Caramel Fudge Cheesecake

Crust:

2 cups graham cracker or Oreo crumbs

1 stick butter, melted

Filling:

4 pkg (32oz. total) cream cheese at room temperature

1 1/3 cup sugar

1 cup sour cream at room temperature

6 tablespoons flour

6 eggs at room temperature

1 TBS vanilla extract

1 cup heavy cream

1 jar caramel (make sure it's a stiffer-set caramel, not the super soft/syrupy kind- or you can melt caramels with a little bit of milk)

1/2 jar hot fudge (NOT chocolate syrup)

Topping:

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine cracker/cookie crumbs with butter, press into bottom and up sides of 10 inch springform pan.

Preheat oven to 325* and place a casserole dish full of hot water on the bottom rack.

Beat cream cheese & sugar until very smooth and fluffy. On LOW speed, add sour cream, flour, eggs, vanilla, and heavy cream- mix just until well combined but DO NOT beat it or over mix (cheesecake will crack)

Pour 2/3 of batter into crust. Mix caramel with remaining batter and pour on top of plain batter- save a little bit of caramel to drizzle on top of finished cake. Warm hot fudge until soft but not hot, drop spoonfuls on top of batter and swirl gently (don't mix it in). Save a little bit of hot fudge to drizzle on top also. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours- center should still be wiggly) and turn off oven, leave cake inside and open oven door slightly. Let cool in oven for 2 hours, remove from oven and cool COMPLETELY. Wrap with plastic wrap (keep cake in the pan) and chill in refrigerator for 24 hours (it MUST chill for a day to set up properly- otherwise the cake will be slimy and weird, and nobody likes that.)

Whip cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Spread over cake just before serving and drizzle with caramel & hot fudge sauce if desired.

Slice cake with a very sharp HOT & WET knife, cleaning knife between slices. Cut into 16-20 slices (a little goes a LONG way!)

French Silk Pie

French Silk Pie

Ingredients

• 4 ounces, weight Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
• 1 cup Salted Butter, Softened
• 1-1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 4 whole Eggs
• 1 package Baked Pie Shell

Preparation Instructions

In small microwave safe bowl melt 4 ounces of unsweetened baking chocolate until stirrable (about 45 seconds on high). Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat 1 cup (2 sticks) of regular (salted) butter and 1 ½ cups of white sugar until fluffy (about 1 to 2 minutes). When melted chocolate is cooled, drizzle it over the butter/sugar mixture. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Beat the mixture thoroughly until combined (on a Kitchen Aid mixer, you will be using the whisk attachment).

Turn your mixer to a medium speed and over a period of 15 to 20 minutes add in the four eggs, one at a time, leaving about 5 minutes between each egg addition. Once the pie filling is well mixed, pour it into the baked pie shell, scraping every last speck of it out of the bowl. Smooth out the pie filling and place pie in the refrigerator to chill for at least two hours (preferably longer).

Plop a heap of whipped cream and garnish with a few chocolate curls if you’re feeling sassy.

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman, lots of tips when you visit the link!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/09/french-silk-pie-step-by-step/

Snickers Cake

This is Snickers heaven on a plate...

CAKE:

1 package chocolate fudge cake mix
1 sm package instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup canola oil
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
Beat together on medium for 2 minutes. Transfer to two 8-in. round baking pans lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
*Cake is best if you cool completely, wrap in foil, and freeze overnight before frosting. It's easier to frost while frozen, and turns out extra moist :)


FROSTING:
1 1/2 cups soft butter
2 cups creamy peanut butter
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp salt
Beat together on high speed 5 minutes, until very fluffy, SLOWLY adding powdered sugar and drizzling in cream last .


