Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups from Pillsbury

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mw_YdMLc-I&feature=channel_video_title

Flaming Strawberry Cup Cakes

Chocolate Cupcakes with Flaming Strawberries

Call me easily amused, but these little torch-topped cupcakes delight me.  Besides being a cute novelty item for a party, I think they would add a little drama to the end of a romantic meal.  I've been looking for something different to serve for Valentine's dessert, and this is definitely different.  The strawberries are hollowed out and filled with a bit of liquor, then ignited with a match.

For the cake portion, I chose a One Bowl Chocolate Cupcake recipe because 1. it's quick 2. it is easy, and 3. it fits my prerequisite for a light ending on date night.

I should say, a light ending provided you don't eat too many.  Which is really, really easy to do.

The cakes are just sweet enough, and have a light, fluffy crumb - the perfect vehicle for rich chocolate buttercream.

Add just a spoonful of 80 proof or above.

Notes for flaming strawberries:

• Any alcohol below 80 proof will not ignite well.  I used 80 proof which makes a small blue flame.  I've been told that using an over-proof liquor (anything above 100) will give you a real fire, or a full yellow flame. 

• You can add a little sugar to the inside of the strawberry to sweeten things up.  However, the flame seems to last longer without the addition of sugar.

• Make sure to use a liquor that you like.  Vodka is a good choice if you want very little flavor.

• Alcohol evaporates, so light the strawberry soon after you spoon the liquor in.  

• Room temperature alcohol ignites better than refrigerated.

• Do I have to say it?  Probably not, but my conscience will not let me go without.  Do not attempt to eat a flaming strawberry.  It has a relatively short burn time, lasting about 30 seconds to 1 minute. So, enjoy but be careful.  Use your noodle.

Shaina made a margarita version of this on Babble Food. You can find the link HERE, along with some additional tips on getting the alcohol to ignite.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Flaming Strawberries
 Yield:  About 20 cupcakes
                                                                                       [click to print]
Cupcakes:

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup hot water
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line muffin tin with cupcake papers and set aside.

Sift together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.  Add eggs, water, heavy cream, oil and vanilla.  Mix with a hand held mixer until smooth. 
Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each half full.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Let cool before frosting.

Frosting:
2 sticks softened butter
4 cups confectioners' sugar
4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, cream together sugar, cocoa and butter; beginning on low speed then increase to high.  Beat until fluffy and lightened in color.  Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip.  Frost cupcakes.

 

Strawberries:
18-24 Strawberries - you'll need as many as you have cupcakes
Vodka, rum, or your choice of liquor 80 proof or higher (over-proof such as 110 will give you a yellow flame)

Hollow the strawberries carefully.  If you pierce the side of the strawberry accidentally, start with a new one.  Since you'll be setting the liquor aflame, it is important that the strawberry is leak-proof.

Set one strawberry atop each frosted cupcake.  Fill strawberries with liquor just before lighting (see tips).  If you need to light them all at once, (say, for a party) use a turkey baster to quickly fill all the strawberries and a grill lighter in lieu of matches.

double-chocolate cookies

2011 MARCH 29

tags: chocolate, Cookies

by Jamieanne

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Wouldn’t you know it?  I got my new camera and then I had a string of failures in the kitchen.  They were tasty failures, but they were definitely not blog-worthy or even worthy of photographing with my new camera.  I bought the brand new Junior MasterChef cookbook at Target for $16 and was looking forward to making some of the recipes.  Within the first week of owning the book, I had made 5 of the recipes, and I was disappointed with each one.  I couldn’t understand what the problem was; I do know how to follow a recipe, and I’m not a novice in the kitchen.  Well, I put the book back on the shelf and I’m not sure I’ll be following another recipe from it anytime soon.

