Cutie Patootie Cupcakes

Hey Friends,

I have found the most adorable cupcakes....



Gina @ Cutie Patootie Cupcakes makes custom treats...whether you are looking to get some goodies for your next party, or just want to browse her ideas...check out her site; Cutie Patootie Cupcakes

She just started her blog, so become a follower, leave her a nice comment...and tell her The Chocolate Lady sent you.

ipad Giveaway

There are so many fabulous things that come with being part of the Mars, Inc. Family. Well known brand, incredible product, and lots of support. Including support in the way of incredible giveaways.

During the month of July, Dove is giving away 2 ipads, EVERY DAY. EVERY SINGLE DAY they will hold a drawing from the previous days parties, and a lucky Chocolatier and her hostess will each win an ipad.

Awesome!!

And you know what is even better???? This past weekend, I WAS A WINNER.

Yep! I won an ipad, as did my hostess!! It should arrive in a few weeks...I cant wait to play with it.

I can win more than once....so my husband is hoping that he gets one too!!

I love Dove!!

Homemade Ice Cream - no ice cream maker needed!

NO ICE CREAM MAKER,
no problem – make this
delicious creamy treat in a dish
in your freezer.

Dove Chocolate Discoveries has a great recipe for homemade ice cream, and you dont need an ice cream maker! Everyone can make this easy treat!!

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1¾ cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ cup DCD Cocoa Powder
6 oz (3 bars) DCD Chef Series
Dark Chocolate, melted
Optional: Dress it with DCD Toppings
1 cup DCD Milk Chocolate covered
Cappuccino Biscottini, chopped
½ cup DCD Merlot Fudge Sauce
½ cup DCD Chardonnay Caramel Sauce

Directions:
1. Prepare a double boiler on medium heat.

2. Pour eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and salt into
the bowl, and begin whisking until
mixture is thick, pale, and coats a spoon
(about 5-7 minutes). Be careful not to
overcook. Remove bowl from saucepan,
and let cool slightly.

3. In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer
to whip cream, vanilla and cocoa powder
to stiff peaks. Stir in melted chocolate.

4. Add a third of the chocolate whipped
cream to egg mixture and mix thoroughly.
Gently whisk in remaining whipped
cream, until just combined.

5. Pour mixture into a 9x13-inch glass
baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and
then aluminum foil. Freeze undisturbed
for 3-4 hours. Scoop into ½ cup servings
and serve with a sprinkle of DCD
Biscottini and a drizzle of Merlot Fudge or
Chardonnay Caramel Sauce, if desired.

Enjoy!!

Decorative Plating

If you watch Top Chef and similar food shows, you know that presentation is a big part of the meal. Today Im going to show you just a few of the pretty ways to decorate a dessert plate.

Im going to use our Dove Raspberry and Mango Dessert Sauces. These come with a plastic bottle, making plate designs easy to make.

To make a simple, but beautiful border, make dots around the edge of a plate, equal distance apart. You can do all one color, or use alternating colors to coordinate with your event (school pride! Fight On USC Trojans!)



Now, take a knife or similar pointed utensil, and drag it from one dot to the next. You will probably need to go around more than once. Dont be nervous, just drag it around, and around, and around. As the dots begin to run together they make a nice frame for your dessert. You can also see how dragging through a dot can look like a heart.....so many great ways you can accent your special treats!



This next creation looks more like a web....you start by making the circles, with a large dot in the center. Draw your knife outward, in several equi-distant points on the web.



Now pull your knife towards the center, going between the lines that pulled outward, and it adds a new dimension.


Imagine taking a fudgy brownie or chocolate cake and laying it atop that web, garnished with some rasberries and sprinkled with powdered sugar, perfect!

A final design, is this sweet flower.

At first glance, someone dropped an egg!!!


But begin to pull through the sauce, alternating directions, and you have a pretty poppy. When entertaining at a shower or ladies event, you can put a slice of angel food cake aside the flower, and garnish with fruit...simply beautiful.


I hope these ideas get you thinking about more ways to enhance the presentation of your desserts.

Chocolate Covered Potato Chips and Bark

I wanted to post another favorite chocolte treat...one perfect for the men in your life, but admittedly, EVERYONE will love them!

You can use whatever type of chips you want; tortilla, potato, even fritos!

Im using plain potato chips, dipped into Dove Dark Chocolate.

I start by tempering the chocolate (remember, this process allows it to harden up nicely, without adding a bunch of animal fats...so you can enjoy the premium chocolate.)

Then, just dip the chip!


Lay chips on parchment paper to harden. You can make a nice platter of chocolate covered chips, pretzels, bacon....all the manly snacks!


My favorite part, is when you are all out of potato chips, take those crumbs at the bottom of the bag, and dump them all into the tempering unit...YES!! Just dump the crumbs into that chocolate!

Now...mix it around, covering all the chips and crumbs....and spread it onto parchment paper. This is a potato chip bark, so make it thick, not thin.

When this hardens, you will not believe the deliciousness of this silky, crunchy, sweet and salty treat.

and the winner is....

Safety 1st Guru!! Congrats!!!

Peanut Butter Cups

My Honey's favorite treat, is Peanut Butter Cups. So for Father's Day, I decided to make him some. It was easy to do, watch......

I start by tempering some Dove dark chocolate. Remember, tempering is the process that will allow you to shape and mold chocolate, with the end result having a nice shine, a crisp snap....you can not achieve this with melting, unless you are using fake chocolate (flavored animal fat)

...this process takes about 20 minutes, so while it's tempering, Ill move along to the next step....making the peanut butter filling. It is simply peanut butter and powdered sugar....



whipped with a hand mixer until it is fluffy...


