While reading internet news and such this morning I discovered it was National Chocolate Cake day… who knew? Seriously though, who comes up with these “national” food days. While the recipe I am sharing today isn’t a chocolate cake, you could use this frosting to decorate your favorite chocolate cake and celebrate this holiday.

Blood oranges really don’t differ in flavor than your traditional navel orange, but they do have a beautiful bloody red inside. When making the frosting try to use the juice from oranges that have the reddest insides in order to get that pretty pale pink color. These would be perfect for Valentine’s Day, a bridal shower, or baby shower for a little girl. You get a delicate pink colored frosting without the need for red food coloring. Plus the frosting tastes delicious!

BLOOD ORANGE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

8 tablespoons (1 stick) of butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons blood orange zest (zest from 2 oranges)
5 tablespoons blood orange juice (juice from 1 1/2 oranges)

In a stand mixer beat butter and cream cheese on high for about 5 minutes until complete combined and fluffy. Turn mixer down to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar, being careful to make sure the sugar doesn’t fling out of the bowl.

As the sugar becomes more incorporated turn the speed up to medium high. Add in the vanilla extract, zest, and blood orange juice. Beat on high until fluffy. If the frosting isn’t stiff enough for your liking add more powdered sugar. But make sure to turn your mixer down to low otherwise you will be wearing powdered sugar.

Pipe onto your favorite cake or cupcakes. I used a 1M tip and generously swirled the frosting onto gluten free chocolate cupcakes.

What is your favorite frosting? I think my favorite frosting I made was a dulce de leche buttercream for a friend’s birthday cake. Yum! 

The white puppy chow made a perfect backdrop for some of the red, white, and pink Valentine’s Day M&M’s, so I *had* to add some to the mix Whip up a quick batch for the love of your life!

WHITE CHOCOLATE PUPPY CHOW
9 cups Corn Chex cereal
1 cup white chocolate chips
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 package Valentine’s Day themed M&M’s (optional)

In a microwave safe bowl put white chocolate chips and peanut butter together. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir to combine. If mixture isn’t creamy microwave in 30 second intervals until everything is smooth.

Measure the 9 cups of cereal in a large mixing bowl. Pour the white chocolate and peanut butter mixture over the cereal. Carefully stir to coat all the cereal evenly.

In a large ziplock bag pour in the cereal mixture. Dump in the 3 cups of powdered sugar. Zip the bag closed and give it a shake to coat all the cereal with the powdered sugar. Pour into a large serving bowl and gently stir in the M&M’s.

These brownies are special. They are special because they have a very unique ingredient in them. I’m pretty sure in a blind taste test most people wouldn’t be able to tell you what that unique ingredient is. Is the anticipation killing you? Drumroll please………………… black beans! Yup, that’s right, there is a whole can of black beans in these delicious, chocolately, fudgey, brownies.

Picky eaters do not turn up your noses! These brownies taste just like regular ole brownies. No bean flavor what-so-ever! Generally speaking most of us who enjoy the standard American diet could use extra fiber in our day -why not get it in a brownie . An added bonus is that these bad boys are gluten free. There is NO flour, wheat, rice or otherwise in these brownies. Sometimes gluten free goodies can be a little sandy from the rice flours but this is not the case here. Have I convinced you to try them yet? Please do! They are so good!

While we were enjoying these as a family after dinner the other night, Penelope (age 4) said “Do you know what the secret ingredient is? BLACK BEANS!” If she hadn’t said anything no one would have known. 

BLACK BEAN BROWNIES
from Meal Make Over Mom’s
One 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed very well
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons canola oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used bittersweet chocolate chips)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil or coat an 8 x 8-inch baking pan or dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

Place the black beans in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth and creamy.  Add the eggs, oil, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt and process until smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top with a rubber spatula, and sprinkle with the chocolate chips.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan before slicing into 2-inch squares.

Are there any desserts you enjoy that have nontypical ingredients? 

Today the girls and I were back in the kitchen and we made peanut brittle. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make. I wonder why some things, like peanut brittle, are only eaten during the holidays.

Sasha and Penelope helped measure out the ingredients while I manned the actually liquid magma that is boiling sugar. Once your caramel is ready, you’ll want to work quickly stirring in the other ingredients and spreading in out on your pan before it hardens.

PEANUT BRITTLE
from Cookie Talk adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Vegetable-oil spray or 1 teaspoon butter, for lining the tray
2 cups sugar
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons to 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse or flaky sea salt (I used Kosher salt)
10 ounces salted, roasted nuts, not chopped

Line a half sheet baking pan with parchment paper, or silpat, and lightly coat it with vegetable spray or butter. Lightly spray a spatula and set aside. Measure your peanuts, salt, and baking soda separately and set aside.

Put the sugar, butter, corn syrup, and 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water to a large saucepan, and stir together until all the sugar is wet. Cook over high to medium-high heat, but watch it carefully as it will foam up. Once it does, turn it down to medium.

Once the mixture turns a medium golden (took about 20 minutes for me) immediately remove from the heat, and carefully whisk in the baking soda followed by the salt (be careful the caramel will want to bubble up on you). Switch to a wooden or metal spoon, and fold in the nuts.

Quickly pour the mixture onto the sheet pan, and spread it out over the pan using the back of your greased spatula before it starts to harden. Let cool completely then break in to chunks.

If you’re making Christmas sweets and treats please let me know what you’re making! We love trying new things! 

Check out the other Countdown to Christmas treats:
Thin Mint cookies (gluten free)
Soft Ginger cookies
Moldy Cornflakes

I first saw these on Crepes of Wrath’s site and she found them at Baking Bites. This batch I whipped up I substituted Multi-Purpose gluten free flour the flour in the recipe. If you really like mint I recommend adding more mint extract –I didn’t find them minty enough for my liking.

