EASYBAKED

Easter Mini-Cheesecakes

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Ruthanne

These colorful mini-cheesecakes are made with malted milk ball eggs and have a sugar cookie crust…yum!

I love seasonal candy. I love Cadbury eggs at Easter and Tim Tams at Christmas and conversation hearts at Valentines Day….but the Whopper brand malted milk ball eggs are the best. Did any of you use the outside shell as colorful “lipstick” as a kid? So fun! Crunch them up in a whipped cheesecake and put them in a fun Mini Cheesecake Pan for a dessert that will make everyone smile!

INGREDIENTS: (makes 12 mini cheesecakes)

One Nestle Sugar Cookie Dough Bar (the refrigerated dough that is scored into 24 squares)
8 oz. of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (softened)
1/3 c. granulated sugar
2 t. vanilla
1 (8 oz) container of Cool Whip
2 bags (10 oz. each) of Whopper’s Robin Eggs (I used mini’s, but I’m sure the full size would work fine too.) You could use regular Whopper candies to get the same flavors when the seasonal Robin’s Eggs are not available.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare pan by placing the metal disks into each cup (the Mini Cheesecake Pan comes with metal disks that sit at the bottom of each cup- like the bottom of a spring form pan!)
Break apart 1/2 of cookie dough bar. (This recipe makes 12 cheesecakes but the bar contains 24 cookies. You can double this recipe and make 24 cheesecakes or just make the other 12 cookies another time.)
Roll each cookie dough square into a ball and put it into a greased cup in the mini cheesecake pan.
Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes.
Cool completely.
In a mixing bowl, cream together softened cream cheese and sugar.
Add vanilla.
Smash one full bag of Malted Milk Chocolate Eggs. I put them in a ziplock , placed them on a cutting board and hit them with a hammer until they were in pieces about the size of mini chocolate chips.
Fold about 2/3 of Cool Whip and the one bag of smashed eggs into the cream cheese mixture.
Spoon cheesecake mixture into a large zip-top bag. Clip a large piece of one corner off and pipe filling evenly over each cooled cookie crust.
Use a knife or spatula to smooth tops of cheesecakes flat across top of pan.
Freeze for about 3-4 hours (or overnight)
Remove from freezer, pop cheesecakes out by pushing up on the bottom of each cup. (This took a little practice for me- you have to push it up high enough to grab it by the cookie part.)
Remove the metal disk from the crust.
Pipe remaining 1/3 of Cool Whip on top of each cheesecake and decorate with malted milk chocolate eggs as desired
Keep refrigerated until serving.

My thoughts: These are a yummy, colorful and fun Easter treat! They go together fast too- which is always a bonus for me. You can make these in a muffin tin, if you don’t want to invest in the mini-cheesecake pan- but mine has been a great addition to my kitchen- so many fun things to make in it!!! Hope you enjoy these fun little treats!!! ~r

Other Easter ideas from Easybaked (click on an image to get the recipe):

Other ways to use your Mini Cheesecake Pan:

14 Comments

Posted in Cheesecakes and tagged cadbury eggs, cheesecake, cool whip, Cream Cheese, cream cheese mixture, dessert, easter cheesecake, easter dessert, food, fun cheesecake, mini cheesecake, mini cheesecake pan, mini chocolate chips, philadelphia cream cheese, sugar cookie crust, sugar cookie dough, unique dessert recipe, whopper candy, whopper dessert, whopper eggs, whopper robin egg candy. Bookmark the permalink.

Gender Reveal (Surprise!) Cupcakes

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Ruthanne

These cupcakes hold a secret—- is it a boy, or is it a girl? The latest trend of having a gender reveal party is SO much fun when the gender is revealed with a yummy dessert! Plus, I’ve included free printable cupcake toppers to go along with your party theme!

A few weeks ago, Easybaked featured a Polka Dot Cake using a Cake pop maker. It was so much fun that I couldn’t help but think of other ways to use the idea. These cupcakes are just wonderful– when you bite in the color is seamless- you can’t even tell that the cake pop was baked ahead. Want to know how to do this?

Here we go:

INGREDIENTS:

1 white cake mix (for about 18 cupcakes) or 1 white/ one chocolate for a combo and about 36 cupcakes
The oil, eggs and water required by your boxed mix(es)
Gel food coloring
Frosting (I used my buttercream recipe ~double it if you add the second cake mix)

This little chart should help you see how many cupcakes are made with just the white mix and how many are made when you use both a white and chocolate mix (I’m bad with math…I need visuals!!):

DIRECTIONS:

Plug in/heat up your cake pop maker
Make white cake mix according to box.
Take about 3/4 cup (1 1/4 cup for the double batch!) of batter and place it into a smaller bowl.
Color the batter using color gel (I like Wilton brand of Gel food coloring because they always come out bright. Try Aqua or Pink.)
Follow the directions on your cake pop maker to use the colored batter to make cake balls. Helpful hints: work fast and use a small cookie scoop to evenly spoon batter into cups, and check them- I burnt my 1st batch following the directions! You should have enough batter to have a practice round and adjust.

