Cocoa-Nana Swirled Bread

For this week's TWD rewind, I made this bread because I had two overripe bananas in my freezer waiting to be turned into something delicious. (However, next time I will use 3 bananas or add some milk or yogurt because it wasn't quite as moist as I like it).

I chose to do a marbled version of this chocolate banana bread because it's prettier and because I was skeptical of the cocoa-banana combo. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. It tasted wonderful. The cocoa part isn't overpowering and it actually complements the banana part wonderfully. Because I made quite a few adaptations to the recipe, I have included it below with my changes. The original is on page 46 of Dorie's book: Baking.



Coco-Nana Swirled Bread
1 loaf | Adapted from Dorie Greenspan

2 1/2 cups flour, divided
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine 2 cups flour, salt, baking soda and powder.
2. Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs, mixing well after each then add bananas, vanilla and buttermilk. Add flour mixture and mix just until combined.
3. Scoop 1/2 the batter into a separate bowl. Add 1/2 cup cocoa powder to one bowl of batter. Add 1/2 cup of flour to the other bowl and mix each by hand just to incorporate. Do not over mix.
4. Scoop batter into greased 9x5 inch pan, alternating spoons of white and chocolate batter. Run a thin knife through the batter in the pan a few times to marble. Bake for 60-75 minutes rotating halfway through (you may need to cover with foil if browning too quickly).

TWD: Chocolate Sour Cream Cake Cookies

This week's recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) was chosen by Spike of Spike Bakes.

Dorie calls these more handmade then handsome and she is right. There's nothing overly attractive about them and truthfully they do look pretty plain compared to iced sugar cookies or statuesque chocolate-dipped biscotti. But people keep reaching for another once they've tried one. I think part of their appeal is in their simplicity.

Truth be told I have never been totally sold on the cake cookie. Straddling both worlds, they are trying too hard to please and never quite excelling in either. But these ones, these sour cream chocolate cake cookies are good!

TWD: Pecan Powder Puffs [Cut-Outs]

Today's TWD recipe was chosen by *me*! Thank you everyone for baking along with me this week. I hope you all enjoyed the cookies as much as I did.

I joined Tuesdays with Dorie about 2 years ago and have been baking along religiously. I think I have only missed 2 or 3 weeks during that whole time. As a result of this amazing group I have pushed myself to try recipes I would normally skip over and techniques which are foreign to me. It was a challenge to pick a recipe since we have already baked through so many of them. The name of these cookies reminds me of the Power Puff Girls - one of those Sailor Moon type cartoons that was popular with little girls a few years ago.



Sorry, just had to throw that in there.

Now onto the cookies! They are a lot like Mexican Wedding Cookies (made with almonds) but so much flakier and better. They just crumble and melt in your mouth - like the crumbliest of shortbreads or meltaway cookies.



I shaped these cookies 2 different ways: into little balls as the recipe instructs and also rolled and cut using spring-themed cookie cutters. The cut-outs were VERY delicate and I ended up breaking more than half of them while removing them from the baking tray. I brought them to work anyway with a little note that read, "Oops, I broke a bunch of these but they are still yummy!" and depite their not-so-perfect appearance, they were devoured in no time. One of my co-workers said, "I don't care WHAT they look like, they are delicious and I need the recipe." They are insanely crumbly, flaky and rich in flavor.

Pecan Powder Puffs
from Baking: from My Home to Yours

1 cup pecans
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup minus 1 tablespooon all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of ground cinnamon (optional)
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Confectioner's sugar, sifted, for rolling

Put pecans and 1 tablespoon of sugar in food processor and process in very short pulses until the nuts are pulverized. Scrape the nuts into a bowl, add the flour, salt, and cinnamon (if you're using it), and whisk to combine.

Put the butter in the processor and process, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until the butter is smooth and creamy. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and the vanilla and process for 30 seconds or so to blend. Pour in the pecan and flour mixture and, using short pulses, process only until it is worked into the dough. You want to process the dough as little as possible - the less you work the dough, the lighter and more appealing crumbly the cookies will be. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto plastic wrap, gather it together and form it into a ball. Wrap and chill for at least 2 hours, or, for up to 2 days.

Getting ready to bake: Center rack in oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Remove dough from fridge. Using a small spoon break off marble-size pieces, then roll each piece of dough between your palms to form a smooth ball and place them on baking sheets; there's no need to leave much space between balls.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are lightly golden and almost firm. Gently transfer them to a rack to cool to room temperature.

