Category Archives: Sweet Baked Goods

This is for cakes, cookies, sweet yeast breads (they will also be in yeast breads), pies

What Do You Mean It’s “Too Rich”?!

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My husband Russell is notoriously difficult to make desserts for. He is one of those abnormal ought to be forced to eat liver just because people who will eat three bites of a dessert and then say he is done, saying something is “too rich” or “too sweet”. What the heck does that mean?! There is no such thing. Ok, so maybe I have been known to say something is too sweet but never ever have I uttered such blasphemy as to say something is too rich.

Mind you, this is also a man who can polish off half a bag of tortilla chips and a can of dip and then be back in the cabinet half an hour later saying he is hungry, but that’s a story for another time when I’m not absurdly jealous of his ability to not weigh 300 pounds doing that.

Point of all this is that I wanted to make a dessert that all categories of dessert eaters could enjoy. Something for the weird people who say they don’t really like sweets and something for those of us who are smart enough to know that there is no such thing as too rich. So I came up with this bundt cake. Boring you say? Not this one. This one is rich and oh so moist with the flavor of a warm Mounds bar (well, if you eat it warm. Otherwise, it would be a cold Mounds bar. Just sayin’) with a nice crispy crust and to appease the beast in us sweets lovers, a creamy glaze also filled with a subtle coconut flavor and aroma. It’s also extremely easy.

HOMEMADE MOUNDS BAR CAKE

  1. 1 18 ounce box chocolate cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
  2. 1 3.4 ounce box instant chocolate pudding mix
  3. 1 15 ounce can cream of coconut (NOT coconut milk. Cream of coconut is usually found in the section where they keep drink mixers)
  4. 1 teaspoon coconut extract
  5. 3 large eggs
  6. 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • For the glaze
  1. 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  2. 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
  3. heavy cream or milk
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Mix all the cake ingredients together in  a large bowl. Beat on low until blended then turn the beater to medium high and beat for 2 minutes.
  • Pour batter into a well greased and floured Bundt pan (I use the non stick spray  that has both oil and flour in it. You can find it right with the non spray oil under the name of Bakers Joy or Pillsbury Baking Spray With Flour).
  • Cook in a 350 degree oven for between 40 to 60 minutes. If unsure of it’s done, stick a toothpick (I use bamboo grilling skewers. hey, it works! 😛 ) down in it. It should come out almost clean or with barely a crumb on it.
  • Turn out onto a rack or plate and let cool completely.
  • Put your powdered sugar in a small bowl. Add a little bit of milk or cream and the coconut extract. Stir. Add more cream…a little bit at a time… until you have a nice drizzling consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake. Serve with some sort of decadent ice cream so that the non sweet eaters can’t finish it all and you have to eat it for them.

If I'm really lucky, my husband will have one bite of ice cream and then hand the rest of the cake and ice cream over to me. 😀

 

Barely Brie-thing

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Hehehe… I crack me up.When I went in the fridge today, I noticed the small wheel of Brie I got a few days ago. It was in the reduced section then so I said cuss words to myself as I tried to figure out how to use it before it was… *said in a melodramatic tone of voice*… TOO LATE (images of green cheese and the Brie giving birth to alien life forms took place in my mind). I almost left it then because that idea was kind of cool but it DID cost five bucks so I pulled it out of the fridge. Sigh… maybe next time.

I decided on a cheese dip cause any excuse to melt cheese is high on my list of good food. Especially when it’s something I can add bacon to… which I did. Lots of it. Because bacon is NOT liver thus I love it. So far it has been a hit if the half empty pan is any indication. I served it with Tostitos mini rounds but I think it would also be fantastic spread on baguette slices.

