Flashback Friday ~ Candy Corn Bark

Candy Corn Bark

Recently I've been working on putting "pin it" buttons on all of my old posts. As I've gone through and looked at all these old recipes, I have found myself remembering how amazing these archived goodies were. I figured also, that if I'm exclaiming "Oh yeah! That was good!" then maybe you haven't seen them recently either. So...I'm going to start re-sharing some favorites of mine. 

For this first Flashback Friday, I'm sharing this recipe for Candy Corn Bark. Seeing as how it's almost (one of) the biggest candy days of the year, I figured I would share this delicious recipe for a salty sweet treat that only has 3 ingredients! Click on the link directly under the picture above and that will take you to the original post and the actual recipe. Enjoy!!

PS. If anyone is interested in playing along with me, let me know and I'll start including a link up. :-)

Candy Corn Bark & A Giveaway {Giveaway Closed}

I read an article recently about how people don't really like candy corn anymore.

Apparently, candy corn is an outdated Halloween treat and many people don't think it should still be around.

Reading this made me start doing a poll among my family and friends.

The results did not make me happy. I found more people dislike candy corn than like it.

I LOVE candy corn.

I look forward to enjoying it every year.

I can't get enough of the stuff!

And the pumpkins??? The pumpkins are just plain heaven.

When I grabbed a Halloween treat magazine while I was grocery shopping a few weeks ago (yes, I am a total impulse shopper) I knew that I had to make this candy corn bark immediately!!

And guess what! Those people who "don't like candy corn" sure didn't turn their noses up at this bark.

I even bought the stuff to make it again when I went grocery shopping a couple days ago.

I must warn you though, this stuff is addicting!

So make it at your own risk!

Let me show you how stinking easy it is to make:

Throw your almond bark in a microwave safe bowl and microwave, stirring every 30 seconds, until smooth.

Stir in the candy corn.

Stir in the pretzel pieces.

Spread the mixture over your prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle more candy corn on top and press down into the bark a bit. Let cool for an hour or more. Break into pieces.

Serve and enjoy!!

Candy Corn Bark
Retrieved from Betty Crocker Best Halloween Recipes 2011

Printer Friendly Version

Ingredients:

• 24 ounces vanilla flavored candy coating (almond bark), chopped
• 2 cups broken pretzel sticks
• 2 1/2 cups candy corn

Directions:

1. Spray a 15x10x1 inch pan with cooking spray then line with waxed paper.
2. Place the almond bark in a large microwaveable bowl and microwave, stopping to stir in 30 second increments, until smooth.
3. Mix in 2 cups of the candy corn.
4. Mix in the pretzel pieces.
5. Smooth mixture evenly onto prepared pan.
6. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of candy corn onto the top of the mixture, press into candy coating to stick.
7. Allow to set, at least one hour.
8. Break into pieces.
9. Serve and enjoy!!

{This giveaway is closed}

Now on to the giveaway!!

A couple months ago, my BFF sent me the Scentsy cupcake warmer and the Happy Birthday scent as an early birthday present (my birthday is at the end of this month).

I decided that since I didn't have to buy one for myself, I would buy one for you!

Then...I had a baby...and didn't get a chance to do the giveaway.

Then I decided to wait until I hit 100 followers to do this giveaway.

And guess what...we hit it!! I have 100 followers now!! Thank you guys so much for hanging around!!

And since I love and appreciate you all SOOOOO much, I can't wait for one of you to have this. I love mine and I drool every time I walk into my house and it smells like funfetti cake without me having to turn my oven on!

So here are the deets:

You can win this Cupcake Scentsy warmer.

And a bar of the Happy Birthday scent.

To enter to win this giveaway, answer this question:
(be sure to leave your email with the comment)

What is your favorite Halloween candy?

