Author: Chocolate Castles

Welcome to Chocolate Castles, a blog about food, family and stories that hopefully will bring a smile to your heart. Thanks for reading chocolate castles and may the recipes and stories help bring your family and friends a little closer around the table! Remember that Princess On The Porch is still available on Amazon! Makes a great gift for anyone who enjoys being in the kitchen and needs a little laughter in their lives.
Desserts · Fruit · Salads

Very Berry Summer Pudding

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Makes 6-8 Servings

This beautiful showstopper is taken from a new Southern Living Magazine. Serve with whipped cream.

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

2 cups fresh cherries, pitted and halved

2 cups fresh raspberries

2 cups fresh blackberries

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup orange liqueur

3 (3 oz) packages of soft ladyfingers

Stir together first 6 ingredients in a large heavy stainless steel saucepan; let stand 30 min, stirring occasionally.

Add 1/2 cup water and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 8-10 min or just until berries begin to break down and release their juices.

Remove from heat and stir in orange liqueur; cool 20 min.

Line a 2 qt souffle dish with plastic wrap. Spoon 1 cup berry mixture into prepared dish, spreading to cover the bottom. Arrange  1/3 of ladyfingers in a single layer on berry mixture, pressing together and trimming as needed to fit snugly and cover berry mixture. Repeat layers twice, dividing remaining berry mixture evenly between layers.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place a small plate  (approximately the same diameter as the inside of the dish) directly on top. Place 2 or 3 heavy cans on plate and chill 12 hours. Unmold pudding onto a serving plate and have whipped cream ready to top each serving.

Daily Thoughts

Pillow Talk

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We are getting ready for a friend which is coming in tomorrow evening. As I was cleaning up the guest room and putting fresh clean pillowcases on the pillows, I thought back to different places I have been and the difference it made as to how I slept. The pillows. Some people, like myself, sleep on their tummy, while others sleep on their sides or back. It has been my experience to be sleeping in friends, relatives, or hotels where there is only one kind of pillow. Sometimes they are so flat you don’t even feel like you are on a pillow and other times the pillow is so firm and huge that there is no way that you could ever think about putting it under you to sleep on your stomach. So here is my suggestion for your guest room or pillow closet for times when friends will be coming to stay with you. My sweet precious hubby says not to make people to comfortable because they might stay longer than you want, but he doesn’t care if his name is ever in the book of Fabulous Friends Who Treat You Like Royality, so we won’t listen to him.

1. Buy several types of pillows, some firm, some soft and some a little flatter and some a little fluffier

2. Have several different types of magazines in their room. Because of time changes between parts of the country, their wake up  or go to sleep time is probably different than yours.

3. Place bottled water and tissue on their nightstand.

4. I have a little bowl of packaged peanuts, an assortment of different candy and gum so if they get a craving for sweets after they have gone to their room, they don’t have to roam around the kitchen looking for something.

5. Be sure that you put out a clean bar of soap for the shower.

6. Have hangers in the closet where they are staying so they have them to hang up clothes without having to ask you  for them.

7. If they are early risers and you aren’t, place bowls for cereal out on the cabinet with spoons and place the cereal out the night before so they won’t have to go looking through your cabinets. That would make us have to clean out our cabinets and we don’t want to do that! If you know they drink coffee you might have the coffee pot ready for them to turn on when they get up. That way, they will be in a good mood by the time you stagger in the kitchen around 8.

8. If guests are coming for a few days and they are using your home for just a sleeping place, type up a sheet with the different places around your area that might be of interest to them. Because LA is so large, we have the Points of Interest arranged according to the areas, that way, they know how much time they have and which area they would be able to visit.

9. We now have a list of restaurants close by our house in case they are out and do not want to take the time to come back here, they have the name, address and what type of food it is. Included is our home address and phone number in case they need to put in our address in their GPS or call us for info.

10. Take a couple of pictures of your guests while they are there. It is so much fun to look back and see some of the memories you might have helped them go home with or new memories that made their visit with you special.

