chocolate bake sale

Yes, I may be almost a week late with the postings of these pictures from the Chocolate Bake Sale, but here they are :)

This was our table setup, brown and turquoise. Cute, right? I loved it!

Cake pushups! I used Pioneer Woman's chocolate sheet cake plus my go-to swiss meringue frosting recipe.

triple chocolate cake pops

We're pretty good friends, right? I feel as if I can trust you. So please don't make fun of me when you find out how easy this recipe is. Seriously, it's almost embarrassingly easy. And yet, it yields such delicious, impressive results that I can't not share with you! It would wreck our friendship to keep such a secret from you. So... here it goes. You can make cake balls from scratch using all boxed ingredients. I did it. No regrets! 

cream puffs with homemade chocolate sauce

I'm just gonna go ahead and already apologize for how ugly these pictures turned out... they looked perfectly fine on my camera, I promise! But... I downloaded them to my computer and I couldn't believe it. Just one uglier than the next! Oh, lordy. But, this recipe is so good and easy and delicious and a showstopper that I would've felt like a terrible blogger for not sharing. So. :) I made these deceptively easy ice cream-filled puffs for my baby brother's birthday (he turned 9, he's so old D: ) and everyone loved them! Nobody needs to know that you can make these puffs in mere minutes before sticking them in the oven, and nobody needs to know how simple this fudgy chocolate sauce is. It'll just be our little secret! If you've been wanting to make profiteroles from scratch but you've been putting it off because you're intimidated, this is your chance! I really don't think it gets any easier than this. :)

crispy shrimp pizza

Now, I know this is a bit different than usual... but this recipe was so delicious I really couldn't resist. I adore shrimp, and the true Italian in me is crazy about pizza, so as soon as I saw this recipe, I wanted to make it. Not to mention, I personally don't like very much tomato sauce on my pizza, and this was tomato sauce-free! 

rice krispie chocolate chip cookies

My mom loves buying things at the store when they're on sale. Loves it. Which would explain why I have three 1-lb boxes of Rice Krispie cereal in my pantry. So, if you just think about how light Rice Krispies are... well, these boxes are giant. If you have a similar problem, I have a solution for you: make chocolate chip cookies with Rice Krispies! In this case, unlike Rice Krispie treats, the cereal is used as a mix-in, not as the main ingredient, so the result is a delicious, extra crispy and crunchy cookie. My mom even said  she likes them better than regular chocolate chip cookies! I thought they were pretty good myself. :) Sadly, even the two heaping cups I used didn't even make a dent in our Rice Krispie stash. Sigh... Also, on a side note, how cute is this little cookie stand? Mary Jo bought it for me for the Bake Sales, but oh my goodness... it's so adorable I couldn't resist. I love it! Thank you so much dear. :)

strawberry lime shortcakes

I have a surprise for you... this recipe contains NO chocolate! None! Not even a smidgen. You should be proud of me. :) Not to mention, it's totally delicious, even without chocolate anywhere in the vicinity. This is a total summery dessert (or a summer-please-hurry-up dessert), and it's super easy, extremely yummy, relatively healthy, and it looks impressive. What more could you ask for? You could serve this at like a summer dinner party and people would be impressed. There's just something about bright red, juicy strawberries, fluffy whipped cream, crunchy homemade biscuits, and zesty lime that screams summer and luxury. Delicious. :)

chocolate-walnut pie

"Imagine an ultra-rich brownie baked in a shortbread crust. Sound good?" Oh my goodness, yes please. I read the first line describing this recipe and I was sold. Chocolate = <3. Walnuts = <3. Shortbread = <3. Chocolate + walnuts + shortbread crust = amazing! This was fabulous. It's a little bit more involved than a standard recipe since it's basically two-step, but the results will pay off. Yes they will.

