I wanted to take some chocolate dipped strawberries up a notch with Mother's Day right around the corner.  Queue Nutella Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries with melted chocolate drizzled all over them.  They are very decadent and a little bit messy, but they're messy in all of the good ways.  You can make these in 1 bowl and done!

Here we go:

Ingredients
-1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
-3/4 cups cream cheese at room temperature
-2-3 TBS Half and Half
-1/2 cup Nutella Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-8-12 large strawberries
-chunks of chocolate or chocolate chips for melting/drizzling

Directions
Place the cream cheese, powdered sugar and Nutella in a large bowl of a stand mixer.  Use the paddle attachment or a hand mixer to beat the ingredients together.  Add in the vanilla extract and slowly add in the half and half while beating the whole mixture together.  Once everything is combined, use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover and place in the fridge to chill for approximately 30 minutes.  

Wash and remove the green leaf tops from your strawberries.  Use a sharp knife to hollow out part of the insides of the strawberries.  Remove the chilled "cheesecake" mixture from the fridge and place into a pastry bag.  (Optional: Use a 1M piping tip or you can simply use a bag to fill the strawberries).  Pipe the cheesecake into the strawberries and immediately return to the fridge.  Melt the chocolate and drizzle over the strawberries and again return to the fridge to set.  Store the strawberries in the fridge until ready to serve.

​Enjoy!

I've made so many bloopers in the kitchen.  SO MANY.  There are probably 3-5 bloopers for every pretty picture that I post.  It's part of the process, but it does make for a lot of cleaning. It also can potentially be a lot of food waste, but I've learned common rescues that can save some baking fails.  I wish I could tell you that I've saved them all but cookies charred to a smoky crisp are going to taste like cookies charred to a smoky crisp no matter how pretty I make them look. 

That said, take a look at these baking rescues I've regularly used before tossing the tray in the trash.

Cake Stuck to the Pan
Oh I know this frustration.  You've carefully greased your cake pans and confidently placed your batter in the oven.  The cake looks beautiful as you pull it out.  You wait for it to cool and it falls apart with part of it stuck to the pan when you try to take it out.  It smells and tastes great but argh.  Here's 3 common things I've done to rescue a botched cake.

1. First check if you can lift the remaining pieces of cake out of the pan and assemble the whole layer like a puzzle.  If you are able to do this and your goal is to make a layer cake, I find that frosting can be used like glue and mortar to assemble the layer and then suggest using the reconstructed layer as a middle layer of the cake. The outer layers and frosting will help hold it together. Use a bunch of frosting!
2. Cake pops! Who doesn't love a cute cake pop? Pivot and crumble that cake into a large bowl.  Mix your frosting right in the bowl with the crumbled cake.  Place the entire bowl in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to chill a little bit.  Roll the frosting/cake mixture into balls using approximately 1 TBS of cake/frosting at a time.  Place them in one layer on a baking tray and place in the fridge or freezer to chill.  Melt your favorite chocolate chips or candy melts and cover each cake pop in the melted chocolate. (Optional: insert a lollipop stick to each cake pop and secure with melted chocolate).  Add sprinkles or decorations and return to the fridge to set.
3. Trifle! Grab frosting, whip cream, candy, sprinkles, fruit etc. Crumble up part of your cake on the bottom of a large bowl (preferably clear so you can see the layers) or trifle dish.  Then layer frosting, whip cream, fruit, sprinkles and/or candy and keep repeating until you've used all of your cake.

Crumbling Cookies or Energy Bites
I have completely burned cookies before...as in, beyond repair burned cookies.  I can't help anyone there. Most of my cookie fails; however, have been situations where the flavor is good or almost where I want it, but the texture is a problem and they crumble.  I've also made this mistake with energy bites.  My go-to rescue for this situation is to use the work in progress as a "granola" on Greek yogurt. 

Bread Didn't Rise
Bread baking can truly be a science.  A loaf of bread can rise beautifully one day and not so much the next.  I feel puzzled by it but it's interesting to analyze.  I've rescued my less than ideal loaves of bread two ways.

