My favorite Dark Chocolate Mint Cupcake Recipe

Several years ago, I hosted a Chocolate Mint Party in honor of National Chocolate Mint Day, and this is the recipe that I used. I wanted to share it with you because it's my favorite recipe to use when I'm using fresh chopped mint from my garden.

National Chocolate Mint Day is celebrated annually on February 19th, but chocolate mint desserts are enjoyed all throughout the year! What better way to enjoy the flavor of mint than by baking up some sweet chocolate mint cupcakes.

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Dark Chocolate Mint  Cupcakes

• 2 cups walnuts, toasted, cooled
• 1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

White Chocolate Mint Frosting

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

8 ounces high-quality white chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon green crème de menthe

Preparation

For cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter two 12-cup mini-muffin pans. Using on/off turns, blend first 4 ingredients in processor until walnuts are finely chopped. Whisk flour and baking powder in small bowl. Stir chocolate and butter in heavy small saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool slightly.

Using electric mixer, beat sugar, eggs, and vanilla in large bowl until very thick, about 4 minutes. Gradually beat in cooled chocolate mixture. Stir in walnut mixture. Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons batter into each prepared muffin cup.

Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Cut around cupcakes to loosen; turn out onto work surface. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; store at room temperature.)

White Chocolate Mint Frosting:

Bring cream and butter to simmer in heavy small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until butter melts. Remove from heat. Add white chocolate; stir until melted. Mix in crème de menthe. Transfer frosting to bowl; let frosting cool at room temperature until firm enough to pipe, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours.

Spoon frosting into pastry bag fitted with medium star tip. Pipe frosting decoratively atop cupcakes.

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My Closing Thoughts~

• I make these cupcakes in Spring Summer and Fall, when my mint is growing so perfuse all over the place.
• I also like to make these cupcakes at Halloween. The colors just go great on a Halloween decorated table. Once I created a Frankenstein table where all the food and drinks were either black or green. This cupcake was a hit on the table that night.
• I also made this cupcake for a small garden party I went to. All the guests brought something that was made with something from their herb garden.
• Happy Chocolate Mint Day. ~ "Live everyday like a Holiday" Pam

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses some material from wikipedia /article chocolatemint©/and other related pages.  Photo:flickr.com/26396724@N05/  / gone-ta-pott / epicurious.com

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White Christmas Candy Recipe

What is White Christmas Candy?

White Christmas is an Australian no-bake sweet, made from a combination of Copha or white chocolate, icing sugar, sultanas, glacé cherries, desiccated coconut, milk powder and rice bubbles.

It is cooked in a rectangular slice tin, and cut into small slices or cube pieces because of it's richness. It is very well known in Australia, being a sweet that children can easily be taught to make. This sweet treat is also popular given as gifts in clear cellophane bags or jars tied with ribbon.

White Christmas Recipe 1

• 250 g copha
• 3 cups rice bubbles
• 1 cup coconut
• 3/4 cup icing sugar
• 1 cup full cream powdered milk
• 30 g glace cherries (red and green)
• 1/2 cup sultanas
• 30 g glace apricots
• 30 g glace pineapple

Line 28cm x 18cm lamington tin with baking powder-

Melt copha- Add to all other ingredients combined in a

large bowl and mix thoroughly-

Press mixture into tin and refrigerate until firm-

Cut into serving size pieces-

White Christmas Recipe 2

• 250g Copha
• 140g (1 cup) pure icing sugar
• 180g (1 cup) sultanas
• 100g (slightly rounded 1/2 cup) chopped glace cherries
• 100g (2/3 cup) finely chopped dried apricots
• 85g (1 cup) desiccated coconut
• 106g (1 cup) full cream milk powder
• 40g (1 1/4 cups) rice bubbles

Line an 18cm by 28cm slice pan with baking paper.

Melt Copha in a small saucepan over low heat.

Sift icing sugar into a large bowl. Add sultanas, cherries, apricots,

coconut, milk powder and rice bubbles and stir until well combined.

Add melted Copha to bowl and stir until well combined.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan.

Firmly press the mixture into the pan using the back of a spoon.

