The Sweet Swiper

Fat Camp Friday

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Our family's obsession with all things Oreo should be glaringly obvious at this point, so when I saw the recipe for Cookies and Cream cupcakes on Confessions of a Cookbook Queen, it didn't take me much convincing to give these a try. I have already tried a couple of her recipes before (Thin Mint Truffles and Ice Cream Cone Rice Krispy Treats), and they both came out fantastic......so I knew this one would as well! If you haven't checked out her blog before, you've gotta see all of the amazing sweets she comes up with!

I did make a couple of changes....mainly because of what I had on hand. I didn't have any marshmallow fluff, so I left out the filling, and the only box cake mix I had was a chocolate one, so I used that (just following the box instructions). The frosting is what really makes these for me......a fantastic vanilla buttercream blended with crushed Oreos! And don't forget the whole Oreo that gets placed at the bottom of the cupcake liner....a fantastic surprise!

The day after I made these, I saw that Bakerella had done her own version of a Cookies and Cream cupcake. It appears that Oreos are on everyone's brains these days!

Check out Confessions of a Cookbook Queen for the recipe.....and Enjoy!!

This post is linked to:

Cupcake Link Party

I'm Lovin' It

Muffin Monday

Fat Camp Friday

Sharing Sundays

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Frozen Strawberry Margarita Pie

Ahhhh....the Frozen Strawberry Margarita Pie. This is an easy crowd pleaser....I mean who doesn't love strawberry margaritas? I've been making this recipe from Gourmet magazine for the last couple of years, and it's always a hit! And lucky for me, it's a really easy dessert to throw together! You just need to put this together the day before you want to serve it, so that it can firm up in the freezer.

Imagine a strawberry margarita combined with some fresh whipped cream and then poured into a graham cracker crust and frozen......there ya have it!! The amount of tequila and Cointreau in the recipe lets the pie truly taste like a strawberry margarita, but without a strong tequila taste. I think next time I'll bump up the amount of tequila so that you can taste it a bit (especially since the hubby insists that we have Patron tequila in the house.....that's some good stuff!!). You can also decide how frozen you want to serve this......right out of the freezer, or let it sit in the fridge for a while before you serve it, so that it's more of a mousse-y dessert.....your call!!

This is a little slice of summer-y heaven to me.....just close your eyes and imagine you're on vacation!

Go to Epicurious.com for the recipe.....and Enjoy!

This post is linked to:

I'm Lovin' It

Fat Camp Friday

This Week's Cravings

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Tres Leches Cupcakes

Warning: The hubby has decided he is going to take over today's blog post.....proceed at your own risk ;)

*********DISCLAIMER*********

This is Michael, Kirsten's husband, taking over her blog for today.

Yesterday, we went to our latina-tastic friend, Vanessa's birthday dinner. BEEEEEF!!! Her father, and brother in-law Steve cooked up one of best example of cow + fire, I've ever tasted. I've been hearing about this Argentinian spread of steak, ribs, sweet-breads, chorizo, blood sausage, ceviche, sangria, for years, and it delivered... que bueno!!!.

Kirsten promised that she would bring dessert. With the 9 nieces and nephews on my side of the family, Kirsten has learned that the best way to please both kids and adults in desert-land, is to make two desserts; one for the kids and one for adults. So, her over-achiever-mode kicked in, and she made three desserts. Oreo cupcakes, Tres Leches cupcakes, and Strawberry Margarita Pie.

The Oreo cupcakes were good. Strawberry Margarita pie was awesome. BUT, the Tres Leches cupcakes are why I'm writing this. It is THE best cupcake I've ever had. Ever. I've eaten a lot of cupcakes in my life. ;) It's hard to beat a nicely executed 'kids birthday' cupcake. They just work. Most gourmet cupcakes I've had seem to focus on a fancy top without too much love given to the cake itself. The Tres Leches is the whole package of mucho masterpiece!

