Chocolate-Coconut Sheet Cake

I love chocolate just as much as the next girl, or more, so when I saw this recipe for an easy chocolate sheet cake that also had coconut in it?  I had to try it.  Even though I really do love the chocolate cake I made for the boys' birthday.

This cake is super easy to make, you don't even need a mixer!  There is also no struggle to decorate it beautifully because the icing is really more of a "topping" that you just pour over the cake and smooth out with a spatula while the cake is still in the pan.

Not only easy but the gooey melty topping seems to ensure that this cake is going to be really moist along with chocolatey and delicious.  Hmm, I don't think melty and chocolatey are actual words....oh well.  This cake is good.

Chocolate-Coconut Sheet Cake, found and adapted from in the February issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine

Cake
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (plus some for the pan)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
3/4 cup warm, strong, brewed coffee
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Topping
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups finely shredded, dried, unsweetened coconut
2/3 cup warm, strong, brewed coffee
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To begin the cake, preheat the oven to 350 F.  Butter a 9 x 13 cake pan.  Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and leave an overhang on each side if you intend to remove the cake from the pan before serving.  ( I served this to my family straight from the pan and no one seemed to mind. :))  Butter the parchment paper and dust with cocoa powder.

Whisk together the dry cake ingredients in a large bowl.  Pour in all the wet ingredients before whisking it all together until smooth.  (I told you it was easy!)

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and then bake it for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

While the cake is baking prepare the topping.  Melt the butter in a small saucepan and then add the coffee and extract.  Combine the confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, and coconut in a large bowl.  Pour over the melted butter mixture and stir to combine.

When the cake comes out of the oven pour the topping over the cake and allow the whole thing to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Serve and Enjoy!  This cake stores well in the refrigerator.  I know because I just ate another slice while typing this post! :)

This post is linked to:

Salted Caramel Brownies

So about those brownies I mentioned on Monday....  They were awesome.

Last August (like 2011!) I mentioned in a post that I had been attempting various homemade brownie recipes without success.  I was/am shocked by just how difficult making a pan of chocolately chewy and moist brownies can be!  Luckily this recipe makes it much much easier.

Apparently Ina Garten is putting out a new cookbook (yay!) and this is a recipe from it.  On the basis of these brownies alone, I'm thinking I need a new cookbook. :)  The book is called  Foolproof and it is out October 30.  (No one paid me to promote this...in fact if anyone wants to send me this book feel free!)

Brownies are just one of those irresistible type of desserts.  Dense moist chocolate.  Gooey when warm.  Yum.  These are all that plus caramel and sea salt, gah!  I love the combination of salt and sugar....so so good.

image source

Salted Caramel Brownies, from Ina Garten's Foolproof
1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter
14 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
3 extra-large eggs (or 4 large)
1 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
5-6 oz caramel sauce
2-3 teaspoons flaked sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Butter and flour a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

In a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt the butter, 8 oz of the chips and the unsweetened chocolate.  Once melted and combined, remove the glass bowl from the heat and allow it to cool for 15 minutes.

In a large bowl stir together the eggs, coffee, sugar and vanilla.  Once the chocolate has cooled 15 minutes, stir that in as well.  Let stand an additional 15 minutes to bring to room temperature.

Meanwhile in a small bowl mix together the 1/2 cup of flour, baking powder and kosher salt.  Mix this into the room temperature chocolate mixture.  Now put the remaining flour into the small bowl with the remaining chips and toss to coat.  Stir the chips into the batter.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Once the brownies are out of the oven, pour over the caramel sauce and sprinkle on the salt.  (If your sauce is hard to pour heat it in the microwave for a few seconds) Cool completely and Enjoy!

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

There was a bit of a sweet tooth attack here last night.  I love eating healthy meals but I love sweets too and I don't think those two things contradict each other.  It seems to me that if you are eating healthy, low calorie meals a small dessert is more than ok.  Especially if the sweets are homemade with whole ingredients and not just processed junk.

Sometimes that processed stuff (oreos how I love you!) can be so appealling and they are oh so easy.  But then again, making something from scratch doesn't have to be hard either.  As I mentioned the sweet tooth struck last night but there was no dessert!  Ah!  It also so happens that since it was Thursday (and we grocery shop on Saturday)  there was almost nothing left  in the house that was up for grabs.  We did have one last lemon though, and it turned out that was all I needed to whip up a batch of these amazing lemon crinkle cookies.  I have a thing for crinkle cookies, they are so soft and chewy on the inside...yum.  Last Christmas I posted a recipe for some Butterscotch Crinkle Cookies that also happened to be a last minute pantry raid.  Delicious.

