Baked French Toast Casserole

For a Paula Deen recipe this actually wasn't tooooo unhealthy! Super easy for a morning brunch AND the directions actually want you to make it the night before - so no super early morning preparing! This would be easy enough to make multiple batches and was so tasty!!

Both kids said they didn't like french toast - tried some and changed their minds!

I served this baked french toast with bacon, Bacon and Spinach Quiche, and fresh fruit. A perfectly easy mostly make ahead brunch!

Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup
Adapted from Paula Deen
Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients
1 loaf Challah bread (16 ounces) cut/ripped into 1 inch squares
8 large eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 cup 1% milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash salt

Praline Topping - combine the following ingredients in a medium bowl:
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans/waluts
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
Tear or slice bread into 1-inch squares. Arrange cubes in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch baking dish.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt and wisk until well blended. 

Pour mixture over the bread and make sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. 

Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake (without foil) for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. 

Serve with maple syrup.

Spinach and Bacon Quiche

Um, this was incredible and totally was perfect for brunch! It has protein right?! I swapped out the heavy cream for half and half, used 1/3 pound of bacon, omitted the extra salt, and only used a small sprinkle of cheese. I adjusted the amounts and it will JUST fit into the 9 inch pie plate. If you are going to add more cheese I would reduce the bacon and use 5 eggs.

This is easy enough to make the morning of your brunch within an hour (about 15 minutes of prep work) - but make the bacon the night before!

I baked the bacon at 350F for 15 minutes on a foil lined cookie tray.

Spinach and Bacon Quiche

adapted from Paula Deen
serves 8

6 large eggs
1 1/4 cups half and half
Pepper
2 cup chopped fresh baby spinach, packed
1/3 pound bacon, cooked well done and crumbled
A sprinkle of cheese (cheddar, Swiss, or mozzarella)
3 scallions, chopped
1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust, fitted to a 9-inch glass pie plate

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Bake pie crust in 9 inch pie plate for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile...

Microwave spinach for 2-3 minutes, then chop. Squeeze spinach in a couple paper towels or a cheese cloth to remove most of the water.

Whisk the eggs, cream, and pepper in a large bowl - really really well!

On the hot pie crust add a sprinkle of cheese (this helps keep the crust from getting soggy), then add the spinach, scallions, and the crumbled bacon.

Pour the egg mixture on top. 

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the egg mixture is mostly set with a slight jiggle. 

Cut into 8 wedges.

Spaetzle

While tasty I did NOT have the correct technique. These were a pain to make and made a mess of my kitchen!

The dough was very sticky and elastic-y. It was like a very thick pancake batter. This made it difficult to push through the metal colander. It was also problematic when the colander fell into the boiling water and all the dough cooked into each little draining hole.

Next time, I'll put it in a plastic bag and cut off the corner off it. Then I'll dribble the spaetzle dough into the hot water. When it floats it is ready to be fished out of the water!

I served this with our Sauerbraten pot roast!

sticky batter!

connected chopsticks with twist ties
to make a frame. This sort of worked...

balanced the colander over the
 boiling water. How could this end poorly?

Spaetzle Dumpings

Adapted from All Recipes

Makes 2 servings (even though the recipe says this would serve 6)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup milk (almond milk worked)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
1 pinch freshly ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

• Mix together flour, salt, white pepper, and nutmeg. Beat eggs well, and add alternately with the milk to the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth.
• Press dough through spaetzle maker, or a large holed sieve or metal grater.
• Drop a few at a time into simmering liquid. Cook 5 to 8 minutes. Drain well.
• Optional: Saute cooked spaetzle in butter or margarine. Sprinkle chopped fresh parsley on top, and serve

Vanilla Cheesecake with Graham Cracker Crust

After you go camping and you have leftover graham crackers...what to do?? So far I've made Martha Stewart's Key Lime Pies and now these yummy mini cheesecakes!

