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Chefany's Recipes

The Vanilla Queen's Chocolate Cake
Peanutbutter Truffles
Baci D'Alassio – Chocolate Hazelnut Kisses
Mom's Best Cheese Cake
Graham Cracker Nut Crust
Blueberry Pancakes with Vanilla Essence
White Vanilla Cake
Stephany's Favorite Vanilla Butter Cream

The Vanilla Queen's Chocolate Cake


Cake Ingredients:
  • 1-1/2 cups thick sour cream
  • 1-1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, preferably Mexican Scant 2-1/4 cups unbleached flour or cake flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 eggs
Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans or one 9 x 13 x 2-inch pan.
Mix together sour cream, sugar, butter and vanilla extract. Sift together the flour, cocoa,
baking soda and salt. Add to sour cream mixture. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
Pour into pan(s) and bake until the cake springs back when lightly touched (about 20 – 30 minutes,
depending on pans used).

Truffle Frosting

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate,
    broken into small pieces or run through food processor
  • 1/4 pound unsalted butter
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tablespoon Tahitian vanilla extract
Instructions: Place sugar and cream in a heavy, medium-sized saucepan, and bring mixture to a boil.
Reduce to a simmer and cook for 8 minutes. Remove from heat and add chocolate and butter cut into little pieces.
Mix well.
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Peanutbutter Truffles

  • 4 OUNCES HEAVY CREAM
  • 2 OUNCES UNSALTED BUTTER (room temperature)
  • 4 HEAPING TABLESPOONS OF PEANUTBUTTER
  • 8 OUNCES EITHER SEMISWEET OR MILK CHOCOLATE


    • Chop the chocolate into small bits and put in a medium sized mixing bowl.
    In a small bowl mix together the peanut butter and the soft butter.
    Put the cream in a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to boil.
    Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and stir until smooth.
    Whisk in the peanut butter mixture.
    Refrigerate until firm enough to scoop into balls. Dip in chocolate or cocoa powder.
    Keep refrigerated until served.
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    Baci D'Alassio – Chocolate Hazelnut Kisses
    • 3 Cups Hazelnuts
    • 2 Cups Sugar
    • 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
    • 1/2 Cup cocoa powder
    • 1 Tablespoon Honey
    • 1 Tbl. Vanilla
    • 4-5 egg whites
    • 3 oz semisweet chocolate


    1) Toast hazelnuts until skin begins to blister, 15-18 minutes, let cool.
    2) Rub between hands to remove the excess skin. Chop coarsely.
    3) Grind to a powder using a food processor.
    4) Stir hazelnut powder in with the sugar.
    5) Add butter, cocoa, honey, and vanilla and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
    6) Add the egg whites one at a time, mix well after each addition.
    Add only enough egg whites for the dough to take on the consistency of a spritz cookie.
    7) Using a piping bag fitted with a No. 6 star tip, pipe out rosettes 1 inch in diameter,
    onto a lined sheet pan.
    8) Let rosettes sit out at room temperature overnight.
    9) Bake at 375¢ª for 8-10 minutes, or until firm to the touch, yet still moist.
    10) Melt chocolate.
    11) Once cookies cool dip one flat side of the cookie into the chocolate
    and take another cookie and make a sandwich.
    12) Let chocolate harden and enjoy.
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    Mom's Best Cheesecake


    "When I was a child my mom made this cheesecake for every holiday or special occasion. My mom died when I was 17 and I forgot about her cooking until I became a serious baker in my 20s. I began searching for a recipe like the one my mother had made but could never duplicate the recipe.
    "Fifteen years later, while sorting through a box of crystal, there was my mom’s recipe box and…the cheesecake recipe! It is like no other and, of course, one of the things that makes it so special is the use of a high quality vanilla!"