HOT MELTY BRIE & BACON DIP

  1. 1 12.25 ounce round brie (I used Alouette brand baby brie)
  2. 8 ounces muenster cheese
  3. 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan/Romano mix ( the fresh shredded kind in the deli area not the dry grated kind in the pasta aisle)
  4. 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella
  5. 8 ounces cream cheese
  6. 1/4 cup diced green and/or red peppers
  7. 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
  8. 1 lb. low sodium bacon, cooked until crisp, cooled and crumbled
  9. 1/2 cup sour cream
  10. 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
  • Preheat your oven to 375. Put  the bacon in a foil lined pan (foil lined because I hate washing greasy pans) and cook until nice and crispy, about 20 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, cut your Brie and Muenster cheeses into 1/2 inch cubes.
  • Dice the green peppers into 1/4 inch (more or less; doesn’t have to be perfect, just be sure it’s small) pieces.  Put into a small bowl with about a teaspoon of the bacon grease (you heard me… bacon grease.) Stir together then put into the microwave for 2 minutes on high power.
  • Mix together the mozzarella, muenster, brie, cream cheese, Parmesan  and sour cream. Add in the bacon, red pepper flakes if using, green onions and the green peppers.
  • Put in a 2 quart casserole (or a deep souffle dish or any pretty baking dish) and put in the 400 degree oven until bubbly and the top is nicely browned.
  • Serve with chips, veggie sticks or baguette slices.
  • NOTE- This makes a LARGE pan of dip so if you’re not feeding a large family (or the county) you may want to cut this in half 😛

Five minutes after setting it out. WAITAMINNIT! Where's MINE!?

 

 

 

But I Don’t Even LIKE Peanut Butter!!

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I’ve never been a big fan of peanut butter. Give me a PB&J about once a year & a Reeses peanut butter cup every once in a while and I’m happy. Even with the PB&J, there are strict guidelines that must be followed or I won’t eat it. It has to be Jif Peanut Butter (or Peanut Butter Company’s Cinnamon Raisin flavor), it has to be on smushy “I am so filled with preservatives it’s disgusting” store bought white bread and the ratio of peanut butter to jelly is simply this; there must be enough of each that they drip off of the bread onto my hands, onto my shirt, onto every surface within a five foot range.

So why, when perusing the Easter candy aisle at Kroger the other day, did I drop a bag of Reeses Pieces into my cart? I have no idea. I have never liked them. But I think I have found a way that I can enjoy them… in massive quantities… with milk… and hidden away by myself so that nobody else can have any. Ever.

I took my go to chocolate chip recipe (it’s one that I have played with over the years until I got that nice chewy yet crispy texture that I think a cookie should have) and added a bag of Easter (oooo, look at the pretty colors!) Reeses Pieces along with two small bags of the new Reese Peanut Butter Cup Minis (2.5 ounce bags you can find at the checkout aisle).

If you like peanut butter, you’ll love these. If you like chocolate, you’ll like these. If you’re a fan of Reeses Pieces, you should be in heaven. Just remember…. massive quantities and all by yourself so nobody else can have any.

REESE’S PIECES &PEANUT BUTTER CUP COOKIES

  1. 1/2 cup unsalted butter (one stick)
  2. 1/2 cup solid shortening (I used the Crisco stick)
  3. 1 cup brown sugar (preferably dark)
  4. 3/4 cup white sugar
  5. 2.5 teaspoons Vanilla extract
  6. 2 large eggs
  7. 1 tsp salt
  8. 1 tsp baking soda
  9. 3 cups all purpose flour
  10. 12 ounce bag Reeses Pieces
  11. 2 2.5 ounce bags mini Reese peanut butter cups
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • In large bowl, cream butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs until creamy.
  • In small bowl, mix together salt, baking soda and flour.
  • Mix flour mixture with wet ingredients until fully combined.
  • Add in the Reeses pieces and mini peanut butter cups.
  • Put by large spoonsful on an ungreased cookie sheet (mine were probably a bit less than 1/4 cup dough per cookie. They need to be large to be able to enclose the candy; otherwise it sticks out and will end up melting all the pan and sticking).
  • Bake until light golden brown. If there is a shiny wet spot in the middle of the cookie, leave for another minute or two and check again. They are big so you need to watch to make sure they cook thoroughly. Mine took 15 minutes.
  • Let cool on the sheet for a minute then put onto a rack to finish cooling
  • Get some cookies, a glass of milk or cup of coffee and go hide in the closet until you’re done.

"Hmmmm, I wonder if I can grab the rest and hide in the closet before momma notices?"

