ABC- Maple Pecan Medjool Date Rugelach

This was my first month baking with Avid Bakers Challenge- it was a nice change! Rugelach is something I'm pretty sure I'd pass up on. Something that wasn't in my a eye's frame, you know- chocolate, caramel, cream cheese. I'm glad that I went ahead and ran with these! I didn't use whole dates and wrap them, I chose to chop up my dates, and blend with the sugar nut mixture. I was out of real maple syrup and only had sugar free in the house (something that I know wouldn't do justice) so I subbed in dark corn syrup. I like what this did- gave it a 'warm' flavor. The dough was a light buttery cream cheese flavor with a flakyness that rocked. All in all, a win here. Be sure to check out (and join) The Avid Bakers Challenge for other posts on this fantastic little treat!

Winner Announced! $35 CSN Gift Card Giveaway!

So, just in time for the holidays!

Congrats to:
Cheryl!



I'll be sending along your info to CSN reps for your win!

Happy Holidays! I'm feeling another giveaway soon!

'Toy Story' Birthday Cake

My oldest (gasp!) son's birthday was November 29th. My little big man has turned four. Going on forty. As usual, I decided to make his birthday cake.

I really try to do that with both the boys, my youngest Nick-kinda got shafted this year. We were in the middle of a move, and I just didn't make him a a cake. He didn't party either (well, we had a little one at my Aunts house with my husband on the webcam) I seem to feel like my little man gets the shaft. I'm going to make a BIG effort to give him at least a rocking cake next year! At 3, I don't know how many other friends he'll have since I'm a SAHM and he won't be starting a sport until after his birthday. (Soccer!- It's adorable when the really little ones play!)

On to the cake. Jackson and Nicholas are HUGE Toy Story fans. I don't know a kid that hasn't been captivated by those movies. I gotta admit they are adorable. I like them too, just like I really like the Shrek movies (by the way, you can pre-order on amazon for $40 for the set of blu-rays!-Christmas present here!) There I go off the topic again.

I made a white wedding cake- moist, slightly dense, solid flavor. With an Oreo creme filling. The filling rocked my world. I was eating it alone. With a spoon. In the basement. It was so good. The top was a butter yellow cake with a chocolate whipped ganache. 8" and 6" respectively. In my dense mind I forgot that I needed 4" cakes (in height- exactly) for my usual stacking system (it's what happens when you haven't made a cake in almost 6 months). So I had beautiful tall layers- which I love, but that required me to go back to the straw stacking system. Since we didn't have to travel. That worked. Both are covered in a buttercream flavored fondant. (fondx) I have made my own fondant- and I like it, but I had this bucket from a while ago and I needed to use it. And I didn't want the extra mess.

The rest of the decor is fondant. With the exception of the silver stars. Those are gumpaste. I free handed the clouds on paper and traced onto the fondant (if you can't tell- they're not quite right) same with the cow "spots". The red pearl border is a first impressions mold that I've recently decided I love. And the rope border was made with a clay extruder (found at local craft stores in the clay section- only used with food though).

Needless to say. He loved the cake. Even without it saying "Toy Story" on it- he knew right away what it was! I had contemplated adding a Buzz and Woody on the top (plastic figurines) but I decided against at the last minute, going for the set-up you see.

If there's any questions you might have, I'd LOVE to try and answer them! But I gotta say Cake Central is a huge part of getting me started in cakes!


Oh- and it's snowing here. Christmas is coming!!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins- and -my FIRST GIVEAWAY!

These are so fantastically awesome, I'm considering buying a case of pumpkin to keep around all year, just for these muffins. I found these on Annie's Eats. She has some really awesome recipes on there, and I often check her site to see what other rockin things she's posted! Fall is here, Thanksgiving is Thursday, it's high time that I broke out the pumpkin. These are so delicious! The ONLY thing I change next time would be to add some finely chopped toasted pecans to the sugar mixture on top. But I just love pecans. A minor plan a head is the cream cheese mixture- I made that the night before and put it in my freezer, got up the next morning and made the muffin batter. Worked wonderfully!



That being said- Muffins are Awesome, Giveaways rock!



CSN has offered me a $35 gift card to one of my most awesome readers!! I LOVE CSN, you can get just about anything there! CSN is comprised of over 200 online stores, where you can find everything from a counter stool for your kitchen to a baby crib or a new pair of shoes! Seriously! The first time I visited I was SHOCKED at the amount of items they carry! Talk about one stop shopping!

* CSN ships to US and Canada only.


To Enter this Giveaway You'll Need to Do This: (leave a comment for each of entry)
1. Follow Me! (via Google on right)
2. Leave a comment on this post.
3. Post about this giveaway on Facebook, link back to this post.

