So you want to get healthy and you want to add some fiber in your diet. You don’t want to completely neglect your taste buds in the process, either. We are hearing an awful lot about the benefits of fiber and how difficult it is to get your recommended daily allowance. Chocolate chip muffins might be the answer to your dilemma.

High fiber diets are all the rage these days for good reason. You can eat anything you want and still maintain a healthy, lean weight if you follow some simple guidelines. Anything that you eat should have 2 grams of fiber for every 90 calories. You can make your own chocolate chip muffins with this healthful ratio and eat without guilt.

This is not to suggest that you can eat chocolate chip muffins all day long and reap the benefits of a high fiber diet. Of course, the best source of fiber is through your veggies and fruits as I’m sure you already know. However, you can use the chocolate chip muffins to satisfy your cravings for sweets while still getting some healthful benefits as well.

We all know that a good bran muffin is great for adding valuable fiber to our diets but the well-known lack of taste associated with this less than decadent edible has much to be desired. So we are in a position where we are surrounded by fruits, veggies and bran in order to get our daily allowance in our systems.

There is a great way to add fiber by adding it to chocolate chip muffins that you make yourself. The secret is adding a little Fiber Sure into the mix. The product is undetectable when mixed in foods. It is undetectable even in water. Your chocolate chip muffins will not have a funny flavor but they will be packed with all of the good stuff that you need.

Choosing to use applesauce in place of fatty elements like oils and butter is a great way to keep your chocolate chip muffins low fat and relatively low-cal as well. Bad news for the carb watchers out there: the chocolate chip muffins will not suit the low carbohydrate lifestyle.

Getting all of the nutrients that your body needs is very difficult. The difficulty is compounded by the need for sweets, especially those that contain the cocoa bean. Adding a relatively healthy treat like chocolate chip muffins with added fiber is a great way to address the needs of the body as well as the needs of the taste buds.

Chocolate has its timeless charm which hooks many a person with a sweet tooth. Then again, some of the chocolates are really expensive. In reality, given a few tips and tricks, you can actually create your own chocolate and save yourself money and increase your delight because of your self-creation.

Essentially, making chocolate begins with the conversion of cacao beans into the bars of chocolate we see in the supermarket shelves. Some other people enjoy eating the cacao beans in its raw form, since it has the basic component that we crave for in the processed chocolates.

A chocolate maker must have persistent attention to detail and dedication to constant practicing. This guide will not ensure to make a chocolate factory out of your kitchen, but it will surely give you the basic idea– just enough for you to enjoy a bar or two of chocolate at any time you wish without hurting your budget. Moreover, since you are directly involved in making your chocolate, you get to know the materials and amount of calories you are placing in every bar.

It begins with Cocoa Beans

If you are familiar with brewing coffee, it is similar to the beginning of the chocolate-making process. You need to roast the beans. But then, do not roast it too much. Initially, place it in a high temperature, then slowly diminishing the temperature afterwards. Turn the heat off right before the moment the beans hit their cracking or breaking point. You can do this either on your oven.

Or if you are planning to feed many people with your chocolate, have a larger container to accommodate the huge number of beans. From time to time, test the taste of your chocolate. The moment you start tasting chocolate from the cocoa, it is also an indicator to turn off the heat.

After roasting, the beans must be cracked open, removing the hard husks. You can do this by hand or with use of a small hammer. Depending on the size of your beans, you can use other tools for cracking, since the husks are not that useful for eating. Once the husks are removed, you can now grind the remaining portions until it liquefies. You must thoroughly liquefy the said concoction in order to help you become a home chocolatier.

Coco gets refined over time.

The process of conching involves the refinement of chocolate. It may require you to have certain equipment such as the Sancha refiner, which is a common favorite among home chocolatiers. This is where you start adding sugar and milk as part of the delicious chocolate mixture.

You will need to refine and conch for a long time, approximately 10 to 30 hours in length, until you achieve the balance of the ingredients. Excessive refining will turn your chocolate into gum, so be very careful. At this point, even when you let the mixture rest, it must not solidify yet.

Packaging Chocolates: Tempered after refinement.

When you are finished refining your chocolate, you need to make sure that it is under the right temperature before you place it in the mold. Not doing this meticulous tempering process will make your chocolate lumpy and unbalanced.

