Living La Vida Holoka


Pumpkin Mousse with Halloween Bark

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This pumpkin mousse is a light and fluffy Halloween dessert topped with a ghostly Halloween bark that’s spooky sweet!

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I don’t watch a lot of cooking shows, but I do love watching holiday themed cooking competitions.  I’ve been hooked on Halloween Wars.  You know, where they make crazy edible creations out of carved pumpkins, candy, and baked goods? 

While watching one of those competitions one night with my husband, I got super inspired!  I blurted out, “You know what would be cool?  If you made a chocolate coffin and filled it with a pumpkin mousse!” The next day, I was on the hunt for a silicone coffin mold! 

Unfortunately, my original idea didn’t work out as planned.  The candy was a little too soft in texture and when I tried to unmold it, it would break apart.  So it was onto plan B!

Pumpkin Mousse with Halloween Bark

 
Since I had two bags of black candy melts and some extra chocolate morsels to use up, I decided to make a Halloween bark instead.  The new plan was to make a delicious pumpkin mousse, serve it in a ceramic cauldron, and top it with pieces of the broken Halloween bark.  This idea came together much easier and still looked spooky cute!


The first thing I did was make the chocolate bark.  Over low heat, I added both bags of my black candy melts to a small pot and stirred continuously until melted and smooth.   


Then, I poured the melted chocolate onto a baking sheet that I prepared with parchment paper.  I used a cake scraper to smooth the candy melts into an even layer.


In another small pot, I added white chocolate chips and melted them over low heat until they were nice and smooth.


Then, I spooned some white chocolate onto the black candy melts. With a toothpick, I dragged the white chocolate into ghost-like shapes and added eyeball sprinkles and black sprinkles for a mouth.


I finished the Halloween bark off with an assortment of Halloween sprinkles before letting it set for about an hour.


While the Halloween bark set, I started working on my pumpkin mousse.  I added vanilla pudding, pumpkin spice, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, milk, a pinch of salt, and Cool Whip to a mixing bowl.  Once that was all mixed up, I let the mousse set for 20-30 minutes in the fridge.


When the Halloween bark and pumpkin mousse was ready, I spooned the mousse into a ceramic cauldron and broke up some of the bark to serve on top.  Serve the rest of the Halloween bark with the pumpkin mousse to top individual portions.

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Pumpkin Mousse with Halloween Bark

Pumpkin Mousse with Halloween Bark

Ingredients

    For the Halloween bark:
  • 2 - 10 oz. black candy melts
  • 1/2 - 12 oz. bag white chocolate morsels
  • Halloween sprinkles
    • For the pumpkin mousse:
  • 1 - 3.4 oz. package instant vanilla pudding
  • 1 tsp. pumpkin spice
  • 15 oz. pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 cup milk
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 cup Cool Whip topping

Instructions

    For the Halloween bark:
  1. Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. Add the black candy melts to a small pot and heat over low.
  3. Stir the candy melts until smooth. Then, pour the melted candy onto the baking sheet. Use a cake scraper to smooth the candy melts evenly onto the baking sheet.
  4. In another small pot, add the white chocolate chips and heat over low.
  5. Stir the chocolate until it's melted.
  6. Then, drop onto the candy melts and use a toothpick to make ghost-like shapes.
  7. Add eyeball sprinkles to make a face and sprinkle assorted Halloween sprinkles onto the rest of the Halloween bark.
  8. Allow the bark to harden for 60 minutes. Then, break apart to use on top of the pumpkin mousse.
    9. For the pumpkin mousse:
  9. Add the pudding mix, pumpkin spice, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, milk, and salt to a mixing bowl. Mix until incorporated.
  10. Fold in the Cool Whip topping and chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
  11. When ready to serve, add the pumpkin mousse to a bowl and top with Halloween bark. Serve with extra bark to top individual portions.
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A Spooky Sweet Halloween Dessert!

 
The pumpkin mousse is light and fluffy with just the right amount of pumpkin spice flavor.  It’s actually a little fluffier than traditional mousse, but it’s still so, so good!  Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.


When I put the plate of Halloween bark in front of my husband, he said it looked like “a science experiment gone wrong.”  A perfect description for Halloween, if you ask me!  Store leftover chocolate bark in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. 

Did you make this Pumpkin Mousse with Halloween Bark recipe? Share it on social media using the hashtag #livinglavidaeats. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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Apple Pie Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips

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This Apple Pie Salsa will be your new favorite fall snack! It’s made with apples, pears, pie spices, and homemade cinnamon sugar tortilla chips for dipping!

This post may contain affiliate links.  Making a purchase through one of these links helps support this blog.


