The Chocolate Bottle

Superbowl Sunday – Easy and Tasty Snacks!

The Chocolate Bottle — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:00:43 +0000

I am a Steelers fan. Most of you know that, but for those that don’t, now you do. I was saddened to see my team not make it to the final game, but I am fine with it. The teams that climbed to the top were amazing and earned their position. If only the Steelers would have called “heads” on the overtime. What if??

Oh right, back to what IS. I recently taught a class for a few wonderful ladies and their very fun children, some pretty tasty Superbowl snacks. We all think of the usual, pizza, chips and salsa, chicken wings, etc. I decided because there were kids involved AND because I like variety and a touch of healthy spice too, I decided to present new ideas to the class. And YOU now have the privilege to learn the items that I taught.

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs – a great way to reinvent pizza, and wonderful to make ahead of time.
Asparagus in a Blanket – a healthier alternative to hot dogs (or the mini dogs).
Basil and Corn Salsa – super healthy and lots of flavor (great for those who don’t love heat)
Patriotic S’mores – colorful, healthier alternative to the traditional s’more (fun for a party)

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs are SUPER simple and were pulled from Kirbie Cravings. I liked the recipe because it was SO easy for anyone to create, you could substitute the flour and baking powder for Bisquick if you wanted, and there are so many ways to make it your own style. Like Hawaiian pizza? Add ham and pineapple instead of pepperoni. Love basil? Add it! The sky is the limit and these little babies are perfect for popping. We added pizza sauce on the side to dip them in and everyone loved the addition!

Asparagus in a Blanket are so much friendlier to the heart and packs a great punch. We added seasonings and dipped them in pizza sauce as well for more flavor. Recipe was pulled from Disney – Family.com.

Corn and Basil Dip was a big crowd pleaser. I’m a basil fanatic and found this recipe to be such a zesty alternative to the traditional tomato based salsas. When we made the batch, the bowl was completely devoured. I know that this will be enjoyed by your guests as well for the big day! Thank you Julia from Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Girl’s Body for the wonderful idea!

Patriotic S’mores was something I had done last May, and I found dessert a perfect addition to add to a party. Set up a station for it, as the marshmallow will melt if you try to prep beforehand. It’s more fun for guests to design their own s’mores this way anyway! Plus you will moderate how much you eat. Personally, though, I could keep eating them. The kids REALLY enjoyed creating these, and it was fun to see their faces covered in Nutella! Check out MY recipe for this one!

Forgive me for not having photos this time – but I do my best to not borrow photos without asking, and I don’t believe in taking pictures while I teach. Many thanks!

Who are you cheering for this Sunday?

Chai n’ Cinnamon Peanut Brittle

The Chocolate Bottle — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:39:09 +0000

A little birdie told me that today is National Peanut Brittle Day! That happens to be my husband’s absolute favorite dessert, and if I didn’t make a batch to celebrate, he would be SO SO sad. So, dear Hubby, this recipe is for you. xxxooo

He got to taste the batch out today and said it was really quite delicious. I enjoyed the hints of cinnamon and chai – though honestly, I’m a tea lover and could have added much more tea to the mix!

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 cups peanuts
1 TBSP. butter (real)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 teabag of Chai tea. (open the bag to pour into mix)

Method:

In a microwavable large dish, put sugar and corn syrup in a bowl and microwave for 5 minutes. Take bowl out and put peanuts and butter into the bowl and mix together. Place back into microwave for 3 minutes. Be careful removing the bowl, as you now have SUPER hot candy and can really hurt yourself if not careful. (Been there.) Place the cinnamon, baking soda, tea and vanilla into the candy, and mix together which creates a rich caramel color. Quickly pour mix onto a greased baking sheet and let cool completely.

Optional: dip into chocolate!! (of course!)

Red Velvet Madeleines

The Chocolate Bottle — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:38:34 +0000

Do you ever have a cooking or baking utensil that just sits and collects dust? If so, please help me feel better and let me know what you keep in your kitchen and NEVER use!

Truthfully, I must admit that I have had a madeleine pan in our kitchen that has traveled from house to house, NEVER used, for probably about 8-10 years now. I was inspired by a movie to make them, and just never tried any recipe out. So there it sat, with the well used baking sheets and muffin tins, probably begging for attention. Thank goodness bakeware doesn’t talk or I would have seen a protest sign or a moving sign. LOL

Seriously, though, I have finally tried out a recipe and adapted it to fit my style. I broke out that pan and conquered…and wondered why it took me so long to try it out.

