Peanut Butter Nutella Cake

Happy Summer!!

Congratulations to the Emory graduating class of 2014 :)

It's bittersweet to have already finished a year of school. With so many wonderful experiences with friends and challenging courses behind me, I decided the only thing my last day in Turman Hall needed was a cake! Having won a jar of Nutella because my Italian group did such a great job on our video, I was starting to become addicted to the smooth mixture of chocolate and hazelnut. It was time to finish it once and for all!

The Recipe: Peanut Butter Nutella Cake

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp peanut butter
• 5 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 jar Nutella (1/2 jar in cake, 1/2 jar to frost)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

The Process:  

1. In a large bowl, whisk all ingredients (be sure to leave 1/2 the jar of Nutella for frosting!!) 
2. Assess your mixture: if it's too dry, add a little milk and re-mix. If it's too wet, add a little flour and re-mix. Continue until it is about as fluid as pancake mix. 
3. I ended up putting the batter in the fridge for about an hour because my floormates wanted to go to lunch and I'm not okay with leaving cakes in the oven without supervision, but cake batters are not typically refrigerated before baking so if you don't have time, don't worry about it! 
4. Pour into springform cake pan (or pan of your choice). 
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 40 minutes, watching carefully as this is dependent on your oven. 
6. Allow to cool for at least 1 hour before frosting (use your best judgement, the Nutella will very easily break your warm cake). 
7. Frost with Nutella (be careful!!! potentially apply it to the cake before spreading with an icing bag to avoid cake destruction)
8. Send pictures to friends trapped in airports and other states ;) 
9. Enjoy and share! 
   
   
   

The Calories: 

Sugar- 1546 calories

Flour- 910 calories

Baking Soda- 0 calories

Baking Powder- 0 calories

Eggs- 140 calories

Salt- 0 calories

Vanilla extract- 24 calories 

Milk- 103 calories

Water- 0 calories

Cocoa- 98 calories

Peanut Butter- 188 calories

Butter- 510 calories

Vegetable Oil- 964 calories

Nutella- 1425 calories

Chocolate chips- 359 calories

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TOTAL:  6267 calories

Yes, it's a dense cake. But it was cut into at least 12 pieces, making each piece about 522 calories. Oops... :) 

But really, this was a great cake. More than worth it. In fact. while it was baking, three separate maintenance guys came in the kitchen and asked if I was making something. I told them I had a cake in the oven. They asked if I made it. (Duh....) I said yes. They asked if it was from a box. (I could rant for hours about box cakes.) I said no. And then there were some comments I found somewhat sexist regarding some man being very happy with me someday because of my desserts. (I only bake and cook for my family and friends...you know, people who care about me before there's chocolate involved? And of course for myself!) 

What went right: 

          The cake was FANTASTIC. Potentially one of the best cakes I have ever made. 

What went wrong: 

           I completely forgot that my friend Emma doesn't like peanut butter or nutella, so was unable to share it with her :( Also the smell was overwhelmingly seductive while I was trying to pack my room. 

What I would do next time: 

          Nothing in terms of the cake itself. It might be nice to add some chocolate dipped strawberries on top or do it in two layers with raspberry in the middle. Something to add some citrus. 

Overall, it was a great cake and eating it was my prize for creating such a thing of beauty! 

As noted by my friend Jordan, the cake is quite photogenic: 

Cookie Dough Brownie Cake

Yet another hall birthday cake day has come and gone, but not without enough sugar and chocolate to solve our global energy crisis.                  

Happy Birthday to Liljuan and Daniel K., hope you enjoyed our T3 celebration!! :) 

Thanks to Kevin for supplying some of the ingredients and helping me hold this program every month :)

Thanks to Nate for baking with me; you're a natural and I look forward to cooking together more often! I hope you had as much fun as I did :)

Thanks to Aunt Maggie, for the icing bag and tips that made our beautiful writing possible <3

...and to the Maintenance Staff for cleaning up after us the next morning. 

Don't worry, there will be a workout at the end. Trust me, it's worth it. 

The Recipe: Layer 1- Brownies

• 4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate 
• 2 sticks butter
• 2 cups brown sugar 
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

The Process:  Layer 1- Brownies

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees Celsius
2. On low-medium heat, stirring frequently, melt the unsweetened baking chocolate and butter together in a small saucepan. 
3. Whisk the flour, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. (Try to not cover the kitchen in flour while mixing ;) )
4. Once the chocolate and butter are completely melted and mixed, add this mix to the bowl, being careful not to burn yourself on the pot. 
5. Mix with a spoon. 
6. Mix in chocolate chips. 
7. Bake for about 23 minutes (depends on your oven, be sure to watch it carefully!)
8. Allow to cool completely (we stuck the pan in the freezer, because it was going to be there later anyway and this accelerated the cooling process). 

