• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 1 cup butter flavored shortening
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

I made this as cupcakes and skipped the chocolate curls. I modified the baking time to about 24 minutes. These also freeze well. I froze them (with frosting) for a week and they tasted great. 

Planning Tip: Can be made through Step 4 and refrigerated airtight 3 days or frozen 2 weeks. Frosting can be refrigerated 3 days. Curls can be stored in a cool place 1 week.

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/3 cups boiling water
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter, softened
21/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting
8 oz white chocolate, melted as pkg directs, cooled to room temperature
3 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
6 oz cream cheese, softened
5 Tbsp stick butter, softened
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

Garnish: Chocolate Curls (directions follow)

1. Position racks to divide oven in thirds. Heat to 350°F. Coat three 9-in. or 8 x 2-in. round cake pans with nonstick spray. Line bottoms with wax paper.

2. Stir cocoa and boiling water in a medium bowl until smooth; let cool.

3. Meanwhile mix next 3 ingredients in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat next 4 ingredients with mixer on high speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add cool cocoa; beat until blended. Scrape bowl. On low speed, beat in flour mixture just to blend, scraping bowl once. Spoon into prepared pans; smooth surfaces. Stagger pans on oven racks.

4. Bake 24 to 31 minutes (depending on pan size) until a wooden pick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 10 minutes. Run knife around edges; invert on rack, remove paper and cool completely.

5. Frosting: Beat ingredients on low speed to blend. Increase speed to high; beat 2 minutes until light and fluffy.

6. To assemble: Place 1 cake layer on serving plate, bottom side up. Spread with 1/3 the Frosting. Repeat with remaining layers, swirling frosting on top. Garnish with Chocolate Curls.

Chocolate Curls Line mini loaf pan or make a 31/2 x 2 x 11/4-in. pan with a double thickness foil. Melt 4 oz white chocolate, pour into pan; chill until firm. Peel off foil. Soften at room temperature 30 minutes. Pull a swivel-blade vegetable peeler along side of bar to form curls (if curls break, soften chocolate more). Repeat with 4 oz milk chocolate.

Preheat oven to 400 F

Measure and set aside:

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

Combine in a large saucepan:

      1/2 cup water

      1/2 cup whole milk

      8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

      1/2 teaspoon salt

Bring the mixture to a full boil over medium heat. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan. Continue to cook and stir the mixture for about 1 minute, to eliminate excess moisture. The butter may ooze out, which is fine; it simply means that the moisture is evaporating. Transfer to a bowl and let cool for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Beat in 1 at a time:

            4 large eggs

Make sure that the paste is smooth before adding the next egg. Beat the dough until it’s smooth and shiny.

Scoop the paste into a large pastry bag fitted with a 1 inch tip for large éclairs or a 1/2 inch tip for minis. Shape the paste into 8 to 10 large or 24 miniature éclairs.  Bake the eclairs at 400 F for 15 minutes. Reduce the temp. to 350 F and bake until golden brown and very firm to the touch, 10 to 15 minutes for minis and 25 to 30 minutes for large éclairs. Turn off the oven, poke the short end of the éclairs, and let dry in oven for 10 minutes.

Prepare:

3 cups Pastry Cream (recipe to follow)

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4 inch tip with the pastry cream. Poke the pastry tip into the drying hole in each éclair and pip full. Or cut off the top third of the éclair horizontally with the serrated knife for the lids. Remove any uncooked dough and spoon the filling into the eclairs. 

Dip the top of each eclaire into:

            Chocolate Ganach Glaze (recipe to follow)

Refrigerate the éclairs, chocolate side up, until glaze is set. Eclairs are best on the day they are made.

Pastry Cream

In a medium bowl, beat on high speed until thick and pail yellow, about 2 minutes:

            1/2 cup sugar

            2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

            2 tablespoons cornstarch

            4 large egg yolks

Meanwhile, combine in a medium stainless-steel or enamel saucepan and bring to a simmer:

            1 1/2 cups milk

Gradually pour about one third of the hot milk into the egg mixture, stirring the combine. Scrape the egg mixture back into the pan and cook, whisking constantly and scraping the bottom and corners of the pan to prevent scorching, over low to medium heat until the custard is thickened and begins to bubble. Then continue to cook, whisking for 45 to 60 seconds. Using a clean spatula, scrape the custard into a clean bowl.

Stir in:

            3/4 teaspoon vanilla.

Cover the surface of the custard with a piece of wax or parchment paper to prevent a skin from forming. Let cool, then refrigerate before using.

Chocolate Ganach Glaze

Bring to a boil in a a small saucepan:

            3/4 cup heavy cream

Remove from the heat and add:

            8 ounces semisweet chocolate finely chopped (or chocolate chips)

Stir until most of the chocolate is melted. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Stir or whisk very gently until completely smooth.

Stir in:

            1 tablespoon liqueur, or more to taste (optional)

Cool until it becomes the desired texture. 

INGREDIENTS

Makes 1 dozen.

• 2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 2 large egg whites, room temperature

• DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
  2. Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.
  4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
  5. With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.
  6. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.

  Sprinkles Strawberry Frosting
  

  INGREDIENTS

   

  Makes enough for 1 dozen cupcakes.

  • 1/2 cup whole frozen strawberries, thawed
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold
  • Pinch of coarse salt
  • 3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

  DIRECTIONS

  1. Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners’ sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. Do not overmix or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream.

   

Don’t be tempted to substitute all-purpose flour for the cake flour, as doing so will make a dry, tough cake. If you can’t find buttermilk, you can substitute an equal amount of plain, low-fat yogurt. When topping the cake, take care to not push the crumbs into the batter. This recipe can be easily doubled and baked in a 13 by 9-inch baking dish. If doubling, increase the baking time to about 45 minutes. Cooled leftovers can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Serves 8 to 10

1. FOR THE TOPPING: Whisk sugars, cinnamon, salt, and butter in medium bowl to combine. Add flour and stir with rubber spatula or wooden spoon until mixture resembles thick, cohesive dough; set aside to cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes. 2. FOR THE CAKE: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut 16-inch length parchment paper or aluminum foil and fold lengthwise to 7-inch width. Spray 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and fit parchment into dish, pushing it into corners and up sides; allow excess to overhang edges of dish. 3. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt on low speed to combine. With mixer running at low speed, add butter one piece at a time; continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no visible butter chunks remaining, 1 to 2 minutes. Add egg, yolk, vanilla, and buttermilk; beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping once if necessary. 4. Transfer batter to baking pan; using rubber spatula, spread batter into even layer. Following photos below, break apart crumb topping into large pea-sized pieces and spread in even layer over batter, beginning with edges and then working toward center. Bake until crumbs are golden and wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan by lifting parchment overhang. Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.

I used cut these cookies into tree shapes and used them as Christmas Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 (3 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix

1 1/3 cups baking mix

1 egg

1 tablespoon white sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease baking sheet.

Cream together the butter or margarine and the pudding mix. Blend in the baking mix, egg and sugar and mix well.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to 3/8 inch thickness and cut into cookies with a shamrock cookie cutter.

Place cookies on the prepared baking sheet and bake at 350F for 9 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges. Let cookies cool on rack. Frost with green colored icing and sprinkles. (optional)   Shamrock Cookies