Tag Archives: birthday

Mint Chip Brownie Ice Cream “Cake”

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My daughter just turned 9! This birthday celebration-worthy dessert was super sweet and decadent – my daughter called it “amazing”! 😉 Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Brownie Layer – adapted from Handle the Heat

  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (*next time I think I’ll use bittersweet chocolate*)
  • 1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup (94 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Directions –

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch or a 13×9-inch baking pan with parchment paper. (*I didn’t do this, but it makes for easier pan removal and slicing later on*)

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Melt the chocolate and butter over a double boiler. Stir to combine and take off the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed until light and thick, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract. Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula. Add the flour and salt, folding gently until combined.

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Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake until a tester comes out with moist crumbs still attached, 35 to 40 for the 8×8 pan, or 20-25 minutes for the 13×9 pan. Do not overbake. Let cool to room temperature. Once cooled, place it in the freezer for at least 4 hours or overnight in preparation for the ice cream layer.

For the Mint Chip “Cake” – adapted from Glorious Treats

Ice Cream Layer- 

  • 1 carton (1.5 quarts) Mint Chip Ice Cream

Chocolate Layer-

  • 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Whipped Cream Layer-

    • 1- 8oz tub of Whipped Topping (*I used Truwhip*)

Garnish/Toppings-

  • Chopped Andes Mints, and/or mini chocolate chips

Directions –

Ice Cream Layer–

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Allow a carton of ice cream to sit out at room temperature about 20 minutes, until soft enough to spread over the cooled brownies. Once the ice cream has been evenly spread, place the entire pan in the freezer to allow the ice cream to re-freeze.

Chocolate Layer–

WP_20150410_008 1Heat the cream in the microwave for 1-2 minutes until hot (watch it so it does not boil). Add chocolate chips to the hot cream and set aside (undisturbed) about 3 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt. After 3 minutes, stir the chocolate until the cream and chocolate are fully combined. Set aside and allow to cool to about room temperature. Once cool, pour the chocolate over the ice cream layer, and spread evenly. Return pan to freezer.

Whipped Cream Layer–

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Spread the whipped topping over the chocolate layer, then garnish with toppings of your choice. Return pan to freezer and FREEZE AT LEAST 3 HOURS before serving. The entire dessert can be made ahead, and kept in the freezer (covered) up to 3 days in advance.

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Oreo Brookies…or BrOreos?

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This insane dessert takes a little bit of planning, but it’s easy enough. Just don’t expect to be able to whip it up last minute because you need to allow the first layer to cool completely before you can continue with the other layers. My friend asked me if I could make her husband a special treat for his birthday – what a fun surprise! Of course I said yes. What better way to get the opportunity to make something so completely ridiculous and decadent? Birthdays are a great excuse to make something so butter, sugar, calorie and fat-filled and you don’t have to feel so bad about it cause, hey – we’re celebrating here! 😉

Verdict: Everyone loved these. They are so rich and gooey! I wasn’t a huge fan until the second day – wow…they reached another level of awesome! My health-nut friend thought she could get by on a tiny piece; but once she tried that she had to go back for more – something she rarely allows herself to do! I heard from more than one person that this was the best dessert they have ever eaten and have already received requests for this on their birthdays…so, yeah – this recipe is a keeper! Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Oreo “Brookies” – adapted from Brown Sugar

For the Cookie Crust –

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 TBSP vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups AP flour (281 grams)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 12 ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the Brownie Layer –

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup AP flour (94 grams)
  • 1/4 unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
  • 12 whole Oreo cookies

Directions –

For the Cookie Dough: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 13×9 inch baking dish.

In a mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, blending each one in before adding the next – periodically scrape the sides of the bowl down. Add vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, add all your dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Add your dry ingredients to your butter/sugar mixture in three parts, scraping the sides of the mixer bowl if needed. Mix in your chocolate chips.

Place the finished dough in your baking dish and with a damp spatula (or your hand) pat the dough until flat and evenly distributed. Bake for 20-25 minutes, take out and allow to cool completely. (*I let it cool for an hour at room temp, and then I placed it in my fridge for another hour*)

For the Brownie: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a standing mixer bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add each egg to the mixer one at a time, being sure to mix in each addition before adding the next. Add in vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, combine cocoa, flour and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture until blended. Fold in the melted chocolate until combined.

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Pour half of the brownie batter on top of the cookie crust, then evenly space out the Oreo cookies; then pour the rest of the brownie batter over all and spread evenly across the top of the Oreos. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Re-Post of the Best Birthday Cake (so far)

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Our friends/neighbors’ birthday was this week (the same day, how cute/convenient is that?) and my husband suggested that we have them over. The kids made them birthday cards with their voucher for their free dinner and dessert which they happily accepted 🙂 For dinner, M grilled filet mingnon, which we served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, roasted carrots and broccoli and everyone’s favorite – roasted garlic bread. Dinner was a complete success and I’m so happy that they enjoyed it 🙂
Now, onto everyones favorite part – the birthday cake! This is our favorite layer cake so far, but I decided the next celebration cake may need to be a different recipe. To make frosting the cake easier and less messy, I always wrap and freeze the cooled cakes overnight. It really does make a difference, and waxed paper squares underneath the cake help keep the cake plate clean. This buttercream icing is so yummy and not too sweet and the cake is rich and perfectly chocolatey. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Double Layer Chocolate Cake – adapted from Smitten Kitchen

** This became a “triple layer” cake because I only have 9″ cake pans**

The recipe below is for 2 10-inch layers filled and coated in chocolate ganache. My adaptations were to split the layers to create a four-layer cake and use raspberry filling instead of chocolate. To do the same, use half the frosting and all of the raspberry filling, recipe at the end.

For cake layers

  • 3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut
  • 1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Make cake layers: Preheat oven to 300°F. and grease pans. Line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper and grease paper.

Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well.

Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature

Quick Chocolate Buttercream – adapted from Williams-Sonoma

  • 8 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 6 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 16 Tbs. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 6 Tbs. milk, plus more, if needed
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp. salt

Directions –

Have all the ingredients at room temperature.

Put the chocolate in the top pan of a double boiler set over but not touching simmering water in the bottom pan. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Let cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the confectioners’ sugar, butter, the 6 Tbs. milk, the vanilla and salt and beat on low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, then reduce the speed to low. Add the chocolate and beat until combined, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 minute more.

If the frosting is dry, add more milk, 1 tsp. at a time, until it is creamy but still holds peaks. Makes about 4 1/2 cups.