Kirsten brought me the tester cupcake, and said, "Here just take a little bite." Hehehe. The first bite was mostly the top, which was a Dulce de Leche meringue. Yes. It's good. Good enough that I went in for a second "little bite". THE CAKE!!! The tres leches cake bottom was an unexpected bite of pure bliss! I proceeded to polish off the entirety of the cupcake. Round 2 at Vanessa's party confirmed my beliefs that this little bad-boy is the one to beat!

****************************

Ok, I'm back! As you can see, the hubby ~~kind of liked~~, ~~sort of liked~~, is crazy in love with these cupcakes!! As soon as I saw these on Bakers Royale, I couldn't wait to make them. I've made Tres Leches Cake many times, and it's really delicious.....a spongy cake drenches in an amazing concoction of three different kinds of milk (tres leches, get it?), and topped with a meringue-y frosting. This cupcake version is even more delicious with the addition of Dulce de Leche to the frosting.....I think that this will be my go-to caramel frosting from now on. Usually a caramel frosting is kind of on the heavy side.....this one is light and fluffy.....like a caramel marshmallow fluff (that is a good thing!).

The only change I made to this recipe, was not including the flaked coconut that is in the list of ingredients. Didn't miss it at all.

And just a note......I would suggest using foil cupcake liners for this recipe, instead of paper ones......the foil ones won't get soggy when the cupcake is drenched with the delicious tres leches mixture.

I'll do some posts this week on the other things I made for the party that the hubby mentioned....Strawberry Margarita Pie, Oreo Cupcakes, and Brownie Stuffed Oreo Cookies (he managed to forget about those!).

Check out Bakers Royale for the recipe.....and Enjoy!!

This post is linked to:
Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Cupcake Link Party
Muffin Monday
Monday, Mmmmm.......Dessert
These Chicks Cooked
Cast Party Wednesday
Full Plate Thursday
Sweet Treats Thursday
Show Off Your Stuff
Turning the Table Thursday
Fresh Food Friday
Friday Food
I'm Lovin' It
Sweets for a Saturday
Sharing Sundays
It's a Celebration

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

We All Scream for Ice Cream!!

Let me just come right out and say....."I Love Ice Cream!!!"

Ice cream truly is one of my happy foods........there's just something about it that makes my heart happy. Mint chocolate chip, in particular, is the flavor that does it for me. And if I'm getting really particular, it would be Thrifty's Mint Chocolate Chip.....who's with me?? I remember getting a single scoop for 15 cents as a kid (double scoops were a whopping 25 cents!), and it was always Mint Chocolate Chip for me! Don't get me wrong....I will gladly have other flavors of ice cream (except Bubble Gum.....gross!), and I even had a time when all I wanted was Ben and Jerry's Cookie Dough ice cream (but who didn't right?), but Mint Chip (as it was known in my house) will always tops.

Well, in my CSA box this week, there was a bunch of chocolate mint. I'm actually not that crazy about fresh mint, so the only thing I could think to do with it was make mint ice cream. I found a recipe on Epicurious.com for Isaac Mizrahi's Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. It sounded good.....why not try?? I have an ice cream maker that we got as a wedding present (12 years ago!), that I've used only a handful of times. Every summer I tell myself I'm going to make a ton of homemade ice cream, and I never seem to get around to it!

For this recipe, you are making a custard ice cream base, and while you are slowly heating it up, you steep the mint leaves in the milk mixture, and then strain out the leaves before you chill it (you'll need to chill the custard in the fridge before you're able to throw it in the ice cream maker). After you are done with the ice cream maker, you'll mix in whatever chocolate you're using, and add green food coloring if you'd like (I did). I happened to have some mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, so I used those along with a chopped up milk chocolate with almond Hershey bar (I loved the almond with this). Then you'll need to stick this in the freezer a bit for it to firm up.....so it's not complicated, but takes a bit of planning ahead of time.

The verdict? The hubby loved it!! He's had some every night the last few days.....and considering that he's lactose-intolerant that says a lot! It's very minty, and also has a slight herbal note to it (makes sense since you used fresh herbs, right?). The hubby really, really enjoyed it, and says that he would take this over Thrifty's any day. Me? I did enjoy this, but I hate to say it......nothing can ever replace the love that I have for that neon-green stuff!

