White Chocolate Chunk Krispies Treats for Valentine's Day

Are we surviving the week ok?  I thought I'd pop in with another dose of pink and red sweetness to help us find something to smile about.  Plus, who doesn't love fancied-up krispy treats?!

Things are still in transition on the home front, but actually going smoother than I was expecting.  Bo and I are going all dog whisperer on his mom's dogs, and I'm convinced that peace and quiet are just right over the horizon.  And once the weather gets a little nicer, we won't all be cooped up in the house all day.  (Am I bleeding optimism?  I hope so; I've really been working on it.)

So, anyway, to get sugar out of my house (because you know I always make creme brulee for Valentine's, and then it's all about birthday cake next week), I brought this batch of krispies treats in to work.  And immediately regretted having made only an 8" pan of them.  Word got out that I was sharing treats, and I only had enough for the desks closest to me.  Whoops!!  Maybe I'll earn back the office love by bringing in leftover birthday cake next week.  Speaking of cake (I'm incapable of focus this morning) - I've decided that this year's fancy birthday cake will be chocolate.  With caramel sauce between layers.  And covered in the most perfect homestyle chocolate buttercream.  I. Cannot. Wait.!!!

Strawberries and Cream Valentine Tarts

Aren't these little guys just too adorable?  When my girlfriend came over on Saturday, we dreamed up this delicious little dessert, and I'm so excited to share the recipe with you!

I didn't get a chance to write this up until just now because I've been fairly preoccupied this week, with Bo's mom and her little dogs arriving on Monday afternoon.  It's actually been a fairly smooth transition so far, but I haven't had a roommate in such a long time, that it's going to take some adjusting for us all.  But, I'll admit to playing dirty - I whipped up this recipe for her on Tuesday evening.  Major points right off the bat! :)

Recipe Rewind: Homemade Marshmallows

Well, helloooooooo.

I must confess - I've been in a bit of a funk for the past few months.  I could blame it on moving, I suppose.  I love our house, but I'm one of those cranky and OCD Type As who needs everything in its place to feel peace in my own house.  It's getting there, and I'm definitely not putting too much pressure on myself to be an over-achiever with settling in.  But there are moments that I stop in my tracks and just can't wrap my frantic little brain around all the zillion things screaming at me to accomplish.  So it's no shocker that my list-making tendencies are in serious overdrive right now.  Oh, and Christmas is drawing near?  My most favorite  and the dreamiest of holidays?  I've got 3 separate lists going for that.

Lists, lists, lists.  I don't love having them but they definitely help keep my sanity from inching its toe near that crumbling cliff of no return.

Sweet Potato Pie

Everyone!  Meet my dear friend, Mischa!  (that's "mi-sha", not "mee-sha" like that one actress)  A few years ago, she introduced me to Sweet Potato Pie*, and I loved it.  It's similar to Pumpkin Pie, but it's different enough to please those not fond of pumpkin or the rest of us who are a little pumpkined out by now.

Cookie Dough Bites

And then, there were cookies for her.

That's right.  My turn!  Which means, some funky recipe that's swapped out sugar for something crazy.  You know me by now, yes?

Once again, Pinterest has delivered something fantastic and fun.  It's absolutely my new favorite recipe, and I've made it no fewer than four times over the past ten days.  Oh, yes, I have.  It honest-to-goodness tastes like cookie dough, and the texture is a bit chewy like a granola bar.  It takes 10 minutes to whip up, and doesn't require any oven time.  You may eat the entire batch while you're standing there at the counter.  Or maybe that's just me.

Blueberry-Peach Crisp

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that at the end of last week, our fridge stopped working (and I was tweeting with excessive exclamation points).  It just wasn't getting cold; the freezer worked perfectly, the fridge not so much.  So while Bo researched ways to fix it, I researched ways to use up ingredients before they went bad.  Enter... Blueberry-Peach Crisp!  I had fresh blueberries and peaches sitting in my fridge drawer, just waiting to get used in something yummy.  I grabbed a stick of butter from the freezer and set to it.

Strawberry Lime Granitas

Yum, yum, yum, yum, YUM!  This little recipe is just way too easy and delicious to skip!

It's a bit like an amazing strawberry-lime slushy popsicle you eat with a spoon.  And with only 3 ingredients, and no need for an ice cream maker, it's seriously your new favorite thing.  You can mix this up with other fruits (watermelon, anyone?!) and citrus; just follow the same basic steps.

