Bakingwhiz’s

Ingredients:
8 oz. cream cheese, stored at room temperature
5 oz. white chocolate
4 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
8 medium fresh strawberries
1/4 cup finely minced crystallized ginger
1/2 cup coconut, toasted
1/2 cup pistachio nuts, finely chopped

Procedure:

1. Melt white chocolate in the top of a double boiler, let cool.
2. Beat together the cream cheese, sugar and ginger root until smooth.
3. Add melted white chocolate and mix well. Chill for at least 1 hour or
until easy to handle. Use a small melon baller (or small spoon) to scoop out the center of each strawberry, half way down each fruit.
4. Pat strawberry dry. Put a little crystallized ginger into each strawberry.
Shape the cheese mixture around the fruit. Coat one end in the toasted coconut, the other in the pistachio nuts.
5. Place truffles in candy cups and chill until serving time.

Serving Suggestion: Makes about 18 truffles.

Ingredients:

1 pack long pretzel rods
1 pack vanilla candy coating
Decorations, such as red and green sprinkles, holiday M&Ms or crushed up candy canes

Procedure:

1. Place the candy coating in a microwave-safe bowl.

**Note: Make sure you do not get any water in the bowl. Any water at all will cause the candy coating not to melt properly and separate.

2. Microwave the candy coating for a minute, then stir. Microwave for an additional minute, until it is completely melted and smooth.

3. Stick a pretzel rod into the chocolate, and with a spoon, cover about 3/4 of the pretzel with chocolate. Let the excess drip back into the bowl.

4. Sprinkle the chocolate with either red and green colored sprinkles, crushed up peppermints, or stick red and green M&Ms to the chocolate.

5. Place the decorated pretzel on a piece of waxed paper or aluminum foil, and let it dry completely, about an hour. Gently pull the pretzels off the paper.

Creative Idea: You can stick your decorated pretzels to your cookies and serve them like these. Let your creative mind work!

Ingredients:

2 cups cream-filled cookies *
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
8 ounce cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1 cup whipping cream
1 1/4 c Creme-filled Cookies **
* The cookies (24) should be chocolate cream filled cookies and be to as fine as can
be done.

** These cookies should be chocolate cream filled cookies and should be
coarsely chopped.

Procedure:

1. Combine cookie crumbs and butter. Press onto bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

2. Soften gelatin in water. Stir over low heat until dissolved.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar, mixing at medium speed on an electric mixer until
well blended. Gradually add gelatin mixture and milk, mixing until well blended.

4. Chill until mixture is thickened but not set. Fold in whipped cream. Reserve 1 1/2 cups cream cheese mixture. Pour remaning cream cheese mixture over crust. Top with
cookies and reserved cream cheese mixture. Chill until firm.

Ingredients:

1 German Chocolate Cake Mix
3/4 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 large bag Snickers Bar(or Milk Way Bar)

Procedure:

1. Combine cake mix with melted butter and condensed milk.

2. Spread out half of the mixture into a 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.

3. Cut chocolate bars into little slices. Lay these on top of the baked crust.

(Note: Don’t worry about the remaining crumbly texture.)

4. Put it back into the oven and bake it at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.

OREO… I don’t really know what’s with this cookie that makes us all love it! Over 362 billion Oreo cookies have been sold since it was first introduced in the year 1912. It has been a fact that it is the best selling cookie in the 20th century. Pretty cool huh?

You might want to try out this recipe (And hey, it does not deal with baking at all. Its all chilling.)

Ingredients:

3 packs Oreo cookies
8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 lb milk chocolate
1/2 lb white chocolate
Procedure:

1. Grind cookies to a fine powder.

2. Blend cookie powder, cream cheese and vanilla extract.

(Note: you would know it is properly mixed when there are no more traces of cream cheese.)

