Tips to Make Chocolate Cake Dog-Gone Delicious

I love to slather Ganache on top of Bundt cake, especially, Chocolate Bundt Cake.  And I also love creamy filling.  That's what lead to this creation, our Ganache Topped Devil Dog Cake.  The addition of ganache makes it dog-gone delicious!

Watch as we turn an every day Chocolate Bundt Cake into a Devil Dog Bundt Cake and kick it up a notch with the addition of the most delicious Ganache Chocolate:

Get the recipe for LaBelle's Chocolate Ganache we used on our Devil Dog cake HERE.

Cake Baking Essentials

It's always important to have the right tools for the job, and for making a Bundt Cake, it couldn't get more essential than using the right pan.  Nordic Ware's Platinum Bundt Pan is top rated and as our video shows, it makes the perfect, most amazing Bundt Cake.

And where would I be without this Wire Cooling Rack?  So versatile, we use it for everything from baking chicken to cooling off cakes and cookies.  Since we usually have a lot going on in our kitchen, we have about 4 of these excellent racks.

This cake looks great, doesn't it?  But it could be better.  Frosting it would take away from the beautiful edge created by the NordicWare Bundt Pan.  The only worthwhile alternative it to slice it in half and spread across some incredible cream filling.  Buttercream is always a nice choice. 

Another great tool to have in your arsenal is a long serrated knife and it was absolutely necessary in order to cut this Bundt in half in order to 'devil dog' it.  This 12" Slicer from Dexter is made in Massachusetts and most often used to slice bread and roasts, but it's also perfect for slicing cake.

And never skimp on chocolate chips!  Love those little devils.

It's important to use your favorite chocolate for your Ganache.  And spread it on thick!

Stay tuned for our Devil Dog Cake recipe!

How to Make Pretzel Dogs

Want to make something fun for the big game?  Joe's had Pigs-in-a-Blanket on the brain lately, but wasn't getting much in the way of feedback from the peanut gallery.  What's a good chef to do?  Kick it up a notch with Pigs-in-a-Pretzel.  We enthusiastically cheered for home made Pretzel Dogs and you can watch him make them in this fun Pretzel Dog video.


As you can see, making the dough is a pretty simple process...

Then it's just a matter of letting the dough rise a bit, then wrapping your dogs...

After giving your dogs a little water bath, salt them then pop them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes.

The fun of making Pretzel Dogs is nothing when compared to the faces of your game-day guests when presented with a platter brimming with Pretzel Dogs.  Joe made a great Loaded Spicy Beef Nacho platter to go with our Pretzel Dogs.  Stay tuned for that recipe!

Pretzel Dogs                                                             Print

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

1 cup water

2 tablespoons baking soda

1 cup hot water

coarse or sea salt

8 hot dogs

Directions

Preheat oven to 475°

1.  Combine flour, salt, sugar, yeast and 1 cup water by hand or with a mixer.

2.  Knead dough for about 5 minutes.

3.  Lightly flour dough and allow it to rest for about 30 minutes.
4.  Stretch out dough a bit, then with a bench knife cut into 8 finger-sized pieces.
5.  Roll your dough pieces out until they are about 8" long.
6.  Beginning at the end of an uncooked hot dog, wrap one dough 'snake' around each hot dog.
7.  Let the wrapped hot dogs rest a bit in a baking dish while you prepare a hot water bath.
8.  Dissolve baking soda in one cup of boiling water.
9.  Pour water over dogs, then transfer to a sheet pan and sprinkle with salt.
10.  Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Tenzi Tops the List of Best Toys & Games

What's a great game the whole family can play?  We highly recommend Tenzi, a dice game that creates a fast fun-frenzy.  One of the reasons it's so popular is it's so easy to play and just about any age can play against each other and still be evenly matched.  There are no complicated directions to learn so you get to the heart of the fun faster than you can say, "Tenzi!"  Each player gets 10 dice.  The first player who rolls all 10 on the same number and yells “TENZI” wins.  Award winning, Tenzi makes a great gift this holiday season.

