Ghiradelli Souffles - Repost

This is a repost from last year, but so good! I've updated the recipe since the chocolate from last year is no longer made. I suggest using both Ghirardelli chocolate chips, but I used what I had. Here's a tutorial. This would be great on Valentine's Day!

Image courtesy of Ghirardelli.com

What you need:

Ghiradelli Souffles

1/2 bag of Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate

1/2 bag of Ghiarardelli Milk Chocolate Chips

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar **

6 egg whites

4 egg yolks

2 Tbsp flour

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

ten 6 oz. ramekins (or eight 7 oz - pictured above)

Optional: Powdered sugar, Lightly sweetened whipped cream, Ice cream, raspberries or strawberries

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 375 with a rack in the lower 3rd. (These can be made ahead of time & refrigerated for up to two days.) Once cooked, serve immediately.

Butter & sugar your ramekins. Pour about a tspn. of sugar and dump the extra into the next buttered ramekin. Repeat until all are done. These came from Walmart.

Separate egg whites from egg yolks in two separate containers. Add vanilla in the yolks container. (No need to stir vanilla in.)
You have to work quickly when working with chocolate. Get everything ready like above.
In a large heavy saucepan, whisk butter and flour over medium heat until the butter melts and sizzles for about 1 minute. (You want a smoother texture, if butter & flour clump together, discard and start again)

Whisk in the milk. Turn off the heat, keep pan on burner, add chocolate chips & stir until melted. Stir in yolks & vanilla. Set aside off of heat.

- Beat egg whites with cream of tartar on high speed until they hold a soft shape. Add sugar gradually, beating until stiff and glossy. Scoop out 1/4 of the egg whites mixture and fold into the pan of melted chocolate.

Then fold the chocolate from the pan into the bowl of remaining egg whites.

Divide batter among the ramekins, filling each about 3/4 full or 1/2 cup worth of batter. Cook immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to two days before cooking.

Bake souffles on a cookie sheet until they rise and crack and a toothpick comes out with thick gooey crumbs, about 15-20 minutes. Previously refrigerated souffles may need to cook 3-5 minutes more. Sieve powdered sugar over souffles and serve immediately. Top with desired toppings.

To see original post click here.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

This post is for Jared's friends at work that were asking for it. I wish I had taken a picture, but once these were out of the oven we were more concerned with eating them than having a photo shoot. They are so good!

I got this recipe from my friend Colleen who makes all kinds of delicious things! Everyone needs a Colleen in their life to share their delicious recipes with you!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

3 1/2 c. flour

3 c. sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 c. oil

3/4 c. water

2 cups of pumpkin (or one 15 oz. can)

4 eggs

1 cup chocolate chips (I use the whole bag - 2 cups)

1 cup walnuts (optional)

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry & mix together until combined.

Pour into greased containers. Fill pan 1/2 to 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 degrees.

Cooking Times:

1 large loaf - 1 hour or more

3 medium loaves - 45 minutes or more

5 mini loaves - 35 minutes or more

muffins - 25 minutes or more

(It always takes longer than I think it should to cook through the middle, this is about when I start checking the loaves.)

Icing:

Powdered Sugar & milk & dash of lemon juice. Mix to a runny consistency & pour over top of cooked pumpkin bread. (I start with 4 parts sugar to 1 part milk, and then add more milk as needed. I'm not sure what the lemon juice does, sometimes I have it, sometimes I don't. It doesn't affect the taste.)

Jared's Favorite Banana Pudding

Jared got this recipe from a co-worker when he used to work at the credit union. I have tried & failed more times than I can count on getting this pudding to set up. I followed her recipe, but I think there must be too much of something in my failed attempts that was preventing it from working. The good news even the mistakes tasted delicious, just extremely runny. I finally mastered it, with some modifications.

The Ingredients:

16 oz of Heavy Whipping Cream

3.4 oz box of INSTANT banana/banana cream pudding (the small box)

14 oz can of Sweetened Condensed Milk

1/2 cup of cold water

1 box of Nilla Wafers

5-7 bananas

Directions:

Using a whisk mix all ingredients except banana & wafers in a bowl. Whisk, by hand, for 2 minutes. Refrigerate for 3-5 minutes to set up.

In a small oblong pan, or square pan (8x8 or 9x9) place wafers, flat side down, in the dish. Layer sliced bananas on top of the wafers. Top with half of the pudding mixture. Repeat with wafers & bananas. Top with remaining pudding. Remaining cookies can be crumbled on the top.

Banana Bread

This recipe is from my fantastic friend Summer T. I love her recipes because they make me look like I am a excellent cook. This recipe is idiot proof. It consistently taste great every time. It's the perfect balance of sweet and muffin-y banana flavor.

This was my last piece I made 4 days ago. It still taste moist & delicious!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 mashed bananas (brown & mushy ones work best!)
2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
- Combine the margarine & sugar until smooth
- Mix in the eggs. Add the mashed bananas.
- Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Bake at 350:
Bread Pan bakes for 1 hour
Big Muffins bake for 20 minutes
Mini Muffins bake for 15 minutes.