While cake balls cool, spoon small amounts of your remaining white cake mix into 12-18 cupcake liners in a cupcake tin. (start with 12 and see how much batter you have left for the rest).
Spread the batter out along the bottom so you have a thin layer in each liner.
Set a cooled cake ball in the center of each liner and carefully scoop batter over the top (I found a medium cookie scoop to make this job MUCH easier!)

After your 12 are filled, continue on until you have used up all of your cake batter.
Bake at 350F degrees for about 20 minutes.
(If you are making the double batch, make your chocolate cake mix while the white cupcakes bake. Set these up with the cake balls hidden inside the batter and bake for the same amount of time.)
Remove from tins immediately and cool on the counter. Frost and decorate as desired.

Do you see how I piped the two-tone icing colors? I’m sure there must be a better method than this…I am so not a cake decorator. It turned out ok- but it was a little fussy to keep equal pressure on both colors at the same time.

The toppers are easy and inexpensive to make. Simply click here to get a free pdf file of the owl toppers. Print them on a heavy card stock paper, cut them out and use double sided tape to stick them back to back around a toothpick (one boy owl and one girl, back to back).

It’s a boy!!!

My thoughts: I love how the final cupcake is….just a cupcake. It isn’t anything fancy or cream-filled…just a cupcake with a surprise. These would be fun cupcakes for any party- you could even incorporate them in a game—whoever gets the (__color___) cupcake gets a prize! I hope these make their way into a party of yours soon! Enjoy!!! ~r

It’s a girl!!!

Want some other shower ideas from easybaked? Click on the image to be taken to the recipe.

18 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes and tagged baby shower, baby shower dessert, baking, buttercream frosting, buttercream recipe, cake pop, cake pop maker, chocolate, cupcake, cupcake liners, cupcake toppers, cupcakes, dessert, desserts, food, free printable, gender reveal cupcakes, gender reveal party, owls, polka dot cupcakes, two-color frosting, unique cupcakes, vanilla, yummy dessert. Bookmark the permalink.

Rainbow Cake Roll

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Ruthanne

Fun rainbow-colored cake swirled with rich buttercream- a perfect St. Patrick’s Day treat!

~~I had so much fun making this cake~~ this cake was torture.

I love cake rolls like crazy, but I could not find a recipe that tasted good AND didn’t crack terribly when rolled up. I tried 4 recipes and finally settled on plain old cake mix again– it still cracked, but tasted soooo yummy and it was definitely the easiest.

I hesitated to post this, as it is essentially a recipe experiment *fail*, but then I thought it would be a good chance to ask all of YOU if you have a fail-safe vanilla cake roll recipe…? I love the technique and the colors- I just need a good recipe.

For now, we will go with the cake mix version~

Things to keep in mind if you want to try this recipe:

1. Use my buttercream recipe. When it is refrigerated it gets nice and hard, cementing your happy little cracked roll together and holding it together even at room temperature.

2. Set aside several hours and take your time.

3. Use color gels. You will not get the vibrant colors with liquid color.

Honestly, people loved this cake. Once it is cut you can barely tell it cracked. I made this one for my friend Dawn’s birthday and it was such a fun and cheery cake. She only likes white cake with vanilla frosting…this is a great way to spice up that combination with color!

Here we go:

INGREDIENTS:

1 boxed white cake mix (with oil, water and eggs according to box)
Gel icing colors (I use Wilton Brand gels)
2 sticks (8 oz) butter
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
3. t. clear vanilla flavoring
Cool Whip Topping and sprinkles for garnish.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees
Make boxed cake mix, but add just a little less oil and water. My Pillsbury mix called for 1 cup of water and 1/3 cup of oil. I used 3/4 c. water and 1/4 c. oil instead. I used the same # of eggs (3)
Scoop about 3/4 c. of mix into 6 or 7 small bowls and color as desired.

Cover the bottom of a standard jellyroll pan (mine is about 12″ by 17″, and about 1″ deep) with waxed paper- allowing the paper to extend just a bit over each end.
Lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Spoon each color of batter into a small ziptop bag and gently pipe colors into pan in stripes. Just settle in and take your time here. This is a labor of love. Use paper towel to wipe up drips and remember that you are piping a THIN layer of cake– you don’t want to make it so thick you run out before you get to the end of the pan. Patience is the key…believe me, I’ve done this 4 times now with different cake recipes and it just takes time.