These pictures are then easy to use on Postagram to be able to send back to them. (Please don’t tell me you don’t have the Postagram app on your smart phone. I use that app probably more than any other besides Pandora and weather, check it out if you don’t have it already on your phone)

With these tips, you will be assured that you have made your guests feel special and wanted. If you don’t ever want them to come back, ignore points 1-10.

Breads · Salads

Cornbread Salad

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Taken from Food Network Magazine, because I have been cleaning house and am burning up, salad is the only thing that sounds good to me at the moment. This caught my eye. Perfect for those summer nights or luncheons that spring up and you find you are in charge of bringing the salad.

Serves 6

4 plum tomatoes, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Kosher salt

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayo

2 scallions, minced (would someone please tell me the difference between chopped and minced?)

juice of 1/2 lime

1/4 teas chili powder

2 cups crumbled cornbread

2 15 oz cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

1 cup shredded cheddar or mexican blend cheese

Toss the tomatoes, bell pepper, cilantro and 1/2 teas salt in a medium bowl. Whisk the sour cream, mayo, scallions, lime juice, chili powder and 1/2 teas salt in a small bowl.

Assemble the salad:

Sprinkle half of the cornbread in a glass bowl or trifle dish. Top with half each of the black eye peas, corn and the tomato pepper mixture, then half each of the sour cream mixture and cheese.

Repeat the layers with the remaining ingredients, ending with cheese. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Cakes · Daily Thoughts · Desserts · Fruit

Paula Deen Strikes Again…Raspberry Swirl Pound Cake

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One of my favorite days is when I come home and there in my mailbox is my new Paula Deen Magazine. I can hardly wait to unlock the door, grab a glass of tea and go sit on the porch and open my new treasure. This cake looks amazing and although I have not had time to bake it, it looks so pretty and as we all know, if it is good enough for Paula, it’s good enough to post. So here it is; Raspberry Swirl Pound Cake

3 1/4 cups sugar, divided (that much sugar already lets you know this will be great)

1 cup fresh raspberries

3 tablespoons peach nectar

1 1/2 cups softened butter

1 cup sour cream

1 teas lemon zest

1 teas vanilla

5 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

3 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teas baking soda

1/4 teas salt

Peach-Almond Glaze (recipe follows)

2 tables sliced almonds

Sweetened whipped cream

Fresh raspberries

In a small saucepan, combine 1/4 cup sugar, raspberries and peach nectar. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring often and crushing berries as they cook, for 10 min or until mixture has thickened. Strain berry mixture through a wire mesh sieve into a small bowl, pressing pulp with the back of a spoon. Discard solids. Cover and chill for at least 6 hours or refrigerate up to 3 days.

Preheat oven to 325. Spray a 12-15 cup bundt ( I can never say or write the word, “bundt” without thinking about My Big Fat Greek Wedding, makes me grin every time i think about that scene) pan with nonstick baking spray with flour.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sour cream at medium speed with a mixer until combined. Gradually add remaining 3 cups sugar, beating until fluffy. Add lemon zest and vanilla and mix in batter. Add eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating until combined.
Spoon 3 cups batter into prepared pan. Using the back of a spoon, make a shallow trench in the middle of batter while turning the pan in a full circle. Spoon 3 tables of raspberry mixture into trench. Spoon 1 1/2 cups batter into the pan, spreading carefully to cover raspberry mixture. Repeat trench procedure and top with remaining raspberry mixture and batter. Run a knife through the batter 8 times to swirl the filling slightly. Gently tap pan on counter (or on anyone’s head standing in the kitchen driving you crazy) to release any trapped air bubbles.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 min or until a wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean. Tent cake with aluminum foil halfway through baking to prevent excessive browning, if necessary. Let cake cool in pan for 10 min. Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack. Drizzle with peach-almond glaze and then sprinkle with sliced almonds. Serve with sweetened whipping cream and raspberries.

Peach-Almond Glaze

3 tables peach nectar

1 tables light corn syrup

1/8 teas almond extract (I can tell you right now, I will make that 1/4 instead of 1/8)

2 cups powdered sugar

In a medium bowl, whisk together peach nectar, corn syrup and extract. Whisk in powdered sugar until smooth.

