Cookie Truffles

A few years ago, I stumbled across a cookbook with a recipe for Oreo Truffles.  Some of you may have had the pleasure of sampling these the last time I made them, but if not, you are in for something amazing that is incredibly simple!  Since then, I've made these using Oreos and Nutter Butter cookies.  My friend and I have never been able to decide which one is better because they are both so yummy.  I hope you find this recipe a delightful addition to your holiday cookie/candy lists.

Cannoli Cake

This past weekend was the wedding of a friend of mine and my brother-in-law.  I volunteered to make their cake.  They wanted a red velvet and cannoli cake for their tiered cake.  The red velvet recipe I used can be found on a previous post and here is the cannoli recipe I used.  After making this a few times, the one thing I learned is the quality of your ricotta makes a huge difference in the texture of the filling.  I found Walmart's generic made the filling grainy, but Sargento was pretty good.  The cake is lighter than many cannoli cake recipes, but it does require separate bowls and a lot of whisking.  Be sure your batter doesn't have any lumps from the yolk mix, since they will be lumpy when the cake bakes.  It should be smooth and velvety. 

Red (or blue, green, yellow, orange, brown...) Velvet Cake

Turtle Fruit Dip

2 blocks cream cheese

1 c packed brown sugar

1/2 c caramel ice cream topping

1 c mini chocolate chips

1/2 c chopped pecans

Cream together cheese and brown sugar until smooth.  Add in ice cream topping, pecans, and chocolate chips and mix thoroughly.

Peanut Butter Mousse Cake

Here’s a recipe that a friend helped me conceive… It’s a variation on the “chocolate death cake” (chocolate mousse cake) that I make on occasion. This one doesn’t take quite as long to make as the full chocolate one. J The peanut butter mousse is amazing… think light, creamy, fluffy Reese’s peanut butter cup centers!