Bacon and Eggs

I was feeling a little generous this morning so I decided to make breakfast for all of my co-workers.  "I brought in breakfast everyone, there is bacon and eggs back in the breakroom."  It wasn't to much later that everyone started coming to me telling me how UNfunny my joke was.  Hey, It's April 1st.  I have a right to be a brat if I want to.  :)   Happy April Fools Day!  

I am not sure where I originally got this idea from but I am pretty sure my sister had something to do with it.  I had not made these for quite awhile but somehow they came to mind when I was thinking of something to take into work.  These were a huge hit with my co-workers.  These would also be a really fun treat to make with children.


There is no real recipe needed here.  The ingredients are simple; mini pretzel sticks, white melting chocolate, and yellow M&M's.  The directions- eh, I am sure you can figure it out.  Melt the chocolate, drop it by spoonfuls over two pretzels and top with yellow M&M's. 

Cookies and Cream Rice Krispie Treats

When I came across these amazing looking rice krispie treats in Annie's blog a few weeks ago I knew that I had to make them. I had a few friends over for a cookout this past weekend and thought that it would be the perfect time to make these treats.

These rice krispie treats take a few additional minutes to make than the originals but are totally worth the extra time. The oreos mixed in and the white chocolate on top really make these crunchy treats delicious. All of my guests really enjoyed these and I will definitely be making them again.


Cookies and Cream Rice Krispie Treats
As seen on: Annie's Eats originally from Cast Sugar

Ingredients
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
10 oz. marshmallows
1 tsp. vanilla extract
6 cups Rice Krispies
20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped
4-6 oz. white chocolate, chopped
Finely chopped Oreos, for topping

Directions
Place bittersweet chocolate in a small microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until completely melted. Set aside. Grease a 9×13″ pan.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until melted and well combined. Turn off heat and stir in the melted chocolate and the vanilla extract. Gently stir in the Rice Krispies and coarsely chopped Oreos, and mix to coat evenly. Press the mixture into the prepared pan, leveling the top. (I like to use a piece of plastic wrap over my fingers and press it down with my hand.) Allow to cool completely.

Once cooled, cut into squares. Place white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, and stir until completely melted. Place the finely chopped Oreos in another bowl. Dip the top of each square into the white chocolate and then the finely chopped cookies. Set aside to cool and let the chocolate set completely. Store in an airtight container.

Rich Chocolate Pudding

Last Friday my husband had his wisdom teeth removed. Everything went well and he is recovering fine but he will be on a soft food diet for the rest of the week. One of his favorite snacks is chocolate pudding so I decided to take a few minutes out of my day to make him some homemade chocolate pudding.


This recipe came together rather quickly and was not at all difficult to make. The pudding was rich and delicious. My husband enjoyed it and I am sure he will be requesting it again soon.

Once again I apologize for the lack of posts lately. There are only 22 more days until Graduation, I can not wait!! I hope to begin blogging on a more regular basis once I am out of school and only have work to worry about.

Low-Fat Chocolate Pudding, for Two
Source: Cooks Illustrated

Ingredients
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate , chopped
1 tablespoon cocoa , preferably Dutched
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch table salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
1. Melt chocolate over double boiler or in microwave. Cool slightly.
2. Whisk together cocoa powder, cornstarch, sugar, and salt in heavy-bottomed medium saucepan. Add milk all at once and whisk to incorporate. Whisk in melted chocolate.
3. Bring mixture to boil over medium heat, whisking until smooth. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring constantly with heatproof rubber spatula or wooden spoon and making sure to scrape edges of pan, for 2 minutes. (Mixture will become thick and glossy.)
4. Remove pan from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour pudding through fine-mesh strainer and into heatproof bowl, pushing gently with spatula or spoon and leaving any solids in strainer. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until completely chilled. (Pudding will keep for up to 2 days.) Gently stir pudding before transferring to individual bowls and serving.

Daring Bakers Do Tuiles

I just have to start off by saying that I am very glad that a nice simple recipe was featured for this month. I started a new job and a new (my last!) semester of school this month and it was so busy that I was extremely exhausted every evening. I found time earlier this week to make these tuiles and I am glad that I did because they were wonderful. Light and crisp, they actually reminded me of fortune cookies.


