‘Chocolate’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Recipe: S’mores Truffles

March 15, 2017 · Narrative

Delicious bite size sweet treats, with only five ingredients, these S’mores Truffles are sure to please.

A million years ago, when my ex-husband and I were dating, I had a truffle recipe in heavy rotation. I remember making it for his sister and his dad when we were deep in the throes of courtship. You know, that all important time when you feel the need to impress your significant other’s family. I made that recipe so many times over a period of a few years, sharing it also with friends and neighbors, that you’d think I would have committed it to memory.

Well, you’d be wrong. Very little then or now is ever committed to memory.

And over the years, and countless moves, I lost the recipe long ago.

A few weeks ago, I was watching an episode of Food Network’s, The Kitchen, and saw Sunny Anderson make an easy recipe for S’mores Truffles. The show’s theme for the day featured recipes that were five ingredients or less, and I made a mental note to make this one.

And after receiving a massive amount of snow this week (15″ in one day!), and being housebound since Monday, this week was the perfect time to try out the recipe.

Before Snowstorm Stella came, I made sure I had the ingredients for these truffles on hand, but the ingredients are basic enough that you might already have on hand. Although this is an easy recipe, because of the truffle chilling timing, it’s not something you can quickly whip up and enjoy soon after. But with a little bit of planning, you can be indulging your sweet tooth just a few hours later. Don’t let that deter you from making the truffles … I just usually miss the “chill for three hours,” and hate the surprise of missing instant gratification.

The recipe calls for nearly burning the marshmallows and, I’ve got to be honest, that was so hard for me to do. Because our inclination is to take them out and enjoy them when they’re in this stage, right?

And I did. And I picked a few off the end and popped them into my mouth (and have three blisters on my fingers to prove it). But I put them back in to give them another minute to get to the blacker stage the recipe called for. I *think* that is requested because it makes the marshmallows easier to crumble into the graham crackers, and it also gives the finished truffle the tiniest hint of campfire smokiness.

So, you know, follow the directions.

Truffles are in the fudge family, where a little bite goes a long way, so these are best enjoyed with several small nibbles. If you pop the whole thing in your mouth, you will no doubt proclaim them too sweet. Despite that, my snow shovelers popped several in their mouths when they came back from their hours of shoveling.

PS You can watch Sunny making the truffles right here.

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Recipe: Mocha Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache

March 5, 2017 · Narrative

A deliciously soft chocolate cake draped in ribbons of chocolate ganache, made from ingredients you likely have on hand.

Although my teenage son doesn’t have a huge sweet tooth like his sister, his love language can definitely be brownies or chocolate cake, so sometimes at the end of the week, I like to surprise him with something along the lines of this deliciousness. I was looking for a new recipe to make, and asked for tried-and-trues on a local cooking facebook page that I’m on. A friend responded with this recipe, which originally came from AllRecipes, along with the suggestion to sub the water for coffee. The original recipe has a heavier frosting recipe to go along with it, but since the cake is pretty moist and light, I wanted to keep the topping the same way, so I ended up making a chocolate ganache recipe instead. Most ganache recipes call for heavy cream, which I virtually never have on hand, so you’ll be happy to see that this one doesn’t … and it’s only TWO ingredients! The original recipe also is for a two layer cake, but I switched it to a bundt pan instead.

Both the cake and ganache recipes are crazy simple and the ingredients are likely ones that you have in your pantry already, which is my favorite type of recipe. Because, let’s be honest, who wants to head to the grocery store when you’re hankering for a chocolate fix? Instead, you can be whipping this one up and enjoying it an hour later.

Nick smelled it as soon as he walked in the door, grabbing a plate and a fork before even saying hello or putting down his backpack. Truth be told, chocolate cake barely lasts a few days in the house with him, because TEENAGE BOYS, so this is the perfect recipe to have in your rotation… for when you want to surprise your kid at the end of a school day, or satisfy your own sweet tooth. You can even dress it up for company, although it’s equally perfect with drips of chocolate ganache on a nice white cake plate.

However you slice and serve it, you’ll be coming back for more.

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Recipe: Peanut Butter Quinoa Granola Bars

March 3, 2016 · Clean Eating, Narrative, Snacks

A tasty, crispy granola bar with bits of chocolate chips that will keep you coming back for more.

In all my years of clean eating, I will say that one of the biggest keys to success is 1) not bringing junk into your home, and 2) making sure your kitchen is stocked with healthy items.

Grab and go items? Even better.

If I don’t have Doritos in the house, I’m not going to eat them.

It really is that simple.

Because while I like Doritos, I’m not going to get in my car and go to the store to specifically buy them.

So if you and I make sure our cabinets, pantry, and refrigerator are consistently stocked with healthy items, it’s far easier to stay on track.

#goals

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Recipe: Flourless Chocolate Cake

February 18, 2016 · Narrative, Sweets

Moist, dense, and fudgy, this Flourless Chocolate Cake is a super simple cake designed to impress.

After copious amounts of cake, cupcakes, and cookies to celebrate Madeline’s birthday over the last week, you would think we would be done with sweets for a bit.

You would be wrong.

We were almost done.

On Monday, we all converged at my sister and brother-in-law’s place to celebrate her birthday, and I volunteered to bring dessert.

At that point, between all the cooking and baking I had done for Madeline’s birthday, coupled with the fact that we don’t currently have a working dishwasher, I was pretty over doing any more dishes.

Which means when I was trying to decide what to make, I wanted to keep it simple, but still have something worthy of the occasion.

I originally went with chocolate-studded brownies, but it didn’t yield enough for everyone, which means I was scrambling for a second dessert at the eleventh hour.

So much for keeping it simple.

The best laid plans and all.

