grandma's snowballs

this is it. this is grandma's cookie recipe that us kids remember. back at a time when we hated anything with nuts, and coconut but i've already mentioned that many times, we devoured these cookies, always asking what was in them. and grandma never told - at least not me - because she knew if i knew, i'd never eat them again.

this year when i made them, i was thinking of my cousin megan, and sent her a picture. in the next couple days i had emails from megan and her brother asking if i have grandma's cookbook and could i please send them her cookie recipes!? which i did. it's nice to know that even though grandma's gone, we can all enjoy a little bit of christmas with her.

grandma's snowballs
makes 48

1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
pinch salt
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
about 1 cup powdered sugar for rolling

1. cream the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. mix in the flour, salt, and walnuts until combined.
2. chill the dough for at least an hour.
3. preheat your oven to 350F. roll teaspoons of dough into balls and place on a baking sheet at least 2 inches apart and bake 10-12 minutes or when they're lightly browned.
4. a few minutes after the cookies have come out of the oven and are still warm, roll in powdered sugar. roll the cookies in sugar a second time when they're completely cool.
5. store in an airtight container. cookies freeze well.

my grandma's friend gladys' molasses cookies

i have no doubt that my love of christmas comes from my grandmother. while i told you about her fudge last christmas, this year has been all about her cookies.

when we were kids, while simultaneously subtly fighting over fudge, we were snacking on cookies. so it's no surprise that as soon as i learned my dad had her cookbook - an old, beat up, five subject notebook with mostly handwritten recipes in her shorthand - i borrowed it and searched for the cookie recipes. they weren't hard to find since the pages were splattered with grease and butter and some stuck together with bits of old dough. they are the most used pages and for good reason. in the almost six years since she's been gone, this is the first year i've had enough foresight to make a few of her cookies for christmas.

while these aren't the cookies she's known for - her snowballs are still to come - i couldn't resist these molasses cookies. they're not too sweet in the least, making a thin coat of glaze the perfect way to top them. they're soft, unlike all the chewy cookies i've been baking up lately. they freeze well, keep well in an airtight container for a few days, and like all recipes from 50+ years ago, have a simple ingredients list from a well stocked pantry.

my grandma's friend gladys' molasses cookies

1 hour, makes about 36 

the cookie recipe hasn't been touched from grandma's handwritten version; the glaze i added myself. i also made a few of these with white chocolate chips mixed in that were delicious.

for the cookies:

3/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup molasses

1/2 cup water
2 level teaspoons baking soda
3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

for the glaze:

about 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

about 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

couple tablespoons of milk

1. preheat your oven to 350F. grease a baking sheet and set aside.
2. in a large bowl, cream the shortening and sugar. 
3. mix in the egg until combined. 
4. mix in the molasses and water until combined.
5. mix in the baking soda, flour, salt, and spices.
6. drop cookies about a tablespoon each onto the greased baking sheet (i used an oxo medium scoop). bake 10 to 12 minutes or until slightly brown. let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. if freezing, freeze unglazed cookies. bring frozen cookies back to room temperature before glazing.
7. while the cookies cool, make the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar and ground cinnamon. slowly whisk in the milk, a tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency.
8. when the cookies are cool, drizzle the glaze over them or dip the tops in the glaze. let the glaze harden before storing in an airtight container.

white chocolate peanut butter [12in2012]

and let me tell you what, making peanut butter is simple. for any of you that love the all natural stuff, usually with a layer of oil on top that has to be mixed in, will be blown away by the homemade stuff. it just tastes so much better. obviously, since it takes all of 10 minutes (including clean up) to make.

initially, i set out to make two kinds: honey and white chocolate. but jason and i loved the white chocolate version so much better than the honey (instead of adding white chocolate, add a couple tablespoons of honey to your liking) that the honey peanut butter became honey white chocolate peanut butter. it's good right out of the jar, atop a homemade english muffin, or spread over apple slices.

white chocolate peanut butter

makes about 2 cups

this is not so much a recipe, but a method. it's completely adaptable to whatever quantities you have on hand and whatever your tastes are. i suggest adding 1/2 cup white chocolate, blending, and tasting before going up from there. i used about 2/3 cup white chocolate chips that i melted in the microwave.

