I had been seeing all sorts of s'mores recipes on pinterest and it was just making me crave a s'mores related treat.  So this weekend, at my sister's house, was the perfect time to try one out.

I was also wanting Nutella, so thinking about nutella and graham crackers sparked the idea that we could make a nutella s'more bar.

Which is exactly what we did.

We used this recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe and it was SO good!

The only change was instead of 2 cups of chocolate chips, we did about 14 ounces of Nutella.  (The small jars are 13 ounces, the big jars are 26.5 - we used just over half a big jar) Put it in a glass measuring cup, then stick it in the microwave for 15 or so seconds to get it a little more melty.  Then we just drizzled a nice layer on top of the marshmallow fluff. 

They were amazing.

The best part - they were even better the next day.  (If you can handle to leave some that long).  The next morning they seemed to have a little bit of a different texture, and the Nutella taste was more clear.  They were so good, and I've already made another batch.

S'mores Nutella Cookie Bars (recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe)

*Note: Don’t be tempted to substitute mini-marshmallows for the fluff/creme. The marshmallow fluff/creme stays gooey and soft in the oven.
*Makes 9X13-inch pan of bars

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
2 cups marshmallow topping, like Marshmallow Fluff or Creme
12-14 ounces Nutella
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9X13-inch pan with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the 2 short sides. Grease the foil with cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until light, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing until combined. Divide the dough in half. Press half into the bottom of the prepared pan until the dough is evenly flattened. Dollop the marshmallow topping on top of the cookie base and gently spread into an even layer. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.

Scatter the remaining dough over the top in clumps. Don’t worry about completely covering the top, the marshmallow and chocolate chips should peek through. Bake the bars until golden brown, about 30-32 minutes. Cool completely. Remove the bars from the pan using the foil overhangs. Cut into bars and serve.

white chocolate raspberry layer cake with white chocolate buttercream

Ever since I saw this cake in September 2010, I knew I wanted to make one like it for my daughter's first birthday.  I had a few different things I wanted to do, and I got everything ready.  However, we were living in a tiny hotel room with a very small oven and hardly any counter space on her first birthday.  The cake did not turn out how I'd hoped.  It was a complete disaster.  In fact, we didn't even do anything with it really.

So . . . on to the second birthday.  I still held on to my ideas and figured out ways to make it even better.  I was super happy with how it turned out.  It tasted delicious!

I love white chocolate and raspberry together, so that was one basis for my idea.

I also didn't want to make or eat fondant, so I decided to go with a white chocolate ganache for the cake, and to use white chocolate cutouts for the decorations.

I just used a white cake mix (1/2 a cake mix, actually, I didn't want too many leftovers)

and mixed it according to the box directions.

The cake mix called for 3 egg whites, or 3 whole eggs with extra cooking time.

I used 1 whole egg and 1 egg white (for my halved recipe).

I used one 4 inch pan and one 6 inch pan.

I divided the batter into thirds and colored them pink, orange, and yellow.

Then I divided each color of batter between the two different sizes of cake pans, trying to make them the same depth.

I baked three batches, because I only have one of each of my 4" and 6" pans.

I can't remember how long I baked them, I just stayed in the kitchen and checked on them often.

I was working on my white chocolate cutouts in this time.

I melted my white chocolate in a bowl over simmering water.

Then added my oil-based colorings to try to match the color of the cake batter.

Then spread the chocolate out in a really thin layer on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet.

Then popped it in the freezer for a while to set.

After they were firm, I took them out and cut out the shapes I wanted.  (I used about 1 inch size flowers)

I found a white chocolate buttercream recipe that was AMAZING.

Makes about 2 ½ cups

*I made half of this recipe, and I had a little bit extra*

1 C. unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ C. powdered sugar (or more, depending on desired consistency)
Pinch of salt
6 oz. good quality white chocolate, chopped (NOT white chocolate chips or candy melts!)
¼ C. heavy whipping cream
¼ tsp. vanilla extract

1. Put about 2/3 of the chopped white chocolate into a small bowl.  Heat the chocolate in 20 second increments in the microwave.  Stir after each increment, and continue to heat 20 seconds at a time until chocolate is almost melted. Add the rest of the chopped chocolate and stir in until melted.  (This just helps it to cool more quickly).  Set aside to cool.
2. Once white chocolate has cooled, sift the salt and powdered sugar over the butter, in a large bowl. Cream the butter and sugar mixture together until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
3. Measure the whipping cream into a cup, and stir in the vanilla extract.
4. With the mixer running on low speed, gradually pour the cream mixture the bowl.
5. Once the cream mixture has been incorporated into the frosting, fold on the melted (but cooled) white chocolate until incorporated.
6. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high, and beat frosting for an additional 3 minutes.
7. Makes about 2 ½ cups of frosting.

Here are my pictures of the cake assembly process:

(6 inch cake in foreground, 4 inch cake behind)

I did the pink layer on the bottom

with a layer of seedless raspberry jam

then a layer of the buttercream

followed by the orange and yellow layers, with the same procedure

Then I did just a light layer of buttercream on the whole cake.

I intended to do the ganache thicker but it was not quite as set up as it needed to be when I was putting it together, so it wasn't covering the whole cake.

Then I placed the chocolate cutouts on the top.

This cake was really delicious - it was very sweet with the ganache though.  I didn't necessarily think it was too sweet, but next time I will just skip the ganache and spread the buttercream a little thicker on the outside of the cake.  It was really good!