Tag Archives: chocolate

Chocolate Malted Milk Mousse

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Chocolate Malted Milk Mousse

Chocolate Malted Milk Mousse




When I was 13, I worked at a small ice cream shack (shack is a fairly fitting word, too) called “Frosty Hut”, also called Frosty Slut, but we won’t go there. I worked there for a dollar an hour. I had had to get a work permit to even work at that age and I guess the owner, Mr. A, figured a buck an hour was sufficient even though minimum wage was $3.35. One of the perks of the job was, of course, the free ice cream. Since this was privately owned and we were paid slave wages, there was no “you have a 30 minute lunch break and can eat one small thing from the menu” rule. Nope, my sister and I (she also worked there…we were the full line up of employees that Summer) ate like pigs lol. One of my favorite things to do was work my shift, then make 2 of what were called Boston Shakes, one for me and one for my brother Steve. These were HUGE shakes that also had a about 73 pints of soft serve on top of them. I have absolutely NO idea how I didn’t weigh 500 pounds by the end of that Summer. Mine was the same each time; a chocolate malt with extra malt syrup. The flavor is still a favorite. I don’t drink shakes often but when I go to say, Sonic and get one, it’s still chocolate malt with extra malt. I’m a creature of habit 🙂

Since I also love Whoppers Candy; they are malt flavored after all, I was tickled to find this recipe in the same Better Home And Garden Cookbook/magazine (it’s one of those they keep on the shelves for a few months, then retire) that my last post came from. I am slowly working my way through all the recipes in there that I have tabbed. It was a good find; a cookbook that you actually want to make multiple recipes from. I have about a dozen pages tabbed and plan to get to them all.

This is a perfect Spring dessert; it’s rich yet light and not overwhelming. Mind you, it would also be great for a Christmas dessert or heck, any time of year lol. I don’t want to limit it. But Easter is tomorrow and if you still need just one more dessert, this would work wonderfully. It can be ready to go in less than 90 minutes and that includes chilling time. The mousse itself is sweet and creamy with a nice malted milk flavor. The topping is only very lightly sweetened and a wonderful foil to the sweeter mousse. And the crushed malted milk balls in the mousse and the topping add a nice light crunch.

You know the drill…. 🙂

Chocolate Malted Milk Mousse

  • 2/3 cup malted milk balls (plus extra for garnishing)
  • 3 cups heavy cream
  • 4 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 3 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 1/3 cup chocolate malted milk powder (I actually used the plain kind, not the chocolate kind)
  • 2 tablespoons amaretto, chocolate liqueur or cream (I used Kahlua cause I’m just a rebel :-p )
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, divided
  • 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon sugar (this is for the topping. Don’t be tempted to add more sugar. The small amount of sweetening is excellent against the sweet mousse)
  1. Put the malted milk balls in a large bag and crush them using a rolling pin…or a hammer…or a neighbors head, whatever works for you; no judgment here. Set aside.
  2. In a small saucepot, combine the chopped chocolates and 1/4 cup of the cream. Over low heat, stirring constantly, heat until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Add 1 teaspoon of the vanilla, the malted milk powder and the liqueur (or cream) Cool to room temp. Stirring speeds this up.
  3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whip 1 3/4 cup of the cream until stiff peaks form. Stir 1/2 cup of the cream into the cooled chocolate mixture. gently fold the rest of the cream into the chocolate. Then gently fold in the crushed malted milk balls. Spoon the mousse into either small dessert glasses or a 1.5 to 2 quart glass serving bowl. Cover and chill for one hour at least and up to 24 hours.
  4. When ready to serve, whip the remaining one cup cream with 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, 1 tablespoon of sugar and the 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder until stiff peaks form. Spoon the topping onto the mousse and garnish with more malted milk balls.

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Fudgy Brownies With Mini Peanut Butter Cups

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Fudgy Brownies With Mini Peanut Butter Cups

Fudgy Brownies With Mini Peanut Butter Cups




We all know I am NOT a fan of peanut butter. Well, to qualify again, not “normal” peanut butter. I do have a soft spot for Peanut Butter & Company’s Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter and Jifs new Salted Caramel Hazelnut is pretty amazing as peanut butter type spreads go. You’ll notice I did NOT say it was “to die for”. I believe I’ve mentioned before that that is one of those phrases that makes me want to gouge my eardrums out with a spoon. That one along with “EVOO” and “Sammy”. Damn you for your evil influence, Rachael Ray, damn you. But back on tangent, as much as it possible for me, no “to die for”…. I will only die for medium rare ribeyes and roasted brussel sprouts. I have my standards.

