cups of flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• Coating:
• 2 sticks butter
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Spray muffin cups with cooking oil spray.
2. In a small bowl, stir flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg together in a bowl and set aside.  
3. In a separate large bowl, cream shortening and sugar together.  Add eggs and mix again.  Alternate adding one-third of flour mixture and one-third of milk and mix well after each addition.  
4. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.  Bake 20-25 minutes for regular muffins and 15-20 minutes for mini muffins.  
5. Melt the butter in a dish such as a small casserole dish.  Mix sugar and cinnamon in a separate dish of similar size.  
6. After removing muffins from oven, remove them from the pan and roll in butter and then in cinnamon sugar mixture, coating them really well.  Enjoy and freeze the extras in a freezer bag.  

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Pineapple Upside Down Skillet Cake

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Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 stick butter, softened, divided
• 1/4 cup shortening, softened
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 20 oz. can pineapple rings, 2 tbsp juice reserved
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• maraschino cherries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, place the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, 1/2 stick butter, shortening, milk, eggs, vanilla, and reserved pineapple juice and mix until well combined. (There might be small lumps of butter and shortening…its okay). Set aside.
3. Melt the remaining stick of butter in a 12 in. cast-iron skillet. Swirl it around to coat.
4. Sprinkle and evenly distribute the brown sugar. Do not stir it. Just make sure the whole skillet is covered in the sugar.
5. When the brown sugar dissolved, arrange pineapple slices on the top of it, followed by cherries in the center of each pineapple slice.
6. Pour the batter evenly over the pineapple slices. (I had a little batter left over. I was scared to over-fill the skillet, but the cake did not rise very much. I placed the skillet on a pan in the oven just in case it spilled over, but it didn’t:)
7. Bake the cake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Immediately run a knife around the edge of the cake. Place a cake plate upside down on top of the skillet. Slowly invert it onto the cake plate. It came out great and was super yummy! Serve warm!

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