Bittersweet

Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprints

2012-01-26T03:00:00.000-08:00

Horrible Holiday #3:

If you want to get back together with someone, interrupting them Christmas morning while they are opening gifts just comes off as desperate. I would have rather received a gift than a dramatic phone call.

Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprints

What you need:

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter, melted

2 eggs, lightly beaten

mini candies, peppermint bark or white chocolate for the filling

What you do:

Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the eggs. Chill the dough for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325 F. On parchment lined cookies sheets, pinch out a tablespoon of dough and roll them into a ball, placing them 1 inch apart from each other. Wet your hands, flatten the dough and put an indent in the center with your thumb. Place the filling you are using inside and bake for 10 minutes.

Momofuku Holiday Cookies

2012-01-22T03:00:00.000-08:00

Horrible Holiday Tibit. . . I think it is 4 now. . .

A family conversation starter should not focus on how one member gave herself a tattoo with a ballpoint pen, needle, and a flame.

Momofuku Holiday Cookies

What you need for the cornflake crunch:

5 cups cornflake cereal

1/2 cup milk powder

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

9 tablespoons melted butter

What you need for the cookie:

2 sticks butter, at room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

2/3 cups light brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

the cornflake crunch

2/3 cup chocolate covered candies

1 1/4 cup mini marshmallows

What you do:

For the cornflake crunch, preheat the oven to 275 F. Mix all the ingredients together and spread them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.

For the cookies, combine the butter and sugars in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until the dough just comes together. On low speed, add the cornflake crunch and chocolate covered candies. Then mix in the mini marshmallows. Chill the dough for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Portion the dough with an ice cream scoop on top of a parchment lined baking sheet about 4 inches apart from each other. Bake them for 18 minutes.

Gingerbread Cupcakes

2012-01-19T03:00:00.000-08:00

Horrible Holiday Tibit # 4:

Some people do not understand that at the office party, you are still technically at work thus becoming too drunk has more grievances.

Gingerbread Cupcakes

What you need:

2 sticks of butter

1 cup molasses

1 cup sour cream

zest of 1 orange

2 1/3 cups flour

3/4 baking soda

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup minced crystallized ginger

8 ounces cream cheese

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Bring 1 stick of butter and the molasses to a boil then take it off the heat and put it in a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Allow to cool briefly. Mix in the sour cream and orange zest. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until just combined. Then stir in the crystallized ginger. Divide among the cupcake liners and bake for 25 minutes.

While the cupcakes are cooling make the frosting. In a bowl with an electric mixer cream together the remaining stick of butter and cream cheese. Add the confectioner's sugar and vanilla, mixing until just combined. Frost the cupcakes with it.

Chamomile Shortbread

2012-01-16T03:00:00.000-08:00

Horrible Holiday Tibit #5:

Try not to choke on anything at the family dinner table because you will only feel worse when no one tries to help you.

Chamomile Shortbread

What you need:

2 cups flour

2 tablespoons chamomile tea

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 sticks butter, at room temperature

What you do:

In a food processor, blitz together the flour, tea, salt and sugar. Then add the vanilla and butter. Blitz until it turns into a ball of cookie dough. Roll it into a log, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.

Then preheat the oven to 375. Slice the dough 1/3 inch thick and place on parchment paper lined baking sheets. Bake for 12 minutes.

Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls

2012-01-11T03:00:00.000-08:00

Horrible Holiday Tibit #5:

The only thing worse than receiving a duplicate gift is purposely receiving a duplicate gift.

"We know you love X-box so we thought you would like two".

Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls

What you need:

1 package of refrigerated cinnamon rolls (the kind that pops and scares you)

Gingerbread Cookie Dough

What you do:

Open the cinnamon roll tube and take a deep breath. Do not be alarmed by the surprised pop. Yes it is evil and scares me every time but we must push through this to make the rolls.

Unroll the dough and roll them out. Place some of the gingerbread dough on top of the cinnamon roll, and roll it back up. Place the rolls in a pie pan and bake according to package instructions.

Pistachio Cookies

2012-01-06T03:00:00.000-08:00

Horrible Holiday tibit #6:

One of the worst things that can happen when receiving gifts is not disliking the gift, but loving it and having your gift giver tell you that they made a mistake and the gift was meant for someone else.

Pistachio Cookies

What you need:

3/4 cup pistachios

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter, at room temperature

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 325 F. In a food processor, blitz together the pistachios and sugars. Until it is finely ground and completely green. Next blitz in the flour and salt until nicely combined. Then blitz in the butter until the dust pulls together into a dough.

Roll about 1 teaspoon of dough into a balls and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet 1 inch apart from each other. Bake for 15 minutes.

Rebecca's Psycho Pms Chocolate Balls

2012-01-03T03:00:00.000-08:00

Horrible Holiday 2011 tibit #7:

If someone where to be confronting their alcoholism, the Hangover 2 would be an inappropriate gift and create awkward moments for the intervention party involved.

Rebecca's Psycho Pms Chocolate Balls

From Nadia G

What you need:

1 cup finely chopped semi-sweet chocolate

1 cup finely chopped milk chocolate

1 cup butterscotch chips

1 1/2 cups peanuts

1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels

What you do:

Fill a sauce pan halfway up with water and bring it to medium high heat. Place a glass bowl on top that fits well (you are making a double boiler). Add the chocolate and butterscotch, stir until melted. Once it is melted, remove from the heat and stir in the peanuts and pretzels.

On a sheet with parchment paper, scoop heaping tablespoons of the chocolate mixture on top of it. Chill for 5 minutes. Compress the tablespoons into balls and chill until ready to serve.

P.S. Happy B'day Le Love!

Panettone Bread Pudding

2012-01-01T03:00:00.000-08:00

In honor of the horrible holiday countdown, I have a doozy for New Year's. This did not happen to me but to my best friends and it is pretty funny/sad.

It really only needs one sentence: My friend proposed on the stroke of midnight only to receive a confession that her spouse had been sleeping with another guy.

Whenever you complain about your new year's eve, if it was too drunk or not drunk enough, remember it wasn't as bad as that one.

Panettone Bread Pudding

What you need:

1 loaf Panettone

8 eggs

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

2 1/2 cups milk

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons almond extract

What you do:

Grease a 13 by 9 by 2 inch baking dish. Cut the panettone into 1 inch cubes. Allow to get stale overnight.

To make the custard, whisk the eggs together. Mix in the whipping cream, milk, sugar and almond extract. Soak the bread cubes in the custard and pour into the baking dish. Allow to sit for 30 minutes then bake it at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Kwanzaa Cake

2011-12-28T08:48:00.000-08:00

Hi!

Long time no see.

The holidays got the best of me. Literally. Yes every once and a while we have a crappy Christmas. It is not technically Christmas until someone cries. But I guess that is why everyone invented their own holidays for a while. Maybe I'll just celebrate cookiemas?

While I share some of the low lights of this season, I'll show you the highlights as well. Mainly the desserts.

Sandra Lee's Racist Kwanzaa Cake

By Sandra Lee

What you need:

1 angel food cake

2 containers frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 tablespoon cocoa

1 can apple pie filling

Cashews and popcorn for garnish

What you do:

Using a serrated knife, cut the angel food cake in half, horizontally. In a bowl, mix together the whipped topping, cinnamon, and cocoa. Spread some on the split angel food cake. Sandwich the cake back together and proceed to frost the rest of the cake with the topping. Pour the apple pic filling in the center (make sure it is on a serving platter or cake stand first). Garnish with cashews and popcorn.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Pie

2011-11-30T03:00:00.000-08:00

Remember the cookie? Some people are not fans of the macadamia nut but I think it is genius. And since pecans are a bit boring, a pecan pie substitute is greatly appreciated.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Pie

What you need:

Prepared pie crust

2 eggs

6 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup corn syrup

3/4 cup brown sugar

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

1/4 cup white chocolate chips

1/4 cup shredded coconut

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 425 F. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, butter, vanilla, corn syrup, brown sugar, salt and lemon juice. Place the pie crust on a baking sheet, pour the macadamia nuts and white chocolate into the pie crust. Top with the coconut. Pour the mixture over the nuts, reduce the oven to 325, and bake for 45 minutes.

Peppermint Mocha Pumpkin Affogato

2011-11-21T03:00:00.000-08:00

When some things are lying around, you realize they make great friends.

Peppermint Mocha Pumpkin Affogato

What you need:

1 Peppermint Mocha

a scoop of pumpkin ice cream

What you do:

Place ice cream into pumpkin mocha. Enjoy.

Pumpkin Butter

2011-11-17T16:18:00.000-08:00

Who knew it was really easy to make butter?

Pumpkin Butter

What you need:

2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

pinch of salt

What you do:

In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream on high speed for about 10 minutes. In the first 3 minutes, it will turn into whipped cream. After that it will begin to separate and become butter. Nifty huh.

After it is whipped cream, add the sugar, pumpkin pie spice, canned pumpkin and salt and continue mixing until the butter begins to separate from the liquid. Chill after.

Candy Pie

2011-11-09T03:00:00.000-08:00

With all the snow and power outages, there was a lack of trick or treaters this year. So either one can have a piece of candy everyday and gradually become obese, or one could bake them all off into a gigantic dessert, binge on it, kick start one's metabolism into high gear, and potentially pass out. Just imagine the dreamland you go to when you pass out!

Candy Pie

What you need:

1 pre-made pie shell, preferably graham cracker

left over Halloween candy, some for color, some for different flavors, some for crunch

Some pretzels and marshmallows too

What you do:

Dump everything in the pie shell and bake them for 30-40 minutes on 350 F, or until it is all melted.

Cake Pops

2011-11-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

After teaching a kids cooking class and nearly burning down a building from making rice krispie treats, I had to give them a recipe the did not need the use of an oven or stovetop. This recipe requires no danger besides little kids infected hands playing with food that needs to be eaten.

Cake Pops

1 pre-baked, unfrosted cake

1 can frosting

lollipop sticks

white chocolate, melted

sprinkles

What you do:

In a large bowl, break up the cake into small crumbs. Fold in the frosting until it is a big mess. Pinch out little pieces of cake out and roll it into a ball, place it on a cookie sheet with parchment paper lining it, and stick a lollipop stick in the center. Chill for a couple minutes. Drizzle the pops with the white chocolate and top with sprinkles. Chill until the chocolate hardens.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes

2011-10-30T15:24:00.001-07:00

With the random blizzard, this Halloween looks like the concluding scene from the Nightmare Before Christmas: jack o' lanterns packed in mounds of snow. Guess that means I have to pull out my giant plush Donald Duck costume for the snow. Yes my parents gave me one as a joke. They thought it was hysterical. I was jibbed on a b'day gift.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes

What you need for the cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup cocoa

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

pinch of salt

2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice

2 1/4 sticks butter, at room temp

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

5 eggs

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

What you need for the frosting:

2 sticks butter, at room temperature

2 8 oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature

2 cups confectioner's sugar

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 tablespoon vanilla

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice. In a bowl attached to an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and both sugars. Add each egg one at a time until fully combined. In another medium bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, buttermilk and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, 1/2 of the wet ingredients, another third of the dry, the remaining of the wet and the remaining of the dry. In that order. Divided among cupcake liners and bake for 22 minutes.

Once the cupcakes have cooled make the frosting. In a bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the butters and cream cheese. Add the confectioner's sugar on medium speed then add the pumpkin pie spice and vanilla. Frost the cupcakes.

Monster Mash Cereal Treats

2011-10-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

Count Chocula and Boo Berry cereal only come around this time of year. I guess people wouldn't want to eat demon cereal every day of the year. I would. They look like little space invaders.

When they come around, you cannot wait to enjoy them. Boo Berry is the best in case you were wondering. Chocula is second. The Franken Berry. . . eh.

Monster Mash Cereal Treats

What you need:

2 cups Count Chocula cereal

2 cups Franken Berry cereal

2 cups Boo Berry cereal

1 bag of mini marshmallows

2 tablespoons butter

What you do:

In a large bowl, mix the cereals together. Spray a 9 by 13 baking pan with cooking spray then begin to melt the marshmallows and butter together in a medium saucepan. Stirring constantly. Once completely melted, stir it with the cereal until all of the cereal pieces are coated. Then spread them in the pan and pat them down. Allow to chill for a few minutes.

Pumpkin Pie Pop Tart Brownies

2011-10-17T03:00:00.000-07:00

Is this necessary. . . no.

Is it pretty good. . . yes.

Is it artificial. . . a bit.

Is there any baking powder. . . nope.

Do you like puppies. . . of course.

Pumpkin Pie Pop Tart Brownies

What you need:

2 eggs, and 2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 stick plus 2 tablespoons butter

7 oz semi sweet chocolate, chopped up

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

4 pumpkin pie pop tarts, shredded into bits

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a 9 inch square baking pan with cooking spray. In a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat together the eggs and vanilla on high speed until they become frothy and light. In a saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate together. Once it is cooled, drizzle the chocolate along the side still beating on high speed. Fold in the flour, cocoa powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Mix in 2 shredded bits of the pumpkin pie pop tarts, pour into the pan, and sprinkle the rest on top. Bake for 30 minutes.