But every once in a while, cause I love you all so much (“I just cain’t quit you” 😛 ), I have to make something peanut buttery for all of you. I realize how peculiar I am with my dislike of PB.  I realize how peculiar I am for many reasons and that that is but one of many, but lets not go there.

I was actually pleasantly surprised with these. Yes, they have a strong peanut buttery taste so those of you into that will love that aspect, but they are also fudgy/chewy enough and of course, chocolatey enough, that even I enjoyed them. They have a perfect, shiny crackly top crust, which I personally love. I found myself, after cutting off the edges, picking up stray bites here and there. Sooo chewy and yummy. 😀 Oh yeah, just for good measure, I threw in a bag of Heath Chips, so that added yet another level of crunchy, salty/sweet goodness. You can thank me later. 😀

You know the drill… 🙂

Fudgy Brownies With Mini Peanut Butter Cups

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs, lightly beaten (use a large bowl)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 8 ounces mini peanut butter cups (I used Trader Joes Brand)
  • 1 bag (12 ounces) Heath Bar chips
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 11×7 glass pan (I used a standard Pyrex) or a 13×9 inch pan. If you use the 13×9, be more aware of your cooking time as these will cook quicker.
  2. Melt your butter in a medium pot over medium high heat. Add the chocolate, stir once, then remove the pot form the heat. Let it sit for five minutes then stir for about 2 minutes to finish melting the chips.
  3. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and whisk to blend.
  4. Slowly pour the chocolate mixture over the beaten eggs, whisking the whole time. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and beat well.
  5. Pour in the flour and beat JUST until combined. Fold in the peanut butter cups and heath chips.
  6. Spoon into the prepared pan. bake at 350 for approximately 40 minutes or until the top is shiny, firm and crackly looking and inserting a skewer in the center shows only a few moist crumbs, not a loose or liquidy batter.
  7. Let cool in the pan on a rack until thoroughly cool before cutting. You cut them before this and you will get goop. Tasty goop, but goop nonetheless. If you have these room temp, they are creamier and silkier in texture. If you chill them, they take on more of a candylike fudge texture. try it both ways to see which you prefer. 🙂

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Cherry Garcia Pudding

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Cherry Garcia Pudding




I love ice cream. It’s my go to treat on nights when I allow myself dessert. Well, sometimes I’ll mix it up with something else, but 99% of the time, it will still resemble ice cream in that it will have a creamy texture. I’m one of those people whose downfall is creamy and rich, whether it’s something sweet or something savory. Creamy is my friend. But Ben & Jerry are even better friends. Have any of you tried their new “Core” flavors? I tried the salted caramel one (of course) and I have to admit it, I was rather disappointed. It was….boring. The best part was the little chunks of Blondie but even that wasn’t enough to make it worth the calories.
I DO however, love many of their other flavors. My favorite will always be Phish Food. It used to be that running a close second was Cherry Garcia, but now for strangely personal reasons, I don’t eat it anymore. It brings back memories I prefer to forget because they make me mentally queasy; one of those “omg, did I really get involved with someone that disgusting” memories. Yep… from an ice cream lol. I’m strange that way. Doesn’t take much; a smell, a flavor, a sound and I’m transported to other times, some good, some bad.
But I still love the flavor combo, that creamy texture, the cherries, the chocolate and that slight almondy background. I eat other brands of ice cream with it and have *gasp* even found brands that are better than Ben & Jerry’s. But I also love a dessert I began making about 9 years ago that has the same flavor profile. I usually call it “Cherry Garcia Wanna-Be” mousse. But for the sake of brevity, Cherry Garcia Pudding works also lol.

This is a cinch to make. The most time consuming part is chopping the chocolate and cherries and that’s still pretty quick if you have a decent knife. You can have this knocked out and chilling inside of 20 minutes. Then you just let it chill and serve it. This is oh so good. Creamy and rich with all those lovely flavors meshing into puddingish (yes, that too is now a word) perfection.

