Pumpkin Soup From Picking to Serving

We'll Show You How To Do It All!

Halloween is right around the corner, and that means that our grocery stores have been invaded by two things. Pumpkins and candy. We're going to show you how to turn those pumpkins, not into Jack-o-lanterns to scare off the ghosts and goblins, but into a delicious soup. You will also have so much leftover puree that you can then use it next month to turn it into some amazing pumpkin pies, muffins, or cookies.

Ingredients: 

1 Large Pumpkin 

16 oz of cream cheese

6 cups of chicken broth 

Garlic 

1 small onion  or 1 Tbsp of onion powder

Salt to taste

Tools: Sharp chef's knife, cutting board, oven, parchment paper, aluminum foil, food processor, two large bowls, a large strainer, a spoon or metal measuring cup, a wide, large pot similar to a caldera or Dutch oven.

First things first. The type of pumpkin that's good for making a Jack-o-lantern is not the same one you want for food. Although your local grocery store will sell you the GIANT pumpkins without trouble, the tiny ones are not so easy to come by, and the ones of various colors are great for decor, not for eating.   Do not despair just yet, though. You don't need to go on an epic quest searching for the perfect pumpkin. You can actually search through the ones that are being sold for carving. You'll want to look for one that sounds only partially hollow and is hefty and solid. This should land you with a pumpkin that has thick walls and is still ripe but has not gone rotten. 

Once you get the pumpkin home, give it a quick wash and dry it off. You don't want it to be slippery when you start cutting it in a moment. Then snag a thick towel and your chef's knife and carefully stab your way into the pumpkin on one of the ridges. You want the knife to go all the way in for this first cut. It takes work, but going slow is the key.  You could, in theory, use the saw from your carving kit, but we don't actually want to get rid of the lid on our pumpkin. That's perfectly good food right there, rather than being in the way like with carving. 

Once you've gotten all the way through, remove the knife, grab a sharpie and draw lines to quarter your pumpkin, as best as possible, without removing your pumpkin. You might want to cut around the top of it, but again, this is a preference thing.  Depending on the size of your pumpkin, we suggest splitting it into either two or three pieces. This allows for the inside of the pumpkin to steam rather than sear in the next step.  Your next step is to grab a hand mixer and input just one of the two whisks. Use that, set to a low to medium speed to quickly and easily gut your pumpkin. (When you're finished, you can set aside the seeds for roasting at a later point.) 

Once you've cut your pumpkin into the desired shape, grab a pyrex (or similar)  baking dish. You'll want to line the bottom and sides of it with parchment paper (not wax) and then a layer of tinfoil over that. You should end up with the tin foil pressed firmly into the sides of the pan and wrapped around the top edges. This way, you've got less of a mess when this is all over. 

Preheat your oven to 400*F, and pop your pumpkins into the baking dish(es). You want the pumpkin to have enough room to sit flat on the bottom of the dish rather than having anything sticking over the sides. Once your oven is preheated, pop the pumpkin into the oven for 1 hour.  Make sure that your pumpkin is not touching the top of your oven, or it can catch on fire.  Once an hour has passed, you'll want to check on them with a fork. See if you can easily sink a fork into the flesh of the pumpkin.  If it goes in easily at first and then hits resistance, you'll know that you need more time. If you can cut into the pumpkin without trouble, congrats, go ahead and pull it out. 

At whatever point you finish up your pumpkin, set the dishes on the counter, and leave them be for 30 minutes. Once they're just cool enough that you can handle them, carefully use something like a metal spoon or a pair of forks, to lift the pumpkin away from you. So, if you're looking at the pumpkin, lift the far edge and slowly bring that towards you. If your pumpkin was cut in half, this is going to release a LOT of steam, and it's going to be extremely hot. Please don't burn yourself. 

Now go ahead and wander off for an hour or so.  You want the flesh of the pumpkin cool enough that you can handle it without getting burnt. Once it's ready, come back and drag one half over to your counter, where you should have set up 1 large bowl, one medium bowl for scraps, and a large metal spoon. We're looking at a cooking spoon here, not a serving or eating spoon.  This will take too long otherwise. 

