death by chocolate

Bleeding Hearts Fondue Fountain

- Mama 4 Comments

A spooky party needs an equally spooky centerpiece or focal point, and this deliciously creepy Bleeding Hearts Fondue Fountain is perfect to simulate dripping blood in a very, very tasty way.

If you don’t have any vampires among you, it’s okay, because this fondue is made from Almond Bark and tinted red, instead of being bloody for sure.

Melt two packages of White Almond Bark in a double boiler on the stove, stirring frequently. Once melted, remove it from the heat and stir in a stick of butter, cut into cubes. When the butter melts, slowly spoon some chocolate into a bowl of whipping cream until about half of the chocolate is in the whipping cream. Then, pour the whipping cream mixture into the remaining chocolate, stirring until smooth. Add in red Americolor food coloring until you achieve the desired red.

Typically, I’ll suggest that you use Wilton or Americolor, but in this situation, Americolor seems to work best at getting a very true red.

Pour your fondue into your warmed fountain, and turn on the motor. Watch the magic happen.

Serve with dippers like apples or graham crackers.

Or VooDoo cookies, of course.

While this fondue is specially formulated to be thin enough for a fondue fountain, it is still suitable for a regular fondue pot, as well.

Death By Chocolate Indulgent Peanut Butter Oreo Mini Cheesecakes

- Mama 5 Comments

I was at the grocery store the other day, strolling through the cookie aisle trying to get to the juice at the other end. I was just walking past, skimming and chatting with Zach. Then, I stopped. I backed up. And I just stared. I saw something I had to have.

Um, hello. I needed those.

I didn’t know what recipe would come about with them, but I knew I had to have them. When I went to get cream cheese for my bagels, though, I realized exactly what I needed to make.

Note the “Do Not Eat” mark on there. I was saving this for something special… no bagels for this delightful treat!

See, my fall flavors tour cheesecakes got a few rave reviews, and I really had them on the brain recently. I knew that there was more I could do with those cheesecakes than just making the candy corn ones, and it was time for a tweak.

Start out with your Peanut Butter Oreos.

Mmm. Glorious.

Line muffin tins with liners, and then put one Oreo in the bottom of each.

In a separate bowl, put the following ingredients:

1 package Dark or Milk Chocolate Philadelphia Indulgence Cream Cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1 room temperature egg, 1/4 cup sour cream, and a pinch of salt.

Mix that up really well, getting out as many of the lumps as possible, beating it very well.

Spoon this mixture on top of the Oreos, filling each cup nearly to the top.

If you’d like, after spooning that mixture on top, consider melting a little bit of peanut butter in the microwave for about 45 seconds and swirl it into the cheesecakes before baking.

Bake at 350 for 14-16 minutes, until the mini cheesecakes are almost set, then let cool. After cooling, put the cheesecakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving. These keep well in the refrigerator or the freezer, perfect for anytime you need a little chocolate treat.

Death By Chocolate Indulgent Peanut Butter Oreo Mini Cheesecakes

1 Package Peanut Butter Oreos
2 packages Dark Chocolate or Milk Chocolate Philadelphia Indulgence Cream Cheese
½ C. Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 room temperature eggs, beaten
½ C. Sour Cream
Pinch salt
Extra peanut butter, for swirling, optional

Line muffin tins with baking cups and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put a Peanut Butter Oreo in the bottom of each muffin tin liner.
In a separate bowl, mix room temperature Philadelphia Indulgence chocolate cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, room temperature beaten eggs, sour cream, and salt, making sure to get out the lumps. Pour into muffin tins on top of Oreos, filling almost full. If desired, melt peanut butter, spoon a quarter teaspoon on top of cheesecakes, and swirl using a toothpick. Bake at 350 for 14-16 minutes or until cheesecakes start to firm. Let cool completely, then refrigerate for at least four hours.

 

 


Death By Chocolate Black Forest Bars

- Mama 3 Comments

I feel the need to give you a little disclaimer right now. If you make these, good luck not eating the entire pan. These were a hit with every chocolate cherry lover I shared them with. They’re rich, they’re delicious, and they’re really very easy to make.

In fact, maybe a little too easy to make… you’ll want to make these for every potluck and bake sale you can, not to mention that it’s perfect for a Death By Chocolate Halloween party…

You will want to start out with a Duncan Hines Decadent Triple Chocolate Cake Mix, found at many grocery stores nationwide. This mix comes with two pouches inside, the first being a cake mix and the second being a fudge mixture.

Go ahead and prepare the fudge mixture packet according to the box directions, by adding 1/3 cup of water to the fudge mix packet in a small bowl. Stir that until it thickens, and set it aside until later.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a 9×13 pan with foil. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix pouch with a stick of melted butter, 1 egg, and half a teaspoon of almond extract. Stir in 1/4 cup sliced almonds. This will be a very thick mixture!

