Tag Archives: valentines day

Love Bug Cupcakes

Posted on January 24, 2021 by Ruthanne

*These cute little bugs are filled with berry cream and jam. They sit on top of a dense, not-too-sweet brownie base, and are the *perfect* treat for your Valentine!*

I feel like I am always on the lookout for something creative to make for Valentine’s Day. January is such a blah, grey month, and I miss having something to celebrate with colors and sprinkles. And along comes Valentine’s Day! Even as a single person (for WAY to many years!) I celebrated the day- just because you need SOMETHING in February to make you smile. In fact, if you are single and these love bugs make you want to roll your eyes, try my cute Frog Prince Oreo Pops instead! 🙂

These treats are a little on the fussy side. Obviously. Anything cute requires a little time. If you want a simple, delicious dessert- without the fuss- you can just pipe some topping on, add some sprinkles, and call it a day.

Want to know how to make these fun treats? Here is the recipe: (printable version)

Ingredients: (makes 24 love bug cupcakes)

Love Bugs: (make these 1st)- you will need a silicone chocolate bomb mold to make these:

5 cups powdered sugar
8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) melted butter
2 teaspoons strawberry or raspberry extract
1 cup of raspberry jam
Food color in pink
One bag of Wilton’s Candy melts in pink
About 1/2 cup of Wilton’s Candy melts in black
48 candy eyes
Candy heart sprinkles

Brownie cups:

1 cup butter
2 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

Chocolate Glaze:

6oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons butter (do not substitute margarine here!)
Green jimmies for grass!

DIRECTIONS:

Berry Love Bugs:

Melt pink candy melts in microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between until smooth.
Use a clean paint brush to brush melts into a chocolate bomb mold and freeze for a couple minutes until hard.
Make berry filling by adding melted butter to sugar and extract.
Mix well, using water to bring it to a thick but spreadable consistency.
Add pink food coloring to make it a fun pink color.
Place filling into a large zip-top bag and seal tightly.
Cut a corner off bag and pipe berry filling into each pink shell- filling them about 1/4 full.
Place jam into a small zip-top bag, clip corner and pipe a little bit in the center of each pink shell.
Pipe more berry filling over the top until it is level .
Use a knife to spread berry filling to edges of shell.
Refreeze these for a few minutes before gently popping them out and setting them on a plate.
Repeat this process until you have 24 berry bombs ready.

Brownie cups:

Preheat oven to 350F.
Cream butter and sugar together.
Beat in eggs, cocoa, vanilla and salt.
Add flour and milk (alternating them and mixing well in between)
Spoon evenly into 24 cupcake liners in a cupcake tin.
Bake at 350F degrees for 15-18 minutes (don’t over bake- they will start to pull away from the liner)
Cool.

Chocolate Glaze:

Melt butter and chocolate together in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until completely melted and smooth.
Set aside until cupcakes are ready to assemble.
Assemble the cupcakes by spooning a little chocolate glaze on top of a brownie and spreading to all edges.
Place a berry bomb in the center and sprinkle green jimmies around edge.
Allow this all to harden up (refrigerate to speed process up).
Melt black candy melts in microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between until smooth.
Use a clean paint brush to paint a black face on the front of each bomb, and immediately place eyes before candy melts harden. Place the rest of the melts in a plastic zip-top bag, cut a corner and pipe the center line down the bug’s back.
Melt just a few pink candy melts, and use a paint brush to stick each little candy heart “dot” in place.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: These are delicious. Think chocolate covered strawberries. I made half of mine with the love bug domes, and half with just the berry icing and chocolate glaze- just to save time. Either way, they are delicious and sure to make YOUR Valentine smile! Enjoy! ~r

Looking for other fun baking ideas for Valentine’s Day? Click on the title to see the recipe:

Raspberry Fudge Layer Cake

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Ruthanne

Layers of pound cake, chocolate and raspberry are sure you make your Valentine smile this year!