I recommend keeping these in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to serve them. The chocolate coating might get a little soft if kept at room temperature for too long.

THIN MINTS
from Crepes of Wrath

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur Flour multi-purpose gluten free flour)
1/4 cup cornstarch
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1/3 cup milk (any kind – I used 1%)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. With the mixer on low speed, add in the milk and the extracts. Mixture will look curdled -its ok it is supposed to. Slowly, add in the flour mixture until fully incorporated.

Shape dough into two logs, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1-2 hours, until dough is very firm.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Slice dough into rounds not more than 1/4 inch thick – if they are too thick, they will not be as crisp – and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cookies will not spread very much, so you can put them quite close together. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until cookies are firm at the edges. Cool cookies completely on a wire rack before dipping in chocolate.

CHOCOLATE COATING
10-oz dark or semisweet chocolate (I used milk chocolate and they turnout out well but I do recommend using dark if you want the most Thin Mint like cookie)
1/2 cup butter, room temperature

In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate and butter. Melt on high power in the microwave, stirring every 45-60 seconds, until chocolate is smooth. Chocolate should have a consistency somewhere between chocolate syrup and fudge for a thin coating.

Dip each cookie in melted chocolate, turn with a fork to coat, then transfer to a piece of parchment paper or wax paper to set up for at least 30 minutes, or until chocolate is cool and firm.

Reheat chocolate as needed to keep it smooth and easy to dip into.

You can see the other countdown recipes:
Soft Ginger Cookies
Moldy Cornflakes 

Are you still baking/making Christmas treats or have you finished? Let me know what you’re making! 

I love the strong spicy flavors you find this time of year. These ginger cookies are chock full of the wonderful spicy combination of ginger, molasses, cloves, and cinnamon. Before baking I rolled them in turbano sugar which gives these soft cookies a nice crunch.

If you don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen baking cookies you should give these a try. The mix up in just a couple minutes and bake for 10 minutes.

GINGER COOKIES
recipe from Better Homes and Gardens recipe app 

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 egg
1/4 c molasses
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup coarse turbano sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In your mixing bowl beat butter on high for 30 seconds. Add 1 cup sugar, soda, and spices. Mix until combined, scrapping sides as needed. Beat in egg and molasses until combined. Turn mixer down to medium and mix in flour.

Shape dough into 1-1 1/2 inch balls. Roll in the coarse sugar. Place dough balls on parchment lined cookie sheet abou 2-2 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes. Cookies will be puffy when you remove them from the oven. Let cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.

Bakes about 2 dozen cookies.

Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

What are your favorite Christmas cookies or treats? 

Check back tomorrow for another Christmas goodie!

Now I’m not sure where the name moldy cornflakes came from but that is all I’ve ever heard them called*. They actually resemble holly and berries and are similar to rice crispy bars, except here we’re using cornflakes.

*update: Grandma Bonnie left this comment on my facebook wall about moldy cornflakes. I thought maybe you would enjoy reading it too.

“I guess I should tell the true story of moldy cornflakes. Found the recipe for Holly Candy, made them, and at first, MY children (this would be my Mom and my Uncle) refused to eat them because they were green like mold. Our rule was you had to try everything once. After they tried them they loved them and have forever after called them moldy cornflakes. Then the grandchildren and great grandchildren have continued the tradition. Way to go, Michelle and Jeff!!”

MOLDY CORNFKAKES

1/4 cup butter
1 package mini marshmallows
5 cups cornflakes
Green food coloring
Cinnamon imperials (red hots) candy

Put butter and marshmallows in a microwave proof bowl. Cook for 1 minute on high. Stir and cook another 30 seconds to 1 minute until the marshmallows are melted.

Stir in a little green food coloring at a time until the desired color is achieved.

In a large bowl measure out 5 cups of cornflakes. Pour marshmallow mixture over them. Stir to completely coat all the cornflakes.

On waxed paper or parchment scoop out small bundles of cornflakes. Place a few red hots candies on top.

Enjoy your holly and berries aka moldy cornflakes!

I wish I would have snapped photos of the night but I was too busy making sure the food was done and everyone’s tummies were happy and full. Hindsight I guess. As I lay in bed after everyone had gone home it dawned on me that I should have taken pictures of the evening to share with you. Are you good at taking pictures at parties when you’re in the moment? I am not, but from now on it is my goal. This weekend is my daughter’s birthday party, so we’ll see if I do better.

Since I don’t have any food photos from that night I thought I would share a list of what I made. You’ll have to use your imaginations here (sorry!).

The quantities are what I used for our party of 10 adults 2 children

A friend brought a large salad to enjoy while the pasta was cooking.

PASTA:
2 boxes farfalle (for us this was plenty)
1 box gluten free fusilli (this fed 2 male adults with leftovers)

SAUCES:
Marinara (recipe coming)
Alfredo (recipe)

TOPPINGS:
2 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (sliced thinly, seasoned with garlic salt & black pepper)
1 pound white mushrooms, sauteed
1 pound broccoli florets, steamed
1 medium-large eggplant, cubed and roasted
1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, halved and roasted
2 (15 ounce) cans artichoke hearts, drained

BREAD:
2 loaves of store bought garlic bread (this was plenty, we used 1 1/2 loaves)
1 package (containing 4 rolls) Gluten Free ciabatta rolls

This set up allowed guests to top their pasta with any combination of toppings and sauces. I thought it worked out well and it seemed like everyone left full and happy. I hope to have another dinner party like this again soon! A pasta buffet would be the perfect starting point for a potluck. The host could provide the pastas and guests could bring various sauces and toppings. Hmm….I need to do this.

