Christmas Red Velvet Cupcakes

I made these delicious and cute holiday red velvet cupcakes for our office holiday party. Christmas tree make with fondant and dragees decoration.

Vanila Chocolate Chip Cake with Chocolate Cream Icing

This cake was delicious. I made a sheet vanila cake with chocolate chips. Then, cut it into 4 rectangles and stacked into a 4 layer cake with 3 layers of chocolate cream and chocolate ganache over it. Then, added some strawberries an voila!

For this cake, you have to use the same steps I used in my last cake, the Tripple Chocolate Cake - where you can also find link to get the recipe for the chocolate cream and ganache.

Triple Chocolate Mouse Cake with Ganache

This cake is just to die for! It's one of my best cakes ever! It's a chocolate cake, from a cake mix, but with extra stuff to make it scrumptious LOL. Anyway, I added:

• full fat sour cream
• strong coffee
• butter
• vanilla extract
• extra cocoa powder
• 2% milk

Then, instead of making the usual cream cheese or butter cream icing, I decided to make the filling with chocolate cream; which is a recipe from a chocolate cream pie I've done it before. But, this time, I used as icing for the cake. It's a three layer cake topped with chocolate ganache and strawberries. The cake is just so delicious and moist; with a decadent chocolate taste.

This cake must be kept in the refrigerator b/c the chocolate cream will get very soft if kept out for too long. Also, the ganache starts to melt a bit.

This can also be made into cupcakes and topped with the chocolate cream then covered with chocolate ganache. It's probably my next thing.

This cake is not perfect looking but that's not what's about here. I added the chocolate ganache over the last layer of chocolate cream and it looks a little like a marble pattern.

Cinco de Mayo Cakes

This was an order my boss placed for a birthday party. The birthday girls were twins and the cakes needed to coordinate. I never did a Cinco de Mayo cake theme before but, in my research, I saw a lot of sombreros on cakes or just general Cinco de Mayo party decorations. So, the main decoration is the orange hat or sombrero and some red peppers made out of fondant and painted with red candy paint.

The square cake was a vanilla cake with vanilla butter cream icing. The round cake was a chocolate cake, also with vanilla butter cream icing. I think it looks very festive, it was quite of work b/c I had to break it down into a few different days and finish it up the night before. But, I was pleased with the results and it was fun to make it. I just hope the birthday girls also liked!

Customer Testimonial

Just wanted to tell you the cakes were a HUGE hit!!! Everyone swooned over the decorations! I served myself one slice of chocolate and a 1/4 piece of vanilla, intending to only to 'taste' each flavor. I found myself devouring the whole thing and scraping the icing from the plate! They were DELICIOUS. - Sooooo moist! And the icing, perfection.

Passion for Pastry Cupcakes are AWFUL

Last Saturday I went to the mall to do some shopping and I was craving a nice cupcake. Well, I knew that Passion for Pastry, a bakery at the food court at the Town Center Mall, sold cupcakes and I couldn't wait to get me one. After I am done with my shopping I stopped by the bakery and picked up a chocolate cupcake with cappuccino icing to eat tat the mall and got a second one to bring home to my husband; a chocolate with sprinkles.

Anyway, I ate mine at the mall but wasn't really happy with it. As I ate, I was trying to not pay any attention to the box taste in the cupcake. So, I pretty much fulled myself and ate it all, I was really craving a cupcake and didn't want to disapoint myself. I also had really high expectations for that cupcake. But, once I got home I took a bite from the second cupcake and there it was, the moment of truth, again it was really awful! It tasted even worse than the first one. I was so upset and could not believe that at $3.25 a cupcake someone had the courage to sell that kind of stuff - the cupcake was just awful even my husband said it tasted like the box and the icing was soo sweet it made me want to spit it out- the whole experience with that cupcake was very disapointing. I wil lnever go back to Passion for Pastry. I can only imagine how their fancy cakes taste - PROBABLY AWFUL TOO IN A MUCH BIGGER SCALE.

I don't recommend getting any cupcakes from Passion for Pastry or any of their cake either- it's not worth half of the cost - you will be better off getting a box of cupcakes at Publix at just over a dollar each or less if they are on sale.