Depending on how long your pumpkin roasted, it might be just solid enough to be scraped apart, or it could be at the stage where if you look at it funny, the pieces fly apart. Grab the pumpkin and give it a careful squeeze to try and get out as much liquid from the pumpkin as possible. You want it to be down to just a few drops.  Then, start scraping apart the skin from the meat of the pumpkin. It's not a complicated process, but it does require you to focus to ensure you're getting all of the meat. 

Once you've finished one, go ahead and give your hands a good stretch, and then go and tackle the other one. If you're like us, this is the point when you realize that you might have purchased 3 pumpkins, but you're not going to be roasting all of them in one day. 

Once you've got all of the pumpkin flesh in one bowl and the skin in the other, toss the scraps and grab your sieve, the second large bowl, and your food processor. Now you're going to puree everything. Working in batches, transition the scraped flesh to the food processor and have at it. You should have just enough water for the processor to work but not so much that you end up with a thin puree. 

Once you've pureed the entirety of your pumpkin, give the first bowl a quick wash, and grab your sieve and metal spoon. You want to work the puree through the sieve, pushing and scraping as you go. Your goal is to get rid of any uncooked bits, seeds, skin etc. 

When you're finally done with that stage, you can do one of two things. (Three technically, but we don't count icing your wrists as an actual part of the recipe.)  

1)  You can be satisfied with the quality of the puree as it stands, and move forward with cooking! 

2) You can opt to make it thicker and use cheesecloth to remove some of the liquid. 

If you're going with option 2, here's a quick run down. Again, wash the emptied bowl, and then grab some cheesecloth. You'll work in batches over your sink to squeeze out about 50% of your liquid. So, just a gentle squeezing, not working to flatten all of it out. Add each batch into the bowl you washed, and repeat as needed until your puree is the thickness you prefer. 

At this point you can continue on to make this super simple soup, OR you can take a break for the day, set aside 3 cups of your puree, and portion the rest for freezing. That's up to you.  Frozen puree can last up to 6 months, if you don’t manage to use it all up before then.

If you choose to move forward with the cooking, let's get to it. 

Take a large, wide pot (we used a caldera at our home, but a dutch oven would work as well) and set that over low heat.  

You can use already minced garlic, or you can mince your own. Either way, use at least 1 Tbsp. We say at least because in our home the rule is always "more garlic is better."  When your garlic is ready, turn up the heat to high and toss in the garlic. You can also add in 1 cup of diced white onion at this point, or just sprinkle your garlic with onion powder. That depends on how strong you want the taste of the onion to be.  You're looking for the garlic to soften and also start to turn just a little brown around the edges. 

Mix in 6 cups of chicken broth, 16 oz of cream cheese, and 3 cups of your pumpkin puree.  Stir thoroughly and bring the mix up to a boil. 

Once your soup has come up to a boil, reduce it down to low and allow it to simmer away until it has reduced to a thick, creamy consistency. 

When you're done, turn off the heat and serve it up alongside some rolls or a rich chewy bread. It's not a complex recipe, but it is filling and delicious.  

An important note is that if you want to do this at other points throughout the year and you don't have any pumpkins just lying around, you can always pick up a large can of pumpkin puree from the store and use that. It won't taste /as/ good, but it's still an amazing soup. 

There you have it! You can now say you know how to select your own pumpkins, roast them and turn them into soup! What do you think? Are you interested in learning other recipes like this, where we show you how to prep different aspects of the meal ahead? Let us know over on our Facebook page or in the comments below. 

If you're here because your freezer is thinking it's still summer and working harder than an ox, we can help. You can give us a call at ((214) 599-0055) or reach out on our contact page. We'll work with you to  find a time that fits your schedule best to send one of our technicians to get your home running smoothly again. Whether you live in Dallas, Coppell, or Addison, Appliance Rescue Service is here for you. 

Punchy Potato & Cheddar Rolls

These potato rolls could be the star of their own meal.

