Recipes For Cooking

Showing posts with label cups. Show all posts

Sunday, February 23, 2014

CHOCOLATE PECAN ICE CREAM CUPS

I tried this recipe for the first time, this week, and it has a LOT of potential. I think it will take another time (or two) to get the upper edge thick enough to hold its shape perfectly, but other than that, the chocolate cups are really delicious. You have to keep them in the freezer, but even frozen solid, they are the consistency of a GOOD fudge. They are super simple to make and fun to have on hand in the freezer.

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
1 cup finely ground pecans (I used the food processor)
In a heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk. Stir until very smooth then stir in finely chopped pecans. Insert paper liners into cupcake tins; spread about 2 tablespoons of this mixture on the bottom and up the sides of the paper liners. Freeze for at least 2 hours. Remove paper liners and fill with a scoop of your favorite ice cream. Makes about 18 cups.

NOTE: I melted my chocolate with the sweetened condensed milk in the microwave (on high); it took about 30 seconds, stirring half way through.

NOTE: Recipe calls for finely ground pecans. I used the food processor to chop the nuts super fine.

NOTE: Make sure you leave the chocolate at the top edge of the cupcake paper nice and thick, so it doesnt break/tear when you remove the paper. Chocolate cups are not super hard/brittle like other chocolate cups.

NOTE: Letting the chocolate cups sit at room temperature for about 3 or 4 minutes before removing the paper liner, makes it easier.

Breakfast cups

I received a phone call last week from an old high school friend that I have not seen in eight years. She was coming to town. Yeah! So we decided to do brunch. I had a great time getting ready for her visit and preparing a menu.
I know quiche is a popular brunch item, but I cannot bring myself to eat it. I have not found a recipe yet that I really like so I decided to come up with my own brunch dish.

I was thinking of using pastry puff, but already had a pastry dish on my menu so I opted for phyllo dough. Now some people are intimidated by this stuff, but the secret is moisture. I prefer a wet paper towel to drape over the exposed dough in order to keep it from drying out.

I cut the dough into squares big enough to fit into a muffin pan.

I melted butter, (yum)

Then I layered the sheets into the muffin pans, brushing with butter between each sheet. About 8 sheets per muffin cup. Its not looking too appetizing at this point, but I promise it will be.

I cooked up some breakfast sausage, 1 pound, from our pig that we bought from a local 4-Her.

And then scrambled up some eggs, that we also buy local, about 12 and a splash of water mixed in.

Side note: I really debated cooking these beforehand or just putting them in the cups raw and letting it bake in the oven with the dough. I decided to scramble them before because they would need more time to bake than the dough and I didnt want to risk burning the dough or having raw runny eggs.

Shred some cheese, about a cup or so.

I mixed the cheese, eggs and sausage and divide up into the muffin cups.

Then I baked them at 350 until they were a pretty brown. Sorry, I didnt pay attention to the time.

I topped with green onion and served. They were great. Im so glad I ditched the quiche :)

We had an awesome time visiting and hanging out. It has been way too long and I need to be more proactive to not let that happen again. Good friends and Good Food, always a sure bet for a good time!!

I am linking this post to Fireflies and JellyBeans Show Off your Stuff #49 Here:

Go on over and check them out!