Desserts

Here’s something you didn’t know you needed: another variation on banana bread! This one’s especially worth saving if you’re interested in seeing how graham cracker crumbs work as a substitute for flour in banana bread. Or some of the flour, anyway. In the past I’ve tried cake and muffin recipes where crumbs take the place [...]

Haviland Wintergreen Patty Kcal 130 Fat 3.0g Fat(sats) 1.5g Carbs 29.0g (per Patty) The Hershey Peppermint Pattie may rule the roost when it comes to mint 'Pattie' snacks but we recently got the chance to try an alternative that we thought worthy of your attention. Indeed thanks to our friends @CybercandyLtd this Havilan Wintergreen Patty made its way to ChocolateMission HQ. This dark chocolate covered snack wasn't so much notable for its outer coating, but more for its lovely absurdly coloured wintergreen mint centre. Wintergreen isn't the most popular type of mint flavouring here in the UK but it certainly has its fans and if you are one of those that enjoy mintyness of the medicinal sort then this is really the snack for you. The patty was immensely enjoyable when eaten straight from the fridge as the centre retained a nice firmness that facilitated greater flavour longevity. On its own it wasn't the most satisfying of snacks but as an additional item to something like ice cream it would be a very welcome addition. Certainly worth a look at for you chocolate mint fans - just dont be put off by the rather extravagant electric pink coloured centre! 7.8 out of 10 Muddy Bears Kcal 140 Fat 8.0g Fat(sats) 2.5g Carbs 26.0g (per 40.0g) We will be the first to admit that we've been spoilt this month! These were a snack sent to us by our pals over @AmericanSoda who recently added them to their ever growing array of American treats for us European folk. These Muddy Bears are a product made by the brand Taste of Nature - you may better know them for their Cookie Dough Bites range that we have covered extensively here on ChocolateMission - See HERE. Well slightly departed from their Cookie Dough Bites background TON also have these 'milk chocolate covered gummi bears' within their range. Here at ChocolateMission we do love a good gummi bear - its not exactly a rarity for a bag of Haribo Golden Bears to be sat on someone desk in the office. Combining them with chocolate though is not something we had come across - bizarre really for such a simple idea. Suffice to say as we suspected the quality of the chocolate wasn't that great - you can tell by the scuffed, dusty looking appearances of the bears in our photos. With that said these still oddly held some appeal. The chocolate although disappointing wasn't awful and did manage to establish a mild chocolatety flavour set before the fruity gummi pieces took centre stage once chewed. Despite the complaints about the chocolate these were mega addictive and it wasn't long before one poor lonely bear was left sitting all on its lonesome in the box. These aren't quite worthy of a recommendation but if you have realistic expectations you wont be left disappointed. 6.4 out of 10 Another snack sent our way this month from the @CybercandyLtd crew was this Cadbury Chocolate Fish. This 20.0g snack hails from New Zealand of all places - here in the UK it was a 'fish out of water' so to speak (terrible we know haha!). Consisting of 'marshmallow coated with Cadbury chocolate' one would suspect this would be the New Zealand equivalent to our UK Cadbury Freddo i.e. a cheap, small chocolatey snack for kiddies. Well we are kids at heart here at ChocolateMission so we gave it a run through the ChocolateMission rating system. Out the wrapper we thought the chocolate fish lacked a little character without any on pattern or decoration work on its surface. The pink coloured innards made it look somewhat fun however flavour wise the marshmallow was a little lifeless and it really only acted as a buffer for the chocolate coating. Being Cadbury chocolate the snack did at least provide a mild cure for chocolate hankering, but as you can imagine a 20.0g snack wasn't the most satisfying of options. If you see these going cheap it could be worth adding to your basket but any non-New Zealand readers shouldn't be making a special effort to get hold of one.

