Today we have some baking tips. As you may recall, I hate to bake but sometimes it winds up being a necessity.

For more intense chocolate flavor in chocolate-based recipes, substitute 1/3 to 1/2 cocoa powder for 1/3 to 1/2 of the flour that is called for in the recipe.

You have a week to pull off these two pranks. It only took me about 15 minutes to “make” my fruit and vegetable Easter chocolates. I can’t wait to see the reactions!

I went to Target to shop for the foil-covered chocolate eggs. After carefully examining what was available, I decided on the Nestle Crunch Nest Eggs over the traditional Hershey’s Eggs because they were slightly larger. You see, you’ll be swapping out the chocolate eggs for grapes, so a similar size is a necessity. The Nestle Butterfinger Nest Eggs were a perfect size too, but the foil isn’t as pretty or “Eastery”  – yes that’s a word!

April Fool’s Fruit and Vegetable Easter Chocolates

• Nestle Crunch Nest Eggs
• grapes
• Ferrero Rocher Chocolates
• Brussels sprouts
• a bit of patience

Very carefully and slowly loosen the foil on a Crunch Chocolate Egg. On the first one I attempted, I made the mistake of completely opening up the foil. Don’t do that! It is too hard to fold it back together nicely.

Instead, open the foil just enough to remove the chocolate egg.

When choosing your grape, go a little smaller, rather than larger or the exact same size. I used the grape on the left.

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In late July, when we were staying at the Shelbourne, in Dublin, we’d have their breakfast buffet each morning. I saw something there that I’d never seen before. Fresh honeycomb in the frame (direct from the hives) with spoons to help yourself and scoop right off the frame. So Cool!

About a week later, at The Ballymaloe House, we were served Fresh Honeycomb Dipped in Chocolate as an after-dinner treat. Even Cooler!

I haven’t been able to get either thing off my mind since.

Last Saturday, Sheila invited me to go to Singh Farms (8900 E Thomas – just east of the 101 at the Thomas exit) with her. Their Farmer’s Market won’t be open until late October but their compost yard was open and they were selling herb starts, compost, bat guano, worm castings, fresh eggs …. and honey!

I wondered if they might sell fresh honeycomb in the frame. Sheila encouraged me to ask.

I did. And they do! I bought this lovely honey frame (easel not included) for $20.

You don’t have to buy an entire frame of honeycomb to make this recipe. You can purchase fresh honeycomb online HERE and have it delivered right to your door.

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Isn’t this tart beautiful?

You will not believe what this ultra-rich and creamy dessert is made with.  And believe it or not, it is all raw. No baking involved, perfect for Arizona summers.

This is the final recipe I will be sharing with you from my full-day cooking class at Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland.

I have saved the best for last.

When I first heard what the secret ingredient was, I was certain that I would not like this dessert. Oh, how wrong I was! You’ll have to read the recipe and check out the photos to see what I’m talking about. I don’t want to give it away quite yet.

Instead of a tart pan, the dessert uses a springform. Since it’s not cooked, there is no reason to cut out a perfect circle to line the bottom of the springform. Just place a piece on the bottom part of the pan…

Attach the sides, the ring part of the pan, and you’re ready to rock and roll.

Removing it is a breeze as well. Run a sharp knife around the edges to loosen, then remove the ring and slide a long thin pallet knife or spatula between the paper and the base…

…to move the tart, with the paper, to the counter.

Then, use the removable bottom of a real tart pan to transfer the tart from the paper to a serving plate.

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Connor worked on Saturday night, so we celebrated his birthday on Sunday. Marissa is in town for a wedding, which was also on Saturday, so it worked out perfectly since she could then celebrate with her brother too.

This is the cake I made for him. I found the image on Pinterest, of course. No need for an actual recipe. Use your favorite cake recipe or a box mix. Frost with your favorite icing, I used a chocolate buttercream, recipe included. Then decorate and trim with KitKat bars, M&M’s, and a ribbon. That’s all there is to it!

Connor’s Candy & Cake Birthday Cake

Chocolate Butter Frosting
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk, half-and-half, or cream

Two 9-inch round cakes (from 1 box cake mix)

Three 4.5-ounce Giant Kit Kat Bars
One 12.6-ounce bag of M&M’s
Kitchen string
Ribbon

Chocolate Butter Frosting:  In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter and vanilla.

Mix in the cocoa powder.

