Happy Birthday, Susan!

Today is our office mom Susan's birthday, so I baked her a French Tower Torte and a homeade Coconut Cream Pie.  I also got her a Sweet Pea gift set from Bath & Body Works.  Some sweets for the sweet!  Susan always takes good care of us (and me), so she deserves it!  Enjoy the recipes!

French Tower Torte

6 ripe bananas

1 can (20 oz each) crushed pineapple in juice

1 yellow cake mix

2 packages of sliced almonds

Pineapple Crème Chantilly Filling

Prepare 2- 9 inch cake pans with shortening and a dusting of flour. Peel and mash 1 banana to make 1/3 cup. Drain pineapple well, reserving juice for cake and pineapple for crème filling. Follow package instructions for cake, using mashed banana and reserved pineapple juice instead of water. If there is not enough juice, add water to the juice to make up there difference. Bake at 375* 30 min. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans. Slice cooled cakes in half horizontally to make 4 layers. Prepare crème filling.

Pineapple Crème Chantilly Filling

1 pint heavy whipping cream OR 1 large tub of Cool Whip

Sugar to taste

Crushed pineapple (see above)

Whip 1 pint whipping cream with sugar until stiff or use one large tub of Cool Whip. Fold in reserved, drained pineapple.

Spread 1/4 filling over bottom layer, then add sliced banana and almonds on top. Add second layer; repeat, adding the filling, banana and almonds on top of each layer. Refrigerate.

Bananas have a short life span, so it’s best to eat this dessert as soon as possible!

Easy Coconut Cream Pie

Kraft Recipes

2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
2 cups cold milk
2 cups thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping, divided
1 cup flake coconut, divided
1 pie crust

Beat pudding mixes and milk in large bowl with whisk 2 min. Stir in 1 cup COOL WHIP and 3/4 cup coconut; pour into crust. **note**  I like to add both toasted and untoasted coconut to my pie filling.

Refrigerate 4 hours or until set. Meanwhile toast remaining coconut, if desired.

Top pie with remaining Cool Whipe and toasted coconut.

How to Toast Coconut

Heat oven to 350°F. Spread coconut in shallow pan. Bake 7 to 10 min. or until lightly browned, stirring frequently.

Healthy Living

Trim 4 grams of fat per serving by preparing with fat-free milk, Cool Whip Lite Whipped Topping and a ready-to-use reduced-fat graham cracker crumb crust.

A Sweet Find

I just fell in love with Shiny leopard print satchel handbag when I saw it at Lane Bryant!  It just screamed Cheryl, so I had to buy it. :)  It was $49.99 and the sales girl gave me a coupon for $25 off if you spend $75, so I actually ended up getting some jewelery as well.  I like sweet little deals like that!  This purse should tied me over until Christmas when my husband.. I mean Santa will buy me that pretty Coach purse I've been hinting at for months!

A Brand New Start!

It's been awhile since I've posted anything.  The cupcake thing kind of ran it's course, and life just gets crazy sometimes, ya know?  I really want to continue blogging so I decided to switch gears a little and use this as a way to share my life with everyone and all the little things and people who make it sweet.  My husband, family, friends and dogs are a big part of that, so expect to see more of them.  To start off the very first post, here is a sweet little reward!  Another yummy recipe from my "office mom" Susan Long.  She made this for us earlier this week and it was just slap yo momma good!  It's called "Ooey Gooey Butter Cake".  Hope you enjoy!  Thank you (again) Susan!

Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

1 box of yellow cake mix
1 stick of melted butter or margarine
1 egg

Mix together and pat into a greased 13x9 pan.

Sprinkle with chopped nuts (if desired)

8 oz. Cream cheese – softened
1 box (3 ¾ cups) 10x sugar (I sift mine)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together and pour on top of cake.

Sprinkle with coconut (if desired).

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes – until golden brown and set.

**Variation**
To make this a brownie recipe (Neiman Marcus Brownies):

Use a box of devil’s food cake mix instead of a yellow one.

Sprinkle with coconut.

Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie

I know I haven't posted anything in awhile, and quite frankly it's because I've just been to darn busy!  In the last few weeks, I've been to Augusta, GA and back for a surprise party for my grandmother's 90th birthday, had a Mexican dinner party for 8 people and then had to make a trip to Orlando for work.  Now I'm just 17 days away from my much needed vacation to Treasure Island, FL and we're on pins and needles waiting to see if our plans are going to be ruined by the oil spill in he Gulf of Mexico.  I pray to God they get it contained, because I obviously don't want to have to cancel our vacation, but more than anything else, I hate to see environmental impact the oil will have on the wildlife and beautiful shorelines of the Gulf.  My parents live on a river that spills into the Gulf and I cannot even fathom what that would do to that area.  It would just be devastating to everyone and everything.  Please say a prayer!  I think they need all the help they can get.

