I'm Now The Parent of a Teenager and Frozen Mocha Toffee Crunch Terrine

Yes, she's 13! Our firstborn is now a teenager! Another milestone has been reached and, as usual, I have mixed emotions. I'm so proud that she's becoming a compassionate and responsible young lady, but at the same time I don't want her to grow up. And just being honest here, I'm scared of what these teenage years will bring. Everyone always says how hard it is. But every day I look at her and can't believe that she's as tall as I am and now owns her own cell phone! Yes, she is now one of those "texting teens".



I will never forget the day our baby Ellen Rose was born. We tried for 3 weeks to keep her from being born so early, but she just couldn't wait. The doctors gave me every nasty drug possible to keep her inside, but alas, I was only 6 months pregnant and she was only 2 pounds 15 ounces when she arrived in this world. She spent almost 9 weeks in the hospital, growing and becoming stronger each day. She was barely 5 pounds when we brought her home, heart monitor and all. So where did the past 13 years go? It all seems a blur now...



So fast forward 13 years and let's talk about food! Ellen saw this frozen dessert on the cover of an old Everyday Food magazine I picked up from a yard sale. She loves mocha and she loves chocolate and she loves toffee, so what could be better to make for her birthday celebration? I didn't even have to turn the oven or the stove on to make this one (Bonus!). So while Ellen was at the Jonas Brothers concert, I was at home making her birthday dessert. By the way, in case you didn't know, Ellen LOVES Nick! He was born in New Jersey, he lives in Dallas, and his birthday is September 16. If you need to know more Nick Jonas trivia, my daughter is the one to call -I mean text.

Frozen Mocha Toffee-Crunch Terrine

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine

19 chocolate wafer cookies (I used Oreo Cookies with filling removed)
11 ounces mascarpone or cream cheese, or a combination
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup toffee bits (I used 2-3 chopped Heath bars)
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate, chopped, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp espresso powder

Line a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with 2 sheets of plastic wrap, with long sides overhanging by about 3 inches. (I would probably try waxed or parchment paper cut to size to avoid the wrinkles in the final product that the plastic caused.) Arrange 3 wafers, flat side up, in a row in the bottom of the pan.
In a large bowl, beat mascarpone and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla. In another bowl, beat cream until it holds soft peaks. In three additions, fold the whipped cream into the sweetened mascarpone with a rubber spatula.
In a bowl, mix 1 1/3 cups mascarpone mixture with toffee bits. In a separate bowl, mix another 1 1/3 cups mascarpone mixture with chocolate and cocoa powder. Dissolve the coffee in 1 teaspoon hot water; stir into the remaining mascarpone mixture.
Spread coffee mixture in prepared pan. Cover with 8 wafers, overlapping if necessary. Spoon chocolate mixture into pan; cover with 8 wafers. Spoon toffee mixture into pan.
Wrap pan with overhanging plastic; freeze at least 4 hours and up to 2 weeks. To serve, invert onto a serving platter. Remove plastic. Let terrine sit 5 minutes, then cut into slices.