Blue Ninjago Birthday Fondant Cake

by penji1

My cute neighbor Alisha asked if Cort and I would make a Ninjago birthday cake for her son Colin so after we figured out what Ninjagos were (little Ninja Leggo dudes), we said yes.  We were excited because we’ve been wanting to experiment with the fondant draping technique and this was our chance to try it.  Cort baked a chocolate round cake, I frosted it with our standby favorite, Basic Buttercream Icing then we rolled and cut out a piece of yellow fondant for his face then rolled out the blue fondant, laid a piece of it across the top of his head and then wound the bigger piece around the sides, trying to drape and fold carefully as we went.  I think it looks pretty good for a first attempt.  Then Cort cut out his eyes and eyebrows out of black fondant and added a little white ball of fondant for his eyeballs.  Hopefully Colin will love it!  Happy Ninjago Birthday Colin!

Sunshine Cupcakes

by penji1

The blog has been a little quieter lately and that’s because I started working on a movie on Monday; it’s a movie for the ABC Family Channel and I’m doing wardrobe on this one from now until almost the end of March so posts will be a little less numerous for the next couple of months but Cort and I do have some fondant cakes to make so there will at least be those and maybe I’ll get some cooking and baking in on the weekends.  These cupcakes were for the Young Women at church for our program called “New Beginnings” which kicks off our year and introduces the theme for the year which is all about light so we decided to go with a sun theme for the program.  I made these little fondant suns out of Wilton white fondant tinted a bright sunny yellow and then cut them out using a small sun shaped cookie cutter and let them dry for a few days so that I could stand them straight up on the tops of the cupcakes.  I made 3 different kinds of cupcakes all based around the recipe “Perfect Cake Mix Cupcakes” from Karen Tack and Alan Richardson’s cookbooks “Hello, Cupcake!” and “What’s New Cupcake?”.  You can find that recipe on the blog under “Corn on the Cob Cupcakes”.  The three different kinds are as follows:

Chocolate Peppermint Patty Cupcakes (pictured on right above) – Triple Chocolate Fudge cake mix with Peppermint Patties chopped into 4 pieces each and stirred into the batter

Yellow Reese’s Peanut Butter Cupcakes (not pictured as they were the definite favorite and none were left over to photograph) – Yellow cake mix with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups chopped into 4 pieces and stirred into the batter

White Almond Poppy Seed Cupcakes (pictured on left above) – White cake mix with 1 teaspoon almond extract and 1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds stirred into the batter

I frosted all 3 with my favorite Basic Buttercream Icing which you can find on the blog under “Barbie Doll Cake”.  I left the chocolate ones without any additional decorations but on the yellow ones I sprinkled the frosting with Yellow Sanding Sugar and on the white ones I sprinkled the frosting with White Sanding Sugar.  I chose not to frost the cupcakes all the way to the edges so that people could see which flavor cupcake they were getting.  I made 6 dozen cupcakes and only had about a dozen left over so they must have been good!

Crispy Peanut Butterscotch Fudge Squares

by penji1

This is a Nestle Toll House recipe.  The Young Women are coming over to my house tonight for our activity so there must be treats!

crust:

4 1/2 teaspoons light margarine (I used butter, about 2 tablespoons)

2 cups miniature marshmallows

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

3 cups Rice Krispies

fudge:

1 1/2 cups sugar

2/3 cup evaporated milk

2 tablespoons light margarine (I used butter)

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups miniature marshmallows

1 cup Nestle Toll House Butterscotch Flavored Morsels

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup cocktail peanuts, chopped (didn’t have any)

for crust:

1  Coat 13 x 9″ baking pan and rubber spatula with Pam.

2  Melt butter over low heat in medium saucepan.  Add marshmallows and peanut butter; stir until melted.  Remove from heat.  Add cereal; stir until coated.  Press onto bottom of prepared pan, using prepared rubber spatula.

for fudge:

3  Combine sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt in medium saucepan.  Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Boil, stirring constantly, for 4 – 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.

4  Stir in marshmallows, morsels, peanut butter and vanilla.  Stir vigorously for 1 minute or until marshmallows and morsels are melted.  Pour over crust.  Sprinkle nuts over fudge; press in slightly.  Refrigerate until set.  Cut into squares.

Butter Pecan Bars

by penji1

Here is another variation on the cake mix bar cookie recipe from Stephanie Ashcraft’s “101 More Things to do with a Cake Mix”.  Courtney had some friends coming over tonight and they don’t like chocolate!  What?  So I pulled out my cake mix cookbooks and looked over all the yummy ones that I’ve never made for my family because they aren’t chocolate and this one looked pretty good and was the one that Cort chose.  And, I have to say, for not being chocolate, they are pretty good!  🙂

bars:

1 butter pecan or white cake mix (I used white)

2 eggs

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chopped pecans

frosting:

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

2 – 3 tablespoons milk

24 – 30 pecan halves, optional

1  Preheat oven to 350.  With a spoon, mix cake mix, eggs, butter and vanilla together.  Stir in pecans.  Press dough into a lightly greased 9 x 13″ pan.  Bake 14 – 16 minutes or until light golden brown around edges.  Cool 15 – 20 minutes.

2  Mix butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and milk to make frosting.  Spread evenly over top of cooled dessert.  Cut into bars.  Place a pecan half in center of each bar if desired.

