CHOCOLATE ALMOND BARK: Chocolate with Almonds Bark

As I've said many times before, every day is Chocolate Day for me, but today is National Chocolate with Almonds Day, so here's an easy recipe to celebrate. 

CHOCOLATE ALMOND BARK

Ingredients
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 cup toasted almonds (in the oven), coarsely chopped  (some people like them whole/your choice)
Sea salt

Directions
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Melt chocolate until smooth in top of double boiler or saucepan placed over another saucepan with simmering water.
Set aside 6 Tbsp almonds
Stir remaining almonds into melted chocolate.
Pour mixture onto cookie sheet. Spread to 1/2 inch thickness.
Sprinkle remaining almond pieces over mixture. Sprinkle sparingly with sea salt.
Tap pan on counter until bark is desired thickness.
Refrigerate for 6 hours or until firm.
Break into pieces.
Store in an airtight container in cool, dry place.

How easy is that?

WORLD CHOCOLATE DAY: GUITTARD'S BEST EVER BROWNIES

Today is World Chocolate Day! So many great chocolate is grown and processed all over the world, but for today's holiday, I'd like to tell you about Guittard, my favorite baking chocolate, a company close to home.

The Guittard Chocolate Company, a San Francisco company now based in Burlingame, CA, has been in business for over 150 years, so it's not surprising that they have developed some fabulous chocolate. They've been crafting chocolate for five generations, using  time-tested craft, innovative techniques, long-standing relationships, and an obsession with making a premium chocolate that delivers a spectrum of flavors for a variety of uses.

I often use their cocoa, bars, chips, and wafers in my baked goods. I really love their Collection Etienne Chocolate. Their 100 percent cacao bars are amazing, but they also make 64 and 70% bars--all fair trade-certified, non-GMO, kosher, and whatever else you want from your chocolate. Did I say I love this company? Here are two recipes from Guittard for their incredible Collection Etienne Brownies. You will marvel at the intense chocolate flavor in both. The first recipe is my favorite, since it's fudgy. The second recipe is more cake-like, but equally fabulous-just different. Let me know which you prefer.

Incredible Collection Etienne Best Brownies Ever!

Ingredients
6 ounces Guittard Collection Etienne unsweetened chocolate (100-percent cacao), broken into pieces
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large eggs
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 9-by-9-inch pan with foil, covering bottom and extending up sides.
In double boiler set over hot, not boiling water, melt chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Set aside.
Using electric mixer, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt at high speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until light and creamy. Blend in melted chocolate at low speed, stopping to scrape sides as needed. Add flour just until incorporated.
Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until top is puffed and cracked, and toothpick inserted in center test moist. Brownies will set as they cool. Cool before cutting.

Best Cake-Like Collection Etienne Brownies

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (8 oz) Collection Etienne 74% Cacoa Organic Bittersweet Chocolate Wafers
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups evaporated cane sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temp
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour.

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Line 8-inch square pan with foil
Melt chocolate and butter in double boiler until smooth and melted.
Transfer to large bowl of electric mixer. Mix in sugar, salt, and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, blending until smooth and glossy, stopping to scrape sides as needed. Add flour until just incorporated.
Spread into prepared pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until puffed around edges and cater tests most. Do not overtake. Cool before cutting.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE S'MORES: A great Summer Treat!

Summer is all about S'mores, so I've put together a few 'different' recipes for the ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie S'mores. I welcome comments and more recipes.

Start with your favorite chocolate chip dough--or if you're baking-challenged, grab your favorite pre-made cookie dough at the grocery store. (My favorite is Nestle Toll House, the 'original' toll house cookie dough.).

Bake the cookies per instructions and remove half-way through the baking process. Note: the key to a great Tollhouse cookie is baking them at a low heat. (225-250?)

Remove the cookies from the oven and top with 3 mini-marshmallows (Depends on size of cookie, you can always add more)

Place back in the oven for the duration of the baking time (Note: do not over-bake cookie or caramelize marshmallows)

Remove from oven and sprinkle with crushed cinnamon graham crackers over the melted marshmallows.

Drizzle cookies with Hershey's Chocolate Syrup. Best served warm out of the oven.

Picky Palate had a really good recipe, too, for Chocolate Chip Cookie S'mores.. She calls them Oozing Chocolate Chip Cookie S'more Sandwiches. Everyone in the food community is so gracious, and Jenny gave me permission several years ago to reprint her recipe here--and use her fantastic photo!

She found one of the most interesting additions to her recipe at Target -- Kraft makes chocolate covered mini marshmallows. She mixed them into the cookie dough. How cool is that? Of course, you can make the dough with or without them.

Oozing Chocolate Chip Cookie S'more Sandwiches

Ingredients

2 sticks softened butter
3/4 Cups sugar
3/4 Cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 oz package Kraft Chocolate Covered Mini Marshmallows, if you can find them --otherwise use the regular ones
1/2 Cup chocolate chips
1 1/2 Cups mini baking M&M's

Mini Marshmallows (less than 1 bag full)
Mini Hersey bars

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat butter and sugars in stand or electric mixer until well combined. 

Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined as well. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, soda, and salt. 

Add to wet ingredients as well as marshmallows, chips, and M&M's until just combined. 

Spread onto a large rimmed baking sheet that's been lined with parchment paper and sprayed with cooking spray. 

Bake for 20-22 minutes or until edges are just turning golden brown. Remove and let cool completely.

Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Top bottom shapes with a layer of mini marshmallows and place under broiler until puffed. Top with Hershey bars to melt. Top with another cookie to close sandwich. Serve warm.

You'll love these!!

CHOCOLATE GRAHAM CRACKERS: National Graham Cracker Day!

Today is National Graham Cracker Day, and since it's only one day past the Fourth, here's a great WWII Ad with Uncle Sam that features all the 'recommended' National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) crackers, cookies, and biscuits.

I've made chocolate graham cracker crusts for pies, and I've used graham crackers in most of my S'mores recipes, so this recipe for Chocolate Graham Crackers is perfect. These are easy to make and delicious. I've seen lots of recipes, but this one from King Arthur Flour is one of the best.