Mashed potatoes are a great side dish, but in the case of these rolls, they are the star of the show. Not because you'll taste them but because of the light and crisp texture they give to the rolls.  Rather than dense and chewy bread, you end up with a light and airy roll that can be used alongside soups, stews, or hearty gravies or even used as a quick sandwich. 

Ingredients: 

1 pound russet potatoes  (roughly 2-3 good-sized potatoes) 

2 Tbsp unsalted butter 

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese

2 Tsp instant yeast

1 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp stone ground mustard

2 large eggs 

Tools: chef's knife, cutting board, a bunch of bowls, fork, saucepan, colander, potato masher, rimmed baking pan, cooking spray, plastic wrap, parchment paper, oven 

1. Skin your potatoes and chop them into 1-inch chunks. Shred your cheddar and set it to the side. Chop up your butter into 4 pieces. And last but not least, take one of your eggs, add 1 Tbsp of water and whisk it all together. Set the last one in your fridge for the time being. 

2. Take your potatoes and put them into a medium-sized saucepan, and cover them with cold water, plus an extra inch. Bring the pot up to a boil over high heat, and then reduce the heat to medium-low. At this point, you'll let the potatoes simmer until they're fully cooked, about 10 minutes. At the eight-minute mark, grab a fork and gently press into a potato. If you can cut into it easily, they're done. If not, let them continue cooking.  

3. When they are finished cooking, you'll pull the pan off the burner and reserve 5 Tbsp of the potato water. Set that to the side for now. If you have plants or a garden, you might want to save the rest of the water as well, but either way, you'll need to drain the rest of the water from your potatoes.  Now toss the potatoes back into the pot, and set them on low. Sit here for a minute, shaking the potatoes every few seconds. You're evaporating all of the water off the surface of the potatoes. When that's FINALLY done, remove your potatoes from the heat. 

4. Have you had a rough week? Or maybe just a bad day? Grab your potato masher and go to town.  You want to turn this into a very thoroughly mashed set of potatoes. No lumps or bumps left. When you're done, grab your 1 cup measuring cup and a second smaller measuring cup. Use the smaller one to scoop up the potatoes and pack them into the 1 cup. You want a firmly packed 8 oz of potato. done? Can't add anymore without it going over? Good. Set the rest of the potatoes aside. You can eat those while you let the dough rise later. 

5. Next up, grab yourself a small bowl, add the measured cup of potatoes to it, and mix in your butter until melted and fully incorporated. 

6. In a large bowl, combine your flour, 1/2 a cup of your cheddar cheese, yeast, sugar, mustard, and salt into a bowl. Add the warm potato mixture to this and mix it with your hands until well combined. At this point, some lumps are fine. Take your still whole egg and crack that into the mix. Mix your dough for 8-10 minutes by hand or until your dough is soft and slightly sticky. 

7. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly greased container. Cover the top of the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it to rise. If your kitchen is slightly cool (as ours was the day we made these), no worries. You can set this in front of a toaster oven or on top of your stove. Turn your choice of stove on 350* and let the dough rise until it has doubled in volume. If your kitchen is already warm,  it should take only 30-40 minutes; we ended up going for an extra 30 minutes, though, to make sure it had doubled. 

8. Once the time has passed, press down on the dough to deflate it. Turn it out onto a clean counter, and stretch it out into a 12-inch log. Cut that into 12 equal pieces and cover them loosely with greased plastic. 

9. While you let the dough sit, line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Then head back to your dough,  and grab one piece of the dough. Keep the others covered with the plastic as you work.  You'll form it into roughly a ball shape by stretching it around your thumbs and pinching the edges together.  When you do this, the top will be smooth. Place the ball seam side down onto your clean counter, and using your cupped hand, drag it in small circles until the dough feels round and tight.  When you're finished with one, place it back under the plastic until all of them are finished. 

Tip: If your dough is really sticky, you can lightly dust your fingers with flour. 

10. Arrange your rolls on the prepared sheet and cover them loosely with the greased plastic to let them rise again until almost doubled in size, another 30-40 minutes. (Here again, you can utilize the trick with your oven of choice.)  While the rolls rise, turn your oven to 425 and move one rack to the upper middle position. 