Wine is usually paired with savory items. When you go to a restaurant and they offer wine pairings, more often than not these pairings only extend to the appetizers and entrees – not to dessert, which is paired with only coffee more often than not. I love coffee, but I am also a fan of wine, and wine – believe it or not – can actually be an excellent match for dessert. Wines are complex and packed with flavors that can be highlighted by the food we eat, including dessert. One way to put together wine pairings is to experiment with whatever wine you have and see what tastes good. It’s not a good pairing if you don’t like it – no matter what any “rules” about wine pairing say. That said, since you have to start somewhere, I’m going to offer up a couple of simple rules that should give you a few guidelines for starting out: 1. Start with the description of the wine. Wines always have some words describing them, such as “fruity”, “tart”, “with blackberry notes,” or “reminiscent of green apples.” You may or may not detect these particular flavors, but they often reveal what foods might compliment the wine. Pairing a dessert that features one of the described flavors can often draw it out in the wine. A grassy, citrusy sauvignon blanc might go very well with a lemon cake, for instance. 2. Wines often pair with like colors. In the same vein as rule number one, red wines often contain lots of red fruit flavors, so it is no surprise that many of them go well with red fruits. A juicy merlot can actually complement a strawberry shortcake packed with fresh berries. White wines don’t usually evoke berry flavors, so citrus, apples, tropical fruits and other desserts can be better matches. 3. Oaky wines go with simple desserts. A typical California Chardonnay is a wine that has a lot of oak in it. Oaky wines have a very strong flavor that can be a little difficult to work with. Surprisingly, they actually pair well with simpler desserts that don’t have a lot of competing flavors. Oak is described as imparting lots of vanilla, toffee, butterscotch and caramel – and when those flavors are the primary ones in a dessert, that dish can actually stand up to a flavorful oaky wine. 4. Chocolate desserts often do better than chocolate bars. Many red wines are described as having chocolate notes, but I think that straight chocolate can be a little difficult to pair with wine. Dark chocolates can have a flavor that is almost too intense for the wine. Milk chocolates can be too sweet. Chocolate desserts – from rich flourless chocolate cake to classic chocolate chip cookies – fare much better with wine. In these desserts, the chocolate is already balanced out with other ingredients and just seems to play well with wine better. 5. Wine doesn’t have to be sweet to go with dessert. A dessert wine is a sweet wine, and while it can be an outstanding accompaniment for dessert (ESPECIALLY for a salty-sweet dessert), it isn’t the only thing you should consider pairing. The existence of salty-sweet desserts just goes to show you that some contrast can be a good thing and a dry wine might mellow the sweetness of a caramel-topped dessert, just as a more tannic red can cut the richness of a dark, buttery chocolate one. These are not hard and fast rules, by any means, but at least it should help narrow down the choices the next time you’re looking for a couple of bottles to bring to a dinner party. And it will give you a few more options than just serving coffee after dinner next time.

[By Nick] Out of all the products I have ordered from Ice Cream Source, this has to easily be the flavor I was the most excited to try. Be it the promise of white chocolate gelato, the minimal information I could find on it online or just my previous experiences with Talenti, this flavor is just calling to me. Heck, White Chocolate Raspberry isn’t even listed on Talenti’s website and after I made

Take the best Gummy Beards ever. Now, mess with them. Add cool flavors. Real juice. Whaddaya get? Absolute SHITE. Just kidding, tee hee!

Sometimes all it takes to take a baked good from good to great is using a pan that has a little extra flair to it. For instance, baking a cake in a fancy bundt pan instead of making it into a sheet cake gives it a lot of personality. These Silicone Brownie Bowls from Chicago Metallic have the same kind of effect. The molds are designed to allow you to bake two generously sized (5.25-inch) bowl-shaped brownies, turning a plain brownie into a base for all kinds of other desserts easily. The bowls can be filled with ice cream, whipped cream, fruit and just about anything you can think of. They’re also an easy building block for a dessert like a baked alaska. Although they’re called “Brownie Bowls,” you could easily use these silicone forms to make other bowl-shaped treats. They would be a great base for sponge cake to turn into a strawberry shortcake or other fruity desserts. You could also use them to freeze ice cream bombes (ice cream bowls to be filled with different flavors of ice cream for a layered look) or to mold gelatin and other cold treats. The shape gives you a lot of presentation options and room to have a little bit of fun with your plating.

