Day 3 of Fondue Weekand today I’m sharing with you a simple fondue recipe that you can make for just two people. Valentine’s Day is next week, so naturally this dessert is perfect for two! My friends at Scharffen Berger Chocolate sent me a gorgeous box of chocolates (just like the kind you can win right now… so head on over to the giveaway after you done reading this post). This recipe is made with just one 3oz. Dark Chocolate Mocha bar. Hence the name Dark Chocolate Mocha Fondue for Two! The mocha flavoring comes from finely ground Sumatran coffee. You can taste the texture and real coffee in every bite. Of course I stepped it up a notch and added a little Kaluha for a grown-up spin on my fondue. If you don’t have the Dark Chocolate Mocha Bar you could always use the highest quality dark chocolate and a tablespoon of espresso to the mix and then of course add Kaluha if desired.
Oh, and I also forgot to memtion that today is National Chocolate Fondue day. Tonight, Christine and I will be speaking with Chef Shane from The Melting Pot. If you want to hear some of the secrets to making great fondue we’d love if you watched us live on our Google+ channels. We will tweet out the link around 9pm tonight.
Once again I’m brining you a two for one recipe. You know… two holidays/events equal one recipe. Remember on Sunday, I brought you a fondue recipe and one that worked well for Super Bowl i.e., Buffalo Chicken Fondue. I feel like I need to balance out the sweet and savory and mix it up as an every other day kind of recipe week.
I love not only dipping strawberries in fondue but raspberries. To me there is something about chocolate and raspberries together. It is pure bliss. Oh and if you have plump blueberries those will work too. This is what I like to call my take on “healthy” fondue. Dark Chocolate is good for you. Fruit is good for you. Both items are good for you so that means we are in the clear (minus the heavy cream and butter but shhhh it’s a special occassion. We can all splurge). Oh, so maybe this isn’t “really” healthy, but in my mind it is. And let’s all keep pretending in front of my face that it is healthy, please.
Whether you decide to make this quick and easy Dark Chocolate Mocha Fondue next week for Valentine’s Day or just any other day for no apparent reason. Either way I’m sure you will enjoy this coffee laced treat!
I’ve got dessert covered and today Christine is sharing A Warm Goat Cheese Dip for a Romantic Dinner over on her blog. She shares her thoughts on what makes for a romantic dinner. Between the two of us we have covered both your dinner and dessert for next week!
In a pot melt butter on high heat. Then add in heavy cream followed by finely chopped chocolate. Mix until melted. Turn off the heat and remove the chocolate from the burner. Add in two tablespoons Kahlua. Mix well then portion out into two servings (or keep it as one mini pot for two). Serve with strawberries and raspberries.
This recipe is brought to you by Katie Jasiewicz of Katies Cucina
Disclaimer:I received Scharffen Berger Chocolate to create this recipe. I was not compensated nor required to create a recipe. All opinions as always are my own.
Last year, during the first-ever Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap I received a lovely box of Rocky Road Cookies from Think Tran. Between my husband and I we gobbled these babies up and they never made it into my office to be shared! Those cookies have been in my thoughts lately, so I knew when I was baking for coworkers that I needed to finally make the recipe Tran made!
My husband is the worlds biggest chocolate chip cookie fan, so I wasn’t sure how he was going to react to these cookies (even though he ate them with no problem last year). He LOVED these cookies, of course he asked where the marshmallow was, and I had to explain that in the baking process the marshmallow melts into the cookie. The amount of slivered almonds is just right in this cookie.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until fairly smooth. Add both brown and white sugars, and beat until well combined (about 2 minutes until smooth and creamy). *Periodically, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the vanilla extract then the eggs one at a time, continue to scrape the bowl as necessary.
Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed to combine. Then, mix in the chocolate, almonds, followed by the marshmallows. Mix just enough to incorporate – do not over mix!
Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold the dough with a spatula to be sure that the ingredients are evenly incorporated. Using a medium cookie scoop begin to scoop cookie dough on to baking trays (keeping them at least 2 inches a part). *I used my Silpat mat and parchment paper (no need to grease the pans either).
*Make sure your oven racks are in the lower and upper thirds of the oven.
Bake for 13.5 minutes. Let cool slightly on the cookie sheet (to firm up) about 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Seal in airtight containers for up to 5 days.
I’ve seen these cookies all over blog land for the past month. I had no idea what all the rage was about, so I felt the need to bake up a batch a few days ago! Typically, by the two weeks before Christmas mark I’ve baked up a storm; however, not this year. I’ve been too busy to bake. So after work the other day I whipped up two different batches of cookies to be handed out to co-workers. Note, I still need to whip up a few more treats for all my lucky neighbors.
