Rich Chocolate Cake

     This recipe may not be healthy, but once in a while, it's ok to indulge in sweet comfort!

• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cups hot water
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tbs. white vinegar
• 3/4 tbs. instant coffee
• 1 tbs. vanilla extract

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Spray 2 round cake pans with non-stick spray
3. Mix by hand the first 5 ingredients in a big bowl. In a small cup combine remaining ingredients. Whisk the small bowl into the dry ingredients till mixed but don't over mix and don't worry about a few lumps. You don't want to overwork the batter.
4. Pour batter evenly between the 2 pans and place on ovens center rack.
5. Bake for about 37 minutes checking for doneness when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Let cakes cool down on a wire rack for 15 minutes then turn pans over and place cakes on plates till completely cool. Leave them upside down to flatten.

      Chocolate Frosting

• 1 stick butter, unsalted
• 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups of cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 tsp. instant coffee
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract 

1. Melt butter in a saucepot over medium heat.
2. Mix in sugar and cocoa.
3. In a separate bowl combine sour cream, heavy cream, and instant coffee. Whisk till mixture is smooth.
4. Add the cream mix to cocoa mix and cook about 7 minutes till all smooth and melted. Don't let it boil.
5. Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract and cool for 2 or 3 hours.
6. Frost cake and enjoy!

       

 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Creamy Fruit Pie with Yogurt

     I'm always reluctant to tell people there is yogurt in this pie because it's not everyone's cup of tea. I also know that if they were to taste this pie they wouldn't even know that yogurt was an ingredient. It's that good!

The Basic Recipe

• 1 graham cracker pie crust
• 1 med. container of cool whip
• 1 container of any fruit flavored yogurt
• Fresh or frozen fruit to match the yogurt

     Combine the yogurt and the cool whip, mix well. Pour it into the pie crust and use the fruit to decorate the top of the mixture. Place it in the fridge for a few hours till it's well set. Serve and enjoy!


Notes:

     My favorite pie uses banana flavored yogurt with fresh bananas. I slice the banana and place a layer on the bottom over the crust. After I add the whip cream and the yogurt mixture, I then add more banana slices on top.

     You can also get a strawberry-banana yogurt and use both fruits. You can layer the bottom, place on top,  mix it with the whip cream-yogurt mixture, or even do all three.

     Cool whip comes in a great variety of types and even comes in chocolate. You're only limited by your imagination.

     If you use frozen fruit let it thaw before adding it to the pie to avoid excess water. Canned fruit is good too but again make sure it's well drained.

     Try a chocolate ready made pie crust for a twist.

     You can even deconstruct this pie and layer the ingredients in nice parfait glasses. You can save a few more calories by just taking graham crackers and making crumbs to use for your crust layers.