Real Strawberry Shortcake

For all of you Angel Food Cake "Strawbery Shortcake" Lovers, this is how you actually make it.  The version with angel cake tastes fine but it's not an actual shortcake.  This is quite a bit different so don't expect it to taste the same or even close.  I definitely prefer this to angel food cake.  But it totally depends on your tastes.  My sister, who obviously grew up in the same house that I did, prefers the Angel Food Cake version. And I still love her. :)

I grew up with this recipe which is what my mom has always made.  She uses the Bisquick recipe and now so do I.  We also always always always use real whipping cream.

If you are using real whipping cream, now is the time to place the bowl and beaters in the freezer to get cold before whipping.

4 cups fresh strawberries, cored, washed, and sliced
4 Tbsp. Sugar

Pour sugar over strawberries and slightly mash with potato masher. Let this sit while you make the shortcake.  This is called macerating (pronounced maserating).

Shortcake:
2 1/3 cups of Bisquick
2/3 cup Milk
3 Tbsp. Sugar
3 Tbsp. Butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Stir Bisquick, milk, sugar, and melted butter until soft dough forms.  Do not over mix.  Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet or form in circle and cut into 8 pieces pizza style.  Bake 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

Right before the shortcake is finished, it is time to make the whipping cream.  Get your bowl and beaters out of the freezer.  Pour the cream and a few tablespoons of sugar and beat on a high setting until whipped.

Cut the shortcake in half and top with macerated strawberries and whipping cream.
SERVE HOT!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

I made these for a going away party for one of my best friends last night.  Kind of a bitter-sweet night.  We had so much fun but it's never easy saying goodbye.

This is a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake with a Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting (say that 5 times fast), topped with a Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch.  If I had had the time, I would have bought the new Reese's Minis and topped it with that.  But I didn't and I had Cap'n Crunch in my pantry!  Someone made the comment at the party that you know that if it has Cap'n Crunch on it, it's good.  I liked hearing that.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake:
1 Devil's Food Cake Mix
Ingredients on box
1/2 - 1 cup Peanut Butter, depending on how much you like.
I used 1/2 cup and thought it was perfect.  I wanted the chocolate to still be the main flavor.

Bake according to directions on box.

Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, room temperature
2 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 - 1 cup of creamy Peanut Butter (again, you decide how much you like)
4 cups Powdered Sugar
2 Tbsp Milk, if you need to make it a little thinner.  I actually like the consistency that it was.  Perfect for piping.

Carson's Kindergarten Graduation Cake/Cupcakes

There are always things that I wish I could have done better but I do love how this turned out.
However, the one thing I really wish would have worked was that I planned on having fondant stars on wires sticking out of the top of the cake.  But apparently the wires that I used weren't strong enough and of course I didn't put them in until last minute so I didn't have enough time to properly fix the problem so I ended up just putting the fondant stars on top of the cake to cover the holes that I had made with the wires.

I used my pudding cupcake recipe and my marshmallow fondant recipe

Me and the graduate, Carson.

My husband cut out the wood for me to make the cupcake stand.  He said he felt like he was on Cupcake Wars.  We would make a good team on that show.

Cake Balls and Pretzels

Happy Mother's Day!



Here's what I want to know:
1. Why are these SO addictive?
2. Why is it so impossible for me to make cake balls look decent? It seems like everyone else can do it. When I make them, they are delicious but not so attactive. These were the best of the group.

I think I need a face-to-face lesson from Bakerella herself.

Blueberry Muffins

I got this recipe from the Essential Mormon Celebrations Cookbook by Julie Badger Jensen. And it rocks.


Muffins 
1 1/2 cups Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 Egg, beaten
1/2 cup Butter, melted
1/2 cup Milk
1 tsp. Lemon Zest
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 recipe Muffin Topping (see below)
1 recipe Muffin Glaze (see below)

In a large bowl (not a mixer), combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir until well blended. Make a well in center of mixture. Place egg, butter, and milk in center and stir just until blended. Carefully stir in lemon zest and blueberries. Fill 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle with Muffin Topping. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and drizzle with Muffin Glaze (not pictured above)


Muffin Topping 
1/2 cup pecans, chopped (not pictured above)
 1/2 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Lemon Zest
2 Tbsp. Butter, melted

 In a bowl, combine above ingredients and sprinkle over muffins.


Muffin Glaze 
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1 Tbsp. fresh Lemon Juice

In a bowl, mix powdered sugar and lemon juice together. Drizzle over muffins after baking.

Light Saber Cake & Yoda Soda

My son, Carson, wanted a Star Wars Birthday Party.  This is the easiest cake we could come up with.

