Happy Spring!

Our Wisteria had lovely blooms on it for about 2 weeks.

Happy Spring!  I realize there are some parts of the country that have recently gotten snow, so they might not be feeling too Spring-y......but here in So Cal we've gone head first into summer weather!  It's been in the mid-80's the last few days.....it's beautiful, I gotta say.......

I've been so busy with the monkeys this year (between school, birthdays, activities, holidays), that I realized I completely forgot to blog about Easter.  The first Easter we got to host for our family!  Easter in our family involves all of the cousins (9 kiddos in all) and it's a sugar-fueled day of fun.

Adding into the fun, was the fact that the day after Easter was the hubby's birthday, and the day after that was my nephew James' 7th birthday.  So, on top of doing an Easter dessert, I needed to do something that could also double as a birthday cake.  I had seen a couple of people do Peeps cakes on Pinterest, so I took that idea and ran with it.

I made a white cake (any recipe, or white box cake mix will do), and tinted the 3 layers to match the colors of the Peeps that I found (pink, yellow, and purple).  For frosting I used my go-to Dulce de Leche buttercream frosting from Bakers Royale.

Once the cake was frosted I added my Peeps to the sides of the cake and topped the whole thing off with a bag of Easter colored M&Ms.  Completely over the top and loaded with sugar, but so much fun.  And check out the adorable Happy Birthday candles I found at Target......perfect for having the two guys blowing out the candles!

But it's the inside of the cake that surprises everyone.......

It's colored to match the Peeps on the outside!

I also decided to make an edible centerpiece for the dining room table.....check out my little lambs!

These are straight off the cover of Cupcakes, Cookies, and Pies, Oh, My!  They were a cute and fun little addition to the table (their bodies are pound cake, the head is a Milano cookie), but kind of time consuming considering all of the other things I was making for the day.  If you'd like to give these bad boys a try, here are the instructions.

Well, that's it for now..........off to go make some dessert for a dinner party we're going to tonight (adults only....yeah!).  Enjoy!

All of the cousins on Easter!

My little monkeys

The birthday boys!

Happy New Year?

Happy New Year everyone!  Yeah, I realize I'm almost a month late to that party......I have no idea how the month of January has managed to completely fly by!  Once school started back up after winter break, it feels like time just whizzed by, and now it's already time to start planning for Valentine's Day!

Well, here's a cake that could easily be changed up for Valentine's Day!  You've probably seen a cake completely doused in sprinkles somewhere on Pinterest.  I used the post I found at Raspberri Cupcakes for inspiration, and did an ombre layered cake inside.  The great thing about this is that you could use your favorite cake recipe (make sure it's a white cake if you're going to do the ombre effect).....heck you could even use a white box cake mix.....no one will know!

I decided to make this as a belated birthday cake......so after asking what her favorite color was, I did the ombre layers in shades of blue.  Just find your favorite color....divide your cake batter into however many layers you're going to do.....and dye each bowl a slightly darker shade (of the same color) than the last bowl.

Once the cake layers have baked and cooled, top with your favorite frosting.  My favorite is the Dulce de Leche Buttercream frosting from Bakers Royale that I use on the Tres Leches Cupcakes.  The only problem that I had was that the frosting I used has a tan tint to it once the dulce de leche is added to it......you could see that a bit where the sprikles weren't completely covering spots on the cake.  So I'd say to stick with a bright white frosting......it would be a better backdrop to the sprinkles (although possible not as yummy!).

A bit of warning about the sprinkles.....no matter what you do, you WILL get sprinkles everywhere.  Even after a very thorough clean-up yesterday, I still found some sticking to the bottom of my feet this morning.  I went through about 3 of the small bottles of nonpareils to cover this bad boy.  After sprinkling the top liberally with the sprinkles I used my hands to get the sides, and at the end used a spatula to scoop up any remaining sprinkles and slap them on the side.

Surprise them with the inside!