CHOCOLATE GRAHAM CRACKERS

Ingredients
1/2 cup Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour, Traditional or White Whole Wheat
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons cold milk

Directions
Preheat your oven to 325°F. Have two baking sheets and parchment paper to line them at the ready.
In medium-sized bowl, whisk together flours, salt, cocoa, sugar, and baking powder. With pastry blender, two knives, or your fingertips, cut the butter into flour mixture until evenly crumbly.
In separate bowl, combine honey and milk, stirring until honey dissolves. Add liquid to dry ingredients and toss lightly with fork until dough comes together. Add additional milk, if necessary.
Turn dough out onto well-floured surface and fold over gently 10 to 12 times, until smooth.
Divide dough in half.
Work half the dough at a time, keeping remaining dough covered. Transfer one piece of dough to  piece of parchment. Roll into a rectangle a bit larger than 10" x 14"; dough will be about 1/16" thick. Trim edges and prick dough evenly with a dough docker or fork.
Repeat with  remaining dough and parchment. Place rolled-out dough pieces, on their parchment, onto baking sheets. Bake crackers for 15 minutes, or until you begin to smell chocolate. Remove them from the oven, and immediately cut them into rectangles with pizza wheel knife.
Transfer to rack to cool.
Store cooled crackers tightly wrapped for up to a week, or freeze for up to one month.

CHOCOLATE COCA-COLA CAKE for a Retro Fourth of July!

Celebrate July 4 with a Chocolate Cake. Get out your 'Pyrex' dish and bake a Retro Chocolate Coca Cola Cake for the holiday! I've also included a recipe for Chocolate Coca-Cola Icing.

CHOCOLATE COCA-COLA CAKE

Ingredients
2 cups unsifted cake flour
2 cups sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 Tbsp cocoa
1 cup Coca-Cola
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Directions
Sift together flour and sugar. Heat to boiling point the butter, cocoa, and Coca-Cola. Add to flour and sugar mixture. Stir to blend. Add buttermilk, soda, eggs, salt, and vanilla. Stir with spoon until well blended. Pour into greased and floured oblong pan (Pyrex dish). Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Batter will be thin. Ice while hot.

COCA-COLA ICING

1/2 cup butter
6 Tbsp Coca-Cola
1 box confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp cocoa

Heat to boiling point -- butter, cocoa and Cola-Cola. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla; stir to blend. Using a fork, make holes in hot cake and pour hot icing over it.

PATRIOTIC PEEPS S'MORES: Fourth of July

Photo: PEEPS®

I love S'MORES, and these seasonal  PEEPS® Patriotic Vanilla Creme Marshallow Chicks are so cute! This photo and recipe are from my friends at PEEPS®.  Here's something fun for everyone at the Fourth of July barbecue or campfire: PEEPS Patriotic S'mores!

PATRIOTIC PEEPS SMORES!

Ingredients
PEEPS Patriotic Vanilla Creme Marshmallow Chicks (if you can't find these, use the Party Cake Chicks)
Graham crackers
Chocolate bars
Sprinkles (Red, White and Blue)

Directions
Break graham crackers in half, so you have two squares.
Melt PEEP over fire or low heat.
Layer melted PEEP over square of chocolate, with graham cracker square on bottom
Top S’more with second graham cracker square and drizzle melted chocolate on top
Add patriotic sprinkles, and top off with PEEPS Patriotic Vanilla Creme Marshmallow Chick

Happy Fourth of July!

CHOCOLATE GINGERSNAPS: Gingerbread Cookie Day

Today is National Gingersnap Day! I love Gingersnaps--or Ginger Snaps, as some spell it! Although they're usually associated with the holidays, they're fabulous all year round. They're also a very versatile cookie, and I often crush them up, add a bit of melted butter, and use them as a crust for various pies, especially chocolate silk pie. If you end up making these gingersnaps bigger, you can also use them for the cookies in a Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwich! And, since Fourth of July is this weekend, you might want to do just that!

So here's a great easy Chocolate Gingersnap Cookie Recipe (adapted from Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook via About.com Home Cooking) that uses both fresh and ground ginger and cocoa and chopped dark chocolate! How can you go wrong?

Tip: If you haven't used these dried spices since the holidays, you might want to check their freshness. They do have a shelf-life, and it would be sad to ruin these delicious cookies with 'stale' ingredients.

CHOCOLATE GINGERSNAPS

Ingredients
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sweet butter
1/4 cup molasses
1 Tbsp water
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
1-1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp Dark cocoa
1-1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
7 ounces high quality dark chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup sugar

Directions
In large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses, water and minced fresh ginger.
Combine flour, cocoa, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or until easy to handle.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on greased (or parchment-lined) baking sheets.
Bake cookies at 350 F. for 10 to 12 minutes or until tops begin to crack. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks.

Star Spangled Cocoa Bundt Cake for Fourth of July!

I always say you should check out recipes on food product sites that you like, and for me, the Hershey's Kitchens site is a regular stop.

I grew up in Philadelphia. My Aunt lived in Harrisburg, so Hershey's, being on the way, was a frequent stop when we visited her. I remember the Hershey Factory tour that took us on catwalks over rooms filled with chocolate vats--without barriers. I always thought you could fall into the vats. This was pre-Willy Wonka. I'm sure my memory is impaired, but it was a child's paradise and fantasy. I know Hershey Park had lots of amusement rides, a roller coaster, possibly a pool, but our family never availed ourselves of those 'amusements'. We always went on the educational tour. We did have chocolate, though, so I'm grateful.

Hershey, PA is a very different place now with an enormous hotel, amusement park, spa, first class restaurants, kitchens and more. Hershey's always seems so American to me! Patriotic, even. So I'm not surprised that this Hershey's Kitchens' Cocoa Bundt Cake has become of my favorite recipes, and here it is, all dressed up for the Fourth of July. I've adapted the recipe slightly.

Star Spangled Cocoa Bundt Cake

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1-2/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk*
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup DARK Cocoa

1/2 tsp salt

Powdered sugar

Fresh blueberries and strawberries

Sweetened whipped cream

Directions
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 12-cup bundt pan (with a hole in the middle)*

Beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in large bowl until fluffy; beat in sour cream. Stir baking soda into buttermilk; set aside. Stir together flour, cocoa and salt; add alternately with buttermilk mixture to butter mixture. Beat 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until wooden pick inserted comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Place cake on serving plate. Sift powdered sugar on top and sides of cake. Top with blueberries, strawberries. Serve with whipped cream.

Tip: If you don't have buttermilk, here's how to sour the milk: Mix 1 Tbsp white vinegar plus milk to equal 1 cup.