Lemon Brownies

(aka Lemon Poundcake Bars)

Because sometimes, I really just want to bake.  With super-processed white flour and boatloads of sugar and a few sticks of butter thrown in for good measure.  I've missed my normal baking, so yesterday, I decided to just embrace it and have some fun in my kitchen.

I came across these bars on Pinterest and thought they sounded perfectly summery.  In all honesty, the recipe is pretty much my Vanilla Poundcake recipe, using lemon zest and juice instead of vanilla.  Which, of course, means it's soooo good.  A fantastically moist lemon poundcake bar that's both buttery and light, with a zesty glaze that ties it all up with a bow.

Coconut Forbidden Rice Pudding

'Mornin! ('Afternoon!, 'Evenin!)

So, I'm back with another recipe using our handy dandy and yummy Forbidden rice.  When I was growing up, one of my favorite breakfasts was my mom's rice pudding, made with leftover rice from dinner.  Custardy, sweet, with cinnamon, and so delicious when straight from the refrigerator.

(Sugar Free) Chocolate Mousse

You didn't really think I would go and declare a severe sugar limitation and then completely abandon desserts in any form, did you?

No, you know me better than that by now.  I just need to get a little more creative.  A little more willing to accept that my new definition of "dessert" will be less sweet and more about other flavors and textures.

Bombshell Brownies

But I wasn't about to leave you hanging without my brownie recipe!

I've always contended that by the time you go to the store to pick up a mix, homemade brownies are so much faster to put together.  And of course, they taste soooo much better!  The measuring and stirring steps are simple, so they'd be fun to have your kids help you with.  And they'll be able to pronounce every ingredient you put into the bowl.  Can't beat that for a fun treat, am I right?

Neapolitan Cake with the Best Whipped Frosting

As promised, I'm back with recipes!!

Whew, I had to take a bit of a breather because I've just been pooped all week.  I suppose that staying up past my bedtime to catch back up from being gone isn't helping much in that department.  Anyway!  I'm back.  Back to my ways of dreaming about recipes to try out and tweak and photograph.

Of the recipes I used for this massive (I'm not kidding - the assembled cake easily weighed 5 pounds) cake, the one that should snatch your attention and reel you in is the frosting.  This frosting is pretty dang amazing.  It's fluffy yet incredibly silky and just tastes like heaven.  It doesn't overpower your cakes, yet it's got a delicate vanilla flavor that will make you melt into a helpless puddle. You. Must. Make. This. Frosting.

You must.

Dreaming About That Frosting,

         

Vanilla and Strawberry Layer Cakes
adapted from Martha Stewart

1/4 c. all-fruit strawberry jam
1/3 c. diced strawberries
drops of pink food dye, optional
3 c. (390g) cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
2 c. (400g) sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. milk
8 large egg whites
1/4 c. (50g) sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans; line bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together the all-fruit jam, strawberries, and optional food dye.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with milk and beginning and ending with flour; beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; set aside.

In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Do not overbeat. Gently fold a third of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining whites.

Pour half the batter (about 830g) into a prepared pan, smoothing with an offset spatula.  Fold strawberry mixture into remaining cake batter and pour into second prepared pan.  Bake until cakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack; peel off parchment. Reinvert cakes, and let them cool completely, top sides up.

Chocolate Layer Cake
adapted from Martha Stewart

1/2 c. (46g) cocoa, pref. dark cocoa
3 oz. strong coffee, boiling
1/2 c. milk, room temperature
1 1/3 c. + 1 Tbsp. (179g) cake flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 c. (250g) sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray one 9-by-2-inch round cake pan. Line with parchment paper round.

Sift cocoa; whisk in boiling coffee and milk. Let cool. Whisk together cake flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Using a rubber spatula, mix the butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add sugar and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring well after each addition. Pour in the cooled cocoa mixture. Mix until fully incorporated.

Add the sifted dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture, stirring until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center.

Remove the cake from the oven, and allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes on a cooling rack. Carefully run a small offset spatula around the edge of the cake to loosen from the pan. Remove cake from pan, and invert onto a wire rack. Let cool completely, about 1 hour.