You know those desserts that look incredibly difficult and are super easy? This is one of those. The cake is simply a frozen pound cake sliced and stacked with chocolate and raspberries. Makes you smile, doesn’t it?

Here’s how we made it: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

One frozen pound cake
1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup of red raspberry jam
1 cup of sliced red raspberries
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of whipping cream

DIRECTIONS:

Remove pound cake from packaging and use a large serrated knife to slice it into 3 or 4 layers
Divide the bag of chocolate chips into 2 separate microwave-safe bowls.
Add the stick of butter to one, and the whipping cream to the other.
Melt each bowl of chocolate, one at a time, in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth.
Set aside the butter/chocolate glaze.
Lay the bottom layer of the pound cake on a baking rack set over a cookie sheet.
Spread chocolate/whipping cream mixture generously on the top of this layer and sprinkle with fresh raspberries.
On the “bottom” of the next layer, spread raspberry jam and then gently place (jam side down) on top of the raspberries.

Repeat this process until all layers are used.
Refrigerate until layers firm up a little (10 minutes or so)
Pour remaining chocolate/butter glaze over the top and sides of cake, allowing excess to run through the baking rack and onto the cookie sheet below.
Refrigerate until glaze firms up.
Cut into slices and enjoy!!!

My thoughts: This is so easy. A tiny bit messy with all of that melted chocolate, but once it is made, it stores well for a couple of days and makes a beautiful layered dessert. I think you could fill these layers with so many different things for different times of the year. Yum. Enjoy!!! Happy Valentine’s Day! ~r

Other fun (and creative!) Valentine’s treats, just click on a picture for the recipe:

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Posted in Cakes and tagged cake, chocolate, chocolate glaze, dessert, easy dessert, fudge, ganache, layer cake, pound cake, raspberry, raspberry jam, recipe, valentines day. Bookmark the permalink.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Ruthanne

Easy and fun, these are the perfect Valentine’s Day cupcake!

The story begins: “I had an extra tub of strawberry frosting….”

Last fall, as I was preparing to leave the Navajo reservation and move back to the Midwest, I committed to using up everything in my cupboards rather than buying any new food that I would have to fit in my car for that long trip home.

One of the items in the back of my baking cupboard was one tub of strawberry frosting, and it was the inspiration for this yummy (and incredibly easy!) cupcake idea.

I used a chocolate mix for these cupcakes (also remaining in my cupboard), but you could certainly make your favorite chocolate cupcake recipe for these.

When they all were done and I’d taken some pictures, I decided to hold this recipe for February as a fun Valentine’s Day treat! Here it is!!! (printable version)

INGREDIENTS:

One boxed chocolate cake mix (with water, oil and eggs to make according to package)
One tub of strawberry frosting
1/2 cup of whipping cream
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
24 Pink Sixlets candies and sprinkles (as desired for decoration)

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix according to package and bake in 24 cupcake liners placed in tins as directed. Cool.
Make chocolate sauce by melting whipping cream and chocolate chips together in a sauce pan, stirring often, until fully melted and smooth.
Spoon strawberry frosting into a microwave-safe bowl, and heat for 15-30 seconds until smooth and liquid when stirred.
Grasp a cooled cupcake by the bottom and dip the entire top of the cupcake into the softened strawberry frosting. Set each cupcake on a cookie sheet and set these in the refrigerator to harden up for 5 to 10 minutes.
Gently spoon a dollop of chocolate onto the center of a cupcake and smooth it toward the edges, trying to keep it from running over. A couple of mine did and they were fine once they hardened up, just a little messy.
Place decorations on immediately and refrigerate until both chocolate and strawberry frosting are firm. They should be fine at room temperature once they have hardened.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: These are such an easy cupcake to make, but they are SO yummy- and cute! I love the chocolate and strawberry combination. I hope you have a chance to make these for YOUR sweetheart this year! ~Enjoy!

Other fun Valentine recipe ideas (just click on a photo to see the recipe!)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies!