I did not realize that the batter would spread so much once in the oven. It was certainly a good thing that I did not make my circles any larger or they would have over baked right off the pan. I decided to make my tuiles into a cone shape and fill them with white chocolate pudding. Chocolate drizzled on top and some diced strawberries and blueberries added the perfect amount of color and really finished off the dish. It really made a beautiful presentation that I would be proud to serve to guests.


This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.


Do not forget to check out the daring bakers blogroll to see what creations everyone else came up with.

Tuiles
Source: “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck

Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)
Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

Ingredients
1/4 cup (2.3 oz) softened butter (not melted but soft)
1/2 cup (2.1 oz) sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
1/2 cup (2.3 oz) sifted all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the baking sheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.

Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from baking sheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a baking sheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.- If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones.

Oreo Truffles

If you hang out in the parts of the Internet that I do I am sure you are sick and tired of hearing about these Oreo truffles. Those of you who are random readers of my blog, you might actually appreciate this post. I can't remember if it was last year or the year before that I made these but they were a huge hit with everyone. I decided to give them another go this year, but I changed up the recipe so they did not have to be stored in the refrigerator.


These truffles are very easy to make but can often be time consuming when it comes to rolling the balls and dipping them into chocolate - especially when you are making three batches like I did. If you are making more than one batch of these I would suggest only mixing up the cookie/cream cheese (milk) mixture one batch at a time. If the mixture sits for two long it starts to dry out and is very crumbly and hard to roll into balls.

Oreo truffles are always a hit with everyone, especially my husband the Oreo lover. I have to try to keep him away from them or he will eat them all and they will not end up making it to their recipients. This recipe seems like it is quickly becoming a holiday classic, it's like an epidemic. Don't be scared though, it's a great epidemic to be a part of.

Oreo Truffles
Adapted from : Kraft Foods

Ingredients
1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) Oreo cookies, finely crushed
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened *(see variation below)
2 pkg. (8 squares each) semi-sweet chocolate or 1 pound almond bark, melted

Directions
1. Mix cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into ~50 (1-inch) balls.
2. Dip balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.)
3. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

*Variation - For truffles that do not need to be refrigerated use 1 can of sweetened condensed milk instead of the cream cheese.

Cranberry Crunch Bark

There are so many different variations on the traditional "bark" recipes that it is always hard to decide which to make, but this one stood out to me. First of all, it has white chocolate, and I love white chocolate. Secondly, it has a great mixture of goodies inside that seem perfect for the holiday season. There are sweet and chewy cranberries, puffy crisp cereal bits, and salty crunchy nuts. Those ingredients paired with white chocolate sounded like a match made in heaven.


This has got to be the easiest thing in the world to make. All you have to do is melt the chocolate, mix in the ingredients and spread it onto a baking sheet and let it cool. Pretty much effortless, but totally delicious all at the same time. This bark is a great festive looking holiday treat that I think everyone would enjoy.


Cranberry Crunch Bark
Source: Joelen's Culinary Adventures

Ingredients
8 oz vanilla flavored almond bark or candy melts
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup crisp rice cereal
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Directions
1. Place almond bark or candy melts into a microwave proof bowl; microwave according to package directions until melted and smooth.
2. Add remaining ingredients and stir until fully coated. Spread mixture on parchment lined baking sheet.
3. Let stand at room temperature until set. Break into random pieces.

200 Posts and Going Strong

I can not believe that I have 200 posts in this little ole food blog of mine. Who would have thought that I would have become so, ummm, addicted. :) I hope that all of you enjoy reading my blog as much as I love cooking and baking for it and writing up these posts. Anyway, enough with the sappy stuff. Lets talk about what you all came here for, the food!


I found this recipe in a Betty Crocker recipe magazine that I got in the mail a few weeks ago. I had bookmarked the recipe as something I wanted to try sometime before the holidays. I was looking through the book today, to pick something out to bake, while asking my husband what sounded best. He immediately picked these as soon as I told him the name. Apparently my husband loves coconut. :)


These were not the easiest things in the world to make. Well, I would not say that they were hard either. They were just a little time consuming and kind of messy. The cookie part is very thick and kinda sticky. I used a mini cookie scoop to portion out the dough and a mini tart shaper to form it. My husband said he did not care how hard they were to make because they were definitely worth it. Ha, easy for him to say. :) But in all honesty he was right, these things were awesome! Strong and sturdy on the outside and soft and gooey in the middle. Definitely worthy of holiday goodie trays. Give them a try, you will not be disappointed.