Best Apple Crisp

2011-10-12T03:00:00.000-07:00

When of the best parts of fall is apple picking. But you need to go to a country place. As my pal Korrine says, the hills must sing with the sound of music.

Usually it is supposed to be nice and cool, not blistering hot.

But with all the rain the apples this year were well, bleak. They tasted rancid, some were rotten, they were not that big etc.

You get what you get and you don't get upset. But with a little sugar it will be good.

Best but Trashy Apple Crisp

adapted from Ina Garten

What you need for the filling:

About 5 apples, peeled, cored and sliced

zest of 1 orange

2 tablespoons juice from that orange

zest of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons juice from that lemon

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

What you need for the topping:

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

pinch of salt

1 cup oatmeal

2 sticks cold butter, diced into small cubes

What you need for serving:

Cider doughnuts all torn up (the trashy part)

1 scoop of dulce de leche or butter pecan ice cream

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter a 9 inch pie plate. In a large bowl, toss together all of the filling ingredients: the apples, zests, juices, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg until fully coated. Drop them into the pie plate. In a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, on low speed mix together the topping ingredients: the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal and butter, until the mixture resemble little crumbs. Spread the topping on top of the filling. Bake for 1 hour.

When completed, serve with cider doughnuts and ice cream

Pumpkin Skull Heads

2011-10-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

It is so much fun eating faces.

Pumpkin Skull Heads:

What you need:

Pumpkin Jack-O-Lantern Cookies

White Chocolate

Black Frosting

What you do:

Arrange the cookies on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, melt the white chocolate by nuking it in the microwave for 20 second intervals, stirring in between each. Once it is completely melted, spread on the cookies then decorate with the black frosting.

Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

2011-10-03T03:00:00.000-07:00

There are pumpkin marshmallows out now which means they must be melted to become rice krispie treats. Smores are a bit out of season. Besides, it is more fun to watch it melt into bleeding oblivion.

My vegetarian friend ate these and freaked out because marshmallows have bone marrow in it. Don't feel sympathy for her, she ate a meatball once. Poser.

Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

What you need:

2 tablespoons butter

1 bag pumpkin marshmallows (or add 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice to marshmallows)

1 box puffed rice cereal

What you do:

Spray a 9 by 13 baking dish with cooking spray. In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, melt the butter with the marshmallows until completely combined and smooth. Off the heat, coat the mixture with the cereal. Once it is completely tainted by the mixture, pat it down into the baking pan and allow it to rest for 30 minutes before cutting into it.

Chocolate Merlot Cupcakes

2011-09-30T03:00:00.000-07:00

Apparently a lot of people like booze in their dessert. Here is another one for that category.

Chocolate Merlot Cupcakes

What you need:

1 1/4 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 tablespoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or white vinegar

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 oz milk chocolate

1 tablespoon of merlot

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the water, vanilla, vegetable oil, and vinegar. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. Divide among cupcake liners and bake for 30 minutes.

When the cupcakes are cooled, prepare the glaze. Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium high heat until it just starts to bubble. Pour it in a bowl with the chocolate, broken up into tiny pieces. Stir it together so that it melts into each other and stir in the merlot.

Banoffee Pie

2011-09-26T03:00:00.000-07:00

When do you get to boil a can of sweetened condensed milk?

Only when you try this recipe.

Banoffe Pie

What you need:

1 can sweetened condensed milk

About 20 graham crackers

5 tablespoons butter, melted

1 banana

2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar or 2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar

1 tablespoon almond extract

What you do:

Boil the can of sweetened condensed milk for 3 hours. Then let it cool off on the side. While it is cooling, preheat the oven to 350 F. In a food processor, blitz the graham crackers until they are crumbs. Then blitz in the melted butter until they are all wet and coated. Pat the crumbs into a 9 inch pie pan and bake for 15 minutes.

Then pour the contents of the can of sweetened condensed milk in the pie pan and spread it around. It is now a magically toffee substance. Thinly slice the bananas on top of it. In a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the cream, sugar and almond extract on high speed until soft peaks form. Spread over the pie.

Salted Caramel Apple Cupcakes

2011-09-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

Trying really hard to think of something to say about caramel apple cupcakes. It is natural since:

1. it is apple season

2. cupcakes are easier to make than caramel apples

3. crumbs has a really good one. Better if you put it in the microwave for a few seconds.

4. I just wrote "butter" instead of "better". Maybe because I used a Paula Deen recipe for this.

5. Needed to use the salted caramel in some shape or form.

Salted Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Adapted from Paula Deen

What you need:

3 cups flour,

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

3 eggs

1/4 cup orange juice

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 cups peeled and diced apples

salted caramel (see other recipe. I'm too lazy to write it twice.)

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl fitted with an electric mixer, beat together the sugar and vegetable oil. Add the eggs one at a time, with the mixer still running. Then beat in the orange juice and vanilla. Slowly add in the dry mixture until everything is just incorporated. Then fold in the apples. Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter among the cupcake liners and bake for 30-35 minutes. Pour the salted caramel on top as a glaze.

Salted Caramel

2011-09-19T03:00:00.000-07:00

Salted caramel is popping up all over the place now. Starbucks came out with a drink with this flavor as did Pinkberry.

For you future spending pleasure, Pinkberry was good, the Starbucks one was bleh.

It is really easy and fun to make. Especially since you risk yourself getting a third degree burn. You can use it to top ice cream or as a glaze in a cake. Or a bad story to explain your trip in the emergency room. It must really hurt if you burn yourself with the salt. . .

Salted Caramel

by Nigella Lawson

What you need:

5 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons dark corn syrup

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 tablespoon-1 1/2 tablespoons fleur de sel or any rock salt

What you do:

In a medium saucepan, dump in the butter, sugars and corn syrup and boil the hell out of it (like how you make holy water. Get it? I love that one). Swirl it around and stir it with a wooden spoon now and again until it starts to simmer and turns a golden amber color, about 3 minutes. Then very slowly and carefully add the cream. It will start boiling up and try to burn you. I recommend standing far away and stirring with one outstretched hand very quickly. Then add the salt, as much as you like, and take it off the heat. Use it as an ice cream toping or as a glaze for a baked good.

Pistachio Macarons

2011-09-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

After Laduree opened I had the urge to try out the various attempts to make macarons. And failed miserably.

Then I saw Anne Thornton's recipe. I'll be brutally honest, at first she didn't impress me. I know she has an inner fun goofball that is dying to get out. Then I would like her better. But then I tried her macaron recipe. I LOVE HER.

It worked. It actually worked. I used her suggestions to make pistachio ones. Prepare for an onset of macaron recipes.

Few notes: make sure the egg whites come to room temperature. They whip up faster that way. A pastry bag is really needed for piping them. My ziplock exploded which is why they look more like whoopie pies than macarons. And finally, depending on how lazy you are feeling, the filling can be made with store bought or homemade ingredients. Your choice.

Pistachio Macarons

Recipe by Anne Thornton

What you need:

1 1/4 cup almond meal

1 3/4 confectioner's sugar

3 egg whites, at room temperature

3 tablespoons meringue powder

Green food coloring

Cream cheese frosting (homemade or store bought)

Ground Pistachios or pistachio pudding mix

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Sift together the almond meal and confectioner's sugar. In a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on low speed until they become foamy. Then sprinkle in the meringue powder and increase the speed to medium high. The egg whites will start to expand and become marshmallow like. At this point add the green food coloring and beat some more until stiff peaks form. To check this, take off the whisk attachment and see if the meringue curls over.

Carefully fold in third of the dry ingredients into the meringue, not deflating any of the stiff peaks. Once it is completely combined fold in the next third then fold in the last third. Put the meringue in a pastry bag or a plastic ziplock bag with a corner cut off. Pipe 1 inch round circles onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper. You'll need two cookie sheets. With wet hands, smooth over the tops of the cookies. Allow them to sit for 30-60 minutes.

Once they are done sitting, bake for exactly 15 minutes. When they are cooling, make the filling by combining the cream cheese frosting with whichever pistachio medium you have chosen. Frost one side of the cookie and sandwich it with another.

Laduree

2011-09-12T03:00:00.000-07:00

My dreams have came true.

Not the one about getting a french bulldog. Or seeing Tokyo Disney. But when Laduree opened in New york on my B'day the gods have spoken.

The New York outpost is very tiny compared to the Parisian centers, and only has macarons and chocolates, but it still has the whimsical feel. After I left I felt calm and at peace, like walking down the Champs De Elysee, watching mimes, and aimlessly wandering.

So what should you get? Pistachio, rose, salted caramel (amazing), and orange water. Apple does not quite make the cut. Laduree is on 71st and Madison and open 9 to 7 P.M.

Spider-Man Dr. Pepper Red Velvet Cupcakes

2011-09-09T03:00:00.000-07:00

When I saw Williams-Sonoma Spider-Man cupcake decorating kit I knew I had to make something with it. Red velvet seemed like the natural choice for him but it needed more pizazz. Around the time the movies came out, I remember them always advertising Dr. Pepper with it. Since they are both red they must taste great together. Only logical.

To make my life easier I decided to use a cake mix and came across the Fun da Middles (their spelling not mine). Which basically makes your own Hostess cupcake with a cream filling! Yes! I must say it is fun, clever and tasty but if you cannot find it, a jar of frosting will work too. I felt with the stuff in the center we don't need more frosting on top so I didn't put any there. You may disagree and you may want to put some on top. I won't judge you.

And I do apologize for all of the chemicals in this. You could potentially get super powers from eating one of these. Or potentially screw up your brain thinking you have super powers. You win either way.

Spider-Man Red Velvet Cupcakes

What you need:

1 box chocolate cake mix (preferably Fun in da Middle)

1 can Dr. Pepper

1 container red food coloring

1 jar frosting (unless you have the super cool cake mix)

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix and Dr. Pepper until well combined. Then stir in the food coloring until it is bright red. Divide the batter amongst the cupake liners, filling them 2/3 of the way, about 2 tablespoons of batter in each. Then place a dollop of the frosting in the center of the batter, making sure it does not touch the sides. Then place another third or tablespoon of batter on top. Smooth over the batter making sure they are all even and bake for 30 minutes.

California

2011-09-06T03:00:00.000-07:00

As I am stuck inside being clobbered by a hurricane, I just wonder, why didn't I just stay on the west coast? Sure they have earthquakes but apparently we have them now too. The weather is always the same. You can't really walk anywhere but driving is fun. And Disneyland is an hour away.

This is a red velvet cookie ice cream sandwich with mango sorbet followed by a gingersnap ice cream sandwich with peach ice cream. Probably the best ice cream sandwiches ever. And found at Coast in Santa Monica.

Umami (which is the newly discovered taste bud that is sensitive to meat) burger is a new popular chain throughout the LA area. Their veggie burger was fantastic as were their sweet potato fries, which tastes like cinnamon and powder sugar.

Here is the Ivy where Demi Moore and Bruce Willis hooked up in the bathroom. Where Brad and Jen would get takeout. And where Lindsay Lohan last stopped before she was arrested for the very first time. They make amazing scones for brunch.

Cake Monkey has numerous outlets and are also found in Umami burger. They make these mini cakes in flavors like red velvet and banana, much better than any hostess product.

Here is a shot from Geoffrey's, a Malibu restaurant right on the ocean. Their walls are decorated with celebrity pictures. Woody Allen drew a broken heart.

"Mad scientist" flavors can be found at Scoops, a gelato joint. This is their most popular flavor, brown bread. Which tasted like brown bread but it was cold and creamy. If that makes sense.

Disneyland had these. You know what I am doing this Halloween.

And finally the Danish pastries of Solvang, a Danish community in the middle of California. Random and amazing. There is a fantastic pancake restaurant here as well as many bakeries, scenic mountains, and people dressed in Danish clothing. It was like Epcot.

Matterhorn Macaroons

2011-09-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

The Matterhorn is one of the classic attractions in Disneyland. It is also a really good old spice deodorant. Just thought I would recommend it.

Sadly the Matterhorn is only in the California resort. Even more depressing it was closed when I went there. But when I went to the blue ribbon bakery I came across these puppies:

Which were indeed magical for lack of original description. When I got home I had to make my own version of the snowy cookie mountains that the Yeti calls home. I modified a recipe by Mark Bittman and created something my friends say is better than the Lucy Diamond cookies.

Matterhorn Macaroons

What you need:

3 cups unsweetened coconut

1 cup sugar

3 egg whites

1 teaspoon almond extract

pinch of salt

1 bag white chocolate chips

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, stir together the first five ingredients with a spatula. You may want to use your hands even though it is messy. Clump them up into balls, place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Press together the tops to make little peaks. You may want to wet your hands to do so. Then bake for 15 minutes.

After the macaroons come out of the oven, melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl on 20 second installments, stirring in between each installment. Keep doing this until it is almost liquid, about 5 or 6 installments. Drizzle on top of the macaroons with a fork.

Margarita Cupcakes

2011-08-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

When vanilla isn't doing it for the day, try tequila.

Margarita Cupcakes

What you need:

1 box yellow or white cake mix, prepared

zest of two limes, divided

4 tablespoons lime juice, divided

4 teaspoons tequila, divided

2 sticks butter, at room temperature

1 box confectioner's sugar

green food coloring, optional

salt for finishing.