Tightly cover pan with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and then refrigerate until slice is cold and set. Cut White Christmas into small squares to serve. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. / Wikipedia / Photo: Whitechristmas.jpg

Party Food / Fried Dill Pickles and dipping sauce recipes

A fried pickle is a snack item found commonly in the American South. It is made by deep-frying a sliced battered dill pickle. Great Party Food!

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Example of Fried Dill Pickle Recipe

• 1 qt. sliced dill pickles - sliced long or slice round
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 c. milk
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 6 drops hot sauce
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. pepper
• 3 1/2 c. flour
• Dried dill for seasoning
• Vegetable oil for deep frying

Combine first 5 ingredients, stirring well. Set aside. Combine 3 1/2 cups flour, salt and pepper, stirring well. Dip pickles in milk mixture and dredge in flour mixture, repeat process. Deep fry in hot oil, 350 degrees until pickles float to surface and are golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Sprinkle with Dried dill to your liking.

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Do you want Breading?

• 2 1/2 cups cornmeal
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup lemon pepper
• 1/2 cup dill weed
• 4 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
• Pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste

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What-ah-ya Dip!

• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3 tablespoons minced parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onion
• 1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 garlic clove, minced
• 1/3 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons catchup
• 3 tablespoons BBQ sauce
• Mayonnaise to thicken (at least 1/4 cup)

In a large mixing bowl, stir all ingredients together, Add mayonnaise, as needed, to thicken. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

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RANCH DIP FOR VEGGIES OR CHIPS

• 1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing mix
• 1 c. sour cream
• 1/2 c. mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 c. cottage cheese

Mix well and use for vegetable dip or with chips.

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📅 November 14 is National Pickle Day

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Harvest Chili has pumpkin puree and cream cheese in it

I love to cook what I've named "Harvest Chili."

I usually fix this chili every Autumn during the months of October and November when the fall flavors are so prevalent and when the weather gets a chill in the air.  

The base of my Harvest Chili is pumpkin or butternut squash and cream cheese. I prefer a chili that has a really thick gravy to it because I like to be able to dip crusty bread in the sauce and have it stick to it. 

These ingredients make it soooo smooth and creamy and perfect for dipping in bread. Give my recipe a try- It's different but I think you'll love it! Also... I wish my photo had been better but as you can tell it's a bit blurry. I guess I moved when I took the picture. 😖

 Harvest Ingredients

• 1 medium size butternut squash or 1 can pumpkin puree
• 3 - yellow, red  & green bell peppers
• 6 oz diced celery
• 1 large potatoes
• 1 large sweet onion diced
• 1 finely grated carrot
• 2 - 80z cream cheese
• 1 can - Chicken or beef stock
• 1 stick of butter
• salt and pepper

Step 1: Cooking the harvest ingredients

• Sautee diced onions, celery and bell peppers with butter in bottom of your soup pot.
  

• When soft and translucent add your small diced potatoes and butternut squash (or 1 can of pumpkin).  Cover with all chicken stock and any water to cover all.
  

• Cook on medium until all the veggies are soft and falling apart.
  

• Use an emerging blender or put in an electric blender to blend smooth.
  

• Add 2 8oz of cream cheese.
  

• Stir until the cream cheese has melted and blended throughout the soup.
  

• Turn on low - add water if needed
  

Step 2: Repairing the meat and seasoning

For this step you can use your favorite chili con carne/chili recipe or try this one-

Note: this recipe also works well with chicken instead of ground beef-

• Brown 2 pounds of ground beef in large fry pan: drain all fat
  

• Add this list of spices to meat and simmer for 30 minutes-

• 1 quart cold water
• 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon marjoram
• 2 bay leaves

Step 3:

• Add 4 cans of beans - pinto, black beans, kidney beans, chili beans, or northern etc-
  

• Add 1 or 2 large cans of tomatoes. I like lots of tomatoes
  

• Remember to remove the bay leaves from the pot-
  

Step 4:

Combine everything into the pot of harvest ingredients and simmer for 1 hour-

Keep checking and adding water if chili is to thick

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This is what it looks like after you simmer the pumpkin and cream cheese in it. See how the color changed ~

My Closing Thoughts ~

• Oh my gosh this post was involved. Gesh! It made me tired just writing the ingredients down. Ha! But once you start making it its not as bad as the long list looks. LOL! You will like the taste. The creaminess of the pumpkin and cream cheese makes it wonderful. Trust me. Wink ~
• Or... just open 6 cans of your favorite chili and add a can of pumpkin and 1 block of cream cheese. Now that's what I'm talking about when I say EASY. hehehe!

