Thursday, May 14, 2009

I just gotta try this!


I found this recipe today on Martha Stewart's site. I loved it so much that I wanted to share it with you.

Flower Pot Cakes

Plant a delicious surprise on your guests with these springtime delights. Chocolate cakes, baked in small, unused terra-cotta pots, create the illusion of new growth. Each cake is topped with a creamy layer of chocolate frosting, a smattering of crushed cookies and candy "rocks," and a fresh sprig of mint. After dessert, wash out the pots and put them to use with real plantings.
Use six unglazed, untreated terracotta flowerpots (each with a six-ounce capacity, about 2 3/4 inches tall and 2 3/4 inches across the top). To make smaller cakes, use nine 4-ounce terra-cotta pots. Thoroughly wash the new pots in hot water before using.




Ingredients
1/3 cup vegetable oil, plus more for pots
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Chocolate frosting

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush the inside of each flowerpot with oil, and line with parchment paper or foil. Brush lining with oil, and lightly dust with cocoa.
Sift cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add egg and yolk, 3/4 cup warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla; mix on low speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.
Divide batter among prepared pots, filling each about two-thirds full. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, rotating sheet about halfway through, until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, 20 to 30 minutes. Let cakes cool completely on sheet on a wire rack.
Frost cakes with an offset spatula; sprinkle with crushed cookies. Top with candies; "plant" 1 mint sprig in each cake.

I think my family will enjoy these!
Dixie

3 comments:

  1. This looks so fun. I think I will try it. GREAT blogspot... thanks for checking out mine.. www.maryjanesfarm.com/RFBlog

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  2. Hey thanks for the visit, the Vick Chicks will certainly take a spin around your junk in June! Your blog has caused us to stay up way past our new bed time, and it is always nice to blame someone for out imperfections. We had so many questions like; who are those ladies in the banner picture, why does your middle son look familiar, where exactly will your show be, are you related to the Steve Albers who is in the insurance biz and has an interesting building next to I-5, are you sure that is a feeder in your May first post? It reminds me of something at my father's service station that they used for checking for leaks in tires.

    Okay, so truth be told, that really wasn't that many questions now was it? Be sure to come back and visit me, I will be stopping in to chat your ear off every once in a while 'cuz I like your junk. We all did actually.

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  3. I made something like this a long time ago for my kids (all grown up now)I put a gummy worm coming out of the "dirt"..gross huh???....they loved it!

    Heart Hugs,
    Coleen

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