Ingredients:

• miniature brownie bites (purchased from the store or homemade- made in a mini muffin pan)
• frosting (homemade or purchased from the store)
• blue sprinkles
• strawberry- flavored Pop Rocks (see *tips below)

Directions:

1. Frost brownie bites with desired frosting, using a piping bag with a fancy swirl— or simply spread on a bit of frosting. Sprinkle them with blue sprinkles. Refrigerate them until you are ready to serve (you really want to let that frosting set up and get a little bit of a crust on it so it’s not “wet” when you add the Pop Rocks. This is an important step!

2. When ready to serve, open your Pop Rocks and crumble onto the tops of the cupcakes. You might hear a little bit of crackling from the Pop Rocks interacting with the frosting. Serve immediately!

Tips:

1. *Brownie tip: If you’re making your own brownie bites, just be sure that you’re using a recipe that isn’t going to let the brownies rise into rounded-top muffins. You want the tops to be flat. The store-bought brownie bites can usually be found in your market’s bakery section.
2. *Frosting tip: Don’t use a recipe that turns out a really “wet” frosting. You need it to firm up a bit in the refrigerator.
3. *Pop Rocks tip: Pop Rocks can be found in candy shops in the USA and sometimes at larger convenience stores like 7-11. I found mine at Old Navy! One package of Pop Rocks is enough for about 12 brownie bites.
4. *Make ahead tip! These are a make-ahead recipe as far as the frosted brownie bites go… but don’t add the Pop Rocks until everyone is ready to chow down. The “explosion” factor of the Pop Rocks is in danger if you add them to the frosting and then just let them sit… plus they’ll melt into the icing eventually if they encounter a great deal of humidity or refrigeration

Makes about one quart

For the chocolate-covered Pop Rocks:

• 3/4 cup white chocolate, chopped or in chunks, cold and divided
• 20 grams (2 packets) Pop Rocks

For the ice cream:

• 2 cups half-and-half (or one cup whole milk and one cup heavy cream)
• 1 vanilla bean, split
• 1/2 cup sugar, divided
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped

For the chocolate-covered Pop Rocks

1. In a double-boiler, melt half a cup of the white chocolate over medium heat, stirring with a spatula until the chocolate is completely melted. Remove from the heat and pour the melted chocolate into a bowl.
2. A few pieces at a time, add the remaining cold white chocolate chunks to the melted white chocolate while stirring. Allow the chocolate chunks to thoroughly incorporate into the melted chocolate before adding more. Continue adding the cold white chocolate while stirring until the mixture has a paste-like consistency and is cold enough that the cold chunks do not readily melt.
3. Test the white chocolate by sprinkling a few Pop Rocks on it. If they start to pop, the chocolate is still too hot. Add some more cold chunks to bring the temperature down.
4. When the chocolate is cool enough that the Pop Rocks do not pop on it, add the rest of the Pop Rocks and gently mix them into the white chocolate.
5. Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet or plate lined with parchment paper and refrigerate several hours until hard.
6. Break or dice the bark into small pieces, and either use immediately or return to the fridge until the ice cream is ready.

For the ice cream

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the half-and-half, vanilla bean, and half the sugar, and bring to a simmer over medium heat while stirring.
2. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and the remaining quarter cup of sugar together until pale and thick.
3. When the half-and-half mixture comes to a simmer, remove it from the heat and add half a cup of the hot mixture to the egg yolk mixture while whisking to raise the temperature of the eggs. While continuing to whisk the mixture, slowly add the hot half-and-half mixture to the egg yolks, working a cup at a time so the eggs do not curdle. Return the mixture to the saucepan and stir over low heat until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
4. Strain the mixture into a bowl and allow it to come to room temperature. Add the strawberries, then cover and refrigerate the mixture overnight.
5. Churn the mixture in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Five minutes from the end of the cycle, slowly add the white chocolate-covered Pop Rocks and allow the churning to complete.

When tasted, the Pop Rocks should start to fizz as the white chocolate melts in your mouth.

Ingredients for one serve

• 1 to 2 tablespoons Chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon coconut milk powder (organic is best)
• I cup of water
• Honey if required

Method

1. Grind the Chia seeds in a blender with a grinder attachment like you would to grind coffee beans or use whole seeds if you prefer.
2. Add the coconut milk powder and water and heat to boiling point. You can omit this step if you want it to be a cold pudding.
3. Whisk the ground Chia seeds into the liquid. Whisk again after a few minutes. Leave the mixture until it thickens and serve with a drizzle of honey.

Wonderfully filling, very simple and very tasty.

For cake

• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For glaze

• 2 cups chopped pecans (71/2 ounces)
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 5 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Special equipment: a 9-inch tube pan or 12-cup bundt pan

Make cake:

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter cake pan well and dust with flour, knocking out excess.
2. Melt butter (2 sticks) in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, then whisk in cocoa. Add water and whisk until smooth, then remove from heat. Whisk in separately sugar, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla.
3. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a bowl, then sift again into cocoa mixture and whisk until just combined (don’t worry if there are lumps).
4. Pour batter into cake pan and bake until a wooden pick or skewer comes out with a few crumbs adhering, 45 to 55 minutes. (Leave oven on.)
5. Cool cake in pan on a rack 20 minutes, then loosen edges with a thin knife and invert onto a plate.

Make glaze:

1. Spread pecans in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan (1 inch deep) and bake until fragrant and a shade darker, 6 to 8 minutes. Cool pecans slightly in pan on a rack, about 5 minutes.
2. Melt butter in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over low heat, then stir in half-and-half and confectioners sugar. Add chocolate and cook, stirring, until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in pecans and salt. Cool glaze until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
3. Spoon glaze over top and sides of cake (cake will still be warm) and spread with a small offset spatula or knife to cover completely.

Ingredients:

• For the cake:
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 2 tbs. cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

For the filling: 

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

For the icing:

• 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
This recipe makes two sweet rolls. Depending on how many oven-safe measuring cups you have, you can either make one at a time or both at once. Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry cake ingredients together. Separately, mix wet cake ingredients together. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spray your oven-safe glass measuring cup with non-stick cooking spray. Add your batter to the measuring cup to the 1 cup or the 1 1/2 cup line, depending on how tall you want it.  Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes or until your can stick in a knife and it comes out clean. Remove measuring cup from the oven. Let the cake cool. Once cake is cool, remove it from the measuring cup carefully so it does not break. The cake is going to be upside down (so the wider part is at the bottom) and may be awkwardly rounded on the bottom side. To fix this, simply cut off the rounded bottom with a knife to make it level. Set the cake down with the wider leveled side on the bottom. Use a spoon or fork to carve a hole at the top of the cake, this is where you will put the filling. To make the filling mix together the butter, pecans, cinnamon and brown sugar. Stuff the mixture into the hole you created. For the icing, whisk together the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar and milk until smooth and thick. Gently pour the icing on top of the cake. Serve or have it all to yourself! Remember, in Skyrim, stealing a sweetroll is punishable by a night in jail.

I saw a request from the Jack Frost guy, and it made me remember something my mom taught me how to make.

Wait until it’s snowing out, then put out a really big bowl to catch the snow.  Make sure it’s somewhere animals aren’t likely to disturb.  When you want some snow cream, take only what you’re going to eat.  Add granulated sugar, cream or milk, and flavorings to taste.  A teaspoon of vanilla and tablespoon of sugar is usually good.  Cream depends on how thick and how cold you want it.

It’s really cold, sweet, and refreshing.

Thanks!

-Wolf

Thank you!

-Wolf

Thank you!

-Wolf