Chocolate Covered Birthday Twinkies

It's my friend Kelly's birthday and she has been wanting me to make these for her since I mentioned them this summer.  So today, because it's her birthday, because she is special and I love her, I made up a batch of birthday Twinkies.

I discovered these this summer when one of my Facebook friends posted something about going to a local snow cone stand to get a frozen chocolate covered Twinkie.  Since her local is not my local, and since I was about 6 months pregnant at the time, naturally I sprinted out the door and went to pick up all the ingredients to make them for myself immediately.  And I've been a fan ever since.

Really, any recipe that involves a Twinkie I am probably going to be a fan of.

Only 2 necessary ingredients:  Twinkies (or "Golden Creme Cakes" if you are fancy like me and buy anything that says "Great Value" on the box) and almond bark.  Sprinkles if you want them to look purdy.

Now, this is the key to success:  corn cob holders.  Otherwise, you'll have a big mess.  A box of these little doodads costs about $3 at Wal-Mart.  Even if you never eat corn on the cob, they are worth the investment for dipping things in chocolate.

Line a baking sheet with wax paper, unwrap the Twinkies and lay them out on the sheet.  Pop them in the freezer for about 30 minutes to firm them up.

Meanwhile, melt the almond bark according to the package directions.

Once the Twinkies are nice and firm, spear each end with a corn cob holder and roll it around in the melted chocolate like you would a rolling pin (sorry no picture because it takes two hands to roll, but just imagine this little Twinkie rolling around in the chocolate).

Put it back on the sheet pan and remove the corn cob holders.  At this point you should add your sprinkles because the chocolate hardens pretty fast.  I didn't realize this though until it was too late so I had to do a little patchwork on the white ones :P

You can use a spoon to dab the edges with chocolate where the corn cob holders were.

And that's it!  Store them in the freezer and take them out about 5 minutes before you're ready to eat them.  These are awesome in the summertime when it's hot outside.  But really, they are awesome any time of year.

Sorry Kelly, I had to taste one and make sure it wasn't poisonous or anything ;)

Debby's Chocolate Pound Cake

Chocolate.  Pound.  Cake.  Everyone should get to eat this cake at least once in their lives.  It is incredible.  Serously, incredible.  My aunt Debby used to make it when I was a kid.  It is my husband's second favorite cake (second only to his mother's Italian Creme Cake, which I can't even begin to describe how divine THAT cake is); a regular dessert at our house.  I could make it with my eyes closed.  Well that might get a little messy, but let's just say I've made it lots of times and will make it many more times in the future ;)  Here's how it's done:

Ingredients:  cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, salt, instant coffee (you can't taste the coffee, but it gives the chocolate a richer flavor.  If you're concerned about the extra caffeine you can leave it out), butter, sugar, vanilla, eggs and buttermilk.

Sift together all of the dry ingredients except the sugar.

Add the softened butter to a mixing bowl.

Cream it on medium speed until it is light and fluffy. 

P.S. you can make this cake with a handheld electric mixer, it just may take a little longer.

Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the sugar.

Once it is incorporated, beat it on high speed for 5 minutes.

Until it is light, fluffy and smooth.

Back to low speed, add the vanilla.

And the eggs, one at a time.

Beat on low until well mixed.

Then add the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.  The recipe calls for 1/4 c. water mixed with the buttermilk but I accidentally forgot it this time and the cake turned out fine :P

When it is all mixed together you should have a fluffy, chocolatey batter.  Mix it well with a spatula to make sure everything in the bowl is combined.  Sometimes the stuff at the very bottom of the mixing bowl doesn't get incorporated very well.

Grease and flour a bundt pan (or cheat and spray it with Baker's Joy like I do).

Spread the batter evenly into the pan.

Bake it for 1 hour and 20 minutes in the upper third of the oven at 325 degrees.  Let it cool in the pan for about 20 minutes.

Turn it out onto a cake platter and let it cool all the way.  Or go ahead and cut yourself a piece while it's still hot like I usually do because I have no self control.

This cake is dense, silky, intensely chocolate and INSANELY good.  It doesn't need icing; it is perfect the way it is.

Copy and paste this recipe into Word for a printable version:

Chocolate Pound Cake

Ingredients:

1 c. cocoa
2 c. sifted flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. instant coffee powder
3 sticks unsalted butter
3 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
5 eggs
1 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and flour a 10" bundt or tube pan.  Sift together the first 5 ingredients and set aside.  Cream butter till fluffy.  Add sugar slowly.  Beat at high 5 minutes.

Add vanilla, then eggs, one at a time.  Mix in dry ingredients alternating with liquid.  Bake in upper third of oven 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Let rest in pan 20 mins.  Unmold onto cake rack.  Cool completely.

Pasta with Truffle Butter

OK...so I know it says at the top of my blog that I only buy ingredients that can be found at Wal-Mart.  But occasionally I will make the 20 minute drive to Albertson's or to peruse the gourmet food sections at Ross and TJ Maxx.  It was at Ross that my mother-in-law found white truffle oil.

This recipe calls for truffle butter, but after some Google searches I found out that you can make your own truffle butter by mixing butter, truffle oil and salt.  SO, what I decided to do was substitute 2/3 of the truffle butter called for in the recipe with unsalted butter and 1/3 with truffle oil.  Then I just made sure the pasta was well seasoned.  And it was really good!