I am a chips and salsa girl for life.  Hands down, it’s my favorite snack!  There is not a bowl of salsa or a bag of tortilla chips safe in my presence!  And the funny thing is, I don’t discriminate when it comes to salsa flavors either.  I love them all!  Hot and spicy, restaurant style, mild, salsa verde, and even sweet and fruity! 

My mom makes a fruit salsa that is pretty addictive!  It’s made with strawberries, apples, raspberries, and kiwis.  She serves it with cinnamon sugar tortilla chips, but you could honestly eat it by the spoonful.  It’s just so good!  And during the summer, it’s a really refreshing snack to enjoy while sitting outside.  But since it’s fall, I wanted to make a fruit salsa with a seasonal flavor – apple pie!

Apple Pie Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips

 
Pumpkin is hogging a lot of the spotlight right now, but I think I love apple just as much as I love pumpkin!  Good thing, too, since we seem to have a lot of apples hanging out in our fridge right now!  My husband suggested that I make a pie.  I wanted to make something a little lighter, but with all the flavor of apple pie.  So I put this apple pie salsa together and baked some cinnamon sugar tortilla chips to go along with it.  This might be my new favorite fall snack! 

I had some small McIntosh apples in the fridge, so I peeled six of them and chopped them into small pieces. I also had pears in the fridge, so I snuck one of them into this recipe to add some more crunch and a slightly different flavor to this salsa. Once the fruit was peeled and chopped, I added them to a bowl of lemon water to keep them from browning. 


Then, I mixed up an apple pie seasoning to add to the fruit.  You can buy premade apple pie spice, but I wanted to make my own blend using cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove, and brown sugar.  I drained the fruit from the lemon water and mixed in my spices.  


I also stirred in some vanilla extract.  You can’t bake a pie without vanilla, so why not add it to apple pie salsa?  It really does add a warm and cozy flavor to this recipe. Once the vanilla was stirred in, I let the salsa chill in the fridge while I started my tortilla chips.


Use whatever kind of soft tortilla you’d like to make the chips. I lightly sprayed each tortilla with cooking oil on each side. Then, I sprinkled a generous amount of cinnamon sugar on both sides and used my kitchen scissors to cut them into triangles. 


After about 30 minutes of baking in the oven – and a house that smelled amazing thanks to the cinnamon sugar – I ended up with sweet and crunchy tortilla chips to serve with the salsa.


And if you’re like me, you’ll hardly wait for the tortilla chips to cool before digging into the salsa! Honestly, I could eat the apple pie salsa by the spoonful (and I did!), but it’s even better with the cinnamon sugar tortilla chips!

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Apple Pie Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips

Apple Pie Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips

Ingredients

    For the salsa:
  • 2 cups water
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced
  • 6 small apples, or 4 medium-large apples
  • 1 pear
  • 2 tsp. brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp. ginger
  • 1/8 tsp. clove
  • 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
    • For the tortilla chips:
  • 4 soft tortillas
  • 2 1/2 tbsp. cinnamon sugar
  • Cooking oil spray

Instructions

    For the salsa:
  1. Add the water and lemon juice into a medium bowl.
  2. Peel the apples and pear and chop into tiny pieces. Then, place into the lemon water to prevent them from browning.
  3. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and clove.
  4. Drain the chopped fruit, place back into a bowl, and add the spices. Stir to combine.
  5. Stir in the vanilla extract and set the salsa aside in the fridge to chill.
    6. For the tortilla chips:
  6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  7. Spray the tortillas on each side with cooking oil spray.
  8. Add the cinnamon sugar to a small bowl. Sprinkle each side of the tortillas with a generous amount of cinnamon sugar.
  9. Use kitchen scissors or a pizza cutter to cut the tortillas into triangles. Then, place evenly onto the baking sheet.
  10. Bake the tortilla chips for 20-30 minutes, flipping halfway through baking, or until crunchy.
  11. Serve with the apple pie salsa.
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This salsa will get better the longer it sits.  I would even suggest making it ahead of time so all of those flavors from the spices and sugar can soak into the fruit.  Keep leftover apple pie salsa in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.  If it lasts that long!  Store leftover tortilla chips in a zipped baggie.    

Did you make this Apple Pie Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips recipe? Share it on social media using the hashtag #livinglavidaeats. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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Lemon Lime Pound Cake Loaf

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This Lemon Lime Pound Cake Loaf is full of sweet and slightly tart flavor, thanks to fresh lemon and lime juices, and topped with a simple lemon and lime glaze!

This post may contain affiliate links.  Making a purchase through one of these links helps support this blog.


Just when I thought I was over the whole quarantine baking trend, I decided to make a pound cake!  Because when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.  But when life gives you limes, too, you make a Lemon Lime Pound Cake Loaf! 

