'Candylicious Junkyards'
We ended up buying Halloween candy this year and not passing a single piece out. Trick or treaters in our apartment were only supposed to knock on doors with a special sign that we didn't take the time to go get (mostly because we didn't know about it until right before Halloween eve). Instead, Dustin and I went out for amazing hamburgers at this place called Plan Check (rivaling my favorite Seastar in Bellevue, which is quite the compliment), and ended up with a huge bag of Kit Kats, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Whoppers (the reason Dustin chose this bag of candy at Target), and Take 5's, which I'd never before tasted (they are pretty good, but not a new favorite by any stretch).
I randomly saw the bag of candies sitting on the counter and was taken back to one of our favorite places in Houston, The Chocolate Bar. The brownies and the cheesecakes were our favorites, but they had one called the Candylicious Junkyard that consisted of a chocolate crust filled with chunks of a variety of different candy bars folded into a white chocolate Bavarian mousse. Since this was a spur of the moment decision kind of recipe (those don't happen too often around here), I had to improvise with what I had on hand, which isn't exactly how I would have made this given proper planning. Even though the mousse filling texture was not identical to the original since I messed it up a little bit, we were both pretty happy with the rich end result.
I originally envisioned a chocolate pie crust bottom layer since I didn't have any chocolate cookies to make the traditional kind of crust for this dish. I made the layer of pie crust pretty thick and it ended up baking up more like a brownie, so for the crust, I recommend just using your favorite easy brownie recipe instead of going through hassle of making a pie crust as I did. And if your freeze the candy pieces before, I think it would prevent any streaks of chocolate through the mousse. Don't fold the chocolate bars into the warm mousse like I started doing when I wasn't thinking very clearly.
So make this if you still have any leftover Halloween candy to use up. We always end up with leftover bags of candy lying around since there are so many other desserts passing through our kitchen, and I'd prefer to "waste" my calories on those more unique treats. However, if those desserts happen to include chocolate bars, I'm all about eating some candy!
'Candylicious Junkyards'
yields 4 medium ramekins (each could easily serve 2)
- 1/2 recipe of your favorite brownie batter (for 8"x8" pan)
- 8 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup + 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- ~15 fun size candy bars (your choice), roughly chopped
- chocolate or caramel sauce, for topping (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray 4 medium sized ramekins with non-stick cooking spray.
- Divide brownie batter between the ramekins and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until cooked. Allow to thoroughly cool before proceeding.
- Place white chocolate in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
- Heat 1/2 cup of cream on the stove in a small sauce pot and bring to a simmer.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and the yolks until smooth.
- Slowly add approximately 1/4 cup of the heated cream mixture to the egg mixture to temper the eggs.
- Return everything to saucepan and cook for another few minutes until thick and the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon.
- Drain the cream and egg mixture through a strainer over the white chocolate, mixing until smooth.
- In another medium bowl, whip the remaining cream until peaks form. Slowly fold the whipped cream into the white chocolate mixture.
- Pour the mousse over the brownie crust.
- Allow mousse to cool in the fridge for about 15 minutes before pressing the chunks of candy into the mousse. Allow to set in the refrigerate for at least an hour before enjoying.
white chocolate mousse from FoodNetwork.com