Divide that mixture in half. Press one half into the bottom of the pan, covering it completely, as a thin crust. Then, spread the fudge mixture you previously set aside over the crust layer.

Now, start taking portions of the second half of the cake mix mixture and press it into thin layers and lay them on top of the fudge mixture. I flattened them in my hand and then gently laid them on top rather than trying to press them onto the fudge layer directly.

Drain a 10-16 oz jar of cherries completely, then pour the drained cherries on top of the mixture, trying to make sure that each finished piece will have at least one cherry. Then, toss that into the oven and bake it for 20-25 minutes.

Let this cool completely. 100%, totally, absolutely cool to the touch. If you do it any earlier than that, you risk mucking up the drizzle, and you’d hate to do that, wouldn’t you? (I’m the least patient person ever, but I AM a perfectionist, so the threat of messing up drizzle is enough to keep me from digging into the next step too soon).

Once it’s totally cool, sprinkle on your other half cup of sliced almonds.

Now, the fun part. Take half a cup of semisweet chocolate chips (or milk chocolate, or dark chocolate, whatever you prefer, but I chose semisweet) and melt it in a double boiler or in the microwave. If microwaving, stir it every 30 seconds. If you find it’s too thick and not drizzle-able, you can add in a little bit of shortening or coconut oil to help smooth it out a little bit.

Now, drizzle the living tar out of your black forest bars. Get them good and drizzly.

Let that dry completely. I know, exercising patience again. Ugh.

Once it’s dry, cut those into bars, or better yet, triangles. When I was at the Duncan Hines Test Kitchen, I noticed that the chefs cut a lot of decadent treats like fudge into triangles instead of squares, and they looked so elegant that way! I’ve gotten used to cutting a lot of things into triangles now, too.

Death By Chocolate Black Forest Bars

1 Duncan Hines Decadent Triple Chocolate Cake Mix
1 stick melted butter
1 egg
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ Cup sliced almonds
1 jar (16 oz) Maraschino Cherries, well drained
½ cup Semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Line 13×9 pan with foil and set aside. Mix Duncan Hines Triple Chocolate small pouch in small bowl with ⅓ cup water, stirring until the mix thickens. Set aside. In separate bowl, combine cake mix (large Duncan Hines pouch), butter, egg, and extract in a large bowl. Stir in ¼ cup sliced almonds. This will be a very thick batter. Divide batter in half, and press one half into the foil-lined pan. Spread entire fudge mixture onto bottom crust. Flatten large portions of second half of thick batter mixture and lay gently on top of the fudge mixture. Top evenly with jar of drained cherries. Bake for 20-25 minutes in preheated oven, and let cool completely. Once completely cool, sprinkle with remaining sliced almonds. Microwave chocolate chips until melted, stirring every 30 seconds. If the chocolate is too thick, consider adding a small spoonful of coconut oil or shortening to help it smooth out. Drizzle chocolate over finished bars. Once chocolate drizzle has hardened, cut into triangles or bars.

Recipe adapted from Duncan Hines Decadent Triple Chocolate Mix and 3 Books In 1: Church Potlucks, Sunday Supper, and Bake Sale.

SixSistersStuff.com

Death By Chocolate Girls’ Night In

- Mama 2 Comments

Watch this post today, because, as the day goes on, I will be updating links to the recipes and craft tutorials shown here to help you throw your own spooky Girls’ Night In without a hitch!

Are you looking for a spooky, scary, sparkly, and super-duper chocolatey Halloween party? You’re also wanting to plan it on a budget, and get some serious WOW factor in there? Never fear… this Death by Chocolate Girls’ Night in is perfect for you and your girlfriends to get together and enjoy an evening in, and you get to be the hostess with the mostess as you impress with this tablescape.

Start from the ground up… I started with a plain black tablecloth from Party City ($1.99) and a spooky-ooky backdrop from Walmart (Freaky Fabric, Halloween Department, $2.97– I grabbed two and hung one above the other to cover plenty of backdrop). These little details will set the stage for your party.

From there, I dug through my party stash. I’ve found that buying items after holidays on clearance can save big money for party time… don’t worry about buying season-specific items, but instead focus on those items that can be used again and again. Check out those silver chargers I’ve displayed my food on… those were purchased half price after Christmas several years ago, and they’re my go-to party staple. The mirrors? My mom scored them for me on Freecycle… that’s right– FREE! If you love to entertain, keeping an eye on freecycle and craigslist, as well as hitting the after holiday sales, is your best bet for getting some great party basics for next to nothing.

If you don’t have the chargers, though, and love the look, you might check Michaels or Hobby Lobby– I recently found chargers in many colors for only $1.00 each at Michaels!