You know the drill…. git to cooking 🙂

Cherry Garcia Pudding

 

  • 8 ounces semi sweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 16 ounce jar Maraschino Cherries, drained, syrup reserved, cherries coarsely chopped (redrain and pat dry the cherries after chopping as they will let off more liquid)
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1  teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2  teaspoon almond extract (I love the almond flavor so I tend to use more)
  • 1 cup heavy cream, whipped
  • 1 8 ounce container Cool Whip (you can sub sweetened whipped cream, but this is one of those rare cases where the flavor and texture of cool whip works)
  1. In a large bowl, on low speed, beat together the sweetened condensed milk, 3 tablespoons of the maraschino cherry juice (You don’t need any more of it, but it makes an awesome cherry coke, thus why I said to reserve all of it 😛 ), the lemon juice, vanilla extract and almond extract
  2. Gently fold in the cool whip and whipped cream, then the chopped chocolate and chopped cherries.
  3. Cover, then put the mixture into the fridge and chill until thickened, at least 3 hours.
  4. Pour the filling into individual glasses. You can then lightly cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it until ready to serve or serve now. Garnish with some extra cherries and chopped chocolate.

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Chocolate Iced Yeast Doughnuts With Blood Orange Filling

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Chocolate Iced Yeast Doughnuts With Blood Orange Filling

Chocolate Iced Yeast Doughnuts With Blood Orange Filling



I’ve always been a doughnut fan. I mean, it’s fried dough which is then usually covered in a glaze or frosting. What’s not to love, right? Back when I was a kid (heck, even now. I admit it) getting a treat of Dunkin Donuts made my day. My favorite was always the Bavarian Creme. And the Boston Creme. And the ones with the thick vanilla filling. And the ones with…. erhmmm, ok, I liked them all. As I got older though, and my palate become more sophisticated (saith the woman who brags about loving Cheetos) I would wish they had more interesting flavors. Not that that stopped me from eating 98 doughnuts in one sitting, just that I wanted more variety. So how do you get more interesting flavors? You make them yourself. Or live in a city with a gourmet Doughnut shop, but that’s not here in rural Kentucky. Gourmet here is “Franks Doughnuts”; good but not fancy.

I made this recipe for Orange Curd knowing exactly what I wanted to do with it. Other than spoon bites of it into my waiting mouth at 2am when no one is looking, that is. Along with Lil’ Smokies sausages. Don’t ask… just don’t ask.

I wanted to use the curd (gosh, curd is a word that soooo doesn’t do justice to the smooth creamy, buttery topping that it is.) as a doughnut filling. And what better way to do that then a yeast doughnut covered in chocolate. Chocolate…orange…classic, right? While my doughnut shapes leave something to be desired, namely, symmetry lol, they taste fantastic. You have a puffy, fluffy and tender yeast doughnut that is mildly sweet with a subtle hint of orange, then a smooth rich chocolate icing and finally that wonderful slightly tangy orange filling. Pure heaven. And oh so easy to eat way more than you need, this why I don’t make doughnuts often. I’d weigh 800 pounds. This is a multi step recipe, but none of the steps is difficult. If you’ve made any recipes using a yeast dough before, this is no different. You’re just frying it instead of baking it. Just make the curd the day before, so that it’s thoroughly chilled when you fill the doughnuts. If orange curd isn’t to your liking, you could use jam or pastry cream or even instant pudding if you’re feeling lazy lol.

