Sweet And Crumby

Baking, a Love Story

Category Archives: Chocolate


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A Seventies Lunch Box Revival: Twinkies! {Chocolate Squared Style}

I saw these totally retro, devilishly chocolate, homemade Twinkies on Simple Math Bakery’s site last week (check Jeanne’s site out…much better photos there my friends). They immediately brought back memories of sitting in the school lunch shelter at turquoise painted picnic tables (gum stuck to the underneath of course), chatting with my friends and trading chips and cookies when someone had what you wanted.

When I broke into my lunch, I immediately had to check out the dessert action first. I have always had a very bad sweet tooth I’m afraid.

The best (and worst for you) part of any kid’s 70’s lunch, if she was worth her salt, was the Hostess surprise inside. Whether it was a semi-stale bright yellow Twinkie or the foil wrapped Devil’s food, Ding Dong, Hostess was the king of the Snack world in the 70’s…though, sadly and very gratefully, not any more. Continue reading →


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Where Did All the Whoopies Go?

Those beautiful visions of snackdom you see there are peanut butter whoopie pies with dark chocolate buttercream filling. My dad sent me an email yesterday with this link, making sure I was fully aware that it was National Peanut Butter Day. There’s a National Peanut Butter Day?! How exciting!!! Who knew?  So I gleefully hopped on the peanut butter celebration train and took a wild ride.

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Two Rocky Road Cupcakes and the Bad List

These Rocky Road cupcakes are a perfect example of my tug-of-war with my family over good taste.  My daughter and I had to make two versions of these lovely cupcakes to please both sides of the food spectrum at my house. You know that old song, “You say tomato (to-may-to) and I say tomato (to-maw-to), You say, Po “tay” to and I say Po “taw” to…Let’s Call the whole thing off?”  Well that is sort of the story of my food life at our house.  Here is version two of the Rocky Road cupcake with Coconut and Peanuts. Continue reading →


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A Day Late And a Dollar Short Drunken Cointreau Cupcakes

Yes, this would have been a good post for FRIDAY or even SATURDAY as you were getting ready to party on, but as the title suggests, I am a day late and a dollar short. That’s just how it is folks.

This week has been nuts. At best. We have visited TWO ER’s, THREE other Doctors’ offices, went for an MRI, AND the best part is, this all started ON CHRISTMAS! Who knew we could be so exciting?! I did. That’s our Christmas M.O. I’m afraid. That is not the first time we have needed an ER on Christmas. Continue reading →


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Traditions Reinvented—A Cranberry Chocolate Devil’s Food Cake

For those of you who have been here, done that…I am sorry for the reposts lately. I am without a kitchen at the moment so I have decided to share some old favorites of mine and now hopefully yours…

Are you in the Thanksgiving spirit yet?  Perhaps dreaming of cranberries and pumpkin pie?  Cranberries are so nice and tart that they are the perfect accompaniment to a deep, dark Devil’s Food cake laced with both white and dark chocolate ganache.

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Aunt Bette’s Dangerous German Chocolate Cake

Aunt Bette is my husband’s aunt, and as far as my dad is concerned, her German Chocolate cake is the best dowry any dad could ask for.  It is actually airy and spongy, with the best ooey, gooey coconut and pecan topping.  If that’s not enough, it also has a luxurious chocolate butter cream frosting on the sides just to send it over the top.

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All For One and One for All – Three Musketeers Birthday Cupcakes

My son requested a Three Musketeers’ flavored birthday cake for his family birthday dinner recently.  He turned 17 this month…that is absolutely one of the craziest things I have heard in awhile.

Where has the time gone? Most of us find ourselves saying that now and again, especially as we watch our children grow. That is the running theme in my head like a song that is stuck playing over and over again. Tears almost trickle down, but yet I am happy. Everything is good. Really good. Continue reading →


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“The One” and a Chocolate Chip Cookie with Home Made Butter Toffee {Secret Recipe Club}

This is my first month as part of the Secret Recipe Club and what a better way to get my toes dipped into the water, then to get to feature a recipe from a talented blogger, Katie, at Epicurean Mom. I have to tell you, her stunning photos of her beautiful children immediately captured my attention.

There were so many drool-worthy recipes to choose from that I had a bit of trouble narrowing down my choice, but when I got to Home Made Butter Toffee Chunks in Chocolate Chip Cookies, I knew I had met “the one”. You know in the depths of your soul when you have found “the one”, don’t you? Continue reading →


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Chocolate Spiderweb Cookies and a Spooky Halloween Hot Cocoa Bar

Here is something yummy and spooky for your Halloween table….soft yet slightly crispy chocolate spider web cookies. What could be more fun to serve your little guests after a cold night of trick-or-treating than a hot cocoa bar complete with chocolate spiderweb cookies, chocolate dipped Oreos, ghost-shaped Peep marshmallows and homemade chocolate spiders?

Even the adults can get in on this recipe since I managed to spike the icing in the adultified version. I added a little Frangelico to the icing to kick things up a notch. Continue reading →


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Death by the No Nut Chocolate Cookies

My favorite cookbook hands down is Death By Chocolate by Marcel Desaulniers. I can’t say that I’ve actually made more than 10 of the 30 or so recipes, but every recipe I have tried is my new favorite. These triple chocolate cookies are one of those favorites.

They are dark, extra chocolatey, soft with just a slightly crisp outer layer, and they are just a tiny bit salty. Can you think of a more perfect cookie? You can? It’s missing something perhaps? I know, some of you out there are literally jumping up and down shouting…”Where the heck are the nuts?” What was SHE THINKING?
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