I am also sending this recipe off to Joelen at Joelen's Culinary Adventures to be included in her Holiday cookie swap event.

Coconut Fudge Cups
Source: Betty Crocker, Christmas Cookies, Dec 08/Jan 09

Ingredients
- Cookies -
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- Coconut Fudge Filling -
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup flaked coconut
1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
- Garnish, if desired -
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons whipping cream
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1 drop red food coloring
1 drop green food coloring

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with a spoon. Stir in remaining cookie ingredients.
2. Shape dough into 24 (1-inch) balls. Press 1 ball into bottom and up the side of each of 24 ungreased mini muffin cups (I used a mini tart shaper and dipped it into sugar to prevent the dough from sticking before forming each cup). Mix filling ingredients until spreadable (throw everything into the mixer, it will be much easier this way). Spoon about 2 teaspoons filling into each cup.
3. Bake 18-20 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when filling is touched lightly. Cool slightly, carefully remove from muffin cups to cooling rack.
4. In 1-cup microwaveable measuring cup, microwave chocolate chips and whipping cream on high 30 seconds; stir until smooth. Microwave 15 seconds longer if necessary to melt chips. Frost tops of fudge cups with chocolate.
5. In small resealable food-storage plastic bag, toss 1/4 cup coconut with red food color. In another small bag, toss remaining 1/4 cup coconut with green food color. Garnish each fudge cup with red or green coconut.

Reader Request

A week or so ago I got an e-mail from a reader/lurker of my blog named Lisa. Lisa asked if I had a recipe for pumpkin roll that I would share with her. Although I love pumpkin roll, and think fall is not complete without eating some, I had suprisingly never made one before. I have made a dessert roll before, about a year ago I made this Banana Roll with Blueberry Lemon Cream Cheese Filling. But that did not help Lisa who was desperate for an easy delicious recipe for a pumpkin roll. I told her I would make one and get it in my blog soon. Thank you Lisa for requesting this recipe, this one is for you. ;)


This recipe was just what Lisa was asking for, a good and easy recipe that would not fail her. The trickiest part of the whole recipe is getting the baked cake onto the powdered sugar covered towel, but that is not really hard just a tad bit messy. The rest of the recipe should pose no problems.


I have not tried this yet since it is going to my mother-in-laws house with me for tonight's scrapbooking dessert but I can already tell it's going to be awesome! I'll check back in tomorrow and let you know what everyone thought of it. See all those little black specks in my cream cheese filling, it's actually vanilla from my fancy smancy vanilla bean paste.

Good morning lovely readers! I am back to tell you that this pumpkin roll is divine. Seriously, go make it now. ;) My husband just ate two pieces for breakfast and I had to leave a few slices with my mother-in-law last night. Home run recipe for sure.


LIBBY'S® Pumpkin Roll
Source: VeryBestBaking

Ingredients
Cake
1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
Filling
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar (optional for decoration)

Directions
1. For the cake - Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.
3. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.
4. For the filling - Beat cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

Cooking tip: Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.

Mint Chocolate Chip

My husband has been on a major mint chocolate chip ice cream kick lately, which I think is pretty strange saying that he used to say that he didn't like that particular flavor. He really loves the mint chocolate chip from a local ice cream place called Flavor Freeze, but soon it will be cold out and flavor freeze will be closed for the season. Since I am such a nice wife I decided I would go ahead and try my hand at mint chocolate chip ice cream and see how it fares to that of Flavor Freeze.

While I was at Meijer getting the dill for my refrigerator dill pickles I happened to see that they had fresh mint too, YAY jackpot! I grabbed two bunches of it and came home knowing exactly what recipe I was going to make. I was skeptical that he would enjoy this ice cream because it was made with real mint, not the fake mint extract that is typical of this flavor ice cream. But I decided to give it a try anyway. Apparently I wasted my time, he hated the ice cream! I guess I'll have to go buy some mint extract and try again. ::sigh:: In the meantime, who is going to eat this quart of ice cream? Come and pick it up and it's yours.


I really loved how infusing the cream with the mint gave the ice cream a light green hue, it was really pretty. I do want to stress that this is not a bad recipe, it makes excellent ice cream, if you like the flavor of real mint. I would encourage anyone that enjoys fresh real herbs to give this a try, you would not be disappointed!

