Fudge Brownie Topped with Decadent Pumpkin Marshallow Frosting

OK...who doesn't LOVE spicy pumpkin and chocolate fudge married together in on scrumptious fall dessert? This recipe I found posted to my Facebook page a couple weeks ago by my dear friend Pegs, and boy does she know me because as soon as I saw it I knew I had to try it!

The recipe can be made with any one of your favorite fudge brownie mixes, and then it's jazzed up with some chocolate grenache and a homemade marshmallow-pumpkin frosting. It is a pretty rich dessert so this little brownie will go a long way.

First you make your brownie according to the package directions. (I made my brownie more fudgey than cake like...Mr. RL prefers the fudgey version.) Now this is important...make sure to prep a 9 inch round cake pan with cooking spray or butter, and then trace the bottom of the pan onto a piece of parchment paper. Cut the circle out and then place the paper in the bottom of your cake pan, coat the parchment with cooking spray or butter. This will insure your brownie will release from the cake pan without any sticking. Make sure you let your brownie cool completely.

In the meantime in small sauce pan, bring to a low boil 1/3 cup of heavy cream. Just as it reaches a rolling boil remove the pan from the heat and add 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate morsels. DO NOT STIR THE MORSELS. Just make sure they are all covered and let the pan sit for about 5 minutes, then mix the chocolate until the mixture is creamy and well blended. Place the chocolate mixture in the fridge and let cool until it reaches a spreading consistency, about 5-8 minutes.

Next remove the chocolate grenache from the fridge and spread it over the top of your cooled brownie. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes, this will give you time to prepare the pumpkin marshmallow topping.

To make the topping you will need:

3/4 cup sugar
3 T. cold water
1 egg white
1/4 tsp. cream of tarter
1 tsp. vanilla
4 T pumpkin Puree
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Using a double boiler, fill the bottom pan with just enough water so it is not touching the bottom of the top pan, and bring to a boil. In the top pan combine the sugar, cold water, egg white and cream of tarter, and blend with a hand held mixer on low speed for about 30 seconds. Place the top pan over the boiling water and cook while beating with mixer consistently for about 8-10 minutes. The mixture will thicken as it cooks. Remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla. Beat for about another minute until you can form stiff peaks by pulling the beaters from the mixture, and then add the pumpkin, cinnamon, pie spice, nutmeg and cloves, beat again until blended. Spread mixture over the top of the grenache and return the brownie to refrigerator for another 15 minutes.

 Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the brownie has set, bake it in the oven for about five minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire rack and dust lightly with cocoa powder.  

Enjoy this perfectly pumpkined brownie dessert with either a cup of your favorite coffee or a nice port wine.

Have a great day!!!

XO

This recipe was adapted from Better Homes and Gardens 

Hot Cocoa Brownie Cake with Pumpkin Marshmallow Frosting. 

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FRENCHCOUNTRYCOTTAGE

Mint Chocolate Brownies made with Oreos and Andes Candies

These tasty brownies are so easy to whip up! All you need are 12 mint Oreo cookies, about 24 Andes candies, a box of dark fudge brownie mix plus the ingredients needed according to the package...and GO!

First  spray the bottom of a muffin pan with cooking spray. I happen to have a pan with squares for making individual brownies or cake squares. 

Crush the cookies on a cutting board with a rolling pin. You may want to place a piece of wax paper between the pin and the cookies because the cookies will begin to stick to both surfaces. This way if it sticks to the wax paper it is much easier to pull off. Divide the cookie crumbs and place in the bottom of each cup in the pan. Then prepare the brownie mix according to the package instructions. Divide the batter among the 12 cups and bake in an oven set at 350 degrees F for 24 minutes. 

In the meantime chop up the Andees candies and set aside. When the brownies are all done baking, sprinkle the chopped up mint candies on top of the brownies and let melt. If you need to you can pop the brownies back into the oven for a minute or two until the candies are all melted.

I just whipped these up this afternoon for my religious education class to help celebrate St. Patrick's Day...I sure hope they like 'em!

XO

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Easy Bisquick Chocolate Waffles

My kids love ANYTHING chocolate!!!

And since they have been having a lot of fun on their snow days off making waffles using the new waffle iron I got for Christmas, I asked them if they'd like to try making the waffles chocolate. And of course the answer was  a resounding YES!

This recipe is so simple that my eleven and nine year old had absolutely no problem making these yummy treats. Pretty much you just fellow the directions on the side of the package and then add in some powdered cocoa and vanilla.

To make 8 waffles you will need...

2 c. Bisquik (I use the Heart Smart mix)

1 1/3 c. low fat or fat free milk

2 T. vegetable oil

1 egg

1 T. powdered cocoa
2 T sugar

1 tsp. of real vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients until blended then pour onto hot waffle iron and let bake for about 5 minutes. You can reheat the waffles in a toaster until crisp.

