Saying Thank You With Brownies!

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes you need a little more than words to say thank you and these brownies are just the way to do it!

I am obsessed with gooey fudgy brownies and the espresso in this recipe gives a nice kick and make the chocolate sing! If you are a cake brownie fan this is not the recipe for you. Did I mention you only need one pot to make these? One pot, a whisk and an 8×8 baking dish!

INGREDIENTS:
1½ sticks unsalted butter
1 c. brown sugar
¾ c. white sugar
3 lg. eggs
1 lg. egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. dark chocolate cocoa powder
⅓ c. AP flour
2 tsp. espresso powder
Pinch of salt
½ c. dark chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 x 8 inch baking dish with parchment & grease. In med. sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Remove from heat & whisk in brown & white sugar until smooth. Add eggs & egg yolk one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Add in cocoa powder, flour, espresso powder & salt. Stir until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. These are decedent dark chocolate goodness and just try not to eat more than one!

White Chocolate and Raspberry Bundt Cake

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

13921020_525218631018503_183651627653657419_nSometimes I have a deep desire to get my hands dirty. The other day was one such day. I hate gardening so I prefer to dirty my hands while baking; and if I am going to get my hands dirty making it, then I want to make something so good you can’t help but purposely getting it on your fingers so you can indulge in your inner child and lick your fingers! This bundt cake recipe is one such recipe.

I decided I wanted to use my bundt pan to make something so delicious it would make the person eating it close their eyes and savor each and every bite! I took to Google Images to eat with my eyes and found a picture of a white chocolate raspberry bundt cake and I was sold. Not only was this recipe easy, but I had 3/4 of the ingredients already at home, so it was a win-win for me. I went to Baked in Arizona’s website and found the post which matched the photo and the rest is baking history. As with many recipes I find, I did tweek it to fit my style, but you can find the original here.

INGREDIENTS:
Cake:
1 16.5 oz. pkg white cake mix (not vanilla or you won’t taste the white chocolate as much)
1 (3.3 ounce) pkg instant white chocolate pudding
1 c. sour cream
4 lg. eggs
½ c. water
½ c. oil
1½ c. white chocolate chips, pulsed slightly in a blender or chopped finer.
1 c. raspberry pie filling ( I had frozen raspberries in my freezer so I made a quick “sauce” instead of pie filling using a cornstarch slurry it thicken it).
Frosting:
½ c. white chocolate chips
4 oz. softened cream cheese
2 tbsp. softened butter, not melted
½ tsp. vanilla
1 c. powdered sugar
Topping: (optional)
Pint of store bought or fresh raspberries for decorating

INSTRUCTIONS:
13925403_524943887712644_1544970364438007161_nGrease and flour a bundt pan ( I used a baking spray and flour). From reading the comments on Baking in Arizona’s page many people stated even using a nonstick bundt pan requires prepping the pan with grease and flour.). Preheat  oven to 325 degrees. Mix all cake ingredients together in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer or by hand (but make sure to get all dry ingredient incorporated. Fill bundt pan with half the batter. Spoon half of the raspberry filling in separated spoonfuls over the batter just as you would do for a marbled cake. Use a knife to swirl the filling through the cake without scraping the sides or bottom of the pan. Pour other half of the batter over the raspberry filling. Cook 1 hour and test the center with a toothpick or knife. If it comes out wet cook in 3-5 min. intervals until it does. Remove pan from oven and let cool on a rack. After cooling for 20 minutes, gently run a knife around the outside and inside edges. Place serving dish on top of pan and flip to release. 13895188_524962731044093_7641992205533173804_n
13935067_524962714377428_2114889136792726646_n
While the cake was baking I made the frosting. In a medium sized bowl, melt white chocolate chips in the microwave in 15 sec. bursts stirring well after each time. Let chocolate cool for 3 mins and add cream cheese, butter, vanilla and powdered sugar. Mix well with electric beaters or by hand until it is smooth. I waited until the frosting cooled slightly and the cake cooled a little more before frosting so it would coat it in a thick slather and not melt off into a pool on the plate. I also topped my with raspberries for decoration and for a hint of what is inside!
This bundt cake was a huge hit at work (as you can see in the photo below) and a huge hit with me for getting my hands dirty while baking. This cake recipe could easily be turned into cupcake, rounds or a sheet cake for just as delicious treat!
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I think it definitely speaks for how delicious this cake was, so I leave you with this gem!13902764_525265141013852_5704032698204061008_n

Pineapple Soft Serve (no ice cream maker necessary)!

