Chocolate Cupcakes

This post is to help Allison not feel so lonely on this blog! I've made these cupcakes from The Sisters Cafe twice now. Once with the truffles inside a few weeks back, and once with Hershey's Kisses inside for my little guy's birthday. Here's my review:

• The cake: it's a doctored up cake-mix and it turns out really good and moist. I think I'll have to do this to cake mixes from now on.


• The frosting: I prefer chocolate pudding and cool whip mixed together, but that's because I'm not a frosting person.


• Truffles or Hershey's Kisses inside?: they were both delicious. However, the truffles were probably a little better since they were creamier and meltier in your mouth. The Hershey's Kisses were still fun and way cheaper. My kids thought it was so fun to have one inside. Plus you can buy a whole bag of them and eat them while you are baking! With the truffles, you have to save them all for the cupcakes. The truffles melted into a thin, horizontal layer toward the bottom of the cupcake. The Kisses stayed in a clump in the middle of the cupcake.

Thin Mints--Knock Off!

Ok...so the story is:

I wanted to buy Thin Mints and Samoas from the Girl Scouts, but when I happened to see some girl scouts selling cookies, I only had $4 cash with me...which will only buy 1 solitary, sad, lonely box. And, I love thin mints, but I had a recipe. So, Samoas won.

But, the good news is that the Thin Mints were delicious homemade!

Jereld suggested the parsley twig garnish...don't laugh.

Girl Scout Thin Mints

Chocolate Cookie Wafers

1 18.25-ounce package Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix
3 Tbsp. shortening, melted
1/2 C. cake flour, measured then sifted
1 egg
3 Tbsp. water
nonstick cooking spray

Coating

3 12-ounce bags semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 tsp. peppermint extract
6 Tbsp. shortening

1) Combine the wafer ingredients (except the water) in a large bowl. Add the water a little bit at a time until a dough forms (the dough will seem very thick--this will give the wafers a crispy texture once baked). Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 2 hours.

2) On a lightly floured surface, roll out a portion of the dough to 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out wafers with a spice jar lid (like McCormick spices or whatever you have).  Put wafers on a lightly greased cookie sheet (they can be pretty close together--they don't spread out). Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool completely before moving on to the next step.

3) Combine chocolate chips, peppermint extract, and shortening in a microwave safe bowl. Heat on 50% power for 2 minutes, stir.  Repeat heating and stirring until chocolate is melted and is a smooth consistency.

5) Dip each wafer in chocolate. Let the excess chocolate run off into the bowl (tapping your fork on the side of the bowl helps).  Place dipped wafers on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

YUM!

Curious George Birthday

My friend taught me how to decorate cakes using a coloring page and an overhead transparancy. I put the coloring page under the transparancy and decorated on top. Then I froze the frosting. Then I turned it onto the cake and peeled off the transparancy. I loved how it turned out.

Peanut Butter Popcorn

Isn't this picture just too wonderful?! Erin wanted her hand in the picture.

Madelyn came over to help me out the other day, and she asked if she and Erin could make peanut butter popcorn. I said sure, thinking that I wouldn't eat much of it myself. But I was wrong - it was delicious! I kept snitching some here and there.

Here's the recipe:

PEANUT BUTTER POPCORN

2 qts. popped popcorn (one bag of microwave popcorn worked well)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. light corn syrup or honey
1/2 c. chunky peanut butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Cook sugar and corn syrup to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and add peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until melted and smooth. Pour over popcorn, stirring to coat. Serve as is or form into popcorn balls.

And what would a recipe post be if I didn't say ENJOY! at the end.

Key Lime Pie

Ingredients:

1 Pre-made Graham Cracker Pie Crust

4 Egg Yolks
14 oz. Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 C. Lime Juice
Zest of 1 Lime (optional...but makes it really yummy)

Whip the yolks and lime zest (if used) until fluffy (at your highest hand mixer speed) or about 5 minutes. Gradually add the condensed milk and continue to mix (about 3 to 4 minutes longer). Lower the mixer speed and add the lime juice gradually until well mixed.

