Chocolate Praline Cake 1 stick butter cut up 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream 1 cup packed brown sugar 3/4 cup pecans 1 (18.25 oz) devils food cake mix with pudding 1 cup water 1/2 cup vegetable oil 3 large eggs Sweetened Cream (recipe follows) 1 square semisweet chocolate for garnish Preparation Preheat oven to 325 F set aside two 9 in cake pans. Place butter, cream and brown sugar in a small, heavy sauce pan. Cook over low heat, until butter melts. Pour mixture equally into cake pans, and sprinkle it with pecans, set pans aside. Put cake mix water oil and eggs in a large bowl, mix until well combined. Divide cake mixture evenly between pans, pouring over pecan mixture and smoothing out with spatula. Bake cakes until they spring back to touch. Remove pans from oven and place on wire racks to cool about 10 minutes. Run a dinner knife around each layer and invert each on to rack, praline side up, allow to cool completely. Sweetened Cream 1 cup heavy whipping cream 1/2 cup confectioners sugar Place a large mixing bowl and beaters from your mixer in the freezer for a few minutes. Pour whipping cream in the chilled bowl and beat on high until cream is thickened about 1 1/2 minutes. Stop the machine and add the sugar. Beat about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes more or until stiff peaks form. To finish cake: Place one layer, praline side up on serving platter and spread 1/2 the sweetened cream on top. Place the second layer, praline side up on top of first and frost that with remaining cream. Scatter with grated chocolate on top. Truffles à la Suzanne 1/3 cup (75 ml) boiling water 3 tbsp (40 ml) margarine, melted 2/3 cup (150 ml) Splenda Granular 1 cup (250 ml) instant powdered skim milk 1 tsp (5 ml) lemon juice 2 cups (500 ml) semi-sweet chocolate chips 1/4 cup (50 ml) butter, softened 1/4 cup (50 ml) liqueur (Kahlua, Bailey's etc.) or strong coffee 1 cup (250 ml) crushed chocolate wafers, Oreo cookie crumbs or graham crumbs cocoa powder, finely chopped nuts, or chocolate sprinkles 1. Combine water, margarine, Splenda Granular, milk powder and lemon juice in blender container. Process until thick and smooth; set aside. 2. In top of double boiler over hot water, melt chocolate chips. Remove from heat. Stir in milk mixture, butter, liqueur and crumbs; mix well. Refrigerate about 2 hours or until firm enough to handle. 3. Form into balls and roll in cocoa, nuts or sprinkles. Store in refrigerator. Makes about 6 dozen truffles. 4.8 g carbohydrate 0.6 g protein 3 g fat 48 cal. (PER TRUFFLE) These wonderfully rich chocolate truffles are made with Splenda Granular and powdered milk. This recipe is quite flexible and can use other chips, eg. white chocolate, butterscotch or peanut butter.

Tips on Mailing Cookies Cookies that have a crunchy or hard texture such as Biscotti, Mexican Wedding Cakes, Crisps, Springerele, and Shortbreads make excellent choices for mail delivery. They tend to be fairly sturdy, so you don't have to worry too much about breakage. And since they already have a fairly dry texture, drying out isn't much of an issue. Cookies that have a slightly chewy texture, like Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal-Raisin, Snickerdoodles, and White Chocolate Cranberry cookies also ship well. These cookies will tend to dry out if they are in the mail for more than a week, so if their destination is a long way off, you might want to ship them by express to ensure that they arrive just as tasty as when they left. Macaroons and Pignoli mail beautifully. Their chewy, moist textures only seem to improve after they've aged a few days. Who wouldn't want to receive a single, perfect chocolate-dipped coconut macaroon as a special treat? *yummy* Dense bar cookies such as Fudge Brownies, Blondies, or Peanut Butter Bars are delightful to receive in the mail. Just be sure to individually wrap each one with plastic wrap to keep that moist, gooey, dense texture from drying out. Good things come in secure packages. Once you've baked and cooled your cookies, you're ready for the next step: packing them. There are a few guidelines you should follow when it comes to preparing cookies to be mailed. Follow these and your special packages should arrive fresh, in one piece, and great tasting. Don't pack crisp and soft cookies together. The moisture from the soft cookies will seep into the crisp cookies, making them lose their delightful crunch. Don't overstuff your container. Your cookies may be damaged. Likewise, don't under-pack your container. The cookies should fit snugly. If you have too much space, crumple up a bit of tissue paper to fill the holes. Pack cookies in a sturdy tin or airtight container. On the bottom of the container place a piece of bubble wrap, then line the container with parchment paper or cellophane, leaving enough to tuck over the top once the container is fully packed. Place one layer of cookies in the container. Cover with parchment paper. Arrange another layer of cookies, followed with more parchment paper, and continue this layering until the container is full. Tuck the cellophane or parchment paper over the top, then place another piece of bubble wrap on top, and seal your container. You now need to pack your tin or container in a heavy-duty cardboard box that's large enough to allow a two to three inch cushion between the tin and the wall of the outside box. Place a layer of shipping peanuts, air-popped popcorn, or crumpled paper on the bottom of your shipping box. Set your cookie tin on this bottom layer. Then fill in the sides and top with more shipping materials. Seal the shipping box with two-inch-wide shipping tape. Place a mailing label on the box, and you're ready to send those treats on their way. Rest assured you won't be seeing any "Return to Sender" messages coming your way!

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