Five Minute Chocolate Mousse!

When I have a chocolate craving I want something fast! So having this simple recipe is a joy! I didn't think it was possible to make chocolate mousse that fast! But after trying this recipe I was happy to see that it can be done!

Chocolate Cobbler!

This is some kind of wonderful...yes it is!  And this is what great songs are made of! I was happy dancing to that song as I was eating this perfectly fabulous chocolate dessert!

I'll try to put into words, what this tastes like! It is like a combination of a perfect cake brownie on a bed of the most splendidly light chocolate pudding! Some foodies have compared this recipe to a lava cake, but since I've never eaten a lava cake, I can't make that comparison! I just can't believe how delicious this turned out with so little effort and such simple ingredients! And what is even better is that it doesn't contain much butter and doesn't contain any eggs!

I even used low fat milk! So I would consider this a low fat dessert!

Cream Cheese Mints

I've been seeing lots of recipes for making your own mint candy! I love after dinner mints, so I decided to give it a try! The recipes looked so simple! I'm not much of a candy maker but it just looked so easy and tempting!

The recipe called for powdered sugar. I didn't have powdered sugar but a fellow food friend showed me this recipe on how to make your own powdered sugar. Yes, you can make your own powdered sugar from regular sugar! Just put the regular sugar in a blender with some cornstarch and blend away until it becomes powdered! Well, this didn't work for me...it just became slightly less graulated! I was getting the feeling that these cream cheese mints just weren't meant to be for me!

I decided to continue making the mints. So I creamed the butter, cream cheese and sugar together and added in the peppermint extract. I tasted the mixture and LOVED it. It tasted very similar to a 'York Peppermint Pattie' minus the chocolate coating! It was very grainy though because I didn't use powdered sugar. But I didn't care because it still tasted great! My hopes were restored!

Then you're suppose to shape the mint mixture into some sort of candy shape. I chose to make small discs. The mixture was very sticky, so this was tricky...I love rhymes! I placed the discs on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet sprinkled with sugar to help keep the mints from sticking. This worked great! I also dipped the tines of a fork in sugar to make impressions on each mint disc, just to add a little design.

Then these mints need to air dry for 2 hours. It was difficult to keep from eating all of them before they were done drying! I think next time I will freeze them and then dip them in melted chocolate! YUM!

 Here is how I made the mints!

INGREDIENTS:

4 oz. cream cheese - softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1 Tbls. butter - softened

1/2 heaping tsp. peppermint extract

 

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl mix together cream cheese, butter and sugar.

Then add in peppermint extract.

Mix well.

If the mixture is too sticky add more powdered sugar.

Form into teaspoon sized balls and place on waxed paper lined cookie sheet dusted with sugar.

Dip the tines of a fork in sugar then press lightly into each mint ball.

Allow to air dry for 2 hours.

Makes about 8 dozen small mints.

 

This recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com

Cannoli Dip

Internet Photo

When I think of good Italian pastries, the first thing that comes to my mind is cannoli! It's found in every Italian bakery! And it's always served at important family gatherings in our house! My favorite kind of cannoli is the little mini ones! Sometimes the pastry shell is dipped in chocolate! The best!!! But a properly made cannoli, in my opinion, must contain mini chocolate chips!

Zebra Cupcakes - Low Fat

I've been looking for a decadent chocolate dessert that has some substance, but is not too fattening! Is there such a dessert or am I just dreaming? Well if I'm just dreaming, then my dreams just came true!

I found this recipe called Root Beer Float Cake and decided it was the one for me! It had lots of positive reviews and one of the ingredients was root beer...which I had some that needed to be used up since my family hasn't been drinking it lately! I decided to tweak the recipe to make it lower in fat and calories!

It was a huge success! I didn't taste the root beer in this cake, but I loved the spongy texture and the decadent chocolate flavor! I made them into cupcakes and decorated them with a root beer drizzle (my own idea) The cupcakes were such a lovely dark chocolate color. The drizzle really stood out and resembled a zebra print, mainly because I have poor drizzling skills! The drizzle, just like the cupcakes, didn't take on any of the root beer flavor, but I thought I would use the root beer to continue the theme!

Here is my version of the recipe...

Bak Kwa Cookies ( Bacon Cookies)

 

You know what? I'm so glad that I love to try unique recipes because the title of these cookies alone, might have scared me away! I'm very happy it didn't! These cookies were so very good! I thought they were going to be a very savory cookie, but they're not! These Bak Kwa cookies are very similar to a shortbread cookie. Slightly sweet and very buttery! The bacon bits just gives the cookie a little  hint of smokiness and a nice chewiness! This is a crisp but crumbly cookie. I truly enjoyed these and will make them again!

I found this recipe *here* on a blog called 'No-Frills Recipes'.

I'm posting the recipe below with conversion from metric, to make it easier for my U.S. readers.

Simple Creme Brulee Pie

My husband loves creme brulee! He orders it every time he sees it on a menu! I've been thinking of making creme brulee at home, but it requires the use of a small blow torch (kitchen size) to crystallize the sugar topping! I don't want to invest money in a kitchen torch, that will probably only be used to make creme brulee! Then I saw this recipe and knew I had to try it...

Leftover Champagne? Make a Martini and Some Cookies!

What do you do with leftover champagne? I don't like to just throw it away! It's too expensive to waste! So I went looking for recipes that I could make with it!