Do you love red velvet? I do, but I wanted to try something new out rather than go for the cupcake or cake or cookie or brownie. I made Red Velvet Madeleines and I am SO SO glad that I attempted the recipe alterations. The flavors are rich with chocolate and butter. Enough said. So without further discussion, the recipe.

Ingredients (adapted from Martha Stewart):

1/2 stick of unsalted butter (4 TBSP)
1 cup of cake flour
2 eggs
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 TBSP. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 TBSP. red food coloring

Method:

In a small bowl, place cocoa powder and red food coloring together and mix slowly. If you add more red color, it will become more pasty. Set aside. Heat butter to melted and let cool. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour madeleine pan. In a large bowl, blend eggs, salt and sugar until thick consistency. This takes around 8-9 minutes. Mix in vanilla. Fold in flour until mixed together. Stir in cocoa mixture until mixture is a red color and smooth. Add melted butter quickly and fold into mixture. Quickly pour into the madeleine pan and bake for 10 minutes.

This is perfect for a Valentine’s breakfast morning!

Green Tea Filled Oreo Cookies

The Chocolate Bottle — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:37:13 +0000

I was recently informed that there is a cool chocolate dipping contest going on with Tropical foods and my ears perked up! How can I not participate? I have been meaning to try out their chocolate and this gave me all the motivation I needed. Just tasting the chocolate before heated up for dipping, told me everything. Silky in texture and flavor. PERFECT for dipping all sorts of foods. Personally? I love raspberries the most dipped in chocolate. The pop in flavor that is unleashed after the first bite into the chocolate covered berry… WOW. Ok, I might have to go out and buy some berries thinking about this now. Also, my family and I enjoy dipping strawberries, crystalized ginger bites, homemade truffles, and cookies!

Which is why I thought I’d try my hand at homemade Oreo-style cookies, infused with green tea in the frosting! And… dipped in Tropical foods chocolate of course!

Ingredients:

Box of Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 pkg of cream cheese
1 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 Tazo Zen tea (green tea)

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix together oil, eggs and cake mix, and roll out little cookies. Slightly flatten cookies with spatula before baking. Bake for 10 minutes, let cool completely. Mix together cream cheese, sugar and 1/2 a bag of tea to a smooth consistency. Pipe onto cookie and seal cookies shut! Dip in chocolate if you wish!

Enjoy and savor the flavor of tea with chocolate!

Easy way to let the chocolate dry!

Green food coloring used for fun!

Chinese Tea Eggs

The Chocolate Bottle — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:47:23 +0000

Normally we don’t celebrate holidays that apply to different nations, however, this year, my family and I find something very cool about celebrating the Year of the Dragon. I picture a parade full of color and beauty and a giant red dragon “dancing” across the crowds. What a site it must be! We had the fortune of watching one this past summer at a parade in Waxhaw, NC, and while it was a smaller version dragon, my children and I were very much in awe of the decor that goes into a dragon.

This year I decided to make a Chinese Tea Egg. Overseas, this is eaten as a savory snack or a late night snack, but I see nothing wrong with eating this for breakfast if you ask me! Tea? Egg? I know the concept sounds really strange, and I had to think over the idea of making them. I didn’t want to go through a bunch of eggs and not like the flavor. (We bakers take great care on how many eggs we have in the refrigerator – a daily check!) So my daughter and I decided we’ll test out two eggs. Enough for a good pictures, but not too many that we’re going to sacrifice good eggs!

I love the recipes I have seen out there, and one that really inspired me was from Saveur Magazine. Take a look at the picture and tell me that doesn’t look beautiful! However, I completely changed the recipe to be something unique for my blog, plus, I was scared off by the idea of using soy sauce with an egg. Way outside my box, you could say…

Ingredients:

2 cups water
1/2 tsp. All-Spice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. Anise
1 teabag of Orange tea (I used Tazo Wild Sweet Orange Tea)
2 eggs

Method:

Boil 2 eggs in water for 5 minutes to a soft boil. Let cool for 2-3 minutes. In a separate small saucepan, boil 2 cups of water, all the spices and tea. For more flavor impact with the tea, rip open the tea bag to let the contents flow freely in saucepan. I recommend a strong orange tea to get a great flavor. Slowly bring sauce to a boil. In the meantime, crack, but don’t peel the egg shells of the soft boiled eggs. Place the eggs into the sauce and bring to a boil to completely hard boil the eggs. About 5 minutes. After finished cooking, take off heat and let the eggs set in the sauce. It would be best to have them set in the juices about 4 hours, however, I did an hour and you can see my steeping results in a lighter color around the cracks, and lighter flavor. Again, I was nervous about getting too much flavor in, but trust me, these are really yummy and do recommend that you just “go for it!” When the eggs are finished soaking, peel the shells and look at the beautiful cracked lines in the eggs! A work of art!