Anyway, these cookies mix up quickly and you really only need a few pantry staples and a lemon.  They are lemony and lightly sweet and they are sort of addictive so watch out!  The recipe only makes about 2 dozen 2 inch cookies so if you are feeding a crowd you may want to double this.   Homemade cookies in under half an hour....and they really are better than oreos. :)  Enjoy!

Lemon Crinkle Cookies, from lauren's latest
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Spray two baking sheets with cooking spray or line the trays with silicon baking mats.

In the mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.  Once it is light and fluffy add the egg and vanilla and mix until they are well incorporated.  In a small bowl mix together the remaining ingredients with the exception of the powdered sugar.  Add the dry ingredients a bit at a time to the wet and mix just until combined.

Put the powdered sugar on a small plate.  Scoop scant tablespoons of dough and roll them into balls and then roll the balls in the powdered sugar.  Place them on the prepared sheet pans.

Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes or until the tops are set and no longer look wet or shiny.   Remove them to a wire rack to cool.

Blueberry-Lemon Whoopie Pies

I made my first whoopie pies over the weekend.  What a cute little dessert!  Apparently the whoopie pie is the "state treat" of Maine.  I, personally, had never had a whoopie pie but I have been noticing recipes for them for awhile and really who can resist a cute little cookie-sized cream-filled cake?  Not me.

The traditional "whoopie pie" is apparently a chocolate cake with a vanilla cream filling (which sounds delicious) but I decided to try some blueberry-lemon ones instead.  On a side note, Maine's state dessert just happens to be blueberry pie so this could be a marriage made in Maine-heaven.

Anyway...I love blueberry and lemon together (such as in this lemon blueberry bread) so I was excited to try this particular recipe out.  The cakes are fluffy and filled with sweet blueberries and the filling has cream cheese and a bright lemony flavor to compliment.  This is a great individual dessert to serve at a party, forks are totally optional since this is one cake you can pick up with your hands. :)  I can't wait to try some other versions of the whoopie pie.  If you have a good recipe, let me know in the comments below.

Blueberry-Lemon Whoopie Pies, Food Network Magazine, September 2012
makes 6 pies
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
5 tablespoons butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup blueberries
Filling:
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar 

To make the cookies/cakes, whisk together the dry ingredients and set them aside.  In the mixer beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla until nice and fluffy.  Add the egg and mix to combine.  With the mixer on low, alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk until the batter is combined and then stir in the blueberries.

Drop the batter (2 tablespoons each) on two parchment paper lined baking sheets.  There should be six cakes per tray.  Smooth the mounds with your wet finger. Put the trays in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm them up.

Position one oven rack in the center and one in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 375 F.

Bake the cakes until they are light golden on top, 10-12 minutes.  Rotate the two trays half-way through the baking.  When they are done, let them cool on the trays for 5 minutes and then remove them to wire racks to finish cooling completely.

While they are cooling, make the filling.  Mix together the butter, cream cheese, lemon zest and juice, vanilla and salt. Once that is smooth, put the mixer on low and slowly mix in the confectioners' sugar.

To assemble the pies put 2 tablespoons of the filling on the underside of six of the little cakes and then sandwich another on top.  Serve immediately or refrigerate them until you are ready to serve them. You can even make them ahead and store them overnight.  Enjoy!

"semi-homemade" Banana Pudding

It is not often I buy pre-made items like instant pudding and cookies.  (Unless we are talking Oreos....I love those). I enjoy making those things but I wanted to try Paula Deen's Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding and making the cookies and the pudding would have made this a marathon dessert. As is, it was quite simple and very tasty.

I did make a few little changes to the recipe as I went along.  First, I used banana instant pudding instead of french vanilla to pump up the banana flavor. I also made my own whipped cream (some things I just can't buy!) and lastly I used Nilla wafers instead of Chessman cookies.  The Chessman looked so cute but were just too pricey....I would have spent $8 in cookies, ouch!

Even though you are using pudding from a box, Paula does a great job making the whole thing taste much more homemade by adding cream cheese and whipped cream to the instant pudding. This isn't a low cal dessert buy any means but it is so good!  And the 9 x 13 pan size makes it perfect for taking to a Summer bbq.

Click here for the recipe!  And Enjoy!

Strawberry-Soda Ice Cream

More strawberries?  Yeah.  Any minute now I'm going to have to change the name of this blog from 4 Pears to 4,000 Strawberries.  Sorry about that but I am having a really hard time staying away from all those strawberry sales at the market.  And apparently my Mom is too because when we got home from vacation there were some in the refrigerator that I knew I needed to do something with soon.

Luckily this month's Food Network Magazine provided me with the perfect new strawberry recipe which just so happened to coincide with my other obsession right now: homemade ice cream.

