Though my familly and I aren’t vegan (or vegetarian) we do like to experiment with different types and styles of food and have come across a few recipes that we’ve permanently added to our recipe collection.

This video and recipe for Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte are from Hippie Chick Bakery. They recommend using organic, unrefined ingredients if you can find them.

Brownie Shell

3/4 C flour
1/4 C cocoa powder
3/4 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp baking powder
3/4 C soy milk
2 1/2 TBSP apple sauce

~ Preheat oven 325. lightly grease 9″ spring form or cake pan, or just line bottom with parchment for ease.

~ Mix flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, baking soda & powder then add soymilk & applesauce. Combine.

~ Pour in pan and bake for 40 min. Don’t worry if edges seem dry, they will moisten when covered with ganache.

Peanut Butter Filling

5 Tb vegan margarine, softened
1 1/2 C confectioners sugar
1 C smooth peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-5 Tb soymilk

~ Cream together butter & peanut butter. Add vanilla. Add sugar in 1/2 C increments adding soymilk a little at a time until desired consistency.

~ Spread peanut butter filling on cooled cake and spread to edges. If a thicker consistency is desired, flatten to desired shape on wax paper then transfer to cake.

Ganache

3/4 C soymilk [minus a couple tablespoons if using a 10 oz bag of chips]
1/4 C vegan margarine
1 10-12 oz bag chocolate chips

~ Microwave soymilk & margarine for two minutes. Pour in chips, stir until completely blended. Pour over top of peanut butter on cake and spread. Let cool or refrigerate and serve.

Adele Hagan, a food stylist, has put together a cool series of videos with her tips and tricks for food styling.

In the video above, she shows how she makes chocolate bark, or chocolate slabs, that can be used for desserts or just served on their own.

She starts out by melting chocolate over a double boiler on the stove before pouring the chocolate over some plastic wrap on a sheet pan. I’ve never poured melted anything on plastic wrap but apparently it holds up pretty well against the heat!

She then sprinkles some chopped nuts and dried cranberries over top before drizzling melted white chocolate over it all. It looks really pretty and would go great as a gift for friends or as a fancy dessert.

She uses up the leftover melted chocolate by dipping washed and dried strawberries in it and drizzles the berries with more melted white chocolate.

She finishes up the segment by cutting up the chocolate bark with some round cookie cutters and sandwiching some chocolate mousse between the rounds. For such a quick process it really ends up being a beautiful dessert!

We may not be anywhere near Thanksgiving, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make and enjoy a decadent pecan pie, complete with chocolate!

This video from HolidayKitchen demonstrates how to make a Chocolate Pecan Pie, which is a twist on the traditional version that I can really get behind!

Chocolate Pecan Pie

4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
3 (1 oz) squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 cups pecan halves

Combine eggs, sugar and corn syrup and mix for one minute. Add melted chocolate and beat for one more minute. Add pecan halves and stir until just combined. Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes.

Today is Chocolate Eclair Day, and to be honest, it’s been years and years since I had a chocolate eclair. I think it actually may have been in French class in high school, and I’m not going to tell you how long ago that was!

Needless to say, the video above is making me really anxious to try making them on my own. I’d always thought they were way more involved and complicated than they actually are, so I never gave them much of a second thought. How sad! Though I’ve seen them made on the Food Network, let’s face it, they make everything look easy. In this case, it looks like it actually might be!

Eclairs are a pastry that start out with choux pastry, which is just butter, water, flour and eggs, and is cooked briefly before being piped out into the recognizable eclair shapes. Once baked they’re cut in half and filled with custard, then topped with a chocolate glaze. Of course you could make things even easier on yourself and use an instant pudding for the filling, which opens up even more possibilities as far as flavors go.

In this video, Chef Jean Pierre shows how to make an amazing Chocolate Hazelnut Truffle using a tool right out of the hardware store. It’s not a truffle in the traditional sense — it’s actually more oof a deconstructed truffle — but it’s got the basics!

