Mini Peppermint Bark Cheesecakes

Here is the perfect addition to any holiday party or dinner. These little cheesecakes would also make a perfect gift.
I made these a couple weeks ago and took them to one of the first Christmas activities we had in December.
We love peppermint bark, but I have only had it homemade. My mom usually makes this recipe, which I usually make also, but this time I decided to try a version that had a dark chocolate layer on the bottom.

I found this peppermint bark cheesecake recipe over at Anne Strawberry and coincidently, she made this version when it was her turn to pick for Tuesday's with Dorie, about 2 years ago. So the base cheesecake recipe is Dorie's, which means it will turn out perfectly.
These cheesecakes consist of a chocolate cookie crust, swirled layers of white chocolate and peppermint flavored cheesecake, with a sprinkling of Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips
in between the cheesecake layers, slightly sweetened whipped cream and topped off with a piece of homemade peppermint bark.
Decadent and Delicious.
There are a few reasons why I like to make mini cheesecakes. 1- They can be made a day ahead and sit in the fridge overnight to chill, 2- almost everyone loves cheesecake, but it is so rich and highly-caloric that you can't enjoy it too often- a smaller serving solves that problem, 3- no worries about waterbaths or tops cracking, 4- they are easy and portable, fun to share and yummy. There are probably more reasons, but those are the ones I can come up at the moment.

These were a hit. I loved how they turned out.


Recipe for Peppermint Bark Cheesecake
* I made 1/2 the recipe and got 21 mini cheesecakes
* I made a chocolate cookie crust


Recipe for Easy Press-in Pie Crust
*I made 2/3 of the recipe
* I made the chocolate version, using Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers

Recipe for Peppermint Bark
* I used 2 oz bittersweet chocolate and 4 oz semisweet chocolate
* I used almond bark instead of white chocolate


Merry Christmas! I hope you have a great Holiday weekend!

Ginger Sugar Cookies, Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies, Chocolate Peppermint Bars, and Chewy, Chunky Blondies w/ holiday add-ins

These are the cookies that I made and sent in the mail to some family members. When I am making a bunch of treats at the same time, I always try to choose a variety of flavors and textures. Since it is Christmas time, I made sure to choose some cookies that had appropriate flavors for this time of year. Ginger, pumpkin, peppermint, cranberries, etc.

I recently received a copy of The Gourmet Cookie Book, a cookbook in which the best cookie from the pages of Gourmet magazine was chosen for each year, from 1941-2009.
I thumbed through this book and chose a couple of recipes to try. The ginger sugar cookies stuck out to me because my family loves ginger and they looked like a chewy, delicious cookie.
They smelled yummy and my kids each sampled one. My 4 year old thought they were too spicy, but my other kids loved them.
These pumpkin oatmeal cookies look ordinary enough, but boy are they tasty. I was curious about their flavor, so I ate one. These were sooo good. Usually it seems like oatmeal cookies have all sorts of add-ins, like raisins, or nuts or chocolate chips, but these were so yummy because the stars of the show were just the pumpkin/spices and oatmeal. I will definitely make these again and again.
These chocolate peppermint bars were described by my son as "brownies with candy cane flavor". I didn't try one, but my son really didn't want me to send these in the mail. The batter was hard to spread, but it evened out in the oven. Not very pretty, but good to eat.

The last cookie I made is a classic bar cookie that always gets great reviews- Dorie's Chewy, Chunky Blondies. I have made these multiple times before and they are always a crowd pleaser. Usually they are chock full of nuts, chocolate, toffee bits, coconut-basically whatever you want to add.
This time I decided to add in some holiday flavors, so I went with dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, chopped macadamia nuts and toasted coconut.
These bars are perfect for sharing.

Ginger Sugar Cookies from The Gourmet Cookie Book
March 1965
Cream 3/4 cup softened butter and gradually beat in 1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed.
Stir in 1 egg and 1/4 cup molasses and blend thoroughly.
Sift 2 1/4 cups flour with 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp each of cinnamon and ginger, 1/2 tsp cloves, and 1/4 tsp salt.
Gradually blend the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture and chill the dough for 1 hour.
Drop by heaping teaspoons into 1-inch balls and dip the tops in sugar.
Arrange the balls at least 3 inches apart on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle each cookie with 2 or 3 drops or water.
Bake the cookies at 375 degrees for about 7 or 8 minutes, or until they are firm.

