Caramel Apple Cake

This recipe is adapted from the one at A Hint of Honey.

Makes 4-layer, 8-9 inch round cake.


3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1½ cups brown sugar
¾ cup canola oil
¾ cup apple butter
3/4 cup caramel sauce (like the kind you use on ice cream)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
1½ cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour four (8 or 9 inch) round cake pans and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together  flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

With a Kitchenaid, beat sugar and oil together until well combined, about 30 seconds. Add caramel and mix until blended. Add apple butter and vanilla, beat for 30 seconds, then add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk, and continuing to beat until well combined.

Pour batter into prepared cake pans and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle of each cake comes out clean, about 30-40 minutes. Set aside to let cool for 10 minutes, then gently loosen cakes and turn out onto a cooking rack; set aside to let cool completely.

Apple Cider-Cinnamon Frosting7 1/2-8 cups confectioners’ sugar (to desired consistency)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup apple cider or apple juice
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/4 cup caramel sauce

Put sugar, butter, cider, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, (about 5 minutes.) Arrange one cake on a large plate and spread about 1/2 cup of the frosting evenly over the top. Continue in the same way with each layer, including the top of the cake. Frost the sides of entire cake with remaining frosting. Drizzle with caramel sauce. Allow frosting to set before serving.

Cinnamon Cheesecake Dessert

This recipe was originally called Sopapilla Cheesecake, but the name never stuck at our house.
This dessert was universally liked and was eaten up in one evening.
Photo and recipe from Real Mom Kitchen.

2 cans Pillsbury Crescent rolls
2-8oz Cream Cheese (room temperature)
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Unroll and press 1 can crescent rolls into the bottom of your baking dish press the seams together. In a separate bowl blend the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla extract (I also think it would be fun to try other extracts like almond extract?) and spread over top of dough. Unroll the second can of crescent rolls and place on top of the cream cheese mixture pressing seams together again. Melt butter and pour over top layer of crescents. Mix the reaming 1/2 cup of sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture generously over the top. (You can add more, if you wish.) Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until bubbly and bottom crust is slightly brown. Cool, slice and enjoy!

Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks

This recipe is from Lauren's Latest and it may well be the best recipe I have tried all year. Stop by her blog and see her photo tutorial.

1/2 recipe Pizza Dough
2 tablespoons salted butter
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 pound grated mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 500 degrees (with pizza stone inside, if you are using one.)
Mix butter and garlic in a small bowl and set aside.
Spread pizza dough out into a 12-inch pizza pan (or on parchment paper if you are using a pizza stone.)
Spread the butter and garlic mixture over dough and top with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Top with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper, if desired. (Transfer to pizza stone, if you are using one.)
Bake 9-10 minutes or until bubbly and golden. Remove from oven and cool 1-2 minutes before cutting. Serve hot, with marinara.

The Very Best Pizza Dough in the World

And I am not kidding. This recipe comes from Lauren's Latest, and you should really go to her blog first as she has a step-by-step photo tutorial. 

Makes 2-12 inch pizzas or approximately 1 lb. of dough.
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey {or sugar}
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
2 1/2-3 1/2 cups bread flour {depending on the heat & humidity}

In a large mixing bowl, preferably that of a stand mixer, stir yeast and honey into warm water. Sit for 5-10 minutes or until bubbles form and mixture starts to foam. This tells you that the yeast is alive and kicking. Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix. Once that flour is incorporated, start adding flour in bit by bit until you get the pizza dough to the consistency you want: slightly tacky, but when you touch it it doesn’t stick to your hands. Once you reach this stage, turn the mixer on high to knead for 6 minutes. Turn a timer on and walk away! Resist the temptation to stop earlier than 6 minutes! The dough should be smooth and easy to work with. And the bowl should be clean. Lightly grease the bowl & the dough so it doesn’t dry out, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise 1-2 hours. Now you can turn this dough into anything your little heart desires.