Ok on to something a bit happier... How about something sweet?  I know this isn't a cupcake, but it's the first thing I've baked in weeks, so I thought I would share.  Not only did I just have a Mexican dinner party, but we're also having a Cinco de Mayo potluck at work tomorrow.  Susan (our office mom) was Googling Mexican dessert recipes and stumbled across a recipe for Sopapilla Cheesecake.  It's not a traditional cheesecake. I'd say it's more of a pie or squares.  I had planned to make Sopapilla's for my dinner party, but had decided it would be too much work, so when she mentioned this recipe, I knew it was a perfect alternative.  Boy was I right!  This dessert not only tastes AWESOME, but it's also pretty simple and inexpensive to make.  It would be great to throw together for any occasion.  Thank you for sharing, Susan!

Ingredients
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla extract
2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup honey

Directions
1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth.

3. Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape each piece into 9x13 inch rectangles. Press one piece into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough. Stir together 3/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Dot the mixture over the top of the cheesecake.

4. Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle with honey. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 squares.

You Pick!

I'm letting YOU decide which cupcakes I'm going to make next.  Black Bottom or Beehive?  The Black Bottom Cupcakes are a ying and yang of chocolate and cream cheese with morsels of chopped chocolate mixed in.  They're sometimes served with a cream cheese frosting or left plain.  The Beehive Cupcakes are a honey-lemon cupcake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting. **Disclaimer** My cupcakes may not look like the perfectly gorgeous cupcakes pictured above!

Sweet Coconut Cake

Once again, this is not cupcake related, but it was SO good I had to share! Our office Mom, Susan Long, is at it again.  This time she made Sweet Coconut Cake.  It was to die for!  She is always making something sinful (like her Pineapple Cake and her Butterfinger Cake), but this has to be one of my favorites.  Not only is it SUPER easy, it also has coconut and sweetened condensed milk in it.  It's SO coconutty and moist I could almost throw it in a glass with a straw and a little umbrella!  I guess when she bakes something from now on, she will be a regular contributor to my blog. She just doesn't know that yet. :)  Give the recipe a try and let me know what you think.  I'll let her know you <3 it as much as I do!

Ingredients:
1 box of white cake mix
1 can coconut milk (in ethnic section of grocery store)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 8 oz container of Cool Whip
1 bag of sweetened coconut (you can use as much or as little as you like!)

Directions:
Bake the white cake in a 9 x 13 according to directions. When done, poke holes in the top of the cake with a cake tester, toothpick, etc. (some people use their forks). Just make a lot of holes for the next part to be able to soak into.

Combine the condensed and coconut milks and pour over the cake. Sometimes I don’t use all of it but most of it. It looks like it’s swimming, but it will soak it up.

After everything is cooled, spread cool whip on top and sprinkle with coconut.

Tada!!!!

Keep in refrigerator.

Golden Oreo Cupcakes

I was so excited to make this cupcake recipe!  I searched for the perfect recipe for over a week, and even decided to make it instead of the Roasted Banana Cupcake or the Bunny Cake.  I have to say.... I'm REALLY disappointed.  They were pretty darn dry.  First of all, I <3 Golden Oreos!  I love them even more than regular Oreos, so I thought these were going to be smack your momma GOOD.  Boy was I mistaken.  The 52 Cupcakes blog I got the recipe from trumped it up by saying "Have you had one? OMG! I mean you really cannot eat one...just one!".  I thought wow I really need to try this!  You should have seen the pictures.  My mouth has been watering for days!  I think one of the issues is that our oven isn't cooking evenly.  I had the same problem with my Coconut Cupcakes, but they weren't quite THIS dry.  The recipe said to bake 20-25 minutes, however at 20 minutes mine weren't even cooked on top, so I put them back in for another 5 minutes.  When I took them out I noticed the tops were flat.  I am assuming this is because the recipe didn't call for baking soda or baking powder, but had self rising flower instead.  I guess I'm going to have to do some experimenting with a cake mix, and try and figure out the perfect baking time for cupcakes in MY oven.  The other problem was the Oreo in the bottom of the cupcake.  They were hard as a brick!  It had a somewhat ok flavor, but it seemed to be caramelized.  It was just weird.  I've seen it done in tons of other cupcakes.  Why did mine turn out like hockey pucks? lol I guess if you choke 'em down with some milk they'll be ok.  They look pretty though!  I guess you win some and lose some.  This recipe gets thumbs down.  Oh well... on to my next cupcaking adventure! **Update** I tried one the day after I made them, and the Oreo softened up a little bit.  The cupcake itself definitely had the Golden Oreo flavor, but it was too dry.  It's still not my favorite cupcake recipe, but I might try them again using a boxed cake mix and see how they turn out!

