Frosty Eggnog Latte

This delicious little drink is precisely the reason I made Eggnog Ice Cream in the first place. It's simple and decadent and would be perfect for entertaining this holiday season. You can, of course, make it with any flavor ice cream; I think a nice peppermint flavor would hit the spot as you're finishing your wrapping or watching the kids dig into their treasures.

I should note that it's imperative you use cold coffee! I completely messed up poor Brooke's demonstration by forgetting to brew the coffee in time to chill it. The result was a luke-warm concoction that tasted awesome but felt really weird.


Frosty Eggnog Latte
just barely adapted from The Pampered Chef

• 4 cups ice cream, softened
• 2 cups milk, chilled
• 2 cups brewed coffee, chilled
• sugar, to taste

Mix all ingredients thoroughly until smooth. Serve, topping with whipped cream if desired.

Serves 6

Mocha Cupcakes

I think I love cupcakes more than actual cake. They are just so adorable and you can have so much fun with them!

For Danny's first birthday party, I made a variety of cupcakes. As I've mentioned before, I've pretty much given up on "from scratch" cakes and cupcakes, and I'm amazed at how many recipes are out there with a cake mix base.

I found these mocha cupcakes on Big Red Kitchen, and they were absolutely incredible. There was just the right balance of coffee and chocolate, and they received rave reviews.


Ingredients

• One pkg Devil’s food cake mix
• 1 3.9 ox. pkg instant chocolate pudding
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 cup melted butter
• 6 eggs
• One double shot espresso (or 2 T. instant coffee or espresso powder)
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350° and fill your cupcake pan with liners.

In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in sour cream, melted butter, eggs and espresso. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4minutes on medium speed. Blend in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Mystery Mocha

My parents came over on the 4th of July for some golf and a belated Father's Day and Birthday dinner. I was excited to try out this recipe I saw on Tasty Kitchen - "Mystery Mocha." Interestingly, this was submitted to Tasty Kitchen by a dude named Larry, and that's my dad's name. Hmmm...


Anyway, make this. Soon. It was so easy to throw together and so delicious. I didn't have enough brown sugar and it definitely made a difference - but almost non-noticeable when you throw some ice cream on top.


Ingredients

• ¾ cups Granulated Sugar
• 1 cup Sifted All-Purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• ⅛ teaspoons Salt
• 1 piece Unsweetend Chocolate (1 Square)
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• ½ cups Whole Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• ½ cups Brown Sugar
• ½ cups Granulated Sugar (additional)
• 4 Tablespoons Powdered Cocoa (Not Drink Mix)
• 1 cup Cold Strong Coffee

Sift together 3/4 cup sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Melt square of unsweetened chocolate and butter in the microwave. Add to dry ingredients alternately with the milk and vanilla. Blend. Pour into a greased 8×8 pan.

Combine brown sugar, the 1/2 cup additional granulated sugar and cocoa powder. Sprinkle over the cake batter. Pour the one cup COLD coffee on top. This will look TERRIBLE. Bake 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Serve warm with ice cream or sweetened whip cream or whipped topping. This will serve 8. In a 9×9 square pan, you can cut 9 pieces. Best served warm.

Sloppy Brookes

Ryan really loves our friends Brooke and Joe and associates their names together. So I probably shouldn't have been surprised when the following conversation took place a few weeks ago.


We were about to sit for dinner, and he asked what we were having; I told him I made Sloppy Joes. He thought about that for a minute and answered, "And Sloppy Brookes, too?"

I, of course, told our friends about this immediately, and Brooke declared that there SHOULD be a Sloppy Brooke sandwich. We immediately started collaborating and discussing Brooke's favorite foods: chocolate, cheese, and coffee.

I didn't really think cheese belonged in that group, but Brooke reminded me that cream cheese would work just fine. We brainstormed some more and finally...

The Sloppy Brooke was born.


I selected Brooke's favorite chocolate chip cookie for the "bread" part of the sandwich (I did not enlarge them like she suggests, though I would for sure do that if I was making them to stand alone), and stuffed it with a mocha cream cheese filling. Since Brooke drinks hazelnut coffee, I rolled the sandwiches in roasted hazelnuts.

Ryan and I had a blast concocting these, and they were delicious! The mocha in the cream cheese is subtle and not overpowering (and the leftovers are awesome on your morning bagel!), and the roasted nuts made me feel like I was eating Nutella. And the cookies... oh, the cookies! On their own they are fantastic; as part of this sandwich, they are divine.

Brooke, we hope you enjoy these little treats! Next up, a Sloppy Chily...


Ingredients

For the cookies:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

For the mocha cream cheese filling:

• 2 cups cream cheese
• 2 rounded tablespoons hot chocolate mix
• 1-2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup espresso

• 1 cup hazelnuts, chopped

To make the cookies:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Cover dough and chill for 2 hours.
Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool completely on baking sheet.

To make the mocha cream cheese filling:
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a mixer. Mix on medium speed until smooth and incorporated.

To make the hazelnuts:
Place in a small skillet over medium heat and toast, stirring frequenty, for just a few minutes. Watch them closely - they burn easily!

