Foods I LOVE to Make & Bake, But Especially Eat

So I’m a little bit obsessed with cooking and trying new recipes lately. Actually, I've been like this ever since my husband I got married almost nine years ago. These are some of the REALLY good ones I’ve come across recently, and although not at all healthy, by all means, ENJOY!!

Oreo Crunch Cupcakes

http://www.littleinspiration.com/2011/07/oreo-crunch-cupcakes.html

Some people thought it was too much cookie and so I would take one side of the cookie off and use that in the batter.  I loved the taste of the frosting, but it was really flat.  I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my baking. :o)

German Chocolate Monkey Bread

http://www.heatherchristo.com/cooks/2012/02/17/german-chocolate-monkey-bread/

The only adjustment I would make to this is mix everything in together instead of layering.  Heaven!

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/pan-roasted-chicken-lemon-garlic-green-beans-10000000780291/index.html

Definitely follow the comments and cut back on the lemon, unless you like a lot of lemon.

Dried Strawberries

http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/recipes/dried-strawberries-ruscalleda/

Oddly addictive.  

Honey Lime Tilapia

http://www.onelovelylife.com/?p=3118

If you like tilapia, divine.

Nachos... Yum :)

http://www.pamperedchef.com/recipe_search/recipe.jsp?id=75015

I love nachos and this is a light version

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

http://www.sassyradish.com/2009/10/sweet-potato-gnocchi/

First time I ever made gnocchi and oh there were good.

Spicy Kabocha Soup

http://naturalnoshing.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/spicy-kabocha-soup/

My new favorite soup.

Eggplant Focaccia

http://www.marthastewart.com/317126/eggplant-focaccia

One of my favorite eggplant recipes.

Peanut Butter Cups

http://www.sweetestkitchen.com/2009/04/homemade-peanut-butter-cups/#.Twsg-WBqOt8

These put Reese’s to shame.  If you aren’t a fan of chocolate & peanut butter... make this... it’s worth trying one.  I recommend making them in the mini-muffin tins instead of the standard size because they are so rich.

Avocado Chicken Parmigiana

http://ellenaguan.blogspot.com/2011/11/avocado-chicken-parmigiana.html

Simply delish!

Crispy Parmesan Asparagus

http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/03/crispy-parmesan-asparagus-sticks/

Better than bacon-wrapped asparagus.

Sweet Potato Chips

http://www.marthastewart.com/317420/baked-sweet-potato-chips

This one was a huge hit on pinterest.  My husband is currently obsessed and could eat them every single day.

Man Pleasing Chicken

http://www.wittyinthecity.com/2011/08/man-pleasing-chicken/

Gotta love the name.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

"Do you know where I found him? You know where he was? He was eating a cake in the tub! Yes he was!"

-from The Cat in the Hat Comes Back

Theodor Seuss Geisel (March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991) was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone
 
This Crafty Bettie post is devoted to providing a number of different activities you can do together as a family in celebration of Dr. Suess's birthday on FRIDAY, March 2nd.

Why celebrate Dr. Suess's birthday, you ask? 

Well, Dr. Suess showed us that reading and learning can be fun. By using rhymes, children are able to develop foundational tools needed to sound out words, then make sentences, and eventually create stories of their own.

So... Let the Celebration Begin!

• "You're never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child."

• Here are four (4) FREE printable lesson plans for your kids from Seussville.

• FREE Dr. Suess Read-n-Color Word Search from Read Across America.

• Make simple gold stars to wear on your belly, like the Sneeches'! 

• Give children a variety of cratf supplies and recycling items (ie: glue, toilet paper rolls, egg cartons, pipe cleaners, felt, yarn, pom-poms, wiggle eyes, etc.) and challenge them to create their own unique character or creature like those found in Dr. Suess's books. Then encourage them to write a story about their creature.

• Make cupcakes with red, white or aqua/ turquoise frosting.

• FREE Cat In the Hate Birthday Cake Maze from Suessville.

The Perfect Swirl

Cupcake stores it seems are all the rage these days. They have wonderful interesting flavours and they look like perfection. The problem is that at at least $2.50 per cupcake it can get a little steep when you have a lot of people to feed. So today I thought I would answer another question I frequently get asked: How do you get that swirl on the top of the cupcake? I have to say.....it's far easier than you can imagine and the results are fantastic.

Supplies:
Cupcakes
Your favourite buttercream icing (make a nice big batch...it takes a lot of icing)
Piping Bag (the bigger the better)
a 1M Tip (this is whats gonna do the magic)

Now I highly suggest using buttercream for this vs other icings. Buttercream holds its shape better whereas a cream cheese icing (for example) is more likely to look like its melting on you.

You take you tip and drop it into your piping bag. It is a bigger tip than normal and no coupler and ring are required. Then you fill your icing bag.