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Source: Simply Recipes

Note that if you do not have fresh mint, you can make this mint chocolate chip ice cream recipe with peppermint extract. Skip steps 1 and 2, instead heating 1 cup of milk with 1 cup of cream and the sugar and salt until steaming. Continue with step 3. Add 2 teaspoons of peppermint extract in with the chilled custard mixture in step 6.

Makes 1 quart

Ingredients
3 cups of fresh mint leaves (not stems), rinsed, drained, packed
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy cream (divided, 1 cup and 1 cup)
2/3 cup sugar
A pinch of salt
6 egg yolks
6 ounces semisweet chocolate or dark chocolate, chopped fine, keep in the freezer until used

Directions
1. Put the mint leaves in a heavy saucepan with the 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of the cream. Heat until just steaming (do not let boil), remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 30 minutes. Reheat the mixture until steaming, remove from heat and let stand for 15 more minutes.
2. While the mint is infusing in step 1, prepare the remaining cream over an ice bath. Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a medium size metal bowl, set in ice water (with lots of ice) over a larger bowl. Set a mesh strainer on top of the bowls. Set aside.
3. Strain the milk cream mixture into a bowl, pressing against the mint leaves with a rubber spatula in the sieve to get the most liquid out of them. Return the milk cream mixture to the saucepan. Add sugar and salt to the mixture. Heat until just steaming again, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.
4. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium sized bowl. Slowly pour the heated milk cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so that the egg yolks are tempered by the warm mixture, but not cooked by it. Scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
5. Return the saucepan to the stove, stirring the mixture constantly over medium heat with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spoon so that you can run your finger across the coating and have the coating not run. This can take about 10 minutes. When the custard base coats the back of the spoon. You can run your finger across the coating and have it not run. It is ready and should be removed from heat immediately, and poured through the sieve over the ice bath to stop the cooking.
6. Pour the custard through the strainer (from step 2) and stir into the cold cream to stop the cooking.
7. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator (at least a couple of hours) or stir the mixture in the bowl placed over the ice bath until thoroughly chilled (20 minutes or so). Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
8. Once the ice cream has been made in the ice cream maker it should be pretty soft. Gently fold in the finely chopped chocolate. Put in an airtight container and place in the freezer for at least an hour, preferably several hours. If it has been frozen for more than a day, you may need to let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften it before serving.

Note that there is no alcohol in this recipe. A few teaspoons of some spirits such as rum or bourbon will help keep the ice cream soft over several days. Even the alcohol in vanilla extract will help. If you have no added alcohol in a homemade ice cream recipe, we recommend that you eat it up quickly, in a day or two; beyond that point the ice cream will quickly get very very hard.

A Day Late ...

... and a dollar short is how I fell at the moment about this recipe. First of all I am actually a day late posting it, oopise. Secondly I am a little disappointed with the recipe. Ok I won't get ahead of myself here. I was very excited to make this months recipe, I had made profiterole puffs before and loved the results so I was excited to see just how wonderful this recipe would be. I mixed up the dough, baked it and tested one to see how they tasted. My first reaction was that they tasted like eggs, some kind of eggy bread perhaps. My second reaction came when I looked over at all my sunk little eclairs, they were almost completely flat. I put them in a plastic baggie and left them to deal with for the next morning. I think I'll go finish them now. In all fairness I did not give them a real chance, I did not even stuff or glaze them. Maybe my premature tasting lead me in the wrong direction. As a Daring Baker I feel that I need to at least try to complete the entire recipe before giving up. I think I'll go make a half batch of pastry cream and glaze and see what happens. I'll be back later with pictures and a true judgement of how these little eclairs were.....


Ok I am finally back. I know I know another whole day later, ::slapping myself on the hand:: bad Daring Baker. Anyway, I made my pastry cream, which was wonderful and I will post the recipe below, and I made my chocolate sauce and glaze. Why I had to make two different things to obtain one final glaze is beyond me but oh well,it is probably the same cooky reason why I had to put a spoon in my oven door halfway throughout baking, weiiiirrdd. All in all, my eclairs are all assembled and photographed and I am feeling a little better about this challenge and the fact that I completed it. I still do not particularly care for the pâte à choux recipe but the pastry cream and glaze did dull the egginess a tad and I was able to eat a few of these.