Up until now I've only made custard based ice creams (you know, the kind with eggs that has to be cooked on the stove and takes a couple of days to completely finish).  Custard-based ice creams really are the richest and creamiest ice creams out there but they take more time and effort than I had after a delayed flight home from Maui, complete with an overnight stay in LA and 4 hours of sleep.

This recipe can be made in the afternoon and will be ready to enjoy by evening, or even eaten right away if you don't mind soft-serve....how can anyone mind soft-serve?  In that case this is a pretty great 30 minute ice cream with a wonderful crisp strawberry flavor and a pretty pink color.  The recipe calls for red cream soda such as "Big Red", but I've never heard of that so I have no idea what that tastes like on its own.  Mr Pears went to the store to grab the soda (you can use regular cream soda too) and came home with strawberry soda instead and it was delicious.

Another wonderful strawberry treat to try this summer, I hope you love it!

PS.  The above photo is from Food Network, I tried to photograph my ice cream but I just couldn't get a good shot of it in my bowl and while I was pondering other ways to photograph it I just started eating it.  I apologize but it was starting to melt and I just couldn't let that happen. ;)

Strawberry-Soda Ice Cream, slightly adapted from Food Network Magazine July/August 2012 (or here)
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups half and half
3/4 cup red cream soda, regular cream soda, or strawberry soda
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup strawberries, mashed (you can you frozen too, just thaw first then mash)

Whisk together all of the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.  Pour this into your ice cream machine and follow your machine's basic churning instructions.  It should take between 10 and 20 minutes depending on the machine to produce a "soft-serve" consistency.  Once it does, pour the ice cream into a freezer container and freeze until firm.  Or eat it soft...yum.

Strawberries Everywhere!

My boys eat a lot of fruit.  Before I had kids my mother was always telling me I should eat more fruit, because I rarely ate any.... now I feel like we are buying a ton of it every week at the store.  And since fruit tastes much better when it is in season (and on sale!)  I bought a huge "crate" of strawberries last week.  Mr. Pears sliced them all up so they'd be ready for the kiddos to munch on but a person can only eat so many strawberries.  So I made a strawberry pie and some strawberry muffins!  Yum.  Here are two great recipes in case you have a strawberry surplus...or if you just want some pie....or a muffin.  :)

Rustic Strawberry Pie from A Pretty Life in the Suburbs.  This pie is super easy to make.  You use a sheet of puff pastry dough for the crust and just toss the strawberries with some corn starch and sugar.  It is really good but it is certainly all strawberry so serve it with generous dollop of homemade whipped cream.

Meyer Lemon Strawberry Muffins from My Baking Addiction.  I've made these muffins a couple of times and I really like them.  Sweet but not too sweet, the hint of lemon is delicious.  I made the muffins with a regular lemon I had in the house this time and they were just as good. But.... no picture.  I ate the last of them   a few minutes ago....oops.  Well that isn't true.  There are six in the freezer because I always freeze half of my muffins.  Muffins don't last very long before the get either dry from being left out, or mushy from being in a container.  They do thaw really well though so freezing is a great option if you find you need more than two or three days to eat all of them.  Unfortunately frozen muffins aren't very photogenic though, oh well.  Click over to My Baking Addiction, plenty of good pictures to go with the recipe.  :)

Enjoy!

Key Lime Bars

Mr. Pears really likes Key Lime pie and after we had one of our favorite summer desserts last week (the lemon mousse)  he suggested I adapt it to make it Key Lime.  The next day I stumbled upon this Key Lime Bars recipe from Martha Stewart and I decided to make them instead.  I am a sucker for graham cracker crust and these bars just looked so easy to make.

They were easy and they were very tasty. These Key Lime bars are light and fluffy and very tart.  The unsweetened whipped cream and the lightly sweetened graham cracker crust balance that tartness well. Definitely another great summer treat to enjoy on the patio in the evening after dinner (along with that sangria).

Key Lime Bars, adapted from Martha Stewart

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons finely ground graham cracker crumbs 

1/3 cup sugar

5 tablespoons melted butter

3 large egg yolks

zest of one lime

1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk

2/3 cup Key Lime juice (that is about 23! key limes! You can also buy just the juice in the juice section near the lemon juice...which is what I did, I wasn't about to squeeze 23 key limes)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 limes for garnishing, cut into half moon shapes

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a small bowl mix together the cookie crumbs and sugar.  Add the melted butter and stir until it is well incorporated.  Press the mixture down firmly into a 8 x 10 baking dish.  Bake the crust for 10 minutes and then leave it to cool on a wire rack while you make the pie filling.

