Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Looking for a super simple dessert?  Like peanut butter and chocolate? Don't walk, run (well, "run" your fingers across the keyboard) and go here.  Try this pie now!!

I just adore The Pioneer Woman and all her blogs, but her cooking blog is what initially drew me in.  Last weekend I was in a need of a quick, easy dessert where I already had most of the ingredients on hand.  This one fit the bill and was a hit with the fam.  I didn't have a pie plate, so I just used a square dish and put the whole oreos in certain spots so people would know it had a chocolate crust.  You know me, always thinking. (Actually it was just a good excuse for more chocolate)

You will notice it is a very small portion size.  It is super rich, but so very worth it.  And a tall glass of milk doesn't hurt either!

I won't bore you with re-typing it.  I could never do it the justice PW does.  Enjoy!

Happy Easter!!

In an effort to avoid the "fun" of dying eggs with a toddler, we made jello eggs this year. I know, I'm no fun, but Logan is at the age where if he can't do things by himself he gets extremely agitated and I just didn't want to deal with the fall out. Plus, I can guarantee there would be some broken eggs. I promise, next year we will do it.

I got the exact recipe here.

These were really good and Logan liked eating them, well if I would cut them up for him. He couldn't seem to get the concept of biting all the way through them. We had Strawberry, Lime and Blackberry Fusion. Strawberry is still my favorite!

Not sure if these will become a yearly tradition or not. We had so many desserts that even with only 8 eggs they all didn't get eaten, but they were a big hit with the older folks. They just couldn't imagine jello as an Easter egg. ;)

Hot Cocoa Pudding

1 toddler + 1 pre-schooler + snow in Alabama = lots of fun and a really tired mommy/aunt! My nephew came to spend the night and we got about 3 inches of snow. The boys had so much fun, but I am worn out! We even made snowcream for breakfast since snow is such a rarity here in the southeast. And after looking around a little online, I discovered that some people put hot cocoa mix in theirs to make it chocolate. We tried it and it was ok, but it just melted SO fast!

I left the hot cocoa mix on the counter and for some reason I got this wild idea to make chocolate pudding with it. I have no idea why. Sometimes I just get a wild hair and want try new things. And I never know how they are going to turn out. Sometimes they completely bomb. This time it was a major hit!!

Keep in mind I really have no idea how to make homemade pudding. I've only ever used the instant kind. And since 2 little boys running around means limited time on the computer, I didn't have time to research it. But I figured I know how to thicken milk with butter and flour, so that's what I did, using the instant hot cocoa mix as flavoring. The finished product:



Hot Cocoa Oreo Pudding
Source: Me


This is not really what I would call a recipe because I didn't measure anything. I made a basic roux (butter and flour), added milk. Let it thicken. Added a pack and a half of hot cocoa mix. Let it thicken some more. Put crushed oreos in the bottom of a glass dish, pour in mixture, top with more crushed oreos. Refrigerate until firm, cold and delightful!



Looking at this picture makes me want to make some more. But I will refrain. I don't even want to know how many calories were in the bowl, but I know it was WAY too many!

Sweet, Satisfying & Slimming!

Those aren't 3 words I can usually use together. I have had a sweet tooth ever since my pregnancy and it just won't go away. I still love spicy, savory food, but I now feel like I have to end every meal with something sweet. This NEVER used to happen to me! This is probably why I can't seem to get rid of this extra weight that keeps hanging around.

This recipe gives me the sweetness I crave with hardly any calories compared to the regular dessert! And which dessert would this be, you ask? Banana Pudding! I love it. And I don't want the traditional kind with meringue. I want cool whip on top. Yum...ok enough of that. This is a great alternative to banana pudding. Banana Pudding has about 466 calories in 1/2 a cup. WOW! This Banana Pudding Smoothie has about 180 calories!!!