Thank you to this months hosts; Meeta of What’s for Lunch Honey? and Tony of Tony Tahhan. Please check out one of their blogs for the entire eclair recipe. I am only going to post the pastry cream recipe that I used in this post. As always don't forget to check out the Daring Baker Blogroll to see how all the other Daring Bakers fared with this recipe.


Creme Patissiere (Pastry Cream)
Source: Joy Of Baking

Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups (300 ml) milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar
1/8 cup (20 grams) all-purpose flour
Scant 3 tablespoons (20 grams) cornstarch
3/4 tablespoon (10 ml) liqueur (Grand Marnier, Brandy, Kirsch)

Directions
1. In a medium-sized stainless steel bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks together with a wooden spoon. (Never let the mixture sit too long or you will get pieces of egg forming.) Sift the flour and cornstarch together and then add to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile in a saucepan combine the milk and split vanilla bean on medium heat until boiling. (The milk will foam up to the top of pan when done, so watch carefully.) Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. (If you get a few pieces of egg (curdling) in the mixture, pour through a strainer.) Remove vanilla bean, scrape out seeds, and add the seeds to the egg mixture. (The vanilla bean can be dried and placed in your sugar bowl to give the sugar a vanilla flavor. This sugar can then be used in baking where you would like a vanilla-flavored sugar, e.g. pies, cakes, cookies.)
3. Place the egg mixture back into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 - 60 seconds until it becomes very thick and it is hard to stir.
4. Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the liqueur (if using). Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Cool. If not using right away refrigerate until needed, up to 3 days. Beat before using to get rid of any lumps that may have formed.
5. For a light pastry cream, just before using, fold in the softly whipped cream with a wooden spoon.

Whoopie Whoopie

-1Earlier in the week my husband and I were watching Unwrapped on the Food Network and there was a show all about pies. My husband then decided that he was craving whoopie pies and chocolate cream pie. Of course I got excited because I had never made either of those so I knew it would be something new I could blog about (sad I know).


I did not want to make the basic chocolate whoopie pie so I decided to make yellow ones with mini chocolate chips in them. I first used a filling recipe that I found online and it was very grainy and sugary (the pictures are taken with this filling) and not my idea of the fluffiness I know as whoopie pie filling. So I scraped out all the filling and whipped up a new batch that was much fluffier than the original.


These little babies definitely were a hit with my husband, between you and me I think he woke up about 3:00 in the morning just to sneak into the kitchen and eat one :). Although I am still not completely satisfied with the filling he liked it and overall they turned out awesome. I think the chocolate chips make a great addition to the basic yellow cookies.


Yellow Whoopie Pies
Adapted from: Sugar and Spice

Ingredients
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
2-1/4 cups + 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mini chocolate chips (lightly coated in flour)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, cream shortening, sugar and egg yolks. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients alternately with milk, beating well. Add vanilla at the end. Fold the mini chocolate chips into the batter.

Drop the batter by large tablespoonfuls (ideally a large cookie scoop) onto a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 18 minutes, until the centers of the cookies spring back when lightly touched with your finger. Remove from the oven and place the baking sheet on a rack to cool completely.

Whoopie Pie Filling
Source: Recipe card from high school Foods clas

Ingredients
1 egg white
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions
Whip egg white, add remaining ingredients and whip with electric mixer. Spread filling between 2 cooled cookies.

I Scream, You Scream...

.. we all scream for ICE CREAM!! Remember the other day when I made the angel food cake and I promised an update of ice cream? Well today is your lucky day, I was able to finish my ice cream and oh my word it is amazing. Although the prep dirtied more dishes than I would care to admit this was so very easy to make. The hardest part of the entire process was waiting for the mixture to cool so I could put it in my ice cream machine and then waiting for it to freeze completely in the freezer. I guess I am just proud that I found a use for most of my egg yolks and only threw away 4 out of the 12. Perhaps next time I should make another half batch of this recipe so I do not have to throw anything away. :)


For a fun twist on regular chocolate ice cream I threw in some mini marshmallows and almonds and called it Rocky Road.
This stuff is seriously sinful and would be just as good without the addition of the vanilla.


