Spring Chili Cook-off
Spring is here – or so says the calendar. In North Carolina we are still wearing our jackets! I don’t mind though, beautiful, glorious sunny days with clear blue skies and cooler temps is fine with me. Summer heat will be here before we know it! Spring time signals renewal. Since we moved into our new home in October watching all types of flowers pop up in the yard has been something I look forward to every day. The daffodils came up in abundance, along with crocus and hyacinths sprinkled around our yard. It’s a surprise everyday to see what will peek up through the soil. This time of renewal has me mindful of what I wrote about back in January. Making these three changes – personally.
Laugh more – considerably more!
Practice the mindfulness of yoga daily – it offers a feeling of being grounded.
Revitalize The Orange Bee
I am happy to say that I am successful in this endeavor – so far! In my efforts to revitalize the Orange Bee I decided to take a look back. I went to March of 2011, which was the first year I started my blog. The two posts that caught my eye most were for Chocolate Cake, why of course, and Lucky #5. That chocolate cake still looks delicious to me but that photo – not so delicious! Don’t judge me! I was using a point and shoot back then – thank heavens for a newer, bigger, better DSLR! Lucky #5 is about a chili cook-off. You know Texans love their chili! I may not be a Texan at this time, as I live in the east, but I do still love a big bowl of chili!
Now on to the chili cook-off. It was my first and I remember all the preparation leading up to the big day. I tested my recipe several times before feeling I’d mastered it and had a bowl of chili I felt worthy of a cook-off! All of my work paid off because I won 1st place that day. If you’re interested click here and you can see how surprised and happy I was! I have never shared that recipe and I won’t now. After all who shares their prizewinning recipes with the masses? I shall not but I will share the recipe for that Deep Dark Chocolate Cake and I’ll likely bake one this week too.
If you do read my old post about the cake, I am happy to say I no longer even think about throwing Cheez-Its, Twinkies or Fig Newtons into my grocery cart. In a post soon to come I’ll be writing about what happened after my hubby and I watched “Forks Over Knives”! If you haven’t seen this documentary – do…it’ll make more sense when you read my story about it! Now, go bake a cake!
Deep Dark Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- ⅔ cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- ¾ tsp. salt
- 1½ cups brewed coffee, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup canola oil
- 2 large egg whites
- 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350*. Coat 2 9′ round cake pans with cooking spray. Cover the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper and coat with cooking spray.
- Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl, whisking well. In a separate bowl combine coffee, oil, egg whites, vinegar, and vanilla, whisking well. Combine coffee mixture with flour mixture, whisking until smooth. Divide batter evenly between the two prepared pans; tap pans on work surface to break air pockets.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes come out clean. 30-35 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of cakes; invert cakes onto cooling racks. Remove parchment if necessary and cool completely before icing.
