Desserts

Easy Chocolate Cake (or Cupcakes)

February 14, 2012 By Camille 1 Comment

Happy Valentine's Day! Aside from making a bunch of pink, red, and heart shaped food, we don't have plans for today. We try to focus Valentine's Day on the kids and as long as I have lots of hearts and glitter, they are happy! If you are in need of a quick and easy last minute treat, these cupcakes will fit the bill. Last week, about an hour before dinner, I decided I wanted cupcakes for dessert. I had pinned this recipe for a chocolate cake and decided to try it as cupcakes. All it requires is two bowls, a wooden spoon and some basic ingredients. I baked the cupcakes for 15 minutes and they were DONE! I'd start checking them around 10 minutes -- I'm guessing that around 12-13 minutes is the perfect baking time. Easy Chocolate Cake (or Cupcakes) Print Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 40 mins Serves: 1 cake or 12 cupcakes Ingredients 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons unsweetened natural cocoa … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Desserts, Recipe Tagged With: Cake, Chocolate, Dessert, Recipe

Homemade Chocolate Truffles

February 11, 2012 By Camille 4 Comments

I'm so excited to be a part of the Show Some Love Blog Hop hosted by One Tough Mother! If you've missed any of the 10 previous posts, scroll down the end of this post and click away. There is some serious Valentine inspiration going on with these ladies on the hop. Today, I am sharing my all time favorite treat to make for Valentine's Day: Homemade Truffles. Chocolates are the epitome of Valentine's Day and there is absolutely NO NEED to go out and buy them when they are so simple to make in your very own kitchen. I have been making this truffle recipe for years and it is the highlight of our Valentine's Day. Making your own chocolates for your sweetie is unbelievable quick and easy with infinite variations. The ingredients are pretty basic: chocolate, butter, cream and extract. You pick the chocolate (milk, dark, semi-sweet or a combination); you pick the flavor (mint, almond, vanilla, rum, coconut, orange, etc) and you pick the outside topping … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Desserts, Holiday Cooking, Recipe Tagged With: Chocolate, Dessert, Holidays, Recipe

Grasshopper Dessert

January 18, 2012 By Camille Leave a Comment

I love chocolate and mint together. It's one of those combinations I just can't get enough of. This recipe is from a friend of mine. She makes this dessert for an annual Christmas gathering we both attend. This year, however, she was going to be out of town for the gathering! I asked for the recipe and she kindly obliged. There are several steps to the recipe, but none of them are hard and it's totally worth the effort. Just make sure to plan ahead. Grasshopper Dessert Print Recipe type: Dessert Author: Amy Keyser (via Hersey) Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 2 hours Total time: 2 hours 20 mins Serves: 12-24 Ingredients Cake Layer: 1 cup flour 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup butter, softened 4 eggs 1 1/2 cups chocolate syrup Mint Cream Center: 2 cups confectioners' sugar 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 Tablespoon water 1/2-3/4 teaspoon mint extract 3 drops green food coloring Chocolate Topping: 6 Tablespoons butter 1 cup … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Desserts, Recipe Tagged With: Dessert, Recipe

Homemade Marshmallows

December 20, 2011 By Camille 1 Comment

Making marshmallows has been on my to do list since I first saw them in a Martha Stewart magazine several years ago. I never paid too much attention to the recipe, just noticing it was on the long side, which to me means it takes a lot of time and energy. Then last week a friend posted a recipe on her Facebook page and commented that she would have made marshmallows a long time ago if she'd known how easy they are. Well, that was it for me! Marshmallows jumped to the top of the list (mostly because I had all the ingredients on hand, but still). These marshmallows take about 2-3 hours to make and then sit overnight, but they only require about 10-20 minutes of your attention. This recipe is for "plain" vanilla marshmallows, but they are easily adaptable. Go crazy with those extracts! Coconut, peppermint (with crushed candy canes on top!), orange, almond would all be fun to use. Add in a little food coloring and you have a very unique treat. I will warn you, though, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Desserts, Holiday Cooking, Recipe Tagged With: Candy, Gift Ideas, Recipe, Sweet Treats

Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

December 13, 2011 By Camille Leave a Comment

My sister and I hosted a cookie exchange last week. It's an annual tradition that we've been participating in or hosting for at least 5 years. We have a great time, but I have to admit... I really hate baking cookies. I'm terrible at cookies. Give me yeast any day, but cookies and I are just not friends. I made these thin mint type cookies, but they took me three days and were a major pain! And they weren't even that good when it was all over. I definitely need to find a "go to" Christmas cookie exchange recipe to make every year. I don't mind a bit of work, but I want the results to be worth the time and energy spent. After I finished dipping the cookies, I had a lot of melted chocolate left over. I also had some pretzel rods in the pantry. One of my favorite treats ever are chocolate dipped pretzels so I put the two together. I'm thinking perhaps I should have just made these instead of the cookies. To make these, just melt some … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Desserts, Holiday Cooking, Recipe Tagged With: Chocolate, Christmas, Dessert, Holidays, Pretzels, Recipe