For dessert I whipped up a gluten free pumpkin cheesecake. It was a subtle pumpkin flavor and a great way to bridge the transition between light and fruity summer desserts and the stronger, spicier winter desserts. This would make a wonderful addition to the Thanksgiving dessert table! Your gluten intolerant loved one will thank you.

I did not use a water bath when I baked this cheesecake. My easy bake (not really easy bake just incredibly small) oven wouldn’t fit a pan large enough to be used as a water bath. The top of my cheesecake cracked slightly so to cover up the imperfection I topped it with a walnut praline.

this is all that is left of a delicious pumpkin cheesecake

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

CRUST:
1 package Mi-Del gluten free pecan cookies OR 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

CHEESECAKE:
3 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup pumpkin purée
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cornstarch
4 eggs

WALNUT PRALINE:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In food processor dump all the pecan cookies in and pulse until they are reduced to crumbs. Slowly add the 1/4 c melted butter, pulsing to incorporate it. Dump crumbs into a 9 inch springform pan and press in to a even layer on the bottom. Bake crust for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set on cooling rack while mixing up the cheesecake.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

Using a stand mixer (or food processor) beat cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add whipping cream, yogurt, pumpkin, brown sugar, spices, and corn starch mix to combine. Add eggs two at a time mix until well blended. Pour onto prepared crust.

Bake for 10 minutes then without opening the oven door drop the temperature down to 200 degrees F. Bake for 45-50 minutes. The center should move slightly when pan is jiggled but not ripple as if the center was still liquidy. Remove and place on cooling rack for 1 hour. Then cover and move to refrigerator for at least 3 hours, overnight is better.

To make the praline:

Place brown sugar and cream in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stirring frequently until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in nuts. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before spreading on cheesecake. Place back in the fridge for another 20 minutes until the praline has set.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FALL DESSERT? I am a big fan of cheesecakes and dark coffee during the colder months. 

This is what I did to make my turtle inspired cupcakes: I used a gluten free yellow cake mix for the base (I was lazy and I didn’t want to run out and buy all the individual flours needed to make them from scratch), chocolate ganache, caramel buttercream (YUM!), and topped them with chopped salted pecans. I am very happy with how they turned out. These will make a reappearance sometime soon! Hmmm,  I wonder if I can convince Penelope that she should have a turtle themed birthday party.

TURTLE CUPCAKES
1 GF Yellow Cake Mix, mixed & baked according to package directions

Ganache
2 4 oz Ghirardelli Baking Bars 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate
3 T heavy whipping cream

Caramel Sauce
from Simply Recipes
1 c white sugar
6 T butter
1/2 c heavy whipping cream

Buttercream Frosting:
1/2 c shortening
1/2 c  softened butter
3 c powdered sugar, sifted
caramel sauce, cooled

chopped salted pecans

Mix and bake cake mix according to the directions on the box for cupcakes. Once you remove them from the oven allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the ganache: Using a double broiler melt the chopped up chocolate bars. Once the chocolate is smooth and creamy stir in the whipping cream. Pour a generous spoonful of the sinfully delicious ganache on each cupcake and allow to cool.

To make the caramel sauce: Using a heavy bottomed pan, melt the sugar over medium high heat stirring constantly until the sugar starts to boil. The sugar will turn a dark caramel color. DO NOT LET BURN! Once the sugar is boiling, turn the heat off and remove from the burner. Stir in the butter until melted. THE MELTED SUGAR WILL BUBBLE UP! MAKE SURE TO HAVE ENOUGH ROOM IN YOUR POT. Melted sugar is incredibly HOT!! Once the melted butter is stirred in add the whipping cream, the mixture will bubble up again so be careful. Pour into a jar to cool.

To make the buttercream: Beat shortening and butter until creamy in your mixer. Slowly add the powdered sugar to the shortening/butter. Once all the powdered sugar is added turn the mixer to high and beat it, beat it good. Pour in the cooled caramel sauce. If the buttercream seems runny add more powdered sugar until your desired stiffness is achieved. Scoop into pastry bag and pipe on to cupcakes.

Cupcake Assembly:
Cupcake
Ganache
Buttercream
Chopped Pecans

ENJOY!!

What is your favorite cupcake flavor? I really don’t discriminate when it comes to cupcakes. Funfetti is a good nostalgic flavor, but I’d say these are my new favorite cupcakes. 

What do you enjoy baking? Are you a sweet baker or a bread baker? I usually am a sweets baker. They provide the instant gratification that bread baking doesn’t. However, I think I may have over done it with the sweets baking in the last week so this week I am planning on baking biscuits and bread. 

Since Sasha has started school Penelope has been pretty lonely so I am trying my hardest to do fun activities with her to occupy her time. Both my girls love to help out in the kitchen so baking cookies seemed like a perfect activity. Penelope pulled up a chair and we started mixing up these tasty cookies. Instead of baking them I scooped them and rolled them into balls. Laid them on a parchment lined baking sheet and threw them in the freezer. Once the cookies were frozen solid we put the cookie balls into a freezer bag and tossed them back into the ol’ ice box. Now in the morning if I think Sasha should have a sweet treat in her lunch box I can pull a cookie ball out and bake it in the toaster oven while she is getting ready for school.

Not only is this a perfect way for me to give Sasha a special treat, but if we have impromptu guests over I don’t have to slave away making a dessert, these cookies go from freezer to plate in about 15 minutes.

You can add any sort of “chip” into these cookies. I’ve made them using peanut butter chips –YUM and butterscotch chips –equally delicious.