 - "Live everyday like a holiday." Pam

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► 🛒 ❤ Can Chili / https://amzn.to/39SaPSV

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Shortbread Cookie Biscuit Recipe

Friends I'm making this post for you today to give you another option when it comes to making strawberry shortcake. Now our calendar says National Strawberry Shortcake Day is celebrated every July 14th and that's the day everybody eats that cold dessert of strawberries and whipped cream and sweet fluffy biscuits. But today I wanted to remind everyone that shortbread can also be used in creating a strawberry shortcake dessert too. Below🠟 I will be listing a simple shortbread recipe for you. Also remember this recipe for National Shortbread Day which is celebrated every January 6. 

About this recipe

"Shortbread is a type of cookie which is traditionally made from one-part white sugar, two parts butter, and three parts plain white flour, although other ingredients like ground rice or cornstarch are sometimes added to alter the texture. Shortbread is so named because of its crumbly texture (from an old meaning of the word short). The cause of this texture is its high fat content, provided by the butter. The related word "shortening" refers to any fat that may be added to produce a short (crumbly) texture."

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
  

• 1/4 tsp salt
  

• 1 cup (225 g) butter
  

• 1/2 cup (115 g) sugar
  

Procedure

• Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.
  

• Sift the flour and salt into the mixture and work into the fat and sugar until completely amalgamated.
  

• Shape the dough into a ball and roll out to about ½ inch thick.
  

• Cut into squares or rectangles and prick the tops with a fork in two parallel lines.
  

• Bake at 275ºF/135ºC for 30 to 40 minutes or until the shortbread is lightly browned.
  

• Leave them on a cake rack to cool.
  

• Store in a cool place in an airtight container

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My Closing Thoughts~

• Friends if you want the original recipe for strawberry shortcake here's the link. I posted it around July 4th because that's a traditional recipe for the 4th of July and I wanted everyone to have it for those who were hosting a traditional celebration for the 4th.
• Also... I didn't add the crushed nuts in the recipe that you see on the outside of the shortbread. If you want nuts on it, you just add them on top before you put them in the oven to bake.
• "Live everyday like a Holiday" Pam

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Let's talk about National Pecan Pie Day

Friends first I'm going to explain what a pecan pie is for those viewers not from the United States then I will talk about the National Pecan Pie Day itself. (July 12)

Pecan pie is a sweet custard pie made primarily of corn syrup and pecan nuts. It is popularly served at holiday meals and is also considered a specialty of Southern U.S. cuisine. Most pecan pie recipes include salt and vanilla as flavorings. Other ingredients such as chocolate and bourbon whiskey are popular additions to the recipe. Some recipes even use an amount of maple syrup instead of corn syrup for flavoring. Pecan pie is often served with whipped cream too. Friends at the end of the post 🠟 I will list a common pecan pie recipe for you if you need one. For fun I'm also going to list a "Pecan Tassie" recipe for you too. Those are small pecan pie bites that you see at parties a lot. 

What are Pecans? Nuts!

The name "pecan" is a Native American word of Algonquin origin that was used to describe "all nuts requiring a stone to crack.” wikipedia definition

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When is National Pecan Pie Day?

July 12 every year is always National Pecan Pie Day. We also have a National Pecan Month but that is celebrated every April. Our calendar also says we have a Pecan Day celebrated every March 25th and a National Pecan Day celebrated every April 14th. Our calendar also tells us that we celebrate National Pie Day on January 23rd.

How is this Holiday Celebrated?