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Stir in the zest of one lime, two tablespoons of lime juice, and two teaspoons of tequila into the cake mix. Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter among the cupcake liners and bake for 25 minutes.

In a bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter together until pale and fluffy. Gradually mix in the confectioner's sugar. Mix in the remaining lime zest, lime juice, and tequila. Add green food coloring if desired. After frosting the cupcakes, finish it with a little bit of salt. For eating them, make sure you have a designated driver.

Strawberry Shortcake Kabobs.

2011-08-26T03:00:00.000-07:00

This recipe comes from my Aunt Karen out in LA. It is super fast and easy, and fresh and light for summer. If this was a recipe from down south it would be fried. If it was from New York, it would probably be pretty much the same.

Strawberry Shortcake Kabobs

What you need:

12 strawberries

12 chocolate truffles

6 bamboo skewers

12 cubes of angel food cake

What you do:

On the skewer, alternate the strawberries and angel food cake. In each strawberry, place a chocolate truffle in the middle of it. Grill the kabobs for a minute on each side. Serve with whipped cream.

Best Birthday Cake

2011-08-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

This is a bit of an overstatement. Actually I have the confidence to say no, it is the best ever. Smooth and vanilla, simple and not too sugary. The look of it is colorful and pleasant. While the crumbs add a different texture. Fine I'll keep the name.

Best Birthday Cake

What you need for the cake:

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

3 egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup sprinkles

birthday cake crumbs

What you need for the frosting:

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons flour

pinch of salt

4 sticks butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/4 cup sprinkles

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter and flour two round 9 inch cake pans. In a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until fluffy. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Add the sugar into the butter and beat until pale. Add the eggs and egg yolks, one at a time allowing the egg to completely incorporate. Then add the vanilla. On low speed, alternate in the flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the sprinkles.

Divide the batter amongst the pans and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Allow to cool and then make the frosting.

Whisk together the milk and the flour in a medium saucepan. Cook the milk over medium heat until it becomes solid, about 5 minutes. Then remove it from the heat allowing it to cool slightly. Stir in the salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla. Then one tablespoon at a time, add the milk mixture to the butter on medium speed. Then stir in the sprinkles.

Now we have to use the frosting immediately. Place one of the cake layers on your cake stand (or whatever you are serving it on). Spread a layer of the frosting, sprinkle the cake crumbs on top, place the other cake layer on top of that, then use up the rest of the frosting on top and the cake crumbs.

Birthday Cake Crumbs

2011-08-19T03:00:00.000-07:00

Momofuku is one of my favorite dessert places in the city. Sometimes a little too salty for my taste but it is always insanely amazing. Once I tried there version of a birthday cake which made me want to cry in happiness.

So I'm going to try to make it. It is a bit complicated because it starts out with the Momofuku "crumbs" which is mixed into all of their baked goods. But it good enough to eat by itself as a snack. This is the recipe adapted from Christina Tosi's original.

Birthday Cake Crumbs:

What you need:

3/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder

1/2 cup flour

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons corn starch

1/2 cup sprinkles

pinch of salt

6 tablespoons butter, melted

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 275 F. In a large bowl, mix together the milk powder, flour, sugar, corn starch, sprinkles and salt with a whisk or even a fork. Once they are combined mix in the melted butter with a fork and only a fork. The mixture will look like wet sand then become crumbs. Magic. Sprinkle across a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 10 minutes.

Birthday Cheesecake

2011-08-15T03:00:00.000-07:00

This is fun but cheesecake is good too.

Birthday Cheesecake

What you need:

1 box vanilla wafer cookies

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

2 8 oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 pint sour cream

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 tablespoons white cake mix (sprinkle brand preferred)

1 cup sprinkles plus more for top

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 325 F. In a food processor, pulverize the vanilla wafer cookies until they are dust. Then pulse in the melted butter until the crumbs are coated. Using a round measuring cup, press them up the sides and on the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan. You want to go about an inch up the sides. When you are done, wrap foil around the bottom and about halfway up the outside of pan and refrigerate.

In a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese for one minute until it is fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, completely incorporating each egg before adding the next one. Gradually add the sugar on a medium speed until the mixture is creamy. Then add the sour cream and mix until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl every so often. Then add the vanilla, cake mix and sprinkles, stirring it all together. Pour the batter into the crust, smooth over the top, then dust more sprinkles on the top.

Place the cheesecake in a roasting pan filled with boiling water. You don't want the water to go over the foil protecting the cheesecake. Just about halfway up the sides. Bake for 45 minutes. Then allow it to cool in the pan for an hour. Then chill for at least 4 hours.

Homemade Cake Batter Ice Cream

2011-08-12T03:00:00.000-07:00

Did you know that August is the most popular month to have a birthday?

If my math is correct it must have to do with the holidays (9 months before). And as you know, I'm obsessed with birthday cake flavored anything.

The best, which you see everywhere now, is cake batter ice cream/birthday cake ice cream/party cake ice cream. Once I bought an ice cream maker which parroted the sound of a dump truck scraping off the gravel on the street at a slow pace. Which is why I gave up on making ice cream. But then I came across an easy recipe for it and immediately converted it into cake batter.

The result is actually not bad! A little bit on the icy side but still good. Yes there are eggs in it, the reason the Cold Stone one was recalled, but hey, cake batter already kinda tastes like salmonella.

Homemade Cake Batter Ice Cream

What you need:

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 tablespoon cake mix

1/4 cup sprinkles

crumbs of a cupcake

What you do:

In a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla until pale yellow. Add the heavy cream and cake mix, beating at a high speed until soft peaks form. Then quickly stir or fold in sprinkles and crumbs. Spread in a tupperware container and freeze for 4 hours.

Cornflake Cupcakes

2011-08-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

You need to do something when you don't have enough cereal for another meal.

Corn Flake Cupcakes

What you need:

3 cups flour

4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar, divided

4 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 cup milk

1/2 cup corn flakes, plus more for decorating the cupcakes

2 cups heavy cream

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350, line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and one cup of sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing completely. Then add the vanilla. Combine the milk and cornflakes in a measuring cup, allowing the cereal to become soggy. In the additions, add the flour to the butter mixture. After the first and second flour addition, add half of the milk and cereal mixture. Make sure you end with the last third of the flour mixture. Makes sense right?

Divide the batter among the cupcake liners and bake for 25 minutes. While the cupcakes are baking, work on the frosting. In a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream and 1/2 cup sugar on high speed until soft peaks form. Once the cupcakes cool, frost with the heavy cream and sprinkle more cornflakes to decorate it.

Watermelon Cupcakes

2011-08-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

Once, not so long ago, someone on Top Chef said you can never bake with watermelon. Sure of done the research to figure out who said that but when someone says I can't, I try to prove them wrong.

Random watermelon memory, my friend bought a container of it from whole foods, threw out the receipt and didn't take a bag. The guard stopped her, accusing her of stealing the watermelon. This ended with me diving through the trash trying to find her receipt amongst organic waste. Good times.

But they were right in saying that the fruit is not a good baking texture. Far too watery and stringy. But that doesn't mean the flavor couldn't work.

After seeing this I wanted to make my own and then seeing a watermelon extract here, it was a no brainer.

Watermelon Cupcakes

What you need:

1 box white cake mix prepared

2 tablespoons watermelon extract, divided

red or pink food coloring if desired

4 sticks butter, at room temperature

4 cups confectioner's sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix together the cake mix, 1 tablespoon of the watermelon extract, and food coloring. Divide the batter among a muffin tin with cupcake liners and bake them for 25 minutes. Allow to cool.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Gradually add in all of the sugar. Then add the vanilla, rest of the watermelon extract and food coloring. Use to frost the cupcakes.

Cotton Candy Cupcakes

2011-08-01T03:00:00.000-07:00

1. Crumbs had some cotton candy cupcakes for summer, which tasted pretty amazing. Then I was curious.

2. After googling I came across my pal Kristan's recipe for it.

3. Then I found ingredients here.

4. See below.

Cotton Candy Cupcakes

What you need:

1 box white cake mix prepared

2 tablespoons cotton candy extract, divided

blue food coloring if desired

4 sticks butter, at room temperature

4 cups confectioner's sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix together the cake mix, 1 tablespoon of the cotton candy extract, and blue food coloring. Divide the batter among a muffin tin with cupcake liners and bake them for 25 minutes. Allow to cool.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Gradually add in all of the sugar. Then add the vanilla, rest of the cotton candy extract and food coloring. Use to frost the cupcakes.

Choco Taco

2011-07-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

The ice cream truck never comes to my street. It always was buy my cousins. They even had one that made sundaes, shakes and soft serve. But I never got it.

Then my grandmother wanted to buy an ice cream place on the highway. How much fun it would have been to work there, smelling sweet cold dairy products all day. Didn't happen.

THEN a Cold Stone opened 15 minutes away from me. I went there on a weekly basis, usually getting birthday cake remix. Then it closed and became a tanning salon.

With all the bad ice cream karma I had to try to make some of my favorite things at home. Fudgie the whale didn't turn out that great but the choco taco is not bad.

If you never had a choco taco, it is a waffle cone as a tortilla with chocolate and vanilla ice cream in the middle with a fudge topping. There is also a strawberry one. Usually it is sold at Taco Bell and other Mexican fast food places, but it takes five minutes to make a homemade version.

Choco Taco

What you need:

1 frozen multigrain waffle

2 scoops mud pie ice cream

dulce de leche sauce for drizzling

chocolate ice cream shell sauce or hot fudge sauce

What you do:

Toast the frozen waffle on a super low setting so that it is still very flexible. Plop the ice cream and dulce de leche right in the middle. Then bring both of the sides together to make a taco shape. Pour the chocolate sauce on top. You can either devour it now or wrap it in two layers of plastic wrap and freeze for 2 hours to hold the shape.

Ice Cream Sandwich Bar

2011-07-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

Ice cream sandwiches are so addicting yet hard to find. With all of the combinations you can make you would think more stores would offer them. Thankfully they are pretty easy to make and make for a fun party game (rather than playing things with your friends or looking through their phones. Scarring).

First thing you need is some bases such as cookies, wafers, and donuts. Freeze them a few hours before assembling the sandwich, makes it a bit easier.

Next you need some ice cream that should not be too soft, or else your sandwich will be a mess. Always have a classic vanilla and chocolate. My favorite chocolate is Starbuck's Signature Hot Chocolate flavor. Super rich and has different layers. Then for some other flavors try something a bit untraditional. Cake batter is my pick and Ben and Jerry's new Clusterfluff, just because it sounds like my favorite curse word.

One can always add something spreadable to the sandwich (see above. . . obviously). Just for a new take. And have some hollow plates to roll things onto the sandwich. Things specific such as sprinkles, coconut, peanuts, and chocolate chips. Then you get your own works of art that can be devoured in 10 seconds.

Strawberry Cookies

2011-07-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

I came across this recipe on MarthaStewart.com and was engrossed in the idea of making cookies with fresh strawberries in them.

By the way they turned out, it was nothing like the picture. They were far more brown and burnt looking. Plus the strawberries dried out. Martha you failed me.

But they did taste good. Then I saw this show.

What child would watch a show about a ten year old Martha Stewart problem solving? I prefer Jake and the Neverland Pirates. But Martha? Really? Eh. Who invested in that?

Strawberry Cookies

What you need:

2 cups strawberries, all diced up

7 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 cups flour

2 tablespoons baking soda

pinch of salt

6 tablespoons butter, cold and cubed

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 375 F. In a medium bowl, toss the strawberries together with 2 tablespoons of sugar and the lemon juice and set them aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, remaining 7 tablespoons sugar, baking soda, and salt. Drop in the butter and using your hands, press the butter into the dry mixture until it becomes coarse crumbs. Then stir in the heavy cream to complete the dough. Stir in the strawberry mixture with the white chocolate chips.

Using a tablespoon, divide the cookie batter on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 25 minutes.

Sucker Punch

2011-07-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

My pal Athena made us some punch for an afternoon by the pool. It was this odd mauve color but the taste was addicting. It had this subtle tropical taste with a tad bit of nostalgia to those juice box days. She named it sucker punch, which was genius and needed to be shared.

Sucker Punch

What you need:

1 container cherry apple grape juice

equal part orange juice

equal part lemonade

equal part pineapple juice

equal part ginger ale

Little bit of water

What you do:

Mix all of the ingredients together using the container of the cherry apple grape juice as a measuring cup. If you need more, double the recipe but make sure everything is in equal parts.

Harry Potter Treacle Ice Cream Sundae

2011-07-15T03:00:00.000-07:00

When I went to the midnight release party of the final book, my friends got into a fight escalating into one reading the ending out loud on the stroke of midnight, creating a mob of angry Potter fans chasing us out of Borders.

Now that the final movie is coming out, I'm more nostalgic then ever but determined to make the viewing experience enjoyable. Which is why I am going with a close-sane friend 10:00 Friday morning. And that includes a wizard like dessert.

Now I have already made butterbeer, pumpkin juice, and highlighted all of the desserts at the wizarding world with small pictures. What was left? But Harry's favorite dessert of all: Treacle.

