{ boston minis }

Sometimes a big, full-size cake is just too much of a good thing.

Ty loves Boston Cream Pie of any kind (including the Dunkin Donuts variety), so when I discovered this recipe for the mini version of the classic dessert, I was pleased as pudding (HA!). It was a perfect Valentine's Day sweet treat that wouldn't ruin our healthy eating efforts for the entire week by taunting us with leftovers from the fridge.

So yummy -- it was a major hit with the Boston Cream Pie lover in my house. I foresee this being a recipe I'll repeat ... any times.

Mini Boston Cream Pies
(adapted from kraftrecipes)

Ingredients

• 1 package of yellow cake mix
• 1 envelope (3.4 oz.) vanilla flavored instant pudding
• 1 cup cold milk
• 1-1/2 cups thawed whipped topping, divided
• 4 squares semi-sweet chocolate

Process

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Prepare cake batter and bake as directed on package for 24 cupcakes. Cool completely.

With electric mixer, beat pudding mix and milk about 2 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile, use serrated knife to cut cupcakes horizontally in half. With the same knife, trim the top, rounded layer off of cupcakes so that both the tops and bottoms of the cakes are flat.

Fold 1/2 cup whipped topping into pudding; spoon onto bottom halves of cupcakes, using about 1 Tbsp. for each.* Cover with cupcake tops.

 

Microwave remaining whipped topping and chocolate  squares in small glass bowl on high 1-1/2 minutes, or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after 1 min. Stir until well blended.  Spoon and spread chocolate onto cupcakes. 

Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes (the longer, the better) and serve.   

*I actually doubled the pudding recipe, as it's my favorite part of the recipe. I ended up with way more than I needed, so as the cupcakes began to cool, I pulled them apart and added another dollop of the cream mixture. Initially, the pudding was too runny to do so and just ran over the side, so I let it set for a while before adding more

{ super-simple english toffee }

It's the beginning of January, and I should be writing about resolutions and goals or fitness and such.

Instead, I'm sharing a yummy recipe for the easiest (yet uber-delicious) English toffee ever. I made it for a New Year's Eve party at my personal trainer/friend's house (HA! How's that for ballsy?!), and not a crumb remained by 8:00 pm. -- it's the perfect sweet accompaniment for champagne-sipping!

Make this. Really. Do it. You'll impress your friends at your next get-together, or you'll know that you have something scrumptious waiting for you when you get home from work -- either way, a total win. And the second best part is that it doesn't get much easier (the best part is the taste).

Easy English Toffee
(adapted from the idea room)

 Ingredients

1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds, for bottom layer
1 cup salted butter
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
3 tablespoon water
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds, for top layer

Process

Line a cookie sheet with tinfoil and sprinkle 1/2 cup of toasted almonds in the pan on the foil.

In heavy saucepan melt butter. Add sugar, corn syrup and water. Cook and stir over medium-high heat to boiling.

Cook and stir over medium heat to 290 degrees using a candy thermometer (soft-crack stage). Watch carefully and stir, as it easily burns above 280 degrees.

Remove from heat and immediately pour mixture over the nuts in the pan. It won't completely fill the pan to the edges and ends up looking uneven on the edges -- this is perfect! Let stand 3-5 minutes, or until firm but still hot. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and let the stand for 1 to 2 minutes. Once chocolate softens, spread over mixture.

Sprinkle the chocolate with nuts. Chill till firm. Break into pieces. Store tightly covered. Makes approximately 1 1/2 pounds.

{ candy land }

You know those Lindor chocolate truffles by Lindt that sit in bins at the desk at Barnes & Noble and such? The tiny little chocolate globes wrapped in colored foil and filled with soft, whipped chocolate?

Well, as luck (?) would have it, there's a Lindt outlet store about 7 miles from my house. I'm still not sure whether it's a curse or a blessing, but there it sits, on a little corner in Exeter, New Hampshire.

One of their number one customers, despite the fact that she lives in a different time zone, is my sweet mother. And on her most recent visit, when she requested that we "stop in" to the Lindt shop, I was rightfully concerned.

The woman bought out the store.

In all fairness to any red-blooded, living, breathing homosapien (my mother, in particular), it's mighty hard to resist -- the store is a chocolate-lover's dream. Aisle upon aisle and bin upon bin of those pretty little foil treats, priced obscenely low, are begging to be purchased and enjoyed; however, leaving with so many that one is unable to take even 1/4 of them home on the plane is a bit excessive, even for my Costco-junkie, bulk-minded mother.

But she did.

And my house is now full of chocolate.