Cookie Dough Cheesecake

photo and recipe from A Thought Chronicle

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs
1 1/4 cup prepared or refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough, divided
1 Honey Maid Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.) (or make your own.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; mix just until blended. Take 1/2 cup of the cookie dough and press small balls of it into the crust, especially around the edges. Drop 1/2 cup of the cookie dough by teaspoonfuls into batter. Stir gently.
Pour into crust. Top with level teaspoonfuls of the remaining 1/4 cup cookie dough.
Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or over night. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator

Red Berries and Chocolate Tea Time

Today we had a summertime red berries and chocolate tea time.



These pretty and delicious treats are easy to make. You will need raspberries and chocolate chips for the raspberry treat and angel food cake, chocolate glaze, strawberries and skewers for the strawberry kabobs. You can use just chocolate syrup for the kabobs but the glaze holds on more firmly than the syrup.



I saw these simply sweet treats at Sasha Libby, and they are as simple to make as they look. Just take a chocolate chip and insert it, carefully pointy side in, in the opening of a raspberry. They are especially good with white chocolate chips.



I found these at My Own Road. Take a angel food cake and cut it into squares. Skewer them alternating with strawberries (with stems removed, of course). Once finished, squeeze on chocolate glaze. You can make your own or use chocolate sauce but we used Amazing Glazes from Duncan Hines and it has rave reviews from my boys.
The whole tea time treats only took a few minutes to make and from how quickly they went, it seems we will be doing it again.

Homemade Whipped Cream

1 pint whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tea. lemon juice
1 tea. vanilla extract

Start by placing your whipping cream in the large bowl of a mixer.  Beat on high speed and as it is mixing, you can slowly add the remaining ingredients. Continue whipping cream until it becomes the consistency you want. Keep chilled in fridge until you are ready to use it.

Butterfly Lunch

tutorial for how to make this chicken nugget and chips butterfly at Hungry Happenings

In the summertime I like to take a little extra time to make meals and snacks more fun. Today we had these chicken nugget and chips butterflies for lunch. I made the first one for them, and then put the rest of the chips, nuggets and chow mein noodles on the table and let them make their own butterflies. They had so much fun making and eating them!

Chocolate Chip Pie

Recipe from Best Bites via The Farm Girl Recipes.

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust, homemade or store-bought.
2 large eggs
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. white granulated sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
3/4 c. real butter, softened
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Optional: 1 c. chopped pecans, Vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat eggs in large mixing bowl on high speed until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Spoon into pie shell.
2. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack or serve slightly warmed. Serve with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Cookie Dough Brownie Layered Dessert

This recipe was modified from the original at The Farm Girl Recipes.
I found her cookie dough to be too mild for this dessert, so I switched it around a bit to make it stand up to the competition of chocolate on either side of it.

Bottom Brownie Layer:
4 eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup walnuts, optional

Middle Cookie Dough Layer:
2 sticks(1/2 pound) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 16-ounce box packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tab. milk
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoons salt
1 ½ cups chocolate chips

Top Glaze Layer:
2 cups milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons shortening
3/4 cups walnuts, optional

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, oil & sugar. Stir in vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa & salt; gradually add to egg mixture. Stir in walnuts if desired.
Pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until brownies toothpick test done. Cool completely.
For filling, in a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light & fluffy. Beat in milk and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour. Stir in mini chocolate chips. Spread over brownies (works best to just press out with clean hands.); chill until firm.

Two layers of the triple layered dessert.

For glaze, in a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and shortening in 30 second intervals, stirring after each time, until smooth. Spread over filling. Immediately sprinkle with nuts, if desired, pressing down slightly. Yields 3 dozen.

Pretzel Rolls

Recipe from Guy Fieri, Food Network via Cooking With My Kid. These make great sandwich or hamburger rolls. They taste just like pretzels and have the chew of a soft pretzel. It is basiclly a soft pretzel in the shape of a roll.