Just before serving, roll cookies in confectioner's sugar and toss them gently from hand to hand to shake off excess sugar.

TWD: White Chocolate Walnut Oatmeal Drops

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) recipe was Chocolate Oatmeal Drops (page 75), selected by Caroline and Claire of Bake With Us. The original recipe can be found on their blog or in Dorie Greenspan's book.

You might wonder why mine aren't dark brown like they should be if I had followed the recipe as it was written. I must explain... I ran out of cocoa powder a few weeks ago and forgot to replenish, so I had to improvise a little. I replaced the cocoa powder with 1/3 cup white chocolate hot chocolate mix. Along this theme I used white chocolate instead of bittersweet and decreased the sugar in the recipe to compensate for my sugary substitutions. Then added a handful of walnuts for crunch.

They turned out great! They were a little on the sweet side and fooled everyone with their understated appearance. Nobody could guess what gave them that extra depth of flavor: melted white chocolate mixed into the batter. Yum!

I'm including my version of the recipe below, so I have a record for future reference and for anyone who wants to give them a shot.

White Chocolate Walnut Oatmeal Drops
Makes 30 | adapted from Dorie Greenspan

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white chocolate hot cocoa mix (land-o-lakes)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
1 tablespoon water
1 cup light brown sugar
7 oz. white chocolate, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

Getting Ready: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Sift together the flour, white hot chocolate mix, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Put the butter in the bowl and sprinkle over the 1 tablespoon water, then add the brown sugar, followed by the chocolate. Stir occasionally until everything is just melted. Don’t let the ingredients get so hot that the butter separates from the sugar and chocolate, and don’t be concerned if the mixture looks grainy.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the eggs on at a time; the mixture will look shiny. Whisk in the dry ingredients, stirring only until they disappear into the dough. Stir in the walnuts and oats. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each spoonful.

Bake for about 12 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until the cookies are dark around the edges and just slightly soft in the middle. Using a wide metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to room temperature. (If the cookies are difficult to lift from the baking sheet, wait a minute and try again.)

Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

Bill's Big Carrot Cake

This post is to make up for my missing Tuesdays with Dorie post on Tuesday. With Christmas and bank holidays and the whirlwind of activity, I completely forgot! So, here I present to you, a TWD rewind: Bill’s Big Carrot Cake, pages 253-255, originally selected April 22, 2008.



It was lighter than the typical carrot cakes I have been served - both in color and texture. It was moist even without the use of crushed pineapple. I kept wanting to add pineapple out of habit - all the carrot cakes I've ever made have called for pineapple, but I refrained and was pleased by the end product.

Not too heavily spiced, the flavor was interesting but not overpowering.

Bill’s Big Carrot Cake
8" three-layer cake or 12" Bundt | Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:

For the cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups grated carrots (about 9 carrots)
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
1/2 cup moist, plump raisins or dried cranberries
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 large eggs

For the frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 pound or 3 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)
Finely chopped toasted nuts and/or toasted shredded coconut (optional)

Getting ready:
Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter three 9-x-2-inch round cake pans, flour the insides, and tap out the excess. Put the two pans on one baking sheet and one on another.

To make the cake:
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir together the carrots, chopped nuts, coconut, and raisins. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the sugar and oil together on a medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one by one and continue to beat until the batter is even smoother. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing only until the dry ingredients disappear. Gently mix the chunky ingredients. Divide the batter among the baking pans. Bake for 40-50 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until a thin knife inserted into the centers comes out clean. The cakes will have just started to come away from the sides of the pans. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes and unmold them. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.
The cakes can be wrapped airtight and kept at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.

To make the frosting:
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until the frosting is velvety smooth. Beat in the lemon juice or extract.
If you’d like coconut in the filling, scoop about half of the frosting and stir the coconut into this position.

To assemble the cake:
Put one layer top side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. If you added the coconut to the frosting, use half of the coconut frosting to generously cover the first layer (or generously cover with plain frosting). Use an offset spatula or a spoon to smooth the frosting all the way to the edges of the layer. Top with the second layer, this time placing the cake stop side down, and frost with the remainder of the coconut frosting or plain frosting. Top with the last layer, right side up, and frost the top- and the sides- of the cake. Finish the top with swirls of frosting. If you want to top the cake with toasted nuts or coconut, sprinkle them on now while the frosting is soft. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes, just to set the frosting before serving.

