Double Sweet Treats to Celebrate My Mom :) - Part 2

So breakfast was a hit, muffins are an easy sweet treat. Dessert was a new challenge all together. My mom has always raved about a good bread pudding. I had never even heard of bread pudding until one day I was being told how great it was by my mom. Since then, Andy and I have tried the bread pudding at claim jumper and jumped (no pun intended) on the bread pudding band wagon. The stuff is good! So my decision was easy - chocolate bread pudding for my mom. She loves chocolate and we all like the bread pudding. Choosing what to make was easy - finding the best recipe was challenging.

I did a food blog search (see link on the right), I Google'd, I tastespotted, and then I combined. :) I found a good recipe on Food Network that said to use Italian bread, but then found a few more that said to use croissants. When I started this blog I vowed never to use an exact recipe that I found, but rather to tweak it in some sort or fashion to make it my own. This situation seemed no different and I had to do some combining of the recipes. The result looked rather interesting (that is baking blogger correct for gross) but tasted delicious. I ended up with a chocolate Kahlua bread pudding. It was rich, tasty, and well liked by all. Here's the recipe I used:

Chocolate Kahlua Bread Pudding

1 (1-pound) Croissants broken into small pieces
3 cups milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Kahlua
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
6 eggs, lightly beaten
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, grated
Whipped cream for serving (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch baking dish and place the bread in the dish. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, cream, and Kahlua. Using another bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar, and cocoa powder and mix well. Add the sugar mixture to the milk mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla and almond extract, and cinnamon to the beaten eggs. Combine the egg mixture to the milk mixture and mix well.
Stir the grated chocolate into the mixture. Pour the mixture over the cubed bread in the pan. Let the mixture stand, stirring occasionally for approximately 20 minutes or until bread absorbs most of the milk mixture. Bake pudding for 1 hour or until set. Check pudding by inserting a knife through the middle and it should come out clean.

Serve the pudding warm, or refrigerate and serve chilled with whipped cream if desired.

Initially everyone looked twice at the croissants with hesitation about the outcome, but in the end it was agreed that this bread pudding was delicious. Next time I'm ready to add some raisins, nuts, or other goodies to the mixture to give the bread pudding additional texture and flavor. For a first attempt - and a super mom - it was great! It made a sweet ending to the great day celebrating my mom and being home with the family.

Slightly Overdue for a Sweet Treat = Chocolate Goodness

It's been a little while since I posted an actual Sweet Treat. I had great intentions this last week, picked a fairly harmless recipe and meant to get right to it...

That was last Wednesday I believe.

It's Thursday night of the following week. Yikes!

Luckily for me tonight I had great motivation. My best friend is the biggest chocolate lover I know. She is the sweet and I am the salty (I know that sounds weird as I Make Sweet Treats is my blog. Trust me I enjoy them, but she is on a different sweet tooth level, and it's a great and motivating one.) We had plans to hang out tonight so it was perfect :) I would make chocolate deliciousness for my favorite chocolate loving friend.

I found a recipe for flourless chocolate cupcakes with a toffee hazelnut sauce. They were described as chewey, ooey and gooey. That sounded right up our alley. When picking up some ingredients at the store that week strawberries were on sale. I decided that a chocolate and strawberry variation was a must. (Quick side note - strawberries are my absolute favorite. I will pick them anytime over almost anything. Especially if they are fresh from the berry stand in Santa Maria. These were local OC strawberries, but they smelled delicious and I knew they would be good. Rarely can one go wrong with strawberries.)

Back to the recipe and the baking :) The cupcakes were VERY simple to make. Cooked rather quickly and were rich and delicious. Definitely the chocolaty flavor I was going for. I made the toffee topping, it was tasty but it should be noted to pour the toffee sauce over the cupcake and serve while the toffee is still warm. I would even omit the ice cream next time. They call it toffee for a reason - it hardened and lost some of it's great appeal. The strawberry variation on the other hand was flawless. I might be slightly biased :) but my best friend sure enjoyed it, AND ice cream would only add to the deliciousness factor of the strawberry variation.

Here's the recipe. It's quick, easy, and just the chocolate fix you probably need. :) Enjoy!!!

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes
makes 12 cupcakes

3/4 cup unsalted butter
8oz bittersweet chocolate (either morsels, or chopped bar form)
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup plus 1 T sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 T AP flour

Preheat oven to 425*. Grease a muffin tin liberally with Crisco.

Place eggs, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl. Beat on medium-high speed with the whisk attachment until fluffy and light yellow, about 8 minutes. The mixture will drizzle into the bowl in a slowly-dissolving ribbon when it's been mixed enough.

While the eggs are being mixed: In a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the chocolate and stir constantly, until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.

Switch to the paddle attachment (or, if not using a stand mixer, a sturdy spatula).
Slowly add 1/3 of the chocolate to the egg mixture, stirring slowly. Once the chocolate is incorporated, add the rest of the chocolate and the flour. Mix on low speed until a somewhat thin batter is formed.

Divide the batter among 12 muffin cups.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until set around the edges and slightly jiggly in the center. Place pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Gently run a knife around the edge of each muffin and turn out onto a rack to cool for about 5 minutes.

Salted Toffee Hazelnut Sauce
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts (I actually used pecan's and they were great!)
1 t vanilla
1 t kosher salt

Place all ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Over medium heat, stir until the butter and sugar melt. Continue stirring occasionally until the mixture comes to a full boil - 5-7 minutes. Once it reaches a boil, let it boil without stirring for 1 minute. Remove sauce from the heat and let cool about 10 minutes. Spoon over cupcakes.

Fresh Strawberries and Chocolate Sauce (Pictured at the top)
Lightly dust the cooled cupcakes with powdered sugar
Slice fresh strawberries and place on top of sugar dusted cupcake
Drizzle with chocolate sauce and add whip cream
Serve with ice cream (optional)

One small disclaimer. As the pictures might indicate - the hubby was out tonight. I am working on my food photography but there's a reason its a skilled profession of it's own :) He might not be a professional but he's good at his hobbies. I make the sweet treats, he takes the pictures...just bear with me as I catch on :) Hopefully it still looks tasty enough to try for yourself.