GARNISHES:
Mini Snickers; 7 whole, 10 chopped
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
Soft Caramel sauce*
Chocolate Ganache**


ASSEMBLY:
Frost bottom layer and bottom of top layer but keep them separate. (Put the bottom layer on the cake plate you're using and flip top layer upside down on a separate plate and frost ONLY the bottom of it.)
Drizzle some of the carmel & ganache, and sprinkle 1/2 of the peanuts, and 1/2 of the chopped Snickers on the top of the bottom layer, but don't get any on the sides. Turn top layer right-side-up and place on top of bottom layer so that the filling is between two layers of frosting. Frost cake generously and smooth the top and sides as much as possible. Drizzle more caramel & ganache over the top and off the sides of the frosted cake. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts & chopped Snickers. Pipe 6 tufts of frosting around the edges and one more in the middle. Top each with a whole mini Snickers bar.


*Caramel Sauce:
6 oz caramels, unwrapped
1/3 c heavy cream
Heat on low just until melty, whisk until smooth


**Ganache:
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Heat on low just until melty, whisk until smooth



Chocolate-Strawberry Celebration Cake

CAKE:
1 package (18-1/4 ounces) chocolate cake mix
1 package (3.9 ounces) instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup canola oil
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted

FROSTING:
2 cups butter, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1/4-1/2 cup 2% milk

GARNISHES:
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled

GANACHE:
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:
Combine the first seven ingredients; beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Transfer to two greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans.

Bake at 350° for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Beat the butter, confectioner's sugar and cocoa until blended; add milk until desired consistency and beat until smooth. Spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake.

Pipe or spoon melted chocolate onto waxed paper in decorative designs; let stand until set. Arrange strawberries on top of cake. For ganache, place chocolate in a small bowl. Heat cream just to a boil; pour over chocolate and whisk until smooth. Drizzle over top of cake, allowing ganache to drape down the sides. Top with chocolate garnishes. Yield: 12 servings.

Creamy Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:
3 cups whipping cream*
3 egg yolks, beaten
2-3 tsp white stevia powder** or 2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped

In a saucepan, whisk together whipping cream, (sugar if you're using it), egg yolks, cocoa, and salt. Cook over meduim low heat until mixture is thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla. Cool completely, whisk in stevia powder. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon into dessert cups & refrigerate overnight.

*If you want to make it lower fat and are not worried about carbs, use 1 cup whipping cream and 2 cups whole milk with 2 TBS flour.

**I use NuStevia brand white stevia powder. All brands are different, so always add it to taste. If you add too much, it can be really gross. Beware of brands that cost significantly less than others because they are often very bitter or really weak. I have also used Truvia brand and it has a good flavor but is a little weak so you may need to add more. Also, I have found that stevia does NOT like to be heated- it gets too strong and a little bitter, so be sure to add stevia to cooled mixtures.

Cake Bites

Ingredients:

Cake mix (I used devils food)

Chocolate frosting

Dipping chocolate

Directions:-Start by baking the cake according to the directions on the box. Once the cake is baked, pull it out of the oven and let it cool for about 20-30 minutes. Dump the cake into a large mixing bowl and add 2 spoon fulls of frosting and begin mashing the frosting into the cake with your hands. Once all of the frosting is mixed into the cake and it is moist you can begin rolling the mixture into balls with the palms of your hands. Place the ball onto a baking sheet or plate lined with wax paper. (You'll be needing to put it into your freezer so whatever will fit is what you should place it on.) I flattend the bottom of the ball and shapeed it into more of a square. (as shown above ).

Once you have filled the baking sheet or plate with the cake bites place it in the freezer and let it sit for 30-40 minutes until the cake bites have hardened. You'll need to create a double broiler by placing a metal mixing bowl on top of a saucepan that has water in it. Set it on low-medium heat.

Then place your chocolate in the bowl and begin melting. Using the toothpicks, poke the toothpick into the bottom of the cake bite and up through it almost to the top. Then stir it around in the melted chocolate until it is completely coated. Remove the excess chocolate off by tapping the toothpick on the side of the bowl- gently. Then carefully scrape the cake bite off of the toothpick and onto a spoon, slide it off the spoon and back onto the wax paper. This will help reduce the amount of chocolate that will puddle around the bottom of the cake bite. Place the tray of coated cake bites in a cool area to harden. Wait about 2-3 hours after coating the cake bites before eating.
Here is the finished product.

