Chocolate Covered Trail Mix - Better than Moose Munch!

This past weekend, I was asked to make some chocolate covered strawberries to bring for a game night.  Since I was going to have lots of melted chocolate around the house anyway, I decided to recreate a treat someone brought us last Christmas.  The treat came from the Fresh Market in Raleigh and is similar to Moose Munch...only more delicious. How could there be a more a more fantastic chocolate trail mix treat, you may wonder?  Just wait...

This sweet snack has chocolate Chex, cashews, pretzels, popcorn, mini marshmallows, white chocolate, and dark chocolate.  Holy yum.  This recipe makes a lot of mix (as it should!) so it's perfect for parties, gifts, or just a nice way to solidify yourself as the most popular person in the office.

Ingredients

5.5 cups Chocolate Chex
1.5 cups pretzel sticks (broken in half)
6 cups kettle corn
1.5 cups cashews
1/2 cup white chocolate chips + 1.5 more melted
2-2.5 cups mini marshmallows
2.5 bags Ghiradelli Milk Chocolate Chips (11.5 ounce each)

Directions
Combine Chex, pretzels, pop corn, cashews, 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows in a large bowl.

Melt 2 11.5 ounce bags of milk chocolate chips in double boiler.

Then coat trail mix with melted milk chocolate.  There's two ways you can do this.  The first would be to pour the chocolate into the bowl and stir to coat.  Then spread the mixture evenly onto two large cookie sheets and let sit.

I decided to evenly pour the mix on two large cookie sheets.  Then I drizzled the chocolate on top, and moved it around with a spatula until everything was coated.

Then melt another half bag of milk chocolate chips and 1.5 cups white chocolate chips in different pots.  Drizzle white chocolate over the mix while spread on the cookie sheets.  Then drizzle the milk chocolate on to finish.  Let these set until chocolate completely hardens.  It's best to let the chocolate set at room temperature before setting in the refrigerator.  You want the chocolate to set at the temperature it'll be served at.

Once chocolate sets, break the mix into pieces.  Serve on a platter or section up into little baggies for gifts.  You're going to love it.

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And while you at it...you should make some chocolate covered strawberries with the other 1/2 bag of milk chocolate.  :)

Chocolate, Caramel, Pecan Layer Bars

When I get the itch to bake, I like to go through my recipe box and look for things I've jotted down but not yet made.  On the latest look through, I came across a recipe I'd acquired last spring when visiting my grandparents.  Somehow I managed to get my hands on one of Mi-Mi's old Southern Living Annual Cookbooks (1979 to be exact) and I came across a recipe for Chocolate-Caramel Layer Squares.

I knew husband would love these and it didn't take require many ingredients, so it fit the requirement of letting me bake without destroying the kitchen.  Southern Living called them layer bars, but they're really more like brownies...gewy...nutty brownies.



Ingredients

1 (14 ounce) bag caramels
2/3 cup evaporated milk, divided
1 (18.5 ounce) box German Chocolate cake mix*
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup chopped nuts
1 (6 ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels

*I'm assuming that in 1979, German Chocolate cake mix came in 18.5 ounce boxes, but today the boxes are 15.25 ounces.  I used the 15.25 ounces and it turned out just fine!

Directions

Combine caramels and 1/3 cup evaporated milk in double boiler.  Stir constantly until caramels are completely melted.  Remove double boiler from heat.

Combine dry cake mix, remaining 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and butter in medium bowl.  Once combined, stir in nuts until dough holds together.  Press half (or a little more than half) into a greased 13x9" baking pan.  Bake at 350 for 6 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate morsels over crust.  Then pour caramel mixture over chocolate morsels, spreading evenly.

Evenly spread remaining cake mix over caramel mixture (I spooned small amounts evenly, then carefully spread with my spatula).  Return to oven and bake 16-20 minutes.  Cool, then chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before cutting into small bars.

Does these not look amazing?

Enjoy!

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

Last week I told you a little about my first wedding cake gig.  The bride and groom were having their reception at the Red Hook Brewery in New Hampshire, so they requested the cake have several tie-in's to beer.  They were:

1 - A cupcake tower with "glasses of beer" cupcakes.
2 - The wedding cake (instead of being your round tiered cake) would be a KEG cake!
3 - I was to find some way to incorporate beer into the cake.