This is a bit of a riff on my classic Truffle Tart (which I haven't blogged about because, well, honestly, it's a bit of a pain in the behind), except much quicker and easier. And with less waiting. Like I said, yes please! I'm probably one of the most impatient people on the planet, so the thing I dislike the most about my Truffle Tart is that the crust needs to be made and patted in a disk. Then cooled. Then rolled out and placed in the tart pan. Then cooled. Then baked with pie weights. Then cooled. See a pattern there? It practically takes all day, not to mention it drives me crazy! This shortbread crust wasn't quite as good as my usual recipe, but I was willing to sacrifice a little bit of flavor in favor of practicality and time. The crust was super-crumbly (as in, it was crumbling everywhere as I tried to slice it) so don't serve it with a fancy dinner party in mind, unless you don't mind funny looking slices. :) I believe it was so crumbly because I slightly over-cooked it... my oven runs hot, it's not my fault! It should work better with a slightly lower temperature and with pie-weights, I believe. Not to mention, if you watch your oven... oops. ;) Anyways, here is how I made it. :)

chocolate cowgirl cookies

This recipe comes courtesy of the lovely Mary Jo over at the Redhouse Ranch and HealthQuest blogs. I know neither of those blogs have anything to do with food, but in real life, this woman is an amazing cook and baker! Her stuff is always so good. :) While trying to come up with recipes for our upcoming chocolate bake sale, she asked me to tweak her already-delicious Shut The Barn Door cookie recipe so that the dough would be cocoa. No problem! These cookies are easy, the only hard part is trying to not eat all the dough before cooking... not that I would know anything about that. :) They remind me of Monster Cookies, or Kitchen Sink cookies, as they have a crazy variety of mix-ins which all magically work together to create a ridiculously good cookie. Now, these aren't really every-day cookies (unless you have a very well-stocked pantry), but they're totally worth the extra trip to the grocery store. Make these soon! Your thighs may disapprove, but your tastebuds won't. ;)

chocolate Bailey's cookies

I told you I was going to have another chocolate post soon... honestly, I can't help myself. If I'm going to do all the effort to make something delicious, and I have a choice, chocolate is always number one! Especially if I'm having a chocolate craving. Chocolate, food of the Gods. :) 
Something I love doing is baking with my friends! Helping hands are always good, and whenever I'm cooking with other people, we always end up having fun and (more often than I would like to admit) we end up getting funky recipe outcomes. Ooops... that's what you get when you're distracted! These cookies had no mistakes though, they were de-li-ci-ousss! Take a basic cookie dough, add cocoa, a generous splash of Bailey's, and chocolate chunks, and you have: mouthwateringly good cookies that are easy-peasy to make. If you don't have/don't want Bailey's, feel free to leave it out, but probably replace the liquid with milk, water, or even different alcohol... pick your poison! And I'm sure they will still come out amazing. Unfortunately, I didn't get many pictures because it was late and dark and the lighting was not on my side. But trust me when I say they taste better than they look. :)

guilt-free chocolate cake

I feel so bad that I haven't been able to post very much lately, but I've been so busy with homework and studying because it's finals week! But, as sucky as that is, it also means that summer is almost here! Just a week away for me. :) I'm very excited. 

healthy surprise cookies

Well, I knew after that outrageous chocolate cake I posted a couple days ago, I needed to post something a little less crazy. So, today, while I was not doing my research paper blog creeping, I found this recipe on this cute little blog I had never heard of before, called Sweet Make Me Smile. I haven't really looked through many of her recipes yet, but a particular cookie recipe caught my eye. Simply called "Healthy Cookies," they claimed to have no sugar, no flour, no eggs, and no butter. Say what?! How do they even stay together?! 

Curiosity got the best of me, so I already made them. The results? Yum! You can't even tell they're healthy. And since they don't have butter to cream with sugar or eggs to beat or anything, they come together so quickly. The best part is that, even though they're healthy, not only are they delicious, they're made with things you probably already have at home, like bananas, oatmeal, and coconut. Easy peasy! I will definitely be making these again. What's better than satisfying your sweet tooth guilt-free? I'm gonna admit, I thought the banana flavor was very strong in these, so be aware of that. But, that being said, my little brother Davide who hated bananas loved these. I also didn't tell him that they contained bananas but, ya know... Just be aware. :) Also, I called these Healthy Surprise Cookies because it's a total surprise that they're healthy! Enjoyyy :)

blackout cake

Today was a lazy Sunday, and it was lovely. All I did was bake and cook! What I spent a good part of my day on was making a delicious Blackout cake. What is a Blackout cake? Well, I didn't know before today either. :) Let me just say this: this cake is super chocolatey, and super naughty. If you're on a diet, stay far, far away! If you aren't... welcome. Come make this cake. :) It's a 4-layer dark chocolate cake filled with dark chocolate pudding, then "frosted" with this dark chocolate pudding, and covered in cake crumbs. It's... absolutely, indescribably delicious. A diet killer. A sure satisfier of even the most intense chocolate craving. A... huge mess.