Pour the mixture into the crust and bake at 325 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until the filling has just set. Cool on counter about 20 minutes. Then refrigerate for 20 minutes. Then freeze until pie is quite hard.

Serve with Whipped Cream.


AND--for all of you Lactose Intolerant Folks out there:


Substitute the sweetened condensed milk in the recipe above with the following recipe-->


Sweetened Condensed Milk Substitute:

2 eggs
1 C. Brown Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 Tbsp. Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Salt

Mix all ingredients together...Wa La!

NOTE: If you use this substitute, the brown sugar makes the pie a tan color instead of yellow...but it's absolutely YUMMY!

Caramel Corn Pops

I LOVE these! And they are so, so easy. (And they are much easier on the teeth than popcorn!)







1 - 8 oz. bag of "Barrel O' Fun Corn Pops (in the chip department)

1/2 c. butter (1 stick)

1/2 c. corn syrup

1 c. brown sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

Boil butter, corn syrup and brown sugar for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add soda - stir to cause foaming. Pour over pops. (add cashews or peanuts if you like)

I omitted the next step:

( put it in the oven at 250 for 45 minutes stirring every 10 minutes. Pour onto wax paper. Break apart)

Ice Cream Toppings!

Jen and 3 kids came over tonight so we ended up having an impromptu ice cream party! I already had 2 ice cream toppings here that Jen had made and sent home with me last Sunday, and I also had some leftover Coconut Syrup that I had made for breakfast when Amy was here. We tried the Coconut Syrup on some vanilla ice cream tonight and it was DELICIOUS! So here are 3 links for some really yummy ice cream toppings.

Hot Fudge Sauce, by Your Home Based Mom

Butterscotch Sauce (which tastes like a saltier caramel), by Smitten Kitchen

Coconut Syrup - great for breakfast or ice cream!, by The Sisters' Cafe

Oreo Sundae Pie

This picture looks a little messy. We should have cut it with a knife instead of just scooping it with a spoon for a fancier picture. Oh, well. It tasted delicious still.


I LOVE this dessert. In fact, this weekend, I took it to Marsha's and one morning while I was there, we snuck the leftovers and two spoons into the bedroom while the kids were watching a movie and we had a feast.

1 package Oreos, crushed
1 cube butter, melted
1 large cool whip
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
1 Cup powdered sugar
1 large box chocolate instant pudding
2 2/3 cup milk

Put 2/3 of the crushed Oreos in the bottom of a 9X13 pan. Pour melted butter over the top and press to make a crust. Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1/2 of the cool whip and spread on crust. Make pudding with 2 2/3 cup of milk, instead of following the box directions. Spread on top of cream cheese mixture. Top with remaining cool whip . Sprinkle on the remaining crushed Oreos. Refrigerate until ready to serve. (I even froze it so it would make the trip to Marsha's and it worked fine).

Toast and Asparagus Gravy

10-12 asparagus spears cut into 1 inch pieces

Milk

Flour

Bread

Salt and pepper to taste

Saute asparagus pieces in butter or oil until tender. Add enough milk to make desired amount of gravy, cook on medium heat until bubbling, stirring occasionally.

Make a roux out of 2-3 Tbs. flour and enough milk to make a 'Elmer's glue-like' consistency.

Add roux to milk/asparagus mixture slowly while stirring. Turn heat off.

Let gravy cool a bit and thicken, stir occasionally. (If you need gravy to be thicker just make another roux.)

Add salt and pepper to taste!

Eat gravy over buttered toast for breakfast. Mmmmmm.

This is one of my favorite breakfasts!

Pumpkin Rolls

This is for Brooke! They are really easy and most people LOVE them! I always make them in batches of 3 or 5.