Note* If your cake doesn’t sit flat on the platter because the non-fluted side is slightly domed, trim it with a long serrated knife.

Cookies · Daily Thoughts · Desserts

Cookies With Class

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What a weekend. Am baking 400 cookies for a church event next weekend so needed a recipe that was quick and easy. After going on-line to see what I could find, I came across the old fashioned Jello Cookie and the Cake Mix Cookie. Years ago, I had had a cake mix cookie which I didn’t think tasted very good, too salty. I decided that if I substituted unsalted butter for the oil or margarine that the recipe called for, it would help not be as salty, so that’s what I did. These cookies are great, easy and so quick to make. They certainly hold their shape and would make a great cookie if you are mailing cookies to a college student, servicemen or having a group you have having to bake for. Be sure to use the unsalted butter as it makes all the difference in the world. The first recipe just uses cake mix and the second one uses cake mix along with jello. Both make a great sugar type cookie and is cheaper than buying bought rolled cookie dough and I think a lot better homemade taste. It also opens up a world of different flavors besides just peanut butter or chocolate chip cookies. See what you think and remember…baking is a great way to make a new memory

1 box cake mix (15 oz size) any flavor. (I used strawberry and orange and lemon)

1 stick of very soft unsalted butter

1 egg

MIx the 3 ingredients together until they are throughly mixed. Using a small cookie scoop or a teaspoon, place balls of batter onto cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. (If you don’t use parchment paper, just be sure to not grease cookie sheet.)
Bake in a preheated 350 oven for about 10-12 minutes. Bottoms will be a little golden around the edges but just till firm to the touch. Be sure you don’t over bake. These are really good made into a sandwich cookie by spreading about a teaspoon of you favorite frosting between two cookies, flat sides facing in.

Jello Cookies

1 (15 oz) white cake mix (actually any flavor, but if you are wanting to keep colors of jello you are using to stay true colors, use the white, otherwise the yellow or other flavors might change the color)

1 small (3 oz) package jello, regular, not sugar free

2/3 cup oil (what I did was use half melted unsalted butter and half oil) You could use all melted unsalted butter if desired.

1 egg

Mix all ingredients and bake in preheated  350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

A great combination is using chocolate cake mix with raspberry or cherry flavored jello.

I use a yellow cake mix with cherry lemonade jello. Those were really good and so pretty.

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In my new Southern Living Comfort Cookbook, I have found so many great foods that I cannot wait to try. When I saw that this Breakfast in a Skillet, it dawned on me that I didn’t have to wait until Randy took me to IHOP before I could have a breakfast skillet. Super easy and sounds great.

1 lb ground pork sausage

1 cup diced onion

2 garlic cloves, mincee

2 cups crumbled homemade biscuits (baked)

6 oz extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered

1/4 teas ground pepper

6 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Heat a 10″ cast-iron (if you don’t have one, run to your nearest BB&Beyond or garage sale to get one. I promise you will use it all the time.) in oven 5 minutes. Don’t forget the skillet in the oven as you are doing the next step. 

Meanwhile, cook sausage, onion and garlic in a large lightly greased skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently about 10 min or until sausage is browned and onion is tender.Transfer to a large bowl. Add biscuit crumbles and next 3 ingredients. Stir until blended. Transfer to hot cast-iron skillet. (I spray mine with Pam before pouring the ingredients into it, makes for easier clean-up)

Make 6 indentations in sausage mixture using back of a spoon. Break 1 egg into each indentation.

Bake at 350 for 23-25 min or until eggs are set per liking. Serve immediately. Sprinkle cheese over top if desired the last few minutes of baking. Serve with hot sauce and tortillas.

Cakes · Desserts

Lemon Curd Cupcakes

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Summer just brings out the lemon flavor cravings in so many and what better way to have that lemon craving than with a lemon cupcake. A recipe was sent to me that had homemade lemon curd dolloped (that word always reminds me of Daisy Sour Cream, if you have seen their commercials you will get that) into a homemade lemon cake batter. Because so many of you have told me that you want fast, easy and quick recipes I came up with one that tastes almost identical to the homemade version, so you can be on your way to the porch with a glass of tea and a lemon cupcake much quicker.