3. Roll into small 2-inch balls and place on cookie sheets. Then refrigerate for 45 minutes.

5. Line two cookie sheets with wax paper.

6. Melt milk chocolate using a double boiler.

7. Dip balls into the mix chocolate to coat. Place on the prepared cookie sheets.

8. Finally, melt white chocolate in a separate double boiler. Drizzle white chocolate over the balls. Let cool.

This is one of the days that I feel the need to spoil myself. And for me, that is serving myself with a mouthwatering dessert. “A mix of banana and toffee.” You heard that right, I want to have my dose of bananas. I’ve read in an article that the famous saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” is no longer true. And believe it or not, “A banana a day keeps the doctor away!” So after being enlightened about that new info, I could say that spoiling myself with the right food is not at all bad. But good, better, and BEST. So here’s the recipe for you:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon mixed spice
4 cups butter, melted
2 1/2 cups biscuits, finely crushed
Filling:

1 cup butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup dark brown soft sugar
397g can Condensed Milk
1 tablespoon black treacle
3/4 cup dark chocolate, melted

Topping:
4 small bananas
1 cup double cream, lightly whipped
cocoa powder, to dust

Procedure:

1. Mix together cocoa powder, mixed spice, melted butter, and crushed biscuits. Blend well.

2. Press the mixture into the base and partway up the sides of a 20cm (8in) loose-bottomed cake tin. Chill for a couple of minutes until it sets to the pan.
3. Filling: Mix butter and sugars into a saucepan over low heat. Stir until butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Add condensed milk and bring gently to a boil. Stir continuously until golden caramel. Remove from the heat. Add treacle and melted chocolate. Mix thoroughly.

4. Spread the filling over the biscuit base and chill for 1 hour and 30 minutes, until firm.
To serve, slice the bananas, fold half of them into the whipped cream and spoon over the toffee base. Decorate with the remaining bananas and dust liberally with cocoa powder.

You do have your creative side. I’m sure. So go decorating them like it leaves no words left to be uttered.

This is what you have to do to finish up you Chocolate Mocha Cake.

Make the sumptuous filling!

Ingredients:

3/4 cups butter, softened

1 pound confectioners’ sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1/3 cup cooled strong coffee diluted in water

Procedure:

1. Beat butter until light and fluffy.

2. Add sugar and cocoa alternately with coffee until smooth.

3. This makes about 2 1/2 cups, good for 2 pans of Chocolate Mocha Cakes.

Be a bakingwhiz!

What is it with mocha that makes us just love it? I know of someone who says he loves this cake flavor among all others. But hey, he ain’t a coffee lover and yet he loves mocha cake. Basically, the main ingrediendt there is coffee. Coffee and chocolate makes the mocha flavor come to life.

And so I say to him, “You don’t know that it’s actually a mix of chocolate and mocha?”

Bewildered.

Some things actually become BEST when they’re together… Right sweetest? *wink*

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 pieces large eggs (stored at room temperature)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

Procedure:

1. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt.

2. In a separate bowl, combine vegetable oil and buttermilk.

3. In a separate bowl, beat sugar and eggs until light and fluffy at high speed using an electric mixer. Shift to low speed and blend in cocoa.

4. Beat in flour mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture, beating after each addition until smooth and creamy.

5. Pour batter into prepared two 9 x 1 1/2 inch layer cake pans.

6. Allow to cool after baking before spreading on the Mocha Cake Frosting.

Indulge!

Baking Temperature: 350 degrees celcius

Baking Time: 30 to 35 minutes

I want to have a summer get away.

This recipe just makes me want to imagine how much better summer would be with this around.

Strawberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 graham cracker crust
1 cup all purpose whip cream, chilled
1 bar cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pint fresh strawberries, cleaned

Procedure:

1. Cream and soften cream cheese, gradually add in sugar.

2. Add vanilla and whip until fluffy.

3. Fold in whip cream. Pour into crust.

4. Garnish with sliced fresh strawberries.

5. Refrigerate for about an hour, until firm.

And there you have it, the perfect dessert for your summer get away! Enjoy!

if you want to have them as presents, you might as well place it in a jar and give them out as a surprise!

Here’s what you do:

1. Mix flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

2. Pour into a 1 liter jar and pack down level.

3. In a blender, mix and grate oatmeal and chocolate bar.

4. Pack on the jar. Add white sugar and brown sugar packed down after each addition.

5. Layer with copped nuts. Finish top by scattering with chocolate chips until the top.

Just stick the recipe on the jar and its ready to go! Go make some of your loved ones smile with this one.