Check out Epicurious.com for the recipe....and Enjoy!!

This post is linked to:
These Chicks Cooked
Cast Party Wednesday
Full Plate Thursday
Sweet Treats Thursday
Turning the Table Thursday
Show Off Your Stuff
Friday Food
Sweets for a Saturday
Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Monday, Mmmmm......Dessert

Monday, July 18, 2011

Carmageddon Key Lime Pies

So did you survive Carmageddon? If you don't live in Southern California you might not have heard the months of predictions of LA being brought to a stand-still from a weekend closure of the 405. We did stay home for the weekend, and the hubby even came home from work early on Friday to avoid the crush of traffic that was expected.

Well, needless to say, it ended up being a non-event! Apparently most people stayed home, and there was no traffic on the freeways......such a weird thing to see in LA!!

While we were hanging out I decided to try out my new mini-tart pan. I also found a bag of Key Limes on my last trip to Trader Joe's, so I decided how perfect would a tiny little Key Lime Pie be? I love the taste of Key Lime Pie, but after a few bites I'm kind of done.....since the flavor is so intense.

I ended up using the Key Lime recipe from Joy of Baking....I simply divided the crust and the filling into my little mini-tarts.....the recipe made about 15 of them. Key Lime Pies are fairly simple to put together.....make a quick graham cracker crust....an easy to throw together filling.....and after baking simply top with sweetened whipped cream. Use a pastry bag for your whipped cream and you can get a fancy schmancy presentation!

These were the perfect size for me! A couple of bites and you're done! The hubby loved it.....yeah!

Check out Joy of Baking for the recipe......and enjoy!!

Oh, and what were the boys doing to entertain themselves during Carmageddon? Well, they were painting Legos to make custom Star Wars Clone Troopers........yep, I live in a house of guys!!!

This post is linked to:

Sharing Sundays

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

I found myself with an abundance of blueberries and zucchini this week. Hmmmmm......what to do with them........

I checked the recipe section of my CSA (Abundant Harvest Organics), and lo and behold.....there's a recipe for Blueberry Zucchini Bread. Well, I like Blueberry bread, and I like Zucchini Bread.......but would I like those two flavors together? I wasn't positive....but I thought it was worth a shot! And since it's a quick bread, the only difficulty is in grating the zucchini.....and really, how difficult is that?

Well, the answer is I love it! And the hubby absolutely adores this bread (he insists it's cake!)! The zucchini keeps this bread super duper moist, and the sweet blueberries add delicious bursts of flavor to go with the cinnamon-spiked bread. Definitely will be remaking this at some point soon!

BLUEBERRY ZUCCHINI BREAD

Adapted from Abundant Harvest Organics

3 eggs lightly beaten
1 tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp baking soda
2 ¼ cups white sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 pint fresh blueberries
3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a large loaf pan or muffin tins.

Beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar in a large bowl. Add in the shredded zucchini. Mix in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon until combined. Then gently add the blueberries and fold into the mixture.

Transfer the batter to the loaf pan or muffin tins. For a loaf pan, bake for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean. In a muffin tin bake for 15-20 minutes.

Cool and then turn out onto wire racks.

Enjoy!

This post is linked to:

Monday, Mmmm.....Dessert

Friday, July 15, 2011

Club: Baked - It's Donut Time!!

I've already professed my loved for the boys of Baked (and all of the goodies that they make).....so it only made sense to join up with other bakers who share my love of all things Baked, and bake their way through the latest cookbook, Baked Explorations. So, I am now a member of Club: Baked.

I missed the very first round of baking, but I got my act together in time to whip up a batch of Farm Stand Buttermilk Donuts. For the recipe, please go to The Ginger Snap Girl, who was hosting this challenge for us.

I could only get myself to make 1/2 a batch of them, so that the hubby and I didn't eat them all.....and that was plenty for us! Had I made the whole recipe, I would have ended up with about a dozen donuts and donut holes......and would have had to eat them all!! The dough was pretty easy to throw together, although as stated in the recipe, the dough is sticky! You'll definitely want a little dusting of flour everywhere, or you, the board, and your cutters will be completely stuck to this dough!