Chewy, Chunky Blondies adapted from Dorie Greenspan's “Baking: From My Home to Yours” p.109

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup toasted coconut

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan and put it on a baking sheet.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add both sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until well incorporated. Add the eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear into the batter. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chips, cranberries, nuts, and coconut. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and use the spatula to even the top as best you can.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the blondies comes out clean.(I usually have to keep adding 5 minutes at a time, until they are done- don't be afraid to let them cook a little longer). The blondies should pull away from the sides of the pan a little and the top should be a nice honey brown. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for about 15 minutes before turning the blondies out onto another rack. Invert onto a rack and cool the blondies to room temperature right side up.

Cut into 32 bars, each roughly 2-1/4 x 1-1/2 inches.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies as seen on The Way the Cookie Crumbles

2½ cups (12 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (7 ounces) white sugar
1 cup (7 ounces) packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line two baking pans with parchment paper or a silicone mat. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a hand mixer), beat the butter and both sugars until fluffy, about one minute. Add the egg, beating until incorporated, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin. With the mixer on the lowest speed, add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated.

3. Drop heaping teaspoons of dough onto the prepared baking pans. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Let the cookies cool slightly on the pans before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Recipe for Chocolate Peppermint Bar Cookies from The Gourmet Cookie Book-
December 2006

TWD- White Chocolate Brownies

I made these 1 1/2 years ago because they just looked so good in Dorie's book. This week Marthe chose them as her pick for Tuesday's with Dorie. You can find the recipe on Marthe's blog- Culinary Delights or from this post when I made them quite a while ago.

When I made them, I smashed the meringue because I didn't invert them gently enough, so I wanted to give them another try - but didn't get to it. I did have to bake them for about 15 minutes longer then called for in the recipe to make sure they were done in the middle.
I remember these being very yummy. Probably because they were more cake-y than a traditional brownie.

Go see what the other TWD-er's thought by checking out which baker's participated this week!

B-day stuff: Chocolate Cake with Whipped Frosting and brunch from The Pink Princess Book

Here is my little Ry-Bear. She turned 5 on October 25th. She loves the carousel, animals and dinosaurs, but sometimes has a thing for pink and princesses, too.
When we discussed her b-day cake, her first choice involved pink and princess, but she quickly changed her mind to dinosaurs and green frosting. I asked her multiple times and the dinosaur/green frosting combo was the winner.
She wanted to decorate it, so I let her put the little plastic dinos on top and then all the kids help throw the dinosaur eggs (candy-coated chocolate covered sunflower seeds) on top. Kind of relaxing to let the kids do all the work.
I had no problem getting rid of the extra frosting. The recipe for cake and frosting are below. Nothing too spectacular, but good enough for a birthday.
For her birthday brunch, the birthday girl flipped through the pages of Pink Princess Cookbook and chose a menu. The kids helped me prepare all of the food for our brunch.

I was not planning on taking pictures of this brunch, but my mom and husband both protested when I told them I was just going to have a relaxing time with no pics. They insisted. So, I grabbed the camera when everything was on the table (not the usual place for taking pics of food in my house) and I tried to get a decent shot of the brunch. Bear with me on these :-)
Ry chose Mini-Marshmallow Smoothies to start us off. I adapted the recipe from the book and placed 1 sliced banana, 1 cup sliced strawberries, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1 cup vanilla yogurt, and 1 1/2 cups skim milk in the blender. I blended it well, then poured it into glasses and added the colored mini-marshmallows. (The adults enjoyed smoothies w/out marshmallows).
Next up
Blackberry Biscuits
1 can large-size refrigerator biscuits
1 cup canned blackberry pie filling
1 tsp ground cinnamon mixed w/ 1/4 cup sugar

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. Slice or divide each biscuit in half. Press one half in the bottom of 8 of the muffin cups, covering bottom completely. Leave 4 of the muffin cups empty.
Spoon 1 Tbls pie filling on top of each biscuit half.
Cover pie filling w/ remaining biscuits halves.
Sprinkle tops w/ cinnamon-sugar mixture. I used decorating sugar too
Bake for 15 minutes.
Serve warm.
Fairy Tale Fondue
3/4 cup heavy cream
12 oz white chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla

Heat the cream in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until hot, about 2-3 minutes.
When hot, add the chocolate and stir until it is just melted and smooth. Stir in vanilla.
Serve with your choice or fresh strawberries, banana slices, pound cake, pretzels, grapes, etc. for dipping
This was Ry's fave thing to help make for the brunch.

