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Chocolate Salty Balls

30 Aug

I had read about cake balls in just about every food blog I touched for a few months, so when a co-worker’s birthday came up, I had to try to make them. 

The idea is that you bake a regular cake, break it up and combine it with cake frosting so it becomes a fudgy texture, roll it into balls, then dip it in melted chocolate and let them harden.  What could be bad about that?  I actually chose to do brownies and combined it with cream cheese frosting.  Here are the rolled balls:

I had read that the dipping process could be hard as the balls are heavy and fall off a toothpick, so upon exploring candy dipping advice, I saw an ingenious idea.

It’s simply a plastic fork with the center two tines removed.  Easy peasy!  I made sure the balls were big enough to sit on the outer tines and then you just dip and scoop them out. 


One of my favorite things with chocolate recently is to add some sea salt.  (One of my favorite all-time recipes is chocolate covered toffee with salt). 

I know some people don’t love salt with chocolate, so I made some sweet versions.  The salted ones were GONE before the sweet ones were even halfway eaten. 

But they made for such a fun birthday treat!

Next time I really want to try red velvet cake + cream cheese or banana cake + vanilla frosting.

The recipe is really simple, but if you need some tips, here are two links:

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/cake-balls/Detail.aspx

and

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips-techniques/how-to-make-cake-pops-078637 (they feature the cuter version of putting them on lollipop sticks!)

Just Desserts

6 Aug

The one prized possession I received in what I inherited from my Grandmother (beyond the awesome furniture, jewelry, and art) is her recipe folder.  There are recipes in here torn out from newspapers from decades ago and scribbled notes from friends (and friends of friends).  Some of them are so stained by butter that they are nearly translucent and the ink is almost impossible to read. 

 I have only just begun to explore the treasures in this folder.  The first one I sought out, however, was the famous brownie recipe.  I made these first thing when the family was getting together to celebrate my Grandmother’s life.  I have made them about a dozen times since and introduced them to friends and coworkers.  They are ALWAYS a hit.  They have even been called “the best brownies I’ve ever tasted.”  Thanks Grandma.

The batter is “old style,” using Baker’s chocolate (and none of that new age, chip stuff!)  It’s actually quite hard to find sometimes… but I try to keep a stash for the days I want to make a treat for someone.

The cook up so perfectly.  Crispy on the outside and on the top, fudgey on the inside.  Every time. 

And I’m sure you’re all licking your lips for the recipe, however, I am a terrible tease and will not be sharing it.

Though since I’m not ENTIRELY mean, I’ve also included the easy rugelach recipe I made a few weeks ago.

The secret to this is Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations, which is the same as their crescent rolls but without the pre cut slits.  (I used them before on the delicious chicken tarts).  You can roll it out thinner to use as the basis for rugelach.

I mixed up the classic filling, fruit and nuts.  I went with two variations.  The first was blueberries and nuts.

The second was strawberries with mini chocolate chips and nuts.

You slice the dough into long triangles and fill it with a thin layer of fruit.

Then you roll them up from the big end to the little end.

I layed them all on a Silpat and then sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar.

They baked up very nicely, though next time I would back them a little more so they get a little crispier.  They tasted DELICIOUS, however.  Great and easy treat to bring to a picnic.

And they are only 1 Weight Watcher point per cookie! Not bad!

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RECIPE
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Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations Rugallach

Ingredients:

  • Cooking spray (or silpat mat)
  • 1 can of Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations
  • ~1/2 cup fresh fruit (your choice)
  • ~1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
  • 1 Tbl. granulated sugar
  • 1 Tbl. flour
  • 1 Tbl. powdered sugar
  • 1 Tbl. cinnamon

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
  2. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray or line with a Silpat
  3. Combine fruit, nuts, and granulated sugar in a separate bowl
  4. Roll out crescent rolls to 1/8” thickness on a lightly floured surface
  5. Cut into about 16 long triangles (a pizza slicer works best for this)
  6. Spoon about a teaspoon of filling into center of triangle, leaving ends free of filling
  7. Roll the dough from the wide edge to the point
  8. Place rolled cookies onto cookie sheet
  9. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown
  10. Let sit for about 5 minutes
  11. Dust cookies with cinnamon and powdered sugar (if you push them all together, it makes this easier, but I never bother)

Molten Chocolate Cakes… baked in a toaster oven

30 Jun

I always try to bake for my co-worker’s birthdays.  I think too often we get caught up so much with work that we don’t remember that we have lives on the outside of the office.  Birthdays are a damn good excuse to have something to celebrate and bring a little joy to the office.  I also love any excuse to bake.  When my coworker mentioned how much she LOVES molten chocolate cakes, I knew what I was making for her birthday.  I also absolutely love molten cakes myself, and I remembered Lori had blogged about making some recently.  So Lori gave me the recipe from the NY Times that sounded easy enough.

I was a bit worried, however, as I knew I was going to have to prepare these in advance and then cook them in the office… in a toaster oven.  So I decided to make a single cake at home first to see how it went.  The batter tasted DELISH and I got it all set up to go in the oven…

And then when the alarm went off, I cheerfully turned it over and…

Wah wah.  Bummer!  Since moving in I have realized that my very large, very modern oven needs longer cooking times than recipes usually call for (maybe because it’s bigger?) and I should have kept it in for longer than the recipe.

So I gathered it all up and dumped it back in and put it back in the oven…

and prayed… and…

Wah Wah x2!  Damn.  It tasted good though!

So I figured I had nothing to lose and I bought some ice cream, whipped cream, and berries and figured that if it didn’t work I would make a trifle or put it in a bowl to eat.  So with frayed nerves and a small prayer… into the work toaster oven it went the next day…

And???

Yayyy! It actually worked!  I actually think they got a little over cooked and weren’t as molten as I would have liked, but at least they came out in little chocolate deliciousities.  What is especially curious is that the ones in the muffin tins worked, yet the last one in the ramekin still didn’t come out right (so I ate it myself out of the container).  Perhaps I need to grease the ramekins more next time.

It’s rare that I fail baking, and this was quite the blow to my floured ego, however, it just goes to show you that making mistakes in baking happens often.  Don’t let it get you down