I've adapted this recipe from Tyler Florence's Ultimate Cheesecake recipe. Overall I halved the recipe. Instead of 1.5 eggs I used 2 eggs. Instead of 1 cup sour cream I used 1 cup of vanilla Greek yogurt. I omitted the lemon zest and vanilla extract. I reduced the sugar from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup after reading a bunch of other recipes.

I didn't have any blueberries or fresh fruit to turn into a sauce to drizzle over the top so I put a little Strawberry Jam on mine.

These came out very soft unlike traditional cheesecakes. They freeze well. They are also delish out of the freezer and defrosted for about 10 minutes!

Vanilla Cheesecake with Graham Cracker Crust
makes 8 mini (6 oz ramekin) servings

Crust:

2 cups finely ground graham crackers

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

1 (8oz) block, softened cream cheese

2 eggs

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a food processor pulse the graham crackers, cinnamon, and melted butter.

Spoon into the glass bowls and use another bowl to press the crackers in. Put it to the side.

Using an electric mixer or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese on low speed for 1 minute until smooth and free of any lumps. 

Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue to beat slowly until combined.

Gradually add sugar and beat until creamy, for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add vanilla yogurt, scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. 

Pour the filling into the crust-lined pan. 

Put the ramekins on the cookie sheet and then place in the oven. 

Place a large pan of water in the bottom rack of the oven. 

Bake for 30 minutes. The cheesecake should still jiggle (it will firm up after chilling). 

Crack the oven door and let the cheesecake sit for another 30 minutes. 

Chill in the refrigerator, loosely covered, for at least 4 hours. 

Peanut Butter Cookies

Cookie time! I made this recipe with some homemade peanut butter. But other then that it is a very basic cookie dough and most people will have all the ingredients on hand.

I used a small cookie scoop so these cookies are all bite sized. I'm not sure why but I almost always make cookies that are small. But between the size and the sticky dough, the criss cross pattern was not meant to be. The recipe recommended rolling the cookies in granulated white sugar then doing the criss cross. If I did that, I would have reduced the white sugar in the cookies to 3/4 cup. But rolling the cookie in the sugar would have prevented the fork from sticking. Another thought that I think could have helped was if the cookies were larger and the fork was floured or buttered. 

Long story short, instead of making the fork prints - I gently pressed them flat with my fingers. That means I touched EVERY COOKIE! Touch it you take it, right?

Since I didn't want to wait 3 hours to chill the dough so I put it in the freezer for 30 minutes then popped it in the fridge for another 15 while I waited for the oven to free up. Yes, I would love to have double ovens in my kitchen!

What was interesting was the difference in the cookies with chilled batter vs not chilled batter. In this picture the top left is the 1st sheet from the fridge, top left is the 1st sheet without the criss-cross, bottom left is the 2nd round of cookies. Then I put the dough in the fridge between the 3rd and 4th cookie. Taste didn't change but the look certainly varied.

Regardless, these cookies didn't spread very much and I was able to fit 20 cookies on a regular sized cookie sheet.

The recipe said they would look kind of underdone when I take them off the sheet so I probably overcooked them, but we all thought they were great! I cooked them for 12 minutes.

The recipe below is adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction. The site says that the cookies will store at room temperature for up to one week and that the baked cookies or dough will freeze for up to 3 months.

Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes 80 small cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature preferred
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until smooth. Add the egg and mix on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and peanut butter and mix on high until combined. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, toss the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Dough will be thick, yet very sticky. Cover dough tightly and chill for at least 3 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Press fork into the tops to create the criss-cross pattern. Bake for 12 minutes or until very lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft and undone. The cookies will continue to "set" on the baking sheet during this time.

Turkey Sausage and Sun Dried Tomato Frittata

A quiche without a crust! How easy! A frittata is a mix of eggs and stuff to make a yummy breakfast that can be served hot, room temp, or cold. This is a great make ahead brunch item. 

The stuff for this one was sun dried tomatoes, turkey breakfast sausage, and herbs. But the recipe below can easily be tweaked to your flavor preference. Swap in bacon for the sausage, use cheddar cheese or gouda instead, add in peppers or broccoli, etc

Other recipes cook at a higher temperature for a short period of time too, some add in a little flour or baking powder to give it some poof!