For extra Entries

(Leave a comment for each additional entry)

1. Follow Jolts & Jollies through Google Friend Connect or RSS Feed

2. "Like" Jolts & Jollies on Facebook

3. Follow @mannadonn on Twitter

4. Tweet about this giveaway, including the link (can do this daily, just leave a comment each day)

5. Blog about this giveaway, including the link

6. Facebook this giveaway, including the link (can do this daily, just leave a comment each day)

That is an incredible amount of possibilities to win! 

This giveaway will end on Monday, October 10th at midnight. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, October 11th. Good luck!!

Peanut Butter Bundt Cake with Chocolate Butterfinger Ganache

There is something magical about the combination of chocolate and peanut butter.

Whenever I eat a Reese's peanut butter cup or a Butterfinger candy bar...I tend to feel giddy like a kid.

My favorite Blizzard is the Butterfinger Blizzard. I love it so much and, again...I get that giddy feeling whenever I have one in hand.

So, it should come as no surprise, when I was trying to decide on my last Cake Slice cake from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman (and my family demanded a chocolate option) that I would choose the one with the chocolate and the peanut butter.


But what really sealed this cake for me was the chopped Butterfinger on top! 


I mean, HELLO!! Who could resist that??


Not me!


This cake was super fun to make (I love bundt cakes and think they are an under appreciated dessert) and it was tasty too.


The only issue I had with this cake is that it seemed a bit dry. The ganache was mandatory when eating each bite. 


If you make this cake, I would suggest maybe upping the amount of sour cream in the recipe. Maybe by a 1/2 cup or so. 


But either way, the cake disappeared quickly and there were definitely no complaints from anyone besides me!


Let's bake!

In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, sour cream and vanilla.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Now cream together your butter, peanut butter and brown sugar.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix it up.

Then add 1/2 the sour cream mixture and mix that up. Now add the rest of the stuff in an alternating method, mixing in each addition: 1/3 flour mixture, remaining 1/2 sour cream mixture then remaining 1/3 flour mixture.

Pour the batter into the bundt pan and spread it evenly. Then bake that baby up! Let it cool...

Then toss some butter, chocolate chips and hot cream together to make a ganache.

Pour the ganache over the cake, letting it fall down the sides. Then top with the chopped Butterfinger.

Now slice, serve and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Bundt Cake with Chocolate Butterfinger Ganache
Adapted from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman

Printer Friendly Version

Ingredients:

For the Cake

• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

For the Ganache

• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 Butterfinger bar (60 grams), finely chopped

Directions:

For the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with baking spray.
2. Whisk together the sour cream, eggs and vanilla in a large glass measuring cup.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. In a large mixing bowl, on medium high speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes; scrape down sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary.
5. Turn the mixer to low and add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat until incorporated. 
6. Add 1/2 the sour cream mixture and beat until incorporated. Repeat; add 1/3 flour mixture, 1/2 sour cream mixture then remaining 1/3 flour mixture, beating until incorporated and scraping down sides of bowl after each addition. 
7. Turn mixer back up to medium high speed and beat for 1 additional minute.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth out with rubber spatula. 
9. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes.
10. Let cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
11. Once cake is cool, make the ganache: place butter and chocolate in a medium heat proof bowl. Heat cream in a small saucepan until just boiling. Pour hot cream over butter and chocolate, let sit for 30 seconds then whisk the mixture until smooth. 
12. Pour the warm glaze over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides.
13. Sprinkle with chopped Butterfinger bar.
14. Let stand until ganache is set, about 30 minutes.
15. Slice, serve and enjoy!

Coffee Heath Bar Crunch Cake

I know most of you know this already...but I love coffee!

I've talked about it when I made the chocolate teacakes with Earl Grey Icing and Monica talked about my obsession with her guest post of coffee chocolate chip muffins. (By the way, I made these muffins last weekend and they were amazingly delicious!!)

I love coffee so much that my mother even bought me a Keurig for Christmas (score!!).

So you can probably imagine how broken hearted I am by the fact that this baby doesn't really care for coffee.