Throughout the books, Harry is always diving towards treacle flavored treats and it is cited that it is his favorite. If you do not know what this is (frankly I didn't before a google search) it is basically a sweet molasses. Like typical British desserts, it is warm, burnt and buttery tasting. All of my favorites. Which is why I wish I was a British teenager: To enjoy those treats and to live a life like a Skins episode.

Since it is currently very hot, I took inspiration from Harry's study spot of Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour and made it into a sundae.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Treacle Sundae

What you need:

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons corn syrup (dark is preferable)

3/4 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon rum (optional)

ice cream (vanilla or butter pecan would be best)

raisins for sprinkling

pop rocks (again optional if you want popping sugar candy in your mouth)

What you do:

In a small saucepan over medium high heat, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup and butter. You don't really need to stir it together, it will melt well, but if you are bored go for it. Once it is combined and bubbling away like a cauldron, lower the heat by about half and add in the cream and cinnamon. Add the rum if you are having a bad day. At this point it would tend to boil up and try to scald you so stand back, stir the ingredients together quickly, and if it gets too much take it off the heat.

Set up your ice cream in a sundae glass or small dish. Layer it with the treacle sauce and the raisins. Sprinkle the pop rocks on top if you choose to do so. Don't forget to brush your teeth afterwards.

Rainbow Cake

2011-07-11T03:00:00.000-07:00

After seeing tons of people on the internet making this I had to try it out. Let me just tell you, it is very tall and the serving size is not healthy. My wonderful friend has to hold the cake upright the whole time while I tried not to cut off her fingers. She was fine.

This one is very fruity and has a different flavor for each layer. Think of it as Skittles.

Rainbow Cake

What you need:

3 boxes of white cake mix, prepared

6 different colored jello mixes (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple)

Food dye (optional)

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon almond extract

1 package mascarpone cheese

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 6 nine inch round cake pans. Divide each of the cake batters in to (so you have 6 separate cake batters). Stir in one of the jello packages into each cake batter so you have six different colors. If you wish, add food dye to make the colors pop more. Transfer the batter to the pans and bake each of 30 minutes

Once the cakes are cooled make the filling. In a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat together the cream, sugar, almond extract, and mascarpone cheese until soft peaks form. Spread the filling in between the layers of the cake. In case you don't remember second grade science, the order should be purple on bottom, followed by blue, green, yellow, orange, and red on the top.

S'mores Ice Box Cake

2011-07-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

Again I'm sorry.

Icebox cakes are just so easy to make. You don't need to prepare any ingredients or think ahead. Everything is always lying around. And come one, cream and cookies is so good!

I have more ideas for icebox cakes coming up. My one vegetarian friend will not eat marshmallows because it has gelatin (cow bones?) in it. To spite her I thought I would make a s'mores version.

But apparently she can eat marshmallow cream. Foiled again.

This one really tastes like a lukewarm ice cream sundae. Smooth with a little heat from the graham crackers.

Smores Icebox Cake

What you need:

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/2 cup marshmallow cream

2 packages chocolate wafer cookies

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

What you do:

Place the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla in an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until soft peaks form. Then gently fold in the marshmallow cream. In a 9 inch spring form pan, spread a layer of the whipped cream. Then arrange the chocolate wafer cookies to cover it. Spread another layer of whipped cream and sprinkle it with some of the graham cracker crumbs. Then place down another layer of cookies. Keep repeating this process until all the ingredients have been used. Chill overnight.

Caramel Blondies

2011-07-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

Originally these were supposed to have salt, which tasted weird, so the over sweetness plays much better. Feel free to add more candy to it. The more the merrier.

Caramel Blondies

What you need:

2 sticks butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/3 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of sea salt

3 cups chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

1 cup chewy caramels, chopped

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 375 and grease a 9 by 13 inch jelly roll pan. In a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and both sugars together. Add the vanilla and eggs, one at a time. In a large bowl off to the side, whisk together the flour, baking soda and sea salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, until just combined. Add the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and caramel pieces, stirring until all combined. Spread the batter into the jelly roll pan and bake for 30 minutes.

Yogurt Granola Pie

2011-07-01T03:00:00.000-07:00

There is nothing better than a yogurt parfait for breakfast. It kinda tastes like ice cream but you think it is healthy but it really is a glorified ice cream. I'm ok with that. But how can it be better? If it was pie.

This is based off of a recipe from Martha's pie cookbook. Sadly it is very easy to eat the entire thing in one sitting. Be careful.

Yogurt Granola Pie

What you need

2 cups vanilla granola

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup plus 4 tablespoons sugar, divided

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1 package of low fat cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup yogurt

2 tablespoons orange zest

1 pint raspberries

1 pint of blueberries

Honey for drizzling

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a food processor, pulse together 1 1/2 cups of granola, cinnamon, and 1/2 cup sugar until they are fine crumbs. Then pulse in the melted butter. Roughly pulse the rest of the granola and spread it on a 9 inch pie plate. Chill the pie crust for 15 minutes then bake it for 10.

In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese and 4 tablespoons of sugar. Add the yogurt and the orange zest. Pour the mixture into the cooled crust and chill overnight.

When you are ready to serve, spread the raspberries and blueberries on top. Drizzle honey on top of them.

Cinnamon Orange Ice Tea

2011-06-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

If I were to go to rehab it would be for my addiction to ice tea.

When I go to the dentist, they usually remark how the front of my teeth are perfect but the back are a bit stained.

I keep getting cold sores because I drink it too much. Or because I'm too stressed.

Now Dunkin Donuts has there dollar ice tea deal. It really is my favorite (besides Starbucks green ice tea). So five a day is alright. Only five dollars. Nothing big.

Cinnamon Orange Ice Tea

What you need:

1 bag of black tea

Skin of an orange

1 cinnamon stick

What you do:

In a large plastic picture, place all the ingredients in the bottom and then fill the pitcher with boiling water or super hot water. Chill it over night.

Florida Orange Cupcakes

2011-06-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

Isn't it irritating when your internet goes down and you have no means by fixing it.

A few weeks ago it was Donald Duck's birthday. I had some Donald Duck orange juice lying around and thought it would makes some good cupcakes. Well actually, I saw a place make Florida orange cupcakes with marmalade and thought it was worth a try. And that the Donald Duck juice is so strong, and that it is practically undrinkable. Besides rotting it needed to go somewhere.

Florida Orange Cupcakes

What you need:

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

2 tablespoons orange zest

4 stick unsalted butter, softened and divided

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs and 3 egg yolks

4 tablespoons orange juice, divided

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup orange marmalade

2 cups confectioner's sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake lines. In a large bowl, whisk together the flower, baking soda, baking powder, salt and orange zest. In a bowl with an electric mixer, cream together 2 sticks of butter and the sugar. Add in the eggs and egg yolks one at a time. Then add 2 tablespoons of the orange juice to the batter. Slowly add 1/3 of the flour mixture until just combined, then half of the buttermilk, another third of the flour, the rest of the buttermilk, and the rest of the flour. Use an ice cream scoop to divide the batter amongst the cupcake liners. Bake for 30 minutes.

While the cupcakes are baking, heat the marmalade in a small saucepan over low heat. When the cupcakes come out and they are still warm, poke some holes in them with a toothpick, then brush them with the syrupy marmalade. Allow to cool.

In a bowl with an electric mixer, cream together 2 sticks of butter and the confectioner's sugar. Add the cream and two tablespoons of orange juice. When soft peaks form, use the mixture to frost the cupcakes.

Disney Dessert Menu

2011-06-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

Guess where I went!

Yeah nothing new here. But this fantasyland is essentially my candyland. So I thought I would share some of my favorite desserts at restaurants around. This two ice cream goodies come from the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor. Not only do they add cookies to make mouse ears, but their sundae is so good. The place smells like waffle cones, making you sugar stoned.

Jiko is my favorite restaurant. All of the flavors are unique and animals roam around the resort. Ok maybe I should not have included that detail while discussing food. I had this coconut caramel bread pudding which I consumed after eating tons of flatbread and dips for dinner. The rectangular thingy was buttery and amazing but I have no idea what it is.

The Hollywood Brown Derby has my favorite. One of my favorites. The banana toffee tower with white chocolate. It used to be bigger. But still awesome.
California Grill is also a favorite. I would be the best if it wasn't so hard to get a reservation. It boasts a view on the entire property as well as lemon lavender profiteroles.
The Flying Fish Cafe has a boardwalk theme, appropriately since it is on the boardwalk. This is their version of boardwalk food, peanut butter whoopie pie for a hamburger, toasted pound cake fries, caramel popcorn and this super tart popsicle that makes your eyes spasm.

While I was there it was Star Wars weekends. I got to talk to C-3PO and hug a wookie. My life is now complete.

Pound Cake Grilled Cheese

2011-06-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

In keeping with the freaky friday spirit, here is a recipe my pal Mackenzie made. It is a sweeter grilled cheese, made with pound cake. That can't be a bad thing right?

Pound Cake Grilled Cheese

What you need:

2 thin slices of pound cake

a few slices of brie

1/2 tabs fig spread

1 small rosemary sprig, chopped

1 pat of butter

What you do:

Put a few slices of brie on the pound cake. Smear some fig preservers on the other piece of bread. Melt the butter in your skillet on medium and throw in the rosemary. Keep heating the butter and rosemary for a few minutes until the leaves start to soften up and the rosemary flavor starts to infuse into the butter. You'll see little bubbles to dissolve before you put the sandwich in. When it is smooth and melted, put both pieces of pound cake in your skillet and let them cook. After three or four minutes you will start seeing a crust developing on the bottom of the pound cake. Gently flip one piece onto the other. Take it off the skillet and eat immediately. Real fast. Inhale it.

Berry Napoleon Cake

2011-06-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

SUMMER!!!

Already got sunburn, went to a guido hangout (how the floor was wet without any rain I'll never know), ate a fried twinkie, saw fireworks, and bounced around the multiplex when only paying for one movie.

Summer to do list:

Be tan

Get a job

Become a superhero

Rock Climb

Read the Game of Thrones series

And make a lot of treats

Berry Napoleon Cake

1/2 cup Amaretto

6 tablespoons of sugar, divided

1 pint raspberries

1 pint blackberries

1 pint strawberries, quartered

1 package mascarpone

2 cups heavy cream

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 vanilla pound cake

What you do:

In a bowl, microwave the Amaretto and 2 tablespoons of sugar for 4 minutes, to make a nice syrup. Toss the raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries together in the syrup with 2 more tablespoons of sugar. In a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the mascarpone, heavy cream, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of sugar together until stiff peaks form. Slice the pound cake horizontally into four pieces.

Now assemble, take one slice of cake, spread the whipped cream on top, cover it with the berries, then press another piece of cake on top. Keep doing this until all of the ingredients are used.

Cake Stuffed Strawberries

2011-06-06T03:00:00.000-07:00

Chocolate strawberries are not as exciting as they can be. When I saw this link, I felt inspired and had to try these out. Somewhat healthy-ish dessert cannot last long.

Cake Stuffed Strawberries

What you need:

Strawberries (obviously)

Brownies

1 can chocolate frosting

12 oz bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup heavy cream

What you do:

Pat the strawberries dry with a paper towel. On the tips of the strawberries, cut out three triangles so that the inside is hollow. In a bowl, break the brownies apart to become crumbs, then mix with the can of frosting. Stuff some of the cake/frosting mixture into the strawberries and around the sides. Place the strawberries on a sheet with parchment paper and chill them for 30 minutes.

Break up the chocolate into a bowl. Boil the heavy cream in a medium saucepan then pour it over the chocolate to let it melt. Stir it together until it is completely blended. Dip the strawberries in them and chill them again.

Cheesecake Grilled Cheese

2011-06-03T03:00:00.001-07:00

One of my buds Mac has a great blog called Grilled Cheese Social. We have been wanting to do a joint post for a while, hey dessert grilled cheese needs to be invented, and here it is. Mine at least.

When trying to figure out what type of cheese to use, I thought: "Screw cheese. I'll get the cake". Surprisingly it was amazing. But I would advise only on sandwich per lifetime. I doubt that one could physically survive having two in a lifetime. Just looking out for all of you.

Cheesecake Grilled Cheese

What you need:

2 slices of brioche

slather of Nutella

slather of strawberry butter (just mix together softened butter with strawberry jam)

1 piece of cheesecake

2 dabs of butter

What you do:

Preheat a skillet to high heat. On one slice of bread, spread the Nutella. On the other, spread the strawberry butter you slaved away at. In between, plop the cheesecake, squish it between the Nutella and strawberry butter. Then on the outside of your sandwich, butter both slides then drop it on the skillet for about 5 minutes. Press it down a little bit with a spatula. After five minutes, flip it over and let it cook on the other side for about three minutes. Serve immediately and spread some more strawberry butter on it like it is tomato soup.

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

2011-05-27T03:00:00.000-07:00

One summer, I decided to try as many pancake recipes as I could because my IHop burnt down on accident. We all know that the owner did it for insurance reasons, it is Jersey. To make up for it, there was a new pancake every morning. My favorite was a Rachael Ray recipe, who annoys me, but apparently can make really good pancakes.