Little Ladybugs
12 seedless red grapes
12 toothpicks
12 whole strawberries w/ stems
1 package mini chocolate chips

Place a grape on a toothpick, sliding it all the way to the end of the stick. This is the ladybugs head.
Place a strawberry on the toothpick, stem end first, and slide it down to touch the grape. This is the body.
Lay the ladybug down and carefully push the pointed ends of several chocolate chips into the strawberry to make the spots.
Raspberry Tea Sandwiches
8 slices white bread
1/2 cup soft spread cream cheese
1 Tbls raspberry preserves
1 pint fresh raspberries

Cut bread into desired shapes with a cookie cutter. In a bowl combine cream cheese and raspberry preserves. Spread a thin layer of the mixture on each bread cut-out and place raspberries on top.

Classic Cucumber Sandwiches
1 English cucumber, sliced
8 slices whole wheat bread
2 Tbls softened butter
salt and pepper
cherry tomatoes for garnish

Cut crust off bread and cut into shapes with cookie cutter.
Spread butter on each cut-out. Lay cucumber slices on top.
Season with salt and pepper.
Garnish with cherry tomatoes


The whole brunch was really fun to prepare and even more fun to share. It was a great birthday!

Recipe for Chocolate Cake

Recipe for Whipped Frosting

The Cake Slice- Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

I am lucky to have great friends. I have multiple best friends and I feel really blessed.
One of these friends is Jaime. She lives here in Georgia and we have been friends since our oldest children were just babies.
That is actually how we became friends. We both had babies that were a couple months old and we were both stay-at-home moms, so we started walking everyday with our little ones. We just really connected and have been good buddies ever since.
Over the years we have stayed in touch, even though for some of those years we lived miles apart, and we were both really excited that I was going to move back across the country. We now live about 40 minutes from each other and each have 3 children that are the exact same ages. Our kids love each other, so it is really fun to get together.
Anyway, the reason I am telling you all this, is because Jaime wanted me to make her a birthday cake. Her b-day was back in April, so I missed it, but I knew when the right cake came around, I would make it for her and call it her birthday cake.
Jaime also really, really loves her chocolate.

When I saw this months selection for The Cake Slice- Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake, I immediately knew this was Jaime's cake.
The cake uses mayonnaise as the secret to its moistness and if ya'll know me, you know I do not in any way, shape, or form like mayo. I have never bought real mayo. I occasionally, sparingly use fat-free mayo (which was not allowed in this recipe), but the key words there are occasionally and sparingly.
So, when I was out buying the ingredients for the cake, I actually bought a very small jar of authentic mayo.

The cake is spiced with a little bit of cinnamon and also uses some hot coffee for flavor. I left the coffee out and just used hot water, because I figured the hot liquid is what it really needed, not so much the mocha flavor- I don't do mocha.

The moist chocolate cake layers are filled with white chocolate mousse and then a rich, satiny sour cream chocolate frosting is spread on top.

I assembled the cake, let it sit in the fridge for awhile, and then we set out on our trek to Jaime's house.

I will be honest. I was really scared. I was scared that the cake wouldn't make it through the 40 minute drive on a Sunday afternoon. It wasn't too hot outside, really, but I was petrified none the less.

Good thing I had let the cake sit in the fridge for awhile, because 5 minutes before we got to Jaime's house, the top layers slid just a tad and the white chocolate mousse broke through the frosting.
We made it to her house with the cake in one piece and she LOVED it! Chocolate lovers- you will love this cake.

I thought it was ok- but it was a bit of chocolate overload for me. The frosting wasn't very sweet at all, and a few people weren't too excited about that fact, but still it was gobbled down with the help of some vanilla ice cream.
I left the cake at her house and she was able to enjoy the leftovers. If you want to see other variations of this 3 layer beauty check out The Cake Slice Bakers!

