a holiday bark foursome

I'm alive! 

It's been forever and a day since I've posted a recipe on here and before I waltz back into the room unannounced, let me explain. Soooo.... college. Yeah, it's absolutely miserable right now. My Thanksgiving break was insane, considering that I was pretty much in charge of the whole Thanksgiving dinner and cleaning my totally destroyed kitchen. On top of that, all of my friends were home and I went overboard on making up for the past 4 months of extremely limited social interaction. If that wasn't enough, I have a theory that all of my professors met and divulged a plan to assign every single paper and project due the following week, obviously in an effort to make my life a living hell because they have some sort of personal vendetta against me. 

Peppermint Bark - the classic.

So no, I haven't just disappeared and been laying in bed this whole time, checked out from the world. (Oh God, how I wish that was the case.) I've been living the past two weeks of finals on edge, having panic attacks in the middle of the library, bullshitting my final papers, and avoiding studying at all costs. Needless to say, it's been rough a few weeks. But alas, I've survived and only two finals are separating me from my Christmas break. 

Cranberry & Pistachio Bark with Mini White Chocolate Chips because why not! 

It's been really upsetting, because Christmas is totally my thing. When I say that I have actually cried because it wasn't Christmas, I'm not lying. (Yes, I really am that overdramatic in real life too.) The worst part about all of this? I've had multiple Christmas-themed recipes photographed and waiting to be posted since Thanksgiving, but no time to sit down and actually post them. You know what that means? It's gonna get all types of Christmassy up in here until the 25th. 

Gingerbread Man Bark — crushed gingersnaps, gumdrops, red hots, and extra Christmas sprinkles!

For some reason, people always ask me for bark recipes around the holidays. (I wonder why anybody would want chocolate right now? Crazy people!) As much as I want to be the sarcastic asshole that I sometimes am and say something along the lines of "you do know that chocolate bark is literally just melted chocolate with random things from your pantry thrown on top of it," I restrain myself. To make up for my sassiness (or maybe just reinforce it), I'm providing not one, but four different recipes for literally just melted chocolate with not-so-random things from your pantry thrown on top of it. 

Enjoy! 

Hot Cocoa Bark — milk chocolate, mini marshmallows, white chocolate chips, hot cocoa dust

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Peppermint Bark 

• 12 oz dark chocolate, chopped
• 12 oz white chocolate, chopped 
• 1 tsp. peppermint extract
• 6 candy canes, crushed

Directions  

In a microwave, heat the dark chocolate in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. Pour the melted dark chocolate onto a sheet pan lined with wax paper and refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.

Melt the white chocolate using the same heating process. Once melted, mix in the peppermint extract and stir to combine. Pour the melted white chocolate over the dark chocolate layer. Top with crushed candy canes. Return to fridge to set before breaking into pieces to serve. 

White Chocolate Gingerbread Bark

• 12 oz white chocolate, chopped
• 6 gingersnap cookies, crushed 
• red hots
• gumdrops, cut in half
• christmas sprinkles!

Directions

In a microwave, heat the white chocolate in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. Pour the melted chocolate onto a sheet pan lined with wax paper and cover with the crushed gingersnaps, red hots, gumdrops, and sprinkles. Refrigerate until set. 

Hot COCOA BARK 

• 12 oz milk chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup mini marshmallows
• 1 tablespoon hot cocoa mix 
• mini white chocolate chips (optional)

DIRECTIONS

In a microwave, heat the milk chocolate in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. Pour the melted chocolate onto a sheet pan lined with wax paper and cover with the mini marshmallows and white chocolate chips. Sprinkle the bark with the hot cocoa mix. Refrigerate until set. 

Cranberry Pistachio Chocolate Bark 

• 12 oz milk chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup roasted salted pistachios
• mini white chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

In a microwave, heat the milk chocolate in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. Pour the melted chocolate onto a sheet pan lined with wax paper and cover with toppings. Refrigerate until set. 

I'm Baaaack!

Remember that time that I said that I was going to update more frequently during my winter break? Uhhhh — oops? Though not what I've planned, I have been taking a nice little break from the internet and it's been surprisingly refreshing. I'm not one to 'unplug' from the internet considering that much of my life seems to be based on it; however, I've spent much of the last two weeks enjoying the holidays and spending time with my family and enjoying the company of all of my bestest friends! 

Today I wanted to recap my last two weeks and show you guys some of the fun things I've been up to! Fun things such as.....

attempting to ice skate 

(keyword: attempting)

throwing a wild christmas kiki with my closest friends 

if you don't know what a kiki is, shame on you!

baking far too many pepperminty desserts 

... like this delicious peppermint bark! 

and getting a brand new stand mixer! 

I was in no way expecting this! So relieved to have a nicer, bigger, and prettier stand mixer! I can't wait to open it and bake bake bake! 

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Hope all of you guys have had a wonderful Christmas and have an amazing New Years! I have so many fun ideas and new recipes planned for 2014, so get ready! 

Cranberry Orange Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Icing

Over the weekend, I decided to do take out my mixer and test some recipes for Thanksgiving! After a few hours and an exploded bag of powdered sugar (it was literally EVERYWHERE), my kitchen counter was covered in desserts. The best? This cake. 

I've been brainstorming over the perfect cake for Thanksgiving dinner, and then I remembered the most delicious Lemon Blueberry Cake that I made this summer. It was a such a hit with my friends and family, that I had been dreaming up variations ever since! 

Cranberry and orange is one of my absolute favorite flavor combinations for the holidays. It was a no-brainer that I just had to make this cake this holiday season. So I did, and damn was it good. The cake is perfectly most and has a light orange flavor, studded with fresh cranberries throughout. My favorite part is the icing. I took my traditional cream cheese icing and added both orange zest and orange juice. I swear I could've eaten the whole bowl if I had no self-restraint! And on top of all of that, cranberry syrup! 

Seriously, y'all. Make this. You won't regret it. 

Cranberry Orange Cake

• 2 cups and 6 tablespoons cake flour
•  2 tsp baking powder
•  1 tsp salt
•  2 ½ cups fresh cranberries
•  1 cup whole milk
•  2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp orange zest
•  1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup pecans (optional, but we all thought they would be perfect!)

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

•  1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
•  2 lb. powdered sugar (the big bags!)
• zest and juice of 1 orange
•   vanilla to taste

Cranberry Orange Syrup

•  1 ½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries
•  ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup orange juice
•  ½ cup light corn syrup, maple syrup, or honey

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 9” round cake pans.

Sift cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. In another bowl, combines cranberries and 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture and coat the berries. Set aside. Stir whole milk, vanilla, and orange zest in small bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating until fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Add the in flour mixture alternately with milk mixture. (Start with the flour, then add half of the milk, more flour, the rest of the milk, more flour). Fold in cranberries and pecans. Divide batter equally among pans.

Bake cakes until set, about 25 minutes.

For the icing:

Beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and mix until combined. Add extracts, zest, and juice and blend once more.

For the syrup:

 Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the mixture begins to boil. Simmer the mixture for 7-12 minutes, until the cranberries pop. Remove from heat and let cool before topping the iced cake. 

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