I knew numbers 1 & 2 would be no problem, but was thrown for a loop when it came to a beer cupcake.  Nowadays this is pretty standard, but keep in mind this was early 2010.  There was no Cupcake Wars showing us the craziest combinations with their magnificent successes (and failures), so I did a little research.  After several trials and errors, I found the perfect recipe online, so I thought I'd share.

Ingredients

2 cups stout (I used Guinness)
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
4 cups all purpose flour
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups sour cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.  Bring 2 cups stout and 2 cups butter to simmer in large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth.  Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a large bowl.

Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend.

Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mix and beat just to combine.

Add flour mixture and beat briefly on low.  Using a rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.

Bake in three 8" round cake pans for 35 minutes.  (This recipe also works well as cupcakes - just adjust the bake time.)

Top with your favorite frosting - I LOVE this with a cream cheese icing...PERFECT.

Mass Innovation Nights - Foodie Edition

Wednesday I went to my first Mass Innovation Night here in Boston.  Mass Innovation Nights aim to give exposure to innovative Bostonians' new ventures and help connect these brands, marketers, job seekers, and the media (or just curious people) to create awareness and buzz about cool new things going on in the Bay State.  Each month's event has a theme, and to my great excitement, February was "Foodie".  Obviously I went.  :)

This month, the meet-up was held at the Microsoft New England Research & Development Center (or N.E.R.D Center) on Memorial Drive.

Sorry about the reflection - the view was pretty enough I decided to include it anyway.

Here's a little rundown of some of my favorite finds for the night.

Off the Cob Sweet Corn Tortilla Chips - These chips are made with sweet corn (instead of dry field corn like a lot of brands out there) and seasoned with sea salt and a trace of lime, so they're sweeter than most.  I really liked the chips, but liked the story behind them even more.  Cameron, the founder, told me he got his start in college when he won Babson College's Entrepreneurial competition, a $20,000 prize.  From there, he did a Kickstarter campaign and added another $15,000 to his business.  Here's a recent article on Boston.com about the start up, and a link to where you can buy them online!

Chocolate Therapy - I was excited about checking out this table.  Ever since the truffle making class Ann and I took, I've been interested in different chocolates.  This Framingham-based store uses therapeutic ingredients in most of their truffles - cold pressed olive oil, cayenne, honey, and ginger to name a few.  They were FANTASTIC.  I especially enjoyed "Liquid Caramel" - milk chocolate with a liquid caramel center.  If you don't live in the Boston area, you can check out the online store on their website.

BodyPhysica.com - Ok...truth time...I knew these guys before the Innovation Night, but that doesn't change the fact that they're awesome!  Lisa is a veteran fitness expert and has owned a Pilates studio in Brookline for 15 years.  Last year, she released her first two fitness DVD's - Modern Pilates with Lisa Johnson and Body Physica INTENSE.  Both feature Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced modifications  so there's something for you no matter your level.  Buy her DVD's!

Image from their Facebook page

NoshOnIt - As a foodie and a blogger, I was so excited to hear about NoshOnIt.  This is a curated content network that sends a daily email featuring recipes from up-and-coming bloggers and chefs.  Each day of the week has a theme - Meatless Mondays, Healthy Tuesdays, Sweet Tooth Fridays, etc.  Sign up for whichever themes interest you and enjoy the creative and beautiful dishes the arrive in your inbox each week.  Sign up for their emails here!




BudiBar - Budi Bars were the surprise of the night.  These things were seriously delicious.  The founder developed these superfood packed treats while studying Psychology and Mind/Body at Harvard.  These have "high antioxidant levels, mind balancing Omega-3 fatty acids, mind focusing amino acids, and natural ingredients that time release energy without causing sugar spikes".  Take that 5 Hour Energy!  I sampled the Macadamia with 72% Dark Chocolate and was blown away.  Currently, they're sold in local Whole Foods or you can buy'em online.