The rich, creamy quality of most chocolate bars in the market come from effective tempering of the chocolate after refinement.

There are many ways in which you can learn in making chocolate. The first thing that you have to know about is where do these delicious treats come from? Most of you may already know the answer. Chocolates are made from the beans of cocoa.

From the trees to the chocolate makers, how such processes really evolve? Through time, there have been many developments regarding chocolate making. Technology has benefited a lot of life’s endeavors. This also applies to the process of chocolate making.

But such advancement only applies on the harvesting part. The processing basically remains the same, the old conventional way. As what’s been said, do not fix a thing if it’s not broken. Maybe the same rule is being applied to this venture.

It feels good to eat chocolates. But do you want to know about the different methods that go behind such concept? Here are some.

Roasting

It takes a good amount of roasting as well as cocoa seed fermentation to come up with the quality of chocolate that you are looking for. In the pre-roasting stage, the beans are directed to infrared beaming heaters. This process will take away the nibs of the beans from the shells. The temperature for this part is 100 to 140 degree Celsius. This takes about 20 up to 40 minutes.

Roasting can also be done directly. After the beans are roasted, the shells can be easily removed. This is favored by most chocolate makers because it retains the flavor of the beans. For this part, the temperature is at 150 to 160 degree Celsius.

Fermentation

This is done to decrease the level of sugar, glucose as well as fructose and also amino acids in the beans. This brings in the flavor of the beans that the process of roasting will be able to enhance. But not everybody can do this. It takes a master to hone this craft. Beans can rot if something goes wrong with this process.

Shelling

To be able to remove the shells from the beans, it takes more processes than you could ever imagine. This includes milling, then sifting and lastly, winnowing. Every step is important so as to come up with the grains that have the right size.

Tasting

If you think that this will be an easy task, well, that seems to be not the case. This involves skill and expertise. One must have studied every taste of the different kinds and variations of chocolates to be able to proclaim that they can perform well on this and be a judge as to what varieties should be presented to the market.

These people can be compared to wine experts. Just a bite from a chocolate treat will tell them what processes it went through, what kind of beans was used or where it was actually made.

And there are yet different kinds of chocolates available in the market. Imagine what all those have to go through just to be able to reach your favorite grocery store so that you can purchase them for your own consumption.

You don’t have to be an expert in making chocolate. But you can start following some techniques in the tasting part. If you are treated with a filled chocolate, let it linger on your mouth until it melts and you can taste all its flavors. You can then chew it for about five times, enough for the flavor and the coating to blend in.

Enjoy and savor your chocolate tasting experience.

What makes cheesecakes adaptable to any culinary style is their cheese. Back in Ancient Greece, every market sold cheeses to those who cannot make their own. By the time the fourth century B.C. came, the most accepted white Greek cheeses were being seasoned with spices and baked into a manner similar to pies and cakes. Even the Romans, during the height of their power, used a great deal of cheese in their cooking. They preserved cheese using a salt-based sauce and provided the recipe for the celebration of the wedding cake, which still contain cheese as the main ingredient.

The Americans and Their Cream Cheese

A soft, mild-tasting, sweet, white cheese is the cream cheese. Generally, cream cheese contains at least 33 percent milk fat and a moisture content of not more than 55 percent and a pH level ranging from 4.4 to 4.9. Cream cheese is not usually matured and is meant to be consumed fresh. This makes it diverse from other supple cheeses, like the Neufchatel and the Europe’s Brie. The taste, production and texture of the cream cheese are more comparable to that of the Mascarpone and Boursin.

Cream cheese was known to originate in the United States during the year 1872. In Chester, New York, a dairyman developed a richer cheese made from whole milk and cream. During the year 1880, A.L. Reynolds, one of the cheese distributors in New York, first began issuing cream cheese, which was then covered in tin-foil wrappers, called the Philadelphia Brand. Hence, the name Philadelphia Brand cream cheese was adopted by the Reynolds for the product since, at that time, the quality of food products were related with the city where it originated.

It was not until 1912, when James L. Kraft created the pasteurized cheese. This invention eventually led to the improvement of the pasteurized Philadelphia Brand cream cheese, which is not the most fashionable cheese used in making cheesecakes.