1 Duncan Hines Lemon Cake Mix

1 jar of Lemon Curd (It is on the isle by the pie fillings in the grocery store)

Frosting

1 box of powdered sugar (3 1/2 cups)

1 stick of butter, at room temp

1 (8 oz) softened cream cheese

1/3 cup whipping cream (or you can use just regular milk if desired)

1 teas vanilla

Mix the DH cake mix according to directions on box. To get a softer texture, substitute milk for the water. Pour 1/3 cup batter into paper lined muffin pans. Spoon 1 tables lemon curd on batter. Using a cereal spoon (just a regular teaspoon you eat with, not a soup spoon) place about 2 spoonfuls of batter on top of lemon curd. (Just being sure that the lemon curd is completely covered). Bake as directed on box of cake mix for cupcakes. Do not over bake. Take out of pan to cool. This should make about 24 cupcakes.

When completely cool, top with frosting:

Mix all frosting ingredients together, adding the whipping cream or milk,  a tablespoon at a time. You might need a little more or little less, but use as much as necessary to get frosting to where it is spreadable. Sprinkle with yellow colored sugar. Simply divine.

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Travel Guide for Blondes

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Have arrived back home after being gone since last Monday. I knew you would be interested in hearing about a few life lessons that I learned on this trip. As I was flying back yesterday, I had 3 hours to contemplate “life” since the book I had bought was pretty boring, I thought I would just “think”. These are the things that were on my mind as we flew through the air at 36,000 feet. 

1. As the old saying goes, “You can take the lady out of Texas, but you cannot take Texas out of the lady. I thought about that each time I pulled through Whataburger, had my choice of sweet or very sweet tea, had to decide which Tex-Mex restaurant I would eat my breakfast tacos, then which one would I meet friends at for enchiladas for lunch, then end the day with faitas at yet another favorite restaurant. Shopping malls, which called out to me as I speed down the tollway, bakeries on every corner selling red velvet cupcakes and one of the best Texas traditions, Dairy Queen, which if you have never had their steak finger basket, you have truly never lived. After a day there, I realized that my old twang was coming back and my hair automatically just got “bigger”. That is good, because after all I am eating this week, maybe it will make me look a little more proportioned since my rear end seems like it is looking a little more like the Texas State Map.

2. Just because you are using a “cutesy” (that probably isn’t a real word, but I don’t know what else to use) designed suitcase, doesn’t mean that it is user friendly. Because mine had broken several trips back, I had run to Steinmart, (yes another wonderful Texas “thang” that they have every 10 miles away, no matter your location) to see what cutesy suitcase I could find. I knew the minute I laid eyes on it. It was sky blue with the outline of Paris painted all over it. It had cartoon painted Ladies walking by with jewelry, dressed in their finest. Now, there, my dear friends was MY suitcase. No one would ever confuse mine with anyone else’s. So rolling it out to the car, my newly found luggage was already attracting attention. I was just as proud as a peacock. Not only did it make a statement of letting other people know that I like to shop and wear pretty clothes, it was huge and would hold all the items I came to Texas to buy. After my 3rd trip back to Texas, which was last week, it is going to Goodwill. When it is loaded, it takes 3 people to pick it up to just to put it into the trunk. If you open it with the wrong side up, all your belongings fall out, because there is nothing to keep them in. It was the worst suitcase EVER. Randy told me yesterday when I told him I was throwing it away that he would be going with me from now on to help me pick out my suitcases. I think he got embarrassed when I had let him off at the front of the airport to roll my suitcases into the airport while I went to park the car. (he is having trouble walking due to a back problem,  so I thought I would be nice and not make him walk far). He refuses to let me buy another “cute” suitcase now, just because he thought people were judging him. He had worn his light pink Polo that day, so you can imagine him dressed in pink, rolling a Paris themed baby blue suitcase into the airport. He said he cannot  show his face again at LAX.

