Scrumptious Scones

I had some fruit that I definitely wasn't going to eat before it went bad and didn't want to just throw away, so why not take it as a baking opportunity. I started out making your basic blueberry scone but decided to jazz it up with some orange zest and a little orange juice. Then took the same recipe but used strawberries and more orange zest and juice to make a yummy new version of my original scone recipe. Both turned out to be a pretty delicious treat and were gobbled up the following morning at work. I can't remember where the recipe came from but I'm thinking just using it as a base and adding whatever fruit you may like, or have on hand would make a pretty tasty treat!

"Blueberry Scones"
3/4 cup flour
3/4 sugar
1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening
2tbsp cold butter
1 cup blueberries ( or mix it up and add what ya want!)

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Cut in shortening and butter to make a course meal.
Stir in blueberries (or any fruit).
Beat together milk and eggs then add to mixture.
Combine all ingredients, gather up the dough with floured hands (it's pretty sticky) and pat out to 1/2 thickness on a floured surface.
Cut dough with a 2 1/2 cutter (or in any shape you want) and place on cookie sheet.
Bake at 425 for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

And enjoy!

Chocolate Chips, Oreos, and Brownies.. Oh My!

Being a chocolate lover, three of my favorite things have to be a good homemade chocolate chip cookie, Oreo's in milk, and fudge brownies.  This dessert manages to combine all three and it is a total hit!  With or with out extra fudge sauce, ice cream; warm or cold, these Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie  n' Oreo Fudge Brownie Bars is one dessert is defintely worth the effort and the wait!  It has a process to it, and it takes a while in the oven, but if you are looking for the most delicious guilty pleasure ever, something to use all those extra/activity points on, or just some comfort junk food, get baking! 

I mostly followed the recipe from the link above, have yet to try adding the fudge sauce in the brownie mix and even without it they are still an oooey-gooey mess that you just want to eat the whole pan!  Probably the fastest I have every seend a dessert go at work and trying in on the family this weekend but I'm gonna assume it will probably go over with a big hit with them.

ENJOY!

Mini goodness!

I love bite size desserts! They are so easy to eat and what's better than a convenient sweet treat!? So here we go with another treat for my sister's upcoming nuptials.

Mini Cheesecakes!

I got the recipe from a book call "Petite Sweets" by Beatrice Ojakangas. My mouth was watering just looking through this book but when I turned the page to her mini cheesecakes I knew it was something I needed to try. And I just happened to order a mini cheesecake pan to go with it! Match made in heaven, yes?!

I altered the recipe some. I used a dessert wine from one of our favorite recipes for the light rum or liqueur and made my own graham cracker crust from another cheesecake recipe. I found that 1 pkg of graham crackers (about 9 sheets) chopped fine in a food processor mixed with an 1/8 of a cup (used 1/2 my 1/4 measuring cup) of sugar and 4 tbsp melted butter all mixed together makes a pretty good crust. I used a heaping tbsp for each crust packed in the bottom of each cup in the pan. After making my cheesecake base I used about 2 scoops of my small dough scooper in each cup. After they bake up, and cool off some, they are so easy to take out of the pan with the removable bottoms and then load up the pan again. This recipe yields about 18 mini cheesecakes in the mini cheesecake pan! I really recommend purchasing one. I topped mine with carmel and chocolate ganache, but go topping crazy! And ENJOY!

Brownies for the Wine Lover

Never thought I would be one who would enjoy wine, but after a few quality trips to the California Central Coast, I am in love! It is always fun to strike up a conversation with the servers in the tasting rooms and on more than one occasion the discussion leads to food.  Not just food and wine pairrings but how to cooke with wine beyond just drinking it will preparing your meal.  We all know of some of the norms when it comes to cooking with wine, but who thinks to bake with wine that often?

