Today I Am Thankful For......

Many Things!

But here are a few of the most important:

1.   My Savior, Jesus Christ.

2.   A LOVING husband who supports me in all that I do.

3.   The BEST children any Mom could ever ask for.

4.   Parents and In-laws who are GREAT examples to me.

5.   Six WONDERFUL siblings who I adore and look up to.

6.   AMAZING friends and neighbors.

7.   My little home.  It is CUTE and perfect for us.

8.   GOOD health.

9.   A baby who sleeps through the night.

10. The many opportunities that I have to serve others.

And the list goes on and on.

When I was growing up, my Dad often made my favorite dessert....Brownie Pudding Cake (which I will post a recipe for later).  But, the other day I was looking through one of my cookbooks, and I found a recipe for an Apple Pudding Cake.  You can't go wrong with pudding cake, right?  If Brownie Pudding Cake is good, then Apple Pudding Cake must be equally as good.  Well, we have an abundance of apples right now, so I decided to give this recipe a try.  It was simple to make, and my house smelled AMAZING while it was baking.  I kept telling the kids that I hoped it tasted as good as it smelled, and it did.  It was so delicious!  The cake was super moist, and the hot apples on top just made it WONDERFUL!  You are going to have to give this recipe a try.

APPLE PUDDING CAKE

This recipe may need to be doubled if you are using a 9 by 13 -inch pan.

Cake:                                                                            

1/4 cup shortening or oil                                               

1 egg                                                                               

1/2 cup milk or apple juice                                                         

1 cup white sugar                                                           

1 teaspoon vanilla                                                          

1 cup sifted flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:

1 bottle sliced apples (I just boiled fresh apples)

2 Tablespoons tapioca or cornstarch

              (or apple pie filling)

sugar

cinnamon

In a bowl, cream together sugar, shortening, egg, milk or juice from apples, and vanilla.  Mix together dry ingredients and add to mixture.  Set aside.

In a saucepan, drain remaining juice from apples.  Mix a small amount of liquid into cornstarch or tapioca.  Mix tapioca according to package directions.  Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens.  Add apples into thickened sauce and heat.  Pour apples or apple filling into a baking dish.

Drop cake batter by tablespoon on top of apples.  (The best way to do this is to have two tablespoons - 1 to scoop batter and another to scrape the batter off the spoon.)  Spread the dollops of batter carefully so all the apples are covered with cake batter.  Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cake tests done.  (I doubled the recipe and it took closer to 45 minutes to bake)  Serve warm with ice cream or whipping cream on top.

Turkeys....Turkeys....Turkeys....

Chocolate Chip Cookie Turkeys

First, Start with your favorite chocolate chip cookies.

(I suppose sugar cookies would also work)

 Take a cookie, and frost it with chocolate frosting.

(I used frosting from a can so this would be quick and easy)

Stick 8-10 sliced almonds in the frosting at the top.

Place two white chocolate chips on for eyes.

Place a mini chocolate chip in the center of each white chocolate chip.

(It helps to dip it in frosting first)

Place a candy corn front and center for the beak.

Break the center from a twisted pretzel for the feet.

So easy a child, caveman, or turkey could do it!

This Week's FHE Treat......Blondies!

Our family looks forward to Family Home Evening every Monday night.  The kids really enjoy doing activities together as a family, but most of all, they like the treats that come with it.  This week we decided to make Blondies loaded with butterscotch and chocolate chips.  They look good, don't they?  They taste even better than they look.  Rich, yummy, goodness.

This is what you need to make these treats.

1 cup of butter (2 sticks), melted
2 cups of light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup of butterscotch chips
1 cup of chopped pecans, finely chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 X 13 baking dish (I used cooking spray with flour in it).  Combine baking powder, flour, and salt.  Set aside.  Cream together butter and sugar.  Mix in eggs and vanilla.  Add the flour mixture and mix well.  Stir in the baking chips and nuts.  Pour mixture into your greased baking dish.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes (the center will still be kind of gooey).  Allow to cool completely before cutting. Preferably overnight.

Blondies are so delicious with a little ice cream on top....

