Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

This cake fell more into the category of hot mess than epic win.....I will comfort myself with the fact it tasted good...ehehehehe.  It should actually be a three tiered cake.  There was an "incident" that left me short one tier.  Momma didn't name me Grace for a reason....snicker.

So I decided to try making some marshmallow cream for my frosting.  I've made marshmallows.....a little adjusting of the recipe and I should be able to get a cream easy peasy.  Simple, right?  Simple until I over thought it.  I was going to halve the gelatin, but 1 1/2 envelopes gelatin didn't seem very tidy so I went with 2 envelopes...which was still on the firm side.  It wouldn't have mixed easily with the cream cheese to form a smooth frosting....which led to tinkering.  The end result was useable and darn tasty, but not the firm frosting I was shooting for.

I did have a neat mix of textures in the cake.  The firm chocolate garnish, creamy frosting, dense cookie layers with mini chocolate chips that gave it a bit of a crunch.


Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

1 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp soda
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup butter
1 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cherry cranberries

Beat butter and sugars together in a bowl.  Add in eggs and vanilla.  Mix in flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  Fold in chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

Divide dough into thirds and spread into greased 8 inch rounds.  Bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes, or until done.  Cool.


Cherry Marshmallows

1 cup water
2 1/4oz envelopes unflavored gelatin
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1 pk Black Cherry Kool-Aid

Pour 1/2 cup water into a large bowl.  Mix Kool-Aid into water.  Sprinkle gelatin over water.  Let this mixture sit while you cook the syrup.

Combine 2 cups sugar, corn syrup, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup water in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves.  Boil, without stirring, until syrup reaches 240°.

With mixer on low speed, carefully pour hot syrup into gelatin mixture in a slow, thin stream.  Gradually increase speed to high and beat until mixture is very thick.  Let stand for a while to set up.


Icing:

Cherry Marshmallows
1/4 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
12oz milk chocolate, melted
16oz reduced fat cream cheese

Heat the marshmallows and the butter together in the microwave until smooth.  Beat in cream cheese and melted milk chocolate.  Add in powdered sugar, one cup at a time.  Chill frosting.

Place one cookie round on a plate.  Spread frosting across top and place a second round over the frosting.  Spread frosting across top and add final round on top.  Frost top and sides of cake.  Garnish with additional melted chocolate.

Never take pictures outside when it's the surface of the sun hot.  My chocolate went instantly melty and my frosting.....already less firm than I wanted....slid a bit.

A bit of a slump to this piece of cake...where's my cake eating blindfold?  I don't want to spoil my enjoyment of good cake by being critical of the view.  ;)

Coconut & Cranberry Pralines

This is an evil candy....evil I say.  It melts on the tongue and I found myself reaching for another piece before I knew what happened.  Clearly this is a danger to the waistline...nosh with caution.  ;)

I am curious what would happen if I made this with coconut milk.  I will have to experiment.


Coconut & Cranberry Pralines

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup non fat evaporated milk
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Combine the sugars and the milk in a saucepan.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Cook until mixture reaches 236 degrees.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, coconut, and cranberries.  Continue to stir mixture for another minute or so.  Drop spoonfuls or simply pour onto a cookie sheet and spread out.  Cool.  Break into smaller pieces if you need to.

Cranberry Orange Rolls 1.0

Man these rolls hit the spot for me....light and fresh.  They are a nice twist on the usual cinnamon roll.  I've been feeling a compulsion to make sweet breads lately so expect a string of yeasty glory down the road.  ;)

I might experiment next time with adding some zest to the actual bread dough...or even some orange juice...sometimes that small tweak can create a huge boost in flavor.  I divided the dough into thirds before I rolled it out to make some mini rolls....I think I like the larger size better though so I changed the recipe below to reflect that.

I learned an important lesson while adding in the cranberries....the cherry flavored cranberry pack looks exactly like the regular cranberry pack unless you are actually paying attention....ahem.  ;)


Cranberry Orange Rolls 1.0

3 cups unbleached flour (approx)
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup skim milk
1/3 cup raw honey
1/3 cup tub margarine
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbls orange zest
1 cup dried cherry cranberries


Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
2oz cream cheese
1/4 cup tub margarine
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp orange zest

Dissolve yeast in about 1/4 cup warm water. Water from the tap works just fine. Heat milk and butter together until milk is warm and butter is melted. I use the microwave to heat the milk instead of the stove top, but either works fine. Stir into dissolved yeast. Mix in honey and salt. Add in a cup of flour. Stir in eggs. Work in enough flour to create a soft dough. Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead in remaining flour. Continue to work your dough for 8 to 10 minutes.