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

I was on Facebook one day during lunch and Tasty (click link for FB video from Tasty) has posted a recipe for Pineapple Soft Serve and I knew I just had to try it!

Their recipe called for Vodka, but I thought Malibu would give it a better flavor profile, since Vodka doesn’t have much flavor, and boy was it a good choice! I also used frozen pineapple I had in the freezer, which made it like a slurry and ready to eat after making versus having to freeze it first. For a non-alcoholic version, cut down on the sweetened condensed milk and you could add in some coconut milk.

I highly recommend this summertime treat for any 21+ get together, and you might even be able to try with other fruits (make sure to let me know if you do).

Tasty Version Ingredients:
1 fresh pineapple, chopped into small chunks
6 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 (6-ounce) can DOLE® 100% pineapple juice
3 ounces vodka
Pineapple spears (garnish)
Fresh mint (garnish)
PREPARATION
1. Add the pineapple chunks, milk, pineapple juice, and vodka to a food processor.
2. Process until smooth and creamy, remove any lumps that remain.
3. Freeze in baking dish for at least 6 hours or until very firm.
4. Remove from dish and chop into large ice cube-sized chunks.
5. Place frozen cubes in food processor and pulse. The consistency should be thick.
6. Pour the mixture into a plastic storage bag with a corner that has been cut off.
7. Carefully pipe the mixture into a martini glass or bowl and garnish with fresh pineapple spears and mint.
8. Enjoy!

My Version Ingredients:
1 bag froze pineapple
6 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1 (6-oz.) can pineapple juice
3 oz. Malibu Rum
Directions:
Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Remove any large lumps. If you like a softer serve eat as is, otherwise freeze in a 8×8 or 9×9 dish in the freezer until firm. Remove and scoop into a blender and pulse until smooth. Pour into a glass or dish and enjoy!

Good Luck, Charlie!

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes people come into your life and you don’t realize the impact they have. Today marks one week that a very special employee retired from our company. I was asked to make the desserts for his party and I jumped at the opportunity. I was flattered that they asked, but more so, I was thrilled to do this to show him how much he truly means to all of us. I have stated before and I will state it again – baking is how many of us show and share love with the people around us. WE ALL LOVE CHARLIE and he so deserved the kind words, the endless recognition and to eat LOTS OF CAKE!

13516186_507226809484352_2417428643004849372_nSo I went to work making enough cake and cupcakes to feed a small army. I decided on keeping the cake flavors simple, but to go slightly crazy on the frostings!

13507152_507226762817690_2884251503118510521_nI made 84 cupcakes (not all shown) and one double 13×9 cake. The cake was chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and filled with chocolate ganache and decorated with PB cups and a printed sugar sheet (thanks Callie and Frank’s Bakery!)

13524454_507226776151022_8454461130550016230_nThe cupcakes were chocolate cake either frosted with marshmallow buttercream, espresso buttercream or chocolate ganache buttercream, and vanilla cake frosted with either peanut butter frosting, chocolate ganache buttercream, vanilla buttercream or filled with key lime curd and topped with marshmallow buttercream.

They all came out great! Everyone enjoyed them and I had a blast piping all the frostings in different styles with different tips.

Key Lime Pie Cupcakes

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes you crave a flavor combination. Sometimes that flavor combination is known for a specific dessert already. Sometimes you want the flavors but not the dessert they were “intended” for. Hence why I decided to make Key Lime Pie Cupcakes for the other half of my brain as her birthday treat!! I love Key Lime Pie, but I didn’t want to make a pie, and as with most birthday treats for each other we like to experiment. So I decided I would make Key Lime curd to fill cinnamon cupcakes and top them with a delicious Fluff buttercream. These are definitely going into my recipe book as they were not only a hit, but a refreshing summertime treat! If you love Key Lime Pie, you will love this spin on a classic.

