Chocolate Brownie Trifle

I love playing hostess. I guess that is why, when I dream of the hubby and I's first home-- I picture something with a large, open floor plan and a huge kitchen :) I want a kitchen (and really a house) with lots of windows to provide natural lighting. Which will make food photography much easier. In our current place, I have no windows in the kitchen and one window in the living room. It makes for an annoying time taking pictures of my food-- C'est la vie. And I want a kitchen that I can bake and cook in while talking with guests (but then I guess who doesn't). Oh, really like a great room where the kitchen flows into a large living room with lots and lots of seating. I guess since the hubby and I have only lived in apartments-- I have not hosted too many get-togethers. The only people that I have had over for dinner have been Justin and Luke.

Well yesterday, I decided to host a potluck dinner and game night at our place. I really got to play hostess because this time there was more than just the 4 of us. It was the hubby and I, Justin and his girlfriend, Luke and Vince (another student in the graduate program). Luke brought a salad, Justin and his girlfriend brought a sausage dip and games, Vince brought drinks and I (and the hubby) made a Pierogi Casserole, Roasted Vegetable Mac n' Cheese and this brownie trifle. I wanted to make fully Luke edible dishes, since he is a vegetarian. Game night was a blast! We decided to play a game Luke, the hubby and I haven't played before-- called Outburst. It was really fun, though I thought a bit dated.  But I think that lead to a lot of good laughs and a very good time :) I think next time, I'd like to play Scategories-Categories again.

For this dessert, I was inspired by Luke's request to make something with Heath Bars in it. And, so I finally did it! I made my first trifle (or 6 mini trifles to be exact). I asked for a mini trifle set for my birthday. But haven't used them since I got them this past January! By using these mini trifle dishes, each person got their own "trifle" to eat. Plus, I think mini trifle dishes are prettier and cuter, don't you think? Though, I guess for a larger party, I would just need to make one large trifle. I guess a large trifle dish is going to be on my next year's birthday list :) Anywhoo, this was a dish of different layers of yumminess. The brownies made for a chewy chocolate layer, the pudding/whipped cream made a soft, creamy layer and the heath bits provided just the perfect amount of crunch. ::drool::

CHOCOLATE BROWNIE TRIFLE

Adapted from The Redheaded Hostess

INGREDIENTS

BROWNIE LAYER
1 (19.50 oz) box of fudge brownies (I used Pillsbury)
1/2 c. of vegetable oil
2 eggs, room temperature
1/4 c. of water

PUDDING LAYER
2- (3.5 oz) chocolate fudge pudding mix
4 c. milk

1 jar of caramel sauce
2- (8 oz) containers of whipped topping
1 (8 oz) bag of heath toffee bits

DIRECTIONS

For the Brownie Layer:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine brownie mix, vegetable oil, eggs and water until just incorporated. Grease a 9 x 11 or 9 x 13 baking dish and spread batter into greased pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until inserted toothpick come out clean. Allow to completely cool. Then cut into small square chunks. I cut my brownie into 12 strips width wise, and then each strip into small pieces. 

Pudding:
In a medium bowl, whisk together pudding mix and cold milk. Continue whisking until well blended. Refrigerate for 5 minutes until pudding is set. Set aside.

Assembling the Trifle:
If you are using mini trifle bowls- divide ingredients accordingly (e.g., I had 6 trifle dishes, so I divided all the ingredients into 12-- 2 layers x 6 trifle dishes; if you have one trifle dish, divide everything into two-- 2 layers x 1 trifle dish). 

Layer the trifle as follows (starting from the bottom to the top): chocolate pudding, brownies, drizzle a little caramel sauce over brownies, whipped topping, heath toffee bits, chocolate pudding, brownie, caramel drizzle, whipped topping, and heath toffee bits. Keep refrigerated until served.

Enjoy,
Chika

Milky Way Pudding Cookies

Sooo I am back! But since I dropped off the face of the earth and did not post this before I left. I am going to rewind a bit AND then in the next post start describing my trip! Missed posting! Its great to be back!