Sometime I make this for lunch. I use lighter ingredients and whole wheat flour to make it healthier. You don't have to, but for meals I like to sneak in some nutrition. Hypocritical of the whole "spreading diabetes" brew ha ha. Whatever.

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

Adapted from Rachael Ray

What you need:

1 cup old fashioned oats.

1/4 cup white flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup sour cream

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 bananas, mashed

3/4 cup raisins

1/2 stick butter, melted

What you do:

Preheat a skillet. In a large bowl, whisk together the first 7 dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Combine the wet ingredients into the dry, mix together until just combined. Mix in the bananas and raisins, then stir in the butter. Allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes while you grease the skillet. Using a 1/4 cup measure, pour the batter onto the skillet, Once you see bubbles on the top of the pancakes, flip them over and allow to cook on the other side for 3 minutes. Serve immediately.

Baked Alaska Ice Cream Crunch Cake

2011-05-23T03:00:00.000-07:00

The best part about summer are Carvel cakes. I apologize if you live overseas and do not know who Fudgie the Whale is, but it is awesome. There is a layer of "crunchies" in between ice cream layers. There is also this whipped cream frosting that can never be replicated.

I tried to replicate this. For the ice cream, I used a Samoa flavor and mud pie, but any chocolate/vanilla variation will do. The crunchies come from our favorite cereal. And the frosting, well it is meringue to make it more over the top.

Baked Alaska Ice Cream Crunch Cake

What you need:

2 1 & 1/2 quarts of vanilla based ice cream

1 1 & 1/2 quart of chocolate based ice cream

2 cups cocoa krispie cereal (or cocoa pops if you are English)

5 good shots of chocolate fudge ice cream coating, plus more if you need it

8 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 cups sugar

What you do:

Take a 9 inch spring form cake pan and place it in the freezer for 15 minutes. In the meantime, take out one of the vanilla ice cream containers and allow it to come to room temperature. When it has softened, spread the ice cream in the bottom of the cake pan and up the sides (this sounds easier said then done). Then put it in the freezer for 45 minutes.

Take the chocolate ice cream base out of the freezer to soften. In a large bowl, combine the cocoa krispies and fudge topping until all of the cereal bits are coated (if you need more topping, go ahead and use it). Spread the chocolate ice cream on top of the vanilla layer, then spread the cocoa krispie mixture on top of that. Freeze for another 2 hours.

Finally, spread the remaining vanilla ice cream on top of the coco krispies and freeze for another two hours.

Preheat the oven to 500 F. With an electric mixture fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on high speed until soft peaks form. Then gradually add the sugar until they become glossy. Take out the ice cream cake and place it on a cookie sheet. Release it from the spring form and spread the egg whites around it. Bake for five minutes then serve immediately.

Bloody Red Velvet Pudding Cake

2011-05-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

Little while ago, I said I was done with Lindsay Lohan cakes. I am. Sticking to the pledge.

BUT. . .

Having to do community service in a morgue is hysterical. The thought of her being surrounded by dead bodies. Which inspired a red velvet pudding cake which looks like blood and guts. But her name is not on the title because I am moving on, slowly. But moving on nonetheless.

Bloody Red Velvet Pudding Cake

What you need:

3/4 cup sugar for the cake, 1/2 cup for the topping

1 cup flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder for the cake and another 1/4 for the topping

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1 container red food coloring

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 cups hot water

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar, flour, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Then mix in the buttermilk, cider vinegar, food coloring, butter, and vanilla. Stir until just combined and spread it in a 9 inch square baking dish. In another bowl, mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1/4 cup cocoa powder. Sprinkle this on top of the cake. Pour boiling water on top and bake for 30 minutes.

Bumble Berry Pavlova

2011-05-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

There are many uses for the word Bumble. In Rudolph, it is an angry snow beast. Paired with an four letter words, it means a hick area. With berries, it means a mixture of berries.

It is rather fun to say. Just makes you think of fat jolly cartoon characters. Airy and sweet and cloudy like pavlova. Yeah that's the best I can tie it in. Here's the recipe.

Bumble Berry Pavlova

What you need:

4 egg whites

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups whipping cream

1 tablespoon hazelnut liquor or extract

1 pint raspberries

1 pint blackberries

1 pint blueberries

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 strawberry jelly

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Trace a 9 inch circle on parchment paper then flip over the paper on a baking sheet. In an electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and salt on high speed until they become frothy and later start to become stiff. Gradually sprinkle in 1 cup of sugar to make it nice and glossy. Once it has glossy stiff peaks, dump on the cornstarch, vinegar and vanilla. Fold them into the mixture then pile the mixture on the 9 inch traced disk. Smooth over the top then pop it in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. When you place it in the oven, immediately turn the oven down to 250 F. Allow it to completely cool in the oven for an hour.

Once it is cooled, make the whipped cream. In an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream with 1/2 cup sugar. Add the hazelnut flavoring and beat it until soft peaks form. Pile this on top of the pavlova.

As for the berries, reserve some of the berries off to the side for garnish. For the other suckers, drop them in a large sauce pan, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1/4 cup water and the lemon juice, and bring the saucepan to a boil and simmer for 4 minutes. Drop the mixture into a food processor with the strawberry jam and buzz it to oblivion. Pour it over the finished dessert (once it has cooled) and decorate with the remaining berries.

Italian Carrot Cake

2011-05-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

For whatever reason, I have had an obsession with Italian desserts and I have had a determination to make an Italian carrot cake. Then I saw Nigella make one and I didn't feel unique anymore. So I made hers and changed the name. I added hazelnut flavoring but your really couldn't taste it so why bother? It is nice and citrus-e (y? ie? Whatever).

Italian Carrot Cake

What you need:

1/2 cup olive oil

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs

1/2 lemon, zest and juice

2 medium carrots, grated

2 1/2 cups almond meal flour

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, mix together the olive oil and sugar. Add the vanilla, eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice, stirring it all to combine. Mix in the carrots, almond flour and nutmeg until everything is just combined. Pour the batter in a 9 inch cake pan lined with parchment and greased with olive oil. Sprinkle the pine nuts on top and bake for 30 minutes.

Fruity Pebbles Cheesecake Guest Post

2011-05-09T03:00:00.000-07:00

It seems that my buddy Liz had a vision to make an amazing cheesecake. Thankfully the vision did not come to her through a burning bush. It looks so wonderful everyone needs to see it.

I think I was blessed by a higher power. Seriously, I was just sitting with my sister in her kitchen, drinking tea, when suddenly, out of nowhere, I decided that I needed to make a Froot Loops cheesecake (it became a Fruity Pebbles cheesecake later, when I observed that Fruity Pebbles were practically already crushed, thus lessening my workload). My only complaint about the whole thing is that the higher power in question didn't strike me with the motivation and determination to do something slightly more profitable, like build an ark or take over a country. But we take what we can get in this life, and I took this cheesecake to Awesome Town. And then Easter dinner.

Fruity Pebbles Cheesecake

Crust:
1 1/2 cups Fruity Pebbles cereal, crushed
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1 block cream cheese, softened
8 ounces non-fat plain yogurt
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Extra Fruity Pebbles for decorating.

For the crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine crushed Fruity Pebbles and melted butter in 9 inch pie dish. Press down and up around sides of dish. Bake for ten minutes. Allow to cool completely before filling.

For the filling: Place cream cheese, yogurt, sugar and vanilla extract in mixing bowl. Mix on high for a couple minutes, or until completely combined. Pour into cooled crust and refrigerate overnight. Decorate with extra Fruity Pebbles.

Chess Pie

2011-05-06T03:00:00.000-07:00

Every once and a while you hear about chess pie, which is a British dessert that no one in the states ever makes nor has anyone ever see. Basically, it is like a pecan pie without the pecans but not really. It is eggy and rich. Like eggnog I guess. But for some reason, it is addicting. No wonder some places refer to it as crack pie.

Chess Pie

What you need:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornmeal

pinch of salt

3 eggs plus one egg yolk

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 stick butter, melted and cooled

prepared graham cracker crust

What you do:

Preheat oven to 325 F. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornmeal and salt. Add the eggs, vanilla and butter, whisking until just combined. Pour into crust and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Allow to cool and chill for 30 minutes.

Cereal Milk

2011-05-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

At Momofuku Milk Bar, they serve this drink called cereal milk. It is milk that tastes like cornflakes. We always drink the leftover milk in our cereal, and this creation just cuts out the middle man. The cereal perfumes the milk into a decadent drink.

You can use any cereal for this. It could be healthy or incredibly sugary. Go with the sugary. Usually it has artificial colors that makes the milk look pretty.

Cereal Milk

What you need:

Milk

Your favorite cereal

What you do:

Pour milk into a little bit of the cereal. Allow it to sit for 15 minutes. Strain out the cereal and drink the rest of the milk.

Brickle Squares

2011-04-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

To be honest, I don't know what brickle actually means. I could google it in the upper corner of the computer screen now but I'm so lazy I'm just going to keep typing. I think it is sweet, buttery? Definitely buttery. Is this a real word?

Oh well. It tastes good. Chocolate ganache and fleur de sel makes it fancy and interesting. And it is easy to make. And buttery.

Brickle Squares

What you need:

6 Graham Crackers

1/2 butterscotch chips

1/4 cup walnuts

2 sticks butter

1/2 cup sugar

Chocolate ganache to drizzle

Fleur de sel for sprinkling

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large baking dish, line the graham crackers down. Spread the butterscotch chips and walnut pieces on top. In a large saucepan bring the butter and sugar to a bowl, then reduce the heat to make a syrup. Pout it over the graham crackers and bake for 10 minutes.

If you don't already have ganache, pour 1/2 cup of warm heavy cream over 4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate and stir together. Sprinkle this on top of the graham crackers then sprinkle the fleur de sel on top.

Beer Float

2011-04-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

Every once and a while, you need a beer. Other times, you need a pint of ice cream. Sometimes, you need both.

Beer Float

What you need:

2 scoops vanilla ice cream

1 bottle of your favorite beer

What you do:

Pour half of the beer in a class. Top with ice cream then pour in the rest of the beer. Enjoy.

Best Banana Bread

2011-04-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

As a member of the 21st century, I get bored by classic things very easily. Which is why, I tend to favor new variations. I wanted to make my own banana bread, slightly healthier with yogurt and vegetable oil, but filled with wonderful things. Pistachios don't really go with banana all that well but the green is a nice sprinkle of color. The chocolate makes it more decadent. All together it makes the best banana bread. Ever.

Best Banana Bread

What you need:

1 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup shelled pistachios

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup yogurt

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 tablespoon lemon zest

2 bananas mashed

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Fold in the chocolate chips, pistachios and coconut. In another bowl, mix together the vegetable oil, yogurt, eggs vanilla and lemon zest. Stir in the bananas. Combine the wet and dry ingredients until they are just combined. Spread the batter in the loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes.

P.S. In the Spring spirit, why not help a child that cannot enjoy the great outdoors? Check out the Fresh Air Fund for hosting opportunities.

Almond Joy Cups

2011-04-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

With all these petite desserts out and about, we need a little portion control treat. These puppies are easy to make, devoured in one bite, and taste like your favorite chocolate bar!

Ok so most people are not all that into almond joys, it is like the red haired step child of Hershey, but it is amazing! It has an interesting contrast in flavors like a middle child.

Almond Joy Cups

What you need:

3 tablespoons butter, softened

6 cups shredded coconut

4 oz bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup heavy cream

smoked almonds for garnish

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a food processor, blitz together the butter and 1/3 of the coconut. Mix together the rest of the coconut by hand. In a mini cupcake pan, press the coconut into the sides, making a cup for the coconut. Bake for 12 minutes then allow to cool.

Meanwhile, break up the chocolate into a bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it is just simmering. Pour it over the chocolate and allow it to sit for 10 minutes. Then stir it together to make a ganache. Using a tablespoon, fill each of the coconut cups. Top each with an almond then chill overnight.

Red Velvet Icebox Cake

2011-04-15T03:00:00.000-07:00

Did it again.

In honor of the new classic film hitting theaters today, Scream 4 or Scre4m, I wanted to make a bloody treat.

I've been counting down to this movie since the summer. Scream holds a dear place in my heart because it was the first R rated movie I had ever seen. All of the cool kids had seen it at school so I begged my parents to rent it. They said I could only if they could watch it with me, to stop it if it gets too bad. I was too smart for that, so one morning I got up at 5 to watch it by myself. By 7, I was watching two kids stabbing each other in the stomach in hysterical laughter.

Needless to say I was probably traumatized from this. I refused to answer the phone. Still hate telephone calls. But I still loved that movie.

With limited red food coloring, this came out pinkish. After I took these pictures they became much more red. So you may, may not, want to add more coloring.

Red or Pink Velvet Icebox cake

What you need:

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 bottle of red food coloring

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 box chocolate wafer cookies

What you do:

Mix together the cocoa powder, cider vinegar, vanilla and food coloring in a small bowl. In a large bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine the heavy cream and sugar on high speed. Then add in the red mixture. Beat until soft peaks form. Put some of the cream on a plate. Place the chocolate cookies on the cream making a circle with one cookie in the center. Spread a layer of whipped cream on top of that. Add another layer of the cookies. Keep repeating this process until all of the cream and cookies have been used. Chill overnight.