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
vegetable oil for the bowl
cooking spray
8 cups water
1/3 cup baking soda

Put 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F to 115 degrees F) in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Set aside to bloom, 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
Add the flour mixture to the yeast mixture and mix with the dough hook on the lowest setting until the dough comes together. Increase the speed to medium and continue to mix until the dough is elastic and smooth, about 8 minutes.
Form the dough into a ball, place in a large oiled bowl and turn the dough to coat it with oil. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rest in a warm place until doubled in size, 30 to 35 minutes. Line a baking sheet with foil or a silicone baking mat, coat generously with cooking spray and set aside.
Punch down the dough, then turn out onto a floured surface. Knead just until the dough is smooth and springs back when poked, about 1 minute. Divide into approximately 6-8 rolls the size of a small apple. Place the rolls on the prepared baking sheet and cut four 2-inch diagonal slashes across the top of each. Cover with a damp towel or cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and bring 8-10 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat.
Stir the baking soda into the boiling water. It will foam up slightly. Add 2 rolls and poach 2 minutes per side. Using a slotted spoon, remove the rolls, drain and place on the baking sheet, cut-side up. Sprinkle with salt. Repeat with the remaining rolls.
Bake the rolls until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool slightly on the baking sheet.

Bavarian Soft Prezels

From Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers by Daniel Leader
History of Pretzels here.

Yields 8 pretzels.

3 1/4 cups unbleached bread flour
3 tbs unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups tepid water
1 tsp instant yeast
2 1/4 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup baking soda for boiling
Kosher salt and/or sesame seeds for topping


In a large bowl, mix flour and butter and work butter into the dough with your fingers until evenly distributed. Add water and mix until absorbed, then add the salt to one side of the dough and yeast to the other side and work in both. Turn the dough out onto a floured counter top and kneed for 10 to 12 minutes until firm and smooth. Round dough into a ball and allow to rise, covered, in a oiled bowl at room temperature until light and springy, about 1 hour (it won’t double in size.)
Place the dough on a lightly floured counter top and from into a rectangle. Use a knife to cut into 8 equal pieces, form each piece into a ball, and allow to rest covered for about 5 minutes. Roll out each piece with your hands until it is about 18 inches long, tapering the ends slightly. To form the pretzels, grab hold of each end and cross the left end over the right with the looped portion nearest you. Now create a twist by crossing top piece under.

 Finally, lift the twisted ends and flip them over onto the loop. Press the ends down to seal.
Place the pretzels on a oiled baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2-24 hours.

When you are ready to make the pretzels, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add the baking soda slowly and turn the heat down to a simmer. Place the pretzels into the boiling water one at a time, simmering on each side for 15 to 20 seconds. Remove from the water, draining well and return to the oiled baking sheet. Repeat until all pretzels are boiled. They will swell a little as the heat makes the yeast rise.

Sprinkle pretzels with kosher salt and/or sesame seeds and bake until they are a rich brown, about 35 minutes. Enjoy warm or at room temperature with a good mustard. They are best fresh.

Sunflower Cake

I found this recipe at HodgePodge.
It is so simple, and yet so cute.

Bake a round cake. Cover in chocolate icing.
Place chocolate chips in circles around the center for the seeds.
Place yellow Peeps around the edges for the petals.

The Queen's Waffles- Breakfast or Dessert?

I decided one day to treat my boys to something spectacular...something really different for breakfast. Then I saw these at Daily Dose of Sugar Mama. How about a sundae on waffles? "A sundae for breakfast!?" I can hear you asking incredulously.  Why not? To tell you the truth, there isn't more sugar in this than many other breakfast foods and oh, my! They really felt it was something special. We might even have them for dessert one day.

frozen cinnamon mini waffles
vanilla ice cream
fudge sauce
strawberry ice cream sauce
sliced bananas
chopped pecans

Toast the waffles, quickly top with ice cream, toppings… then eat. The cinnamon waffles were PERFECT with the vanilla ice cream.

Old Fashioned Caramel Cake

This recipe comes from Random Thoughts of a Supermom.

Cake
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
8 oz. sour cream
1/4 cup of milk
2 ¾ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter in an electric mixer. Add sugar. Cream together until smooth. Add eggs one at a time. Mix sour cream and milk in a small bowl. Combine dry ingredients in another small bowl. Alternately add in the dry ingredients and sour cream mixture…start and end with dry ingredients. Stir in vanilla. Bake 350 for 30-35 in a two 8' round prepared pan. I recommend lining the pans with parchment paper. After the cake has cooled, cut each cake round into two pieces...or more it you can. The thinner the layers the better.



