Cook's Illustrated's Pot de Creme au Chocolat

Soooo crazy good :).  That's what I have to say about this recipe from Cook's Illustrated International Best Recipes cookbook.  It was really rich, it is imperative to let this chill completely, but man is it delicious.  Each ramekin was 553 calories, for 6 servings, and we all gave this a perfect 10.  It is smooth, luscious and so decadent.  The recipe calls for this to be split into eight portions, and it would be better if the servings were smaller than I made them.  Anyway, here's the great recipe:

10 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
5 large egg yolks
5 T sugar
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 c cream
3/4 c half and half
1 T vanilla extract
1 T strongly brewed coffee

Place the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl; set a strainer over the bowl and set aside.
Whisk the yolk, sugar, and salt together in a bowl until combined, then whisk in the heavy cream and half and half.  Transfer the mixture to a medium saucepan.  Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan, until thickened and silky.
Pour the custard through the sieve, let the mixture stand to melt the chocolate, about five minutes, then stir until smooth and whisk in the vanilla and coffee.  Divide the mixture between the eight ramekins, then cool to room temperature.  Cover and refrigerate until chilled.  Serve with whipped cream.

Chocolate Turnovers

Here I am going to give the filling for the turnovers, but I used the same dough featured on Wednesday.  These will probably cook for just a little less time, and I made 12 turnovers out of this.  I found the recipe for the chocolate filling in my The Golden Book of Chocolate cookbook, and we really liked it, everyone giving them a perfect 10.  Each turnover is 273 calories, and here is the filling:

1 c ricotta cheese
1/3 c sugar
2 egg yolks
1 T vanilla
2 T flour
1 T cocoa powder
2 T craisins (we used blueberry, because that's what I had, but I think cherry would've been better)
4 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

Mix together the ricotta, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla, flour and cocoa powder in a food processor.  Fold in the craisins and the chocolate chips.  Fill the turnovers, fold them, then egg wash and sprinkle with sugar, vent the pastries, then bake in a 350 degree oven, checking at around 30 minutes.  Cool and then serve.

Peabody's Nutella Truffle Brownie Cookie

Here is where I found this great, easy recipe, and I followed it almost exactly.  Noah gave it a perfect 10, and Owen and I gave them a 9.  Jonah likes them too, and since they are so easy they are a fun thing to make with kids.  The calories for 27 cookies was about 157, but I used way less of the Nutella mixture, so they are an approximate.  I calculated for 1/2 c Nutella and 1/2 c powdered sugar, so try it using those amounts first.  These are great, try them soon :).

Bobby Flay's Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Creme Brulee

This is another of Bobby Flay's desserts from his Mesa Grill cookbook, and although I like the other creme brulee better, this one is so different and delicious.  We all wished this were a little more chocolate and a little less peanut butter, but the texture was great, and it was fun to do something different.  This made 8 servings, and each serving was 610 calories.  We gave this an 8.  Here's what to do:

3 c heavy cream
1/2 c whole milk
1/2 c peanuts, toasted
1/2 c sugar
3 1/2 oz milk chocolate, chopped small
1/4 c smooth peanut butter
7 large egg yolks
pinch of salt
1/2 c sugar for bruleeing

Bring the milk and cream to a simmer over medium heat, remove from the heat and stir in the peanuts.  Let sit, covered, for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator.  Strain the mixture, then return the cream to the heat.
Preheat the oven to 350.
Add 1/4 c of sugar to the cream, bring it to simmering again, make sure the sugar is completely dissolved, then add in the peanut butter and chocolate.
While doing this, beat the eggs and 1/4 c sugar until thick and pale in color.  Slowly whisk in the hot cream mixture.  Strain the mixture, then ladle the mixture into the 8 ramekins.  Place them in a baking dish and pour water into the baking dish so it reaches halfway up the ramekins.  Bake for 40-45 minutes, then cool and refrigerate.  When ready to serve, brulee the remaining sugar over the custards, either with a torch or under the broiler.  Serve.

Lizzy Early's Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

So my kids really liked these, but Aaron and I thought they were too sweet.  This is an easy recipe, these are out of the cake mix cookbook, but I didn't follow it exactly.  Each cookie was 474 calories, and the boys gave these a 9, and Aaron and I gave them a 7.  Here's what I did:

1 box chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 c butter, melted
3 T brown sugar
2 t vanilla
1 package peanut butter baking chips

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter

Preheat oven to 350 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Mix together the ingredients, then form into balls.  Bake for 8-12 minutes (mine went longer), then let cool.
Spread the peanut butter over one cookie, then make a sandwich with another cookie.  Serve.