EASY FOURTH OF JULY STRAWBERRY PIE

For me, Fourth of July is all about Strawberries and Whipped Cream. Here's an Easy Fourth of July Strawberry Pie with a  Chocolate Cookie Crust. Sprinkle blueberries to the whipped cream topping, and you'll have stars!

EASY FOURTH OF JULY STRAWBERRY PIE

Chocolate Cookie Crust

25-30 chocolate cookie wafers, 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled. Heat oven to 350°F.  Whirl cookies in food processor until crumbs are fine. Put in medium bowl, add melted butter, and mix until combined. Press crumb mixture into a 9-inch pie plate evenly and firmly on bottom and up sides. Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes. Cool (on wire rack) before filling.

Filling & Topping

Mash 2 cups of strawberries (chunky not macerated) (put aside a cup of sliced strawberries). Place strawberries in small saucepan. Add sugar (to taste-depends on strawberries-about 1/4 cup?), 1/4 cup corn starch, dash of salt, 1 tsp vanilla or 1 Tbsp  lemon juice (or both). Bring to simmer until thickened. Cool completely. Add rest of strawberries (cut up or sliced) and put in baked cooled Chocolate Cookie Crust. Put in fridge for 2 hours to set. Top with whipped cream, big whole strawberries, and blueberries!

KICKED UP CHOCOLATE TAPIOCA PUDDING: Tapioca Day!

Today is National Tapioca Day. I've posted other Chocolate Tapioca Pudding recipes, but this recipe is 'kicked up' with the addition of Rum! Now we're talking. Recipe from Emeril Lagasse. It's easy, fast, and delicious!

KICKED UP CHOCOLATE TAPIOCA PUDDING

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp quick cooking tapioca
3 cups whole milk
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 ounces DARK chocolate
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp dark rum

Directions 
In medium saucepan, combine sugar, tapioca, milk, and egg. Let stand for 5 minutes.
Add cinnamon and chocolate to saucepan and cook over medium heat until pudding comes to full boil, stirring continually to prevent burning.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and rum.
Cool for 20 minutes. Stir for creamy texture.
Serve warm or chilled.

CHOCOLATE COCONUT SNOWBALLS: National Coconut Day!

Snowballs in Summer? Yes, if they're made with chocolate and coconut. These No Bake Chocolate Coconut Snowballs are perfect for National Coconut Day! They are actually wonderful, easy to make truffles. The flavor of your Chocolate Coconut Snowballs will depend on the quality of your ingredients. Use the best!

Chocolate Coconut Snowballs

Ingredients
4 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
2 Tbsp unrefined coconut oil
6 Tbsp pure maple syrup
4 Tbsp unsweetened coconut milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 cup dark chocolate, melted with 1 Tbsp unrefined coconut oil
Additional coconut for dusting if desired.

Directions
Place shredded coconut and coconut oil in food processor. Process on high speed, scraping down sides occasionally, until reaches almost buttery consistency. Add maple syrup, coconut milk, vanilla extract, and salt, and process on high speed until ingredients are combined.
Shape coconut mixture into 1” balls.
Place on wax paper, and refrigerate for at last an hour, or set in freezer for 30 minutes.
Once coconut balls are very firm, melt dark chocolate and coconut oil in  small saucepan over medium heat for just a minute or two, stirring constantly. Once chocolate is melted, carefully dip coconut balls into melted chocolate and sprinkle with small amount of shredded coconut.
Put coconut balls back into refrigerator for 5-10 minutes to harden.
Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator or freezer, for up to a week.

CHOCOLATE PRALINE CAKE for National Praline Day

Today is National Praline Day. Last year I posted several chocolate praline recipes. You can actually eat pralines in several different incarnations--or even drink your pralines, as in Praline Pecan Liqueur.

Another easy way to get your praline fix today (with chocolate) would be to eat some Praline or Butter Pecan Ice Cream with a covering of chocolate syrup. Hence the Vintage Ad from 1951 for Borden's Praline Pecan Ice Cream further along in this post. But another variation on Pralines would be Chocolate Praline Cake. See below for two recipes - one  is a traditional three tier chocolate cake with Ganache Filling and Praline Frosting, and the other a Chocolate Bundt Cake with Praline Frosting. With both cakes, it's all about the Praline frosting.

So what is Praline?

1) a confection of nuts and sugar, as in almonds cooked in boiling sugar until brown and crisp

2) a patty of creamy brown sugar and pecan meats

The original praline was a sweet confection made of almonds and some sort of creamy sugary caramelized coating. Lots of stories about how the Praline came to New Orleans and the South. One is that Pralines were first made in the home of 17th century French diplomat Cesar du Plessis Praslin by one of his chefs. The name "Praslin" eventually evolved into "praline." I don't buy that story since they were already popular in Europe in a slightly different version. Another story is that pralines were brought over from France by the Ursuline nuns, who settled in New Orleans in 1727. This makes sense since Pralines were already in the French tradition. Almonds were in short supply, so cooks began substituting the nuts of the native Louisiana pecan trees, thus the modern pecan pralines were born. Praline pecans were known as individual pecans covered in the sugary coating. The new pecan pralines quickly spread throughout New Orleans and became a common confection in the area.

Because New Orleans was a thriving port, people from all over the world came through, and the praline spread with them. Many people are unaware of the candy’s historical origin, and the praline is thought of as a southern confection not necessarily specific to New Orleans. Some believe the pecan praline is a Texan candy, whereas others assume it came from Savannah. The pronunciation of the candy is a bit of a point of contention as well. In New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast, where there are many communities settled by the French, the pronunciation is prah-leen, with the long aaah sound, which is closer to that of the candy’s namesake du Plessis-Praslin. Other regions of the country, including parts of Texas, Georgia, and New England have anglicized the term and pronounce it pray-leen. Other terms for pralines include pecan pralines, pecan candy, plarines and pecan patties.

Go here for Praline Candy Recipes.

So my motto today is "Let Them Eat Cake" since I'm more of a baker than candy maker.

This first recipe is one of my go-to Chocolate Bundt Cakes, but any good chocolate bundt cake will work. It's all in the frosting here. As a matter of fact a good sour cream or yogurt chocolate bundt cake would be great, too, with Praline Frosting.

