LOST

It’s finally here, the last season of LOST! I know I am a bit late on posting this but better late than never right? I hand piped dark and white chocolate to make the DHARMA initiative symbol. I am not going to lie; it took a really long time. By the time the chocolate was hard enough for me to pipe out the lettering my hands and eyes hurt so badly. The DHARMA initiative symbols were only about an inch and a half in diameter. They got placed atop a cream filled chocolate cake with chocolate glaze. Thanks to Natalie we enjoyed these little treats with DHARMA wine straight off the compound! By far the best LOST night to date. Big thanks to Graham and Peter, we’d be lost without you guys :)

CREAM FILLED CUPCAKES

Make your favorite chocolate cake according to the cupcake directions.
Let cool completely before filling or the cream will melt.
CREAM FILLING
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 pinch salt
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Make filling:

In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening together until smooth. Blend in confectioners' sugar and pinch of salt. Gradually beat in 3 tablespoons milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Fill a zip lock bag with mixture and cup off the tip. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, make a hole in the top of the cupcake. Fill each cupcake being careful not to over fill. Cover with glaze.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a double boiler over hot, but not boiling water, combine chocolate chips, butter and corn syrup. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, then add vanilla.
Spoon over cupcakes.

Colored Sugar Cookies

I love having one recipe that is really versatile. For me that recipe happens to be my sugar cookie recipe. I had a half batch of cookie dough left and I just didn’t have it in me to make and frost one more Christmas ornament cookie… After much complaining to anyone who was in ear shot I sucked it up and took a look around. Last year I got a huge bottle of these big colored sugar sprinkles at one of those warehouse stores that I just don’t use that often so I thought I’d just roll the dough in those. This is how they turned out.

Here are the step by step instructions if you feel like trying them for yourself.

1. Make your favorite sugar cookie dough. Mine can be found here.
2. Refrigerate
3. Scoop out and roll into even balls of dough.
4. Roll into colored sugar to cover.
5. Take the bottom of a glass and press the cookie just to flatten.
6. Follow baking instructions and enjoy!

For Sale

I make these yummy sugar cookies for an open house for my favorite Realtor (my dad). If you are looking to buy or sell a house let me know and I’ll hook you up ;)



For the recipe click here.

Pumpkin Bread

Fall… with open arms I greet you, I have missed you old friend.

Here is my grandmother’s recipe for pumpkin bread. I couldn’t resist making mini muffins. I hope you love them as much as I do.


Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

4 eggs
2/3 C. water
1 C. oil
3 C. sugar
3 ½ C. flour
½ t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
½ t. ground cloves
15 oz. canned pumpkin

Directions

Mix all ingredients. Pour into greased bread tins. Bake for 1 hour at 325. Makes about 3 loaves.

Cream Filled

I just can’t get enough of these little buggers! I have to say that each time I make these I love them more and more. This time instead of topping with a chocolate glade I just used the cream filling as a frosting and it turned out wonderfully. Click here for the recipe.

Fondant Hibiscus Cupcakes

Ok, fondant isn’t my favorite thing in the world but it sure is fun to work with. You can do just about anything. Here is the recipe I use for marshmallow fondant, it usually takes all if not more of the powdered sugar it calls for and you really hove to work it out to get a good consistency.

Marshmallow Fondant Recipe

Ingredients

16 ounces white mini-marshmallows
2 to 5 tablespoons water
2 pounds powdered sugar
½ cup Crisco shortening to keep your hands from sticking to the fondant

Directions

1. Melt marshmallows and 4 tablespoons of water in a microwave or double boiler
2. Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix and fold in gently for 1 minute.
3. Grease your hands and countertop you will be kneading on generously.(Make sure to get in between your fingers.)
4. Dump the bowl of marshmallow/sugar mixture in the middle of greased counter.
5. Start kneading like you would bread dough.
6. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and continue to knead by hand for 8 minutes until it takes form of a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing as you roll it out.
*if you feel that the fondant it to dry as you are rolling add a tsp of water at a time until you get the desired texture. It the fondant is to wet add powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time.