(It also involves a lot of dishes…pretty, colorful, messy dishes.)

Bake your cake at 350F degrees for 12-15 minutes– check often- you can’t roll a crunchy over-baked cake!
Remove from oven and place a clean towel that has been sprinkled with powdered sugar over the roll. Tip the pan over onto the towel and peel away the wax paper.
Gently roll cake up in towel from one short end to the other.

Refrigerate for one hour.
While cake is cooling, make buttercream icing.
Put softened butter, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beat on high until light and fluffy.
When cake is cooled, gently unroll (here is where the cracking happens…be gentle and patient)
VERY carefully, spread buttercream over entire surface of the cake and re-roll. I had cracks that went the entire length of the cake and still just gently rolled it together, letting the buttercream hold it together.

Gently place on a plate and refrigerate until buttercream hardens.
Once cake roll has hardened it can be easily moved and cut. Top it with whipped cream and sprinkles– that helps to hide some of the cracks 😉

Not perfect, but so much fun!

My thoughts: I feel a little guilty publishing this on a site called EASYbaked, but I couldn’t resist. I would make it again- it just makes me smile. I hope a few of you brave souls will attempt this and enjoy it as much as I did! Please– if you have a good vanilla cake roll recipe I’d love to hear about it. You can link to your recipe if it is on a blog, or post the recipe in the comments or in-box message me on the Easybaked Facebook page. I’m excited to find a way to make this cake “perfect” 🙂

Happy Birthday Dawn!

Other happy rainbow desserts you might like for St. Patricks Day:

29 Comments

Posted in Cakes and tagged baking, birthday cake, buttercream frosting, buttercream recipe, cake, cake roll, colorful ideas, dessert, food, fun cake, fun dessert, Rainbow, rainbow cake, rainbow cake roll, St. Patricks Day, vanilla cake, vanilla frosting. Bookmark the permalink.

Chocolate Strawberry Layer Cake!

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Ruthanne

Such an easy and refreshing dessert! If you need something beautiful but quick, this is your recipe!

INGREDIENTS:

One boxed chocolate cake mix (with water, oil and eggs to make according to package)
One (8 oz) container of Cool Whip
One (7 oz) container of Jet Puffed Marshmallow fluff
One tub of ready-made chocolate frosting
About 25 ripe strawberries.

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake according to box and bake in 2- 8 or 9 inch round pans.
Cool cakes, trim off tops to level each cake and cut each cake into two layers
Mix Cool Whip and marshmallow fluff together until smooth.
Spoon frosting into bowl and heat for about 30 seconds in microwave. Stir. It should be a hot fudge consistency.
Wash and slice strawberries lengthwise (I used an egg slicer to make this easier).

Place one layer of cake on serving plate. Spread with a bit of melted frosting and a bit of the cream mixture.
Place strawberries along the edge with points facing out. Use small pieces to fill in the middle.

Do this with each layer and then top final layer with remaining cream and frosting.
Decorate as desired.
Keep refrigerated until serving.

My thoughts: I miss summer. I’ve been craving strawberries and this yummy cake did the trick! It is easy and delicious and you’ll impress everyone you serve it to! Enjoy!!! ~r

Other strawberry desserts you’ll love ~ click on the image to get to the recipe:

26 Comments

Posted in Cakes and tagged cake, chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate cake mix, chocolate covered strawberry, chocolate frosting, cool whip, dessert, easy dessert recipe, fruit desserts, fun cakes, jet puffed marshmallow, layer cake, marshmallow fluff, ripe strawberries, slice strawberries, strawberry, strawberry dessert. Bookmark the permalink.

Mocha Caramel Cream Cupcakes

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Ruthanne

It’s that time of year here…that yummy cup of frou frou coffee just whispers your name until you find yourself nestled into an armchair at the local coffee shop watching it snow and sipping a mocha or a latte. One with chocolate drizzled on top…or caramel.

Why not capture those flavors in a cupcake?

These yummy treats are coffee-infused chocolate cupcakes filled with creamy caramel and topped with coffee buttercream.

Oh. My.

Bring it on winter!

