Dark Celebration (53 page)

Dark Devil Chocolate Cheesecake

Submitted by: Franny Armstrong

Brighton, Ontario, Canada

This cake is very rich and will make about 10 servings. You'll definitely want to "sink your teeth" into this one!

FILLING INGREDIENTS

12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup sugar pinch of salt

1 tablespoon chocolate liqueur (having a drink of it on the side is optional)

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

4 eggs, separated

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 cup whipping cream

CRUST INGREDIENTS

1 (8-inch) chocolate Oreo crumb crust mix

2 tablespoons margarine or butter

DECORATE WITH

whipping cream cherry pie filling shaved dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C)

1. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, liqueur and lemon peel together.

2. Beat egg yolks into mixture one at a time.

3. Beat in the flour.

4. In a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream until soft peaks form.

5. Fold whipping cream into the mixture.

6. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until they are stiff.

7. Beat in the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar into the egg whites, 1 tablespoon at a time. Keep beating until stiff and glossy.

8. Fold the egg-white mixture into the cream cheese mixture only until mixed. Do not overwork it.

9. Oreo crust: melt the margarine or butter and mix with the crumbs.

10. Using either an 8-inch springform pan or a Bundt cake pan, grease the pan and press the Oreo crust mix into the bottom. Leave the greased sides of the pan clean.

11. Pour filling over crust and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

12. Cool and let sit for about 4 hours before serving.

13. Spoon the whipped cream or use a cake decorating kit to create a circle on the top of the cheesecake. Spoon the cherry pie filling in the center and shave dark chocolate over the whipped cream.

Carpathian Moonlight Blood Fruit Pizza

Submitted by: Elaine Kollias

Castro Valley, CA

This unusual and gorgeous dessert is not too heavy and terribly easy to make. When made with all berries, it sparkles like a ruby or garnet jewel, or perhaps even like Carpathian blood in the moonlight!

CRUST INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup butter

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

FILLING INGREDIENTS

8 ounces softened cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla assorted fruit: raspberries, strawberries, cherries (pitted and halved), blueberries, and/or sliced bananas, kiwis, peaches, and grapes (halved)—fresh preferred.

GLAZE INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup pomegranate juice (for dark berry fruits)
or
orange juice (for lighter fruits)

2 tablespoons lime juice

1.
Crust
: Heat oven to 350°. Melt butter, add sugar and flour and mix well. Pat crust onto a 12-inch round pizza pan. Bake until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

2.
Filling
: Cream together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla and spread over the cooled crust. Slice the strawberries and arrange fruit/berries in concentric rings, alternating colors and textures for a striking design.

3.
Glaze
: Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and boil until thickened. Cool before spooning evenly over entire fruit pizza. Chill 2-6 hours to set before serving. Cut into wedges with a pizza cutter and garnish with a sprig of fresh mint and optional shaved bittersweet chocolate.

Chocolate Cups

Submitted by: Jill Purinton

Lamar, MO

I used these for a baby shower. No leftovers. :(

dark chocolate cups key lime yogurt fresh berries (raspberries, blueberries or strawberries)

Fill chocolate cups with key lime yogurt. Top with fresh berries. Serve.

Delectable Darkness

Submitted by: Susan Schreitmueller

Elon, NC

CRUST INGREDIENTS

1 (8 1/2-oz) package chocolate cream-filled cookies, finely chopped
(2 1/2
cups)

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon Chambord

Combine and press into bottom and 2 inches up sides of 9-inch spring-form pan. I usually use a food processor to crush the cookies.

FILLING INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

6 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped, melted and fairly cool

1/2 cup Chambord

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

4 large eggs

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 cup strained seedless raspberry jam

Beat cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth. Add sugar, chocolate and liqueur and beat until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating each addition until just combined. Mix in cream. Swirl in seedless jam. Pour into crust. Bake in preheated oven at 350° until filling is almost set but center still moves slightly when pan is shaken (about
55
minutes). Place on a rack and cool completely.

TOPPING INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons Chambord

6 ounce melted/cooled chocolate chips

Chocolate curls or fresh raspberries rolled in cocoa with mint leaves (optional)

Combine thoroughly and pour over
completely cooled
cheesecake and then chill to set.