Sandra Lee's Bake Sale

2011-04-11T03:00:00.000-07:00

Yours truly was invited to Sandra Lee's world's largest bake sale at Grand Central. I was even given an offer to interview the first girlfriend to New York. Did I take it? Sadly no. Korrine's father will never forgive me. My wonderful school would not allow me to miss class for this nor did they let me miss class when my grandfather died nor did they let my friend miss class when she was internally bleeding.

I digress.

The event had all of the big names of New York restaurants and bakeries making small samples to feed an army. All for charity. I arrived their early, played with the new 3DS which is the coolest thing ever (a freebie would be nice). And then had to deal with this:

It felt like black Friday with pastries. There was a point I thought I could body surf against the crowd as I was fighting for a two dollar mini pie. Sandra Lee and Emeril were there. I got a good peek at them but sadly, not a good shot for the class to see.

The selection was fantastic, from ice cream sandwiches to chocolate mousse parfaits. I managed to run away and simultaneously inhale the parfait from Junior's Cheesecake, the cookie pack from Milk and Cookies, and Emeril's pecan pie. To be honest, with Sandra Lee I was expecting cake mix treats so this was a pleasant surprise, and hopefully a new tradition.

Junk Food Coffee Cake

2011-04-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

Yep. This has two ingredients that are processed and you can retrieve from a vending machine. If you are an organic monster, ignore this post. If not, check out Junk Foodie and enjoy.

Junk Food Coffee Cake

Adapted from the Junk Foodie

What you need:

1 chocolate chip cookie

2 Oreo cookies

What you do:

Crumble or smash the chocolate chip cookie into a crumby mixture. Separate the cream and cookie part of the Oreos and smash the cookie part into powder. Combine the Oreo powder and half of the chocolate chip cookie mixture with a splash of water. Mix together to make a fine paste. Place it in a small ramekin and microwave for 20 seconds. Allow it to cool and demold. Top with the Oreo cream and the remaining chocolate chip crumbs.

DC Cupcakes

2011-04-04T03:00:00.000-07:00

Recently, I ventured down to DC to see the pandas. I've been dying to see them. They are my favorite animal, and since they are endangered, there are only three places in the US you can see them: Atlanta, San Diego, and DC. I had to check off see a panda off of my bucket list (duckbill platypus is still on there) but then discovered that DC is home to three amazing cupcake bakeries. Smile.

The first cupcake joint is where all the locals go. Baked and Wired is a fun, bohemian bakery with a plethora of delights with names like kick in the bees, menage a trois, Debbie Harry (a blondie), hippie crack, and chocolate cupcake of doom. I tried the Debbie Harry because I love Blondie so much. But my favorite as well as their bestseller: OMG. Caramel s'mores bar. Wow. I felt right at home here, the tongue and cheek nature is inspiring and a fun diversion from the mainstream.

Now my favorite cupcakes I have tried there were actually Georgetown Cupcakes. I had six: red velvet, mint cookies and cream (my favorite), lemon blossom (amazing jolt to the head), coconut (heavenly), chocolate lava fudge (you'll need a toothbrush) and birthday (my go to flavor). The icing was fresh and the cake was moist.
But as you probably know, this is a location of the new TLC program, DC Cupcakes. And because of that, no matter what time of day you go there, you'll have to deal with 45 minutes of this:
Yeah, not cool. But apparently you can order ahead and they ship.

But if that is too much, go to Sprinkles down the street. This is originally from L.A. and is owned by that one judge from Cupcake Wars, whatever her name is. I've been dying to go to the west coast to try them but my school destroys my hopes, dreams, and mental health every time. Luckily they were here.

And yes, they were good. The frosting was thick and the cake had a prominent flavor. I had the red velvet (truly one of the best i have had except it was green for St. Patrick's day), carrot cake, and Irish cream. Worth the three dollars.

Now that I think about it, why is DC so obsessed with cupcakes? There are cookies and ice cream. Guess they are not political.

Chocolate Dipped Animal Crackers

2011-04-01T03:00:00.000-07:00

This would have been inappropriate to post during the oil spill.

Chocolate Dipped Animal Crackers

What you need:

Animal Crackers

8 oz milk chocolate

1/2 cup cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

sprinkles for. . . well sprinkling

What you do:

Over a double boiler, melt the chocolate and cream together. Take it off the heat and stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Then stir in the vanilla. Dip the animal crackers in the chocolate, lay them on a piece of parchment paper, drown with sprinkles, and chill for 10 minutes.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

2011-03-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

The best recipes are the ones that are incredibly odd. Like when you boil a cake or bake one in the microwave. When you keep going with the same old cream butter and sugar stuff it gets kinda dull. A little insanity never hurt anyone.

This recipe calls for coffee being dumped directly in the cake batter. Melting butter for an easy frosting. And creating another frosting without any butter. And the best part, it comes out good.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

What you need for the cake:

1 3/4 cups flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 cup coffee

What you do for the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease two 9 inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper. In a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, dump in the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. On low speed, mix all of the dry ingredients together. In another bowl, combine the oil, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add in the wet ingredients. The batter is supposed to be watery. Do not fret. When they are just combined, add the coffee to make it extremely watery, divide the batter between the two pans, then bake for 35 minutes.

What you need for the peanut butter frosting:

1 stick butter

1/2 cup peanut butter

4 cups confectioner's sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

What you do for the peanut butter frosting:

In a saucepan over medium low heat, melt together the butter and peanut butter. Once it is melted, allow it to cool at the side. In another bowl, whisk together the sugar and milk. Add in the vanilla and combine. Little by little, add the melted peanut butter to the sugar mixture until they are both completely combined.

What you need for the whipped ganache:

8 oz bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup cream

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

What you do for the whipped ganache:

In a double boiler (put a bowl on top of a saucepan with boiling water), melted together all of the ingredients. You can take the bowl off the heat early and stir it together until it is completely melted. Allow it to cool. Then drop the mixture into a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on high speed for about ten minutes, until the color becomes lighter.

How to assemble:

Frost the top of one cake layer with the peanut butter frosting. Sandwich the other layer on top. Place all of the whipped ganache on top of the cake, spread it across the top and down on the sides. Be sure to cover everything. If there does not seem that there is enough, just borrow a little bit of the ganache from somewhere else, it spreads well. Place the remaining peanut butter frosting on top and swirl it into the ganache.

Nervous Breakdown Pudding

2011-03-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

It is one of those days.

Nervous Breakdown Pudding

What you need:

1 container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 package instant pistachio pudding mix

5 chocolate cookies, crumbled

1/2 cup crisped rice cereal

2 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles (to remind you of the rainbows after the storm)

What you do:

Mix together the whipped toping and pistachio pudding mix. Then mix in the cookies, cereal and sprinkles. Consume. Be happy.

Nightmare Bars

2011-03-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

With every dream there is a nightmare that stays with us forever. I still remember when I dreamt the Muppets ate my Mighty Max playsets. Horrible.

Chocolate increases the activity in your brain that causes nightmares. Which is why you should not consume chocolate before sleeping. Especially if Freddy Krueger is stalking you.

These will prepare you for a nightmare. The white chocolate will try to make the dream a little sweeter. The mint will make your teeth so fresh who cares about brushing. Nyquil will ensure a coma. And the coconut addition will help you clean out your cabinet.

Nightmare Bars

What you need:

1 box chocolate wafer cookies

2 sticks butter, melted

1 1/4 cups shredded coconut

1/2 cup dark chocolate

1/2 cup white chocolate

1/2 cup chopped mint chocolate

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Splash of Nyquil (optional)

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Blitz the chocolate cookies into crumbs with the help of a food processor. Stir in the melted butter and press the mixture into the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch baking pan. Scatter the coconut, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and mint chocolate on top. Pour the sweetened condense milk over the top, add Nyquil if you have a cold, and bake for 25 minutes.

Dream Bars

2011-03-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

My dream: live in a quant town nearby woods to explore but with mass transit to venture to city. Maybe be close to a beach to run on. And to have a lazy french bulldog sleeping on the ground. And to become a ninja.

That's mine. With some optimism and luck, who knows? I have never made a 7 layer dream bar, but I noticed it was missing some essential components for dreams. Optimism, perseverance, and Lucky Charms. Now this will give us a Disney ending.

Dream Bars

What you need:

1 box graham crackers

2 sticks butter, melted

1 1/4 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

1/2 cup Lucky Charms

1 can sweetened condensed milk

What you do:

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a food processor, obliterate the graham crackers into dust. Pour in the melted butter and stir it together to make the mixture like wet sand. Press the graham cracker mixture into the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch baking pan. Evenly scatter the coconut, semi sweet chocolate, white chocolate, butterscotch, and lucky charms on top. Pour the sweetened condensed milk on top and bake for 20 minutes.

Lindsay Lohan Blondies

2011-03-14T03:00:00.001-07:00

Lately I have gotten many requests for a new Lindsay dessert because of her possible stint as a jewel thief.

But there is a reason why I have not made a recipe until now. I'm sick of it.

Seriously, she needs to be more creative. Stealing necklaces? Boring. She has to come up with a new routine. Frankly she cannot since she has done pretty much everything that has been on Skins.

And for that reason, I propose that she gets back to her roots. She needs to chill out and focus on making dumb yet entertaining films.

Which is where these blondies come in. In the midst of her fake blonde hair, that red headed Lilo America loves is still in there. She needs to get back to her roots, even though they are coated in rum. And maybe give a little to charity. Japan can use the help now.

Until this happens I'm saying goodbye to Lindsay and looking for possible other celebrities who can inspire desserts. Frankly, it looks like Miley is next.

Lindsay Lohan Blondies

What you need:

1/2 cup walnuts (cause she is nuts, ba-da-bum)

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons butter, melted

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

3 eggs

2 tablespoons vanilla

1/2 cup dried cherries

3 tablespoons of rum

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 9 by 13 inch baking pan with foil and butter it. In a small bowl, combine the dried cherries and rum. Cover with plastic wrap and heat in the microwave for one minute. Set aside

Toast the walnuts in a pan on medium low heat for 3 minutes. Then dump them in a food processor and pulse until finely grounded. Then add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Pulse until all is completely combined. Then add the butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Pulse until it all comes together. Stir in the drunken cherries and spread the batter in the pan. Bake for 30 minutes.

Caramel Icebox Cake

2011-03-11T03:00:00.000-08:00

I made another icebox cake. Sue me.

Caramel Icebox Cake

What you need:

2 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided

28 caramel candies

1 box chocolate wafer cookies

What you do:

In a medium bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the heavy cream with the caramel candies. Microwave the caramels for 2 minutes intervals, stirring between each interval, until the cream is completely integrated with the caramel. This is a more aggressive process then melting chocolate. Don't worry about it melting, try to overkill it so it is completely melted. Once it is all melted, allow it to come to room temperature.

Put the rest of the cream in a bowl that has an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat the cream on high speed until soft peaks form. Then slowly drizzle in the caramel cream until it completely combines with the whipped cream.

On a plate, arrange the cookies so that it covers the bottom. Spread over some of the whipped cream on top. Add another layer of cookies. Continue this process until all of the cookies and cream is used. Then chill it for ten hours.

Star Wars Milk

2011-03-07T03:00:00.000-08:00

The three movies I watched again and again as a kid was Star Wars, Peter Pan, and Clue. The third was slightly inappropriate for my age range but it explains a lot about my development. Anyway, still I am a Star Wars nerd. I even like to cast my friends as characters from the movie. And I have seen the Ewok movies. Don't recommend them but I have seen them.

The Star Wars Cookbook is one of my favorites mainly because the recipe are actually good in them. Remember Wookie Cookies?

But I realized that in the movies, they rarely eat. Maybe because they are robots? There is not food available to them. Except for this blue milk Luke drinks from time to time. So I think, why not try it.

Note: Kool Aid blue raspberry lemonade is the grossest thing ever. Do not use it. I dumped the entire packet in my test run and did a spit take.

Star Wars Milk

What you need:

Light Vanilla Soy Milk

1 tablespoon blue colored drink mix

What you do:

Take a wild guess.

Cookie Stuffed Cookies

2011-03-04T03:00:00.000-08:00

After seeing this article, I was inspired.

Yes these have been done various ways, including with girl scout cookies which is genius. Since I have been watching the Clone Wars and Natalie Portman is still in every movie coming out, I have been in an evil-dark side mood. So the glittering sugar cookies mask the sinful cookie at the core.

Fun right?

Cookie Stuffed Cookies: Heart of Darkness edition

What you need:

1 package of refrigerated sugar cookie dough

Oreos

shimmering sprinkles (optional)

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Pick off the cookie dough and flatten it into pieces about the size of your palm. Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Place an Oreo on top of the sugar cookie dough. Place another flattened piece of sugar cookie dough on top of the Oreo. Pinch the sides so that the Oreo is completely engulfed in the cookie dough. Top with sprinkles if desired. Bake for 20 minutes.

Black Swan Pie

2011-02-28T03:00:00.000-08:00

With the Academy Awards last night, I feel that I must explain my hatred for Natalie Portman.

