So, how many of you out there are suckers for anything chocolate? If you’re raising your hand and licking the screen, then you are like me. I know some people lust after sweet, pretty glistening sugar confections. But, no sir. Not me! I take chocolate, and I mean REAL chocolate, above anything else when I need a sweet treat! I don’t even like sweet chocolate. As far as I’m concerned, chocolate is only chocolate when it has above 70% cocoa solids! Even that has been too little for me these days. I am guilty of eating 80% chocolate straight, I’m afraid. But, the cake below is not so deep and dark that there isn’t some sweetness to it. I’ve tried that, and it ain’t good! Kinda tastes like someone put out a cigarette in your mouth and then walked around with socks on!

Devil’s Food is one of the cakes I’ve been eating since I was a child. Yes, I would eat a Twinkie or Swiss Roll on occasion. But, I always tried to go right for the Suzie Q’s if there were any. With all of us cousins, sisters and such fighting for them, it was a gamble as to what would be left. Half the time, I didn’t eat the cream filling. I would break the cake apart and scoop out the filling to discard with the wrapper. I did the same with Oreos. Just give me the chocolate!! So, my love affair with dark chocolate began. Granted, I don’t remember all that many cakes as a very young kid. I’m sure they were there. I just don’t remember them. But, at some point something must have opened the flood gate for me. Perhaps it was my love of chocolate ice cream at my Mimi’s house. Mimi, Papaw and my Great Aunt Pauline always said “Christa Belle! You’re going to turn into chocolate ice cream one of these days!” and they would all laugh. I still hear them say that to me as I get out the chocolate ice cream and place it in my bowl. Papaw always made sure I didn’t leave the ice cream out for too long. He was afraid it would thaw too much and then get freezer burned when it went back in. So, he usually scooped it out for me if it was too hard for my tiny wrists to muster. Usually, it was.

Now, on to the cake portion of the program

I had been looking for a good Devil’s Food Cake recipe for a while. After many, many books of disappointing results, I finally found the trick and a good recipe to finagle into my own creation. The “trick” to a good Devil’s Food is cocoa powder. You’d think melted chocolate would be more rich, but it isn’t. The cocoa powder has such an earthy hit to it and that’s what makes it so devilishly, sinfully good! I have been getting a cocoa powder made by Chatfield’s. Yes, it’s in the natural foods aisle. It’s unsweetened and Alkaline free, which means it isn’t “Dutched”. It’s so red, too, which makes for the best Devil’s Food! (Apparently, it has gotten quite the bad rep for not being good by places like The New York Times. But I dare anyone to taste my cake made with said powder and tell me it’s not a deep, chocolate flavour!) Before them, I used a variety of cocoa powders with not as much luck. I did like the Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder, too. But, it’s slightly sweetened and not as natural. Plus, it depends on the ingredients you add WITH the powder that result in a chocolatey chocolate flavour. For example, I use only non-processed cane sugars in all of my recipes and therefore need less of it. I also add a teaspoon of Espresso Powder to the dry ingredients. Coffee and chocolate really are best friends. One brings out the other. But anyway… The natural flavours of the cocoa, sugars, and such all work together to make the right balance of deep and sweet. The only thing in this recipe that wasn’t organic was the Espresso Powder and the Italian 00 Flour. I wish it were organic, but it isn’t yet. You could, of course, use All Purpose flour here. I just find the texture to be so light and moist with the 00. You could use cake flour as well, obviously.

For the recipe, you will want all of your ingredients to be at room temperature. This means the butter should be left out overnight, the eggs at least two hours and the buttermilk, covered, for about an hour. If you happen to forget, place the cold eggs in a bowl of hot tap water for about 20 minutes. You can grate the butter right over the mixing bowl to soften it instantly and leave it out as the eggs warm up. It’s such an easy fix and gets perfect results!