I got the idea from Rachael Ray. She gave a quick tip on her show about using frozen bananas and whole milk in the food processor to make a quick alternative to banana ice cream. I decided to take it a step further and made it a smoothie, banana pudding style. And let me tell you, it was awesome! Logan loved it too. We've been having these about once a day lately. :)

Banana Pudding Smoothie
Inspired by Racheal Ray

1 medium banana, sliced and frozen
1/4 cup whole milk
2 vanilla wafers

Throw the banana slices and milk in the blender. Crumble in the vanilla wafers. Pulse the blender until it is all nice and smooth. You can also top it with an extra vanilla wafer for a garnish. Just for fun. ;)

Blueberries Again!

My little chef in training!

Here's some breaking news for most of you. This is actually the first internet announcement. You are getting the info before Facebook or my mommy blog. We are putting our house on the market in the next few weeks. I will probably go into more detail regarding the reasons on my other blog, but suffice it to say we have simply decided to downsize.
Therefore, I am cleaning out the freezer, slowly but surely; hence blueberries again. We only had a few left so I decided to use them up by making a blueberry cobbler. I used the same recipe as the southern apple cobbler I previously posted, but substituted blueberries and omitted the cinnamon and brown sugar. It was delicious! I love the thick crust on this cobbler! I encourage you to try this recipe with your favorite fruit!

Before:
After:

Just Needed A Little Inspiration

Hi! Remember me? It has been quite a while since I've made the time to sit down and blog. Even my mommy blog has been completely ignored for months. Of course I have been cooking, since my family has to eat, and I've even tried taking a few pictures, but over all nothing has really inspired me to blog.

Well that is no longer the case. I went out with the girl's last night and had some AWESOME coffee ice cream with oreo pieces mixed in from Coldstone! I have not quit thinking about how perfect it was. I even went on a quest today for a simple coffee ice cream recipe and came across this blog. It was like destiny because it only called for 3 ingredients and I had them all (pretty much).



Thankfully I have the wonderful Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker that is so simple I can do it while corraling a one year old. And Yes, my baby turned one last weekend. Another reason I've had no time to post. Baby plus building a business doesn't leave much time for blog writing or blog stalking. To those of you I used to regularly stalk...I've missed reading about your adventures!

And here is the awesome coffee icecream recipe with my additions in italics:



Homemade Coffee Ice Cream
Source: Eat At Home , Italic additions by me

1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups half and half (I only had whole milk for Logan, so I used whole milk)
4 tbsp brewed coffee, strong
1/3 package of oreo's crushed


Pour everything except the oreos in the ice cream maker and let it do it's thing until it is almost done. Add the oreo's at the last minute and let them combine. YUM!!!!

Apple Cobbler, Revisited

I don't usually post about a recipe more than once, but since it was one of my first posts ever, it lacked appropriate photos. ;) You can see the original post here.

My grandmother got a fruit basket for Christmas and she insisted that my mother take most of it, who then insisted that my sister and I take most of what she had. We don't eat much fresh fruit around our house...yes, I know, shame on us. But when I saw all those apples sitting there, apple cobbler just popped into my head. It's one of those dishes where you have all the ingredients in your pantry other than apples: the main one. It just seemed like destiny!

This is really such a simple recipe and it always turns out perfect. I love all the thick crust filled with juicy, cinnamony, apple goodness!

This is what it looks like before you put it in the oven:

Here is the finished product:

And ready for a bite:

Another Not So Salad, Salad Post

Ok, if you've read this blog for long, you know my relationship with most salads. I don't do them. I don't like most vegetables which kind of creates a problem since most salads include them. I do like the "not so salad, salads" as I call them. You know, the ones that are called salads but don't include anything remotely like lettuce. Today I have one such recipe for you!

One great thing about this time of year at my old job was all the great food that was brought into the office. My new job (as a stay at home mom) doesn't quite afford the same advantages. ;) Of course there are many other perks! I do miss that yummy food though. One of my favorites was brought by one of my supervisors. It is the perfect combination of tart and sweet. I could easily eat the entire bowl! So, when I needed a dish to take to the in-law's for Christmas I turned to this quick and easy recipe.

