Chocolate Walk Of Fame Recipes

CHOCOLATE WALK OF FAME

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-inch square cake pans; line bottoms with parchment paper. Butter parchment, and dust with cocoa; tap out excess. Set aside.
• Into a mixer bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, granulated sugar, baking soda and powder, and salt. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Mix on low speed until smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
• Divide batter between prepared pans, and smooth tops. Bake until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean and center of cake is springy to the touch, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack; let cool 15 minutes before inverting cakes onto rack. Let cool completely.
• Trim tops of cakes to make level. Spread a thin layer of chocolate buttercream over cakes to seal in crumbs; refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes. Using an offset spatula, spread another layer of chocolate buttercream over cakes, squaring the corners and smoothing the tops completely. Chill until set, about 30 minutes.
• Decorate star square: Cut out a paper star; place on top of cake. Sprinkle sanding sugar around star, covering cake; remove star template. Use a pastry bag fitted with an Ateco #5 plain tip to pipe an oval in the bottom center of the star for the camera, leaving enough room to pipe writing above. Use licorice candies to make the camera.
• Pipe borders of both cakes: Using yellow buttercream and #5 tip and light-brown buttercream and Ateco #16 star tip, pipe alternating dots and stars on top edge.
• Decorate handprint square: Set cookie handprints on lower half of cake, extending over the edge. Using a pastry bag fitted with an Ateco #3 plain tip and filled with pink buttercream, write the birthday-girl's name above handprints. Pipe "happy birthday" on star cake, above the camera. Arrange cakes next to each other to resemble two sidewalk squares.

WALK OF FAME CHOCOLATE STAR SHORTCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Sift flour, 1/2 cup sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into large bowl. Mix in chocolate chips. Mix in just enough chilled cream to form dough that will be firm enough to roll out. Turn out dough onto well-floured work surface. Using well-floured hands, pat out dough to 3/4-inch-thick rectangle, frequently sliding long knife under dough to prevent sticking. With floured 2-inch star-shaped cookie cutter, cut out stars. Gather dough scraps; pat out to 3/4-inch-thick rectangle and cut out additional stars (for total of about 24).
• Brush stars with butter, sprinkle with additional sugar. Arrange shortcake stars sugared side down on 2 heavy large baking sheets. Brush tops with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until shortcakes feel firm and tester inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 22 minutes. Transfer shortcakes to racks and cool (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover, let stand at room temperature.)
• Place scoop of ice cream in each of 8 bowls. Garnish with sauce, berries, whipped cream, 1 or 2 stars and mint, if desired. Serve immediately.

CHOCOLATE YULE LOG

Steps:

• Beat egg whites with cream of tartar till stiff. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, and beat till stiff and glossy. In another bowl, beat egg yolks, and gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar; add vanilla. Sift dry ingredients, and quickly fold into yolk mixture. Fold in egg whites. Fit a piece of foil into a 10x15-inch cookie sheet. Grease foil with oil. Pour in batter, and smooth out. Bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes. When done, turn out on cup towel (like linen), peel off foil, and roll up from short side while warm, just as you would jellyroll. Let cool all rolled up. For Whipped Cream Filling: First chill the beaters and small bowl of mixer in the freezer. This makes the cream whip faster and to a smoother texture. Whip cream, and sweeten with sugar. Set aside in refrigerator till time to fill the roll. For Mocha Icing: Dissolve instant coffee in water. Sift sugar, salt, and cocoa together. Blend both mixtures together with butter in mixer till fluffy. You may have to add more sugar to get the right consistency. Unroll the chocolate roll, fill with Whipped Cream Filling, and roll up again. Carefully place on platter. Ice with Mocha Icing. If you want to, cut off one slice of the roll and break into three pieces. Roll up each of these to make mock twigs to garnish the iced roll. It is pretty, but not necessary to put some of the icing in a paper cone and run through a large star pastry tube to decorate the edges of the roll. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top, if desired.

CHOCOLATE COOKIE PIZZA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup butter, brown sugar, sugar, vanilla, and egg until well combined. Add flour and baking soda to make a stiff dough. Pat dough onto an ungreased 12-inch pizza pan or baking sheet. Bake in oven 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove cookie from oven, and let cool. In a saucepan over very low heat, combine remaining 2 tablespoons butter, milk, and chocolate chips. Heat, stirring frequently, until chocolate is melted. Remove chocolate mixture from heat, and stir in powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. If frosting is not glossy, stir in a few drops of hot water. Spread frosting over baked and cooled cookie. Immediately decorate with pecan halves, M&M's, and coconut. Press toppings lightly into frosting. Drizzle melted white chocolate over toppings. Let stand until set. If desired, remove from pan and cut into wedges. Chocolate chips are hard to find in 6-ounce packages anymore, so we are specifying "1 cup" instead. If you buy a 12-ounce package, you will have 2 cups. I usually estimate half the bag, as these little chippies don't have to be measured perfectly . . . and anyway, some have been known to disappear!