Happy Spring!

Our Wisteria had lovely blooms on it for about 2 weeks.

Happy Spring!  I realize there are some parts of the country that have recently gotten snow, so they might not be feeling too Spring-y......but here in So Cal we've gone head first into summer weather!  It's been in the mid-80's the last few days.....it's beautiful, I gotta say.......

I've been so busy with the monkeys this year (between school, birthdays, activities, holidays), that I realized I completely forgot to blog about Easter.  The first Easter we got to host for our family!  Easter in our family involves all of the cousins (9 kiddos in all) and it's a sugar-fueled day of fun.

Adding into the fun, was the fact that the day after Easter was the hubby's birthday, and the day after that was my nephew James' 7th birthday.  So, on top of doing an Easter dessert, I needed to do something that could also double as a birthday cake.  I had seen a couple of people do Peeps cakes on Pinterest, so I took that idea and ran with it.

I made a white cake (any recipe, or white box cake mix will do), and tinted the 3 layers to match the colors of the Peeps that I found (pink, yellow, and purple).  For frosting I used my go-to Dulce de Leche buttercream frosting from Bakers Royale.

Once the cake was frosted I added my Peeps to the sides of the cake and topped the whole thing off with a bag of Easter colored M&Ms.  Completely over the top and loaded with sugar, but so much fun.  And check out the adorable Happy Birthday candles I found at Target......perfect for having the two guys blowing out the candles!

But it's the inside of the cake that surprises everyone.......

It's colored to match the Peeps on the outside!

I also decided to make an edible centerpiece for the dining room table.....check out my little lambs!

These are straight off the cover of Cupcakes, Cookies, and Pies, Oh, My!  They were a cute and fun little addition to the table (their bodies are pound cake, the head is a Milano cookie), but kind of time consuming considering all of the other things I was making for the day.  If you'd like to give these bad boys a try, here are the instructions.

Well, that's it for now..........off to go make some dessert for a dinner party we're going to tonight (adults only....yeah!).  Enjoy!

All of the cousins on Easter!

My little monkeys

The birthday boys!

Happy Belated St. Paddy's Day

St. Paddy's Day has come and gone yet again.......one of my favorite baking times of the year.  No one looks at you weird for throwing in booze into delicious baked goods.....in fact, people request it!  So as I was figuring out what recipes I was going to try this year our whole house started getting sick.

It started with pink eye....something I still find absolutely disgusting, and had never experienced until having kids.  Mom and both monkeys got it.....eye drops all around.  Then a mysterious virus for Mom that felt like strep throat but wasn't testing as it.  Then a 6 day flu for our oldest monkey with fevers spiking around 104.5 the first few days.  Finally a strep diagnosis and antibiotics for Mom after struggling with it for about 10 days.  And now another round of pink eye.  Ick!  I'm surrounded by germs!!

All of that to say that I really didn't get around to trying any other fun St. Paddy's Day recipes.  Boo.  Guess it's time to move onto Easter.

But before we do, I did manage to squeeze one super simple St. Paddy's Day recipe in after dinner yesterday.  It's Irish Coffee Pudding from Sprinkles Bakes, and it was a huge hit with the hubby!!  This one couldn't be simpler......just throw it together on the stovetop and chill for a couple of hours, then top with whipped cream.  A little coffee, a little whiskey......what could be wrong?

Check out Sprinkles Bakes for the recipe.....and Enjoy!

My little monkeys!

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

There's something about boozy desserts.  I gotta admit, I have a blast baking with booze.....so in some ways this is the most wonderful time of the year!  What a better excuse to do some boozy baking than St. Paddy's Day!  Luckily I've got quite a few friends who share in my love of boozy desserts, so these were pretty darn easy to pass around.

This year I've got a couple of new St. Paddy's Day recipes that I want to try, so first up.....Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes from Bakers Royale.  These bad boys are a chocolate cupcake with Guinness and coffee in it.....it makes for an incredibly chocolate-y cupcake.  Fill those bad boys with some Bailey's buttercream frosting, and top off all of that with a whiskey buttercream.  And not just any buttercream, but a Swiss meringue buttercream.  If you have not tried making Swiss meringue buttercream, you don't know what you're missing!  It makes for an amazingly smooth and light frosting.  I prefer this to pretty much every other kind of frosting.  It takes a little bit more work, cooking egg whites and sugar in a double boiler till you hit 150 degrees.....then whipping up in a stand mixer until cooled off and forming stiff peaks (basically marshmallow fluff), then you add all your butter and flavorings.  But seriously.....so.....worth......it.