13537779_505734049633628_3339730287453242550_nFor the Key Lime Curd:
1/2 c. fresh squeezed Key Lime juice at room temp.
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 stick unsalted butter at room temp.
2 ex. lg. eggs at room temp.
1/8 tsp. salt

Remove the zest of your limes with a zester. Put the zest and sugar into a blender and blend until zest is finely minced and mixed with the sugar. Juice limes to make 1/2 cup and set aside. With a mixer, cream the sugar mixture and butter. Add eggs one at a time scrapping the bowl after each one is added. Add lime juice and salt and mix until combined. The mixture will look separated, which is fine. Put mixture into a medium sauce pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it has thickened enough to leave a path when you scrap the back of a coated spoon. Pour into a bowl and press plastic wrap down onto mixture to avoid a skin from forming – place in fridge to cool and store until use.

13516410_505682656305434_3295211559007071609_nFor the Cinnamon Cupcakes:
I debated on using my vanilla cake recipe and adding cinnamon, but I decided to go the the web and try a new recipe out, since I was experiment with flavor. I used a Cinnamon Vanilla Cupcake recipe by LizP (see recipe and instructions here: http://www.food.com/recipe/cinnamon-vanilla-cupcakes-439272) that I found on food.com. This created a dense almost muffin-esque cupcake. This was good for the curd filling, as it held up nicely to the extra moisture. This made 12 cupcakes in large cupcake liners. I also went with 2 tsp. of cinnamon to really give it that flavor.

For the Fluff Buttercream:
2 c. butter, softened
2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 13 oz. jar of Fluff
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream butter in electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add in powdered sugar. Add in Fluff and vanilla, and mix until combined. Put into pipping bag for later use. I kept it on the table so that it would be room temp. for easier piping onto my cupcakes. This frosting is prettier when piped versus using a knife or small offset spatula due to it’s consistency.

13095975_505734042966962_3414481367897242628_nAfter letting my cupcakes cool, I used a large piping tip to hollow out the center of my cupcakes to make a good size whole for the curd to go into. I then piped a generous amount of frosting on top and sprinkled with gold luster dust for a pop of color and pizazz. These are birthday cupcakes after all!

Summer is approaching!

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

It has finally stopped being winter, but I best not say it too loud or it may snow again. It has happened before – that is, it has snowed in the summer before – this is Maine after all.

I was driving to work one morning after dropping my daughter off to school and noticed a homemade stand at the end of a drive way – RHUBARB for sale! I made a note to go back the next day and purchase some from this honor system stand. I love the tartness rhubarb brings to a dish. It is great for pies, jams and my all-time favorite – a church recipe book find – Rhubarb Jiffy Delight (you know the one! Rhubarb, strawberry Jell-O and cake mix dumped into a casserole dish).

My daughters are a huge fan of the old standby Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, so I decided I would treat them, along with my mother and grandmother, to this sweet, yet tart dessert over our long holiday weekend. I didn’t have a lot of time to make this so I opted for a store bought, refrigerated pie dough and I have no shame or apologies for doing so. I thought to make this pie a little more fancy I would do a lattice top instead, that way you can see the gorgeous filling! I also opted to use a non-tapioca recipe. I have used tapioca for many recipes – including my sour cherry bars, but the texture for me is always an issue. The recipe I used didn’t include tapioca, but did use light brown sugar as a sweetener which gave it a nice warm flavor, along with the cinnamon! It is definitely a keeper recipe!

Filling:
3 1/2 c. rough cut rhubarb (around 1/2 in thick)
3 1/2 c. hulled and halved strawberries (if you use frozen strawberries your pie will be juicier)
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1/4 c. cornstarch
1 tsp. cinnamon1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