0.75 pounds roasted peanuts, salted, unsalted, or a mix (i used about half of each)

about 1/2 to 1 cup melted white chocolate

about 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1. add the peanuts to the bowl of your food processor. process until very smooth, about five minutes. you may need to take a couple breaks - your processor might get too hot, the nuts may form a large ball that needs to be broken up, and towards the end, the mixture may splash up the sides. the peanut butter will go through a couple stages - crushed nuts, start to form small balls, form one large ball, and finally smooth out to peanut butter. these are all normal. if you think yours isn't coming out right, just process it some more.
2. add the melted white chocolate and blend. taste and add more if you'd like. 
3. if the consistency is too thick, add vegetable oil, a bit at a time, until it's the consistency you like.
4. store in the refrigerator.

2013.05.06 this is cheap ethnic eatz's pick for the secret recipe club!

parker house rolls [12in2012]

i typically eat dinner rolls on only one day each year, thanksgiving. ever since i can remember, we have had brown 'n serve dinner rolls at thanksgiving. found in the frozen foods section of the grocery story, they're small rolls that need a quick pop in the oven to bake them off. we go through a couple bags of them each thanksgiving and they're always completely devoured by the end of the meal. each year, someone tries to change it up with homemade rolls or bread, which results in groans and complaints from all of us grandkids. which was fine, 20 years ago when we were kids. but now, as adults, we can't quite break away from the brown 'n serves. some things never change.

think of these rolls as a homemade version of brown 'n serves. only these have flavor, are lighter and fluffier, and are about twice the size. 

the first time i made these rolls i had two critical errors: yeast issues and i followed king arthur's directions for laminating the dough. my yeast was either bad (aka dead) or i didn't bloom it and should have (since i didn't use instant yeast, my yeast needed a chance to bloom before mixing it with the other ingredients) since my rolls came out more like hockey pucks than light and fluffy. my yeast issues made the dough laminating even worse. the original recipe calls for rolling out the dough, spreading a layer of melted butter, folding the dough in half and cutting out rolls to form them. this leaves a layer of butter in the middle of the rolls. what i ended up with was a divide through the middle where the butter layer was. needless to say, it was not so good.

in my second attempt, i used new yeast and i was sure to bloom it first before using it. and when it came time to forming the rolls, i skipped the melted butter stage all together. i had perfectly light and fluffy rolls.

parker house rolls
adapted from king arthur flour
3 hours, makes 16 rolls

if you choose to use instant yeast, there's no need to bloom it first. skip step 1 and simply add it with the rest of the ingredients in step 2.

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup milk, room temperature
3 tablespoons sugar
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup potato flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted or very soft
1 egg, room temperature
1 tablespoon melted butter, for brushing on the finished rolls

1. in a large bowl, add the milk and yeast and let sit for five to ten minutes, until the yeast is bloomed. the yeast will foam up slightly and will have a strong, yeasty smell. if this doesn't happen, your yeast is bad and the rolls won't rise.
2. once the yeast has bloomed, add the sugar, flours, salt, butter, and egg and mix just until combined.
3. knead the dough by hand for about ten minutes or with your mixer's dough hook attachment for about seven minutes, until smooth.
4. grease a large bowl and transfer the dough to it. cover loosely with a towel and let rise about an hour and a half until doubled in size.
5. grease a nine by thirteen inch baking pan and set aside. divide the dough into sixteen relatively equal portions. form each dough portion into a ball and place in the pan in four rows of four. use your fingers to push the dough balls down to cover the bottom of the pan. cover the pan loosely with a towel and let rise an additional hour.
6. preheat your oven to 350F. bake the rolls about 20 minutes, until golden brown on top. brush with melted butter as soon as they are taken out of the oven. let cool in the pan.

samoa cookies [12in2012]

most people don't realize i was a girl scout for a good chunk of my elementary school years. we had meetings at school in the evenings where we made candles out of wax and crayons and pencil holders for father's day out of popsicle sticks - all while my husband was learning how to start a fire from sticks and camping every weekend with boy scouts 1,500 miles away. don't get me wrong, i don't mean to knock girl scouts, i just hope they're focusing more on life skills rather than sleepovers and arts & crafts.

