One-Pot Chocolate Desserts: 50 Recipes for Making Chocolate Desserts from Scratch Using a Pot, A Spoon, and a Pan - Hardcover

Using Andrew Schloss and Ken Bookman's timesaving one-pot method, all you need are a pot, a spoon, and a pan to make these fifty delicious chocolate desserts.  Gone are the electric mixer, the arsenal of bowls and utensils, the sifting of dry ingredients, the separating of eggs, the alternate adding of wet and dry ingredients.  Instead, put all the ingredients in one pot, use one utensil to mix them, and pour the batter into a pan.  That's it.  Each chocolate layer cake, brownie, torte, candy, and mousse is ready to pop into the oven in less than ten minutes.
Chocolate Carrot Cake

This cake was born by accident.  About 20 minutes after I slid the completed layers into the oven, I realized I had forgotten to add the oil.  At that point, there was nothing to do but finish baking and try again.  But when I checked on the cake, it looked fine.  And when I tasted it, I was floored.  The cake was delicious--moist, tender, with the perfect blend of chocolate and spice.  After a day, the oil-less cake began to toughen.  But replacing some of the oil fixed that.  The finished recipe calls for less than half the oil of a traditional carrot cake.

Makes 12 servings

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups flour
5 cups grated carrots or 1 pound carrots, peeled and grated
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup pecan pieces
1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Grease and flour two 8-inch layer cake pans.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs until well blended.  Mix in the sugar and cocoa until thoroughly combined.  Mix in the oil, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.  Add the baking soda in pinches, breaking up any lumps with your fingers.  Stir in thoroughly.  Stir in the flour and beat until smooth.  Mix in the grated carrots, white chocolate chips, pecans, and raisins just until they are evenly distributed.

Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pans on a rack for 10 minutes.  Unpan and cool completely.  If desired, assemble the two layers into a single cake by frosting between the layers and around the sides, and top with a double recipe of Milk Chocolate Frosting (page 72).
Chocolate Chip Marble Coffee Cake

This recipe combines two of my favorite chocolate-infused cakes--chocolate chip tea cake and chocolate-swirled coffee cake.  The chocolate chips are chilled in the freezer while the cake is prepared, which keeps them from melting when they are combined with the batter.  You create a marbling effect by sprinkling cocoa, cinnamon, and sugar over the batter and stirring just enough to make streaks but not to blend them in.

Makes 12 servings

1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) mini-chocolate chips
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups cold sour cream
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups flour
3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Place the chocolate chips in the freezer until ready to use.  Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Spray a heavy, nonstick 10-inch Bundt pan with spray shortening and set aside.

In a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat, begin melting the butter, stirring occasionally.  When it is half melted, remove from the heat and stir until it is completely melted.

Stir in the sugar, vanilla, salt, sour cream, and eggs.  Add the baking soda and baking powder in pinches, breaking up any lumps with your fingers.  Stir thoroughly.  Stir in the flour and beat until thoroughly blended.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Sprinkle the top of the batter with the brown sugar, cocoa, and cinnamon.  Stir briefly--five strokes and no more.

Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the middle comes out with just a crumb clinging to it.

Cool on a rack for 5 minutes.  Unpan and cool on the rack for at least 10 more minutes.
Triple-X Brownies

These brownies are the biggest, darkest, dampest, sweetest, over-the-top gargantuan examples of chocolate excess ever to pass between the lips of a chocoholic.  The finished batter is quite moist and is a little tricky to cut, so it's best to make these brownies a day ahead.  You will find that half a day in the refrigerator will make them much easier to cut into portions.

Makes 6 dozen small or 3 dozen large brownies

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
8 ounces unsweetened chocolate, broken in pieces
31/2 cups sugar
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
5 eggs
13/4 cups flour
2 cups whole almonds, skins on
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Line a 10 x 15 x 1-inch jellyroll pan with foil.  Spray with spray shortening and set aside.

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, begin melting the butter.  When it is half melted, add the chocolate, remove from the heat when the chocolate is half melted, and stir until the butter and chocolate are completely melted.  Stir in the sugar, salt, vanilla, and eggs until mixture is smooth.  Add the flour and stir until completely incorporated.  Mix in the almonds and the chocolate chips.

Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is dry but the interior is still damp and has not yet firmed.  Do not overbake.

Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes.  Cover with a rack and invert.  Remove pan and peel off foil.  Replace pan and invert back into pan.  Refrigerate until chilled through and solid.

Trim off edges and cut with a serrated knife into about 6 dozen small or 3 dozen large pieces.  Store, unrefrigerated and wrapped in plastic, for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to several months.
Best-Ever Chocolate Pudding

The popularity of boxed puddings has left us with the mistaken notion that preparing pudding from scratch is beyond our abilities.  But pudding always was, and still is, the easiest of all homemade desserts.  This pudding is spectacular--densely chocolate and exceptionally creamy.  You may never open a box of pudding mix again.

Makes 6 servings

3/4 cup sugar
Pinch salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 cups milk
3 eggs
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken in pieces
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar, salt, cornstarch, and cocoa.  Add 1 cup of the milk and stir until the cornstarch is dissolved.  Little bits of cocoa may still be visible, but they'll go away as the pudding cooks.  Mix in the eggs.  Add the remaining milk and stir to combine.

Place over medium heat and, stirring constantly, cook until the pudding thickens slightly and lumps appear on the bottom of your stirring spoon, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and mix vigorously until the lumps blend in.  Stir in the chocolate until melted.

Return pan to heat and cook pudding until boiling and thick, stirring constantly; be sure to stir thoroughly across the bottom of the pan and into the corners.

Remove pan from heat and stir in the vanilla.  While still warm, pour pudding into six 1/2-cup dessert dishes or bowls.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill.

If desired, serve garnished with whipped cream.