Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Totally easy, totally tasty chocolate chip cookie bars have all your favorite flavors in one bite. Layer of buttery graham cracker crumbs topped with chocolate chips, coconut flakes and nuts all together make it a perfect treat.


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We all are familiar with one pot meals, now how about a one pan sweet treat!

Making sweet treats at home use up to two to three dishes or pans to prepare’em. You always need a working dish, sometime even two, and a baking dish. Then, of course, other gadgets like spatulas, electric beaters, etc. Then you have the mixing, stirring, whisking, and pouring. Lastly, the cleaning!

Chocolate chip cookie bar is fast and easy to make and needs just one pan! So there is no mess and no fuss.

It features a thin layer of buttery graham cracker crumbs topped with chocolate chip morsels, condensed milk, sweetened coconut flakes and pecans. All you have to do is layer the ingredients in a pan and bake. Totally easy, totally tasty!

Melted chocolate morsels give the gooey texture, condensed milk and coconut make it chewy and the crispiness comes from the crumb crust. With crispy edges and chewy middles these bars have all your favorite flavors in one bite! These scrumptious bars are hard to resist and make a perfect treat.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar

Makes - 10- 12 servings

Graham cracker crumbs - 1 1/2 cups
Condensed Milk - 1/2 14oz can
Chocolate Morsels - 1 cup
Sweetened coconut flakes - 1 cup
Pecans - 1 cup
Butter - 3/4 cup (melted)

Pre-heat oven to 350F

Pour the melted butter in a 9”x9” baking pan.

Spread graham cracker crumbs over the butter and press it down evenly

Layer chocolate morsels on top of it

Pour the condensed milk evenly over the chocolate morsels

Then sprinkle nuts and coconut flakes. Press lightly so they stick to the mixture

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes till it gets lightly golden brown

Remove from oven and cool. Cut bars and enjoy!

Black Forest Cake

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Is there anything more satisfying than baking a beautiful homemade cake? Black Forest cake is chocolate, cherry and cream extravaganza.


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Is there anything more satisfying than baking a beautiful homemade cake? That too, for a dear one on their birthday.


Black forest cake is a classic German masterpiece. It is essentially layers of chocolate cake, with whipped cream and cherries between each layer. Additional whipped cream, flurries of chocolate shavings and lightly sweetened cherries adorn this luscious chocolate cake. Boy, this is German Engineering or what!



The cake is usually made of layers of chocolate cake washed with cherry brandy or cherry syrup and smothered with whipped cream. Gently tucked in the middle of the cream are cherries soaked in syrup. Chocolate shavings are liberally slathered on top and decorated with more cherries.The rich chocolate cake absorbs the liquid and stays moist, cherry filling is sweet yet tart , the simple whipped-cream frosting gilds the edges and wraps everything to create a chocolate, cherry and cream extravaganza



What’s not to like in this cake, the decadent chocolate cake, the cherry filling, the soft and fresh whipped cream or curls of shaved chocolate? One thing is for sure, this is one forest you'll want to get lost in!


Black Forest Cake

Makes - 10 - 12 Servings

Cherry Pie Filling - 1 cupWhipped Cream
Cherry Brandy/Cherry Syrup - 1/4 cupHeavy Whipping Cream - 3 cups
Cherries - 20Confectioner Sugar -1/2 cup
Vanilla Extract - 2 tsps
Chocolate Shavings
Semi-sweet chocolate - 1 bar
Butter - 1 tbsp

To make chocolate cake

Please follow my Chocolate Cake Recipe to make the chocolate cake

Once the cake is done, cool the cake.

To make whipped cream

Combine all the ingredients under Whipped Cream and beat using an electric beater or stand beater until stiff peaks form. It takes around 5 minutes.

To prepare chocolate shavings

Melt chocolate and butter in a bowl using a microwave or double boiler.

Thinly spread the chocolate over a sheet pan and keep in freezer for a minute.

Touch it with your thumb, if the chocolate is still soft, stick it in the freezer for another 1/2 minute and try again.

In my experience, the temperature of the chocolate is the most important factor for curling the chocolate. If it is too hard, it will just flake off. If it is too soft, it will get mushy

Using a knife or an offset spatula, scrape the chocolate to form curls/shavings. Store the curls/shavings in the refrigerator until needed.

To assemble the cake

I’ll warn you assembling the cake gets really messy but the finished product is well worth it!

Cut the cake into two layers using a serrated knife.

For a four layer cake you will have to bake two cakes. Of course, you will need more whipped cream and cherry filling

Brush the cake liberally with cherry brandy or cherry syrup

Spread whipped cream over the cake

Spread half of the cherry pie filling over the whipped cream

Now, place the next layer on the top

Frosting and decorating the cake

Using an offset spatula spread the whipped cream on the sides and top of the cake evenly to seal the cake

Then, using another offset spatula, take some chocolate shavings and gently press it to the sides of the cake. Some of the shaving will fall down in this process, and this is ok

Now, take some whipped cream in a piping bag/ziploc fitted with a star tip

Make rosettes on top of the cake

Place a cherry on each rosette. Dust the center of the cake with chocolate shavings

And voila! Your cake is done. Chill the cake for a while before serving