There's quite of bit of booze in these cupcakes (unless you ask the hubby, who says there's still not enough).  I've always been a fan of Bailey's in frosting.....but the whiskey buttercream was surprisingly delicious!  And powerful enough to make you happy :)

The only note I'll make to this recipe is to watch the bake time of your cupcakes.  The recipe states 35-40 minutes, but in my oven it was closer to 30.

So check out Bakers Royale for the recipe....and Enjoy!

Cream Puffs

Cream puffs have always been high on my favorite desserts list.  What's not to like, right?  Delicious pastry filled with some sort of creamy center and occasionally dunked in chocolate.

I never had the guts to attempt them at home though.....the thought of making the dough, something called Pate a Choux just seemed to be slightly too daunting to me.  Until my dear friend Jackie stayed with us for a few days.  As one of my few friends who actually enjoys baking, she decided that the two of us together could tackle this recipe.  After going through my millions of cookbooks (and looking at Julia Child, Martha Stewart, etc), we decided on Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Profiteroles recipe.

Well, I'm happy to report that these are actually not that hard at all!  Just be sure that you read through the instructions thoroughly so that you had an idea of what you're doing, since this process is quite different from most things you'll make.  And once you get the dough together, it's time to put your piping skills to work.  We used the Pate a Choux dough to make cream puffs.....but you could just as easily bust out some eclairs (which I think I'll do next time around).  I think our were in the oven a minute or two too long.....I would rather seem them less browned on top.  However, once we filled these with whipped cream.....they disappeared awfully fast!  The Barefoot Contessa recipe actually slices these bad boys in half and puts a scoop of ice cream in there.  Or you could make some pastry cream to fill them.  So many choices!

The hubby's only comment was that he would have loved the tops dipped in chocolate.  Next time!  Check out the Food Network site for Barefoot Contessa's recipe....and Enjoy!

Thanks for the photo bomb sweetie!

Ninjago!!

How did I forget to post this one?  I made these last year, and as a Mom of two little boy monkeys......well, these were a huge hit.  Ninjago.  If you have little boys in your family, you've heard of it (TV show....and a crazy amount of Lego toys).  If you don't have boys.....well then, you may have escaped this one ;)  Both of my boys have been crazy for this series since it first came out, so when a dear friend told me that she was throwing a Ninjago birthday party for her Kindergartener, I jumped at the chance to try to do some Oreo pops of these guys.

What you'll need:

Oreos

lollipop sticks

yellow candy melts

black candy melts

candy melts for each of the colors of the ninjas you want to include, I used:

red candy melts

white candy melts

black candy melts

green candy melts

blue candy melts

plastic squeeze bottles or plastic bags

To do these, you'll start with the basic Oreo Pop technique that How Does She has detailed in a step-by-step.  One you've got your base color (Which ninja did you start with?  The blue and green ninjas are the most popular at our house!), you're going to add an rounded rectangle of yellow for the face, using yellow candy melts.  Next, it's time for the eyes and eyebrows, using black candy melts, or chocolate.  I found that using a little squeeze bottle was easiest to get perfect little dots for the eyes.

Lastly it's time for their head wraps.  You're going to drizzle more of the colored candy melt, just like you do for the Mummy Oreo Pops.  And voila!  You've got yourself a team of ninjas!

Have fun!  And Enjoy!

Happy New Year?

Happy New Year everyone!  Yeah, I realize I'm almost a month late to that party......I have no idea how the month of January has managed to completely fly by!  Once school started back up after winter break, it feels like time just whizzed by, and now it's already time to start planning for Valentine's Day!

Well, here's a cake that could easily be changed up for Valentine's Day!  You've probably seen a cake completely doused in sprinkles somewhere on Pinterest.  I used the post I found at Raspberri Cupcakes for inspiration, and did an ombre layered cake inside.  The great thing about this is that you could use your favorite cake recipe (make sure it's a white cake if you're going to do the ombre effect).....heck you could even use a white box cake mix.....no one will know!