The hectic semester is almost over and lucky for me because.......::drum roll::...the hubby and I OFFICIALLY BOOKED OUR ANNIVERSARY TRIP TO SOUTH EAST ASIA!!!!! Ahhhhhh! I had mentioned it before, but its official! We are going to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand (Bangkok and Chiang Mai), and Cambodia, for two weeks! I think I am long overdue for a vacation, especially a vacation with the hubby (because if you remember, we did not get to go on a honeymoon). I am looking forward to relaxing, site-seeing, food eating and culture soaking! I am beyond excited! Do not worry! I will post a TON of pictures of every little part of my journey :) I am a social networking- media enthusiast! Plus, I mean, you have just go to know everything I eat right?! But as a warning- I will be dropping off from blogging for most of May (I hopefully will post about my travels but no recipes :/ I hope you still follow along though.

Okay, well the hubby and I booked it last weekend. And we were so excited that we got up and made a day of it (and by it I mean preparing for it). We tried this doughnut place the hubby wanted to go to called Daylight Donuts. We learned that it is connected to this place called Sweet Eugene's that sells wonderfully, delicious desserts. I got a chocolate filled doughnut and a jalapeno sausage Kolache. The hubby got a maple, hazelnut scone, Bavarian creme filled doughnut and an apple fritter. I really liked my chocolate filled doughnut but not so much the Kolache. And I definitely want to come back to try the crepes (yes crepes!) rest of the desserts. It was just too early in the morning to justify a chocolate explosion cake (did I just say that?!)

Afterwards we went to Barnes and Nobles and Half Price Books to pick up any and all travel books we could find on Southeast Asia. It was so fun  looking and grabbing, knowing that all these wonderful places we saw in the books, we would actually see in person! And, you, hopefully through my Nikon Lens ;) We also picked up some books, like crossword puzzles, word searches, recreational books to read, to distract us on the 20 HOUR FLIGHT to Moscow and then the four hour flight from Moscow to Singapore. That would be right--a 24 HOUR FLIGHT total! If you know me, you would know I begin to get stir crazy after about 3 hours! I am not sure what I am going to do, but I hope the books provide a nice distraction. And the yummy food, that Singapore Airlines is known to serve :)

In the meantime, I made these cookies for the class that I have been teaching. They have been absolutely wonderful. I always bring candy when there is an exam, but for the last exam, since they know I love to bake I thought I would bake them cookies. Since its 8am and there are 40 of them, I thought it would be difficult to make anything else. Tangent alert: funny thing about Milky Ways, are that I never used to like them at a kid at all. But Angie always brings them in at work and leaves it for the graduate students to eat. And for some reason I have became addicted to them- the milk chocolate and dark chocolate version (milk chocolate more so, of course ;) Well, I saw these cookies on Pinterest and I just knew I had to make them, pudding style! BUT, although they are pudding cookies, they are the first pudding cookie I made that was not fluffy and I think its because the caramel in the milk way weighed the cookie down. Still delicious though! 

Milky Way Pudding Cookies

Adapted from I Heart Nap Time

INGREDIENTS

Preheat oven to 350F Degrees

2 1/4 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 box (3.4 oz) vanilla pudding

1 1/2 stick of butter, softened

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tbsp. caramel sauce (optional)

25-30 fun size milk ways- chopped*

* Add in as much milk ways depending on flavor preference. I did 30 fun size bars. Mini milk ways could also be used but you would need double the amount. Either milk chocolate or dark chocolate milky ways could be used as well (I did milk chocolate). The best way to chop the milk way bars is to refrigerate them first until hard. 

DIRECTIONS

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and vanilla pudding- set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, cream together (on medium speed) butter and both sugar until fluffy (about 5 minutes). Then add egg--one at a time--followed by vanilla and caramel sauce. Scrape down the sides of the mixer. Reduce to low speed and add flour mixture (dry ingredients). Combine until just incorporated. Add in chopped milk way pieces. 

Line two cookie sheets with either aluminum foil, parchment or baking sheets-- and scoop 1 inch cookie dough balls onto the sheet (I used a cookie dough scoop and rolled between my pals for a nice round shape). Space cookies at least 2 inches apart (the cookies do spread) and bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool for about 5-10 minutes, before transferring to a cooling wrack. 