The recipe is as follows:

Sparky’s Devil’s Food Cake

Ingredients

- 12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted sweet cream butter
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar (natural, organic or unrefined is best)
- 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda (Aluminum free, such as Bob’s Red Mill brand)
- 2 tsp. Pure Vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. Instant Espresso Coffee*
- 2 cups Italian 00 flour, or Cake flour, or All purpose
- 3/4 cup Cocoa Powder
- 4 large eggs (again, organic, free-range is best. Fresh as possible, too!)
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk*

Method
- Begin by buttering two 9-inch cake pans and placing parchment circles on bottom. Then, butter parchment and dust with cocoa powder. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Whisk the flour and cocoa together in a separate bowl. Set aside
- Cream the butter, sugar, baking soda and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, for at least 5 minutes. When light and fluffy, add the vanilla and mix to combine. Follow with the eggs, adding one at a time, until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides an bottom of the bowl and make sure all ingredients are fully incorporated. Batter should be smooth and velvety.
- Add a third of the flour/cocoa mixture to the bowl, slowly and follow with half of the buttermilk. Then, another third flour, rest of the buttermilk and finish with the last third of the flour mixture. Mix until just incorporated. Remove paddle attachment and scrape down a final time by hand. Divide batter evenly into the two pans. Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes. Check at 30 with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, cakes are done. They should be pulling away from the sides of the pan.
- Cool on wire racks in cake pans for about 10 minutes. Then, remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks. Leave parchment on, if it hasn’t come off, until ready to assemble layer cake. It helps keep the cake moist.
- When completely cooled, frost/decorate as you like. I used a Sour Cream Chocolate Icing on this. It was fabulous! That recipe is below this one.

* Instant Espresso Powder is usually in with gourmet coffees in grocery stores. If you can’t find it, just use about 1/4 cup brewed, cooled espresso, or strong coffee, and reduce the buttermilk to 1 1/4 cups.
* If you want to make sure this cake is truly Vegetarian (for yourself or vegetarian visitors), make sure to get gelatin-free buttermilk. I use either Organic Valley, which I use for MANY products, or Trauth. The latter is the easiest to find here in Ohio. Just look on the ingredients and see if it has gelatin. Trauth is also my favourite Cottage Cheese! Berkeley Farms is a great brand in California!

So, what could possibly rest atop this lovely, sinful treat? I could have chosen the old faithful Cream Cheese Icing, but I wanted more chocolate! So, I opted for a delicious Chocolate Sour Cream Icing. I found a good place to start with the infamous Nigella Lawson. But, hers was too sweet, so I modified it a bit. Thanks for the great start, Nigella!!

I also decorated the sides of the cake with dark chocolate shards that I grated with a medium-sized grater. I used 70% instead of the 80% here so as not to scare off the taster too soon with such a strong chocolate flavour. You could use any chocolate shavings you wanted (milk, white, coffee-infused, peanut butter chips and the list goes on.) or none at all. This is a great base cake to dress up any way you want! You could even fill it with icing and cherries and put a cherry jam on top for a black forest approach. The possibilities are endless!

The recipe is as follows:

Chocolate Sour Cream Icing
Should be enough to decorate one two-layer 9-inch cake. If you like a lot of icing, double this recipe!

Ingredients
- 6 ounces melted chocolate (all 70%, half 70 half 80, or whatever combination you desire. I used half 70 half 80)
- 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup sour cream (Use regular instead of reduced fat here. The latter tastes too weak for this icing.)
- 1 tsp. Pure Vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp sifted confectioner’s sugar, or more if you like it sweeter.
- water, to preference. Up to 1/3 cup.

- Chop chocolate, with a serrated knife, into small chunks. Place in heat proof bowl and place on saucepan over simmering water. Don’t let the bowl touch the water as it will burn the chocolate. Simmer over low heat until all chocolate is melted. Take off the heat and start whisking in the butter, slowly. As the mixture cools, add the sour cream and whisk until smooth. Add the vanilla and the confectioner’s sugar, a Tbsp. at a time, and make sure there are no lumps. Then, add water until you have your desired thinness. It needs to be spreadable and silky with enough body to stick to the cake. Careful not to thin it too much as it will slide off of the cake. If you do go too thin, add more confectioner’s sugar until desired consistency. Fortunately, there’s a lot of wiggle room with this icing!

So, that’s my favourite Devil’s Food Cake for the moment. I actually have some in my kitchen right now! Well, look at the time. Time for tea and cake!

Until my next food invention, see ya next time.

Much Love and Peace to Everyone,

Christa Belle (aka Sparky)

All dairy products in these recipes are from Organic Valley. All chocolate was either Jamieson’s or Lindt. Give them a try and see what YOU think!!

