Making chocolate covered strawberries is very easy! I will break down the steps for you.

Ingredients

– 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
– 1 pound strawberries (about 20), washed and patted dry

Directions

– Line a baking sheet with wax paper. In a microwave-safe glass bowl, microwave the chocolate, stopping and stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth.
– Holding a strawberry by the stem end, dip it in the melted chocolate, letting the excess drip off, then transfer to the prepared baking sheet. As you set the strawberry down, slide it ½ inch to the side to prevent the formation of a chocolate “foot.” Repeat with the remaining berries.
– Let chocolate harden at room temperature

Tips

• You can also use candy melts to dip the strawberries in.  To make the green strawberries, I used Green Wilton candy melts.
• I always add a little bit of shortening to the chocolate melts to make it smoother and easier to dip.
• To make the horizontal stripes, I fill a plastic bottle with melted chocolate and squeeze back and forth over a bunch of strawberries at once.
• I added gold luster dust onto the strawberries by mixing a tiny amount of vodka with the luster dust and painting on the chocolate with a new paint brush.
• Do not refrigerate the strawberries once they are covered.  Some people say you can, but I never do.

Enjoy!

Some other Saint Patrick’s day treats you might enjoy!

Here is the first table I designed.  For this table, I made a easy non sew pennant banner with three different patterns of material.  I made gift bags with the left over material.  You can see other pennant banners I have made here

Another decoration that I thought made a nice look was the pinwheels.  It is a lot simpler then the pinwheels I used here for this party!

This is the second dessert table for this party, which one do you think is better?

These cake pops were really fun and easy to make! I made a chocolate cake pop and let it completely dry.  Then I took a new paint brush and painted water all over the cake pop.  Next, I opened a bottle of green disco dust and painted it all over the cake pop.  When they dry they look just like this, very sparkly and pretty! You can see some other cake pops I made with disco dust here, and some other Saint Patrick’s day cake balls here.

I bought little green cups that I got from Oriental Trading Co. and filled them with delicious green grapes.

I made platters of green vegetables with broccoli, cucumbers, and celery.

I made sugar free jello and cut them into shamrocks (another healthier choice). 

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St. Patrick’s Day ice cream jello shamrocks

Ingredients

• Mix together to dissolve:
• 2 large packages (6 oz each) of green Jello (or any flavor)
• 1 packet of unflavored gelatin
• 4 cups boiling water
• Add:
• 1 quart vanilla ice cream

Instructions

1. Mix together to dissolve:
2. 2 large packages (6 oz each) of green Jello (or any flavor)
3. 1 packet of unflavored gelatin
4. 4 cups boiling water
5. Add:
6. 1 quart vanilla ice cream (I would use less ice cream next time)
7. Stir til dissolved
8. Pour:
9. 9 x 13 glass dish
10. Refrigerate overnight, cut and serve! The ice cream will float to the top of the jello.
11. Cut shamrocks out with a cookie cutter and enjoy!

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I made kiwi strawberry juice, instead of the usual sugar packed punch or soda.  I got to use my new beverage dispenser, and it worked great!

Now on to the non healthy items   The cake is three tiered and I made the fondant myself. You can find the recipe Here.  For this cake I made two batches of marshmallow fondant.  I rolled out the green fondant thin and cut out the shamrocks with cookie cutters, using two different sizes.

I made these cookies with a mold I got on Amazon.com.  I painted green chocolate on the shamrock, then placed an Oreo cookie inside.  After that, I covered the cookie with more green chocolate.  I used wilton candy melts.

The cake pops are vanilla cake with green chocolate, and white sprinkles.  I think cake pops always make a party more festive!

I filled a green leprechaun pot with gold rolos, they are so cute and look just like gold.  These two leprechauns add the perfect finishing touch to the table.

I hope you like my party and that you can use some of my ideas and recipes for your next St. Patricks Day party!

Enjoy,

Shamene 

Other St. Patrick’s Day ideas you might like

st paddy’s day cake balls

Shamrock surprise inside cake

This St. Patrick’s Day, entertain your little leprechauns with delicious treats and fun activities that will lead them to their pot of gold.

Every year in March, families celebrate the annual Irish tradition of St. Patrick’s Day with a variety of celebrations. Whether it’s attending a parade or preparing and enjoying an elaborate Irish meal, everyone has their own favorite ways to celebrate the holiday. Set your own unique traditions and rituals with some ideas below.