Grape Salad
Source: A Former Co-Worker

2 lbs green grapes
2 lbs red grapes (I just used all green grapes because I like them better)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese
1 (8oz) sour cream
4 ozs chopped pecans (optional)
2 T brown sugar

Wash and dry grapes. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Add grapes and mix gently with a spatula or large spoon. Sprinkle with brown sugar and pecans, mix again and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I have a lot to be thankful for this year. I have a wonderful husband who got a new job that he loves. I have a beautiful, perfect, healthy baby boy. I have the best family a girl could ask for. And I am thankful that I managed to bake not one, but two items for thanksgiving without screwing them up!!!

For Thanksgiving with my family I made pumpkin cookies. I've been wanting to make these since I started my food blog and just never got around to it. My nephew, who is 2, was very excited because he loves pumpkins and he loves cookies. (I don't think he realized the cookies were made with pumpkin.) I tried to make them in the shape of a pumpkin to get even more smiles out of him, but it didn't work. These are strictly drop cookies, people. The directions say to drop them, and this is what you should do. Don't be like me and waste your time trying to press sticky cookie batter into a pumpkin cookie cutter. It just doesn't work. Other than my lack of a pumpkin shape, these turned out perfect!! I don't think I've ever said that in regard to baking before. This is a major milestone! The recipe can be found here.

These cookies are soft and cake-like, not overly sweet, and have a wonderful cinnamon-spice taste. YUM!

For Thanksgiving with the in-laws I made a strawberry cake.

I took a little help from the store and used a box mix, but I made it my own by letting a strawberry puree soak into the cake and I made my own cream cheese icing. This was actually the first cake I have ever iced! I was pleased with myself. :) (I have to thank my sister for the tip about using a butter knife to make the design on the top.) This cake was pretty easy and tasted really good!!!

Comfort Food

It seems I have found the time to cook, but finding the time to blog about it is a completely different story. I started this post several weeks ago, but between feeding Logan and trying to nap when he does, I just haven't found the time. So, here is my overdue post on comfort food. O and the recipe is kind of lacking, but cut me some slack. I barely had time to post this. ;)




My first venture back into the kitchen was all about comfort. A friend of my mother-in-law's makes these AWESOME blueberry fried pies. They have a soft, biscuit-like crust instead of the normal flaky, pie crust. I would be the size of a house if I had them very often.



I was craving them a few weeks ago and decided to try and duplicate them. I had some frozen blueberries and some canned biscuits. I searched the web for a recipe for blueberry pie filling and what resulted was pretty good; not as good as the original though. I think the biggest problem was that I only had Pilsbury Grand's biscuits and they puffed up too much. No matter how hard I tried to seal the edges, the filling would start running out before they could get cooked all the way. I ended up frying them on both sides then finishing them in the oven.



They might not have been perfect, but they hit the spot!



Blueberry Fried Pies

1 can refrigerated biscuits
butter for frying
blueberry filling (recipe found on google)








Heat butter in sautee pan over medium high heat. Roll out each individual biscuit and place a spoonfull of filling in the middle. Fold over and seal edges. Fry until brown on both sides and biscuit is cooked through.

Summertime and Strawberries

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. Things have been a little crazy while we await the arrival of our son. Which by the way, I thought would have already happened. My due date is actually today, but Logan shows no signs of gracing us with his presence.

Anyway, you would think I would cook more now that I'm no longer at work, but in fact, the opposite is true. Don't get me wrong, I cook, but not much has been blog worthy. Until today. The temperature gauge at my house registered 102 by noon and there was no way this 9 month pregnant girl was venturing outside other than to water my plants. I needed a way to cool off and my thoughts immediately turned to a recipe I'd been hanging on to for quite some time. Strawberry Pineapple Sorbet. Relatively healthy and icy cold! Perfect!