Enjoy,

Chika

S'Moreos

Okay, so I am a little late to the party is posting on Valentine's Day :) Though in all fairness I did remember to post an actual Valentine's Day recipe early this week...oh the slow progress I make ;) Well- I may have passed out from a yummy food and chocolate related coma and now woken up at the freakish time of 1am and cannot go back to sleep :/ But to turn lemon into lemon cupcakes ;) I decided I could take this time to post before attempting to head back to bed and sleep. 

I had an absolutely wonderful Valentine's Day :) One thing to know about the hubby and I-- is that we are not fancy dinner people. In fact, I think overly fancy restaurants are pretentious and rarely live up to their food hype. I would rather go to a mom and pop hole-in-the-wall. We always try instead, to do something **low key** at home. And since we became official four years ago on February 8th, we usually celebrate our Anniversary (or we did since now we have a wedding anniversary) along with Valentine's Day.

This Valentine's Day: First I got beautiful flowers and a sweet, sweet card from the hubby. Then we had a fun dinner of Chipotle (which I asked for because I love Chipotle but try very hard not to eat out more than once a week- which I usually save for my foodie adventures with the hubby, Justin and Luke). For the hubby, I got him Cajun food from a mom and pop hole-in-the-wall that I was recommended called Hebert's Cajun (it was delicious). We finished the evening with sparkling juice, lemon cupcakes (which I got for the hubby), and cake balls (from Cake Junkie)--which I had been eager to try! And although we did not get to it, because we were both so full-- the hubby bought a little chocolate fondue pot, chocolate and strawberries to dip and enjoy! Hope you all had a wonderful day, filled with lots of love!

Any Valentine related post must include some chocolate deliciousness, unless your weird like the hubby and prefer lemon or coconut ;)! And this past weekend I made these S'more bars but instead of using graham crackers I used Oreos, and these bars included caramel. Beyond amazing! This is definitely going on my favorites list. I ate the whole 8x8 baking dish in two days, by myself! For me to eat anything I bake, is pretty rare-- much less, eating the whole darn thing. But it was an awesome guilty pleasure :)

The hubby being the much more creative "punner" than I- decided to call them S'Moreos...get it?.....and since I loved the name so much- that is what I am going with. This is a simple dessert, pretty quick to make and absolutely fantastic!

S'MOREOS

Slightly adapted from Averie Cooks

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 350F Degrees

FOR THE CRUST
6 tbsp. butter, melted (3/4 stick)
32 Oreo, finely crushed (use food processor)

FOR THE TOPPING
2 c. mini marshmallows
17 caramels, unwrapped and quartered (i.e., cut each caramel square into fourths)
1/8 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (or more if desired. I chose more :)

*The caramels are quite chewy. If you do not like chewy you could try melting the caramel with a bit of heavy cream so they stay melted. 

DIRECTIONS

First, line a 8x8 baking dish with aluminum foil. Grease aluminum foil with butter, shortening, or cooking spray. This will help when removing bars from baking dish, to allow for cooling and easier-cleaner cutting into squares.

For the crust: In a microwave safe small bowl, melt butter on high for about 45 seconds. In a large bowl combine, by hand (using a spatula) finely crushed Oreos and melted butter. Transfer Oreo crumble to the prepped baking dish and pack it down firmly using the bottom of a flat drinking glass or spice bottle. Make sure its packed firmly, otherwise when you cut the bar, the Oreo will crumble and create a mess. Bake 10-12 minutes, until set.

For topping: after removing crust from oven, immediately sprinkle marshmallows evenly over the crust (the heat will help the marshmallows stick). Then, evenly sprinkle caramels over marshmallows. Averie noted to sprinkle in just that order--and that is what you want to do. The caramels sink below the marshmallows but do not get absorbed into the Oreo crust for this nice chewy layer. So remember, marshmallows THEN caramels. Bake for an additional 5-8 minutes, just until marshmallows begin to brown and caramels begin to melt (my bars were ready right at 6 minutes).

Finally, immediately after removing baking dish from oven, evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips, pressing down very slightly with a spatula to make it stick to the marshmallows (the heat will melt the chocolate into this amazing gooey-ness). Allow bars to set and cool slightly, about 15-20 minutes. Then grabbing the ends of the aluminum foil, lift the S'Moreo out of the baking dish and place on cooling rack. Allow bars to cool for at least two hours before cutting (this will help in clean cut bars). Wet knife with warm water for easiest cutting (that way the melty marshmallows will not stick to the knife).

