The Other Woman Cooks

Go ahead, ask around. I guarantee that someone you love loves chocolate cake.  This little cake packs a chocolate punch that will surely make your beloved swoon. And to make matters even better - it's easy .... a rich, moist chocolate cake that takes only a few minutes to prepare the batter using one bowl. Use dabs of frosting to attach whole raspberries or strawberry halves to the top layer to make your cake the ultimate in sexy desserts. Finally. look for a sparkling rosé with strawberry or raspberry undertones for a delightful wine pairing.   Perfect! Don't let Valentine's Day catch you by surprise this year.  I don't know for sure if chocolate is an aphrodisiac but it's worth a shot. Make a plan to bake a cake, a chocolate cake! TRUE LOVE CHOCOLATE CAKE 1 cup white sugar 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 jumbo egg 1/2 cup milk 1/4 cup olive oil 1 teaspoon va...

The lights flickered but never went out at our house but lots of friends and family were left powerless from Saturday's Halloween Blizzard. My nearly 80 year old mother held out stubbornly for two nights wrapped in a sweater and a comforter flipping through magazines by candlelight. It took promises of hot cocoa, Captain America on DVD and the recliner. She's camping out here until her power is restored so we're making the best of it. And enjoying every bite! MOM'S APPLE CRANBERRY GINGER CAKE 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup olive oil 2 eggs 2/3 cup molasses 1/2 cup applesauce 1/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce 2 1/2 cups cake flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves Dash salt 1/4 cup hot water Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch round (or square) pan using baking spray with flour. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and oil. Beat in eggs, molasses, applesauce and cra...

One of America's fondest stories tells about Johnny Appleseed. John Chapman was born in Leominster, Massachusetts in 1774. His family moved to Pennsylvania where he left his father's carpentry shop to travel barefoot, using a saucepan for a hat. He preached a simple philosphy of life and lived as a vegetarian. He made it as far as Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he died in 1845 at the age of 71. John Chapman planted about 10,000 square miles of orchards. From the Garden of Eden to Greek Mythology to the discovery of the health benefits of apples, everything you ever wanted to know about apples can be found  here .  Fun reading while this delicious apple cake bakes! APPLE CAKE 2 eggs 1/2 cup olive oil 1 cup white sugar Dash of salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups Bisquick baking mix 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest 2 cups peeled cored sliced apples Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour one round 8 inch cake pan. Beat oil and eggs with a...

From strawberries to raspberries to blueberries and then that second harvest of raspberries, fresh local berries are the belle of the summer season ball here in western Massachusetts. Cobblers, crisps, buckles, crumbles ... no matter what variation of simple fruit filled dessert you make, it is uniquely American.  Early American cooks were extremely talented at improvising. When the ingredients for their favorite recipes were unavailable, they made do with what they had at hand.  Berries grew wild and bountifully in many regions. Fussy English puddings were turned in for slumps, pies, buckles and cobblers filled with fresh-picked juicy fruits of the season. Homemade simplicity reliant on taste not European pastry techniques...just another example of American ingenuity! BLUEBERRY BUCKLE  Cake Batter: 1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/8 teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature 1/3 cup granulated white sugar 1 la...

There’s no butter in this baby and the texture is amazing. Substituting olive oil for butter cuts way down on the bad cholesterol pound cakes are noted for. A sprinkle of powdered sugar finishes off the top nicely before serving.  Add fresh local berries and voila! Heaven on a plate. Like having a diet soda to cut calories, using olive oil takes the sting out of that dollop of rich whipped cream.  LIMONCELLO POUND CAKE 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp salt 2 cups sugar 1 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 tsp grated lemon zest 5 large cold eggs 3/4 cup water 1/4 cup Limoncello liqueur Preheat the oven tot 350 °F. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 loaf pans.  Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt thoroughly in a large bowl and sift together. Set aside. In a second large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, and zest on high speed until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; continue to beat until the mixture is thick and pale, ...

There is nothing like chocolate to pull me out of the winter doldrums. Though calories count, there's one easy way to give in to temptation. Make small treats with big flavor by whipping up a batch of mini-cupcakes. German chocolate minis weigh in at 55 calories each. And they freeze well, so no excuses to overindulge in one sitting!  GERMAN CHOCOLATE MINIS For the frosting: 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 egg yolks 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces Dash salt 1/4 cup pecans, finely chopped 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, lightly toasted For the cake: 1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda Dash of salt 1/4 cup cocoa (my fave is Hershey’s special dark chocolate) 1 teaspoon instant coffee 1/3 cup boiling water 1/3 cup plain yogurt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp 1/2 cup Splenda sugar blend 3 eggs, room temp For the frosting: Whisk yolks, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan.  Bea...

I was 13 years old in the late 1960s when the Galloping Gourmet was a television cooking show hit. It wasn't until twenty years later, not long after Sheila Lukins and The Silver Palate Cookbook got me hooked on cooking, that I discovered Graham Kerr and his Minimax series. He taught me that all it takes is a little experimenting with a traditional recipe to make it better for you without losing the traditional flavor. It’s not a given that I adjust a recipe to be healthier. But a pound of butter in one loaf cake always seemed a bit over the top when elevated cholesterol levels run in the family. And who doesn’t love pound cake? I read about a group of cooks who delivered homemade pound cakes to families left homeless and devastated in the aftermath of Katrina. Welcome gifts for hungry folks. After trying lemon pound cake, chocolate pound cake (using cocoa powder to keep the fat content down) and plain Jane vanilla pound cake, my family's all-time favorite is almond pound cake...

No doubt young Isaac brought that fallen apple straight into the kitchen and his mom baked it into something delish before setting it before the lad with these words, "Apples are good brain food." Obviously correct because some years later, Isaac Newton came up with the Law of Gravity. Probably while his mother furiously searched for ideas on how to cook something new with all those damned apples falling off that tree! And now here I am, more than three hundred years later, facing the same dilemma as Mama Newton. I've sauced 'em, canned 'em, baked 'em, baked tarts and even a few pies with 'em. There are a number of good apple almond cake recipes out there but I wanted something just a little different and really easy. According to my live-in taste testers the experiment was a success. AMARETTO APPLE CAKE 1/4 cup slivered almonds 4 ounces unsalted butter, melted 2 large eggs 1 cup granulauted sugar 1 ounce shot of amaretto liqueur 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 ...