11. Brush the tops of the rolls lightly with the egg wash you made at the beginning, and sprinkle them with the remaining 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese. Bake the rolls until they're golden brown on top, roughly 14 minutes. (Make sure to keep an eye on them, and turn them halfway through the baking.)  When they're finished, transfer the sheet to a wire rack and let them cool for 5 minutes.  You can then serve them warm or at room temperature. Store them in a sealed container if any manage to survive. 

These were absolutely delicious when we made them, and we hope that you enjoy them just as much. One thing that we did note as we were baking was that the type and amount of mustard could be changed depending on preference. We used stone ground this time, but a spicy brown mustard and adjusting the amount could yield a punchier roll. Let us know your thoughts and ideas in the comments below or over on our Facebook page! 

If you're here instead because your stove isn't functioning correctly, you're still in the right place. At Appliance Rescue Service, we want to work with you to get your home running smoothly again. You can reach out to us via our contact page or by giving us a call at ((214) 599-0055). Whether you're in Frisco or Allen, we're here for you. 

Tomato Pie of Seasons Meeting

Not to be mistaken for humble pie

If you're looking for something that blends summer and fall, this is the pie for you.  Heirloom tomatoes are a grape tomatoes that show off the beautiful colors of tomatoes. They're lovely to look at and even better to eat combining sweet, tart and just a hint of bitterness.  Although we give all sorts of alternatives in other recipes, for this one we have to be firm about getting heirloom tomatoes. However if you can get a selection of fresh herbs, we will absolutely say go for it! 

Ingredients

1 lb heirloom tomatoes

1 large handful fresh parsley

1/2 c sour cream

1 Tbsp dried basil

1 Tbsp fresh minced garlic

1 Tbsp ground thyme

1 tsp dried oregano 

1/2 tsp rosemary

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

1 pie crust 

2 slices of mozzarella 

Let's start off by chopping your tomatoes into quarters, nothing fancy needed here.   Now grab the parsley and start tearing it up. You want it so that you don't have anything larger than your fingernail (give or take.) If you've chosen fresh herbs for the other pieces, you can do that now as well. 

Next up take your mozzarella into ribbons no wider than a 1/2 inch, this is going to be the topping of your pie instead of a standard crust. 

Take a bowl and mix together your spices and your sour cream so that everything is thoroughly mixed. Then add in your tomatoes and thoroughly coat them. Allow this mixture to sit for a while (maybe 30 minutes or so) to let the flavors steep into the sour cream. 

Now take your pie crust lay it over a pie pan, carefully pressing it into the pan so that you don't form tears. Curl the edges up onto the sides of the pan so that nothing is hanging down and "squish" it together to form a more solid crust. Next take your tin foil and wrap the edges in aluminum foil to protect them during the baking process. 

Pour your tomato mixture into the pie shell, and set your oven to preheat to 400* F.  While you're waiting for it to preheat, it's time to get fancy! Take your mozzarella and make a pattern out of it. Have fun! There are a ton of patterns you can try over on Pinterest. 

Once your oven is preheated to 400*, bake the pie for 35 minutes. For the last ten of that time, uncover the aluminum so that the crust has a chance to become a gorgeous golden brown. 

At that point you can take it out of the oven, and allow it to cool for five minutes before serving. 

Other options: You can pour this out over a bowl of pasta, be it penne, linguini or tortellini, and it's SO good. 

Another idea we discussed in the kitchen was to see what we could come up with for adding some meatiness to it, and for that we decided on adding slices of prosciutto, chopped up into the pie itself. Our chefs couldn't agree on how to go about that, whether you add it as slices along the bottom of the pie before pouring in the tomato mix, by chopping it up into small pieces and adding it to the mix, or by rolling it up and slicing it and then layering those spirals on the top of the pie. 