The best park of this cake is that while everyone is ooing and aahing over the outside of the sprinkles (because come on.....who doesn't love sprinkles)......you'll totally surprise them with the inside layers!  Love it, love it!  I'll definitely be doing this again and playing around with the inside (purple for me.....ooohhh, and what about rainbow??).

So get in your kitchen and have fun making a mess!  Check out Raspberri Cupcakes for pictures of her stunning Purple Ombre Sprinkles Cake as well as her cake recipe.....and Enjoy!!

Momofuku Apple Pie Cake

Yep.....I'm still being a flaky blogger.  I swear I'm going to try to be better!  In all honestly I have barely turned on the oven at our place lately.......we are still baking in 90 to 100+ degree weather here, and the idea of turning on a hot oven is just completely unappealing.  I'm dreaming of cooler fall weather (this happens to me every year at this time).  So instead, I discovered an amazing cake I actually made last year and never wrote about......how did I forget this one!!

May I introduce you to the Momofuku Milk Bar Apple Pie Cake?!?  This giant bad boy has a bunch of components that all together make a delicious dessert!  Give yourself plenty of time to put together each of these components together......and remember......none of them are very difficult (it's only intimidating when you look at the long list of recipes).  For this cake you're going to need to make:

1 recipe Barely Brown Butter Cake
1 recipe Apple Cider Soak
1 recipe Liquid Cheesecake
1 recipe Pie Crumb
1 recipe Apple Pie Filling
1 recipe Pie Crumb Frosting

The final cake has all of these wonderful layers that you'll leave visible (you worked hard on this, you want people to see them) by using strips of acetate to wrap around the cake (I found some at my local bakery supply shop).  I would suggest making this cake over the course of several days.  Once the cake is assembled, you'll need to place it in the freezer for at least 12 hours so that it can set up.  Then you'll just wait for the ooohs and aaaahs when you plate this bad boy!

For the recipe, check out Sweet Peony or the Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook......and Enjoy!!

TWD : French Strawberry Cake

Hellooooooo!!!  I know I've been a supremely absent blogger lately.....but I had an excuse!  We moved!!  I had forgotten how completely exhausting and all-encompassing it can be....especially with the two little monkeys.  But, we're slowly making our way out of boxes, and life is slowly returning to normal.

So I decided it was time to give my new kitchen (and oven) a test run.  I had missed the deadline for the last round of Tuesdays with Dorie (Baking with Julia), but I couldn't pass this one up.  French Strawberry Cake.  A lovely genoise layer cake with fresh strawberries and a whipped cream frosting......what could be more summery than that?

This is a fantastic tasting cake (kind of like a fancified strawberry shortcake), and would have looked even lovelier had I bothered to take more than a minute to frost it.  If you want a super summery cake that everyone will love (because who doesn't love strawberries and whipped cream?), then you've got to visit Sophia over at Sophia's Sweets or Allison at Sleep Love Think Dine to get the recipe.   To check out the other baker's results, go to Tuesdays with Dorie......and Enjoy!!

PS - Thanks to my friend Maggie for taking the great picture of my cake!

PPS - The verdict is in.....my new oven rocks!  The cake came out perfectly baked without any turning mid-bake on my part.  Woo-hoo!

TWD: Lemon Loaf Cake

For this round of Tuesdays with Dorie: Baking with Julia, we are baking the Lemon Loaf Cake.  A dense, poundcake-ish type cake flavored with lemon zest.  Because there was no lemon juice in the recipe (only the zest),  I ended up make a little lemon glaze to pour over the top, and it definitely helped bring up the zing factor a bit.  Looking at the comments some bakers had made, they found the lemon flavor too mild.....which would probably be the case if you were going to eat this on its own.

I decided to make this cake to bring to our family Easter brunch, and it was a perfect springtime dessert.  We served the cake sliced and topped with some perfectly ripe sliced strawberries and whipped cream.  The cake absorbed some of the juices from the strawberries, but was dense enough that it didn't fall apart with the extra liquid.

To check out the other bakers' results click here.....and for the recipe check out this round's hosts......Truc over at Treats, and Michelle at The Beauty of Life.....and Enjoy!