I add a package of instant pudding to these cookies to give them a soft (not too soft), moist texture. These cookies have a slight crispy outside and a soft slighty chewy inside. Utter perfection, in my humble opinion . I hope you give them a try!

CHOCOLATE COOKIES
2 sticks butter, soften
3/4 c dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 c white sugar
1 package sugar free chocolate instant pudding
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2  c sifted all-purpose flour
1/3 c cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 c butterscotch chips or peanut butter chips

In mixer beat on medium speed butter, sugars, pudding and vanilla until blended. Add eggs and mix well. Add flour and soda in small batches until all incorporated. Stir in chips by hand.

Using a ice cream scoop, scoop out cookie dough and roll into balls. Place on parchment lined baking sheet to freeze or place 2 inches apart on baking sheet to bake in 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.

If baking from frozen: pull frozen cookie dough balls out of freezer while preheating oven to 375 degrees F. Bake frozen cookie dough for 15-18 minutes.

Do you have any desserts you keep on hand? 

What is your favorite cookie? 

Before I froze a bunch of these cookie dough balls I really didn’t keep desserts on hand. Now I have a gallon freezer bag full of cookie dough balls sitting in the freezer this moment.

If I am somewhere where there is a cookie platter I will alway reach for white chocolate macadamia nut cookies first. YUM! 

Here in the United States this weekend is Memorial Day weekend. Memorial Day weekend is traditionally full of parades honoring the men and women that have served in the military, family gatherings, picnics, camping, and since it is the first long weekend since the snow has melted many see it as the kick start for summer. We have two family gatherings this weekend and I am really looking forward to both ( and I am guaranteed to have some delicious food).

Since this weekend will be a big camping or picnic weekend for many people I thought I would share a tasty no-bake treat. S’mores are a must have camping treat for my daughters. I think eating s’mores are quite possibly their favorite thing about camping. Have you ever had a s’more before? S’mores are fire roasted (or toasted like how I prefer them) marshmallows, Hershey’s milk chocolate bars, and graham crackers sandwiched together. Easy peasy, messy, and delicious. You get your best s’more flavor by roasting them over the campfire, however, if your campground is under a burn ban (it happens when it gets really dry in the summer) or you’re camping at a camp ground like my parents that doesn’t allow any campfires, these bars would be a great alternative. Plus these bars are great for young ones since s’mores can get really really messy.

S’MORE BARS

6 c Golden Grahams cereal
1 stick (8 T) butter, browned
10 oz bag marshmallows
1-2 c  mini marshmallows
2 c frozen chocolate chips

In a large bowl add Golden Grahams, mini marshmallows, and chocolate chips. Set aside. Grease a 9×13 pan. Set aside.

In a sauce pan over medium heat brown the one stick of butter. Make sure to keep a careful eye on it. You want the butter to be golden brown. It can quickly go from browned butter to burned butter. Turn burner off. Remove pan from stove. Stir in 10 oz of marshmallows until all are melted and smooth. If marshmallows aren’t melting completely place pan back on burner turned to low and stir constantly.

Pour browned butter – marshmallow mixture of the bowl of Golden Grahams. Stir constantly to completely cover all the cereal. Press Golden Grahams into greased pan. Set aside to cool. Once cool cut into bars.

Enjoy the grahamy, marshmallowy, chocolatey treats!

Sasha celebrated her birthday at the beginning of the month and I of course got to decorate her cake. In January Sasha drew me a picture of what she wanted her cake to look like. It was so fun to get back into the kitchen and make something again. I absolutely LOVE celebrating the girls’ birthdays especially now that they have strong opinions about their cakes. It is my job to make their dream cake a reality. She wanted a dolphin cake (one of her favorite animals) with the dolphin jumping out of the water with a rainbow over it.

Here is Sasha’s drawing

My attempt at turning her dream cake into reality.

Sasha really wanted to use Funfetti cake mix for her cake. I used my Swiss Buttercream recipe for the frosting, and AmeriColor  Food Gel to dye the frosting.

I am excited to see what Penelope wants her cake to look like. We have until October and she is already talking about it!

Links to Sasha & Penelope’s other birthday cakes:
Elmo Cake
Rainbow Cake
Seahorse Cake

Penguin Cake
Ariel Cake (part 1) (part 2)

These cookies are perfect for the parent who’s life is a little hectic. I have no doubts you could whip up a fresh batch of cookies just as fast as you can make these, but I just happened to have a boxed cake mix that has been sitting in my pantry for quite some time and I remembered making cookies from a cake mix when I was a teenager. I love cookie recipes that have a baking time of only six to eight minutes. There are times when having a fresh warm cookie as quickly as possibly is just what you need er-want. What I love about these cookies is that they are quick and easy to make, and they bake up to a perfect soft vanilla-y cookie.

Funfetti cake was one of my childhood favorites. Sprinkles in the cake and in the frosting?! What child wouldn’t want that for every single birthday cake? This recipe is the result of the famous Pillsbury Bake Off contest.  I didn’t have a Funfetti cake mix so I used a white cake mix and followed the recipe for the cookies as written, just adding in a couple tablespoons of sprinkles at the end. The fun thing about these Funfetti cookies is you could make them for almost every holiday or season since Pillsbury makes different seasonal Funfetti mixes.

Have you ever submitted a recipe to the Pillsbury bake off  contest?
What is your favorite quick to make cookie recipe?

FUNFETTI COOKIES
recipe from Molly Taylor found on the Funfetti cake mix box or Pillsbury’s recipe site
Yield: 3 doz cookies

I wish I would have had some foresight and had taken pictures to document the process of getting the image from paper to cake. Unfortunately I was decorating Penelope’s take at 10 p.m. the night before her party and all I wanted to do was get it to look half way decent, so I hope you have a creative imagination and will be able to follow along with my directions (if anything is confusing please leave me a comment or email me and I will try by best to explain things more clearly).