13307268_492807374259629_9106570730030854361_nDirections:
Using a 9 in. deep pie plate,  put in bottom crust leaving around a 1/2 in. over hang. Mix all ingredients into a bowl and toss lightly to combine. Spoon filling into the pie plate. Roll out top crust larger than your pie plate to ensure you have enough strips for the lattice ( 12-14 needed). I rolled mine out on parchment and used a pizza cutter to cut my strips. I gently starting latticing being careful not to get the filling all over the top part of the strips. Once latticed, I gently tucked and rolled the edges of the top and bottom crust together, ever so gently pinching them to keep the rolled edge look. I brushed the top with an egg wash (1 egg and a tbsp. of water) to help it turn golden brown. I set this on a parchment lined baking sheet and cooked at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes and then reduced the heat to 350 degrees F and continued to cook for another 1 hour and 30 minutes or until it is golden brown and bubbling. You will want to let this sit until room temp. before cutting into and as with most pies – a scoop of vanilla ice cream tastes great with it! Enjoy!

Making Whoopie!

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

I LOVE WHOOPIE PIES! I love the messy and ooey-gooey goodness they leave behind on your fingers, which I never waste on a napkin. There possibilities are endless! My new favorite filling, which I used for this batch, is Biscoff cookie spread and Heath Toffee bits. ADDICTING is an understatement.

There is some debate about what makes a whoopie pie a whoopie pie … is it the shape? Is it the consistency? Is the filling wedge between to pieces of cake? Is it the filling itself – fluff and Crisco, an egg white cooked frosting or buttercream?

Whenever I make chocolate whoopie pies I make a double batch of devils food cake, but I reduce the water by 1/4 –  1/2 cup and slightly under bake to ensure that stick to your fingers goodness.

Don’t have the ingredients or time to make them from scratch – don’t sweat it! Use a box mix of devils food cake. When you use 2 boxes of your favorite devils food cake mix,  reduce the water by 1/4 – 1/2 cup and slightly under bake. No one will ever know that you didn’t make them from scratch, and honestly, who cares? If they taste good that is all that matters!!

I always bake my whoopie pies on parchment lined baking sheets and use a small cookie scoop to portion them out. This helps them have that great circle, domed shape. Let them cool slightly and then run a spatula underneath each one. This will help the underneath layer get some air, which will help with you put the filling on, as it won’t be so tacky.

For the filling I grabbed two jars of Biscoff smooth spread and one bag of Heath toffee chips. I scrapped out every bit of spread into a mixing bowl, dumped in the entire bag of toffee chips and 1 1/2 of cups of powdered sugar. This amount of powdered sugar does not add too much sweetness or dull the flavor of the Biscoff spread – it merely adds structure to the spread so it doesn’t seep off the sides of the whoopie pie.

When placing the filling on the whoopies pies, I leave them on the parchment paper – I do not hold them or they will stick to your hands and you risk the cake crumpling in your hand. I find it easiest to put your filling into a piping bag and using a large round tip pipe the filling onto one side and then top with the other side. If you don’t have one then just get a heaping amount onto a butter knife and plop it in the center and gently spread the filling outward.

13244867_10103037613125799_4870923169661323086_nAfter I have made all my whoopie pies, I eat one. Someone has to do quality control! It’s a downright dirty job, but I will suck it up every time and eat one! Believe me, with this filling you will too!

 

PB&J Bites

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

I give credit to the other half of my baking brain (Mariza) for this post. She dug into the freezer in our break room and pulled out these bite-size balls of goodness. I was hooked. It was like eating a PB&J cookie dough. Now, I have to state that I am one a very few that do not like peanut butter and chocolate together – I know, I know – I am crazy for thinking this apparently. I like my peanut butter with jelly or celery. So these were perfect for me (although they do have white chocolate chips – but my school of thought is that white chocolate isn’t really chocolate at all, so I am good!)

I had to have this recipe! I G-chatted her immediately to ask for it. I love that we both know to wait for the, “but I did this to it” statement before actually looking at the recipe. We are baking soul mates. She is my go to for “what can I substitute” and “do you think this would taste good” or my favorite – “Oh my god! This is amazing and you have to try it.” True to Mariza fashion she told me her edits, and I loved that this was a one bowl and her version only had 7 ingredients ( I omitted the vanilla) – all of which I had in my kitchen at home – AND DID I MENTION THESE ARE NO BAKE!

IMG_0693
These are the dried cranberry version!