The French and Their Neufchatel

While the Americans like to use cream cheeses for their cheesecakes, the French used Neufchatel cheese in their own culinary style of creating cheesecakes. Neufchatel is a flavorful cheese that provides cheesecakes with a light and airy texture and eventually became the basis of the modern American cheesecake.

The French Neufchatel is slightly crumbly, soft and mould-ripened made in the region of Normandy. It was one of the oldest cheeses in France with production dating back as far as the 6th century. Neufchatel cheese is somewhat similar to camembert in appearance, with a white, dry and edible rind, but with a sharper and saltier taste.

Additionally, Neufchatel cheese has the aroma and taste of mushrooms. What makes this cheese different is that unlike other cheeses with soft and white rinds, Neufchatel cheese has a grainy texture.

Although, Neufchatel has been less popular after the World War II, several cheesecake recipes still use the cheese. In fact, there are also Americans who likes to use Neufchatel instead of cream cheese when making cheesecakes, which they can purchase at several gourmet shops.

The Italians and Their Ricotta

When the Italian adopted the cheesecake recipe, they used ricotta cheese to make their cheesecake a little drier.

Ricotta cheese is a whey cheese made in Italy. It uses whey, which is a limpid, low-fat and nutritious liquid that is the by-product of cheese production. In its basic form, ricotta is also an un-ripened and uncooked curd, which is normally un-drained of its whey. It has a fresh, creamy and grainy white appearance, slightly sweet in taste and usually contains around 5% fat.

There are numerous cake recipes, as you will find as many ingredients and bakers. No matter how many cake recipe suggestions have been thought of and conceived, one still remains as a classic, will be the easiest to bake along with being the most versatile and that is the simple cake recipe. With the proper decorations, you will be able to use this as your birthday cake recipe.

To bake that best simple cake from scratch, you’ll need ¾ cups of all-purpose flour, 2 ½ teaspoons of baking soda, 2 ½ cups white sugar and 2/14 teaspoon baking powder for the dry ingredients. For the wet ingredients, you will need 3 eggs, 1 ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract, 2 ½ cups of buttermilk, and 1 cup butter.

Before you commence putting your cake together, preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease two 9 by 13 inch pans, line it with parchment paper, grease once more and dust it lightly with flour.

In a huge bowl, sift your baking powder, flour and baking soda together and set it aside. In an additional bowl, cream the butter, sugar and buttermilk together until it is fluffy. Beat the eggs into the mixture one at a time. Then put in the vanilla and beat well.

Add the buttermilk mixture to your dry ingredients and beat. Mix it only when the batter is totally incorporated.

Pour within the batter into the baking pans and bake for 35-40 minutes. Check for the doneness, until one of the cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cakes in a baking rack for about 30 minutes or so.

And now comes the entertaining component, converting this essential cake into a Hot Pink Butter Icing Birthday Cake recipe which you yourself have produced from scratch!

To make the frosting, you’ll require to cream ¾ pound of room temperature unsalted butter with an electric mixer using a paddle attachment, add in three pounds of sifted confectioner’s sugar, 9 tablespoons of milk and three tablespoons of pure vanilla extract, which is then mix at low speed for about 1 to 2 minutes until thick. Add 14 drops of pink food coloring into the mixture and incorporate the color into the frosting making use of a spatula.

Put each and every cake into a flat serving plate and put on frosting on each and every of them separately, chill, then stack them on leading of the other person. For the décor, pipe or spoon the remainder of the frosting on the bottom and around the major edge of the cake. To add more color to it, put in pieces of colored candy on best and around the cake.

There are many cake recipes, as there are ingredients and bakers. No matter how many cake recipe ideas have been thought of and conceived, one remains as a classic, is the easiest to bake and the most versatile – the basic cake recipe. With the right decorations, you can use this as your birthday cake recipe.

To bake that perfect basic cake from scratch, you will need 3 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour, 2 ½ teaspoons of baking soda, 2 ½ cups white sugar and 2/14 teaspoon baking powder for the dry ingredients. For the wet ingredients, you need 3 eggs, 1 ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract, 2 ½ cups of buttermilk, and 1 cup butter.