M&M Monster Cookie

Its that time again… cleaning out the pantry! These monster cookies got a little bit of everything in them, even corn flakes!
To make:
Follow your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I really like Nestle Toll house. Add in all of your half empty bags from the pantry. This particular batch got a little of the following:
About ½ c. White chocolate
About ½ c. Butterscotch
About ½ c. Dark chocolate
About 1 c. Coconut
About 1½ c. M&Ms
About 1 c. Oatmeal
About 1 c. Cornflakes
About 1 c. Peanut butter

Chocolate Peanut Butter

Ok, let me start off by saying these are fantastic. If you have little willpower you should not keep reading because I will be posting the recipe. Once you’ve had a taste of these you’ll crave them. Dare I say even dream about them :)

Whoever first paired chocolate and peanut butter, I applaud you!

Peanut Butter Frosting

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
2 cups confectioners' sugar
DIRECTIONS
1. Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.

Oreo Fudge Bars

These are so scrumptious and rich! Have a big glass of ice cold milk close by if you attempt to make these! I know they are called Oreo Fudge Bars but I guess I didn’t think they were going to be so fudgey! I ended up chopping these in to bite size pieces because I think had I kept them in the original size I’d cut them it would have been to much to handle. The recipe is as follows.

Oreo Fudge Bars
adapted from thecrepesofwrath
1 18 oz. package of Oreo cookies
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9×13 pan with foil and lightly spray with Pam. Set aside 6 Oreo cookies for the topping.

2. In a small food processor grind the rest of the cookies. If you don’t have a food processor, just pound with a rolling pin until the cookies are crumbs. Add the salt
to the crumbs and stir to combine.

3. Melt the butter and gently stir together with the cookie crumb mixture. Press firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Coarsely chop the remaining cookies into chunks and set aside.

4. Over a double boiler or in the microwave (careful not to burn the chocolate - I usually melt the chips halfway and then stir them until they’ve melted completely), melt 3/4 cup semi-sweet and 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips together with the condensed milk and vanilla.

5. Stir the chocolate mixture frequently until smooth and spread evenly over the prepared cookie crust.

6. Sprinkle the mini (or regular) chocolate chips and the Oreo cookies chunks over the top of the filling. Press down gently into the chocolate topping. Bake for 20-22 minutes oven.

8. Chill in fridge until completely cold and set before cutting into bars or it will make a big mess

Almond Poppy Seed Cake Mix Muffins

Like I said I’ve been on a cake mix kick… These turned out pretty good, not quite like Costco but not to shabby.

Here is the recipe.

1 package white cake mix
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 tablespoon almond extract

Prepare cake mix as directed and add poppy seeds and almond extract.

Cake Mix Lemon Pudding Cake

I must confess… I have made this 2 times already! I know that I said that the oatmeal cake was my favorite cake at the moment, but I lied. This one definitely takes the cake! No joke my mouth waters thinking about it. The first time I made this I took it to our girls night and by the end of the evening we tossed the forks aside as we sat around the coffee table and picked at it until we were so full we had to call it a day. Yummy! Here is the recipe for you all to enjoy.

1 package lemon cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant lemon pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water

Lemon curd

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
Water (to be added 1 tablespoon at a time) until you reach the desired consistency. It should be slightly runny but not soupy.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bunt pan.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate.

Once cake is cooled and on the serving plate pipe lemon curd around the top of the cake. Finish with a drizzle of glaze.

Cake Mix Muffins

I think that in a jam, cake mix is a wonderful thing. Here are a few recipes I’ve made recently using one of my favorite time saving ingredients!

Blueberry Cake Mix Muffins:

1 box white cake mix
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 Tablespoon almond extract

Prepare cake mix according to directions on the box. Add in almond extract and blueberries. Bake as directed in muffin tins.

Banana Cake Mix Muffins:

1 box yellow cake
3 mashed bananas
1 tablespoon baking soda

Prepare cake mix according to directions on the box. Add in baking soda and bananas. Bake at 350
*This also works well as a sheet cake or in a bunt pan.

Oatmeal Cake with Broiled Topping

This may be my favorite cake right now. My cousin’s mother in law, Donna, found this recipe in a news paper and brought it to a girl’s day we were having. Oh my gosh… it was divine. Donna had already left the party so I waited weeks to get the recipe from her. Now that it is in my possession, look out world! As this was the first time I made it I stuck to the recipe just as it is written. Yummy! Although I think this recipe is perfect as is, I am going to play around with it a bit. I will defiantly be making cupcakes with this in the near future, but I think I’ll have fun adding things as well. I hope you enjoy it was much as I did. Thanks Donna, I am forever grateful!