This holiday is for enjoying a delicious sweet and nutty slice of "pecan Pie."  It doesn't matter if you like to bake it with dark corn syrup or light, just know that today is the day to remember that traditional taste of the holidays and eat that pecan pie! Try a new recipe if you like. You can find many different varieties that include chocolate cream cheese or even other types of nuts. Have fun with this holiday and share a slice with all your friends. Many friends get together on this day for coffee and pecan pie. Many pie baking groups get together on this day and bake up several different pecan pies and enjoy a taste off. And remember, don't wait until Christmas or Thanksgiving to enjoy this pie. It has its own day so celebrate it. Don't forget, I'm going to list a common pecan pie recipe at the bottom 🠟 of the post if you need it so keep reading. Wink ~

Origin of this Holiday?

My research did not find the creator, or the origin of this day.

This holiday is referred to as a "National" day.  However, I did not find any congressional records or presidential proclamations for this day. Even though I didn't, this is still a holiday that is publicized to celebrate, and I found blog posts going way back talking about pecan pie parties in honor of National Pecan Pie Day. So have fun with it and celebrate it!

Interesting information about New Orleans Pecan Pie

Tradition holds that the French created pecan pie soon after settling in New Orleans, after being introduced to the nut by Native Americans. It is sometimes referred to as "New Orleans pecan pie," adding an aura of French cuisine to a home-cooked comfort food. Attempts to trace the origin have, however, not found any recipes earlier than 1925, and well-known cookbooks such as Fannie Farmer and The Joy of Cooking did not include it before 1940.

The process for refining corn sugar was not developed until the 1880s. Thus, the corn syrup which is considered an essential part of the modern recipe was not available to the settlers of New Orleans.

There is no doubt that the makers of Karo syrup popularized the dish, and many recipes—even one ascribed to a well-known New Orleans restaurant—specify Karo syrup by name as an ingredient. This suggests a prosaic 20th-century origin in Karo promotion, and in fact the maker's website currently credits the dish as a 1930s "discovery" of a "new use for corn syrup" by a corporate sales executive's wife. The company asserts that "Down South, today, that same recipe continues to be called Karo Pie" but in fact this name for the dish seems to be rare.

Although the standard recipes call for corn syrup, cookbook author Mark Bittman comments "There are two kinds of pecan pie, one of which contains not only sugar but corn syrup. I don't like this version—not only is it too sweet, if you taste corn syrup by itself, you'll never cook with it again." The version he favors uses white and brown sugar, no corn syrup, and "thickens the sugar with eggs—in other words, it's a custard pie, loaded with pecans."

Jim Turner of Glencoe, Alabama developed a recipe for making pecan pies with sorghum syrup.

Pecan tassies, another Southern specialty, are similar to pecan pie, but are miniature portions. In addition, many recipes for pecan tassies differ in the inclusion of cream cheese in the crust and omission of corn syrup from the filling.

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Pecan Tassies

Small pecan pies...very flaky. Made in small muffin tins...like a cookie."

Melt in your mouth good!

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 egg

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped pecans

24 pecan halves

1. To Make Crust: Blend softened cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter and flour. Chill 1 hour.

2. Shape into 24 balls. Press balls into cavity of mini muffin tins, making small cups.

3. To Make Filling: Beat together egg, brown sugar and 1 tablespoon butter. Add vanilla and salt and beat till smooth. In each little crust bottom, sprinkle chopped pecans, add egg mixture to right before top and top with a whole pecan.

4. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 25 minutes or till filling is set. Cool before removing from tins.

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Pecan Pie Recipe

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp molasses

2 Tbsp melted butter

2 Tbsp flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups pecans, coarsely chopped

1 9-inch pie shell, chilled for an hour if freshly made, defrosted for 10 minutes if frozen. (See pie crust recipes.)

Method

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread pecans along the bottom of the pie shell. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over pecans. The pecans will rise to the surface of the pie.

2 Bake at 375°F for 45-50 minutes until the filling has set. About 20 minutes into the cooking you may want to use a pie crust protector, or tent the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil to prevent the pie crust edges from burning.

3 Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Serves 8.

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 Friends did you enjoy the post?   "Live everyday like a holiday." Pam

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► 🛒 ❤ Pecan Pie / https://amzn.to/3nhV3Uk

► 🛒 ❤ Pecans / https://amzn.to/3HYxfhY

► 🛒 ❤ Pie Pans / https://amzn.to/3Olembc

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resources: wikipedia / gone-ta-pott / encyclopedia