Tuesday, September 28, 2010



Flower Power

Sometimes it's good to have too much of a good thing. I just didn't get time to dig out more of my ever spreading Maximillian Sunflowers. They are spectacular this time of year. I have just missed their prime, but thought you might enjoy with us.





Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Chocolate Sunday!

I have a million things to write, but somehow something always comes up. So--although I need to catch up on a lot of things that happened this Summer I will just tell you a quick fun treat we had.

It was a Fast Sunday and I was looking for a fast easy chocolate cake to put under the fresh peaches I had sliced and sugared lightly. I didn't want a lot of leftovers or at least something I could freeze for later. This seemed to fit the bill. We all decided that the size of the cakes was a bit large. The note on the recipe will tell you what I will do next time.




Dark Chocolate Cake

Since this is a very rich cake and I use chocolate cake as a vehicle for other things like sliced fresh peaches and ice cream, I would make this in large muffin tins next time. Muffins should make the cakes smaller and more in keeping with what I would consider a suitable serveing size. It took considerably longer baking in my oven, so the smaller size should make that quicker also. I would fill the muffin tins about 2/3 full for a nice level top. PS Chocolate and beans are good for you!


1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups (19-oz can) garbanzo beans (chick peas) [I used a 15 oz. can 1 1/2 cups]
4 eggs or 1 cup egg substitute
1 cup no-calorie sugar (Splenda) or sugar [I go real]
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar (optional) for topping
1 teaspoon vanilla
I added 1 tablespoon water and 2 Tablespoons flour to make up for the smaller amount of beans and the fact that we are so high in altitude.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl, carefully melt chocolate in microwave, 2 to 3 min. In a blender or food processor, combine beans and eggs; process until smooth. Stir in Slenda or sugar, baking powder, melted chocolate, vanilla, [water and flour if using]; process again until smooth. Spray 8 4 or 6 oz. oven proof custard cups or ramekins (see note) with cooking spray. Divide batter evenly amoung baking dishes

Bake for 23 min or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Cool and place cakes upside down on a large plate and sprinkle with confectioners'sugar . Serve on individual dessert plates with fruit or fruit sauce and/or ice cream if desired.

Adapted from a recipe by Jean Carper in Eat Smart.