Bunny Peep Brownies!

Easter is almost here and Bunny Peeps are everywhere (and as cute as ever)!  

Check out our

Easter Bunny Brownie Pop in a Cup how-to video from last year's bake sale.

If you're looking for more adorable and creative Bunny Peep ideas, Pinterest is where it's at!

Bake Sale: The Story of Bunny Brownie Pop Cups

While tucking my little luv-bug into bed Saturday night, she informed me of the CCD Bake Sale which she was expected to bring brownies to the very NEXT morning. In the darkened room, I responded with a noise that could only be translated as, "Fat Chance."

#1. I gave up sugar for Lent, was hanging on by a thin thread, and I felt like an alcoholic being asked to brew a batch of beer.
#2. It was late, I was tired, and there was a Stephanie Plum novel with my name on it in the next room.
#3. Did I mention I haven't had sugar since Ash Wednesday, and I was beginning to fantasize about diving into a pool of Mike's Pastry's connoli cream filling, after holding my head under a waterfall of Ina Garten's chocolate ganache?

If you've never been to Mike's Pastry, add it to your foodie bucket list.

Then I heard her whimper and then moan, "I'll be so embarrassed if I don't bring anything."
Well, Stephanie Plum could NOT wait, so I resolved to get up early and promised not to lick even a tiny bit of Baker's One Bowl Brownie batter. When my eyes popped open Sunday morning, I had a problem: how was I to package the brownies for the bake sale? We were out of lollipop bags, and sandwich bags or cling wrap seemed too tacky. What to do?

Cold Drink Cups make great packaging for Bake Sale Goodies

I remembered our stash of 16 oz cold drink cups left over from our days selling Iced Mocha Lattes. That was my eureka moment: I would sit the brownies on top of Easter basket grass inside of the plastic cups, then slap on the lids! Packaging problem solved.

Lollipop Sticks make great stands for these Bunny Peep Brownies

At 7:03 am, I was dressed for church and in the check-out line with my Peeps, Green Iridescent Easter Grass, and butter. We still had lollipop sticks, so I decided to make the brownies into pops, so that the Bunny Peeps seemed to be sitting atop the grass.

Just feed a ribbon through the straw hole, knot, then cut out ears!

We knotted 6" wide pink sheer ribbon, fed it through the straw hole of the cup lid. We cut the ribbon so that it extended about 5" out of the top, and then with three snips, shaped it with scissors into bunny ears.

Thread ribbon through the cup lid straw hole to create bunny ears!

With 5 minutes left to bake, I took the brownies out and sat 4 pink chocolate candy melts onto each individual brownie. Using the Slice Solutions Brownie Pan by Chicago Metallic gives the brownies a bakery-fresh edge, helps them to bake evenly, and removal is too easy.

Use a Slice Solutions Brownie Pan to ensure perfect brownie edges.

I returned the pan to the oven to melt the chocolate, then took them out to affix Bunny Peeps to the melted chocolate. After letting them cool for about 10 minutes, we added the lollipop sticks. We let them cool completely before packing them into cups.

Ready for transporting to Sunday's Bake Sale!

They were such a mouthwateringly-cute sight, the kids were tempted to fight over them at the Bake Sale. Yes, I said "tempted", this is CCD class. Needless to say, they sold out before my little one could buy one for herself. Poor baby. Watch our demonstration video below:

The Amazing Vertical Rabbit Corkscrew!

W.I.N.O.S. (Women In Need Of Spirits) need not fear the dreaded task of uncorking a bottle of wine, with the introduction of the new and amazing Vertical Rabbit Corkscrew by Metrokane. Even men will appreciate the ergonomic refinement of the Vertical Rabbit and its ability to open a wine bottle and eject the cork in just seconds!