Classic Chocolate Cake

This is the best chocolate cake recipe that I have. It has great flavor, and is really moist. However, I keep trying to add more to it just to make it that much better. Every time I mess with it ends in disaster. I need to learn to just leave it as is.

Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar

1 1/3 cup flour

3/4 cup cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350

2. Boil water

3. Grease & Flour two 9" circle pans, or one 9 x 13

4. In large bowl stir sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder & soda & salt

5. Add in eggs, milk, oil, & vanilla

6. Beat medium speed for 2 min.

7. Stir in water. Batter will be thin and runny.

8. Pour into pans. Cook 30-35 min for rounds, 35-40 for rectangle.

(Do not use a bundt pan, batter will overflow. Do not add chocolate chips to the recipe they sink to the bottom of your pan and will keep your cake from releasing from pan.)

Frosting: I just use store bought frosting because I haven't found a good chocolate one I like.

Mini Muffin Pan Treats

I was baking up a storm today. I've been craving these, and thought great, I'll make them for my visiting teaching girls, and then I can have some without going overboard. After checking the weight loss blog of our 100 days challenge group, I'm thinking of anonymously delivering some to the big losers so far, just to even things out. Wait, they read my blog, drat.

Pampered Chef Truffle Brownie Cups:

Nonstick Cooking Spray

1 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons butter (do not substitute margarine)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Assorted garnishes: orange zest, maraschino cherries, toasted almond slices, whipped topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 325. Spray wells of mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place 2/3 cup f chocolate chips & butter into medium sized microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 40-60 seconds until smooth, stirring after every 20 second interval.

Add sugar & egg into the same bowl as melted chocolate. Add flour, mix just until flour is incorporated. Divide batter evenly among wells, filling about 2/3 full. Using a mini tart shaper, gently tap batter to create level tops. Bake 10-12 minutes until edges or set. (Do not overbake.)

While brownie cups are baking: Pour heavy whipping cream into microwave safe container. Microwave on high 1-2 minutes until hot. Add 1 cup of chocolate chips & whisk until smooth. Place container into freezer for 10-12 minutes or until mixture is cool & starting to thicken. Stir after each 5 minute interval. Spoon ganache into a ziploc bag & close.

Remove pan from oven & cool 2 minutes. (If you have a cookie cooling rack, set pan on this to cool faster) Press tops of brownies with mini-tart shaper to make indentions. Cool in pan for 3 minutes. Carefully remove brownie from pan. Trim corner of ziploc bag with a very small hole, just enough for the ganache to flow through. Pipe ganache evenly into brownie cups. Garnish if desired.

Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies:

Check out my friend Summer's blog for the recipe.

Ghiradelli Souffles

I made these for our dessert on Christmas Eve. They were excellent! This is a total diet buster, but may be an indulgence you want to try on Valentine's Day. I found two recipes on the Ghiradelli site, and combined to make this one. If you don't have ramekins, which are available Walmart, you can use a muffin pan with liners. Not as pretty, but still dang good.

Image from www.Ghiradelli.com

Ghiradelli Souffles

5 oz. Ghiradelli Gourmet 58 percent Cacao Semi Sweet Chocolate *

6 oz milk chocolate chips*

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar **

6 egg whites

4 egg yolks

2 Tbsp flour

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

ten 6 oz. ramekins (or eight 7 oz)

Optional: Powdered sugar, Lightly sweetened whipped cream, Ice cream, raspberries or strawberries

*Note: you will only use about half a bag of each chocolate chips.

**Cream of tartar is best, if you don't have that use 1/4 tsp of lemon juice instead.

Directions:

- You have to work quick working with melted chocolate. Make sure to have everything measured out before starting.

- Preheat oven to 375 with a rack in the lower 3rd

- Butter and sugar the ramekins.

- Separate egg whites from egg yolks in two separate containers. Add vanilla in the yolks container. (No need to stir vanilla in.)

- Measure out sugar and milk & set aside in separate containers.

- In a large heavy saucepan, whisk butter and flour over medium heat until the butter melts and sizzles for about 1 minute. (You want a smoother texture, if butter & flour clump together, discard and start again) Whisk in the milk Turn off the heat, keep pan on burner, add chocolate chips & stir until melted. Stir in yolks & vanilla. Set aside off of heat.

- Beat egg whites with cream of tartar on high speed until they hold a soft shape. Add sugar gradually, beating until stiff and glossy. Scoop out 1/4 of the egg whites mixture and fold into the pan of melted chocolate. Then fold the chocolate from the pan into the bowl of remaining egg whites. Divide batter among the ramekins, filling each about 3/4 full. Cook immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to two days before cooking.

Bake souffles on a cookie sheet until they rise and crack and a toothpick comes out with thick gooey crumbs, about 15-20 minutes. Previously refrigerated souffles may need to cook 3-5 minutes more. Sieve powdered sugar over souffles and serve immediately. Top with desired toppings.