Bobby Flay's Warm Chocolate Cakes With Dulce De Leche

This was really  delicious, and not super difficult, but we had to cook ours quite a bit longer to set our chocolate cake.  The recipe said 6-7 minutes, but ours went double that at least.  The cake was really delicious and moist, but I think it would've been better with a more pronounced caramel flavor from the dulce de leche filling.  Anyway, this was a fun treat, and we enjoyed it.  The boys gave this a perfect 10, and Aaron and I gave it an 8.  I found this in Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill cookbook.  Each cake was 508 calories, and here's what to do:

8 T unsalted butter
1 T flour, plus more for the ramekins
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/4 c sugar
2 large egg whites
Dulce de Leche (recipe is in the book, or buy storebought and use 1 T per ramekin)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Grease and flour the ramekins (we made 7 of them), and refrigerate to set the flour.
Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler.  Let cool slightly when the chocolate is completely melted.
Beat together the egg yolks, the whole eggs, and the sugar.  Add the melted chocolate mixture and beat to combine.  Mix in the 1 T flour, then set aside.  Beat the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form.  Fold them into the chocolate mixture.
Fill each ramekin half way full with the batter, then place 1 heaping T of the dulce de leche in the center and then fill the ramekin the rest of the way.
Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet, and bake until the sides have set but the centers remain soft.  Run a knife around the perimeter of the cakes and invert onto a plate.  Serve with ice cream, hot fudge and more dulce de leche if desired.

Yammie's Noshery's M & M Cheesecake

So I have to preface this by saying I was hesitant to share this, because it wasn't entirely successful.  However, everyone really enjoyed the taste, and it is a good cheesecake.  I feel like this could have been so much better, if the recipe were perfected a little.  I know this seems to have worked for the author, and also for another person that left a comment, so the fault with the recipe could be entirely my own.  That said, this was a frustrating experience.

Sorry about the blurry picture, I didn't notice it was blurry until I had deleted all the other ones :).  Anyway, this recipe can be found here, and I followed the recipe exactly.  Here were the problems I encountered.  The recipe says 2 c pretzel crumbs, or a little more, and I used just more than 2 c pretzel crumbs, and my crust came apart.  I would either use just under 2 c, and bake it first, then put the chocolate chips on top, or make less.  I felt that this cheesecake should NOT be made in a 9 inch springform pan, regardless of what the recipe says.  If the crust and the cheesecake were put in a 13 inch springform or even divided between two 9 inch ones, this recipe would have been so much more successful.  I had a sticky mess on the bottom of my oven, so not happy about that :(.  Also, the M&M's were super difficult to cut through, because of how packed together they were (again, I think this would be solved by halving the recipe or making two).  Now, enough of the negative, we really did love this cheesecake, because like every recipe we have tried from Yammie's Noshery, this was delicious.  Noah gave it a perfect 10, Owen gave it a 9, Aaron gave it an 8, and I gave it a 7, only because of my frustrations.  Each serving was 565 calories, for 16 slices.  The picture is of 2 slices, because it was so hard to cut it so that it looked good.  It fell apart because of the hard M&M's and crust that wouldn't stay together.  Anyway, try this and see if it works out, I love how delicious it is :)

Culinary Concoctions By Peabody's Samoas Mascarpone Filled Layer Cake

Here is where I found this recipe, I love her site.

I followed the recipe above exactly, except I used Keebler cookies (Samoa knock-offs) instead of Samoas, and although this was a lot of work, it was so delicious.  Eat this in small doses though, it is very rich.  Each serving, for 1/16 of the cake, was 861 calories, ouch!  Still, like I said, a little goes a long way.  Owen and Noah and I gave this a perfect 10, and Aaron gave it a 9.  It's so delicious, try it out!

Yammie's Noshery White Chocolate Mousse Truffle Cake

So this was a hit at our house, but I wish I hadn't followed the recipe as closely as I did.  Here is the original recipe, and it is delicious.  I will post it the way I wish I had made it, as well as incorporating the changes I made in the beginning.  I gave myself the first piece, so my picture is not great of the piece on my plate, but the next pieces came out well, so don't worry about your cake falling apart.  This received a perfect 10 from everyone at Owen's birthday party, it was really delicious, and I am glad it turned out as well as it did.  While I was making it, I was worried it wouldn't turn out, because cooking your eggs in a double boiler rather than tempering them never turns out well.  This would've been much less hassle and turned out with a smoother mousse if I hadn't cooked the eggs directly.  Anyway, each piece was 447 calories for 1/16 of the cake, and just follow the recipe for the chocolate cake found at the link, I didn't change anything there, except you can change the coffee to more cocoa powder.  Here's what I would do for the mousse:

