Chocolate Madness Cake

The past few days saw me in a fit of chocolate craving and baking frenzy.  It was a mad combination.  I have not baked a cake in ages and I managed to bake 8 chocolate cakes, culled from 3 different chocolate cake recipes and bakers, which I switched around and finally came up with my very own version of Chocolate Madness Cake.
First recipe tested was Hershey's Perfect Chocolate Cake with Hershey's Perfect Chocolate Frosting, recipe found on every can of Hershey's Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. The cake was too sweet but moist and fluffy.  The frosting not perfect at all.

Second was Nigella Lawson's Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake, recipe found on the internet via the Food Network with how-to video on youtube. Again the cake was too sweet, crumbly and dry.   The frosting was a disaster.   But I take full responsibility for the disaster through no fault of the author.

Third was Dorie Greenspan's Devil's Food White-Out Cake, recipe found on page 247 of her book "Baking". The cake was bland and dense, again probably my fault,  but the icing was very good.  Dad even helped me scuplt the design.

Finally, my very own Chocolate Madness Cake.   The cake was a modified Hershey's Perfect Chocolate Cake recipe with Dorie Greenspan's version of 7-Minute Frosting.  Success!

To break from all the chocolate madness, I managed to squeeze in Martha Stewart's Lemon Squares, recipe found on her website.  It was perfectly sweet and tangy.  

Note this Lemon Squares recipe was developed for very young bakers (kids!).  That should say something about my level of baking.  

Next project - Cupcakes!

Lemon Water to Lose Weight

To lose weight, I’ve started drinking warm water with a slice of lemon instead of sodas and bottomless ice teas, both of which has tons of sugar in it.  

I learned this from a friend who practices Transcendental Meditation (TM).  According to her gurus, warm water with a slice of lemon is the best meal time beverage because it aids in digestion.  

This was confirmed by Whoopie Goldberg, during a segment on The View, who lost some weight when she started drinking lemon water and Bob Green, Oprah’s personal trainer and author of the book “Best Life Diet”, who also recommends warm water with a slice of lemon to jump start any diet. 

Try this out.  It worked for me and it might work you.