Turkey Sausage and Sun Tomato Frittata
serves 6-8

5 eggs - 7 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (or cheddar)

3 tbsp sun dried tomatoes (marinated with garlic, oregano, basil, and olive oil)

6 links of turkey breakfast sausage, pre cooked

3 tbsp each garlic chives and green onions

Scramble together: eggs, milk, and mozzarella cheese

In a frying pan, heat the Sun dried tomatoes. If a bunch of oil is in the pan pour it out or you’ll have greasy eggs.
Meanwhile, heat 6 links of turkey breakfast sausage, it in the microwave for 60 seconds, chopped it up then put it in the frying pan. Toss in about 3 tbsp each of garlic chives and green onion into the frying pan.

Put into a glass baking dish and let cool for a few minutes. Pour egg mix over the slightly cooled filling and then semi stir so everything is not at the bottom. Cook at 325F for 60 minutes.

Hard Boiled Eggs

Easy to peel, perfectly cooked eggs with yellow firm yolks!! Check out my recipe for Egg Salad!

Easy Hard Boiled Eggs

1. Place eggs in a pot on single layer.
2. Add cold water to cover eggs by 1 inch and bring to a boil.
3. Once boiling, turn off the heat and cover pan.
4. Let eggs stand in hot water about 12 minutes for extra-large eggs.
5. Drain the hot water, rinse once or twice with cool water then peel.

Egg Salad

Quick and easy snack or lunch. I like to refrigerate and serve cold rather than eating it right away. Check out how to make perfect hard boiled eggs here

Egg Salad  

Egg salad doesn't photograph well

Makes 2 servings. 

8 hard boiled eggs, chopped (I take out a few of the yolks because I don't care for the taste)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 cup chopped green onions

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tsp paprika 

1. Combine eggs in a bowl with the mayonnaise, mustard, and green onions.
2. Season with salt, pepper and paprika.
3. Stir and serve on your favorite bread or crackers.

Cilantro and Garlic Lemon Pasta

You may have seen my previous post for Garlic Lemon Egg Pasta, and since then I have made this several times. We are trying to use up a big bundle of fresh cilantro - so you will see lots of cilantro in the next few posts! 

The cilantro adds a nice flavor and lightens up this pasta dish! 

Happy eating!

Cilantro and Garlic Lemon Pasta

makes 2-3 servings

1/2 box of pasta noodles
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 cup white or red onion
5 cloves of garlic, smashed in the press
a few dashes of Salt and Pepper
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Lemon (1/3 cup lemon juice)
1/2 to 3/4 cup Cilantr, chopped
3 eggs (3 egg whites, 2 yolks), "beaten in preparation for scrambling" 
1/2 bag of baby Spinach

Cook pasta according to directions. Once the pasta is cooked, drain but reserve about a cup or two of the pasta water.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a pan on medium. Add onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Once onion is translucent lower pan to med low and add in eggs, cilantro, and lemon juice. Stir and let the eggs get to a soft scramble stage. Feel free to add in a small bit of butter at this point too. This should get wet puffy egg mixture. Add in spinach and wilt for a minute, it will continue to cook down once you add the pasta. Combine with pasta and add in a little pasta water to thin out the sauce.
Combine with pasta and add the pasta water a little at a time until the sauce is the consistency you want.

Yellow Cupcakes and a Classic Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

The last two cupcakes...

Birthday Party! I made some yellow cupcakes and a chocolate butter cream frosting.

The cupcakes were dense, similar to a pound cake. I would use that for a short cake type of cupcake, but not for a frosted type cake... Because these cupcakes were so dense they did not rise a lot, so fill them 3/4 of the way.

However, since I made coffee cake with the sour cream, I think that I mixed the sour cream in too soon/over mixed the batter. The coffee cake was very light and fluffy, so I feel that the cupcakes should have been as well. Anyone want to be a taster for me for my next batch?

The chocolate butter cream was delish! However make sure the butter is softened and been at room temperature for at least an hour. Otherwise the butter pieces will stay chunky and the frosting won't be as smooth.