Happy Birthday Jaime-5 months later!
This is the last cake that we will be baking from Sky High: Irresistible Layer Cakes, the book we have used for the last year for The Cake Slice. Next month we will start baking out of Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott.

Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

(Recipe from Sky High Irresistible Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne)

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 ¼ tsp baking soda

1 ¼ tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

½ tsp ground cinnamon

2 ½ ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 cup milk

1 ¼ cups hot, strongly brewed coffee (I just used hot water)

2 eggs

1 cup mayonnaise (not low fat or fat free)

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

2 ¼ cups sugar

White chocolate mousse (below)

Sour cream chocolate icing (below)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of three 9 inch round cake pans. Line the base of each pan with parchment.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

Put the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Bring the milk to a simmer. Pour the hot coffee and milk over the chocolate. Let stand for a minute, then whisk until smooth. Let the mocha liquid cool slightly.

In a mixer bowl, beat together the eggs, mayonnaise and vanilla until well blended. Gradually beat in the sugar. Add the dry ingredients and mocha liquid alternately in 2 or 3 additions, beating until smooth and well blended. Divide the batter among the 3 prepared pans.

Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out almost clean. Let the cakes cool in their pans for 10-15 minutes before un-molding onto a wire rack and carefully peeling off the paper. Leave to cool completely.

White Chocolate Mousse

4 ounces white chocolate, chopped

1 cup heavy cream

1 egg white

1 tbsp sugar

Melt the white chocolate with ¼ cup cream in a double boiler. Whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and let the white chocolate cream cool to room temperature.

When it has cooled, beat the remaining ¾ cup cream until soft peaks form. In a clean bowl whip the egg white with the sugar until fairly stiff peaks form.

Fold the beaten egg white into the white chocolate cream, then fold in the whipped cream until blended. Be sure not to over mix.

Sour Cream Chocolate Icing

12 ounces bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate, chopped

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter

2 tbsp light corn syrup

¼ cup half-and-half at room temperature

½ cup sour cream, at room temperature

Melt the chocolate with the butter and corn syrup in a double boiler over barly simmering water. Remove from the heat and whisk until smooth.

Whisk in the half-and-half and sour cream. Use while still soft.

To Assemble

Place one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or serving plate. Cover the top evenly with half the white chocolate mousse, leaving a ¼ inch margin around the edge. Repeat with the second layer and the remaining mousse. Set the third layer on top and pour half the sour cream chocolate icing over the filled cake. Spread all over the sides and top. Don’t worry if some of the cake shows through. This first frosting is to seal in the crumbs, and is known as a crumb coat. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes.

After this time cover the cake with the rest of the icing, smoothing it down the sides. It should be the consistency of mayonnaise. Use a palette knife or the back of a spoon to swirl the frosting around the cake.

One Year Ago-Cherry-Pistachio Wedding Cookies

Tuesday's with Dorie-Brownie Buttons

These cute, little, easy Brownie Buttons-with lemon zest (not orange), were made by me 1 year ago, baked by everyone else sometime in the last few weeks, chosen by Jayma (Two Scientists Experimenting in the Kitchen), devoured by my little brothers friends, and yes, there is a reason why this is a giant, run-on sentence with tons of links, so check the reason out if you are curious.

Blogging for Babies Event-Little Wonders- Mini 3 Layer Strawberry Cakes with Sweetened Whipped Cream and White Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

When I saw Holly's announcement for the 2nd Blogging for Babies Event, I decided it was time for me to participate. This Little Wonders event is all about paying tribute to babies and their families. Last year Holly was raising money for the March of Dimes Walk, through her own family (you can read about her experience with her son, Cole-HERE), but this year, it is going to the Spohrs, who recently lost their sweet little daughter, Maddie. Holly encouraged us to share our own stories and so here goes.

In the spring of May 2003, my older sister found out that she was expecting triplets. What a happy day! My sister and I married brothers, so it made the news even more exciting.

My son was about 15 months old at that time and my sister had not had an easy time getting pregnant. We were soo excited. Things progressed well for quite a few months. We found out she was carrying a girl and identical twin boys. Clothes were bought, the nursery was decorated and no one ever suspected that something might go wrong.

