Brownies Ice Cream Sandwiches

For Valentines Day i mad this chocolate brownies with vanilla ice cream from the great blog "Pinch my salt"

Prepare the filling:

½ Gallon of premium vanilla ice cream, softened but not melted
¼ C. Irish Cream liquor

1. Line a jellyroll pan with plastic wrap.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the softened ice cream and Irish Cream until well combined.
3. Spread ice cream evenly in the jellyroll pan. Cover with plastic wrap. Freeze for several hours or overnight.

Prepare the brownies:

1 full-size box of brownie mix
2 eggs
½ C. oil
¼ C. coffee-flavored liquor (I used Kahlua)
2 T. instant espresso
1 t. vanilla
4 oz. dark chocolate, cut into small chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 18”x13” jellyroll pan then line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, combine Kahlua, instant espresso and vanilla; stir until coffee is dissolved.
3. In a large bowl, combine brownie mix, eggs, oil, and Kahlua mixture; stir together until well combined.
4. Stir in chocolate pieces.
5. Pour mixture into the jellyroll pan and, using a spatula, gently coax the mixture out to the edges of the pan. Once the mixture has been spread as evenly as possible, smooth the top with a spatula.
6. Place pan in a preheated, 350 degree oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes.
7. When brownies are done to your liking (12 minutes for gooey, 15 for well-done), remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Assemble the sandwiches:

Cut brownies into heart shapes using a cookie cutter. Use a spatula to carefully lift and remove the cut brownies to a separate platter. After all the hearts have been cut, cut the remaining pieces of brownie into bite-size pieces and store in a plastic bag for nibbling later. Wash and dry jelly roll pan then spread the brownie hearts out in a single layer in the pan.

Next, clear a large area on the counter and remove ice cream sheet from freezer. Place the tray of brownies within easy reach. Remove top layer of plastic wrap from ice cream. Working quickly, cut ice cream into shapes using the same cookie cutter you used for the brownies. As soon as you cut a piece of ice cream, quickly remove it by pushing up from the bottom with your fingers. This will get messy. Place the ice cream shape on top of one brownie and cover with another brownie. If desired, repeat this process to create a double decker sandwich. Continue until all brownie pieces have been used up.

Cover pan of sandwiches with plastic wrap and immediately place in the freezer. Scoop remaining bits of ice cream into a plastic container and freeze for later (you can eat it with the extra brownie pieces). After about an hour, the sandwiches can be individually wrapped in plastic if desired.

Ice cream sandwiches can be eaten by hand straight out of the freezer or for a special occasion, mix a little Kahlua with store-bought chocolate syrup, drizzle on a plate and top with the ice cream sandwich. You could even add a dollop of whipped cream!

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Strawberry Corn Muffins

There is 2 great things that I love

Muffins & Strawberry

Andif there is a way to mix between them - then I have a great breakfast to start a love day

Valentines' day

Strawberry Corn Muffins- adopted from group recipes

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal

3 Tbsp. sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup milk

1/2 stick butter, melted

1 egg beaten

1/2 cup chopped strawberries

Direction:

Preheat oven to 425, and line a 12 cup regular muffin pan with paper liners.

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Add milk, melted butter and beaten egg, and mix with a fork. muffin batter should be slightly lumpy, not smooth.

Gently fold in strawberries.

Divide batter between the muffin cups.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

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Almost Valentine's day

Even tough Valentine's day as not arrived yet, I can't help but be in it's enchanting spirit

This afternoon I went to buy coffee at Dunkin doughnuts and the little heart shape sprinkle's on the pastry behind the counter grabbed my eye's and wouldn't let go until I bought it...
(for my kids)

I picked the pink one, the chocolate one and the vanilla glaze one

Don't you just love all this LOVE ?

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Tiramisu

A couple days before Valentine day, I was in the kitchen trying to think about the most romantic desert for my own Valentine, my husband...
Something sweet, but not too sweet, something small but still with a lot of meaning.. a taste that would last for hours...

Then I knew...
On our first (and only) trip to Italy my husband tasted Tiramisu and said this is Heaven!
I'll bring him heaven once more, except even better, no sharing this time :)

When I saw the recipe in David Lebovitz blog I knew it would be a huge success, and man it was... I served the Tiramisu in a small cute candle holder that I bought in Ikea, it was perfect for individual Tiramisu


Tiramisu
1/2 cup (125ml) espresso, at room temperature
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 tablespoon cognac
2 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
pinch of salt
7 tablespoons (90g) sugar, divided
1 cup (250g) mascarpone
twelve 3½-inch ladyfingers (70g, or 3 ounces)
optional: 1 ounce (30g) bittersweet chocolate

unsweetened cocoa powder, for serving

1. Mix together the espresso, rum, and cognac. The mixture should taste strongly of alcohol. If not, add more until it does. (That flavor will tone down when mixed with the other ingredients, but feel free to adjust to taste.)

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, or by hand, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they begin to get stiff. Beat in half of the sugar until stiff. Scrape the egg whites into a small bowl.

3. In the same bowl, beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until stiff and light-colored, about three minutes. (If using a standing electric mixer, you may need to stop and scrape down the sides.) By hand, beat in the mascarpone with a spatula or whisk, until lump-free.

4. Fold in half of the beaten egg whites, then the remaining half, just until fully incorporated.

5. Put a splat, a heaping soup spoon, of the mascarpone cream into each vessel.

6. Submerge each ladyfinger in the espresso mixture for 5-10 seconds, until completely, utterly soaked. (Dried ladyfingers will take longer to saturate than softer ones.) Break the ladyfinger in half to be sure; they should be dropping wet, and can't be saturated enough. Then layer them over the mascarpone cream in each vessel. Use two ladyfingers per.

7. Grate a generous amount of chocolate over each.

8. Top with remaining mascarpone cream, cover, and refrigerate at least four hours, but preferably overnight.

9. Right before serving, shake powdered cocoa generously on top.

Happy Valentine Day !!

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Chocolate Cheese Ball's

It all started with a cheese cake..

What happened was that in the beginning I thought of making a cheese cake with whip cream and strawberries..

the cake looked amazing in the oven, but the minute i took it out, it flattened and it's balance was off.. I couldn't even put a coat of whip cream or the strawberries that i planed to.
So I decided to make the cake into chocolate cheese balls

I scooped the cheese cake into about 1 inch balls and placed them on a sheet of aluminum foil.
then I refrigerated for about one hour.

In the mean time I started making the ganache. I let it cool for 15 mins and dipped the frozen cheese cake ball's into it.

It turned out to be amazing. Just the right gift for Valentines day!

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