This post is linked to:

Tasty Tuesday - Crazy Sweet Tuesday - (Live) Linky Party - Tuesday Talent Show - T' Time - Tip Me Tuesday - Mrs. Fox's Sweet Party - Link It Up Wednesday - What's New Wednesday - Cast Party Wednesday - Sweet Treats Thursday - Full Plate Thursday - Show Off Your Stuff - Feed Your Soul - Anything Goes Linky - Friday Favorites - Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday - I'm Lovin' It - Fun Stuff Friday - Friday Food - Sweet Tooth Friday - Seasonal Inspiration - Sweets for a Saturday - Scrumptious Sunday - What Makes You Say Mmmmm? - Mix It Up Monday

The Search for the Ultimate Chocolate Cake

This round of the Crazy Cooking Challenge, hosted by Tina over at Moms Crazy Cooking, is looking for the ultimate Chocolate Cake.  Yum!  One of my favorite things!

I had planned on trying out a made from scratch chocolate cake (can't give away which recipe since I'll be trying it soon), but as soon as I saw the Toasted Marshmallow Hot Fudge Cake from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen....I knew I had my cake.  Just the words "toasted marshmallow" and "hot fudge" had me drooling.....but put them together with a chocolate cake.......yes, please!!

And this recipe could not be any easier!  Make a chocolate cake from a box mix.......poke holes in the cake once it's out of the oven and drizzle a jar of hot fudge sauce over the top.  The top with marshmallow fluff and put back in the oven until the marshmallow gets nice and toasty.  Easy Peasy!

You'll end up with a ooey gooey chocolate cake with toasted marshmallow frosting.  This one was right up my alley!  Enjoy!!

Toasted Marshmallow Hot Fudge Cake

Source: Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

1 box of chocolate cake mix

eggs called for on box

oil called for on box

water called for on box

1 jar of hot fudge sauce

2 (7 oz.) jars of marshmallow fluff

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare your chocolate cake using the directions on the back of the box, and pour into a greased and floured 9x13 cake pan.

Bake cake according to the directions on the box.  When cake is almost done, gently warm up the jar of hot fudge until it is pourable. When cake is done, take it out of the oven, and turn up the temperature of your oven up to 400 degrees F.

While the cake is still hot, use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke holes all over the cake, then pour the hot fudge sauce all of over the cake, letting it soak into the holes.

Place dollops of the marshmallow fluff all over the cake, then wait a couple of minutes for the fluff to melt a bit.  Spread the marshmallow fluff evenly all over the cake, then place the cake back in the oven.  Bake until the marshmallow topping begins to get browned and toasty.  Remove from oven and try to not eat it all in one sitting.

Check out what everyone else has made, and vote for your favorite!

This post is linked to:
Crazy Sweet Tuesday - Link Party - Tuesday Talent Show - Tea Party Tuesday - T' Time - Tasty Tuesday - Link It Up Wednesday - Mrs. Fox's Sweet Party - These Chicks Cooked - Cast Party Wednesday - Famous Linkz - Full Plate Thursday - Sweet Treats Thursday - It's a Keeper Thursday - Show Off Your Stuff - Friday Favorites - Feature Friday Free-for-all - Anything Goes Linky - Fusion Fridays - Friday Food - Fun Stuff Friday - Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday - Seasonal Inspiration - Sweets for a Saturday - Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

Welcome to the January round of the Improv Cooking Challenge, hosted by Kristen over at the Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker.  The two ingredients for this round of the Improv Cooking Challenge were lemons and sour cream....yummy, right?  I wanted to make something on the simple side, and not too heavy (since we were leaving for Maui the next day!).  I found this recipe for a Lemon Poppy Seed Sour Cream Cake in Rose's Heavenly Cakes, by Rose Levy Beranbaum.  I've had the book for a while now, and though I've loved looking at the pictures in it, I hadn't tried a recipe in it yet.

