Do you know... Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon, our time-saving meal-kit delivery service, also offers delicious baking kits?
Our decadent Chocolate Celebration Cake is made with four layers of chocolate cake divided by smooth chocolate pudding and covered in a buttery chocolate frosting. And, just like all our meal-kits, Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon cakes and desserts arrive complete with all the pre-portioned dry ingredients one needs with step-by-step instructions and photos to match. These baking kits can be added to your regular menu boxes to make for those special occasions. We made this cake here at my farm last week to serve at a small dinner party. It was a big hit and so easy to prepare.
Enjoy these photos.
Each baking kit includes the dry ingredients and recipe for the selected sweet treat. These are the ingredients for the Chocolate Celebration Cake.
While the oven is pre-heated to 300-degrees Fahrenheit, Sarah Carey prepares the eight-inch baking pans with parchment rounds. She folds a piece of parchment paper in half, then in half again, folds it into a triangle twice and holds the folded paper over the pan with the center point over the center of the pan. Then she cuts the parchment using the outer edge of the pan as her guide.
Here is the parchment paper unfolded and in the bottom of the baking pan – perfect.
Next, Sarah whisks together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Then, she heats up two teaspoons of espresso powder and the cocoa, included in the kit, to just a little more than 3/4 cup of oil.
She stirs this until fragrant – about a minute.
She adds 1 and a 1/2 cups of water and the chocolate chips and stirs until melted.
Here she adds two cups of sugar and continues to stir.
She whisks in four large eggs – one at a time.
And then adds the flour mixture and stirs until combined.
She pours the batter into the pans carefully – it’s just the right thickness.
Next, they’re placed in the top rack of the oven and baked.
For the frosting, Sarah cobines the remaining chocolate chips, another packet of cocoa, half a teaspoon of espresso powder, and half a cup each of water and sugar. She heats this up over medium-low until it is smooth.
For the pudding, she combines two and a half cups of milk with a gelatin, water, and cocoa pudding mixture.
Once it is all mixed, it is placed into the refrigerator until cold – about an hour.
For the frosting, she beats four sticks of butter, confectioners’ sugar, and the remaining cocoa powder.
Here, she adds a tablespoon of milk and a half teaspoon each of vanilla and salt.
Look at the rich light brown color – so fluffy.
The cakes are done. They are ready when a finger lightly pressed in the center springs back and leaves only a light impression.
The cakes will cool and then everything will be assembled. The cakes are halved, and then spread with pudding between each layer and then frosted. This cake is definitely for chocolate lovers.
Here is the cake after I frosted it for my dinner party.
And look at the inside – so moist and fresh. This cake serves 20. My guests even went back for seconds – simply delicious. Please check out Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon and explore our menu and how it works – there are so many flavorful meals and celebration desserts you can make!
I am so excited to share our latest news - you can now visit "The World of Martha” in Amazon stores!
"The World of Martha" offers all the essentials I love and can’t live without - beautiful products for every room of the home, all in a dedicated brand store. Just go to amazon.com/marthastewart or search “The World of Martha” on your mobile phone or desktop. My Collection includes cookware, bedding, textiles, furniture, gardening items, holiday décor, and so much more - new items and existing favorites. Plus, we offer video content as well as delicious seasonal recipes from my media library. With its reliability and quick delivery service, Amazon makes the perfect retail destination for all my home and lifestyle offerings.
Enjoy these photos showing some of the products you can now find in "The World of Martha."
My new “World of Martha” shop now offers your favorite cooking essentials such as my stainless steel Castelle Cookware Set. All these pieces feature 18/8 stainless steel – perfect for everyday sautéing, simmering, searing – all without any metallic aftertaste.
You’ll love my Oven to Table Stoneware Bakeware. These work with so many dishes, baking both sweet and savory meals evenly.
This is my Eastholm Enamel Cast Iron Dutch Oven in Martha Blue. These distribute and retain heat evenly for slow simmers, braising, making soups and stews, baking casseroles and bread, and more.
If you’re looking for a dependable knife set for your everyday cooking, try my Eastwalk Stainless Steel Cutlery Knife Block Set with ABS Triple Riveted Forged Handles and Acacia Wood Block. They come with high carbon blades and ergonomic handles.
There’s always a need for good, practical storage solutions. These are my Square Glass Containers. They’re great for leftovers, pantry ingredients, and for all those school and office lunches.
My Broadbrook Stoneware Bowl Set comes in this Sharkey Grey and Martha Blue. Use them for everyday mise en place, occasional baking, or for casual entertaining.