You know the drill… 🙂

Chocolate Iced Yeast Doughnuts With Blood Orange Filling

  • Doughnuts-
  • 2 tablespoons warm water
  • 1 envelope dry yeast
  • 3/4 cup milk, warmed to between 115-120 degrees
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest
  • 1/4 teaspoon Boyajian Orange Oil
  •  1 egg
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp
  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • vegetable oil (enough to fill a pot about 4 inches deep)
  • Icing- (Alton Browns Recipe)
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • Filling- Orange Curd
  1. For the doughnuts- In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the yeast and warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add in the milk, egg, sugar, vanilla, softened butter, orange zest and orange oil and one cup of the flour. Mix with the paddle attachment just until it is mixed.
  2. Switch over to the dough hook, then add the rest of the flour. Mix at low speed until the dough pulls away cleanly from the side of the bowl. Scrape once or twice if you need to. When the dough is smooth and elastic looking, dump it out into a lightly greased bowl. Turn to coat all sides, then cover with a clean cloth and set somewhere warm to rise. Let rise until doubled in bulk.
  3. After is rises, pat or roll it into a circle that is about 3/4 of an inch thick. Use a 2.5 inch cutter (obviously, if you want smaller or larger doughnuts, change the cutter size but remember to watch your frying time in that case). Cut out the doughnuts, then set them aside on a clean baking sheet. Allow them to rise again until they are doubled in bulk.
  4. While they are rising, slowly heat 4 inches of oil in a large pot to 350 degrees.
  5. When the doughnuts are risen, carefully slide a few at a time into the hot oil. Let cook for one minute on each side (if making 2.5 inch doughnuts), until nicely browned on both sides.
  6. Carefully scoop the doughnuts out and lay them on a wire rack set over a cookie sheet. While they cool, make your icing.
  7. In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, milk, corn syrup and vanilla. Heat until the butter is totally melted. Add in the chopped chocolate and swirl the pan around, then let it sit for 5 minutes. Stir to finish incorporating the chocolate, then sift in the powdered sugar. Whisk well until the mixture is smooth and glossy.
  8. Filling the doughnuts is easy- pour the orange curd into a plastic squeeze bottle, the type you see ketchup in. You can find them for a dollar at Wal-mart. Poke the top of the squeeze bottle into the side of the doughnut. Squeeze the bottle gently, pulling back as you do so, until the tip comes out of the doughnut. If it looks like you need more filling, squeeze a little more in.
  9. Dip each filled doughnut into the warm icing, swirling as you lift up to get rid of the excess.
  10. Set the doughnuts aside to let the icing dry…. or just eat them. I’m fine with that.

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Ultra Creamy Hot Fudge Sauce

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Ultra Creamy Hot Fudge Sauce

Ultra Creamy Hot Fudge Sauce

Back when I was a kid, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and mankind had a population of about 12, I loved hot fudge sundaes. I remember that, when my father would come to stay with us (my mom had surgery once and he stayed with us, which I loved) or we with him, which I did quite often as I grew, being the daddys girl that I was, he would make us these huge bowls of ice cream (my God, I just wrote the worlds longest run on sentence). And when I say huge, I mean huge. The man had no boundaries when it came to sweets, a trait he kept throughout his life. He would put about 43 scoops of ice cream in a large industrial size vat, then he would cover that with either Hersheys syrup or hot fudge, then add whippped cream, sprinkles and about 309 cookies surrounding it. Needless to say, my brother, sister and I ate every bowl and then licked the vat clean. He usually had to call for the firemen to help us back out of the vat, but it was worth it.

As time went on, I turned my back on my beloved hot fudge for other flavors (*sobs and begs hot fudge to forgive me*) like butterscotch. Now, I still love butterscotch and I will admit to it being my flavor of choice when it comes to ice cream toppings, but I still also have a weakness for a good hot fudge sauce. There are some decent ones you can find at the stores but that’s the key word…. decent. You have not tasted hot fudge untiul you have had homemade hot fudge dripping it’s warm, decadent creamy self (man, is it getting hot in here or is it just me? *fans my face*) down a vat bowl of ice cream. There is just no comparison. This sauce is has a glossy sheen when warm and drips wonderfully over ice cream… or pudding… or a pot roast**… or a marshmallow. But cold, it has definite uses too. Like say, a spoon. You, hot fudge and a spoon. Enough said.

This oringally came from Taste Of Home and is barely adapted; just the brandy and the cooking time.

You know the drill…

Ultra Creamy Hot Fudge Sauce

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp
  • 1 1/3 cups packed light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon brandy (doesn’t add an alcohol taste; just adds depth to the flavor but consider it optional)
  1. In a heavy bottomed saucepot, combine the cream and the butter. Stir over low heat until the butter is melted. Add the brown and white sugars and the salt. Stir and cook over low heat until the sugar is completely dissolved.
  2. Whisk in the cocoa powder and the corn syrup. Cook over low heatr, stirring constantly, until the cocoa is dissolved and blended.
  3. Add in the chopped chocolate. Cook and stir for about 3 minutes, until the chocolate is completely melted. Continue to cook over low heat, simmering this for about 5 minutes (more if you want a very thick sauce but keep in mind that this will thicken as it stands plus even more so in the fridge). Remove frm the heat and add in the vanilla and the brandy if you’;re using it. Let cool, then pour into glass jars. Store in the fridge. (disposable plastic containers work too. Just make sure the sauce is cool first)
  4. This is a wonderful Chrismas gift, put into pretty jars and tied with a holiday ribbon and maybe gifted with some ice cream bowls.