The Recipe: Layer 2- Eggless Cookie Dough (safe to eat without baking!)

• 1.5 sticks of butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp milk
• 1.5 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.5 cups chocolate chips

The Process: Layer 2- Eggless Cookie Dough

1. Soften butter in the microwave. (We put the butter in ceramic containers to microwave for a few seconds. Be careful you don't over-nuke it to the point where it explodes in the microwave)
2. Mix all ingredients together with a hand mixer. 
3. Spread over completely cooled brownies (This will take some teamwork and diligence...this recipe only JUST covers the whole pan we used). 

The Recipe: Layer 3- Chocolate Chips

• Chocolate Chips

The Process: Layer 3- Chocolate Chips

1. Spread chocolate chips over cookie dough as desired. I made the admittedly wonderful mistake of not specifying an amount, so SOMEONE decided to go ahead and dump the rest of the bag of chocolate chips on top. He got lucky that I'm from a family that believes you can never have too much chocolate ;) 

The Recipe: Layer 4- Cream Cheese Icing

• 4 oz Neufatchel Cream Cheese
• 1/8 cup butter 
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

The Process: Layer 4- Cream Cheese Icing

1. Mix the butter and cream cheese with a hand mixer. 
2. Mix in vanilla extract. 
3. Mix in powdered sugar. 
4. At first it will not look like icing. Give it a minute, increase the power of the mixer, and you'll see the transformation before your eyes. 
5. Put icing into the icing bag with desired tip. 
6. Write, draw, design, personalize!
7. Be sure to hold the icing tip slightly higher over the chocolate chips than usual, so that they will not come off the cake. 
8. Put cake in freezer until it's time to eat. 

Finally...share with amazing friends!!

The Calories: 

Baking Chocolate- 568 calories

Butter- 375 calories

Brown Sugar- 1724 calories

Eggs- 368 calories

Vanilla Extract- 45 calories

Flour- 1138 calories

Chocolate Chips- 3200 calories

Sugar- 580 calories

Milk- 103 calories

Cream Cheese- 388 calories

Powdered Sugar- 233 calories

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TOTAL:  8722 calories

Mind you, this is for an entire pan. Now it needs to be divided by about 60....which makes 145 calories per serving. Not bad at all when you share it :) To be honest, most of the icing was not used on the cake  either, so most of the cream cheese and powdered sugar should be removed from the total, but we can just know that we're even healthier than we thought, but work off enough calories to cover it anyway!

What went right: 

         Everything. This cake is flawlessly rich and filling. Everyone who tried it loved it, and the energy and happiness cloud on our hall afterward was quite encouraging! 

What went wrong: 

         Yeah, so, it's not a healthy cookie. Whatever. For 145 calories, this cake is about as rich as any chocolate fudge cake or cheesecake for 200 calories less. Like I said, worth it! 

What would I do next time: 

         The only thing I would do next time is be prettier with the icing. We didn't have time to make it as perfect as I wanted to, but it still looked great! Otherwise, there is nothing that should be changed with this recipe. 

          However, if I were making this for my little brother, I would make peanut butter cookies and melt the chocolate on top, so that it would be a Reese's cake. 

Overall, a fantastic cake, entirely worth the calories, and so much fun to make :) 

Now the workout...

So, we need to burn at least 145 calories. There are a few easy ways to do so: 

1. Run 1.5 miles at 10 minute pace. 
2. Walk for an hour at a moderate pace. 
3. Crunches for 15 minutes (45 calories), Squats for 15 minutes (70 calories), Kneeling Pushups for 15 minutes (60 calories). This should be done in intervals, but these are the totals necessary. 
4. 15 minutes yard work (75 calories) and 15 minutes of walking up and down stairs (100 calories). You'd be surprised how easy it is to spend 15 minutes doing stairs in college! 

But in all reality, as long as this is your only dessert for the day, there's really no need to worry! 

Peanut Butter Cookies and Tart Cakes

Welcome dessert fans and cookie monsters! 

I know, I know, what's a cookie doing on a health food blog? Well, these cookies are remarkably healthy when baked from scratch...as healthy as cookies can be, anyway. 

