Chocolate Covered Oreo Cookies

As I mentioned in my previous chocolate molding post, I also bought a chocolate mold specifically for covering Oreo cookies (the molds will be labeled as such, so you can be sure they will be deep enough to cover the Oreos completely).  Once again, I will say I need to do a bit more research regarding melting and molding chocolate.  This mold, like the dice mold I used prior, had a raised design surface.

I wanted to paint an outline of the glass with white and then "fill" the glass with pink to mimic a cosmopolitan.  Had I chosen a simple design and used only one color of chocolate to start, I believe I would have been more successful.  The extra step of staging colors and/or painting part of the mold is a whole other ballgame.  It requires a steady hand and precision, which, I must admit, I lack.  Here is an example of my difficulty with staying in the lines:

Perhaps if I had painting experience or had any artistic ability this would have come more naturally to me.  Maybe, but I am going to go with the-chocolate-was-too-thick excuse (actually it was!).  My next idea was to color the martini glass in all pink.  This was easier, but not without error.  I used a toothpick to trim the glass edges and hoped for the best.  They turned out better:

Finally, after the chocolate has set and you ease them out of the mold and it's finally time to take a bite, it's all worth the effort!:

You can never go wrong with an Oreo cookie and smothering them in chocolate seems like the right thing to do.  :)  I recommend trying this, they would make a great snack, dessert, or party favors.  You can put them on sticks and make chocolate covered Oreo lollipops (just make sure to use Double Stuff Oreos in place of the regular cookies).  Happy Molding!!

Tiffany's - Not Just For Breakfast!

To begin this week I wanted to make something fun, so I chose to bake "Tiffany" blue colored cake pops. For an extra bit of color I made a deep pink strawberry cake for the inside. I love the way they turned out! The only challenge I faced was the consistency of the chocolate. It was too thick to smoothly coat the pops. After some research I found that Paramount Crystals will do a great job of thinning the chocolate, so I will buy some and try it for myself. I'll do another cake pop post once I have them and let you know the results! In the meantime, onto the "Tiffany" pops!

After baking a cake and letting it completely cool, it must be broken down into a sand-like texture. One way to do this is to cut the cake into fourths. Take two pieces at a time and "sand" the cake chunks by rubbing them together. The method I use is taking a fork and gently running it through the cake repeatedly until it turned into fine crumbs.

Next, add frosting. This is a tricky thing. If you add too much the cake does not stay put on the sticks while dipping into the chocolate. If you add too little, the cake will not form into balls and keep their shape. One tip I can share - ADD A LITTLE FROSTING AT A TIME! You can always add more, but you can not take excess frosting out. You may be surprised by the small amount of frosting that goes a long way. For approximately 3/4 of a cake I added about 2 large spoons full of frosting. It was plenty. After mixing (with a spoon to fully incorporate the cake and frosting) you should have a sticky, doughy result that can be shaped into balls.

Proceed to roll the mixture into balls. Some like to use a cake pop/cookie scoop for size consistency. I do it by hand and don't find have any issues. For now, that works just fine for me. Once the ball is rolled place it on a cookie sheet. Repeat until you have used all of the cake/frosting mixture.

Next, you will do one of two things. You can either place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for a few hours, or in the freezer for 5-10 minutes. I can be at times impatient, so I use the freezer method. Beware, however, if the balls are too cold when you dip them, the chocolate coating will crack. It's a fine balance that you will work out through practice, trial and error.

While the chilling is happening, begin the chocolate melting process. I used Wilton chocolate melting discs. You can also use white chocolate bark, and I will be investigating Ghiradelli melting chocolate, which I have read tastes GREAT and has a nice sheen to it. I have many bags of the Wilton chocolate, however, and until it's used up will not be purchasing any more! Okay, so now melting the chocolate (I use the microwave method. An alternative is to use a double boiler):

Pour the chocolate melting chips into a microwavable bowl. Heat at 30 second increments on power setting 2

Stir the chocolate at each 30 second interval. It will appear lumpy and seem like it will never be smooth, but have faith and continue heating!

Finally, smooth, melted chocolate.

Now it's time to add the color. When dyeing chocolate, you MUST use candy dye. Using icing colors will not work, it will cause oil separation and ruin the chocolate. I used Wilton Candy Dye. You can purchase it at craft stores, such as Michael's.