To assemble:
Take one cookie and drop a spoonful of the cream cheese mixture on the underside. Top with another cookie (so the bottoms of the cookies are "facing" each other). Roll the sides in the roasted hazelnuts; repeat for all cookies.

Mocha Cupcakes

When Annie first posted this recipe for White Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes, I starred it immediately and couldn't wait to make them. Chocolate + Coffee + Cupcakes = goooooood.

Our families were coming over to our house after brunch on Mother's Day, and I thought these would be a perfect contribution. I even got to whip out the cupcake stand that I haven't used since Ryan's first birthday party!

If you aren't a coffee drinker, fret not - you really can't taste the actual coffee. It just adds a layer of richness to the chocolate and really enhances the flavor.

(I don't know why the top right of this photo is so overexposed... pretend there isn't a chunk of picture missing, 'kay?)

These cupcakes were delicious, and I received many compliments on them - especially on the heart decorations! I don't have piping bags, so I used a sandwich baggie which worked beautifully. I do wish I had made the hole just slightly bigger for thicker outlines, but that's okay.

I also had no success at all with the icing. I'm not sure what I did wrong. The first portion of heavy cream whipped right up, but then that was it. Once I added the white chocolate/cream part, it kind of thickened a little, but no peaks. I kept the white chocolate/cream combo in the fridge, but maybe it wasn't cool enough? That's really all I could think of. So, on our way to brunch, we stopped at the grocery store for some store-bought frosting. Oh well.

So for obvious reasons, I removed the "White Chocolate" part of the title. :)


Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 5 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 2 cups cake flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 5 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups hot coffee
• 12 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. brown sugar

For the whipped cream:

• 6 oz. white chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream

For decorating:

• 4 oz. chocolate (I used semisweet), finely chopped
• chocolate sprinkles

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate. Let cool slightly. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the sour cream, cocoa powder and baking soda. Mix to form a paste and then slowly whisk in the coffee. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Slowly add the egg and vanilla mixture and beat until combined. Add the melted chocolate and beat well. Add the flour mixture, alternating with the liquid mixture, beating just until all ingredients are incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners. Bake 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the white chocolate whipped cream, place the chopped white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Melt, stirring occasionally. When the chocolate is almost melted, bring 1/2 cup of the cream to a boil. Once the chocolate is fully melted, transfer the bowl to a counter, pour in the hot cream and let it sit for one minute. Then stir gently with a spatula until the chocolate is smooth. Let the chocolate sit until it reaches room temperature – the chocolate can’t be the least bit warm when it is added to the whipped cream.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the remaining 1 cup cream only until it holds the softest peaks. With the mixer on high speed, add the white chocolate all at once and continue to beat just until the mixture holds firm peaks. Transfer the cream to a bowl, press a piece of plastic wrap gently against the surface and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

While the cream is setting, make the chocolate decorations. Spread a piece of wax paper on a flat work surface. Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and microwave in 30 seconds intervals, stirring in between, until completely melted. Allow the chocolate to cool for several minutes (I probably waited 10-15 minutes). Transfer the melted chocolate to a plastic squeeze bottle (a plastic bag with the corner cut off would also work). Carefully squeeze the melted chocolate onto the wax paper in the desired shape. Allow to set completely. Carefully peel off of the wax paper.

Frost the cupcakes with the now set white chocolate whipped cream, top with chocolate sprinkles, and garnish with chocolate decorations. Store in the refrigerator but serve at room temperature for best flavor.

Source: Annie's Eats - cupcakes adapted from Miss Cupcake Face, whipped cream from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Mocha Ice Cream

I wanted to make a fun ice cream flavor for when my parents and brothers came over for dinner. My two favorite things in the world (besides Ryan, of course) are chocolate and coffee, so I set off on a search to find an ice cream recipe that would satisfy both.

This Mocha Ice Cream from myrecipes.com was perfect! It might be actually a TOUCH too rich, but that's really okay - that just means that I have a little less, and a) the ice cream lasts longer, and b) I don't get as fat. ;)


The only suggestion I have is to let the mixture sit in the fridge for much longer. After 2 hours, mine was not cold enough, and it didn't mix in the machine; I had to put the machine, with the mixture inside, in the freezer for another 45 minutes before it fluffed up.


Ingredients

• 1 (8-ounce) package semisweet chocolate squares, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup strong brewed coffee
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 3/4 cup sugar, divided
• 3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
• 4 egg yolks

Microwave chocolate in a 1-quart microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 1/2 minutes or until melted, stirring twice; stir in brewed coffee. Set chocolate mixture aside.

Bring whipping cream, half-and-half, 1/2 cup sugar, and coffee granules to a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar and coffee dissolve.

Beat yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar at high speed with an electric mixer until thick and pale. With mixer at low speed, gradually pour hot cream mixture into yolk mixture; return to saucepan.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 6 to 8 minutes or until mixture thickens and coats a spoon. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate mixture. Cover and chill 2 hours.

Pour chilled mixture into freezer container of a 5-quart hand-turned or electric freezer. Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

Pack freezer with additional ice and rock salt, and let stand 1 hour. Serve ice cream with cookies, if desired.