Before you start putting your cake together, preheat your oven to 350˚F. Grease two 9 by 13 inch pans, line it with parchment paper, grease again and dust it lightly with flour.

In a big bowl, sift your baking powder, flour and baking soda together and set it aside. In another bowl, cream the butter, sugar and buttermilk together until it is fluffy. Beat the eggs into the mixture one at a time. Then put in the vanilla and beat well.

Add the buttermilk mixture to your dry ingredients and beat. Mix it only when the batter is fully incorporated.

Pour in the batter into the baking pans and bake for 35-40 minutes. Check for doneness, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cakes in a baking rack for about 30 minutes or so.

And now comes the fun part, converting this basic cake into a Hot Pink Butter Icing Birthday Cake recipe which you yourself made from scratch.

To make the frosting, you will need to cream ¾ pound of room temperature unsalted butter with an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, add in 3 pounds of sifted confectioner’s sugar, 9 tablespoons of milk and 3 tablespoons of pure vanilla extract, then mix at low speed for about 1 to 2 minutes until thick. Add 14 drops of pink food coloring into the mixture and incorporate the color into the frosting using a spatula.

Put each cake into a flat serving plate and put on frosting on each of them separately, Chill then stack them on top of each other. For the décor, pipe or spoon the remainder of the frosting on the bottom and around the top edge of the cake. To add more color to it, put in pieces of colored candy on top and around the cake.

Weddings are festive occasions that will never be complete without a cake. The basic cake recipes can also be transformed into wedding cake recipes by adding a twist of flavor to it by putting on flavorful filling and decorative icing.

For a rich and flavorful filling, you can try the creamy chocolate ganache, which you can easily make from scratch. Who could ever resist the temptation of chocolate?

Chocolate ganache is as easy to make as it is delicious to eat with any cake. All you have to do is slowly heat 2 ½ cups of heavy cream in a bowl enough for it to start to simmer. Remove the cream from the heat and gently pour it over 20 ounces of finely chopped bittersweet chocolate contained in another bowl, let it sit for 3 minutes before you start stirring the mixture with a spoon to blend the chocolate and the cream. You can start putting it on top of your cake, one on top of the other, when the mixture cools and starts to thicken.

You can then start putting on the icing and decorating your cake as you would want it.

Your college kids are coming over for their spring break and you’ve been thinking of some way to surprise them. How about baking them the perfect homecoming goodie using a coconut cake recipe you’ve longed to try, but have never found the right occasion for it.

Wouldn’t it be a nice surprise for your kids to return home to one of mom’s home baked cake recipes from scratch? Of course they always look forward to be treated to mom’s tasty cooking, a break from that bland cafeteria food the whole semester.

To make a coconut recipe from scratch, you would need 3 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature, 2 cups of sugar, 3 cups all-purpose flour, 5 extra-large eggs kept at room temperature. The recipe also calls for 1 ½ teaspoons each of pure vanilla extract and pure almond extract, 1 cup milk, 1 teaspoon of baking powder and ½ each of teaspoon of baking soda and kosher salt. To complete the recipe, you need 4 ounces of sweetened shredded coconut.

Be sure to set aside some butter for greasing the pans, and flour for dusting them.

For the frosting, you need 1 lb. cream cheese, 2 sticks of unsalted butter kept a room temperature. Another 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract, and ¾ teaspoon of vanilla extract, a pound of sifted confectioner’s sugar and another 6 ounces of sweetened shredded coconut.

Before you start mixing your ingredients, preheat your oven to 350˚F, grease 2 9-inch round pans, line them with parchment paper, grease again and dust lightly with the flour.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment for 3 to 5 minutes at high speed, until the batter is light and fluffy. In another bowl, crack the eggs, adding it to the batter one at a time at medium speed. Scrape the bowl once during the mixing. Add the vanilla and almost extract, then mix well.

In another bowl, sift the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt – together. Setting the mixer on low speed, alternately add the milk and the dry ingredients in 3 parts until just combined. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the coconut.

Pour in the batter in each of the 2 greased pans and use a knife to smoothen the top. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes in the center of the oven until the tops turn brown. You’ll know it’s done when a cake tester comes out clean.

Rest the cake on a cooling rack for 30 minutes before unmolding it.