When I was pregnant with Little Butt, I tried so hard to stop drinking coffee, but couldn't. This baby?? I don't crave it at all.

Sadly, I had to dust off my Keurig the other day.

So you're probably wondering what I'm doing posting about a coffee Heath Bar crunch cake.

Well, one: this was last month's Cake Slice Bakers cake of choice for February (yes, I realize it's March and that I'm late. What of it??)

Two: since I can't enjoy my beloved coffee in it's liquid form, I can enjoy the taste in baked goods.

And three: The Hubble's favorite candy bar of all time is toffee and chocolate.

I sent The Hubble to the store to grab some Heath bars for me to chop up at first. He brought home Skor bars. Since I procrastinated so long, he ended up eating all 5 of the bars he brought home for me to bake with.

Therefore, I moved to chips! LOL!

What's neat about this recipe is that you can tailor it to your families tastes. If you don't like coffee...leave it out. If you like coffee but have small kids, use decaf espresso (that's what I did)! There are different ways you can prepare this cake.

Any way you make it, prepare yourself for a treat. The brown sugar and butter in the fluffy, moist cake provide the perfect compliment to the buttery taste of the toffee topping.

What I especially loved about this cake was the texture. The contrast of the chewy cake with the crunchy toffee bits was heaven in my mouth.

This cake is definitely a winner and sure to liven up any brunch, lunch, dinner or midnight snack (hopefully you used decaf for that one!).

So let's hop in the kitchen and get to baking!

Ingredients: unbleached all purpose flour, granulated sugar (there's no granulated sugar in this recipe. I don't know why it's in this picture. It must be habit to pull it out), light brown sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, egg, egg yolk, milk, Heath toffee chips, butter and espresso powder.

In a medium bowl, toss in the Heath chips, 2 Tablespoons of the brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons of flour and 1 Tablespoon softened butter. Mix together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles large crumbs. Kind of like a streusel topping. Put that bad boy in the refrigerator until ready to use.

In another medium mixing bowl, whisk in the rest of the flour, the salt, baking powder and espresso powder. Mix well.

In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream together the butter and remaining brown sugar until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

Turn the mixer to low and toss in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Scrape sides of bowl as necessary.

Now it's time to do that oh so loved alternating thing. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition and keep the mixer on low. Alternating with the flour and milk mixture, dump in 1/3 of the flour mixture...

Then half the milk. Alternate with the rest of the flour and milk, ending with the flour mixture.

Evenly spread the batter into a greased 9 inch springform pan.

Grab that toffee topping out of the fridge and evenly sprinkle it over the top of the batter in the pan.

Bake the cake in a preheated 350 degree F oven until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 55-60 minutes.

When the cake is done baking, cool on a wire rack in the pan for 5 minutes. Release the sides of the pan and use a spatula to transfer the cake from the bottom of the springform pan to the cooling rack. Cool completely.

Serve and enjoy!!

Linked to: Family Friendly Fridays and






Coffee Heath Bar Crunch Cake
Retrieved from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman

Printer Friendly Version

Ingredients:

For the Streusel

• 1 cup Heath bar toffee chips
• 2 Tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon butter, softened

For the Cake

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon instant espresso powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk

Directions:

For the Streusel

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch round springform pan.
2. Combine Heath chip, brown sugar, flour and butter in medium mixing bowl. Work mixture with fingers until it resembles large crumbs.
3. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the Cake

1. Combine the flour, espresso powder, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl. 
2. Cream together the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium high speed until fluff, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
3. With the mixer on low, add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, 1/2 of the milk; scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Repeat, alternating flour and milk, ending with flour.
5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer with a spatula.
6. Evenly distribute the streusel
7. Bake the cake in the preheated oven until it is golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. 
8. Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Release the sides of the pan and use a large spatula to slide the cake from the pan bottom to the wire rack. Cool completely.
9. Cut into wedges and serve!
10. Enjoy!!!