Dessert Menu Monday - Chocolate Cake

Kinza has an Easy Bake Oven and occasionally we pull it out and bake with it. On Saturday, we made chocolate cupcakes and Easy Bake Oven Chocolate Cake Surprise. I refuse to buy the little packets of barely edible mixes that cost $5 a pop so we use whatever I am already making. I let the kids put little pieces of chocolate in the middle of the pad and then put cake batter on top of it.

If you have never cooked with your kids I have to tell you, it is one of the most rewarding experiences you can do. I am now, going to share my recipe for chocolate cake mix chocolate cakes. I do not follow the box instructions for any cake I bake. For chocolate cake, I add a secret ingredient -- coffee. Here is how you bake a cake with kids.

In the morning brew your normal pot of coffee, but make sure you have some for the cake. Me, I always brew a full pot and then probably leave the last 8 to 12 ounces by the time I decide I have had enough. (Remember I do share with hubby so I am not actually drinking 52 ounces by myself.)

Put the baby down for a nap so you do not have to worry about her putting her hand in the bowl, or getting upset because she does not get to stir.

Get the Easy Bake out if you are going to bake with that. Make sure you plug it in to warm up.

Preheat your oven to what ever the back of the box says.

Get out the following ingredients:

• Chocolate cake mix (I like the ones with pudding in the mix.)
• Milk (I use milk instead of water.)
• Eggs (However many the box says. Bring them to room temperature if possible.)
• Butter (Use this instead of oil and melt it first so it is cool when the kids use it.)
• Coffee (I substitute part of the coffee for the milk. My box said 1 1/3 cup of water. So, I used 1 cup of milk and 1/3 cup of coffee.)
• Hershey Miniatures if you want to put a surprise in the middles

Make sure you have:

• Measuring cups
• Mixing bowl
• Wire whisk
• Greased pans (whatever you choose)

Make sure the kids have washed their hands.

Now I let the kids take turns putting in the ingredients.

• Kid 1 - Pour cake mix into bowl
• Kid 2 - Measure and pour milk into the bowl less 1/3 c
• Kid 3 - Measure and pour coffee.
• Kid 1 - Crack egg into mixture.
• Kid 2 - Crack egg into mixture. Fish out the eggshell while they are not looking.
• Kid 3 - Crack egg into mixture.
• Kid 1 - Pour melted butter into the mixture.
• Kid 2 - Start stirring
• Kid 3 - Take a turn stirring
• Kid 1 - Finish off the stirring
• Mommy - Make sure the cake has been stirred enough.
• Kids - Put their surprise into the little disks they call pans for the Easy Bake.
• Mommy - Carefully put a very small amount into the little pan for the Easy Bake Oven. I am serious. Do not over fill. Only 1 or 2 tablespoons will be plenty!

How do I know this? I overfilled all three of them. Yep I didn’t learn my lesson the first time. Cooking with the Easy Bake takes a lot of time if you have many kids wanting to do it. You can only cook one pan at a time. And, if you overfill, it takes longer for them to cook. Then in-between each pan you have to clear out as much of the mess as you can.

Get the baby who decided to wake up early from her nap. Get the baby distracted with other things so you can finish up and clean up the mess.

Then put the rest into greased or lined muffin tins and bake as directed. Then clean up like a mad woman as you only have 2 minutes to get it all cleaned up before the baby decides she really wants your attention.

Don't forget to take them out of the oven when they are done. And voila! Dessert. I don't bother frosting them. I save frosting for special occasions.

Okay, so I am sure everyone is saying to themselves, there is no way I am putting coffee in my chocolate cake. Coffee makes chocolate taste more like chocolate. It also helps keep the cake from being too sweet.

Cooking with your kids is essential to mommyhood. And chocolate cake is a fun and yummy cooking assignment.

Menu Monday - Tortillas

I accomplished making tortillas this weekend and was able to cross it off my list. Momma Bug asked if I would give up my recipe and I am more than happy to. I got the gist of this recipe off the Internet and after making them 3 times with this recipe, I have tweaked a bit.

The Hardware needed to make tortillas:

• A large bowl
• Measuring cups and spoons
• a flat place to roll them (I use my kitchen table and a Tupperware pastry mat with a good ledge for hanging them off the side)
• A wooden spoon
• A Rolling pin - the best to use for tortillas is one made out of wood and is like a dowel. In fact a dowel works perfectly.
• A griddle or pan
• 2 - 3 Tea towels
• Spatula for flipping
  

The Ingredients needed to make tortillas:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 TBS canola oil

Here is what you need to do to make tortillas:

• Stir dry ingredients into a large bowl.
• Fold in the oil.
• Gradually stir in the warm water to form a crumbly dough. Depending on the humidity and your flour you may need less or more.
  
• Knead the dough until it holds together, then continue kneading until it is smooth and no longer sticky. I like doing this in the bowl itself because it is less of a mess until the very end. Knead for about 5 minutes - Do not overwork the dough or you will have tough and chewy tortillas.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a log like shape for a more constant size when dividing.
• Divide the dough into 12 to 18 pieces depending on how large you want your tortillas. Soft taco size is 18 pieces and regular burrito size is 12.
• Form each one into a ball. I use the tips of my fingers and roll the top part underneath all around. I have no idea ow else to say it. But that was how I was taught when I was 6.
• Place each ball on a tea towel and keep covered. If it is really dry outside you might want to mist the top of the towel with a little bit of water to help keep them from drying out.
• Let the balls rest for about 15 minutes to a half hour. During this time you can clean up the prep and change the babies diaper. Then get your griddle ready.
  
• On your work surface, flatten the ball out a little bit. You can use wax paper to keep the dough from sticking if you need to. (If you have a tortilla press, then you can use that.) Then roll it out with the rolling pin really thin.
• After you roll one, you will need to place it somewhere. This is where the edge of the table comes in. Hanging it off the edge of the table helps keep it stretched while you roll out a few more.
• Place your tortillas on the griddle my griddle lets me do 2 or 3 at a time, a pan will only do one at a time. The griddle should be medium to medium high.
• Each tortilla will only cook for about 30 - 45 seconds on each side (now you know why you want to make a bunch and then cook them). You want them to stay soft and only the little blisters from puffing should turn any sort of golden brown and delicious.
• When done, place them in a tortilla keeper or in between 2 tea towels. The best place to keep them warm is to place that towel in an oven that has been heated to 100 degrees and then turned off.

Some Rolling Tips

• Don't apply too much pressure at the beginning or you will wear your self out.
• Start form the center of the dough and roll outward.
• Turn the tortilla often as you roll it so it will stay in some sort of round shape.
• Stretch the dough slightly as you pull it off the rolling surface. And/Or when you are placing them on the grill.
• Applying pressure on the middle of the rolling pin will help get them as thin as you want them to be.
  

You can double the recipe and eat them all or freeze some for later. You might want to separate them with wax paper for freezing so they do not become one tortilla stacked unit.
They keep well in a zip-loc baggy for about a week if they last that long.