No sooner had I put that book away than the new April issue of delicious. magazine hit the shelves.  Oh, delicious., you certainly know how to make me swoon!  And they know how to deliver a recipe that works.  A little bit hesitantly, due to my recent string of failures, I took this issue of the magazine to the kitchen and made the double-chocolate cookies in the article about Mandy Valsinger, who ran The Chocolate Maven bakery in Sante Fe, New Mexico.

And, of course, they turned out sinfully delicious!  What is not to love about these cookies?

I’ll tell you one thing I don’t like about recipes like this one, however.  It’s rolling the dough into logs when there are chunks of stuff in the dough.  Whether it’s peanuts or chunks of chocolate, or whatever, it is hard to cut a straight and even slice because of those chunks.  Maybe it’s the fault of my knife; maybe it is too dull.  That’s the only thing I didn’t like about this recipe.

Not to worry though, as I was speaking to someone else about this recipe, I found out that this person didn’t roll the dough into logs; she just scooped out bits of dough, rolled them into a ball and flattened them with the palm of her hand.  Apparently they turned out just fine, although they didn’t look like the picture in the magazine.

No matter which way you to decide to prepare these cookies, the most important thing is to, if possible, use the absolute best cocoa powder you can afford/find for the best chocolate taste.  I use Droste cocoa powder, which I surprisingly can find at my little local fruit/grocery shop at $9 for 250g.  For the white chocolate chunks, make sure you use real white chocolate – that is, read the ingredients and make sure it has at least 20-25% cocoa butter.  Note that you can get good results using the cheaper stuff, but if you’re trying to impress or want a decadent treat for yourself then you have to hand over the money!!

I can see myself making these again in the future, no doubt about it!  Next time, however, the only thing I might change is making the cookies a little smaller.  The recipe says to roll the dough into a 7cm-wide log; I may do only half that diameter next time, which may mean I will need to divide the dough into 2 logs.

These are so amazing!  I don’t understand why you’re even still reading this – print out the recipe and make these for yourself and your loved ones now!

Double-Chocolate Cookies
Adapted from delicious. magazine, April 2011
Makes 20

Ingredients
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
250g brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups (225g) plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (50g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
200g white chocolate, coarsely chopped

Method
Sift together flour, baking powder and cocoa powder in a bowl.  Set aside.

Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until thick and pale, about 4 minutes.  Add vanilla extract and egg, then continue to beat until just combined.  Fold in the flour mixture (I used my KitchenAid on low speed to fold in the flour mixture just until the dough started sticking together), then stir through the white chocolate chunks.

Form the dough into a 7cm-wide log, then enclose in plastic wrap.  Place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes (I left mine in for a bit over an hour because the dough wasn’t very firm after just 30 minutes).

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Unwrap the dough and slice into 1.5cm-thick rounds, using a serrated knife.  Place slices on the tray, 4cm apart, and bake for 10-15 minutes until firm.  Remove from the oven and cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Pie

Ingredients 

1   (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
3 to 4 tablespoon cocoa powder
1   egg, plus 2 eggs
1   (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1   (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
Butter, for greasing pan, plus 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch baking pan. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, 1 egg, and 8 tablespoons (1 stick) melted butter, and stir until well blended. Pat mixture into prepared pan and set aside. In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the remaining 2 eggs, and the cocoa powder. Lower the speed of the mixer, and add the powdered sugar. Continue beating until ingredients are well mixed. Slowly add the remaining 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of melted butter, and the vanilla, continuing to beat the mixture until smooth. Stir in nuts with a rubber spatula. Spread filling over cake mixture in pan.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the cake; the center should still be a little gooey when finished baking. Let cake partially cool on a wire rack before cutting into pieces.

easter Chocolates

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/holidays/easter/jacquestorreschocolates

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5808/simple-chocolate-button-egg

http://easter.tipjunkie.com/playing-with-food-easter-eggs-and-rolled-fondant

http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/holidays-occasions/how-to-make-speckled-eggs-00400000041860/