Can you do this with just food coloring to not get the eggs flavored to orange or soy sauce? YES! Have the cracked eggs soak in food colored water overnight and you can have hard boiled eggs decorated just the same.

Happy Chinese New Year to my readers that this would apply to!! I hope that you have a fantastic day!

Nutella Banana Crepes

The Chocolate Bottle — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:00:40 +0000

I love the French. They come up with the most delightful food recipes and crepes are one of my favorites as a breakfast when we eat out. Since it’s really rare for my family and I to actually eat breakfast at a restaurant (we enjoy eating at home!), I never get the chance to eat crepes. Today I decided I would take the plunge, and make them myself. It’s really not a difficult recipe and once I made the batter, I had to laugh about how much restaurants charge for breakfast in the first place. I got a LOT of crepes created just from this batch and it made me think… why would I eat out for this delicacy? I can stay in my PJ’s, listen to some relaxing music, and devour in the comfort of my own home!

This easy and wonderful recipe came from a book called, “Cook This, Not That.” My husband and I have been enjoying going over many recipes in it, as it’s colorful, easy to read and most importantly, tells you how many calories you’re going to take in when youcreate the meal. Or course, I went straight to the dessert section and found Nutella Banana Crepes. WHAT? You don’t eat dessert for breakfast? ;) So the taste? Do I really have to say? It’s Nutella inside a perfectly perfect flat pancake and bananas. SOOOOOO
awesome. My daughter was afraid of trying something new, but she took a bite and it was like out of that Julie and Julia movie…

Butter.

Oh, my goodness.
You have to taste this.
Here.
I mean... It's...
- I know.
- But I'm...
I know. I know. I know.

She was speechless and it was adorable. I made Hubby’s crepe a little different, because he’s not into sweets for breakfast. I used chocolate chips and bananas for his and went light on the chocolate chips. He too was speechless. So, friends, it’s worth it. SO SO worth making this recipe. I hope you all enjoy, and like Julia Child says, “Bon Appetit!”

Ingredients for batter:

1 cup flour
dash of salt
2 eggs
2 TBSP melted butter
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water

Directions:

Stir together the flour, eggs, salt and butter. Slowly add milk and whisk to avoid lumps. Add water slowly and continue to whisk until the batter is smooth. Heat pan to medium heat and coat with butter or cooking spray. Pour in 2 TBSP or a little more depending on the size of your pan, and roll the batter to the edges of the pan. (This might take practice, don’t be frustrated, have fun with it!) Let the bottom get a golden crisp look to it and flip it over. While the bottom is cooking, place Nutella and cut up bananas down the center of the crepe (on the cooked side.) And fold over to seal it shut. Cut and serve!

Optional fillings for crepes (because variety is the spice of life!):

Fresh cut up fruit with whipped topping
Egg and cheese
Feta, olives, ham, green peppers

Homemade Gummy Candy

The Chocolate Bottle — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:26:18 +0000

Today I’ll be teaching my first birthday party at the teaching kitchen in the YMCA. The theme? Candy making! How fun is that? So one of the recipes(courtesy of Skip to my Lou!) that I will share with you is great for the kids to get involved with and is super simple to create. I’m hoping that after you see this recipe, you’ll think twice about buying gummy candy when you’re out and about! You can’t beat homemade!

Ingredients:

1 (3 oz.) box flavored gelatin
2 (1/4 oz.) box unflavored gelatin (I used 2 Knox packets from the box)
1/3 cup water
Candy molds

Directions:

Place 1/3 cup water in a small sauce pan. Sprinkle flavored and unflavored gelatin over the water. Stir gently to blend together and let sit for 5 minutes. Place sauce pan over medium heat and stir until gelatin is dissolved (2-5 minutes). When the mixture is in a liquid state, remove from the heat and let cool for a minute. Pour mixture into a squeeze bottle for easy pour. Fill molds with mixture and place in freezer for 10 minutes. Once cooled, you can dust the backs of the gummies with cornstarch to eliminate them sticking to the plate you place them on. Peel gummies out of the mold. (I used a knife to pry them out, and they didn’t get damaged with the knife.)