Pass Along the Luck
Have kids put together lucky treat bags to pass along to neighbors. These treat bags could include cut-out, decorated and customized four-leaf clovers, chocolate coins and other goodies. Then, on St. Patrick’s Day, walk around as a family and surprise neighbors with these bags.

Treasure Hunt
Set up a treasure hunt for family and friends by placing chocolate gold coins around the house. Give them a series of clues and riddles to help them figure out where to look for the coins. Equip each “hunter” with their own pot or basket for collecting the gold coins. At the end of the hunt, reward them for their hard work with some festive brownies. These delicious Chocolate Mint Brownies can be decorated with green gumdrops formed into shamrocks or other holiday candies. Use a shamrock-shaped cookie cutter to make these treats even more festive.

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Chocolate Mint Brownies

Ingredients

Brownie Base
• 1 box Betty Crocker® Original Supreme brownie mix (with chocolate syrup pouch)
• Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on brownie mix box
Filling
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon mint extract
• 4 drops green food color
Topping
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 bag (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
• 1/2 cup butter (do not use margarine)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease only bottom of 13 x 9-inch pan with shortening or cooking spray. Make and bake brownie mix as directed on box for 13 x 9-inch pan, using water, oil and eggs. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
2. In large bowl, beat filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread over cooled brownies. Refrigerate about 1 hour or until set.
3. Meanwhile, in 2-quart nonstick saucepan, heat topping ingredients over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until melted and smooth. Cool about 10 minutes or until lukewarm.
4. Pour topping over filling; spread to cover. Refrigerate uncovered about 2 hours or until set. Before cutting into bars, let stand 10 minutes at room temperature. For bars, cut into 8 rows by 4 rows. For easier cutting, cut brownies with a wet knife. Store covered in refrigerator.

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Recipe from Betty Crocker

Other Brownies and Bars you might like!

Chocolate Toffee Bars

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

Pumpkin Brownies

Linking up Here:http://www.thecountrycook.net/2014/03/weekend-potluck-108.html#more

To make this cake, I started with  my favorite white cake recipe Here.  I separated the batter into four bowls and added green food coloring to make different shades of green.  I used four six inch cake pans and baked the cakes all at the same time.  I cooled the cakes, and leveled them with my Wilton Leveler.  I got a six inch cake board and put it on my turn table.  I put a smear of frosting on the cake board and placed the darkest cake first.  You can find my buttercream frosting recipe here.  I used two batches of my buttercream frosting recipe.   I put one cup of frosting between each layer of cake, and let it set in the refrigerator for one hour.  Next I covered the cake with a crumb coat and let it set in the refrigerator for one hour.

Above is what the cake looks like after I frosted it.  I divided the frosting into three bowls and made it the color I wanted.  I frosted it starting on the bottom.  After the three colors are on, just go over it with a bench scraper to smooth it out.  Be careful not to over work it or the colors won’t blend right! I went over my frosting only two times and it wasn’t perfectly smooth, but I was happy with the result.  I also went over the top of the cake with a hot knife to smooth out the imperfections.

Enjoy and Happy St. Patricks Day!!

Shamene

 You might also like these cakes

Key Lime Cheesecake

Mint Chocolate Cake

My cake was featured here!

Here

Here

– See more at: http://www.anyonita-nibbles.co.uk/2014/02/free-grocery-list-meal-planner-printable.html#sthash.1pLMxgpJ.o3j0iNYV.dpuf

Here

Here

I have seen many peekaboo cakes on Pinterest with shamrocks made with pound cake, Live Love and Sugar was my inspiration  here and i am baker  here.  I really wanted to make one with my small 6 inch cake pan.  First I wanted to try with a round cake pan, but couldn’t get it right.  These peekaboo cakes are a little tricky because you don’t really know what the cut outs are going to do inside.  For example,they can rise to the top or move around inside the batter while the second cake is cooking.  I first made a sheet cake with a white cake mix and colored it green.  I followed the instructions on the box and added one extra egg and a small box of cheesecake pudding mix to make it more dense.  After the cake came out and cooled, I cut the cake in half with a cake leveler and  used a one inch shamrock cookie cutter to  cut out shamrocks.  I put them in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Next, after greasing and flouring the pan, I placed them in the square pan in a row of about 9 shamrock cut outs like the picture below

Next, I mixed up a white cake mix and poured it over the shamrocks to completely cover them.