Add the powdered sugar alternately with the cream. Beat until light and fluffy. If necessary, adjust the consistency with more milk or sugar.

Place one of the cake layers on a cake stand or platter and frost the top with the frosting. Place the second layer on top and frost the top and the sides.

Immediately after the cake is frosted, begin placing the individual Kit Kat sticks to the sides of the cake, leaving a very small space in between each Kit Kat (you need to do this before the frosting has time to dry and set up.)

Three giant packages is the exact amount you need to completely surround the cake.

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Valentine’s Day is Friday. Are you ready? Maybe this decadent chocolate dessert will get you in the mood.

Barbara Fenzl taught this recipe during the last semester of classes at Les Gourmettes Cooking School. It is too creative, beautiful, and delicious to not share with you. <3

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As I’ve told you many times before, I am NOT a baker.

I don’t like to bake.
I don’t have the patience to bake.
I am not skilled at baking.

That being said – I baked these cupcakes… and they are The BOMB!

Seriously! I gave Connor one to sample and his eyes rolled back in his head with delight! He made me promise him that I would make them for his birthday in May. That is a promise I intend to keep!

The recipe came from HERE.

If every recipe on bakersroyale.com is as scrumptious as these cupcakes, and if YOU love to bake, you should be going to this site every day from here on out!

All I did was change them from standard cupcakes to mini cupcakes. Otherwise, I followed the recipe almost as written and they were perfection! So much so, that I could eat the caramel frosting, with a huge spoon, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

OK, maybe not! The frosting alone has a pound of butter – but to be fair, there was quite a bit of frosting left over, even after all the cupcakes were made.

To prevent me from using a spoon to eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I put it in the trash and then dumped the nasty contents of my Roomba on top of it!

I can’t have that sort of temptation around here!

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In the comments of the “help me, help you” post, Karen asked for “Pecan Pecan Pecan stuff!”  There are pecans in some of my Thanksgiving recipes.

My favorite Thanksgiving recipe with pecans is my stuffing. Man, I really love that stuffing recipe!

But I double-checked and realized I did not have a recipe up for pecan pie. I haven’t made a pecan pie in years… it’s just so rich … and our family really loves pumpkin pie, so I figure, why bother?

But Karen asked, and I shall deliver!

And not just with any old pecan pie, but a pecan pie with chocolate … and with bourbon … and Cinnamon Whipped Cream … BOOM!

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I’m calling these “Mexican-Chocolate” because of the cinnamon and chocolate combination. If you’ve ever eaten or cooked with the Ibarra brand of Mexican chocolate, you understand.

On a totally unrelated subject – I haven’t been sleeping well lately. I keep waking up before the sun – but that turned out to be a blessing yesterday.

I got out of bed at about 4:30 and decided to make these muffins since I needed to take something to our neighborhood Bunco later that evening.

The day was a whirlwind, I wasn’t home for more than 15 minutes all day. If I hadn’t made the muffins early in the morning … I would have never had time to make a thing and would have had to resort to bringing a bottle of wine.

As you might imagine, that doesn’t fly when you have a cooking blog and teach people to cook!

Sometimes sleep deprivation actually pays off.

Now, I know that for some, 4:30 or 5:00 is a normal and routine time to begin their day. I’ve had that schedule before, so I get it. But back then, I fell asleep before midnight or 1 AM too.

Let’s face it – sleep deprivation totally sucks! Conversely, these muffins do not.

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Last summer, I introduced my Illinois bestie, Jen, to Pinterest. One of the first things she spotted was these cookies. We went directly to the store and bought the ingredients.

Best. Chocolate Chip Cookies. Ever!

Since they are so fabulous, I have not made a batch since!

Don’t act surprised, you know why… I’d eat them before they had a chance to cool and then loath myself for days on end. Yesterday I decided to tempt fate. I whipped up a batch, set them out to cool, and left the house.

Upon my return, I immediately packed them up and placed the cookies in the freezer. I did not eat one.

Little miracles happen every single day!

Later this week, the frozen cookies will board a plane with me to Canada and be served at a 4th of July picnic.

Classic American Holiday + The Canadian Wilderness + Extra-Special Chocolate Chip Cookies = Perfection.

I used the reddish Alaea and the white Kona sea salts I brought home from Hawaii for two of the baking sheets of cookies and the pink Murray River salt for the third one. Use whatever sea salt you have on hand.

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