1. For the first time in… years? I didn’t get rainbow sprinkled cone on vacation. I’M GROWING UP. 2. Remember a few months ago when I talked about wanting these sunglasses and the vast majority of you told me I’d look ridiculous and if I had any fashion sense at all (which I don’t) that I shouldn’t do it? Well… I found them on sale this past week and – did it. 3. I want to go to this lady picnic and be best friends with them. I just hope I don’t really have to be a lady. 4. My brothers, cousins and I have a long running group text that is so atrocious that it gives me anxiety. Like instead of texting one of them back, I’ll accidentally tweet something horrific. This is my only exception to the group text rule as I generally think they are the most annoying things on Earth. Right next to the “reply all” function on email. 5. If Sookie and Eric don’t end up together by the end of the True Blood series (whenever that may be) I will probably hurt someone. I don’t care about ANYTHING else on that show and haven’t for about three years. Can’t it be the anna paquin/alex s show? Yes yes. 6. Spring garlic pancakes: for some reason I cannot stop thinking about these. Maybe it’s the whole pancake thing. 7. So. It’s quite possible that I have exhausted my buffalo chicken pizza obsession. Well – let me clarify. I haven’t exhausted the buffalo-style infatuation but just the specific pizza we have been getting, like, once a week. I can’t be sure though, so check up on me in seven days. 8. One thing that has not died down though is my burger obsession. Dying over these aloha sliders. So freaking cute and delicious. 9. Because I can’t share enough in my Tuesday things, I’ve started sharing some of my current favorite links on the weekend. Things like food and maybe even makeup and general internet crushes. !!!! 10. Oh look, it’s my life: what it’s like shopping at Sephora. 11. The above is a perfect example of why I make a terrible sales associate. Unless I’m selling something I believe in, like sprinkles or shoes – I just can’t push people to buy something. However, I on the other hand am a marketer’s dream. I want to try all the things. 12. This week’s things are brought to you by a rainbow sprinkle-less photo. My husband is concerned at the amount of sprinkled doughnuts and sprinkled ice cream cones I constantly share. Like as if I might be boring you. What is he? The instagram police? ©2012 How Sweet It Is

Recently, I wrote up a tutorial on How to Make Oreo Cake Pops for the lovely and amazing website Craftsy.com. An important life skill if ever there was one! And naturally, they were delicious. Here's a sneak peek: and gosh are they tasty! (tutorial for those can be found here). But the process got me thinking...could I do this with other flavor combinations? For instance, could I substitute shortbread cookies for Oreos, and fancy chocolate for the candy melts? Why the heck not?, I thought, especially as I have a boatload of freebies I'd recently received from Walkers Shortbread (their Duchy Originals) and Tcho Chocolate. I thought: I'm going to make some shortbread cookie truffles, or die trying! Actually, it wasn't so dramatic. I didn't actually think death was a possibility. But I suspected deliciousness was dangerously close! So, I won't keep you in suspense. Here's how they came out: I know, beauties, right? Here's an inside shot. And I am happy to report that they taste as good as they look. Lightly salty. Very buttery. A little nutty, owing to the fact that I used part regular shortbread and part "oaten biscuits". Nice and moist inside--the shortbread didn't crumble as much as I thought it might. And the chocolate was to die for. I used the Tcho Milk Chocolate discs (from their baking chocolate series), and I can say with no hesitation that this is not your typical milk chocolate. It almost tasted...caramelly. The flavor just lingered in your mouth. Yum yum yum yum yum. They're pricey, but if you have a recipe that will really let the chocolate shine, I say go for it. Nice little morsels--decadent, but hey, that's why they're in small portions, right? Next time I try this recipe, I'd like to try using dulce de leche or melted caramels instead of the cream cheese to moisten the crumbled cookies. Yep: I have visions of Millionaire's Shortbread Truffles dancing in my head! But for now, here's the simple version. Gosh-darn are they good. Shortbread Cookie Truffles (Printable version? Right here.) Makes 12-16 2 boxes Duchy Shortbread (I used one box of the plain butter kind, and one box of the "Oaten Biscuits") 1/2 block cream cheese (4 ounces) 1 bag chocolate morsels (I used an 8 ounce bag of Tcho Milk chocolate) Prepare the truffle innards. First, prepare a baking sheet like so: lay a sheet of waxed or parchment paper on top, and set to the side. You’ll be happy to have this handy a few steps down the line. Now, you need to crush the cookies. If you have a food processor, put the whole cookies inside, and pulse several times, until the cookies have been reduced to fine crumbs. If you don’t have a food processor, place the cookies into a heavy duty plastic bag and crush using the bottom of a heavy tumbler or the side of a rolling pin. This is very fun for kids (with supervision, of course!)! Once the cookies are completely crumbled, place them into a large bowl. Add the cream cheese, and using your impeccably clean hands, thoroughly mix the cookie crumbs and cream cheese. Since the shortbread is already pretty buttery, it should be able to form nicely into balls. Clean your hands so that you have a clean surface to roll the “dough” by hand. Roll it into balls, about 1 inch or so in diameter. Maybe an inch and a half. Place them on the baking sheet. If you're lazy, you can also just put them on a plate, but they might stick a little bit. I'll be honest. While I want to tell you how to do it the "right way", I in fact did not. I put them on a plate in the freezer on top of some ice cream. Speaking of which, you do want to chill them. Place the baking sheet into the refrigerator for an hour, or the freezer for about 20 minutes. With the dough still in its chilling place, begin to melt your chocolate over low heat. It will gradually begin to melt and become smooth. Once mostly melted, the last bits will melt rapidly in the residual heat, so keep a close eye on the pan. Remove from heat, and t