1. CHOCOLATE PRALINE BUNDT CAKE 

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tbsp Instant Coffee Granules (I use Starbucks instant espresso packs)
7 ounces dark chocolate (65-75% Cacao), chopped
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp pure vanilla
3 large eggs

FOR CAKE:
Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease 10-inch Bundt pan.
Combine flour, baking soda and baking powder in small bowl. Bring water and coffee granules to boil in small saucepan; remove from heat. Add chocolate; stir until smooth.
Beat sugar, butter and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs; beat on high speed for 5 minutes. Beat in flour mixture alternately with chocolate mixture.
Pour into prepared Bundt pan.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until long wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean.
Cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. Invert onto wire rack to cool completely.
Place on plate.
Pour Praline Frosting over the top of the cake letting it drip down the sides.

PRALINE FROSTING  (from Southern Living, see below for link)

 Ingredients
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Preparation 
Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil in 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, and boil 1 minute.
Remove from heat, and whisk in 1 cup powdered sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.
Stir in toasted pecans, stirring gently 3 to 5 minutes or until mixture begins to cool and thicken slightly.
Pour immediately over cake.

2. CHOCOLATE PRALINE CAKE

This is my favorite "real" Chocolate Praline Cake. It's from Southern Living, November 2001, and I'm so glad I found it again on the Internet, my copy having been stashed inside a cookbook, somewhere. This recipe is all about the praline candy frosting!

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup DARK cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
Chocolate Ganache
Praline Frosting
Garnish: pecan halves  

Preparation
Cook first 3 ingredients in small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until butter melts and mixture is smooth; remove butter mixture from heat.
Beat buttermilk, 2 eggs, baking soda, and vanilla at medium speed with electric mixer until smooth. Add butter mixture to buttermilk mixture, beating until well blended.
Combine sugar, flour, and salt; gradually add to buttermilk mixture, beating until blended.
Coat 3 (9-inch) round cakepans with cooking spray, and line pans with wax paper. Pour cake batter evenly into pans.
Bake at 350° for 18 to 22 minutes or until cake is set. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes.
Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.
Spread about 1/2 cup Chocolate Ganache between cake layers, and spread remaining ganache on sides of cake.
Pour Praline Frosting slowly over the center of cake, gently spreading to edges, allowing some frosting to run over sides.
Garnish with pecan halves

Chocolate Ganache 
Ingredients 
1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces

Preparation 
Microwave chocolate morsels and whipping cream in a glass bowl at MEDIUM (50% power) 2 to 3 minutes or until morsels are melted. Whisk until smooth.
Gradually add butter, whisking until smooth.
Cool, whisking often, 15 minutes or until spreading consistency.

Praline Frosting 
Ingredients
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Preparation 
Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil in 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, and boil 1 minute.
Remove from heat, and whisk in 1 cup powdered sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.
Stir in toasted pecans, stirring gently 3 to 5 minutes or until mixture begins to cool and thicken slightly.
Pour immediately over cake (or over the bundt cake--recipe above).

CHOCOLATE PECAN SANDIES: National Pecan Sandies Day!

Today is National Pecan Sandies Day. Pecan sandies are great shortbread cookies, and all I've done is add chocolate to make them even better.

Pecan Sandies: A shortbread cookie with ground pecans added to the flour. The cookies are easy to make -- flour, butter, sugar, salt, vanilla -- and pecans. The name Sandie might have something to do with the color or texture--or not. 

I have two recipes for Chocolate Pecan Sandies. The first is the full recipe for Chocolate Pecan Sandie Cookies. The second would be to use a 'regular' pecan sandie recipe (BrownEyedBaker's recipe for "non-chocolate" pecan sandies. ) and add chocolate chips.

Pecan Sandies are simple to make and taste delicious. They're not too sweet. Some people like to chop the pecans coursely, and that works, but you can also pulverize the pecans. To form the cookies, I use the drop method, but some people like to make logs and then slice them. Either way, they'll taste great!

Chocolate Pecan Sandies

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups (about 6 ounces) ground pecans, divided use
1/2 cup unsweetened good quality DARK cocoa powder
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Grease cookie sheet or line with parchment.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla until well blended.
Mix together flour, 1 cup ground pecans, and cocoa powder, then beat flour mixture into butter mixture.
Chill dough for 30 minutes.
Combine remaining 1/2 cup ground pecans and 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar in a bowl.
Form dough into 1-inch balls.
Roll in pecan sugar mixture (reserve any leftover sugar mix) and place on baking sheets.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Cool, then dip pecan sandy cookie tops in any remaining pecan sugar.

National Eclair Day: Home-made Vanilla Pudding Eclairs

Today is National Chocolate Eclair Day. I love Retro Ads, and this Retro Ad from Jell-O for Pudding Pudding Eclairs is great advertising! The recipe on the Ad uses Jell-O Vanilla Pudding & Pie Filling, but you should make your own Vanilla Pudding. Scroll down for a recipe for easy and delicious Home-made Vanilla Pudding that you can use in your Eclairs. For the Eclairs, you can use any choux recipe. It's easy! 

Making eclairs is a 'piece of cake'..or in this case eclair!

HOME-MADE EASY VANILLA PUDDING

Adapted from Chow.com

Ingredients

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 cups whole milk

3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in  medium saucepan and whisk together. While continuing to whisk, slowly add in 1/4 cup of milk until smooth. Whisk in egg yolks and rest of milk.

Place saucepan over medium heat and cook, whisking often, until pudding begins to thicken and just starts to bubble, about 6 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and switch to rubber spatula. Stir constantly, scraping  bottom and sides of pan, until pudding makes ribbons when drizzled over surface, about 5 minutes. 

Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla until butter is melted and completely incorporated.

Transfer pudding to container or individual cups (depends what you plan to do with the pudding). Carefully press piece of plastic wrap on top of pudding to prevent skin from forming.
Chill in refrigerator until set, about 2 hours.

Use in recipe above ... replace packaged vanilla pudding with your own homemade pudding!