Place dough in covered bowl and let rise for an hour in a warm place. The microwave makes a great spot to rise dough. Take a glass of water and heat it to boiling in the microwave. Leave the glass inside and put the covered bowl inside and shut the door. It's a warm, steamy spot.

Turn your dough back out on your board kneading it a bit. Divide it in half and place one half off to the side. Roll the dough into something like a 9x13 rectangle. Mix together 1/2 cup sugar and orange zest. Brush the rectangle with water (melted butter is also an option)  and sprinkle half the sugar mixture over the top of the dough. Sprinkle half the cranberries on top of the sugar.  Roll the dough up starting with the longest side. Cut into segments and place each piece on a greased cookie sheet. Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Cover the cookie sheets and let rise 30 minutes in a warm place.

Bake rolls at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they brown nicely. Mix together powdered sugar, cream cheese, margarine, zest, and vanilla. Remove rolls from cookie sheet and drizzle or spoon the icing over the tops. Consume with great joy!

Cranberry Oat Bran Muffins

Bran muffins....a nice change of pace after all the rich Christmas goodies....plus I used leftover cranberry sauce so it was a double win.  I found the recipe on the back of the Quaker Oat Bran box....quite convenient I know.  ;)  I tinkered with it a bit of course.  The only change I think I would make for next time would be to use the entire egg, not just the white.  The muffins don't look like much, but they were pretty tasty.  I must dub them....humble, little muffins.


Cranberry Oat Bran Muffins

1 cup Oat Bran, uncooked
2 tbls ground flax
2 tbls brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup skim milk
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tbls raw honey
1 tbls oil
1/4 cup cranberry sauce

Mix together oat bran, flax, brown sugar, and baking powder.  In another bowl mix together milk, egg white, honey, and oil.  Pour into dry ingredients stir until just combined.  Fold in cranberry sauce.  Spoon into small muffin cups until 3/4 full (greased or lined) and bake at 425 for 15 to 20 minutes.  Makes 6 muffins.

Cranberry Kiwi Squares

I used this recipe as a base for these bars.  They turned out so very tasty.  I will definitely have to make these again.  The cranberry, kiwi sauce gives these bars a nice little bite of extra flavor.....and the drizzle is just so pretty.  ;)


Cranberry Kiwi Squares

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used one sleeve of crackers)
1/3 cup tub margarine, melted
2 tbls sugar
2 tsp lemon zest
2 egg yolks
1 14oz can non fat sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup cranberry kiwi sauce (another 1/3 to 1/2 cup for drizzling)

Mix together graham cracker crumbs, melted margarine, sugar, and lemon zest. Press into greased 8x8 pan and bake at 350 for 10 mins.

While crust is baking combine egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk. Stir in cranberry kiwi sauce. Pour over baked crust and spread evenly. Return to oven and bake another 15 mins or until filling is set. Cool and then chill before slicing into squares.

Spoon extra 1/3 to 1/2 cup cranberry kiwi sauce into a ziplock bag.  Cut off the tip of one corner.  Pipe some squiggle designs across the tops of the squares.  Chill.


Another pic of the squares....

Make sure you don't cut the tip of your ziplock, drizzle bag too small otherwise you will end up with kiwi seed blockage.  ;)

Cranberry Kiwi Sauce

This is a variation of my usual cranberry sauce.  The kiwi doesn't stand out, but it adds an extra bite to the sauce.  The blow the top off your head tart flavor is a little more pronounced...ehehehe.  I love the way the kiwi seeds look in the sauce too.  ;)  It makes a wonderful drizzle for various baked goods.  I also think it would be a fabulous addition to one of my chocolate frostings.  I'll have to play around with it.


Cranberry Kiwi Sauce

12oz bag fresh cranberries, rinsed
4 Kiwi, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice
1 tbls orange zest
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Combine everything in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  When berries have cooked down and the sauce has thickened, remove from heat.  Pour mixture into a blender (or use an immersion blender...which is my preference) and process the mixture until it's nice and smooth.  Cool.

Cranberry Sauce

I think my sauce is closer to a preserve, but I like my berries cooked down a bit.  It's a texture preference.  ;)  If you like your berries chunkier just reduce the cook time.  This sauce is very, very tart.  You can up the sugar is you need a bit more sweetness to it.  Personally, I like the whole exploding taste bud sensation.


Cranberry Sauce

12oz bag fresh cranberries, rinsed
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice
1 tbls orange zest
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Combine everything in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  When berries have cooked down and the sauce has thickened, remove from heat.  Cool.