Cake in a Jar

Cake... in a jar.. :)

So its still wintery and cold and grey and miserable outside.. And what does that have to do with cake.. in a jar? Not a whole lot.. I was just commenting on the weather. :)

Anyhow, I made these shortly after making the truffle bottom cake which you can find here..

I needed something quick and easy for RadioSweet Tooth Man...

Now I must say, I have never heard of such a thing.. Cake... in a jar.... pfft. But its actually rather convenient and not to mention cute!  I got the idea here:

babble.com

If you don't eat marinated artichokes or don't have a baby, or just don't know where to get little jars:
These little jars work great and you can use them for canning too! Just click the picture for more info.

I used left over chocolate and whipping cream and marshmallows from the truffle bottom cake mentioned earlier and crushed up some ginger snaps for my "crust."

Now, I don't really have a recipe ... per se... But like I said, the link to the filling is here..

Now I just melted my ingredients and mixed them all up and poured it all over the ginger snaps in the bottom of the jar.. Then I refrigerated them until I couldn't stand it any longer!

A little pouf of whip topping and some sliced strawberries... 

I capped the ones I (and RSTM) were not going to eat that night.. I used jars from marinated artichoke hearts but I think they are about the same size as baby food jars.. They make for really great single serving desserts!  Especially good for kids whose eyes can sometimes be bigger than their tummies!

Can I take a minute to talk about a pet peeve? 

Who's vs whose

This is one of those cases where it is important to remember that possessive pronouns never take apostrophes, even though possessive nouns do. (its/ it's) “Who’s” always and forever means only “who is,” as in “Who’s that guy with the droopy mustache?” or “who has,” as in “Who’s been eating my porridge?” "Whose” is the possessive form of “who” and is used as follows: “Whose dirty socks are these on the breakfast table?” 

That is all.

 Common errors in English Usage for more.

Ok, well, I hope you enjoyed my little cake jars and can find some inspiration in it.. If not, you didn't click the link.. :) There are tons of ideas (and that's alot because ideas don't weigh much!) and recipes for all kinds of foods in jars.. The link I gave previously is only a list of 15 yummy sweets.. But people have gone crazy with this idea and are cooking in jars as well! 

Happy Monday everyone! Oh! And by the way, That color looks amazing on you! :)

Decadent Truffle Bottom Chocolate Cream Pie

"Decadent Truffle Bottom Chocolate Creme Pie"

Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe

Yep, it's Tuesday.... and you know what that means!? It means....... Its random Junk food and sweets Day! Actually, I found this recipe on the back of the Hershey's Special Dark chips which you can find at the Special Dark page on the official Hersheys Site.

If you move your mouse over to the right side of the page, there is a small tab which will allow you to scroll through the pages horizontally. Took me a minute to realize it was there! Anyhow, on the subsequent pages, there are links to other recipes and baking ideas as well as nutritional information. 

Now, I know, I know! All of you healthy gluten free, lactose free, gmo free, msg free, soy free, etc.. people out there are cursing this post... Sorry! But I'm sure this will work with other chocolate too..  and to get you started... Heres a great list of dairy free chocolates at GoDairyFree.org

as well as the mega list of gluten free "mainstream" products here (pdf)

I can't do anything about the fat content.. :) Besides, its almost Valentines Day and this baby is super easy to make. You get to use the microwave for crying out loud!

Okay, now on the good stuff... whadaya need?

Ingredients:

■ 1 pie crust

■ 2 cups mini marshmallows or 20 large ones

■ 1/2 cup milk (soy/coconut/almond/whatever)

■ 2 cups chocolate chips

■ 1 cup heavy whipping cream

■ whip topping (optional)

■ strawberries (optional)

Now what?

1.)Prepare your pie crust.. did you get a frozen one? read the package... Did you make one? good job! Did you get a ready to bake one? super easy, you're ready.

2.) Place marshmallows and milk in a large microwave safe bowl (told ya about the microwave.. cool huh?) and nuke for 1 minute on MEDIUM (50%) then stir. 

If necessary, (probably will be.. several times) nuke for an additional 30 seconds at MEDIUM power and stir after each heating. 

Marshmallows will eventually become melted and smooth.

3.) Add chocolate chips. stir. If you need to, you can nuke this mixture again for 15 seconds at a time... but if you move quickly enough, you shouldn't have to. Chips should be melted.

4.) Spread 1 cup of chocolate mixture over the bottom of the prepared crust (this is the "truffle" part) and refrigerate. Allow the remaining mixture to cool to room temperature.

5.) Beat whipping cream until stiff and gradually blend into choco mixture. spread over the bottom layer in your crust.cover and refigerate for 4-6 hours and garnish.. 

I like to take a strawberry and slice sheets into it and fan them out. It makes a pretty little garnish. Yummy too! and a couple little puffs of whip cream.. :) enjoy..

I also thought about this pie for Valentines day... You know, If you take some red food coloring and mix it into choco syrup you could write a message on your pie.. 

Or, you could make chocolate dipped strawberries and make a pretty border around the edges.

Or, you could use that weird strawberry pie filling and fresh strawberries and do something fancy with that stuff.. 

Me? I'm making these in a jar next.. I'll show you how soon! 

Not sure about the difference in whip cream and whipping cream?

Here are some fun facts:

According to the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21, Part 131:
    Half and half = 10.5-18% milkfat
    Light, coffee, or table cream = 18-30% milkfat
    Medium cream = 25% milkfat
    Whipping or light whipping cream = 30-36% milkfat
    Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream = 36% milkfat or more
    The unqualified name ''whipped cream'' should not be applied to any product other than one made by whipping the cream that complies with the standards of identity for whipping cream.
          Optional ingredients. The following safe and suitable optional ingredients may be used:
                      (1) Emulsifiers.
                      (2) Stabilizers.
                      (3) Nutritive sweeteners.
                     (4) Characterizing flavoring ingredients (with or without coloring)

So basically,

Whipping cream is the heavy cream before it is whipped. Remember how in the recipe, you were asked to beat the whipping cream until stiff? Thats what whipping cream is for.. whipping.. whip cream topping is usually some chemical composition very detrimental to your health... but traditionally, it was whipping cream that had been whipped. (or so is my understanding) but you can read more here!

Nom Nom Nom...

See you soon! And don't forget, You are just so gosh darn amazing! 

Happy Random Junk food day!!