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

November 7, 2011 By Camille 1 Comment

We're heading in to that time of year when all the "special" cookies and candies are made. I rarely make good old chocolate chip! But I needed a sweet snack to take on a road trip a few weeks ago and these are so easy that I could fit them in between laundry and packing. I've tried so many chocolate chip cookie recipes and not one of them came even close to my idea of the perfect chocolate chip cookie. But this recipe is IT. You will never need another chocolate chip cookie recipe ever again. These also freeze perfectly! So make a double (or triple) batch. After you step 8, below, freeze the cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Put in a freezer bag when frozen. I bake them 2-4 at a time right out of the freezer for fresh cookies for dessert! Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies Print Author: Baking Illustrated Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 12 mins Total time: 22 mins Serves: 2 dozen Ingredients 2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Desserts, Recipe

Maple Java Cinnamon Rolls

November 4, 2011 By Camille 1 Comment

I had never made a cinnamon roll in my life until just after I got married. Up until then cinnamon rolls that came out of my oven came out of a tube. I had picked up a frugal living book at the thrift shop and one of the author's main points was to save money by cooking from scratch. One of the recipes she included in the book was for cinnamon rolls. I have never looked at a tube of cinnamon rolls again. I have tried several recipes for cinnamon rolls and they are all good, but this one is over the top spectacular. This is my adaptation of Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls mostly following her recipe but using organic alternatives. Don't skip the icing or make just plain icing -- the icing makes these rolls! I make "powdered sucanat" to use in place of powdered sugar when color doesn't matter. I just whir some sucanat in my food processor blender until it's powder. Maple Java Cinnamon Rolls Print Recipe type: Breakfast Author: Adapted from Ree Drummond, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bread, Breakfast, Desserts, Recipe

Hot Fudge Sauce

October 28, 2011 By Camille 2 Comments

When I was a little girl there was a Woolworths store in the next town north of where we lived. Inside the Woolworth' store was a lunch counter. I can't remember if they served food, but they did serve hot fudge sundaes. We rarely went to the Woolworth's store but one day for some reason my mom and I went and had hot fudge sundaes. That sundae was so good that I still remember it today, some 30 years later. I've never had hot fudge sauce quite as good as Woolworths. Until now. This hot fudge took me right back to that Woolworth sundae. When I made this last summer, everyone in my family agreed that this is the best hot fudge sauce we'd ever had. And it took about 10 minutes to make. I used high quality, 70% cacao Sharfen Berger dark chocolate and I'm pretty sure that's what took this sauce over the top. But I think you could use semi-sweet chocolate chips and get a very good sauce. Hot Fudge Sauce Print Author: Soda Fountain Classics by Elsa … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Condiment, Desserts, Recipe

Pumpkin Cheesecake

October 27, 2011 By Camille 1 Comment

I made this cheesecake for Thanksgiving in 2010 and it was a huge success! So much so that I'm sure we'll be eating pumpkin cheesecake every year from now on. I make the cheesecake a week or two before Thanksgiving and then freeze it right in the pan (so use a pan you don't need!). Because I like to make the cheesecake in advance, I choose to use a 9" cake pan instead of a spring form pan. The first piece can be tricky to get out whole, but after that, it's a cinch! In order to get a nice smooth mixture, make sure to have all ingredients for the cake at room temperature. Pumpkin Cheesecake Print Recipe type: Dessert Author: All You Magazine, November 2010 Issue Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 20 mins Serves: 6-8 Ingredients Crust: 1 1/2 cups gingersnap cookies (about 30 cookies processed in a food processor) 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans 6 Tablespoons butter, melted 1/4 cup sucanat (or sugar) Cheesecake: 3 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Desserts, Recipe

Pumpkin “Donut Holes”

October 18, 2011 By Camille 4 Comments

So technically, these are mini-muffins because they are baked in a mini-muffin pan, but they taste just like pumpkin donut holes. My kids ate this entire batch in one morning. These are seriously addicting and delicious. I only have 24 min-muffin cups, but had batter left over so I baked the rest of the batter in regular sized muffin cups and they did not turn out as well. I would stick to mini when making these. Pumpkin "Donut Holes" Print Recipe type: Breakfast Author: Adapted from Pennies on a Platter Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 12 mins Total time: 22 mins Serves: 28-36 muffins Ingredients 1 3/4 cup flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 1/3 cup coconut oil 1/2 cup sucanat (or brown sugar) 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3/4 cup pumpkin puree 1/2 cup milk or 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons buttermilk For the coating: 1/2 stick butter, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Breakfast, Desserts, Recipe