This recipe is such a good one! It’s highly modifiable, easy and you can substitute anything you want, or need to, in a pinch. I make this on average of about once a month. Sometimes, if I’m in the mood, I put about 4 ounces of chopped dark chocolate in it and serve it heated with vanilla spiked whipped cream as a dessert! Can you say YUM?? I know you can

The scent of this wafting through my house on a cold day warms the cockles of my heart. Fresh from the oven, waiting only the amount of time it takes to grab the knife, I cut a fat slice and eat it slowly with a cup of strong, milky tea. I love eating it the day it’s baked when the top is crispy and lovely. Once you store it in an airtight container, it gets soft. But, it’s still delicious!

I don’t know about you, but when I eat banana bread, I like it to taste warm as well as feel warm. The cinnamon combined with nutmeg and cloves is enough to warm me all over, even on a cold day. Another secret to my bread is that I use Italian 00 flour, which is lighter than all purpose, but not as light as cake flour. It’s just right for making a loaf bread with some substance. I got the original basic recipe for this online, as I have done with quite a few, but I just had to change it and make it my own. It was quite boring before and lacked ANY of the spices and vanilla. That said, here is my bananariffic creation!

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups Italian 00 Flour *
- 1 tsp. Baking Soda
- 1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. Ground Cloves
- Dusting of freshly grated Nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. Salt (I use kosher, always)
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar *
- 2 Eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp. Vanilla, slightly overflowed
- 1/4 cup Unsalted Butter, melted
- 3 medium to large very ripe Bananas, mashed

Method:
- Grease and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, or line with parchment for an easy-to-get-out-of-pan bread. Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
- In one bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, sugar and spices. Whisk it through to combine all ingredients. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a fork, mash the bananas until smooth. I just break them into the bowl with my hands to save using a knife. Add the eggs, melted and cooled butter, and the vanilla. Mix to incorporate. Then, add the dry ingredients slowly to the wet until just incorporated scraping the bowl down to make sure everything is properly mixed. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake in pre-heated oven for 50 minutes to an hour, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Definitely check at 50 minutes! Serve warm from the pan with a steaming cup of tea. Now, where’s my robe and slippers?

**Cook’s Notes**
+ If you wanted to add any nuts, feel free. That’s another reason I started making my own. I don’t like it with the nuts.
+ If you can’t find 00 Flour, you can substitute with Cake Flour. Or, you could do a 50/50 mix of Cake Flour and All Purpose Flour or just all All Purpose Flour. It’s not a big deal, but the texture will be slightly different.
+ When I use Granulated Sugar, I use Organic brands that aren’t processed as much as regular brands. It is darker in colour, but the flavour is so much better. Nothing wrong with that!
+ Once in a great while, one of my bananas will be too far gone to use. If you’ve already started the bread and have no more bananas, you can substitute a half cup of yogurt, cream, soy milk or regular milk for the missing banana. I found vanilla fat free yogurt was an EXCELLENT substitute and made the bread even more moist! I may even make a new bread out of that discovery

I wouldn’t really call this a “recipe”, per se. Just an idea with some ingredients. I came up with this idea originally with strawberries and it was just as fabulous, if not more so! But, today I had bananas, so that’s what I used. The crumbly texture of the digestives against the creaminess of the hazelnut spread provides the perfect bed for the soft, supple bananas to settle into.

If you don’t have access to digestives (a wholemeal cookie type thing from the British Isles), you can easily use graham crackers. It won’t have the same melting texture, but it will still be good.

So, here’s what I used:

- 1 ripe banana, cut into slices
- 2 Tbsp. Nocciolata hazelnut spread +
- 3 Digestive biscuits, or more if you like

Pretty much spread the spread onto the biscuits, add the bananas and enjoy! I didn’t use the entire banana on these, so I just ate the rest. Good way to get some fruit into my daily allowance, yeah?

**Cook’s Notes**

+ I advise you have this treat with a hot cuppa tea. I chose Assam, with milk, and sat back and enjoyed every bite with my kitty on my lap! Take time to savor and really appreciate treats in life. Oh, and eat these over a plate. The digestives tend to break in random areas, so you could end up with a choco-banana schmere on your lap! Also, you WILL need a napkin!

+ Nocciolata is another brand of chocolate hazelnut spread. Most of you may be familiar with Nutella, but I think Nocciolata is MUCH better, less sweet and more natural. No hydrogenated anything in it! I found this gem in the natural section of my local market. You can always sub Nutella, especially if that’s what you’re used to.

serves two very generously as a main course, or four as a side dish.

