Valentine's Popcorn Crunch Treat

This is SO good. Like make it tonight, good. 

I decided to make this instead of the usual Valentine's Day candy and baking and my kids all said we need to make this a tradition - high praise indeed.

The recipe is an adaptation of Cupid Crunch by Plain Chicken. That recipe looked AMAZING but way too sweet for our families taste. This is more savory and less intense.

Valentine's Popcorn Crunch Treat

1 (24 oz) package vanilla Almond Bark 

3 bags of  microwave popcorn, popped (We used Pop Secret Butter and it was AWESOME. I don't think this would work very well with regular air popped popcorn)

1 1/2- 2 cups cups Pretzels

1 1/2 cup dry roasted, salted peanuts

1 1/2 cups M&Ms (Valentine colors) I used most of a large bag.

Pop popcorn and place in a (very) large bowl. Be careful of kernels, you don't want to break your teeth. I avoided kernels by transferring the popcorn a handful at a time (claw style) so any kernels would fall to the bottom and not end up in the food.

  Pour peanuts, pretzels, and M&Ms on top.

Chop up almond bark. Melt. Pour over popcorn mixture. Stir until everything is well coated.

 Spread out onto waxed paper covered baking sheets (or your counter). Let sit until completely dry and then break up into clumps.

Seriously, make this. It's so good! It also makes great little gifts packaged up in a cellophane bag.

And if you like yours more candy and less crunch be sure to check out the original recipe. 

Dark Chocolate and Whiskey Cupcakes: Cake # 48

Would you believe I made these last Valentine's Day and never blogged them. 

Shame on me. Let me make it right.

Dark Chocolate and Whiskey Cupcakes

For the Cake:

 2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 cups brown sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup strong coffee

1/2 cup Jack Daniels Whiskey

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, stir the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, coffee, whiskey, buttermilk and oil.

 Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until smooth. 

Spoon the mixture into prepared cupcake wrappers. Bake for about 18-20 minutes until the tops spring back when lightly pressed. 

For the Dark Chocolate Whiskey Ganache:

16 ounces good quality dark chocolate chips

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 Tbsp. butter, softened

1/4 cup Jack Daniels Whiskey

Melt and stir. 

Chill in the fridge while the cupcakes bake and cool.

Cut out centers from your cupcakes. You can use a cupcake tool or a knife. If using a knife, I recommend cutting out a cone shape - it's easier.

Give your ganache a little stir. Set aside 2 cups of ganache for the frosting.

 See how thick it set up. Yummy!

Fill the cupcake centers with ganache.

Now for the frosting. Most recipes I've seen call for even more Jack Daniels in the frosting but I tasted the cake (centers are made for snacking) with some ganache and it was PLENTY whiskey enough for my tasts. These are not subtle cupcakes folks. So I DID NOT add more JD. I stuck with plain chocolate.

Dark Chocolate Whiskey Buttercream

1 lb. butter, softened

1- 3 ounce package white chocolate, vanilla or cheesecake instant pudding mix

2 cups Dark Chocolate Whiskey ganache

1/2 cup sifted dark cocoa powder

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

more whiskey to taste

Instructions:

Beat the butter and pudding mix together on medium high speed for about 5 minutes.

Add ganache, cocoa powder and heavy cream.  Beat for another 5 minutes.

Add powdered sugar a little bit at a time, to taste, and beat for at least 5 more minutes. 

(Seriously! For frosting? This is eternal!)

*Add whiskey 1 TBL at a time until you love the flavor.

Wow. Never made a frosting even close to this fluffy before. I'm impressed. Fine. 

Review: I found theses to be very strong on the whiskey flavor but the chocolate wasn't as prominent in the cake itself. The ganache and the frosting more than made up for the deficit but I like my cake to be really flavorful and the flavor was mostly whiskey. Perhaps if I'd skipped the JD in the ganache and in the frosting it would have been a bit more balanced. If you have a whiskey lover in your life these will be a huge hit.

A side note, I also found these to be a bit too oily and rich. It could be the high elevation that I bake at, or it could be all the fat in the recipe (cake, ganache and frosting is certainly 'special occasion'). Either way, when I make them again I'll be replacing half the oil with applesauce. I might fill them with something lighter too - like a custard.

Overall: I'd give them a B. It's been a year and I haven't reached for the recipe again but I have kept them in mind when I've wanted a sophisticated dessert.

Recipe adapted from several sources most of which referenced Fields of Cake.

If I Could Hold a Star Handmade Canvas

If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you've made me smile, the entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand.

I thought this one was appropriate to close the series with, as the romance of the quote seems particularly appealing so close to valentine's Day.

Here's the back side:

And all three together.

If you are interested in any of these pieces please email me. I haven't listed them on Etsy yet.

Please click on the picture to see them full-sized.

Don't Let Your Struggle Become Your Identity

Today is my 40th birthday. 

I thought I'd be older. 

Thinner

Smarter

Well-read

Sure of myself

Further along my journey

Healthy and Whole

But I also never imagined that I'd be 

So dedicated to my family 

Creative

Living an artful Life

Actively seeking beauty

Pretty good in the kitchen

Madly and hopelessly in love with my husband of 18 years.

On the 10th year of my health struggle but still fundamentally me-ish.

Because one of the things I strive for is the message of this art,

Don't Let Your Struggle Become Your Identity

~~~

This "canvas" is actually a See's candy box. How great is that?

xoxox

Warmly,

~~~Nicole

This is the Part Where You Find Out Who You Are

One of the classes I took last year had us make a cardboard "canvas" from cereal boxes. To be honest I had little faith in them so I let them 'hang out' in my craft area and suffer some injustices before I started decorating them. Turns out that they are TOUGH and I really like the irregular nature of a hand-formed oval. What do you think?

Here's the back so you can see how I did it:

I made a little series of these and will be sharing more tomorrow.

Make Your Own Mailer

I needed a bubble mailer but didn't have the right size so...

Now my normal yellow purchased ones don't look very interesting :-)

Inquisitive Green Fairy Painting

When I was making this inquisitive fairy I was thinking about how young women come to an age where they are still child-like but their gazes hold the wisdom of the ages and their questions pierce through all the noise to the very heart of things. It is an interesting, precocious, in-between step that is fascinating to observe.

Have you noticed that too

Still loving dimensional paste, all that luscious texture makes me so happy!

And I continue to work on faces. 

I look forward to the day when they are easier and I can be looser in my drawing of them.

This is one of my favorite quotes, I even have it on our budgeting money envelopes.

Available on Etsy