Snickers Cheesecake

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Everyone!

I hope you all have the most beautiful weekend!

So, are your holiday menus ready to go?

I'm lucky this year ... both moms are hosting!

Dessert only for me! Whoop Whoop!!

In case you're looking for a last minute,

fabulous dessert - I have just the one:

Ingredients
Crust:
2 cups Teddy Grahams, crushed
1 stick butter, room temp.
1/2 tsp. Salt

Filling:
32 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup Heavy Cream
4 eggs
1 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
4 Snickers Bars, sliced in 1/4 inch pieces

Topping:
Caramel Sauce {store bought or homemade}
1/2 cup Roasted Peanuts, chopped

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix crust ingredients together with fingers and pat down in a 8 or 9 inch spring form pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until crust has browned slightly. Let cool. Line outside of pan with two layers of tin foil. Set aside.

Reduce heat to 325 degrees.
Place Snickers pieces down on cooled crust.
In a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add cream, then eggs - one at the time - until well combined. Mix in sugar and extract. Pour batter on top of the Snickers lined crust. Place pan inside a larger pan or baking sheet with high sides. Put in oven and pour warm water in larger pan until about half way up cheesecake pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the center only slightly jiggles.

Let cheesecake come to room temperature. Pour caramel sauce all over top and sprinkle the peanuts evenly. Refrigerate over night.

This dish will totally

impress your family!!

It's a little work, 

but SO worth the effort!

My family went bonkers

for the creamy cake ...

the rich caramel topping ...

and the chocolaty crust!

And, the kids had so much 

fun finding candy bars in their slice!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Enjoy your time with friends and family!

See you all in 2012!

Hot Chocolate Truffles

Hot chocolate is big in my house!

Almost as important as coffee ... almost!

Last Christmas, I made a cup from scratch

that forever changed my outlook on cocoa!

Wow, it was SO much better than powder mixes!

But, it sure would be nice

to get that same great richness,

only with the ease of a mix, right?!

Well, my dears ...

I found an EASY recipe 

that does just that!

Semi Sweet Hot Cocoa
{adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe}

Ingredients
2 cups Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup Heavy Cream
Pinch Salt
Pinch Instant Coffee

Combine ingredients and heat over a double broiler just until chocolate has completely melted. Let cool at room temp. for about 20 minutes. Place in the refrigerate for 20-30 minutes to set. With a small cookie scoop, scoop chocolate out and place on parchment paper. Place balls in freezer for about 10 minutes just to harden enough so they can be handled.
Now, it's time to make the truffles - remove balls from freezer. Take two balls of chocolate and roll them in your hand until one large truffle forms. Each truffle will need two balls of chocolate. When they are all rolled out, they can be garnished with thin chocolate shavings or sprinkles. Individually wrap each truffle in plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator. This recipe make approx. 10 truffles and will keep for 2 months.

Variations
White Chocolate - replace semi sweet chips with white chocolate and omit instant coffee. I added a splash of vanilla extract for added flavor, but it is not necessary. A little peppermint extract would be great in this, as well, and they could be rolled in crushed peppermint candies!
Dark Chocolate Mint - steep 1/2 cup whole mint leaves in cream by warming in a sauce pan over medium heat until bubbly. Remove from heat and let stand until room temp. Fish out the mint and begin above recipe as follows. These can be rolled in crushed chocolate mints like Andes Mints.
Mexican Hot Cocoa - Add a tsp. ground cinnamon to above recipe. These can be rolled in rushed red hots and would make a very pretty Christmas or Valentine's Day present!

To make Hot Cocoa:
Fill your favorite mug with milk. Drop an unwrapped truffle into milk and microwave in one minute intervals, stirring between each, until the truffle has melted and the cocoa has reached your desired temperature. Cocoa is best served warm with marshmallows or whipped cream!

These little morsels of goodness

make the best cup of cocoa!

So rich and creamy!

Just what you need on a blustery day!

Thanks so much, Mel

for the awesome inspiration!

Enjoy and Happy Baking ...

or should I say candy making!