PUMPKIN ROLLS - (makes 3)

9 eggs

3 c. sugar

1 sm. can pumpkin

3 tsp. lemon juice

2-1/4 c. flour

3 tsp. baking powder

2 Tbs. cinnamon

1 Tbs. ginger

1 -1/2 tsp. ginger

1- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 -1/2 tsp. salt

3 c. chopped nuts

powdered sugar

Beat eggs on high for 5 minutes. Beat in sugar. Add pumpkin and lemon juice. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into 3 cookie sheets (lined with parchment paper and sprayed with "Pam". Sprinkle 1 cup nuts on each one. Bake 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Loosen edges and dump out onto dish cloth sprinkled generously with powdered sugar. Roll up in towel(from long edge) and let cool. When cool - unroll - frost with cream cheese filling - roll back up (without towel!) and freeze. (roll in aluminum foil to freeze). They freeze very well for a long time!

Filling:

3 c. powdered sugar

2 - 8 oz. cream cheese

1 -1/2 cubes butter

1 -1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine and beat until smooth. Divide between 3 pumpkin rolls.

Apple Cinnamon Buttermilk Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

Photo courtesy of Pinch My Salt

I found this recipe on the website Pinch My Salt. It was delicious! You must try it with the Salted Caramel Sauce.

Adapted from Gourmet

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick), at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup peeled and chopped baking apple (I used granny smith)
heaping tablespoon of raw sugar (demerara, turbinado or Sugar in the Raw)
extra cinnamon for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan*

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt; set aside. In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about two minutes. Add vanilla and egg and beat well. With the mixer set to low speed, beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Add half the buttermilk and continue beating on low speed until incorporated. Scraping down sides of bowl as necessary, beat in another 1/3 of flour mixture then remaining buttermilk. Finally beat in the last 1/3 of the flour mixture until just combined.

3. Scrape batter into the cake pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Scatter apple pieces evenly over the top of the cake batter then sprinkle evenly with raw sugar. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon.

4. Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the pan for ten minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool until warm. Invert onto a plate. Serve plain, or with whipped cream and salted caramel sauce.

Salted Caramel Sauce

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Stir together sugar and 1 tablespoon water in a small saucepan, place over medium-high heat, and bring to a boill. Let boil until amber in color, about 3 minutes.
2. Immediately add butter and stir to incorporate. Remove from heat, add cream and salt, and mix well. Serve immediately or let cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate

Blonde Brownies

Melt 2/3 c. butter in sauce pan
add 2 c. brown sugar and mix in well. Let cool for a minute.

stir in:

2 slightly beaten eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

add:

2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Spread in greased cake pan.

Sprinkle 1/2 pkg of chocolate chips over top.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes

Pumpkin Bliss Cupcakes

Marsha posted a picture of my Halloween cupcakes, I'll re-post the picture. These cupcakes are delish! I love pumpkin anything though. The frosting is good too, but not if you are my mom, Marsha, or Tawnya! Katie and Abby did the decorating of them. (Sorry I've been MIA on this blog, I have a list of 10 things to post, we'll see how long that will take me)

Pumpkin Bliss Cupcakes

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 T plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups sugar
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
4 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup orange juice

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin pans or spray them with baking spray. Sift together the flour, spice, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl combine the sugar, pumpkin, and eggs, whisk until smooth. Whisk in oil and orange juice until the batter is smooth. Add the flour-spice mix to the mixture and fold together until well incorporated, but do not overmix. Bake 20-25 minutes. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

The frosting I use is Anne Strawberry's (Aaron's cousin)

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package of cream cheese, softened (I like to use Neufchatel, less fat and I don't notice much difference)
1/2 C. butter, softened (one stick)
2 T. milk
2 t. pure vanilla extract
dash of salt
6 cups of powdered sugar (more or less to achieve desired consistency, this is a baseline)
1 T. meringue powder

In a mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the cream cheese and butter until they are light and fluffy. Then add in the milk, vanilla, and salt, and blend.

Next, add the powdered sugar and meringue powder, cover the bowl of the mixer with a dish towel, and turn it on low until everything is combined. Then increase the speed for a minute or so until the frosting is light, fluffy, and delicious. The meringue powder will help set the frosting after it dries so it holds its shape.