Not only did she destroy Star Wars with her bad acting, she is just plain mean in real life. Around the time Attack of the Clones came out, I saw her at the ballet (ironically) with a friend. We stayed away from her and her hipster boyfriend, just observing from afar. Then I felt a strange sensation, like that someone was looking at me. I looked up to see Portman giving me a look like I was decomposing garbage.

Other people have confirmed her evil nature. And frankly she is just weird. Once on an interview she said she does not remember her childhood before age seven because she was an only child. What? Or maybe because the coke burned you out.

Since what she really needs is a cookie, maybe some sleep, I thought I would bake her a pie to go along with the black/white theme of her movie. Basically it is a pecan pie with cookies mixed in it. Enough to make you go crazy.

Black Swan Pie

What you need:

1 chocolate pie crust

1 stick melted butter, cooled

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 cup corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

6 black and white cookies, quartered

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Set the pie crust to the side. In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs, sugar, apple cider vinegar, corn syrup and vanilla. Stir in the cookies and dump the mixture into the pie crust. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from oven, cover with foil, and bake for another 20 minutes. Once fully baked, chill for a couple of hours before serving.

Toffee Tassie Cookies

2011-02-25T03:00:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, I had an evil honors english teacher who was as wide as she was tall. She continually gave me mediocre grades because the A's in the class went to the spoiled rich girls who kissed her ass on a daily basis.

For a Christmas project, she had us bake her cookies from our ethnic background. She would then choose her favorite and give them extra credit. Keep in mind she was really fat so this was ridiculous. She also told a Korean girl she should make fortune cookies.

I slaved over Polish tassie cookies. For a little sweet revenge, I may/may not have dropped a penny at the bottom of one of the cookies. Mainly because it was the same color as the pecans and no one could see it.

Anyway, the winning cookie was kielbasa, a Polish sausage. My teacher didn't even try my cookies (but the kielbasa winner did. Hehe) I was pissed and she was sniffling. To be nice and rise above, I told her she should use a nasal spray. She said she would try it.

When I went home, I used the nasal spray as well. And read on the back that no one with high blood pressure should take it. To make a long story short, she was out in the hospital for a week and returned to school being incredibly pissed off at me.

Here is the recipe sans pennies.

Toffee Tassie Cookies

What you need:

refrigerated pie crust

1/2 stick melted butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon amaretto liquor

2 cups chopped pecans

1/2 cup toffee bits

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Slice up the pie crust in 16 equal slices. In a small muffin tin (tassie tin, whatever you call it), fill up the muffin cups with the divided pie crust, making a little well out of the dough. Stir together the melted butter, flour, sugar and eggs. Then stir in the amaretto liquor, pecans and toffee bits until everything is coated. Fill the dough cups evenly with the pecan mixture. Bake for 25 minutes. Allow it to completely cool and remove with an offset spatula.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Icebox Cake

2011-02-21T03:00:00.000-08:00

Yes I am obsessed with icebox cakes.

They have that cookies and cream taste, are fast to make with few ingredients, and you could eat the entire cake in one sitting. This is not recommended, just a statement to emphasize how good it is.

This time I used some good old chocolate chip cookies. Now you need a thin, crisp cookie so that the magical cream will soften the cookie overnight, much like when the bunny hides your eggs and gives you chocolate. Except there is no bunny involved.

Anyway, here is yet another icebox cake recipe. Maybe the next one will be vegan. Maybe.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Icebox Cake

What you need:

6 large, thin, crisp chocolate chip cookies

2 cups cold heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

What you do:

In a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat together the cream, sugar and vanilla on high speed until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Lay one cookie down on a plate, spread some of the whipped cream on top, completely covering it. Drop another cookie on top. Keep repeating this process until all of the cookies are used. Make sure the top cookie is covered with cream. Chill in the refrigerator for 10 hours.

Goat Cheese Cakes

2011-02-18T03:00:00.000-08:00

Now that we have all survived the unholiest of holidays with some fun baked goods and art shows, we can move on with some goals for our sad lives.

Like winning a cupcake war.

I watch this show every week. Some of the people they find on it are such whackos it is amazing. Everyone's frosting is always melting. You would think they would watch a couple of episodes and try to cool the cupcakes off a bit. But no, they keep making the same mistake over and over again. They are always stressed out, I never understand what the french judge is saying (and I speak French), and the host just gives me that ass vibe. Maybe it is the dialogue they feed him but he seems to need a good punch in the face.

What I really don't understand is why no one tries to sabotage each other? I would steal their ingredients, poison their batters with laxatives, spit in the frosting, and knock over the baking equipment. All is fair in war.

The show would be far more interesting that way. I saw this recipe in a Rachael Ray magazine and it reminded me of the show. They sound gross but they are light and fluffy. It would remind you of pancakes, in a cupcake form.

Goat Cheese Cakes

What you need:

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup milk

5 tablespoons butter, melted

3 eggs

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

6 oz soft goat cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. In a food processor, blend together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Then add the milk, butter, eggs, vegetable oil goat cheese, and vanilla. Blend it until it is completely smooth. Using an ice cream scoop, divide it among the cupcake liners and bake for 25 minutes.

Heartbreaker Cupcakes

2011-02-14T03:00:00.000-08:00

Our favorite holiday has come around again. Joy.

The only good part about this time of year is the conversation hearts. They taste good despite representing societies expectations of settling down. Might I recommend the Twilight ones? They have interesting flavors.

Anyway, it is cathartic to break the little buggers and consume the addicting dust they create. Since melted white chocolate is not going to do it this year, let's move on to cake.

Heartbreaker Cupcakes

What you need:

1 box white cake mix, prepared according to package instructions

1 bag conversation hearts

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 box confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon milk

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. First things first, destroy the hearts into rubble. Now this sounds fun, which it is, but it is challenging. They are rock solid little puckers. My personal recommendation, go outside, put the bag on a rock or pavement, and beat the bejesus out of them with a hammer.

Once the hearts are mostly rubble, mix half of it into the cake batter. Divide the batter in a muffin tin lined with cupcake liners, and bake for 20 minutes. In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in the vanilla and milk (add more milk if the frosting is not spreadable enough) and then the remaining heart dust. Once the cupcakes have cooled, frost the tops of them.

F You Brownies

2011-02-11T03:00:00.000-08:00

That evil holiday has come around again. Instead of feeling depressed and neglected along with the seasonal affective disorder symptoms, why don't we take some time to love ourselves and feel empowered. Be proud to be an Atari and not an X-box.

How do we do this? By saying obscenities to the people we hate.

Though it is nice to rise above, forgive and forget, get what you get and don't get upset blah blah. There are some people that need to be punched in the face. Several times.

Instead of being hurt this coming holiday, take a bite out of the saltiness of life and raise a finger to all of those that screwed you over.

F You Brownies

What you need:

2 sticks unsalted butter

11 ounces of dark dark dark chocolate (for the darkness of your heart)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

5 eggs

4 teaspoons vanilla, divided

2 tablespoons fleur de sel, divided plus more for sprinkling

1 1/4 cups flour

2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder

about 40 caramel candies (for those gold diggers)

1/4 cup heavy cream

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 by 13 inch baking pan and line it with parchment. Melt the butter with the chocolate, either over a double boiler or a microwave. Once it is completely melted and combined, whisk in the sugars. Then whisk in the eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Add 1 tablespoon of fleur de sel, the flour and the cocoa powder. Mix it all until just combined. Spread it around the baking dish and leave it alone in the oven for 30 minutes.

Once the brownies have cooled, melt the caramels with the heavy cream. Once again, either a double boiler or a microwave if you are impatient. Once it is completely melted, stir in 2 teaspoons of vanilla and a teaspoon of fleur de sel. Spread it over the top of the brownies, sprinkle more fleur de sel on top, and chill it for 30 minutes.

Dessert Nachos

2011-02-06T03:00:00.000-08:00

Super bowl has great munchies but is never really known for dessert. For some reason, I always think brownies around this time. Not sure why.

But in effort to explore outside that realm I thought, why not make a typical snack food into something more sweet?

Dessert Nachos

What you need:

1 box graham crackers

1 bag of mini marshmallows

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup chocolate syrup

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Cut up the graham crackers and arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread the marshmallows, white chocolate, and gobs of peanut butter over the graham crackers. Don't worry about being neat, it is all going to melt. Leave it in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes, until everything starts to melt down. Then take it out, allow it to cool a little, and drizzle with the syrup.

Mess

2011-02-02T03:00:00.000-08:00

Things don't always work out the way we want them. But why change it? Why ignore it? You get what you get and you don't get upset.

Which is why I am posting this recipe even though it looks vile. It is supposed to be layered all perfectly and evenly, but apparently Mercury in retrograde means that everything I touch turns to. . . well, you know.

The taste is not bad. I've seen this recipe a couple of times and it sparked curiosity. Pretzels/cream cheese/jello? They all sounded conflicting but they work great together. Without a bellyache.

Every once and a while I get hate mail that I make too many peanut butter recipes. Who knew peanut butter was offensive. For this recipe, the peanut butter can be let out and it will still be good. Unless it comes out like Mercury retrograde.

Mess

What you need:

instant jello packet

4 cups pretzels

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 package cream cheese

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup peanut butter (optional)

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

What you do:

Prepare the jello according to the package's instructions and leave it to chill. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 325. Grin the pretzels in a food processor until it is course, not pulverized into dust. Stir the melted butter and brown sugar together. Then mix with the pretzels. With your hands, press the pretzels into a 9 by 13 inch greased baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Combine the cream cheese, sugar and peanut butter with an electric mixer. Whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form, then fold it into the cream cheese peanut butter mixture. Once the pretzel crust has cooled, spread the cream cheese on it and chill for 5 minutes. Then pour the partially set jello on top and chill for at least 2 hours.

Grasshopper Pudding

2011-01-27T03:00:00.000-08:00

Now I'm thinking I should have saved this for St. Patrick's day. Oh well.

Grasshopper Pudding

What you need:

1 1/2 cups milk

1 bag mini marshmallows

2 tablespoon mint extract

1 cup heavy cream

few drops green food coloring (optional)

crushed chocolate wafer cookies (optional)

What you do:

In a medium saucepan on medium heat, combine the milk and the marshmallows. Allow the marshmallows to completely dissolve in the milk, then take it off the heat until it COMPLETELY cools down. If it is still warm your pudding will be more like a latte. Which could be a good thing, but confusing.

Stir in the mint extract into the milk mixture. Then in a metal bowl with an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream on high just until the soft peaks are about to form. Then drizzle in the milk mixture, continuing the stirring process so that it becomes solid. Add the food coloring if desired.

Transfer to a bowl and garnish with the crushed cookies. You could either layer them with the pudding, mix them in, or sprinkle them on top. Whatever.

Take 5

2011-01-24T03:00:00.000-08:00

Whenever you get sick, you never eat the last thing you consumed before your stomach acid clogged your throat.

This week, I got bit by a gerbil. I thought they were cute little critters but no, they are rodents that carry the plague. My arm got tons of hives from it and I had to wear this bandage that looked like I slit my wrists.

A little after this, I enjoyed my friend Athena's Take 5 recipe (like the candy bar). It was amazing. Her sample ended up melting into what you see above but it was a delicious hot mess.

The next day I puked every hour on the hour. The next day I had diarrhea. The following day I could not eat three bites without having diarrhea or vomiting. The next, I kept food down but could only gerbil sized portions. The next day I was exhausted from not sleeping.

Was this a form of gerbil rabies? Was this from the Take 5? I blame the gerbil. And yes, I would eat Athena's Take 5 again and again. It was that good. She shared the recipe so I'll let her take it from here.

Take 5 Bars (or Melted Mess)

Pretzel Base
2 cups pretzels
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup melted butter
• Place pretzels and brown sugar in food processor and get your aggression out until there are only sugary crumbs. Slowly add melted butter.
• Press mixture into a greased pan. (13 x9 or 8x8, depends how thick you want these and how many people you want to share them with)
• Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes, Cool on wire rack.

Peanut Butter Bar
½ cup melted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter
• Combine ingredients and spread on top of pretzel crust.

Caramel Sauce (don’t be scared)
1 cup sugar
6 Tablespoons butter
½ cup heavy cream
----- Have ingredients ready and be careful it gets ridiculously hot. Also, use a large pot (2 or 3 qt) it tends to foam.
• Heat sugar in pot on med-high heat. Stir often, sugar will begin to melt. As sugar starts to boil, stop stirring, lower heat.
• As soon as all sugar has melted (it will be a pretty dark amber color) immediately add butter. Whisk until combined. Once butter is melted, remove from heat.
• Count to 3. Slowly add heavy cream, whisk until combined. There will be a lot of foaming, be grateful you are using a large pot.
• Whisk sauce until smooth. Pour over peanut butter bar to coat.
Peanuts!
• Use as many peanuts as you’d like and sprinkle them on top of the caramel layer.

Chocolate
About 1 package semi sweet chocolate chips
• Microwave chocolate slowly for about 1.5- 2 minutes or until melted. Stir after each minute.
• Pour on top of Take 5 bars.