Chocolate Ice Cream
Source: Alton Brown via FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces unsweetened cocoa powder, approximately 1/2 cup
3 cups half-and-half
1 cup heavy cream
8 large egg yolks
9 ounces sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions
Place the cocoa powder along with 1 cup of the half-and-half into a medium saucepan over medium heat and whisk to combine. Add the remaining half-and-half and the heavy cream. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from the heat.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the sugar and whisk to combine. Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about 1/3 of the cream mixture has been added. Pour in the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon and reaches 170 to 175 degrees F. Pour the mixture into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract. Place the mixture into the refrigerator and once it is cool enough not to form condensation on the lid, cover and store for 4 to 8 hours or until the temperature reaches 40 degrees F or below.

Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. This should take approximately 25 to 35 minutes. Serve as is for soft serve or freeze for another 3 to
4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden.

Cheesecake - Daring Baker Style

Yay it is nearing the end of the month and I am sure you all know what that means. It's Daring Baker time!! Elle at Feeding my Enthusiasms and Deborah at Taste and Tell chose this month's recipe of cheesecake pops. Although this is not a very challenging recipe it does incorporate some techniques that some bakers are not familiar with which is why this recipe was chosen.


The recipe was very self-explanatory and easy to put together but many people had problems with the bake time and cheesecakes not setting up. The recipe says to bake the cheesecake for 35-45 minutes but mine took well over an hour and I even divided the batter in half into two different pans (a 9" and a 10" springform).


After baking and chilling the cheesecake I took one of the pans and cut out flowers with my Pampered Chef creative cutters set and took the other pan and rolled them into balls. The taste of this cheesecake was wonderful, very rich and creamy. Forming the shapes was quite a sticky mess and dipping the pops in chocolate was fun but frustrating. My melted chocolate had a lot of tiny little pieces of cheesecake in it, from dipping the pops, and it was hard to keep the oreo's and crushed M&M's from falling right off the balls. All in all I will probably make these again but I would probably enlist someone to help with the rolling and dipping.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the daring bakers cheesecake pops by visiting the blogroll.

Cheesecake Pops
(Adapted from: Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor)

Makes 30 – 40 Pops

Ingredients
5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ cup heavy cream
Boiling water as needed
Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks
1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)
Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - Optional

Directions
Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.

Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

True Copy-Cat Style

Back in December I made some Reese's Peanut Butter cup bars that tasted exactly like a Reese's peanut butter cup. I thought that it would be fun to take that filling recipe and make a peanut butter cup that looks just like a Reese's miniture. Gee I am just soo creative aren't I? LOL :)


How to make Peanut Butter Cups
- Prepare the filling and set aside, (for the filling recipe please click here).
- Line the mini muffin pan with liners (if using).
- Melt chocolate by any means necessary (microwave or double boiler works well)
NOTE: I purchased some candy making bottles at Hobby Lobby that I filled with chocolate chips and microwaved at 50% power in 30 second intervals until melted through. After every 30 seconds take the bottle out of the microwave and squeeze.
- Place enough chocolate in bottom of liners or tins to coat them with about 1/4" of chocolate. Lift the pan off of the counter an inch or two and drop it down onto the counter, repeat. This will release all air bubbles and make an even smooth layer of chocolate.
- Take a teaspoon of filling, for each peanut butter cup, and roll it into a ball. Smash it slightly to make an oval and place in the center of each of the tins/liners.
- Pour or squeeze enough chocolate over the filling to cover it and make a smooth top. Once you are done with all the peanut butter cups, lift the pan off of the counter a few inches and drop it just like before.
- You can place the pan in the refrigerator for a little bit to help the chocolate set or you can just leave it on the counter to harden.
NOTE - I would recommend enlisting the help of someone else while making these. Although one person can get the job done it would go a lot faster and smoother with another person to help. I made several trips back and forth from the microwave to melt chocolate.


I am sending some of these little treats out to family so I wrappped them up in some little 1/2 pound chocolate boxes that I purchased at Hobby Lobby. I just hope they make it to their destinations without melting! :)

Crunchy, Nutty and Chocolatey

So why was I so anxious to make Biscotti when I do not even like coffee? Simple, there is one tiny thing about me that you might not know yet and it just so happens to be that I love to eat crunchy food. I inherited this from my mother because she is the same way I am (although I will pick salty over sweet and she would go for the sweet).

