Written By Mama

Posts Tagged ‘chocolate’

March has 2 special “holidays” this year. First coming up is St. Patrick’s Day – Green Day. The other, which is coming pretty early, is Easter (March 31st if you didn’t know). Anyways, because March is the month of green, I am joining in with some other awesome bloggers to take on the Food Blogger Challenge. This month, I have to make GREEN FOOD. The first recipe I’m doing is a Chocolate Mint Surprise Cupcake. The cupcakes aren’t green in color, but mint is green, so I’m totally claiming it as a green food. Anyways, I’ll stop rambling so you can start baking. 

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So my mom’s birthday was on Tuesday. I was in such a fog that day, that I totally forgot about what dessert to make her – it’s not a birthday without something sweet! Anyways, I finally came up with cupcakes. I didn’t want just any cupcakes though, I wanted something special. So I decided to fill them with homemade chocolate frosting.
I used a box of cake mix and store bought frosting to frost the tops, but you can always make cupcakes and frosting by scratch, if you’d rather!

What You Need:

• 1 box of cake mix (including the eggs, oil etc…)
• Corer – I used a pointed potato peeler but they actually make things to remove the center of your cupcakes. I just couldn’t find one at my local craft/baking store.


This is what I used

• 1 Small Ziploc Baggy or frosting bag
• Milk
• 1C of powdered sugar
• 1/2C of Unsweetened Baking Cocoa
• 1 tub of store bought frosting
• Candy Hearts (or any shape you want) *optional*

What You Do:

• Make the cupcakes according to the box.
• Cook according to the box then cool for 30 minutes.
• While the cupcakes are cooling, in a small bowl, add your powdered sugar and baking cocoa. Add about a tablespoon of milk to your bowl. Mix well. It will take a few seconds (about 30 seconds) of constant mixing before your cocoa will mix into the milk. You’ll know it when it’s getting there. If you need more milk, add about a half a tablespoon at a time, until it’s like soft (slightly melted) frosting.
• Once the cupcakes are cooled, take your corer and remove a small hole in the center of each cupcake. Make sure you don’t go all the way to the bottom of the cupcake, as the filling will make the cupcake liners soggy – and it’ll be super messy to eat.



• Put your homemade frosting into the zip bag or frosting bag. Pipe a little bit of frosting into each cupcake hole.


I just used a ziploc baggy

• Frost your cupcakes. I found if you put the frosting on the tip of your knife and put it on the center of the cupcake (where your hole is), then slowly spread outwards, it spreads easier.
• Once you’re done frosting your cupcakes, add the candy hearts, or other shapes.

Not too long ago my friend Becky from Week 99er posted an amazing recipe for Gluten Free Homemade Bacon Topped Chocolate Cupcakes. It intrigued me.
If you are living a gluten free lifestyle, Week 99er has TONS of Gluten Free Recipes. I recommend you check her out – she has this recipe in a Gluten Free version also (:

While I’m rambling on, you should know I’ve never made homemade cupcakes before. This was a first for me. OMG it was so easy and it was so much better than boxed mix.

This recipe is 100% homemade – meaning I also made my own frosting. Again, thanks Becky!

This recipe makes 24 cupcakes.

Cupcakes:

- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tspn Vanilla Extract
- 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup baking cocoa
- 1 tspn baking soda
- 1/4 tspn salt
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup milk
- Bacon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375*
2. Cream butter & sugar together until light & fluffy.
3. Add egg & vanilla.
4. In separate bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture.
5. Add milk and water to mixture – mix well.
6. Spray muffin tins with baking spray or line with cupcake liners – fill 2/3rds full; bake for 13-15 minutes.
7. Let cool for 10 minutes before frosting.

Frosting:

- 8 tbspn butter; softened
- 1/2 tspn vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 4 tbspn baking cocoa

Directions:

1. Mix together butter & vanilla.
2. Add sugar and cocoa; mix well.

Fry up your bacon while the cupcakes are cooling. When everything is cooled; frost cupcakes. Cut each slice of bacon into 3 pieces. Top each cupcake with 1 chunk of bacon. Enjoy!

Tips:

I cooked my bacon in the oven.
I don’t use cupcake liners.
Cooking times vary so start with the lowest cooking time & add 1 minute extra as needed.
You can make white frosting by omitting the baking cocoa.
I used my stand mixer & a whisk.

Feel free to pin, tweet & share on Facebook.
Let me know if you have any questions!

Once again I have to say, I love chocolate. I mean I really love chocolate. So when I got to review some chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate covered cashews from Asher’s Chocolates, I was so excited.

I have a theory, different types of chocolate are made for different occasions.

When I received my chocolate I wanted to eat it all immediately. It was almost dinner time though I also know if I had decided to eat it right then, I would have to share with Cody and Landon (LOL).

So when Landon laid down, Cody and I got to work. We ate the entire bag of cashews that night. When we woke I realized there weren’t many chocolate covered pretzels left, so I grabbed a pretzel and tossed it into a bag for my mom. She deserves a little salty sweet also!

I love how big the cashews are. They’re whole cashews and…big! The chocolate is really creamy.