Ivyees Jamacian Honey is a new gourmet honey company.  They are currently based outside of Boston, but farms their own bees in Jamacia.  This is not your everyday, comes in a bear-bottle honey guys.  I sampled three of their four flavors and brought home two little sample jars of their "Hibiscus & Sorrel" and "Logwood" honeys.  I can't wait to use them!  You can buy some for yourself at their website.


The other companies in attendance were Bixby Bars, Boston Teawrights, Delectable Desires, KEO Homemade Ice Cream, and Unreal Candy Unjunked.  I couldn't try most of these products because I'm allergic to soy, but did enjoy watching everyone else "ooh" and "aah" as they sampled the products.

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of these new companies as much as I did!  What are some of your favorite new finds?

Truffle Making Class and b.good

Saturday morning, my friend Ann and I headed into Boston for something I've been looking forward to for months - a truffle making class with the Boston Chocolate School!

Around the time husband was asking what I wanted for Christmas, I happened to stumble upon a Groupon for this course (usually $88, on sale for $45)!  I immediately sent the link to Travis with instruction to buy! buy! buy! and called Ann to see if she wanted to join me.  Of course the answer was yes (what's better than a 2.5 hour chocolate class?), and we purchased tickets to the January 11th class.

As we were trying to figure out what this class might be like, the only thing running through our heads was the I Love Lucy chocolate factory episode...you know the one, right?  If not, here's a clip.

While there wasn't a conveyor belt bringing us a never-ending line of chocolates, it was an AWESOME time.

We got into Boston so early that we decided to have an early lunch at b.good.  I've seen several of these around Boston, but haven't made it inside before.  All of their food is made fresh and the ingredients come from local farmers, which is awesome.  It was definitely NOT your normal fast food restaurant - everyone was nice and relaxed, it was CLEAN, and the food was great!

I got a grilled chicken sandwich with mushrooms, onions, BBQ sauce and cheese on a wheat bun with sweet potato fries.  It was delicious - especially the fries.  We thought about sending "Frank", who apparently grew the potatoes for the fries, a thank you note.  M-m-mmmm...

Once we were sufficiently full and less likely to eat all the chocolate before it was shaped into truffles, we walked down the street to Elephant & Castle, where the class was taking place.  The inside was beautiful with dark wood, stained glass, old-timey beams in the ceilings in one section.  We decided we'll have to make another trip to actually eat there another time.

The class took place downstairs in a private room.  When we came in, we were given laytex gloves, a little course packet, and a cup of the best hot chocolate I have EVER had (recipe coming soon)!

The instructor for the day was Dorian McCarron, a chocolatiere and past winner of Food Network's Sweet Genius!  Dorian was hilarious and passionate about chocolate and had lots of information to bestow on us about where it comes from, how it's made, what "trash chocolate" is, and how to work with it.

We started by looking at the different forms of chocolate (above).  From left to right they were 1) coco beans, 2) coco oil (which we all spread on our hands), 3) coco nibs (which can lower your cholesterol and increase your seratonin), 4) milk chocolate chips, and 5) dark chocolate chips.

After some more information and a demo on tempering chocolate and making a great ganache, it was time to start making some truffles of our own.  (Fun fact - did you know the literal french translation of ganache is "imbecile"?  Probably means it was invented by accident by a kitchen worker who got called a ganache for his mistake.)

Dorian had made three types of truffles for us to use - Caramel, Milk Chocolate, and Raspberry.  We were each given a tray with a cut of each chocolate to work with and the recipes so we can make them on our own later (I'll post these in another blog next time we make truffles).

Ann - so excited about the chocolate!

Catch the photo-bomb?  The helper was hilarious!

Then we got to rolling and garnishing our truffles!  There were several toppings for us to use - coco powder, powdered sugar, coco nibs, coconut, and toffee bits, or we could dip them in churning chocolate for a hard outer layer.  I ended up doing about half and half so I could bring home a good variety of treats.

Rolled truffles waiting for toppings!

Here are a few shots of the finished products!

Overall, the session lasted about three hours and was FANTASTIC.  If you're in the Boston area, I'd 100%  recommend checking out the Boston Chocolate School.  In addition to these Truffle Classes, they also offer Chocolate Walking Tours, cupcake tours, and other tasting events, so if you're just visiting Boston, this would even be a delicious way to see part of the city!

Fun day!