It turned out icy and refreshing, but I think next time I'll stick with just strawberries. I love pineapple, but I guess when it comes right down to it, I'm a strawberry purist. It definitely looks the part of the perfect summertime dessert. Summertime and strawberries, the perfect combination!

Strawberry Pineapple Sorbet

Source: Amber's Delectable Delights

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 cups sliced strawberries

1 small can pineapple (drained of juices)

1 pinch salt

Put strawberries in a bowl with sugar. Cover and allow to sit for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Using blender, combine strawberries with their juices, pineapple and the pinch of salt. Puree. Refrigerate mixture for at least 1 hour until puree is chilled. Place in ice-cream maker and follow manufacturers instructions.

**I typed the recipe exactly as Amber posted it. I did things a little differently though. I used frozen strawberries because the price of fresh ones has skyrocketed around here. I let them thaw most of the way then just added them to the blender with the sugar and other ingredients. It didn't need to chill since the berries were partially frozen so I added it straight to the ice-cream maker. 25 minutes later, sorbet!

Father's Day Dessert, the Semi-Homemade Way

Let me begin by saying that I'm not a huge fan of Sandra Lee and her Semi-Homemade show. Not that she doesn't have lots of good ideas, but with her intricate tablescapes and cocktails galore it's a little too much for me sometimes. My sister and I like to call her show Semi-Sober since she is ALL about the alcohol. ;)

Anyway, I did take a page from her book for my father's day dessert. I volunteered to bring something sweet to my in-laws for their father's day celebration and I wanted to use ingredients I already had on hand since I have already done my grocery shopping for the week. I happened to have a Jello Oreo No Bake Dessert (yes, a dessert in a box) in my pantry. It's really quick, easy and best of all, good!

I wanted to jazz it up a little though, so I decided to make individual frozen oreo cheesecakes. The idea to put them in cupcake liners was on the back of the box, so I can't take credit for that. I liked the idea of smaller portions, especially since my father-in-law is diabetic and he can only eat sweets in small quantities. I also decided to add cream cheese to the filling to make it more of a cheesecake than just a cream. I only added 4 oz. of cream cheese because I honestly wasn't sure how it would turn out.

They were really good with a hint of the tangy cream cheese in the filling. Next time I'll probably add the full 8 oz. to make it more cheesecake-like. But hey, you live and learn. The small portions were a hit and made it an easy to eat dessert. Keeping them frozen also made them easier to eat. Once they start to thaw, you need a fork!

So for father's day I kept it simple and semi-homemade. ;)

Improv, It’s Not Just for Comics Anymore!

Who said you have to be a comedian to be good at improvisation? Ok, so maybe no one has ever said that, but just go with me here. In the realm of cooking you need to be able to go with the flow and change plans midstream sometimes. This seems to happen to me most in the world of baking; even when the baking is easy and simple…or should be. This probably stems from my lack of education in this department and not always knowing if it is ok to sub some things for others.

A while ago I printed off The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for Apricot Bars. They looked incredible. Well, everything she cooks looks incredible. Her pictures make me want to eat things I don’t even like! For instance, I don’t like apricots. I knew it wouldn’t be hard to substitute strawberries though. I don’t think this is where it went wrong.

It also calls for brown sugar. Now I’m sure brown sugar complements the apricots rather well, like it would apples. But in my experience, I’m not a big fan of it combined with strawberries. So, I decided to use white granulated sugar instead. I don’t know if this caused the problem or not.

The problem is that my bars never really got brown and the didn’t really harden. It came out more like a crisp; tasted great by the way, but that wasn’t the point. I wanted the cute little bars PW came out with. Oh well, maybe I’ll try it again with apple and brown sugar. If anyone has any ideas as to why mine didn’t really work out, let me know. FYI, I followed all the other directions to a “T.” I promise!!