Now we know Texas is still dealing with the heat of Summer, even if the calendar says it's officially fall.  Fortunately, this meal can be enjoyed no matter what time of year it is. It's just best when its the in-between time of the seasons. If you do decide to make this, let us know over n our Facebook page or in the comments down below.  As always, we want to hear from you! 

If you're here because your dishwasher is giving you hell and doesn't want to get the pie tins clean, we can still help! We're not just here for delicious recipes, we can fix your major appliances too! (Yeah, we know we say this every month, but it's true!)  You can reach out to us via our contact page or by giving us a call! ((214) 599-0055) 

Whatever it is you need, we're here for you. We'll work with you to find a time that works for you and set an appointment for one of our technicians to come out to you. We'll get your home running smoothly again. 

Mushroom & Asparagus Crepes

Easy and fast to make, and so delicious you’ll be fighting for a second share.

We won’t mince words with y’all this week. We’re too excited to get to the recipe. This week we’re making a delicious summer end mushroom and asparagus recipe. You can make this now and save the crepes for a later date or you can make only enough for a dinner and enjoy it tonight. 

Ingredients

Crepes

½ tsp vegetable oil

1 c whole wheat flour

½ tsp salt

2 c milk

3 large eggs

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temp

Filling

1 ½ lbs cremini mushrooms mixed with ½ lb shitake mushrooms if you want to add another layer

¼ c water

½ tsp vegetable oil

1 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 shallot, minced

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp fresh pepper

8 oz asparagus

⅔ c heavy cream

6 Tbsp Pecorino Romano cheese

Start off by prepping your mushrooms and asparagus. You’ll want to trim your mushrooms and chop them to ¼ inch thick. Your asparagus will get the same treatment, trimming off the woody bits, and cutting diagonally. 

For the crepes - 

Grab your nonstick skillet and put it on low heat for 5 minutes, and pour the oil in. While that’s heating up, grab two bowls. In one, mix your flour and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together your milk and eggs. 

Next pour in half of your milk mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Pour your melted butter in next and whisk that until it’s mixed in. Whisk in the remaining wet ingredients and mix until that’s free of any lumps, clumps or bumps.

Once your batter is ready, it’s back to the skillet. Grab a paper towel and wipe out the skillet. You want just a film of oil on the bottom and the sides. Turn up the heat on your stove to medium and let the skillet heat for another minute. You’ll test the heat by pouring 1 tablespoon of batter into the skillet and cook it for 20 seconds. If your mini crepe is golden brown on the bottom, your skillet is at the perfect temperature. If it’s too light, or too dark, adjust the heat and test again. 

Remove your skillet from the heat and pour in ⅓ of a cup of batter into the far side of the skillet. (So whichever side is farthest from you.) Swirl the skillet gently in a circle until you have covered the bottom evenly. Place your skillet back on the stove and cook the crepe, without moving the skillet, until the top of the skillet is dry and the crepe starts to brown at the edges. Wait for 30 seconds or so to pass and then grab your rubber or silicone spatula. Run it around the edges of the skillet and then gently slide the spatula underneath the edge. Grab the edge with your fingertips and flip the crepe. Wait another 20 seconds and the top of the crepe should be lightly spotted. Yay, it’s done! 

Take your skillet off the heat, and transfer the crepe to a wire rack. Return the skillet to the heat for 10 seconds before you repeat everything with the remaining batter. As your crepes are finished, transfer them to the  wire rack. 

*Crepes can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and kept refrigerated for up to 3 days. Alternatively, if you’re in a baking mood, you can stack them between sheets of parchment paper and freeze them for up to a month. Make sure to allow the frozen crepes to thaw completely in the refrigerator before you decide to use them. 

Now it’s time for the filling!

Combine your mushrooms and water in your skillet and cook them over high heat. Until the skillet is almost dry and the mushrooms have begun to sizzle, it should take about 4-8 minutes. Reduce  the heat to medium-high and add oil to the pan. Toss until the mushrooms are evenly coated. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until the mushrooms are well browned, another 4-8 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium.

