Eclair Express

Jo Wake is one of our resident chefs who joins us on occasion to share her wisdom and wonderful recipes...

Once again thank you to the Really Real Housewives of America for allowing me to burble on their blog.

Chocolate is one of my favourite foods as it is for many people. I have just read a report which says cocoa is not just a hot drink but is good for many things. One thing it is good for is mental sharpness. I drink hot chocolate sometimes at the bowling alley. Obviously I should drink more. Note to self, cut out the wine, add in the chocolate.  I like mine just plain without any milk in it and that could be the best way to drink it for health reasons.

I was thinking about edible flowers the other day. Are you aware that there are quite a lot of them which you can eat? One of my favourites is pansies and I often have them on the balcony so use them to decorate desserts. Violets are another, and I even tried making my own crystalised violets. Semi successful but they did work. Many people grow chives in their gardens, these too have lovely flowers which look great in salads and even taste somewhat of onion.  This website has a list of edible flowers with pictures so that if you are not familiar with them, you can see what they look like. It is always fun to surprise people, many of whom are unaware that you can eat flowers.

Knowing there are some readers of this blog who would prefer a really easy recipe, here is Kraft’s Graham Cracker Chocolate Eclair Cake.  Maybe you could serve it as an extra at Thanksgiving. You certainly have time to make it.

Graham Cracker Eclair "Cake"

1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1-1/2 cups cold milk
15 graham crackers, broken crosswise in half (30 squares), divided
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
1 cup BAKER'S ONE BOWL Chocolate Frosting

1. Beat pudding mix and milk in large bowl with whisk 2 min. Let stand 5 min. Meanwhile, cover bottom of 8-inch square pan with graham squares, overlapping as needed to form even layer.

2. Stir COOL WHIP into pudding; spread half over graham squares in pan. Cover with 10 of the remaining graham squares. Repeat layers of pudding mixture and graham squares.

3. Refrigerate 3 hours. Spread with BAKER'S ONE BOWL Chocolate Frosting.

Tips
As an Alternative: Prepare using 1 pkg. (1 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Sugar Free Fat Free Instant Pudding, fat-free milk and COOL WHIP LITE Whipped Topping.

BAKER'S ONE BOWL Chocolate Frosting: Melt 1 pkg. (4 oz.) BAKER'S Unsweetened Chocolate; pour into large bowl. Cool 5 min. Add 1 lb. powdered sugar, 1/2 cup softened butter and 2 tsp. vanilla. Gradually beat in 1/3 cup milk with mixer on low speed until blended.

Shortcut: Substitute 1 cup ready-to-spread chocolate frosting for the BAKER'S ONE BOWL Chocolate Frosting

Source: Kraft

Have a great day

Post-Election Recovery Cake

Photo from
PrettySimpleSweet.com

Admit it. Yesterday was exhausting. Standing in lines, trying to stay calm and carry on, trying to ignore social media and not let our buttons get pushed so the kiddos didn't accidentally learn some choice new phrases... You know what I'm talking about.

So the way I see it is, since we were such upstanding citizens and role models, we deserve wine. And chocolate. And cake. So why not have them all in one amazeballs package? Shiran over at Pretty Simple Sweet has a great list of simple and delish recipes for busy cooks, but her Red Wine Chocolate Cake is hands down my favorite thing in the world. If you've ever had the blends of red wine and chocolate, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

The best part is - if you have the fixin's for chocolate cake and just happen to have a leftover bottle of wine... well, you've got yourself a piece of heaven just waiting to be thrown together :-)

Check out Shiran's full recipe here and be sure to tell us how yours turned out!

Pumpkin Brownies

This is so easy and delicious- you don't even need a recipe. 

Mix this:

Use half a large can or all of a small one

And this:

Pour the mix into a greased cake pan and bake for 35 minutes at 375 degrees.

 It's moist, delicious, and qualifies as a healthy treat!


Want to add a little fall zest to the recipe?

                                               Mix this:

Use half a large can or all of a small one

                                              With this:

Pour the mix into a greased cake pan and bake for 35 minutes at 375 degrees.

This is my personal favorite. It's a wonderful blend of chocolate and spice.

So easy, and I love easy!