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I forgot to put pictures with my post! So here are a few of my pie!

CHOCOLATE!!!

One word: Chocolate!

Chocolate is a woman’s best friend. No matter how many people tell you that diamonds are a girls best friends, don’t believe them. What makes you feel better when you are sad/ Chocolate. What makes an amazing day better? Chocolate! What helps you recover from a horrible fight with a dementor? Chocolate! What makes a hot day feel less hot? Chocolate Ice Cream! What can make an extremely wonderful meal even more fantastic? Some sort of CHOCOLATE dessert!

As you can see I am a very strong believer in chocolate being the answer to every question. If there was one thing that I could eat for the rest of my life it would be chocolate. It is my favorite and will always be my favorite food. Many of my favorite recipes contain chocolate. Chocolate chip cookies, Chocolate cake, and French Silk Chocolate pie!

Recently after seeing the movie The Help I was inspired to make chocolate pie. For those of you that have read the book or seen the movie, no I did not make like Minnie did. My pie was free of nastiness and also very tasty. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. That website always has what I need. So here is the recipe for French Silk Chocolate pie. And if you would like to make the version from The Help be my guest but just don’t share any with me.

French Silk Pie

• 1 refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed on box  (or homemade crust)
• 3 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate, cut into pieces
• 1 cup butter, softened (do not use margarine)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 pasteurized eggs or equivalent fat-free cholesterol-free egg product
• 1/2 cup sweetened whipped cream
• Chocolate curls or chocolate chips  

Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Make pie crust as directed on box for One-Crust Baked Shell using 9-inch glass pie pan. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

In 1-quart saucepan, melt chocolate over low heat; cool. In small bowl with electric mixer, beat butter on medium speed until fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in cooled chocolate and vanilla until well blended.

Add eggs 1 at a time, beating on high speed 2 minutes after each addition; beat until mixture is smooth and fluffy. Pour into cooled baked shell. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and chocolate curls or chips. Store in refrigerator.

I hope you enjoy your pie!

Nancy

Frosting

Hello,

I have been baking all weekend! Yesterday I made a Caramel-Walnut Upside-Down Banana Cake and 6 dozen cookies. Today I made two chocolate silk pies and 22 cupcakes! I will surely give you the recipes for all of those tasty treats but today I would like to talk about the frosting.

Frosting is a strange thing. There are many different types and many different ways to make it. Everyone has their own frosting recipe that they swear by. They claim it is the best frosting the world has ever tasted. I am here to tell everyone else that they are wrong. I have discovered a formula for frosting that can make a grown man weep. This frosting recipe is actually based off of one I found in the Better Home and Gardens cookbook (which is an amazing cookbook by the way, and everyone should own a copy!). It is a really simple recipe that requires on four common ingredients. This recipe can also be used for everything. You can frost a cake or cupcakes with it, spread it on graham crackers, or just eat it plain. It is AMAZING!!! Try it out!

Frosting

1 cup of butter flavored Crisco (or other type of shortening)

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

 About 4 cups of powdered sugar (which is equivalent to 1 lb. or half a bag)

And 2 to 3 tablespoons of milk

Mix the Crisco and vanilla together. The slowly add about half the powered sugar. Add the milk. The slowly add the rest of the powdered sugar until it reaches spreading consistency.

What is important about this recipe is that you beat the heck out of the frosting. If you have a wonderful stand mixer turn it up to the highest speed at the end and let it get really fluffy.

It is a really really simply recipe so try it out the next time you some frosting.

Nancy