King Cake Pictures

I finally tried out this recipe! My best friend Sharon used to make these when we were roommates back in college (wow, I feel old), and I love eating king cakes when I'm in Louisiana around Mardi Gras. This year (yes, way back in March) I finally tried out the recipe myself, and I thought they turned out well. I've already posted the recipe to this blog; you can find it here.

And yes, I would make this recipe again. :) Next time I might try to add a fruity filling, or a pecan praline-type filling. Mmm....

Snickers Cake

*From the Worldwide Ward Cookbook*

Snickers Cake

1 chocolate cake mix

1 14-oz bag caramels

1/3 C. milk

1/2 C. butter

1 C. chocolate chips

1/2 C. nuts, chopped

1 C. shortening

1 lb. powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla

1 t. butter flavoring

3-4 T. milk

1 C. mini chocolate chips

Mix cake according to package directions. Pour 1/2 of batter into a greased 9 x 13 in. pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min. Melt caramels, milk, and butter. Pour over baked cake. Sprinkle with chocolate ships and nuts. Spread with remaining cake batter. Bake at 250 degrees for 20 minutes. Increase oven to 300 degrees and bake an additional 20 min. When cool, prepare frosting: beat together shortening, powdered sugar, vanilla, and butter flavoring. Stir in enough milk to reach desired consistency. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread over cooled cake. Makes 18 servings.

My take: This was good, but not as awesome as I thought it could be. The frosting was really sweet, and the recipe could have done with less. But we always think recipes have too much frosting (especially Jack). I might make this recipe again if I got the craving or wanted to make a yummy-looking treat for visitors.

Pumpkin Pie

*from Libby's pumpkin pie filling can, and also available on allrecipes.com


1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs
1 (15 ounce) can LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 (12 fluid ounce) can NESTLE® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Combine sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs lightly in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shell.
Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F.; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. (Do not freeze as this will cause the crust to separate from the filling.)


My take: Love this recipe. So easy, and it's just classic pumpkin pie. So if you love pumpkin pie, you'll love this. Definitely a repeater. I most recently made it for our Christmas meal (picture above), and made a few leaf crust cut-outs to cover my knife pokes in the pie. :)

Pumpkin Roll

*From Libby's, found on allrecipes.com


Ingredients

1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle towel with powdered sugar.
COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.
BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.
BEAT cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

My take: This recipe turned out well and was pretty yummy, but was very rich. I made this around Christmas time, an we had lots of other treats in the house, too. So...I don't even think we ended up finishing this. It was just so rich with all the cream cheese filling, so not my favorite. I might repeat this one, but it won't be at the top of my baking to-do list.

Michelle's Soft Sugar Cookies

*From allrecipes.com*

Michelle's Soft Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt


Directions

1.Cream the margarine and add the sugar gradually. Beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition.

2.Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt gradually to the creamed mixture, stirring in by hand. Cover and chill dough overnight.

3.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

4.Roll dough out on a floured surface to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick and cut into your favorite shapes. Place cookies onto the prepared baking sheets.

5.Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 6 to 8 minutes or until cookie has a golden appearance.


My take: I've made sugar cookies in the past but never liked how they came out. Never soft enough. And I've never been a huge sugar cookie fan. I've always thought sugar cookie dough is better than the actual cookies. :) But I like making sugar cookies around the holidays because you get to do all the fun holiday shapes and decorate them. And in recent years I've had some great bakery sugar cookies (i.e. Smart Cookie - so good!) so I wanted to make some sugar cookies that I actually liked. And these passed the test. I'd like to try them again with a different frosting. This time I just used a simple icing recipe from my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, but sometime I'd like to try a good cream cheese frosting. Yum. Anyways, this will now be my go-to sugar cookie recipe. Very good.

Nutella-Almond Pound Cake

*Adapted from a recipe on Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals TV show


While working out one day at our apartment's gym, I was waching the Food Network and saw this idea on Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals show. So I decided to try it out! Here's how you do it:

Use store-bought loaf pound cake (or I just used a mix and made my own, since all the stuff at the store was pre-sliced). Slice the loaf in half lengthwise. Spread Nutella (or any hazelnut spread) over the loaf, then top with toasted sliced almonds:

Reassemble the loaves like so:

Then slice it up and top with whipped cream and berries, if desired. Rachel Ray made some sort of orange whipped cream, so I used heavy whipping cream and added some orange zest, then whipped it up and served with raspberries. I liked it with the berries, but for some reason the whipped cream wasn't my favorite. I actually preferred the pound cake without it. But anyways, this was a yummy, easy dessert idea.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

From Cooking Light October Issue

Bread:
1 1/2 C. mashed ripe banana
1/3 C. plain fat-free yogurt
1/3 C. creamy PB
3 T. butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 C. granulated sugar
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
6.75 oz. all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 C.)
1/4 C. ground flaxseed
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/8 t. ground allspice
2 T. chopped dry-roasted peanuts
Cooking spray

Glaze:
1/3 C. powdered sugar
1 T. 1% low-fat milk
1 T. creamy peanut butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. To prepare bread, combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add granulated and brown sugars; beat until blended.