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Peaches and Cream: Peaches and Cream Day: Retro Ad and Recipe

It's Peaches and Cream Day. Peaches may not be ripe in your area, so bookmark this Retro recipe for later in the summer. We have fresh peaches here in California, so I'm making this now! Try this Retro recipe for Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Peaches and Cream. It's Gluten-Free!! You'll love it.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Peaches and Cream

Ingredients
7 ounces whole hazelnuts with skins
5 eggs
2/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons sugar
4 1/2 ounces dark chocolate (75-80%)
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-5 ripe peaches
1/2 cup apricot preserves

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Line bottom of 10-inch cake pan with parchment paper and grease sides.
Chop hazelnuts coarsely in food processor using pulse. Set aside. Separate eggs. Beat yolks with 1 cup sugar until pale and fluffy.
In separate bowl beat egg whites until they stand in stiff peaks.
Melt the chocolate over very low heat on stove. Add to egg yolk mixture in slow steady stream and mix well.
Fold in chopped nuts, then fold in egg whites.
Pour batter into prepared pan and even out with a spatula.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Loosen sides and unmold upside down onto cake rack and let cool slightly. Carefully remove parchment.
Let cool completely.
Whip cream until it stands in stiff peaks adding 2 teapoons sugar and vanilla extract.
Place cake with the flat side up on cake plate. Evenly spread whipped cream over cake.
If peaches are very ripe, remove peel with small pointy knife. Otherwise, make "X" on bottom of each peach and blanch for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove skin.
Cut peaches into thick even slices.
Strain apricot preserves and warm them over very low heat in small saucepan.
Dip each peach slice in the preserves, then arrange slices on cake.
Refrigerate until serving.

SUMMER SOLSTICE CHOCOLATE COCA COLA ICE CREAM SODA

I love the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, and how perfect is it that today is also Ice Cream Soda Day? Here's an easy way to celebrate both holidays with this Mid-Century Recipe for Chocolate Coca Cola Ice Cream Soda.

SUMMER SOLSTICE CHOCOLATE COCA COLA ICE CREAM SODA

For each Chocolate Coke Ice Cream Soda, you'll need a tall glass, 3 Tbsp chocolate syrup, 2 Tbsp half & half, coca cola, chocolate ice cream, whipped cream.

Chill glass in freezer.

Pour chocolate syrup into bottom of glass. Add half & half and blend together. Add coca cola to 3/4 of glass.

Add 2-3 scoops of chocolate ice cream. Stir.

Top Ice Cream Soda with whipped cream and maraschino cherry.

ICE CREAM SODA DAY: Have a Brown Cow!

Today is National Ice Cream Soda Day, and, of course, I'm going to have a Brown Cow! See recipe below. Ice cream sodas, aka ice cream floats, are made by combining ice cream with soda or carbonated water and flavored syrup. Of course, mine always contain chocolate (ice cream and syrup). Many people consider root beer and vanilla ice cream to be the classic ingredients for an ice cream soda, but that's a Black Cow. I posted a recipe on National Black Cow Day. A Brown Cow is very similar, but it's made with chocolate ice cream. See below for an easy recipe for a Brown Cow to celebrate National Ice Cream Soda Day!  Serve in a "retro" glass or Mason jar for that 'out of the past' feeling. A Brown Cow is great for Fourth of July or any time!

According to Wisegeek.com, "although the recipe for an ice cream soda is quite simple, there is a trick to creating the perfect drink. Plain soda foams because it releases carbon dioxide gas, but ice cream is actually a foamy mixture of liquid, ice crystals, and air pockets. Therefore, if you want to make an ice cream soda with a lot of foam, put the ice cream in the glass before pouring the soda. If you want to make a treat with a minimal amount of foam, add the ice cream after the soda has been poured."

From The Nibble:

According to food historians, the first ice cream soda was created by accident at the Philadelphia Exposition in October 1874. It was there that pharmacist Robert M. Green invented the now-familiar ice cream soda. At that time, at soda fountains in pharmacies across America, the pharmacist or an employee known as a soda jerk (because he had to jerk back the tap of carbonated water to make a soda) would create a “cream soda” by adding a tablespoon of vanilla or other flavor of fountain syrup along with a tablespoonful of heavy cream to soda water. 

As with most stories, there are multiple variations. One version says that the fountain ran out of fresh cream. As there was no cream in the vicinity, Mr. Green got vanilla ice cream from a nearby vendor. He planned to let it melt and use it as cream, but was so busy that instead he added a frozen spoonful directly to the cream soda. In another version, he ran out of ice and used the ice cream to cool the drink. However, in his own published account, (in Soda Fountain magazine in 1910), he recounted that while operating a soda fountain at the Franklin Institute’s sesquicentennial celebration in Philadelphia in 1874, he wanted to create something that would attract customers away from another competitor. During some deliberate experimenting, he added ice cream to the soda water. 

Whatever the genesis, the ice cream soda was an instant hit and spread nationwide, where they were also called floats (for the scoop of ice cream floating at the top of the glass). 
Read more at: http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/ice-cream/ice-cream-float.asp

Brown Cow

Ingredients 
Chocolate syrup
Chocolate ice cream
Root beer  (or cola)
Whipped cream, for garnish
Chocolate sprinkles, for garnish
Optional: 1 ounce Godiva chocolate liqueur  (for an adult Brown Cow!)

Directions
Put approximately 2-1/2 scoops of chocolate ice cream in glass cup (depending on size of glass)
Pour optional liqueur over ice cream.
Fill glass with cola (or root beer).
Place spoon in glass and stir gently.
Top with chocolate syrup, whipped cream and sprinkles.
Add straw and serve.

Two S'mores Martini Recipes for National Martini Day

Today is National Martini Day, and here are two recipes for S'mores Martinis from Three Olives to celebrate. Three Olives also makes a S'mores Vodka, so you can drink it straight up. Either way -- making your own or drinking a pre-made S'mores Vodka, it's a great way to drink your S'mores!

Inspired by the classic vodka martini served with a garnish of olives, Three Olives launched as a non-flavored vodka brand in 1998 and became a pioneer of the flavored-vodka market when it introduced the first-ever cherry and grape varieties in 2001. The super-premium vodka brand now offers over 20 different flavors that have fueled a three-fold increase in sales to nearly 1.5 million cases from half a million. As implied by the brand’s popular flavors - Cake, Bubble, Dude and S’mores - Three Olives delivers one-of-a-kind drinks that appeal to polished individuals who revel in their uniqueness; they are clever, witty, and loath to take themselves too seriously. 

Thanks to Three Olives for the following recipes and photos!

Campfire Martini
3 parts Three Olives S'mores Vodka
Crushed graham crackers, chocolate syrup, marshmallows

Dip rim of martini glass in chocolate syrup and coat with crushed graham crackers.
Pour Three Olives S'mores into martini shaker filled with ice.
Shake and strain into martini glass.
Garnish with a skewer of three toasted marshmallows!

S'mores Sea Salt Martini
2 parts Three Olives S'mores Vodka
2 parts half & half
Sea salt
Chocolate syrup

Dip rim of martini glass in chocolate syrup and coat with sea salt.
Drizzle chocolate syrup inside martini glass.
Pour Three Olives S'mores and half & half into martini shaker filled with ice.
Shake and strain into martini glass!