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Ruthanne

These soft brownies topped with cookie dough and fudge are an easy family favorite!!

I’m back! Thanks for your patience this past month. This was the 1st break I’ve taken from Easybaked in nearly 4 years, but there are just some times in life that knock you over and even your favorite things (like baking and blogging!) hold no appeal.

We lost my beautiful mom very quickly last month to aggressive cancer. She is woven through this collection of recipes in so many ways. She taught me how to bake, she shared her best dessert ideas, and she helped me brainstorm new and creative ways to remake a recipe.

She was my biggest fan. As I post this recipe later this week, I will miss her text; “Honey, I loved your blog post- are you bringing those home this weekend? They look so good!”

These cookie dough brownies are mom’s recipe- with a new twist. Mom made these all the time, with mint filling. They have been featured here on Easybaked many times- with all kinds of different fillings. If you’d like to see these other recipes, just click on the photo!

As you can see, almost any filling is a wonderful addition to these dense, rich brownies. Cookie dough is no exception- it is WONDERFUL, cuts beautifully into squares, and can be kept refrigerated for three to four days or frozen for up to a month. (I love make-ahead desserts!!!) Want to know how to make these? Here you go: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

Brownie:

Two sticks (1 cup) butter
2 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 cup milk

Filling:

4 cups of powdered sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter, melted
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of flour
1/4 cup of water (more or less, to desired consistency)
1 bag of mini chocolate chips

Chocolate Topping:

12oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
12 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS:

Brownie:

Preheat oven to 350.
Cream butter and sugar together.
Beat in eggs, cocoa, vanilla and salt.
Add flour and milk (alternating them and mixing well in between)
Pour batter into a jellyroll pan (12 1/2 x 17 1/2 x 1″)
Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes or until done in center and pulling slightly away from sides.
Cool.

Filling:

Place powdered sugar and melted butter into a large mixing bowl, and use a mixer to beat on medium until crumbly.
Add vanilla, brown sugar and flour and continue mixing.
Add water, a little at a time, until a thick but spreadable consistency is reached.
Beat on high until smooth and creamy
Add bag of mini chocolate chips, and stir in on low until well blended.
Spoon over (cooled!!) brownies, and spread until evenly distributed over entire brownie top. (I used clean hands to press the dough into corners, and then I placed wax paper over the entire top and used my hands to press into a flat, even layer)

Chocolate Topping:

Melt butter and chocolate together in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until completely melted and smooth.
Pour over cookie dough filling and spread evenly over top
Chill until top layer is hard.
Cut into squares. Serve immediately, or stack in an air-tight container with parchment paper between each layer. Refrigerate for several days, or freeze for up to a month. (They are actually really yummy right out of the freezer!!)
Enjoy!

My thoughts: These are as good as they look. If you like sneaking cookie dough out of the bowl, these are for you! This recipe makes quite a few brownies, and I love that they can be made ahead and some of them frozen for a later date. Enjoy!!

This one’s for you mom. I love you!

More of mom’s recipes here on easybaked:

Peppermint ice cream pie– one of our summer favorites! Chocolate drop cookies– one of my first recipes with mom. Pumpkin roll- people always asked her to bring this to family celebrations. Chocolate chip cake– her go-to recipe for winning a bake off.

Have you ever visited Immeasurably More? It’s about my non-baking self and all the ways God is directing my steps. Stop by sometime by clicking the link below.

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Posted in Brownies, Cookies and tagged bar cookie, best, best brownie recipe, birthday, brownie, chocolate, chocolate chip, chocolate chip cookie dough, cookie dough, dessert, easy brownies, fudge, layer dessert, layered brownies, recipe, valentines day. Bookmark the permalink.

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Ruthanne

Creamy chocolate cheesecake topped with a layer of raspberry and sour cream. Unbelievably yummy!!!

If you follow my blog on a regular basis, you will remember this cheesecake from last fall. It is my Aunt’s recipe and it is literally the best cheesecake I’ve ever eaten. It is so creamy and smooth…oh my.