Serving:
This cake can be served as soon as the frosting is set. It can also wait, at room temperature and covered with a cake keeper overnight. The cake is best served in thick slices at room temperature and while it’s good plain, it’s even better with vanilla ice cream or some lemon curd.

Storing:
The cake will keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. It can also be frozen. Freeze it uncovered, then when it’s firm, wrap airtight and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost, still wrapped, overnight in the refrigerator.

FFWD: Gratin Dauphinois

These are the best scallopped potatoes I have ever had. I could have eaten the whole thing myself! The dish smelled fantastic in the oven. I used both rosemary and thyme and the smell reminded me of roasting a turkey. I think this will be making an appearance at Christmas Dinner instead of the usual mashed potatoes. They scream "comfort food"! The garlic-cream marries so well with the potatoes for a dish that is as beautiful as it is delicious. The tender potatoes are so smooth and so much easier on the arms than mashing!

All you do is simmer the cream and the garlic, slice your potatoes, arrange in your baking dish, sprinkle with S & P & herbs, pour the garlic cream over the potatoes, cover with shredded cheese and bake to bubbly perfection. I used Mozzarella cheese. The dark-golden-brown topping was crisp and flavorful, providing just the right amount of textural contrast to the white, creamy potato slices.

The best part is that I got a chance to use my "new" Swissmar Borner V-Slicer Mandoline that I got suckered into buying at the PNE (yearly expo in Vancouver) in the summer. It's taken me 3 months to finally use it. I bought it in August but have been a little scared to use it based on horror stories involving sliced fingertips. After making this gratin, I am no longer afraid. Now I want to find every excuse to use this V-Slicer.

TWD: Cranberry Lime Galette

This galette/free-form tart was WAY too tart for my liking. My favorite part was the little chunks of apple that burst with sugary sweetness especially in comparison with the cranberries. Next time I will either add WAY more sugar or increase the ration of apples to cranberries and reduce the lime juice. On the plus side, it was a really pretty, festive-looking pastry. It was one that made you go, "wow" when you saw it. It was elegant in a relaxed, unpretentious way. Thanks to Whitney, April and Elizabeth of Celestial Confections for selecting this week's TWD recipe found on page 364-365 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.

TWD: Cranberry Shortbread Cake

This cake was a huge success! It falls into my favorite category of baked goods: hybrids! Part shortbread, part cake, part pie - ALL DELICIOUS! I was feeling a little lazy this weekend and was tempted to use canned cranberry sauce, but I pulled up my socks and made the filling as directed in the recipe. I'm so glad I did. It was phenomenal with just the right balance of sweetness and tartness accented by a hint of fresh orange flavor. I am definitely going to make this cake again and again with different fillings. Blueberries or cherries anyone? The only change I made to the recipe was to crumble the topping over the filling (like a streusel) instead of rolling it and laying out flat on top. I'm sending out a huge thank you to Jessica of Singleton in the Kitchen chose Not-Just-for Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread cake on pages 208-209. Check out her blog for the recipe!

TWD: All-American Baby Apple Pies

This recipe was chosen by Emily of Sandmuffin, p. 300-302.



SOOO cute! This recipe was the perfect pick this week. My son has been asking for "fruit pie" for the past few days, so he was thrilled when I said that I would make him an apple pie that was just his size. "I ate the WHOLE PIE mommy!".

I made them extra special for him, with a mountain of whipped cream and caramel sauce. Hmm... I hope that doesn't make me a bad mom for giving him so much sugar! Tee hee.

TWD: Caramel Pumpkin Tart

This week's recipe was chosen by Janell of Mortensen Family Memoirs on pages 322-323.

It features a sweet, caramel twist on your standard pumpkin pie.
Dorie said to go dark with the caramel. I think I went a little TOO dark! There ended up being some blackened bits that I didn't scrape into the final product. I was afraid that the whole thing would taste like burnt sugar, but my fears were soon alleviated when I tried the first forkful.



I'm still trying to accustom myself to the texture of pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin spice-flavored treats like pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin loaf, I just don't like the custardy texture of pumpkin PIE. I opted to make 2 thin 8" tarts instead of 1 deep 9" pie. The ratio of sweet, buttery crust to rich, complex pumpkin filling was just right for me.