To achieve that classic Tiffany Blue color, add small amount of the blue candy color to white chocolate. Since it was my first time and I was nervous about adding too much blue, I used a toothpick to add the coloring. Once again, you have to just kind of use trial and error to get the color right. Also, again, you can add more coloring, but you can't remove it once it's once it been mixed! Eventually, I achieved the right hue. Be sure to time the melting and coloring of the chocolate so it will be complete at the same time your cake balls are finished chilling. Remove them from the refrigerator or freezer and get your lollipop sticks (can be purchased at a craft store, such as Michael's) ready - it's time to dip!

Every girl's favorite shade of blue!

Unfortunately, with only two hands (and both were busy dipping), I could not photograph the process of making cake pops, so I'll have to describe the last few steps. First, take a lollipop stick and dip about an inch and a half into the chocolate. Insert the stick inside a cake ball approximately 3/4 of the way up. Next, dip the cake ball into the chocolate and make sure the entire ball is covered and the bottom is sealed with chocolate. If you don't seal the entire ball the cake will ooze out. Once you've gotten reached this point in the time consuming process, you don't want small openings in the chocolate  to ruin your pop! Once the pop is coated, let the chocolate set by placing the it into a piece of styrofoam to keep it upright (pre-poke holes in the styrofoam before dipping into the chocolate). Here is an example of "setting" cake pops:

And there you have your cake pops! Here is a finished Tiffany pop. I love it:

Add a plastic wrapper with some ribbon and you have a beautiful party favor, dessert offering, or snack!

They are quite time consuming, but worth it. If you have a few hours you can set aside, try making cake pops yourself and enjoy!!

P.S. Tiffany did not compensate me for this mention. I just LOVE everything Tiffany!  Who doesn't?  :)

I shared this recipe on:  Things that make you say Mmmmm....Monday

Recipe Roundup

Cosmos and Cakes, Oh My!

Buttermilk Pudding Cakes

Cocktails anyone?

So, Long Island is in hurricane preparedness mode. I did all my shopping yesterday for essentials so I could get back to baking today. Whether Irene stops by or not, I have orders for the weekend! Armed with water, batteries, candles and Spaghetti O's, I'm free to bake easy. :)


My friend is hosting a bachelorette party this weekend for her soon to be sister-in-law and she asked me to make some cosmopolitan cookies for the girls. I love making these and was happy to do it! Iced sugar cookies are a multi-step process. For instance, with these cookies, mixing, cutting and baking are the first steps. The truly time consuming part was waiting for the white outline to dry before I was able to add the pink....and then waiting for the pink to dry before adding the sanding sugar...and then waiting for the entire cookie to set well enough to bag it without the icing smearing. It can be a bit tedious, but I do love it!!


Here is the finished product:

I hope everyone enjoys them!


During the waiting parts of creating these cookies, I decided to try a recipe for Buttermilk Pudding Cakes I came across awhile ago. It looked SO easy and quick; something you can whip up on short notice with no mess or fuss. I wanted to see if this was true. I'm happy to say it was - In practically no time at all I had 8 perfect little cakes! AND, I did not use a mixer for any part of the recipe (even the whipped cream)...a whisk is all you need!


Here is what you need to make these cakes:

Nearly all of the ingredients, except perhaps buttermilk, are most likely ones you already have on hand, which is another great thing about this recipe.


Here you can find the the directions as posted on Martha's site:

Buttermilk Pudding Cakes

Recipe by Matt and Ted Lee

3/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 large eggs

3/4 cup whole or low-fat buttermilk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature (I only had salter butter, and it turned out just fine)

Nonstick cooking spray

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees with the rack placed on the top third of the oven.

Sift together the flour and baking powder and set aside. In another bowl whisk eggs until they are creamy and yellow. Add buttermilk, vanilla, sugar and butter (the mixture should look curdled and broken). Add the dry ingredients and whisk until your batter is smooth and everything is incorporated.

Spray 8 standard size muffin pan cups (nonstick) with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the batter into each cup about two-thirds full.

Bake for about 9 minutes. Check to see if all sides of the cakes are evenly browned by using a knife tip between the rim of the cake and muffin cup. Pull the cake gently to check the color. If the cakes are not evenly browned they will not hold together. If they are not completely browned at 9 minutes, continue baking in 1 minute increments until the cakes are evenly browned.