Chocolate Filled Egg Shells

http://blog.thecelebrationshoppe.com/2011/03/10/crack-a-filled-easter-egg/

Pnut butter truffle brownie

http://inkatrinaskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/03/peanut-butter-truffle-brownies.html

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

http://www.mommyskitchen.net/2010/12/tates-bake-shop-banana-chocolate-chip.html

Birthday Cake Style Fudge

3 cups sugar
1 1/2 sticks margarine
5 oz can (2/3 cup) evaporated milk
12 oz chopped white chocolate (I used white chocolate chips)
7oz jar marshmallow creme
3 Tablespoons yellow cake mix (just the powdered MIX, not batter)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Blue candy coloring
Rainbow sprinkles

Line a 9 inch square pan with foil, with the ends hanging over the edges of the pan. Spray foil thoroughly with nonstick spray.

Place the sugar, margarine, and evaporated milk in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly, and let boil for exactly 4 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add chocolate chips, marshmallow creme, and cake mix, stirring until chocolate chips are melted. Add vanilla and mix well.

Working as quickly as possible, pour about 1/3 of the fudge in a bowl and add a few drops of blue candy coloring, mixing and adding until you achieve the desired shade. Pour white fudge into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Spoon blue fudge over the top, spacing it out. Using a sharp knife, draw swirls through the blue and white to create a marbled effect. Sprinkle the top generously with rainbow sprinkles before the top sets up.

Let store at room temperature until cool, then place in the refrigerator until firm.

Chocolate Nest

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Chocolate-Nests

Fudge Puddles Cookies

Fudge Puddles Aka Puddles Of YumCookie Crust recipe:1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt

In a large mixer bowl, combine butter, peanut butter, and both sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla Next, in a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add flour mix. to the creamy mixture. Chill in the fridge for at least one hour (or if you're impatient, chill the dough in the freezer for about 15 minutes). Remove from fridge and form into 1" balls. I use a small melon baller scoop to make mine a uniform size. Grease a mini-muffin pan and add 1 ball to each muffin cup: Bake in a 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until very lightly browned. Remove from oven and make an indentation in the center of each ball. Let them cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes and then move to a cooling rack.

Once all of the cookies are done baking, it's time to make the fudge filling. Immediately start filling the cookie cups with the filling. It will start to harden just a bit as you do it, so make sure to give it a good stir once in awhile. Sprinkle with the nuts or just leave plain. Let set for an hour or so. That is if you can wait that long, the wait is definitely worth it.

Fudgy Filling recipe: 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. butterscotch chips
(if you don't like butterscotch, just use milk chocolate chips)
1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 t. vanilla extract
chopped nuts or sprinkles (optional, I omitted this part)

In a microwave safe bowl or saucepan, combine all of the ingredients except the nuts/sprinkles. Microwave for 1 minutes. Stir well. If there are still unmelted chips, continue to melt in microwave for 15 second increments until all smooth:

use Betty Crockers Peanut Butter Cookie Mix in place of the homemade cookie recipe. I still used the same fudgy filling recipe because I did not want to change something so great. But i did find out that you replace the butterscoth chips with peanut butter chips for a nice change. The semi version turned out just as great as the original. 

Recipe From Mommy's Kitchen

39 Chocolate Recipes

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/all-things-chocolate-photo-gallery-887260/?cmp=SMC-FB_FFUN_chocolategallery_recipe_FFUN

Microwave Chocolate Cake in a Mug and Chocri Chocolate Relay

http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/2010/01/chocri-chocolate-relay-magic-cake-in.html

Chocolate sour cream tea bread

http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/2010/05/chocolate-sour-cream-tea-bread.html

Double Chocolate Pots

http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/2011/02/double-chocolate-pots-de-creme.html

chocolate-topped-peanut-butter-bars

http://www.amandascookin.com/2011/02/chocolate-topped-peanut-butter-bars.html

Crock Pot Chocolate

http://www.mommyskitchen.net/2011/02/chocolate-buckeyes-crock-pot-chocolate.html