Now, toss those mushrooms to the side of the skillet. You want them to stay warm, but now it’s time to focus on the asparagus.  Add butter to the center and once it’s melted, add the shallot, salt and pepper to the center and cook, stirring until fragrant. Add your asparagus  and cook for a minute. Now turn the heat down to medium-low, add in cream and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mix has reduced by half about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and add in the pecorino keep stirring until the cheese is melted and the mushroom mix is creamy. 

Take two plates, place the crepes on one and invert a plate over the top. Microwave this whole mixture until the crepes are warm, no more than 30-45 seconds. Working with 1 crepe at a time spread ⅓ of a cup of the mushroom mix across the bottom half of a crepe. Fold the crepes in half and then fold it over again. Transfer them over to a plate and serve warm. 

So, what do you think? Are you liking the idea? Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook page. As always we love to see what you make . 

If you’re not here because of that, but maybe because you would prefer to have a functional stove or dishwasher, we get it. You can reach out to us on our contact page or by giving us a call at (). Wherever you are within the Dallas area, Appliance Rescue is here for you. 

"Sugar Bomb" Cake

Or You Might Call It Death by Delicious

This isn't a cake for a birthday. This isn't a cake for a little get together. This is cake for a crowd, when you have a ton of people and you want all of the ones that enjoy sugar to walk around in a daze after trying it. This is one of those cakes where you make only once a year. Not because it's difficult. Not because it doesn't taste amazing (it does. We have it on the opinion of a ten-year-old that this is "the best cake in the whole world.") It's because this cake is so overwhelmingly delicious that you can only handle it once a year.  

It started off as an experiment.  We wanted chocolate chip cookies, but we didn't want just cookies. We wanted cake too. And then we thought about cookie dough. Except, it's not smart to eat just cookie dough. You need the crunch to balance it out. We took all of that and the urge for some chocolate milk as well ( we might have been egged on by that same 10-year-old helper) and started brainstorming how to smash all of it together. This is the outcome. Cake. Cookies. Cookie dough. Chocolate milk. All together in one glorious, amazing, and possibly death-defying sugar bomb cake. 

We’re putting all of the photos at the end of the article just to make it easier for y’all, so if you’re looking for those, keep on scrolling down. :)

Cake Ingredients: 

2 1/4 c all-purpose flour plus a bit extra 

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 c sugar 

3/4 c butter, at room temperature

3 large eggs

4 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 c buttermilk*

1 c mini chocolate chips, tossed in flour 

Chocolate chip cookies 

Tools Needed For all sections: a glass baking dish 9x13, a hand mixer or stand mixer of your choice, a small sauce pan, several bowls to mix in, a sieve, measuring cups and spoons, a cooling rack, toothpicks, and a heat proof glass dish, a rolling pin or mallet, a ziploc bag 

Set your oven to 350* F.

Set your chocolate chip cookies to the side until it's time to assemble the cake.

Take your glass dish and spray it with canola oil, evenly on all sides and the bottom.

In a small dish, pour in your chocolate chips and about 1 Tbsp of flour. Toss to coat. If you feel like not all of the chips are coated, add another tablespoon at a time and repeat until all of the chocolate chips are evenly coated.

In a large bowl combine together your flour, baking powder and salt. If you like, you can experiment and sift the flour to see how that will affect the density of the cake. (It's us, we regularly encourage experimentation when it won't ruin the food.) 

In a separate bowl, cream together your butter and sugar until it's fluffy. You can do this with a stand mixer, a hand mixer, or if you're feeling the need for a workout, you can use a hand whisk. 

Add in one egg at a time, mixing thoroughly and then add your vanilla.

Next up alternate between adding in the flour mix and the buttermilk until everything is combined.

Fold in your chocolate chips 

Pour the mixture into your pan and bake for 45 minutes OR until a toothpick inserted in the middle will come out clean. 

Make sure to rotate the pan halfway through.   

After you've removed your cake from the oven, let it rest five minutes and then run a knife around the edge of the dish to loosen it. Then allow it to cool to room temperature before removing it from the dish and place it on a cooling rack.  Make sure you don't wait more than ten minutes after removing it from the oven to remove it from the dish. It will stick to the pan and then you'll be fighting with your cake to get it out in one piece. You'll find out why we know this later. 