 One tasting room server shared an excellent recipe for some of the most moist, rich brownies you will ever have but so easy to make.  Take your store bought brownie mix, one that you have to add water and oil to (most you do but there are the occasional odd ones that ask for just oil or just water).  Instead of addding water, add the equal amount of your favorite port wine (I always add an extra splash).  Do everything else according to the package.  You can even drop in some dark chocolate chips after the batter is in the pan, just a little extra chocolate kick. 

Of course here is another wedding treat to add to the list.  Before my sister began her current career in the world of tech PR, she worked in the wine industry, and her and her future husband are wine lovers. So wedding treat #3....

I did these in a mini muffin pan to create simple brownie bites and added a bittersweet chocolate drop in the center. If you serve these from a regular pan top the warm brownies with some ice cream and pour a little of the port over the top... Mmmm

Happy Birthday Julia!

Happy 100th Birthday Julia Child!


Courtesy of Wikipedia

Grab a cook book and get cookin!  Author of some tasty culinary collections and a true original celebrity chef, this women has inspired so many in the culinary field.  To celebrate I'll definitely be looking to add to my collection of culinary literature and purchases a cook book, or volume of her works and see what fun can come from it!  You don't have to be the best trained cook to make good food, just have to be willing to take the first step and try and see what happens! 

National S'more Day

Yup, that's right, it is National S'more Day!  And one interesting request from my sister sent me on a s'more search.  In discussing treats for my sister's wedding and seeing what she would want she presented me with the task of some type of s'more treat.  And boy did I find some good treats.  However my favorite so far has to be an updated, less smoke or sticky, verision of the s'more... the S'more Cream Puff.

I was a little aprehensive about making my own cream puffs, but this is probably one of the easier treats I've ever made.  (Note: took them out of the oven at 20 minutes and they deflated a little so will be leaving them in a little longer next time).  Even with just the plain cream puff you have a world of filling/topping options to choose from, but these are S'more Cream Puffs so all we need is a little marshmellow cream, and some decadent chocolate ganache.  You can choose to make your own marshmellow fluff or go with store bought (for my first time, I went with store bought, gonna try going all out next time).  The chocolate ganache with the receipe is amazing and plenitful, so have some extra treats to put it on, or load those cream puffs up!  Also contemplaiting added some graham crackers crumbs somewhere just to get that full effect, but they are delicious as is.  Enjoy!

Classy Twix

Trying to be more adventurous, I found the recipe for Salted Caramel Shortbread Bars courtesy of Annie's Eats and figured why not!? Always wanted to make my own caramel ( definitely beats unwrapping all those little ones) and the recipe seemed like a pretty basic yet delicious mix of chocolate and caramel with a salty shortbread layer and little sprinkle of sea salt to cut through all the sugary sweetness. Turns out they were a big hit! My sister just happens to be a huge fan so..

Wedding dessert #2..
I love the idea of an upgraded Twix Bar! So here it is. Starting with the shortbread layer which I whipped up in my food processor and baked. Pour on all that chewy yummy caramel (FYI you'll be stirring for a while, but it's worth it) and then a creamy chocolate layer ! Soo good!

When Life Gives You Lemons...

...Make Lemon Bars!

In preparation for my sister's wedding (next May) we are doing a little dessert taste test. Since my sister is not a fan of your traditional wedding cake, and she knows giving me a task to prepare and assist in her big day will keep me preoccupied (for a while) she wants an array of desserts for her guests to pick from. My task: makes all those desserts! My reaction of assigned task: YES! Get to use all my baking gadgets, purchase some new ones (mini cheesecake pan adventure to come) and bake lots of fun stuff!

So...

Item 1: Aunt Paula's Lemon Bars

My beautiful aunt provided her recipe for some tangy sweet lemon bars that are fun to make and even better to eat! A shortbread crust with some added lemon zest makes a nice base for the chewy sugary lemony filling and dusted with powder sugar takes you back to a warm summer day with a big ol glass of lemonade! And they preset wonderfully! These will make a wonderful treat for a great wedding!

More wedding test treats to come!