6 oz good quality white chocolate
6 T butter
4 egg yolks
2 T sugar
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 c cream, plus 2 T cream

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the yolks are thick and pale yellow in color.  In a pan, melt the white chocolate and butter, stirring until everything is melted.  Add in the 2 T cream, stirring well, and slowly add more cream if the mixture is too thick.  Temper the egg yolks, until half the chocolate is mixed into the egg yolks, then return the eggs to the pan with the cream.  When the eggs have gotten hot and cooked, set aside the chocolate mixture to cool.  When completely cool, whip the remaining cream into stiff peaks, then fold in the white chocolate mixture.  Top the cake layer in the spring form pan, then let cool for at least four hours before serving, preferably over night.

Try my way or the original recipe method, either one makes the eggs safe, and you can decide which works better for you!

Kristen Ashley's Chocolate Cherry Cake

My boys wanted a chocolate cherry cake for Thanksgiving, so I found this recipe for Gramma Moutaw's Chocolate Maraschino Cherry Cake on Kristen Ashley's website, and it was delicious.  I made only one change, I added some almond extract to the cake and icing as well as the vanilla extract.  Mine cooked for about 45 minutes, but check it after about 30 minutes.  This is easy, delicious, and full of flavor.  I have no calorie information on this one, I don't even want to think about calories on this one, I made it for Thanksgiving and didn't count calories that day, so just guess it's going to be high :).  My kids and mom gave this a perfect 10, and my dad and I gave it a 9.  Try it, it's delicious!

Joanne Fluke's Chocolate Crack

Sooo...this might be the most delicious, addictive, amazing candy ever, and it takes all of 15 minutes. The calories are random because of the way you crack the candy up, but it is about 100 calories for 1/48 of the total.  This is easy and fun, Noah helped me make it, and we all gave it a perfect 10.  I found this recipe in one of Joanne Fluke's books, and there is a vanilla version which I will be trying soon.

Chocolate Crack 

Preheat oven to 350.

1 sleeve (more or less) graham crackers 

1 c salted butter 

1 c brown sugar 

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips 

Line a cookie sheet with heavy duty foil.  Spray the foil with cooking spray.  Cover the pan completely with a single layer of graham crackers.  Set aside.  Combine butter and brown sugar in a saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly.  Boil it for exactly 5 minutes, stirring it constantly.  Pour the mixture over the graham crackers as evenly as you can.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top.  Give the chips a minute or two to melt and then spread them out as evenly as you can.  Cool and then chill completely.  Peel the foil off and break into random-sized pieces.

Joann Fluke's Chocolate Highlander Bars

So this was one of the recipes from the Joanne Fluke books, and we enjoyed these quite a bit.  I was actually surprised by how they turned out, I expected them to be a shortbread base with kind of a creamy chocolate topping, but these were brownies with a shortbread base.  I enjoyed how well these stayed together, and how moist they are.  We all would've appreciated more chocolate flavor, but over all these were great. The calories, for 1/24 of the total, were 320 calories, so high, but still yummy :).

Chocolate Highlander Cookie Bars

Preheat oven to 350.

1 c softened butter

½ c powdered sugar

¼ t salt

2 c flour

4 beaten eggs

1 c melted butter, cooled

1 c sugar

1 t baking powder

¼ t salt

½ c flour

2 ½ c chocolate chips, melted

1.      Cream butter and powdered sugar and salt.  Add flour and mix well.  Pat it out in a greased 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven.

2.      Mix eggs with melted butter and sugar.  Add dry ingredients and mix well.  Add melted chocolate chips to the dough.

3.      Pour over shortbread dough and cook for at least 30 more minutes, then remove from oven.   Let cool completely then cut into bars.

Sally's Baking Addiction's Ultimate Fudge Brownies with Peanut Butter Chips

It has been years since I have made brownies with cocoa powder rather than baking chocolate, but I have an over-abundance of peanut butter chips, and I wanted to do something with them.  These were really good brownies, and super easy.  I would've liked a more pronounced chocolate flavor, and if I could've found some special dark cocoa powder, I bet the chocolate flavor would've been outstanding.  Unfortunately, my local grocer doesn't carry anything but basic cocoa powder, so whatevs :).  Anyway, these were great, and at 235 calories a brownie, not super calorific.  Aaron gave them a perfect 10, and the boys and I gave them a 9.  Peanut butter and chocolate, can't be beat!  Follow the link for the recipe, I followed it almost exactly, I just didn't sprinkle some of the peanut butter chips on top.