But then, I got a phone call that broke my heart. My sister's water broke and they were afraid that they might lose the triplets. She was in the hospital and we waited to see what would happen. Lots of prayers were said and it appeared a miracle had happened. They were able to stop labor and put her on bedrest. Our fears were put aside and I planned a 10-day trip to go and visit her, to help her while she was on bedrest.

2 weeks later, thing took a turn for the worse. Labor began again and this time she would have to deliver the babies. She had made it to 20 weeks, but this time there was nothing they could do. My sweet niece- Julia Faith and my nephews-Scott Beckstrand and Jeremiah Harrison, were all born within a couple of hours of each other, on Sept. 18, 2003.

Nothing can prepare you for that sort of loss and it was a very hard road for my sister and her family. Premature birth has become an issue that we have dealt with and so the March of Dimes and other causes that support research and raise money in this area are important to us.

Since that time she has miraculously been able to have 2 beautiful boys who we adore and love. We talk about the triplets often and remember them because they are our cousins.

In honor of Julia, Scott and Jeremiah, I made 3 mini 3-layer cakes for this event.

I saw this recipe for Strawberry Layer Cake in the May issue of Cooking Light and decided it was the perfect thing to make into mini's for this event.

I baked the cake layers and then cut out little mini cakes with a biscuit cutter. I decided to dip some strawberries in white chocolate and used sweetened whipped cream instead of the frosting that was called for in the recipe. I also left out the red food coloring and added 1/2 tsp of strawberry extract instead. This is a very dense cake and the strawberry flavor is not over powering. Everyone who ate the cake loved it though. Kind of like a take on strawberry shortcake. If you feel like you can donate to help the cause of premature births and other things associated with it, please check out the links above to this event, the March of Dimes or go to Holly's blog for more information. I feel it is a great cause to support.

Strawberry Layer Cake adapted from Cooking Light (Note- the reviews of this recipe on myrecipes.com are very mixed. Lots of people thought the cake tasted like flour. We didn't. It wasn't as sweet as some other cakes I have made, but we all really enjoyed it with the whipped cream. So, if you try it and don't like it, sorry!)

You can use fresh orange juice instead of Grand Marnier in the cream cheese frosting.

Cake:

1 1/4 cups sliced strawberries

10 ounce all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 cups)

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 large eggs

2 large egg whites

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/4 teaspoon red food coloring (I omitted this and added 1/2 tsp strawberry extract)

Cooking spray

Frosting: (I frosted mine with sweetened whipped cream)

1/3 cup (3 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese

1/3 cup butter, softened

2 tablespoons Grand Marnier (orange-flavored liqueur)

3 cups powdered sugar

12 whole strawberries (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare cake, place sliced strawberries in a food processor; process until smooth.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Place granulated sugar and 1/2 cup butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in egg whites. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Add pureed strawberries and food coloring; beat just until blended.
4. Divide batter between 2 (8-inch) round cake pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.
5. To prepare frosting, place cream cheese, 1/3 cup butter, and liqueur in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar, and beat just until blended.
6. Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Cut 1 whole strawberry into thin slices, cutting to, but not through, the stem end. Fan strawberry on top of cake just before serving, if desired. Cut remaining 11 strawberries in half. Garnish cake with strawberry halves, if desired.

Up Next- Spring Rolls with Peanut Curry Sauce

White Chocolate Brownies

The White Chocolate Brownies are one of the most inviting pictures in Dorie's Baking. They just look divine. I don't even really like brownies, but these look wonderful in her book, plus white chocolate and raspberries are a winning combination. My picture doesn't do these justice. But, it was snowing, the sky was gray and I knew there wouldn't be any left in the morning. I halved the recipe and made these in a 8-inch round cake pan. The meringue was high and beautiful, but I accidentally squashed it when I was removing them from the pan. I also had to add about 15 minutes onto the baking time for these to bake through. So if you make them and they are a bit wobbly, put them back in the oven for a few more minutes. The wait will be worth it.

Dorie's White Chocolate Brownies from Baking: from my home to yours

Ingredients:
2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely ground almonds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
4 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsps grated orange zest
4 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup fresh raspberries

for the meringue:

3 large egg whites, at room temperature

pinch of salt

1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9x13-inch pan, line the bottom with parchment or wax paper, butter the paper and dust the bottom and sides of pan with flour; tap out the excess. Put the pan on a baking sheet
Whisk together flour, ground almonds, and salt.
Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of only-just-simmering water. Put the butter in the bowl, top with the chopped chocolate and stir frequently until the ingredients are melted-you don't want them to get so hot that the butter or the white chocolate separates. Remove the pan from the pan of water.