To prepare the frosting, combine the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and almond extracts in a bowl and mix it at low speed. Add the confectioner’s sugar and mix it just until it is smooth.

You’re now ready to assemble your cake!

Place one layer of the cake on a flat serving plate with the top side down and spread the frosting. Put the second later on top with the top side up and put the frosting on top and on the sides. For the decoration, sprinkle the coconut on top of the cake and press more coconut on the sides. Serve it at room temperature.

Wow, what a sweet surprise!

Learning to bake cake recipes from scratch is easy. The key is to always remember that baking is both an art and science.

It is a science because to get the exact results as you want it to be, you need to be precise in the instruments you use, the ingredients used and the measurements required. Unlike other forms of culinary arts, baking calls for precision. A recipe that calls for a cup of cake flour means a carefully measured cup of cake flour, and not any other type of flour, or else the product won’t come out as good as it should have been.

On the other hand, it is also an art because with a combination of imagination, creativity and some inspiration you can come up with a creation that can be uniquely you.

As a novice baker, it would be good start with easy cake recipes, in order to get the hang of it, before moving on to the more complicated ones.

In order to get the desired results, since baking has to be precise, investing in the necessary equipment and knowledge would prove to be very useful in the long term.

For those wanting to take up baking seriously, as a hobby or in the future, as a business, investing in a good oven is essential. The oven is a baker’s most important tool.

Next to the oven, having a set of baking pans in different sizes is a must for a serious baker. You need to use the right size of baking pan depending on the volume of the batter to be baked. Using an oversized pan will result to your cake cooking too quickly, and using an undersized pan will cause your batter to overflow or your cake to be undercooked.

Since precision is the key to baking the perfect cake recipe, it is essential for a baking enthusiast to invest in steel measuring cups and spoons for dry ingredients, and a glass measuring cup for wet ingredients. Should you want precise measurements all the time, getting a digital scale would be ideal.

When you measure flour, it would be a good idea to scoop it using the measuring spoons instead of the cup because the latter causes the latter usually results in a heavy cake. It is good advice to measure your ingredients in a flat surface rather than while holding the measuring tool in your hand.

Another good investment would be an oven thermometer, because the temperature inside the oven can be 25 to 50 degrees off from that in the indicator. Instead of struggling to estimate the actual time you need to bake your cake, an oven thermometer will give you a more accurate reading of the actual temperature of your oven.

As you start preparing your batter, these tips could help you get started toward baking that perfect cake everytime, and awe your family and friends when they learn you did it all from scratch.
If your recipe so directs, you need to greasing your pan, even for using the non-stick types.

The process of creaming, or mixing butter and sugar, is an important step to achieving the perfect texture to your desert. A rule of thumb is to keep the temperature constant at 65˚F to maintain the volume of the mixture. You would know if you’ve gotten the perfect butter consistency if it is glossy without looking greasy and while it spreads easily, it will have some resistance.

To ensure that your sweetened cream does not have that gritty taste of undissolved sugar, it is best to add the sugar when you begin whipping your cream, and not later.

Presentation also makes for half of your cake’s delectability. Baking requires accuracy and patience, to get that perfect results. Resting your cake before unmolding your cake is an essential process that you should never take for granted. To make sure that your icing and decoration on the cake goes perfectly, let your baked good cool down on a cooling rack before dressing it up.

Cake recipes from scratch are available from many sources. You can find cake recipes from scratch at most bookstores as well as on the internet. One of the best places to find cake recipes from scratch is to ask your friends and family members. Every family has at least one cook that is known for their cake recipes. From scratch baking is their secret.

And I can tell you now that these cakes made from scratch are good. If you’ve never had cakes made using cake recipes from scratch, then you don’t know what you are missing. Cakes made with cake recipes from scratch are some of the best tasting cakes, you will ever eat.

If you look around, you will be able to find all kinds of cake recipes from scratch. There are vanilla cake recipes from scratch. Of course you will find chocolate cake recipes from scratch, cream cheese cake recipes from scratch, and even sour cream cake recipes from scratch. Then there are specialty cakes. Specialty cakes like funnel cake recipes from scratch, pound cake recipes from scratch, and ice-cream cake recipes from scratch.