I checked out a dozen or so recipes for Monster Cookies, but found that I liked Ree Drummond’s recipe the best. Since I didn’t alter one thing I figure you can head over to her site for the full recipe. Just so you know–these monster cookies should really be called everything in the kitchen pantry cookies. I had every single item for these cookies minus the festive holiday M&M’s! My husband who “isn’t a fan of sweets” loved these cookies. Then I told him everything that was in them and he was shocked. Yah, rice krispies, oats, peanut butter chips, and the list goes on. So, if you’ve yet to try these amazingly famous cookies… I highly suggest you get trying! They are delicious and a big crowd pleaser!
Today is the big cookie-swap reveal day for the second annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap organized by the amazing Julie of The Little Kitchen and Lindsay from Love & Olive Oil! These ladies worked their butts off to ensure that food bloggers all over the world could exchange cookies. A big thank you to them for all the hard work on this much appreciated event! This year, the ladies added an extra step to the cookie swap. Everyone who participated donated $4 to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. According to Julie’s (personal) Facebook page over $2200 was raised this year and my friends at OXO matched it so that means over $4400 in total was raised by the Great Food Blogger Cookie swap!!!
I made these Chewy Chocolate-Cherry Cookies back in August, and then made them again in September, and then when I signed up for the Cookie Swap, I remembered that I had yet to blog about these cookies I instantly knew that these would be the cookies I would send out to my three lucky recipients! Plus these cookies are only 80 calories a cookie–a plus in my book (although you would never know because they are super moist and decadent)!
Who were my lucky recipients for the 2012 Food Blogger Cookie Swap?
Go and visit their blogs and show them some love!!!
I also made a cute recipe card for my three recipients. I found a photoshop file from Plucky Momo and I adapted the file to fit my needs. Download the PDF version of my recipe card here: Chewy Chocolate-Cherry Cookies Template
These chewy chocolate cookies are sure to please anyone who craves chocolate. Best of all, they are just 80 calories a cookie!
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
2/3 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
cooking spray
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift flour, then lightly fill measuring cup and level off. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (stir).
In a large bowl, place sugar and butter in bowl and beat using a mixer on high until well combined. Then add vanilla and egg and beat. Place the mixer on a low speed and slowly add the flour mixture to the bowl; beat just until well combined. Then, fold in dried cherries and mini chocolate chips.
Spray a cookie tray with cooking spray. Then drop a tablespoon-ful of batter on to the cookie
sheet. Bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees (or just until set). Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Then remove the cookies from the pan and allow to cool on a wire rack.
I’ve partnered up with OXO Good Grips and Cookies for Kids’ Cancer to to raise awareness by joining the mission to find a cure for pediatric cancer. I helped by ”Baking a Difference”. I created a video that walks you through step-by-step on how to make these tasty and easy-to-make Creme de Menthe Chunk Cookies.
Are you interested in helping? You can Be a Good Cookie, too!
Make a difference by joining the mission to find a cure for pediatric cancer. There are many ways to support Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. Hosting a bake sale is a sweet and simple way for people everywhere to get involved in the fight against pediatric cancer. Send our cookies for birthdays, anniversaries, or just because. Our cookies taste as good to eat as they feel to give.
I hope you enjoyed my video! For those who are interested in baking this minty cookie recipe at home below you’ll find the printable recipe. I really do love that Andes has taken all the work out of chopping the mint pieces! This cookie recipes make 48 cookies. That can be a lot of cookies if you are just looking for a few to snack on. Whenever I have a sweet tooth and make cookies. I typically just bake one batch and then form the dough into a log and place in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. If I haven’t used it by that point I’ll place it in a freezer ziplock bag for up to 3 months. If I do the freezer option I’ll try to divide my dough accordingly so I don’t have to thaw out all the dough at once. For this type of recipe I would go ahead and pre-make the dough balls so that way you can take them out of the freezer and let them thaw out on the cookie sheet and then bake! Never feel obligated to bake the whole batch. That is unless you are baking for a bake sale or feeding a hungry crowd!
Raise oven rack one level above the middle and bake on non-stick baking pans.Bake at 350 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool on pan for at least 5 minutes once out of the oven then place on a wire rack.
Notes
*Your cookie dough will need to chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Plan accordingly.
*You can refrigerate part of the dough for up to 5 days or freeze up to 3 minutes. Form the dough into a log--this makes for best freezing and refrigerating options.
This set is valued at $150, and is everything you’ll need to get started and baking up your own cookies for a great cause! Please wait for the rafflecopter widget to load and enter at least the mandatory entry for a chance to be entered to win!
