Month: June 2010

TV Dinner Cupcakes

I shamelessly copied these cupcakes from Karen Tack & Alan Richardson’s “Hello, Cupcake!” book. Just look at how cuuuuuute they are! You can get REALLY detailed instructions on how to make these if you purchase Hello, Cupcake – but I’ll do my best to tell you how I made them.

TV Dinner Cupcakes
Recipe Source: Hello, Cupcake!
Print Recipe

1 box vanilla cake mix
1/4 cup white chocolate melting wafers
1 or 2 tubs of vanilla frosting
1 cup chocolate frosting
Donut holes (amount will depend on how many “drumsticks” you want to make)
1 cup cornflake crumbs
Yellow Starbursts (amount will depend on how many “mashed potatoes” you want to make)
Caramel sauce (again, amount depends)
Assorted orange and green Runts (or other orange and green candies)
Green food coloring
Colored sprinkles

“Drumsticks”
1. Draw a bone on a piece of wax paper. Place the white chocolate wafers in a plastic bag or piping bag – do not seal. Microwave for about 10-15 seconds to soften – repeating if needed until chocolate is completely melted. Snip a small corner from the bag and following the bone template that you drew, pipe an outline onto the wax paper. Fill in the bone with more white chocolate. Repeat to make as many bones as you need. Refrigerate until firm (about 5 minutes) — or you can leave them out on your counter top and they will solidify.
2. Frost each cupcake with vanilla frosting – forming a small mound. Place one donut hole on top of each cupcake. Spread frosting over the donut hole until it is covered.
3. Crush the cornflakes until they form crumbs (you could use a food processor for this). Coat the cupcake in the cornflake crumbs.
4. Using a knife, cut a slit in the top of each crumb-covered donut hole. Carefully place one of the white chocolate bones into the slit.

“Mashed Potatoes”
1. Frost cupcakes with vanilla frosting – mounding it slightly. Use a spoon to form a small well in the center of each cupcake.
2. Drip the caramel sauce over the cupcake to look like gravy. You may have to microwave the sauce for a few seconds if it’s not runny enough.
3. Microwave the yellow Starbursts until they soften slightly – I did this so I could soften the edges and make it look more like a pad of butter and less like a lemon Starburst. Place the softened Starburst on top of the “gravy”.

“Peas and Carrots”
1. Dye some of your vanilla frosting green. Frost the cupcakes with the green frosting.
2. Arrange the orange and green Runts on top of each cupcake to look like little peas and carrots.

“Chocolate Pudding”
1. Frost cupcakes with chocolate frosting and decorate with rainbow sprinkles.

Strawberry-Lemon Cheesecake Squares

I realize that cheesecake is one of those foods that polarizes people – you either LOVE it… or you don’t. I don’t understand people who don’t love CHEESECAKE. Cheese + sugar? What more could I possibly want out of life?

Cheesecakes can also be tricky to make, but this one was super easy — and look, only a few cracks from baking!

Yield: 9-16 bars

Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake Squares

Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake Squares

A wonderful and refreshing summertime dessert!

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup vanilla cookies, crushed (I used Nilla Wafers)
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 4 Tbsp cold butter
  • 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 Tbsp flour
  • 1 Tbsp lemon zest
  • 3 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup strawberries, chopped
  • Lemon zest, for garnish

Instructions

    1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8" pan with cooking spray.

    2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cookie crumbs and flour. Using a pastry blender, incorporate the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Press into the bottom of the pan and bake 10 minutes.

    3. In another medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until well-blended. Add in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, and baking powder. Stir in the strawberries, and then pour over the warm crust.

    4. Bake 25-30 minutes or until the center is set.

    5. Cool, then refrigerate before cutting into bars.

Notes

Your yield will depend on how big or small you make your squares.

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

If you know me well, you know that I am basically a five year old kid trapped in a twentysomething year old body. And here is the proof. I made Cookie Monster cupcakes! He was always my favorite character on Sesame Street.

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

Print Recipe

1 box cake mix (I used white cake, but you can use whatever you’d like)
12-15 Chips Ahoy cookies
24-36 chocolate chips
24-36 vanilla candy melts
1 tub vanilla frosting (or you can make your own buttercream from scratch if you’d like)
Blue decorating sugar

1. Bake cupcakes according to box directions and cool on a wire rack.
2. Dye the vanilla frosting blue and frost the cupcakes. Dip each frosted cupcake into the blue sprinkles and coat with sprinkles.
3. “Glue” two vanilla candy melts onto each cupcake using extra vanilla frosting. “Glue” two chocolate chips on top of each candy melt – and get creative – make some of them cross-eyed!
4. Cut the chocolate chip cookies in half and press into each cupcake. You can also be creative with this step, too. Break up some of the cookies into bits or make them different sizes, as to make each monster unique.

Makes about 24 cupcakes.

Guest Blogger: Laine’s Recipe Box

It’s strawberry season here in the Midwest and today’s blog post, recipe, and photos comes from my friend Laine. Laine has a food blog called Laine’s Recipe Box – she shares all sorts of recipes and has now even started to review Madison restaurants. Please visit her blog if you have the chance! Today she’s sharing a recipe for Strawberry Cookies.

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
from Martha Stewart
Print Recipe

Makes about 3 dozen
These tender cookies are made with cream and studded with sweet strawberries for a portable version of a classic dessert.

12 oz. strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (2 cups)
1 t. fresh lemon juice
1/2 c. plus 1 T. granulated sugar
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. coarse salt
3 oz. (6 T.) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 c. heavy cream
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 7 tablespoons granulated sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, or rub in with your fingers, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cream until dough starts to come together, then stir in strawberry mixture.

2. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment, spacing evenly apart. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, and bake until golden brown, 24 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool. Cookies are best served immediately, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day.

* I found that my cookies baked much faster than the recipe indicated and would have been completely burnt if I’d followed the recipe and not checked them early. My oven may run hot, but I’ve never had a bake time be so far off from what a recipe indicated. I would suggest keeping a close eye on them during the baking time.