Enjoy and try to not to eat it in one day (but, hey, I won't judge ;),
Chika

Caramel Cake

So today marks another birtday and yet another chance to practice my cake baking skills. Today was Angie's birthday- she is both a friend and our clinic administrator - so Happy Birthday to her :) Well a little birdie reminded me that today was her birthday and I knew I wanted to make her a cake (and if it failed- buy her a cake ;) ). At first I was a bit unsure of what to make. The first thought was chocolate but I realized, tragically, that not everyone has the same love and appreciation for chocolate like I do :) I wanted to find a more "neutral cake" that everyone could enjoy especially Angie and her two sons. So I searched Pinterest, both my Cake board and just recipes shared but I could not find anything that stood out to me. Luckily I randomly remembered an old co-worker once made caramel pie and remembering that it was a big hit. From there I thought- was there such a thing as caramel cake? Well there is! It was decided...I was going to attempt to make a caramel cake from scratch. It was another amazing and super messy learning experience, but it came out better than the Lemon Cake I made for the hubster so that was progres :)

Now on to more important things: baking facts and tidbits! I've mentioned before my curiosity between cake flour and all purpose flour but I ran into another conundrum- what then is self rising flour? Well self-rising flour is all purpose flour with both salt and baking powder incorporated. So if your recipe calls for all self-rising flour and you do not have it- do not fret and do not go the grocery store- simply add the salt and baking powder your self (1/4 tsp. salt per cup and 1.5 tsp baking powder per cup). Another fun tidbit learned: when baking recipes ask for you to cream the butter and sugar- cream the butter first on low speed for 2-3 mintues, if you are patient you will notice it become nice and fluffy. Then add the sugar and cream for 6-8 minutes (8 minutes is desirable)- this mixture will become amazingly light and fluffy and will grow triple in size (you will wonder how did all that come from butter and sugar). This will really help with the lightness that is desired in cake.

I used skewers in my cake to prevent shifting

CARAMEL CAKE

Adapted from Sugar & Spice by Celeste

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 350F degrees

FOR THE CAKE

2 sticks butter, at room temperature
2 c granulated sugar
4 eggs
3 c cake flour

3/4 tsp salt

4.5 tsp baking powder
1 c milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

CARAMEL FILLING AND BUTTERCREAM

2 stick butter
2 c packed dark brown sugar
1/2 c heavy cream, or more if needed
4 c. confectioners' sugar (add more if consistency is too liquidy)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Cream butter until fluffy. Add granulated sugar and continue to cream well for 6-8 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry mixture (cake flour, salt and baking powder) and milk, alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending wtih flour. Add vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed. Divide batter equally among pans (I did two- for two layers). Level batter in each pan by tapping on counter top- this will also get rid of air bubbles. Bake 30-35 minutes until golden brown. The original recipe said 25 minutes but my cakes took much longer to bake.

For filling and buttercream- combine butter, brown sugar and cream into a saucement and stir until well incorporated and till you have reached a nice thick consistency- about 10-15 mintues. Mix with powdered sugar. Do not add all the caramel sauce at once- as this can make your frosting too liquidy. I suggest adding half of it first then mixing with powdered sugar and slowly adding more- until you reach the consistency and amount of frosting/filling needed.

Enjoy,

Chika



Samoas Cupcakes

Through our program, I am taking part as a student therapist, conducting a six week parent management group for parents with children who are diagnosed with Asperger's. This is the first time in a long while that our program has done a parent group and since it's been so long- I literally had to create the modules being provided to the parents- creating lessons, worksheets, handout, etc. It was a lot of work but I loved it! I really enjoy working with parents and the group was full of some wonderful people. Well today was the last day of the six week group- and so I wanted to make them cupcakes as my "farewell."

I searched through my Pinterest and found some awesome recipes for the Girl Scouts Samoas Cookie- turned into a cupacke. I thought they looked wonerful and had to try it. Also, it has a really interesting recipe for caramel buttercream. I have not really gotten to make different types of buttercream other than vanilla and chocolate- though recently for Beau's Lemon Birthdy Cake- I got to try to make Lemon Buttercream.

