Devil's Food Cake as Procrastination

So... I have like 4 different assignments due this week, which is equal to like 20 pages of writing. And I need to study for the GRE. And I need to finish my grad school application.

Also, I missed a class today because I felt badly.  Turns out, I had two assignments due in that class today.  So, instead of being responsible and doing my work, I decided to bake. TWICE.

Baking usually equates to a rough day in my life.  Today was a rough day for the whole suite...

Grace, poor Grace, spent 3 hours with a bunch of 50 year-olds, talking about her lack of kids and a spouse.  Anna had one of her students poop in his pants.  Ellie has a test tomorrow.  Ryan ate half a chocolate cake and a brookie today, so something must have happened. Kathleen, well, I actually think that Kathleen had a pretty good day...

All of this equates to us sitting around our common room, listening to Backstreet Boys and eating the delicious Devil's Food Cake that I made earlier.

There's always tomorrow to do work... =/

Damage control...



Devil's Food Cake
from King Arthur Flour's Baking Companion

12 Tbsp butter
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup natural cocoa powder
4 large eggs
1 1/2 milk

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Cream together butter, sugar, salt, baking soda, and vanilla extract until fluffy and light (at least 5 minutes).

3. Whisk flour and cocoa powder together in a separate bowl.  Sift if lumps remain.

4. Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Slowly blend one third of flour into the creamed mixture, then half the milk, another third of the flour, remaining milk, and the remaining flour.

5. Pour into greased pans (2 8-inch round pans or a 9x13 sheet cake pan).  Bake the cakes for 30 - 35 minutes.  Remove cakes from oven.  Cool for 5 - 10 minutes, then remove from pan.

And, yes, I did cheat and used bought icing... I can't always be Martha Stewart.

Chocolate Kahlua Pie

Admittedly, there are 3 things that I have a weakness for right now:

1. methods of procrastination
2. Woodchuck Pear Hard Cider
3. CHOCOLATE

Interestingly enough, the last two often become the first...

Over the last several days, I have discovered that there isn't anything that my chocolate obsession cannot cure.

Meltdown in the parking lot behind the DKE house? chocolate chip cookie
Stressful day involving 5 meetings, 3 classes, and homework? chocolate ice cream
Headache from the incredibly loud fire alarm in my dorm? brownie

Beginning to see a pattern? Me too...

While no terribly traumatic event has happened to me today, I find myself in the kitchen with ol' faithful, hoping that my roommates don't kill me in my sleep.  Maybe they will eat themselves into a food coma so they can't...

Maybe they won't read this post.

Anyway, this pie has a dense cream cheese crust with a melty chocolate bottom layer and a fudgy Kahlua top.  Gosh, my mouth is watering just typing this.


My first attempt at an actual pie crust...

Not too shabby.

Kahlua.....

What a thing of beauty.

Mmmmmm.....

My mom just had a piece and told me that it was way better than the bran bread she had for breakfast... Go figure. You try it, you decide.


Chocolate Kahlua Pie


Cream Cheese Crust
from King Arthur's Flour Baking Companion

1/2 cup (4 oz) cream cheese
8 Tbsp (1 stick, 4 oz) butter
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Cream together the cream cheese, butter, sugar, and salt until smooth. (I am using a food processor, but you can use a fork or electric mixer.)  Add the flour and mix (very briefly in a food processor) until the dough has formed.  Shape the dough into a flat, 1-inch-thick circle.  Wrap in plastic wrap or wax paper, and refrigerate for 30 minutes (if chilled longer than an hour, let it sit at room temp for 15 minutes). Remove from fridge and roll out dough to 3/8 inch thick. Place it into a 9 inch pie pan. Trim edges.

Fudgy Chocolate Layer

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup half and half
1 tsp. Kahlua

Mix everything in microwave-safe bowl.  Heat for 30' - 1" on 50% power. Spread on top of unbaked crust.

Chocolate Kahlua Filling
adapted from my grandma's recipe

1 1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 small can evaporated milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 stick butter, melted
2 tsp Kahlua

Mix wet ingredients together.  In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients very well.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.  Mix well. Pour in pie crust (on top of melted chocolate).  Bake for 45 minutes at 325.

The Beginning

Hi all,

Welcome to Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice.  This is something that I have been wanting to start since I ran across Heidi Swanson's 101cookbooks in Berkeley this summer.  As an avid foodie, I find myself happiest when around food and in the kitchen.  Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice (SSEN) is to share this happiness with you all.

I plan on chronicling my food life in a cramped dorm room kitchen.  I will be sharing all my triumphs (a wonderful 3 course French meal) and failures (a miserable attempt at zucchini and potato mini quiches) over the next 8 months.  Included will be comments and complaints from my 5 suite mates about how their clothes don't fit anymore; my thoughts on class, SENIOR YEAR, and the terrifying prospect of entering the real world; and food, of course.

Most of my food inspiration comes from King Arthur Flour's Companion to Baking, the internet, and my ever-increasing supply of food magazines (I am SO glad that my campus bookstore carries them).  Sometimes, though, I just decide to hop in the kitchen and start making stuff (hence, the failed mini quiches).

Pictures of my food and my life will be included in SSEN as soon as I find my camera charger.

Oh, by the way, I tend to lose things. So if I go several days without posting, I probably just lost my blog, or the password, or my mind.  I will find it all soon enough.

I hope you all find my blog fun, entertaining, and a wee bit informative (if only about my insanity)...

Peace, love, and baked goods!