 

one thing i don't particularly remember is selling cookies. which is strange, since i'm sure both my sister and i did, since i remember eating them. back when peanut butter sandwiches were do-si-dos, shortbreads were trefoils, peanut butter patties were tagalongs, and caramel delites were samoas. so it's no surprise that every year, when someone's daughter is selling them, i stock up with four or five boxes. which is why it was such a disappointment last week when i opened my freezer and dug around for what i thought was one last box of samoas, to come up empty handed. so i did what any other person would do: made my own.

and while these don't have exactly the same nostalgia as a cookie from the box, they taste just as great.

samoa cookies
cookie & caramel adapted from ina garten
1 hour, makes about 24 cookies

for the shortbread bottom:
3/4 cup (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

for the caramel top:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 cup heavy cream
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon fleur de sel or maldon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1. make the shortbread bottom. cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. mix in the vanilla.
2. in a separate bowl, whisk or sift together the flour and salt.
3. add the flour & salt to the butter mixture. mix on low speed until it comes together into a dough. it will take a minute, but it will come together.
4. roll into a log about 3 inches in diameter (roll it wider or skinnier depending on how big you want your cookies). roll the log in some wax paper.
5. chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
6. preheat the oven to 350F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
7. slice the log into 1/4 inch slices. place the slices on the sheet pan. they don't spread much, so they can be pretty close together.
8. bake for 10-13 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to brown.
9. remove from the pan and cool to room temp.
10. make the caramel while the shortbread cools. in a deep saucepan, combine 1/4 cup water, sugar, and corn syrup. bring to a boil over medium high heat. boil until the mixture is a warm golden brown. the darker the sugar at this stage, the darker your finished caramel will be.
11. while the sugar mixture is coming to a boil, heat the cream and fleur de sel over medium heat until it simmers. turn off the heat and set aside.
12. once the sugar mixture is golden brown, turn off the heat and slowly add the cream mixture. the mixture will boil very vigorously when the cream is added, so be careful.
13. stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon and cook over medium low heat until the mixture reaches about 240F on a candy thermometer.
14. mix in the shredded coconut.
15. top each cookie with a generous tablespoon of the caramel coconut mixture. let cool completely before serving and store in an airtight container.

secret recipe club: raspberry cream filled eclairs [12in2012]

cream puffs, profiteroles, eclairs - whatever you want to call them, they have been on my to make list for a while now. but as long as i've had them on the list, i've passed over them, thinking they're too hard to make. cooking a dough on the stove top and baking it? sounds like a recipe for disaster.

i couldn't have been more wrong! i got up one saturday morning, determined not to do anything else until i was biting into a cream filled eclair. one hour later, i was doing it. i couldn't believe how simple the dough was to put together, how easy it was to cook it on the stove top, and how delicious they came out! a big thank you to susie at sweetie petitti for giving me the confidence to tackle these little pastries for the secret recipe club.

while susie stuffed her cream puffs with pastry cream, i chose raspberry flavored whipped cream. and since i still have so much jam left from last summer, i whipped homemade raspberry jam into my cream to both sweeten and flavor it. not a fan of raspberry? i bet these would be amazing with pretty much any kind of sweet, fruit jam.

for more information on the secret recipe club, including the list of participating bloggers, featured recipes from members, and instructions on how to join, visit the secret recipe club website!

check out my previous secret recipe club posts below
jam swirled cheesecake
whole wheat grapefruit cake
chewy no bake granola bars & carrot cinnamon waffles
cannoli
gingerbread muffins
double chocolate peanut butter chip oatmeal cookies
butterscotch peach cake
whole wheat honey pancakesminted pineapple lime agua frescabreakfast tacos
simple almond sandwich cookies
roasted banana rum cake

raspberry cream filled eclairs
adapted from sweetie petitti's cream puffs
20 minutes prep, 30 minutes cook, 10 minutes finish; makes 12 small eclairs

6 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons butter
pinch of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
about 1/2 cup heavy cream
about 2 tablespoons raspberry jam

1. preheat your oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. combine water, butter, salt, and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. bring to a boil, stirring constantly. remove from heat, add the flour, and stir until evenly combined.
3. return the pan to the stove over medium low heat. cook, stirring constantly, until the batter dries slightly, about three minutes. 
4. transfer to a bowl, stir with a wooden spoon to cool slightly, and let sit a couple minutes to cool even more.
5. add one egg to the batter and mix until incorporated. after the first minute of mixing, it will appear as if the egg won't incorporate with the batter. keep mixing and it will. add the second egg and mix until smooth.
   transfer the dough to a piping bag or zip top bag. pipe dough about 1 inch wide and 4 inches long, leaving at least three inches between them. dip your finger tip in water and push down on any tips that may have formed on top of the eclairs.
6. bake for about 10 minutes, or until well puffed and lightly golden in color. turn the heat down to 350F and continue baking until dry and brown, about 20 minutes. cool completely on a wire rack.
7. when ready to serve, whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form. add the jam and continue whipping until medium stiff peaks form. slice into the side or top of the eclairs and fill with the whipped cream. store unfilled eclairs in a loose container (not airtight) to keep them dry and fill just before eating.