Chocolate Scotcheroos

Ingredients:
1 cup Karo Light Corn Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
6 cups crispy rice cereal
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 bag butterscotch chips

Directions:
1: Cook corn syrup and sugar together in a large pan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter; mix well. Add cereal; stir until evenly coated.
2: Pour into greased 13x9-inch pan and pat into place.
3: Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together in saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Spread over cereal.
4: Cool at least 45 minutes, or until firm. Cut into bars.

Dove Tempting Double Chocolate Cookies

Dove Tempting Double Chocolate Cookies

*prep time 25 minutes

Bakes time- 10-12 minutes

Difficulty- easy

Makes 24 cookies

1 bag DOVE PROMISES milk chocolate

1 cup (you can buy a bar if its 8 oz or a bag and just use 8 oz) DOVE PROMISES Dark Chocolate

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup flour

1 tsp almond extract (we used orange extract and it was EXCELLENT)

1/4 tsp baking powder

1. Coarsly chop the DOVE PROMISES Milk chocolate and melt in either in a bowl on top of a double boiler or in the microwave for 1- 1 1/2 minutes.

2. Stir the chocolate until smooth. Add the sugar, butter, eggs and almond (or orange) extract.

3. Stir in the flour and baking powder

4. Add 1 cup chopped DOVE PROMISES Dark Chocolate (not melted, just coarsely chopped)

5. Drop heaping tablespoons of batter on an ungreased cookie sheet

6. Bake in preheated oven at 350* for 10 to 12 minutes

7. Cool on the cookie sheet

Fresh Salsa/ Pico de Gallo

This is a special treat in our family- we often do "Salsa Sundays"- get a bunch of chips and some great steak and eat your heart out!

6-8 roma or vine tomatoes, chopped (by hand!)
1 red or vidalia onion, chopped
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
2-3 TBS minced garlic (to taste)
1-2 tsp chili powder (to taste)
dash of cayenne pepper (or more if you like it spicy)
salt & pepper to taste
juice from 1 lemon (you can use more if you like it extra juicy)
juice from 1 lime

Gently mix well and enjoy immediately!
Note: This salsa does NOT keep well- use within 2 days.

You can also "personalize" this salsa to what you like- add fresh corn kernels, chopped cucumber, fresh pineapple, Johnny's seasoning salt, etc. Sky's the limit!

Creamy Chocolate Fudge

This recipe is for a most delicious and SUPER CREAMY fudge! This is the first time I've used this recipe- I actually altered my grandma's recipe because I was missing some ingredients. Anyway it turned out SO great that I will definately do it again and again! This also makes the most wonderful hot fudge sauce :)
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 lb (1 stick) real butter

In a large pot, combine cream, sugar, sweetened condensed milk, & cocoa; whisk until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture reaches a "meduim ball stage". The fudge will be thick and bubbly. To test it, drizzle fudge from the spoon into a cup of ice water. Using your fingers, gather the drizzled fudge together to form a ball. If it falls apart or is really mushy, it isn't ready yet. It should be slightly firm, but NOT hard. Test it frequently until you get the right texture. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and butter. ***If you are making hot fudge sauce, STOP here.... simply cool fudge and pour into a glass jar and store in the refrigerator. GENTLY reheat as needed.*** For regular fudge, tansfer to a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer, on high speed, until it loses it's gloss- this will take about 10 minutes or so. Fold in nuts if desired. Pour into buttered 6X9 inch pan. Chill 2 hours, cut into squares and enjoy!

