and the nominees are...

Mini Raspberry Cheesecakes and Oreo Truffles.

I was invited to an Oscar party last night, and of course needed to bring some Oscar-worthy treats with me. I was disappointed in my execution of the mini-cheesecakes, those are definitely not winning for any type of technical or cinematic category. In my mind, I was making them with a chocolate crust, so they would be Black and White, very elegant. But, the chocolate crust was more light brown, and the cheesecake more very yellow. The whole thing just missed the mark I was aiming for, and while they were good (have you ever met a cheesecake that wasn't??) they just weren't the hit I'd hoped for.

The Oreo truffles looked small and delicate, and tasted AMAZING, a clear front runner in this race. But they weren't without their problems. The truffles were supposed to be dipped in melted chocolate, and I waited questionably too long to do this step. I pulled out my double boiler, dumped in the chocolate, and went to town melting it. It wasn't long after that it turned into one globby clump, took on a life of it's own, and told me that there was no way I was dipping anything into it - its consistency was barely even spreadable. Somehow, I'd managed to mess up the simple step of "melt chocolate". Infuriated, I rushed to the store for more chocolate, and called my kitchen-emergency hotline (thank, Mel!) to discover that, in fact, a ganache recipe she has made clearly states "Do not use chocolate chips". I had, in fact, used chocolate chips. They were on sale and cheaper than the bars that I would have had to buy. Bad move, Jenni. Luckily, I was able to make a game time switch, and got the good stuff. On second chance I melted the chocolate ok (actually, the white chocolate never recovered, but I ran out of time to fight with it.) While, even my visions for the truffles were not quite achieved, their taste made it a moot point.

And, the Oscar goes to....

Oreo Truffles, who are gladly accepting this award on behalf of Meryl Streep and her portrayal of Julia Child!

---

**Oreo truffles, totally simple:

Crush up Oreos in a food processor (save 9 crushed cookies aside for later). Combine remaining cookie crumbs, 8oz of cream cheese, and 1/2 tsp of vanilla with a mixer until mixed thoroughly. Roll into small balls and chill in fridge for one hour. Melt 1 pound of chocolate in a double boiler - careful, this part is apparently tricky. I ended up using one bar of milk chocolate and one bar of bittersweet chocolate together, I think it was a good choice. Dip the chilled oreo balls into chocolate and place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle the remaining cookie crumbs on top. (I ran out of chocolate at one point, and simply rolled the oreo balls in the cookie crumbs for some - these were good too) Return to fridge to chill for one hour, or until you have to go!