Eggnog Cake

I found this recipe online and it makes a pretty amazing cake, even if the recipe is a tad labor intensive. Especially the frosting. I made it twice over the holidays for various company parties and plan to make it again. The cake is pretty white, so is the frosting, so you can obviously color it to suit your needs.

Ingredients

Cake:

• 4 eggs, at room temperature

• 1/2 cup eggnog, room temperature

• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 
1 3/4 cups cake flour
• 
1 1/2 cups sugar

• 2 tsp baking powder
• 
3/4 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 16 pieces  

Frosting:

• 5 egg whites
• 
1 cup sugar
• 
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

• pinch of salt

• 2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 1-2 Tbsp eggnog
• 
1 tsp vanilla extract 

Directions

Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Spray 2 9-inch cake pans with non-stick cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, eggnog, and vanilla.
4. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. 
5. With a mixer on medium low, add the butter one piece at a time to the dry ingredients until the mixture looks sandy, and just start to come together. 
6. Add half of the wet mixture and mix on low until it just comes together. 
7. Increase the speed to medium high speed and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. 
8. Reduce mixer speed to medium, and add the remaining egg mixture in a slow, steady stream.
9. Continue mixing until thoroughly combined, scraping the bowl, as needed.
10. Pour batter evenly into the pans and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs clinging to it.
11. Cool for a few minutes, the run a knife around the edges of the pans and flip cakes onto a cooling rack.

Frosting:

1. In a medium bowl set over a pot of simmering water, combine the egg whites, sugar, nutmeg, and salt. 
2. Heat the mixture, whisking often, until it reaches 160 degrees and the sugar is dissolved. Be careful, the mixture temp rises quickly.
3. Pour into a large bowl and whisk on medium high speed until stiff peaks form, about 8-10 minutes. The mixture should also be room temperature, at this point.
4. With the mixer on medium speed, add the butter, 1 piece at a time, and beat until incorporated before adding another piece. 
5. Continue to beat until thick and smooth (if it looks curdled or soupy, just keep beating it until smooth again, another 3 minutes or so).
6. Stir in the vanilla and eggnog until incorporated and tint with food coloring, as desired.

Thoughts:
This cake is like the holidays in cake form to me. I might try upping the eggnog flavor in the cake next time I do this.

Next Time:

• Maybe some allspice?
• Add more eggnog to the cake

Chili

I've always been leery of chili, mostly from half remembered samples from childhood. But my dad asked for some for his birthday and it came out pretty delicious. Since it's very much like a stew, you can pretty much put whatever you want in there. I like this one because it has a bit of spice, but not so much that you're grabbing for milk.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1/2 lb bacon
• 1 (46 fluid ounce) can tomato juice
• 1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 2 cups canned red beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup cornmeal (for thickening)

Directions

1. Cook the bacon and set on a paper towel to cool then dice
2. Brown the ground beef and drain.
3. Add all the ingredients to a large, deep pot.
4. Bring the liquid to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 1-1/2hrs.

Thoughts:
This recipe is simple, makes a bunch, and tastes better when its reheated. What's there not to like? Also, it's not mentioned, but cornbread as a side is implied.

Next Time:

• Maybe add some ground sausage instead of some of the ground beef?
• Try some different volumes of veggies?

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Some mornings you just wake up and it's time for chocolate.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
3. Add eggs one at a time until completely incorporated.
4. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. 
5. Add the flour to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk, while continuing to beat until just mixed (ending with flour). 
6. Stir in the vanilla and chocolate chips.
7. Line 8 cups in a standard muffin tin with cupcake liners. (I did mini-muffins)
8. Mound the batter into the liners, filling almost to the top. Cook the muffins for 20 - 25 minutes, until a toothpick come comes out clean when inserted into the muffin. (Start checking at 20 minutes, making sure not to overcook the muffins.) 
9. Allow to the muffins to cool directly in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.

Thoughts:
These were pretty great. They're also pretty easy for a morning with pretty standard ingredients.

Next Time:

• Large muffins