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Boozy Browned Butter Brownies

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Boozy Browned Butter Brownies

Boozy Browned Butter Brownies




Heh. Title as tongue twister. I thought about Browned Butter Baileys & Kahlua Brownies, but that just wasn’t as fun. Then again, I’m probably just easily amused.

I posted on my facebook page earlier that I found it funny that bloggers are accused of *cough cough, I’m looking at you, Martha Stewart* not testing recipes and just generally not knowing what they are doing. Why did I find that funny? Because it took me more than one pan of these brownies to get it right, to get it to where I thought they were good enough. Mind you, my boys absolutely loved the pans that didn’t make the cut. Brownie overload. But I was NOT going to post a recipe/slash photo that wasn’t good enough. And I know I’m in the majority with that opinion. The majority of bloggers I know won’t post something that either doesn’t turn out magically wonderful on the first try or that they haven’t decided is great after the 73rd try (and fail). We take as much pride in our work as people in any other job. The ones that don’t are the ones that disappear after six months because blogging is work. The things we post don’t happen in five minutes. We spend hours a day creating (or recreating and making our own the recipes of others) recipes, photographing them, writing posts etc etc. Why? Because we love you *breaks into the Mickey Mouse Club Theme Song* And because we love to cook, and love to write and love the people we meet. Bottom line though? Find a decent blogger…and chances are you are finding someone whose recipes you can trust. I hope you count me among them. If for no other reason than my sons are over here getting nauseous and fat from too many brownies.

Boozy Browned Butter Brownies

  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp
  • 4 ounces good quality unsweetened chocolate (Again, Ghirardelli makes a good one), coarsely chopped
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1 3/4 cup sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 8 ounce package cream cheese, room temp
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 3 tablespoons Kahlua
  • 3 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 inch square pan with foil; butter the foil.
  2. Place your butter in a medium saucepot. Over medium heat, melt the butter and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the butter is golden brown. Watch carefully, cause this can go from brown to black in a second and then all you’ll have is 3/4 of a cup of trash.
  3. Remove from heat and add in the 4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate. Let sit for five minutes, then stir to get a smooth mixture.  Stir in the brown sugar and a 1/2 cups of the white sugar. Add in the vanilla and 3 of the eggs, one at a time, and stir well after each one.
  4. Stir in the flour, then spoon half of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
  5. In a small mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese and 2 tablespoons flour. Using a hand mixer, beat at low speed until well combined. Add in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the egg; beat well.
  6. Add in the liquors (you can btw, sub any favorite liquor for the Kahlua and Baileys. Using all of one of them would be yummy, as would something like Amaretto or Frangelico or maybe Peppermint Schnapps for a Christmas version) and beat well.
  7. Pour the cream cheese batter over the top of the brownie batter. Spoon portions of the remaining brownie batter over the cheesecake batter and use a knife or the back of a spoon to swirl the two batters together. The brownie batter is thick so don’t expect it to swirl easily.
  8. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out with just a few moist crumbs on it.
  9. Let cool in pan on a rack for about an hour, then use the foil to take the brownies from the pan. These will cut easier (and have a better texture) if you let them chill overnight. Slice with a hot sharp knife.

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Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies With Apricots & Blueberries

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Double Chocolate Chip Cookies With Apricots & Blueberries

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies With Apricots & Blueberries


I remember how back when I was a kid, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and we wore Saber Tooth Tiger skins for clothing,  some years at Christmas time, my mom would get a fruit tray to set out. She also got a bag of shell on mixed nuts every year that we loved but that’s neither here nor there other than a memory I have. As for the fruit tray, you know the kind I mean; all neatly set up, with dried peaches, pears, apricots, prunes and dates on it. In our household, the peaches and apricots would get eaten first and the prunes would sit there until we kids got desperate. I actually like prunes sometimes now but I still prefer the apricots.

When I got older, I got into the whole cover perfectly good and nutritious fruit with chocolate thing. Easy enough; take a nice piece of fruit, fresh or dried and dip it into chocolate and cover up any nutritional value it ever had. What’s wrong with that, right? 😀 My favorite was of course to take a dried apricot and cover it in either semi sweet or white chocolate. The chewy tangy fruit mixed with the sweet chocolate… pure Heaven. So when my friend Jenni over at Pastry Chef Online came up with an utterly delicious Apricot Swirl Brownie, it got me craving that fruit/chocolate combo again.