I decided to add a few twists to the recipe by making it chocolate and adding raspberries to the topping. It worked beautifully and added so much flavor! It is really quite easy to make. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!!!

Here’s the recipe (printable version):

INGREDIENTS:

Crust:

1 1/4 cups Honeymaid graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons sugar

Filling:

3/4 cup sugar
3 (8 oz.) Philadelphia cream cheese bars (must be the Philadelphia brand)~ softened to room temperature.
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon juice
pinch of salt
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Topping:

1 pint (2 cups) sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
1/3 cup of canned raspberry pie filling

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
In a medium bowl, combine crust ingredients together until well combined.
Press into a 9″ spring form pan, pressing crumbs into bottom and about 1 1/2″ up sides of pan.
For the filling, combine the sugar and softened cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and beat together until smooth.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition.
Add the vanilla, lemon juice and salt and beat until smooth and creamy.
Melt the one cup of chocolate until smooth, and add to cheesecake mixture, beating until completely incorporated.
Pour into crust.
Bake at 350F degrees for 35-45 minutes.
While cheesecake is baking, make topping by simply mixing together all of the topping ingredients.
After 35-45 minutes of baking, remove cheesecake from oven and turn oven down to 325F degrees.
Pour topping over hot cheesecake, gently spreading to edges.
Return cheesecake to oven and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes.
Remove cheesecake from oven and leave sides on pan while allowing cheesecake to cool to room temperature.
Refrigerate several hours (or overnight)
Run a small knife around the edges of the pan and remove them before serving.
Serve with extra raspberry pie filling– YUM!
Enjoy!!!!

My thoughts: You can see in my pictures that I added a cup of raspberry pie filling over the crust before I poured the cheesecake batter in. It was really yummy, but made it hard to remove the bottom of the springform pan (which I always do before pictures). If you don’t mind leaving the bottom on, this is a yummy addition to the recipe! Just gently spread it out over your graham crust and pour the cheesecake over the top.

We love raspberries here at Easybaked! Check out our other yummy raspberry recipes!

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Posted in Cheesecakes and tagged baking, best, best dessert recipe, cheesecake, chocolate, chocolate cheesecake, chocolate chips, Cream Cheese, dessert, easter, easy cheesecake recipe, family, fancy, fruit, party, philadelphia cream cheese, pink, raspberry, raspberry pie, raspberry pie filling, raspberry sauce, recipe, sour cream topping, valentines day. Bookmark the permalink.

White Chocolate Strawberry Cookies

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Ruthanne

Just in time for Valentines Day- these pretty pink strawberry cookies are made using a cake mix and full of creamy white chocolate chips.

These are such easy and pretty little cookies! They are chewy and moist and flavorful- I really think you are going to love them!

Here’s the recipe: (printable version)

INGREDIENTS:

1 box of Duncan Hines Strawberry cake mix
1/3c. margarine (soft, at room temperature)
1/2 box (4 ounces) of Philadelphia cream cheese (soft, at room temperature)
1 bag of white chocolate chips
1 egg

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cover 2 cookies sheets with parchment paper.
Cream together margarine and cream cheese until smooth.
Add egg, stirring until smooth.
Melt 1/3 cup of white chocolate chips and stir in.
Add cake mix and stir until combined. Use clean hands to knead mixture into a heavy cookie dough.
Add remaining white chocolate chips and combine well.
Make evenly- sized small balls of dough using a spoon or a cookie scoop.

Place on a parchment paper- covered cookie sheet, leaving room for cookies to spread as they bake.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.
Remove from oven, slide parchment paper (cookies and all!) onto a clean counter, and cool.

My thoughts: I really love these cookies. The white chocolate chips are SO yummy. I like them best warm out of the oven and all gooey! These are an easy recipe to make with kids, and a perfect treat to give for Valentines Day!

