Desserts!

A few weeks ago, we all made Dessert recipes.  The swap was hosted by the lovely Laki.

lauandjohn07 made a recipe from Laki's blog, Death by Chocolate Trifle.

She had this to say:

I substituted fresh whipped cream for the Cool Whip and I made milk chocolate mousse instead of the dark. I took it to a bbq yesterday and it was the belle of the ball. Very yummy and rich, there were no leftovers.

melbride2005 made a recipe from LisaD, Red Velvet Cupcakes with Mascarpone Cream Cheese Frosting

 Lishie0729 made melbride's Fresh Peach Cake.

lmary0504 made a recipe from smallbutfeisty's blog, Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies.  She had this to say:

I got smallbutfiesty's rasberry cheesecake brownies.  They were fab!  My oven sucks a little bit though and I should have increased the cooktime a bit so they came out a little too mushy in the middle for me, but we ate the border of the pan LOL!

smallbutfeisty made ddelo23's Caramel Banana Ravioli.

HarrietNJMommy made LovinLivvy's Oreo Cheesecake. It was good!
There were only 2 things I did different. My pan was a little smaller, so I just baked it for a couple minutes longer to set and when I crushed the leftover cookies, I didn't have enough to sprinkle over the top - I think I crushed them too much.

Luvin*Livvy made Lishie's S'mores Bars.

ddelo23 made lmary0405's Cracker Candy.


And our hostess, Laki,  hasn't yet blogged her recipe, which was for a Crunch-bar pie from Laurms - it originally called for Andes candies, but I used Crunch bars instead.  I made it last night for a BBQ w/ friends and it was so good!

Chocolate Soup

Chocolate Soup (chpmnk1015)
(I got it off the food network- spam
on the street.)

4 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
5 tablespoons cornstarch
5 tablespoons cold water
Mini chocolate biscotti, for garnish
Fresh raspberries, for garnish
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together the whole milk,
sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla bean. Bring the mixture almost to a
boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and let it steep for 20
minutes. Strain and return to the pan. (Rinse and dry the vanilla bean and
save it for another use.)

Put the pan on low heat, add the chocolate, and whisk until the chocolate
melts. Combine the cornstarch and water to form a slurry. Add the slurry a
little at a time, whisking constantly, until the soup is thick and smooth.
You will know it is ready when the bubbles are gone and the chocolate has
thickened, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Pour the soup into bowls and garnish with biscotti, raspberries, and mint
leaves.

Mexican Chocolate Pudding

Mexican Chocolate Pudding (al320)
Gourmet (February 2009)
**I'm not sure that this qualifies as an actual Mexican recipe (it doesn't even call for Mexican chocolate), but it's really good and super easy.

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups plain unsweetened almond milk
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Whisk together brown sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, cinnamon, and 1/8 tsp salt in a heavy medium saucepan, then whisk in almond milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking often, then boil, whisking, 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla. Chill in a bowl, surface covered with a piece of buttered wax paper, until cold, at least 1 1/2 hours.

Recommended accompaniments: lightly sweetened whipped cream and slivered almonds.

Saltine Chocolate

Saltine Chocolate (zorahangels)
(from a co-worker, super easy)

1 package salted saltines (approx 40)
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 package mini-semisweet chocolate morsels

Line baking sheet with foil. Layout saltines.

Combine unsalted butter and brown sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for an additional 3 minutes. Pour mixture over saltines and place in a 400-degree oven for 5 minutes.

Immediately after taking the saltines out of the oven, sprinkle with semi-sweet morsels. Wait approx. 5 minutes and spread chocolate evenly over the top of the saltines, then sprinkle with the chopped walnuts.

Refrigerate for 3 hours and then break apart and serve.

Pretzel Surprises

Pretzel Surprises (alicianrj)

Very easy and yummy! This is a great one for kids to make too!

Pretzel rings
Hershey Kisses (I use regular and the ones with caramel)
M&M’s (Red and Green)

Heat oven to 250.

Put Hershey kisses into middle of pretzels and place onto cookie sheet. Put into oven for 3 minutes. When they come out of the oven push a red or a green M&M into the center of each kiss. Place cookie sheet into fridge to cool. When cooled twist the pretzel off of the cookie sheet.

Peanut Butter Balls

Peanut Butter Balls (cclovesdw)

2 cups crushed graham crackers
2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups chunky peanut butter
3/4 cup butter1 lb. dipping chocolate

Mix all ingredients, except chocolate, like pie crust.

Chill 1 hour. Shape into balls. Dip in melted chocolate and place on wax paper.