I decided to go to the Joy of Baking website because their recipes are usually no fail. The one thing I did not like about this recipe is that the chocolate smeared all over the biscotti when I was cutting it into slices and I had to wipe my knife off between every cut. But that is just me being anal and thinking that everything has to be perfect. The taste is wonderful and I am looking forward to trying more biscotti recipes in the near future. The funniest moment was when I gave my husband a slice to try and it took him 3 attempts before he even bit a piece off. I warned him they were hard and crunchy but you know how men are, they see food and everything you are trying to tell them goes in one ear and out the other. :) But the important thing is that he said it was good.


Chocolate Almond Biscotti
(Source: The Joy of Baking)

Recipe:
3/4 cup (110 grams) blanched whole almonds, toasted and chopped coarsely
2/3 cup (135 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups (245 grams) all-purpose flour
4 ounces (110 grams) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped in 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) pieces
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Toast almonds for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop coarsely. Set aside.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the sugar and eggs on high speed until thick, pale, and fluffy (about 5 minutes). (When you slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall back into the bowl in slow ribbons.) At this point beat in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the egg mixture and beat until combined. Fold in the chopped almonds and chocolate.

Transfer the dough to your parchment lined baking sheet and form into a log, about 12 inches (30 cm) long and 3 1/2 inches (9 cm) wide. You may have to dampen your hands to form the log as the dough is quite sticky. Bake for 25 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Transfer log to a cutting board and, using a serrated knife, cut log into slices 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick on the diagonal. Place the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake 10 - 15 minutes, turn slices over, and bake another 10 - 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

Makes about 16 biscotti.

Cannoli dip

This was the other dessert dish that I prepared for the Pampered Chef show that I hosted this afternoon. Everyone enjoyed it, even those who do not like ricotta. It was very simple and took about 5 minutes to throw together. The only modification that I made was substituting mini morsels for the full size ones. If you are not a fan of whipped topping you probably would not like this dip because that is the most prominent flavor.


Chocolate Chip Cannoli Dip
(Adapted from: Pampered Chef Season's Best Spring/Summer 03)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup plus 1 tbls semi-sweet chocolate morsels, divided
1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 container (8oz) frozen whipped topping, divided

Possible Dippers
- Strawberries
- Graham cracker sticks
- Sweet tortilla chips

Directions:
1) Reserve 1 tablespoon of the chocolate morsels for garnish. Chop remaining chocolate morsels using a food chopper or knife. Place in large bowl. Add ricotta cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla and mix well. Set 1/2 cup of whipped topping aside for garnish. Gently fold remaining whipped topping into ricotta mixture.
2) Spoon dip into medium serving bowl. Sprinkle remaining chocolate morsels over dip and pipe rosettes around edge of dip. Serve with your choice of dippers.

Puffy puff

This is one of the recipes that I prepared for my Pampered Chef show this afternoon. These were very easy to make and turned out to be a wonderful and puffy light dessert. Ok maybe not light as in healthy, since each puff packs 90 calories and 5 grams of fat, but light as in you know, puffy and light. :)

I was actually a little concerned while making the dough because once the liquids were at a boil and I added in the flour the dough looked like a roux gone wrong. It looked like a big waxy ball of I don't even know what. But obviously that is what it was supposed to look like because the puffs got rave reviews. The only changes that I made to this recipe were to leave off the nuts, in case anyone had allergies, and I melted some semi-sweet chocolate to drizzle over top.


Profiterole Puffs
(Adapted from: Pampered Chef Season's Best Spring/Summer 07)

Puffs:
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Filling and topping:
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbls chopped pistachios or almonds
1/4 cup prepared chocolate frosting, melted

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375. For puffs, in small saucepan combine water, butter and salt; bring to a boil over high heat. Add flour all at once. Stir mixture vigorously about one minute or until mixture leaves sides of pan and forms into a ball. Remove from heat; place dough into bowl and. Add eggs and which until smooth and very thick.
2) Lightly spray mini muffin pan with oil. Using slightly mounded tablespoon, scoop batter into cups. Bake 22-25 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from oven and make a small cut into side of each puff to release excess steam. Remove puffs from pan and allow to cool completely.
3) For filling, combine whipped topping, powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix gently until well blended. Attach small holed tip to pastry bag, fill with filling and pipe into center of each puff. For topping, chop nuts and microwave frosting on high 5-10 seconds or until melted. Drizzle frosting over puffs and sprinkle with pistachios.