Perfect Yellow Cupcakes
(adapted from Can You Stay for Dinner )
makes 12 regular size cupcakes or 24 mini + 3 regular

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup sour cream
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12 cup standard sized cupcake tin with paper liners.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a standing electric mixer. Add butter, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix until smooth and no clumps of flour are visible.

Evenly divide the batter among the cups in your prepared pan. Bake until cupcake tops are pale gold and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan carefully and let them cool completely on a wire rack.

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

Adapted from Savory Sweet Life

Makes 3 cups

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or ½ pound), softened (but not melted!) 

3 - 3 1/2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
½ cup cocoa powder
½ teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon almond extract
4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Cream butter for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Turn off the mixer.

In separate bowl combine powdered sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl. Turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the dry ingredients do not blow everywhere) until the sugar and cocoa are absorbed by the butter.

Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes.

Note: If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time.

Garlic Lemon Egg Pasta (Carbonara?)

This was a combination from recipes such as Lemon Spaghetti by Gianda De Laurentiis,  Baked Lemon Pasta by the Pioneer Woman, and Spaghetti al Limon by Smitten Kitchen. Additionally I looked at carbonara recipes because I wanted to add some protein to the meal and there were only eggs in the fridge. Since I don't really cook with cheese and there was no bacon... it isn't really a carbonara. But for the sake of this meal - carbonara it is!

We added carrots but some broccoli or asparagus or peas would have been a nice addition. Fresh basil or some parsley would have been great too!

Garlic Lemon Egg Pasta (Carbonara!?)
1/2 box of Pasta
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 tbsp Butter
5 cloves of garlic, smashed in the press
a few dashes of Salt and Pepper
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Lemon (1/3 cup lemon juice)
Veggies (optional)
3 eggs (3 egg whites, 2 yolks), "beaten in preparation for scrambling"

Cook pasta according to directions. Once the pasta is cooked, drain but reserve about a cup or two of the pasta water.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a pan. Add 1/2 tbsp of butter. Once melted add salt, pepper, and a few red pepper flakes. Add the veggies and the lemon juice.  Turn frying pan to low. Pour the eggs in the frying pan and stir until it is combined with the butter and oil mix. This should get thicker and all take on the same consistency as it gets scrambled .

Combine with pasta and add the pasta water a little at a time until the sauce is the consistency you want.

Double Crunch Honey Chicken

Life changing? I think so. I have seen this recipe from Rock Recipes on Pinterest for months and it always catches my eye. So tonight, was the night.

Crispy crunchy fried chicken and wow was it good. The flour mix has a nice Asian kick to it. If you don't like heat use less of the paprika and cayanne pepper.

I used 4 pieces of thigh meat because I think it is tastier than chicken breast. I omitted the sage because it was expensive. I eye balled the quantities of ingredients for the Honey Garlic Sauce. Served it with brown rice and stir fried broccoli.

I would like to try the double flour dipping method for making eggplant. Maybe use oregano and Italian seasoning and serve with pasta or something to that idea. 

Flatten the meat between two pieces of plastic wrap

Dredge the chicken in the
flour/spice mix

Dip it in egg, then flour mix again.
Then fry it in some hot oil

Let drain on a rack/paper towel.
Do you see how crispy that is??

Top with sauce, serve with broccoli and brown rice

Crunchy Chicken with Honey Garlic Sauce

Serves 2

Chicken:
2 large boneless chicken breasts
 

Place the chicken breasts between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and using a meat mallet (or a can or rolling pin); pound the meat to an even 1/2 inch thickness. Or slice the breasts by placing them flat on a cutting board and using a very sharp knife to slice them into halves horizontally.

Breading:
1 cup flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground thyme
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Combine in a bowl

Egg wash:
1 egg
4 tbsp water

To Assemble and Cook:
Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and then dip the meat in the breading mixture. Dip the breast into the egg wash and then a final time into the flour and spice mix, pressing the mix into the meat to get good contact.