Hold your piping bag at a 90 degree angle and about a 1/4" away from the cupcake. Start moving around the cupcake in a spiral motion starting from the outside and working your way to the center of the cupcake. Be careful to not leave gaps. Once you have reached the center stop pressure and pull the tip away. Feel free to top with any sort of small decoration if desired.







And there you have it. Easy peasy and you have professional looking cupcakes! Enjoy

my first cupcake...it really is that simple!

(technique photos courtesy of Wilton.com)

Not Christmas-ey...but awesome! Introducing....Banoffee Pie!

My sister and I love to get together for a weekend and try new recipes. This one we tried recently and I had to spread the word...it was AWESOME! (and so easy to do!)

Banoffee Pie

Total Time: 4 hr 15 min

Ingredients:

• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• Pinch salt
• 4 bananas, sliced
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream

In a saucepan, cover an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk with water. Let it simmer for 3 hours, adding water as needed to keep the can submerged in the water.

Set your oven to 375 F.
Mix the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, then cool completely and refrigerate until ready to assemble the pie.
Remove the condensed milk from heat and let cool enough to be able to remove the can from the water. Let cool another 10 to 15 minutes before opening the now dark and creamy toffee.
Thinly slice the bananas (1/4-inch) on the bias. Evenly arrange 1 layer of bananas over the cooled crust. Pour the toffee over the top and spread evenly. Put another layer of bananas on top of the toffee. Whip 2 cups of cream, in a large bowl, until soft peaks form and spoon it on top of the bananas, spreading it out to make an even layer.
Refrigerate the pie for at least 1 hour before serving.

Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Pão de mel (Honey Bread)

This is one of my mother in law amazing recipes, and we made this for my wedding, everybody loved, so I hope you guys enjoy this Brazilian treat!!!

2 1/4 cups brown sugar

2 cups of water

  
Pass through a sieve to form a syrup. After that, put together:

4 ½ cup of all purpose flour
4 eggs 
 3 tbsp of cocoa
1 tbsp  of ground cloves
4 tbsp of cinnamon
1 cup of honey
1 cup of milk
1 tbsp of baking powder
1 tbsp of baking soda

Mix everything in a bowl, the dough will be kind of liquid and should be very smooth. Put in pans(for cakes, muffins…) ina 350 F heated oven. Its super fast, so in about 10 minutes you have to check the oven.

 You can cover with melted chocolate and put the “dulce de leche” filling. Enjoy!!

How to Properly Ice A Cake

One thing I get asked a lot is how to ice a cake nice and smooth. As with all things it takes a little patience, technique and having the right tools. There are a lot of people out there who hate the taste of fondant so this is a good option if you want that smooth professional look in your cake but don't want to feel like you are eating chewing gum.

The first thing you are going to want to do is level your cake. To do this you can use a long knife or a nifty little cake leveling tool that you can buy at any craft or baking supply store. They are inexpensive and easy to use. What you want to do is to remove the dome from the tops of your layers. The dome prevents your cake from sitting properly making it hard to fill the middle and making it shift when attempting to ice the top.Cake leveller tool

Before you put your first layer onto your cake board you may want to consider using a dap of icing underneath the layer to help prevent shifting. Also a turntable or Lazy Susan is a WONDERFUL investment. It doesn't need to be a fancy tilting one...as long as it turns it will be your friend in this venture.Once you have leveled your layers you are going to want to make what is known as an icing dam. This prevents your center filling from seeping out into your icing. You take an icing bag with a number 12 round tip and create a bead of icing all around the outer edge. Then you can go and fill your cake with whatever filling you choose.

FYI: on an 8" round a pudding cup is the perfect size for cake filling if you are short on supplies!

The next step has two options. You can do what is called a "dirty ice" which is to take a super thin layer of icing to the whole cake to catch cake crumbs and fill in gaps....but if you did the first two steps nicely you can also do what I will show you here. This tip is called a cake icer tip. It looks a lot like the tip you use to do lattice work but on a much larger scale. It is serrated on one side which helps the icing grip the cake. You essentially want to go around your cake until it completely covered with icing. Should you get and crumbs on the tip make sure you clean them off as you see them so they don't get mixed into the icing.

The next step is to take an offset spatula and smooth out the cake. Again if you see crumbs wipe them off. Crumbs ruin that professional smooth appearance. You want to try to get your icing as smooth as you can. It won't be perfect, not yet. That part comes next.

Here is where patience comes in. What you need to do is wait. Most buttercream recipes will crust over once they have been exposed to air for a while. What that means if they get a little dried out on the outside so you can manipulate it carefully to get it smooth. What you need for this is your offset spatula again or a fondant smoother, and parchment or wax paper. What you are going to do is lightly lay the paper onto the cake and then with your smoother lightly go over the entire cake until it is totally smooth. I tend to spend forever on this part! Don't press to hard or it will break the crust and you will get icing on your paper.

Voila! One smooth cake!

Once you are done you are ready to decorate and serve! It really is easy once you learn the tricks of the trade. You too can make your very own beautiful pieces of edible art! Happy caking!