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

One boxed chocolate cake mix (plus water, oil and eggs to make according to box)
1/4c milk (warmed)
2 T instant coffee granules

Caramel Cream Filling:

1 cup sugar
1/2 c. water
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 T. powdered sugar

Frosting:

2 sticks (8 oz.) salted butter
2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter
3 c. powdered sugar
2 T. vanilla
2 T. instant coffee granules

Directions:

Cupcakes:

Place 2 T. instant coffee granules into milk and stir. Allow this to sit and dissolve.
Make mix according to box
Add coffee/ milk mixture to cake batter and blend well.
Scoop into 24 cupcake liners in cupcake tins and bake at 350F degrees for about 20 minutes.
Remove from tins immediately and allow to cool on counter.

Caramel Filling:

Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir constantly and cook until mixture turns a caramel brown color. (about 10 minutes)
Remove from heat and slowly add cream, whisking vigorously (this will spit and splatter as you add it, so use caution!).

Chill in refrigerator until cold. (I did this the night before and just left it overnight)
When mixture is cold, add powdered sugar and beat on high until creamy and smooth.

Frosting:

Add 2T vanilla and 2T instant coffee granules together in a small bowl and allow the coffee to dissolve.
Place butters and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat on high until very fluffy.
Add vanilla/coffee mixture and beat until well combined.
Core cupcakes and pipe caramel filling inside.
Pipe frosting on top and sprinkle with a little cocoa powder.

My thoughts: Goodness, I love these cupcakes. The filling is a touch fussy since you need to chill it until cold, but I have to say that it is WORTH the wait. I’m on a diet and I took ONE bite (to get a picture of the filling, of course..!) and I couldn’t stop. I had to finish the cupcake. I blew my diet for this cupcake…it is just so good. Two people have asked for *just* a bowl of the coffee buttercream frosting…haha!

Sigh. I will dream of these cupcakes until the diet is over….in two months….and then I will eat 3 of them.

Make these and enjoy them on my behalf!!!! ~r

In other (non-recipe!) news, I finally have a DSLR camera! (Nikon D5200) Yay! I feel like my photos are a little off as I adjust to it though. I had a system for making my point and shoot work for me and now I’m trying to adjust my system to get the right lighting and exposure. I previously used a homemade light box to control my lighting and now I’m just so excited to sit down at a coffee shop and take pictures using natural light. Yesterday I met my friend Ben for coffee and before he could take a bite or sip of his treats I was like, “WAIT!!! I have to take a picture of that!” So much fun. So my apologies for my fairly awful pictures in this post– I’m learning!!!

Yummy coffee shop treats (and practice with my new camera!)

Want some other winter dessert ideas? Click on the image to be taken to the recipe.

52 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes and tagged baking, buttercream, caramel, caramel cream, caramel filling, chocolate, chocolate cake mix, chocolate cupcakes, coffee, coffee buttercream, coffee cupcakes, coffee granules, coffee mixture, cupcake, cupcake liners, dessert, filled cupcake, food, mocha, powdered sugar frosting. Bookmark the permalink.

Cookie Dough Frosted Cupcakes

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Ruthanne

Chocolate cupcakes topped with rich chocolate chip cookie dough frosting….my new favorite thing!

I love cookie dough. When I was a little girl we always got little nibbles of it when mom was baking. Now, of course, we know that those raw eggs could kill us…but I think that cookie dough might be worth that risk!!

The best part of this recipe is that the frosting truly tastes like cookie dough (a light creamy cookie dough) and there are NO eggs in it. So you could just eat it straight out of the bowl and forget the cupcakes….not that I would do that….ever….well…maybe just a little….

I made my cupcakes into minis- simply because I wanted to put a “scoop” of frosting on top and a full-size scoop would be a HUGE amount of frosting…I don’t have a problem with that, but I think most people might 😉

INGREDIENTS:

One boxed chocolate cake mix (plus water, oil and eggs to make according to box)

***OR use your favorite cupcake recipe. This is really all about the frosting– so do your favorite thing with the cupcake recipe/ flavor***

2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter(softened)
2 sticks (8 oz.) salted butter(softened)
2 c. powered sugar
1 c. brown sugar (packed)
3 T. vanilla
1/3c. flour
1 12 oz bag of mini chocolate chips.

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix (or your favorite cake recipe) and divide into mini cupcake liners in a mini cupcake tin. (makes about 48 mini cupcakes)
Bake according to box/recipe (mini cupcakes take less time, so adjust accordingly!)
Cool cupcakes completely.
Place all frosting ingredients except mini chips into a large mixing bowl and beat with mixer on low until combined and then high until light and fluffy.
Add mini chips (keep about 1/4 of a cup aside to sprinkle on top) and beat on low until fully combined.
Frost cupcakes. You can use a knife to just spread it on or use a small or medium Cookie Scoop to make your cupcakes look like mine do.
Sprinkle remaining chips on top and gobble these cupcakes up!!!