These little bites are perfect for a quick snack or on-the-go treat and will please even the fussiest eater. This is also a great recipe for the kiddos to help with! It’s easy and gooey, and fun to mix up. Sometimes life can be messy, but this is the good kind of messy! Let them mix away and lick their fingers afterward. Life’s too short not to lick the spoon – or your fingers – every once in a while!

I call this altered recipe PB&J Bites (you can find the original here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/239969/no-bake-energy-bites/?internalSource=search%20result&referringContentType=search%20results.) I choose to spilt my batch into two bowls before adding in the dried fruit – this way I could make some with dried cranberries and some with freeze dried strawberries. ENJOY!

Ingredients:
2 cup rolled oats
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2/3 cup honey (good quality)
3/4 cups dried fruit

IMG_0688
These are the dried cranberry version!

Directions:
Place all ingredients into a large bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon (or large spatula). Once combined scoop out bite-sized portions and roll into ball. Place on parchment or foil lined baking sheet and stick in the freezer to set (about 1 hour). Once set you can try not to eat them all by placing them into a Ziploc bag. If you are not eating these right away keep them in a sealed container or bag in the freezer and take out when needed. Even frozen these can still be bitten into so they make a great last minute go-to snack or party treat!

Salty & Sweet!

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

CHAOS! A hamster running on a wheel going over and over the same information. It can be something small that just gets stuck in my head and even though the rational part of me knows that between the hours of 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. nothing can be solved (usually), but I still dwell. The remedy usually comes in the form of using my hands to create a delicious treat. It soothes my soul, quiets my mind and gives me peace – even if just for a few hours.

I knew this week that I had been craving something salty and sweet – not just salted caramel, but I wanted MORE! Since I already had pretzels and kettle corn, and chocolate, heavy cream, caramels, sweetened condensed milk, butter and more – I knew I could bang out a batch of cupcakes in no time. The creative team at my work has been slammed the past few weeks. They bust their asses on a daily basis and are asked for more favors than most people I know in our work place – they deserve the enjoy my salty and sweet treats!

For these cupcakes I made a basic chocolate cupcakes from Betty Crocker, only I made them with dark chocolate cocoa powder. You can also use a box mix – THERE IS NO SHAME IN CHEATING WHEN IT COMES TO BAKING/COOKING! I filled them with a basic and quick salted caramel (consisting of melting 2 bags of Werther’s soft caramels and 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, and adding crushed sea salt to taste) and topped them with chocolate ganache (1 bag of dark chocolate chips and 1 sm. container of heavy cream – melted until smooth. I let this batch of ganache sit in the fridge to cool and whipped just before it set so it had the consistency of mousse rather than frosting). Then came the fun part – I broke up a few small pretzels to top half and opened a bag of Smartfood Kettle Corn mini bag to top the other half.

Sometimes it is the littlest and easiest detail that really makes things look like you slaved FOREVER on something that really took less than an hour. Google Images can provide you some great ideas! Put in something simple  – chocolate and caramel or brownies and cookie spread or fruit and chocolate. Skim through the images and see what catches your eye! A lot of times things only look detail or hard – don’t just a book by it’s cover. Don’t just overlook something because you think it my take too long or be too hard – you just never know what you might be missing!

 

 

Baking is LOVE made visible – Unknown

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

baking

Not everything I make needs to have an occasion. I had this talk with my daughter last night. She kept asking, “Is it someone’s birthday?” “Is someone paying you to make these?” “Why are you making sweets?” My responses were, “No, No and Do I need to have a reason?”

Many times I do make things for co-workers and/or friends birthdays because who doesn’t like to be treated to something delicious and slightly over the top for their birthday? Who am I kidding – any day really! My co-workers are spoiled when it comes to goodies. I usually try my best to bring enough for the whole class, and  yes, there are times that I just treat one department.

I bake for many reasons, but the end result is always the same – something created with love. As cliche as it may sound it is very true. I LOVE to bake. I LOVE the way my mind can find a calm and peace,  and my hands take over the thinking and creating. I LOVE the smells that take over the kitchen. Baking takes over all of your senses and can transport you to another time and place.

Baking and cooking is just one of the many ways I show family and friends my love and appreciation for them.