I don't really ever do any frying at home, so that was kind of a new experience for me. It actually wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, apart of a small spatter burn I got on my hand (my bad!!). Looking at the comments some other bakers had posted, I tried to keep the oil temperature closer to 350 so that the outsides didn't brown so fast as to not give the inside a chance to cook completely.

I decided to make only two of the three toppings listed......the cinnamon sugar, and the vanilla glaze, with sprinkles. Both of the toppings were quite easy to throw together, and how cute are the donuts with sprinkles.....love them!

Check out The Ginger Snap Girl for the recipe, and go to Club: Baked to check out the others bakers' results!

This post is linked to:

Monday, Mmmm........Dessert

Monday, Mmm.......Dessert

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Beer Can Chicken

Yep, it's not a dessert!!

You've heard of Beer Can Chicken, right? I think I started making it about 4 or 5 years ago when I got myself, How to Grill, by Steven Raichlen.....well, I got it for the hubby, but quickly discovered it would be me doing the grilling. If you don't have this book yet and are interested in grilling, then you are totally missing out!!

The star recipe that came out of this book is Beer Can Chicken, and it couldn't be easier! It's one of those recipes that are great for entertaining since once it goes on the grill you just forget about it for the next 1 - 1 1/2 hours (depending on how big the chicken is)......but also because people seem to love seeing a chicken standing up on the grill with a beer can shoved where the sun don't shine!

The prep for this couldn't be easier......have your grill on medium....but you want indirect heat....so turn off the side that you'll be the chicken on (or the middle on my grill). I don't bother with any wood chips......although I'm sure it would be super tasty. Pour out half of the can of beer (or drink it). Cover the chicken in whatever BBQ rub you like to use (there is a recipe for one on the recipe link). I tend to change mine up each time. Also put a little of the rub in the beer car, so that as the beer evaporates, the rub flavors the chicken from the inside as well. Then you just shove that can up there......move it to the grill and cover. Voila! When you come back 1 - 1 1/2 hours later, you'll have amazingly juicy chicken, with super crispy skin. Sooooo good!!

For the recipe, head over to The Barbecue Bible.....and Enjoy!!

This post is linked to:
Turning the Tables Thursday
Full Plate Thursday
Friday Food
These Chicks Cooked
Cast Party Wednesday

Monday, July 11, 2011

Peach Pie.....Must be Summer!

There's something about a freshly baked peach pie that just screams summer to me.....probably because the only time I make them is in the middle of summer, when the peaches are just perfect! Peaches are one of my favorite fruits (although strawberries will always be king in my book), and I've been making this peach pie for about 10 years now. I got the recipe off of the Food Network site way back then, and I hate to say that I don't remember which show this was from. I've even gone back to their site to try to find it, but the recipe is no longer up there. So my apologies to the mystery chef.....but do know that this pie has gotten made every year to rave reviews!

I always try to find the sweetest peaches I can find, and I usually end up with a combination of white and yellow peaches. This time around, the yellow peaches just looked so much better, that I went with all yellow. I did have a little problem with the filling being a little runny when the pie was served......maybe had I chilled the pie a bit before I served it, that would have firmed up a bit more (I served it room temperature). I had noticed that the peaches were super juicy......so maybe I could have also added a bit more flour to the filling as well. I definitely am not an expert at pies......although one day I'd like to try to learn the science behind them! I also have a confession to make......I actually used a Pillsbury piecrust this time, and no one was the wiser!! In fact, every time I've made the switch, no one seems to notice! But shhhhh.....it's our little secret!

PEACH PIE

Adapted from the Food Network

6 cups sliced peaches, peeled and pitted (about 6 medium peaches)

½ cup light brown sugar

¾ cup granulated sugar

½ cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

2 tablespoons sweet butter cut into small pieces

In a small bowl combine the sliced peaches, with sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flour. Toss peaches making certain to thoroughly coat the peaches. Set pie filling aside.