Using sections of PVC piping, Chef Jean creates a dessert using hazelnuts (or almonds, walnuts or pecans), ground chocolate chip cookies, ganache, whipped cream, cocoa powder, and raspberries.

What’s so great about this is that I’ve got everything in my kitchen to make this right now (except for the PVC, but I could make a five minute run to the store), and because it’s so easy (though not necessarily quick - it needs several hours in the freezer!) I can make it for a delicious after-dinner surprise and not feel like I’ve spent so much time on something that’ll be gobbled up within minutes.

I was recently contacted by Paul, who did a commissioned animation video for UK chocolatier My Chocolate.

The video is clever and very cute! It features a delicious-looking selection of truffles and covered chocolates, as well as nuts and candies as they go from little slabs of chocolate to hand-dipped and sprinkled confections.

My Chocolate is a London workshop where you can cut, dip and decorate your own chocolate treats, and they’ll even bring the chocolate to you. Someone needs to get on this stat and bring it to the US!

If you’ve ever been to a Chili’s restaurant then you’ve probably heard of the Chocolate Molten Cake.

The dessert is described as “Warm chocolate cake with chocolate fudge filling. Topped with vanilla ice cream under a crunchy chocolate shell.” Sounds delicious, right?

In the video above, Todd Wilbur from topsecretrecipes.com shows you how to clone the decadent treat at home with just a few changes: instead of a fluted tart pan, he uses a giant muffin tin and just a basic boxed chocolate cake mix, and Hershey’s hot fudge for the filling.

I have to admit, Todd’s looks much more appetizing than Chili’s!

This week’s Howdini video once again features chocolatier Jacques Torres as he makes chocolate lollipops.

In the beginning of the video, Jacques quickly explains what cocoa content means (60%, 70%, etc) before he gets down to business with his big bowl of tempered chocolate.

He preps some molds by placing lollipop sticks in them before piping in the chocolate (it can be spooned in as well). After just a few minutes in the refrigerator, the chocolate pops out of the molds easily and can be placed in cute little bags for gift giving.

I would love to do something like this for my kids’ teachers at the end of the school year, but it’s so hot already that I don’t think they’d even survive the walk to school. I’ll definitely keep it in mind and make sure I find some molds and lollipop sticks before Christmas this year, though!

Master chocolatier Jacques Torres has teamed up with Howdini to demonstrate how to make chocolate covered corn flake treats. It’s as easy as Rice Krispy treats, but a lot more decadent!

You start off by melting your chocolate over a double boiler and tempering it a bit as it cools down. Then you add a few cups of corn flakes to a bowl, add your melted chocolate and mix. It doesn’t get easier than that!

Then, just as if you were scooping cookie dough on a baking sheet, use two spoons to make some mounds on parchment paper before transferring the treats to the fridge for about ten minutes.

I love how there’s really no measuring for this, and you pretty much just eyeball it to see what looks right and what suits your tastes. These are really cute packaged up in little cellophane bags for gift giving, or just presented on a plate!

I really love this idea — instead of having just a plain cup of coffee in the morning, get in some protein with it and make a healthy mocha smoothie. I also really like that it’s a cold drink, since it’s getting toasty here in the southwest and a hot cup of coffee in the morning isn’t as appealing as it is in the cooler months.

Making the mocha smoothie from the video above is pretty easy. All you need is ice, coffee, chocolate whey protein powder, milk, and yogurt. I think the biggest obstacle for me would be running the blender so early in the morning — the kids are just down the hall! My husband suggested we try making it the night before and keeping it in the fridge overnight, so we’ll give that a shot and see how well it keeps.

I like that it has a full serving of protein as well; both my husband and I are getting into shape for summer and one concern we always have is if we’re getting in enough protein each day. I’ve seen the chocolate whey protein powder at several stores now and oddly, it had never clicked to pick some up.

I think this would also be good with a few raspberries or strawberries blended in as well!