Holy Year Batman! Let's eat cake!

Wow.  It has been one whole year since I last posted. It has been so long that I can't even remember which font I sue for my posts!  Ugh. Que excuses....1st: Baby number 3 began baking and I was soooooooo sick.  Not much cooking happened. 2nd: We moved all the way across the country, then 1 more time in the same state. 3rd: baby made me sick-it's such a good excuse, so I used it twice! And don't worry, everything came out fine in the end.  We have our 3rd baby now, our 2nd little girl, and she is a cute little chunk chicky!  Now onto the cake, I saw this recipe and knew it was what was going to get me back in the swing of things.  It is a chocolate cake!  And an incredibly awesome chocolate cake!  Sooo chocolaty and moist, and just so good.  I made it for Valentine's Day and couldn't say more good things about it.  The frosting is soo good that I could probably sit and eat a whole bowl in 3 minutes.  Or 2.  There is a catch, and unexpected ingredient...Quinoa.  Yup, you heard me, Quinoa.  Not Quinoa flour, but cooked and blended quinoa!  Making this cake Gluten free!!! I found this recipe on Makingthymeforhealth and may have to frequent this site some more!!! Now go make this cake.  Seriously, like now.

Nuts and Coco-nuts!

Oh Nuts, has such great quality nuts, and I get excited to use them every year.  This year I was able to get some coconut and some pecans (2 of my favorites, YUM!), and had a few recipes in mind to try out with them.  Both recipes are quick, easy, and festive!  Looking for some nuts or candies or dried fruits this baking season (or any baking season), head on over to Oh Nuts! and pick some up!

Our first recipe comes from Rachel Shultz.  It is a Pumpkin Crisp. I made this just after Thanksgiving, and it was REALLY good.  It has a nice crumb topping that when combined with the pecans, is really fantastic!

Strawberry Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream frosting

I found this cake recipe at apronofgrace. But it called for Cream Cheese frosting, and I am not cream cheese's biggest fan, so that led me to smells-like-home which has a recipe for white chocolate buttercream, and I felt like the two would pair perfectly.  And boy did they ever!  These cupcakes were divine!  My husband even said they were amazing without being asked how he liked them! Mine didn't turn out (color wise) quite like they did over at apron of grace because I didn't have enough red food coloring, but the taste was perfection!  Someone even asked if they came from a box, that, to me, and is a great compliment!

Easy Petits Fours

I love Petits Fours.  Any other little cake lovers out there!?  I have attempted to make these before and it was an epic fail.  So then I stumbled upon these on Pinterest at iambaker and decided to give them a go.  There are just 3 ingredients (if you are choosing to make your own fondant, and the creativity is limitless when it comes to decorating.  I made these yesterday for Valentine's day and only had time to cover 3 cakes (Oreo cakesters.  Easy, right?).  They were a gift to my hot Valentine.  We dropped a few off for him at work with some cupcakes!

Oreo Cupcakes

 We made these this past weekend.  Let me tell you, I am a sucker for Oreos..and peanut butter, but today we are talking about Oreos.  And since I LOVE cupcakes, I knew these would be a good match-AND to make it even easier, there is now a premade Oreo frosting!-That I happened to have a $1 off coupon for :).  I would make my own, but I have yet to find a homemade butter cream frosting that I like (maybe because by making it I know how much fat and sugars are probably in it).  But these are seriously good.  The Oreos in the batter and at the bottom of the cookie make these oh so yummy.  I wanted to make a white cake but the hubs voted for Chocolate, and since he doesn't often give input (and we were having a white cake the next day for Memorial Day) I went with Chocolate, and I am glad I did!

Ingredients:
Dark Chocolate cake mix (so you will also need eggs, oil, and water)
24 Double stuffed oreo cookies
Oreo frosting (or homemade frosting with added oreo crumbs)


Directions:
1.  Make cake according to instructions.
2.  Take the top cookie off an Oreo, leaving the cream on the bottom cookie, and place in cupcake liner.
3.  Break the remaining tops into pieces and mix the cookies into the batter (feel free to leave some out for garnish if you would like).
4.  Pour batter over Oreos and cook according to instructions on box.
5. Cool and Frost!!!!!