Bonus: My kitchen smelled soooo good. It trumped any pumpkin pie Yankee Candle I've ever smelled :)

FFWD: Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

This soup reminded me a lot of the "Pho Ga" at the Vietnamese restaurant in our neighborhood. Our family loves Pho. We love it so much that we usually just order the noodles and soup, no meat. In the non-meat version, tthey usually add broccoli florets and carrots to the broth and cook until crisp tender. I'm not sure if that's authentic Vietnamese, but I love how the veggies soak up all the yummy soup flavors and yet retain their crispness and brightness. I meant to add some to this soup but alas, I forgot at the last minute. I did however intentionally leave out the spicy stuff because I'm a wimp. This tasted excellent with a few squirts of Hoisin sauce and some extra soy sauce.

The recipe can be found in Dorie Greenspan's new book: Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. Once you have this book, be sure to join in the cookalong at French Fridays with Dorie.

Also please check out my new group - The Copycat Club - and send me links to your copycat posts for a monthly round-up. The first round-up was on October 7th HERE. We're going to make restaurant faves in our own kitchens and share our adventures and successes. Contact me at starrysugar@hotmail.com or leave me a comment on the Copycat Club page to grab the badge and be added to the blogroll.

FFWD: Gérard's Mustard Tart

This is my first French Fridays (FF) post! We are starting in on Dorie Greenspan's new book - Around My French Table (AMFT).



I'm especially excited because Dorie selected the October 2010 recipes herself! It's so cool to have the author interacting with our blogalong group. To be honest, I would have never bought this book if not for this group.
1) I prefer baking over cooking
2) I'm not a huge fan of French food

But I *AM* a huge fan of Dorie's, so here I am. Challenging myself and widening my palate's horizons. This tart was a nice ease-into the group. It was something I'm used to; Something a lot like a quiche. I used 1/2 the amount of mustard called for in the recipe because I served it to my 3 year old and didn't want to overwhelm his tastebuds. It was fragrant and delicious in its balance of smooth, eggy filling and al dente crunch of the carrots and leeks.

Now that I've got my feet wet I'm looking forward to the other recipes this book has to offer. The beautiful food photos alone are worth the $25 in my opinion.

TWD: Apple Butter Bundt Cake

This week I did something a little different. It's still along the same TWD theme, but the apple bundt cake is not from our bakealong book. However, it is still a delicious apple Bundt cake recipe by our beloved Dorie, just from a different book. For the actual TWD recipe this week, Lynne of Honey Muffin chose Double Apple Bundt Cake on pages 184 and 185.



I was at the library a few days ago with my son when I saw this older book by Dorie Greenspan called Sweet Times: Simple Desserts for Every Occasion, published 1991. Being a devoted Dorie fan, I just had to borrow it. While Zach played with Thomas the Train I thumbed through the book, making mental bookmarks. It's a small book with a lot of classic recipes such as Bran Muffins and Cream Scones. It also has some recipes which are reprinted in her newer and more well known book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. It was an interesting book to skim but not to buy, especially if you already own "Baking".

Dorie says this cake is even better after it has had a chance to rest for a day and for the flavors to develop. This moist, tender cake had a lovely, complex mix of flavors. I used my easy, home made Honey Spiced Apple Butter for this cake, but I'm sure applesauce with some extra cinnamon would also work. If you like apple butter, also check out these Apple Butter Cookies from Anna Olson of the Food Network Canada- they are wonderfully spiced, moist and remind me of muffin tops!

Apple Butter Bundt Cake
1 - 10" Bundt | Sweet Times by Dorie Greenspan

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup apple butter
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
2 apples, finely chopped or grated
1 cup walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan.
2. Cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add eggs and continue to beat. Add apple butter and mix until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until just combined. Fold in apples and walnuts. Transfer batter to prepared Bundt pan.
4. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. The flavors of this cake are even better the day afterwards.

TWD: Coffee Break Coffee Cake/Muffins

This recipe this week was chosen by Rhiani of Chocoholic Anonymous for Tuesday's with Dorie.

I did both the muffin version and a coffee-coffee cake version topped with chopped up Coffee Crisp chocolate bars and a simple icing drizzle.

They were definitly not mild mannered muffins/cake. They packed a jolt of bold coffee flavor studded with large chunks of rich, melty chocolate. I hardly noticed the whole wheat flour and I actually liked the little bit of extra texture the muffins had as a result of it. If you are a coffee fiend you could even add extra instant coffee powder or pure espresso rather than just brewed coffee, as I will likely do next time.

