S'mores Cupcakes Chocolate Cupcakes with a graham cracker crust and toasted marshmallowy meringue frosting. Oh. my. gosh. These were super duper delicious! I’ve been so excited to make these S’mores Cupcakes for a while now but I didn’t have a kitchen torch to toast the tops. The recipe for these cupcakes is from Jennifer Shea’s new cookbook, Trophy Cupcakes and Parties! But the first time I met Jennifer was back in 2008 when we were both on The Martha Stewart Show. Yes. So, I thought they would be the perfect ones for me to make from her new book. And boy am I glad I did. They start with a graham cracker crust for the cupcake. Place a teaspoon of the crust mixture in each baking cup. And press with the bottom of a small glass. Like so. But that’s not all. Yep. Cool and then… fill with the chocolate cupcake batter. But we can’t stop there. Beautifully cupcakes. But they wouldn’t be s’mores without the fluffy marshmallow frosting. P.S. But not as fun as biting into these babies. Ingredients Chocolate Cupcakes
Apple Rings With the hot summer months upon us, I have found myself buying container after container of fruit. Whether it be strawberries, blueberries or even apples, when it comes to summer I love to sit down with a big bowl of fruit and satisfy my sweet tooth. The best future sister-in-law ever went berry picking the other day while I was out of town. She came home with an over abundance of raspberries and cherries. Thoughts of syrups, tarts, scones, and muffins danced in my head...and the more ideas I came up with, the more I failed to realize that as I was brainstorming, I was also popping one raspberry after another into my mouth. At that point, I was back to square one...until I looked at the kitchen table and saw apples that were begging to be enjoyed. Next on my to do list? Apple Rings For the rings: Ingredients: What is your favorite way to bake with apples? * Recipe slightly adapted from Wikia.
Popsicles! Not to sound full of myself, but I’m pretty sure this is the be all, end all of popsicle roundups. There’s a little something for everyone: the foodies, the purists, the ones who prefer frozen yogurt, the ones who prefer a little alcohol, everyone. Tweny-five options to be exact. The post I did last summer on the cold guys was one of DC’s most viewed ever, so I thought you’d all be up for another round – was I right? Click on the photo to be taken to the recipe. All photos and recipes copyright of their respective source unless otherwise noted.
Sky High Raffaello Cake - Sugary & Buttery There it is, the first layer cake on my blog! And oh my goodness, WHAT a layer cake. Unbelievable fluffy and moist with a slight coconut flavor through and through. It all started with this Southern Coconut Cake recipe from Completely Delicious (a great blog by the way, check it out). I had an eye on it for a while and was just waiting for the right occasion (“right occasion” you wonder, who needs the “right occasion” for cake?) So I went ahead and made a small changed to the cake recipe such as adding almonds, and covered the cake in white chocolate ganache. When I make layer cakes, I usually bake the cake the night before so it can cool completely overnight. If you have problems with your cake not rising as mine did: The coarser the almonds the more dense the cake will be and the less it rises. (In case you wonder why my cake has just 5 layers in the pictures: I accidentally dropped and broke the 6th layer… There you go. Sky High Raffaello Cake Total time Author: Melina Thompson
7 DIY Treats You Won't Be Able To Stop Eating Step by Step: Perfect Pumpkin Cheesecake While living in New York City, I made every effort to stay hush-hush about my apathy for cheesecake. Getting a decent apartment in Manhattan was difficult enough. I certainly wasn’t going to ‘fess up to my dessert inadequacies when it came to one of the pride and joys of my adopted city. To compensate for my shortcoming, I made a big show of folding my slice of pizza in half, honking the car horn at least once every 3 blocks, and talking about walking my dawg while drinking my cawffee. I had them fooled, right up until the point when I told someone to “Take off, eh?” My Canadian roots gave me away every time. It wasn’t until I moved west again that my acceptance, and eventual affection, for cheesecake blossomed. When I saw this recipe for Perfectly Perfect Pumpkin Cheesecake by Tasty Kitchen member Brenda (afarmgirldabbles), I knew it was time to step out of my comfort zone for the sake of some serious Thanksgiving indulgence. First, let’s make the crust. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Homemade Crumb Donuts Leave the Entenmann’s on the shelf, and try these Homemade Baked Sour Cream Donuts instead! Once you’ve tasted the Rich, Tender Cake, the Sweet Cinnamon Glaze, and the Buttery Crumb Topping, you’ll never go back to store bought! I think I cracked the code! I’m talking about those soft, yet slightly crunchy, buttery, cinnamon-sugar-y crumbs on the top of those melt-in-your-mouth donuts you pick up at the local convenience store. Yes, I eat them too. And I enjoy every last morsel. I prefer my donuts to be loaded with farm fresh eggs. The fact that you’re even here at all tells me that you need little convincing that homemade is better than store bought, so lets just talk about how fabulous these babies are. They’re totally immersed in this sweet glaze that forms a thin crust all around. And the crumbs. It took me a few tries but I think I totally nailed it. Leave the Entenmann's on the shelf, and try these Homemade Baked Sour Cream Donuts instead! Ingredients For the Crumbs: For the Glaze:
Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake St. Patrick's day is coming up and this weekend I started working on my meal plan. Normally I do not start with the dessert but when I came across this recipe for a Guinness chocolate cheesecake I knew that I would be making it immediately. This recipe for the Guinness chocolate cheesecake is a pretty basic chocolate cheesecake recipe with the addition of the Guinness but the similarities stop there. The Guinness chocolate cheesecake is a moist one as might be expected with all of the extra liquid provided by the Guinness but it is also nice and light and creamy. This recipe appears in the The Best of Closet Cooking 2012 eCookbook along with 24 more of the tastiest recipes on Closet Cooking. Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake One of the most decadent and creamy chocolate cheesecakes around with a hit of Guinness to enhance the chocolate flavour. Servings: makes 6+ servings Prep Time: 10 minutesCook Time: 2 hoursTotal Time: 2 hours 10 minutes Printable Recipe Ingredients Directions
Strawberry Nutella Muffins Strawberry Nutella Muffins I am still on my strawberry kick. If we run out it it is a very sad day so we try to keep our refrigerator stocked with strawberries at all times. I used some of my precious strawberries to create Strawberry Nutella Muffins. Last year, I made Pumpkin Nutella Bread and fell in love, so I thought I would try adding Nutella to my strawberry muffins. These muffins are out of this world. Strawberries and Nutella are a match made in heaven. I chopped up fresh strawberries and gently folded them into my muffin batter. I had a hard time taking photos of these muffins. The muffins are tender with juicy strawberry pieces that are surrounded by rich Nutella. So, should you make these muffins for breakfast or dessert? Strawberry Nutella Muffins Yield: Makes 9 muffinsCook Time: 17-20 minutes Strawberry Nutella muffins made with fresh strawberries and filled with Nutella. If you like these Strawberry Nutella Muffins, you might also like:
Pie Pops Pie pops – a whimsical twist on a regular pie. They are tiny, they are cute, and they taste just like a bite of a nice pie. I love desserts like these. Inspired by a lovely lady called Bakerella, I knew I needed to get these pies into my life as soon as possible. Some things just need to be done immediately. To make my version of pie pops I decided to go with the recipe that I use to make my Mini Apple Pies. To make your own version, you can sure use any filling you really like. Here’s my version of the pie pops, step-by-step-by-step-by-step… by step: This is what we need. 1. 2. 3. Mix for only about 30 seconds. 4. But… oh, wait… I forgot something! Aah, now everything is alright. 5. I liked them better when they were a little more thin. 6. Dip the cutter in flour. 7. 8. 9. 10. First I thought I’d only use apple filling for my pie pops, but this filling turned out to be not enough. Jam! 10. I like them both. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Remove from the oven, let cool, and enjoy!
Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Bundt Cake Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Bundt Cake An easy and flavorful recipe for a moist cinnamon coffee bundt cake with a thick streusel topping. The perfect addition to any breakfast or brunch menu. I started off the day confused and searching for a bottle of orange juice. I gave up. Then I decided to check one last place on a whim. Every since I visited Julie, I’ve been craving coffee cake. Anyway… after months thinking about those gloriously moist and flavorful slices, and even weeks after planning it out, I finally got around to making it. This cinnamon coffee bundt cake is everything I was hoping it would be. Breakfast, brunch, snack or even dessert… it’s perfect. And I promise, the entire family will love it. Yield: Makes 1: 8" bundt cake Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 55 minutes Total Time: 65 minutes A moist cinnamon coffee bundt cake with a thick streusel topping. Ingredients: Topping: 1/4C light brown sugar 1/8 tsp salt 6 Tbsp all purpose flour 1/2 tsp cinnamon 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Mini Apple Pies « Apples Would you like to know what I’ve been doing for the past two hours? Sitting in the kitchen and staring at the Mini Apple Pies I’ve just made. I LOVE the way they look… so cute, adorable and so much fun to make. And I haven’t even started talking about the way they taste – it’s left me speechless… up till now… Just try making them – your family will love you and your kids will surely be awed and remember them for quite some time. These are the ingredients: And this is how the story goes: 1. Stir with a spoon until combined (don’t use the mixer yet… unless you want to disappear in white, dusty fog forever). 2. 3. Mix for only about 30 seconds. 4. 5. Peel the apples (I am using Golden Delicious here), core them and cut them into teeny tiny dices. Place the cut apples into a bowl. 6. (What would I just be without cinnamon…? 7. 8. I am glad to inform you that now we’ve reached the apple filling perfection. Please, be stronger than me and try not to feast on this heavenly mixture at this stage. 9. 10.
Pinned & prepped: Caramel snickerdoodles It has been AGES since I last published a pinned & prepped post. It’s not that I haven’t been pinning and prepping but they’ve been done in the opposite order. I’ve been googling, then baking/cooking and then pinning if all goes well. Guess I could start a prepped & pinned category on the blog but that somehow seems redundant. …You can always trust me when I make statements like that because it’s coming from lots of personal experience. I discovered these caramel snickerdoodles after googling searching Pinterest. …Let’s just agree now that snickerdoodles should be caramel filled at least every other batch. I didn’t too make any changes to the recipe other than using softened rather than melted butter and making them the traditional way (creaming butters and sugar and then adding dry ingredients). Printable recipe for caramel snickerdoodles below. Pinned & prepped: Caramel Snickerdoodles Author: Emily ~ isthisREALLYmylife.com Recipe type: Dessert Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Serves: 12