The Cake: (try to ignore the seams in the fondant)

Make a regular 9 x 13 cake.  Cut into 3 strips and lay end to end.  Frost the "light" part of the light saber and cover with Marshmallow Fondant.  Then frost the handle with gray frosting (vanilla frosting with a little black food coloring) and pipe black frosting for details. 

This was a team effort with my husband.  He is awesome!

Yoda Soda is this... green Kool Aid.  And if you can't find green Kool Aid like I couldn't last night at Walmart, buy the invisible Kool Aid and add green food coloring.  It was really cool (and simple) and the kids loved it.

Chocolate and Caramel Rice Krispey Treats

 I got this awesome recipe from my sister, Suzie. 

  Rice Krispey Treats:

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. Margarine or Butter

1 10 oz package of Marshmallows

6 Cups of Rice Krispies

Directions:  

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat.  Add marshmallows and stir until almost completely melted.  If you let them cook for too long, your Rice Krispey Treats will be hard.  Remove from heat.  Fold in cereal until completely coated.  Spray a baking sheet with Pam and press mixture into the pan.

Caramel:

Ingredients:

1 Cup Butter - 2 Cubes

2 Cups Brown Sugar

1 Cup Corn Syurp

1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 tsp. Vanilla

Directions:

Add all ingredients in a sauce pan.  Bring to a rolling boil for about 4 minutes stirring almost constantly.  Remove from heat.  

You have to watch it very carefully so it doesn't burn.  I have an electric stove (that I despise) and I turned my back for 2 seconds and mine was well on its way to burning.  So be very careful!

This makes a lot of caramel so you can use about half for this and use the rest for Caramel Popcorn, Caramel Apples, whatever. Or just cut the recipe in half!

Additional Ingredients:

1 bag of White Chocolate Chips

1/2 Bag of Milk Chocolate Chips

Melt white chocolate chips in microwave for 30 second intervals stirring after each time.  Spread over Rice Krispey Treats.  Drizzle caramel over the white chocolate.  Melt half a bag of milk chocolate chips also in 30 second intervals and drizzle over the caramel.  Let set, cut, and serve!

Pumpkin Cake

I got this recipe from my friend Angie, who got it from My Kitchen Cafe.  They call them Pumpkin Bars but I made it in a cake pan so then it was a cake!  Either way, it's really really yummy.  I also added some spices that they didn't have in theirs.

I made this for my friend Laura's birthday so there are sprinkles on it in case you're wondering what that is.

Bars:
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
15-ounce can pumpkin
2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

Icing:
8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cube of butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking soda. Mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 x 9 baking pan.  Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

To make the icing:  Soften the cream cheese and the butter.  Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on the cake.

Fluffy White Frosting

Sorry this is more of a Christmasy recipe. I guess I'm just in the spirit early this year! And yes, I actually did some Christmas shopping today. What is with me?! :)

Growing up, our family has always done Fluffy White Frosting on cakes if your birthday is in winter. Mine is, so it's extra special to me. I love it. It reminds me of my birthday but especially Christmas. Now that I'm in Arizona and we don't have snow, this is kind of like my snow. Except super delicious.


Fluffy White Frosting on Red Velvet Cake Pops

Ingredients:
1 Cup Sugar
1/4 tsp. Cream of Tartar
Pinch of Salt
1/3 Cup Water
1 Tbsp. Light Corn Syrup
1 Egg White (Room Temperature)
1/4 tsp. Vanilla

Directions:
Separate egg white from yolk. Let sit until it reaches room temperature
Bring sugar, cream of tartar, salt, water, and corn syrup to a boil. Boil until sugar is dissolved. 1-2 mintutes tops. Pour that into your mixer and mix while slowly adding the unbeaten egg white. Beat until frosting is thick and forms peaks. Add vanilla and mix.

Our favorite way to top this is with crushed candy canes. It just makes it feel like Christmas.

Cake Pops Take 2

I figured out that my problem was that my chocolate was too thick. So I stirred in a little vegetable oil to thin it out and it worked! But these still aren't up to Bakerella's standards. But I think they're fine for my 2nd try.

Pumpkin Apple Spice Cake

The Before


The After

First, a little back story.
My son's kindergarten class was studying apples last week and we were supposed to take in something with apples for the class to taste. Of course it had to be store bought so I couldn't bake anything but I was inspired to make this.