    Ingredients:
    • 3 well beaten eggs
    • 2 - 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1/4 tsp salt
    • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
    • 3 cups sour cream
    • Graham Cracker crust (recipe follows)
    Instructions: Cream the cheese with the sugar and then add the eggs, vanilla and salt. Beat until smooth. Blend in the sour cream but do not over mix. Pour mixture into the prepared crust. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs on top. Bake in moderate oven at 325 degrees for 35 minutes or until just set. Cool slowly at room temperature. Chill for several hours or overnight is best. The filling will be soft. It’s a very creamy cheesecake.
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    Graham Cracker Nut Crust



    Combine:
    • 1-3/4 cups fine graham cracker crumbs
    • 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
    • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/2 cup melted butter
    Reserve 3 tablespoons of the crust mixture for the top and press the remainder onto the bottom and sides of a 9-inch spring-form pan. Bring crust only about 2 1/2 inches up the sides.
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    Blueberry Pancakes with Vanilla Essence


    (My favorite Sunday morning breakfast that I’m sharing just because it’s soooo good!)

    Ingredients:
    • 1-1/2 cups flour
    • 3 tablespoons sugar
    • 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1-1/2 cups milk
    • 2 eggs, separated
    • 3 tablespoons melted butter
    • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • 1 cup fresh blueberries
    Instructions: Mix the dry ingredients together. Mix the wet ingredients together and stir them into the dry ingredients. Do not over mix. Whip the egg whites until they are stiff but not dry and fold them into the batter. Gently stir in the blueberries. Cook on a hot griddle. Serve with real maple syrup and sweet butter.
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    White Vanilla Cake


    This is a good, basic vanilla cake. It becomes spectacular with the butter cream recipe that follows.

    Ingredients:
    • 3 cups sifted cake flour
    • 1 tablespoon baking powder
    • 6 tablespoons butter
    • 1-1/2 cups sugar
    • 1 cup milk
    • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
    • 6 egg whites
    Instructions: Preheat oven to 325. Grease and line 2 9-inch cake pans with parchment. Sift together flour and baking powder. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With a mixer on slow speed, add flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternately with milk. Beat after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Whip the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold them into the cake batter gently, making sure not to over mix. Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Place cake pans on cooling rack and allow to cool completely before removing from pans.
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    Stephany's Favorite Vanilla Butter Cream


    Stephany says: "This is my favorite butter cream. It is very perishable and should not be made more than a day in advance. If you are looking for a wonderful creamy and not very sweet icing that showcases the vanilla bean, I think you will love this one.
    "It is important that you use the freshest unsalted butter. Do not use butter that has been sitting in your refrigerator for days. It picks up flavors and it will impart them to your icing.
    "You can choose to use either the vanilla bean or vanilla extract. When using the bean, you will have the tiny seeds in your butter cream so if that is a concern then use the extract. I prefer the bourbon vanilla for its bold flavor. You do not want to taste the butter; you want to taste the vanilla!"

    Makes about 5 cups


Ingredients:
Instructions: In a heavy bottom saucepan scald the milk with the vanilla bean split and scraped. Remove from heat and allow mixture to steep for at least 30 minutes. Mix together sugar and cornstarch. Add eggs and mix well, making sure all lumps are mixed out. Pour half the hot milk into the egg/sugar mixture and stir until incorporated. Pour back into the saucepan and cook until thick enough for a ribbon to stand on top of the custard. Cool on an ice bath, stirring continuously. When it is at room temperature remove the vanilla bean.

Important: Test the custard with an instant read thermometer and make sure that the temperature difference between the butter and the custard is not more than 5 degrees. Ideally they should be around 65-70 degrees. This is important because if you begin to add the butter and the custard is too hot then you will get soup, not butter cream. If the butter and custard are too cold it will look like cottage cheese.
When the temperatures are correct, put butter into an electric mixing bowl and with the paddle attachment cream and mix on slow speed until it is smooth. Begin adding the custard little by little. Don’t turn the speed of the mixer up or you will beat in too much air. The butter cream will look creamy and smooth when it is ready to ice the cake.
If using vanilla extract, add it now. Taste butter cream. If you can still taste butter, then add more vanilla.
Keep adding vanilla until you are satisfied that the vanilla is what you taste and not the butter.


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