Decadent Desserts V

Chocolate Truffles:
Carolann Wedlund

Ingredients

• Ganache, recipe follows, refrigerated until firm
• Coatings: cocoa powder, caramelized hazelnuts, crunchy pearls, rainbow sprinkles, crushed toasted almonds, Toasted Shredded Coconut
  

Directions

Remove the chilled ganache from the refrigerator. Scoop out little amounts onto a parchment or waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Chill in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes. Immediately roll out each scoop into golf ball-sized pieces.

Roll in the various coatings and arrange on a serving tray or store in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to serve.

Ganache:

• 8 ounces good dark chocolate, chopped (not below 60 percent cocoa, recommended: Valrhona)
• 8 ounces heavy cream, scalded

Completely melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Add the cream to a medium bowl and pour in the chocolate. Whisk the mixture very slowly creating a shiny, elastic emulsion.

Valentine Cake Pop Bears Recipe:
Jenna Ralph and Becky Aililing

1 box cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can frosting (16 oz.) [OR use 3/4 of container because we used it all and found it to be a little too doughy and sticky]
Wax paper
Black candy melts (1 lb. pkg.)
Lollipop sticks
Edible ink pens

Large jumbo heart sprinkles on the legs.

Black coated sunflower seeds for noses.

Black sugar pearls for eyes

A black edible ink pen for smiles.

Chocolate chips for the ears and nose structure

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can frosting. (I use the back of a large spoon, but it may be easier to use fingers to mix together. But, be warned, it will get messy. Also, you may not need the entire can of frosting, so start out by using almost the entire can and add more if you need to.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50)
4. Melt chocolate in the microwave per directions on package. (30 sec intervals, stirring in between.)
5. Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted candy coating and insert into the cake balls. (Insert a little less than halfway.) Also insert the chocolate chips into the melted candy coating and then into the cake balls for the ears and nose structure.
6. Place them in the freezer for a little while to firm up.
7. Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating in about halfway by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until the top part is covered. Return pops to the freezer to firm up again for just a couple of minutes. After chilling, dip the entire body into the bowl of melted candy coating. Make sure the bowl is deep enough to dip and remove in one motion. The coating should also be thin enough to completely coat the pop without having to stir it in the bowl.Once covered remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off. Don’t tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too. Attach nose, conversation heart and legs while the coating is still wet.
8. Place in a styrofoam block to dry.
9. Once dry, you can dip your toothpick into some of the leftover melted coating and dot some in position for the eyes. Then just attach the sugar pearls. Dot some on the legs and attach the jumbo heart sprinkles. Apply a little bit of coating to one side of the M&M’s candies and attach them to the body so they appear to be holding the hearts. Then just draw on some sweet smiles. Then you are done!

Elizabeth Champion

Almond Joy Fudge

1 cup agave nectar
1 cup coconut oil
Put both in a blender and set container in a sink of hot tap water to warm the oil.

1/2 cup raw powdered chocolate (or unsweetened cocoa)
Add this to the agave and oil and blend well then pour into a bowl.

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 cup chopped almonds
Stir into chocolate mixture.

Pour unto 8x8 pan, chill 2 hours, and cut into squares

Note: I made this recipe for the first time for our Decadent Dessert V and it was waaaayyyy to sweet for me. I recommend cutting the agave by 1/2.

Macaroons
2 cups unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup almond flour (I just ground up almonds in my Vitamix)
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 T. vanilla
Pinch of salt

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and stir well to blend. Using a small scoop, scoop out rounds of the mixture onto a tray covered with parchment and freeze them.

Note: I made this recipe for the first time for our Decadent Dessert and it was waaaayyyy to sweet for me. I recommend cutting the agave and maple syrup by 1/2.

Almond Joy Cups
Place a scoop of the macaroon mixture into a small muffin tin and flatten.
Place a spoonful of the Almond Joy Fudge on top of the macaroon mixture.

Chill in fridge for two hours. Using a knife, scoop out each muffin tin and place Almond Joy cup on tray to serve or will also fit nicely in the little muffin papers if you want to be fancy.

Note: I came up with this Almond Joy Cup recipe as I was making the other two. I was really trying to find a way to recreate the Almond Joy you buy at the store. When I make these again I will do the following:

1. Place a scoop of the macaroon mixture into a small muffin tin and flatten.
2. Place two or three whole almonds on top of the macaroon mixture.
3. Make just the chocolate part of the Almond Joy Fudge (no almonds or coconut) and pour a little on top of the almonds/macaroon.

Chill in fridge for two hours. Using a knife, scoop out each muffin tin and place Almond Joy cup on tray to serve or will also fit nicely in the little muffin papers if you want to be fancy.

Banana Cake with Caramel Frosting

Brittany Poulton

18.25 ounce packaged plain yellow cake mix	½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon	2 medium ripe bananas, peeled and mashed about 1 cup
1 cup water	½ cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs	1 cup chopped pecans, toasted (optional)
Preheat oven to 350
Spray three 8 “ cake pans
Blend in I mixer oil eggs, brown sugar, cinnamon, and water. Once blended add the cake mix and beat for two minutes
Pour cakes into well-sprayed pans. Or butter and flour the pans. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until the cake pulls apart from the sides of the pan. Check with a toothpick to see if the center is set (no runny batter.