THE PROCESS:

the technical stuff-
1. I went to Google to find an Ariel image I liked. I then clicked on the image to save it to my desktop.
2. Open the image and resize it so it will properly fit on the cake, I also flipped the image horizontally. Then saved the image.
3. Print
4. Place a piece of parchment paper over the flipped image then trace using a Sharpie.

the messy stuff-
1. Have your buttercream ready to go in the colors of your choosing.
2. Flip over the parchment paper so the Sharpie is on the back side.
3. Using a small tip begin to trace over the Sharpie. If you are starting on the tail trace over the outline of the tail in green buttercream. Begin to fill in the tail, using a toothpick to help smoothly distribute the buttercream.
4. Do this with the rest of the Ariel design.
5. Place in freezer for 30 min for the buttercream to become stiff.
6. Very carefully peel the frozen buttercream away from the parchment paper and place on top of decorate cake.
7. Add facial features and any touch ups that you need.
8. Bask in the glory of your faked artistic talent

The colors I used for Ariel:
Americolor Food Gel
Skin tone – Copper
Hair- Super Red
Tail- Leaf Green
Shells- Royal Purple

I used a little black to outline and give definition to the tail.

Do you have any cake decorating tips for me? Please share in the comments below!

How do you decorate a cake? Do you freehand your own designs or do you leave your cake plain?

Six months ago Penelope told me she wanted an Ariel (The Little Mermaid) cake. She has not wavered on that. Countless times since Spring I have heard her say that she wants an Ariel cake for her birthday. Since she obviously wanted an Ariel cake so badly I knew that I would have to make her one. This was a huge challenge since I am a complete amateur cake decorator with no drawing ability. The process of getting Ariel on the cake was time consuming but in my opinion pretty ingenious (I will share more on that in another post).

In the past I used “American” style buttercream (butter and powdered sugar based) to frost cakes. Although tasty I always found it to be entirely too sweet. Even though this cake wasn’t especially for me I still wanted to enjoy the cake as a whole instead of scraping off most of the frosting (like I usually do). For Penelope’s cake I tried Swiss buttercream instead of using and heating egg whites I used meringue powder and it turned out wonderfully. I am so happy I have found a delicious slightly sweet new “go-to” buttercream recipe.

So without further delay I will give you the details and recipe for this delicious Ariel cake. The recipe for the cake is easy, it is Pillsburry’s Funfetti boxed cake mix (Please do not take away my food blogger credentials for using a boxed cake mix I was tired and still had lots of party preparations to do!)

What is your favorite icing or frosting for cakes?

SWISS BUTTERCREAM
I used the recipe from Annie’s Eats as a guide
makes 1 batch (I double this up for a 3 layer cake and had plenty left over)

10 tsp meringue powder
10 T water
1 lb (4 sticks) unsalted butter (I know it sounds like a crazy amount)
pinch of salt
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Add the meringue powder and water to your mixing bowl. Then using your whisk attachment* for your mixer whisk the heck out of them on medium high speed for 8-10 minutes or until the egg whites form stiff peaks.

Bump the speed down to medium and start adding the butter 2 T at a time making sure each addition is incorporated before adding any more. At this point your mixture may start to look soupy and/or curdled. Don’t be alarmed just bump the speed up to medium high and keep on mixing until it smooths out (maybe 5 minutes).

Once all the butter is incorporated bump the speed down to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar. Be careful as the powdered sugar may fly up in a dust all over your kitchen. Once the sugar is stirred in increase the speed to medium high and mix everything together. Slowly add the vanilla and mix for another minute or two.

At this point you can add any food coloring to the frosting if desired. I added in a couple drops at a time of AmeriColor Food Gel in the color Royal Purple until I was almost at my desired color. Remember the color will deepen over time so be sure not to add too much coloring.

Use your frosting immediately or put into an air tight container and refrigerate (up to 3 days). When you’re ready to use it bring it to room temperature and whip it using your mixer.

* I do not have a whisk attachment for my KitchenAid mixer yet so I had to use the paddle. I just bumped the speed up to high and I was still able to get fluffy egg whites.

You could easily use this frosting recipe to fill your cakes. I opted to use a blueberry cream filling since Penelope loves blueberries. I mixed together one 8 oz container of low fat Cool Whip with 1 can of blueberry pie filling.

IF YOU WANT A CRUMB FREE FROSTING EXPERIENCE MAKE SURE TO FIRST APPLY A CRUMB COAT.

On Saturday evening we joined a small group of people at a sushi making party. It was so much fun and I can’t wait to have my own sushi making party so I can share pictures and recipes with you. For the party I wanted to make a fun dessert that would compliment the sushi theme. At Whole Foods I found sweet matcha powder and used that to make homemade green tea ice cream. Before making the ice cream I hadn’t tried green tea ice cream before so I wasn’t exactly sure what flavor I was trying to create. The ice cream was smooth, sweet, and creamy with a subtle green tea flavor. Everyone seemed to enjoy it at that party. My daughter’s loved the (natural) green color of the ice cream. I am looking forward to cranking out many delicious ice cream recipes this summer.