Top with your favorite chocolate friendly fruit like raspberries, strawberries or even cherries and serve them with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for a fun dessert!

Enjoy!!!

XO

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Delicious Peanut Butter and Banana Pie with Homemade Chocolate Syrup

It always seems that I have at least one or two bananas that eventually begin to turn brown, of which I do not want to throw out, and typically I end up making banana bread with them. So today I went on perusing the good old net to find something beyond the standard banana bread and I ran straight into this recipe. I found the adorable blog Chocolate Covered Katie a healthy dessert blog, and she made a no-bake peanut butter pie. It looked amazing and lucky for me I had 3 very brown bananas and all the other ingredients on had I needed to make the pie. (Since I only had 10 inch spring form pan, mine is rather flat.)

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter

3 bananas

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

2 tsp. vanilla extract

a pinch of kosher salt

4 T. powdered sugar

I blended all of the ingredients in my blender until smooth. 

For the crust I had to improvised since I REALLY wanted chocolate but had no chocolate graham crackers or cookies. Unlike Katie, I did bake my crust for about 5 minutes in an oven set at 350 degrees F.

So for the crust I used...

2 1/2 cups crushed regular graham crackers

1/2 cup of heath bar, crunched

2 heaping T cocoa powder

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup butter melted 

1/4 tep. kosher salt

Toss all the dry ingredients together and then add the melted butter. Press the crust into a prepared spring form pan and bake. Remove and let cool.

Pour peanut butter banana mixture over the cooled crust and set in the freezer until it firms up.

To serve, remove from freezer and let set for about 10 minutes. Drizzle with chocolate syrup and crushed peanuts and enjoy!

Since my kids cleaned me out of store bought chocolate syrup, I had to resort to making my own. It was pretty easy though, all you need is...

1 cup Hershey Cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tbs. real vanilla

In small saucepan whisk together the cocoa and sugar, add the water and salt and over medium heat gradually bring the mixture to a slow boil. Make sure to stir constantly and cook for about 4-5 minutes. Remove pan from stove, add the vanilla and let cool completely. Mixture will thicken upon cooling. Store in the frig in an airtight container for up to one month.

By the way, this dessert got two thumbs up from both the kids and the old hubster.

Ciao 4 now!

XO

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All You Need is a Spoon ~ No-Bake Cakes in a Jar

Have you the recent  Women's Day magazine?  These were featured on the cover of April's issue and when I saw it I thought what a perfect Easter dessert idea for the kiddies. This is one recipe with a few variations to switch up the combo. This dessert is so easy and no mess...all the kiddies need is to open the jar, grab a spoon and enjoy!

To make the basic batter all you need is...

1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese at room temp.

3 T. sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1 T fresh lemon juice

For the strawberry cheesecake you will need...

1 cup of crushed graham crackers

10 oz. of fresh strawberries, pieces and slices 

1/2 c strawberry jam

4-5 8 oz. jelly jars

For the chocolate hazelnut cake...

 Omit the lemon juice in the batter recipe and add 1/2 cup of hazelnut spread like Nutella. 

Then use.. 

brownies, broken up

whipped cream 

and miniature chocolate morsels

5-6 8 oz. jelly jars

For the lemon blueberry pound cake use...

Lemon pudding instead of the batter recipe 

pound cake, cut up

blueberries

whipped cream

4 8 oz jelly jars

To make the basic batter...

In a large beat the cream cheese with the sugar. Gradually add the cream, the whole mixture sure begin to thicken after about two minutes of high speed beating. Add either the lemon juice or Nutella.

In the empty jars add 2 T. of the crushed graham crackers or broken up brownie. If making the lemon blueberry cake start with the lemon pudding. Next add a full tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture and top it off with some of the fresh strawberries and the jam, or for the hazelnut cake add more brownie. For the lemon pound cake layer the pound cake and blueberries on top of the pudding, Repeat in all cakes with one more layer of cream or pudding on the top. Refrigerate with the jar lid screwed on for at least 2 hours before serving. Place a few strawberry slices, whipped cream, miniature morsels, or blueberries to finish off the top.

Happy Saturday!!!

XO

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Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

 

These yummy treats have something for everyone! We are talking chocolate and pumpkin sitting on top of a spice cookie crumb crust here. These little bars are then topped off with a sour cream and sugar mixture and garnished with fresh nutmeg and a chocolate curl!  Aaaamaaazingly delish!! Now I ask you...what could be a better dessert for the autumn?  I found this recipe at a website called Food 52 and wanted to give them a whirl to see if maybe this would be something I'd like to bring to a football home tailgate party or even to Thanksgiving dinner. They're not that difficult to make...to be perfectly honest the hardest part, as with most bar recipes I've made, is trying to get these little darlings out of the baking dish cleanly.

 

So what you will need for the crust...

1 1/2 cups or approximately 20 spice wafers crushed down finely

3 T of brown sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

 

Heat over to 325 degrees F. Combine the 3 ingredients and press them into a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, remove an let cool.