CHERRY TART ICE CREAM: Vintage Ad & Contemporary Recipe!

Today is Cherry Tart Day! Last year I posted a recipe for a Cherry Tart that's easy and delicious! But here's something fun for the day from Elsie the Cow: Cherry Tart Ice Cream from Borden's. It's a great Vintage Ad.  Alas Borden's no longer makes ice cream. 

The original Borden Company completely ceased commercial production and distribution of ice cream in 2001 after facing corporate restructuring and bankruptcy. I loved the Elsie the Cow ads. There is one 'Borden' ice cream shop still operating. They're located in Lafayette, LA., just in case you're passing by. 

"Steal a heart with new Borden's Cherry Tart Ice Cream!"

Want to make your own "Tart" Cherry Ice Cream? Try this recipe from King Arthur's Flour. Fab!

Add Chocolate Sauce to keep with the theme of this blog. :-)

HAPPY'S BUTTER TOFFEE: Snow White Cookbook

I love Toffee, and I am a Toffee Judge for the San Francisco International Chocolate Salons. So many wonderful toffeetiers out there! But maybe you want to make your own? Over the years, I've posted several great recipes for Toffee, but here's one more from the Snow White Cook Book. Happy loves Toffee, too.

And just an FYI, I have multiple 1950s cement statues of the Seven Dwarfs in my Garden -- and two Snow Whites.

RIBBON FANTASY FUDGE: Retro Ad with Recipe for National Fudge Day

Today is National Fudge Day. I love Fudge. Who doesn't? I love both the texture and the taste. What makes it special for you?

To celebrate this food holiday, here's a great Retro Ad with Recipe from Kraft for Ribbon Fantasy Fudge using Marshmallow Creme. I usually use Marshmallow Fluff which I think has a better flavor, but whatever works for you. What I like most about this Fudge recipe is that there are two distinct layers. Easy to make, and oh so pretty! And, you can always throw in some walnuts for more texture.

Ribbon Fantasy Fudge

Ingredients
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter (original retro recipe calls for Parkay margarine)
2/3 cup (5-1/3 fl oz can) evaporated milk
6 ounce pkg semi-sweet chocolate pieces (I substitute chopped good dark chocolate)
7 ounce jar Kraft marshmallow creme (I prefer Marshmallow Fluff)
1 tsp pure vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter (crunchy or creamy style)

Directions
Combine 1-1/2 cups sugar, 6 Tbsp butter, and 1/3 cup milk in heavy 1-1/2 quart sauce pan; bring to full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 4 minutes over medium heat; stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate pieces until melted. Add 1 cup (1/2 jar) marshmallow creme and 1/2 tsp vanilla; beat until well blended. Pour into 13 x 9 inch pan. Repeat with remaining ingredients, substituting peanut butter for chocolate pieces. Spread over chocolate layer. Cool at room temperature; cut into squares.

HOLY CANNOLI: Cannoli Day!

Today is National Cannoli Day! I love all these food holidays because they remind me that there are so many different chocolate foods. One of my all time favorite desserts: Cannoli. 

I first tasted cannoli in South Philly, either at the bakeries or for dessert at the many Italian restaurants. Traditionally cannoli comes from the Palermo and Messina areas and was prepared as a treat during Carnevale season, but it quickly became a year-round staple in Sicily. Cannoli is fried and stuffed with sweet ricotta cheese with chocolate chips. Heaven!

Here's a great recipe from Alex Guarnaschelli on the FoodNetwork. Do you have a favorite cannoli recipe? Post a comment with link or note.

Don't have a Cannoli mold? Here are a few substitutes.
Wood dowel: about 6-8 inches. Sand it down, so it's smooth, and then grease with canola oil.
Curtain rod (be sure it's clean).
Aluminum Foil: Scrunch up foil into golf ball sized balls. Make a 6-8 inch long line and press together for even surface. Wrap with additional aluminum foil into long piece of aluminum. Make enough for all your cannoli.

Or, you can buy Cannoli shells ready made and just stuff them!

Many Italian bakeries and markets sell cannoli - just in case you don't feel like making them today!

CANNOLI

Ingredients 

Shells:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup dry white wine

Filling: 
2 cups ricotta cheese, preferably whole milk
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup small semisweet chocolate chips
1 lemon
1 quart canola oil, for frying

Flour, for rolling
1 egg, lightly beaten, for egg wash
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions

For Shell Dough: 
In medium bowl, sift together flour, sugar, and salt. Work butter pieces into flour with your fingers until mixture becomes coarse and sandy. Add egg yolk and white wine and mix until it becomes  smooth dough. Spread piece of plastic wrap on flat surface and place dough in center. Wrap plastic loosely around it and press dough to fill gap. Flattening dough will mean less rolling later. Let it rest in fridge for a few minutes while you make filling.

For Filling: 
In medium bowl, whisk ricotta until smooth. Sift in powdered sugar, cinnamon, and allspice. Mix to blend. In separate bowl (or in bowl of electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment), beat heavy cream until fairly stiff. Using rubber spatula, gently fold cream into ricotta mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
Lightly zest exterior of lemon and stir it into ricotta. Refrigerate for half hour to hour.

To Roll and Fry Shells:
In medium pot with heavy bottom, heat canola oil to 360 degrees F. Meanwhile, sift even layer of flour on flat surface. Flour rolling pin. Roll dough until very thin (about 1/8-inch thick). Cut dough into fourths and work in small batches.

Use any glass or small bowl that has 3-to-4-inch diameter. Cut rounds, tracing around each one to assure dough has been fully cut. You should have about 24 circles. Wrap each circle around cannoli mold. Use a little of the egg wash on edge of each round to seal it shut and to assure it won't slide or fall off the mold before pressing it closed over the mold. Flare the edges out slightly from the mold. Flaring will allow oil to penetrate each cannoli shell as they fry. Use pair of tongs to hold edge of the mold as you submerge and fry shell in the oil until crispy, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from oil, and holding mold in one had with tongs, gently grip shell in your other hand with kitchen towel and carefully slide off the mold. Set aside to cool. Repeat with all of the circles.

To Fill Cannolis: 
Just before serving, use pastry bag without tip to pipe ricotta into cannoli molds. Fill cannoli shells from both ends so cream runs through the whole shell. Dust with powdered sugar. Powdered sugar gives that little extra sweetness and added texture to the exterior. It also makes me feel like I have a professional bakery touch in my own home.
Serve immediately.