New Orleans Bread Pudding

*** pictures now included***

I was watching GTU the other day and Barbara Smith (4 News anchor) made this bread pudding. It looked so good so I tried it and it is yummo!

Katie took picures of it so she'll have to post them for me.


NEW ORLEANS BREAD PUDDING:

1 - 10 oz. loaf of stale french bread, crumbled (6-8 cups any type of bread) (My loaf was 16 oz. and I used about 3/4 of it)
(I used french bread that I had bought a few days ago.)
4 cups milk
2 cups sugar
8 TBS. melted butter
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
t tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
optional:
1 c. chopped nuts (I used pecans)
1 c. coconut (didn't add)
1 c. raisins (don't like!)
Combine all ingredients in blender. (except bread and optional items). Place crumbled bread in 9x13 buttered (sprayed) pan. Pour mixture over bread. Should be very moist but not soupy. (I used almost all of the mixture) Place in NON-PREHEATED oven. Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 1 hour and 15 minutes until the top is golden brown. Serve warm with sauce.





Cream Caramel Sauce:
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 TBS. flour
1 cup whipping cream
Bring to a boil for 3 minutes then remove from heat and add:
1/4 c. butter
2 TBS. vanilla
Spoon over bread pudding.
DELICIOUS!

Pumpkin Pie Dessert

Here's another crockpot recipe from me (from the same cookbook as the last one):

Also really yummy!

Pumpkin Pie Dessert

Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking Time: 3-4 hours
Ideal slow cooker size: 5 to 6 quart

19 oz. can pumpkin pie filling
12 oz. can evaporated milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Boiling water
1 cup gingersnap cookie crumbs

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together pie filling, milk, and eggs until thoroughly mixed.

2. Pour into an ungreased baking insert designedto fit into your slow cooker (I don't have this, so I got creative. I used my cups that came with my Corelle dishes. Three of them instead of one baking insert.)

3. Place filled baking insert designed to fit into your slow cooker. Cover the insert with its lid, or with 8 paper towels (I used the paper towels).

4. Carefully pour boiling water into cooker around the baking insert, to a depth of one inch.

5. Cover cooker. Cook on High for 3-4 hours, or until a tester (aka: fork...at least in my kitchen) inserted in the center of the custard comes out clean.

6. Remove baking insert from slow cooker. Remove its lid. Sprinkle dessert with cookie crumbs. Serve warm from baking insert.

(We added whipped cream...YUMMY!) Very good fall treat!

Grandma's Birthday Lunch

A few of the Clouse Cousins - Jen, Marsha, Katie, and Shara - were able to get together at Shara's house to have a lunch with Grandma for her (late) birthday.

Here's Grandma with Katie's little guy.

Grandma brings food even when you tell her she shouldn't because the party is for her!
Here is her yummy cookie salad - (recipe coming).

Marsha brought Spaghetti Bolognese (no picture)

Shara made a great salad (sorry no picture) hopefully she can hack into this
post and put the recipe on soon!

Jen brought some delicious homemade French Bread
with yummy stuff broiled on top. I'll try to remember to
get the recipe and add it to this post soon.

And Shara and Katie's cute pumpkin cupcakes for dessert. They were good!

Cupcakes

I meant to post this a couple of weeks ago, but oh well! I made two different kinds of cupcakes for Erin's birthday and they were both delicious. Strawberry Cupcakes - Jen had made them and gave me a sample, and Coconut Cupcakes - my friend Mary Jo had made and I LOVED them. I'm not a huge frosting fan, so I didn't put much on these and had a ton of leftover frosting.

Instead of putting the recipes on here, I'm just going to put the links. But I highly recommend these cupcakes!

Strawberry Cupcakes
Coconut Cupcakes

Popcorn Favs

(I know - two posts in one night!)
For our YW activity tonight we had a movie night. We watched FOREVER STRONG (highly recommend) and had popcorn. I made these two kinds. The Peanut Butter was the fav.
MICROWAVE CARAMEL CORN:
1/2 c. butter - melt in microwave
Add
1/4 c. Karo syrup
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
Cook 2 -1/2 minutes in microwave then add:
1/2 tsp. soda - Stir well
Pop 4 qts. popcorn. Put in brown paper bag (sprayed with Pam). Pour over popcorn. Stir. (Cut off bag to fit in microwave). Cook 2 1/2 minutes - stirring after 1 minute.
Pour out onto cookie sheet to cool.