I had exactly one lemon and one lime left in our fridge and they were starting to look a little sad.  Usually, I’ll toss some lemon or lime juice into a sauce (or a drink – ahem), but this time around I wanted something sweeter!

Lemon Lime Pound Cake Loaf

 
Since I was constantly baking at the start of this pandemic, I accumulated quite a bit of butter.  In fact, there may or may not be a box of butter sitting in our freezer at this moment.  I’m not entirely sure.  But this recipe uses two full sticks and hardly made a dent in the amount of butter sitting in our fridge!

The full cup of sugar seems minor compared to the amount of butter and the four eggs that go into this pound cake.  Based on the fact that my husband and I practically finished this loaf over the weekend, I’d say it’s worth our cholesterol levels getting a jolt! 


Let’s not forget the fact that this pound cake is flavored with fresh lemon and lime juice!  A whole lemon and whole lime go into this recipe, but they don’t overwhelm the flavor of the cake.  It’s just enough to make it taste like sunshine!  

I used half a lemon, half a lime, and zest from each in the cake batter.  Then, I made an easy glaze with the same amount of juice and zest.  You can always adjust the amount to your liking, but I thought the flavor balance ended up being perfect! 

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Lemon Lime Pound Cake Loaf

Lemon Lime Pound Cake Loaf

Ingredients

    For the pound cake:
  • 2 sticks of butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 lemon, juice + zest
  • 1/2 lime, juice + zest
    • For the glaze:
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp. water
  • 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 lemon, juice + zest
  • 1/2 lime juice + zest

Instructions

    For the pound cake:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a loaf pan with cooking spray and/or parchment paper.
  2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together.
  3. Add the eggs, one at a time.
  4. Then, add the vanilla.
  5. Add one cup of the flour.
  6. Then, add the lemon and lime juices, plus a little zest from each.
  7. Last, add the other cup of flour and mix until smooth.
  8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake.
  9. Cool on a wire rack.
    10. For the glaze:
  10. In a bowl, mix the powdered sugar, water, vanilla, lemon and lime juices, plus a little zest from each.
  11. If the mixture is too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. If it's too thick, add a little more water.
  12. When the glaze is the right consistency, pour over the pound cake (using a wire rack with a plate or cookie sheet underneath). If desired, pour the excess glaze over the cake again.
  13. Allow the glaze to harden, then cut the loaf into slices.
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If you don’t plan to devour the cake in one weekend, like we basically did, keep it from drying out by covering it with foil.  It’s best enjoyed with a tall glass of cold milk or a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top! 

Did you make this Lemon Lime Pound Cake Loaf recipe? Share it on social media using the hashtag #livinglavidaeats. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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15 Baking Essentials for People Who Suck at Baking

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Love to bake but feel like you’re not the best baker? Maybe you just need the right tools! Check out these 15 baking essentials to help you become a better baker!

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I consider myself more of a home chef than a baker.  My mom is an awesome baker, but I never really inherited that skill.  Then came this crazy period of quarantine where I stocked up on an extra bag of flour, an extra bag of sugar, and was amazed when I could get my hands on some yeast.  Since this all started, I’ve been baking up a storm!  I did read somewhere that baking helps anxiety and stress.  So maybe that’s why I’ve challenged myself to use this time to become a better baker.  I have to say, it’s actually been working out (*knock on wood*). 

Okay, not everything I’ve baked has been from scratch.  But the majority of what I’ve made has – like Double Chocolate Chip Cookies, Gooey Chocolate Pecan Pie (mostly from scratch except for the pie crust), and even everything seasoned rolls, which I’m super proud of!  Eventually, I want to try making my own pizza dough, sandwich bread, and maybe even one of those pretty braided loaves of Italian bread.  

If you’re feeling like your baking could use a boost, check out these 15 baking essentials!  And remember – baking is totally different than cooking.  Baking recipes need to be followed step-by-step with exact measurements and can take a little patience.  It’s not like we’re rushing to go anywhere these days, so now’s the time to work on your baking skills!

Baking Essentials for People Who Suck at Baking

 

  1. Cookie sheets
  2. Oven mitts
  3. Round cake pans
  4. Loaf pan
  5. Muffin pan
  6. Baking utensil set
  7. Icing spatula
  8. Measuring cup
  9. Measuring spoons
  10. Mixing bowls
  11. Hand mixer
  12. Metal cookie cutters
  13. Wire cooling rack
  14. Silicone baking mats
  15. Rolling pin

These are just a few basic essentials to get you started on your baking journey.  But if you’re feeling really ambitious, you could get yourself a fancy Kitchenaid stand mixer.  I got mine a few years ago during a Black Friday sale.  Even if you’re not a great baker, it’s a nice tool to have in the kitchen!  

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