Cooking

Just in time for Thanksgiving, here’s a super moist, delicious chocolate cake!  The little bit of cinnamon adds so much to this recipe. For an extra boost, you can also add 1/2 teaspoon to the frosting.  Such a yummy Sweet Thang…notice how I worked in the title of my new cookbook! You can order it here on my site and get a signed copy!

AND just in time for gift-giving, Amelia’s Gift, by Pat Haddock. It’s a story about a young girl and an Irish Setter, named Red. Amelia and Red came to visit and we spend some time in the kitchen together! Red looks mighty handsome in his chef’s hat and apron.

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Shortening
3 large eggs
1 2/3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup mayonnaise
1 1/3 cups hot water
Chocolate-Cream Cheese Frosting

Directions

 Preheat oven to 350°.
 Whisk together flour and next 5 ingredients in a medium bowl.
Grease (with shortening) and flour a 13- x 9-inch pan.
 Beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla at medium-high speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer about 3 minutes or until mixture is very light brown and ribbons form when beater is lifted.
Add mayonnaise, and beat at low speed until combined.
 Add flour mixture to egg mixture alternately with hot water, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition.
Pour batter into prepared pan.
 Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 hour).
Frost with Chocolate-Cream Cheese Frosting

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1  (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened  
1/2 cup  butter, softened  
2 teaspoons  vanilla extract  
1  (32-oz.) package powdered sugar  
1/2 cup  unsweetened cocoa  
5   to 6 Tbsp. heavy cream

Directions

Beat first 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.
Whisk together powdered sugar and cocoa in a medium bowl; gradually add to butter mixture alternately with 5 Tbsp. cream.
Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. (If needed, add up to 1 Tbsp. cream, 1 tsp. at a time, to reach desired consistency.) Increase speed to medium, and beat 1 to 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.

Booking

A sixth-generation Texan, storytelling is in Pat Haddock’s blood. Describing herself as Texan to the bone, she exhibits many characteristics attributed to being one. A little boastful about it and outgoing, she rarely meets anybody who’s a stranger for long. She speaks two languages: Texan and a little English. She has dabbled in writing all her life, with two stories winning both first and second place in a high school writing competition sponsored by the Talespinners League of Texas.

Pat’s second book, Amelia’s Gift, is written from the perspective of a 10-year-old girl and is set in the mid-1950’s. It’s both a children’s book and women’s fiction because it allows mature women to reminisce about that simpler time in their lives.

Ten-year-old Amelia McCallum wishes for a magical gift so she can improve her small town world. Set in the mid-1950’s, it explores interactions over three generations and, through Amelia’s various endeavors, provides insight into a quieter, gentler time in our history. A time when wishes might come true.

Learn more about Pat on her website http://www.pathaddock.com/