The first snow is always an exciting time – but even more so when there is chocolate involved!

It’s a tradition in our house to celebrate the first measurable stick-to-the-ground snow with a snow cake – usually a brownie with powdered sugar sprinkled on the top.

But this year we got a little fancy! Angel girl helped me bake the yummy Chocolate Mousse Cake with a few variations.

We used a small pudding mix and only  put  the filling between the two layers. Then Angel girl cut a cute little snowflake out of paper. She laid it on top and sprinkled it with powdered sugar.

Voila! Snow cake that was enjoyed and devoured by several siblings.

But more importantly, a memory was made and a tradition continued.

Happy first snow!

***

I have linked this post to Chocolate Friday hosted by Lisa at Stop and Smell the Chocolates.  Join us over there for more chocolate recipes!

I love that song from the “The Fiddler on the Roof! I can just hear Teyve belting it out – especially this time of year when we are surrounded by traditions.

It was playing in my head on Saturday as we moved the boxes of Christmas decorations from the attic and started to decorate.

The first of many Christmas traditions were about to begin – decorating the Christmas tree – followed, of course,  by Chocolate Fondue.

But this year, I have departed somewhat from the usual “after- the -party” traditions. Normally, I would put the left-over fondue in a small container and hide it in the back of the refrigerator. Then I would slowly enjoy it one bite at a time in the days to follow.

But this year – you might want to sit down for this – this year I shared.

I know it’s shocking, but really I did!

Actually, Angel girl and I took the  left-over fondue and whipped it up with 3 ounces of cream cheese and one tub of Cool Whip.

Then Angel Girl put them in pretty dishes and we called them Chocolate Mousse.

We served them as dessert that night after our evening meal of Broccoli-Cheese soup – which was a good thing because we all knew that a spoonful of chocolate helps the green vegetables go down!

So has a new tradition been born? Time will tell!

It was 9:00 and all 5 children had headed upstairs to prepare for bed and the coming week.  My husband was on the computer in the basement and I was  foraging in the freezer when we heard a loud knock on the back door.

I started up the basement stairs, calling to my husband that he better come too – it was probably some Amish who needed work done.  (They are the ones who would normally knock on our door at 9:00 at night!)

I turned on the porch light and opened the door – but there was no one there. I looked around for a buggy or a vehicle – but saw nothing.

Then I looked down and saw this:

Yes! Chocolate! I grabbed them up quickly and looked around – no one was there! I wondered – “Why would the Amish guy leave me chocolate?”

By then my husband had joined me. He too, looked up and down the driveway and the farm yard – but he saw nothing.

After yelling out in the darkness “Thanks for the chocolate!” (I didn’t want to appear ungrateful!), we headed upstairs to see if the kids had seen or heard anything.

They had not. But they were game to investigate – especially if it meant missing bedtime!

So armed with flashlights, my brave explorers headed out to the darkness to uncover any clues to the mystery.

They came back in soon after – laughing and giggling – with 6 really cute chocolate fairies – who were preparing to lay out yet another 3 bags of chocolate on my doorstep!

These adorable chocolate fairies were my nieces and nephews, who along with their parents, were heading home after a week long vacation. Our house was on the way – and they needed a quick break.

They had spent the last few hours planning their stop – and – knowing my love for chocolate – they thought a little surprise would be fun! It was!

But they didn’t just bring candy – they also brought a chocolate truffle cake and cheesecake to enjoy!

So after eating way more chocolate than any child should at 9:30 at night – we enjoyed some talking, a little playing, and they were on their way home – loaded with enough sugar to make it the last 3 hours of their journey!

I love surprises – especially ones that involve the chocolate fairies!

And I really love making chocolate memories!

This year’s secret ingredient was apples.

I first I was bummed – no chocolate.

But them my creativity kicked in and we came up with two great chocolate and apple dishes.

One was a basic brownie recipe that I substituted applesauce for half of the oil.  (Thanks for the hint, Connie!)  It turned out great and nobody believed it had apples in it!  (Subterfuge is an art in cooking!)

The second dish was Chocolate Peanut Butter Fondue – with apples to dip in of course!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fondue

Melt together:

1 package peanut butter chips
1 package chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate)
1/4 cup evaporated milk or half and half
1 tablespoon butter

Place in a fondue pot (or use a 1 quart crock pot) and serve with an assortment of dippers – such as sliced fruit (apples are very good!), marshmallows, pretzels, or pound cake.

This was a very popular entry – I saw people pouring the fondue over other entries and even eating it by the spoonfuls!

Chocolate and apples go so well together – happy sigh – but then chocolate looks good on everything!

The very name makes me salivate!

To me truffles are the epitome of chocolate gratification.

My sister surprised us at a recent after Christmas family get- together with more truffles than I’ve seen in a lifetime!

They had a wonderful time at the clearance table at Sam’s Club picking out a large selection of various truffles at a greatly reduced price!

These amazing delicacies were the stars of the weekend.

I am almost ashamed to admit that we ate them morning, noon and night. We had a truffle with breakfast, again at 10:00, and then one just before lunch. Of course we needed some for dessert and on through the afternoon ending our day with a  truffle just before bed.

We began the weekend carefully checking the packages to make intelligent choices, but soon we were snarfing them down regardless. (But by then all the caramel ones were eaten anyway!)

At the end of the weekend we were all “truffle-a-tized”.