...and even better topped with a home made caramel sauce!

This is Ina Garten's Caramel Sauce.  

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup water

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Mix the water and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Cook over low heat for 5-10 minutes, until the sugar dissolves.  Do not stir.  Increase the heat to medium and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a warm chestnut brown (about 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer), about 5 to 7 minutes, gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture.  Be careful- the mixture is extremely hot!  Watch the mixture very carefully at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly.  Turn off the heat.  Stand back to avoid splattering and slowly add the cream and vanilla.  Don't worry- the cream will bubble violently and the caramel will solidify.

Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes.  Allow to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours.  It will thicken as it sits.

ENJOY!

Bakerella's Book Signing and a Giveaway!

I have the best husband in the world.  He didn't want me standing in line all day at a book signing because I just had the baby.  So, he went to Salt Lake early this morning to get me a ticket to meet Bakerella.  He even had to do some sweet talking to get me a ticket.  I was so very grateful.  I got number 10!

Here she is.......Bakerella!  She is cute and sassy, just as I had envisioned from reading her blog.

I have always been a fan of Bakerella, and I love to make her cake pops.  She just put together a Cake Pop book, with amazing illustrations and step by step instructions to make the delicious treats.  I was so excited to see that Salt Lake was on her list of stops on her book signing tour.

Williams Sonoma had cute displays of her books all over the store.

We ended up getting to Trolley Square just in time for Bakerella to arrive.  There were SO, SO, SO many people there!  And once again, I was happy to have a ticket that said number 10 on it.  They took people back in groups of 10, so I was able to get in quickly.  Bakerella was a lot of fun!  She was so nice to let us get our picture taken with her.  My daughter passed up an opportunity to go to the park with the other kids, just so she could meet Bakerella.  I was so glad to have her with me.

My daughter was a little shy when it came to meeting Bakerella.

When we left, there were still hundreds of people in line waiting their turn.  We had so much fun!

Now for the giveaway.  I have a signed copy of this wonderful book, that I will give to one lucky reader of my blog.  There are 4 ways to enter (you can do all 4 if you would like).....  Please be sure to leave a separate comment for each.

-First, leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite fall treat is.  

-Second, put a link to this post on your Facebook page, and leave a comment telling me that you linked on Facebook.

-Third, become a fan of Crazy About Cakes on Facebook.  Leave a comment telling me that you've become a fan.

-Fourth, become a follower of my blog.  Leave a comment telling me that you follow Crazy About Cakes.

I will be choosing a winner on Tuesday, October 19th using Random.org.  Good Luck!

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!
Congratulations to Carrie...comment #24!  I will be contacting you!

 Carrie said...

My favorite fall treat is pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. (Although, I tend to make them year round because they are so yummy.)

Thanks to everyone who entered. 

Mini Orange Cupcakes..... A Fun Fall Treat

I'm excited to be back in commission after having my baby.  I now have a baby boy that is 10 days old, and he is cuter than ever.  I really lucked out with him.  He is a very good baby, which makes having 5 kids easier for me to adjust to.  The older kids adore him and always beg to hold him, which gives me time to get things done.  Sometimes I wish I could just have him all to myself, but I take all the snuggles I can get.

Anyway, I've been aching to get back into the kitchen.  I always love Fall and Halloween time.  There are so many fun treats and goodies to make that fill my home with wonderful aromas.  I found a recipe for these Orange Cupcakes on a blog that I follow.  Laura over at http://realmomkitchen.com/ always has fun recipes to try.  I couldn't resist these cupcakes.  I changed them up a little and made them mini.  I also added a candy corn on top to add a little pizazz.

Fresh Orange Cupcakes

• 1 package of yellow cake mix
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of orange zest
• 1 cup of orange juice
• 1/2 cup of canola oil
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs

1. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, sugar, and orange zest. Whisk to combine. Add orange juice, canola oil, vanilla extract and eggs. Blend with the mixer on low speed for one minute, then speed it up to medium and beat for 2 more minutes.

2. Fill cupcake papers about 1/2 to 2/3 full. Bake at 350F until golden in color and a toothpick test comes out clean, about 22-25 minutes.

3. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Orange Butter Cream Frosting

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, very soft
• 6-8 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of sugar, then the juice and the zest. Beat until smooth and creamy. (I also added orange food coloring)
2. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, until icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. Use and store at room temperature. (Don’t refrigerate and it will last in a covered container for about three days.)

I think I will make some brownie bites also, and top them with this orange butter cream frosting.  You can't go wrong with chocolate and orange!  I'll save that for another day.

My New Love......Paula Deen's Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

While I was shopping at Walmart one day, I came across the yummiest lemon cake in the bakery.  After trying this delicacy, I decided that I should find a recipe for it.  After all, I couldn't keep spending $3.00 for a little slice of cake.  The package said that it was Paula Deen's Ooey Gooey Lemon Butter Cake.  Surely I could find a Paula Deen recipe online.

And I did!  I really love Google.  With the click of my mouse, I was able to find a ton of sites with this recipe.  And what's even better........The recipe comes with many variations.  I plan on trying the pumpkin variation next. It sounds perfect for fall.  Today I made the Lemon Butter Cake, because that is what I was craving.

Paula Deen's Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

Cake

1 (18.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix

1 egg

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 (16 ounce) box confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a 13x9x2 inch baking pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well.  Pat into the bottom of   prepared pan and set aside.

Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla.  Dump in confectioners' sugar and beat well.  Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter.  Mix well.

Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly.  Bake for 40 - 50 minutes.  Don't be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time, because oven temperatures can vary.  You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake it past that point!

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.  Cut into squares.  Just remember that these wonderful little cakes are very, very rich, and a little will go a long way.

Here are the different variations.....you can have fun and even create your very own version of this delicious dessert.

Pumpkin Gooey: Follow the original recipe, adding a 15-ounce can of pumpkin pie filling and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Bake as usual, remove from oven, and allow to cool. Cut into squares and top each square with a pecan half. Serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. I promise you'll never want pumpkin pie again!

Pineapple Gooey: Add a 20-ounce can of drained crushed pineapple and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.

Lemon Gooey: Use a lemon cake mix in place of the yellow cake. Add the juice (approximately 1/4 cup) and zest of 2 lemons to the cream cheese filling. Proceed: as directed above.

Carrot Cake Gooey: Use a spice cake mix, and add 1 cup chopped nuts and 1 1/2 cup finely grated carrots to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.

Peanut Butter Gooey: Use a chocolate cake mix. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter and an extra egg to cream cheese filling. You can sprinkle the top of batter with 1 cup chopped peanuts if you like. Proceed as directed above.

Chocolate Chip Gooey: Use either yellow or chocolate cake mix. Sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped nuts on top of filling. Proceed as directed above.

Banana Gooey: Use a yellow cake mix. Prepare cream cheese filling as directed, beating in 2 ripe bananas and an extra egg. Proceed as directed above.

Nutty Gooey: Use a yellow cake mix, and add 1 cup chopped nuts to the cake mixture. Proceed as directed above.

Chippy Gooey: Stir 1 cup white chocolate chips, peanut butter chocolate chips, butterscotch morsels, Heath Almond Toffee Bits or Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits into filling. Proceed as directed above.

Give this treat a try, and let me know what you think.  Also let me know if you have any other variations that I can add to my list!  These bar-like treats will not disappoint.

Darin and Kari's Wedding Cake

I vowed that I would never make any cakes 9 months pregnant.  But when my brother asked me to make his wedding cake, I was happy to do it.  Luckily, I have a loving husband who helps me when I need it.  He actually did most of the work on this cake, and it turned out great!

Two of the cakes are chocolate with a chocolate butter cream filling, and the other two are a white cake with butter cream filling.  As we were getting ready to stack the cake, my 3-year old came up to my husband with cake crumbs all over his face!  We soon realized that he had taken several handfuls of this cake and eaten them.  We were able to doctor it up and save the day.  It turned out great, and I am very thankful for my husband, Jim, for helping out so much with this cake.  And a BIG congratulations to Darin and Kari on their special day.  Thanks for letting us do your cake!  I think I will now retire from cakes until this baby is born.