Old Fashion Dark Fudge

Submitted by: Amy McKinney

Vincent, AL

MAKES 1 POUND

2 cups sugar

1/3 cup cocoa

1 small can (5-oz) evaporated milk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract walnuts (optional)

In a heavy 3-quart saucepan, mix together sugar and cocoa. Add milk and cook over medium heat until mixture reaches Softball stage (236° on a candy thermometer), stirring as necessary to prevent sticking.

Take off heat and add butter, vanilla and nuts if desired. Put boiler in a pan of cool water and stir until it starts to firm up. Pour into a buttered pan. Cut into squares.

Chocolate Eclair Cake

Submitted by: Susan L. Farrell

Pine Grove Mills, PA

2 small packages of Vanilla Jell-O Instant Pudding

1 tub of EZ-Spread Chocolate/Fudge frosting

1 (16-oz) tub of Cool Whip

3 cups milk graham crackers

9 x l3 x 3-inch pan
(a pan this deep lessens the loss of the frosting)

1. Mix packets of pudding and milk.
(Easier if done with mixer, but whisking/stirring by hand works too.)
Then slowly mix in Cool Whip.

2. Line bottom of pan with graham crackers. Pour half of mixture over crackers. Add another layer of graham crackers. Pour remaining mixture over crackers. Add final layers of crackers.

3. Remove foil from frosting tub. Microwave frosting tub 15-25 seconds. Spread frosting over final layer of crackers.

4. Cover and refrigerate for four hours or overnight for best results.
Enjoy
!

Christmas Mice

Submitted by: Susan Maluschka

Houston, TX

YIELDS 70 MICE

1 package chocolate almond bark

1 large jar cherries with stems, drained

1 bag Hershey's Kisses

1 small bag almond slivers

1. Put water in the bottom of a double boiler.

2. Spread out foil on the countertop next to stove.

3. Break chocolate almond bark into pieces and melt in double boiler.

4. Pat cherries dry on paper towels and unwrap the Kisses.

5. Hold cherries by the stems and dip in chocolate until cherry is covered. Lay cherry on its side on the foil (forms body and tail).

6. After dipping 4 or 5, prop up a Kiss with the flat part of the Kiss against the bottom of the cherry (forms head with pointed nose).

7. Then go back and place two almond slivers between Kiss and cherry (forms ears). If the chocolate has dried too much already, put a little chocolate from the double boiler on the almond slivers and hold them in place until they stay.

Appendix 1

Carpathian Healing Chants

To rightly understand Carpathian healing chants, background is required in several areas:

• The Carpathian view on healing

• The "Lesser Healing Chant" of the Carpathians

• The "Great Healing Chant" of the Carpathians

• Carpathian chanting technique

1. The Carpathian view on healing

The Carpathians are a nomadic people whose geographical origins can be traced back to at least as far as the Southern Ural Mountains (near the steppes of modern day Kazakhstan), on the border between Europe and Asia. (For this reason, modern-day linguists call their language, "proto-Uralic," without knowing that this is the language of the Carpathians.) Unlike most nomadic peoples, the wandering of the Carpathians was not due to the need to find new grazing lands as the seasons and climate shifted, or the search for better trade. Instead, the Carpathians' movements were driven by a great purpose: to find a land that would have the right earth, a soil with the kind of richness that would greatly enhance their rejuvenative powers.

Over the centuries, they migrated westward (some six thousand years ago), until they at last found their perfect homeland—their "
susu"—
in the Carpathian Mountains, whose long arc cradled the lush plains of the kingdom of Hungary. (The kingdom of Hungary flourished for over a millennium—making Hungarian the dominant language of the Carpathian Basin—until the kingdom's lands were split among several countries after World War I: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, Austria, and modern Hungary.)

Other peoples from the Southern Urals (who shared the Carpathian language, but were not Carpathians) migrated in different directions. Some ended up in Finland, which accounts for why the modern Hungarian and Finnish languages are among the contemporary descendents of the ancient Carpathian language. Even though they are tied forever to their chosen Carpathian homeland, the wandering of the Carpathians continues, as they search the world for the answers that will enable them to bear and raise their offspring without difficulty.

Because of their geographical origins, the Carpathian views on healing share much with the larger Eurasian shamanistic tradition. Probably the closest modern representative of that tradition is based in Tuva (and is referred to as "Tuvinian Shamanism")—see the map above.