I decided to make this as a belated birthday cake......so after asking what her favorite color was, I did the ombre layers in shades of blue.  Just find your favorite color....divide your cake batter into however many layers you're going to do.....and dye each bowl a slightly darker shade (of the same color) than the last bowl.

Once the cake layers have baked and cooled, top with your favorite frosting.  My favorite is the Dulce de Leche Buttercream frosting from Bakers Royale that I use on the Tres Leches Cupcakes.  The only problem that I had was that the frosting I used has a tan tint to it once the dulce de leche is added to it......you could see that a bit where the sprikles weren't completely covering spots on the cake.  So I'd say to stick with a bright white frosting......it would be a better backdrop to the sprinkles (although possible not as yummy!).

A bit of warning about the sprinkles.....no matter what you do, you WILL get sprinkles everywhere.  Even after a very thorough clean-up yesterday, I still found some sticking to the bottom of my feet this morning.  I went through about 3 of the small bottles of nonpareils to cover this bad boy.  After sprinkling the top liberally with the sprinkles I used my hands to get the sides, and at the end used a spatula to scoop up any remaining sprinkles and slap them on the side.

Surprise them with the inside!

The best park of this cake is that while everyone is ooing and aahing over the outside of the sprinkles (because come on.....who doesn't love sprinkles)......you'll totally surprise them with the inside layers!  Love it, love it!  I'll definitely be doing this again and playing around with the inside (purple for me.....ooohhh, and what about rainbow??).

So get in your kitchen and have fun making a mess!  Check out Raspberri Cupcakes for pictures of her stunning Purple Ombre Sprinkles Cake as well as her cake recipe.....and Enjoy!!

Oreo-Stuffed Red Velvet Crinkles

Did you have a Merry Christmas?  As always, we had a crazy busy holiday.....but full of family, friends and fun!  

One of the desserts I brought to my in-laws on Christmas Eve were these Oreo-Stuffed Red Velvet Crinkle cookies from Sprinkles Bakes.  Any dessert containing Oreos is automatically placed on the "To Bake" list at our house.  But with the red velvet cookie outside, and the layer of powdered sugar outside.....these screamed Christmas to me.  

The cookie bakes up to what the hubby described at a cake/cookie.....which meant he loved it!  Be careful how much cookie dough you put around the Oreo though.  The first few I made turned out big enough to feed a neighborhood!  And remember to do a final roll in the powdered sugar right before you stick these bad boys in the oven.......it'll give you an extra crinkle-y outside!

Check out Sprinkles Bakes for the recipe.....and Enjoy!!

Brown Butter Sugar Cookies

Have you tried any of the many cookie recipes out there with brown butter?  I've seen chocolate chip cookie, snickerdoodle, and oatmeal cookie recipes all with brown butter in there.  Out of all of those, this recipe for Chewy Brown Butter Sugar Cookies from Cookies and Cups, was the one that screamed for me to try it.  A brown butter sugar cookie that has been rolled in sugar and then covered in a brown butter icing.....sounds delicious!

As you can see from the picture, I ended up not using the icing.  Don't get me wrong.....I'm sure it would be fantastic, and perhaps a little over-the-top for the holidays.....but I really felt like these cookies were sweet and rich enough all on their own.  Oh, and delicious!  Did I mention that these are crazy delicious??!!  The hubby just loved these!  I think these may make a second appearance at our house to leave out for Santa this year :)

Give these a try if you're looking for a new holiday cookie to try.....check out Cookies and Cups for the recipe.....and Enjoy!!

Christmas Treats

Oh my.....I can't believe Christmas is almost here!  Every year it feels like time somehow accelerates once the school year starts, and before you know it......the holidays are here!  So, if you're still looking for something cute to put together for the holidays.....here's some ideas:

How about these fun Oreo Snowman Pops?

Or these cute Oreo Penguin Pops?

Feel like doing cakepops instead of Oreo pops?  How about a little Rudolph?

Or a Christmas tree cakepop?

But what about if you're not in the mood to make pops?  Well, how about some Christmas tree cupcakes instead?