Heat a skillet on the stove with about a quarter inch of oil (I used vegetable) covering the bottom. When oil is hot (I do a test crumb to see if it bubbles) fry them gently for about 4 or 5 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy. These will cook very quickly since they are so thin.

Drain on a wire rack for a couple of minutes.

While cooking the chicken make the Honey Garlic sauce.

Honey Garlic Sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1 heaping tsp of garlic powder

1 cup of honey

¼ cup soy sauce

1 tsp ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan combine ingredients and let simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until warmed and combined.

 

Bacon, Broccoli, and Zucchini Quiche

I was looking for tasty and easy breakfasts to make for when friends came over. I thought quiche would be a good idea. I didn't know what recipe to use, but I figured you can't go wrong with Paula Dean's recipes!

Of course I made a few changes, most unplanned. I was out of eggs, so I used 5 instead of 6. I used broccoli and zucchini instead of spinach since the spinach was expensive. I considered kale but the store was out. Instead of heavy cream I used light cream and reduced it to 1 cup. I swapped Swiss cheese (which is a weird cheese) to mozzarella cheese (according to my friends, its not a real cheese). I read a review that said to add in a dash of nutmeg. I added it in, but I couldn't really taste it.

Refrigerated pie crusts sometimes come in packages of two, but you can always freeze the other. To defrost, I left it on the counter, it took about 30 minutes and rolled out fine.

The egg mix was delish! I would recommend trying different veggies to change the whole meal up.

To reheat: Preheat oven to 350F, heat slice for 10 minutes, turn off oven, let it stay in the oven for another 10. This heats it up nice while keeping the crust crispy.

Bacon and Veg Quiche
Makes 1 pan, 6-8 slices

5 eggs, scrambled
1 cup light cream
salt & pepper
dash of nutmeg (a very small pintch)
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
4 pieces of bacon, cooked than crumbled
1/4 of a small onion, diced
1 cup of chopped broccoli
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 refrigerated pie crust

Cook bacon, drain frying pan as needed. Don't wash the pan, cook the onions for a few minutes. pull off the burner if the pan is too hot and onions start to brown. Add broccoli and cook approx 4-6 minutes.

In a bowl, combine scrambled eggs, cream, salt & pepper, nutmeg, bacon, and cheese.

Put the pie crust in the 9 inch round pan. Place zucchini in the bottom. Pour the egg mix over the top. Bake for 35 minutes at 325. I did the last 10 minutes at 350. Take it out when the top is set and starting to get a little golden.

Loaded Scrambled Eggs

A few random things in my fridge: eggs, scallions, carrots, roasted garlic... I wanted to see what I could make without having to go to the store. I searched online to find some options. I found some recipes for Chinese scallion pie, fried rice, garlic noodles, and omelets.

I settled on making an omelet for dinner. Easy light dinner in less than 15 minutes!

Heat the pan to medium heat, add roasted garlic (3 cloves), a 1/4 tsp of cumin, a tablespoon of diced up bacon, and several sliced baby carrots. Meanwhile, scramble 3 eggs with a splash of milk (little less than 1/4 cup) and some cracked black pepper. Once carrots are soften, about 5-7 minutes, and bacon is crispy, pour in the eggs and some scallion.

Theoretically, let the eggs cook then fold it into an omelet... however mine turn into scrambled eggs at this point. I had a griddled English muffin on the side.

Yum! I would add in more cumin next time since I liked the flavor.

Molten Lava Cakes for 2

My friend made these cakes before, I thought it was the greatest! I found the recipe online here, it is also a video. So I made them once before but I wasn't focused and since they didn't come out right, you can safely assume I didn't follow the directions. This time I did. This time they came out like lava cakes! These are the easiest lava cakes you can make. Total time? Maybe 15 minutes. 10 minutes of that is it baking.

I melted the chocolate and butter in the microwave. Normally I do this on a stove top. Once the butter was melted I stirred until the chocolate squares was also melted. My oh my, it starts to smell yummy!

Next I added in the egg and egg yolk.

Since I wasn't at my apartment, I had already combined the powdered sugar and flour. So, I added that to the chocolate mixture and it turned into cake batter! Don't over stir, just stir until combined.