Put the egg yolks and lime zest in the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whisk on high speed for about 5 minutes or until the eggs are very thick.  Turn the mixer speed down to low and while it is on, pour in the condensed milk.  Once all the milk is in turn the speed back up to high and let it whisk for another 3 minutes. Reduce the speed again and pour in the lime juice.  When the juice is mixed in thoroughly, pour the filling into the cooled crust.

Bake the bars in the 350 F oven for about 10 minutes or until the middle seems set.  Take the pan out and let it cool on a rack for about 30 minutes before covering it and putting it in the refrigerator to cool for at least 4 hours or overnight.

When you are ready to serve it, put the whipping cream into your mixer and whisk it on high until it forms stiff peaks.  Serve a generous amount on top of each bar along with a lime slice to garnish.

Enjoy! The kids did!  They also enjoyed the whipped cream.....

Pink Lemonade Cake

This cake is just made for celebrating summer and sunshine.  We enjoyed it with our visiting family over the Memorial Day weekend and it was delicious.  Lemony and sweet and so pretty.

Pink Lemonade Cake, adapted from Karen Tack, found in Better Homes and Gardens May 2012 issue
cake:
1 cup butter
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
red food coloring
1 1/3 cups milk
1/2 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 teaspoon pure lemon extract
Frosting, double the recipe!

Take the butter and eggs out to let come to room temperature for 30 minutes.  In the mean time, prepare either (2) 9" x 2" round pans or (1) 9" x 1 1/2" and (1) 9" x 1 1/2" pans**.  Grease them liberally then cut out circles from parchment paper to lay in the bottom of the pans.  Grease the paper too and then flour each of the pans.

**The cake is meant to be done in four layers by baking the cakes in 2 round 9" x 2" pans.  Unfortunately I only own 1 pan of that size, my other 9 inch pans are more like 1 1/2 inch pans.  No to be deterred from making this, and as quickly as possible since my to-do list was long, I just put 5 cups of batter in the taller pan and 3 in the other and baked them off.  My larger cake took about 40 minutes to bake, the smaller, just a little over 30. I sliced the taller cake in two and ended up with three pretty even sized layers!

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.  In the bowl of your mixer, beat the butter for 30 seconds.  Continue beating on medium as you gradually add in the sugar.  Scrape down the side of the mixing bowl and then add in 1/8 teaspoon of red food coloring and mix to combine.  Now add in the eggs one at a time, making sure each is well combined before the next egg is added.  In another medium bowl (preferably one with a spout) combine the milk with the lemonade concentrate and the extract.  The mixture will look curdled, don't worry!

Alternate between adding the milk mixture and the flour mixture to the butter mixture until all are combined.  Fill first cake pan with batter, see ** note above for amounts.  Now add 1/4 teaspoon more red food coloring to the remaining batter and mix to combine.  Pour the remaining batter into the remaining pan and bake them each at 350 F. for 30-40 minutes.  The cakes are done when the middles spring back at a light touch.

Let the cakes cool for about 10 minutes and then remove them from the pans to finish cooling on wire racks.

When cakes are completely cooled slice them if necessary and then frost.  For the best results when frosting make sure the cake is 100% cooled, baking the cake the day before is a great way to do this.  Once you begin frosting do the middles and then just a very thin coat (called a crumb coat) all over the outside and let it harden for about 10 minutes before finishing the rest of the job.

Enjoy!

Carrot Cake

This post is by special request...  I was asked for a carrot cake recipe and realized that I had never made a carrot cake before!  I mentioned it to Alex who said he Loved carrot cake, so of course I had to make one right away.  Just to make sure I pass on a good recipe.  ;)

Carrot cake is not a universal favorite, I know.  It seems kind of weird to put a bunch of veggies in a cake.  On top of that I'm not usually a fan of cream cheese icing, which is typical for a carrot cake.  It can be heavy and cloying, I think.  But after making this cake; I'm a carrot cake convert.  It was so moist and delicious, and I even thought the icing was awesome.  It has a cream cheese flavor but it is not overwhelming or too heavy tasting.

This carrot cake has a ton of texture in it from the grated carrots and coconut.  If too much texture in a cake freaks you out,  I think you can safely leave out the coconut....but we liked it in.  This cake also has crushed pineapple in it, which sounded different to me but really worked well.  In fact, I'm not sure you'd know it was in there if someone didn't tell you but it does lend a nice sweetness and some more moisture.  The original recipe also calls for walnuts which I didn't add, simply because I didn't have any.  I really liked this cake without them but feel free to add them if you think you'd like them.

This is a pretty two layer cake, a great birthday cake and certainly a cake to remember come Easter.  My little boys loved it too and I didn't feel so bad giving them some because it has vegetables in it you know!  I hope you love it.