This cake absolutely hit the spot.  It has a lovely lemon-y taste from the lemon zest in the cake and the lemon juice the the syrup drizzled over the top.  The sour cream gives it a nice little tang-y kick.  And the poppy seeds.....they're so pretty (although the recipe did pretty much use up my whole jar of them).

So grab some lemons.......and Enjoy!

Lemon Poppy Seed-Sour Cream Cake
Source: Rose's Heavenly Cakes, by Rose Levy Beranbaum

2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
3/4 cup plus 1 T sour cream
1 3/4 t pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups superfine sugar
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
5 t loosely packed lemon zest
1/3 cup poppy seeds
14 T unsalted butter (65 to 75 degrees)

Coat a bundt cake pan or fluted tube pan with baking spray with flour.

With the oven rack in the lower third of the oven, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees if using a dark pan).

Whisk together the whole egg, yolk, 1/4 cup of the sour cream, and the vanilla, in a medium bowl until just lightly combined.

In the bowl of a standing mixer with the flat beater attachment, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt lemon zest, and poppy seeds on low speed for 30 seconds.  Add the butter and the remaining sour cream.  Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened.  Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes.  The mixture will lighten in color and texture.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Starting on low speed, gradually add the egg mixture in two parts, beating on medium speed for 30 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure.  Using a silicone spatula or spoon, scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface evenly with a small metal spatula.

Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted between the tube and the side comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center.  The cake should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven.

Shortly before the cake is finished baking, make the lemon syrup.

Lemon Syrup

1/2 cup plus 1 T sugar
6 T lemon juice, freshly squeezed (2 large lemons)

In a 1-cup or larger microwavable glass measure (or in a small saucepan over medium heat), heat the sugar and lemon juice, stirring often, until the sugar is dissolved.  Do not allow it to boil.  Cover it tightly to prevent evaporation.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, place the pan on a wire rack, poke the cake all over with a thin skewer, and brush it with about 1/3 of the syrup.  Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Invert it onto a 10-inch cardboard round or serving plate.  Brush the top and sides of the cake with the remaining syrup.  Cool completely and wrap airtight.

For best flavor, complete the cake 1 day ahead.

Check out what everyone else made!






This post is linked to:
Bake With Bizzy - It's a Keeper Thursday - Sweet Treats Thursday - Full Plate Thursday - Show Off Your Stuff - Anything Goes Linky - Fun Stuff Fridays - Seasonal Inspiration - Fusion Friday - Friday Favorites - Friday Food - Sweet Tooth Friday - Sweets for a Saturday - Sweet Indulgences Sunday - T' Time - Tuesday Talent Show - Crazy Sweet Tuesday - Link Party - Bake with Bizzy -  Link It Up Wednesday - Mrs. Fox's Sweet Party - These Chicks Cooked - Cast Party Wednesday

Pumpkin Tea Cake

I've got a new favorite pumpkin bread!  I had just had one of those days last week, where it felt like nothing was going right, and the boys just seemed to be at eachother's throats for one reason or another.  I needed one of those "Calgon take me away!" momements, but since locking myself in the bathroom to take a nice bath would have resulted in the boys starting a wrestling war or beating on eachother with lightsabers, I decided I just needed some time in the kitchen.  Now, what to make........

Tartine to the rescue!  I had gotten the Tartine cookbook a little while ago, and just hadn't had the chance to make anything from it yet (my cookbook collection might be getting a little too big, but shhhh.....don't tell the hubby).  It's a great book just to flip through, love the pictures, and there are tons of recipes in there that I absolutely intend to try at some point.

This Pumpkin Tea Cake caught my eye, since I love just about anything pumpkin, and a quickbread recipe was all I really had time for since I could hear the boys fighting over who got what cars in the next room.  This recipe could not be easier to put together....and the response from the hubby and everyone else who tried a piece was that it was a hit!  There was an optional topping of pepitas that I didn't include.....I just wanted a simple pumpkin cake....but the little crunchy crust on top that the sugar topping provides is fantastic!  And all the spices in the cake (it may seem like a lot, just go with it), gives this cake a lovely, not too sweet taste, one that is great in the morning, or the afternoon with your tea (or coffee).  This cake also kept great.....three days later it was still fantastic.

