Chocolate Grasshopper Cocktail #Choctoberfest

A long, long time ago, I used to be quite fond of a rather old-fashioned cocktail call a Grasshopper. It was a dessert cocktail, and it was pretty sweet. And minty. And creamy.

I decided to create a similar cocktail, but using better quality alcohol, and with added chocolate. I mean, hey, why not.

To fancy it up a bit, I decided to do a pretty sugar rim with just a tiny hit of salt. So fancy. So good. So tasty.

The original Grasshopper used cream, and a higher percentage of alcohol to cream, but I decided I wanted more drink and less buzz. This is pretty rich with half-and-half, which is why it's considered a dessert drink. You can lighten it up much more by using milk. And of course, if you don't drink dairy milk, you can use whatever alternative you like.

This post is part of #Choctoberfest with Imperial Sugar where a bunch of food bloggers have joined together to post about chocolate all week. The sponsors provided products for a giveaway (which is now over), and some sponsors also sent me products to work with.

Chocolate Grasshopper

4 ounces half-and half (or you can use milk or cream)
1 1/2 ounce Brancamenta liqueur
1 ounce chocolate syrup
Ice
2 tablespoons Imperial Sugar
Pinch of salt

Put the half-and-half, liqueur, chocolate syrup and ice in a shaker and shave vigorously to blend, chill, and get a little froth on the drink.

Paint a little bit of chocolate syrup around the rim of the glass. Combine the sugar and salt, then roll the glass rim in the sugar/salt mixture to get it to adhere to the glass.

Strain the drink into the glass, leaving the ice cubes in the shaker.

Check out the recipes from all the participating bloggers. I think you'll love them!

An InLinkz Link-up

Marshmallow Brownies #Choctoberfest

This is a guest post from my friend Brandy from the blog A Teaspoon of Goodness. Go visit her blog and check her out on Facebook, too!

Brownies are always delicious, but this marshmallow brownie recipe is a perfect choice for kids who love marshmallow treats.

Whether you serve regular or miniature brownies, this is a delicious special ooey and gooey treat that kids will be begging for as a dessert.

Adults will love them too, with the rocky road flavor appeal it provides. You can even dress it up some with graham cracker crumbs if you want a s'mores flavor.

These brownies will quickly become favorites for your entire family, whether you make them with or without the optional nuts!

When you need to grease your baking pan in any recipe that requires melted butter, a simple trick is to place the butter into your pan and put into the oven while it is heating.

Remove the pan once the butter has melted (don't let it brown or burn!), and then mix the butter into the sugar and cocoa in this recipe - or pour out and reserve the butter if you're making a different recipe..

This post is part of #Choctoberfest with Imperial Sugar where a bunch of food bloggers have joined together to post about chocolate all week. The sponsors provided products for a giveaway (which is now over), and they also sent me products to work with. Since this is a guest post, no products were provided for this particular recipe.

Marshmallow Brownies 
A simple brownie recipe is made even better when you add in the classic marshmallow treat.
Recipe by Brandy Olsen-Meyers from A Teaspoon of Goodness.

When you make this, start with sifting together your sugar and cocoa. Since cocoa tends to clump together, this is the best way to make sure it blends well with other ingredients. You'll add the rest of your wet ingredients and finally mix in the flour, salt and nuts until just blended. Then pour into a pan and top with marshmallows.

2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup melted butter
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 chopped nuts (optional)
18 large marshmallows, cut into small pieces

Grease a 9x13-inch square baking pan (or use the butter-melting tip, above). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix sugar and cocoa, then stir in butter.

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well.

Add flour, salt and nuts (if you're using them) and mix just until blended. Fold in the marshmallow pieces.

Transfer to your baking pan and bake at 350 for 25-30 mins or until set.

Check out the recipes from all the participating bloggers. I think you'll love them!

An InLinkz Link-up

Chocolate Custard Pudding #Choctoberfest

Meatloaf with mashed potatoes is my favorite comfort food dinner, no doubt. But when it comes to dessert, chocolate pudding is one of my favorite comfort foods. Sure, I like cake and pie and ice cream. But there's something about the creamy coolness of pudding that's like a hug.

Heavens knows I need a few hugs these days.

I usually make pudding using cornstarch because it's easy, but this time I decided to make a rich custard using egg yolks for thickening. I mean, why not? It's comfort food.

While I'm a huge fan of chocolate and desserts, I don't like super-sweet desserts. I like that little edge of something not-sweet. So I added a bit of espresso powder to add its bit of bitterness to this custard.

This was exactly what I was looking for. And then I found some cute little jars to serve it in.

This post is part of #Choctoberfest with Imperial Sugar where a bunch of food bloggers have joined together to post about chocolate all week. The sponsors provided products for a giveaway, (which is now over) and they also sent me products to work with.

Chocolate Custard Pudding

1 cup heavy cream
2 cups milk
3/4 cup Imperial sugar
1/2 cup natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3.5-ounce Lindt Excellence 85% cocoa dark chocolate bar, broken into pieces
6 egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Combine the cream, milk, sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, salt, and chocolate bar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Heat on medium, stirring or whisking, until the sugar and chocolate bar melt and the cocoa powder is well blended in the milk mixture.

Continue cooking until the mixture comes to a gentle simmer then turn off the heat.

Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl.

When the mixture is simmering, it's time to temper the egg yolks. This means that you warm the yolks slowly so they don't cook too quickly and scramble. Chocolate custard is good. Scrambled chocolate eggs isn't a great idea.

Tempering isn't difficult, so don't worry. Just add some of the milk mixture to the eggs slowly while you whisk or stir those eggs. Add about a cup of the hot milk to the eggs. You can add more. It doesn't need to be precise.

Now, add the warmed eggs back to the saucepan while stirring. Turn the heat back on and continue cooking, stirring continuously, until the mixture thickens and just barely starts to bubble a bit.

Turn the heat off and add the vanilla extract and stir to combine.

Pour the custard pudding through a strainer into a storage container - a quart-sized container is perfect. The reason you need to strain is that no matter how careful you are, chances are that you'll get a few bits of egg, and particularly if there was any egg white with the yolks - and who can separate eggs that perfectly, right?

Chill the custard and serve cold.

Check out the recipes from all the participating bloggers. I think you'll love them!

An InLinkz Link-up