The Perfect Scoop's Butterscotch Pecan Ice Cream

So this was a calorie bomb treat, but it was sooo worth it!  The boys picked this Butterscotch Pecan Ice Cream from The Perfect Scoop cookbook, and it was great.  We had it in a sundae, per the author's suggestion, with blondies and hot fudge, and the ice cream with the sundae was fabulous.  The ice cream is a custard base, with brown sugar for the butterscotch, and buttered pecans added in, and I added a little brown sugar to the buttered pecans to give it a little sweeter flavor.  I'll just feature the ice cream, and the other elements you can make on your own, or mix things up.  Each serving, about .5 cup of ice cream, is 293 calories, and we gave this a perfect 10, it is so delicious.  I'll be using decimals rather than fractions today, and maybe for a while, because somehow our keyboard was changed to a Spanish keyboard, and I can't find the slashes.  Somehow my baby is smarter than me, sigh...

5 T salted butter
.75 c packed brown sugar
.5 t salt
2 c heavy cream
.75 c whole milk
6 large egg yolks
.5 t vanilla
1 recipe buttered pecans

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, then stir in the brown sugar and salt until well moistened.  Whisk in 1 cup of the cream and the milk, and keep warm.
Pour the remaining cream into a large bowl and place a fine mesh sieve over the top.
Whisk together the egg yolks, then temper the yolks.  Return the mixture to the pan, and cook, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens.  Pour the custard through the sieve, and mix in with the cream.  Then add in the vanilla.  Cool, and churn and freeze in your ice cream maker.  At the end, fold in the buttered pecans.  Freeze before serving.

Buttered Pecans

1.5 T butter
1.5 c pecan halves
.25 t coarse salt
1 T brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350.
Melt the butter in a skillet, remove it from the heat, and stir in the pecans, brown sugar, and salt.  Bake for 12 minutes in the oven and cool completely.

Flour's Intense Chocolate Brownies

As with all Flour's recipes, these brownies are delicious.  I know it seems like I have featured tons of Joanne Chang's recipes on this site, but there are so many I haven't featured, this cookbook is worth every penny because everything in it is delicious.  So buy it :)  These are the perfect texture for brownies, and they have just the right chocolatey taste for me.  The boys liked these so much, as did I.  Aaron and I gave them a perfect 10, and the boys said they gave them a 9.5 :).  Each brownie was 220 calories, and these are mostly chocolate, hence the intense in the name.  Try these out, they are delicious and easy!! 

5.5 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

2.5 (I used just a little more) oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

14 T unsalted butter

5 eggs

2 c sugar

1 1/4 c flour

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

Heat the oven to 325.  Grease and flour a 9x13 pan and set it aside.  Melt together the chocolates and butter in the microwave, stirring frequently and don't let the chocolate burn.  Set aside when smooth to cool slightly.

Place the eggs in a stand mixer, and whisk them on low speed, slowly adding in the sugar, then mixing for about 1 minute.  With a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate mixture.  

In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then add those to the chocolate egg mixture.  Fold in the flour.  Spread in the prepare pan, then bake for about 30 minutes.  Start checking at 20 minutes, these should still have moist crumbs when testing for doneness.  Cool completely and then serve, I cut mine into 24 brownies.

Flour's Milky Way Tart

This, people, was an amazing tart.  Flour comes through again!  With oozy, gooey caramel, delicious chocolate mousse, and a crispy sweet tart crust, this one was a winner for everyone.  It received a perfect 10 from the whole family, including my parents.  I made this for my mom's birthday, and we loved it.  The way I made this each slice, 1/16 of the total, was 335 calories.  I did make a few changes to the recipe, and I am glad I did.  I used bittersweet chocolate rather than milk chocolate, and we all felt like the less sweet mousse was awesome.

See that caramel seeping out on the side there?  Yeah, it's delicious :).  Anyway, here is the recipe for this tart, which is really nice because you make everything the day before, then just spend a few minutes assembling it.

1 recipe Pate Sucree, baked in a tart shell

5 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 c heavy cream

1 t cocoa powder

1 dash of salt

3/4 c sugar

1/3 c water

3/4 c heavy cream

2 T unsalted butter

1/8 t salt

2 t vanilla

1 oz bittersweet chocolate, shaved into curls (mine didn't work great :))

Melt the chocolate with the cream in the microwave, stirring very frequently to prevent burning.  Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve, stir in the salt, and cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.