I put the shamrocks right up to the edge of the pan so it will show a little after it cooks and you can see which side is the front in order to cut it on the right side.

After both cakes have cooled, I put one cup of buttercream frosting as a filling, and frosted the cake.  I cut out more shamrocks with green fondant.  You can find the recipe for buttercream HERE and for fondant HERE.

So there you have it!  Make sure you mark the front of the cake when you are frosting it, because you are going to want to cut the cake in the front to be able to see the shamrocks inside! What I did was put a spoonful on frosting on front of my turntable while frosting it so I would know where the front was.  Then after frosting, I put the shamrock on top facing forward so I would know where the front was and where to cut.

Enjoy!

Shamene

You might also enjoy some of these cakes!

Key Lime Cheesecake

Polka Dot Cake

Thanksgiving Turkey Cake with Surprise inside

My cake was featured here!

Here 

Here

Here

Here 

This cheesecake tastes perfect! It’s creamy, but not wet, tart, but not sour.  I think it has the perfect amount of key lime tartness and the graham cracker crust and whipped cream topping balance it out with sweetness.

The hardest part about making this cheesecake was worrying about baking it at the right temperature, and about not getting cracks in the top of the cheesecake.  I experimented with several recipes and decided that this one was the best.  The water bath really seemed to help make this cheesecake very creamy.  If you want to use a larger  9 inch springform pan, you can adjust the cooking time to 70 minutes.  At the last minute I had my husband run out and buy a turkey roasting bag because I was worried about water seeping in through the springform pan and through the tin foil.  The turkey bag worked perfectly and no water got in, yay! Thank you Hubby for all your late night runs to the store for my little baking adventures!!

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Key Lime Cheesecake

Ingredients

• Key Lime Cheesecake – adapted from cheesecakefactorymenu.com
• Ingredients:
Crust
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon sugar
Filling
• 2 1/2 sticks (20 oz. total) cream cheese at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 3 eggs at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons key lime juice (6 tablespoons if using regular lime juice)
Glaze (adapted from Creative Culinary)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons key lime/lime juice
• green food coloring if desired
Topping/Garnish
• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped with 2 tablespoons powdered sugar (or make stabilized whipped cream)
• Sliced key limes/limes

Instructions

Crust
1. Mix graham crackers, melted butter, and sugar in a medium bowl or plastic bag.
2. Pour into a 7-inch spring form pan that’s been coated with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Carefully spread crumb mixture evenly over the bottom and press firmly all over.
Cheesecake
4. Put a layer of heavy duty aluminum foil on the bottom and up the sides of the spring from pan as a protective barrier to keep the water from getting into the cheesecake.
5. I also like to put my pan into an oven-proof plastic turkey bag (top open) and then put it in the water bath, just to ensure I don’t get a soggy cheesecake.
6. Preheat oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Place a large shallow pan filled with 1 inch of water into the oven to create the water bath.
8. In a large bowl (or the bowl of a standing mixer), beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer on low speed.
9. Gradually beat in the sugar, sour cream, flour, and vanilla until smooth.
10. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
11. Add the eggs, 1/4 cup heavy cream, and lime juice and continue to beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
12. Pour the cheesecake filling into the spring form pan.
13. Place the pan into the water bath in the oven.
14. After 8 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 40 minutes, or until filling is puffed, set, and light brown.
15. Remove from oven and from the water bath, and allow to cool on a wire rack.
16. Once cooled to room temperature, take the foil off, put a paper towel over the pan, and then cover with the foil (you can use a new piece of foil, but reusing is just as good).
17. Refrigerate overnight.
For the glaze,
18. combine the sugar, cornstarch, water, and lime juice in a small pan.
19. Mix until smooth.
20. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
21. Cook for 3 minutes.
22. Cool/chill until cool, but not set.
23. Pour cooled glaze into the center and spread evenly with an offset or rubber spatula.
24. Refrigerate until glaze is cold and firm.
25. Pipe whipped cream around the top of the cheesecake, if desired Garnish
26. with lime slices. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
27. Makes about 8 servings

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Happy Saint Patricks Day!

Shamene

You might like these other cheesecakes as well

Valentine’s Day Conversation heart Cheesecakes

My cake was Featured Here!

‘Here

Here

Here

Here