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Taste Test Tuesday — Chocolate Molten Lava Cake Recipe (versus Mini Chocolate Souffles)

By KariV on May 28, 2013 in Dessert, Recipes, Taste Test Tuesday, Valentines

This Taste Test Tuesday was very exciting and quite close! In fact, both of these recipes are SO delicious, that I would recommend trying them both out for yourself! Last week, I posted the Foolproof Mini Chocolate Souffle with Chocolate Sauce recipe. And today, I will review both contestants for you and share the Chocolate Molten Lava Cake recipe. Does this sound delicious or what?!

I can hardly wait! First, let me share with you this delicious little Molten Lava Cake recipe. I got it from my daughter, Amber, and she made it as one of her goals last summer. She was working on her recipe book (getting ready to leave the nest…which I was not happy about). But I WAS happy about her sharing her delicious recipes with me, including this gem of a chocolate dream recipe. 🙂

I call these the darlings of all mini cakes…I mean, just look at that cute little cake! It’s adorable with it’s crown of whipped cream and sprinkle of powdered sugar. I added a strawberry, too, since it was competing with those little Chocolate Souffles and needed to be on a “level” playing field.

If you were to compare the ease of whipping these Lava Cakes up versus making up the Mini Chocolate Souffles, I’d say the Lava Cakes win. All you have to do is melt a little butter with the chocolate (in the microwave!), add the powdered sugar, eggs, vanilla and flour and Voila! You’ve got your batter all ready to put into the oven. Then you just cook them up for 12-13 minutes, pull them out and invert onto a little plate. Easy. (Note: I let them cool for about a minute before inverting them onto the plate)

If you add the whipped cream too early, it melts a little down the sides, but these Molten Lava Cakes are BEST when eaten warm and fresh out of the oven!

Doesn’t that still look so yummy!? I really don’t mind that dripping whipped cream. Just let me at it!

The insides of the cake are all gooey and molten. So smooth and chocolatey. Wow.

These little darlings are delicious with whipped cream and/or ice cream! Yep, you can put a scoop of ice cream right on the top and sort of let it melt down into the cake. So. Good.

But before you make these yourself, a little note of WARNING: do not overbake these. Really. It is easy to do (not that I would know), and it RUINS these cakes! They become dense and spongy and not delicious. Seriously. It’s bad. The last batch I only cooked for just over 11 minutes to make sure the inside was still melted and yummy. You will know these are just about done when the sides of them look cooked (like cake) and the insides are still a little soft, but not jiggly. Every oven is a little different, so you’re gonna have to test this out for your oven.

Ok, so here’s the recipe. Are you going to try this one?

**RECIPE HERE

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Now, with all that delicious description done, I must now announce the winner of the taste test! I didn’t forget. But I must remind you that BOTH of these recipes are so good, and the winner only barely edged out over the other.

They both have a delicious chocolately flavor. They both have melty amazing centers. They both are just exactly the right size. They both are perfect for a special occasion dessert.

But the winner was the one with a little sugar coating on the outside, and an amazing ganache center. It won out a little bit because the cake part was delicious, but then pushed over the top with an addition of the melted chocolate to make it so smooth and so decadent…(my mouth waters a little). And the winner is still delicious the next day…it can be refrigerated and then warmed up again and it tastes just as good as the first day!

I guess the extra effort for the chocolate souffle really did shine in this competition! Congratulations to the Mini Chocolate Souffles with Chocolate Sauce. While I still love the Chocolate Molten Lava cakes, I love these more (and the other judges agree). Try the recipe here and see if YOU agree.

Until next time, enjoy every bite!

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bruleed-orange-french-toast-with-orange-sauce

Bruleed Orange French Toast (so worth it!)

By KariV on May 24, 2013 in Brunch, Recipes

We’ve been making good use of our Arizona oranges from our very own orange trees, and since the season is almost over, I’m making the last of them really count! This is one of my favorite breakfast/brunch recipes. It’s full of flavor and so easy.

And I’m so excited because I’m guest posting over at Mom Endeavors…so click on over to get the recipe and full instructions.

Then try this recipe and let me know what you think!

Thank you, Sara, for giving me the opportunity to guest post today. Until next time…Enjoy!

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Taste Test Tuesday– Chocolate Souffle vs. Chocolate Molten Lava Cake

By KariV on May 21, 2013 in Dessert, Favorite Things, Holidays, Inspiration, Recipes, Taste Test Tuesday, Valentines

It’s a great day. Not only is it Taste Test Tuesday, but my Dad is here for a visit! I knew that there needed to be CHOCOLATE for him. And he agreed to be a taste test panelist. (I may have gotten my love for taste tests partially from my Dad…we have been doing taste tests at home ever since I was a kid!)

So this is a special edition of Taste Test Tuesday. The taste test results will be posted next week, but today I am sharing the recipe for “Foolproof Mini Chocolate Souffles with Sauce.” Oh. My. Goodness. These little souffles are amazing. I got this recipe a couple years ago from my co-worker, Aubrey. (Hi, Aubrey!) And I’ve made them only a few times for special occasions, but these are some of the easiest and BEST Chocolate Souffles I have ever eaten!

I’m going to challenge these homemade Souffles to a taste test versus homemade Chocolate Molten Lava Cake! (I’ll share this recipe next week.) The Chocolate Molten Lava Cake is a favorite recipe of my daughter, Amber. (Hi, Amber!) They are both amazing recipes that I honestly don’t know which one will be crowned the winner!