Divide cake batter into the greased custard cups. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes. If you want you can flip them out of the cups (directions below), but it was just easier to eat them in the cups. Just be careful because the bowls are HOT! 

Next time? I am thinking of adding in peanut butter chips, or walnuts, or raspberry compote, or fresh strawberries, or vanilla ice cream, or whipped cream...

This was a great base but the addition of something else would make it amazing.

Lava Cake

Makes 2

2 squares Baker's Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
3 Tbsp. flour

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Nonstick spray 2 small oven safe bowls. Place on baking sheet.

Microwave chocolate and butter in a bowl for 30 seconds or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.
Stir in sugar.
Stir in egg and egg yolk.
Stir in flour.
Divide batter among prepared custard cups.

Bake 10 minutes or until sides are firm, but centers are soft. Let stand one minute. Carefully run a small knife around cakes to loosen. Invert cakes onto dessert dishes. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!!

Cake Pops

My best friend S. bought me a BabyCakes cake pop maker this past Christmas and I have neglected to try it out. So for St. Patrick's Day (yes, it was a few weeks ago), my friend from work and I decided to make some cake pops for work. I did a little research on the best type of recipes and how the machine works.

The machine is lovely purple and contains little wells waiting to be filled with tasty batter. It is basically a waffle maker but instead of a waffle mold it has holes the size of munchkins.

Now, recipes for this machine are fairly elusive. When you search for "cake pops" most recipes that come up are the cake pops that you bake a cake, crumble cake and mix it with frosting, and roll into balls. I was looking for a dense cake mix that would rise in the wells. Many of the reviews said that if you use a basic cake mix the cakes won't rise into a nice round ball shape, they might be a little flat.

Thick batter, don't over mix!!

After reading many reviews and not finding any answers I just picked a recipe and went with it. The recipe called for a boxed cake mix (used yellow cake mix), add an instant pudding packet (store brand), swap milk for the water (I only had light cream so I used that), omit oil, use eggs as directed on the cake mix box. Easy enough?

We mixed the batter, plugged in the machine, and waited for it to preheat. It only took a few minutes. Next we filled the wells so the bottom was almost full, closed the machine, and it took 2-3 minutes for the cakes to be cooked. As you can see in the image from dipping them in the candy coating, they are a little dark. We used toothpicks to roll and dip the pops and then placed them on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. We let them chill for a few minutes so the candy coating could harden.

Dipping in the candy coating

Also, don't over mix the candy coating. Over mixing it makes it thick and goopy and it won't cover the pops nicely. We added green food coloring to half of the batch after mixing it in the frosting was too thick to cover them smoothly. That was when we decided to make a glaze. It made them look like munchkins. Yum!

Used a toothpick to dip them, removed toothpick prior to serving

We chose not to use the sticks...because we just didn't there was no real reason why. And the cake pop machine did get very hot, we did unplug it a few times when making them.

But the cakes were moist and soft and everything you could hope for in a cake pop. I refrigerated them over night, brought them to work and served them at room temperature. They were one of the first desserts to disappear!

Note: I think they are better with the yellow cake mix than the chocolate cake mix. But then again, I'm not a big chocolate fan...


Cake Pops
Makes approx 60 cakes

1 box mix
Use milk for the water (as directed by cake mix box)
Eggs (as directed by cake mix box)
1 instant pudding mix
Wilton Candy Coating

1. Combine box mix and pudding mix, stir together.
2. In separate bowl, combine Milk and Egg until eggs are pretty scrambled.
3. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add food coloring if desired.
4. Plug in and preheat cake pop machine.
5. Fill wells with batter and bake approx 2-3 minutes. Check carefully but wait at least this long.
6. Remove with fork and let cool on racks before frosting.
7. Follow instructions on candy coating for melting.
8. Roll cakes in the frosting (add sprinkles here if you'd like!), place on parchment paper covered cookie sheet, and chill.

Glaze Recipe
From All Recipes; amounts below are for 6 servings, used it to cover about 15 cakes.