Other fun Valentines treats on easybaked:

6 Comments

Posted in Cookies and tagged baking, best, cake mix cookies, dessert, Duncan Hines Strawberry cake mix, easy cookie recipe, holiday, philadelphia cream cheese, recipe, strawberry, sweets, unique, valentines day, white chocolate, white chocolate chips. Bookmark the permalink.

Frog Prince Oreos

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Ruthanne

These adorable edible frogs are made with Oreo cookies and pretzels- cute and soooo yummy!

“You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you meet your prince…..!”

Someone posted a picture of frogs made with Oreos on Facebook last week and I came across it just after spending time on the phone with a friend who’s just been “dumped” by her boyfriend. When I saw the picture I immediately thought of all the “frogs” I’ve dated and knew I had to make us some frogs for Valentine’s Day!

I’ve only occasionally been in love on Valentine’s Day, and usually I watch horror movies with my other single friends to celebrate the day. Can you relate? If so, these frogs are for you!!

I am 2 1/2 hours from a Hobby Lobby. It is (as far as I know) the only place I can get candy melts and other fun decorative things for food blogging. When I packed up my car to move here for 8 months I remember packing the candy eyes. I can see myself thinking, “Well, I’m sure the Navajo will not have a store that sells candy eyes…I better bring those!”

I didn’t bring them. Or I lost them….?

So today I found myself standing in the kitchen with every ingredient I needed for these…except eyes.

I melted white and black candy melts and piped little eyes. Don’t do that. Go and buy the Candy Eyes. They are super cheap and really cute. My eyes are a little crazy looking….but then again, they remind me a little of some guys I’ve dated, so I guess it all worked out in the long run for me.

Ready for this recipe? Here you go! (Printable Recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

One package of Oreo cookies
One bag of small pretzels
Two bags of Wilton candy melts in green
Candy Eyes
Mini M&Ms (you’ll only need the red, so you can eat the rest!!)
Green jimmies (for the warts!)
Candy hearts (I piped mine with red candy melts, but I’d have used candy hearts if I’d had them!)

DIRECTIONS:

Melt the green candy melts in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments, stirring in between until completely melted and smooth.
Spread a sheet of parchment paper over the counter you will be working on.
Dip Oreos, one at a time, in the green candy melts, spooning the candy over the top and sides and then lifting with a fork and tapping excess away.
Gently slide the covered Oreo against the edge of the bowl to remove excess candy melt from the bottom, and then slide off fork on to parchment paper.
Place two eyes on the top, an M&M in the front for a tongue, sprinkle with jimmies and place a heart candy on top.
Allow Oreos to completely harden.
Reheat candy melts if needed (they might harden up while the Oreos cool).
Dip pretzels into candy melts, using the same technique as the Oreos.
Place two pretzels bottom to bottom on a clean sheet of parchment paper and while they are still melted, set a decorated Oreo on top and allow this to harden together.

My thoughts: If you’ve never dipped things in chocolate or candy melts before, it will take you a little while to get the technique down. The biggest tip I have is to tap off as much as you can before you set it on the parchment paper. If you leave too much of the candy melts on the Oreo or pretzel it will drain off into a big puddle around it when you set it on the parchment paper. It is also nice to have a clean set of tweezers handy to place the eyes and M&M with. I had so much fun decorating mine…I think they got more cross-eyed and dumb looking the longer I thought about some of the guys my friends and I have dated. I actually laughed out loud a few times. I’m easily entertained!! 🙂

If you are celebrating the holiday because you have found your prince, here are some ideas for YOU 😉

Editorial note: I stopped at the local grocery to get milk today and wandered through the baking aisle. They have candy eyes! I underestimated the Navajo Nation. All of my new friends here are asking where to get the supplies to make these. Lavina and Kathy: they have candy eyes at Basha’s 🙂 Yay for us!!!

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Posted in Candy, Cookies and tagged anti-Valentines day party, best, candy, candy eyes, candy hearts, Cookie, dessert, easy, frog, frog prince, fun, kids recipe, M&Ms, oreo, Oreos, pretzel, sprinkles, sweets, toad, unique, valentines day, Wilton candy melts. Bookmark the permalink.