GREEN TEA (MATCHA) ICE CREAM
from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups heavy cream
4 tsp matcha (green tea powder)
6 large egg yolks

*I used 1/2 c sugar and 3 T sweet matcha powder

Warm milk, sugar, and salt in medium saucepan. Pour cream into a large bowl and whisk in green tea powder. Set mesh strainer on top. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks together and slowly pour in the warmed milk mixture, you don’t want scrambled eggs so pour slowly and whisk constantly. Pour the contents back into the pan and stir over medium heat with a heatproof spatula. Continue to stir until mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Remove from heat and pour the custard through the strainer, stirring it into the cream. Whisk vigorously to dissolve the green tea powder. Stir until cool over an ice bath. Chill mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

OTHER WONDERFUL ICE CREAM CREATIONS:

Honey lavender ice cream by Homesick Texan
Earl Grey Ice Cream by At the Baker’s Bench
another David Lebovitz recipe: Gianduja Gelato at Two Peas and Their Pod
Cherry Frozen Yogurt by Simply Recipes

In high school I worked at Hy-Vee (a local grocery store) in the produce department. Every Saturday and Sunday I would make dozens of vegetable and fruit pizzas. It was fun getting to make pretty designs using the fruit. I probably made hundreds of each when I was working there, and it has been since high school (nine years ago) since I’ve made one. It seems so silly since it is so easy to make and easily adapt to whatever fruit is in season.

A simple sugar cookie dough, cream cheese frosting, and top with whatever fruit your family likes would make a beautiful fruit pizza for a brunch, picnic, or a barbecue gathering. My two little girls who love to help in the kitchen enjoyed rinsing the berries and pressing the cookie dough into the pan. They enjoy helping any way they can.

Check out your farmers markets for fresh local berries.

FRUIT PIZZA

SUGAR COOKIE DOUGH:
from Pinch My Salt

2 1/2 C. flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. cream of tartar
1 C. butter, softened
1 1/2 C. powdered sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. almond extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In separate bowl mix together flour, soda, and cream of tartar. Set aside. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Slowly and in batches add the flour mixture making sure it is completely mixed together.  Press into a jelly roll pan (17 x 14) making sure to come up the sides. Bake for 15 minutes or until crust looks golden. Cool.

CREAM CHEESE BASE:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Cream together all ingredients. Spread over cooled crust.

Top with your favorite fruits. Some fruit topping ideas: kiwi, grapes, berries, orange segments or mandarin oranges, apple slices, bananas, pineapple, peaches, nectarines, plums, shredded coconut, the possibilities are endless. If you want to use apples or bananas give them a squeeze of lime juice to help stop them from browning so quickly. Have fun and be creative! ENJOY!

Almost two months have past and I haven’t shared pictures of Sasha’s birthday cake –oops. Both our families came to help her celebrate. It is always fun having a house full of people since I love to entertain. I made two different kinds of lasagna, Caesar salad with homemade croutons, and garlic bread.

My inspiration for the cake was her current favorite animal. We searched high and low for a seahorse piñata, and after visiting every party store in Omaha we came back empty handed. She was so sad that she wasn’t going to have a seahorse piñata at her party. I wanted to surprise her with a seahorse cake. I made a white sheet cake using a recipe from allrecipes.com. I love the use of almond extract in the cake batter it adds a little something special to a plain cake. The cake tasted good although it was a tad dry which made me sad since I haven’t baked a dry cake since high school. The frosting is vanilla buttercream and colored with AmeriColor gels*. These food gels are now my favorite way to color frosting. The colors are really bright, and I found that I had to use less gel to achieve my desired color. The best part is you don’t get that yucky food coloring aftertaste. I free-handed the seahorse on the cake first, and added everything around it after the seahorse was complete. This method worked best for me instead of frosting the entire cake then adding the design on top.

Sasha did not know what her cake was going to look like, I wanted to keep it a surprise for her. When we went to the craft store I had her pick out the gel colors that she liked. Once we had the colors she liked I had to figure out how to decorate her cake with those colors. I think the colors she picked out worked wonderfully for an under the sea cake. With each birthday cake I make, I realize that I really enjoy the cake decorating part. I wish I was more artistically inclined but if my cake brings a smile to my daughter’s face that is good enough for me.

Happy Birthday Sasha!

*I just want to say that I really liked the AmeriColor gels. I was not paid or compensated to share my opinion.

The first time I tried this recipe was last year for Valentine’s Day, and it was my first attempt at making anything gluten free before. We invited friends over (who also have young children) for a Valentine’s dinner party. Being Valentine’s day and all I knew I wanted to make a dessert. I found the recipe on Gluten Free Cooking School’s website.

This year instead of making a whole cake I made little heart shaped cupcakes for my husband to bring to work. I am assuming everyone liked them, because the cake pan came back empty.

You could make this in two round cake pans, and have yourself a beautiful red velvet layer cake. I however, chose to make mine into heart shaped cupcakes. My mom bought me some silicone heart shaped cupcake molds and I was excited to use them for the first time. Needless to say, some of the cupcakes got stuck in the mold. Looks like I am not the only one that has had an unfortunate experience with silicone cupcake molds. There is a whole discussion at The Kitchn about baking with silicone molds –they actually made red velvet cake in theirs too. Maybe it is the cake and not the mold?

GLUTEN FREE RED VELVET (CUP)CAKES
from Gluten Free Cooking School

1 3/4 c. canola oil
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten (room temp)
1 c. brown rice flour
3/4 c. sorghum flour
3/4 c. tapioca starch
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. buttermilk (or 1 Tbsp cider vinegar and 1 c. milk substitute)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 oz. red food coloring (this is one of the McCormick’s bottles) *I used just enough to give the batter a reddish color. Less than 1/4 of the bottle.
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream together oil and sugar. Add one egg making sure it is completely mixed in before adding the other egg.

Sift together all the dry ingredients (leaving out the cocoa powder) in a separate bowl. Add the flour mixture to the oil, sugar, and egg mixture in FOUR parts. Alternating the flour and buttermilk. Make sure the last one added is the flour mixture.