Have fun!

Dark Chocolate Chili Truffles

The Chocolate Bottle — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:51:01 +0000

Who is getting geared up for Valentine’s Day? We bakers tend to plan, and I’ve already started planning for the fun holiday. I know some of you aren’t into it, I get it… it’s a made up holiday. But listen, when you have children, perspective really changes, and it’s fun to see the house be covered in cut-out hearts. Their sweet little spirits lift as I put up some heart decorations and fun faux flowers in their rooms. It’s a reminder that while February may be cold and dreary, it can be filled with warmth and love.

Need a little heat in your home or better yet, your relationship with your loved one? These Dark Chocolate Chili Truffles will definitely give a little “kick!” I used a simple bar of Chili Chocolate from Lindt to help speed things along, but if you are the daring type, why not try to use regular dark chocolate and add the heat with spices freehanded?

Taste result? LOVE. It has a wonderful dark flavor and then packs a balanced heat at the finish. My husband said that they are his new favorite truffle, but he’s a pushover with all dark chocolate truffles. ”Twist his arm,” as they say.

Method:

1 bar of Lindt Chili Dark Chocolate (Target sells them)
3.5 oz of heavy whipping cream
1/4 tsp. vanilla
Cocoa powder for dusting

Chop chocolate to small bits and set in a glass bowl. Melt chocolate in microwave for around a minute to a minute and half. In a saucepan, heat up whipping cream until it almost boils. Remove from heat immediately and skim off top with a spoon to remove. Pour whipping cream (warmed up) into chocolate and stir until it’s completely blended into a beautiful chocolate. Add a little vanilla and stir. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for an hour or overnight is fine too. Scoop with a melon baller or TBSP measure and quickly roll. This is when your hands will quickly be covered in gooey chocolate if you don’t move fast.** Roll into cocoa powder and set aside. Don’t fool around with letting the chocolate in the bowl warm up. The batch is super soft and you should keep them chilled in the fridge until ready to eat.

**Tip: Keep paper towel handy to wipe hands dry between each truffle rolling

Enjoy!

Wishing you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

The Chocolate Bottle — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:00:31 +0000

Dear friends,

My family and I would like to wish you peace and love this Christmas season! Thank you so much for all of your continued support. I look forward to seeing what the new year brings for everyone. May God Bless you all!!

Much love,

Andrea

Chocolate-Eggnog Crinkle cookie

The Chocolate Bottle — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:00:27 +0000

I had a very special guest in my home from the Wilson’s World show on Fox News Rising. Yes, Jon Wilson was here for a baking feature during the holidays and asked me to present some classic cookie ideas to the public! I have to say, every time I get the opportunity to be on the air, it’s truly a pleasure and it has been great fun as well. So, I took some staples in the Christmas cookie world, and came up with some ideas that carried simplicity, style and also fun for the kids. Some cookies were the latest thing out on Pinterest, while others were tried and true recipes, yet given a slight twist for ease and flair.

Jon had the privilege of tasting these delectable samples, and really loved the one I’m going to talk about now, for you. It’s called the Chocolate-Eggnog Crinkle cookie. It’s your basic crinkle cookie, changed out with eggnog instead of water. Really simple, not time consuming and my 7 year old was able to put this batch together for me with minor assistance.

One way I took the cookie to a tastier level, was to make it into an ice cream sandwich. And why not?! I know it’s cold out there, but the ice cream flavors I used were perfectly festive and called to be put in a cookie. Yummmmy! Peppermint and chocolate? Or Eggnog and chocolate? Delightful.

Ingredients:

1 box of Devil’s Food Cake
1/3 cup of oil
1 egg
4 Tbsp of eggnog (water if you don’t like eggnog)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix cake mix, oil, egg and eggnog (or water) with a mixer. Dough will get tough and will need to be kneaded by hand to finish mixing. Roll out cookies in the shape of a ball and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes. Let cool for 1-2 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.

Options: Create into ice cream sandwich with Eggnog Ice Cream or Peppermint Ice Cream. (I used Edy’s)

Enjoy!