Weekend Company {Guest Blogger Erin}

Good Morning! Are you as happy as I am that the weekend is once again upon us? Did you have a good week? I hope so. We actually get a 3 day weekend this week because Monkey had Fall Break yesterday, and believe me, the extra day was much appreciated!  It seems like the weeks are going by faster and faster, with us already into the last half of October already!

Today I have a real treat for you. My dear friend Erin is back once again with such a decadent recipe the pictures had me drooling the minute they showed up in my inbox.

For those who don't know, Erin and I have been friends for over 20 years now, and while life may get in the way of us seeing each other as much as we would like to, we always find a way to catch up, and immediately pick up right where we left on. So, when she is kind enough to drop by EMM to share something delicious, it's extra special for me because it's as if we are sitting down over a cup of coffee, sharing something we both love...food.

~So please welcome her back, sit down, and stay a bit~

Good Morning!  Happy Saturday to all!  I am so honored to be guest blogging again here on Everyday Mom’s Meals.  Krista and I have been friends for over twenty years now and I can honestly say, without a doubt, we will be friends for the rest of our lives.  I love watching her blog grow and develop and I am always impressed with the new and exciting things she has to offer!

Today I would like to share with you a recipe that is near to my heart.  You see, I was born and raised in Indiana and I love my cornfields!  I would have been perfectly content to spend my days on familiar ground; but God had bigger plans for me, and in 2004 I graduated from college, got married and moved to Ohio.  I love Indiana and I always will; but now my life is in Ohio.  I’m not a Hoosier and I’m not a Buckeye, so what am I?  I’m a Hoosier-Hioan!  That is what inspired me to create this cake.  I have been to a lot of church suppers in my life, and there was always a sheet cake.  Always.  At least in Indiana!  The sheet cake was a novel concept to all my new church friends here in Ohio.  I’ve made lots of sheet cakes, white ones, chocolate ones, all good in their own right.  I’m always looking for ways to improve on favorite recipes, so when I made my chocolate sheet cake recipe, I decided to kick it up a notch.  I started by adding whipped cream – good, but common.  Then it came to me…..BUCKEYES!  I make buckeyes at least once a year.  Yummy peanut butter and chocolate bites no one can resist.  My cake had the chocolate; it just needed the peanut butter!  I tinkered with a basic peanut butter sauce until I got it just right.  Served on my rich chocolate sheet cake, with whipped cream on top, the sauce was PERFECT.  And so the Hoosier-Hio cake was born, a Hoosier cake at heart with a little bit of Buckeye for excitement.  Enjoy!

Hoosier-Hio Cake

by Mrs. Erin King

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 18 x 13 inch rimmed baking sheet. 

Cake:

2 c. flour

2 c. sugar

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 eggs, plus 2 yolks

2 tsp vanilla

¼ c. sour cream

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

4 Tbs unsalted butter

¾ c. vegetable oil

¾ c. water

½ c. dutch-processed cocoa powder

Chocolate Icing:

8 Tbs (1 stick) butter

½ c. heavy cream

½ c. dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 Tbs light corn syrup

3 c. powdered sugar

1 Tbs vanilla

Peanut Butter Sauce (recipe follows)

Whipped Cream

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.  In another bowl, whisk egg yolks, vanilla and sour cream until smooth. 

Heat chocolate, butter, oil, water and cocoa in a large sauce pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, about 3-5 minutes.  Whisk chocolate mixture into flour mixture until incorporated.  Whisk egg mixture into batter, then pour into prepared baking pan.  Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. 

About 5 minutes before the cake is done, heat butter, cream, cocoa and corn syrup in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth.  Off heat, whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla.  Spread warm icing over hot cake.  Let cake cool to room temperature, for about an hour, then refrigerate until icing is set, about 2 hours.  Bring back to room temperature before serving. 

Peanut Butter Sauce:

1 c. peanut butter (I only use Jiff.)

splash vanilla

2 tsp heavy cream

Mix together in a microwave safe dish.  Microwave on high for about 2 minutes, stirring after first minute.  Drizzle warm sauce on cake right before serving, garnish with whipped cream.