Suddenly the day didn't seem so bad......the world was all rainbows and unicorns again, and the boys were all smiles.  Ahhhh.....the magic of baked goods!

Click here for the recipe......and Enjoy!

This post is linked to:
These Chicks Cooked - Link It Up Wednesday - Anything Goes Linky - Full Plate Thursday - Sweet Treats Thursday - It's a Keeper Thursday - Thanksgiving Traditions - Show Off Your Stuff - Fusion Fridays - Friday Favorites - Sweet Tooth Friday - Friday Food - Sweets for a Saturday - Seasonal Inspiration - Sweet Indulgences Sunday - A Themed Baker's Sunday - Monday, Mmm....Dessert - Tea Party Tuesday - Tuesday Talent Show - Tasty Tuesday - T' Time - Crazy Sweet Tuesday

Apple Pie Cake

This is the first month of the Improv Cooking Challenge, started by Sheryl over at The Lady Behind the Curtain.  Each month she will give the participants two ingredients, and we're to come up with any recipe we want as long as it includes those two ingredients.  For this month, the two ingredients are apples and caramel.

I decided to go with a recipe that I haven't made in years (Apple Pie Cake), and add to it the Caramel Rum sauce that was so amazingly delicious from the Club: Baked challenge a couple weeks ago (Bananas Foster Fritters).

The toughest thing about this recipe is peeling, coring, and slicing all those apples!  There are a lot of apples needed for this, and you will get a springform pan packed to the gills with apples!  Don't worry, they will cook down a bit.  But you may want to make sure you have some people to share this with.....there's a lot to go around!  The great thing about this recipe is that the same dough that is used on the bottom is sprinkled on the top....only two bowls to dirty!

I waited until the pie/cake had cooled before drizzling on some of the caramel sauce, but because I hadn't waited for the caramel sauce to completely cool off it kind of soaked into the topping.  Had I gotten it completely cooled off before drizzling it on, you would have seen it better in the photo, but trust me, it was still delicious!  This sauce was a gigantic hit for our Baked challenge.....caramel and rum go together perfectly.....not to mention it's a piece of cake to throw together!  It's easy to throw together because it's not a traditional caramel sauce where you would dissolve your sugar and wait for it to get to the darkness you like......this one is much much easier!

APPLE PIE CAKE
Source: Martha Stewart

2 cups flour

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

½ pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

5 pounds tart apples, such as Granny Smith (about 12)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.  Using an electric mixer or a pastry cutter, cut in butter until the mixture forms pea-size pieces.  Press two-thirds of the mixture onto bottom and 1 inch up the side of a 9-inch spring form pan.

Preheat oven to 350.  Peel the apples, cut into thin slices, and place in a bowl.  Pour off any accumulated liquid.  Toss the apple slices with the remaining teaspoon cinnamon and the lemon juice, and put them in the prepared pan, pressing down gently as you pack them in (they will mound above the edge of the pan).  Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture on top.

Put the pan on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top.  Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and let the cake cool in the pan to set.  Serve at room temperature.  

CARAMEL RUM SAUCE
Source: Baked Explorations

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons dark rum
Pinch cinnamon (optional)

Place butter and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, and stir together until smooth.  Add the heavy cream and bring the mixture to a boil.  Once a boil is reached, remove from heat and stir in the extract, rum, and cinnamon.  Set aside until ready to serve.