1. The French Toast Casserole.  This brunch type casserole is forgiving and a crowd pleaser.  Simply tear up your loaf of bread and place it into a greased casserole dish.  Put together a combination of whisked eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon and an extract of your choice.  Pour it over the bread, cover and allow it to sit in the fridge over night and soak it all in.  Put some cubed butter on top in the morning and bake covered for about 45 minutes and uncover and bake for another 15 minutes or until the egg mixture is set.  Top with fruit and maple syrup and ta-dah.
2. Bread Crumbs.  Slice or tear up your loaf of bread and leave it out over night to stale a little bit.  Place it on a baking tray and bake in the oven on a low heat like 170-200 degrees for approximately 45 minutes to an hour.  Place in a food processor and process until the texture is fine crumbs.  You can also add in dried spices before processing if you would like Italian bread crumbs.

There you have it! A few tips to save some of the baking bloopers that happen on occasion.  I would love to hear more ideas if you have them! Send me any questions and have a great week.

Here's my mom & I about a bazillion years ago.  Aren't we cute? It turns out that we are rolling into Mother's Day really soon over here in the US (my family in Ireland celebrates Mother's Day in March and it always confuses me). If you're like me and kind of a last minute person with gifts, here's a few ideas in the areas of food, faith, fun and New England local businesses to get you started thinking.

Food
Ok, this one is completely inspired by my nostalgia for Irish food, but take a look at something like Irishify if you want to send a treat hamper to an Irish momma or send something a little different to brighten someone's day.  Take a look at this gift basket called "The Wee Hamper" with Irish chocolates and snacks....my cousins sent me a hamper similar to this right after I gave birth to our son almost a year ago and it was one of the happiest things I've ever seen on my doorstep. 

For the chocoholic mom in your life, take a look at Priscilla's Candy Shop in Gardner and Concord, MA.  Their candy and chocolate is handmade on the premises and it is ah-mazing.  I like to shop online and send Easter bunnies from Priscilla's to my nieces and nephews.  Their shipping and attention to detail with online ordering is incredible. 

​For the charcuterie platter loving mom, head over to Smith's Country Cheese.  I'm so glad that I'm local to this place because their Sage Cheddar Cheese is the stuff cheese dreams are made of.  Not local? No worries! They ship cheese in a box!  Check out all of their gift boxes so your the mom you're celebrating can kick back with an insanely good little cheese & cracker spread. 

For the Baking momma, how about a beautiful apron? I have eyeballed the aprons worn by Damaris Phillips on the Food Network for years and it turns out that some of them are from this company here, Heirloomed. Those oatmeal linen aprons with the sash....stunning! 

Faith
There are two small Catholic jewelry companies from which I have purchased or received a gift and I absolutely love them.  Check out The Little Catholic for a huge variety of silver and gold jewelry.  Their pieces are incredibly pretty and I particularly love the "Fiat" necklace I received as a gift last year.

The other company is Pink Salt Riot, which has many beautifully and faith inspired items to choose from.  A couple of years ago, I purchased the Stone Sword Miraculous Medal Stack and it's such a pretty and fun piece.  You can wear it three different ways and it complements both casual and dressy clothes.  Both of these companies blew me away with how lovely their packaging was when I received the jewelry.

Also, every mom needs to read a good book written by another mother who fights the good fight in the areas of faith and family.  A few of my favorites that I have read lately include Jennifer Fulwiler's A Beautiful Dream and Mary Lenaburg's Be Bold in the Broken and Be Brave in the Scared. 

Fun
One thing I've learned this past year of postpartum ups and downs is that I feel more put together with a little bit of makeup and skin care.  I came across Beauty Counter in the past year and it's so fun.  Pretty colors, silky smooth moisturizer on my eyes and clean ingredients.  I'm confident that there's something for every mom on this page.  Go shop with Mary, my consultant, for all the goodies here!

Next on my list of fun things are earrings.  This year hasn't been full of sleep but I find that a little makeup, a lot of coffee and a pair of cute earrings perk me up.  Two beautiful little businesses from where I've recently purchased some fun statement earrings are Brinley & Co. and Whimsy Clay Design.  These earrings can spruce up any outfit!

I know Mother's Day has highs, lows and it isn't easy for everyone.  No matter how you are celebrating this upcoming Mother's Day or struggling this upcoming Mother's Day, please know that I'm praying for you all. Happy Mother's Day!
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