Caramel on the left - Peanut Butter on the right

PEANUT BUTTER POPCORN:
Boil:
1 c. Karo
1 c. Sugar
Remove from heat and add:
1 c. peanut butter - Stir until mixed together.
Pour over big bowl of popcorn.

CANDIED POPCORN (Grandma's Popcorn Ball Recipe)
(This is Mark's favorite)
5 qts. pop corn
Boil together until softball stage or light tan color (I just guess!)
1 1/3 c. sugar
1 c. margarine
1/2 c. Karo
Remove from heat - add:
Add 1 tsp. Cherry flavoring and Red food coloring
Pour over popcorn.
(I never make popcorn balls - just eat it!)

Mall Pretzels!!!

Today Erin and Sadie were at my house for an "overnighter" and we decided that we wanted to make something together. So, mostly since I've been craving them like crazy, we decided to try a recipe for those wonderfully soft, chewy, flavorful big pretzels that you can buy for about $5.00 at any mall. Fortunately, these didn't cost anywhere near that much. They were absolutely wonderful! They tasted EXACTLY like the ones at the mall, and, if I may be so bold, almost better!!! ;) The outside was brown and crispy, but the inside was soft and chewy. Definitely a keeper!!!

There were a couple of different things we would have done differently with the recipe, had I actually been smart enough to listen to my mom's opinion. This recipe calls for too much flour. When we had finished mixing it up, we had a mound of dough that was thick, stiff, and frankly impossible to work with. So, we ended up adding a little bit of water to it, and it was fine after that.

Another problem was that the pretzels stuck horribly to the parchment paper, surprisingly. I would recommend just spraying the cookie sheet with Pam. Also, we didn't have Bread Flour, so we used regular flour but added 3/4 of a tablespoon of Gluten to it, and it worked fine. We sprinkled the pretzels with salt on some and cinnamon sugar on others.

INGREDIENTS
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast(about 2.25 tsp.)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/8 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 tablespoons baking soda
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt



DIRECTIONS
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast, brown sugar and salt in 1 1/2 cups warm water. Stir in flour, and knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover, and let rise for one hour.
Combine 2 cups warm water and baking soda in an 8 inch square pan.
After dough has risen, cut into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a 3 foot rope, pencil thin or thinner. Twist into a pretzel shape, and dip into the baking soda solution. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets, and let rise 15 to 20 minutes.
Bake at 400 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with coarse salt, garlic salt or cinnamon sugar.

One with lotsa cinnamon sugar!!!!

Cannon's piece sign...

Hearts

Coconut Haters Beware ☺

Madelyn was here today and baked some delicious Coconut Macaroon cookies! She found the recipe in a recipe book my mother-in-law gave me a while back. I was skeptical because this recipe doesn't call for eggs or baking powder or any of the usual cookie ingredients, but they turned out great and I ate quite a few! They tasted kind of like a coconut cream pie to me. One more thing -- we were in a time crunch so we had to take them out of the oven 7 minutes early. They were still great! So I'm not sure how crunchy or gooey they are supposed to be, but they were just fine to us.

Coconut Macaroons

1/3 C all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
2 1/2 cups dried coconut
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with waxed paper and grease the paper. (We took all but two of the cookies off the waxed paper right after they came out of the oven - the two left on the wax paper to cool got very stuck!)

Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the dried coconut. Pour in the sweetened condensed milk. Add the vanilla extract and stir together from the center. Continue stirring until a very thick batter is formed.

Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of batter 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake the macaroons for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

VARIATION: (we didn't try this) Make the macaroons smaller, and when cooked coat them in melted semisweet chocolate. Place on waxed paper and leave until the chocolate is hard.