Disclaimer:I received a box of OXO products; however, I was not compensated to create this blog post and video. I also received $150 worth of product to giveaway on KatiesCucina.com. As always, all opinions are my own.
I love popcorn. I enjoy a 100 calorie bag of popcorn at least three times a week during the work week. Every so often my husband and I indulge on a bag of popcorn. I’ve never been one to pop my own popcorn on the stovetop or in an air pop machine. Although, I do have vague memories of both the air pop machine and a tinfoil stove top package of popcorn from my childhood. That has just never been my thing. I’m all for quick and easy when it comes to popcorn and I’ve perfected the perfect pop ensuring that no kernel is burnt (an important skill set to learn).
I typically like to stick with traditional popcorn. Although recently, I had a hankering for sweet pumpkin flavored popcorn. I whipped up this satisfyingly sweet treat in less than 10 minutes! You do not have to be a skilled home cook to make this popcorn. I know I’ll definitely be making a batch on Halloween night and giving it to my immediate neighbors as a sweet treat they can snack on as they take their children trick or treating.
On the last day of my virtual ice cream social I wanted to share a recipe that anyone could make even if they didn’t own an ice cream maker. This was my first attempt at making an ice cream cake, and I’m totally gonna toot my own horn and tell you that it was a huge success. Making this cake was perfect timing–not just for my virtual ice cream social, but also because my dad’s birthday was last Friday and he was out of town celebrating it with his family up north. Prior to cutting into this cake I did ask my mom if she thought my dad would mind that a slice was missing. She assured me he would be grateful for the cake even if a slice was missing!
I used a 9″ spring-form pan for this ice cream cake. I layered the chocolate ice cream first, followed by crumbled chocolate wafer cookies, hot fudge sauce (cooled), peanut butter ice cream with chopped peanut butter cups, and piped on a thick layer of freshly whipped cream! What’s beautiful about this recipe is that you can make a truly homemade ice cream cake or a semi-homemade ice cream cake utilizing ice cream and toppings from the store! Once it was all layered I wrapped the top with plastic wrap followed by foil. The next time I thawed it for 30 minutes (which as you can tell that may have been a wee bit too long to thaw. The whipped cream still tasted fresh and all the flavors meshed together! I think you could easily make this a day or two before and serve it at your next birthday gathering and/or summer time BBQ.
Remove ice cream from freezer and let thaw for 30 minutes.
Using a spring form pan place 2 pints of chocolate ice cream in the bottom of the pan; smoothing it to an even level. In a large zip lock baggie place the entire package of chocolate wafers in the bag and smash them until they are fine crumbs. Add the entire bag of crumbs to the spring form pan, smoothing them out to an even layer. Followed by the one and a half cups of hot fudge sauce (smoothed). Carefully add 1 pint of peanut butter ice cream to the top layer and smooth out. Place the spring form pan uncovered in the freezer while you make the whipped cream.
Using your KitchenAid Stand Mixer attach the whisk attachment and begin beating the heavy cream on medium speed. Once the cream begins to thicken add the powdered sugar, and once incorporated bump the speed to high for a good minute or two. You'll want to watch your whipped cream. You'll know its done when you pull the top of the mixer back and the cream sticks to the whisk. Add the whipped cream to a piping bag with tip,
Remove the ice cream cake out of the freezer and begin piping the whipped cream on to the cake (in whatever design you'd like). Once the cake top is covered with whipped cream place back in the freezer for 1 hour so that the cream will begin to harden. Then place plastic wrap and tin foil over the top of the cake and freeze for at least 6 hours prior to serving.
Day 3 of the Virtual Ice Cream Social and today I bring to you a homemade ice cream topping. Key for any ice cream party! I bring you… homemade hot fudge sauce! Yep, I went there, again. Hot fudge has always been one of those indulgence that I don’t get often enough; maybe once or twice a year. That is until I started making my own.
I remember as a kid going out for ice cream once a month, and if I didn’t get a soft serve ice cream cone dipped in rainbow sprinkles or hard chocolate shell I got a decadent ice cream sunday. Vanilla ice cream, thick whipped cream, a maraschino cherry on top , oh and don’t forget the hot fudge sauce. That’s what I really wanted–forget all the other components to the sundae–I just wanted the hot fudge!
It is self satisfying once again to know that I can make my own ice cream toppings. I’ve mastered homemade whipped cream, and make a pretty mean caramel sauce, but now I think I’ve taken my obsession with ice cream to a whole new level with this homemade hot fudge sauce.
6 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
In a large pot, add: heavy cream, corn syrup, brown sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and 3oz of the chocolate. Bring to a boil over medium heat, continuously stirring until chocolate is melted. Reduce heat to low and cook at a low boil, for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the pot from the heat and add the butter, vanilla extract, and remaining 3 ounces of chocolate. Stir until smooth--cool sauce and serve.