In “The World of Martha” we also offer a large variety of sheet sets in a wide range of colors and patterns – all made with high quality cotton for the utmost comfort.
I offer printed and solid colored sheet sets made with 100-percent Egyptian cotton sheets. Plus, my sheets have clean finished hems and a 16-inch deep pocket mattress fit to be sure sheets stay in place.
These are my 400 thread count white down soft Bed Pillows – a must for anyone looking for a good night’s sleep.
Spring will be here before you know it. Order my lightweight cheerful quilts for every bed in your home.
If you’re looking for new flatware, try my Goswell set. It comes with four dinner knives, four dinner forks, four dinner spoons, and four teaspoons. Durable and streamlined in design, buy a set for yourself or give away as a birthday, wedding, or housewarming gift for family and friends who love to host and entertain.
Don’t forget the kids. I offer a selection of furniture for our smallest crafters. Try this Art Center with Stools and Bins.
And of course, one will find lots of gardening essentials in “The World of Martha” on Amazon – weeders, pruners, trowels, my essential Hori-Hori knife, and so much more. Please go to my shop and look around – you’ll find so much, and whatever you choose can be shipped safely, quickly and efficiently through Amazon’s dependable services. Take a look now!
So many of you are enjoying "The Martha Stewart Podcast." These shows are when I sit down for one-on-one conversations with fascinating people from all walks of life to learn how their individual careers began, how they have evolved, and what tips they have for listeners. These talks are filled with information, inspiration, and lots of laughter. If you haven’t already, please tune in - it's available on the iHeart media app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Today, we're releasing another great episode - this one with noted ceramist, entrepreneur, author, and my friend, Christopher Spitzmiller. Christopher is an artist. He creates one-of-a-kind, timeless lamps. In fact, he's made lamps for four different White House Administrations, the Presidential Blair House, and many other distinguished American homes. But how did he become so successful? What drives his passions? Why lamps? We delve deep into his background to hear his stories.
Not too long ago, I also had the chance to visit his New York City atelier where he and his talented team design and create the lamps - enjoy these photos and be sure to listen to "The Martha Stewart Podcast."
I always enjoy visiting the studios where beautiful handmade items are manufactured. Here I am with Christopher at his Manhattan studio where he “creates jewelry for the home.” We’re standing in front of a wall of shelves filled with some of his gorgeous and colorful lamps – ready for their new homes.
This shelf is also filled with finished pieces – all personally designed and meticulously crafted by Christopher and his team of 14 artisans.
Here is Christopher explaining the manufacturing process to me. Each piece is hand thrown and then molded, glazed, and wired. Christopher is always developing new glazing techniques, new colors, and patterns.
This area is where all the plaster molds and straps are kept.
Here, the molds are strapped together and poured with the wet clay and then left overnight.
Here is a top view after the liquid clay is poured into the mold. As it dries with the slip in the mold, the plaster draws out liquid from the slip. This leaves a clay wall against the inside of the plaster mold.
And here is the piece once it is removed from the mold. The next step is to smooth out all the lines. Each mold can be used about 100-times.
Here is the lamp on the potters wheel where more hand work is done to remove the lines from the slip cast molding process.
A kiln is an insulated chamber, a type of oven, that heats to very high temperatures in order to harden and dry the lamps. Unlike an oven, however, it does not melt the objects enclosed, so it is perfect for drying out ceramics or layers of glaze.
Christopher’s team fills the kilns in the afternoon and then lets the lamps sit overnight in 1900 degrees Fahrenheit. At this stage, they can pack them in pretty tightly. Once the glaze is put on and fired again in the kiln, the lamps will not be allowed to touch each other.
These pieces have been been fired once. They are now waiting for glaze.
The glaze is put on from the top and then dried in between coats.
Here is one in between coats. It will dry for about an hour before another coat is poured. The amount of coats needed depends on the glaze.
Each lamp is set in a hand turned hardwood base. This one is coated with gold leaf. Some bases are also offered stained or water gilded with white gold.
The process is done so carefully. Here is the gold leaf being applied to a base.
This lamp is waiting to be wired.
All the electrification is done at the studio.
This lamp features a hand done basket weave lines grid and a rich spruce glaze.
These lamps are completed and purchased. They’re on this shelf waiting to be shipped out.
And in this section of the studio – a showroom of available pieces – every one truly a work of art and love.
Go to my podcast, “The Martha Stewart Podcast” – available on the iHeart media app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, and listen to my conversation with Christopher Spitzmiller – you’ll laugh, you’ll learn, and you’ll be inspired.
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