Mock Chocolate Truffles

Mock Chocolate Truffles

 

This recipe is courtesy of wellness coach, and my friend, Sandy Thomas.  We made these mock truffles in a cooking class I took with Sandy and friends last year.  They were delicious, and I made them with Brennan today.

 

Excuse the state of the kitchen, we're having interior painting done this week!

 

While Brennan really prefers creating his own recipes, he is also good at following a recipe, so I put him to work today in the kitchen.

 

We started by chopping pecans in the food processor.

 

Then we added pitted dates, maple syrup, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, and one tablespoon of water, per the directions.  This gave us a rough texture, so we added another tablespoon of water or two until we go the right texture - rather smooth.

 

Then we rolled the truffles, and rolled half through cocoa powder, and half through shredded coconut.

 

 

 

I chilled them in the fridge until after dinner, but we didn't make it that long.

 

 

 

This recipe made about 3 dozen.  I loved the coconut.  David and Brennan (my dark chocolate lovers) really liked the cocoa powder ones.

 

 

 

I am understating how much they loved this dessert.

 

They absolutely loved these.  In fact, they completely disappeared.  Before dinner!

 

David thought they made a great special treat to take to a dinner.  Brennan wants to make more to take to his grandmother's house this weekend.  And he wants to make them for Thomas.

 

If you have any leftover, store them in an air tight container in the fridge.

 

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Enjoy!

 

Hummingbird (Cup)Cakes

Hummingbird (Cup)Cakes

 

My friend Sarah shared her Hummingbird Cake recipe with me so I decided to try it for Easter.

Instead of a cake, though, I made cupcakes.

 

They were delicious and really moist.

 

Along with a gorgeous carrot cake and a cheese cake, we had great Easter desserts.

 

Mix together oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Then add in baking soda, cinnamon, flour and salt.

 

Finally, stir in diced bananas, crushed pineapple with its juice, coconut, and chopped pecans.

 

 

Combine well.  This recipe makes either 3 cake layers or 36 cupcakes.

The layers should cook for 25 minutes at 350*.  I cooked the cupcakes for about 18 minutes.

We made cream cheese frosting by beating cream cheese and butter together, then adding powdered sugar and vanilla.

 

Brennan frosted the cupcakes for me which was a big help.

 

So yummy!

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Enjoy!

 

Pecan Tarts

Pride & Prejudice Party

Pecan Tarts

This is my third recipe to share from my Pride and Prejudice book club get together.

I chose recipes that were typical of Austen's time.

I've already shared my Cucumber Tea Sandwiches and Cranberry Orange Scones.

Next up - Pecan Tarts.

Tarts are mentioned in Austen's novels and I had never made them from scratch.

I found this highly reviewed recipe on allrecipes.com and decided to attempt it.

It was easy and the tarts were delicious.

The tart crust is made by combining cream cheese, butter, flour and salt.

It's chilled and then the crust is pressed into mini-muffin cups.

This recipe makes 21 tarts.

Then the filling is made by combining a beaten egg with dark brown sugar, melted butter, vanilla extract and pecans.

The tarts are filled and baked at 325* for 25-30 minutes.

After taking my photos I topped them with half maraschino cherries to serve.

They were really yummy.

Double click the recipe card to print as a 5x7 card.

Thank you Jane!