Tag Archives: bourbon

Heart Mocha Brownies with Bourbon White Chocolate Ganache

Mocha brownies. Chocolate. Bourbon. White Chocolate. Ganache.

Heart brownies with Jesse James Bourbon white chocolate ganache

It’s the stuff dreams and Valentine’s Day are made of. Since I’m on an anti-Valentine’s kick, I thought I’d make an effort to embrace it for the sake of others. This is my good deed for the day.

I mean, how hard can it be? Brownies. You just can’t be grumpy with brownies. Make them a little mocha-ie to change them up a bit. Cut them into hearts (I promise, I resisted the urge to make them broken hearts!). Bourbon. My mood is rapidly improving! White chocolate. I often say I’d eat a paper plate that has cheese melted on it. I feel the same way about white chocolate. Bourbon white chocolate ganache!!!!! Yes, coat the dreaded hearts in bourbon white chocolate ganache!!! If I wasn’t already me, I’d marry me for this idea. Hell, I think I’m going to task my personal mixologist, David Gano, with creating a drink that tastes like these. The man worked magic with my Almond Lemon Lavender Cookies; I think he can swing this one!

Mocha Brownies

4 oz unsweetened bar chocolate
3/4 cup butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3 Tbs espresso powder
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup white chocolate chips (or whatever flavor you prefer)

Prepare 9 x 9 baking pan (I use spray for baking). Sprinkle a little

Sprinkle espresso and cocoa powder in bottom of prepared pan.

extra espresso powder and cocoa powder in bottom of pan. Preheat over to 350. In large bowl, combine sugars. Set aside. Place butter and chocolate (broken into pieces) into medium, microwavable bowl. Heat 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, for a minute total. Continue to stir until chocolate completely melts. Stir in vanilla. Pour into sugar mixture. Stir until combined.

Stir espresso powder into mixture

****Note: DO NOT use an electric mixer for brownies. ***** Add beaten eggs, and stir until well combined. Stir in espresso powder and flour (add flour a little at a time for ease of stirring). Fold in white chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes (until center is no longer liquid. It can be fudgy, but not liquid). Use heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out hearts.

Cut brownies into heart shapes

Drizzle with slightly cooled ganache.

Bourbon White Chocolate Ganache

8 oz bar white chocolate
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs Jesse James Bourbon

In heavy medium saucepan, combine white chocolate, cream and butter and heat over low heat, stirring constantly and just until mixture is smooth. Stir in bourbon. Cool slightly and drizzle over brownies. In my continued effort to embrace Valentine’s Day, I added some red coloring to the ganache, although I considered black!

Henriettibles Super-Spectacular Best Eggnog EVAH

I worked on this eggnog recipe for several weeks (it was a tough gig!). I remember when I was 13 or so, I made fresh eggnog for the first time. I fell in love with it. I have no idea what that recipe actually was, but this (minus the booze!) is the taste that I remember - or close to it. I know it didn’t have cloves or cardamom, but I think they add some nice warmth to the recipe. This recipe is the best I’ve ever had!!! Or made!! I have used the store bought to make the Peppermint Eggnog martini, and it’s passable, but that’s only available seasonably. THIS, you can make any time you have a “Hank”ering.

Ingredients

5 whole eggs
3 egg yolks (you can reserve the whites to fold into the eggnog if you wish. Just beat to a soft peak and fold in at the end. Do not get any yolk in the whites. The yolks can tolerate the mixing with the whites, but the whites will not become peaks of any sort if the yolk is mixed in.)
½ cup sugar
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp cardamom
4 oz bourbon
2 oz dark or spiced rum
Garnish with fresh ground nutmeg

In large bowl, beat the eggs and egg yolks until they look light yellow. Add the sugar and beat until all the sugar is dissolved. Add remaining ingredients (except garnish) and mix until combined. Pour into festive glasses and garnish with the fresh ground nutmeg.

A couple notes:

You can reduce the amount of bourbon and/or rum to taste.
RAW EGG WARNING!!!!! If you don’t get pasteurized eggs, be sure to properly test the eggs before using to avoid salmonella poisoning. The FDA suggests avoiding contact between the egg white/yolk and the exterior shell. If your immune system is compromised, you should avoid consuming foods that contain raw eggs.

Cinnamon Bun Coffee Cake

Try as I might, I just can’t seem to enjoy eating broccoli or fresh spinach (although they are my favorite vegetables!) as much as I enjoy eating a fresh, hot cinnamon bun. And they sure as hell don’t smell as good as a cinnamon bun!

I also love to entertain. Brunch is one of my favorite events to host. HOWEVER, that does limit your available time to prepare the day of the event; pre-prep is essential! This is a wonderful recipe to have the delicious taste and smell of cinnamon buns without the hassle of making buns from scratch.You can prep the coffee cake the night before, refrigerate overnight and, Voilà, you have amazing in the morning. Yes, this will probably add a little junk in your trunk (or buns) if you eat it every day, but it’s a fabalicious treat.

Ingredients

Cake

²⁄₃ cup softened butter
³⁄₄ cup sugar
³⁄₄ cup light brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 cups flour
1 ¹⁄₂ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¹⁄₂ tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
³⁄₄ cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Topping

4 Tbs melted butter
³⁄₄ cup light brown sugar
1 ¹⁄₂ tsp cinnamon
¹⁄₂ cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans
1 tsp Jesse James Bourbon

Glaze 1 (Cream Cheese)

1 cup powdered sugar
¹⁄₄ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp J esse James Bourbon (use almond or vanilla extract if serving children!)
4 oz cream cheese, softened

Glaze 2

1 ¹⁄₃ cup powdered sugar
2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
1 ¹⁄₂ tsp Jesse James Bourbon (use almond or vanilla extract if serving children!)
2 Tbs milk
¹⁄₄ tsp salt

Directions for the Cake:

Prepare 9×13 pan. Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs and beat until combined. Sift dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients and buttermilk to egg/butter mixture, alternating. Stir in nuts. Pour into prepared pan. Combine the topping ingredients very well. Sprinkle all around top of cake. Cover and refrigerate over night. When your ready to bake, remove cover and bake in preheated over for 35 minutes.

Directions for the Glazes:

Combine all ingredients with mixer. Drizzle (or pour if you really like it!) over warm coffee cake. I serve the glaze on the side and drizzle glaze on each piece as I serve it.

How easy was that???? Enjoy!

Butter Pecan Bourbon Cake

Bourbon. You know it. You love it. Now you’ll really, really want it! Two great tastes combined in one luscious cake, our Butter Pecan Bourbon Cake by Henriettibles.

What’s not to love? This cake is as easy to make as it is good to eat. Every party I take this cake to, it disappears in the blink of an eye. If you’re taking it to a party, you might want to make two so you have some for yourself!

Cake Ingredients:

1 box butter pecan cake mix
1 pkg vanilla pudding - the type you cook, not instant
4 eggs - when baking, eggs should be at room temperature
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup Jesse James Bourbon Whiskey

Directions:

Beat all with electric mixer until combined. Pour into greased and floured Bundt pan. Bake at 325 for 60 minutes.*

*If you really like pecans, put some in the bottom of the Bundt pan before adding batter.

Syrup Ingredients:

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup bourbon
1/4 cup water

Directions:

Melt all in saucepan, bring just to a boil. Pour over cake as soon as it comes out of oven. Allow to cool slightly (be sure to allow the syrup to all absorb into the cake) in pan before turning out on to a serving plate.