Month: March 2011

Butterscotch Birds’ Nests

My favorite thing about the Easter season? CADBURY MINI EGGS. They have a strong hold over me, I am powerless against them and their creamy, smooth chocolate covered in a delicious crispy shell. Really. I love them and look forward to buying them every year. Other things that I love? Butterscotch and peanut butter. This recipe was made for me.

Butterscotch Birds’ Nests
Recipe source: Gimme Some Oven
Print Recipe

1 (12 oz.) bag butterscotch chips
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups miniature marshmallows
6 oz. chow mein noodles
candy eggs, for decor

1. Line a cookie sheet (or two) with waxed paper.
2. In a double boiler, heat the chocolate chips until they are melted.  (You can also use the microwave for this step.  Be careful that they do not burn!)
3. Then stir in the peanut butter, and mix until it is melted and the mixture is smooth.  Add the chow mein noodles and marshmallows and continue stirring until everything is evenly coated.
4. Drop by spoonfuls onto the waxed paper & add candy eggs.  Let cool until they are hardened.

Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cake

My friend Beth loves red velvet cake.  My friend Meghan has never had red velvet cake. What WHAT?! The catch to this is that Meghan has celiac disease, which means that she and gluten do not agree with one another. This also means that most baked goods are filed under the list of things Meghan can’t eat. 

We searched the internet for a gluten-free red velvet cake recipe (what can’t you find using Google?!). The first recipe we found had a list of bizarre gluten-free ingredients. No thanks. The second recipe we found only had two specialty ingredients: gluten-free flour and xanthan gum (a powder which is used as a replacement for gluten). Bingo. Here’s the result of our baking day on Sunday!

Yield: About 8 slices of cake

Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cake

Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cake

Just because you can't eat gluten doesn't mean you can't eat red velvet cake!

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 1-3/4 cups vegetable oil
  • 1-1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs (beaten)
  • 2-1/2 cups gluten-free flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp xanthan gum
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 bottle (1 oz) red food coloring
  • 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder

For the frosting:

  • 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 pound (4 cups) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

    Make the cake:

    1. Preheat oven to 350F.

    2. Mix oil and sugar in a large bowl using a mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, after first beating them.

    3. Sift all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add flour to the oil and sugar mixture, alternating with the buttermilk. Begin and end this process with the flour mixture.

    4. In a separate bowl, mix the vanilla, food coloring, and cocoa, then add to the mixture. After mixing well, pour the batter into two 8″ cake pans (spray with non-stick spray first).

    5. Bake approximately 30 minutes – or until a tester comes out clean. Cool cakes completely on a wire rack before frosting.

    Make the frosting:

    1. Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

    2. Reduce speed to low. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, and then vanilla; mix until smooth.

    Frosting can be refrigerated for up to 3 days; before using, bring to room temperature, and beat until smooth.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

The running joke on this blog has become my love for Oreos. I’ll bake anything and everything having to do with them. These cookies were fabulous – a pairing of two classics: chocolate chip cookies and Oreos. They’re easy to make, but be warned, the cookies are e-n-o-r-m-o-u-s!

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe source: picky-palate.com
Print Recipe

2 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag chocolate chips
1 bag Oreo Cookies (I used Double Stuf)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.   In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined.  Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.
2.  In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda.  Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.
3. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie.  Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie.  Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough.
4. Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking.  Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.


This is a photo of how I made the cookies. I used two scoops of dough, flattened them a bit, and then enclosed the dough around the Oreo cookie. Pinch the dough to make sure that a seal is formed around the cookie.

Spumoni Cookies

Spumoni! Spumoni is an Italian ice cream made with layers of different colors and flavors. Cherry and pistachio are common flavors — but chocolate can also be used. I love anything spumoni-related, because I love cherries and I love pistachios. Also, August 21st is National Spumoni Day in the United States — and August 21st happens to be my birthday, so it’s fate! ;)

Spumoni Cookies
Recipe source: Land O’ Lakes
Print Recipe

1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup finely chopped maraschino cherries (I used a food processor to chop them)
1/4 cup finely chopped pistachios (again, I used a food processor)
2-3 drops of red and green food coloring (optional)

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, butter, egg, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy (2-3 minutes). Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat until well mixed (1-2 minutes).
2. Divide dough into thirds. To one third, add cherries and red food coloring; mix well. To second third of dough, add pistachios and green food coloring; mix well. Leave the remaining third of dough as-is.
3. Between two sheets of waxed paper, shape each third of dough into a 7×6-inch rectangle. On a large sheet of plastic wrap, layer pink, white, and green dough; press down gently and wrap securely. Refrigerate until firm (about 2 hours or overnight).
4. Preheat oven to 350F.
5. With a sharp knife, cut rectangle lengthwise into three 7×2-inch pieces. Cut each piece crosswise into 1/4-inch slices. Place slices 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.
6. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until edges just begin to brown.

OK, personally, I think the directions about how to layer/cut the cookies are a little nebulous. Here’s a photo of how I made the cookies — pardon the low light and less-than-stellar photo, I was making these at night!

I didn’t worry about exact measurements. I rolled out each section of dough to a thickness of about 1/2 inch. I then layered them all on top of one another and wrapped in plastic wrap. After refrigeration, I cut slices of the dough as you can see above.

Irish Potato Candies

During our 13+ hour time working on the superhero cake and cupcakes, Meghan mentioned that she bought all of the ingredients for Irish Potatoes. My immediate thought was, “what? Potatoes are potatoes.” Little did I know that she was referring to these delicious cinnamon-and-cream cheese candies. My only complaint about them is that they include coconut – which is high on my list of hated foods. But that’s just me. :)

Meghan made a double batch of these, so we ended up with about 100 of these little beauties. Okay, so maybe they aren’t “beauties”, as it’s hard to make anything that resembles a potato look glamorous!

Irish Potato Candies
Print Recipe

1/4 cup butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
2-1/2 cups flaked coconut
1 Tablespoon cinnamon (you will likely need more than 1 TB)

1. In a medium bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners’ sugar; beat until smooth.
2. Using your hands if necessary, mix in the coconut. Roll into balls or potato shapes, and roll in the cinnamon.
3. Place onto a cookie sheet and chill to set. If desired, roll potatoes in cinnamon again for darker color.