**Update! I revisited my bars the next day and they actually stayed together like bars!! I think I tried to cut and eat them before they had really cooled completely. (I'm not a very patient person...another problem with me and baking) Also, I did them in a 8" square pan like suggested, but next time I think I'll do them in something larger so the bars will be thinner. I think they will stay together better that way.**

Strawberry Bars turned Strawberry Crisp
Original Source: Apricot Bars from The Pioneer Woman

1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups oats
1 cup packed brown sugar (this would be where I used white granulated sugar)
1 ¾ sticks cold butter, cut into pieces
1 10-12 oz. jar apricot preserves (I used strawberry)

Mix all ingredients except the preserves. Press one half of the mixture into a buttered 8” square baking dish. Spread with the preserves. Sprinkle other half of mixture on top and pat lightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until light brown. Let cool completely, then cut into squares.

Zebra Brownies

Whew! Memorial Day weekend was a busy one for me! We pretty much went non-stop, but I did manage to do a bit of baking. ;) Of course, as in all my baking ventures, something wasn't quite right. I did make sure and read the entire recipe before beginning this time, but the problem came in when I thought I had an entire 8 oz. block of cream cheese in the fridge only to discover it was only half a block. For the life of me I can't remember where I used the other 4 oz. So, I had to scale down the cream cheese part of the Zebra Brownies I was making. They still tasted great even if they weren't that pretty.

Let me begin by saying I am VERY picky about my brownies. I don't like the edge pieces because they tend to be crunchy and/or chewy. I like the middle ones best. I want a gooey, fudgy brownie. I would take an undercooked brownie over a hard one. This brownie batter was really thick, but the brownies came out wonderfully gooey and perfect! And if I had enough cream cheese they would have been even better.

Also, next time I will not do the part where it says to drop spoonfuls of batter over the top of the cream cheese mixture. This batter is way too thick for that and swirling just doesn't work out so well. I think it would be better to just put all the batter in the dish, then top with the cream cheese mixture and swirl.

ZEBRA BROWNIES
Source: http://www.recipelink.com/mf/14/22403 (my comments in italics)

FOR THE BROWNIES:
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
3 eggs
6 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla

FOR THE FILLING:
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom only of 13x9 inch pan. (I sprayed the entire pan with cooking spray)

Combine all brownie ingredients and mix well (about 1 minute on high speed). Set aside.

In small bowl blend all filling ingredients together at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute.

Spread 1/2 of brownie batter in prepared pan. Pour filling mixture over batter, spreading to cover. Place spoonfuls of remaining batter on top of filling. Marble by pulling knife through batter in wide curves, then turn pan and repeat. (This is where I would omit the spoonfuls of batter on top)

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes. (30 minutes was perfect for gooey brownies)

Cool. Then refrigerate at least 2 hours before cutting. Cover tightly and store in refrigerator.

Mothers Day...

I'm not technically a mom yet, but give me about 7 weeks and I will be. ;) My husband got me the PBK diaper bag I wanted for my first (almost) mother's day. Yes, I picked out my own gift. I personally see nothing wrong with that! It's a win-win situation for everyone.

For my mom, I wanted to make a dessert she would enjoy. We are all going to my grandmothers to hang out and have pizza so none of the mom's have to cook. I thought something sweet would be nice so I started thinking about some of my mom's favorite things. She loves chocolate turtles. You know, the chocolate, pecan and caramel candies? I found a recipe for a Chocolate Turtle Tart and knew I'd hit the jackpot. It sounds exactly like something she would like. This would also allow me to use my new cast iron pan I purchased several weeks ago if I made it into tartlettes. Of course you can only make 6 with that pan, so I also used a muffin tin.

The tartlettes in the muffin tins turned out better than the cast iron pan. I think it needs to be seasoned more thoroughly because they stuck and didn't come out near as pretty as I wanted.

