How To Make Dark Chocolate Roses

Valentines Day is just two days away. We all know the epitome of this romantic day centers around chocolate and flowers. What better way to impress your loved one(s) than with a beautiful cake or cupcakes decorated with these beautiful chocolate roses!

Here is a great tutorial on how to make these chocolate roses with bittersweet chocolate from fellow food blogger Renee at Sweet Revelations. She provides lots of photos and great direction in the making of these beautiful roses. Surprise your sweetheart this Valentines Day by making these.

SweetRevelations

Last week I was researching places to buy the best modeling chocolate for a special project I am working on.    It didn’t take me long to figure out that it can be fairly expensive and that most bakers make their own.

Remember here, when I made Garden Party Cupcakes and added gumpaste flowers?  Well they sure do look beautiful, but that’s where it ends.  They aren’t really edible just lovely to look at.  Modeling Chocolate however, looks decadent and tastes yummy too.  It’s essentially like playing with the best smelling and tasting play dough ever!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a few obsessions:

1. Dark Chocolate

2. Swiss Meringue Buttercream

3. Beautiful Cupcakes

This is like the culmination of all of  my favourite things!

I’ll follow-up with the recipe for the cupcakes in another post.  It was my first time trying small batch baking because I just wanted a few…

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How I made Mr. Teddy Bear Cake

I love this Mr. Bear Cake from Much a Munch. She has done an amazing job and provides great pics and instructions on how to make this adorable cake.

12 Days of Christmas Holiday Cake and Cheesecake – Day 5

Welcome to Day 5 of Christmas Holiday Cake and Cheesecake.  For those of you who read my Day 4 post I left hints at what I would be sharing today with the words “Daring Baker”, “French” and “Chocolate”.  For those of you who guessed Buche De Noel you were right! 🙂

For those of you who would like to know the history behind the Buche De Noel visit fellow wordpress blog Why’d You Eat That. Come to find out the Buche De Noel actually can be traced back to ancient Celtic history when the cake become a replacement for the burning of logs.  Hey, I didn’t know that!

Buche De Noel via Saveur

The cake recipe I have chosen to feature is posted on Saveur and it is a very good representation of a more traditional Buche De Noel. This delicious and beautiful cake features a chocolate roulade (French for roll), chocolate filling, and meringue mushrooms.   Instructions are included for all of the components of this rich confection.

For those of you who may like to try a different filling here is one for Chestnut Cream (yum!) at erecipe.com.

And here’s a delicious Cherry Cream Filling (another yum!) at bigoven.com.

And last, but by far from the least, here are recipes for many, many different fillings and frostings at bartleby.com.  (oh my, decisions, decisions…. coffee cream, french cream, strawberry, lemon, orange, coconut…)

So now, head to the market and off to the kitchen you go! And, let’s bake…this….cake!!! I’m not gonna lie, this cake is not for the feint of heart, but I can tell you that if you carefully follow the instructions you too can do this! You can, you can, you can…yes, you can! So go bake…this…cake and share your creation with all of us here at Dibbles and Dabs!

Once again, thanks for stopping by – it’s been fun!  I wish I could offer you up some hints for tomorrow’s cake date, but alas, I myself have yet to figure out the featured cake…decisions, decisions, decisions…so many to choose from!  I can promise you though that it will be AWESOME! So til’ then have a wonderful Christmas season filled with lots of love, gratitude, and of course….great food!

12 Days of Christmas Holiday Cake and Cheesecake – Day 2

Hmmmmm… chocolate and truffles and cheesecake… yummy!  This next Christmas treat is truly a sinful confection of Holiday goodness!  I don’t know about you but cheesecake is truly one of my favorite desserts and this Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake from Southern Living (via MyRecipes) certainly does not disappoint. I collect cheesecake recipes the way my kids used to collect fireflies on a hot, summer evening.  I have made many a delicious cheesecake in my day and this recipe is a great example of a mouthwatering, oh-so-good, melt-in-your-mouth, chocolately goodness cheesecake. Oh my dears… it truly is!

Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake | Southern Living | Photo: Jim Franco; Styling: Lydia DeGaris Pursell

A link for the instructions, along with a free template, for the pretty and festive white chocolate topper is also included in the recipe.  For those of you who would enjoy watching a video on how to make beautiful white chocolate snowflakes visit the Cake Journal’s YouTube tutorial for step-by-step instructions.

I hope you have enjoyed Day 2 of my 12 Days of Holiday Cakes and Cheesecakes I’d love to hear your thoughts on this cheesecake recipe along with what other favorite cheesecake recipes you enjoy.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for Day 3’s recipe(s) featuring (hint) some “fruity, boozy” goodness! 🙂

12 Days of Christmas Holiday Cake and Cheesecake – Day 1

It’s very popular this time of year to find many sites offering a selection of holiday cookies such as Food Network’s 12 Days of Cookies. They are everywhere! And they all look delicious!

So, I thought I would do something a little different and offer you a collection of Christmas Holiday Cakes and Cheesecakes that I have lovingly searched for across the world wide web. Each day for the next twelve days I will be offering you a new cake or cheesecake! Any of these 12 delicious confections will make a great addition to your Christmas feast. Some will be quick and easy and some are more difficult, but all will be guaranteed to please.

So, without further adieu let me share with you my first pick.  This Andes Mint Chocolate Cake with Ganache from Bird on a Cake is not only a beautiful and festive cake, it is also delicious. This is by no means a quick cake to make, but your time and efforts will  definitely be rewarded when you lovingly serve this spectacular cake at Christmas.

Andes Mint Chocolate Cake with Ganache from Bird On A Cake

I have to confess that I can eat an entire box of Andes Mint Chocolates ALL BY MYSELF with nary a thought to sharing! 🙂  Yes… an entire box… all to myself! So in my eyes this cake is truly a masterpiece.

Be sure to stop back by tomorrow for Day 2 of my 12 Days of Christmas Holiday Cakes and Cheesecakes for another delicious recipe.  I’ll give you a couple of mouthwatering hints though…it involves cream cheese and the taste of truffles…. yummmm! See you then!