Carrot Cake, adapted from Elise at Simply Recipes
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 cups canola or vegetable oil
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrots
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup drained crushed pineapple

Cream cheese icing
12 oz cream cheese (1 and a half packages), at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room tempterature
3 3/4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons lemon juice

The first thing to do with this recipe is to get those grated carrots out of the way.  Hopefully you have a food processor with a grating disk on it!  If so just peel about 5 large carrots and push them on through the machine.  If not, you're going to have to break out that hand grater. :(

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Butter two 9 inch cakes pans and line the bottoms of each with a circle cut from wax paper.  This is to ensure the cake comes out of the pan!  Butter the tops of the wax paper too.  If you don't want to go through the trouble, just make sure you use non-stick pans and that they are thoroughly greased with butter.

Once that is done mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon together in a medium bowl.  In a large bowl or stand mixer, mix together the eggs, oil and vanilla.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until combined.  Now you can stir in the the carrots, coconut, and pineapple.

Pour the batter into your two  pans and bake them for 45-50 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.   At about 25 minutes into the cooking time, rotate the pans so you know they are cooking evenly.

The cakes are done with a toothpick or knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Let the cakes cool in their pans for a few minutes before turning them out and letting them cool the rest of the way on a wire rack.

To make the icing put the cream cheese and butter into your mixer and beat until fluffy and combined.  Slowly add in the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.  Lastly add in the vanilla and lemon juice.  If the icing seems too thin, add some more sugar until you get the desired consistency.

Wait until the cakes are completely cooled before frosting them.  Then try to wait patiently until after dinner before digging in....enjoy!

Peanut Butter Pie

Sorry I disappeared there for a minute.  The kids (and the parents, of course) got their first winter illness.  A lovely stomach flu.  Yeah.  Not a lot of eating going on around here for a few days.  Yuck.  But, luckily, we are all recovered now and enjoying a visit from Grandpa Al.  :)  And I have a great recipe to make up for my absence.

You know Valentine's Day is coming up.  I'm not a big one for going all out for the Hallmark holiday but I don't think it is such an awful thing to have a holiday that reminds us to do something nice/special for the ones we love, either.  My kids are too young for sweets yet so I'm going to get them some cute and sappy board books and write an equally cute and sappy note inside for them.  My husband will probably get sweets....sorry to ruin the surprise honey!

This weekend I was looking to get rid of some peanut butter without making peanut butter cookies.  I turned to my new favorite obsession, Pinterest of course, and quickly found a peanut butter pie that looked pretty darn good.   This classic combination of chocolate and peanut butter is a sure to be a great way to say "I love you" to your honey....I hope you try it!

Peanut Butter Pie, adapted from Danielle at Let's Dish

Crust:

24 Oreo cookies

1/4 cup butter, melted

Filling:

1 (8oz) package cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

sweetened whipped cream 

To make a classic chocolate pie crust just put 24 oreo cookies into your food processor and pulse until you have fine crumbs.  Pour the crumbs into  a medium bowl and mix them together with the melted butter.  Once they are nice and crumbly, dump it all into a buttered pie dish.

Press the crumbs evenly across the bottom and up the sides.  Viola!  Chocolate crust with leftover cookies to boot, yeah!

Now to begin the filling you'll want to first make your whipped cream.  Once that is done, scoop it out and put it into separate bowl.  Put the cream cheese and sugar into your mixer (you don't need to clean the bowl) and mix until smooth.  Add the peanut butter and vanilla and mix it up again.  Now fold in your whipped topping (or mix it in the mixer on a low setting).  Scoop the filling into the pie crust and smooth it out evenly.  Refrigerate at least four hours!

When you are ready to serve whip up another batch of whipped cream and spoon it over each slice.  I also topped my pie slices with a little bit of chopped chocolate bar to make it extra pretty. :)  Enjoy!

P.S. You can follow my pins at http://pinterest.com/cmagyar/

Cocoa Thumbprints

Have you had enough Christmas cookies yet?  I haven't.  But I think I'm close.  Between ginger cookies, these cocoa thumbprints, homemade truffles and those eclairs I made last weekend (another post for another day); my blood sugar level is probably a little high.

Here's the latest addition to our snowman cookie jar, I hope they end up in a cookie jar near you soon! They are delicious.  Light and fluffy and pretty too.

Cocoa Thumbprints, adapted from Food Network Magazine, December 2011 issue....or here.
(about 3 dozen cookies)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup for rolling
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
toppings... ( I used sprinkles and icing but you could use hershey's kisses or candies, jam or dried fruit, etc.)

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar (only 3/4 cup), cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Stir in the melted butter and eggs until the whole thing is well combined.  (This could be the easiest cookie dough ever, right?)  Now just refrigerate it for about 30 minutes, covered.

