While Halloween and Easter may be the holidays MOST associated with candy excellence, Christmas is no slouch. Hello advent calendars! Each day of the Big Countdown delivers a perfect piece of chocolate star tastiness. Not to mention stockings full of Snickers bars and candy canes, homemade caramels and dishes aplenty of Brach’s Candy… The entire holiday season is one big sugar-saturated candy bacchanalia.
It is the merriest day of the year, where chocolate candy flows freely and while the quality may vary (stay away Palmer’s!) there are the favorite stand bys like Snickers, Milky Way and of course, Twix. Today we (a hot dog and Waldo) celebrated the receiving of a large quantity of Twix by handing it [...]
Death Warmed Over!Do you have bulk caramel left over from your caramel apple making?
The busy season is rapidly approaching and I, for one, wanted an easy, inexpensive recipe to use with my left over caramel!
I purchased a box of brownie mix for $.99 at the grocery store.
6 ounces of extra dark Guittards baking chips
1 pound of bulk caramel
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 stick of butter
1/2 gallon of French vanilla ice cream
Mix and bake brownies as per directions on box. While brownies are baking, heat and stir together in a microwave safe bowl the caramel, condensed milk and stick of butter. Just as brownies come out and are still hot, punch holes every 1/2 inch or so all over the warm brownies with the tip of a spoon or fork, leaving enough room to drop a couple of chocolate chips in each hole. Drop in the chocolate chips while the brownies are hot. Poor the warm caramel mixture over the top. Cut and serve right away with ice cream. You’re guests will know why we tease that this recipe is called “Chocolate/Caramel Brownie Death Warmed Over!”
You don’t have to be worried about razor blades in your kids’ candy bags, but these five candies have been known to bite back if not consumed properly. Before you chow down on your Halloween bounty, you need to know what you’re up against. Charleston Chew Named after the famous dance no one knows how [...]
You’d think after the 3 Musketeers Truffle Crisp debacle, I would have learned my lesson. But no, I saw Baby Ruth Crisp and the curious chocoholic in me couldn’t say no. Mostly because it doesn’t appear to be filled with that weird aerated, chalky, crunchy center that the 3 Musketeers one was. Packaging At first, [...]
I’ve enjoyed the recent popularity of ice cream with cake batter in it and when I saw this chocolate bar I was intrigued. Could it be that the success of cake mix as a flavor could extend to chocolate candy bars? We shall see. Packaging The wrapping on the bar is busy and fun, just [...]
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
4 ounces extra dark chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups tightly packed light brown sugar
12 tbsp unsalted butter
3 eggs
1 tsp Madagascar bourbon vanilla
Additional 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 bag of dark Guittard molding chocolate
Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt onto waxed paper and set aside.
Heat 1 inch of water in the bottom half of a double boiler over medium heat. Place the semisweet and the extra dark chocolate in the top half of the double boiler. Tightly cover the top with film wrap and allow to heat for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth. Keep at room temp until needed.
Place the brown sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium for 1 minute. Add the eggs, once at a time. Add the vanilla and then add the melted chocolate and beat on low 30 seconds. Add the sifted ingredients and the 3 cups of extra semisweet chips and beat on low until combined. Drop 2 level tablespoons of batter per cookie. Bake 18-20 minutes and let cook. Dip in melted molding chocolate and place in fridge for 15 minutes. Don’t pass out from chocolatelyness.
I haven’t been much of a fan of the more generic Lindt Excellence flavors but I have really enjoyed their more unusual ones like pear and chili. So when I saw black currant done by a European company, I jumped on it. Packaging It’s the standard Lindt Excellence packaging, but it lacks the information that [...]
With Chestnut Mousse Filling
Makes 10-12 servings
1 1/2 pounds of unsweetened chestnuts
1 cup of marsala wine
1/2 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups of heavy cream
8 ounces of dark chocolate
1 premade pie crust that you unroll from the refrigerated section of your grocery store, or make your own
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine chestnuts, wine, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, then boil for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly. Process the mixture in a blender on high for about 60 seconds until smooth. Add 1/2 cup of the cream and blend for another 30 seconds. Pour into a medium bowl.
In a small bowl, whip 1 cup of the remaining cream until soft peaks form. Fold into the chestnut mixture. Cover and chill 1-2 days. (Although I only chilled mine overnight)
Grease mini tartette pans
If you missed it, Cocoa-Heaven launched a Facebook page last month! Be sure to “like” it to get awesome chocolate links and stories (not too often, promise) to stay on top of what’s happening in the world of chocolate candy!