Caramel Icing

3 cups sugar, divided
¾ milk
1 egg beaten
½ cup butter

Add ½ cup sugar in sauce pan {I used a cast iron skillet}. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until sugar melts and is golden brown. Combine sugar, milk, beaten egg, and then stir in butter. Slowly add the mixture into the melted sugar. Cook over medium heat until 230 degrees on a candy thermometer. This step should take about 15-20 minutes. Cool the icing for 5 minutes then beat with wooden spoon....I actually put the icing into my mixer and beat it with the whisk attachment for a few minutes. When you ice the cake it, it will pour over the sides a little. Scoop it up off the plate and put it back on top until it begins to harden.

Chocolate Chip Scones

recipe and photo from Beautiful Nest

2 cups flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 & 1/3 cups whipping cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in bowl. Add chocolate chips. Blend in whipping cream with a fork or spatula, adding 1-2 Tbsp. extra whipping cream, if necessary. When mixed, turn out onto a floured surface and knead several times. Pat into a 10 inch diameter, and cut into triangles. (You can also use a round cookie cutter instead, if you like!) Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 11-13 minutes.

See them at Cooking with Jessica

Funnel Cakes

This recipe is from Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen.

3 cups All-purpose Flour
¼ cups Sugar
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Salt
3 whole Eggs
½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2-¼ cups Milk
Powdered Sugar (for Dusting)
Canola Oil, For Frying

In a large, deep fryer or pan, heat the oil to 350 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients then whisk in the eggs, vanilla extract, and milk. Add a dash more milk if need to achieve the proper consistency. The batter should resemble thin pancake batter.
Pour 1/2 cup batter through a funnel, while making circular, swirling motions, into the hot oil. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes, flipping halfway through. Drain on a paper towel, coat with powdered sugar, and enjoy!

El Submarino- Argentinian Hot Chocolate

The idea for this originally came from here.

In Argentina they serve mugs of hot vanilla milk with a thick rectangle of dark chocolate served alongside. The chocolate is the submarine and should be sunk into the hot milk. As you stir, the milk becomes hot chocolate, and a treat of melted chocolate "sludge" awaits you at the bottom of the cup. 4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces bars of good quality dark chocolate,broken into 1 ounce pieces

You can make this one of two ways. You could pour the milk into a saucepan, stir in the sugar and the vanilla and heat the milk until it is just about to boil. Or you could heat 2 1/2 cups of water until boiling, Add the vanilla and sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add 1 can of Evaporated Milk to the water and, stir.

In either case, when you are finished with warming the milk, divide milk into 4 mugs. Serve each mug with the blocks of chocolate. Enjoy!

Frozen Banana Split Squares

Recipe adapted from Paula Deen by Our Best Bites and then further adapted by me.

At least once a year we have a Sundae bar. We get all the fixings... I make up a batch of fresh whipped cream...and everyone makes their sundae just the way they like it.

But then I have a whole bunch of leftover fixings.

I discovered a great way to use them up.
I made Frozen Banana Split squares with them!
Usually the only extra thing I have to buy is the box of ice cream sandwiches and sometimes the crushed pineapple. This recipe, however, is adaptable. You could just make it out of whatever you have left from your sundae bar. In fact, the amounts in this recipe is only approximate to give you an idea, but I just use whatever amount you have left over.

12 3.5 oz. ice cream sandwiches
3-4 medium bananas
1/2 hot fudge sauce
1/2 caramel sauce
1 c. chopped maraschino cherries or sliced strawberries or a mixture of the two

the rest of the whipped cream
1 small can crushed pineapple, undrained
2 Butterfinger bars, crushed or a 1/2 cup of anything else you have leftover from the sundae bar like chopped nuts, etc.

Line the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish with the ice cream sandwiches, cutting them to fit as necessary. Slice the bananas into pieces about 1/4" thick and arrange over the sandwiches. Spread the hot fudge and caramel sauces over the bananas. Sprinkle with cherries or strawberries (or both, if desired). Combine the whipped cream with the can of undrained pineapple and spread over everything. Sprinkle with crushed candy bars and freeze for at least 4 hours. When ready to serve, cut into 12 pieces and serve immediately, freezing any leftovers.

If there are any.