Pie Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

¾ cup shortening

6 tablespoons ice water (some brand of flour may require more water)

Egg wash (beaten egg mixed with a small amount of water)

In a bowl, mix together flour, salt and sugar. Add in shortening using a pastry blender or a fork until flour forms small chunks. Sprinkle cold water into the mixture 1 tablespoon at a time. Toss mixture lightly with a fork until dough forms a ball. Divide dough into 2 equal parts and form ball. Wrap each dough ball in clear cellophane wrap. Allow dough to rest in refrigerator about 20 minutes.

Lightly flour rolling surface and rolling pin. Take 1 dough ball and roll crust into a circle. Trim 1-inch larger than upside-down pie pan. Unfold each quarter and press into pie pan. Trim edge even with pie pan. Crust is now ready for pie filling.

Once filling is in crust, scatter butter pieces on top of filling. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roll out the second dough ball into a circle. This dough is the top crust. Using another pie plate as a guide, cut the dough as a disk. The disk should extent slightly beyond the diameter of the rim of the pie pan. Moisten the edges of the pie shell that contains the peach filling with the beaten egg wash. For the top crust you can either :

1 - Cut the top crust into wedges. Position the wedges slightly overlapping the top and bottom of the crust together.

2 - Using a small cookie cutter, cut out a few shapes in the top crust, then lay the top crust over the pie.

Cut off any excess dough. Brush the pastry with the egg wash. Sprinkle with sugar, either granulated or sanding.

Bake for approximately 40 to 50 minutes until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling.

Enjoy!

This post is linked to:

This Week's Cravings

O' Cap'n My Cap'n

Say "Hello" to the Cap'n! Does this guy remind you of your childhood? We didn't have this in the house often growing up......and when we did, it was usually the kind with crunchberries (which I can't stand). I can totally remember picking out all of those dang crunchberries before pouring my milk in the morning. All of those fruity kids cereals are pretty disgusting to me......Fruit Loops, and Fruity Pebbles included! But plan old Cap'n Crunch......yum!!

A couple of months ago I got the cookbook, Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey, by Jill OConner. A cute little book with a bunch of yummy recipes......I don't know why I hadn't gotten around to making something from it. Oh wait, it probably has something to do with the insane amount of cookbooks that I have amassed with my major cookbook obsession!!

Anyhoooooo.......I was flipping through it looking for something kid friendly, and I saw this recipe in it for Cap'n Crunch Crispy Treats. I love almost anything that has a ton of marshmallows, and cereal treats are so quick to put together, so why not?

Let me tell you.....these thing are great! A little sweeter than Rice Krispy Treats, since the cereal is sweeter to start with. I had been planning on dipping one end of these in chocolate, and topping with sprinkles......but I think it would have been too much (good golly, did I just say that?). They were just great as is.

If you're a fan of the fruity cereal.....you could totally use the Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries....or heck, go crazy and make some with Fruity Pebbles (I wouldn't eat them, but they sure would be pretty!).

Check out the recipe from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey, on Food.com.......and Enjoy!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Strawberry Margarita Jello Shots

Ok......last 4th of July post, I promise!! I decided these Strawberry Margarita Jello Shots from Bakers Royale would be a fun, adult-only little treat on a hot day. I had been seeing a picture of these floating around on Pinterest, and they just looked so pretty and so cute....they immediately went into my Have to Try file :)

Strawberry Jello spiked with Tequila and Cointreau in a beautiful strawberry rimmed with salt and garnished with lime......such a pretty little treat! I don't do to much with Jello so I'm glad that I read this recipe through a few days before I was going to make it, because it does need to sit in the fridge overnight so that the Jello can set up. The jello was fantastic tasting......absolutely tasted like a strawberry margarita jello shot......I could have totally seen this in my college days in little paper cups (just the jello part....no one would have bothered with the cute strawberry part). There was extra jello (I guess I didn't prep enough strawberries), so I just poured the extra into a bowl to be scooped out later.