Andes Mint Layer Cake

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Ruthanne

This rich chocolate cake has a huge layer of Andes Mint whipped filling and is drizzled with fudge topping. The perfect chocolate dessert!

Tah Dah!!! One last melted frosting recipe…for now…This one has yummy melted chocolate frosting inside and poured all over the top. YUM!!!!!!

I love making this cake in various forms. It is SO quick and easy to put together and everyone loves it! This time I added Andes mint candies for a refreshing mint twist to this recipe. I think you will love it!!

Here’s the recipe: (printable version)

INGREDIENTS:

1 boxed chocolate cake mix (with oil/eggs/water to make according to directions)
2 packets of Dream Whip (found near the jello/pudding boxes at the grocery)
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
Andes Baking Chips 10 oz
One container of pre-made chocolate frosting

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix according to box and bake in 2 – 8 or 9 inch round pans (I cut parchment paper to fit, spray the pan with non-stick spray, and place it in the bottom of each pan so that the cake comes out easier).
Cool cakes completely on a wire rack and while they are cooling make your whipped filling:
Put Dream Whip, milk, vanilla, cocoa powder and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl and blend together.
Using a mixer, beat until stiff peaks form (3-4 minutes)
Fold in Andes mint baking chips, saving aside a few for topping.
Scoop chocolate frosting into a microwave safe bowl and heat for only about 20-30 seconds in the microwave. Heat until frosting is melted into a hot fudge consistency.
Use a large serrated knife to level your two cakes.
Place 1st cake on serving plate, leveled edge up.
Pour about 1/4 of melted frosting on top of cake and spread to cover (I put this layer in the fridge for about a minute just to cool the warm frosting down before adding the mousse layer)
Spoon all of the mousse on top of the cake and spread it ALMOST to the edges.
Top with second cake– put the leveled edge against the mousse…this keeps all the crumbs in the middle and leaves a nice flat surface on the top of your cake. Gently press top layer down to squeeze the mousse all the way to the edges.
Pour the rest of the melted frosting over the entire cake and let it drip over the edges.
Sprinkle the remaining Andes Mint bits on top.
Refrigerate until serving, this will make the middle layer firm and easy to cut.

My thoughts: I love this cake. It is a beautiful dessert that is just so quick and easy to put together!

That creamy mint filling….oh my. I hope you get a chance to try it! Enjoy! ~r

Other yummy chocolate treats here on easybaked:

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Posted in Cakes and tagged Andes, Andes Baking Chips, andes mint, baking, best, cake, cake mix, chocolate, chocolate cake mix, chocolate dessert, chocolate frosting, creative, dessert, dream whip, easy, holiday, layer cake, mint, mousse, party, recipe, rich chocolate cake, sweet, unique, valentines day. Bookmark the permalink.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake Roll!

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Ruthanne

This strawberry cake rolled with vanilla buttercream and dark chocolate ganache is not only a pretty Valentines Day treat, but such a yummy one! Plus, it looks A LOT harder to make than it really is!

February 1st. How can the first month of this year be gone already? I had already written a post for for this week when I looked at the calendar and thought, oh my- it’s time for a Valentine’s dessert! I had an unexpected day off of work this week and decided to experiment with turning an ordinary cake mix into a cake roll. I absolutely loved the results! Cake rolls will always be a little fussier than plain old cakes, but look at how cute it is…! If you’ve never made a cake roll, I will try to explain it as we go. I have a few pictures, but if you want a few more click here for my pumpkin roll recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