I also had a hard time with the caramel. It was a lot harder to make than than I thought. Overall they came out ok though. Not as pretty as I'd envisioned, but Taylor ate 3 for dessert after dinner tonight and he said they were excellent! At least they tasted good even if they weren't as pretty as I would have liked.

This is what the cast iron pan produced. If you look closely on the left side you can see where I had to destroy it to get it out of the pan. I tried to camouflage it as best I could. :)

Chocolate Turtle Tart

Source: About.com

Serving Size: 16
Preparation Time: 4:00

For the crust:
3 2/3 cups pecans, halves or whole, to be processed in Cuisinart.
1 1/4 cups sugar
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:
1 pound fine semi-sweet chocolate
2 cups heavy cream

For the Caramel Sauce:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup crushed pecans (garnish)

Crust: In a food processor blend pecans and sugar together, add melted butter in a steady stream until combined well. Turn out mixture into a 12' tart shell pan with removable bottom. Press into 1/8" thickness on bottom and 3/8" for sides. Bake at 350 for approx. 20-25 min. or till toasted then cool.

Filling: Bring cream to a boil and pour over coarsely chopped chocolate. Mix until chocolate is melted and mixture is combined well. Pour onto cooled crust and refrigerate for 3 hours. May be stored over night.

Sauce: In a heavy sauce pan, heat and melt the butter, add the sugar and cook until medium brown not burnt. Remove from the heat and add the heavy whipping cream, be ready for it to boil up quickly and be ready with a utensil to stir it. Mix thoroughly until mixture turns a rich golden color, it will darkens lightly as it continues to cook with its own retained heat off of the burner. That is the reason you do not bring the butter-sugar mixture to the color you want to end up with but you stop short of that color since it will darken. If you bring the sugar-butter mixture to the color you want to finish with you will end up with a burnt caramel. This can happen, and you may find that you toss out the first attempt and the second try will be perfect. Straining the caramel through a small strainer will create a smoother texture of caramel but is not necessary.

To Serve: Drizzle warm, not hot, sauce over thin slices of tart, garnish optional with chocolate curl or pecan half.

When in Rome...

Ok, so we aren't really in Rome but since we had an Italian type meal last night with the fantastico shrimp pasta, I decided to make strawberry gelato for dessert. Taylor and I first had gelato on our honeymoon in Disney World. Our first dinner there was at a restaurant named Spoodles at the Boardwalk Resort. I have to say that it was the best meal we had the entire time! Our dessert that night was a first for us both, hazelnut gelato. It was SO good and creamy; more creamy and less icy than American ice cream. We both fell in love with gelato that night, and while we were in Italy at Epcot we had gelato again! You can find it in the grocery store, but only in about 3 flavors and it is ridiculously expensive.

I decided to make strawberry gelato mostly because there was a pound of strawberries in my fridge that were about to go bad. I really needed to use them up and I happened to find a recipe that called for exactly one pound of strawberries. I think it was fate! ;)

Let me just tell you, this gelato was extremely easy to make. I mixed the ingredients when I got home, stuck them in the fridge while I cooked dinner, and when dinner was done I poured it into my wonderful Cuisinart ice cream maker (this was my first time to use it and it is now one of my favorite kitchen gadgets. It was a wedding gift!). About 30 minutes later, we had gelato!



Strawberry Gelato
Click here for the original recipe

1 lb. fresh strawberries
12 oz. granulated sugar, about 1.5 cups
1.5 cup cold whipping cream
1.5 cup cold water
Dash of lemon juice (only if fruit isn’t “bright” enough)

Clean and cut washed berries into quarters, or just smaller pieces. Put berries, sugar and water into a blender or food processor and blend until liquid and smooth. (This is also where you’ll add lemon juice if necessary.) Whip the cream until slightly thickened - like the consistency of buttermilk. Combine the cream with the strawberry mixture and mix thoroughly until blended.