Notes
*Store sauce in an airtight container for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
As most of you know I’ve been busy for the past month helping Julie from The Little Kitchen organize the Central Florida Food Bloggers Bake Sale (in conjunction with the National Food Blogger Bake Sale organized by What’s Gaby Cooking and Bloggers without Borders). I’m excited to report that our bake sale was a huge success, and would not have been possible without fellow food bloggers baking to raise money for such an amazing cause! Although we didn’t quite make our goal of $2,000 we far exceed expectations during our bake sale. We doubled what we made last year in just 4 short hours! Bringing our grand total raised to over $1,400!
Take a look at all the amazing bloggers that made this years Central Florida Food Bloggers Bake Sale such a huge success:
Here are a few of the baked goods from some of my fellow blogger friends. Top left; Marilyn from Forkful, To Right; Julius from Droolius. Bottom photo: Pearleen from Mega Yummo
Lastly, the biggest thanks of all goes out to John Rife and the Winter Park Harvest Festival for allowing us to use the space outside of there building; giving us access to prime foot traffic! We doubled our earnings this year at our bake sale because of the convenient location, and we would not have been able to make this much money for Share Our Strength without such an awesome location! Thanks again John!
Julie and I rested for 1 second to snap this photo! Pictured below is Julie’s amazing Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes, followed by a wide variety of baked goods from Robin of Simply Southern Baking, and a few of my Rice Krispies Treats. Speaking of Rice Krispies Treats… I’m sharing one of the recipes I made at the bake sale today.
Ever since I had a rice krispies treat a few months back I’ve been on a kick. Dreaming up all different flavors to make. I made these earlier in the month and then again for the bake sale. They were a huge hit at home and at work, so I knew they would be a huge hit at the bake sale! Best of all you only have to add 2 additional ingredients to make these delectable treats memorable to the pallet.
Author: Katie Jasiewicz of Katie’s Cucina Inspired by Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12
Ingredients
4 tbsp butter
1 bag large marshmallows
6 cups rice krispies cereal
1 cup peanut butter chips
¼ mini chocolate chips
Instructions
In a large pasta pot heat the butter on high until melted.
Add the large marshmallows and begin stirring with a wooden spoon until the marshmallows are formed into a blob of marshmallow fluff.
Add 1 cup of peanut butter chips to the marshmallow fluff and stir for 1 minute until peanut butter chips are just about melted. Then gradually add 2 cups of krispies cereal at a time. Stirring until well combined.
Place the batch of treats in a 9×12 pan for 2-inch thick treats. Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips on top and carefully press the treats down with a soft spatula.
Refrigerate for up to 2 hours, slice, and enjoy!
Notes
For thick treats use a 9×9 square pan. Your treats will be close to 6oz each and 4-5 inches thick.
*Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Last week, I played bunko for the first time, and at bunko were rice krispie treats. To be honest, I cannot remember the last time I indulged in the marshmellowie goodness of rice krispie treats. That’s when it instantly hit me. I wanted to make a St. Patty’s dessert for the blog (and my family and friends), and thus the mint chocolate chip rice krispie treat was born.
I love the mint chocolate chip combo; however, my husband isn’t a big fan. So I knew that my brillant idea would not strike a cord in his book. Oh well, I remind myself time and time again that we can’t please everyone, and this treat I automatically knew would not please him. He did try a bite which I was shocked and he said that they tasted like the candies from Olive Garden. In my book I knew this treat was a success because that’s how I wanted them to taste like… like, mint chocolate chip!
In a large sauce pan melt the butter. Remove the butter off the burner once melted and add in the green food dye and peppermint extract.
Add the marshmallows to the pot and stir until the marshmallows have dissolved completely.
Carefully, begin stirring in half the Rice Krispie treats, and ¼ cup of the mini chocolate chips. Once well incorporated repeat until the Rice Krispies and mini chocolate chips are all incorporated into the marshmallow batter.
Spray a 9×12 pan with pam cooking spray and begin spreading the Rice Krisipie treats out on the pan. Once completely spread out on pan sprinkle two tablespoons mini chocolate chips on top. Let cool in refrigerator for 1 hour, slice, and serve.
I'm Katie Jasiewicz: home cook, food blogger, and recipe developer. I’ve always had a love for cooking, and more so in the past few years a love for eating!
Join me on a culinary adventure where life always tastes good. {more}
I'm Katie Jasiewicz: home cook, food blogger, and recipe developer. I’ve always had a love for cooking, and more so in the past few years a love for eating!
Join me on a culinary adventure where life always tastes good. 