Strawberry, STRAWBERRY, Poke Cake

I found this recipe on the side of a Duncan Hines Strawberry cake mix box, and I knew right away I wanted to try it.  I love all things Strawberry right now (I blame it on the pregnancy), so I knew this would hit the spot.  We decided to have it as a conclusion to our Sunday dinner.  Oh my goodness this was good.  I don't know how many of you are familiar with Jello Cake (a family favorite at our house), but this is very similar except it uses mostly pureed sweetened strawberries.  This will definitely be made in our house again.  It would have been the perfect Valentine's Day dessert!

Ingredients:

Strawberry Cake Mix (and everything needed to make cake-eggs, water, oil...)

20 oz Sliced, sweetened, frozen strawberries*-thawed

2 cups Cool Whip

1 cup Milk

1 pkg. Vanilla Pudding (small package)

*I used 16 oz of strawberries, then added a mixture of 2 tbsp of jello dissolved in 1/2 cups of hot water (This turned out fantastically, I think it held the mixture together better, I will continue making it this way)

Directions:

1.  Make cake according to instructions on the box.  Let cool.

2.  Puree Strawberries (and jello water) in blender.

3.  Poke holes-1 inch apart in cake using end of a wooden spoon.

4.  Pour Strawberry mixture over cake, let soak into holes.

for the topping:

5.  Mix milk and pudding together until well mixed.

6.  Gently fold in Cool Whip until well combined.

7.  Spread over top of cake.

*Refrigerate for at least 4 hrs.*

Mmmmm I think I may have some more before bed......

Cranberry Bran Muffins

This is a recipe my mom introduced me to.  It is Martha Stewart, and it sure is good.  I am the only one at our house that will eat Cranberries, so I just froze a bunch of the muffins so I can have a good wholesome bran muffin when I feel like it!

2 cups flour
1 ½ cups wheat bran
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
1 ½ cups packed brown sugar
1 ¼ cups + 2 TBLS. buttermilk
1 TBLS. butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 TBLS.  orange zest
1/2 tsp. ginger (zest or powder)
2 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ cups fresh/frozen cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Line 2 standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside.

3. Place flour, wheat bran, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bow. Stir in sugar and set aside. 4. Whisk together buttermilk, butter, eggs, zest and vanilla in a bowl.

5. Add flour mixture, stir just until combined.

6. Stir in cranberries.

7. Divide batter between lined muffin cups.

8. Bake until cooked through and golden brown, about 30 minutes.

9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly Turn out.

Flag Cake

There really isn't much that goes into this recipe, but I do love it!  It is such a light refreshing dessert.  And you can make any design on front since it is now past the 4th.  We make this cake for Memorial Day and the 4th.  But it can be made at any time!

Ingredients:
White Cake mix
(Eggs, Oil, Water-according to box)
Cool Whip
Blueberries
Strawberries

Directions:
1.  Make cake according to instructions on the box.
2.  Let cool completely
3.  Cut your strawberries and sprinkle the top of the unfrosted cake with some blueberries and strawberries
4.  Cover the layer of berries completely with Cool Whip
5.  Decorate the top of the cake with a blueberry and Strawberry design.
6.  Refrigerate then enjoy!

Chocolate Molten Lava Cake

We went on a Cruise for our Honeymoon about 4 months or so after we got married.  And the food on said Cruisewas tasty and abundant.  I was sick due to being pregnant, so I didn't eat much except for hamburgers, pickles, green jello, and pineapple sherbet.  But hubs got this dessert pretty much if not every night.  So for Father's Day I decided to make it for dessert.  I accidentally overcooked ours slightly (which is easy to do, so be careful!), but it was still decently ooey gooey in the middle.  This is such a good dessert, and it was a lot easier to prepare than I expected.  They cook fast, so if you want to prepare them ahead of time, after baking, cover the ramekins in plastic wrap and/or foil to trap in the heat and keep them moist.  And if they need rewarming before serving, pop them in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds.