3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; cool.

4. To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, milk, and 1 T. peanut butter in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle glaze over bread. Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice).


This was actually the first time I've ever made banana bread, and I thought it turned out pretty well, and pretty darn sweet. But I think I'd prefer regular banana bread over the peanut butter banana bread. This was good, but plain banana bread is also good, and why mess with a good thing?

Homemade Cinnamon Bread

*From thepioneerwoman.com

Homemade Cinnamon Bread

Ingredients
■1 cup Milk
■6 Tablespoons Butter
■2-½ teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
■2 whole Eggs
■⅓ cups Sugar
■3-½ cups All-purpose Flour
■1 teaspoon Salt
■⅓ cups Sugar
■2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
■Egg And Milk, Mixed Together, For Brushing
■Softened Butter, For Smearing And Greasing
Preparation Instructions
Melt butter with milk. Heat until very warm, but don’t boil. Allow to cool until still warm to the touch, but not hot. Sprinkle yeast over the top, stir gently, and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Combine flour and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix sugar and eggs with the paddle attachment until combined. Pour in milk/butter/yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add half the flour and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the other half and beat until combined.

Switch to the dough hook attachment and beat/knead dough on medium speed for ten minutes. If dough is overly sticky, add 1/4 cup flour and beat again for 5 minutes.

Heat a metal or glass mixing bowl so it’s warm. Drizzle in a little canola oil, then toss the dough in the oil to coat. Cover bowl in plastic wrap and set it in a warm, hospitable place for at least 2 hours.

Turn dough out onto the work surface. Roll into a neat rectangle no wider than the loaf pan you’re going to use, and about 18 to 24 inches long. Smear with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon together, then sprinkle evenly over the butter-smeared dough. Starting at the far end, roll dough toward you, keeping it tight and contained. Pinch seam to seal.

Smear loaf pan with softened butter. Place dough, seam down, in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix a little egg with milk, and smear over the top. Bake for 40 minutes on a middle/lower rack in the oven.

Remove from the pan and allow bread to cool. Slice and serve, or make cinnamon toast or French toast with it.

How it went:

That is one HUGE loaf! On thepioneerwoman's blog she kept talking about how hard it is to get her bread to rise where she lives (up in Montana or somewhere). I obviously do NOT have that problem here in the desert heat of Las Vegas. I didn't even let the dough rise as long as the recipe calls for, and still this is how big it was!

My take: I'd probably make it again. It was pretty good, and it'd be even better if it hadn't risen so much. That way the bread to cinnamon sugar ratio would be more even. I did find myself thinking that with all the work that went into it, I might as well have made cinnamon rolls. So keep that in mind. But I guess it all depends on what you want - bread, or more of a sugary treat.

Lime Pound Cake with Strawberry Sauce

*From Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade


Lime Pound Cake with Strawberry Sauce


1 (16 oz) boxes pound cake mix
1 1/3 cups water or whole milk (I used water)
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 large eggs
1 t. lime zest
1 T. lime juice
Strawberry Sauce (recipe follows)
Garnish: lime wedges and fresh strawberries


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a tube pan with nonstick baking spray with flour.


2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, water, butter, and eggs; beat at low speed with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium, and beat for 2 minutes, stopping to scrape bowl as needed (batter will be thick). Stir in lime zest and lim juice. Spoon batter into prepared pan.


3. Bake for 1 hour and 10 mintues, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Serve with Straberry Sauce. Garnish with lime wedeges and strawberries, if desired.




Strawberry Sauce


1 1/2 C fresh strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
2 t. lime zest


1. In the work bowl of a food processor, combine strawberries, sugar, and lime zest; process until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides.

My take: This actually turned out pretty well, as evidenced by the fact that Jack and I ate the whole thing by ourselves! Over the course of a few days, of course. I did think the cake was a little dry - could have done with some sour cream or something.


Here are some pictures I took along the way:

Gathering my recipe and ingredients.

Prepared tube pan.

Zesting the lime.


Mixing all those ingredients together.

Adding the lime zest.

And the lime juice.

Time to bake it.

And ta da!

Making the tangy strawberry sauce.




And there you have it.

Better Homes and Gardens Muffins (with chocolate chips)

I started making these soon after we were married (my one and only cookbook was the Better Homes and Gardens one). Anyways, I added chocolate chips to make them a sweet treat, and they do the trick on a Sunday afternoon when I want to make something easy and tasty.

1 3/4 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 beaten egg

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup cooking oil

1 cup chocolate chips

1. Grease or line twelve 2 1/2 inch muffin cups. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

3. In another bowl combine egg, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Add chocolate chips (my addition).

4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each two-thirds full. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 18 to 20 min or unitl golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers come out clean. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin cups; serve warm.

Martha Stewart's Streusel Cupcakes

These turned out pretty well, but were too much work and too much of a mess to probably ever make again. But just in case, here's the recipe:

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1 1/4 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1/2 cup plus 2 T. butter, room temp

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 t. vanilla

1 1/4 cups sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Stir in vanilla by hand. Add flour mixture and sour cream; stir until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups. Sprinkle half the topping over cupcakes, gently spressing it into the batter. Sprinkle evenly with remaining topping. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

To finish, place cupcakes on a wire rack set over a baking sheet; drizzle evenly with milk glaze. Glazed cupcakes can be stored up to 3 days at room temp in airtight containers.