Freeze as indicated by the manufacturer of your ice cream maker.

Another baking disaster...

I broke my cardinal rule for baking. Do not do it on a weeknight, especially when you are also cooking dinner. But did I listen to that little voice in my head that said I was over doing it? Nope, I barreled through the caution barrier and tumbled down the cliff on the other side. Some rules are NOT meant to be broken.


It actually started out ok. I got dinner cooked and under aluminum foil tents waiting on Taylor to get home from work. I pre-heated the oven and got to work on the batter for these scrumptious looking strawberry cupcakes from Annie's Eats. My trusty kitchen aid stand mixer didn't let me down and the batter came together beautifully. Then disaster #1 struck. I did not pay close enough attention to the directions and I "might" have overfilled the cups. Nevertheless, I stick those babies in the oven just in time for Taylor to walk in the door and we sit down to dinner.


The timer goes off and I take my first peek at what now appears to be the tops of all my cupcakes fused together since I "might" have overfilled the cups. They have of course bubbled over the top of the liners like mini volcanos. To make matters worse, the tops are already brown and crunchy (because they've run out of the liners) but the centers aren't done. Yes, I am sighing loudly now. I leave them in a few more minutes and set out my cream cheese and butter for the icing so that it can get to room temperature.


Disaster #2 begins when I start to make the icing. Did you know you really shouldn't freeze cream cheese? Yeah, well I didn't. The texture is no longer nice and creamy. It is now lumpy and no amount of mixing makes it smooth and creamy again. But I press on toward my goal of yummy strawberry cream cheese icing because now I am going to have to trim off the edges of my volcano cupcakes and pretty icing could me my saving grace. Nope. Not tonight. I find I have JUST enough powdered sugar and the icing is coming together, but then I again do not pay close enough attention to the recipe. (Side note: This is why I hate baking! You have to pay too much attention!!!) I dump all the pureed strawberries into the icing, but the recipe says just to add it until you get the desired consistency. So now my icing is runny and I don't have any more powdered sugar to add to it. GREAT!


I look around my kitchen at the huge mess I have made with nothing show for it other than sad looking cupcakes and runny icing. At this point I am done. I decide to stick the icing in the fridge praying it will firm up enough to ice the cupcakes before my girl's night Thursday night.


Well, as luck would have it girl's night got cancelled and I had a little more time to think about what to do. I decided to try and ice a few cupcakes to see what would happen. Yeah, the icing was still too runny to sit for any length of time. Here is my attempt to "fix" the cupcakes:


They tasted really good, but basically fell apart when you tried to eat them. So, on to plan B. What do you do with leftover cake? Make a trifle of course! I got out my smaller trifle bowl and tore the cupcakes into small pieces and then layered with the icing. Since I added all of the strawberry puree to the icing, it wasn't overly sweet and had a nice tartness to go with the cake. This was far from the perfect result I had in mind when I envisioned making strawberry cupcakes, but it turned out ok and tasting pretty darn good if I do say so myself.


If you'd like to try these cupcakes for yourself, and by all means PLEASE follow all the directions, I've listed the recipe below. Good luck!!

Strawberry Cupcakes

Source: Annie’s Eats

Yield: about 18 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

2 ½ cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup unsalted butter
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
¼ cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups chopped strawberries

For the frosting:

½ c. strawberries
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ¾ cups powdered sugar, sifted
½ tsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

Sift flour, salt and baking soda into a medium bowl. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time until combined. Add buttermilk, oil and vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in chopped strawberries. Fill cupcake wells ¾ full with batter. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For the frosting, puree strawberries in food processor. Strain through a mesh sieve to remove seeds, and set aside. Beat the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add lemon juice, vanilla and strawberry puree. Adjust the amount of puree to achieve your desired consistency. Frost cupcakes when completely cool.

I Love Strawberries!

