Cupcake Bark

So far my 2011 has been a decent year :) I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year! I'm not typically one to make new years resolutions. I try to set goals for myself year round but this year there is one thing I want to do and that is make more time for my girlfriends. I miss them all the time since I graduated but I am so exhausted from school and work that by the time I get home, I just want to lay on the couch and do nothing. The fact that I tend to be quite lazy probably doesn't help either. With Shawn only being in town a very limited amount of days (mostly only on the weekends), its gotten hard to prioritize my time with my friends. So this year, I am going to improve on this and give them the effort they deserve. I don't want them to think I take them for granted or that they are not a priority in my life because they are...those girls mean the world to me...

Anyhoo....

I rang in the new year with pork and sauerkraut. My family always did the sauerkraut on new years. It's a German tradition that is supposed to bring good luck. Because pork is a fat pig, it is supposed to symbolize an abundant year ahead and sauerkraut is made with cabbage and the green in cabbage symbolizes wealth and money. I went over to Shawns and his roomates and I filled 2 large crockpots with our "good luck" and had a nice hungover feast. Crossing my fingers!

So I think my first blog post of the year should be kind of epic. That's how I feel about this bark. Bark is fun because you can throw whatever you want into melted chocolate and hope for the best. I've been on a abit of a bark craze for the holidays so I was inspired to say the least...

I had a couple of boxed cake mix in my pantry that my dad had sent me and they have been sitting there collecting dust because I prefer to bake from scratch. I absolutely cannot waste any food so I decided to play with them and see what I can do with cake mix other than cupcakes. I made cake mix cookies sandwiches and a couple kinds of bark...

This first one is what I call a "cupcake" bark because I made it in 2 layers. The first layer has yellow cake mix and is colored yellow and the top layer is colored pink to resemble frosting and is topped with sprinkles. This would make a great little diy birthday gift because it's so cute!

Cupcake Bark
Dame Good

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
3 tablespoons yellow cake mix (dry)
yellow food coloring (use an oil-based coloring, a water base will shock the chocolate, or use colored melting chocolate)
pink food coloring (use an oil-based coloring, a water base will shock the chocolate, or use colored melting chocolate)
sprinkles

Directions:

Melt 3 cups of white chocolate in the microwave for 45 seconds at a time, stirring each time. It will take about 2-4 minutes. Once the chocolate is completely melted, stir in 3 tablespoons of the cake mix. When that is completely mixed in, stir in desired amount of yellow food coloring. Try not to add too much, you just want a light yellow. Pour the chocolate on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Put the chocolate in the fridge until it hardens, about 30-45 minutes.

While the first layer is cooling, melt the remainging 1 1/2 cups of chocolate in the microwave. When it is completely melted, stir in desired amount of pink food coloring. Pour pink layer over the yellow layer and top the pink layer with sprinkles. Put the bark in the refrigerator until cool. Once cool, break into uneven shards and store in airtight containers. Enjoy!