Monday, February 11, 2013
We’re back y’all! Fourteen killer cool bloggers and I are whipping up some goodies for y’all and we’ve coined it #SweetsWeek!
HOW FUN IS THAT!???
Here’s our schedule so be sure to check back throughout the week to pick up more sinfully delicious recipes covering a wide pallet of tastes. Plenty of chocolate for me. *wink
Sunday:
Red Velvet and Vanilla Marble Cupcakes – Kirsten @ Comfortably Domestic
Retro Raspberry Divinity – Jeanne @ Inside NanaBread’s Head (and a giveaway for bakers!)
Monday:
Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies – Beka @ Kvetchin’ Kitchen
Mini Meringue Strawberry Pie – Katie @ The Hill Country Cook
Tuesday:
Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti – Madeline @ Munching in the Mitten
Samoa Crack Dip – Carrie @ Bakeaholic Mama
Wednesday:
Avocado Peppermint Chocolate Mousse – Lauren @ Climbing Grier Mountain
Cherry Garcia Chocolate Bark – Megan @ Wanna Be A Country Cleaver
Thursday:
S’Mores on a Stick – Kat @ Tenaciously Yours
White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting – Mads @ La Petite Pancake
Friday:
‘Pucker Up’ Lemon Marshmallows – Allison @ Decadent Philistines Save the World
Kirsten will be back with cute little Mini Chocolate Mousse Pies
Saturday:
Berry Smoothie Ice Cream Pie & a Giveaway – Anne @ From My Sweet Heart
So, this is way outside my normal realm of sweets y’all. I’m serious. I only eat chocolate. #ineedhelp
But I thought, I want to make something pink for Valentine’s Day…. so strawberry cheesecake pies it is!
This is based off my Nanner Puddin’ recipe, and I switched it up using Cheesecake Jell-O and Strawberry Jell-O.
Ummm… Yumm-O.
Then I decided…. Well, I’d better make it FANCY, because it’s like Valentine’s Day and all.
So I added meringue topping. Oooooh!
Once your egg whites get frothy is when you add in your sugar…. beat ’til you’ve got stiff peaks.
What are y’all doing for Valentine’s Day? Anything special?
~Peace, Love, and Sweets Week Y’all!
And be sure to tell me what your other favorite recipes were from #SweetsWeek!
XOXOXOX
Mini Meringue Strawberry Pies
Yield: serves 10
Ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 small box cheesecake flavored Jell-O
1 small box strawberry flavored Jell-O
2 cups milk
1 container Cool Whip
1 sleeve graham crackers
3 egg whites, cold
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Directions:
Mix the cream cheese and condensed milk with an electric beater until smooth. Pour in pudding mixes and milk, blend again about 3 minutes. Fold in half the Cool Whip. Set aside to firm up slightly.
Crush the graham crackers. Portion the graham crackers into individual cups, trifle bowl, or 8x8 square pan. Pour the pudding mixture over the graham crackers.
For the meringue, beat the cold egg whites in a chilled bowl. Be sure the beaters and bowl are completely dry before beating. When the egg whites begin to turn white and foamy, about 2 minutes, sprinkle in the sugar and cream of tartar slowly. Continue beating another 3-4 minutes until stiff peaks form, and the meringue is shiny. Spread over the pudding mixture. Use a blow torch to brown the meringue, or place in a 425 degree oven for 5-8 minutes until golden. Refrigerate until ready to eat.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Y’all know it. Old timey recipes are my favorite, my FAVE I’m telling you!
The real old recipes that at some point were scribbled in that old-fashioned cursive that I can barely read on some old faded index card.
Or TYPED on a TYPEWRITER!
I used to have a typewriter. In fourth grade, I said I was going to write a book.
Just like Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote.
I think mine had 7 pages. But my grandma said those were the best 7 pages of short stories she had read in her whole life!
Which brings us to, Tunnel of Fudge Cake. Tunnel. Of. Fudge. Greater words could not have been spoken.
Tunnel of Fudge Cake is purportedly what made the bundt pan famous.
The traditional cake uses ingredients that are no longer around, and then there’s always the box mix, but who wants to use a box to make this? Then some recipes call for a can of frosting in the batter, or a box of Jell-O, but this, this my friends, is the real deal.
Real, made from scratch, honest to goodness, the best chocolate cake ever.
When you cut into the middle, you have this gooey center, like a mix between pudding and brownie, but not in a weird “I’m eating cake batter” way. Yes, there ARE folks out there that don’t like eating cake batter. Weird, I know.
So with a molten center, and a chocolate glaze to top, the cake is pretty rich. I even decided to forgo the chocolate glaze, and it was spectacular with a cold glass of milk.
I had family in town last week and this ended up being the best surprise gift to bring over. Much better than a new Swiffer 360 I thought they’d enjoy for the travel trailer. *Wink.*
While this might seem like more work for those of you who prefer box mixes, it’s most definitely, absolutely worth it. For those of you who are strictly cake from scratch bakers – this you will find a pleasant break. The only complaint I had from this recipe is to gather the ingredients in three separate bowls – I HATE to create extra dishes! But, the batter is to be “just” combined, so you need everything ready, and on hand.