This post is linked to:
Show Off Your Stuff - Sweet Tooth Friday - Friday Favorites - Anything Goes Linky - Fusion Fridays - I'm Lovin' It - Friday Food - Sweets for a Saturday - Seasonal Inspiration - Fat Camp Friday - Sweet Indulgences Sunday  - Monday, Mmmm....Dessert - Tea Party Tuesday - Tasty Tuesday - Tuesday Talent Show - T' Time - Crazy Sweet Tuesday - These Chicks Cooked - Cast Party Wednesday - It's a Keeper Thursday - Turning the Table Thursday - Sweet Treats Thursday - Full Plate Thursday - Bake with Bizzy - A Themed Baker's Sunday

Asian Pear Cake

Are you familiar with Asian Pears?  Imagine if an apple and a pear got together and had a baby.....that's pretty much  what you get with these guys.  I love snacking on these when they're nice and cold.....super crunchy and juicy.  I had never tried baking with them before, but I saw this recipe for Asian Pear Cake with my CSA box from Abundant Harvest Organics....and since I had too many for me to snack on, I figured it would be a perfect time to try!

The hubby absolutely loved this cake!  It was a huge hit.....and could easily be made with either apples or pears if Asian pears aren't available to you.  The fruit gets diced up pretty small and simply mixed into the batter of the cake.  The cake is really like a snack cake that you can just grab a slice and eat (no plate and fork required).  The hubby took the majority of the cake to work, and it seemed to disappear!

Asian Pear Cake
Source: Abundant Harvest Organics

Fruit Mixture:
3 cups diced Asian pears
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/3 cup sugar

Cake:
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350.

Flour and grease a bundt pan.

In a medium bowl, combine fruit mixture.

In the bowl of a standing mixer combine the dry ingredients (flour, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg).  With the mixer on low, stir in the oil, vanilla, and eggs until well blended.  Add the fruit mixture to the batter and mix until combined.

Put into bundt pan and bake for 50-60 minutes.  Turn out onto plate when cooled.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

This post is linked to:
Monday, Mmmm......Dessert - Mingle Monday - Tea Party Tuesday - Tuesday Talent Show - Tasty Tuesday - Crazy Sweet Tuesday - These Chicks Cooked - Cast Party Wednesday - Bake with Bizzy - Full Plate Thursday - Turning the Table Thursday - Sweet Treats Thursday - Sweet Tooth Friday - Friday Favorites - Show Off Your Stuff - Fusion Fridays - Anything Goes Linky - Friday Food - Sweets for a Saturday - I'm Lovin' It - It's a Celebration - Fat Camp Friday - Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Plum Crumb Cake

Try to say that 5 times really fast.....Plum Crumb Cake....Plum Crumb Cake....nope....I can't do it!

In the last couple of weeks we have been getting beautiful red plums, green plums, and pluots in our weekly CSA box.  They are great to snack on, but the boys haven't discovered how yummy they are yet....so there was no way I was going to get through them all.

I found a recipe for an Apricot Crumb Cake from Nick Maglieri's book, How to Bake (a great all-around baking book!), which had a variation for making a Plum Crumb Cake.  The recipe sounded a lot like some of the Pflaumenkuchens we used to have at our house when I was growing up.  My mom is from Berlin, and growing up we always had a lot of German family friends....some of whom were great bakers.  Pflaumenkuchen seemed to be a common thing for them to bring over.....and I never appreciated how yummy it is when I was growing up (it always seemed like a grown-up dessert to me).  In fact, I never really liked any fruit-y desserts growing up....was much more of a chocolate kid.

Now, I'm still a chocolate person.....but I appreciate a good fruit dessert too!  This cake calls for about 12 plums (I used a few less because my plums were pretty large), cut in half.  Just place the plums, cut side up, on top of the cake batter.....sprinkle with the crumb topping....and bake.  The plums get soft and juicy, and turn a beautiful ruby color.  This would be a perfect afternoon dessert with coffee, although we had it for an evening dessert with ice cream.....no complaints here!

Check out Nick Maglieri for the recipe......and Enjoy!!

This post is linked to:

Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Monday, Mmmm......Dessert

Bake with Bizzy

Tasty Tuesday

Tea Party Tuesday

These Chicks Cooked

Cast Party Wednesday

Full Plate Thursday

Sweet Treats Thursday

Bake with Bizzy

Turning the Tables Thursday

Show Off Your Stuff

Sweet Tooth Friday

Fresh Food Friday

I'm Lovin' It

Sweets for a Saturday

Friday Food

What a Peach!

