Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse

A rich, creamy chocolate hazelnut mousse paired with the fresh fruity flavors in a glass of Red Moscato wine is an elegant dessert I am proud to serve anytime of year, but especially during the holidays. It never fails to impress, and no one will ever know how incredibly easy it is to make!

Lemon Mousse with Raspberry Sauce

Sweet and zesty Lemon Curd combined with creamy whipped topping is my no-bake, easy-to-make Lemon Mousse. It is refreshingly tangy and makes an impressive dessert. The simple Raspberry Sauce adds an extra punch of color, as well as flavor, that puts this mousse over-the-top!

Red White and Blue Parfaits

My Red, White, and Blue Parfaits make the perfect dessert for our holiday weekend. The patriotic colors bring that festive feel, and because these parfaits are made with less carbs, we can enjoy this tasty holiday treat without all the guilt!

Easy Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

Do you love ice cream cakes? We have always loved them! Especially the ones with the crunchy goodness in between the layers! yummmm! The one thing I don't like about ice cream cakes is making them! They take a bit of time, unless you have this easy recipe cheat. My Easy Ice Cream Sandwich Cake is the easiest cake you probably aren't making, but should be! It is chocolaty, sweet, delicious, has a crunchy filling, and only takes about 10 minutes to assemble. Sometimes we just NEED easy <smile>

Lime Cheesecake Parfait

Lime Cheesecake Parfait is amazingly easy to make and has a secret ingredient that makes it healthier and creamier too! You can't beat that!! The secret ingredient also gives this yum-mazing dessert that gorgeous green color! Healthy, creamy and green - have you guessed what the secret ingredient is? Hint: It's one of my favorite fruits!

Cookie Butter Parfait

Cookie Butter Parfait is an incredibly delectable dessert that is super simple to make and today I'll show you how to throw this together in no time. Oh, and I'm also giving away a KitchenAid Stand Mixer! For FREE! Yeehaw!!

Have you ever tried Cookie Butter, a.k.a Biscoff Spread? Honestly, I don't know why I never thought to crush up cookies into a creamy spread! It's brilliant! It sounds like something I would do. I probably would have gotten around to it eventually, but somebody beat me to it! Yeah, that's it, suuuure <wink>

I use Cookie Butter in one of our all time favorite treats-my No Bake Cookie Butter Bars. Mmmmmm, they are soo good, but not to be outdone is my Cookie Butter Cheesecake Bars with Chocolate Ganache, and then there's the times when I just happen to have a spoon and the cookie butter is calling my name! That's right! Cookie Butter tastes great with spoons too!

Lemon Curd Parfait #SundaySupper

Lemon Curd Parfait is ridiculously easy to make! The sweet tangy goodness of the lemon curd mixed with the creamy Mascarpone cheese makes for a refreshing treat any time of the year, but we especially like it in the hot summer months, which is why I chose this recipe for this week's #SundaySupper.

Caramel Banana Cheesecake Shooters

I was experimenting in the kitchen today, and I created a yummy little treat I plan to make for Madison's college equestrian team.  They are competing in the first show of the season, and Madison was chosen as one of the riders for this show. We are so excited to go watch the team compete, and happy we are able to spoil them a little bit

Last year I purchased these little plastic push pop containers

to make transporting treats easier when attending the shows. These nifty push pops are perfect for layering cake and filling to create all sorts of delectable yummies! 

Because I've been on a caramel kick lately, I naturally came up with something to incorporate that flavor in the cake shooters.  I wanted to make a sort of caramel cheesecake, but I thought making a graham cracker crust would be a bit messy to eat out of the push pop, so I wondered if I could make a cake that tastes like a graham cracker.  allrecipes.com to the rescue once again. I went to the site and typed in graham cracker cake and up came this recipe... allrecipes.com Graham Cracker Cake  It had good reviews, so I decided to give it a go. I made the cake exactly as stated in the recipe, but I baked it in a 13x9" dish for about 35 minutes. The cake is really good and tastes just like a graham cracker- it is exactly what I wanted!

Cheesecake Filling

Ingredients

2 (8 oz) package cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1 banana

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/3 cup whipped cream (I used Cool Whip)

Place cream cheese, sugar, banana. and lemon juice in a blender or a mixing bowl and mix until smooth (I prefer using a blender for this - it gets it very smooth). Fold in whipped cream until incorporated.  Give it a taste and adjust flavors to your liking. Chill in freezer for 30 minutes. Then store in the fridge until ready to use.

Caramel Topping

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 1/4 cups heavy cream - warmed

salt to taste

In a heavy weight saucepan over medium heat, heat the sugar until it starts to melt and brown. This will take at least 5 minutes - maybe a little longer. Stir constantly so you don't burn the sugar (that would be bad). Once your sugar is starting to look a little brown and turning into crystallized chunks then you can add the butter. Keep stirring! Stir until you have a beautiful caramel colored smooth sauce. Be patient. It is worth the effort! Once you reach the smooth, caramel colored sauce remove the pan from the heat.  Be sure the cream is warmed all the way through. Add the cream about 1/4 cup at a time (be careful it will steam) and stir until well combined. Keep adding until all the cream is combined.  Salt to taste and enjoy the rich, smooth, creamy goodness. 

note: if the cream is not sufficiently warmed you may end up with chunks in your sauce. Not to fear - just put it back over mid-high heat and stir until all chunks are dissolved.

To make the cake shooters I used the push pop to cut cake rounds (if you don't have push pop containers you can make these in anything really and eat with a spoon). I whipped up some cheesecake filling and caramel topping.  Layer the ingredients as follows: 1 cake round, pipe in cheesecake filling, and drizzle caramel topping. Repeat until you fill the container. These are delicious right away, but pop these in the fridge overnight and enjoy them cold the next day - even better! Yummmm.

Next time I think I'll try using the graham cracker cake with a chocolate ganache and marshmallow meringue for a s'more shooter....