Let's Bake Love!

Everyone in life is blessed with some kind of good fortune. Maybe it's wealthy parents. Maybe it's a dazzling voice. Maybe it's that perfect body or something else. My good fortune is my husband.

My husband has beautiful brown eyes and a smart-ass smile. He twirls his wedding band around his finger when he's deep in thought. He has an obsession with all televised sports: when his teams are playing he will cheer yell and carry on like he's wearing the coach's hat or a player's jersey. While he'd never admit to it, he has the most wicked sweet tooth I've ever seen. He bellows at me if I stir the pan while he's cooking, and he rubs his face whenever he grows tired, and he gives the best back rubs in the world.

My husband is smart, with the accurate answer whether it's a TV quiz show or questions about sports stats or where the stocks are going. He is our household's official bug executioner. He has a remarkable knack for fixing electronics, and he likes to tease me about my purse collection. When we do the grocery shopping, he always sneaks away at some point and adds candy bars to the cart, cause he knows I will want chocolate before bed. My husband is so good with my family. Often he is quite the goofball, the person who always makes me laugh and brings out my own sarcastic sense of humor. He also has a way of giving me a squeeze when he walks by me and a quick smile that makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Even today, when I hear the doorknob turn in the evenings, my stomach does flip-flops and I make sure to quickly run my fingers through my hair.

My husband is tender and patient and kind. Always the level-headed one between us, he never gets overly excited or anxious. He never raises his voice. When everything else is chaos, he's like a deep breath of fresh air. Always calm and quiet yet earnest, my husband. That's just who he is. He loves to surprise me with a song. He plays guitar and will sneak into the garage and practice a love song and serenade me when I least expect it. He has an amazing voice.

I could go on and on and on, but people have other places to be. So let me just say that I'll always consider to be lucky because of him. And I pretty much don't deserve him, at all. He's the best thing that's ever happened to me and the thing I'm blessed with in life, no doubt about it.

Now, to get back on topic: I mentioned his sweet tooth. Oh, but that man has quite the raging sweet tooth! Chocolate is a favorite! If you want to really bring him to his knees: I'll make a chocolate cake with a shiny chocolate icing dripping down the sides kind of combo. That will get him every time! In honor of that darling Husband-man: I made his absolute favorite chocolate cake for Valentines Day.  This recipe was shared by my good friend Kelly W. whom I am forever grateful. The first time I made this, I told my husband I was going to just sprinkle powdered sugar on it, he insisted on frosting and got a can out of the pantry of store bought. There was no way I was going to top this beautiful cake with canned frosting. I got busy and made it with my Shiny Kahlua Icing. It made this cake even more decadent!

Rich Fudge Ribbon Bundt Cake with Shiny Kahlua Chocolate Icing

Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook Time: 55-60 |Total Time: 1 1/4 hr | Serves: 12

Ingredients:
1 (18 1/2 ounce) box chocolate cake mix, I used Devils Food
1 (3 1/2 ounce) box instant chocolate pudding mix
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º.

Grease and flour, (I use baking cocoa instead), 10" bundt cake pan WELL.

Prepare cake mix according to package directions! Adding instant pudding mix (dry), not prepared to the package directions).

Pour batter into pan.

Set aside. In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and cornstarch until fluffy. Slowly beat in sweetened condensed milk. Beat in egg and vanilla, beating til smooth.

Spoon evenly over cake batter.

Bake 50-55 minutes til toothpick comes out clean.

Cool 10-15 minutes, CAREFULLY remove from pan onto cake plate. You may have to tap sides quite a bit to loosen.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar or drizzle with white chocolate and/or chocolate glazes if desired.

Shiny Kahlua Chocolate Icing

Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 5 minutes

 

Ingredients:

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons corn syrup

3 tablespoons Kahlua (optional)

¼ cup Butter Flavor Crisco Directions:

Dump all ingredients into a medium sauce pan and cook on medium heat. Whisk until smooth and all ingredients have combined and melted. Drizzle over cooled cake while warm. Store leftover in fridge and serve with icecream! ENJOY with someone you love!