Desserts

I have a serious question. Can you, a normal person, actually consider one muffin a full breakfast? Especially these… these, like, baby muffins. Well, they are of traditional muffin size and not fattened up, triple-pumped Americanized muffins covered in crumble and streusel, but really? One of these would be like the equivalent of drinking a glass of water for me. (Also if someone could make the caloric effect be equivalent to that of a glass of water… that would be great.) And now my day is going to revolve around how I’m irked at the lack of crumble and streusel on top. For an actual muffin to make it into my breakfast rotation, I need a few other things of substance on a plate next to it. Maybe some fruit. Peanut butter. Some eggs. BACON. Those kinds of things. That’s why I sort of prefer my muffins to be snack worthy foods. I’d never kick a muffin outta bed for breakfast but… I like them at other times of the day too. Like right now. At 10:30PM when I’m writing this post and eating my emotions because Psy makes me feel so uncomfortable as I watch him on Dancing with the Stars. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been on a massive mascarpone kick the last few months. Putting it in EVERYTHING. Sweet, savory, using it as a spread… literally, all the things. I’ve always enjoyed it but maybe… just… never knew it’s true potential? All you italians just collectively rolled your eyes in my direction. I bet. So two weeks ago I attempted to make a lemon mascarpone loaf and it came out like… dense, unbaked cheesecake. I mean, it was SO dense. Crazy dense. Perhaps I should have measured stuffed out instead of just being a cocky brat and thinking ‘oh of course this will turn out!’ and throwing stuffed into a bowl???? Maybe, you know, figured out where things went wrong? And since I have no patience and just couldn’t handle waiting another 75 minutes while loaf cake #2 baked… muffins it was. Muffins are like the poor man’s cake. Errr… the lazy man’s cake? The impatience man’s cake? I think you get it. The good news is that I still covered that lemon loaf in one hell of a sugar bombed glaze and it made it’s way into multiple mouths. It’s just not perfect yet. So until then… muffins. Make-it-up-to-you muffins. Settle for now. Brown Sugar Lemon Mascarpone Muffins Yield: 12-16 muffins Total Time: 35 minutes Ingredients: 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour 1/2 cup loosely packed brown sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 4 lemons, zested 8 ounces cold mascarpone cheese 3/4 cups milk 1 large egg 1/3 cup greek yogurt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with liners. In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. Stir to combine. Mix in lemon zest. Add mascarpone cheese and mix in with a fork, stirring until crumbly, evenly dispersed and covered in flour. In a small bowl, whisk together milk, yogurt, egg, vanilla extract and butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring until just combined and wet. Use a 1/4 cup measure or ice cream scoop to fill the muffin liners 2/3 of the wall full. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until tops are set and golden. Remove and let cool slightly before serving. So fluffy! ©2012 How Sweet It Is

Sisters and Brothers, how many of you would love to experience chocolate from around the world, meeting the creators, and tasting the uniqueness of each culture?  Doreen Pendgracs has done this and she continues to do this for her multi-volume book series, Chocolatour: A Quest for the World’s Best Chocolate.  The first book is due out later this year and we hope to bring you a book review of it

Kcal 0 Fat 0.0g Carbs 0.0g (diet soda) Last week we received a curious package from an anonymous reader asking us to request this Chocolate Cream Pie flavoured soda. There is probably a good argument that you shouldn't be drinking unheard of drinks from strangers that arrive in the post :-) but we are a little more adventurous than that at ChocolateMission so we thought we would give this Faygo branded bottle a try. A little research on the internet revealed the following regarding Faygo: 'Faygo Beverages, Inc. is a soft drink company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The beverages produced by the company, branded as Faygo or Faygo Pop, are distributed in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Central Southern regions of the United States. Aswell available in southern Canada. Faygo Beverages, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Beverage Corporation, which also owns Shasta' .... thanks WIKI Following a sufficient chilling period in the ChocolateMission HQ fridge we shared the largish 591ml bottle out between three of us. Aesthetically the liquid looked no different to your average cola with its dark coloured complexion, aroma wise we were left unimpressed by the chemically sweet smells on offer. Fearing the worst but hoping for the best we commenced the taste test and were pleasantly surprised by our findings. The taste had a strong vanilla flavour base and had underlying elements of coffee and chocolatey syrup. It wasn't exactly the most sophisticated of flavour experiences but it was unique and not like any other sodas we had tried before. Add in to the mix that it was refreshing, easy to drink and on the whole pleasant enough then by our estimation its a drink worth trying if you are a soda fan that gets the opportunity. 7.2 out of 10 n.b. In case your wondering we did survive this 'soda from strangers' experience :-) its a full 48 hours since we drank the stuff

Molasses adds a little more flavor to a traditional oatmeal raisin cookie. My husband loves the soft and chewy texture of these cookies. The recipe is from his mother.