These cookies are part of my regular favorites that I've been making for years. The recipe was adapted from a recipe given to us by our family friend, Nancy Kampmeyer. I hadn't made them in a very long time, and my brother mentioned them a few months ago, so, by special request....

The Recipe: Peanut Butter Cookies and Tart Cakes

• 1 3/4 flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking soda

There are a few ways to make these cookies...I generally end up baking a few different types from the same batch: barely baked for my brother, crispy for my father, and in the middle for my mother. 

The Process: For Softer Cookies

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
• Combine flour, sugar, and baking soda in a bowl
• Melt butter in the microwave for 45-60 seconds, or until it is 3/4-completely melted
• Combine peanut butter, egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract in another bowl
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients
• Mix with a hand mixer until completely blended and creamy. 
• Butter a baking pan (you may need more than one; the batter makes 40-60 cookies depending on size)
• Using a regular spoon, make small balls of batter about an inch apart on the baking pan.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until edges begin to form. 
• Allow to cool before serving. 
• Try to stop eating ;) 

The Process: For Crisp Cookies

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
• Combine flour, sugar, and baking soda in a bowl
• Melt butter in the microwave for about 10 seconds, or until it loosens slightly
• Combine peanut butter, egg, butter, and vanilla extract in another bowl
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients
• Mix with a hand mixer until completely blended. It will first become a more rice-like batter and then will combine again into a more sticky single batter.
• Butter a baking pan (you may need more than one; the batter makes 40-60 cookies depending on size)
• Make small balls of batter with your hands, about 3/4-1 inch in diameter. Place them about 1 inch apart on the baking pan. 
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until edges are clearly visible and darken slightly 
• Allow to cool before serving. 
• Try to stop eating ;)

The Process: For Medium-Baked Cookies

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
• Combine flour, sugar, and baking soda in a bowl
• Melt butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or until it becomes 1/2-3/4 melted.
• Combine peanut butter, egg, butter, and vanilla extract in another bowl
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients
• Mix with a hand mixer until completely blended. It should have a more creamy texture, but low viscosity.
• Butter a baking pan (you may need more than one; the batter makes 40-60 cookies depending on size)
• Make small balls of batter using a spoon, about 3/4-1 inch in diameter. Place them about 1 inch apart on the baking pan. 
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until edges are formed. 
• Allow to cool before serving. 
• Try to stop eating ;)

The Process: For Soft Tart Shells

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
• Combine flour, sugar, and baking soda in a bowl
• Melt butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or until it becomes 1/2-3/4 melted.
• Combine peanut butter, egg, butter, and vanilla extract in another bowl
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients
• Mix with a hand mixer until completely blended. It should have a more creamy texture, but low viscosity.
• Line a mini cupcake tray with cupcake paper. 
• Fill each cupcake paper 1/2-3/4 full. 
• Add mini chocolate chips, if desired.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until they rise.
• As they cool, the batter will fall and become tart shells. You can eat them empty or fill them with anything you like. (We added raspberry jam)
• Enjoy with a spoon.  

The Calories:

Flour:

Sugar:

Egg:

Butter:

Peanut Butter:

Vanilla Extract:

Baking Soda:

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TOTAL:

If desired, add....

Raspberry Jam: 

Strawberry Jam:

Chocolate Sauce:

Caramel Sauce: 

Applesauce and cinnamon: 

Custard:

Pudding:

What went right:

           They were finished in a day and a half. 

What went wrong: 

           The tarts were good, but I had initially intended on making cupcakes...I think I needed to bake the batter longer and add baking powder as well. We ate them with spoons and they still tasted fantastic. 

What would I do next time?:

            Next time I would bake the tarts longer to be tarts, or add baking soda to be cupcakes. I would also  try the different fillings and toppings. I would also like to try folding in other mix-ins such as cinnamon. 

Would I do this in college?: 

            I might have to make half batches of them in college so I don't eat 60 cookies in one night! Just in case....

The Workout: For abs, hamstrings, and pelvic alignment

8 sets of 8 normal crunches

10 pelvis lift bridges

8 sets of 8 bicycles

10 pelvis lift bridges

8 sets of 8 crunches with legs at 90 degrees

10 pelvis lift bridges

4 sets of 8 normal crunches twisted to each side

10 pelvis lift bridges

Approximate time: 8 minutes (hint hint wink wink nudge nudge, this is also the baking time for the cookies)

This batter is exceptionally easy to make, and has a whole world of potential. Watch out for more peanut butter cookie experiments in the future!