So what do you do when you have a ton of organic peaches from your CSA box that are only going to last a few more days, and you know you're not going to be able to eat them all?  You start scouring your cookbook stash and the web to find a peach recipe that strikes your fancy!  Peach pie?  Done that.  Peach Cobbler?  Yummy!  But too hard to pass out to friends....

Then I found this recipe on Martha's website (you know....Martha Stewart.....the goddess of all things domestic).  It's call Grandma's Peach Cake and it looked like a fun one to make since the base of the cake is actually a yeast bread that ends up being sweet because of all of the peaches and cinnamon sugar that gets poured on top.

You'll need to plan ahead a bit for this one.....it's still pretty darn easy (as long as you don't mind getting a tad bit messy kneading dough)....but you'll need to plan for 2 separate resting periods of an hour each for the dough.  And just a little helpful hint......remember to remove any rings prior to kneading dough!  I don't know what I was thinking.....but I forgot to remove one of my rings.....and it took a little bit of forever to get all of the dough gooeyness out of that sucker!

The recipe actually makes enough dough for two 13x9 inch pans....and calls for 12 peaches!  Ok, so I didn't have that many peaches on hand....so I made one 13x9 cake, and the rest of the dough I'll use for rolls or something (haven't quite figured that out yet).

This really tastes like something our grandmas would have made.....it's sweet....but not the crazy over-the-top sweet that some of desserts these days are (not that there's anything wrong with that!).  You really taste the wonderfulness (is that even a word?) that is a ripe summer peach.....one of those flavors that screams summer.

I made this in the afternoon, and found that I actually enjoyed the cake even more the next morning.....after the juices from the peaches and the cinnamon sugar had a chance to soften and sweeten the cake/bread.

Check out Martha Stewart for the recipe.....and Enjoy!!

This post is linked to:

Sweets for a Saturday

Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Monday, Mmmmm......Dessert

These Chicks Cooked

Cast Party Wednesday

Full Plate Thursday

Turning the Table Thursday

Sweet Treats Thursday

Show Off Your Stuff

Sweet Tooth Friday

Fresh Food Friday

Fat Camp Friday

I'm Lovin It

Friday Food

This Week's Cravings

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

I found myself with an abundance of blueberries and zucchini this week.  Hmmmmm......what to do with them........

I checked the recipe section of my CSA (Abundant Harvest Organics), and lo and behold.....there's a recipe for Blueberry Zucchini Bread.  Well, I like Blueberry bread, and I like Zucchini Bread.......but would I like those two flavors together?  I wasn't positive....but I thought it was worth a shot!  And since it's a quick bread, the only difficulty is in grating the zucchini.....and really, how difficult is that?

Well, the answer is I love it!  And the hubby absolutely adores this bread (he insists it's cake!)!  The zucchini keeps this bread super duper moist, and the sweet blueberries add delicious bursts of flavor to go with the cinnamon-spiked bread.  Definitely will be remaking this at some point soon!

BLUEBERRY ZUCCHINI BREAD

Adapted from Abundant Harvest Organics

3 eggs lightly beaten                                    
1 tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil                                       
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp vanilla extract                                      
¼ tsp baking soda
2 ¼ cups white sugar                                    
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 cups shredded zucchini                             
1 pint fresh blueberries
3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a large loaf pan or muffin tins.


Beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar in a large bowl.  Add in the shredded zucchini.   Mix in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon until combined.  Then gently add the blueberries and fold into the mixture.


Transfer the batter to the loaf pan or muffin tins.  For a loaf pan, bake for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean.  In a muffin tin bake for 15-20 minutes.


Cool and then turn out onto wire racks.

Enjoy!