A little piece of heaven

I think my favorite was the chocolate covered pretzels though. They had the perfect amount of crunch and the perfect amount of milk chocolate. Like the cashews, the pretzels are covered in creamy chocolate.

A big piece of heaven

So like I mentioned, my mom had one of the pretzels. Here is her review:
“They were really good. The chocolate was chocolaty and firm enough so it wasn’t too hard and it wasn’t soft and gooey. Oh and the pretzels were still fresh tasting.”

While you imagine eating these chocolaty treats, let me tell you a little about Asher’s Chocolates.

At Asher’s Chocolates, we understand that one of life’s sweetest pleasures is a simple box of chocolates. A family-owned-and-operated business, we’ve been making our fine chocolates and other classic confections for over four generations.
Asher’s Chocolates offers an award-winning selection of chocolates and other sweets—from assorted pralines to our Chocolate-Smothered Pretzels and creamy fudge. We also have one of the largest (and most delicious) lines of sugar-free chocolates in the country.
Our original family recipes began with Chester A. Asher, a Scottish farm boy from Canada, with a passion for chocolates and a knack for getting to the heart of a sugar craving. Always on the hunt for new ways to delight his customers, he was ever perfecting his creations, jotting new recipes down on bags of sugar.
Today, we use the freshest, purest ingredients, just as Chester did. And we never skimp on deliciousness. Though our company has expanded over the years, we continue to treat our customers and employees like family. Asher’s Chocolates are made with love. We hope you enjoy them and come back for more.

Not only does Asher’s Chocolates offer chocolate covered pretzels & cashews; but they have fudge, jelly beans, mint patties and more!

While you’re checking out the website, to see what goodies you might like, make sure you check out their Sweet Deals tab! You can win FREE chocolate from them through their monthly drawing.

Guess what? Not only do you get the chance of winning their monthly drawing, but you also have the chance to win a package of chocolate covered cashews & chocolate covered pretzels from Asher’s Chocolates on my blog! You can enter my Asher’s Chocolates giveaway now.

Have you ever been at a loss of words to describe chocolate? Neither have I.

When I received my chocolate, I couldn’t decide where to start – there were so many choices! So while Cody was gone, I ripped open a small box of the truffles and went to work.

The truffles are so rich and creamy. I almost didn’t want to eat them because they’re so cute!

I have to admit, I ate 2 packages before Cody got home. Each package only had 2 truffles AND I had to share with Landon – so I’m sure after sharing I only got to eat 3.
Yes, I’m giggling right now thinking “ONLY 3″. Hah!

Anyways, once Cody got home I decided to break open the Dark Chocolate No Sugar Added Chocolate Bar. WOW! I was in heaven! Remember when I did my review on Newman’s Own Organics and I had the dark chocolate bar? Well, I didn’t like it – it was WAY too bitter. Guylian’s chocolate bar was bitter (like dark chocolate is) but it was rich. I didn’t share any with Cody. I let my mom have some though – being diabetic and all I knew her opinion would be HUGE.

Next I tried the Milk Chocolate Bar. It was so smooth. Just like good chocolate should be.
I made s’mores with the Milk Chocolate Bar. I like to try different chocolate on my s’mores and I am SO glad I used the Guylian Milk Chocolate Bar – I am getting more for the 4th of July.

I was on their website a picture of coffee & the truffles on a plate. I decided, why not put a truffle – or in my case 2 – into my morning coffee?! It was good, but a little sticky LOL. Meaning, the truffle melted to the bottom of my cup and I had to stir it a lot to mix the truffle well. The work was worth it though.

Cody says, “All of the chocolate was decadent, smooth, delicious and nothing like the others. I know not one chocolate it could be compared to. It’s a chocolate you can appreciate and taste even after swallowing.”
He also said that out of all 3 samples, his favorite was the truffles.
My mom said, “Very creamy…perfect combination of sweetness and chocolate flavor. A real treat.”

So now that you have heard me ramble on about what I think of their chocolate, why don’t I share a little more about the history of Guylian Chocolates.

I have to say, I always thought that Guylian was named after the founder Guy and the fact that it’s Belgian Chocolate. I was wrong – and I feel a little silly admitting it.

In 1958, Guy and Liliane joined their names, both in marriage and in their company name creating Chocolaterie Guylian; a small, artisanal chocolate maker. Today, Guylian crafts the finest authentic Belgian chocolate truffles, selling them to chocolate lovers in Belgium and in more than 100 countries across the world.

If you look at the first picture above, you will see the signature ‘G’ stamped into the truffle. Each truffle is stamped with that ‘G’ which holds their guarantee that “each Guylian Artisanal Belgian Chocolate Truffle is made just the way our founders Guy & Liliane intended.”

Did you know, Guylian participates in Project Seahorse?

Guylian has been the major sustaining sponsor of Project Seahorse since 1999 donating more than $1.5 million.
“This organization is committed to conservation and sustainable use of the world’s coastal marine ecosystems. Saving the seahorses means saving our seas!”

One lucky Written By Mama reader is going to win a package of goodies like I received. You can enter my Guylian Chocolate Giveaway and find out more about the prize.