Unexpected Birthday Treats

Due to the birthday calendar in my house, I bake a lot in the spring. I love to bake; it never gets old to transform a few core ingredients into an endless variety of sweets. But I do get tired of the “cake and ice cream” approach to birthdays.

For a while growing up, my birthday treat of choice was chocolate mousse. I’ve had coconut cakes, soufflés, and Boston Cream Pie for birthdays. I like to surprise guests (and if you have kids of a certain age, you are definitely going to your fair share of parties). Here are a few of my best efforts to think outside the birthday dessert box.

Chocolate Fondue

It couldn’t be simpler: a chocolate ganache in warm liquid form, served with bite sized goodies for dipping. Kids and adults alike go gaga for fondue. Seriously. If you don’t have the iconic fondue set with sterno and long forks, chances are a hoarding friend has one (mine dates from the 1960s). But you don’t really need one. Simply cook the chocolate on the stove, and put it in bowls on the table. It doesn’t last long enough to cool down. Just watch out for the flying forks.

Here’s my two ingredient recipe, which can easily be doubled:

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (I prefer Ghiradelli semi-sweet chips here)

1 cup heavy cream

Place chips and cream into a saucepan on low heat. Stir gently as the chocolate melts to combine. When chocolate is fully melted and the liquid is shiny, it is ready. The chocolate mixture should be pourable; if it’s too thick, add additional cream 1 tablespoon at a time and combine until pourable. 

Transfer to a fondue pot or bowls. Serve with cut fruit, dried fruit, cake or marshmallows. My favorites are strawberries, bananas and angel food cake. 

Mini treat tower

I’ve got someone in the house who loves banana muffins, and has requested them on more than one birthday. But not everyone thinks muffins rise to the occasion of a birthday celebration. My solution is to offer multiple small treats. A mini muffin pan comes in handy here. My latest tower was mini banana muffins, mini brownies, and mini rice krispie treats. Put a candle in the tower, and call it a party. 

Sundae Bar

Like fondue, a make-your-own sundae bar is both participatory and messy. I stick to the basics: ice cream, sauces, whipped cream, and a baked base. While I don’t have an ice cream maker, I often make everything else. For sauces, I have cooked and pureed strawberries, made dulce de leche, or I do this simple chocolate syrup.

Instead of brownies, I love using a cookie base. Here is a family favorite. While it’s simply a chocolate chip cookie dough plus oats, for some reason we call them Harvest Bars.

Harvest Bars

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ cups flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1 t. vanilla

2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugars until combined. Add eggs and vanilla mix briefly until combined.

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Mix oats and chocolate chips into the batter by hand.

Spread into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake 30-35 minutes until a tester comes out clean, and the bars are slightly browned and puffy.

Let cool and cut into 15 squares.