1 tablespoon and 2-1/4 teaspoons butter
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon hot water or as needed

1. Melt butter.
2. Combine above ingredients except water.
3. Adding water slowly until desired consistency is reached.

Enjoy!

Pasta Carbonara

I found a recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara and thought I'd give it a try. I did make a few changes but I adored this dish.

To add more protein I added in a chicken breast. I had some broccoli that was getting towards the end of its shelf life, so into the pan it went. I was imagining this dish to be similar to a chicken/broccoli/ziti, so I figured the broccoli would be fine. I had a few frozen peas left, so I just emptied the bag which ended up being about 1/2 cup of peas. I read a few versions that included peas/ham, so I added the peas in too!

Since I was using turkey bacon I left it in the pan a lot longer. It crisps up differently than regular bacon. It never quite gets that hard crunchy texture, but it still gives that yummy bacon flavor (minus the grease!).

I also added about a teaspoon of red pepper flakes because I add them to almost everything.

While my eggs didn't turn into a creamy sauce neither did they taste like scrambled eggs mixed into the dish.

Here is my version:

Spaghetti Carbonara
Serves 2

Ingredients

2 pieces turkey bacon

2 cups chopped broccoli

1 chicken breast (diced)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tsp garlic powder

½ cup peas

½ box of linguine

2 large eggs

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Freshly ground pepper

½ tsp red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Combine the bacon, olive oil, garlic, and 1/4 cup water in a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the water evaporates and the bacon crisps. As bacon is crisping add in broccoli, cook until done. Remove broccoli from pan. Add chicken and cook through. Remove from the heat.
2. Cook pasta as desired. 
3. Mix the eggs, cheeses, red pepper flakes and ground pepper in a bowl. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup cooking water
   Whisk the reserved pasta water into the egg mixture, and then quickly pour over the pasta, broccoli, and chicken. Mix together to cook the eggs and make a creamy sauce.  

Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Muffins

I have been wanting to make these pumpkin muffins for a while. I found the recipe here. I was planning on following the recipe very closely, but, per usual I made some changes.

warm and melt-y with vanilla ice cream

The recipe calls for a heaping cup of pumpkin puree. However, this leaves about an inch of the puree in the can... so I decided to use the entire can. This means, 1) its a very moist muffin, 2) it made more muffins, and 3) when it was warm out of the oven with ice cream on top... it tasted like yummy, yummy, bread pudding. If you wanted to maintain the regular muffin consistency add an extra tablespoon of flour.

Also, I've never used evaporated milk. For those of you who are conversion challenged like I am, 1/2 cup of the milk is less than the 5 fl oz can. Unless you have other recipes that you are planning on making with the milk, the smallest can size will be sufficient.

I used regular raisins...because that was what I had in my baking cabinet.

Next time I would halve the "topping" that is sprinkled over the top, it just made a ton of the mixture.

The original recipe called for cream cheese frosting. I made these for part of my breakfast over the course of a week so frosting wouldn't be ideal. However, if I was making these for a brunch and people were going to be eating them all in the same day, I wouldn't hesitate to add the frosting. 

First I combined all dry ingredients.

Next I combined the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Then added the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Add in raisins.

Fill muffin tins. These didn't rise as much, I'm guessing its because of the extra puree.

Voila!

 

Pumpkin Muffins

Makes approx 15 muffins

Muffin Ingredients:

1 cup All-purpose Flour

1/2 cup Sugar

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1-1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon Salt

4 Tablespoons Butter, cut into pieces

1 cup (heaping) Pumpkin Puree

1/2 cup Evaporated Mil

1 whole Egg

1-1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

1/2 cup Golden Raisins

Topping ingredients:

2 Tablespoons Sugar

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease or line muffin tins.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt, pulse in food processor.

Cut in butter food processor until it is fully incorporated.

In a separate bowl, mix together pumpkin, evaporated milk, egg, and vanilla. Pour pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Add raisins. Fold until mixture is just combined.

Pour into muffin tins. ¾ full. Sprinkle topping onto each muffin.

Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool.

Happy Eating!