Best Whipped Frosting
adapted from Can You Stay for Dinner

2 c. milk
10 Tbsp. (80g) flour
1 Tbsp. vanilla
2 c. unsalted butter, very soft
2 c. (400g) granulated sugar (not powdered sugar)

In a medium saucepan, whisk milk with flour until completely dissolved. Heat over medium until the mixture begins to sputter, whisking constantly. Continue to whisk as the mixture thickens. You will know it’s done when it reaches the consistency of thick cake batter, after about 7 total minutes of heating and whisking. Stir in vanilla set aside to cool completely.

Now, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment beat softened butter with granulated sugar until light, fluffy, and white in color, about 5 solid minutes of beating on medium-high speed (Kitchenaid speed at 8). You want the sugar to be totally incorporated into the butter.  If you're adding food dye, beat it in now.

Be sure that the milk/flour mixture has completely cooled, and add it to the butter/sugar mixture. Beat all ingredients for about 3 minutes on high speed, scraping down the bowl often, until they are smooth and well blended. The frosting should be as light and fluffy as whipped cream.

Note:  This recipe makes a ton of frosting.  You'll need it to frost a cake with three layers.  But if you're making this for a standard cake or cupcakes, divide this recipe in half.

         

The frosting's cooked flour and milk mixture will be thick, with the consistency of a thick cake batter.

After the flour and milk mixture is completely cooled, add it to the creamed butter and sugar.

And beat the heck out of it with your mixer's whisk attachment.

Slap some of the frosting on the chocolate cake layer and spread evenly to the edges.

Top with the strawberry cake layer.

Slap on more frosting, and spread to the edges.

Top with the white cake layer.

Notice that my hands are exactly like my mom's.

Smile :)

Dump all remaining frosting on top of the cake.

Spread frosting to the edges.

And continue spreading the frosting down the sides of the cake,

until cake is completely covered and frosting is even and smooth.

I eat my cake layer by layer.  What up!

Neapolitan (Birthday) Cake

Happy Birthday to meeeeee,

Happy Birthday tooooo meeeeeee,

Happy Birthday, dear Saraaaaa

Happy Birthday to meeeee! 

Psst!  Today's my birthday!!  Which means I'll be eating far too much cake and refusing to share with anyone, woohooo!  We were out of town all weekend, so the recipe for this amazing confection will come later in the week.  I just wanted to share exciting (-for-me) cake photos on my big day :)

Making A Wish,

Vanilla Pound Cake Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling and Cream Cheese Frosting

Ok, I'm about to share some of my favorite recipes with you here.  Favorite.

Favorite.

Favorite.

This little cupcake was dreamt up when a friend and I were testing recipes for her wedding.  And these babies made their debut at her wedding reception.  They're that good.

You start with a Pound Cake Cupcake.  We chose a pound cake recipe because my issue with standard cupcake recipes is that they end up a little on the dry side, and don't even think about trying to eat them the next day - you'll need 4 glasses of water to get them down.  Not so with pound cake.  It maintains its moisture over a couple of days, and the flavor is just so buttery and delicious.  Another thing that makes my heart flutter is the easy measurements for the recipe.  It's a cinch to 1/2 or 1/3, or even 2/3 the recipe!  When I made these last weekend, I made 2/3 the cupcake recipe below to end up with 2 dozen cupcakes.

The Raspberry Filling is perfectly raspberry-punched without being overly sweet.  I choose to leave a few of the seeds in (rather than strain them all out) so that the filling doesn't look imitation.  I like it to look a little jammy and definitely homemade.

And, that Cream Cheese Frosting is a hybrid of a standard buttercream frosting and a full-on cream cheese frosting, like you'd expect on a carrot cake.  It adds a little bit of tart to contrast with the sweetness from the cupcake and filling, but it isn't so tangy that it overpowers the rest of your cupcake.

I'm seriously so excited to share these recipes with you.  They're so pretty and just perfect for Valentine's Day.  They're a bit over the top, but definitely have that homemade, homestyle flavor that I think is essential for baking up treats to share.  I hope you love them just as much as I do!

Sugar Rush!!!!!