Cookie Dough Cupcakes2 My thoughts: These are dangerous cupcakes for me. I had to get them out of my house FAST. I seriously wanted to eat them all. Ah….cookie dough….sigh. Enjoy these so much!!!! ~r

6-13-14: Did you know that this yummy recipe is available on adorable blank notecards? With a photo of the cupcakes on the front, the recipe on the back, and plenty of room to write a message inside, these are the PERFECT gift! Why send just a card, when you can send the gift of a recipe as well?!? Click here for more information and to order.

Chocolate chips are an important ingredient here at easybaked~ click on an image to be taken to the recipe:

51 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes and tagged baking, chocolate, chocolate cake mix, chocolate chip cookie, chocolate chip cookie dough, chocolate chips, cookie dough, cookie dough buttercream, cookie dough frosting, cookie scoop, cupcake, dessert, food, mini chips, mini chocolate chips. Bookmark the permalink.

Happy Valentines Day….sharing a little blog love!

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Ruthanne

Happy Valentines Day!

This post is long overdue. There’s a wonderful thing that happens in the blogging world when a fellow blogger sends you an award because they enjoy your blog so much. These awards are a great way to say thanks to someone you admire and also a great way to highlight some of your favorite blogs for your readers. I have met so many of my friends here because of these awards! Usually, an award is offered and you post about it. You post the name of the award and offer up a thanks to the blog that awarded it to you and then offer that same award to other blogs that you admire and love.

I am a failure at this.

I’m so focused on recipes and photography that I have back-burnered all awards offered to me. This post is my (belated!) attempt to show some love back to the wonderful blogging community around me.

All that said– if you are hoping for a recipe, this post will not contain one…but I promise to be back tomorrow with some cookie dough butter cream cupcakes!! (you’re gonna love them!) If you want to know a little more about who I am and the other baking and photography blogs I love….then keep reading.

The Leibster Award:

This award was offered to me by two blogs.

Sweet Twist of Fate and Sweets and Brains.

The requirements for accepting the award were entirely different from each other on the two blogs- even though it is the same award? So I’m winging it.

One blogger wants me to pay it forward to 5 new blogs– ones with less than 200 followers- that I enjoy. I love this idea, as half the battle of blogging is having people know you exist! Here are 5 blogs I LOVE with less than 200 followers. Show them a little love today:

I Sing in the Kitchen is a blog that pairs incredible recipes with music of many genres….such a fun idea!!!

Lemon Cake is a collection of cakes (and other yummy things) created by Farheen out of England. YUM.

Yorkes Girl is a blog out of Australia full of food, travel stories and incredible photography. Love it.

Devos by Chaps is written by a friend and mentor who is also a navy chaplain. Every post is incredible, thought provoking and encouraging to me. This is a blog to follow!!

Happily Ever After Cakes is a combination of amazing (I could NEVER make these!) cakes and heart-warming stories of family life and the ups and downs it brings. Love this family!!!

The other blogger asked a series of questions.

1. What are the 1st three things you think of when you see the color purple? Grapes. Bruises. and um…Grapes. Yeah. That’s how I roll.

2. What instruments do you play, if you could learn any what would they be? I play piano, flute, penny whistle and a variety of percussion instruments. I‘d love to learn guitar.

3. If your house caught on fire and you could only grab 2 things what would they be? My dog Casper and my laptop.

4. Pizza or pasta? Pizza!!!

The Sunshine Award

Presented by: Miss Marzipan

The requirements for accepting are to pay it forward to 10 of my favorite blogs and to answer the following questions:

Who is your favorite philosopher? I do not have a favorite. I took this class in college and hated it passionately!
What is your favorite number? 3
What is your favorite animal? My puppy casper (coton de tulear)
What is your favorite time of day? Morning
What are your Facebook and Twitter? https://www.facebook.com/easybaked.net
What is your favorite holiday? Thanksgiving (food, family, rest, football) and Easter (the very best reason to celebrate!)
What is your physical favorite activity? Long distance walking. Did a mini marathon last spring and loved it…I also like long bike rides.
What is your favorite non-alcoholic drink? Sweet tea!!!
What is your passion? Only one? I have so many. Top of the list: God. Learning about him, building a relationship with him, helping others see him clearly…. then there is baking, photography, travel, friendships, design, overseas missions…. I might be a little too passionate about too many things 😉
What is your favorite flower? Daisies. They are like smiles on a stem. I love them

My Blog nominations:

1. My Healthy ‘Ohana Maura writes this beautiful blog from her home in Hawaii and it’s a joy to read. ‘Ohana means family in Hawaiian and these posts speak on all things family- with lots of yummy recipes!