Make a paste out of the vanilla, red food coloring, and cocoa powder, and stir into the batter.

Pour batter into two greased and floured (GLUTEN FREE) round cake pans OR fill cupcake molds 2/3 the way full.  Bake for 25 minutes for the cake pans OR about 18 minutes (turning pans about half way through) for the cupcakes. Test the cakes and/or cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness.

Allow cakes to cool completely before frosting.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, room temperature
2-3 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 c chopped nuts

In mixing bowl beat together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Add the sugar while mixing on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and beat until light and fluffy.

You can stir in the chopped nuts or sprinkle the nuts on top of the frosted cupcakes. ENJOY!

OTHER RED VELVET (not gluten free) CREATIONS:
Red Velvet Cupcakes from Rue le Sel
Red Velvet Macaroons from delectable deliciousness
Red Velvet Bundt from Recipe Girl

Have faith dear reader, you can make these yourself. You need to be patient and keep a watchful eye on the candy thermometer. Some people (more experienced than I) can do this without the trusty thermometer. If that is you congratulations. The sugar mixture will turn a lovely caramely brown when it is done. Or if you are like me and prone to burning sugar when you try to do it by “eyeing it” it is done when the thermometer reaches 300 degrees F.

These toffee bars should be added to your holiday treat platter. Make them for your family, make them for your friends, make them for your neighbors, and snitch some for yourself. Wrap them up in pretty paper and give them as gifts.

CHOCOLATE COVERED TOFFEE “HEATH BARS”
1 c butter
1 c sugar
1/3 c brown sugar
2 T water
1/2 c chopped pecans
2 c chocolate chips

Line a jelly roll pan with foil. Lightly grease the foil, and set aside. Melt butter, sugars, and water in a heavy sauce pan over a medium high heat. Using your candy thermometer monitor the sugar temperature. Stir constantly until it becomes a carmely brown color and the temperature reaches 300 degrees F, turn off burner and remove pan, stir in pecans (I forgot this step so I sprinkled them on top once they were covered in chocolate). Pour sugar mixture onto jelly roll pan and spread out. Wait a couple minutes as the sugar cools and the toffee begins to set.

Using a pizza cutter slice toffee into desired size. Let cool completely. (As you can see in the top left corner my daughters and I had to sample the plain toffee. It was amazing )

Once toffee is completely cooled and hard, gently break apart into individual pieces. Put chocolate into a double broiler and melt gently. Drop one piece of toffee in at a time, cover completley with chocolate, shaking excess off, and place onto parchment paper to cool completely and have the chocolate set.

If you want to sprinkle with chopped nuts do so before the chocolate cools. ENJOY!

Becoming a food blogger has caused my children to want to pose with the food. They are some silly girls!

I found my recipe on a delicious site called Baking Bites. Head over there to check out what other tasty treats Nichole is baking up.

MARBLED CHOCOLATE BANANA CAKE
from Baking Bites
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 ripe, medium bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream (*I used light mayo)
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted

Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a 12-cup bundt pan (12-inch diameter).
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in the eggs one by one, waiting until each has been incorporated to add the next. Beat in vanilla extract and mashed bananas.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mix and stir to combine. Add in the sour cream (or mayo), followed by the remaining flour mixture.
Remove 1 1/2 cups of batter into a small bowl and stir in cocoa powder.
Pour 2/3 of the plain batter into the prepared bundt pan, top with cocoa batter and spoon the rest of the plain batter on top. Run a knife through the batter gently to swirl.
Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed.
Turn cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Serve plain, or dusted with powdered sugar.

*Mayo provides a slight tanginess, and can be found in other chocolate cake recipes.

Five Generations: my Mom & Sasha, me & Penelope, Great Grandma Dorothy, and Grandma Bonnie

I recently received a ton of apples that grew on my Great Grandma Dorothy’s tree. Over the years I am sure she has made thousands of pies, crisps, crumbles, and gallons of applesauce and apple butter. As I was peeling and coring apples yesterday I thought about my 89 year old great grandma standing in her kitchen. I began to wonder if she was doing the same thing. Maybe she was, I know she has a lot of apples to use up.

This apple pie was a complete experiment. It was inspired by a baked brie I made for our housewarming party. I sauteed apples, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and walnut together until the apples were soft. I then poured them over a wheel of brie and baked it until the brie was soft and gooey. It was wonderful, and a perfect appetizer for fall. I thought to myself “hey people put cheddar cheese in or on their apple pie, maybe brie would be a good substitute.” It was. I am happy I tried it.

This pie triggers a lot of memories. I think about my adorable Great Grandma Dorothy, about my successful baked brie I served at our housewarming party, and it warms my heart in that cozy kind of way that signals the changing of the seasons.

APPLE BRIE PIE
for the crust:
makes enough dough for a double crust pie plus scraps
2 1/2 c AP flour
2 tsp salt
1 c butter, cold and cubed
1/2 c ICE cold water

In a large enough bowl, stir together flour and salt. Cut in butter with forks or pastry blender until the flour looks coarse and crumbly. Stir in ICE water one tablespoon at a time, until combined and flour clumps together. You may or may not use all the water depending on the humidity level. Dump dough onto plastic wrap and wrap tightly. Refrigerate overnight, or at least an hour.

for the filling:
6 medium size apples
lemon juice
1/3 c white sugar
1/3 c brown sugar
3 T corn starch
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
7-8 oz Brie

Peel and corn all the apples. Cut apples into thin slices and toss with a little lemon juice. Stir in sugars, corn starch, and cinnamon. Remove the rind from the brie, and cut into slices. Toss with apple mixture. Set aside while you roll out your dough.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Remove the dough from the refridgerator. Let it rest for about 5 minutes (it makes it easier to roll out). Divide dough in half and roll out each section so it is pretty thin. Transfer one sheet to into your pie dish. Poke holes into the dough with a fork. I did not pre-grease my dish before putting the dough in. I had no problems with the dough sticking to the pan.

