Page 24 - December 2023 News On 7

TICKLING YOUR TASTE BUDS

CHRISTMAS BAKING

CHRISTMAS CHOCOLATE CARAMEL CUPS Instructions
Place 36 mini cupcake liners in a mini cupcake tin.
Ingredients
1 cup sugar Set aside. MAKE THE BOTTOM CHOCOLATE
LAYER: In a large bowl melt half of the chocolate
⅔ cup heavy cream
1 pound chocolate almond bark almond bark in 30-second increments in the
microwave until melted and smooth. Spoon a little
holiday sprinkles
bit of the chocolate into each cupcake liner. Using a
small spoon or even a paintbrush spread the
chocolate up the sides of the liners.
If the chocolate layer seems too thin you can add a bit more chocolate to the cup and spread up the sides some more. You
want to make sure you cannot see the bottom of the liner. Set the chocolate cups aside to harden.
MAKE THE CARAMEL: While the chocolate cups are setting up, add the sugar to a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat on
the stove. Let the sugar slowly melt, stirring as little as possible and very gently. The sugar will melt until there are no
lumps and it is an amber color. This can burn and become bitter if you let it get too dark. As soon as the sugar has reached
the correct color, remove it from the heat and very slowly whisk in a thin stream of the heavy cream until it is all combined.
Pour the caramel carefully into a bowl and set in the fridge for 30 minutes to thicken up. ADD THE CARAMEL TO THE
CHOCOLATE CUPS: Once the caramel is thicker you can spoon it into the chocolate lined muffin liners. You want to fill the
shells up almost to the the top of where the chocolate ends but not over it.
ADD THE TOP CHOCOLATE LAYER
Melt the remaining chocolate almond bark. Spoon chocolate over the top of the caramel cups and gently spread it to the
edges of the liners. Sprinkle with the holiday sprinkles. Place the cups into the fridge for another hour to completely set.

Little Nut Cups
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
2 (3 ounce) packages cream cheese
½ cup white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons butter, melted
2 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups chopped pecans
1 ½ cups brown sugar
½ cup honey

Directions
In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, cream cheese and sugar until
smooth. Stir in the flour and mix thoroughly. The dough should be
somewhat firm. Roll into 36 small balls, place them on a plate and
refrigerate for one hour.

Make the filling in a medium bowl. Beat the eggs, melted butter, vanilla and
brown sugar until smooth and well blended. Stir in the nuts. Preheat oven
to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Press the chilled dough balls into the
bottom and up the sides of tart pans or mini muffin cups. Fill each shell
with filling almost to the top. Use a squeeze top honey container if you
have one, to drip about 1/2 teaspoon of honey onto the top of each cup.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until crust is lightly
browned. Allow to cool in the tins completely before removing.