2. Clever Muffin Aimee is from Australia and she is one of the funniest food bloggers I have ever met. I’ve loved her food blog since the very beginning of mine. Beautiful food…great stories!!!

3. On Sugar Mountain The author of this blog, Jess is creative and fun and obviously loves life- her recipes and photos are just beautiful. I’m a recent fan and so glad I found her!

4. Inspire and Indulge Leah, from upstate New York, is my favorite Pinterest junkie blogger. Her wonderful blog is a collection of recipes and crafts and fun. Love it!

5. Wandering for Good This site will floor you. It is one of my favorite blogs ever. Stephanie is a friend of my friend Angie (we were both in her wedding). She is a world traveller who is convinced that if we all gave a little we could change the world. She started the #give10 campaign. Seriously, go check this blog out- you will love it. It will love you. Amazing stuff. Not food….but amazing.

6. Anna Shortcakes Beautiful food….beautiful photography….beautiful blog.

7. Cooking up a storm, dish by dish Felicia, the writer of this blog, will steal your heart with her stories of family near and far and intrigue you with all of her international dishes. Such a unique and heartwarming blog!

8. Rufus’ Food and Spirits Guide There’s a special place in my heart for this blog. They were the 1st non-friend/family members of the Easybaked family and their support and comments in those early days always made my day. This blog is an incredible (almost daily!) collection of unique recipes. Incredibly unique…!

9. Just a Smidgen A shout out to Canada and Barbara (aka “smidge”) for her elegant collection of recipes, photography and art. Just a beautiful quiet place to settle in for a good read.

10. Hoof Beats and Foot Prints Not all of my blogging addictions are food related, I have a fair number of photography sites I love as well. Emily, from Bella Remy Photography captures everything from international travel to simple every day items in gorgeous photos. A picture says 1,000 words and Emilys speak volumes.

The Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

Given to me by: Happy Domesticity

My ten questions to answer with this award are mostly already answered in the previous award. Here’s whats left:

1. What’s your favorite color? Blue.

2. What’s your favorite pattern? The pattern of sunlight through palm trees when you lay by the beach on vacation with your eyes closed.

3. Do you prefer getting or giving presents? Giving.

4. Favorite day of the week? Sunday….rest!

5. Why did you start to write your blog? Because I was tired of writing out recipes for people and thought if they were all online it would make things easier.

More blogs I love:

Last, but certainly not least, the Addictive Blog Award.

This was awarded by my far-away friend Felicia from Cooking up a Storm, Dish by Dish

No questions this time. I’m supposed to tell you about how I got started in blogging, but I sort-of already did that…? I’m also supposed to share another 10 of my favorite blogs…but I’ve already shared 25 of them….so here’s what we are going to do. We are going to break the rules….ready?

Things I love about blogging: the people I meet, the challenge of thinking up something new and unique, the few days when my stats go through the roof, the way it is teaching me about photography, learning about other cultures and traditions.

Things I hate about blogging: when a recipe doesn’t work for someone, when people tell me cake mix is a mortal sin, when I publish a typo, when I think very long about how many of you are reading this (that is paralyzing!), when I don’t have time to post.

In the spirit of breaking the rules I am going to share with you just two more blogs.

The first is Kids Parties 1-2-3. The writer of this blog is Kit Bennett and to her I owe many thanks. She contacted me early on in Easybaked’s history and asked me to write for Ganz (of Webkinz fame), where she is editor. She offered, in return, to help me with blogging. She explained SEO to me and how to improve mine. She explained the concept of monetizing a blog and gave me much encouragement. She is a treasure- trove of information in all things parties and all things kids and her site is just wonderful. Thanks Kit!!!!

The second blog is Bon Bon Break. Kathy and Val connected with me and asked me to write some articles for them and I just fell in love with this site. This is an incredible collection of blog posts (new each week) and I just think it is a genius idea. The best part? You can submit to write for them too! Such a great way to get your blog out there and read. This site is truly worth checking out.

We are done. (whew!) If you made it all the way through, I’m impressed. If your blog was mentioned I think you can consider yourself nominated for the award and you can pass the joy on to others….you ummmmm– might want to look up the rules if you want to follow them more thoroughly than I did. Just visit the sites that nominated me and you will see exactly what to do. My approach was a little less organized than most, but I hope you all know how much I love and appreciate you and the incredible blogs you are publishing!

Happiest of Valentines Days to each of you! ❤ ~r

12 Comments

Posted in Miscellaneous, Not-a-recipe!! and tagged blog awards, how to find good food blogs, thank you. Bookmark the permalink.