Ingredients:
1 Spice Cake Mix
1 Can Apple Pie Filling
3 heaping spoon fulls of Pumpkin Pie Puree - probably 1/2 - 3/4 of a cup
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
2 Eggs

Mix in a large bowl, the cake mix, oil, and eggs. Then mix in the pie filling and pumpkin. Bake at 350 for 35 - 37 minutes.
After 10 minutes, flip over onto cooling rack WITHOUT dropping your favorite piece of stoneware and destroying your cake.

The cake is heavy. The pan is also heavy and very slick especially with hot pads. I totally lost my grip mid-air and dropped it. The cake actually fell out in one piece.  It fell apart when I tried to pick it up. However, I made a "trifle" out of it and it was delicious.

I used this frosting recipe to top it
Frosting:
1 pkg. Cream Cheese
2 cups Powdered Sugar
1 cube of Margarine or Butter
1 tsp. Vanilla

Cream the butter and cream cheese together. Mix in powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

This actually tasted a lot like Pumpkin Pie and it was so yummy. Looked AWFUL but tasted great.

Cake Pops

I am a huge fan of Bakerella and her Cake Pops. She makes it seem so easy. This was the first time I've ever made them and possibly the last. However, they are DELICIOUS! So yeah, I will make them again. Maybe it's just me but I found it more difficult than I think it should be. Whenever I would try to dip the cake balls into the chocolate, they would start to fall off of the stick. And this is after freezing them for hours on the sticks.  I ended up just frosting them with a knife.


Instead of doing cake pops, you can just do cake balls.

Oh Yummy.

Bakerella just had a book published featuring her Cake Pops which I'm begging my husband to get me for my birthday. Maybe after I get that I'll attempt it again.

Mini Doughnuts

I made Navajo Tacos for dinner tonight and we had "leftover" roll dough. Coincidentally, I happened to watch the show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on the Food Network a couple nights ago where Giada de Laurentiis' favorite fried food were these bite size fried doughnuts from the restaurant Lola. However, I did a couple things differently. Instead of coating them in cinnamon and sugar, I used cinnamon and brown sugar. Huge difference, I know :)  I also made a frosting instead of dipping them in a seasonal jam and vanilla mascarpone like they do. So with our "leftover" roll dough, I made these.

Doughnuts:
One batch of my Mom's Homemade Rolls
Vegetable Oil
Brown Sugar
Cinnamon

Frosting:
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
4 Tbsp. melted Butter or Margarine
2 Tbsp. Milk or Water
1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Make the dough. Roll it out and cut it up.
Mix the frosting ingredients together.
Get the oil very hot in a frying pan.
Place dough in oil and turn when it browns.
Remove from oil and place directly into mix of cinnamon and brown sugar. The oil helps the sugar stick.  Toss and remove.
Drizzle (or coat) with frosting and eat hot. Honestly I would eat these cold but they are better hot.

Better Than Sex Cake

If you're offended by or just don't want call it by that name (like if you're making it for your in-laws), some people call it Better Than Anything Cake.



If you're trying to cut calories, this is not the cake for you!
However, if you decide to cheat this cake is definitely worth cheating with.

I'm not sure who came up with the recipe but it wasn't me. I wish it had been, it's so good.

1 box of Devil's Food Cake Mix and ingredients to make it
1 can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 jar of Caramel Ice Cream Topping
1 container of Cool Whip or 1/2 pint of Whipping Cream and sugar to make it
2 small or 1 big Heath Bar

Make the cake according to directions on the box. Let cool when finished.
Poke holes into the cake with the end of a wooden spoon. Pour the sweetened condensed milk all over the cake. Then do the same with the caramel. Spread the cream over the top. Crush up the candy bar and top the cake with it. Let chill in the fridge for at least a couple of hours.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

I based this recipe off another recipe that my mom sent me and I changed it a little.
In my attempt at eating healthier but still having yummy food, I bought ground Flax Seed to add to my food. Trust me, I was not thrilled about the idea at first. But these are super good cookies and you can't taste the flax seed at all. Definitely worth the investment. And I don't feel as guilty eating them compared to some of my other recipes.
My kids love these. Next time I will for sure make a double batch and freeze a bunch so I can sneak one (or three) every now and then.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups All-purpose or wheat flour
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
1 tsp. Cinnamon
2 Tbsp. Ground Flax Seed
3/4 cup Applesauce
1 Egg
1 cup mashed ripe Bananas
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 cup Rolled Oats
1 cup Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large bowl, stir flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flax together.
Add applesauce, egg, bananas, and vanilla. Mix.
Add oats and chocolate chips and mix again.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

Jr. Mint Cupcakes

Sorry for the recipe overload today. I was having such a hard time last week and then I did all of this and needed to put them up.