Toasted Cinnamon Walnuts

I found this recipe from allrecipes.com. It got overall good reviews, but every person that commented said they added something to make the recipe great. So I thought, I'll just add all these ingredients together and it will be really good. And they were! I had walnuts on hand, so I used those to test out the recipe. I think it would work with any nut.

Ingredients:

1 egg white

1 tspn. vanilla

1/3 cup cooled, melted butter

3-4 cups walnuts/almonds/pecans

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 tspn. salt

1 tspn. cinnamon (more could be added if you like cinnamon)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to a low 250 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet, or layer it with parchment paper.

2. In a medium-large bowl lightly beat the egg with a whisk, add vanilla, and beat until frothy, but not stiff. Add the melted butter, and beat again. Add the nuts and stir until well coated.

3. Mix the sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Sprinkle over the nuts. Toss to coat, and spread evenly in one layer on the prepared pan.

4. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes, until golden. Allow to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Mammaw Dordie's Carrot Cake

My red-headed grandmother makes the best desserts. Our family favorite is her carrot cake. (Ignore the section without nuts -- my dad has particulars like he doesn't like to eat nuts, or want to have actual bananas in banana pudding. That section is just for him.) Normally, I'm not a fan of adding vegetables to a perfectly good cake but, this recipe is fantastic. (Don't even get me started on adding raisins to cookies -- hmmm....I wonder where I got my particulars from?) The only downfall is to truly do it up right you need to make it a few days in advance of when you want to serve so you have time freeze it. Freezing and then defrosting it gives it a lot of moisture and is worth the additional planning.

Cake:
2 cups of flour
2 cups of sugar
2 tspn baking soda
2 tspn cinnamon
1 tspn salt
1 cup oil
4 eggs
1 lb. carrots finely chopped (the small pack)
1 tspn vanilla

Icing:
1 box philadelphia cream cheese
1 stick margarine
1 tspn vanilla
2 cups of confectioner's sugar
1 cup chopped pecans *

Directions:
Cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Cake bakes 50-60 minutes.
2. Peel & finely chop carrots
3. Mix dry ingredients for cake. Sift dry ingredients **
4. Add oil & mix. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.
5. Stir in carrots.
6. Cook cake for 50-60 minutes. Let cool completely. Freeze uniced cake for 24-48 hours.

Icing:
(Remove cake from freezer. Add icing once it's defrosted- it will defrost at room temperature in a few hours, or in refrigerator overnight).
1. Use mixer to mix cream cheese, margarine and vanilla. Slowly mix in in confectioner's sugar.
2. Ice cake with icing. Sprinkle icing with chopped pecans.

* I use two - 2 oz. packs of Fisher's chopped pecans and have plenty.You might need 1 cup of pecans if you are starting with whole pecans.
** I don't own a sifter. My extremely non-baking professional, make due with what I have form of sifting is to use a whisk to mix the dry ingredients. I'm not sure exactly what I'm doing but, I just try to fluff the mixture up and get everything thoroughly mixed together.

Store cake covered in refrigerator to retain moisture. The cake tastes best a few days after you make it.

Warm Nutty Caramel Brownies

We had a Pampered Chef Party at our house yesterday. Here is the recipe we made. Hands down the best brownie I have ever had. Happy Baking!

Warm Nutty Caramel Brownies
From: Pampered Chef Season’s Best 2007 cookbook

Ingredients:
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 – 12 oz pkg semi-sweet chocolate morsels, chopped
1 (18-21 oz) pkg brownie Mix**
¾ cup brown sugar packed
1 cup salted mix nuts, chopped***
5 rolls of rollos (or 1 big bag of rollos milk chocolate-covered chewy caramels)****
Vanilla ice cream, optional

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly brush oil, or spray non-stick cooking spray into shallow baking dish (Pampered Chef Large Bar Pan.)

Chop 1 ½ cup of chocolate chips. Combine brownie mix, water, oil and eggs & ¼ cup brown sugar; mix well. Fold in chopped chocolate. Pour batter into bar pan, spread evenly.

Chop nuts. Combine ½ cup of nuts & ½ cup of brown sugar in a bowl. Mix well. Sprinkle nut & sugar mixture evenly over brownie batter. Bake 20-22 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cut 16 caramels into quarters. Place remaining ½ cup chocolate chips in microwave on high 1 minute until melted, stirring after each 20 second interval. Spoon melted chocolate into Ziploc bag; set aside.

Remove bar pan from oven. Place on cooling rack. Immediately press remaining 24 caramels even into brownie in four rows of six caramels each. Sprinkle quartered caramels and remaining nuts over brownies. Trim corner of chocolate filled bag and drizzle chocolate evenly over brownies. Cut into squares, serve warm, with ice cream, if desired.


**I used Betty Crocker Hershey Original Supreme Brownie Mix with the Hershey’s syrup packet in it 22.5 oz
***I used a can of Plantar’s salted mixed nuts
****You need 40 individual rollos, unwrapped.