Supreme Coconut Raspberry Cookie Torte

This recipe is my very own and original torte recipe. It may sound funny, but I put in a lot of work into this one; specially beacuse it was submitted to the Pillsburry Bake-off contest last year, but I didn't make it to the finalists ;-( Oh well, at least I came up with a yummy dessert!

It's a little gooey because of the coconut and condensed milk then you have the raspberry and the cookie dough... Divine! Oh, and don't forget the chocolate ganache to top if off!

Ingredients

• 1 Pillsbury Refrigerated Sugar Cookie Dough 16.5-oz. roll
• 1 can of Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 2 tbsp of LAND O LAKES Unsalted Butter
• 1 cup of shredded coconut
• ½ cup of HERSHEY’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1/3 cup of heavy whipping cream
• ½ cup of Smucker Low Sugar Reduced Sugar Red Raspberry Preserves
• 1 tbsp of HERSHEY’S Cocoa (if making ¼ cup of chocolate milk)
• ¼ cup chocolate milk (suggested, but not necessary, it will make cookie more moist and easy to cut)

Instructions

1. Cut cookie dough in half and roll each half into about 5” diameter, place each circle on a separate 17”x12” cookie pan. Bake it as directed or until cookie is completely baked (convection oven about 22 minutes)
2. While cookie is baking, mix butter, Sweetened Condensed Milk and shredded coconut in a small non-stick pan at medium heat. Constantly stir, with a wooden spoon, until you get a tick dough like mixture; at this point it should not stick to pan. Turn heat off and remove pan from hot surface, cover and put aside.
3. Take cookies out of the oven; let it cool for about 10 minutes.
4. Place one cookie on a round plate and spread the condensed milk/coconut mixture over cookie, about ½” tick.
5. Spread Red Raspberry Preserves over condensed milk/coconut mixture.
6. Place second cookie over raspberry layer
7. If using chocolate milk to moisten top cookie, brush cookie with chocolate milk
8. Break edges of top cookie to seal the torte’ push small broken pieces all around the edges
9. Pour chocolate ganache over top cookie and spread it around the edges, like icing a cake Cover the entire cookie torte with the chocolate ganache
10. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. But you can also eat it while warm
11. Decorate with a few strawberries or coconut flakes/chips, if desired

Tips – the taste gets even better after a day or two in the refrigerator!

How to Make the Chocolate Ganache

1. Bring heavy whipping cream to a boil in a small sauce pan
2. Remove from heat and add Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips chocolate
3. Stir the chocolate until melted. Cover and let stand 10 minutes
   
   
   

Chocolate Cream Pie

I made another delicious dessert for Valentines Day; a chocolate cream pie!

The recipe is from the Sun Sentinel Thursday paper, from last week. There was a few good Valentines Day recipes in the Food section and this chocolate pie was one of them.

Here is the link to the Chocolate Pie recipe page page . The picture on their page look better than mine, but mine also tasted delicious!

You can also find the Chocolate Pie recipe below

Garnish the top with fresh berries, whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce.

• 4 ounces Baker's German Sweet chocolate. I used Valrhona chocolate bar


• 1/2 cup milk, divided


• 2 tablespoons sugar


• 1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature


• 1 (8-ounce) container frozen nondairy whipped topping, thawed


• 1 (9-inch) prepared graham cracker crust

In a saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate with 3 tablespoons milk, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat sugar and cream cheese until creamy and well mixed. Add remaining milk (5 tablespoons) and chocolate mixture; beat until smooth.
Fold in whipped topping until smooth. Spoon into prepared crust. Freeze at least 4 hours until very firm.

If left in freezer longer, cover with foil. Makes about 12 servings.

Per serving: 244 calories, 57 percent calories from fat, 16 grams total fat, 8 grams saturated fat, 9 milligrams cholesterol, 26 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram total fiber, 20 grams total sugars, 25 grams net carbs, 3 grams protein, 145 milligrams sodium.

Valentines Day Sweets from the Heart

This valentine I decided to make a little frozen treat with raspberry bar mix. It's was really simple and I was able to freeze it and have my heart shaped raspberry cheesecake bars ready for my Valentine!

I used the mix below and followed the cheesecake bar recipe. But I made my cheesecake raspberry bars ticker by topping it with the crust crumbs and, of course, melted chocolate!

Finally, just use the hear shaped cookie cutters and freeze the yummy little sweets for Valentines Day ;-)