nanaimo bars [12in2012]

i have a confession: these are the first and only nanaimo bars i've ever eaten.

i don't visit bakeries all that often (which is especially good for my pants, since it's pretty hard for me to resist a cookie, cupcake, scone, or good old fashioned slice of cake) and i haven't been in a coffee shop since late september. the only place i've ever seen nanaimo bars pop up for sale is the bakery case at the little theatre downtown. for the last few months, they've taunted me. and while i'm usually a sweets girl, this whole baby thing has me all kinds of turned around - wanting as much salty popcorn as i can get my hands on and everything doused in coconut.

so on the rare occasion last weekend, when i was in the mood for something super sweet, i finally made these bars. and kept asking myself - besides the butter and sugar - why i hadn't made them sooner. almond + coconut + chocolate + sweet vanilla filling make the perfect homemade candy bar.

those of you who know a heck of a lot more about nanaimo bars than me (and have probably eaten your fair share) will notice that i baked my bottom layer. i saw a lot of comments on other recipes denouncing this method for a stovetop version. i wanted to play it safe and not risk undercooked eggs by baking the bottom.

nanaimo bars
adapted from king arthur and the city of nanaimo
30 minutes plus chilling time, serves 30-45

while king arthur and the city of nanaimo recipes say to make these in a square pan, i made them in a 9x13" pan, since i knew they would be rich. i made one batch of the bottom, one and a half batches of filling, and one and a half batches of the top layer. my top layer was a little skimpy, so i suggest doubling it if you make a large pan of these.

for the bottom layer:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
5 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

for the middle layer:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups powdered sugar

for the top layer:
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. preheat your oven to 350F. line a 9x9", 8x8", or 9x13" pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. combine all crust ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined. press into the bottom of the pan and bake for 10 minutes. cool on a wire rack.
3. to make the filling, cream the butter, heavy cream, pudding mix, and sugar together and beat until light and fluffy. when the crust is cool, spread the filling over the crust.
4. to make the top layer, microwave the chocolate and butter together in 30 second intervals until melted. pour over the filling and spread out evenly on the top. chill the bars completely before cutting and serving. store in the refrigerator, as these are best served cold.

check out more sweet treats at sweet tooth friday & sweets for a saturday!

marshmallows [12in2012]

marshmallows tend to divide people as much as mushrooms: you either love them and can't get enough or you can't stand the taste and refuse a smore. i belong to the first camp; jason belongs to the second. how a person can shake their head no and scrunch up their nose to a smore is beyond me, but each and every summer, he does. i don't know if it's nostalgia that gets me - remembering all the marshmallows i caught on fire, melted off my stick and lost into the fire, burned my tongue on, or the few that made it to my smore successfully while camping - or the pillowey sweetness, but i'm a marshmallow lover through and through.

and each and every year around halloween, i make a mental note to make a batch of marshmallows around thanksgiving, knowing a batch should be enough to accompany my hot chocolates between thanksgiving and christmas. and each and every year i forget or for whatever silly reason, convince myself making marshmallows sounds hard.

so let me tell you what i wish i had known before i made these: they are obnoxiously easy. if you own a candy thermometer and know how to read it, you've mastered marshmallows. the technique is simple - boil some sugar, water, and corn syrup until it hits soft ball stage. then whip the daylights out of it with some gelatin. that's it. this year, come christmas, i've got no excuse.

marshmallows
click the link to get alton brown's recipe at food network

if you've ever seen even one episode of good eats, you know alton brown knows his stuff. i followed his method exactly and made one big tweak to the recipe - i made one third of it. the method still worked exactly as written by alton and instead of using a 9x13 inch pan to form the marshmallows, i used a glass bread pan, and the size was perfect.

cinnamon swirl whole wheat bagels [12in2012]

bagels have been on my to make list for at least a year. i can't believe how long it took me to make them, considering how easy they are to make, how delicious they taste, and how well they freeze. my advice to you: make a large batch. it's just as easy to make 18 or 24 as it is to make 12. especially if you have room in the freezer.