I had noticed this Bon Appetit recipe for a Flourless Chocolate Cake earlier in the week, and since I had just cleaned out all our kitchen cabinets, I knew I had most of the ingredients on hand.

The recipe comes from celebrated cookbook author, Richard Sax, who has quite the library of cookbooks, and this particular recipe is actually featured on the cover of his Classic Home Desserts: A Treasury of Heirloom and Contemporary Recipes cookbook.

If you haven’t had flourless cake before, it is something pretty special. More dense than traditional cake made with flour, it also is extra fudgy and downright delicious.

Which made it perfect for birthday celebrations.

Bonus points for being able to slide it into the oven under thirty minutes after the decision to make it.

It’s a good recipe to keep on stand-by … for when you are having last minute guests over. For when you are in the mood for something slightly rich and very chocolatey. For when you have a double birthday weekend sandwiched around Valentine’s Day.

Or just because.

Topped with whipped cream, it was perfect.

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Visiting Our Happy Place with Godiva Truffle Flights

October 16, 2013 · Ad-Free

Madeline’s happy place, or at least one of many, is when her little five-year-old hands are clutching a piece of chocolate. She has a sweet tooth like no other. For the most part, she is non-discriminatory when it comes to chocolate … she pretty much likes it all.

Until those days when she asks for a piece from my special stash.

For a few years now, I have had a small bag of assorted chocolate not-so-hidden in my baking cabinet. Away from little hands. In the bag, I keep the most intense, expensive, delicious pieces of chocolate. For those moments when an also-ran piece of chocolate won’t do, and you need something s-p-e-c-i-a-l. She knows it’s there. She doesn’t ask for it often, but upon occasion, she will.

And that is how she got introduced to the finer chocolates in life.

Like Godiva.

Godiva and I go way back. I remember in high school, with a pocket full of babysitting money, I would occasionally splurge for a small piece of chocolate from the Godiva store at the mall. Savoring every last taste of it. A pure indulgence at its best.

And now, she is following in those very same footsteps.

Except she’s not using her babysitting money.

Natch.

Our newest chocolate indulgence? These truffle flights. Each flight of six builds in flavor and intensity, from left to right, and you will find yourself oohing and aahing over every bite. They have several flights to choose from, but our favorite, so far, is the Heavenly Mousse Flight.

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Chocolate Chip Dream Bars

February 9, 2010 · Narrative

Sometimes chocolate makes everything better. Or at least that’s what we’re sometimes led to believe. And why not? It can certainly make us feel good for a moment and take our mind off whatever is weighing heavy. I promised a friend I’d keep her in chocolate on Monday, and had every intention of making a batch of cookies, using a new recipe I had found. A typo in the recipe led to that batch being thrown away, and me scrambling at the last minute. I had to follow through on my promise. Chocolate.

I grabbed a cookbook off my shelf and started thumbing through it, looking for a delicious recipe. With chocolate. And ingredients I had on hand. And something easy since I was a bit behind schedule. I spied the picture for Chocolate Chip Dream Bars and was hoping it would do the trick.

Now even if you don’t cool the bars in the pan for an hour before refrigerating, these are good. Even if you refrigerate them for way longer than the suggested hour, these are really good. Let’s just say that it’s a good thing some of the directions are a bit forgiving, because I was in a rush and didn’t have time to follow it to the letter. Once the dish came out of the oven, I quickly did the glaze, drizzled it on and popped the whole thing in the fridge for a few hours, hoping I wasn’t ruining it in the process.

A few minutes before I left the house, I took the bars out, cut them neatly and plated them up. I stole one and ate it on the ride over. You know, quality control and all that. OMG. Rich. Chocolatey. Slightly gooey and soft. My first thought was that it’s a good thing I was taking 90% of these out of the house, because faint sweet tooth or not, I don’t think I would be able to withstand the temptation. My second thought was that if a bite of these babies doesn’t momentarily transport you to your happy place, I don’t know what will. I snuck one off the plate and shared it with another friend in the car pool lane. The kids after school got some. My mom got a few. A neighbor too. There are exactly six left on the plate in the kitchen. I told the babysitter she better come and get her share. Before they’re gone. Go on and make them. Please. And find your happy place.

Project 365
February 9, 2010, Photo #39

My apologies in advance to anyone who has these curtains. I really don’t like them. They’re just not me. And they are on four windows in the kitchen. I bought them four years ago when we first put this house up for sale. I had something a little darker in the kitchen, and went with a more neutral curtain to stage the house a bit. They’ve been there ever since. They need to go. The kitchen is my next painting project and will soon be a pale ice blue, the same blue I did the living room ceiling in. All the cabinets are white. The countertop is beige, as is the floor. I feel like I’ve looked everywhere to find the perfect kitchen curtains and I’m still coming up empty. I want something light. Bright. Fun. Everything I see is either too dark, too floral, too frou-frou or too predictable. Open to suggestions – have you got one? Please say yes.

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Chocolate Chip Dream Bars

November 21, 2004 · Sweets

Chocolate Chip Dream Bars
Recipe courtesy of Betty Crocker’s Baking for Today

Bars

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bag (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup)
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Chocolate Glaze

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Heat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl, mix 1/2 cup brown sugar and the butter. Stir in 1 cup flour. Press in ungreased rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches. Bake 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in medium bowl, mix eggs, 1 cup brown sugar and the vanilla. Stir in 2 tablespoons flour, the baking powder and salt. Stir in semisweet and milk chocolate chips. Spread over crust.
Bake bars 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
In 1-quart saucepan, heat all Chocolate Glaze ingredients over low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted. Drizzle glaze over cooled bars. Refrigerate at least 1 hour until firm. For bars, cut into 8 rows by 4 rows. Store at room temperature.

Originally made and reviewed here.