That's how they do that!

I was reading a post on Facebook this morning from my highschool friend Muerinda, and she mentioned that she was going to make iced Easter cookies using the "flooding" technique.  It was around the same time that I stumbled across these cute cupcake cookies and an article on How to flood cookies with royal icing, so I thought I'd share.  I always wondered how they got those cookies to be so perfect and pretty!  I've tried to make them before and it was a disaster.  This article does a great job detailing everything.  Now I can make my own Cookies by Design cookie bouguet's and not have to spend all that money!

Lordy Lordy, David turned 40!

My husband celebrated his 40th birthday this year, so for months prior I was wracking my brain trying to plan a party for him and come up with a theme. My husband adores video games, cigars and classic cars. (Wow, that rhymed!). To make a long story short, I decided to have his party at a local cigar bar called Island Girl. The next hurdle was trying to figure out what kind of birthday cake to get him. The problem is he hates cake! I wavered back and forth between finding a local bakery to make a cigar shaped cake or come up with an alternative like pie. I thought pie...cigar bar? It just didn't work. I started Googling 40th birthday parties and alot of people were using cupcake stands. Then it hit me! Camicakes! My husband LOVES their Red Velvet cupcakes just as much as I do. The bonus was there was no cutting or mess involved.  Just hand everyone a cupcake!  I found a Wilton Cupcakes 'N More Medium Dessert Stand at Bed Bath and Beyond for $19.99 (and used that $5 off coupon!) that holds 23 cupcakes.  I also found some fun candles at Party City that spelled out "Oh no the big 40". I couldn't have been more pleased with how it turned out and everyone just loved them of course!  I have a feeling that stand is going to get alot of use! ;o)

Roasted Banana Cupcakes with Honey-Cinnamon Frosting

It seems these cupcakes have created quite a buzz, so here is the recipe!  I'd like to say I came up with it, but I have to give credit where credit is due.  You can thank Martha Stewart!  Now I expect everyone to make them and give me some feedback (and pics!).  Enjoy and happy cupcaking!

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas, plus 2 more for garnish
2 cups cake flour, sifted
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
¾ cup sugar
3 large eggs, separated
½ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Place three of the bananas on a baking sheet and roast for about 20 minutes (the peels will darken). Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Reduce the oven temp to 350.

Line your standard muffin tin with paper liners. In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking soda, baking powder and the salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer set to medium-high speed, cream together the butter and sugar until pale yellow and fluffy. Add in the egg yolks, one at a time and beat until each is fully incorporated. Add in the cooled roasted bananas and beat to combine. Add in the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of the sour cream. Add in the vanilla and beat to combine.

In another bowl, use an electric mixer set on high speed to whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter to lighten. Fold in the remaining whites in two batches.

Divide the batter evenly among the liners (about ¼ cup each). Bake for about 10 minutes, rotate pan, bake an additional 10 minutes or until done. Cool on wire rack. You will more than likely have enough batter to make four more cupcakes.

Honey-Cinnamon Frosting

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 T honey
1/4 t ground cinnamon

Directions:

With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat all ingredients until fluffy and smooth. Pipe onto the cooled cupcakes and garnish with banana slices or banana chips.
 
Makes 16 cupcakes
 
Here is a couple of different ideas for presentation:
 

A can't live without!

This is at the top of my list of things I can't live without. I received my KitchenAid 5-Quart Artisan Mixer as a wedding gift 7 years ago.  I registered for it at Bed Bath and Beyond, and because of the price ($299.99) I never thought we'd get it.  I was pleasantly surprised when it showed up on my doorstep! I think it was the best wedding gift we got.  It has gotten a great deal of use (and abuse) over the years, but it keeps on mixin!

I love this mixer for several reasons:

#1. The steel bowl is indestructible. You can drop it on the floor, and won't crack!

#2. The mixing attachments (beater and paddle) are easy to get on and off.