Line your baking sheets with parchment paper (or a silicone baking mat like the one's Mr Pears got me for Christmas!) and preheat the oven to 325 F.  Put your two types of sugar on two separate plates.  Roll about a tablespoon of dough into a ball in your hands and then roll the ball first in the granulated sugar, then in the confectioners' sugar.  Put the dough on the tray and flatten it slightly, then make an indentation in the middle with your thumb. You can fill your cookies with your toppings now, or if you are using something like the icing I used, you can wait until the cookies come out of the oven.

Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes then let them cool on the sheet for another 3.  Remove to wire racks to finish cooling.  Once cooled I used some Betty Crocker (gasp!) pre-made cookie decorating icing to fill in the indentation then put on some red and green sprinkles before the icing set.  Very festive!  Merry Christmas and happy cookie eating.

Homemade Truffles are so Easy!

Tis the season of cookies and sweets right?  No worrying about extra calories, that is for January.  Since we have family coming this weekend I've been trying to make sure we'll have plenty of sugary treats for our guests.  I was super excited to try my hand at some homemade truffles the other day and even MORE excited by how easy they were and how great they turned out.

These truffles have a great rich dark chocolate flavor due to the combo of bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolates. The Grand Marnier! and coffee lend a depth of flavor to them as well even though I swear you can't truly distinguish that they are in there if you don't know.  (I'm not a big fan of "flavored" chocolates).   On top of being easy to prepare, these last in the refrigerator for "weeks", so you can make them ahead of time...something that is much harder to do with cookies.  (But I'll have some thoughts on that in another post.)

Chocolate Truffles, adapted from Ina Garten
1/2 pound good bittersweet chocolate
1/2 pound good semisweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier or other orange flavored liqueur
1 tablespoon prepared coffee
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
various toppings (sprinkles, coconut, crushed nuts, cocoa powder, confectioners sugar, etc.)

First chop your chocolate into small pieces (if you didn't buy chips or pieces already), and heat the cream in a small pot until just boiling.

When the cream begins to boil, turn off the heat and let it set for about 20 seconds then pour it over the chocolate and whisk the two together until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

Whisk in the remaining ingredients (but not the toppings, duh.) and then set the bowl aside to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

Once the chocolate is cooled and set, use a small ice cream scoop or a teaspoon to drop out rounded blobs of chocolate onto a parchment-paper-lined tray.  Don't worry about making them perfectly round because you are going to shape them further later.

Now put the tray into the refrigerator to cool for at least an hour. Rescue your child from a Lego box which is much to small for them to sit in, but only if necessary.

Once the chocolates are chilled all you need to do to finish them off is to roll them into a more round ball shape between your hands and then roll them around in your topping/s of choice.  I rolled some in sweetened coconut flakes, some in Christmas-y sprinkles and some in cocoa powder.   Store them in a tin lined with parchment paper or a glass bowl, covered, in the refrigerator.  Take them out just a few minutes before serving and enjoy!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells....

Ok...so since you may have noticed my lack of posting around the country's largest food-related holiday you might have guessed that we didn't host T-Day dinner at our place this year.  Instead we packed up our baby pears and headed over to a friend's house to enjoy the day with three other families.  We had a lot of fun....but sadly, did absolutely no cooking.

So we are moving on!  Just like all the department stores, we are playing Christmas music!  It may not be December yet but the first Christmas Classic DVD (Rudolf) has been viewed by the kidlets (fail) and the first Christmas cookies have come out of the oven (success!).  Christmas is such a great reason to eat a ton of cookies...don't you think?  And maybe also to watch kid movies that your children are way too young to even begin to enjoy.

Though my favorite cookies aren't really Christmas cookies, I will be sure to continue baking (and sharing!) with these to start:

Crinkly Butterscotch Pecan Cookies.  I found this recipe simply because Mr. Pears wanted cookies (I blame him) and we had butterscotch baking chips and pecans in the pantry.  A little Google search and I stumbled upon this blog and recipe.  Looked like all was in order, good comments....worth a shot.  I'm so glad I gave them a chance because they really are delicious.  If you love Butter Pecan Ice Cream, you'll love these.  Hope you love them, and Happy almost Christmas!

Crinkly Butterscotch Pecan Cookies, adapted from Cookie Madness
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of butter, cold and cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
1/2 cup of shortening (like Crisco)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups butterscotch chips
2/3 cup pecans, toasted and chopped (to toast them just put them in a non-stick pan on high heat and shake them around every minute or two for a few minutes)

Stir together the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.  In your mixer, cream the butter and shortening together.  Once they are smooth and combined add the sugars.  Beat for about two more minutes.  Lower the speed on the mixer and mix in the vanilla and egg.  Now slowly mix in the flour combo.  Once everything is mixed together fold in the pecan and chips with a rubber spatula.