3. I learned that you cannot eat out 3 times a day and not expect to gain weight. I am nearing the point to where I will be getting my “never will I be that size again” clothes out of storage today.

4. Leave enough frozen TV dinners for the hubby to last him the entire time I am gone. That way, I don’t have to feel guilty when, at the end of each day when he would call to get a recap of my day there in Dallas. I wouldn’t have to hear, “oh, that’s nice dear, so glad you got to eat at another one of your favorite places, don’t worry about me, I ran out of TV dinners two nights ago, but I found some cheese and crackers and olives that filled me up.”

5. Don’t post pictures on FB if you are not going to be able to see everyone you would like to visit. They then know you were in town and didn’t even call them. 

6. I learned that you shouldn’t try to bring back canned sodas in your suitcase. Since I cannot find Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper here, I thought I would just bring some back. I also bought a suitcase full of cake mixes that I cannot find here. After calling the airport to see how much it would cost me if my suitcase weighed over 70 pounds, I was told that it would cost me $200.00. The night before leaving for home, I ended up going and buying another suitcase to hold all my “goodies”. I justified it by thinking this way: the cake mixes are so good and a little cheaper than they are here and I get in bad moods when I can’t have my favorite Dr Pepper flavor and I knew that Randy would want me to be in a good mood and be able to bake all my favorite flavors of cake mixes; thus, he won’t mind that I had to go buy yet another suitcase to bring back all my great treasures. Maybe I didn’t think this through quite enough. For a 3rd suitcase, they charge you $150.00, plus now I had just spent money buying the 3rd suitcase. I don’t think I will forget any time soon the look on Randy’s face when I walked out of baggage claim. It was worse than the look he gave me for having to roll my “cutesy” suitcase into the airport last Monday. 

So to sum up my Traveling Life Lessons, here goes!

Loose weight before going out of town, that way you can gain without having to buy new sizes.

Only carry big black suitcases. Only take a few items of clothing as you will end up buying all new stuff that you just “can’t live without”.

Leave Face Book alone until you get back home.

Arrange for friends to have your husband over for dinner so you won’t end up on anti-depressants over the guilt of being gone 7 nights and leaving him with frozen TV dinners.

If you buy to much while out of town, go to the grocery store, box up what you don’t have room for in your suitcase and mail it home from the post office. Much cheaper that way.

Will write more after I finish writing all my apology notes to people I didn’t get to see who knew I was in town because of all those Face Book pictures. 

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Heading to Dallas

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On Monday I leave to go keep my 8 year old grandson, Sevy, while his parents go away for a few days. I am going early to not only see other family and friends, but will also get to go to some of my favorite restaurants. There is just something about Texas restaurants. Maybe it is the way they welcome you when you walk in the door with , “hi ya’ll, how many are ya’ll” and then after you are seated, you just know in a minute, there is going to be a huge glass of sweetened tea placed in front of you. Will be gathering family gossip and new memories that will be posted throughout the week. Till I return on the 15th, “bye ya’ll”…(i’m getting in practice using my southern drawl that I’m afraid I might be loosing. After all, it has been over a month since I have been in Texas) OMGosh, I just remembered, there are grocery stores there that have every flavor of Duncan Hines cake mixes!!! But the most exciting thing,(excuse me, I mean “thang”) is that I will be able to have a Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper in my hand within the hour of being in Texas. Now, that my dear friends, is worth the price of the airline ticket. WHY CAN’T I FIND THESE IN CALIFORNIA????

Chicken · Fruit · Salads

Fresh & Fruity Chicken Salad

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 4 cup poached chicken (diced)
 1 cup celery (finely chopped)
1 cup pecans (chopped)
1/2 cup Craisins
1/2 cup white seedless grapes (cut in fourths)
1/2 cup white raisins
4 oz sour cream & 1 cup mayo
Taken from Just A Pinch Recipe Club, this recipe won a blue ribbon and is so much like the chicken salad I used to love at Celebrity Bakery in Dallas.Combine all ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste. You might have to add a little more mayo. Serve with crackers or make a delightful sandwich with your favorite bread, lettuce and tomato.