Oatmeal Cake with Broiled Topping

CAKE
1 cup old fashioned oats
½ cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Boil water. Pour 1 ¼ cups of boiling water over oats in a bowl. Cover and let stand 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9x13” cake pan.
3. Cream butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Add in remaining ingredients and mix well.
4. Pour into pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
5.

TOPPING
¼ cup butter softened
¼ cup heavy cream
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sweetened coconut
1 cup finely chopped pecans

1. Preheat broiler
2. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Spread evenly over warm cake. Place under broiler 2” from the top. Broil until lightly browned. 1-2 minutes.

Cream Filled take II

What can I say, I love me some cream filled cupcakes and so does everyone else! After my first attempt at these bad boys everyone was super impressed. I mean, I don’t like to toot my own horn but ‘toot-toot’. Well that’s not the truth, I love to :)

So here goes round two. Personally I think these are the best yet. I doubled the chocolate glaze. I also tried to take more photos of the actual process. Let me just say when you are covered in chocolate and everyone is coming in to taste test, photos are not so east to take.

You can get the recipes for the frosting and cupcakes here.

Enjoy!

The good, the bad and the ugly… Rocky Road cookie

I came across this recipe for Rocky Road cookies and I knew it was going to be love. I quickly set out to making a batch. I followed the recipe to a tee, something I don’t normally do. Rolled the dough, popped them in the oven and set the timer.

8 minutes later

Open the oven
Look thoroughly confused
Say aloud “What?!”

My cookies looked like… well to be honest they didn’t look good.
I was so disappointed. In just minutes I was going to meet the girls for game night and my cookies appeared less then appetizing. Oh well, there was no time to do anything about it now.

Although I thought the cookies turned out like crap, they were delicious. They were super moist and chewy.

*What went wrong? The marshmallows couldn’t take the direct heat of the pan. I’ll have to take more care while rolling the cookies to make sure that no marshmallow is exposed. Above is a photo of batch #1 ugly but good and batch #2 when I tucked the marshmallows in :)

There is an important lesson to be learned here. You can’t judge a cookie by its looks. Now hear me out on this one. They say you eat with our eyes before you eat with your mouth, and while there is truth in this statement, it is important to not let your eyes deceive you. Not just with baked goods, but with all things.

Here is the recipe. Enjoy!


Rocky Road Cookies

from Bucky’s Barbecue and Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
2. Beat together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the egg, then beat in the egg yolk. Beat in the vanilla.
3. Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture until just moistened. Mix in the nuts, chips, and marshmallows by hand.
4. Roll into balls or drop by spoonfuls onto a greased and/or lined baking sheet, and press down on the cookies with your palm a bit to flatten (not too much!).
5. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the edges look golden brown. Remember that they need to cool on the baking sheet, so even if they don’t look quite set, it’s okay because they continue to cook after you remove them from the oven. Allow to finish cooling on a rack or on a different surface. Makes about 15-20 cookies.

Toffee cupcakes

Sometimes I feel like I am just making the same thing over and over. Chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting. Don’t get me wrong I love chocolate on chocolate but sometimes a girl needs to mix things up a bit. I gotta be honest. I didn’t have a whole lot to work with so while looking through the pantry yet again I stumbled across a half bag of toffee chips. Perfect. Not only did these cupcakes look tasty, the crunchy topping added a little something…unexpected, in a good way of course : )

I think next time a make these I’ll fill the cupcake with this homemade caramel recipe.

Homemade Caramels

Preheat oven to 425° F.

Pour 1 can (14 oz.) CARNATION Sweetened Condensed Milk into 9-inch pie plate.
Cover with aluminum foil; place in shallow pan (pan should be larger than pie plate). Fill pan with hot water.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until thick and light caramel-colored.

Pour milk into small mixer bowl add 1 tsp. vanilla extract; beat until smooth.

Cream Filled Cupcakes

I usually bake once a week for work to keep the spirits up of my co-workers. This little number I made for our inventory day. Let me just tell you that I ended up working a 13 hour day (some people had a 16 hour day!) and the work week to follow was insane. Needless to say by the time I got around to photograph these cupcakes they were a good 5 days old! I had them on a plate in the kitchen with a note that said “Please don’t eat!” In my family if there was no note who cares how old it was my dad would have eaten it!