Yield: 24 puffs

Frozen delight

Even though the weather has officially changed from summer to fall I decided that I had to make this anyway. I saw this sorbet on Delish and figured that it was a sign because I had a container of strawberries in my fridge just waiting for the perfect recipe to come along. There are not many words to describe this other than it's amazingly good and very fruity!


Strawberry Pineapple Sorbet
(Adapted from "Strawberry Peach Sorbet" at Delish)

1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 cups of sliced strawberries
1 small can pineapple (drained of juices)
1 pinch of salt

Put strawberries in a bowl with sugar. Cover and all to sit for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Using blender or food processor, combine strawberries with their juices, pineapple and the pinch of salt. Puree. Refrigerate mixture for at least 1 hour until puree is chilled. (You can strain if you prefer no strawberry seeds but personally, I like the texture).
Place in an ice-cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Sweet dipping

I had been eyeing this dip ever since Chelle made it a few months ago. I knew that the recipe would be good and that everyone would love it but I just needed the right occasion to make it for. My husband and I were invited to a cook-out at our friends house today so I figured today would be the perfect opportunity to make it.

This dip was a hit with everyone from kids to adults. Although this does not taste exactly like cookie dough it is pretty close and it is an excellent recipe. I will definitely be making it again because everyone loved it.


Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip
(Source: Recipezaar Via: Chelle at Sugar&Spice)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (8-oz) pkg cream cheese
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Stir continuously, until the brown sugar dissolves. (You can also do this in the microwave but watch it closely. The butter/sugar mixture will boil over fast. Stir every 30 seconds or so.)
2. Remove from heat, whisk in vanilla extract and set aside to cool.
3. Beat the cream cheese and confectioner's sugar for 1 minute.
4. Slowly beat in the cooled butter mixture and beat again for another minute.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Pour into a serving bowl and refrigerate.
7. Garnish with additional chips, if you choose.

*Serve with Nilla wafers or graham crackers.

**Note: after refrigerating the dip it will be pretty solid and un-dippable so make sure to remove it from the refrigerator about 15-30 minutes before you plan on serving it, so it has time to soften up.

Round 2, WC platinum chef challenge

I like to hang out on a cooking board on TheNest.com. The ladies on the board are awesome and are always coming up with new things to do. One of the members of the board Cara (Cara's Cravings) came up with the idea of a Platinum Chef challenge. The person that is hosting the challenge picks 5 different ingredients and the people that want to play along have to make 1 or 2 dishes using all of the ingredients. Here is the link to the challenge on Cara's blog Platinum Chef - Round 2. I decided to play along this time and here are the dishes that I came up with.

Banana Roll with Blueberry Lemon Cream Cheese Filling
(Source: Amber's Delectable Delights)

Cake ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup mashed ripe banana
1 tsp lemon juice
3/4 cup AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Filling ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese (softened)
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup butter (softened)
1 tsp lemon zest
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 cup blueberries

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2) Line a 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray (don't forget to spray the sides).
3) Beat eggs on high for 5 minutes. Then gradually beat in the sugar until batter is thick and lemon colored. Add in banana and lemon juice and mix to combine.
4) In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Fold dry mixture into wet mixture and spread mixture evenly into prepared pan.
5) Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. While cake is baking dust a linen towel with confectioners' sugar.
6) Immediately after removing cake from oven turn it onto prepared towel. Peel off the parchment paper and roll the cake up in the towel (starting at short end), let cool.
7) While the cake is cooling prepare filling. Add cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, butter, lemon zest and lemon juice to mixing bowl and mix until well blended.
8) Once cake is cool carefully unroll it. Spread filling onto the cake and top evenly with blueberries. Roll cake back up, cover it, and place in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Half way through the roll up. This is what it looks like inside. :)

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Spicy Black Bean Dip
(Source: Amber's Delectable Delights)

1 can whole kernel corn, drained
4 cloves minced garlic, separated
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 oz cream cheese
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeds removed
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
S&P to taste
Cheese for topping (I used monterey jack)

1) Saute' corn and 2 cloves of garlic until the corn is slightly browned. Set aside to cool
2) Add 2 cloves garlic, beans, cream cheese, jalapeno and the seasonings into a food processor and process until smooth.
3) Place 1/2 of bean mixture into bottom of serving dish, then 1/2 the corn; repeat with remaining beans and corn. Top with cheese, if desired. Serve with tortilla chips.