1 stick butter	½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, (sifted)	½ firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract	¼ cup whole milk
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, light and dark brown sugars and cook stirring occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil. Add the confectioner’s sugar and beat with a portable mixer. I like to beat it over the heat until ready to pour it on the cake. Use it while warm or it will harden. If it does return the pan to low heat and stir until the frosting softens. This cake tastes better the second day. I cover it with a glass cake cover and the flavors blend together. Strawberry Short-Cake Jessica Skubal 1 pkg of Pound Cake Mix 2 cartons of Heavy Whipping Cream 2-3 cups confectioners sugar 50-60 strawberries Make Pound Cake as instructed by package in a 9 x 9 pan. Let cool. Then cut into small squares. Whip the heavy cream in mixer and when fluffy add 2-3 cups of confectioners sugar. Do not beat to much, may turn to butter consistency(you don’t want that). Wash and cut strawberries in half and place aside. Use a trifle bowl to layer your filling. Put cake squares on bottom then put a layer of whipped cream, then strawberries. Then another layer of whipped cream and then the cake squares. And keep layering. You don’t want the cake and strawberries to touch, because the cake will get wet with the strawberries. End layers with strawberries on top. Chocolate Covered Brownies Nancy Stewart Ghirardelli Brownie mix Chocolate Chips

Just make the brownies according to instructions. Let cool. Melt chocolate chips or chocolate in bulk. Cut brownies to preferred size, dip in melted chocolate & place on parchment paper to harden. For variety, you can roll them in chopped nuts, coconut, etc. Lots of options. These can be frozen. * I melted chocolate in microwave. If using chocolate chips, it works well to add 1 tbs. cooking oil to one 12 oz. pkg. chocolate chips before placing them in microwave to melt.

Decadent Desserts V

Decadent Desserts V is coming up for Valentines Day so,

come and taste the richness of many fine desserts made by the sisters we love.

We will have a demonstration on how to make truffles......oh yes...hhmmmm

See you all there!!!

Healthy Foods (Jan. 2011)

Artificial sweeteners:
This is a list of some, not all.

Sorbitol
Mannitol
Glycerol
Acesulfame Potassium (Sunett, Sweet One)
Aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet)
Cyclamate
Isomalt
Saccharin (SugarTwin, Sweet'N Low)
Sucralose (Splenda)
Alitame
Thaumantin
Neohesperidine Dihydrochalcone
Aspartame-acesulfame Salt
Maltitol
Lacitol
Xylitol
Erythritol

These artificial sweeteners burden the entire system of the body, but mostly burden the Brain in many ways.
http://www.life-enthusiast.com/index/Education/Aspartame
http://aspartame.mercola.com/
(Great article!! Very informative)

Processes Sugars:
This is a list of some, not all.

Corn Syrup
High Fructose Corn Syrup
White Sugar
Brown Sugar
Sucrose
Dextrose
Glucose
Corn Sweeteners
Fruit juice conentrate
Lactose
Maltose
Malt Syrup
Syrup

These processed sugars burden the entire system of the body, but mostly burden the blood sugar and the pancreas.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2143756_out-refined-sugar-childs-diet.html


Natural Sugars/ Raw Sugars
This is a list of some, not all.

Maple Syrup
Coconut Crystals
Raw Sugar Cane
Malasses
Honey
Agave
Turbinado

These natural raw sugars should still be eaten in moderation, but our bodies are able to process them. They have DNA that registers with our DNA. They are naturally grown plants.


Pecan Cranberry Quinoa

Elizabeth Champion

1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 clove garlic
2 cups water
1/2 cup pecans, chopped and toasted under broiler
1 orange, red, or yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Dressing:

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 tsp. grated orange zest
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. agave
1 Tbsp. dried basil

Saute garlic in oil in saucepan, and add quinoa and stir until toasted. Add water and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer 15 mins. Blend 6 dressing ingredients in blender. Toss cooked quinoa with all other ingredients and the dressing. Serve cold or hot. Taken from 12 Steps to Whole Foods, by Robyn Openshaw (greensmoothiegirl.com)

Roasted Garlic Aioli Sauce
Ashley Eyre

1 1/2 cups almonds, soaked overnight and dreained
1 1/2 cups raw sunflower seeds, soaked overnight and drained
1 head garlic, roasted, cooled, skins removed from cloves
1 red pepper, roasted, peeled and seeds removed OR
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes (I put in both the pepper and tomatoes)
1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
1 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. original himalayan crystal salt (I used sea salt)
2 cloves fresh garlic
freshly ground pepper

Put all liquids in blender then add the other ingredients. Add a bit of water to blend to a smooth or chunky texture, whichever you prefer. (between 1 cup and 1 1/2 cups)
This is so thick it tends to burn out your blender. If this happens, don't panic, just let it cool and it will work again. (I use a vitamix or blend tec, I am not sure how it will do in other blenders.)

We use this as a dip for veggies and crackers, put it on baked potatoes in place of sour cream. It can be tossed with pasta and veggies or used in wraps. I have frozen it to use it for later (it makes A LOT), but the texture isn't as smooth after its been frozen.


Dairy-Free Lasagna
Ashley Eyre

"Cheese" sauce 1 1/2 cups macadamia nuts (NOT salted)
1 1/2 cups cashews
2 cups water
2 vegatable boullion cubes (I really like the rapunzel brand from the health food section at raleys)
Blend in blender

Pre-cook noodles (if you want it to be gluten free, use rice noodles)

Drizzle olive oil on bottom of pan
Layer noodles-cheese sauce- sliced zuccini and/or squash/eggplant (whatever vegetable you like)
repeat layering

Sometimes I sprinkle italian seasoning on each layer.


Banana Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Carolann Wedlund

4 to 5 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
1 to 2 tablespoons honey (test banana sweetness)

Cut the bananas into 1-inch pieces and freeze. Put the frozen bananas in a food precessor and puree, scraping down sides periodically, until smooth. Add the peanut butter and honey and puree. Serve immediately or refreeze until ready to enjoy.