  Serve with you favorite Vanilla Ice Cream (ours is Breyer's Vanilla Bean).

Recipe found here

Ingredients:
6 oz. Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate (or use your favorite 70% dark chocolate bar)
6 oz. Butter (diced, room temperature)
3 Eggs
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup Flour
Butter for Ramekins



Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Melt chocolate on low flame in a bain-marie (double boiler). When melted, take of flame, and…
3. Stir in diced butter, until it melts.
4. In another bowl, beat eggs and sugar, until it starts to whiten.
5. Stir in melted chocolate and then the flour.
6. Butter 4 individual ramekins, and pour in chocolate batter.
7. Cook for about 10 minutes. (I would cook it for more like 12-14 min.  You want the sides to be firm and the middle to be jiggly-not soupy, jiggly)
8. Tip ramekins upside down onto dessert plates and serve.

Coconut Pineapple Cake

I found this recipe here while looking on Food Gawker a while ago (a favorite past time of mine), and since my spouse doesn't care for Pineapple, I decided to wait until I was on vacation at my parents home to make it since I knew more people would eat it there.  Troy did tell me I could make it but I should just put pineapple on half the cake...but then that would mean I'd have to eat half a cake!  Which I could probably do, but would probably hate myself for afterward when I saw the effects in the mirror! I made this the other night, and I personally thought it was great!  Try it out for yourself!  It is a great summer treat.

    

Ingredients:

1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix, plus ingredients to prepare
1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 (3.4-ounce) box French vanilla pudding, plus ingredients to prepare
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup flaked, sweetened toasted coconut


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare yellow cake mix as directed on the box as well as the cooking time.
3. While cake is baking, combine the pineapple and 1 cup of sugar (I would recommend ½ cup) in a saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
4. Remove cake from oven and using a fork, pierce holes into cake. Pour pineapple mixture over hot cake and set aside.
5. Prepare pudding according to package directions. Spread pudding over cake and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
6. Whip heavy cream and remaining sugar until stiff. Cover top of cake with whipped cream and sprinkle toasted coconut on top.

Cowboy Cupcakes

I made these cookies after Easter, and since I am a cupcake lover, I wanted to make a cupcake interpretation of them, so here we go!!!  Use any cake/cupcake recipe you like, or cake from a box (can't go wrong there!).  The recipe I used for both cake and frosting is written below.  Troy and I actually liked these best the day after making them!  Weird, I know.

Cupcake: (Take from my Hello, Cupcake! Cookbook)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
*1/4 cup Coconut
*1/4 cup Oats
*1/4 cup Mini Chocolate Chips
*1/4 (heaping) tsp Cinnamon

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.

2.Whisk together flour, Cinnamon, Oats, Coconut, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Combine milk, oil, and vanilla in a small bowl; set aside.
3.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, alternating with milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture; beat until well combined, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.  I then mixed in the Chocolate Chips with a wooden spoon.
4.Fill muffin cups two-thirds full with batter. Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack; let cool completely before decorating.

Frosting: (found here)

*I cut this in half and it was enough to frost all the cupcakes and then some.

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
3½ cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. salt
3 tbsp. milk
2½ tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
I just added everything into my Bosch (any electric mixer works fine), turned it on for about 2 min, and everything turned out great!

Optional:  (for all of you fellow cocnut lovers out there) Top frosted cupcakes with some toasted Coconut!

Oriental Chicken & Festive Cupcakes

Oriental Chicken

( I got this recipe from a Cookbook my Mom gave to all of her kids Christmas of 2008-best cookbook EVAH!)