These were actually really simple. Here is the recipe I used. I adapted it from allrecipes.com

CREAM FILLED CUPCAKES

Make your favorite chocolate cake according to the cupcake directions.
Let cool completely before filling or the cream will melt.
CREAM FILLING
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 pinch salt
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Make filling:

In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening together until smooth. Blend in confectioners' sugar and pinch of salt. Gradually beat in 3 tablespoons milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Fill a zip lock bag with mixture and cup off the tip. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, make a hole in the top of the cupcake. Fill each cupcake being careful not to over fill. Cover with glaze.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a double boiler over hot, but not boiling water, combine chocolate chips, butter and corn syrup. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, then add vanilla.
Spoon over cupcakes.

Spider-Man

I know I am not married, and nowhere near having kids anytime soon, but I think that when my time to be a mother rolls around I am going to have boys. Lots of them. I don’t know why I think this but I do.

I don’t have a whole lot of experience with boys. I have 3 sisters, girl cousins who might as well be my sisters and most of the kids I have babysat have been girls. I am a girls girl.

Boys make me nervous. They jump off things.

When my sister asked me to make these cupcakes for Sawyers birthday my first thought was ‘I don’t even think I know what Spiderman looks like’ I mean yeah I’ve seen the movies but when it comes down to it I don’t think I could draw him. My second thought was ‘Well you better brush up on your super heroes cause this is your future.’

So I cheated a bit.

I printed out a picture of Spider Man and used it to make little faces out of both dark and white chocolate.

1. Make a template of Spider Man.
2. Cover template with a layer of wax or parchment paper.
3. Melt white chocolate and fill in the eyes.
4. Melt dark chocolate and freehand the shape of Spider Man and the web that makes up his face.
5. Let set up before continuing. (I made mine on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer, I have no patience.)
6. Once outline is hard melt white chocolate and add red food coloring.
7. Fill in the face with the red chocolate.
8. Let harden completely before topping cake.

Banana Cupcake

Spring has sprung! Well not quite but it sure feels that way. Here in the Pacific Northwest we have been blessed with the sun after our “artic blast”. In honor of the spring feeling I give to you banana cupcakes.

I know what you are thinking.

“I don’t like banana”.

For years I thought I didn’t like coconut and fish. Let me tell you, when you eat it every day for close to a month, you learn to love it. Now I crave both. Sometimes you need to try something a few times before you really appreciate it.

Try it, I dare you.

Even if you don’t think you like something, be adventurous. Take a bite. Step outside that bubble, but most importantly, don’t let what you think you know hold you back from a lifetime of discovery.

This recipe is for banana bar however follow the mixing directions, scoop and bake like you would any other cupcake.

Frosted Banana Bars

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter. Finally, mix in the mashed banana. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow bars to cool completely before frosting.

I like to frost with this.

Almond Bear Claws

I am not gonna lie… This recipe intimidated me.

It wasn’t nearly as bad as I made it out to be in my head. The first batch turned out wonderfully. The second bunch, let’s just say my dad get his very own “special” batch. They were still good but I think the pastry dough was to warm and the filling escaped from a split in the dough… on every one. Next time I will be sure to keep the dough cool for a while before I put them into the oven.

Recipe found on allrecipes.com


Almond Bear Claws

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup almond paste
2 3/4 cups ground almonds
1/2 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons amaretto liqueur
3 pounds puff pastry
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
3 tablespoons sliced almonds, for garnish
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar for dusting

DIRECTIONS

1.In a large bowl, beat almond paste with an electric mixer to break it apart. Add the almonds, sugar, and salt; continue to mix until the almond paste is no longer lumpy. Stir in the butter, egg whites, almond extract and amaretto liqueur on high speed until its as fluffy as you can get it. Set aside.

2.Using half of the dough at a time, roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle that is about 8 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick. Trim the edges of the dough. Cut the dough in half lengthwise to make two 4 inch wide strips.

3.Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

4.Fill a pastry bag halfway with the almond filling and pipe a stripe of filling down the center of each strip. Whisk together the egg and water. Brush onto one edge of each strip. Fold each strip over the filling and press gently to seal it. Brush each piece with egg wash and sprinkle sliced almonds over the top. Cut into 3 to 4 inch pieces, then cut 1/2 inch slits into the sealed edge to make the ''claws''. Place the bear claws at least two inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate and repeat with the second half of the dough.

5.Bake in the preheated oven until almonds are toasted and pastry is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool and dust with confectioners' sugar right before serving.