This post is linked to:

Sweets for a Saturday

Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Monday, Mmmm.....Dessert

This Week's Cravings

These Chicks Cooked

Cast Party Wednesday

Full Plate Thursday

Turning the Table Thursday

Show Off Your Stuff

Fresh Food Friday

Friday Food

Blueberry Boy Bait

It's blueberry season!!  After buying a couple of huge containers of blueberries, I had to start finding some recipes to use them in........and this one uses a whole 2 cups of blueberries......yeah!

According to Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy, this is based on a recipe from the 50's that was entered in a Pillsbury baking competition.  The baker that submitted it claimed that one bite of this cake and the boys were hooked.  Well, I gotta say the hubby loved these!  

One goof-up I made in this one (and it's a pretty easy recipe, so I feel kind of silly).......I forgot to toss the blueberries with flour before folding them into the batter.  Because of that, most of my blueberries sank to the bottom while the cake was baking.  If I had remembered to do that step (my fault for trying to get this in the oven and get the boy's dinner on the table at the same time), then the blueberries would have been scattered throughout the cake, instead of being primarily on the bottom.  Oh well......at least the cake still tasted fantastic.....moist, buttery.....and with a yummy sugar-cinnamon topping.

The hubby and I had this for dessert last night.....fantastic with a little whipped cream!  Today I had a piece with my afternoon coffee.....a perfect pick-me-up!!

Check out Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy for the recipe.......Enjoy!!

O-R-E-O

I have a confession to make......

For as much as I love to bake yummy homemade treats, if you asked my oldest son what the best dessert is, I'm pretty sure he'd say "Oreos!!" In fact, for all the wonderful compliments he gives everything I make.......he actually never wants to eat them. Now granted, my youngest will devour pretty much anything you put in front of him, so he makes up for his brother :) My point with all of this is that I usually have a stash of Oreos at home (in fact I bought I giant box at Costco the last time I was there)......so I'm game to try any recipe that involves Oreos!

Last week was our nephew Nicholas' 9th birthday, so since the family was already going to be together on Easter Sunday, I brought him a birthday cake. When I saw this recipe for an Oreo and Chocolate French Silk Cake on Bakers Royale.....I was sold! I also know that my sister-in-law's favorite dessert is French Silk Pie.....who-hoo!!!

If you have ever made pudding at home, then this could not be easier! Actually, even if you haven't made pudding at home, it's still pretty darn easy. I happened to have some Valrhona dark chocolate on hand (my favorite!), so I knew the chocolate pudding would come out perfect. Pour that chocolate pudding over an Oreo crust and top with some whipped cream (or Cool Whip) mixed with crushed Oreos, then decorate as desired, and voila! You have a dessert that the hubby has placed in his top 10 favorites! And with the amount that I bake, there are many to choose from :)

I chose to freeze the cake/pie overnight and then just stick it in the fridge a couple of hours before serving, which led my brother-in-law to declare that it tasted like an Oreo pudding pop cake! And there's nothing wrong with that........

Go on over to Bakers Royale for the recipe.......and if you've never tried Valrhona chocolate before, you can pick some up on your next visit to Trader Joe's. I just made some of the most delicious brownies with the rest of it......post coming soon.......

Sweet Sunday

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The family got together on Sunday to celebrate our nephew James' 5th birthday.....Happy Birthday James! When I'm making desserts for the family I usually end up making one thing for the kiddos and another for the adults. This time was no exception....especially when I spied these adorable ice cream rice krispy treats.....what kid could resist??!!? And you get to put little goodies inside.......what a great little surprise for the kiddos! Of course of few of them couldn't wait to get to the candy inside, so they busted off the top of the cone to save for later. My little Henry had a different approach to getting to the candy......making a little hole in the bottom of the cone and trying to scoop out the M&Ms one by one.

For the adults I went with a recipe from Southern Plate......the Butterfinger Cake. A chocolate cake with caramel sauce drizzled on top and covered with Cool Whip and crushed Butterfinger bars......so simple and soooo good!

Go to Confessions of a Cookbook Queen for the Ice Cream Rice Krispy Treat recipe and go to Southern Plate for the Butterfinger Cake recipe.....enjoy!