Category Archives: Desserts

Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

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Food processor fans, meet your new favorite dessert. This entire recipe is created in a food processor. One bowl prep. You can’t beat it!

Also, apparently I’m on a cheesecake kick - which I am not going to be ashamed of.

For the Super Bowl, I made these Chocolate Cheesecake Squares to share with friends. They have a traditional chocolate cheesecake taste but are lighter in texture than your typical cheesecake. An Oreo cookie crust serves as the base and semi-sweet chocolate chips round out the top.

Since I was taking these bars to a party, I doubled the recipe and made two batches. However, I would recommend making two separate batches instead of just doubling the ingredients.

The recipe can be found over on Martha Stewart’s site (where else, right?).

Mini Cheesecake Jars

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Want something super yummy and super cute to share with your special one on Valentine’s Day? Check out the mini cheesecake jars that I made for the Valentine’s Day table!

The texture is different, with the graham cracker “crust” on top in loose crumbs, but that doesn’t stop them from tasting awesome. You can add fruit preserves, or not. I’m not a huge fan of fruit with my cheesecake so I made these both ways. They were both great! You can also make the cheesecake portion ahead and add the preserves and crumbs when you’re ready to serve.

You can find the recipe over on Martha Stewart’s site and take a look at my photos below.

Dark Chocolate Chip Brownies

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If I had a dollar for every time I tried to give up chocolate, my 401K would be quite lined. Alas, I still eat it – probably every day. And brownies are one my favorite ways to get my fix.

Brownies are so versatile. You can substitute any type of “chip” (milk, butterscotch, peanut butter, white, etc) for the dark chocolate in this recipe. Use your imagination or whatever you happen to have on hand the day you make these.

The recipe I use is adapted from Martha Stewart’s Double-Chocolate Brownies, found here.

Ingredients:: 

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 cup 60% semisweet chocolate baking chips
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
  • 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:: 

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8 or 9-inch square baking pan by coating it with cooking spray. Optional: Line the pan with parchment paper if you wish.
  2. Put butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a heatproof medium bowl, set over a pan of simmering water; stir until butter and chocolate are melted. Let cool slightly.
  3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl; set aside.
  4. Beat sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add chocolate mixture; beat until combined. Add flour mixture; beat, scraping down sides of bowl, until well incorporated.
  5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into brownies (avoid center and edges) comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, about 35 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. Lift out brownies; let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

Cannoli Cream Cups

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This little handheld delight was a bit of an accidental find. I was making Spanakopita Casserole (one of my favorite recipes) and had some leftover phyllo dough. Not wanting to throw it out, I decided to make phyllo cups and decide what to do with them later.

Also on hand, I had ricotta cheese, whipped cream cheese, and some Hershey’s Special Dark bars. After some experimentation, I came up with these cannoli cream cups. The filling is similar to what you might find in a cannoli, but less fluffy. I think the almond extract is really what takes these to the next level, but you can leave it out or try vanilla extract instead.

These would make great, small, party desserts. The best part? You can make this ahead – about 24 hours. It tastes better with a little time anyway, giving the flavors the opportunity to meld together.

To make phyllo cups, lay out several layers of phyllo dough on a workspace. Cut the dough into equal squares, about 3 x 3 inches. Gently set the squares in the wells of a standard muffin tin, then spritz each square with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a cookie sheet, then either use immediately or store in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.

Ingredients:: 

  • 3/4 c whipped cream cheese
  • 3/4 c part-skim ricotta cheese
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 2  bars (regular size) Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate, chopped
  • sugar, to taste
  • 8-10 phyllo cups, previously made
Directions:: 
  1. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, ricotta, and almond extract until smooth.
  2. Stir in chocolate until combined.
  3. Add sugar if necessary (taste first).
  4. Let mixture chill for up to 24 hours. When ready to serve, evenly spoon cream mixture into phyllo cups.

Strawberry “Pop-Tarts”

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I love pop-tarts. Especially the strawberry kind. With frosting. And sprinkles.

Sure the ones out of the package are great – and original – but the homemade version? Wonderful. Also, I’m willing to bet that homemade pop-tarts become the next cupcake or whoopie pie in terms of small dessert trends.

These are grown-up, flaky, and have just the right amount of filling. Taking over for the frosting is powdered sugar, gracefully dusting the top. They pack well for picnics or movie nights in the park, and will be a crowd favorite among your friends and family.

Here are two options for your own homemade pop-tarts:

  • Pick up the Toaster Pastry Press from Williams-Sonoma, and use the recipe included
  • Do all the manual work yourself and use Bon Appetit’s recipe here
I used the Bon Appetit recipe. It is a bit labor-intensive and it’s definitely an “intermediate” level recipe, but wow, is it worth it.

Golf-Themed Birthday Bash

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The OTT recently turned the big 3-oh. To celebrate even further (he turned 30 while we were visiting the Panama Canal in February – talk about a cool birthday), we put together a party centered around one of his favorite sports – golf.

The party dishes were named after golf terms, like “Barbecue Birdie Sandwiches” and “Dip and Chip Out,” there were golf-theme cupcakes (idea courtesy of the ever-fabulous Martha Stewart), and we even instated a golf/preppy dress code. Favor bags included tiny round brownies and golf-ball look-alike Mexican wedding cookies.

Invites:


Menu:

- Divots and Hummus (veggies and hummus)
- Dip and Chip Out (black bean dip with tortilla chips)
- Green and Rough (warm spinach artichoke dip)
- Barbecue Birdie Sandwiches (slow-cooked bbq chicken on potato rolls with monterey jack cheese)
- Bucket of Balls (powdered donut holes in a metal bucket)
- Golf Cupcakes
- 19th Hole Special Drink





Favors:

- Mexican Wedding Cookies and Bite-Size Round Brownies


Decoration:

- Golf balls in tall, round vases
- Table backdrop made with colored paper


Sources:

- baking cups, white candy pearls, favor bags – Layer Cake Shop
- paper for invitations, food cards, favor cards, cupcake flags, and wall decoration – Paper Source
- green sanding sugar – Williams Sonoma

Champagne Cake

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Time is a hot commodity. Sometimes we all need a secret recipe that tastes amazing, looks great, and only seems like it took you longer to make than it really did.

Enter, Champagne Cake.

Sadly, I cannot claim this recipe as my own. I wish I had been this creative. You may remember this little post awhile back, about the Better Homes and Gardens “Desserts” publication. Champagne Cake is in there, on page 13.

Basically, here’s what you do:

  • Buy boxed white cake mix (enough for two 9″ rounds)
  • Buy white vanilla frosting
  • Replace the called-for water with champagne (seriously)*
  • Bake according to the box directions
  • Frost

I made this for a small New Year’s get-together just a couple weeks ago. To make it more festive, I colored the frosting a light pink and added blackberries as a garnish. You could use any berry or small fruit really, and get creative with the color! These would also make great cupcakes as well.

The cake tastes great, like fluffy, moist, white cake with just a little bit of a champagne edge to it.*

Make this and I promise people will still be talking about it the next day.

*The alcohol will burn off during baking, so all that remains is the taste.