#3. The bowl is stationary and easily locks and unlocks at the base. It won't "fly" off the turntable like my moms old one! 

#4.  It comes in 17 colors! 

Here's another little secret... if you sign up for the Bed Bath and Beyond mailing list, you'll start getting coupons for 20% off one item and $5 off your entire purchase.  If you use your 20% coupon toward the mixer, that brings the price down to $239.99.  What a deal!

If you want something a little more heavy duty, then there is also a KitchenAid ProLine 6-Quart Stand Mixer available for $399.99.

 











They also just came out with a KitchenAid 90th Anniversary Stand Mixer in candy apple red, however it comes with a glass bowl and a $349.99 price tag.  It's pretty to look at, but I think I'll stick with what I have!

Happy mixing!

Strawberry Surprise!

On the outside unassuming cupcake, but on the inside WOW! These cupcakes are called Strawberry-Lime Stuffed Cupcakes and come from the Food Network Kitchens. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about eating lime flavored icing (just because I'm not a citrus fan), so I think I'd prefer another flavor. Maybe a strawberry whip cream icing (or even plain) and rename them Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes! These would be awesome to serve during the Spring or even around the 4th of July. Just add a cute little American Flag pick and voila!

Oh, just look at my beautiful garden!

I just loved Winnie the Pooh when I was a child, and when I ran across these cupcakes on the Disney Family website I thought they were just adorable! These miniature carrot topped cupcakes were inspired by Rabbit, who was forever working hard to protect his garden from uninvited guest. I would have never guessed the carrots were made out of orange Starbursts and green Twizzlers! Can you just imagine the look on a childs face when they see these? I know I would have loved them!

You'll need: 

Orange Starburst candies (one for each carrot)

Kitchen skewer or toothpick

Kitchen scissors

Green Twizzlers

Batch of chocolate cupcakes

White frosting

Cinnamon sugar

1. With clean hands, knead each Starburst candy and roll it into a mini carrot shape. If the candy is too stiff, you can microwave it for 4 or 5 seconds. But don't overdo it -- the candy will melt if it's overheated.

2. Use the skewer or toothpick to make a hole about 1/4-inch deep in the top of each carrot.

3. Cut 1 1/2-inch lengths from a Twizzler and then snip them in half vertically. Turn each half into a leafy top by cutting fringe in one end.

  

4. Insert the carrot tops into the holes in the carrots. If they don't fit, try trimming the bases a bit to taper them. Or use the skewer tip to gently push them in place.

5. When all the carrots are made (you'll want 2 or 3 per cupcake), frost the cupcakes and sprinkle the centers with cinnamon sugar to resemble a patch of sandy soil.

6. "Plant" the carrots in the cupcakes, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch of the orange candy showing.

Nobunny knows Easter better than Cadbury..and the Irish!

I saw these cupcakes and was like OMG!  I remember when I was a kid...I couldn't wait for Easter so I could get my hands on Cadbury Creme Eggs.  Who would have ever even thought to translate those into a cupcake?  The Irish of course!  Afterall, Cadbury is product of the UK.  These delectable little masterpieces were created by a Life is Sweet bakery in Belfast.  They're described as being "intensely chocolately Devil's Food Cake with a lightly flavoured vanilla Cadbury Creme Egg buttercream, topped with a cracked chocolate egg shell".  I think I've died and gone to Heaven!

~PS~
Just for grins and giggles, here is my favorite Cadbury commercial!  Bawk meow bawk meow!
Cadbury Bunny Tryouts

Easter Bunny cake... or cupcake cake?

I know what you're thinking, this isn't a cupcake silly woman!  Au contraire!  It was recently suggested that I make my Easter Bunny cake for work, so I was Googling some pictures to post.  This is what I found!  The book is called the Bakers Cut Up Cake Party Book and it was published in 1973 (the year after I was born!).  I had no idea where the cake design originally came from, I just know I've been making it since I was a teenager (yes, it's that easy!).  I also didn't know that there was a full-bodied Easter Bunny cake.  I'm trying to decide which I like better?  These could easily translate into a Easter Bunny cupcake cake as well.  All you'd need to do is lay them out in a similar pattern and then ice it the same way.  I may have to put that to the test!  I love to let my creative juices flow!  In my search I also found an earlier version of the same book that was from 1959 which was titled Baker’s Coconut Cut-Up Cakes.  Even though cake decorating has advanced alot since those books were published, I bet these will still come in super handy when I have children.  Vintage rocks!  eBay here I come!

1959

1973