I will have some more pictures and results for you next week. Until then, try this Chocolate Souffle Recipe. You’ll either be glad you did, or you’ll be cursing me for sharing such a tempting dessert that you crave weekly! 🙂

Foolproof Mini Chocolate Souffles with Sauce

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Chef’s Note:

This recipe may look intimidating, but it is rather simple, with just a few ingredients. And it is Foolproof. The first time I made it (for Valentine’s Day a couple years ago), I left the vanilla out of the souffles, so I added it to the chocolate sauce instead. They still came out delicious…proof: my husband ate TWO of them!

I like to serve mine with a little whipped cream and a strawberry on top, but if you’re a chocolate purist then you can certainly leave this part out!

Tip:

To help get the soufflé dishes out of the oven easily, bake them on a cookie sheet and then simply lift the cookie sheet out of the oven.

You may have noticed that one of the choices I categorized this under was “Inspiration”…if you are in need of a little inspiration, I’m convinced that these souffles will do the trick. Chocolate can be very inspirational, right?! 😉

I can’t wait to post the results. Until then, Enjoy every bite!

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Hot Pink Breakfast Drink weekly prep (in four easy steps!)

By KariV on May 16, 2013 in Favorite Things, Recipes

Just look at that pile of veggies! Am I the only one who LOVES to look at vegetables (and fruits)…they are so inspiring and colorful and happy!

I love to make veggie juice (Hot Pink Breakfast Drink) each morning, but sometimes my mornings are a little hectic! So, I found a way to prepare every week. It’s simple. And it requires only a little time.

1) Get all the veggies/fruits together.

2) Spread out 6-7 grocery bags

3) Place required amount of each ingredient in each bag

4) Stock them up in your refrigerator

Now, it’s just grab and go!

How’s that for easy! So each morning, I just select one bag, wash up my veggies, juice, and drink!

What makes your mornings easier?

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Hot Pink Breakfast drink recipe

By KariV on May 15, 2013 in Favorite Things, Recipes

I can’t believe I am just now posting about my breakfast drink! When I started this blog, I initially thought it would be about wellness and what has helped me to feel better (after a prolonged illness). HA! I found out that I enjoy baking, cooking and crafting WAY too much and this blog has really turned into more of showcasing my love of fancy and fun.

But I can’t ignore this Hot Pink Breakfast Drink because it is a big part of my life. This juicing every morning has been one of my routines for over a year and it has made a BIG difference in how I feel. In fact, I notice such a difference on the days that I DON’T make this juice for myself that I hate to miss even a day! I even took my juicer to California with me…(LOVE those Farmer’s Markets over there!)

Juicing is known to assist in detoxing the body and feeding your cells with all sorts of nutrients. It is SO good for getting maximum veggies into your diet. But I admit, when I first started I did NOT like the juice. It tasted like dirt. I was not happy.

But then I was introduced to this recipe…and I’ve been drinking it every morning since.

So I’m going to share this little recipe with you. I know, I know…you may never try it and that’s ok. But if you decide to try it in the hope of helping you to feel better, let me just say this: you have to stick with it for a few weeks. Really. Did I mention that juicing is detoxifying? Well, the first little while your body will want to detox and you will not feel so great. But that means it’s working! So stick with it, and after a few weeks just see if it makes a difference in how you feel.

Don’t let the color fool you. This is mostly a VEGETABLE drink…it’s not a fruit smoothie! I took some of this over to some friends to taste one morning and because it’s such a beautiful color they may have thought it was going to taste like raspberries. It didn’t. And they hated it. (Hi Kristy, Shellie, & Kara! Shall we try this again…Can I bring it to our next meeting?!)

It starts with carrots, celery, kale, beet, apple, red cabbage, and oranges. Sometimes I add spinach or lettuce. But mostly it’s the veggies shown. The exciting part is that we now grow our very own cabbage and kale!! I think we shall try growing beets, too! And the oranges come from our trees! (In fact, if you’re not into juicing, maybe these orange blossom cookies will hit the mark?) When oranges aren’t in season, I will add a bit of lemon juice.

I start by cutting off the ends of the carrots and celery, cutting the apple if it’s too big to fit in my juicer, and removing the orange rinds. Be sure to first wash everything well. I buy nearly everything organic, but I haven’t been able to find organic apples so I wash those with GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract) to remove as much pesticide residue as I can.

I have a Breville juicer with 2 speeds. And here’s a trick: put a produce bag in the container to catch all the “pulp,” it makes clean-up so much easier!

And, just that fast, you have delicious, beautiful, veggie-packed breakfast juice! Oh, it’s beautiful. I like mine cold, so I add a bit of ice. And oh, how delicious! (My husband still makes a sour face when he drinks his, though; he may never love it, but he stills drinks it!)

Take a look at that pulp. This juicer does a great job. I have been experimenting with a few recipes to use that pulp in, and if you are interested I may post a few of those!

We also use this as a compost for our garden. Oh yes, the veggie garden LOVES IT!!

So here’s the recipe! Try it and let me know what you think.

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Don’t forget to clean your juicer right away. It’s a lot trickier to clean once the pulp is dried on (don’t ask me how I know that.) Here’s to your health!

(P.S. Come back tomorrow: I’m going to show you how I prep for the week to make my mornings of juicing go so much smoother. The preparation makes juicing SO easy!)