Chocolate Kitty Jack-O-Lantern

This is a centerpiece I made in school (sorry about the photo quality, I only had my phone).

To make a hollow pumpkin (egg, ball, etc.) of your own follow these directions.

• Blow up a balloon to desired size and grease.
  
• Temper chocolate and dip balloon in chocolate covering all but the top
  
• Let the chocolate dry (you can set the balloon on a plate but might want to tie a string to the top and attach to something else so the balloon won't fall over)
• Once chocolate is hard, dip again in tempered chocolate and set to dry. (Do this procees a total of 3-4 times to get a thick enough shell, so that it won't break when you carve into it)
• Once the final layer is completely dry you can pop the balloon. Depending on how well you greased the balloon, it may or may not come out.

To decorate use cookie cutters or an exacto knife. Heat the knife tip or edge of cutter over a heat gun. Careful not to burn the metal or yourself! Slowly and with little pressure insert into the chocolate to carve desired design. You will need to keep re-heating your tools while you are carving. To add other pieces of chocolate, use tempered chocolate as "glue".

Have fun!

-amanda

Dessert Table: Baby/Wedding Combo

I have been dying to make a dessert table for months now, but never had a reason to do one until now. One of my co-workers is getting married next week, and the other who happens to be her cousin is having a baby girl in November. So we decided at work to throw them a little surprise wedding/baby shower. I figured this would be the perfect event for my first dessert table. It was so much fun to do, I hope I can do more in the future!



Details:









-amanda

Chocolate Bow

My first day working with chocolate at school we made bows! It was a very lengthy process mainly because chocolate is hard to work with because you have to keep it in temper. If you are unfamiliar with working with chocolate and how to temper here are some helpful instructions: Tempering Chocolate.

One thing I want to stress is to make sure that you don't get any water in your chocolate, or it is ruined. This includes steam, so if you are using a double boiler with your chocolate, make sure the bowl fits over your pot correctly so no steam can roll into the bowl. You also have to be careful when using a double boiler that you don't burn your chocolate. I prefer to pour the hot water into a bowl and use that instead of a pot over direct heat. It may take a little longer to melt, but there is less stress of burning and not as much steam to worry about.

I don't have my notes with me on how to make the bow, and I don't really know how helpful they would be without step-by-step pictures. However, if you really want my notes, let me know and I can send them to you.

-amanda

Blueberry Ice Cream

This blueberry ice cream was fun to make and tasted good, but a little too tangy for my taste. But still a nice refreshing treat. (I forgot to save some blueberries for garnish, oops! So sorry about the not so exciting picture!)

Blueberry Ice Cream
(from Noble Pig)

• 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen, if frozen, thaw and drain)
• 1/3 cup sugar, or more to taste
  
• Pinch of salt
• Zest of one lime
• Juice of 1/2 a lime, or more juice to taste
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup sour cream

In a medium saucepan cook blueberries, sugar, salt, lime zest and juice over medium heat, stirring until mixture boils and the berries pop and soften, about 4 minutes.

Pour the berry mixture into a blender and whirl until a puree is achieved, about 1 minute. The mixture will not be completely smooth. Add the heavy cream and sour cream and pulse to blend. Taste and add a bit more lime juice or sugar if you choose.

Pour the blend into a bowl and refrigerate until it is chilled before churning into ice cream.

Tip: If you don't like blueberry skin, after blending the blueberries try to put the mixture through a sieve to get rid of skin, and then finish adding the creams.

-amanda

Dirt and Worms!

Dirt and worms brings me back to the third grade when kids brought in treats for their birthday. It was the first time I ever had dirt and worms, and I believe the last. Until now! My friend at work has been talking about dirt and worms for awhile, so I made it for her birthday. And it was so yummy!!! The best part is, it only took minutes to make! It's a nice quick treat and fun for kids (and adults too...ahem).

Dirt and Worms
Makes about 10 - 7oz cups

• 2 cups cold milk
• 1 pkg. (4-serving size) Jello-O chocolate instant pudding
• 1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip whipped topping, thawed
• 20 Oreo Cookies, finely crushed, divided (I take out the creme)
  
• Gummy Worms (plain or sour)

Pour the milk into a large bowl and add the pudding mix. Beat with a whisk until well blended, about 2 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes. Mix in the Cool Whip and half of the Oreo crumbs.

Pour into cups or container of your choice and top with remaining Oreo crumbs (you can always crush up some more Oreos if want more dirt on top). Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and add gummy worms before serving.

-amanda

Classic Creme Brulee

Creme brulee...my boyfriend's true love. ;o)

It is the only dessert that he really likes. In fact, he likes it so much that he makes it himself, and I just assist him. :o) Personally, creme brulee is not my favorite dessert because it lacks something that I find to be a necessary ingredient in a delightful dessert.....Chocolate! I do suppose you could make some sort of chocolate creme brulee, but so far all we have had is your basic creme brulee with fruit. Enjoy!

1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbs. plus additional 1/3 cup sugar
2 extra large or jumbo egg yolks
½ tsp. vanilla extract

•Preheat oven to 300ºF. Prepare some boiling water.
•In a saucepan over medium heat, combine cream and 2 Tbs sugar; cook, stirring occasionally until small bubbles appear around edges of pan, 5-6 minutes. Set aside.
•In a bowl, beat egg yolks and vanilla until smooth and light. Pour hot cream mixture into egg yolks, a little at a time, beating continuously until well blended. Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl. Divide mixture among four 4 oz. ramekins.
•Arrange ramekins in a baking pan and place on middle shelf of preheated oven. Fill pan with boiling water to halfway up sides of ramekins. Cover pan loosely with aluminum foil. Bake until custard is just set, about 25 minutes (use caution when removing ramekins from oven as they will be very hot!). Chill 2-3 hours.
•Sprinkle remaining sugar evenly over top of cooled custards. With the kitchen torch, move the flame continuously over the surface of the ramekins, in a circular motion until sugar melts and becomes golden brown and bubbly. Serve immediately surrounded by fresh fruit or refrigerate for later use (if saving for later use, wait to torch the sugar until ready to serve).

♥ Thanks B for all the hard work and help with this one! ♥

-amanda

New Layout and Giveaway!

Sorry I have been MIA for so long. I have been out of town a lot and started baking and pastry school which keeps me quite busy along with work. Over the next couple months I will be posting some different things I make in school. So be sure to check back!

Now onto the fun stuff! How do you like the new layout? That's me as a cartoon! :o) Fun huh? Well, I told you I would be doing a giveaway when I got my new layout. So here it is!

If you win you will receive:
2 potholders, 1 oven mitt, and 1 kitchen towel,
all with a cute cupcake/flower pattern!

• You must follow my blog to be eligible.
• And just so I know you're still out there, leave a comment on this post about what you think of my new layout, ideas of new desserts I should make, or whatever you want!
• Make sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you win!
• Winner will be picked by random.org.
• Deadline for post is Friday, September 11th @ 5pm.

Good Luck!

And the winner is....Kim from Stirring the Pot! Congratulations!

-amanda