While on vacation in the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, I enjoyed a lovely book called “The Splendid Table” by Lynne Rosetto Kasper. There was a chapter in the book entirely on Ragu. I basically studied this chapter and vowed to make many types of Vegetarian Ragu when I got home. About a week later, I tried my first “true” Ragu. It wasn’t great, but it was good. Then, I tried again using more fresh ingredients and came up with this version. I didn’t want all the soy that’s in my other favourite dish, Boca Ragu, so I went for more veggies. Of course, you could add many more veg than I have here. This is just a nice base to start the Ragu process. With great ingredients, you don’t have to be elaborate. As they say, sometimes less is more.

In this version I use about 1/3 of a bottle of a dry red wine. As long as you would drink the wine from a glass, go ahead and cook with it too. I have never used a cooking wine from the grocery store. They are full of salt and little or no flavour. I mean when you cook with wine, you’re reducing down the flavours. Why would you want to reduce nothing to nothing? I find the stronger, dry red family good for making sauces. I wouldn’t advise anything less hearty than a Pinot Noir. Personally, I use a lot of the Sangiovese, Syrah, Chianti and Merlot wines to cook with. After all, those are the ones I drink the most! But, feel free to play around and come up with your own version of a nice, hearty Ragu. You won’t be disappointed.

Ingredients:
- 2 cans whole tomatoes, in puree (preferably Italian San Marzano, or any other good organic brand)
- 1 cup of the above puree, strained of seeds and pulp
- 2 carrots, diced small
- 1 shallot, finely minced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 cup vegetable stock (I use a roasted veg stock for more flavour)
- about 1/3 of a 750 mil. bottle of dry red wine
- 1 cup milk (2% or whole, but not skim)
- 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- dash of dried oregano (about 1/4 tsp)
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup freshly grated, or shaved, parmesan (the real stuff, not the powder in a green can)
- 3/4 lb. dried pasta of your choice. A nice Rigatoni works VERY well with this! Cook per package directions and immediately toss with pasta!

Method:
- Begin by bringing a large stock pot of water to a boil. Keep the lid on and have it ready to cook the pasta.
- In a large saucepan, over medium high heat, add a splash of extra virgin olive oil and the diced carrot. Cook until carrots are caramelized and tender, about 5-7 minutes. Then add the minced shallot and garlic and cook until they soften slightly. Add the tomatoes and break apart with a wooden spoon. I cut the tops off first, but do whatever you feel comfortable with. Add the strained tomato puree and bring to a simmer. Stir to combine all ingredients and allow the pan to go nearly dry. Add the oregano, vegetable stock and most of the wine. Stir and then add some salt & pepper. Not too much at this stage or you’ll end up with a very salty ragu! Check for saltiness (it won’t taste like much right now) and allow to simmer over medium heat for about an hour. Check often to make sure it doesn’t cook down dry. Once it’s thickened enough to look slightly like a glaze, add the butter and milk and the last of the red wine, if needed. Taste for salt again and then allow to simmer for another 20 minutes until thickened nicely. You can always add pasta cooking water to thin it out if it gets too thick.
-Toss the now cooked pasta with the finished ragu. Serve in big, wide, shallow pasta bowls topped with the parmesan cheese. Finish off the bottle of wine whilst you eat your lovely, comforting creation. Enjoy!

Portion Size - serves two nicely

This is by far my favourite dinner to make for myself and my husband when we need some comforting. I came up with this recipe when I was going to make Chili for dinner. As I started assembling the ingredients, I realized I didn’t have everything I needed to make Chili. So, I just started combining this and that and hoped for the best. Then, I noticed I had some egg noodles, so I served it over those. Voila! Boca Ragu was born, and I have never adjusted the recipe since it’s inception. It’s the one thing my husband says will always be a yes answer when I ask, “Is Boca Ragu ok for dinner?�.

I often just serve big bowls of this on it’s own. But ,it’s also good with a green salad starter and a big hunk of buttered, crusty bread. Add a nice glass of a hearty Red Wine (Chianti Classico, for instance) and you’ve just reached the top where it doesn’t get any better!