Whatever you end up making, just remember to have fun and relax!  It's just sugar :)

Deep Dish Pumpkin Pie with Dulce de Leche Walnut Streusel

Pumpkin pies are a staple at our house during this time of year.  I am not exaggerating when I say that the hubby could eat an entire pumpkin pie in one sitting!  I have my go to pumpkin pie recipe that we love....but I'm always on the look for something different.  I saw this Deep Dish Pumpkin Pie with a Dulce de Leche Walnut Streusel from Sprinkle Bakes.....I knew it would be the perfect grown-up dessert for our Thanksgiving dinner!

Let me say right off the bat......do not make this bad boy unless you are feeding a crowd......or some really hungry guys.  Because it is baked in a springform pan (and uses one of the large cans of pumpkins), this is a seriously huge dessert!

While the inside of this pie is a fairly standard pumpkin pie.....it's the topping on this bad boy that really makes it!  A crunchy walnut streusel that is then topped with ooey-gooey dulce de leche.  Yum yum!

Give this one a try the next time you've got some hungry mouths to feed.  Go to Sprinkle Bakes for the recipe.....and Enjoy!

Farewell Hostess

Did you grow up with Hostess stuff in the house?  I definitely did!  As I've said before.....my mom has never been much of a baker....so growing up I remember a lot of Hostess fruit pies (yuck), Twinkies (yum), chocolate cupcakes (yummer), and Ding-Dongs (yummiest!).  Well, with all the talk of the Hostess bakery closing, I couldn't stop thinking about making something Hostess.  I probably would have just gone to the grocery store and bought something, but apparently people decided to make a run on the stores and start selling everything on Ebay (seriously....you can buy Twinkies on Ebay....crazy!)......so, I decided to just do it myself!

I decided that I would make these as my kiddo dessert for Thanksgiving.....I mean, who doesn't love a chocolate cupcake??  Luckily I had saved a recipe for "Faux-stess" cupcakes from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen, and believe me.....these did not disappoint!  Every single one of them was devoured!

The best part for me (because I didn't have too much time to do these)?  The recipe uses a boxed Devil's Food cake mix!  Now, I normally would much rather make cupcakes from scratch....and there are some recipes for Faux-stess cupcakes that are from scratch......but I just decided to go with it, since I was under a time crunch.  Then you fill the cupcakes up with a vanilla frosting that I thought tasted a lot like the original.  "Only better", according to the hubby.

And then there's the top of the cupcake.  A can of chocolate frosting!  Seriously!  Did you know that you can nuke a can of frosting, then dip a cupcake in it and voila!  Easy peasy chocolate ganache?  I realize it's not the real deal....but come on!  It tastes just like it!  And it was exactly the right topping for these cupcakes!  Such a great trick to know.......I'll be using that again!

Check out Confessions of a Cookbook Queen for the recipe.....and Enjoy!  Now I've got to give homemade Ding-Dongs and Twinkies a try!

Game Time!

We are a UCLA family!  The hubby and I met when we were both at UCLA....and my brother-in-law played football there.  So obviously we have a pretty strong opinion when the UCLA-USC game rolls around every year.  Unfortunately we've played second fiddle to USC for most of the last decade (actually we've only won once in the last 14 years)....but this year was going to be different.

The hubby and I decided to actually head to the game this year with a bunch of UCLA and USC people.  I decided my contribution to the tailgating party had to be some sugar cookies decorated using my edible printer.  Yay!  These are so much fun!

And the best part?  We won!  The worst part?  The pouring rain that we had to walk through when we left the stadium to get to our car.  Soaking wet!!  But it was totally worth it.  A great day with my sweetie :)

Thanksgiving Turkeys

It's almost Thanksgiving!  Are you ready?  Me, well......no.  But at least I don't make the whole dinner......I'm just responsible for dessert.  So every year I usually bring something that's yummy for adults.....and something fun for the kiddos.  Since I'm a little behind this year, I thought I'd show some of the turkeys I've done over the last few years.....in case you're looking for some cute inspiration :)

First off are some Oreo and candy turkeys that I had seen over at Our Best Bites.  We used these as placecards on our kids table that year.