Mint Chocolate Delights

by penji1

It is rainy and snowy and sleety and slushy here today so it’s the perfect day to make cookies and stay inside.  I went to Target a few days ago and found these Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate and Mint Limited Edition Morsels on clearance for $1.28 a bag, regularly $2.59 a bag so I grabbed 5 bags and started to walk away but then thought better of it and went back and grabbed 5 more bags.  This is one of the recipes on the back of the bag, there is also one for brownies which I’m sure will show up here sooner or later, probably sooner.  I’ll tell you this, they certainly live up to their name as they are truly delightful!

2 cups flour

2/3 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1 2/3 cups (10 package) Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate and Mint Morsels

1  Preheat oven to 325.

2  Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in small bowl.  Beat butter, sugars and vanilla until creamy.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in morsels.  Use cookie scoop or generous tablespoon, drop onto ungreased cookie sheets.

3  Bake for 11 – 13 minutes or until cookies are puffed and centers are set.  Cool on baking sheets 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen

Cold Stone Birthday Cupcakes

by penji1

I just got back last night from spending 2 weeks with my parents (my dad had open heart surgery after suffering a heart attack in November so I went to try and help out a bit) and while I was there it was my birthday.  My mom asked what I wanted for my bday and since I have been wanting to try the ice cream cupcakes from Cold Stone, I told her that’s what I wanted instead of a birthday cake and it was a good choice because they were delicious!  I highly recommend them!  They were $10 for the 6 which I thought was a pretty good deal since regular cupcakes in all these trendy cupcakes shops are over $2 each.  Here is a description of each of the flavors:

The ones on the left with the pink frosting are “Cake Batter Deluxe”; here is the description:  “a rich Belgian chocolate cup filled with a layer of moist Red Velvet cake, fudge and Cake Batter ice cream and topped with fluffy pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles”.

The ones in the middle with the chocolate curls are “Sweet Cream”; here is their description:  “a rich Belgian chocolate cup filled with a layer of moist yellow cake, fudge and Sweet Cream ice cream and topped with fluffy white frosting and milk and white chocolate curls”.

The ones on the end topped with an Oreo are “Double Chocolate Devotion”; here is their description:  “a rich Belgian chocolate cup filled with a layer of Devil’s Food cake, fudge and Chocolate ice cream and topped with fluffy white frosting and an Oreo cookie”.

Can you guess which was my favorite?

Paula Deen’s Baked Spaghetti

by penji1

This recipe comes from the January/February 2012 issue of the Food Network Magazine.  I’m eating some as I type this up and it is really good but I bet it will be even better tomorrow after it sits in the fridge for a day.  It isn’t hard to make but it is time consuming so if you’re going to make this for dinner some night, give yourself about 2 hours.  I made it today for my family because I am flying to my parent’s house in Illinois tonight to be with them for my dad’s open heart surgery on Thursday.  He had a heart attack right before Thanksgiving so they are going to fix him all up!  The blog will probably be pretty quiet for the next couple of weeks while I am back there.  I’m sure I’ll be doing some cooking but don’t know if I’ll have the time to be blogging.  Any good thoughts and/or prayers you might care to send our way would be greatly appreciated!

2 cups canned diced tomatoes (I used a 14.5 oz can)

2 cups tomato sauce (or 2 8 oz cans)

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced green bell pepper (forgot to get this at the store and didn’t want to go back for it)

2 cloves garlic, chopped (or pressed)

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (left this out)

1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

2 small bay leaves

1 1/2 pounds hamburger

8 ounces angel hair pasta (I used spaghetti)

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese

1  Preheat oven to 350.

2  Combine tomatoes, tomato sauce, 1 cup water, onion, bell pepper, garlic, parsley, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, garlic powder, seasoned salt, sugar and bay leaves in stockpot.  Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and let simmer, covered, 1 hour.

3  Cook hamburger over medium high heat until fully cooked and no pink color remains.  Drain fat, then add to stockpot and simmer for 20 more minutes.

4  Meanwhile, bring large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add pasta and cook according to package directions.

5  Cover bottom of 3 quart baking dish with 1/3 of sauce.  Add 1/2 of pasta, the 1/3 of each cheese.  Repeat layers, ending with sauce.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Top with remaining cheese and continue to bake until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 more minutes.

Cookies ‘n Cream Ice Cream

by penji1

Bob got me the ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid mixer for Christmas and I’ve been wanting to try it out so here is the first batch.  It was pretty runny as it needs to be put in the freezer after mixing it in the mixer but no one wanted to wait so we sampled it right away and it was really good.  This recipe is one that came with the ice cream maker attachment but of course you could use this recipe with any ice cream maker.  A few years ago Bob got me a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream cookbook so I’m looking forward to trying out some of those with my new toy!

2 1/2 cups half and half

8 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups whipping cream

4 teaspoons vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups chopped Oreos or other cookies, nuts or candy (I used mint Oreos)

1  In medium saucepan over medium heat, heat half and half until very hot but not boiling, stirring often.  Remove from heat and set aside.

2  Place egg yolks and sugar in mixer bowl.  Using wire whip attachment, on speed 2, mix eggs and sugar for about 30 seconds or until well blended an slightly thickened.  Still on speed 2, very gradually add half and half and mix until well blended.  Return mixture to saucepan; cook over medium heat until small bubbles form around edge and mixture is steamy, stirring constantly.  Do not boil.  Transfer mixture to large bowl; stir in whipping cream, vanilla and salt.  Cover and chill thoroughly, at least 8 hours.

3  Attach ice cream mixer to mixer.  Turn to STIR (speed 1).  Pour mixture into freezer bowl.  Continue to STIR for 15 – 20 minutes or until desired consistency.  Add cookies during last 1 – 2 minutes of freeze time.  Serve immediately or freeze in airtight container.