TWD: White Peach Upside Downer

I haven't seen any cranberries around my grocery store quite yet, so I had to improvise this week and take advantage of the last of the summer-fruit bounty. I had some gorgeous, plump white peaches that fit the bill. I did a mini-happy-dance when I flipped the cake over and it unmolded perfectly - not a single stuck peach slice! However, since I used white peaches, the fruit didn't stand out the way I would have like it to. Cranberries would have been much prettier.

The nutty, caramel topping that gets poured into the pan before the peaches and the batter was a definite winner in my books. It suited the cake and fruit flavors to a tee. I imagine this recipe working well with any fruit - berries, apple, plums?

Sabrina of Superfluous chose Cranberry Upside-Downer on page 206 for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie bake-along recipe. Check out her blog for the recipe.

TWD: White Chocolate Peanut Butter Thumbprints

Peanut Butter cookies are a staple in our house, so this week I couldn't resist adding a fun and tasty twist. I used the recipe for the PB criss-crosses but made them into thumbprint cookies. Then I filled half the cookies with raspberry jam and the other half with white chocolate ganache. I am really pleased with how pretty they looked and how easy they were.

Taste-wise, I can't pick a favorite. You can't outdo the classic PB & J but then again, it's hard to beat creamy white chocolate that melts into buttery-smooth bliss on your tongue.



Thanks to Jasmine of "Jasmine Cuisine" who selected this week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe: Peanut Butter Crisscrosses on page 78 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.

TWD: Chocolate Espresso Shortbread

This week, Donna of Life’s Too Short Not to Eat Dessert First picked Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies on page 125. I have been so busy that I almost forgot to post today, but better late than never.

In my world, Shortbread = Holidays. I use the word holidays loosely to include the time from Oct - Christmas, the season that revolves around food the most, in my opinion :)

I used 1/3 cocoa in place of 1/3 cup flour as I wanted these to be very chocolatey. They also reminded me less of Christmas this way.

TWD: Crunchy and Custardy Peach Tart

The recipe this week was selected by Rachel of Sweet Tarte for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie. Find the recipe at her blog or in Dorie's book.



There couldn't have been a more perfect pick than this one to showcase summer fruits. I actually used nectarines because I wasn't in the mood to peel the peaches and nectarine skin is OK in baking unlike peach skin which should be removed. I was thankful to have freestone nectarines which held their shape when I de-pitted them and fanned them out in the tart shell. The clingstones always come out messily. They get hidden in double-crust pies.

Peaches always remind me of the summer of Grade 4 when I read James And The Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. I had a theme that summer - peach juice (from a sugary drink mix), fuzzy peach gummy candy and fresh sliced peaches. The book captured my young imagination and I couldn't tear myself from it and I read it cover to cover in one afternoon. The story of this tart is similar: It's so delicious that if left to my own devices I'd probably eat all in one afternoon.

TWD: Oatmeal Breakfast Bread

Oh. My. Goodness. I am in LOVE with this bread.

Despite its modest and understated name, this bread is AMAZINGLY yummy. It was soft, moist, full or flavor and smelled wonderful while baking. Cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves were a perfect medley of flavors to complement the classic pairing of apple and oatmeal.

I was pleasantly surprised at how pretty the sliced loaf looked. The diced, dried apricots had plumped up and stood out like glittery orange jewels. I used plain yogurt instead of buttermilk. For the topping I omitted the brown sugar and just sprinkled and lightly pressed in a handful of toasted walnuts on top.



The recipe was selected by Natalie of Oven Love for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie pick. Find the recipe at her blog or in Baking: From My Home to Yours.

TWD: Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream

Katrina of Baking and Boys picked Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream on page 430.

I have only recently gotten to 'know' Katrina online through TWD. On top of having a great blog with dependable recipes, she's a sweetheart. I wish I lived near her so we could have baking parties! She is one of those bloggers I wish I knew in real life. I'm in awe of this woman - mother to 4 boys. Oh my goodness. I have only ONE boy and I'm exhausted!



Confession: Not a lot of this recipe actually made it to the ice cream maker. I had to fight off hungry straws wanting to sip it up - milkshake style. I also used milk chocolate because I'm a milk chocolate kinda gal!