Milk Chocolate Cabbage Leaves with Ice Cream

Thank you Martha, these were fabulous!

Ingredients

• 1 large head green cabbage I used a small head
• 1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate I used half a bag of Hersheys milk chocolate chips
• 1 pint vanilla ice cream

Directions

1. Remove 8 whole outer cabbage leaves. Running under cold water helps

2 .Bring a saucepan filled with 2 inches of water to a simmer. Remove from heat. Melt half the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over saucepan, stirring gently with a rubber spatula, until chocolate reaches 118 degrees on a candy thermometer. (Watch the chocolate carefully, since the time it takes for different chocolates to heat and cool can vary.) Remove from heat.

3. Add remaining unmelted chocolate to bowl, and stir until chocolate cools to 84 degrees. (Remove any unmelted pieces with spatula.) Return bowl to saucepan, and let stand, stirring, until chocolate registers 88 degrees to 90 degrees. I melted my chocolate in the microwave for 30 second increments until melted

 4. Immediately coat outside of 1 cabbage leaf with a thick layer of chocolate using a pastry brush. Drape leaf, chocolate side up, over a small inverted bowl to keep the rounded shape of the leaf. Repeat with remaining leaves and chocolate. 5. Refrigerate leaves on bowls until set, about 30 minutes.

 

6.Gently grasp outer edge of each chocolate leaf with your fingers, and carefully tear off pieces of cabbage. Use kitchen scissors to cut away any tough, thick pieces of cabbage.

 Arrange chocolate bowls on plates, I used the same bowls I had the leaves on since they were cold and would hold the chocolate mold longer while I prepared the ice cream and toppings, and fill with scoops of ice cream.

German Chocolate Cupcakes

I found this recipe through Duncan Hines, changed the frosting to a chocolate ganache frosting with toasted coconut.....turned out FABULOUS!!

 Ingredients

• 1 pkg Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® German Chocolate Cake Mix
• 1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut
• 1 tub Duncan Hines® Creamy Home-Style Cream Cheese Frosting

Baking Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease muffin pans or line with paper baking cups.
2. Prepare cupcakes according to package directions. Spoon batter into lined muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and egg; mix until smooth. Stir in chips and coconut. Spoon about 1 tablespoon cream cheese mixture onto batter of each cupcake.

Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cupcakes following package directions.

5. Spread cupcakes with frosting. Garnish with toasted coconut and mini-chocolate chips if desired. I used a chocolate ganache made from half semi sweet chocolate and half dark chocoalte and a shot of heavy cream, melt and stir until smooth. Once chocolate is cooled beat in powdered sugar until it has the consistency you desire.

Visit Duncan Hines for the original recipe!

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Wow, these turned out delicious!!!! And they were super simple!

 Cupcakes

Beat:

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 oil

Then add in:

1 1/2 cups peeled, shredded apple

Beat in, til smooth:

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Bake @350 for 30 minutes

Frosting

Melt in saucepan:

1/4 cup butter (half stick)

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

 Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1 tsp vanilla.

 Drizzle on cupcakes after the frosting has cooled.

Colored Clouds

The Bean Chicago

Cheese Filled Italian Mini Meat Loaves Feb. 08, 2012

Made mini meatloaves, they came out great, used colby and used all lean ground beef and omitted the italian sausage...

Ingredients:
3/4 pound extra-lean ground beef

3/4 pound Italian sausage

1/2 cup Italian-style bread crumbs

1/2 cup pizza sauce*

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 Land O Lakes® All-Natural Egg

3 ounce chunk mozzarella Cheese, cut into 18 (1/2-inch) cubes

Pizza sauce, heated

 

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine beef, sausage, bread crumbs, pizza sauce, pepper and egg in medium bowl.

Form beef mixture into 6 individual, oval-shaped loaves. Insert 3 cubes cheese into center of each loaf, reshaping loaves if necessary. Place loaves into ungreased 13x9-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until loaves are no longer pink in center (some cheese may come out during baking).

To serve, spoon pizza sauce over meat loaves.

*Substitute your favorite spaghetti sauce.

Thanks Land O Lakes for the recipe!

 

Ranch Ham 'N' Cheese Pasta February 07, 2012

This was tonights dinner. Kids and husband loved it. Served with fresh bread and salad.

  
25 Ingredients

• 1 package (16 ounces) penne pasta
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 cup fat-free milk
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon salt-free lemon-pepper seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon dill weed
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup (8 ounces) reduced-fat sour cream
• 2 cups cubed fully cooked lean ham
• 1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

• Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. In a Dutch oven, melt butter; whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually add milk and seasonings. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
• Reduce heat; fold in sour cream until blended. Add ham and pasta; cook and stir until heated through. Remove from the heat; stir in Mexican cheese blend until melted. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Yield: 10 servings.

Thanks to Taste of Home for the recipe

Cocoa Banana Muffins

Like any other chic, I like to use old banana's for baking. Tonight I pulled out one of my favorite cookbooks, The Modern Baker.

Check out the authors Blog -  Nick Malgieri!

One of the easiest and tastiest recipes from this fab book is the Cocoa Banana Muffins.

The recipe is simple and uses ingredients that most people have on hand. To spice mine up a bit I sprinkle nuts on a few and choco chips on a few (mainly for my husband and kids!).

A quick 30 minutes in the oven and my daughter is off eating three muffins! Apparently I need to make double batches from now on!

For some more fun check out a great blog that intends on making all 150 recipes from the cook book! AWESOME!

The Modern Baker Challenge