livy lou

Oh, Olivia, the youngest of us three and who I would consider the mightiest. You know how when you're bringing home the guy you're dating, you get all nervous for them to meet your dad or brother? Yea well for me, it's Olivia that will make them flinch first.

Olivia has always had this natural sass that oozes out of her pores, it's her Achilles' heel. She's always been able to make people laugh with her spunky personality, put together an adorable outfit, fix an outfit she doesn't deem cute enough, and put someone in their place, fast. She's a strong and drop-dead gorgeous fifteen-year-old now, but to me, she's still a baby running around the house in nothing but an oversized Justin Bieber t-shirt with her stuffed monkey in hand.

From the moment I turned sixteen our Starbucks dates began. It was a beautiful routine that has turned into a form of therapy for us now. We get in the car and the music is on instantly, normally a mix of pop throwbacks or breakup songs, anything as long as it's loud enough for us not to hear each other's singing, then our coffee pickup happens, I buy and she flies, and from there whatever healing and talking needs to be had starts to flow. As for our orders when we were younger, it was a Chocolate Chip Frappuccino with a Birthday Cake Pop for her and an Iced Caramel Macchiato with a warm Cheese Danish for me. So with this in mind, today we're making Cake Bites!

Growing up I wanted to be a baker and have my little cupcake shop in New York City. That dream ended when I realized I hated being too technical in a kitchen, I wanted to be free and have space to mess up occasionally. But, before that, I was gifted a cake pop maker, think a waffle maker but it made little bubbles of cake that you would end up poking a stick into. They were yummy but not what people look for in a cake pop. So today I am redeeming my cake pop-making skills without the stick. Olivia's culinary specialty is boxed brownies and her favorite candy bar is a Milky Way, ergo Milky Way Brownie Bites.

I'll be using a good old box brownie mix, homemade cream cheese frosting, and an electric mixer.

Ingredients:

Brownie Base:

• 1 box of Ghirardelli Brownie Mix

Frosting:

• 8 oz of cream cheese (the blocks work best for this) at room temperature

• 1.5 cups of powdered sugar

• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Decorating:

• Melting Chocolate (these Ghirardelli Wafers are the best)

• Caramel Sauce (make life even easier with the Ghirardelli Sea Salt Caramel) Instructions:

1. Cook the brownies according to the box and let them cool completely.

2. Using a hand mixer, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until it is smooth. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

3. Once the brownies have cooled completely, transfer them to the Kitchen Aid mixer from the pan, and add the cream cheese frosting. Mix the brownies and frosting with the paddle attachment on the lowest speed until fully combined.

4. Begin to roll out the brownie bites using a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop then place them on a cookie sheet.

5. When the brownie bites are rolled out, freeze them for at least an hour.

6. Melt the chocolate wafers and pull the brownie bites out of the freezer.

7. Using a fork, place the brownie bites into the melted chocolate and cover them in the chocolate completely. Use the fork to lift the bite from the chocolate and let the excess drip off before placing it onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

8. Garnish with sea salt, sprinkles, or your favorite candy. Crushed pretzels are a personal favorite in my house! Place them back in the freezer for an hour and let the chocolate set.

9. Once the base coat of chocolate is chilled, drizzle the caramel sauce over the top for that Milky Way flare! You can wrap them and place them in the refrigerator for storage, individually wrap them for favors or as a gift, or keep some in the freezer as a little backup dessert.