After removing the cakes from the oven, invert them onto individual plates. Serve with berries and whipped cream if desired.

These cakes do have a nice pudding-like texture and a fruit/whipped cream topping matches perfectly. I warmed up a bit of the blueberry syrup I had left over from my blueberry cupcakes...very tasty! Finally, I whisked up some heavy whipping cream, sugar, and a bit of vanilla to finish off this lovely dessert. When I'm short on time and want to make a little dessert for guests, this will be my go-to!

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies: Prettier in Pink!

I wanted to make something simple and fun after the golf course, so I chose these adorable cookies. I first saw these cookies here: http://dailynibbles.com/2011/02/01/in-the-kitchen-pink-peanut-butter-hugs/, and immediately fell in love. Pink is my favorite color, they mimic the hot pink/zebra combination that is so popular right now, and they just make me smile. Turns out, as is often the case with baking something for the first time, it wasn't so easy! Coloring these correctly took a few tries...3 batches of dough later I was finally pleased with the result.

To make these cookie you will need the following things:

Your favorite Peanut Butter Cookie recipe, pink sanding sugar, Hershey Hugs, neon pink gel food coloring, and red gel food coloring (optional). I have a Peanut Butter Cookie recipe I have been following forever and I love it so much I would hesitate to even think about using another one. Here it is:

Peanut Butter Cookies (adapted from Betty Crocker's Cookbook)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter (I prefer Reese's Peanut Butter)

1/4 cup shortening (I prefer Crisco baking sticks, butter flavor)

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 tablespoons milk

1 egg

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Cream together the butter, shortening, and peanut butter. Mix in sugars, egg and milk. Add the remaining ingredients. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll the dough into 1 1/2 - 2 inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet at least three inches apart. Using a fork make a crisscross pattern by pressing down on the cookie. Dip the fork in flour between cookies to prevent the dough from sticking. Bake between 9-10 minutes. Let cookies cool several minutes before removing them from cookie sheet.

Since I was making pink cookies, I added a few drops of AmeriColor's Christmas Red gel food dye. I read this would make a terrific shade of hot pink. I used a hand mixer to incorporate the color; doing it by hand proved to be impossible for me, I am not strong enough to evenly mix it completely.

I had some issues with coloring the dough, which I will explain in a moment. Once the desired color is mixed into the dough, roll it into 1 1/2 - 2 inch balls, dredge through pink sugar until fully coated, and bake:

After the cookies are finished baking, immediately place a Hershey Hug in the middle of the cookie, pressing it down about 1/2 way. The Hug will keep it's shape as long as it's not touched (the chocolate will half melt from the heat of the cookie). Once the cookie and the chocolate cool completely, the Hug will become solid again and the cookies can be packaged or placed in an airtight container to store.

Voila! Adorable hot pink zebra strip peanut butter cookies! Now, let's go over coloring the dough.

For the first batch I mixed up, I didn't think it was possible for it to turn pink with only a few drops of Christmas red, so I added some neon pink. I baked them and was not pleased. So, I mixed up another batch and mixed in the neon pink, still was skeptical of how they would look baked, panicked and added some red. This was close, much better, but still too dark for my taste. After thinking about it, and not ready to give up, I decided to mix up a third batch of dough and split it in two. In one half I mixed in only Christmas red dye. In the other half, I mixed in only neon pink. Here are the results of all four trials:

From Top to bottom: Uncooked dough, baked cookie with no sugar, finished cookie with sugar and hug.

The first column is the mostly red dye with some neon pink added. The second column is mostly neon pink with some red added. The third column is red dye only, and the fourth neon pink only. I had to use my judgement on how much dye to add. I was almost ready to stop at my second attempt (second column), but I'm happy I experimented with only using one color. Here is a close-up of column two and column four finished cookies, the two I decided were closest shade of the hot pink I was trying to achieve:

Cookie on left is neon pink and red dye, cookie on right is neon pink dye only.

The cookie on the left had a bit too much of a red hue and in certain light did not appear pink enough. So, the cookie on the right is the winner! I mixed approximately 6 drops of food coloring in one batch of cookie dough. I may add a bit more to darken the pink a bit, but three batches of cookies later I finally achieved my goal and I'm happy!