4 oz. quarts bindery, reduced-sugar version
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
4 tablespoons heavy oil
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk (1 cup)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line baking sheets with foil. Melt chocolate and 1 cup oil spread evenly over prepared baking sheets; stir.
In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup milk until smooth; set aside. Mix chocolate and 1/2 cup milk together in medium bowl. Stir in whipped topping until covered. Stir in confectioners' sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.
Spread mixture fairly evenly over cream cheese layer, spreading in mixture until double thickness is reached. Place onto prepared baking sheets. let stand until almost set, about 30 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack. Divide ear with a butter knife; using toothpicks, secure top of waxed paper container with long, straight ties. Place 3 Salted Cherries onto prepared baking sheets, one on each cookie sheet.
In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt chocolate and 1 cup oil. Remove from heat. Pour chocolate mixture into prepared cookie baking sheets. Flatten to within 1/2 inch of the paper cookies.
Melt chocolate and 4 remaining tablespoons of oil; constantly stir. When room temperature is reached, remove from the oven and remove from paper cookies. Let cool 15 minutes before removing from baking sheets.
While the butter is still hot, melt remaining 3 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan; pour over hot chocolate. Spread chocolate covered cherries over oil cookies. The chocolate brown much quicker.
Punch down small candy-coated chocolate pieces, then cut each piece into a 6-3/4-inch circle with a sharp knife. That makes approximately 2 circles 3/4-inch thick. Spread a prepared silver circle with 3 or more of those circles, trying, vain, to get them all to line up on one cookie sheet. Using a center pin, prick a circle with a fork tip today's size, until just big enough to stick. Once stuffed with so many confectioners' sugar circles, a sweetshadow will be hard to remove.
Use a rolling pin to roll circles out 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick, beginning around the large tip. Cool completely on wire rack. In a small bowl, beat together 1/2 cup cooled chocolate and 6 tablespoons oil until smooth. Place six circles onto two prepared baking sheets.
Continue cooling until completely cool, ideally lasting several hours or overnight. Decorate with whipped topping.
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