So what did I do? It isn’t entirely original because I have seen cookies with dried apricots and white chocolate in them before but I combined two of my favorite fruit flavors (in the Summer, I am constantly eating sliced fresh apricots and fresh blueberries with a little sugar and cream) in a cookie with both white and dark chocolate. I love the way this turned out; fairly reminiscent of those chocolate covered fruits I love. The soft sweet cookie, tangy fruits and bites of chocolate just go together so well! These are extremely easy to make so….

You know the drill….

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies With Apricots & Blueberries

  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 6 ounce package dried apricots
  • 1 6 ounce package dried blueberries
  • 1 cup good quality white chocolate chips
  • 1 cup good quality bittersweet or dark chocolate chips (Ghirardelli makes a good 60% dark chocolate chip; not too sweet or too bitter)
  • 1 cup boiling water
  1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put the dried fruit into a small bowl and cover with the boiling water. Let sit for 30 minutes. Drain well. Lay the berries in a paper towel and gently blot dry. Blot dry the apricots and chop into small bite sized pieces.  Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugars, and extracts. Beat well, until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  3. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir to mix, then add to the butter mixture all at once. Beat at low speed until fully combined. Alternately, you can use a heavy wooden spoon to mix.
  4. Add in the white and dark chips; stir well. Add the apricots; stir well. Last, gently add the blueberries, being careful to not break them up more than can be avoided.
  5. Roll golf ball sized pieces of dough in your palms to get them rounded, then lay about 3 inches apart on large ungreased baking sheets.
  6. Bake at 375 degrees for about 14 minutes or until the top is light golden brown and the cookies look just set in the middle. They will firm up as they cool. If you prefer a crisper cookie, let cook for maybe an extra 2 minutes, until the top is golden brown and looks dry.
  7. Let sit on the pans for two minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.
  8. I got 27 good sized cookies from this. You could make them smaller but make sure to adjust your cooking time.

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Amaretto Chocolate Mousse Cake With Mascarpone Cream & A Mixed Berry Sauce

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Amaretto Chocolate Mousse Cake

Amaretto Chocolate Mousse Cake




Whoaaaaa mannnnnn, that’s a long title. But I wanted to fit all the goodness in there so I broke my own rule about trying to avoid long titles.

This is also known as a flourless chocolate cake but that has such “omg, I can’t do that” connotations that I fiddled with the name some. Hey, I change recipes themselves, why not names too? :-p This is one of those desserts that, when people taste it, they are convinced that you 1) are a gourmet cook and 2) spent days making it. In reality however, this isn’t difficult at all. The most labor intensive part is making the berry sauce and you could used jarred ice cream topping if you wanted to or just serve the berries whole. I would of course, cry if you did, so just don’t tell me if you forgo  the berry step. I don’t like crying. It makes my nose stuffy and I look like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer after a 3 day booze binge.

Back in the day, I would never attempted something like this because for some reason, I have to agree with the general assessment, it just LOOKS and tastes like it must be complicated. So if I can get over being a chicken, so can any of you out there afraid to try it. This isn’t even as complex as unbaked chocolate mousse because there is no egg separating, no whipping a ton of cream to fold in, yada yada yada. You melt some good chocolate and butter, beat the crap out of some whole eggs, fold them together and bake. Voila! Cake. And the topping I made as well as the sauce are also easy. You’ve got this. Honest.

This cake is dense, rich, and almost fudge like when chilled. The texture changes at room temp and I personally prefer the silkiness it has when cold. But try it both ways and see how YOU prefer it. It’s outstanding either way.

Use good quality chocolate in this, not say, Wal Mart brand. The flavor here is pure chocolate and you get what you pay for in this.