 

 

My Kind Of Blackberry

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Blackberry’s are all the rage right now along with iphones. I on the other hand am still in the stone age from what I’m told because I only have a phone from Cricket.  My daughter has an iphone with all the bells and whistles and was showing it to me the other day and bragging on it. I am pretty sure that that thing probably has an app on it that would find you a mail order bride. But hey, I’ve moved up in the world with my cricket. A mere three years ago, I still had a Tracfone…. with an antennae I had to pull up to be able use the phone. It was made from stone. I also have a car that requires me to stick my feet through a hole in the floor and make it go by foot power. Fred Flintstone is my hero. But I digress (you’ll get used to that with me.)
Since I can’t have a blackberry that I can use to access the internet, I decided to make my own blackberry. It’s not in the shape of a phone though; sorry. You also can’t use it to get a mail order bride but I can guarantee mine tastes better. At least I hope it does. There’s no app to make your phone yummy is there?

These cupcakes were fun to make. They were pretty fun to eat too if the purple stains on my shirt and the slight bloated feeling in my belly are any indication 😀 It uses a white cake mix that I doctored up (I told you; I like cake mixes. They’re easy & they taste pretty damn good; especially when you add all sorts of different things to them. This has a homemade blackberry/lemon butter cream frosting that is good enough to eat from the bowl with a spoon. I should know; I ate enough of it.

BlackBerry Cupcakes with a Blackberry/Lemon Buttercream

  1. 1(18.25 ounce) package white cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
  2. 1(3.4 ounce) package french vanilla instant pudding mix
  3. 1 cup sour cream
  4. 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  5. 4 large eggs
  6. 1/2 cup warm water
  7. 1 12 ounce container fresh blackberries
  8. 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  9. 3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
  10. 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  11. 2 tablespoons blackberry jam
  12. zest from one lemon
  • Preheat your oven to 350 (175 Celsius) and line your cupcake pans with liners (you don’t have to do this, you could just spray them with a non stick spray like Pam but personally , anything that saves me from major dish washing is heaven.).
  • Gently wash the berries then pat them dry with a paper towel. Put all but 20 of  them into a blender or a food processor bowl with the 3 tablespoons sugar and process/blend into a puree. Set the 20 aside to use as garnish. You can then strain the puree through a sieve if the idea of the seeds bugs you, but I didn’t bother.
  • In a large bowl, mix together ingredients. 1-6. Beat on low until everything is thoroughly mixed then turn it up to medium and beat for 2 minutes. Don’t skimp on that; it makes your cupcakes lighter.
  • Fill your lined cups about half full with batter. Add a tablespoon of the blackberry puree on top of each cupcake then top that with another spoonful of batter. Don’t fill your cups over about 3/4 full or you’ll end up with cupcakes that spread onto the side of your pan and besides not looking as pretty, they are a pain to get out of the pan. Using a butter knife, gently swirl the jam and batter together, making sure to leave streaks.
  • Bake for 16 to 22 minutes (It will vary depending on your oven. Mine were done at 20 minutes) or until a toothpick stuck in the middle of one of the cakes comes out clean.
  • Let them sit in the pan for about 1 minute then use a spoon to get under the liners & put them on a rack to finish coo0ling. Eat one of them before you frost the rest because you’re the cook and you can.
  • Mix together the 1 cup butter, the remaining blackberry puree (you should have about 1/2 a cup)  and the blackberry jam. Mix well for about 2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and beat on low until all the sugar is incorporated then turn it up to high and beat until it is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. It should be thick enough to stand up on your spoon w/out flopping over. If not (you may need more depending on how juicy your berries were), add powdered sugar 1/4 cup at time until it is thick enough to spread. If too thick, add heavy cream (or milk) a few drops at time until it thins out to where you want it.
  • Pipe or spread your frosting on the cupcakes, then garnish with one of the reserved blackberries. Then eat one with frosting because again, you’re the cook.
  • This makes 20 cupcakes or at least it did for me. It might have made 21 but some of the batter jumped in my mouth. What!? Salmonella is our friend.

I don't know what happened to this one. Someone *cough cough* must have gotten to it while I was turned away.