Use a mini-ice cream scoop to drop tablespoons of dough onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets and bake these for 12-15 minutes at 350 F.  Mine took just 12 minutes but the original author said hers took 15....so check on them!  When they start to get brown on the edges they are done.

Once out of the oven you can use your spatula to kind of push the cookies in a bit...it makes them crinkly!  Let them cool for a few minutes before you move them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Pumpkin Muffins

I'm not over pumpkin yet folks!  And these muffins might be my favorite pumpkin item yet.  The first time I made them I ate two as soon as they came out of the oven.  In my defense, I hadn't eaten lunch. :P  These are fairly sweet muffins, similar to cupcakes really.  They are light and moist and very delicious.  And with two cups of pumpkin in just 12 muffins I think they have enough veggies in them to make a good snack for my little muffins.  Today the boys had them with their new favorite food, raisins.  They are pretty obsessed with raisins right now.

But back to the muffins...make them, eat them for breakfast with coffee or as dessert.  You'll love them, I promise.

Pumpkin Muffins, found at Muffin Top, recipe originally from Gourmet Magazine, November 2006
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 (15oz) can of 100% pumpkin puree
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
(note: you can substitute 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice for the spices if you have it on hand)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a regular size muffin pan with 12 paper or foil liners.

In a small bowl stir together the flour and baking powder.  In a large bowl whisk together the other ingredients. Lastly add in the flour, mixing just until the flour is incorporated.

Use a ice cream scoop to fill the muffin cups 3/4 of the way.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  A toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin should come out clean.  Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.  Try not to eat them all before your family gets any.  ;)

one of my muffins, grinning with a mouth full of pumpkin muffin

the other muffin, too busy eating to smile. 

Ginger Cookies

These are my absolute favorite cookies.  They are soft and chewy (even for days after you bake them!) and warm and...fall-tasting...you know what I mean.  I hate to compare them to Ginger Snaps, because that is sort of what they are, only soft...but they are just so much better.

These really are the perfect fall cookie!  Every year I can't wait until October to start making them. We are on  finished batch #2 over here already!  I really hope you try them, and that you love them as much as I do.  There is just nothing better than a really awesome homemade cookie. (By the way this recipe currently has a 5 star rating and 2900! reviews on allrecipes.com....they are obviously amazing, you can't argue with 2900 people!)

Ginger Cookies, adapted from Amy1028 on All Recipes 
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Stir together the flour, baking soda and spices in a small bowl and set it aside.  In your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.  Mix in the egg, then the water and the molasses.  Slowly mix in the flour on the lowest setting.  Once the dough is incorporated I use a small ice cream scoop to scoop the dough out and on to baking sheets.  If you want to roll the dough into balls by hand, it will feel sticky...no need for extra flour. :)

Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes then allow them to cool on the sheet for five minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.   Makes 2 dozen, or so, larger cookies.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

I hadn't made a cheesecake in a looonnngg time.  They just seem too decadent and complicated for a weekend dessert that will only be eaten by my husband and I.  For some reason though, I was feeling generous towards said husband last weekend.  His favorite dessert combo is chocolate and peanut butter so I was searching for a good recipe he'd be sure to love.  I stumbled upon this cheesecake and figured why not give it a go.

Although I've admitted here before that I'm no baking pro, this came out great!  The chocolate topping is to die for and the filling is just the right level of peanut butter.  It isn't too heavy and rich either, as some cheesecakes can be.

I'd say this is a keeper.  Looks beautiful, tastes great and I didn't mess it up! :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake, adapted from Nigella Lawson
crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 7 oz of whole crackers)
1/2 cup salted peanuts
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate (chips or roughly chopped)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
filling
2 (8 oz) bars cream cheese, room temperature
3 eggs, room temperature
3 egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup superfine sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup peanut butter, room temperature (if you keep yours in the fridge!)
topping
1 cup sour cream
1 cup milk chocolate (chips or rough chopped)
2 tablespoons light brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 F.  Put the ingredients for the crust into the food processor and pulse until it forms crumbles.  Turn it out into a 9 inch spring form pan and and press the crumbs into the bottom and up the sides.  Place the pan into the refrigerator to help harden it while you are making the filling.

In the mixer, using the paddle attachment, place all ingredients for the filling and mix until smooth.  Pour the filling into the crust and put it into the oven to bake for about 1 hour.  You should start checking on the cake at about 45 minutes in....when the top looks fully cooked, take it out.