Tip:
If ricotta has an excess of liquid, drain over strainer for at least half hour before making filling. Make and fry shells and filling. Don't fill shells with cream until you are ready to eat them. Everyone loves a crispy cannoli.

CHOCOLATE FLAG STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE: NATIONAL STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE DAY & FLAG DAY!

Today is a Double Food holiday, at least for me.. It's National Strawberry Shortcake Day, and it's Flag Day. Why not whip up a Flag Cake made with Chocolate Shortcake and topped with Whipped Cream, Blueberries and Strawberries?

So here's what you do. Bake a chocolate shortcake (or a chocolate sponge cake) in a 9 x 13 rectangular pan. Here's a link to a great Chocolate Shortcake. When the cake is cool, cover with a thick layer of whipped cream. For the stars, use blueberries, making a small square in the upper left hand corner of the cake. Place the blueberries in rows for best results. Leave some room between blueberries (the stars). For the stripes, cut the strawberries in half and put them flat side down to make stripes. Press gently into the whipped cream. Although there are 13 stripes on the flag, you don't need to have that many on your cake (and you won't have room). It's about aesthetics more than veracity. The bottom stripe of the flag is red, so that's a good place to start.

Don't want to make a chocolate shortcake or sponge cake? Make your favorite chocolate cake and follow the decorating instructions. Or, you make a white chocolate sponge cake! 

Save this recipe for Fourth of July!

Happy Flag Day! Happy Strawberry Shortcake Day!

FROZEN S'MORES BARS: Beat the Heat!

What a brutal week it's been. The Bay Area is sweltering. Climate Change! Right now I usually begin posting S'mores recipes to make around the campfire, but because of the heat, I think S'mores can no longer be relegated to camping and summer campfires. Try making this Frozen treat at home! 

This is a variation on traditional S'mores, and it's so easy and great on a hot day: FROZEN S'MORES BARS. You can glam these up by making your own graham crackers or using fabulous chocolate and making your own Marshmallow Fluff (recipe below). But, if you're in a hurry and just want a yummy treat, use store bought grahams, Marshmallow Fluff, and dark chocolate.

How to make these: 
Basically you're freezing marshmallow cream between two graham crackers, dipping the'sandwiches'  in melted dark chocolate and then freezing! How easy is that?

Want to be more precise?

FROZEN S'MORES BARS

Put graham crackers bottom side up on parchment lined cookie sheet. Pipe (use a ziplock with a corner cut out or piping bag) marshmallow cream onto graham crackers and top with graham crackers. Put in freezer to harden (30 minutes).
Melt chocolate in double boiler or microwave. Let cool a bit (can't be too hot or will start to melt the cream).
Keep cookies in freezer until ready to use. Take a few out and dip halfway in chocolate. Put back in freezer. Continue to dip. Freeze until hard.

Want to make your own Marshmallow Fluff?

Ingredients
3 egg whites, room temp
2 cups lite corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 Tbsp Madagascar vanilla

Directions
In bowl of stand mixer with whisk attachment, add egg whites, corn syrup, and salt.
On high speed whisk for 5 minutes, until thick and doubled.
On low speed, add powdered sugar. Mix until blended. Add vanilla and blend.

Want to make Chocolate Graham Crackers for triple the chocolate?
Here's a link to my recipe for Chocolate Graham Crackers!

CAIPIRINHA TRUFFLES: Cachaça Day

Today is Cachaça Day. Cachaça, a Brazilian white rum made from sugar cane, is the main ingredient in the Caipirinha, the national cocktail! How can you go wrong with sugar, cachaça, and lime? You can enjoy a caipirinha at home, but if you add chocolate, you can make Caipirinha Truffles! It's the perfect way to celebrate Cachaça Day!

CAIPIRINHA TRUFFLES

Ingredients
14 ounces white chocolate, chopped (make sure it's 'real' white chocolate)
Grated zest of one lime
1/4 cup whipping cream
3 Tbsp Cachaça
cocoa powder

Directions
Combine chocolate, lime zest, and cream in metal bowl; place it over saucepan over simmering water. Stir until chocolate is melted.
Remove from heat, add cachaça, and stir until smooth.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2-3 hours --or until firm enough to form balls.
Using a scoop or teaspoon, scoop out chocolate mixture (while cold and firm) and form balls. They don't need to be perfectly round.
Roll balls in cocoa powder.
Keep refrigerated.

THE ORIGINAL GERMAN SWEET CHOCOLATE CAKE: National German Chocolate Cake Day!

Today is National German Chocolate Cake Day. Here's a wonderful Vintage Ad with Recipe from Baker's Chocolate for German Sweet Chocolate Cake, using Baker's German Chocolate. (It also appeared in theBaker's Cookbook) This is an easy delicious cake with a wonderful Coconut-Pecan Frosting. Let me know what you think! 

And, it may sound odd that's there's an American National Holiday for German Chocolate Cake, but German Chocolate Cake is not German. German Chocolate Cake is an American creation that contains the key ingredients of sweet baking chocolate, coconut, and pecans.

In 1852, Sam German created a dark baking chocolate bar for Baker's Chocolate Company, and in his honor, the company named it "Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate."

Hower, the story goes that the first published recipe for German's Chocolate Cake showed up in a Dallas newspaper in 1957 and supposedly came from a Texas homemaker. The cake quickly gained in popularity and the recipe together with photos spread all over the country. America fell in love with German Chocolate Cake, and food editors were swamped with requests for information on where to buy the chocolate. In one year, there was a 73% sales jump in German's Baker Sweet Chocolate sales (then owned by General Mills).  

However, the cake most likely didn't originate from the Dallas housewife. Buttermilk chocolate cakes were popular in the South for over 70 years, and pecans were plentiful, also, to make the frosting. 

FYI: German's Chocolate is similar to a milk chocolate and sweeter than regular baking chocolate.

BLACK COW DAY: History & Recipe

Today is Black Cow Day. You can go out and give Bossy a pat, but really this holiday is about a different type of black cow. A black cow aka a root beer float is made with root beer, chocolate syrup, and vanilla ice cream. Have one at your favorite Ice Cream Fountain or make one today. So easy!