I made some small peanut butter cups for my kids, using foil candy wrappers....



For My Honey, it's the grande size! I used silicone cupcake molds....



Now, once the chocolate is tempered, I will fill each cup about 1/2 way. You can use a brush to spread the chocolate, I use my fingers, as it's just easier for me to make sure I get every crevice covered. I make sure that all the ridges are filled.

I then pipe in the peanut butter mixture, filling about 2/3 of the cups.....



Once they are stuffed full of the peanut butter mixture, I add more tempered chocolate, making sure to cover them completely...



This entire process took less than 45 minutes. Now I'll pop them into the fridge for about 30 minutes, to make sure they solidify, and soon I'll have a very happy husband!

I want one!!

For the month of July, Dove will do a DAILY DRAWING....and a lucky hostess and her Dove Chocolatier will EACH WIN AN IPAD. Yes, that means they are giving away 2 IPADS A DAY FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH!!

I want to win one! With such a new company, my chances are good!! Which of you will host the party that will earn me an ipad?? BECAUSE YOU WILL WIN ONE TOO!!

Get in touch with me asap, to get our July party rolling....(I do fundraisers too!)

The best manicure.....a giveaway!

Every now and again, I find something so fabulous, I just must share it with you, my friends.

Months ago, I went to my favorite nail salon, Nails by Holly.

Now, I want to take a minute to tell you about Holly....she and her sister Connie emigrated to the US from Viet Nam when they were in high school, and she is a living example of the American dream! She has started her own successful business, which not only provides for herself, but for the many women she employs. I love that!!

I dont typically get manicures, in fact, since getting busy with kids, I really dont have time to keep up with my nails...it's just something that got sacrificed in my mommy world, and that is ok, but ya know, a manicure every blue moon is a good thing.

So, I went in and the sweetest gal, Connie, suggests I try GEL nail polish. She promises that it wont chip as quickly. Well, that sounds like a plus, so I go for it.

Guess what? my nails...my nails that are used to being banged up and abused, didnt chip for FIVE WEEKS. And in that time, my nails grew! I almost felt like my pre-kid self with healthy nails.

The greatest thing about gel polish, is that it doesnt ruin your own nails! It's simply a gel that is painted onto your own nails.

I highly recommend that you try gel polish, and if you are local....go to Nails by Holly. They have always been a step above, providing quality services....they scrub more, massage more, and the girls are really nice. Ask for Connie, she is amazing!! ...and, tell her you read about her on my blog.

Nails by Holly
27660 Marguerite Pkwy #C
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
(949) 364-5009

Now....because I love you, and because Holly is generous, I have a special giveaway for my local friends;

A Nails by Holly gift certificate; $30 value...enough for a spa manicure and pedicure, gel nails...however you choose to pamper yourself!

All you need to do to enter; become a "follower" of my blog and post a comment!

This contest will end Thursday, July 8 @ 5pm PST, and the winner will be posted. Winner must contact me by Friday, July 9 @ 5pm PST and make arrangements to get the gift certificate (pick it up at my house or at the Nails by Holly Salon)

Im excited to share this fun find with you - Good Luck!!

Ni Hao

Hello, or in Chinese, Ni Hao!

Custom, homemade birthday cakes are a tradition in our family. Every year my kids tell me what kind of cake they want.....they have asked for a variety of characters and scenarios, including;

Elmo cupcakes
Rolly Polly Olly Cake
A volcano WITH lava and dinasaurs cake
A spider-man-traversing-a-city cake
Bakugan cake and cake balls
Pokemon cupcakes
Dora cake
Cinderella and Belle cakes
Snowy blue cupcakes

and I always do my best to fulfill the order with something that at least resembles the request.

This year, Little One asked for Kai Lan cupcakes....Kai Lan is a cartoon character, sort of a Japanese version of Dora....and she has a show, "Ni Hao Kai Lan"

So, keeping with tradition, I set out to make Kai Lan cupcakes, and it went something like this....











Thank goodness pleasing a preschooler is so easy!

Have you made any fun cakes for your kids? Id love to hear about them, and if you have pictures, please post!

My First Vlog - Firecracker Strawberries

Happy 4th of July

If you are looking for a festive treat to bring to your 4th of July Celebration, then stay tuned.....that's right, Im have a new Video (VLOG) in process, that will show you how to make a patriotic presentation with these yummy Firecracker Strawberries. Check back later, it will be up soon!

and the winner is........

Donna C.

Congratulations Donna C. You have won the adorable baby carrier canopy by Rags to Stitches Boutique. Please email me at thechocolatelady@cox.net by Mon. July 5, noon PST, with your mailing address, so we can ship out your prize.

Thanks to everyone for entering....and check out Alissa's stuff at her boutique and make yourself a winner!

Breaking News!!!

I was just called to an urgent Mgrs call...where Dove announced.....for the month of July, they will give away 2 ipads a day...one to a hostess, one to the Chocolatier!

Now is the time to book a Dove Chocolate Tasting Party...like a food show with lots of Dove samples...mousse, martinis, designer candy made on the spot!

You can book a catalog show from any state in the continental US, and I do fundraisers too!!

OR..join my team...become a Chocolatier and be part of this amazing company with all the fun prizes and trips, chocolate and great financial benefits too!!