Valentines Day Treats and Sweets

Well my Valentine is not a sweets fan so I plan on still making the sweet treats and pretending they are from him to me. Here is a fun one I found over at Taste Spotting.

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

Printable Recipe
Yield: 8-10 cubes of chocolate (ice cube tray size)
Equipment:
Ziplock bags or piping bags
A double boiler or pan with a glass bowl that can sit over the simmering water
Chocolate mold of choice (ice trays work perfectly)
Wooden craft sticks

Ingredients:
8 oz good chocolate (Do not use chocolate chips.  I used semi-sweet, but bittersweet, milk and white chocolate will also work well. Fondue chips work perfectly as do baking bars.)
1/4 cup cocoa, sifted
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
pinch of salt

Directions:
Mix the sifted cocoa, powdered sugar and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
If your chocolate is in a block, chop it into even-sized pieces. Simmer a couple inches of water in a pan on low heat. Place a glass or stainless steel bowl over the top to make a double boiler. Dump chocolate into the clean, dry bowl and stir constantly as the chocolate melts. Let the chocolate melt slowly, as this will give it a better look once cooled.
When the chocolate is 2/3 melted, remove the bowl from the pan, dry the bottom with a towel and continue stirring until chocolate is fully melted. This will help keep the chocolate from getting too hot.
Gradually add the cocoa, sugar and salt mixture. Stir until fully combined and is like a thick frosting.  If it is grainy and difficult to stir, it is possible you accidentally dropped water into the bowl.
Scoop chocolate into a ziplock bag or piping bag. Clip the corner of the bag.
Pipe the chocolate into your chocolate mold, filling to the top. Tap the mold on the counter to make sure all the chocolate settles into the mold. Add a stir stick to the center of each mold.
Let the chocolate cool at room temperature. (It does not take long.)

Pop the chocolate out of the mold and store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one year if using dark chocolate, or up to several months if using milk or white chocolate.

To enjoy: Use 1 oz hot chocolate on a stick per every 1 cup milk or cream. A standard block in an ice cube tray is 3/4 ounce, so you would use 3/4 cup milk or cream. Heat the milk or cream and stir in the chocolate until fully melted.

Love .Kim

New Jersey Style Crumb Cake

 

This is hands down the best crumb cake I have had. Even better it is the easiest crumb cake I have made. I found the recipe at Dine & Dish, but the recipe came from Recipezaar.

I made these treats for a team traveling down to Mexico for a missions trip and they were a hit!

Here is the recipe. The one little tip that helped me out is to freeze the topping for a bit so it gets that real crumb! I also did not use the powdered sugar on the final step.

New Jersey Crumb Cake (from Recipezaar)

40 min | 10 min prep

SERVES 8

CAKE

• 1/2 cup margarine or butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

TOPPING

• 1/2 cup margarine or butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups biscuit mix
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4-1/2 cup powdered sugar

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Beat eggs and milk; mix with butter.
3. In another bowl, mix flour and baking powder, then add to butter mixture.
4. Stir in vanilla.
5. Pour batter into a greased 9 x 13 pan.
6. For crumb topping: Cut butter into sugar, biscuit mix, and cinnamon.
7. Sprinkle over batter in pan.
8. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until done.
9. Top with the 1/4 – 1/2 C powdered sugar when cool.

Have fun and let me know your feedback on this fabulous creation!