Streusel Topping

2 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar

2 1/4 t. ground cinnamon

3/4 t. coarse salt

1/2 cup plus 2 T. butter

Whisk together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt; cut in the butter using pastry blender, your fingertips, or two table kinves until combined but still crumbly. Refrigerate 30 min before using.

Milk Glaze

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted

3 T. .milk

Whisk together ingredients until smooth. Use immediately.

Easiest Whole Wheat Bread

I used to make bread as a kid. Soooo mormon, I know! :) Anyways, I'd actually never made bread since Jack and I got married. I promised him I really could, and I finally got a few wheat bread recipes from my sisters. This was the first one I tried, and it was soooo easy! It came out really well. I still remember the wheat bread I made as a kid tasting better, but usually you remember things better than they really were, right? Anyways, this recipe is definitely a keeper:

Easiest Whole Wheat Bread

2 (8x4 inch) loaves

1/3 c. oil
1/3 c. honey or ½ c. sugar
2 ¼ tsp salt
2 ¾ c. steaming hot tap water (120- 130 degrees F)
¼ c. gluten flour, sifted
1 ½ T. dough enhancer
1 ¼ T. instant yeast
7-8 c. whole wheat flour


4 (8x4inch) loaves

2/3 c. oil
2/3 c. honey or 1 c. sugar
1 ½ T salt
5 ½ c. steaming tap water
½ c. gluten flour, sifted
3 T dough enhancer
21/2 T. instant yeast
14-16c. whole wheat flour

Mix first four ingredients in mixer with a dough hook. Add ½ of flour and beat. Put in 1-2 more cups of flour, gluten flour, dough enhancer and yeast. Beat again. With mixer on medium speed, add remaining flour just until dough pulls away from sides of the bowl. Knead 6-10 minutes on medium-high speed.

Pre-heat oven for 1 minute to LUKE WARM and turn off. Spray or oil pans. Pour dough onto oiled counter, divide and shape into loaves and put into pans. Let loaves rise for 35 minutes in warmed oven. Do not remove bread from oven; turn oven to 350 and bake for 30 minutes. Tip out of pans and onto cooling rack.
With wheat flour, always add the least amount of flour possible to keep bread moist.

(I made the 2-loaf recipe and substituted 1/4 cup potato flakes and 1 1/4 T. vinegar for the dough enhancer.)

King Cake

So I actually haven't even tried this recipe yet. But it's from Sharon, and when she's made it it's turned out really good. And if I post it here, I'll be able to find it easily. :) I'm hoping to make it for Mardi Gras this year (Feb 16th), and if so I'll post pictures. But in the meantime, here's a great King Cake recipe:


King Cake


1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 (16-oz.) carton sour cream

1/3 c. sugar

1 t. salt

1 pkgs. dry yeast

1 T. sugar

1/2 c. warm water (105 º to 115 º)

2 eggs

6 to 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

Also:

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

Colored frostings

Colored Sugars



Combine the first 4 ingredients in a saucepan; heat until butter melts, stirring occasionally. Let mixture cool to 105 º to 115 º.

Dissolve yeast and 1 T. sugar in warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add butter mixture, eggs, and 2 cups of flour; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes or by hand until smooth. Gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.

Turn dough out onto a lightly-floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes). Place in a well-greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place free from drafts, for 1 hour or until dough is doubled in bulk.

Combine 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon; set aside.

Pinch dough down and it divide in half. Turn one portion of dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll to a 28" X 10" rectangle. Spread half of the butter and half of the cinnamon mixture on the rolled out dough. Roll dough, jelly roll fashion, starting at the long side. Gently place dough roll, seam side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bring ends of dough together and form an oval ring. If you have access to a tiny plastic baby, tuck it into the seam before you seal it. If not, use a large, dried bean. Moisten and pinch the edges together to seal.

Repeat this procedure with the second half of the dough.

Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 20 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Bake at 375 º for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Decorate each cake with bands of colored frostings, and sprinkle with colored sugars.

Makes 2 cakes.



Cream Cheese Filling

1 8-oz. package cream cheese

1 c. confectioners sugar

2 T. flour

1 t. vanilla

drop or two of milk

Cream all ingredients together with an electric mixer. Spread on the rolled-out rectangle before rolling it into a ring. You can use cream cheese and a fruit filling if you so desire.



Colored Frostings

3 cups sifted powdered sugar

3 T. butter of margarine, melted

3 to 5 T. milk

1/4 t. vanilla extract

1 to 2 drops each green, yellow, red, and blue food coloring

Combine powdered sugar and melted butter. Add milk (room temperature) to reach desired consistency for drizzling; stir in vanilla. Divide frosting into 3 batches, tinting one with green, one with yellow, and combining blue and red for purple frosting. Makes about 1 - 1/2 cups.


Colored Sugars - sprinkle over frosting, if desired.