Chocolate ice cream

INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup white sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 egg yolks, beaten

1 2/3 cups heavy cream
1 cup half and half
1 tsp vanilla
a dash salt

DIRECTIONSIn large bowl, stir together half and half, sugar, cocoa, cream, vanilla and salt. Add beaten eggs, whisk all together until smooth. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Ultimate Cheesecake

This is my version of a turtle cheesecake. I made the original recipe and added some pecans, Carmel and mini chocolate chips.

Ingredients for the crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 TBS sugar
1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted
*Combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add melted butter and stir. Press into a 9 inch spring form pan. Chill 30 minutes.

Ingredients for the filling:
5 pkg. cream cheese (8 oz. each)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/3 cups sugar 2 tsp.
finely grated lemon peel (omit if not making a plain new york style)
3 TBS white flour
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
5 large eggs

*Preheat oven to 325. In a large bowl, beat softened cream cheese on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add sugar and mix well. Gradually add flour; mix until combined. On low speed, beat in eggs, one at a time, until just blended. Add sour cream, lemon peel, and vanilla; beat until just blended. DO NOT OVER BEAT! Pour into crust. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until there is a 3 inch circle in the middle that is still wobbly. For less cracking, place a pan 1/2 full of water on the bottom rack of the oven while baking. Remove cake from oven and cool completely. Chill, loosely covered, at least 24 hours before serving.
Variations:
Oreo- use Oreo crumbs in place of graham crackers for the crust. Swirl Oreo bits into the batter before baking.
Hot fudge and/or caramel- Swirl hot fudge into batter before baking and drizzle with hot fudge or caramel just before serving.
Fruit- use any flavor pie filling, or jam, swirl into batter before baking. You may also use fruit puree & mix it with batter before baking.
Mint chocolate- use Oreo crumbs in place of graham crackers for the crust. Flavor all or part of the batter with mint extract and green food color. Stir in Oreo bits or chocolate pieces before baking.
Pumpkin- use gingerbread crumbs in place of graham crackers for the crust. Separate 1 1/2 cups of batter into a bowl. Add 2/3 cup pumpkin, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice and 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Pour batter into crust and swirl in pumpkin batter.

Killer Chocolate Cheesecake

Crust:
9 oz. chocolate wafers, broken into large pieces
6 TBS unsalted butter, melted
Pulse the wafers in a food processor until finely ground. With the motor running, slowly add the butter, and process until just blended. Press the mixture onto the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan. Bake the crust for 8-10 minutes at 350 until it is set. Cool on a wire rack. Tightly wrap the pan with aluminum foil. Put 6 cups of water on to boil.

Filling:
1 lb. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 lg. eggs
1/4 cup unsalted butter
pinch of salt
2 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
24 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups sour cream, room temperature

*Melt chocolate with the butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of about 1 1/2 inches of nearly simmering water, whisking until smooth. Whisk in the cocoa powder. Remove the bowl from the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature. Beat the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Beat in the salt. Beat in the chocolate mixture just until smooth, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula as necessary. Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat until smooth. Pour the filling into the spring form pan. Place the pan in a large roasting pan, place it in the oven, and carefully pour in enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the spring form pan. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, or until the center is almost set but still wobbly- do not over bake! Remove the roasting pan from the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool in the water bath for 15 minutes. Remove the spring form pan from the water bath and cool completely on a wire rack. Remove the foil and refrigerate, loosely covered, for at least 24 hours.

Chocolate Caramel Bars

2 1/4 cups flour, divided
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups cold butter
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1 jar (12 oz) caramel ice cream topping -or-1 bag kraft caramels (I use these)

* In a bowl combine2 cups flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt.Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or 2 butter knives, until crumbly. set half aside for topping. Press the remaining crumb mixture into a greased 13x9 pan. Bake @ 350 for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, if using kraft caramels, melt with 1/8 cup water in the microwave. stir until smooth, add flour. If using carameltopping, stir in flour. Sprinkle cooked crust with chocolate chips and pecans. Drizzle caramel over top. sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake for 18 to 20minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 2 hours before cutting.