chocolate

• Drain juice from cherries into another bowl; reserve 1/2 cup of juice. Remove stems from cherries and roughly chop up the fruit. Set aside.
• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Grease and flour a large bundt pan.
• In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and baking soda. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time. Pour in the cherry juice, water, and almond extract. Start adding the flour mix and the sour cream in small amounts, going back and forth until everything is just incorporated. Fold the cherries into the batter.
• In a microwave safe dish, heat the chocolate chips in short bursts until they can be stirred smooth.
• Spoon some cherry batter into the base of the bundt pan. Add dollops of chocolate, then more batter. Keep going back and forth until all of the batter and chocolate is in the pan. Drag a butter knife through--without touching the metal--to swirl everything together a bit more, then smooth the top.
• Bake for about 1 hour, until an inserted knife comes out clean. Set on a rack to cool for 20 minutes, then invert the cake and remove the pan so it can completely cool.
• Store covered at room temperature. Slices can also be frozen for later enjoyment.
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• On the stove top or in a microwave, melt 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, warming until smooth. Set aside to cool.
• In another bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
• In a big bowl, beat together the butter and two sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, scraping bowl to make sure everything is combined. Follow up with espresso powder and vanilla, then the melted chocolate. Stir in flour mixture. Fold in the remaining chocolate chips.
• Cover mixing bowl and let dough stand for about 30 minutes so that the chocolate can set.
• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Use a teaspoon scoop to place dough spaced out on parchment-covered cookie sheet or seasoned stoneware.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let set on stove about 10 minutes before moving cookies to a rack to completely cool.
• Store in sealed containers at room temperature. Cookies may crisp up more after 1 day, but keep quite well.
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• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line pan with aluminum foil and apply grease or nonstick spray. Set aside.
• In a large saucepan, gently heat the butter, corn syrup, and sugar until everything is melted together with the sugar dissolved. Stir in oats to completely coat.
• Scoop everything into the prepared pan. Use an uneven spatula to spread out evenly.
• Bake for 30 minutes.
• Let cool for about 5 minutes. Leaving contents in pan, slice into thin rectangular bars. Let completely cool.
• Use foil to lift contents onto cutting board. Slice again to separate.
• In a microwave-safe bowl, heat up chocolate chips with shortening, cooking in 20 second bursts and stirring well between each time, until chocolate smoothly stirs together. Use a fork to drizzle over flapjacks.
• Store in sealed container at room temperature.

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Shortbread base

• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 13x9 baking pan with aluminum foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
• In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add both sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Follow up with the egg yolk and vanilla extract. Scrape bottom of bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.
• Gradually work in flour along with the salt. Don't overmix. It should still be crumbly. Drop dough into prepared pan and compress into an even layer. (A piece of waxed paper and a heavy glass make this easier.)
• Bake shortbread layer for 20 to 25 minutes, until edges are turning golden brown. Set pan aside to cool while the next layer is made.

Caramel

• In a large saucepan at medium heat, stir together the condensed milk, butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Stir constantly as it rises to a boil. Immediately drop heat to low, and continue to stir nonstop for about 10 to 15 minutes, until mixture turns a deep caramel color and thickens up; watch out, the caramel can spit out of the pan at times!
• Remove pot from heat and promptly stir in vanilla extract and salt.
• Pour caramel over the shortbread, using an uneven spatula or knife if needed to smooth it into an even layer. Cool pan for several hours until it reaches room temperature, or set in fridge to chill.

Ganache topping

• In a microwave-safe bowl (or, alternatively, on the stove top in a pot) melt together the chocolate chips and butter. Once it can be stirred smooth, pour over the caramel. Spread out into an even layer. If desired, sprinkle Maldon sea salt flakes over the top.
• Chill in fridge to let chocolate harden for at least 30 minutes. Use foil to lift contents of pan onto a cutting board. Let chocolate warm again, just a touch, perhaps for 5 or 10 minutes, before slicing into bars (otherwise, the chocolate will crack rather than be sliced through).
• Store bars in fridge with waxed paper between layers. Keeps for days.

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• Line a small square pan with foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
• In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter with a zap or two in microwave. Add peanut butter, chips, chocolate chips, and sweetened condensed milk. Heat in a couple 30-second bursts, stirring well between each, and continuing until the mixture is smooth. Fold in nuts.
• Pour into prepared pan. Smooth out using an uneven spatula, taking fudge to edges and pressing down to remove any bubbles.
• Chill in fudge for at least two hours. Use foil to lift onto cutting board for easy slicing. Store in a sealed container with waxed paper between the layers; keep in fridge as long as a month, or freeze for longer.

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• Preheat oven at 375-degrees.
• Zest then juice the orange. Place dried cranberries in bowl and pour orange juice over them, stir, then set aside to soak
• In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars. Add the egg. Stir in orange zest.
• In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually blend with butter mixture. Measure 2 tablespoons of orange juice from the bowl, and add to the dough. Drain off the rest of the orange juice (discard it or save it to drink) and add the dried cranberries and white chocolate chips to the dough. Combine.
• Use a tablespoon scoop or spoon to space out dollops of dough on baking sheet; cookies will spread. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until cookies are golden and set. Let set on sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to completely cool. Repeat with the next batch(es).
• Store in a sealed container.

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