Showing posts with label mint. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mint. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Our first CUPPIE SOCIAL!

I was so very excited to include a "Cuppie Social" in our last FFNOW event! We had bakers contribute their favorite recipe and bake a dozen (or in some cases more) to share!

I ended up baking FIVE dozen cuppies to share at the event! It was fun, but a bit overwhelming, honestly. I pulled out a book that I have never consulted before, 125 best Cupcake recipes. I was pleasantly surprised. There are a lot of great recipes in there....125 to be exact. :)

Okay, so I baked the French Toast cuppies, Chocolate Mint cuppies, Chocolate Chip Cookie cuppies, Banana Nutmeg cuppies, and the Chocolate Peanut Butter cuppies. All of which were good....but the French Toast cuppies were FAB-U-LOUS! Really. If you like french toast or maple in general, those are for you!

Unfortunately, I was in such a hurry that I didn't get to take pictures of all the cuppies, which makes me sad. But I was able to get a picture of the Chocolate Mint cuppies before we went....and I had a couple left over that made it home with me, so you get pictures of those too!

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Chocolate Mint with Chocolate Mint buttercream and a junior mint on top!

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Chocolate Chip Cookie cuppie with Chocolate buttercream dollop in the center!

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Banana Nutmeg cuppie with powdered sugar sprinkled on top - delightful!

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French Toast cuppie - we split it open and doused it with some more maple syrup and sprinkled it with powdered sugar - just awesome!

Some of the other cuppies that were there:
Pineapple Upside Down cuppies
Pina Colada cuppies (which won the grand prize)
Jones soda cuppies
Strawberry Ice Cream Cone cuppies

I'll get the recipes up here for you all lovely people soon.

Enjoy!
-Erica

Friday, April 3, 2009

Creme de Menthe Cheesecake

Mint Cheesecake 1

Ok - can we all say (together now) - YUMMY!!!

This was one of the best cheesecakes I have ever tasted! :)

A friend of mine, Mike DiDomenico, is a Pampered Chef Consultant. We were having a party at my house over this past weekend and he made this dessert for us! Needless to say, we were one bunch of HAPPY women that day! LOL

I will make this myself in the upcoming months....so be on the lookout for another post on this baby with "behind the scenes" pictures to accompany!


Here is the recipe:
A layer of crème de menthe candies in the center of the cheesecake gives this dessert a minty surprise.

Ingredients:
Crust and Filling
14-16 creme-filled chocolate sandwich cookies (1 1/4 cups/300 mL finely crushed)
4 pkg (8 oz or 250 g) cream cheese, softened
1 cup (250 mL) sugar
4 tbsp (60 mL) all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 tsp (2 mL) Double-Strength Vanilla
4 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup (125 mL) sour cream
8-12 drops green food coloring (optional)
2 pkg (4.67 oz each) crème de menthe chocolate candies, unwrapped, divided (about 56 candies total)

Topping
3/4 cup (175 mL) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) thawed frozen whipped topping
7 crème de menthe chocolate candies (reserved from filling)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C). For crust, lightly spray sides of Springform Pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line sides of pan with two 3 x 15-in. (7.5 x 38-cm) pieces of Parchment Paper. Press cookie crumbs onto bottom and slightly up sides of pan. Bake 8 minutes. Remove pan from oven to Stackable Cooling Rack.
2. For filling, place cream cheese, sugar, 3 tbsp (45 mL) of the flour and vanilla into Stainless (4-qt./4-L) Mixing Bowl; beat on medium speed of electric hand mixer 3 minutes or until well blended. Add eggs; mix on low speed 2 minutes. Add sour cream and food coloring, if desired; mix until smooth.
3. Set aside seven of the candies for topping. Cut remaining candies in half crosswise and toss with remaining 1 tbsp (15 mL) flour. Pour half of the filling into crust. Arrange candies, slightly overlapping, over filling; gently spoon remaining filling on top. Bake 55-60 minutes or until center appears nearly set when gently shaken (center will firm as it cools). Remove from oven to cooling rack; cool completely, about 3 hours.
4. For topping, place chocolate morsels, whipped topping and reserved candies into Small Micro-Cooker®. Microwave on HIGH 1 1/2-2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring after each 30-second interval. Spread topping over center of cheesecake using Small Spreader. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
Yield: 16 servings

Nutrients per serving: Calories 500, Total Fat 34 g, Saturated Fat 22 g, Cholesterol 120 mg, Carbohydrate 41 g, Protein 8 g, Sodium 250 mg, Fiber 2 g

U.S. Diabetic exchanges per serving: 2½ starch, 7 fat (2½ carb)

Cook's Tips: To make a cheesecake with the creamiest texture, bring ingredients to room temperature before beginning the recipe.

Arrange candies slightly overlapping over bottom layer of filling. Gently spoon remaining filling over candies, being careful not to disturb candies.

To prevent overbaking, check cheesecake at minimum baking time given. When done, a center area about 1 in. (2.5 cm) in diameter will still jiggle slightly. The center will firm as it cools.

To freeze cheesecake, wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. To thaw, place covered cheesecake in refrigerator for 24 hours.


Here is a picture (not a great one, though) of the whole thing....which didn't survive long! LOL

Full Mint Cheesecake

I do believe that the original recipe is from Pampered Chef...so THANKS! :)

Enjoy!
-Erica