Cookie Dough Filling:

1 1/2 c brown sugar, packed

1 c butter at room temperature

3 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 c heavy cream

1 c mini chocolate chips 

Mini chocolate chip cookies 

Beat the brown sugar and butter till fluffy, again you have the choice to use a stand mixer, a hand mixer, or a hand whisk. 

Beat in your vanilla extract, flour and salt till combined. 

Add the cream a little at a time till it reaches the consistency you want. This might not use all of your cream, or it might use more of it like ours did.  

Fold in the chocolate chips.  

If it's a hot day, set this in the fridge until you're ready for it to be used on the cake. If it's cool in your home, it's safe to leave it out on the counter, covered. 

Chocolate Malted Milk Syrup: 

1 c heavy cream

1/2 c sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp chocolate malted milk powder **

In a small saucepan, combine heavy cream, sugar, vanilla and chocolate malted milk powder, whisking until you no longer have bumps. Set your stove to medium-high (or medium if you're working on a gas stove). Put your saucepan on the stove and continue stirring, pressing any lumps against the side to break them up. Bring the pot to a boil. 

Remove from the heat and pour into a heat safe glass dish. Allow it to cool to room temperature and then store it in the fridge until it's time to assemble the cake. (We want to make a reference to a certain group of superheroes, but it doesn't really fit here does it?) 

Assembling the cake:

When your cake has come to room temperature, flip it out onto a cutting board, so that the bottom of the cake is now the top. 

If the dish you used was curved at the edges, cut off those ends of the cake and set aside for munching later.  

Next, measure the remaining cake, we want to create three even rectangles. Cut the cake across the width, so that you have three separate short rectangles. 

Coat each rectangle on the top with the malted syrup. (Don't forget this step, it really does matter for binding the cake top down and keeping it from 'peeling' off during the next stage.) 
Pick a layer and top that with the filling, spreading it carefully. Although you might have tried it with other frosting sorts, we don't advise doing it with this one given the amount of butter in the filling. It will make a mess and you'll end up with something very unappetizing. 

Once the filling is as thick as you want it, add the next layer of cake, top it with more of the syrup if needed, and then the filling. Repeat again with the third slice. 

Once you've got all three slices stacked together, cover the top and sides with the remaining filling/frosting.  

To the top of the cake, add equidistant whole cookies, for decoration. Then take some of the remaining ones and smash them up.  Bag them in a gallon sized bag and grab your rolling pin, and give them a few good whacks. You don't want crumbs, but you don't want whole cookies. 

Once that's done, coat the sides of the cake in your cookie bits. You can do just the bottom 1/3 or you can do the entire side.  

Now if you want to really go crazy, or if the previous steps haven't worked out quite as you imagined, there are ways to save it and still make your cake look as tasty as it will be delicious. That is the baker's secret weapons of chocolate and caramel syrups. Turn your cake so that you're facing a corner of it and drizzle first one syrup and then then other over the top of it, making wide sweeping arcs across your platter.  Surprisingly, it works well. 

As a wrap up, sometimes a cake doesn't look /pretty/ and you need to have a backup plan, like that last step. That's what happened with us, and it was the syrup that ended up making it work in our opinion. Keep in mind though that no matter how this looks, it's still going to be a delicious, overpowering sugar bomb of a cake. We hope you love it and whoever you share it with also loves it.  Let us know how it goes over on our Facebook page or in the comments below. 

If you still have the ability to focus after making this cake, and you actually came to our site because one of your appliances is giving you trouble, we can help. Give us a call at ((214) 599-0055) or go to our contact page to set up an appointment. We'll work with you to find a time and date that works for your schedule to figure out what the problem is and how we fix it.  

*If you can't get your hands on buttermilk at home, there are ways to make your own, or you can use a powder if one of your local stores has it. That gets mixed together with water to give you the needed amount. 

** We know that it might sound weird to have chocolate malted milk powder and still call for vanilla extract, but it brings a very nice depth of flavor that we're fond of.