i flavored half of my bagels with cinnamon sugar and left half plain for making breakfast sandwiches. it's super easy to make whatever flavor you like. fold dried cranberries, whole blueberries, raisins, chocolate chips, or other chunks in step 6. love cheese? fold it in similar to step 6. or brush the tops of the formed bagels and sprinkle with seeds before baking. with one base recipe, the variations are endless.

cinnamon swirl whole wheat bagels
adapted from king arthur flour
makes 12-15 bagels

this recipe is a two day process: the dough is made & bagels are formed on day 1. they rest in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours and are baked up on day 2. resting, boiling, and baking on day 2 takes about an hour and fifteen minutes total.

i used my stand mixer to mix the dough, but the dough was too stiff to knead with the mixer. i kneaded it by hand for about 10 minutes, or until it was really springy.

if you prefer plain bagels, skip the cinnamon sugar in step 6.

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 cups water, warm but not hot
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 cups bread flour
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons granulated sugar

1. in a large bowl, combine the yeast, water, sugars, and 1 cup of the bread flour. mix well and let rest for ten minutes.
2. add all of the whole wheat flour and the salt and mix until incorporated.
3. add the remaining bread flour and mix until incorporated. the dough should come together into a ball. if your dough is too dry, with the mixer running, add water, a teaspoon at a time, until the dough comes together. if your dough is too wet, add wheat flour, a teaspoon at a time, until the dough comes together.
4. turn the dough out of the bowl and knead by hand for about 10 minutes, or until the dough springs back immediately when poked. place the dough back into the bowl, cover with a towel, and let rest in a warm place for 20 minutes.
5. while the dough is resting, combine the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and set aside. sprinkle the bottom of a sheet pan with cornmeal and set aside.
6. roll the dough out about a quarter inch thick and into a rough rectangle. sprinkle the top of the dough evenly with the cinnamon sugar mixture. roll the dough tightly like a jelly roll or cinnamon buns and pinch the end edges and seam to seal. use your hands to form the dough log into a rough ball. 
7. divide the dough evenly into about a dozen pieces. for each piece into a ball. poke your finger through the middle of the ball and stretch the bagel out a bit. the hole should be about half to one inch wide. place on the sheet pan.
8. once all the bagels are formed, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.
9. remove the sheet pan from the refrigerator and let come to room temperature, about 45 minutes.
10. when the bagels are almost finished resting, bring about 4 inches of water to a boil in a large stockpot. line a sheet tray with parchment paper, position a rack in the center of your oven, and preheat your oven to 450F.
11. place a few bagels at a time in the boiling water and cook about one minute per side. use a slotted spoon to remove the bagels and place on the sheet tray. repeat with the remaining bagels.
12. bake the bagels about 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned and the internal temperature is 180F. cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container. bagels freeze really well.

baked's sweet & salty cake [12in2012]

rich, sour cream chocolate cake. salted caramel. and salted caramel + chocolate ganache. i've had this cake bookmarked to celebrate my 30th birthday since before i made the cake to celebrate my 29th.

this is one of my worst cakes and best cakes in a long time. the cake is now my favorite chocolate cake, the caramel one of my favorite caramels, and the ganache is to die for. the problem: structural issues. one of my cake layers stuck to the bottom of the pan and i foolishly decided that should be the bottom layer of my cake. the result: a fault line almost exactly down the middle of the cake, so one half looks absolutely picture perfect and the other is falling off the plate. not so pretty, but delicious none the same. and don't let my structural issues sway you from making this cake. it was my own silly mistake - and next time, the not quite perfect cake layer will be the top, not the bottom.

there's only one tricky part to this cake: caramel. if you've mastered it before, you're set. there's no cooked frosting to worry about. no egg whites to beat. and the only hard part of the caramel is not burning it. once it gets nice and lightly browned, take it off the heat. i highly recommend a light colored pan - skip the non stick - so you can easily see when the colors change. and once it starts to ever so lightly brown, it goes from light brown to perfectly golden amber in about a minute, so don't walk away from it.

and yes, this cake isn't so good for you. a pound of chocolate. almost a pound and a half of butter. but this kind of cake is a once a year occurrence for me, so i'll take it. and while most layer cakes serve 12 to 16 you can easily get 20 pieces out of this one because it's so darn rich.

next time i make this cake, i am going to make one layer only, a full batch of caramel (leftovers store well in the refrigerator and are amazing over ice cream), and a quarter of the ganache frosting. then i'll lose some of the rich, over-the-top goodness, but still have all the flavor.