I've already put this recipe on my blog but I made them again and they're pretty cute so I wanted to add the pictures.
Click here for the recipe.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzels

I got this idea from my awesome sister, Suzie! My family's been helping me out a lot lately with ideas. Thanks guys!

So basically, you get a Reese's Bell or 1/2 of a Reese's Miniature cup and put it on a pretzel. Put it in the oven for a few minutes or the microwave for about 30 seconds. Super yummy. It tastes a lot like a Take 5.
You can also use rolos instead of or in addition to Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Scotcheroos

Sweet Goodness.

I think this might be a Rice Krispey recipe, not sure. All I know is I've loved these ever since I was little.

Ingredients:
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Light Corn Syrup
1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
6 Cups Rice Krispies

Topping:
1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Butterscotch Chocolate Chips

Combine sugar and corn syrup in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Once it starts to bubble, remove from heat and add peanut butter. Once it's well mixed, fold in Rice Krispies. Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 cake pan.

Melt butterscotch chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds. Remove and stir. Repeat one to two more times. Once completely melted, pour over Rice Krispey mixture and spread evenly. Cut soon after or else they harden and it's really hard to cut after that.

Oh and as a little side note, make sure you lick the spoons. It's delicious and you don't have to worry about salmonella poisoning like with cookie dough so lick away!

Deep Dark Chocolate Moist Cake

Steve and I went on a date (yes, that's my husband) the other night to Red Lobster. They have the deal right now where you get 2 Entrees, 2 salads, and either a dessert or appetizer. Of course, we chose the dessert. It's called Chocoalte Wave and oh my gosh it was good. It was so moist and gooey and rich and delicious. So ever since I've been craving it. I found this recipe online. And although I don't think it comes close to the Chocolate Wave, it's still pretty good.

I got this recipe off of Recipe Zaar.

Ingredients
1 (515 g) box devil's food cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup canola oil
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons dark molasses

Directions:
Place the two layer size packaged devils food cake mix in a large mixer bowl, and sift out lumps.
Add all other ingredients into bowl, and beat well, until combined and thick.
Bake in greased cake pans at 350 degrees preheated oven.
Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick or tester comes away clean.
Cool ten minutes, invert onto cooling rack.
Fill and frost with your favourite frosting.

I also cut each layer in half, so there were 4 layers of cake and did frosting inbetween each layer. And this time I was going to try and make my own frosting, but I didn't have some of the stuff on hand so I used canned. 2 Cans actually. I also used crushed up oreos on the side and a little on the top.
Why is it that when you see people put stuff on the sides of cakes does it look so easy? I saw a guy on Food Network last week putting coconut on the sides of his cake and he did the whole cake in about 20 seconds and it looked amazing. There were oreo crumbs all over my kitchen! If you have any good tips, I would love to hear.

Chocolate Souffles

I wanted to practice an elegant dessert for Valentine's Day just to make sure that when the day comes, I can actually pull it off. However, even though they were good, I think I have other things that I prefer. But I do like the fact that I actually made these and they turned out well. And I did find that you can get a set of 4 Ramekins at the World Market for $3! Great Bunko or Birthday gifts! They also come in navy blue and lime green. Really cute.

I got this recipe from Food Network. Enjoy!

Ingredients
7 ounces finely chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus for preparing the molds
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
8 large egg whites, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Confectioners' sugar for garnish

Directions
Brush 6 (6-ounce) ramekins with soft butter, then coat with sugar. Put the prepared ramekins in the freezer. (This can be done a day ahead.)
Set an oven rack in lower third of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.
Put the chocolate and butter in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with an inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Set aside.
Combine the egg yolks and warm water in the bowl of a standing mixer or large bowl and beat until frothy. Gradually add 2 tablespoons sugar, and continue beating until ribbons form, about 5 minutes. Very lightly fold the yolks into the chocolate mixture. (Rinse the bowl well, if using for beating the egg whites.)
Remove prepared ramekins from freezer. Put the egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer, or large non-reactive bowl, add the lemon juice. Beat on medium until frothy; then gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and increase speed to high. Beat until the whites hold a stiff but not dry peak.
Working quickly, fold about a third of the egg whites into the chocolate to lighten; then fold in remaining whites until blended. Gently ladle or spoon the souffle mixture into the ramekins, and place on a baking sheet. (Level off the surface with a straight edge, scraping any excess mixture back into the bowl.)
Immediately bake until the souffle rises about 1 1/2 inches from the ramekins, and the tops are touched with brown, about 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven, dust with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately.