Food gifts this year for Christmas-

Every time I make these, they remind me of my friend Liz, who made them and brought them to one of our Holiday prep meetings. I was thrilled with something so simple and easy to make...who knew that Rolos
( which I WISH would come in DARK chocolate!!!), pretzels and pecans would be so great!
I just have to have my dark chocolate and drizzle away...before placing them in their little gift bags ready to give away to some happy foodie like me!
Plus they're just so darn cute, don't you think?

Hub's 56th Birthday goodies!

YES, I am still baking! It's a challenge to do it in the kitchen I use, but as long as I get into the "groove"
-it's a joyful and happy thing for me. Hub turns 56 on Christmas Eve, and as long as we have been together, there is a conscious effort to separate birthday from Christmas. He wanted Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cherry cookies, and I said NO...I can make cookies and scones for him any day. He is a chocolate monster...he LOVES chocolate...and I thought I was baaad. Nope, a day without chocolate is a day without sunshine for him. We have bowls of dark MM's, dark Dove, and there is a Lindt dark chocolate reindeer sitting on his nightstand next to a Weck jar filled with dark covered almonds, cherries and blueberries...
do YOU THINK he LOVES chocolate?

Anyhow, since we are traveling tonight to family, it was important that these got made. I just got a new batch of Pernigotti Cocoa, and tweaked my one recipe...subbed sour cream for the buttermilk and added a tsp of espresso powder to make the cocoa sing! I had to taste test a misfit cupcake, and I must say the cake is AWESOME!!!

I filled them with a truffle recipe made with Guittard bittersweet chocolate pastilles, heavy cream and unsalted butter, then they were topped off with caramel meringue buttercream and vanilla meringue buttercream with Valrhona dark chocolate crunch pearls...the house wafts of dark chocolate, sugar and butter. If we weren't ready for a birthday before , we are now!

Happy travels wherever you may be going, be safe and enjoy your families and GOOD food :-)

Truffle filled Dark chocolate cupcakes with meringue buttercream

It's not a mound of mashed potatoes...really...

Well, this was a last minute order. I was out having a catch up / net working lunch with a friend and my brother calls needing a carrot cake for a dinner party in 30 hours. More details, and I find out that the guests, who this cake is for, have had my carrot cake. Last year, I sent my brother with my filled carrot cake cupcakes as a house gift. The husband apparently LOVES carrot cake and thus, a request for the carrot cake again.

No extras like last year. No nuts, no pecan creme filling, no orange zest in the cream cheese frosting...oh, my creative heart. No, no...this simple, beauty has 3 layers of moist carrot cake filled with layers of caramel cream, (luscious, buttery sugary, heavy cream vanilla goodness) topped with vanilla bean cream cheese frosting and a gentle sprinkling of cinnamon. 

I had a taste of the trimmings, just the cake with a lovely mug of hot tea...and it's great when it's naked. I'm confident that it was decadent in all it's glory.

Yup, still baking and having fun when I can get it. More stories to come...