We divided the large amount of remaining truffles between us and headed home to face the reality of the bathroom scale.

I will confess that there are still truffles in my pantry luring me with their smooth decadent goodness. But there will not be a repeat of that wonderful weekend, at least not for awhile!;)

But it will remain in our memories as a chocolate highlight of the year!

I was intrigued by that cake. How did she got the ice cream on the inside? Aunt Maureen didn’t just bring an ice cream cake, she made it into a real yule log with fancy swirls in the frosting to look like bark and little holly berries piped on the top.

It looked just like a picture in a magazine!

As we started making our own family traditions for Christmas, I decided to give the yule log a try. My children loved it, and it has been our traditional Christmas Eve dessert ever since.

I will admit that after 18 years of trying, my ice cream cake has yet to look like a real yule log. Actually- some years it doesn’t look very pretty at all. But that’s okay- we eat by candlelight on Christmas Eve!

I love the fact that it can be made ahead of time (since it has to be frozen anyway!) and it has proved to be a perfect birthday cake for Baby Jesus!

Chocolate Ice Cream Roll

Line a 15 x 10 inch pan with foil and generously grease it.

Beat 4 egg whites until foamy, gradually adding 1/2 cup of sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

Beat 4 egg yolks and 1 teaspoon of vanilla on high 3 minutes. Add 1/3 cup sugar and beat for 2 more minutes. Set aside.

Combine 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1/8 teaspoon salt.

Add to the egg yolk mixture alternately with 1/3 cup of water.

Carefully fold the chocolate mixture into the egg whites.

Spread evenly into the prepared jelly roll pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until the top springs back when touched.

Immediately invert the cake on to a towel that has been sprinkled with powdered sugar. Carefully peel off the foil. Roll cake up lengthwise in the towel. Let cool.

Unroll the cake and carefully spread 2 quarts of softened ice cream (any flavor) over the surface. Reroll cake, place on serving tray and glaze with chocolate glaze.

Chocolate Glaze

Melt 4 tablespoons butter. Stir in 4 tablespoons of cocoa and 4 tablespoons of water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Don’t boil.

Remove from heat and cool slightly. Blend in 2 cups of pwdered sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla.

If you are talented like Aunt Maureen, you can cut the two ends off of the log on the diagonal before glazing and set them next to the cake to make “branches”. You can use your knife to texture the frosting so that it looks like bark and pipe on some pretty green holly leaves and red berries.

Freeze until time to serve.

Merry Christmas!

Every year we celebrate the first snow by making and enjoying a snow cake.

Traditionally we have made my favorite chocolate brownie recipe and then sprinkled powdered sugar on the top to look like new fallen snow.

This year however, the first snow came right after the “big move”. It was a time when my pantry was empty and my day was full.

When I heard the excited cries of “It’s snowing!”, my first thought was “Good!”. We had hoped to be in the new house by the first snowfall.

My second thought was one of panic as I frantically tried to remember if I had the ingredients I needed for snow cake, and more importantly, could I find them?!

Thank goodness for Dagmar! She found a brownie recipe and even made it for us. But when it came time to sprinkle the powdered sugar, we realized we were out.

It was time to improvise!

We had just unpacked all my pretty plates and china dishes to fill Grandma’s China hutch. So I pulled out my beautiful star plates. We put a brownie in each one and covered it with a big dollop of whipped cream (the snow).

Arranged together, the snow cake made a pretty presentation and received rave reviews from my children.

This is one special snow cake, it was an old tradition carried to our new home.

Some days you need a good dose of chocolate but can’t find enough time to drag out the mixer and turn on the oven only to wait half an hour for a cake which then has to cool for another half an hour.

Such a long time to wait for desert! Well, my roommates and I were intrigued by the recipe my aunt sent last week: “A cake in 5 minutes?!” we exclaimed. This could be a very good thing! We experimented with the recipe during our weekly “Roomie Hangout Night” and were quite impressed by the results.

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.

Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.

The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT! (This can serve 2 if you want to share!)

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night.

ENJOY ! ! ! ! ! ! We sure did! Even if our cakes turned out to be a little less than conventional in their appearances. :]

~Sarah

It began quite innocently with my daughter baking a Coca Cola Cake for the home school hot dog roast.

When we arrived, we put the cake on the table with the other desserts and proceeded to fill our plates and tummies with all matter of wonderful, but definitely unhealthy foods.

As the evening progressed, we heard many postive comments on Dagmar’s cake. People were going back for seconds and thirds.

Darkness fell and the kids took off to play hide and seek in the dark while the grown-ups moved closer to the fire to talk and stay warm.

Later in the evening, several of the ladies went in for a tour of our hostess’s new house while their husband’s rounded up children and packed up the vans.

We were, of course, the last ones to leave. (I guess I talk a lot!) As I was packing up the remains of our food in the pitch blackness, I realized that the cake pan of Coca Cola cake was missing.

We looked under the table, got a flashlight and searched the area. But it was gone.

Vanished.

Disappeared.

Then one of the children found a full, uncut pan of brownies in a cake pan similar to mine on an out-of-the way table.

Aha! The plot thickens! One of the dad’s slipped out with my cake pan and the remains of Dagmar’s amazing cake, leaving behind his wife’s pan of brownie mix brownies.

But the mystery remains….Where is the Coca Cola Cake?