Now in a small saucepan melt the milk chocolate with the sour cream and brown sugar over low heating, whisking to combine.  When it is, pour it carefully over the cake and then spread it out evenly with a rubber spatula.  Put it back into the oven for 10 more minutes.

Once done cool completely,  In my opinion, this cheesecake should be refrigerated before serving as well.  This is a great dessert to make the day before a get together.

Enjoy!

Your NEW favorite cake

The Black Walnut cake is a Brown Family tradition.  My grandmother made it for us all the time...and still does when I make it back east for a visit. It was the cake we always requested for birthdays, even the kids!  It was just that good.

Since I don't have Grandma's recipe (she is a dash of this, sprinkle of that kind of cook) I baked up my own version based on Ina Garten's honey vanilla pound cake.  Her cake is pretty darn awesome just the way it is, but the black walnut version?  It's definitely my new favorite.  (Don't tell Grandma)

This cake is so good!  You really need to try it.  Because, really?  Words don't do it justice.  Black Walnuts don't taste like the regular English walnuts most people are used to eating.  They are better.  And in this recipe you use Black Walnut extract and crush your actual black walnuts so you aren't chomping on large hunks of nuts.  This is a great cake for a simple dessert with ice cream and it is also a great breakfast type cake.  Sweet, but not too sweet.  Just delicious.

I think the cat wants some too

Black Walnut Cake, adapted from Ina Garten's honey vanilla pound cake
1/2 cup unsalted butter at cool room temperature (leave it out for about an hour)
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons black walnut extract
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup black walnuts, crushed
for the glaze:
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 F.  Grease the bottom of a 9 inch loaf pan with butter and then coat it with flour.

In your mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until it is nice and fluffy.  That will take about 3-4 minutes on medium speed.  Next add the eggs one at a time, incorporating each one before adding the next.  Once they are all incorporated add the extract.  Combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a small bowl before adding that to the mixer as well, a little at a time, on low speed.  When that is done remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the crushed walnuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake it for about 50-60 minutes.  A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean.

Allow it to cool for 15 minutes before turning it out of the pan.  Let it cool completely on a wire rack.  Once cool mix together the lemon juice and powdered sugar and then pour it over the cake in a back and forth pattern across the top.  Serve and enjoy!

Birthday Cake!

My little monsters are turning 1 in just 4 weeks...it doesn't seem possible!  How on earth did we go from this:

Aaron left, Alex right

To this! In just a few short months? 

It should be noted that this was the best picture I could get of both of them together in the last three days.  Each and every shot seems to have at least one blurry spot due to the constant motion these two are always in.

Anyway, back to the cake at hand.  I decided that even though we are not doing a huge birthday bash, just 2 sets of grandparents and one proud set of parents, I did want to make a cake for each boy.  "Smash" cakes are hugely popular right now and I think they look like a lot of fun.  The baby is basically given his own cake to do with what he pleases.  I'm sure rubbing it in their hair and feeding some to the dogs will be top priorities with my two. :)  

I wanted the cakes to be bigger than cup cakes but a LOT smaller than a regular cake.  After some searching and a trip to the craft store, I found these.  The Wilton mini tasty fill cake pans are 4" in diameter and 1 1/4" tall.  Each pan (set comes with four) has an indentation so you can add a filling and then put two cakes together to make a 4" x 2 1/2" cake!  Perfect!  The other day I tested them out to make sure I had the baking times right for these little pans. After all, I don't want my little guys first cakes to be dry or under-cooked!

Simple White Cake, adapted from allrecipes

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 extra large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Grease and flour the pans.  This is a super easy cake to make, the only trick is to really make sure and beat it well so it is nice and fluffy.  First cream the butter and sugar until very fluffy!  Then add in the eggs one at a time, beating WELL.  Now add the extracts, beat some more, the flour and baking powder, beat some more, then finally the milk. Stir in the milk so you don't get splashed. :)  The batter should be nice and fluffy by the end.  Pour it into your prepared pans.  The recipe says that for a 9 x 9 pan, bake 30-40 minutes and for cupcakes bake 20-25.  My little cakes took 20 minutes.  You'll know they are done when the top springs back when lightly touched.  

I was pretty impressed by these little pans!  First time out and they didn't stick and the cakes were cooked perfectly.  Since I am not always the best baker, (remember the brownies?) I was super excited.  Here are some pictures of the process.

I filled them with whipped cream

With the icing and sprinkles

And the middle!

The final cakes will look a lot like this one.  Butercream icing, some primary colored sprinkles, and a number one candle to top it off.  I'm hoping they will look classic and fun; baby friendly without a whole lot of fussiness.  Cause babies just prefer messiness anyway! ;)