 

 

What you will need for the filling...

2 8 oz pkgs. cream cheese at room temperature

1 3/4 cup of white sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup of pumpkin puree NOT pumpkin mix

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. pure vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 T unsalted butter

1/4 cups sour cream

1/4 c. white sugar

For the garnish I used fresh ground nutmeg and chocolate curls To read how to make the chocolate curls click here.

 

In large bowl blend together the softened cream cheese and the 1 3/4 cups of sugar. Beat with electric mixer until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating the mixture until blended after each egg. Then beat in the pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, salt and vanilla. Beat on low speed until all ingredients are blended. Then remove 1 1/4 cups of the mixture and put in separate bowl.

 

Next in a small heavy saucepan or double boiler, melt the chocolate plus the 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter together. When completely melted and and blended together, pour the chocolate into the 1 1/4 cups of pumpkin and beat with electric blender until blended. Spread the chocolate pumpkin mixture over the top of the spice cookie crust and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

 

Spread the remaining pumpkin mixture over the chocolate layer and return to the oven to bake for another 40-45 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 30 minutes.

 

In the meantime blend together the sour cream and 1/4 cup of sugar and then spread over the cooled bars and place in the frig for  a minimum of 3 hours.

 

 

When ready to serve cut the bars and garnish with nutmeg and/or chocolate curls.

 

This recipe yields 24 to 36 bars depending size of the bars

 

Enjoy!!!

 

Update...these bars were much easier to cut and remove from the baking dish after being refrigerated overnight.

Ciao!!! 

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How to Make Chocolate Curls

 

First of all Happy Fall to you all as it arrives tomorrow about mid-morning!!! Ah I just love this time of the year with the air becoming cooler and the leaves changing and falling off the trees. Time to start making your favorite chilies and stews, and for me to start doing a bit more in the way of baking.

 

Well you know how you see all those wonderful cakes in the bakery, or these days in grocery stores like Wegmans, and they have the most beautiful chocolate curls on top...wouldn't you love to decorate your next dessert with some of your own homemade chocolate curls? I know I would, so I googled a few ways of making these curls and the technique I decided to try I found over at the blog The Tasty Kitchen.

 

 

Now let's see how The Tasty Kitchen went about making these pretty little curls.

 

First off you need some dark or semi-sweet chocolate, and a tablespoon of shortening. I used 3 ounces of chocolate.

 

Put it in a microwave safe dish and pop into the microwave for about 30 seconds. (If you keep your shortening in the frig like I do you may need to nuc it for another 10 - 20 seconds.) Stir it with a fork until smooth and then pour the chocolate out onto the back of a baking sheet.

 

 

Spread the chocolate out as thin as possible on the baking sheet (This is the key to this technique according to The Tasty Kitchen.)and then pop it into the freezer for 2 minutes.

 

Pull it out and let stand for a minute or two. Then with the back of a pancake flipper, start to roll the chocolate. If the chocolate breaks and crumbles it means that the chocolate is too cold, so just let it sit a little longer and try again. On the other hand if the chocolate stops curling up it may be too warm, so just throw it back into the freezer for another minute and try again.

 

 

Use what you need and then put the remainder into a zip-lock baggie and keep in the freezer until you want to use them again.

 

Now what am I going to make that I can garnish with my fancy chocolate curls?

Better yet what would you make? I'd love to know!!! :D

 

Have a great weekend all!!!

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Pairing Wine with Chocolate

Mmmmmm...Wine and Chocolate!

If you are a chocolate lover like I am all I can say is that these two together is like heaven on your tongue! And did you know that red wine with a semi-sweet or dark chocolate is very heart smart? Perfect for the the holiday which is all about love and symbolized by the image of the heart! Well here's a little info how to go about getting the most out of both your chocolate and your wine. In pairing these two together there are three rules to follow in order to set you on the right track!

1. The wine you select must be inherently sweeter than the chocolate you are pairing it with.

2. The wine must be big enough to cut through the chocolate's richnes

3. Both wine and Chocolate must have similar flavors.

Now that you have the three basic rules, let me give you a few ideas of what pairings work best.

White Chocolate

Pairs well with a sec or demi-sec (sweet and moderately sweet)champagnes and with Rieslings

Milk Chocolate

Pairs well with a sweet Tawny Port or the right Pinot Noir

Semi-sweet Chocolate (50%-70% cocoa)

Pairs with a Cabernet, Bordeaux or a Ruby Port

Dark Chocolate (71%-100% cocoa)

Pairs with Zinfandel, Shiraz or a Grenache

The way you want to enjoy your chocolate and wine combination is to first take a sip of your wine and coat your mouth. Then a bite of the chocolate followed by another sip of wine! But do this process slowly so you get the full enjoyment from the flavors melting together.

Heading off to grab a glass of wine and some smooth yummy chocolate...what a perfect St. Valentine"s Day treat.

Have a wonderful evening!

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