Working in the bowl of a stand mixer, or in another large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and aromatic.
Add the eggs and beat on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes (they should be pale and foamy). Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and blend in the melted butter and white chocolate mixture. With mixer still on low, mix in the dry ingredients, stirring only until they disappear into the batter. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the raspberries evenly over the batter. Set aside while you make the meringue.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt on medium speed until the are foamy and just turn opaque. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and add the sugar in a slow, steady stream. Whip the whites until the form firm but still glossy peaks.

Gently spread the meringue over the brownie batter.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the meringue is browned and crackly and the brownies pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow to cool to room temperature in the pan. Cover a cooling rack with a piece of wax paper, dust with powdered sugar, and very gently, so you don't squish the meringue, turn the brownies out onto the rack. Peel away the parchment paper lining and carefully invert the brownies onto a cutting board. Cut into 32 bars.

Coming Tomorrow- Citrus Salad with Pomegranate and Pistachios and Roasted Cauliflower

Raspberry Cream Sandwich Cookies and Graham PB Bon Bons

I haven't found out the results of the pizza contest yet, but I did get around to making that pot pie. Look for it on Sunday with some fab twists. Now for some treats!

Last week my husband asked me to bake some goodies for a team meeting at work. I had a couple of things I wanted to try, but then the day before he told me he wanted me to make a pony cake instead. You see, my daughter is turning 4 tomorrow and she is obsessed with horses. She wanted a horse cake, so I looked online to see if Wilton had a cute pony pan. They do. Only problem is that they haven't made it since 1986. Back when I used to play with My Little Pony. Luckily, I found one on E-bay and with a little help from my bro (Thanks Jake!), secured the pan. My husband told me I could practice and make his co-worker a b-day cake. It was a joke, of course. What 30+year old man actually wants a pink pony cake for his birthday? Everyone got a good laugh and my hand was hurting from piping all those stars. I get to do it again today!
I also made these delicious sandwich cookies from Martha Stewart. The cookies are great by themselves but even better with the Raspberry-White Chocolate Cream Filling. I used another vanilla bean (can I say expensive?) and then threw together some Peanut Butter Bon Bons. They may sound simple, but they are a crowd pleaser!

Raspberry Cream Sandwich Cookies from Martha Stewart Cookies
1 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 Tbs.) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c. plus 2 tsp. sugar
1 lg. egg
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
6 oz. (1 cup) fresh raspberries
7 1/2 oz. best-quality white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/3 c. heavy cream

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
Mix butter and 1 1/2 c. sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 min.
Add egg, extract and vanilla seeds; mix until smooth.
Reduce speed to low.
Gradually mix in flour mixture.
Scoop batter using a 1-inch ice cream scoop; space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Bake cookies 4 minutes.
Remove from oven; gently tap baking sheets on counter to flatten cookies.
Return to oven, switching positions of sheets; bake until cookies are just set, 4 to 6 minutes more.
Let cool on parchment paper on wire racks.
Puree raspberries and remaining 2 tsp. sugar in a food processor.
Pour mixture through a fine sieve into a small bowl, pressing to extract juice; discard seeds.
Set mixture aside.
Melt white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.
Remove from heat; whisk in cream in a slow stream.
Whisk in reserved raspberry mixture.
Refrigerate 30 minutes.
Spread 1 heaping teaspoon raspberry cream on the undersides of half the cookies.
Sandwich with remaining cookies.
Cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container up to 2 days.

Graham and Peanut Butter Bon Bons 1 1/2 cups rice krispies
1 1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup powdered sugar
12 oz white or dark chocolate candy coating (I used Bakers milk chocolate dipping chocolate)

In a large bowl, stir together cereal, peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, and sugar. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Shape crumb mixture into balls, using 1 level Tbls for each.
Melt candy coating or dipping chocolate and dip each ball in coating, letting the excess drip off. Place on wax or parchment paper. Refrigerate at least 20 minutes or until set. Store in an airtight container

Coming Tomorrow- Minestone and Easy Breadsticks!