The first recipe I found was for a martini! Have I ever mentioned how much I love martinis? Yes, I think I may have mentioned it once, twice or three
times...*here*...*here* and *here*!

I love the idea of a fizzy martini, so this was perfect! This one contained not only champagne but also lemon vodka and orange liquor. I loved the citrus flavors! This was sparkling and refreshing! The name of this martini is

Cannoli Cream Dessert!

With Valentine's Day approaching fast, I decided to share with you this simple and elegant dessert recipe.
I love to make desserts that look fancy but are easy and delicious! That's how I came up with this next recipe called 'Cannoli Cream Dessert'. I made it for my husband, on Valentine's Day, a few years ago....he was very impressed! 

My recipe was recently featured on this food blog called 'Leanne Bakes' ...She's a very creative and talented cook! Stop by her blog and drool over some of her recipes!

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese 
1/4 cup confectioners sugar 
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. pure almond extract
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbls. melted butter
1/4 cup chopped canned peaches or other fruit of your choice                                                 
2 Tbls. shredded semi sweet chocolate

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium size bowl mix together first 4 ingredients til smooth.
In a separate bowl mix together graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.
Take 2 wine glasses or other fluted stemware and place 1/4 of the crumb mixture in the bottom of each glass making a well in the center.
Add 1/4 the cannoli cream mixture on top. Repeat this one more time. Garnish with chopped fruit and shredded chocolate. Chill til ready to serve.
Makes 2 servings
So make a nice candle light dinner for your sweetheart and serve him this sweet treat for dessert! Enjoy!

Microwave Almond Brittle

When I first saw this recipe it was called Quick and Easy Peanut Brittle (Microwave)

But I didn't have any peanuts in the house so I used roasted almonds!

I was a little sceptical about making this recipe because I never thought you could make great brittle in the microwave! But I was so wrong! This was just as good as any other brittle, it was just quicker and easier! No candy thermometer needed!

French Toast Muffins!

 

I love French toast! I've had it stuffed with bananas ** see here** or blueberries **see here**... topped with different fruits, baked into a casserole, made into a bagel! You name it, I've tried it! So why not try a muffin version? I saw this recipe on Pinterest and knew it was destined to end up in my belly! And as soon as I snapped the above photo, that's where all 3 went!

 

The French Toast Muffin recipe was posted on this blog called

Velvet Lava Cake

It was a very quick and easy muffin recipe! I had 12 of these whipped up in less than 30 minutes from start to finish!

Check out that blog and give these muffins a try!

A Perfect Valentine Dessert!

 

Isn't this a cute little dessert? I found the recipe on Allrecipes.com and I'm so glad I tried it! It's called 'Matrimonial Bliss'...cute name too, right? 

Reindeer Pops

When I saw these cute Reindeer Pops on the Internet I said, "I can do that!" And they were staring back at me saying, "Yes, you can do it!" How could I resist?

Chinese New Year Chocolate Candy!

I'm not sure why this recipe is called 'Chinese New Year Chocolate Candy'....maybe because it's made with chow mein noodles? This is a delicious chocolate candy, no matter what you call it! It's crunchy, salty and sweet. Everything I love, all wrapped up in one bite! And you can change it to suit your own taste. I added grated coconut on top to make it more festive for Christmas. This recipe is extremely easy to make and only uses 4 ingredients.


Chinese New Year Candy

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup crushed chow mein noodles
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or peanuts
1/4 cup coconut flakes or grated coconut

DIRECTIONS:
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Melt chocolate according to package directions. I use the microwave method.
In a large bowl, combine the melted chocolate with the crushed chow mein noodles and the nuts.
Mix until well coated.
Drop by the tablespoonful onto the lined cookie sheet.
You should get 15 pieces of candy from this recipe.
Dust the tops with the coconut flakes.
Allow the candy to firm up before placing on a serving platter.

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com
This post belongs to My Recipe Journey food blog.

 



Gingerbread...My Favorite Christmas Dessert!

I've seen gingerbread in many different forms...cookies, cakes, brownies, puddings, pancakes, waffles and ice cream, to name a few! I love gingerbread in ANY form!

This next recipe is one I found on

Christmas Candy

At this time of the year I love to make all kinds of Christmas goodies for the holidays...cookies, cakes, drinks, food and CANDY!!! 

A Holiday Treat!

Peppermint Balls

This is a recipe I created for Christmas a few years ago! I was trying to come up with a treat for the kids. I often make Rum Balls for the adults...so now I needed something that the kiddies could enjoy. This turned out to be a big hit with the kids AND the adults! A perfect little goodie for holiday platters!


Banana Rum Fritters

I love fritters of all kinds! Sweet or savory!  I've tried onion fritters, corn fritters, and apple fritters, along with these banana rum fritters! Fruit fritters are even better when you pair them with ice cream! But adding rum just steps it up a notch! And don't worry, you can feed these to children because the alcohol burns off during the frying process.

Vinegar Pie?

What the heck is a 'Vinegar Pie'? It doesn't sound very appetizing! That's exactly what ran through my head when I saw this recipe! But it sounded so unique that I had to find out! So I got brave and gave it a whirl!

Corn Flake Coconut Macaroons

I'm a macaroon fiend! I eat them like potato chips! Oh, I just got an idea...how about Potato Chip Coconut Macaroons? I bet those would be amazing! I'll try that next time!

But these are very cool too!