Drain off majority of the apple juices. Dump the apple mixture into your pie dish.

Place the second sheet of dough on top of your pie. Crimp the edges to seal.

I used this neat-o pie crust crimper thingy that I got a couple years ago for 10 cents at a thrift store. It is a pretty useful tool.

Slice vents into your crust. I used a leaf shaped cookie cutter and cut out a vent. Beat one egg. With a pastry brush, brush the egg over the entire crust. This makes your crust golden and beautiful.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until the crust is a lovely golden brown color. After the first 15-20 minutes of cooking cover the edges of your pie with a pie crust shield. Or you can use foil like I did. Avoid all temptations to cut into your pie as soon as you remove it from the oven. Try to wait at least an hour before digging in. Enjoy!

P.S. Just in case you were curious this pie pairs well with coffee, I tried it out this morning (for research purposes) and it was very good.

Two years ago Penelope was a newborn. She is 24 hours old in that photo. In the last two years she has grown and changed so much. She is a very sweet, loving, funny, opinionated, wonderful toddler. She loves penguins. For Sasha’s birthday we had a fiesta theme, and I thought it would be fun to go with a penguin theme for Penelope. Little did I know that it would be impossible to find penguin party supplies. Who would have thought? I called several large party supply stores in the area, and none of them had any penguin stuff. Happy Feet wasn’t released that long ago, and The Penguins of Madagascar is a popular cartoon so I thought I was going to have to settle for having one of those penguins featured at our party. How wrong I was. So we didn’t have any penguin plates, napkins, or balloons. Instead I made cute little penguin appetizers and a giant penguin cake. Penelope loved them both.

I took the easy way out when it came to Penelope’s cake. I used two cake mixes (devil’s food and funfetti) to make the penguin’s body and wings.

The penguin’s head was baked in a 6 inch round cake pan, and the wings were baked in a 8 inch round cake pan then cut in half. I used the funfetti cake mix to bake a 8 inch round cake for the body, two regular sized cupcakes and 12 mini cupcakes which were used for the feet and beak. I actually used 3 mini cupcake per foot and I turned one mini cupcake upside down to make the beak.

I frosted the cake using  vanilla buttercream and chocolate buttercream.

When assembling the penguin’s feet, I found it to be easier to secure the cupcakes together using toothpicks, then frost each foot as one unit.

My penguin loving Penelope had a great second birthday. Thank you to all who helped us celebrate.

My mother-in-law just celebrated a monumental birthday on July 5, she turned 60. For her birthday I wanted to make her her favorite cake, it was no surprise that she requested a chocolate cake with a chocolate fudge frosting. I wanted this cake to be out of this world good. I stumbled across Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” chocolate cake, and I knew this would be the “one”.  After all, Hershey has been doing the chocolate thing for at least a hundred years. The cake was so easy to make, bake, and assemble.

Between the chocolaty layers of cake I used a delicious vanilla butter cream, once assembled I covered the cake with Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” chocolate frosting.

The added decorations are made from vanilla butter cream and a chocolate butter cream. This cake was out of this world good. I can’t wait until I have an excuse to make this cake again.

HERSHEY’S “PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE” CHOCOLATE CAKE
from Hershey.com

Monster cookies. What’s not to love? Oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chips and M&Ms baked into a ginormous thin and chewy cookie, sounds like love in cookie form to me. I made a batch for my friend Michelle’s 25th birthday. I know how much she loves these cookies, and I knew she would love receiving a package of them in the mail. The first time I made them, and the first time Michelle had them was when we were in college. Being the great best friend she is, she gave me a huge ego boost by raving nonstop about how delicious these cookies were.  She asked for the recipe, I had to tell her it was a “family secret” since I used my great grandma Nona’s recipe. She begged and I caved. I wrote down the recipe for her and she tried her hand at baking. I never saw her cookies, but heard that it was a failed attempt.  (I hope she doesn’t mind me sharing this)

This recipe isn’t difficult. I am going to blame Michelle’s failed attempt on the crappy, ancient, unmaintained stove, in the crappy high-priced rented apartment she was living in at the time. Now that she has a nice home of her own, I am sure she can whip up a batch without any problems. This recipe is for you Michelle.

Michelle and I at The Wild Hare in Wrigglyville, Chicago getting ready to see Toots & The Maytals.

MONSTER COOKIES
adapted from Great Grandma Nona’s recipe

3 eggs
1 c white sugar
1 c brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp soda
1 stick margarine or 1/2 c butter (I usually use butter)
1 1/2 c peanut butter (I used creamy)
4 c quick cooking oatmeal
1 c chocolate chips
1-2 c M&Ms (It depends on how naughty you’re feeling) :_

Mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate for 1 hr or overnight. Use 1/4 c dough per cookie. Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 12-15 minutes. ENJOY!!

P.S. These cookies freeze great too, so don’t feel like you have to eat the whole batch immediately. If you do eat them all at once, I won’t judge you, promise.

MORE OF MY COOKIE RECIPES:
Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookie Bars
Giant Crunchy Choc Chip Pecan Cookies

WHAT OTHERS ARE COOKIN’ UP:
Butterscotch Marble Blondie Drops @Technicolor Kitchen
Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies @have cake, will travel
Flourless and (almost) Sugar Free Cookies with Peanut Butter and Chocolate @Kalyn’s Kitchen

Check out Cookie Madness for tons of baked goodies baked daily!