Next up are turkey cakepops.  I haven't made many cakepops lately....I've been making Oreo pops more often since they tend to be quicker to make.  But people sure do love cakepops!  I usually make red velvet cakepops......but with these turkeys I decided that it might be creepy if you bit into a turkey and it was red inside.  I ended up doing a yellow cake instead.  For the step-by-step instructions on how to make these, check out Bakerella.

Lastly we've got a combination of the first two.....Oreo turkey pops.  I used a combination of mini and regular Oreos for these, and still found them to be quicker to make than the cakepops.

So that's it!  Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!  

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Carrot cake is something that falls into the "take it or leave it" category.  Not really my thing.  Chocolate.......caramel.......now THOSE are my things.  However, I do try really hard to make other people's favorite things as well as my own.

For my father-in-law's birthday I decided to try a new carrot cake recipe for him, since carrot cake is one of his favorites (as well as a favorite of most of the guys in our family).  When I think of carrot cake, I usually think of a really heavy overly-spiced cake with gobs of drab cream cheese frosting.  Hmmm......based on that description, I guess you can figure out why I'm not a huge fan of it.

I tried the Carrot Cake Cupcake recipe from the SoNo Baking Company Cookbook.  I've had the book for a while, and just hadn't gotten around to trying anything yet.  These were a huge hit!  The cupcakes are light and fluffy (it uses cake flour, instead of AP flour), with just enough spice.  And can we talk about the amazing cream cheese frosting on these bad boys??!??  It's got the addition of orange zest and fresh ginger!  It totally wakes up and brightens the frosting.  Delicious!

Give these cupcakes a try the next time you have a hankering for carrot cake.  You won't be disappointed!  Go to Project Foodie for the recipe.......and Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Toffee Cookies with Salted Caramel Glaze

It's Pumpkin Time y'all!  Ok, I don't know where the y'all came from, seeing that I'm a Californian and all.......but I am awfully excited that all things pumpkin are here!  The hubby's favorite dessert of all time is pumpkin pie.....and since I get sick of making the same thing all the time, I have quite of list of pumpkin desserts that I make around here.  Now, I've got a new one to add to the list.....

These Pumpkin Toffee Cookies with Salted Caramel Glaze are A-MA-ZING!  You get the deliciously soft and cake-like pumpkin cookie studded with toffee chips......and then top that with a sweet and salty caramel glaze.  What is not to like about that??  I've already made two batches of these in the last two weeks, and both times they were a hit!

So get into the Fall spirit and give these a try.  Check out Two Peas and Their Pod for the recipe....and Enjoy!

Cherry-Bourbon Pie

I realize that it's not really cherry season right now (bring on the pumpkin desserts, right?).....but sometimes, when you're making someone's favorite dessert, you just have to break the rules!

In this case, it's my Dad's favorite dessert.  Cherry Pie.  Ever since I was a kid, I remember him asking my Mom every day if there was any cherry pie for dessert after dinner.  Well, my Mom wasn't the kind to bake a cherry pie, so the answer was usually "No", unless there was a store bought pie, or worse, those Hostess fruit pies (is there anything worse than that syrup goop they pass of a "fruit"??).

My parents were just out here visiting us, and since my Dad's birthday is coming up, I figured I should try making him a cherry pie.  I decided to go with a recipe I saw on Bon Appetit for Cherry-Bourbon Pie.....booze makes everything better, right?

The recipe doesn't call for fresh cherries (which is perfect since it's not cherry season), but instead calls for jarred cherries, and recommends Trader Joe's Dark Morello cherries.  With the addition of bourbon, the crumb topping, and a bit of both orange zest and juice in the pie, this was a huge hit!  Both the birthday boy and the hubby loved this.  Guess I'll be making it again!

For the recipe, go to Bon Appetit......and Enjoy!!

Apple Brownies

Is it Fall yet?  I ask this question every year around this time.  Southern California always seems to have some crazy heat waves in October....just when you think it should be getting a lovely and Fall-y (I'm sorry, I'm just sick of 90 degree+ weather).  I'm more than ready to put away shorts and t-shirts and bust out some pants and sweaters.  

To make myself feel better about the weather, I tend to start baking Fall inspired desserts a lot.  Sorry summer-y desserts.....we'll see you next year........

