Stacey Makes It

Since I started writing a lot, I haven't had a lot of time to cook, and so I've started defaulting to making all sorts of rice crispy treats because they only take 15-20 minutes to complete.  This is my new favorite recipe for rice crispy treats. Stacey's Minty Chocolate Rice Crispy Treat Ingredients: 1/3c peppermint candies, crushed (I used candy canes) 2 tbs butter, organic 2c marshmallows, plain 1-2c chocolate mint marshmallows (if you can't find these, just substitute regular marshmallows)  4c cereal (I use a mix of rice crispies and corn flakes from TJ's) 1/2c-1c chocolate chips (I used a mix of milk and semisweet, but you can use whatever you like) 5-6 drops peppermint oil 4-qt. pot 11 cup pyrex baking dish, or an 8x8" baking dish, oiled I even took process pictures for you - I haven't taken these in a long time.  So, I found these marshmallows and I felt like using them in something where they became melted and unrecogniza...

I love mint, chocolate, and marshmallows so I decided to mash these all together for Father's Day and give it to my Dad.  I just used my Half Batch Marshmallow recipe , but I took out the vanilla and added 1 ounce of Creme de Menthe liqueur and a tiny bit (like a pinch) of blue powdered food coloring at about the halfway point during the aerating. The resulting slab was only slightly blue green, but once the chocolate was on it, the marshmallow seemed a bit more colorful for some reason. I put a layer of Guittard milk chocolate on one side, instead of cutting them and rolling them in the cornstarch/powdered sugar mixture, to make them easier to dip. Once the chocolate set, I turned the slab over onto the chocolate side and cut squares out for dipping. Then all the happy little cubes went for a swim, one by one into tempered milk chocolate  and I fished them out with my dipping fork. Once the coating set, I drizzled a little bit more chocolate on them for a nice...

I love mint chocolates.  :) Stacey's Dark Chocolate Créme de Menthe Truffle Ingredients: 8 oz cream, organic 2.5 oz glucose syrup 20 oz El Rey 61% dark chocolate couverture 2.5 tbs butter, organic 1 oz Créme de Menthe   liqueur Chocolate Flake Chopped El Rey white chocolate couverture Chopped Guittard mint chocolate chips I made these pretty much the same way as  my other truffles , but I hand stirred instead of using the immersion blender with whisk attachment.  I decided to make these a little bit more interesting to look at so I rolled them in chocolate flake and chopped white and mint chocolates.  Nummy...

AKA my new favoritest cake ever.  I bulked up the recipe for  That Chocolate Cake (added a bit more of all the ingredients except for the eggs - probably 1/8 extra since I was using two 9" square pans instead of two 9" rounds). Cake came out pretty big though, so you probably don't have to bulk it up, and just have thinner layers. Stacey's Chocolate Mint "Favoritest Cake Ever" Ingredients: That Minty Chocolate Cake 2c + 2 tbs sugar, organic 1c unbleached white flour, organic 1c whole wheat flour, organic 2 tbs cornstarch 3/4c + 1 tbs Scharffen-Berger unsweetened cocoa powder 1 1/8 tsp salt 1 3/4 tsp baking powder 1 3/4 tsp baking soda 2 eggs, organic 1/2c + 1 tbs sunflower oil, organic 1c + 2 tbs whole milk 1c + 2tbs boiling water 2 tsp peppermint extract That Amazing Mint Ganache Frosting  10 oz El Rey white chocolate couverture 16 oz heavy cream, organic 1 oz Creme de Menthe liqueur, green Few drops of peppermint oil Chopped white...

My boyfriend's sisters invited us over for dinner last week, so I wanted to bring a yummy dessert over.  Usually I make a 9x13" tray of brownies to bring to work, but this was a much smaller audience so I opted for the 8x8" and scaled back my usual brownie recipes.  I've been working on brownie recipes for a long time, and I still haven't quite found one that I'm in love with.  This one was decent, but I think I would have liked to cook it a bit longer for next time. Stacey's Mint Brownie Ingredients : 1 stick butter, organic, salted 3 oz 99% unsweetened Guittard chocolate 1c dark brown sugar, organic 1c white sugar, organic 2 eggs 2 tsp vanilla bean paste 1 tsp peppermint extract 1/2c whole wheat flour, organic 2 tbs Scharffen Berger cocoa powder 1/2 tsp salt 2 tbs cornstarch 1/3c Guittard semisweet chocolate chips Stacey's Creme de Menthe Frosting Ingredient s 3 tbs heavy cream, organic 2 tsp Creme de Menthe liqueur 1.5c powdered ...

I'm going to Tahoe this weekend with a bunch of friends and I'm always encouraged to bring desserts places.  These are two of the chocolates that I'm bringing.  I also have plans for an apple crisp and a chocolate cake.  Mint Meltaways (recipe from Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner ) 37 oz chocolate, melted 11 oz coconut fat, melted 10 drops peppermint oil Combine chocolate, coconut fat, peppermint oil.  When I do it, I like everything to be at 90F, but I still get swirls of untempered chocolate sometimes.  I use this temp gun and I melt everything in the microwave at 10-30 second intervals. Recipe calls for a 12"x12" frame, but I used two 9"x9" cake pans lined with parchment. Pour into the pan after everything's mixed and then wait for it to set.  Usually overnight.  After that, cut it into squares and dredge in powdered sugar.  I tend to have problems cutting it without it cracking,...