Ingredients:  cream, butter, truffle oil, Parmesan cheese, egg noodles, chives, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, grate some Parmesan cheese.

Heat the cream in a skillet until it is simmering.  Add the butter and the truffle oil.  Cook for a couple of minutes. stirring, until the butter is melted and it is combined.

Add some Parmesan cheese.

Once the cheese has melted into the sauce, add the pasta.

Toss it all together, add the chives and season with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste.

Serve it with more chives, Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes.  Pretty fancy!  And VERY easy!!

Link to the printable recipe:

Pasta with Truffle Butter

Source:  Barefoot Contessa

Pimento Cheese

On Christmas day my little family of three has an early breakfast, 3 o'clock "dinner" and real dinner.  This leaves a big gaping hole in our day where we must eat something or we will starve before we reach the 3:00 mark, but can't eat anything too filling or we won't be hungry for our two Christmas dinners.

So this year I made the perfect thing:  homemade pimento cheese!  I had a little sandwich and my husband ate his on Ritz crackers.  It was just the right amount of calories and protein to keep us sustained but not overloaded.  And boy, was it tasty!!

Ingredients:  sharp cheddar cheese, pepper jack cheese, jarred diced pimentos, red onion, mayonnaise, garlic, hot smoked paprika (if you don't have this you can just use regular paprika, but they do sell it at good 'ole Wal-Marts), celery seed and salt and pepper to taste.  White bread or crackers for serving.

Shred the cheeses and add them to a mixing bowl.  You can buy pre-shredded cheese, but the block kind is cheaper and tastes better if you shred it yourself.  I don't know why, but it just does.  If you have a food processor the shredding only takes about 20 seconds.



Chop up the red onion and mince some garlic.  Isn't that a pretty onion?

Then add it to the bowl along with the pimentos and their juices and the mayonnaise.

Mix it well (make sure to disperse the mayo evenly) and then season it with the smoked paprika, celery seed and salt and pepper to taste.

Give it one final mix and adjust the seasonings as necessary.

Slather it on some white bread or crackers.

And chow down!  Trust me, this is sooooooooo much better than the store-bought stuff and it only takes about 5 minutes to make.  I have tried several pimento cheese recipes, including my grandmothers, and this one is my absolute favorite.  It is simply perfect.  Delish!!

Link to the printable recipe:

Pimento Cheese

Source:  Sunny Anderson

Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate + Cream = Love

I mean really, if you want someone to know you love them, just whip them up a batch of chocolate truffles.

We have started a new tradition in my family over the past couple of years where the adults make each other homemade Christmas gifts (kids still get things like iPads, paintball guns, Wii games....whatever it is kids are into these days).  So I says to myself, I says "Lori, what can you make to tell all them folks how much you love them," and I says "I know, CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES!"

Then I think to myself "those suckers will have no idea how easy they were to make....BWAHAHAHAHA!!"

But they are still amazing all the same.  I hope everyone enjoys them :)  Here's how I made them:

Ingredients:  bittersweet chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, heavy cream, assorted liqueurs (I chose Grand Marnier, Creme de Menthe and Frangelico), prepared coffee, assorted extracts (I chose vanilla and mint), cocoa powder, confectioners sugar and nuts for topping.

*Note, you can also coat them in tempered chocolate or drizzle them with tempered chocolate, or both, but I decided not to do it this time.  Maybe next time...

Add the chocolate (1 part bittersweet, 1 part semi-sweet) to a heat proof bowl.

In a saucepan, bring the cream to just boiling.

Pour the hot cream over the chocolate.  Let it set for a few minutes to melt the chocolate.

Slowly whisk it to finish the melting process.

It will slowly become more and more like a chocolate sauce.

Until it becomes a chocolate sauce.  It should be pretty and shiny.  At this point, whisk in the liqueur, prepared coffee (you won't be able to taste the coffee, but it will give the chocolate a deeper, more complex flavor) and extract.  I made 3 batches:  basic chocolate (Grand Marnier + vanilla extract), mint chocolate (Creme de Menthe + mint extract) and hazelnut (Frangelico + vanilla extract).

As Paula would say "Idn't that priattay?"  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour until firm but pliable.

Meanwhile, line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

When you take it out of the fridge, it should be firm enough to scoop into balls.

I use a small scoop.  You could use a melon baller or 1/2 tablespoon.

Scoop them out into balls (they don't need to be perfect) onto parchment paper.

Keep going until you've scooped out all the chocolate.  Refrigerate them again for about 15-30 minutes to allow them to firm up a bit.

Meanwhile, prepare your toppings.  I chose a mixture of cocoa powder and powdered sugar for the basic chocolate truffles, powdered sugar and green sugar sprinkles for the mint truffles and chopped nuts for the hazelnut truffles.  You could also dip or drizzle (or both) them with tempered chocolate.  But I didn't feel like dealing with the mess.

Take each ball and roll it between the palms of your hands to make it more ball-like.  Dip it into the desired topping and roll it around until it's coated on all sides.

And that's it!  Easy huh??  These will literally melt in your mouth.

GORGEOUS!  The hazelnut truffles are my favorite.  I hope my family enjoys them.  I know I enjoyed taste testing them! ;)

Link to the printable recipe:

Chocolate Truffles

Source:  Barefoot Contessa