         

Vanilla Pound Cake Cupcakes

1 1/2 c. (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 c. (603g) sugar
6 eggs
3 c. (336g) cake flour
1 c. milk (2% or whole)
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream butter and sugar together, until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in one cup of the flour, then 1/2 cup of the milk. Continue alternating (flour-milk-flour), ending with the last cup of flour. Beat on medium-high for two minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Fill cupcake liners 1/2 full. Place on middle rack of cold oven and set temperature to 275 degrees. Set timer for one hour, and bake until cupcakes pass the toothpick test. Makes 36 cupcakes. (Half recipe yields ~19 cupcakes, third recipe yields ~12 cupcakes.)

Raspberry Filling for Cakes and Cupcakes

12oz. package of frozen raspberries
2/3 c. water
3/4 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. cornstarch, dissolved in 1/4 c. water

In a saucepan, combine the raspberries, water, sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the raspberries have broken down. Remove the mixture from the heat and strain with a fine mesh sieve. Return the strained mixture to the heat. Whisk the cornstarch slurry into the raspberry mixture. Bring the mixture back to a boil and simmer 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cool completely. Will thicken like a jelly as it cools. Makes about 1 ½ cups and fills 48 cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2, 8oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
6 c. sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a large mixer bowl and using the whisk attachment, cream together the cream cheese and butter until light and creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually beat in the powdered sugar until smooth, scraping the bowl often.  Will generously frost 24 cupcakes.

         

 To fill cupcakes:

I've used those cupcake filling tools, but my favorite tool is an apple corer.
They work better, and you probably already have one on hand.

Place end of apple corer over the center of the cupcake and twist downward, to about 2/3 of the way down the cupcake.  Twist back upward and push the cake plug out of the corer.  Optional:  Snack on all the cupcake centers until you feel woozy from the sugar overload. (Just me?)

Pour your room temperature raspberry filling into a disposable pastry bag or large ziploc.

(You can store the filling for about a week in the fridge, so it can be made ahead.)

Fill cupcake centers just until level with their tops.

Frost, and then take a bite and swoon from the amazing creation you just put together.

Creme Brulee

Wooooeeeeee, this week has been a doozy.  These long, stressful work days have been taking their toll, and I keep daydreaming about that amazing Creme Brulee I made on Saturday.  You know - the recipe I only got five bites of because of my body's ridiculousness with dairy.  Le sigh.

But, now it's time to shift our focus to Valentine's Day treats!  February is my favorite month for treats (hint), and one of my favorite traditions is making Creme Brulee for Bo.  I made it for the first time for our first Valentine's Day together, because it's his favorite dessert.  But, I love it because anything that reminds me of "Amelie" is worth squealing about :)

I'll be honest - the first time I made Creme Brulee, I was freaked out about it.  But really, you just whisk a few ingredients and bake it in ramekins set in a water bath.  After they're chilled, bust out your trusty kitchen torch and give it a crunchy topping.  Done!

Tap Tap on the Sugar Top,

         

Crème Brûlée
adapted from Elegantly Easy Creme Brulee

8 egg yolks
1/3 c. sugar
2 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or extract
1/4 c. sugar (for the caramelized tops)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and 1/3 c. sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is thick and pale yellow.  Add cream and vanilla, and continue to whisk until well blended.  Strain into a large bowl, skimming off any foam or bubbles.

Place a paper towel into a large baking dish and arrange 6 ramekins in it spaced evenly apart.  Divide egg custard mixture among the ramekins.  Place baking dish on middle rack of oven, and fill the dish with warm water, until the level reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake until custards are set around the edges, but still loose in the center, about 40-50 minutes.  (Longer baking time may be necessary for larger or deeper ramekins.)  Remove baking dish from the oven and leave ramekins in the water bath until cooled.  Remove from water bath and chill for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days.

When ready to serve, sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of sugar over each custard.  Use a kitchen torch to melt sugar, or place under a broiler until the sugar melts.  Re-chill custards for a few minutes before serving.  Makes 6 individual custards.

         

Ingredient Lineup:

When you first mix the sugar into the egg yolks, it's a dark yellow color.

After whisking, the mixture will turn pale in color and become thicker.

Pour the custard mixture through a fine mesh sieve to strain.

Place a paper towel into a large baking dish and arrange ramekins evenly spaced.

Pour custard mixture into ramekins to half full.

Place the baking dish onto the middle rack of your oven and pour in warm water so that it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Divide sugar among the 6 ramekins and use a kitchen torch to melt the sugar.