Giveaway ends December 1st @ midnight EST. A winner will be randomly selected and I'll contact you via email.



Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins Printable
VIA: Annie’s Eats

Ingredients:
For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar

For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1¼ cups vegetable oil

For the topping:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log. Place into the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours, over overnight. It’ll be fine.

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use. *Next time I’d add finely chopped toasted pecans to this mixture for some extra oomph.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving. (It may be hard to resist immediate consumption, but the cream cheese filling gets very hot!)

Store in an airtight container. Makes 2dzn.

Caramel Cream Coffee Treat

So this really is more along the lines of an anytime treat vs just a 'coffee treat'. Cause really, for as simple and delicious as these are, you'll want to make them an anytime treat and not restrict them to just coffee time. Or if you're like me and found a new love for coffee. Then you find yourself drinking coffee 3-4 times a day. It's iced. It's delicious. I make them at home, so it's not killing my pocket book. Then every few hours is coffee time and you can eat these then. Until you realized that you've eaten 6 of them and your pants all of a sudden feel tight, and you wonder where you found the energy to scrub the kitchen floor with a toothbrush. Sugar, caffeine high. Glorious.

That was flighty. On to the recipe.

Caramel Cream Coffee Treat printable
(adapted from Pillsbury Best Bake-Off 1996)

Ingredients:
1 c firmly packed dark brown sugar
½ c chopped pecans
⅓ c dark corn syrup
¼ c melted butter

2 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
½ c powdered sugar
2 T butter, softened
3/4c coconut

2 lg cans of Grands (or similar) flaky biscuits

Directions:
Oven to 350. Parchment lined 9x13.
In a bowl combine brown sugar, pecans, corn syrup and melted butter. Spread on the bottom of a 9x13 parchment lined pan evenly.
In a small bowl combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and butter until smooth; stir in coconut.
Separate the dough in to 16 biscuits. Press or roll each until approx a 4” circle. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese mix in the center of each one and spread within a ¼” of the edges. Roll up length wise. You want a nice amount of the cream cheese mixture in the center of each. Place SEAM SIDE DOWN on the brown sugar mixture in the 9x13. Continue until filled and you’re out of biscuits. It’ll be a tight fit.
Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes or until a deep golden brown. Cool 3-5 minutes and invert onto your serving platter. It’ll be gooey and delicious. Careful, it’s hot. I really liked these cooled as well.

Black, White and Peanut Butter Brownies

These started with a box. My husband was so shocked when I told him. I told him not to tell anyone at work. ;) I've been to the library because it's been cold out- and I voted to add funding- I'd better use it. Anyway that led me to the cookbook section. I walked away with no less than 9 cookbooks to rummage through. I got this (and the next one I'm posting) out of an old Pillsbury Bake Off cookbook. I really love those type of books. They're often created from home chefs who know what works ... I like to think those books are like blogs are today. On to the recipe.

Black, White and Peanut Butter Brownies Printable
adapted from Pillsbury Best of the Bake off Cookbook 1996

Ingredients:
Brownies:
1 (9x13size) fudge brownie mix
1/4 c water
1/2 c oil
2 eggs
1/2 c chopped pecans
1c semi sweet chocolate chips
1c white vanilla chips
1 c of peanut butter chips or candy coat

Frosting:
2 c powdered sugar
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
4 T hot water
1/4 c butter, melted
1 t vanilla
1/2 c chopped toasted pecans
Directions:
Oven to 350.
Pam or parchment a 9x13. In a large bowl combine brownie mix, water, oil and eggs. Don’t over mix- approx 50 strokes. Add in 1/2 c chopped pecans, chocolate chips and vanilla chips. DON’T add the peanut butter candy coat yet. Spread in pan.

Bake at 350 for 28-35 minutes or until center is set. Remove from oven. Melt peanut butter candy coat until smooth and spread over the top of the brownies. While that cools mix the frosting.

In a small bowl, combine all frosting ingredients except the pecans and beat until smooth- it’ll be thin. Pour that over top of the cooled peanut butter layer, spread to cover. Chill an hour and 1/2 or until completely cooled.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

So, I randomly enter contests. Cause, ya never know what you might win right!? I've occasionally won some really cool stuff,(shake and bake with a gift card!) and some stuff that makes you go 'huh'. But it's all equally exciting!

However- my cool win of the month (a $50 CSN gift card) from Beyond Kimchee! You must check her out. Her photos are awesome, and a delight to read.

I just put 'delight'. I might as well put 'super dooper'.



I've never shopped @ CSN, but I've heard good things! I'm pretty excited for it!

On a cooking note: I've got some brownies cooling and my MOST AWESOME husband is working on my DIY Lowel lights. I'm hoping for some cool shots soon!

Thanks again Holly! :)