Holiday Baking and 'Christmas Rocky Road' Recipe

Brown Sugar Pavlova w/Custard Cream & Berries

Holiday baking has pretty much been non-stop and the sad news is I still need to do FIVE more NEW recipes before the end of the year!  I believe it is crunch time and at the moment I am feeling pretty 'cooked out' after three days of baking and making Christmas dinner last night! 

One of my favorite recipes of the season has been this little creation and I am calling it 'Christmas Rocky Road', here is my recipe, but you can doctor it to your liking. 



Christmas Rocky Road Recipe

2 cups dark chocolate chips or chocolate pieces

1 cup milk chocolate chips or pieces

1 tablespoon of butter

8 candy canes crushed

10 chocolate cookies (biscuits) crumbled

3 cups marshmallows (mini or large ones cut up)

Place a heatproof bowl over boiling water and place chocolate and butter in the bowl. Stir once the chocolate has started to melt until completely smooth and then remove from heat. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and spread into a baking dish with parchment paper. I sprinkled extra crushed candy cane on top. Place in the refrigerator to cool and once hardened cut into slice it up. Enjoy.



Christmas Rocky Road

Roasted Cornish Hens & Sweet Potato Risotto, Chocolate Orange Biscotti, Self-saucing Brandy Pudding

Roasted Cornish Hen w/Sweet Potato Risotto & Cranberry

NINE more to go...I am getting there!  With 2 Christmas parties to cater and Christmas dinner I should have no problem finishing my challenge.  The last three recipes were Roasted Cornish Hens w/ Sweet Potato Rissotto & Cranberry Sauce, Chocolate & Orange Biscotti and last night I made Self-saucing Brandy Pudding.

Chocolate Dipped Orange Biscotti

The Cornish Hens were delicious and definitely would do this recipe again, would have been really nice with sweet potato mash and maybe some greens.  I am not that impressed with the biscotti, but unless you have a nice warm drink to dip in let's face it biscotti is just so dry!  As for the brandy pudding, it was lovely but was a little low on the sauce, so I think with a bit more sauce and maybe even some nuts or something else in there it would have been even better.

Self-Saucing Brandy Pudding

Easy Hors d'oeuvres

Dates wrapped in Prosciutto 

Yesterday I had the pleasure of catering a jewelry party for my mom, isn't it nice to be home!  My mom is a jewelry designer and launching a new concept of people having parties to come together and learn about the jewelry, have some fun and hopefully make some purchases!  Feel free to check out her website http://www.krobinsdesigns.com/ . 

Crackers w/Brie & Fig Jam

The only new recipe was the 'rocky road', however, I did alter it a bit (added dried cranberries instead of glace cherries and almond flakes instead of macadamia nuts!)  As for the other delectable eats, they included: Mozzarella, Cherry Tomato & Pesto Bruschetta, Spinach & Roasted Red Pepper Tartlets, Salmon & Cucumber Crostini, Proscuitto wrapped dates and crackers w/fig & brie.
It was a lovely afternoon and a pleasure to cater for my mom. 

Tonight I am determined to make another new recipe, cornish hens w/sweet potato risotto & cranberry sauce.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cornish-Game-Hens-with-Sweet-Potato-Risotto-and-Cranberry-Sauce-104344

Chocolate Souffle

We touched down late on Tuesday, December 7th and headed to Richmond where we will spend most of the next 2 months.  I had a good 24hours of NO cooking while we travelled, so I figure I must be good to go!  And I have already had several requests for cooking engagements. 

My sister wants a tablenosh dinner, my mother has me booked for 2 events, we have a Christmas Eve Party and my aunt may need my help for their Christmas party!  I have 13 more NEW recipes to do before the end of the year and it sounds like I will have plenty of opportunities to get them done.

Tonight I made recipe #87 which was a chocolate souffle from Delicious Magazine, special Desserts Edition.  It was good, but I think could have been a little sweeter next time, I think the chocolate was a little bitter.  As far as the texture goes, I think it was about right or at least tasted good to us :)!