You know the drill… 🙂

Amaretto Chocolate Mousse Cake

  • 6 refrigerator cold large eggs
  • 12 ounces good quality semi sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 4 ounces good quality unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup Amaretto
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • Mascarpone Cream-
  • 8 ounces Mascarpone cheese, room temp
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • Berry Sauce-
  • 16 ounce bag frozen mixed berries, thawed and drained
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Wrap a 9 inch springform pan in two layers of heavy duty foil. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and grease the sides of the pan well. Set the pan inside a large baking dish.
  2. In a small heavy bottomed pot, over low heat, melt together the butter and chocolate. Stir constantly until you have a smooth lump free mixture. Pour in the Amaretto and extracts and mix well. Set aside off the heat to cool for five to ten minutes. Start some water boiling for the water bath. Not, not for you. You can bathe later. For the cake.
  3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl (make sure this is scrupulously clean with no greasy feel at all) beat all 6 eggs at high speed. Beat for a full five to ten minutes until you have  nicely aerated, foamy, doubled in volume  eggs.
  4. Stir about one third of the eggs into the chocolate mixture. Be gentle, don’t stir like you’re trying to cause it pain. Now gently fold in half the remaining eggs. Make sure there are no streaks of white showing. Then fold in the remaining eggs.
  5. Pour the chocolate/egg mixture into the prepared pan. Place pan in the 325 degree oven. Pour boiling water around the pan, careful not to splash any into it, until the water is about halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
  6. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes. Take pan out of the water bath and set on a rack to cool completely, then chill overnight
  7. For the Mascarpone cream- In a small mixing bowl, beat together the mascarpone and the sour cream until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar and extracts. beat well. Chill. See how easy that was?
  8. For the berry sauce- make sure the berries are well drained, then pulse three or four times in a food processor with the sugar. Use the back of a large spoon to press the berries through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, effectively getting rid of the seeds and pulp, leaving you with a nice smooth sauce.
  9. To serve- about half an hour before serving, carefully remove the side of the springform pan. Invert, then peel off the parchment. Invert back onto your serving plate.
  10. Use an offset spatula to spread the cream over the top of the cake. Alternately, you can just serve it on the side.
  11. Cut thin slices of the cake with a very sharp knife and serve with the berry sauce.

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Coconut Chocolate Fudge Truffle Cookies

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Coconut Chocolate Fudge Truffle Cookies

Coconut Chocolate Fudge Truffle Cookies


I think we’ve all learned by now that I like the combination of chocolate and coconut. I don’t think I realized it myself until I started this blog. But now, when I look back through the blog and see the recipes for different treats with that flavor combo, like Mounds Bar Brownies or Chocolate Bundt Cake With A Creamy Coconut Filling orrrrrr Browned Butter German Chocolate Chip Cookies or 😛 Samoa Wanna Be Cookies, it makes me realize that umm, yeah, I guess I use that combo a lot. But my family hasn’t killed me yet and they are actually some of my more popular postshere so it seems I’m not the only one who likes it. That of course means I feel perfectly safe posting yet another hehe.

These cookies, like practically everything else I make, started out somewhat different. The original recipe comes from The Gourmet Cookbook I actually wasn’t that thrilled with that  cookbook. I only found two recipes in the book that interested me enough to try them and their Truffle Cookies was one of them. On a side note however, if you can get a hold of a copy of Gourmet Today  grab a copy. I personally found about 25 recipes in there that I tabbed, which for me, was enough to make it worth buying from Amazon. Just got it in the mail today actually and I’m looking forward to making some recipes from it.

But, as I was saying, the recipe was somewhat different when I saw it in the book. I didn’t make a ton of changes to it but enough to make the flavor profile of it quite a bit different. The original was just a plain chocolate truffle cookie and while there’s nothing wrong with that lol, I am, as we know, incapable of keeping a recipe the same. So I went to that favorite of mine… chocolate coconut. I love Almond Joy candy bars so I also threw in some sliced toasted almonds. I’ve mentioned before that while I like coconut, I won’t use it unless it is toasted. I just don’t like the texture of it untoasted. But if you don’t mind it, feel free to omit the toasting of the coconut and almonds. But I highly suggest doing it. It adds a nutty crunchiness to the cookies. If you want to try the cookies the way the book wrote it, just omit the coconut and almonds altogether as well as the coconut extract.

You know the drill…

Coconut Chocolate Fudge Truffle Cookies

  • 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, sliced thin
  • 1 12 ounce package semi sweet chocolate chips, divided
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup coconut
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon coconut flavoring
  • 3 eggs
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small baking dish, combine the coconut and the almonds. Toast at 350, stirring once during cooking, until both are light golden brown. Don’t overcook. Nothing worse than the smell of scorched coconut. Don’t ask me how I know this *whistles innocently* Go ahead and shut off the oven after that because the dough has to chill.
  2. Melt together the unsweetened chocolate, butter and one cup of the chocolate chips in a small heavy bottomed saucepan, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool.
  3. In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder and the coconut almond mixture.
  4. Beat together the sugar, extracts and eggs. Pour in the melted chocolate mixture and beat until well blended, then add the flour mixture and mix until well combined. Stir in the remaining chocolate chips.
  5. Chill the dough in the fridge in a covered bowl for about two hours or until firm.
  6. Preheat oven to 350. Using your lightly dampened hands, roll the dough into small (about 1 inch) balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
  7. Bake at 350 until puffy and set, about 11 minutes. They will still be soft in the center
  8. Cool on the baking sheet for ten minutes, then remove to a rack to finish cooling.
  9. Hide from the family and eat them all yourself because you love them and want to save them from overeating.