I decided I was ready for something apple-y, and found this recipe for Apple Brownies in the latest issue of Martha Stewart.  Brownies isn't really the right word for these......they don't have a brownie denseness.....but they do have an amazing texture and flavor, and were a hit all around!

Give these a try and get a taste of Fall.  Check out Martha Stewart for the recipe.....and Enjoy!

Momofuku Apple Pie Cake

Yep.....I'm still being a flaky blogger.  I swear I'm going to try to be better!  In all honestly I have barely turned on the oven at our place lately.......we are still baking in 90 to 100+ degree weather here, and the idea of turning on a hot oven is just completely unappealing.  I'm dreaming of cooler fall weather (this happens to me every year at this time).  So instead, I discovered an amazing cake I actually made last year and never wrote about......how did I forget this one!!

May I introduce you to the Momofuku Milk Bar Apple Pie Cake?!?  This giant bad boy has a bunch of components that all together make a delicious dessert!  Give yourself plenty of time to put together each of these components together......and remember......none of them are very difficult (it's only intimidating when you look at the long list of recipes).  For this cake you're going to need to make:

1 recipe Barely Brown Butter Cake
1 recipe Apple Cider Soak
1 recipe Liquid Cheesecake
1 recipe Pie Crumb
1 recipe Apple Pie Filling
1 recipe Pie Crumb Frosting

The final cake has all of these wonderful layers that you'll leave visible (you worked hard on this, you want people to see them) by using strips of acetate to wrap around the cake (I found some at my local bakery supply shop).  I would suggest making this cake over the course of several days.  Once the cake is assembled, you'll need to place it in the freezer for at least 12 hours so that it can set up.  Then you'll just wait for the ooohs and aaaahs when you plate this bad boy!

For the recipe, check out Sweet Peony or the Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook......and Enjoy!!

Lime and Blackberry Italian Meringue Pie

Hi there!  Remember me?  I used to be a good blogger and write up about all the delicious stuff going on in my kitchen.  Yeah, well, then I got really busy this summer.  Between the big move and keeping the kiddos occupied this summer, and getting ready for school......I just didn't seem to have time to spend on the computer.  I was still baking a bunch.....but just had no time to talk about it.

Sorry about that.  I was chastised by a couple of my friends for never posting....so all I can say is......ummmm, I'll try to be better now :) Our oldest just started his brand new school today (first grade.....sniff sniff) and our youngest is in preschool.  Theoretically, this means Mommy will actually have a few hours to get stuff done during the week......so we'll see how that goes!

This weekend we got together for my Mother-in-law's birthday.  We just got back from a trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan a few days, so I was still feeling a touch jetlagged, but decided to try something different for the birthday party.  I decided to make something fruity and still summer-y and found this recipe for a Lime and Blackberry Italian Meringue Pie from Bon Appetit.  I don't know about you, but Italian Meringue is one of my favorite things ever.  Why?  Because it basically tastes like marshmallow!  And who doesn't love marshmallow??

This recipe has several different components, but none of them are too difficult.  And can we talk about the magic that happens when you make a blackberry compote using red wine?  Holy guacamole!  I'm not a wine drinker at all....but man oh man.....something magic happened there.  You gotta try it.  Why go back to boring lemon meringue pie ever again?

Check out Bon Appetit for the recipe.....and Enjoy!

PS - Here's a couple of pictures from our trip

Leaving 100+ degree weather in So Cal for the 70 degrees in Michigan was fantastic!

Love the beautiful antique wooden boats.

You couldn't keep the boys out of the water.

We had a few people with us!

We were celebrating my beautiful sister and my new brother-in-law's wedding!

The sunsets were stunning!

I had a little fun with one of the boys' pictures.

Crazy Feta

Now that summer is in full swing, are you in need of any new dip recipes?  You must try this awesome recipe for Crazy Feta from Jessica over at How Sweet It Is.

Feta cheese, roasted garlic, and roasted jalapenos......it makes for a tasty dip with a kick that you'll love!  I'm not a person that loves spicy foods.....but this one is just spicy enough that it doesn't get in the way of taste.  Let your salsa and guacamole take a little vacation and give this a try.

Go to How Sweet It Is for the recipe....and Enjoy!