Chill. May be frozen.

Makes 6 to 6.5 dozen.

*If you roll the dough into balls and then put them back in the refrigerator, they are much easier to dip. Once the dough gets to room temperature, it gets very sticky.

Peanut Brittle

Peanut Brittle (raesue)
(My mom makes this around the holidays – it’s perfect to give in little tins as gifts)

2 C. Sugar
1 C. Light Corn Syrup
½ C. Water
1 C. Butter
2 C. Peanuts (any kind w/o skins will do – I like Roasted/Salted)
1 Tbsp. Baking Soda
Cookie sheets
Wax/Parchment paper
***Candy Thermometer*****

Put sugar, corn syrup, and water into a 3qt. sauce pan. Cook until dissolved
Add in butter

Put in candy thermometer. After temp gets to 230 stir often

Add peanuts when temp gets to 280

Continuously stir until temp gets to 305

When temp gets to 305 remove from heat and quickly add baking soda (it will make the mixture lighter and frothy-ish)

Pour the mixture onto 2 cookie sheets that have been lined with wax/parchment paper. Let it cool. Break into small pieces.

****Clean-up hint**** Have a pot of boiling water to immediately put into sauce pan after dumping mixture onto cookie sheets.

Peanut Brittle

Peanut Brittle (Joe-Joe’sGirl)

Vegetable-oil spray
2 cups sugar
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
12 ounces dry-roasted salted peanuts (do not chop)

Spray a 12-by-16-by-1/2-inch sheet pan lightly with vegetable oil.

Add the sugar, butter, corn syrup, and 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water to a large saucepan, and stir together until all the sugar is wet. Cook over high heat until the mixture turns a medium golden. Immediately remove from the heat, and carefully whisk in the baking soda followed by the salt (taking care, as the caramel will rise in the pan and bubble). Switch to a wooden or metal spoon, and fold in the peanuts.

Quickly pour the mixture onto the sheet pan, and spread it out over the pan using the back of the spoon before it starts to harden. (It may not cover the whole pan.) Once the brittle is completely cool, break it into bite-size pieces with the back of a knife or other blunt object.

(Makes about 2 dozen one-inch chunks)

Fluff Candies

Fluff Candies (raesue)

3 Egg Whites
1 C Sugar
1 Bag Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
Peppermint Extract
Pinch Salt

***Preheat oven to 400*** Do this FIRST

Beat Egg Whites until creamy soft peaks
Add Sugar and Salt beat until stiff peaks
Fold in the Chocolate Chips and peppermint extract to taste
Line a cookie sheet with wax paper
Use a teaspoon to drop mix on the cookie sheet

TURN OFF OVEN and place cookie sheet in oven for 3-6 hours (best to do this overnight)

Cracker Jacks

Cracker Jacks (zorahangels)
(Mom)

5-6 quarts of popped corn
1 cup Spanish peanuts (optional)

boil for 5 minutes:
½ cup karo light syrup
2 cups brown sugar
1 stick butter or margarine
1 tsp salt

Remove from heat and add 1 tsp baking soda, stir until it looks foamy. Pour over pop corn and Spanish peanuts (optional). Spread out on cookie sheets. Bake 1 hour at 250. Stir it around every 15-20 minutes to prevent sticking. Butter spoon that you will be stirring with to prevent sticking as well.

Candy Cane Marshmallows

Candy Cane Marshmallows (Luvin*Livvy)
(Martha Stewart)

Vegetable oil – cooking spray
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
4 pkgs (1.4 oz each) unflavored gelatin
¾ tsp. peppermint extract
2 large Egg Whites
2 tsp. red food coloring

Coat an 8 inch square pan with cooking spray; line bottom with parchment paper. Coat the parchment with cooking spray, and set pan aside. Put sugar, corn syrup and ¾ cup water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring; let mixture come to a boil. Raise heat to medium-high; cook until mixture registers 260 degrees on a candy thermometer.

Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin over ¾ cup water in a heatproof bowl; let stand 5 minutes to soften. Set bowl with the gelatin mixture over a pan of simmering water; whisk constantly until gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat, and stir in extract.

Beat egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Whisk gelatin mixture into sugar mixture, with mixer running, gradually add to egg whites. Mix on high speed until very thick, 12- 15 minutes.

Pour mixture into lined pan. Working quickly, drop dots of red food coloring across surface of marshmallow. Using a toothpick, swirl food coloring into marshmallow to create marbleized effect. Let marshmallow stand at room temperature, uncovered until firm, at least 3 hours or overnight. Cut into squares.

Makes 16 2- inch squares