Chocolate Chip Oreo Brownie Cups

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Ruthanne

Chocolate chip cookie dough topped with an Oreo cookie topped with a chewy brownie… does dessert get better than this? Plus they are just so cute- and fun to eat!

These little dessert cups are incredibly easy to make. All you need is refrigerated cookie dough, Oreos and brownie mix (plus the oil water and eggs to make the brownies!)

They are so easy to put together:

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
Put 24 cupcake liners into cupcake tins.
Break apart refrigerated cookie dough (the Nestle brand comes already divided into 24 pieces)
Press cookie dough into the bottom of each cupcake liner so it covers the bottom of each cup (I thought that as the dough warmed a little bit to room temperature that this was easier).
Press an Oreo cookie on top of each bit of cookie dough.

Prepare the brownie mix as directed on box and scoop batter evenly into all 24 cups, covering the Oreo completely.

Bake at 350F degrees for 20-30 minutes. Check often and be sure you don’t over bake the brownie. They are much better a little chewy!
Remove from oven and serve warm or at room temperature.
I served with a little whipped topping and chocolate/ caramel drizzle.

My thoughts: These are a really easy and yummy treat. They are fun right out of the cupcake wrapper (eaten like a cupcake), or they are fun to dress up as a fancy dessert with pretty drizzles and toppings. The three layers of different flavor and consistency make this a truly unique dessert! Enjoy!! ~r

Other dessert cup recipes you might enjoy: (click on the image to be taken to the recipe)

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Posted in Cookie Cups and tagged baking, brownies, chocolate, chocolate caramel, chocolate chip cookie, chocolate chip cookie dough, chocolate chip cookies, cookie cups, cookie dough, dessert, fancy dessert, food, Oreos, unique dessert. Bookmark the permalink.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake Roll!

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Ruthanne

This strawberry cake rolled with vanilla buttercream and dark chocolate ganache is not only a pretty Valentines Day treat, but such a yummy one! Plus, it looks A LOT harder to make than it really is!

February 1st. How can the first month of this year be gone already? I had already written a post for for this week when I looked at the calendar and thought, oh my- it’s time for a Valentine’s dessert! I had an unexpected day off of work this week and decided to experiment with turning an ordinary cake mix into a cake roll. I absolutely loved the results! Cake rolls will always be a little fussier than plain old cakes, but look at how cute it is…! If you’ve never made a cake roll, I will try to explain it as we go. I have a few pictures, but if you want a few more click here for my pumpkin roll recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

One boxed strawberry cake mix (I used Pillsbury this time)
Water, oil and eggs (we will adjust the amounts from the box just a bit!)
1/2c. heavy whipping cream
1 c. dark chocolate chips
2 sticks (8 oz) butter
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 T. clear vanilla flavoring.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees
Make boxed cake mix, but add just a little less oil and water. The Pillsbury mix called for 1 cup of water and 1/3 cup of oil. I used 3/4 c. water and 1/4 c. oil instead. I used the same # of eggs (3)
Cover the bottom of a standard jellyroll pan (mine is about 12″ by 17″, and about 1″ deep) with waxed paper- allowing the paper to extend just a bit over each end.
Lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Pour cake batter into pan and gently spread it out to cover the entire bottom in a thin, but even layer of cake.
Bake at 350F degrees for 15-20 minutes- checking often to make sure it isn’t browning too much.
Remove pan from oven, sprinkle a clean kitchen towel with powdered sugar, lay it powder side down on the top of the cake and holding the towel in place, flip the pan over onto a flat surface. You will have your powdered towel, the cake on top and wax paper on top of the cake.
Peel the wax paper off and gently roll the cake up in the towel, rolling from one short end to the other- keep the towel on the bottom and wrap it up with the cake.
Refrigerate for one hour.
While this is in the fridge, make your ganache and butter cream.
For the ganache: heat 1/2 c. of whipping cream in a medium saucepan until it starts to bubble around the edges. Turn off the heat. Add the dark chocolate chips and cover for 5-10 minutes. Stir until smooth and creamy.
For the buttercream: Place (softened) butter, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beat on high until very fluffy and creamy.
After chilling for one hour, remove cake roll from fridge and gently unroll on a flat surface.
Gently and evenly spread ganache over entire surface of the cake roll.
Gently and evenly spread the buttercream over the ganache. This part was a little tricky- I wanted to make sure I didn’t mix the two layers, so I scooped the buttercream in little bits all over the top and then spread it a little at a time.

Gently roll the cake back up, leaving the towel behind. Carefully lift it on to a large plate and refrigerate it until the buttercream and ganache harden up.