The all-u-can-eat ice cream event raised almost $300,000...wow!We did it again. We fought crowds a couple weeks ago in order to test flavors at the Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl this year. And that we did. Between the two of us we had 32 scoops...ouch. Almost a little embarrassing but hey its our duty and it was worth every bite!Each brand has four flavors to choose from and its all you can eat!First of all, I have to get on my ice cream soap box about Scooper Bowl etiquette Common sense? When you grab your ice cream or ice creams turn around and keep walking. I don't say this to be rude, but the place is so crowded that it just makes sense to clear out so more people can get in. People seem to linger by the tents, which just makes a crowded area even more crowded. Oh and the poor Moms with strollers...we empathize....it is barely impossible to get a stroller. But enough about that...Bethany & Tina live at Scooperbowl. I think we both agreed that the flavors really weren't that exciting this year. Lots of the expected...Mint Chocolate Chip, Oreo, and Chocolate. The past years seemed to bring on new and a few more interesting flavors. But really this is a fundraiser and for an awesome cause so at the end of the day who cares! It's all good. But here are some thoughts: Bethany: Whenever I think Edy's, I think of one of my mom's favorite commercials: the dog high-fiving his owner over the promise of Edy's. (I could only find the Dreyer's version of it, but as I understand it, Dreyer's is the West Coast brand, and Edy's is the East Coast brand.) Anyway, Edy's Tropical Rainbow Sherbet was worth the Edy's high-five.) It was light, refreshing, and super creamy.I liked Friendly's Celebration as well. It was a party in a cup!While I have already given a rave review to Ben and Jerry's Liz Lemon that was another favorite, as well as Hood's Raspberry Granola Greek Frozen Yogurt (stay tuned for this review as I got some more flavors mailed to me from Hood and I was pretty impressed!).Tina: Ok so I have to admit now that I am writing this a couple weeks later not much stands out but their were a couple I know I would go back for. I really liked Hood's Double Chocolate Chip Greek Frozen Yogurt. It was very creamy and I loved the chocolate chips in it. I also have to agree with Bethany on Friendly's Celebration. I am all about Cake Batter these days and I loved how this actually had cake pieces in it. And lastly Byrne Dairy's Green Monstah made a lasting impression. Interestingly they don't list Green Monstah on their site. I think they might have made that name up for the Boston occasion (they are NY based) so I think it really is their Grasshopper Pie. I love anything mint so that was a keeper as well.All in all it's a can't miss event that we look forward to every year!

While I'm pretty sure you can't eat any part of this house, the colours of the glass are in fact made from baked sugar.There are no dyes involved at all, it's just sugar cooked for different amounts of time, thus getting darker the longer it's cooked.Click here to read more about this.CC