rajoress

Lovely pictures everyone! My latest - a 3 layer red velvet cake for my sister's birthday. TFL! Ruth

You could use any cake recipe for a traditional "mud" cake which is made similarly to brownies. The butter is melted so no creaming is necessary and I think a wooden spoon is the only utensil needed (and a rubber spatula). I would think you could add any type of flavoring. You can google all kinds of recipes. Best of luck!

Those owl cookies are adorable!

Amazing desserts everyone! Here's my successful attempt at an Aussie mud cake. I've tried one before and it was an epic fail! This one is dark chocolate covered with a dark chocolate butter ganache. Thanks for looking! Ruth

Love all the gorgeous desserts on here! Here is my latest; a recipe I had tagged for a future event and a couple of nieces birthdays seemed to be the perfect occasion. Vanilla bean confetti cookies from joy the baker. Thanks for looking! Ruth

Thanks for the help and suggestions! I found a modified recipe online at ecolechocolat that doesn't require the marble slab tempering so will try that to see if it works! Thanks also for pointing me towards the coconut fat discussion, I found that the jar I have is not 100% solid, in fact when you press it with your finger it does give away to semi-liquid. Thanks again! Ruth

Hello all, I am in the process of finalizing my menu of chocolates for Passover this year (Easter's the next day!) and want to make Greweling's mint meltaways. I love having mint after a big dinner and usually make peppermint patties from Greweling's fondant recipe but I can't in good conscience serve a chocolate with corn syrup at my mother's Passover table! I've never made the mint meltaways but love the look and assume the mouth feel must be wonderful. I have a jar of organic coconut oil that is solid. My question is - do you heat the solidified oil up to liquid and if so, any special temp or just cool it until cool but still liquid? (excuse me if this is in the directions, I'm at work planning my nights of chocolate making this week!) Also, has anyone made these with any other type of oil? My mom loves mint but not coconut so not sure if she would eat them... Thanks for any help! Ruth

That Mozart is beautiful! I just made the Cooks Illustrated Baking book's recipe for sables and they also used hard boiled egg yolk pressed through a sieve. It was supposed to contribute to the sandy texture and it did - wonderfully!

Love those cakes, cupcakes and buns posted! Here's a pic of my birthday cake, I make my own every year but still have to please certain children in my family! Four layer chocolate cake with cream filling, buttercream, covered in chocolate coating so it's like a big snack cake! My birthday is on valentine's day so I've been using these same heart pans for a long time! Thanks for looking! Ruth

All these desserts look gorgeous - love the brownies with marshmallows, raspberry tart, madeleines, and all the rest! Some cookies for Valentine's Day for my staff - chocolate chip shortbread dipped in milk and dark chocolates (although they look the same!) and some solid chocolate hearts. The cookies are a variation of a Dorie Greenspan recipe. Thanks for looking! Ruth

Franci - I suggest The Whimsical Bakehouse cookbook. They have very creative ideas for cakes for all ages! Many of the decorations are made just with colored white chocolate or you can even use candy melts if you don't want to temper and they have great ideas and a few templates. I've used many of their ideas and their recipes. Best of luck! Ruth

I had a snow day due to the blizzard of 2015 and made these pinwheel sables from Cooks Illustrated baking book. Lovely sandy texture.. Thanks for looking! Ruth

Thanks so much for taking us along for this beautiful ride! I especially love the look of those raisins - I would take a big bag right to the movies!

Thanks Cakewalk! Those were piped with a couple of different star tips. The dough is tough but once it warms up from your hands, it gets a little easier to pipe (but definitely a workout in the beginning!)

Almond butter cookies to take to a friend's house. I'm always on the lookout for that elusive recipe for Italian bakery style cookies! These were good but a different texture than the bakery ones. Love all the pics on this thread! Ruth

Those elephant ears look awesome! Just for the record, I believe Trader Joe's puff pastry is made with all butter although they don't always carry it. I was pleasantly surprised this December to see they brought it back. Ruth

One of my contributions to the Hanukkah celebration - butter cookies dipped in chocolate. Happy holidays! Ruth

Thanks Chocomom - I am selling to colleagues, friends and family members and their colleagues and mainly folks who need gifts for the holidays. Sometimes the word of mouth just spreads! I'm at it all night after work and all weekend but it's my creative side coming out - I work in accounting/finance all day! Best of luck to you! Ruth

Darienne - very significant and a wonderful cause - I second that!

Hello all - I'm full into my holiday chocolate production! A few things I've made - nut barks, peppermint bark, toasted walnut toffee, cashew turtles, peanut butter cups, mints, and numerous chocolate covered items. I always run out of plastic containers at this time of year! I have caramel corn and some Hanukkah treats still to go. Here are a few pics. Hope everyone has wonderful holidays! Thanks for looking, Ruth

Both great ideas - thanks!

I have a recipe to make chocolate crunch; it comes from the Mast Brothers. I'd like to make it nut-free and I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas on what to substitute for the peanut butter,if anything. It seems like this combination will make a nice texture so I don't want to lose that by removing the peanut butter but need something easy and quick and nut-free. I think I'll probably just try it without the peanut butter but thought I'd throw the question out there first. Any ideas welcome! Thanks, Ruth Chocolate CrunchRecipe adapted from Rick and Michael Mast, "Mast Brothers Chocolate: A Family Cookbook" (Little, Brown) 1½ pounds dark chocolate, chopped ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces 2 tablespoons peanut butter 1 tablespoon honey 4 cups puffed rice cereal

I've used plenty of the orange silicone molds that they sell for cakes and cakelets for chocolates, they come out very easy and the detail is amazing! I also have a few rubber molds that look like the one you show above that I've used with fondant and chocolate and they work fine, also. The orange molds are really flexible so I place them on a sheet pan then pour my chocolate in. Good luck! Ruth

Love everything posted above! My contributions to the Thanksgiving dessert table (which was laden!): -maple walnut fudge -truffled almonds -pecans with cinnamon sugar meringue -milk chocolate/crisp rice turkeys and pine cones Thanks for looking! Ruth

Thank you all for the ideas. I ended up making cherry almond scones. I used some of the liquid to make the glaze and then thickened the liquid, added in the remaining cherries and made a spread for the scones. My colleague and the rest of the gang loved them! Thanks again, Ruth