Several years ago, one of my close friends was kind enough to indulge my obsession with fondue, and purchased a fondue fountain for my birthday. There are many, many fondue fountains available for rent or purchase. Amazon has listings starting at around $30.00, but you can also serve this awesome blood fondue (recipe here) in a standard fondue pot for a laid-back look. I just loved how this looked like flowing blood thanks to some Americolor food coloring!

As soon as I saw that styrofoam glitter skull, I knew it would match my glitter pumpkins perfectly! I found it in the Bargain Spot near the front of my Target store for only $2.50, and as a bonus, it even came in assorted colors– I chose the black skull, but they even had green and purple!

My ice gems were an after-Christmas purchase a few years ago, and I’ve repeated them in several parties again and again, and I decided to add in a little more silver by putting a vase of silver twigs I’ve had for awhile now, which adds a little height and interest behind the fountain.

Check out these fun little spiders on the edge of my plates! It took these fun silver chargers from Christmas party to Halloween party in nothing flat– and the whole 8 pack of spiders cost me just a couple of dollars at Walmart, pre-glittered and everything! These little touches can take a solid colored item from any holiday’s post-holiday sales and update it for a different gathering. I loved how it instantly changed my fondue dippers from a plate of dippers to a glam, spooky plate of dippers!

For beverages, I grabbed some wineglasses I had on hand and a tube of red gel icing (sold at most stores for less than $2.00) and rimmed each glass. You can also use light corn syrup tinted with food coloring if you’d prefer not to purchase the gel. My black punch was very simple– I took water, added some Mio in my favorite flavors (Strawberry Watermelon in some and Blueberry Lemonade in others) and swirled a toothpick with Wilton black food coloring gel (from Hobby Lobby or Michael’s) into it. However, right now, Target has limited edition “Ghoul Aid” in Scary Blackberry that would be perfect for a Halloween event!

For the spiderwebs, I squeezed silver glitter glue in spiderweb patterns onto waxed paper. Once it dried, I peeled it off and laid it on my tablecloths and mirrors for a spooky but glam touch. These pumpkins got the glitter treatment, too… you can find a tutorial for them here.

Finally, I added several tealights on the table to give some ambient lighting and really set the mood for the dark, girly, spooky evening.

This meatball recipe I’ll be sharing later today has been my go-to for Girls’ Night since I was in college, but here it is jazzed up with cocktail forks purchased from Party City– 20 forks for $3.99– and the best part is that you can either throw them away after the party since they’re so affordable, or you can handwash them and use them again.

I also jazzed up some tomato soup and put it in some mini cordial glasses, also from Party City, and skewered a two-cheese faux grilled cheese on top for a lovely appetizer option. The glasses, like the cocktail forks, were budget friendly (10 glasses for $4.99) and had the option of being tossed away at the end or handwashed again and again. Since I’m frugal, I handwash mine and store them for the next party.

For the three appetizer recipes, you can check out the recipes here.

Mini Death By Chocolate Peanut Butter Oreo Cheesecakes add to the very very chocolate side of things (recipe can be found here), while Vanilla Black Sparkle Fudge is decadent without the cocoa (recipe here).

The VooDoo Doll Cookies I served added a touch of whimsy (tutorial and recipe here), while the Black Forest Bars were decadent and almost sinful with their rich, glorious flavor. You can find the recipe for the Black Forest Bars here.

My favorite part of this fun girl’s night in is to play up the voodoo doll side of things. Not only do you have an amazing PMS kind of party with all of this chocolate, but you have the perfect opportunity for venting over a nice glass of… well, whatever your black punch of choice is. For my Death By Chocolate party, I decided to allow my guests to create these adorable little mock-VooDoo dolls (tutorial and free printable pattern can be found here). While creating them, we were able to gripe about our VooDoo inspiration of choice (be it our bosses, our exes, our mothers-in-law, or whoever happened to be on our last nerve at that point). It was the perfect PMS-fueled activity for our very chocolate evening! And didn’t they turn out so cute? These adorable dolls are just perfect for beating the stuffing out of on a stressful day, or cuddling with if you really need a hug.

Add a little more chocolate into the mix, and you’re looking at the perfect girls-only Halloween party.

Want this look for yourself? Check out the tutorials and recipes here!

1. All That Glitters Sparkly Pumpkin Tutorial.
2. Black Forest Bars Recipe.
3. Chocolate Peanut Butter Oreo Mini Cheesecakes Recipe.
4. VooDoo Doll Cookies Tutorial and Recipe.
5. Vanilla Black Sparkle Fudge Recipe.
6. Bleeding Hearts Fondue Fountain Recipe.
7. All Stressed Out Stress Doll (VooDoo Doll) Tutorial and Free Printable Pattern.
8. Sweet Microwave Meatballs, Pepped Up Tomato Soup Shooters, and Faux Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Recipes.

 

 

SNAP!