Place the sugar and water in a deep saucepan, and let cook over high heat without touching it for about 3-4 minutes, while the sugar caramelizes.  As it thickens and begins to darken, swirl the pan very gently to allow the darker color to mix with the lighter syrup on top.  Continue to cook until a deep amber, but don't overcook!  Burnt sugar is gross :).

Reduce the heat to low, slowly add the cream, and stir constantly but carefully while you pour it in, then continue to whisk and turn the heat to medium.  Whisk in the butter, salt and vanilla when the cream and sugar come together and soften again.  Remove from the heat, pour it into a container and refrigerate at least four hours, or more.

Spread about 3/4 of the caramel filling in the bottom of the tart shell.  Using a stand mixer, whip the chocolate cream mixture until it holds soft peaks.  Mound the mousse in the shell, and spread it evenly over the caramel.  Drizzle the remaining caramel over the top of the mousse, then top with the curls.  Chill before serving.

Flour's Brioche au Chocolat

I love brioche, and I love chocolate, and Flour's recipes are always amazing, so it's hard to go wrong here.  Aaron, Owen and Noah all gave this a 9, and I gave them an 8 because I felt like they were a tiny bit dry, my fault because I cooked them a little too long.

My picture isn't great, but these are some delicious pastries, each one 450 calories.  

The brioche is the same as Flour's Sticky Sticky buns that I made before, and you can find the recipe here for the sticky buns, and the brioche dough I used.  I made the full batch this time, and I made one loaf of brioche bread, then made these with the other half.  

1/2 recipe brioche dough

1-2 c pastry cream

4 oz bittersweet chocolate

1 egg beaten

Roll out the brioche dough into a large rectangle on a lightly floured surface.  Spread the pastry cream all over the dough, then scatter the chocolate over the bottom half.  Fold the top half over the bottom, then cut into 10 (I only got 9) pastries.  Lay on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and allow to rise for two hours in a warm place.  After 2 hours, preheat the oven to 350, and brush the tops of the pastries with the egg.  Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the pastries are golden brown.  Serve after cooling for a few minutes.

AB Caramel Brownies

My mother asked me to post this recipe as soon as I could, so these are coming faster than I had planned, but it's worth it :)  These brownies were incredibly delicious, and high in calories, and fun to make :).  The boys made these with me, and it was easy and enjoyable.  These received a perfect 10 in our house, and each brownie was 381 calories, so super high since we cut the pan into sixteen brownies.  You can find the caramel brownie recipe at Kristen Ashley's website,   Try these at your own risk, they are incredibly rich, and so worth the calories :)  Just imagine super chocolate squares with a creamy caramel layer in there.

Flour's Double Chocolate Cookies

These are a perfect 10 from our family, they are heavenly.  Please don't try these double chocolate cookies from Flour unless you really like chocolate, because they are chocolate overload :).  Aaron actually asked for these again for his birthday rather than the usual Nestle Tollhouse cookies, so that tells you how delicious these are.  The recipe makes 16 cookies for me, and each cookie is about 287 calories.  Here's the easy recipe:

4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, finely shaved
5 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small chunks
1/2 c unsalted butter
1/2 t vanilla
1 1/2 c sugar
4 eggs
1/2 c flour
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t cream of tartar
1/8 t salt
1/4 t instant espresso or coffee powder

Melt the 4 oz unsweetened chocolate, 5 oz bittersweet chocolate, and the butter in a microwave, stirring frequently to prevent burning.  Whisk in the vanilla and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, beat together the sugar and eggs for about 5 minutes, or until light, thick, and pale yellow.  On low speed, slowly add the chocolate mixture and mix for about 15 seconds.  In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, espresso powder, the shaved unsweetened chocolate and the small chopped bittersweet chocolate.  Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the sugar-butter mixture just until the flour is totally incorporated and the dough is evenly mixed.  Cover the mixture tightly and refrigerate over night.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees, and drop the dough in 1/4 c balls onto a cookie sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes, then cool on the cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes, then cool completely.

Serve with milk and die from chocolate happiness :)

Cake Mix Waffles

Cake mix waffles, what an easy thing to do.  You take a cake mix, follow the instructions on the box, and instead of baking the cake, you make waffles!  I didn't add oil, I added pumpkin instead, so it was healthier and I used up the left over pumpkin I had.  These came out pretty soft, I think because there was no oil, but other than that they were great.  Owen and Aaron gave them a 9, and Noah and I gave them an 8.  These are so easy, it is great to not have to do as much for dinner ;).  The cheese in the picture was from the scrambled eggs we had with our waffles.