Since I received my Frigidaire Professional range (I feel ridiculous even saying that – I should really be working on mastering Kate’s Easy Bake Oven instead), I’ve discovered that I really love baking stuff.
Who knew??
My friend Gina told me once that she thought it was harder to be good at baking than to be good at cooking, because baking requires things to be exact. I think that may be the reason I like to bake – I can follow directions and add precisely the right amount of flour to a mixture… it’s the “flair” – a dash of this, a dash of that – required for amazing cooking that I lack!
Anyway, I have been baking a lot on the weekends, and my new oven makes it very easy. Everything cooks perfectly even in the right amount of time. I love it. And look how much I could (theoretically) cook at once, thanks to the “Fit More” oven!
I’ve made banana bread, Tollhouse cookies, Williams Sonoma chocolate crinkle cookies (YUM)…
I’ve even started to keep thing like eggs and butter on hand, and I replaced the 3/4 can of baking powder that said “best if used by June 2006.”
My favorite thing so far, though, is the chocolate cake I made. From scratch. It didn’t even come out of a box. One night I asked the Twitterverse what I should bake, and a couple people responded immediately saying I should try the recipe on the back of Hershey’s cocoa.
It was amazing. Try it – you’ll like it!
Hershey’s Deep Dark Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
* 2 cups sugar
* 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa or HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
* 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup milk
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup boiling water
* ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING(recipe follows)
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. (Cake may be left in rectangular pan, if desired.) Frost with ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING. 8 to 10 servings.
ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2-2/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa or HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Beat butter in medium bowl. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.
I even made my own icing. Can you believe it?
So now that I’m on a roll (and have 3 dozen eggs in my refrigerator because I never got around to hard-boiling them for egg-dyeing purposes), I need more ideas.
What’s your favorite thing to bake? Leave a comment with a link and/or a recipe so we can all get inspired!
I wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Frigidaire and received a Frigidaire Range/Microwave to facilitate my review.