Chocoholics Beware

 I am a HUGE chocoholic and these cupcakes definitely satisfy a BIG chocolate craving!  Kevin & Amanda's Brownie Batter Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes are one of my best chocolate finds yet! 

Here is why:
First, this cupcake can take two days to make with the first step freezing the yummy, gooey, brownie batter center.  You know the process is always going to make a sweet result Totally worth it!

Second, I get to use two of my favorite kitchen gadgets... Cherry, my beautifully red Kitchen Aid Mixer and my new food processor. 

Third, the end result is amazingly chocolate and who can say no to that!

   I had a few of the yummy centers left over and I could eat those by themselves, as well as eating the cupcake without the icing is like a party in your mouth!  The icing just puts you into a chcolate coma!  The recipe did call for the Unsweetened Cocoa "Special Dark" however I only had the regular kind and it was still delicious.  Probably more of a milk chcolate flavor than a rich dark chocolate, so I'm definitely going to have to try these ones again.. soon!

I think I hear one callin my name... MMM!

College Love

Eight years ago I was introduced to an amazing girl that would become my freshmen roommate, best friend, and practically another sister (minus the DNA connection). Last month I had to honor of being a bridesmaid and supporting her when she was saying "I do" to her college sweetheart. Michelle and Lance are an adorable couple and I was so happy not only to be her bridesmaid but also to contribute to her wedding by baking all her favors! My mom helped by making a ton of her specialty chocolate chip cookies (M's favorite) and I contributed my grandmother's rocky road (our go to sweet for those crazy all nighters), some yummy Guinness chocolate cake balls (they met in Ireland) and bite size strawberry pies ( she loves strawberry).

It was a beautiful wedding! Lance and Michelle hosted a fabulous celebration and every part of it reflected them. The ceremony in the chapel of the school where they graduated from, a sparkly reception with a delicious selection of food and sweets, the Molly Dog Lounge to enjoy some drinks (Molly is their lil pup), and a fun photo booth! It was a blast!

Congrats M and Lance! I love you both too much!

Cupcakes of all flavors

Found this website through Pintrest once again! My philosophy with Pintrest: Pin it, Make it, Share it! My coworkers loved this in cupcake form and I even made the Gunniess cupcakes into chocolate covered cake balls for my friends wedding. I'll post more about that wedding later. For the wedding i mentioned in my first post I used the recipes for the lemon, peanut butter and red velvet cupcakes to make those yummy cake pops. Really in cupcake, cake ball, cake pop or just your normal cake form these recipes are delicious. I can't wait to try all of them!

Ming Makes Cupcakes! Mmmm

Pancakes and Bacon for dessert?

We all love breakfast for dinner (even lunch) but you can't beat breakfast for dessert when it comes in this convenient package!

I love Pintrest and it's pretty much been the root of all baking evil in my house since I signed on to it. Luckily I have a lot of brave coworkers that are willing to lend their taste buds to my latest culinary creation. This will be a fun one. But how can you not like pancakes in cupcake form topped with sweet maple butter icing and to add that salty to all that sweet some crispy maple smoked bacon?! I think this will be a hit.

Here is a link to the blog I got this recipe from...The Extraordinary Art of Cake
Check out the rest of her blog while your there.. She's got some yummy stuff!

Cake Pops- A Labor of Love

Congrats once again to my beautiful cousin Leah and the new addition to our family Lee! It was a gorgeous wedding on the Central Coast, topped off with an outstanding party to celebrate this awesome couple.

I had the pleasure of contributing some delightful goodies to a very sweet set up for some yummy favors. My aunt did a beautiful job on this candy buffet and I was honored to contribute some delicious, hand-made cake pops. Flavors from lemon and pink lemonade to Guinness chocolate, black monukka (dessert wine) and red velvet even peanut butter where dipped and decorate in chocolate and wrapped in colorful cupcake liners. Each pop tag bearing the flavor name and one of my favorite quotes "All you need is love." It really is true for a simply fantastic wedding all you need is love and Leah and Lee definitely have it!

Thank you for letting me be a little piece on your big day!