Dessert « Fab Fatale

Dessert

March 31, 2013

Easter Cadbury Mini Egg Chocolate Bark

Cadbury Mini Egg Chocolate Bark

Happy Easter everyone! I’m so excited about little man’s first Easter. I’m still trying to figure out how to get things done while entertaining a baby, but I’m starting to get the hang of it. I try to squeeze in a shower, laundry, or dishes while he is sleeping and haven’t had a chance to cook anything since he arrived. Thank goodness my husband has been keeping us fed.

I do miss the kitchen though since I love to cook, so I thought I’d come up with a quick, easy, and festive dessert for Easter, Cadbury Mini Egg Chocolate Bark. This is a fun take on my sister’s Christmas Peppermint Chocolate Bark and my Cadbury Mini Egg blondies from last year.

Ingredients:

4 11 oz bags of white chocolate
1 bag Cadbury Mini Eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil
food coloring (optional)

Start by covering a large cookie sheet (preferably one that has sides) with wax paper. Next, place one bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs into a closed zip lock bag and beat with a meat tenderizer until the candy is crushed.

Cadbury Mini Egg Chocolate Bark

Next, pour the 4 bags of white chocolate chips into a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water. Make sure that the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl so that your chocolate does not burn. White chocolate is a lot more temperamental than milk chocolate, so I add in about a tablespoon of olive oil to keep it from getting chalky. Stir with a spatula until smooth. A few lumps is ok since the chocolate will be spread into a cookie sheet and covered with Cadbury Mini Eggs.

Cadbury Mini Egg Chocolate Bark

Work quickly to spread the white chocolate evenly onto the cookie sheet. For an Easter egg swirl of color, drizzle food coloring over the white chocolate and then mix lightly with the spatula. Pour the crushed candy evenly onto the chocolate, and then press gently so that it adheres into the bark. Let the chocolate come to room temperature before you put it into the fridge so that it does not become chalky. Once it is chilled through, break apart by hand and serve.

I hope you all have an amazing Easter!

5 Comments
Dessert, Holiday, Recipes

February 28, 2013

Whoopie Pies

Baby Shower Dessert - Whoopie Pies

I have day two of my babies 101 class this evening and I’m in charge of bringing snacks. I thought it would be fun to make a dessert that was baby themed, so I went with blue, pink, and {for me} gender-neutral whoopie pies lol. All of the whoopie pies are vanilla, but I divided the batter into thirds and used food coloring for the pink and blue whoopies.

I had to throw a little chocolate into the mix, so I filled my gender neutral whoopie pies with a chocolate ganache cream cheese filling. I’m the only one in the class that’s not finding out if we’re having a boy or a girl, so I’m curious to see if the pregnant women flock towards their baby color or towards my not as cute, yet filled with chocolate, whoopie pie lol.

These pink, blue and yellow whoopie pies would be perfect for a baby shower. You can also use other colors to match your favorite team, sorority, or holiday.

Yields: About 24 Two-Inch Whoopie Pies

Vanilla Whoopie

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 (packed) brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.

In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, shortening, and both sugars until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and the buttermilk and beat until combined.

In a measuring cup, combine the milk, baking soda, and vinegar. Add the milk mixture to the batter along with the flour mixture and beat on low until just combined. Add the vanilla and beat on medium for about 2 minutes until completely combined.

Using a spoon, drop about 1 tablespoon of batter onto one of the prepared baking sheets and repeat, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes each, or until the cakes begin to brown. Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool on the sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting

1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 1/2 cups heavy (whipping) cream
Pinch of salt, preferably sea salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract, rum, or rosewater

Put the chocolate in a large, heatproof bowl. In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, heat the cream until it bubbles. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and let it sit for about 10 minutes, until the chocolate is melted. Add the salt and vanilla and stir with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula just to combine.

Refrigerate the ganache for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours, until it is firm. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the ganache at medium speed until it is softened and lighter in color, about 2 minutes. Do not over-beat or the ganache will curdle and liquify.

Note: Good-quality chocolate makes a major difference in the taste of your ganache. When you’re baking for loved ones, don’t cheap out.

Classic Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 1/2 cups (one 16-ounce box) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed. Add the sugar and beat on low speed until combined. Add the vanilla and increase the speed to medium; beat until creamy and smooth, about 4 minutes.

1 Comment
Celebrate, Dessert, Recipes

February 5, 2013

Sprinkles Cake

Sprinkles Rainbow Layer Cake

I had so much fun with this sprinkles cake and I can’t wait until everyone cuts into it to reveal the rainbow layered surprise on the inside at a birthday party celebration this afternoon. With everything I had going on Sunday (Manicure Mondays, Superbowl Slowcooker Chili, and this cake), I totally cheated and used store bought cake mix and frosting (yikes, our secret). I also thought that would be best so I can tell you exactly how much to buy and how to divide it up evenly for the rainbow layers.

Sprinkles Rainbow Layer Cake

I’ve been addicted to decorating the insides of cakes, as well as the outside, ever since I did a tie dye cake for my friend’s birthday 3 years ago. Since then I’ve colored batter for my 4th of July cupcakes, candy corn cupcakes, whoopie pies, and now this rainbow layered sprinkles cake.

I started with a box of Duncan Hines white cake mix. White cake mix (no vanilla or egg yolk) is best so that you get true color after adding the dye to each bowl of batter. A box of Duncan Hines white cake mix makes “almost” 5 cups of batter when combined with the eggs, oil, and water. Since this was an easy number to work with, I decided to make my cake 5 layers and dye each of them to match the sprinkles.

Divide the batter into 5 bowls with almost a cup of prepared batter into each bowl. Add in food coloring, in the colors of your choice, and it takes quite a bit if you are going for bright sprinkles colors as I did. Cook each layer according to the directions on the box {maybe a little less time since the layers are thin} in a separate cake pan – the batter will be thin, so try your best to spread evenly. Luckily I have 4 cake pans that were all 9 inches, so it was easy to keep rotating cake pans, 2 at a time, in and out of the oven.

Sprinkles Rainbow Layer Cake

Once all of your layers have cooled. Stack them on a cake plate using a thin layer of frosting between each layer. I ended up needing 2 1/2 tubs of Betty Crocker Whipped Cream Cheese frosting to finish off the layers, top, and sides. To decorate the cake {so dang easy}, go crazy with sprinkles everywhere. I picked up one large container of sprinkles at Michael’s for under $3 with about a 1/4 of sprinkles left over.

So what do you think of my sprinkles cake. Do you think rainbow layers and a sprinkles cake is something you’d try?

December 30, 2012

Chocolate Ganache New York Cheesecake

Ganache New York Cheese Cake Recipe

If you can’t make it to New York for the New Year’s Eve celebrations, have a slice of the big apple at home with this New York style cheesecake covered in chocolate ganache. My sister Lauren {who is far better at baking, crafting, diying, and all things creative than me} made this for a family get together and it was a huge hit. She loves to cover her desserts in ganache, and once you see how easy it is to make, you’ll probably start doing the same.

Yields: 9-inch cheesecake

Ingredients – New York Cheesecake:

15 graham crackers, crushed
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
crushed Almond Roca (or candy of your choice)

Ingredients – Ganache:

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan. Make sure your oven reaches the proper temperature using a candy or meat thermometer. Also, add in a baking dish of hot or boiling water to keep cheesecake from cracking.

In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

For the ganache, cook the heavy cream and chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Pour over cooled cheesecake and top with crushed candy.

Ganache New York Cheese Cake Recipe