Chocolate Cake

I will never, ever use a different recipe for chocolate cake again. I have seriously never had a cake like this. This is the BEST.....for all of you chocolate lovers.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

11 oz semi-sweet chocolate

2/3 cup butter

6 lg egs, seperated

2/3 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9" springform pan, line the bottom with buttered wax paper; dust with cocoa & shake out excess. Slowly melt chocolate & butter together in a heavy saucepan over low heat; COOL. Meanwhile seperate eggs into 2 large bowls. Beat yolks for about 1 minute; slowly add sugar & continue beating til thick & lemon colored. Beat whites until they just begin to peak. Add cooled chocolate mixture to egg yolks and blend thoroughly. Pour the chocolate & egg yolk mixture into egg whites & fold gently til completely blended. Pour batter into prepared pan & bake 40-45 minutes. Cool 1/2 hour before turning out onto serving plate. Frost with......

Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup whipping cream

3 Tbsp unsalted butter

4 oz unsweetened chocolate

4 oz milk chocolate

Chop chocolate. Simmer cream and butter. Reduce heat; add both chocolates & stir until smooth. Let stand until cool, but still pourable, about 1 hour. Spoon glaze over cake. Refrigerate cake, but serve at room temp. Serve with spoonful of sweetened whipped cream.

To Decorate....cut a peice of wax paper that covers top of cake. In the center draw the outline of a leaf (use a real leaf). Cut it out-lay the paper over cold cake & shake a little powdered sugar over. Carefully remove wax paper. You can do this with hearts too!

Honey Nut Stir-Fry

We like this because it is different from regular stir-fry! I have done chicken instead of pork and I usually add more veggies (peas, broccoli, etc.)

1 pound pork steak or loin or boneless chicken breast

3/4 cup orange juice

1/3 cup honey

3 Tbsp Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

2 Tbsp Vegetable oil, divided

2 large carrots sliced diagonally

2 stalks celery sliced diagonally

1/2 cup cashews

Hot cooked rice

Cut pork in thin strips, set aside. Combine O.J., honey, soy sauce, cornstarch, and ginger in small bowl, mix well. Heat 1 T. oil. in skillet over medium heat Add carrots and celery; stir fry about 3 minutes or until crispy tender-DO NOT overcook veggies. Remove vegetables; set aside. Pour remaining oil in skillet. Add pork, stir-fry about 3 minutes. Return vegetables to skillet; add honey mixture and nutes. Cook and stir until sauce comes to a boil and thickens. Serve over rice. Seves 4-6.