Ingredients
3-4 chicken breasts
1 egg, slightly beaten with a little water
Flour
Oil

Sauce:
3 TBLS. soy sauce
3 TBLS water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
dash of salt

Directions
1. Cut chicken into cubes or strips (whichever you prefer).
2. Heat oil in frying pan.
3. Dip chicken in egg, then flour. Fry until chicken is lightly browned and crispy.
4. Mix sauce ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well until sugar is all dissolved. Add chicken and gently stir until pieces are well coated. Pour into 10 x 13 pan.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes--every 10 minutes turn all the chicken pieces over.

Serve with rice.
*If you want more sauce, or use more chicken, double the sauce recipe.

St. Patrick's Day Rainbow Cupcakes

I made these little cuties this morning for St. Patrick's Day.  All I did was make cake mix from a box, then seperated the mix into 6 different bowls.  I then colored each bowl with food coloring GEL (it gives brighter, stronger colors than the liquid food coloring).  Next you layer the colors of cake mix batter.  Then cook according to box, frost, decorate, and enjoy! 

Snickerdoodle Cake

Seriously sooo good. I found this recipe here and decided to try it out...I sure am glad I did!

Ingredients
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup white sugar

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup full-fat sour cream, at room temperature

1. In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Mix together really well and Preheat oven to 325F. Using a spray product like Pam with Flour, generously spray a 9 inch Bundt pan, being careful to cover all the nooks and crannies, as well as the center tube. (Note: If you don’t want to use Pam with Flour, you can just grease the pan with shortening.) Gently dust the entire inside of the pan with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. You should only need about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar, but you want to try and evenly coat the inside surface of the pan, including the tube. Save the remaining sugar and cinnamon mixture and set everything aside.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. Beat just the butter on medium speed for one full minute. Add the white sugar and mix for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and blade and add the brown sugar.

4. Mix for 2 minutes until the mixture looks light brown and uniform in color. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each for 1 full minute. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream; beat well.

5. Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture over top the cake. Spread the rest of the batter into the pan and sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over the top. (If you run out of cinnamon sugar, you can mix just 1/4 cup of sugar + 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon together for the top of the cake. It should be more than enough.)

6. Bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. aside.

Halloween Treats (After Halloween)

Here are some festive ways to get in the spirit of Halloween and fall.  This weekend I made some Skull cupcakes and Carmel Apples.  I suppose you can use the Skull cupcake idea for next year, but the Carmel Apples are good anytime!

Skull Cupcakes

(Found on the Family Fun Website)-Sorry, I'm not creative enough to come up with these on my own..maybe next year.

Items needed:

24 Cupcakes (or however many you want to have)

12 Marshmallows

48 Junior Mints

24 Chocolate Chips

Slivered Almonds

Instructions:

1. Cut each Marshmallow in half, then pull down a side of the cupcake wrapper and stick the marshmallows in that lip created.

2.  Frost

3.  Add Eyes (Junior Mints), Nose (Chocolate Chip), and Teeth (Slivered Almonds cut in half)

4.  The End, Enjoy-or add any embellishments you want!  Like stitches or color the frosting, or add a bow to make a lady skull, it's up to you!

Carmel Apples

(These are simple no brainers...)

Ingredients:

-Apples (I used 4 large ones, you can use 5 med or 6 small)

-Bag of Kraft Carmels (I don't like saying caramels like the spell check is prompting me to do)

-Water

-Popsicle Sticks (mine came with the carmels)

-Peanuts (Optional.  In my house the husband does not like them on his Carmel Apples, but I love them.  I am definitely a nut girl)

-Wax paper

Instructions:

1.  Follow instructions on bag :)!!!!  Or just read this...on medium low heat, melt carmels with 2 tbls of water. 

2. Coat Apples

3.  Cover in chopped nuts if desired (Quickly because the nuts wont stick if you let the carmel cool!)

4.  Refrigerate for 1 hr.

5. ENJOY!!!  We sure did!

Happy Post Halloween!  Happy NOVEMBER!  Making more cookies this week, will post them AND a new book next week!