***Warning*** DIETERS DO NOT READ!!!!

Chocolate dreaming love
Gooey dripping nectar love
Drowning in heaven

Diet? Oh come on!
A life without chocolate?
That's no life for me.

*cheating - the first one is "chock-late" the second is "chock-o-late"*

(Why is it that Blogger.com will sometimes freak out over fonts???? I can't turn off the italics. Yes, I see the little "i" button up there. I even went into the html and it won't go away. Grrrrrrr.)

Yesterday I promised two chocolate recipes. Here they are.

This recipe is from "The New Doubleday Cookbook" by Jean Anderson and Elaine Hanna, copyright 1975, 1985. I hope I'm not sued for putting this up. Look at this way - it's free advertising for a wonderful classic cookbook. And if you don't like the cookbook, it's hefty enough to use for home defense.

Best Chocolate Fudge

4 cups sugar
1 cup milk
3 one ounce squares of unsweetened chocolate
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla

1. Heat sugar, milk, chocolate, salt and corn syrup, uncovered in large, heavy sauce pan over moderate heat until sugar dissolves, stirring constantly.
2. Continue cooking, uncovered, without stirring but occasionally moving a wooden spoon back and forth over bottom of pan until candy thermometer reads 236-238 degrees or mixture forms a soft ball in cold water.
3. Remove from heat, drop in butter, and cool without stirring to 110 degrees. (I cheat here because I cannot keep a candy thermometer in one piece. I put the sauce pan in about an inch or two of cold water in the sink. I considered it ready when I can comfortably touch the bottom of the sauce pan.)
4. Add vanilla and beat until fudge is quite thick and begins to lose its gloss. (This is VERY important - you want the fudge to have a dull matte finish.)
5. Spread into well buttered 8x8 pan. Cool until firm and cut.

Fudge is all about texture. It should be slightly grainy and just melt in your mouth. Some people do not like the texture at all. That's fine. For those people, just melt some chocolate and let it re-solidify in a different shape and tell them it's fudge. Candy is really difficult for me to make. I usually don't make things that I have to *really* measure and pay this much attention to. I suspect that this fudge would be even creamier and more delicious by substituting half & half or even whipping cream for the milk - but I'm too chicken to mess around with this recipe. I don't know if you can directly sub these items without messing it up.

I got the next recipe from some company that was trying to get me to join a recipe club. They sent me this and an AMAZING recipe for chocolate chip cookies that I lost. *sniffle* I don't remember the name of the company or I would give credit.

Chocolate Cheesecake

(Ok - the real recipe said to make one crust with Oreo crumbs and butter in a 9-inch springform pan and to make one cheesecake. I didn't have a springform pan so I improvised and made TWO cheesecakes in prepared crusts - easier and it's TWO!!! People!!!! You can graciously give one to a group of people or for a potluck while secretly hoarding one all for yourself. TWO!!!)

2 prepared Oreo cookie pie crusts
3 eight ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
5 large eggs
8 oz (8 squares) semisweet chocolate, divided
1/2 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. In a large bowl beat together cream cheese, sugar and eggs at medium speed until smooth and fluffy. Spread 1/2 of mixture evenly between 2 pie crusts (so 1/4 of mixture into each).
3. Melt 6 oz of chocolate and stir into remaining cream cheese mixture until well blended. Drizzle batter evenly into each crust to make swirls.
4. Bake cheesecakes for 50 minutes. Transfer to wire rack. Cool completely. After cooling, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.
   
5. Before serving, melt remaining 2 oz of choclate and mix with sour cream. Spread over cheesecake. Chill briefly until frosting is set.

The sour cream frosting sounds freaky. Do not be afraid. It's to die for. All this cooling completely and chilling briefly is.....optional....hahaha....if you don't mind slightly messy looking cheesecake because you are like me and just can't wait that long to make a complete pig of your face. :)

Enjoy!