One boxed strawberry cake mix (I used Pillsbury this time)
Water, oil and eggs (we will adjust the amounts from the box just a bit!)
1/2c. heavy whipping cream
1 c. dark chocolate chips
2 sticks (8 oz) butter
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 T. clear vanilla flavoring.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees
Make boxed cake mix, but add just a little less oil and water. The Pillsbury mix called for 1 cup of water and 1/3 cup of oil. I used 3/4 c. water and 1/4 c. oil instead. I used the same # of eggs (3)
Cover the bottom of a standard jellyroll pan (mine is about 12″ by 17″, and about 1″ deep) with waxed paper- allowing the paper to extend just a bit over each end.
Lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Pour cake batter into pan and gently spread it out to cover the entire bottom in a thin, but even layer of cake.
Bake at 350F degrees for 15-20 minutes- checking often to make sure it isn’t browning too much.
Remove pan from oven, sprinkle a clean kitchen towel with powdered sugar, lay it powder side down on the top of the cake and holding the towel in place, flip the pan over onto a flat surface. You will have your powdered towel, the cake on top and wax paper on top of the cake.
Peel the wax paper off and gently roll the cake up in the towel, rolling from one short end to the other- keep the towel on the bottom and wrap it up with the cake.
Refrigerate for one hour.
While this is in the fridge, make your ganache and butter cream.
For the ganache: heat 1/2 c. of whipping cream in a medium saucepan until it starts to bubble around the edges. Turn off the heat. Add the dark chocolate chips and cover for 5-10 minutes. Stir until smooth and creamy.
For the buttercream: Place (softened) butter, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beat on high until very fluffy and creamy.
After chilling for one hour, remove cake roll from fridge and gently unroll on a flat surface.
Gently and evenly spread ganache over entire surface of the cake roll.
Gently and evenly spread the buttercream over the ganache. This part was a little tricky- I wanted to make sure I didn’t mix the two layers, so I scooped the buttercream in little bits all over the top and then spread it a little at a time.

Gently roll the cake back up, leaving the towel behind. Carefully lift it on to a large plate and refrigerate it until the buttercream and ganache harden up.

The 1st time I made this it rolled beautifully and I just sprinkled it with powdered sugar….then when I made it for taking photos it cracked as I rolled. This sometimes happens with cake rolls and there’s an easy fix: make another batch of ganache and pour it right over the top! I think I actually liked it better this way! You can’t even tell it cracked, see:

When it is chilled, slice it and serve it with whipped cream and maybe even some chocolate covered strawberries? So yummy!!!!

My thoughts: I really had fun making this dessert. There’s just something about the pink cake and all that gooey chocolate that makes me smile! I hope this cake brings a smile to the faces of all the ones you love this Valentine’s Day! Enjoy!!! ~r

Want some other fun Valentines Day ideas? Click on the picture to be taken to the recipe.

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Posted in Cakes and tagged baking, buttercream, cake, cake mix, cake roll, chocolate, chocolate chips, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate ganache, creative dessert, dark chocolate, dessert, food, heavy whipping cream, how to make a cake roll from a box mix, jellyroll pan, pumpkin roll recipe, strawberry cake, Strawberry cake roll, unique dessert, valentines day, valentines dessert. Bookmark the permalink.

Sweetheart Brownies

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Ruthanne

Easy cutout brownies decorated like Sweethearts Candy. A fun Valentine project that your kids will love!

Ingredients:

2 boxes of Little Debbie Fudge brownies
Wiltons Candy melts in as many colors as you want…like:
Yellow
Pink
Blue
Purple
You will need about 2 (14oz) bags total.

Directions:

Unwrap brownies and use a small heart shaped cookie cutter to cut two hearts from each brownie (recipe makes 24 hearts).
Melt Wilton Candy Melts in the microwave in 30 second increments until melted and smooth.
Cover each brownie in candy melts and using a fork tap off excess and place on parchment paper to harden. (picture of this process)
Melt red candy melts and place in a ziptop bag. Clip a corner and pipe saying on the top of each heart (you could use frosting and cake decorator tips for this as well).
Allow hearts to harden and ENJOY!

My thoughts: Wondering what to do with the extra brownie pieces? Put them in a ziptop bag to keep them soft and use them to make brownie sundaes— yum! Two desserts for the price of one! Happy Valentines Day friends!