I am so glad it is spring and strawberries are back in the store! Yep, strawberries are my favorite fruit and one of my favorite foods in general. I will eat just about anything strawberry. Over the years I have asked my grandmother to make strawberry cobbler instead of apple or peach, but she and my mom always try to talk me out of it. They says I won't like it, that the strawberries just won't be as good warm and it will go to waste. Well, I decided to give it a try myself. I decided to use the same cobbler recipe as my Southern Apple Cobbler, but with strawberries of course, and I sprinkled white granulated sugar on top instead of brown sugar.
It was good. This picture doesn't really do it justice. I will say that I like apple cobbler better though. I ate one serving warm, right out of the oven. It would have been really good with some whipped cream but I didn't have any. I also had a serving later after it had been in the fridge for a while. It was pretty good cold too. A nice Sunday evening dessert. :)

Cupcakes, Take 2

Ok, so I've said before I am not an avid baker. I love to eat baked goods, but I always mess them up when I try to make them. Especially desserts. Right after Taylor and I got married I tried to make chocolate cupcakes to take to dinner with some friends. They have kids and I thought this would be a fun dessert to bring. Let me start off with the fact that I began this venture after I got home from work one night. Not a good idea. I need to be fresh and of sound mind when I decide to bake. I even tried to make it easier on myself by using a boxed cake mix. So, the cupcakes themselves turned out fine. It was the icing that gave me trouble. First off, I didn't have a real recipe. I just called my mom and asked how she makes her icing. It is my favorite. She told me and I thought I followed her directions. Obviously not. My icing was way too thin and just ran all over the cupcakes. By the end of the night I swore off baking since I couldn't even make stupid cupcakes.

Many months later I have decided to try again. My husband requested chocolate cupcakes Saturday, so I went on a hunt for a recipe I could make from scratch (yep I was trying a little harder this time) and an icing recipe I hopefully could follow. I came across a chocolate peanut butter cupcake recipe that was very similar to an easy chocolate cupcake recipe I found, so I merged the two.

The batter was really thick, but my results were much better this time. The cupcakes were moist and had just the right hint of peanut butter. Taylor was pleased. I also played with my pastry bag and tips I've had forever but never used. I don't think I did too bad for the first time.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Adapted from allrecipes.com

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, peanut butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.
3. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Frost with your favorite frosting when cool.

Buttercream Icing
Source: Wilton

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract - I just used regular vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approx. 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

YIELD: Makes about 3 cups.

Happy Easter!

We had a beautiful, yet cold and windy, Easter here in Alabama! We spent it with family and enjoyed the day with people we only see once or twice a year. I took dessert to the luncheon at my grandmother's. I usually take an oreo dessert that comes out of a box that everyone loves. But this year I wanted to make something blog worthy. Strawberries are my favorite fruit and one of my favorite foods in general, so I wanted to use them in something. The idea of a trifle came to mind, so I looked through recipe books and searched the internet for a Strawberry Trifle recipe. None were exactly what I wanted, so I took a little from several and came up with something of my own.

Strawberry Trifle
Many sources, combined by me

1 1/2 cups sugar
16 ounces cream cheese
1/2 - 3/4 cup milk
1 store-bought angel food cake, cut into cubes
2 lbs. halfed strawberries

In a large bowl combine the strawberries and 3/4 cup sugar. Mix well and allow the berries to marinate.

In a medium bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar with the cream cheese. Using an electric mixer, whip on medium speed until combined. Add milk a little at a time, mixing until you get an icing like consistency.

To build the trifle, line the bottom of a trifle bowl with a layer of cake. Spoon a layer of the cheese mixture over the pound cake (I had to use a knife to spread it out), and then a layer of berries. Repeat. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I made this the night before and it was really good the next day. The bread will soak up the juice from the strawberries so if you don't want your bread to get soggy, I would suggest serving this after only an hour or two of chilling. My family actually liked the juice soaked bread and this dessert was a hit.