I make these attractive cherry coconut cookies every Christmas for family and friends. During that busy time of year, I appreciate the fact that they freeze well, so I can make them ahead.

This old-fashioned cookie is topped with an irresistible brown sugar frosting. I've had the recipe for more than 45 years and have given it out countless times.

The Fisher & Paykel family is spread far and wide across the globe, but there is one thing that ties us together…food really is at the centre of so much of what we do. In our Huntington Beach, California office, once a month a “One Ingredient” cooking competition is held, turning the staff kitchen into [...]

[New for 2013] Can you believe that yet another location has gotten in on the "exclusive" Ben & Jerry's list? This pint puts Walgreens in the company of Target, 7-11, and Walmart. Exclusive flavors tend to be decent, and sometimes hard to find, but for me it's time to check this one off the list. This is Ben & Jerry's Truffle Trifecta ice cream. It's chocolate ice cream with marshmallow, fudge

Day 1 of the Sweets and Snacks Expo is over, and I’m exhausted! I stayed up past my bedtime trying to get some science done, and then it was up again at 5AM to catch an early flight to Chicago, then straight from Midway to the Expo. Our first stop was the Ritter Sport importer booth, as they can always be counted on for exciting new products. They’ve got a new Cocoa Mousse with 9 squares instead of 16 (GASP!), a coconut, and a limited edition raspberry-cranberry yogurt (not pictured here, though I have a sample. Jim reviewed on Chocolate Mission). I love seeing all the different varieties of Ritter Sport in one place. I hate how it reminds me of what we don’t have access to here in the U.S. Caffeinated chocolate was a trend at this year’s expo. The Energy version of Good Day chocolate above was one of several brands who told me that X of their candy equaled X cups of coffee or X ounces of Red Bull. I’m going to be one jittery candy blogger once I get around to reviewing all those chocolates. The things I do for you, dear readers! Still, can’t be worse than that time I ate all that sugar free chocolate… Promotional licensing was rampant as usual (I saw Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, and Star Wars gummies; Jelly Belly’s got a new deal with Disney). Wild Ophelia, Vosges‘s little sister brand, has a line of Hunger Games bars that go beyond just slapping a logo and some characters on the packaging. Instead, the flavors of the bars are supposed to line up with the different districts. The lumber district is a smoked chipotle chili bar, mining has mined salt, and transportation has runner peanuts. As a Hunger Games fan, I loved that they brought thought and wit to the tie-in. T&H Organic Hard Candy was a new company in Innovation Alley that’s already been racking up awards. This year, like last, buzzwords like organic, non-GMO, gluten-free, nut-free, etc. are popular on the show floor. I tried a T&H blood orange hard candy, which was delicious. They have a grapefruit flavor that I can’t wait to try later. Hooray grapefruit candies! Another trend this year is miniaturized versions of well-known treats. There were mini Starbursts, mini Snickers, mini Kit Kats, mini Turtles… The list goes on and on. I think it’s an easy way for brands to capitalize on name recognition when introducing a new-ish product. This is not about candy, but I just have to share: Perky Jerky is definitely the most delicious jerky. Like last year, I’m so thankful for the salty snacks of the Expo to break up my palate fatigue and provide some protein to keep me going! I can’t imagine what it was like when it was just the All Candy Expo. I also asked Nelly a question during the Mike & Ike press conference (alas, it was neither “wanna go a take a ride wit me?” nor “how hot is it in herre?”), held a gold medal and had a fun chat with the very friendly U.S. women’s water polo team at Bare Fruit, and won a Tide pen from Airheads. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring! If you missed it, Emma’s been holding down the live updates on Twitter and Instagram. Check out her great camera work!

4.73 / 5 Stars | 13 Reviews by Rosina "Elegant and pretty. Perfect for a spring wedding." View Complete Recipe Details and Reviews