for other celebration cakes, check out baked's german chocolate cake, one bowl chocolate cake, baked's aunt sassy cake [pistachio cake with vanilla honey buttercream], white layer cake with blackberry buttercream, and chocolate peanut butter marble cake.

sweet & salty cake
adapted from baked: new frontiers in baking
makes 1 three tier 8 or 9 inch cake, serves 20+

i can't stress it enough: line the bottoms of your pans with parchment paper. if you don't have parchment paper, grease them really well, and dust with flour. when you take the cakes out of the oven, let them cool completely in the pans before turning them out. otherwise you risk only half the cake making it out of the pan.

i topped my cake with both maldon sea salt and silver sugar crystals. if you're only using salt, use about half as much as you see in the picture.

like most three layer cakes, this cake is too tall for my cake dome.

for the cake:
3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups hot water
2/3 cup sour cream
2 2/3 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (or 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

for the caramel:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon fleur de sel or maldon sea salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 cup sour cream

for the caramel ganache frosting:
1 pound dark chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 cups (or 4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

~3 teaspoons fleur de sel or maldon sea salt for assembling and topping the finished cake

1. make the cake. line the bottom of three 8 or 9 inch round cake pans with parchment paper. spray with non stick spray and dust with flour. set aside. preheat your oven to 325F.
2. in a medium bowl, whisk the cocoa, hot water, and sour cream until smooth. set aside.
3. in a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. set aside.
4. in another bowl, mix the butter and shortening together until smooth and light, about 5 minutes. add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each one. add the vanilla, scrap down the sides of the bowl, and mix until combined.
5. add about one third of the flour mixture to the butter and sugar and mix until combined. add half of the cocoa mixture and mix until combined. repeat alternating the flour and cocoa until it's all incorporated.
6. divide the batter evenly between the three pans. bake for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. rotate the pans halfway through cooking.
7. cool the cakes in the pan on a wire rack for about a half an hour. turn the cakes out of the pan and finish cooling on the wire rack. remove the parchment from the bottom of the cake before icing.
8. while the cakes bake, clean up the cake dishes and make the caramel. place the heavy cream and salt in a small saucepan and heat just to a simmer. 
9. in a separate, light colored pan, add the granulated sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water. mix with a spoon, being careful not to get the mixture up the sides of the pan. place the pan over medium high heat and cook without stirring until it's dark amber, about 8 minutes. turn off the heat and set aside to cool for a minute or two.
10. slowly and carefully - the mixture will bubble up and release a lot of steam - pour the heavy cream into the sugar mixture. whisk until smooth. whisk in the sour cream until smooth. set aside until ready to assemble the cake.
11. while the cakes are cooling, make the ganache frosting. place the chocolate in a large, heat proof bowl, preferably one with a pour spout or the bowl of your stand mixer and set aside. 
12. warm the heavy cream in a small pan on the stove.
13. in a separate, light colored pan, add the granulated sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water. mix with a spoon, being careful not to get the mixture up the sides of the pan. place the pan over medium high heat and cook without stirring until it's dark amber, about 8 minutes. turn off the heat and set aside to cool for a minute or two.slowly and carefully - the mixture will bubble up and release a lot of steam - pour the heavy cream into the sugar mixture. whisk until smooth.
14. pour the hot caramel over the chocolate. let the mixture sit for a minute or two and using a rubber spatula, stir until the chocolate is melted. continue stirring until the chocolate and caramel are combined.
15. let the chocolate caramel mixture cool  until it's warm to the touch.
16. once cool, mix on low speed for a couple minutes until the bowl is cool to the touch. turn the mixture up to medium and add the butter, about a half tablespoon at a time, until it's all incorporated. once incorporated, turn the mixer up to high, and beat until light and fluffy. if the frosting is still too thin for your liking, place the bowl in the refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes to cool the frosting and whip it again until light and fluffy.
17. to assemble the cake, place one layer on a serving platter. spread about 1/3 of the caramel over the top of the cake. spread about 1 cup of the frosting over the caramel and sprinkle lightly with salt. repeat with the remaining two layers, omitting the salt from the top layer. lightly coat the sides of the cake with the frosting and place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to set. frost the sides with the remainder of the frosting. sprinkle the top lightly with salt.
18. store the cake in the refrigerator and remove it about an hour before serving to come up to room temperature.

check out more sweet treats at sweet tooth friday & sweets for a saturday!