My one complaint about these guys would be the salt on the top of the strawberries. I didn't think about it while I was making them, but usually when you get a flavored margarita the rim of the glass would be coated in sugar, not salt, right? I think that sugar would have gone better with these than salt.....it just didn't quite work for me.

Check out Bakers Royale for the recipe.....and Enjoy!

This post is linked to:
Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Sweets for a Saturday
These Chicks Cooked
Cast Party Wednesday
Sharing Sunday
This Week's Cravings

Friday, July 8, 2011

Grilled Breakfast Pizza

Yep......I do make non-dessert-y food too! The results are just usually not nearly as exciting as dessert for me :) I get lots of healthy inspiration from my friend Susan over at Cooking Out of the Box. She was inspired by the CSA box of produce she gets every week.....well inspired and had to figure out a way to make use of all of the fruit and veggies that she gets every week. Now that I've decided to take the plunge and get back into the weekly CSA delivery, I'm going to be needing more and more of her recipes! She's got a ton of great ideas and recipes for both fruits and veggies......check her out at Cooking Out of the Box!

You know you like eating breakfast for dinner, right? And who doesn't love pizza (well.....my hubby has some issues with being a lactose-intolerant kind of guy). What about combing the two, and because it's crazy hot out and you don't want to turn on your oven.....grilling up the whole sucker on your BBQ?? Sounds awesome, right?

I still have a bunch of bacon left over in the freezer from the Bacon-of-the-Month Club membership that I got the hubby for Christmas (oh man, was that ever a great gift!), so I'm always on the lookout for new recipes that use one of our favorite things. This pizza from Tasty Kitchen has bacon, eggs, mozzarella, parmesan, chives, parsley, and green onions. It seriously is breakfast on a pizza!!

I had never actually tried grilling a pizza before, although I had seen it done, and it does look fantastic. Well, let me tell you.......the crust comes out fantastic! Seriously, it tastes so much like a wood-fired pizza.....so delicious! I even made it easier for me and bought the pre-made Trader Joe's pizza dough. Now I'm planning on trying all sorts of different kinds of pizzas on the grill......so glad I tried this.

Head on over to Tasty Kitchen for the recipe.....you can also check out How Sweet It Is for a beautiful photo tutorial.....and Enjoy!!

This post is linked to:
These Chicks Cooked
Cast Party Wednesday
Full Plate Thursday
Turning the Table Thursday
Fresh Food Friday
Friday Food

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

I know that this is a blog repeat.....but seriously, you need to try these cupcakes! The first time I made these cupcakes, they disappeared so fast that I didn't get to try one. So I decided to make these bad boys again for our 4th of July party. You've got to know what's in these by now......chocolate chip cookie cupcake, filled with chocolate chip cookie dough......all topped by cookie dough frosting. Are you drooling yet?

Check out Tidy Mom for the recipe....and Enjoy! Oh, and don't count up the number of sticks of butter you're going to need to make this......seriously.

This post is linked to:

Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays

Cupcake Link Party

Muffin and Cupcake Monday

Monday, Mmm....Dessert

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

As American as Apple Pie

Here's another dessert I brought to our 4th of July party this year. These apple hand pies were a hit....especially with the hubby and my brother-in-law. The inspiration for these came from the same post at Our Best Bites that I used for the strawberry pies-on-a-stick that I made for the last day of school.

This time around I went with the all-American apple pie......using the apple pie filling recipe on Our Best Bites. Since these pies are small and don't take long to finish baking, their recipe calls for grating the apple so that it gets baked in the short amount of time that it takes the crust to bake. I also used the simple glaze recipe that they included.....to be put on the pies after you have taken them out of the oven. I used a small squeeze bottle to drizzle the glaze over the hand pies......pretty isn't it? Although I do have to admit that it made them look more like star-shaped Danishes than star-shaped pies.....but who cares when they're delicious?!

I was planning on making a second batch of them with a peach pie filling.....but I got distracted by the Oreo dessert in the previous post. Oh well......I'll save that for another summer party.

Check out Our Best Bites for the recipes.....and Enjoy!

This post is linked to:

Monday, Mmm.......Dessert