The history of the Black Cow From Leites Culinaria: The first true black cow day seems to have occurred on August 19, 1893. That’s when the notion of combining root beer and ice cream into a frothy concoction is rumored to have occurred to Frank Wisner, owner of a soda fountain as well as a mining company in Cripple Creek, CO. Although soda fountains were rampant at this point in our country’s culinary evolution, iced cream sodas didn’t yet contain ice cream. Instead, they were commonly made from either syrups combined with cream and cold soda water or cream mixed with flavored syrup. As the story goes, on that particular moonlit night, Wisner was gazing at the dark Cow Mountain when its snow-capped peak inspired him to float a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of his Myers Avenue Red root beer. Sure enough, he swapped root bear for cola, and ice cream for cream, and called the sweet creation “Black Cow Mountain.” It proved immensely popular, not just with the town’s children, but their mothers and the miners whom one might expect to find elsewhere—say, in a saloon or worse. Regulars promptly shortened the title to “Black Cow,” and since then, the term has been used interchangeably to describe root beer floats both with and without a dose of chocolate sauce. Consider trying it both ways before passing judgment.

BLACK COW

Ingredients
10 ounces root beer
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
1 Tbsp chocolate syrup
1 1⁄2 ounces whipped cream
 maraschino cherry

Directions
Pour root beer over ice cream and chocolate syrup in a large glass.
Top with whipped cream and maraschino cherry.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie S'mores: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day!

Today is Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day. I've posted several recipes for Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Chocolate Crust, but for today's celebration I thought I'd post a fun recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Pie S'mores. S'mores you say? Pie in S'mores you ask? Yes!

TCHO Chocolate here in the San Francisco Bay Area makes a very unique bar--Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Bar. This unique bar won a Bronze medal at the Americas 2015 International Chocolate Awards.

As their materials note:
Remember when you were a kid and your mom baked a fresh pie with strawberries you'd picked that summer afternoon? Bursting with summer berry goodness, here are all the fixings in a real strawberry rhubarb pie — including the pie crust.

TCHO Pairings are about how great ingredients and great chocolate enhance the flavors of each other, masterfully mixing to create extraordinary chocolate delight! TCHO Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Bar has chocolate-covered strawberry rhubarb pie goodness that even has crunchy bits of real pie crust included.

FYI: This bar is seasonal, but I just checked, and it's available on InstaCart, so check other resources. You can also use other unique Tcho (or other brands) bars to make some uniquely flavored S'mores. 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie S'mores

Ingredients
Graham Crackers
Tcho Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Bar
Marshmallows

Directions
Break graham cracker in half. Put a piece of TCHO Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Bar on graham cracker
Put marshmallow on stick and roast (or cook over a stove) until golden brown.
Take marshmallow off stick and lay on top of chocolate bar piece that's on top of the graham cracker. Cover with other graham cracker part and EAT!

MALTED MILK BALL CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM PIE: Chocolate Ice Cream Day!

Yesterday was National Ice Cream Pie Day, and I meant to post a recipe. Well this Malted Milk Ball Chocolate Ice Cream Pie takes the cake--or, in this case-- the pie! If you're like me, you've always wondered about Malted Milk Balls. What are they really?

Lots of companies make them now, but when I was growing up, I only remember one: Hershey's Whoppers Malted Milk Balls. But there were actually other "old fashioned' brands such as Maltesers. Maybe they weren't available at my candy store? Ghirardelli also makes Milk Chocolate Malt Balls. (There's also a Kittymalt Hairball remedy that I have, but I won't go there).

Malt balls (interchangeable with malted balls but not moth balls!) are now also available in a variety of flavors: There are pumpkin spice malted milk balls, dark chocolate milk balls, mint malted milk balls, cookies and cream malted milk balls, peanut butter malted milk balls and yogurt malted milk balls, and many other varieties. I'm a purist, however.

Want to just have the Malt Ball center only? Nuts on Line sells them. These malt ball center only candies can be enrobed in the very best chocolate. You can do it yourself in the same way you make chocolate covered nuts. Just melt some chocolate and dip. I use two forks to make it easy. Dry them on a parchment lined baking sheet.

But what is a malt ball? wiseGeek (clear answers for common questions) has the answer: 
Malted milk balls are chocolate-coated candies often sold in milk carton packaging to promote their association with flavored milk and malted milkshakes.

The flavor of malted milk balls is often described as nutty or distinctively hearty, much like a grain cereal. The reason for this unusual flavor is the use of a grain treatment known as malting. Barley grains are allowed to germinate after harvest, which changes the sugar composition of the grain, in the same sense that germinated corn becomes more suitable for distillation. The malted barley grain is carefully dried and ground into a powder for confectionery use.

Want a fabulous use for Malted Milk Balls? Well, besides eating them at the movies? Sunset Magazine had a great recipe a few years ago for Malted Milk Ball Ice Cream Pie. I definitely love using candy in pies and cakes. This ice cream pie has crunchy malted milk balls on the bottom, malt ice cream above it, and a layer of dark chocolate frosting. Add some whipped cream and sprinkle with chopped and whole malted milk balls when you serve, and you're good to go.

MALTED MILK BALL CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM PIE

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups malted milk balls, divided
Cookie Crust, using chocolate wafers and a 9-in. cheesecake pan with removable sides (I've posted this recipe before)
1 3/4 quarts vanilla ice cream, softened
3 Tbsp Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups malted milk powder (Malted milk powder is made from milk, barley malt, and wheat; don't confuse it with Ovaltine, which has other ingredients added. Find it next to the chocolate milk powder in well-stocked grocery stores or online)
1 cup whipping cream, divided
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Preparation
Arrange a tight layer of malted milk balls (3 cups) over crust. Stir ice cream with cocoa powder and malted milk powder until smooth. Spoon into crust, set on plate, and freeze 5 hours.
Heat 1/2 cup cream meanwhile until simmering. Put chocolate in small metal bowl, pour in cream, and let sit until chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let cool completely.
Smooth chocolate ganache over top of pie and freeze until set, about 15 minutes.
  
To serve:
Whip remaining 1/2 cup cream and swirl onto pie. Chop some malted milk balls and drop onto pie; add a few whole balls. Remove rim and serve immediately.
 
Tips: 
Let the pie soften for 5 minutes at room temp to make slicing easier.
If you're having trouble free-ing your pie from its pan, set it over bowl of hot water for a couple of minutes and then slide a thin knife between pan edge and crust. It should pop right out.

Photo: Malted Milk Ice Cream Pie: Yunhee Kim; Styling: Karen Shinto