The 1st time I made this it rolled beautifully and I just sprinkled it with powdered sugar….then when I made it for taking photos it cracked as I rolled. This sometimes happens with cake rolls and there’s an easy fix: make another batch of ganache and pour it right over the top! I think I actually liked it better this way! You can’t even tell it cracked, see:

When it is chilled, slice it and serve it with whipped cream and maybe even some chocolate covered strawberries? So yummy!!!!

My thoughts: I really had fun making this dessert. There’s just something about the pink cake and all that gooey chocolate that makes me smile! I hope this cake brings a smile to the faces of all the ones you love this Valentine’s Day! Enjoy!!! ~r

Want some other fun Valentines Day ideas? Click on the picture to be taken to the recipe.

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Posted in Cakes and tagged baking, buttercream, cake, cake mix, cake roll, chocolate, chocolate chips, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate ganache, creative dessert, dark chocolate, dessert, food, heavy whipping cream, how to make a cake roll from a box mix, jellyroll pan, pumpkin roll recipe, strawberry cake, Strawberry cake roll, unique dessert, valentines day, valentines dessert. Bookmark the permalink.

Polka Dot Cake!!!

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Ruthanne

It just makes you smile, doesn’t it? I don’t think I can adequately express how happy this cake makes me.

I made this cake for my friend Nikki’s birthday and it made her happy too…

I simply can’t take credit for the idea behind this cake, that credit goes to an adorable blog called “Once Upon a Pedestal”. I can’t even take credit for finding the idea… that goes to my wonderful Pinterest addicted friend Laura. I can tell you this: it is NOT hard to make. It does take some time, but it is very easy to put together, and the “wow” factor? Incredible!

The 1st question everyone asks is “How did you get the polka dots INSIDE the cake?” They are cake balls. To make this recipe, you will need one piece of special equipment: a cake pop/ doughnut hole maker. I feel like I walked by those like 100 times over the holidays in various stores and every time I thought, “I wonder why you would ever buy one of those?” Now I know! Here’s the one I got: Bella Sensio Cake Pop Maker

There are several brands and varieties- I’m sure they all work great- I would look for one that does 12 at once, just as a time saver! The good news? Once you make this cake, your friends will all want to borrow your cake pop maker and you won’t have to store it anywhere!

Are you ready to see how this is done? Here we go: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

2 boxed white cake mixes (plus the oil, water and eggs to make them according to the package)
You favorite frosting (I used my buttercream recipe, doubled, which you can get by clicking here)
Sprinkles or candy to decorate the cake.

DIRECTIONS:

Plug in/turn on your cake pop maker to warm it up.
Make one of the cakes according to package directions.
Divide batter evenly into smaller bowls based on the number of colors you want to use (I did 4)
Color the batter using color gels (I love the Wilton brand in particular because it gives such a vivid color)
Following the directions for your particular cake pop maker, make cake balls using each of the colors.

(with mine I sprayed it with Pam, used a small (2 tsp) cookie scoop, rapidly scooped batter in and immediately closed the lid. My directions said 4-5 minutes and they all were burnt to a crisp– about 2 minutes worked perfectly for me. I just set them out on a plate to cool then…be prepared to experiment a little with this– you will have some extra pops at the end, so its ok if you mess some up!)

While cake balls are cooling, preheat oven to 350F, and make the second cake mix according to package.
Spray 3 – 6″ round pans with non-stick spray and set a circle of parchment paper in the bottom of each one (to keep your layers pretty!)
Spread a thin layer of batter in the bottom of each pan, place cake balls on top in any pattern you choose and divide remaining batter over the top of the balls so they are completely covered.

Ready to bake!

Bake layers at 350F degrees for about 30 minutes. You can use the toothpick test (I recommend it!) but be careful to hit cake and not cake balls….you can kind of tell where they are- they bump up just a bit.
When cooked all the way through, tip over on a cake rack to cool completely.
Trim, if needed, to flatten layers and use frosting to stack all three layers and cover the entire cake with frosting.
Decorate as desired.

My thoughts: I’m not a cake decorator, and my buttercream is a whipped frosting that is OH so yummy, but not very good for a smooth cake surface….it still makes me smile…bumps and all. You can decorate your cake however you like. I used Wilton Jumbo Confetti Sprinkles on this one. I really hope you give this cake a try– if you have any questions about the process just ask!! — or check out “Once Upon a Pedestal”, as her pictures were very helpful. She also uses a different type of cake pop pan than I did. I hope this recipe idea made you smile on this cold winter morning– enjoy!!!!! ~r