For people with allergies there are cake recipes from scratch that are gluten free. And sugar free cake recipes from scratch for diabetics. Weight watchers can use cake recipes from scratch that are low-fat and low-sugar.

Many of the cake recipes from scratch have kept the same basic principals throughout the years. Almost all of the cakes that are made today, still use the same basic ingredients and methods that Grandma used. Everyone’s Grandma thought a little differently, so modifications to the cake recipes from scratch happened all the time. And as far as making substitutions, many have already been made.

To make healthier cake recipes from scratch, you can substitute all kinds of ingredients. In your cake recipes from scratch, you can substitute whole wheat flour for the white flour. You can substitute artificial sweeteners for sugar. You can use egg whites in place of using whole eggs. You can also use egg substitutes instead of eggs, in your cake recipes from scratch. When you make cake recipes from scratch, it is very easy to substitute ingredients. Just be careful to only change one thing at a time, and check the results.

To substitute ingredients in cake recipes from scratch is fairly common. Buy every time you substitute an ingredient, you need to adjust the other ingredients. For example. You finely grind some pinto beans. And then you add some of the finely ground pinto beans to your own cake recipes from scratch, to add more protein. Well, then you may need to consider cutting back on dry ingredients to keep the moisture level the same. In this case, you may want to cut back on the amount of flour that your cake recipes from scratch call for. Now a small change in this area should be OK, but don’t get crazy and go overboard.

Another way to change the flavor of your cake recipes from scratch is to add additional ingredients right in to the mix. To add a vanilla flavor to your cake recipes from scratch, all that you have to do is add a small amount of vanilla extract. It doesn’t take a lot. A teaspoon of vanilla will go along way. And you won’t have to alter any of the other ingredients in your cake recipes from scratch. Almond extract also adds a great flavor to your cake recipes from scratch.

Making cake recipes from scratch can be a lot of fun. And with the great taste your family will thank you. Grandma was practically famous for many of her dishes, especially her cake recipes. From scratch baking was one of Grandma’s secrets.

If you can make cake recipes from scratch, then you can make wedding cake recipes from scratch. For a wedding cake you just repeat the steps more time. I mean a multi-tiered wedding cake is just three or four cakes all put together. Sure they might have fancy stands but the cakes themselves, are just simple cakes.

Don’t be afraid to try a multi-level cake recipes from scratch. You might want to start out with a two-tier then work your way up though. It is much easier to juggle two tiers than it will be to juggle five or six.

When you are working with multiple layers you can always do like the bakeries do. Freeze the cakes. This allows you to easily frost and arrange the cakes. Only I guarantee that your cake recipes from scratch will taste much better.

For hundreds of years cooks have been making cake recipes from scratch. The idea is something new today as we are all so tied to the local grocery store and convenience foods. Today we think of homemade cakes and we go to the store and buy a boxed cake mix. There is no way a boxed cake mix can even come close to using cake recipes from scratch.

And if you want some different type of wedding cake recipes from scratch, then add something different. There are many items that are very easy to add that won’t alter the other ingredients.

To make your cake recipes from scratch more personal, you can add something as simple as chocolate chips. You can be as creative as you want by adding goodies, especially while you are practicing.

Try adding miniature peanut butter cups to your cake recipes from scratch. You can add nuts, frozen fruit, chocolates, mints, broken up candy bars or flavor extracts. Almond extracts in cake recipes from scratch give your cake a great flavor. If you like coffee you can use a coffee extract in your cake recipes from scratch. Have you ever heard of rum cake?

Another very simple thing to do is make your cake recipes from scratch into a marble cake. When you put the batter in the baking pan leave some in the bowl. Now add some cocoa, or peanut butter, to the reserved batter. Stir in the cocoa then pour the cocoa chocolate batter onto the batter in the pan.

You don’t have to fully cover the original batter, just make stripes as you pour. Then take a knife, or fork, and stick it into the cake batter. No need to touch the bottom of the pan. Then simply drag the knife though the batter back and forth going across the stripes you made with the chocolate batter. Only do this for maybe 10 strokes. Any more and your cake will be chocolate.

Now when cooked and cut you will have produced a marble cake using you cake recipes from scratch. Your guests will see the swirled design on the inside of your cake recipes from scratch.