It always fun trying new things and especially from scratch. Sadly as I started baking I made one fatal error :( It was so tragic. I did not put enough milk. I only used a half of a cup instead of a cup and a half. I just read it wrong and realized my mistake too late! The cupcakes were already baking. But fun fact: milk in cupcakes add to the "fluffiness (aka the round top) of the cupcakes as well as the moistness. The result: my cupcakes were on the dry side! My baker's worst nightmare :/  I was soooooo bummed. But it was too late to start again. [To my blog readers: do not forget to add the milk!] So I took them to my parents group and forewarned them about the tad bit dryness as well as the other student therapists. Luckily, everyone seemed to enjoy it, including the hubster, though they did slightly notice the lack of moisture. But hopefully they forgive me. The hubster really loved the caramel buttercream. So try it out- I mean who does not love Somoas?!

The Texas heat started re-melting the chocolate. That is how hot
it was! Oh Texas and your summers.

SAMOAS CUPCAKES

From Sweet Pea's Kitchen

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 350F degrees

FOR THE CUPCAKES:

2 cups flour
3/4 cup natural cocoa powder
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups milk

FOR THE CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM:

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 cups powdered sugar
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/4 chocolate candymelts

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa powder. In another bowl cream together the butter, sugar, salt, baking soda, vanilla, and coconut extract until fluffy and light, at least 3-4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the milk beating just until combined. Fill the cupcake papers 1/2 full, making sure that the batter is divided evenly. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 20-22 minutes.

To toast the coconut, spread the coconut onto a rimmed sheet pan. Toast in a 350°F oven, stirring frequently, until the coconut is an even brown color, about 10 minutes.

To make the frosting, melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the salt and brown sugar and heat the mixture to boiling, stirring constantly. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the milk and return to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in vanilla. Cool to lukewarm, about 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.Once the caramel frosting mixture is lukewarm, transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the powdered sugar and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Adjust consistency with a little more milk or powdered sugar, if necessary.

Heat candymelts in microwave for about 30 seconds or until drizzling consistency. Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip. Pipe a spiral of frosting, beginning at the outer edge and working inward. Drizzle the frosted cupcakes with melted chocolate and garnish with toasted coconut.

Enjoy and sorry for the missed milk!
Chika

Chocoalte Turtle Cookies

So in the spirit of Valentine's Day- I decided I had to make something chocolate. Valentine's without chocolate isn't really Valentine's Day. So my favorite is chocolate turtle anything, and so I searched the web for some really good chocolate turtle recipes and I found Turtle Cookies. They looked absolutely delicious and so I figured why not try them for the Day of Love? They are not semi-homemade but they definitely are not difficult...messy...yes...difficult...no.

This is definitely a dessert for chocolate lovers :) My sister would LOVE this recipe.

CHOCOLATE TURTLE COOKIES

Adapted from Rock Recipes

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 350F degrees.

2 1/4 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. of cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 c. butter or 2 sticks softened

1 c. of granulated sugar

1 c. of light brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

12 oz. chocolate chips (1 bag)

1 c. of pecans

carmel candies (I cut them in 1/4th sizes)

DIRECTIONS

Mix dry ingredients separately (again sift first to avoid lumps). Set aside. Mix together butter, both sugars, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Slowly add in dry ingredients, but do not over mix (as it will make dough very soft and sticky). Fold in chocolate chips. The dough will be sticky and soft. So I froze for 30 minutes and then covered my hands with crisco to reduce the stickyness. Roll into 3/4 inch balls (I found 1 inch round balls to be too big). Dip half the ball into pecans and place onto cookie sheet. Press down on cookie ball to slightly flatten. In the middle of cookie ball, place a small piece of carmel candy.

Bake 10-12 minutes (10 minutes if you like gooey, 12 minutes if you like more crispy/crunchy). Press down on the slightly melted carmel to spread out. Let cool. Once cookies are cooled- drizzle chocolate across cookies. I use a wilton squeeze bottle to have more control over the drizzle.

Enjoy and Happy Valentine's Day!

Chika