Refrigerate bars for about an hour until set. Cut and enjoy!

Junk Food Fudge

2011-01-20T03:00:00.000-08:00

Merrier the more.

Everything needs to be balanced.

Meet the perfect balanced meal.

Junk Food Fudge

Adapted from Nigella Lawson

What you need:

1 dark chocolate bar

1 stick butter

3 tablespoons corn syrup

2 cups salty peanuts

2 cups crushed potato chips

1 cup mini marshmallows

What you do:

Line a long baking dish, 9 by 13, with foil. In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine the chocolate, butter, and corn syrup. Allow it to melt together until it is fully combined. Then take it off the heat and mix in the peanut, potato chips and marshmallows. Spread in the baking pan and chill for at least 4 hours.

Easy Sticky Toffee Pudding

2011-01-18T03:00:00.000-08:00

Sticky toffee pudding makes me wish I was British.

Across the pond you cannot find it anywhere. The dark buttery amber taste is unlike any layer cake you can get in the states. I first had it at Rules and then again at Simpson's in the Strand. I didn't care that there was a heat wave and it was 32 degrees celsius (which is apparently hot).

This is Nigella's recipe for an easy version. It is a little wonky but a decent, fun try.

Easy Sticky Toffee Pudding

By Nigella Lawson

What you need:

1 cup self rising flour

2 cups cup brown sugar, divided

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1 cup dates, chopped

2 cups boiling water

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, stir together the flour and 1 cup of brown sugar. Mix in the melted butter, egg, vanilla and milk. Once the batter is combined, fold in the chopped dates. Spread the mixture in a greased 9 by 13 inch baking pan. It will look like there is not enough. Don't worry, you did it correctly.

Now comes the weird part. Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar over the batter. Break up the softened butter with your fingers and spread the little "blobs" all over the batter. Then pour the boiling water on top. Yes you read that correctly. Bake for one hour.

Banana Bread Pudding with Strawberry Sauce

2011-01-14T03:00:00.000-08:00

The one dessert I will finish 8 servings of with no shame is banana bread pudding. I don't know why but I am incredibly addicted to it. The soft gooey texture with the tropical starch of banana eases down the esophagus so nicely. That was attractive.

My father wanted something with strawberries and bananas for his birthday. Strawberry cake has been done and is boring so I though I would give this a stab.

Banana Bread Pudding with Strawberry Sauce

What you need:

4 tablespoons butter

1 loaf whole wheat challah, cubed (should be kinda stale)

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups milk

4 eggs

1 cup plush 2 tablespoons sugar, divided

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

pinch salt

tablespoon banana extract

2 bananas,sliced

1 pound strawberries, hulled and diced

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 by 13 inch baking dish and melt the butter in a small saucepan. Place the cubed bread in a large bowl and pour the melted butter over it, tossing to coat every piece of bread. In another medium size bowl, combine the heavy cream, milk, eggs, 1 cup of sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and banana extract. Pour it over the bread, mix it together well, and allow the bread to soak for at least 45 minutes. You can even do this the night before. Just don't leave the oven on.

One it is well soaked, mix in the sliced bananas and pour the mixture into the baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes.

For the last 20 minutes of baking, place the strawberries in a medium saucepan along with the 2 tablespoons of sugar. Put it on high heat to make the berries sweat out their liquids. Once there are many liquids present and it is bubbling, reduce the heat to medium low and allow the sauce to reduce. Once the bread pudding is done, allow it to cool for 15 minutes before serving with the strawberry sauce on top.

Sea Pot Au Chocolate

2011-01-12T03:00:00.000-08:00

Nothing tastes better than sand.

The salty flavor that does not dry out your tongue like the salt at a burger stand. Maybe because the taste is like warmth and sunshine, the relaxation of water and the excitement of summer.

Basically anything better than being snowed in a crazy mountain town that is the heroin capital of the world.

Why don't we just mix it with chocolate and go to our happy place?

Sea Pot Au Chocolate

Adapted from Nadia G

What you need:

6 egg yolks

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

1/ 1/2 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup milk

4 ounces (1 bar) dark chocolate, chopped up

Fleur de Sel to sprinkle

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Mix the egg yolks with the sugar and instant espresso powder. In a medium saucepan, bring the whipping cream and milk to a boil over low heat. It will take a while but eventually there will be a bazillion tiny bubbles and the top will look thick. When this happens, take the saucepan off the heat and whisk in the chocolate until it completely melts.

Now for the slow tempering. Using a ladle, gradually add the hot chocolate liquid to the egg yolks, constantly whisking. You have to do this very slow or else you get scrambled eggs. Take your time, listen to some music, and slowly but surely incorporate the chocolate into the eggs.

Fill six ramekins with the chocolate mixture. Cover them with a patch of foil and stab the top of the foil with a fork, to allow some of the heat to escape. Place the ramekins in a roasting pan, fill it up halfway with boiling water, and bake for 35 minutes. Allow it to cool on the counter for a half hour then chill overnight. Before serving, sprinkle with fleur de sel.

Healthy Peanut Butter Jelly and Banana Ice Cream

2011-01-10T03:00:00.000-08:00

Healthy desserts is a bit of an oxymoron. Perhaps sacrilegious. But there is joy in having a sugar spike from something that won't make you want to vomit later.

This recipe appeared before me a couple of times. It seemed like magic but it does work. The starchiness of the banana creates some stable ice cream consistency. You just cannot scoop it. Which makes it difficult to share. Oh well, more for you.

You don't really need to add the peanut butter or the jelly, but it adds some nostalgia if you do. The best part is you don't need an ice cream maker. Why are those louder than a tractor trailer crashing through a nuclear power plant? You seriously need to overdose on painkillers to prevent the migraine homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream will bring you.

Anywoots, try this. Really good. And vegan.

Peanut Butter Jelly AND Banana Ice Cream

What you need:

2 bananas

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 tablespoon jelly

What you do:

Peal the bananas and freeze them for at least three hours. Once they are rock hard, drop them in a food processor and blitz them until they are a mushy goodness. Then add the peanut butter and jelly, blitz some more. Drizzle some more jelly to garnish.

Gingerbread Man Ice Box Cake

2011-01-07T03:00:00.000-08:00

These are my obsession because they are so easy and become mushy, warm creamy goodness with minimal effort. And with gingerbread limbs sticking out, it is really dark and twisted. Like a pile of dead bodies. But ones that are spicy and chewy.

Gingerbread Man Icebox Cake

What you need:

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice

About 2 dozen gingerbread men or gingersnap cookies

What you do:

In a large metal bowl, beat the heavy cream with the sugar, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice with a mixer at high speed or with a fast whisk. Could take anywhere between 6 and 12 minutes. Once soft peaks form, stop or it will become butter.

On a plate, arrange your cookies on the bottom. Cover with a layer of the cream, then another layer of cookies. Stagger the cookies between the layers of the other cookies, just to make a sturdy structure. Keep repeating this process until all of the cream and or cookies have been used. Chill overnight.

Gingerbread Dip

2011-01-05T03:00:00.000-08:00

May the best of your 2010 be the worst part of your 2011.

And to celebrate, and to ignore diets, lets dip cookies into a cookie flavored dip. Because frankly, a cookie is better with added butter on it.

This is a recipe I tried at my cookie party. No one really ate it. But I liked it.

Gingerbread Dip

Adapted from How Sweet It is

What you need:

1 stick butter

1 tablespoon molasses

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

handful of gingersnap crumbs

What you do:

In a medium-smallish saucepan, melt the butter, molasses and brown sugar over medium low heat. Once it is liquid, remove from heat, let it cool a bit, then stir in the vanilla. In a bowl with mixer (whatever type of mixer you like), beat the cream cheese with the pumpkin pie spice so that it is fluffy and aromatic. Gradually add in the confectioner's sugar. Slowly, drizzle in the melted butter mixture while mixing the cream cheese. Once it is all combined into an amber cloud, pour it into a bowl and garnish with the gingersnap crumbs. Dip whatever you like in it. Carrots are not recommended.

Pistachio Icebox Cake

2011-01-04T18:26:00.000-08:00

Yes another one.

Pistachio Icebox Cake

What you need:

2 containers whipped topping, thawed

1 box pistachio pudding mix

1 box chocolate wafer cookies

What you do:

Mix together the whipped topping and pistachio pudding mix. Lay out the cookies in a circle on a plate. Spread the pistachio topping on top. Then top with another layer of cookies. Followed by pistachio topping. Keep doing this process until all of the toppings and cookies are used. Chill for at least 8 hours before digging into it.

Junk Food Coffee Cake

2011-01-04T03:00:00.000-08:00

Junk Foodie is madness but pure genius. All of the ingredients are things you can find in a vending machine. No real food at all. Too bad we didn't have this in college.

Junk Food Coffee Cake

Adapted from Junk Foodie

What you need:

1 chocolate chip cookie

2 Oreo Cookies

1 tablespoon water

What you do:

Crumble up the chocolate chip cookie until it is very crumby. Twist open the two Oreos, reserving the cream and crushing the chocolate cookies. Mix half of the chocolate chip cookie crumbs with the Oreo crumbs and water. Stir together until it forms a paste. Press it into the bottom of a small ramekin and microwave for 20 seconds. Remove from ramekin, top with Oreo cream and remaining chocolate chip cookie crumbs.

Spider-Man Accident Free Red Velvet Brownies

2011-01-03T03:00:00.000-08:00

Currently, I am sipping green tea taking long deep breaths recovering from severe anxiety about being crushed by a man in tights.

My name is Rick and I saw Spider-Man Turn off the Dark.

Going in I had the expectations of a hot mess and it was delivered. Let me preface this saying I'm a big Spidey fan (my parents told me I remind them of Peter Parker pre bug bite), that the sets and stage production of the show was phenomenal. The ticket was just worth that alone. It truly was animated and transported you to a comic world. And that I hate U2. Those are my biases.

The show did not have any humor. It explained jokes to the audience as if we are in kindergarten. Like we wouldn't know that Free Willy was a whale. There is this spider lady who is in a giant spider costume yodeling everywhere. Every time she came on the audience would moan. At one point, she had back up dancers all with 8 legs dancing and singing about high heeled shoes. Does anyone recall that in the comics? There are 12 different Spider-mans. Some of them held a firm grip on their ropes. Who would blame them? One of them got twisted up in his ropes. Another girl fell flat on her face while running through the audience. The story has to do with fate vs free will and cosmic planes, resurrection, and the high heel spider girls. Cliff notes of the story would be appreciated.

When they would fly over the audience, I had such severe anxiety I found myself praying that nothing would fall on us. Special people would run into the audience to spot the acrobats. Made you feel real safe. The show stopped twice because of these accidents.

But it was worth it. Just for laughs and the scenery. After that, risk taking is not in my immediate future, so why not something that is simple and always turns out good?

Spider-Man Accident Free Red Velvet Brownies

Adapted from Sunny Anderson

What you need:

1 stick butter

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup cocoa powder

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon red food coloring (or more if you like radioactive chemicals)

1 teaspoon vinegar

2 eggs

3/4 cup flour

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease an 8 by 8 inch baking pan. This will make tiny thin brownies, if you want bigger ones, double the recipe or use a smaller square baking pan. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Once it is melted, remove from the heat and allow it to cool in a bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.

With the mixer on low speed, add the sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, salt, food coloring, and vinegar one at a time in that order. Mix until each is nicely combined. Stab the eggs with a fork before adding it to the batter. Then dump in the flour and mix until just combined. Spread the batter in the baking pan and pop it in the oven for 30 minutes. Don't worry, there is no possible way you could fall from a high space with this recipe.

Too Much Non-Chocolate Fudge

2010-12-30T03:00:00.000-08:00

Disney had the most amazing vanilla fudge. They called it celebration, white fudge with cookies and marshmallows jammed into the center. Then it was topped with more fudge, sprinkles and a tie dye effect.

This was a perfect recipe to try at home. I looked up the Disney vanilla fudge recipe and found the base of this. It was not what I was going for by any means. It looks ugly. Nothing justifies the appearance. And it is so sugary your head will hurt. Try it!

Too Much Non-Chocolate Fudge

What you need:

2 1/2 sticks butter

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 pound brown sugar

2 cups granulated sugar

pinch salt

1 tablespoon vanilla

12 vanilla wafers

1 bag mini marshmallows

1 80z bar white chocolate, melted

What you do:

In a large large large pot, bring the butter, sweetened condensed milk and brown sugar to a boil over medium heat. Consistently stir with all flesh out of the reach of caramel bubbles of flaming pain. Once it is boiling, and seems scary, turn the heat down to medium low heat gradually stirring in the granulated sugar. Then add the salt and vanilla. At this point, it should be getting hard and mushy. It will be like solid we sand. Don't worry, it looks gross but you have not screwed up.

Dump the odd sandy blocks into a 9 inch square baking pan that has been greased with butter. Pat down the brown stuff so that it becomes solid and generally forms a square shape. Allow it to cool.

Once it is cool, line up the vanilla wafters on the fudge pressing down into it. Sprinkle the marshmallows on top, and drizzles the white chocolate (which you should melt a little before this step) over cementing the marshmallows to the fudge. Brush your teeth after consuming.