Ingredients:
- half package of No Yolks Egg Noodles*
- 1 package Boca Crumbles*
- 1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1/4 tsp. Onion Powder
- light sprinkling of Vegesal*
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
- dash Cayenne Pepper
- 1/2 tsp. Red Chili Flakes, or to taste
- 1/2 tsp. Dried Oregano
- 1 can Diced Tomatoes, drained
- 1 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
- 1/2 cup Milk (2% or Whole, but not Skim)
- 1 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter
- handful dried breadcrumbs for garnish (optional)*

Method:
- Bring a large stockpot of water to a boil. In separate pan, saute Boca Crumbles in a splash of Olive Oil with all the spices, salt and pepper. When ingredients are combined and starting to lightly brown, add tomaoes, tomato paste and combine. Add the water and balsamic vinegar and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes, or until reduced down and thickened nicely.
- Drop the noodles into the water, adding a handful of salt first, and cook for 8-10 minutes. Add the milk and butter to the Boca mixture and keep covered until noodles are ready. If it needs to thicken, just simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes while the noodles cook.
- Drain the egg noodles and put into bowls, or onto plates. Top with the Boca mixture evenly and sprinkle the top with the breadcrumbs. Delicious!

**Cook’s Notes**
- No Yolks are yolk-free egg noodles available in the regular pasta aisle of the grocery store. You can use this sauce on ANY noodle and it will taste heavenly! This is just the “original� recipe, so I wanted to keep it’s homey texture in tact. It’s also great with Whole Wheat Spaghetti, or regular Spaghetti.
- Boca Crumbles are a Soy-based meat substitute, which I use very often, sometimes found in the breakfast frozen food aisle or the natural frozen foods section of the grocery store. You could use meat in this dish just as easily. But, I feel it has so much flavour with the Boca, why would you want to use meat? You could also use the Morningstar Crumbles if you can’t find the Boca ones. There’s a lot of options out there to keep it Vegetarian.
- Vegesal is a fine-grain vegetable seasoning salt found in the regular spice aisle near that other seasoning salt. If you can’t find it there, try the natural foods section in the spice area. It adds a lovely “savoury� note to loads of dishes without being gritty or granular.
- I added breadcrumbs to the plate on this to trick my eyes into thinking I had cheese. Little did I know at the time that it’s a common practice in Italy for the same reason. Clever, ay? But, by all means, you could definitely use Parmesan if you were so inclined.

I distinctly remember making this for the first time when I decided to become vegetarian. I found the basic recipe online and tried it. I, of course, made some mistakes and it didn’t quite turn out how I had hoped. Only through doing, did I learn. I learned not to put the breaded and crisp tofu directly into the sauce. That was the biggest mistake. I also had not pressed the tofu to get rid of a lot of the water. Now I know. To prevent you from doing the same thing, you know too!

Ingredients:
- 1 Block Extra Firm Tofu, sliced into 8 equal pieces
- 2 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter
- Scattering (about a cup) of Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 cup Vegetable Stock (I use Roasted stock for more flavour)
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 4 Tbsp. Prepared Yellow Mustard
- Generous grind of Black Pepper

Method:
- Start by pre-heating the oven to 200 F and have a parchment lined sheet pan standing by.
- Place the slices of tofu on a double layer of paper towels and then cover with another double layer of paper towels. Place a cutting board, or tray with heavy cans, on top of tofu. Allow to press for at least a half hour. Longer if you can. I usually do about an hour to make sure it’s nice and dry.
- Pour the stock into a saucepan over medium heat. Add the honey and mustard and whisk to incorporate. When no lumps appear, partially cover and allow to simmer over medium heat.
- When tofu is pressed, take each slice and coat with the wheat flour. Place on a plate until ready to fry. Dust the slices of tofu with the flour once more right before frying. This will ensure a crisper coating.
- Add the butter to a wide, non-stick pan over medium high heat. Once the butter is melted begin adding the slices of tofu. Brown on both sides until a deep golden brown. Remove from pan and place into pre-heated oven to keep warm. Add the honey mustard to the frying pan, leaving the butter and flour, and whisk until smooth. Add a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper, or you could use white pepper, and stir to combine. Allow to thicken and then serve alongside the tofu as a dipping sauce.

**Cook’s Notes**
+ I usually serve this with Steamed Carrots & Peas and Rich Man’s Mash, but you could do any number of things with this. Inside a wrap would be lovely, an open-faced sandwich with all the trimmings or just as a snack on their own.
+ Instead of Yellow Mustard, experiment with other types of mustard. I did this once with Country Dijon and it was very good!