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Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Icing

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Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Icing

Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Icing


I’m not normally big on cakes. One reason is because I stink at the whole frosting and decorating process. Thus why you get a highly cropped photo lol. Editing is a great way to hide the flaws. The other reasons? I don’t know. Simply that when it comes to desserts, I’m a creamy type of girl, i.e., ice cream, mousses, puddings etc. After that, I love a good pie.

But there are times I just want a big old slab of plain old chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. It’s one of those simple pleasures, one of those foods that takes you back to childhood birthdays immediately. Well, for most people anyway. When I think of childhood birthdays, I think of Dressels cakes, which were sold in grocery stores in Chicago back in the day  (whipped cream and strawberries. YUM!) and of my brother “accidentally” telling me to cross the street on my 8th birthday and my getting thrown about 72 miles by an oncoming car. Really. Seventy two miles. Maybe even 722 miles.  He had it out for me. My brother, not the car driver. 😛

Where was I? Oh yeah, chocolate cake. Years ago, I got a free sample copy of Cuisine Magazine. On the back cover was a luscious looking chocolate cake. I have saved that issue, mainly for that recipe, ever since. Today, I made it. This is chocolate cake nirvana. Old fashioned moist, dense chocolate cake filled and topped with a smooth rich chocolate icing. Not a bit of powdered sugar in sight in this frosting, this is the kind that uses cocoa, sugar, cream and butter that are heated, then cooled until thick enough to spread. Basically, a richer than usual ganache. This is extremely easy to make. No 500 steps, no adding things in 2 tablespoon increments then beating for a year. You mix your dry, you mix your wet, then you combine. Don’t overbeat this however. I did to mine a little and it became a bit tough. Just beat until it’s combined and there is no dry flour mixture left showing, rather like you do when you make brownies or pancake batter. The frosting is also easy. Just melt your butter, pour in the other ingredients, heat and voila, there you go. Just chill until it’s spreadable, then eat it out of the bowl spread onto the cake.

You know the drill. 🙂

Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Icing

  • Cake-
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups hot water
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar (it helps the leavening process)
  • 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • Icing-
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I also used a touch of orange extract just because it’s one of our families favorite flavor combos)
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 8 or 9 inch cake pans with cooking spray (I always use Bakers Joy when making any sort of cake) or grease and lightly flour your pans.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa.
  3. In a large measuring cup, combine the hot water, oil, vinegar, coffee granules, and vanilla. Pour all at once into the dry ingredients and whisk (no mixer here please) just until combined. It’s ok if there are some small lumps left. Remember, don’t overbeat this.
  4. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  5. Cool cake layers in the pan for fifteen minutes, then invert out onto a wire rack. The inverting helps you have layers that are flatter rather than domed.
  6. While they cool, make your icing. In a large saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter.  Stir in the sugar and coca powder. The mixture will be thick and grainy. Remove from the heat
  7. Combine the heavy cream, sour cream and vanilla in a measuring cup. Put the pan back over medium heat and whisk gradually into the cocoa mixture. Cook until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is smooth, glossy and hot to the touch. Do NOT boil.
  8. Remove from heat and then either cool at room temp until totally cool and thick enough to spread or, better method, chill in the fridge for about 30 to 40 minutes, until thick enough to spread.
  9. Lay one layer flat side up on a plate. Spoon about 1 cup of the frosting onto to it and spread to cover. Lay the other layer carefully on top, pressing down lightly to help prevent sliding. Use the remaining frosting to cover the tops and sides of the cake, making sure to eat a bite or six as you do so. No one will notice. 😀
  10. Enjoy chocolate nirvana. You’re welcome. 🙂

Copyright Notice: From Cupcakes To Caviar images and original content are copyright protected. Please do not publish these materials anywhere without prior permission.