Try this cake for Super Bowl, and please all the wives that were dragged along and have no idea what’s going on, or who’s even in the Super Bowl for that matter (Go Niners!), and I promise you’ll have yourself a crowd pleaser.
Now, I’m going to do it. I’m not going to be afraid. I’m going to show you an imperfect picture, taken with a cell phone. I’ve decided to keep writing from my heart and stop worrying about how crazy life is right now and how it’s affecting my blogging time! Here’s a picture taken while in my parents’ Airstream, about to eat this deliciousness of heaven.
See that delicious, fudgy center? SO WORTH IT.
Back to the reasons why you need to make it.
This cake is super rich, even without the chocolate glaze, so just a skinny slice will do, which means there is a lot to go around. In closing, I raise my cold glass of milk to you Ms. Bundt Pan inventor, or inventor of Tunnel of Fudge Cake with strange no longer found ingredients. Thank you for giving me a reason to stay on the elliptical an extra 30 minutes. Well worth it, my friends!
~Peace, Love, and Tunnels of Fudge y’all!
Tunnel of Fudge Cake
Yield: serves 10-12
Borrowed from Cook's Country, 2009
Ingredients:
Cake:
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting pan
1/2 cup boiling water
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups pecans, chopped fine
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
For the glaze:
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
For the cake:
Adjust an over rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder. Pour the boiling water over the chocolate in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Cool to room temperature. Whisk the cocoa, flour, nuts, confectioners’ sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Beat eggs and vanilla in a large measuring cup.
With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. On low speed, add the egg mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the chocolate mixture and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Beat in the flour mixture until just combined, about 30 seconds.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the batter and bake until the edges are beginning to pull away from the pan, about 45 minutes. Cool upright in the pan on a wire rack for 1 1/2 hours, then invert onto a serving plate and cool completely.
For the glaze:
Cook the cream, corn syrup and chocolate in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and set aside until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Drizzle the glaze over the cake and let set for at least 10 minutes. Serve.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Picture my delight when during my Christmas trip to California, my aunt gave me six persimmons to take back to Texas.
Mmm… persimmon bars. My grandma made persimmon bars, persimmon cookies, and persimmon bread. My mom and aunt still make the persimmon bread, but I felt like bars today. Imagine how disappointed I was when I couldn’t find the recipe!
We are talking about fruit bigger than my fist. Lovingly packed away in ziploc gallon bags amongst pomegranate syrup, paring knives, some glasses I found on clearance at Williams Sonoma…. #foodbloggerproblems.
Imagine TSA’s face when they inspected my bag. Heh.
I adapted this recipe from all recipes.com – and the secret….. is the orange zest. And a dash of orange juice.
The smell makes me happier than Christmas.
Fo’ reals.
Don’t know what it is, just makes me happy.
I happened to be babysitting my husband’s little sister, Emma.
Everyone say HIIII EMMMA – LOU – WHO!!!
I handed the baking reigns over to her, and she did it all! I just put it in the oven!
Then we went and got our nails painted, and got Amy’s ice cream in South Austin.
If any of you are planing a trip to Austin, which you must because it’s like the coolest place on earth (except Hawaii) ( and Thailand), stop by Amy’s ice cream.
If anyone’s interested I could do a whole post on my favorite Austin hot spots to hit up. It’d give me a good excuse to go back downtown and annoy my husband while taking endless Instagram photos.
Back to the ice cream, this is “The Dude” with heath bars. It was White Russian flavored.
WHITE RUSSIAN! Who thinks of this stuff?
It may have just been me, but I think it made me feel a little *extra happy* after eating it, if you know what I mean.
*note, this flavor does contain alcohol.
Know what I mean?
Ooooh, and then today, my shirt came in the mail from TheHomeT.com. They make shirts in all different states, and more coming all the time.
And, some of their proceeds go to Multiple Sclerosis research. Too cool.
So in my honest opinion, this shirt is so super duper soft, and fits perfectly. Very well made. I highly recommend.
Ok… go make you some persimmon bars. And if you don’t have a persimmon tree in your backyard, or a stockpile of persimmons stocked in your freezer, cooked apple or peach would work here too. It’s a basic spice cake.
Ooooooh CHERRY!!!! I NEED TO TRY THIS WITH CHERRY!!!!
I have some in the freezer…. I’m so excited!!!
Agh, there I go with too many exclamation points again.
I’m supposed to be working on that, uh, now that I’m uh, *cough* thirty.
Ugh.
~Peace, Love, and Persimmons Y’all
Persimmon Bars
adapted from allrecipes.com
Ingredients:
1 cup persimmon pulp
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, beaten
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 tablespoon juice from an orange
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9x13 pan. In one bowl, combine persimmon pulp and baking soda, set aside. In a second bowl, mix egg, white sugar, and oil. In a third larger bowl, combine the dry ingredients and orange zest and juice. Add first the fruit mixture, then the egg mixture. Fold in the nuts and spread the batter into the pan.
Bake for 15-18 minutes. While baking, mix the powdered sugar and milk to create a glaze. If consistency is too thick, add more milk. If consistency is too thin, add more sugar. Spread glaze on top of slightly warm bars.
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