This is Darin and Kari cutting their cake.  It wasn't long before they had it smashed in each other's faces.  They were sure silly!

Chocolate Chip Cheese Bars.....A Guest Post From Jill.

My dear Sister-in-Law posted this recipe, and I thought that all of you would enjoy it.  These Chocolate Chip Cheese Bars are to die for!  Here is a copy of her post.......

First of all, I don't usually post recipes because I am the worst at following them.  I get it from my mom- she calls it the "Football Rules of cooking- unlimited substitutions."  My mom probably gets it from her mom.  I have recipes from my grandma that actually call for a glug of milk, or a glug of oil.  I look at recipes more as suggestions or guidelines, then do my own thing.  Sometimes things turn out really good, and sometimes... not so good.  My husband likes the way I cook, so I guess that's good enough.  I discovered allrecipes.com and found that there are a lot of cooks out there like me.  It makes me laugh when I read the comments, and someone says they didn't like the recipe that much, and that they substituted rice vinegar for apple cider vinegar and left out the ginger or doubled all the spices...  BTW, I do follow baking and canning recipes.


Anyway, my sister-in-law made these yummy bars earlier this year, and passed the recipe along. 


Chocolate Chip Cheese Bars


2 cups of your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe (or 1 tube refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough)
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg

Divide cookie dough in half.  For crust, press half of the dough onto the bottom of a greased 8 X 8 inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and egg until smooth.  Spread over crust.
Crumble remaining dough over top.
Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.  Refrigerate leftovers.


I doubled the recipe, and cooked it in a 9 X 13 pan.  


Here's the recipe I like for Chocolate Chip Cookies:

1 c white sugar
1 c brown sugar
1 c butter flavored shortening (or 1/2 c shortening and 1/2 c butter)
3 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 t salt
1 t soda
3 cups flour
1 bag chocolate chips

Cream together sugars, and shortening.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Add dry ingredients then chocolate chips.  Bake at 375 for 8 minutes.






Thank you so much Jill for this yummy post!

Old McDonald Had A Farm Cake

FONDANT PIGS......

FONDANT CHICKEN......

FONDANT BABY CHICKS......

(I know, they kind of look like ducks!)

FONDANT COWS......

FONDANT HORSES....  AND A SHEEP!

This is the cake that I've been working on.

Cute, isn't it?

This cake was made for Ryan's 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Inderrieden, who we absolutely adore.  She had a family reunion this week for the McDonald Family.  The theme of the reunion was "Old McDonald Had a Farm".  What a cute idea, huh!  Well, this cake was a lot of fun to make, and it was made by my whole family.  The kids got involved making fondant animals.  Erin made the chicken and baby chicks, which turned out great.  Jim made the cows and the horses, and I made the pigs and the sheep. Adam helped by eating some of the fondant.  If you look closely in one of the pictures, you'll see an over-sized rooster that Ryan made.  We only put it on for pictures.

The sheet cake and the barn were both carrot cake, with a cream cheese filling.  We made the silo with Rice Krispie treats.  I made the fence posts out of modeling chocolate, but realized afterward that I should have just used big Tootsie Rolls.  Oh well, they turned out really cute.

We were really proud of this cake when it was done.  The kids begged me to wake them up early so that they could see their creation one last time before it went out the door.  Thanks to Mrs. Inderrieden, for giving my family something fun to do this week.  This cake was a lot of fun!

A Decadent Chocolate Strawberry Cake For Berneitta!

Last night I had the opportunity to make a cake for some good friends of mine.  They were celebrating their Grandmother's birthday.  When I asked what flavor of cake they wanted, the response that I got was, "Whatever you think would be good".   Hmmmm......Well, I think almost all cakes are good.  I decided that I could NEVER go wrong with chocolate.  And who doesn't like strawberries?  That's when I decided to make this decadent Chocolate Strawberry Cake.  It is a moist 12 inch cake, stacked 3 layers high, and  it is filled with a rich chocolate butter cream frosting.  While I was frosting the cake, and washing and slicing the strawberries,  my cute husband was melting white chocolate to do the lettering on the sides.  We actually wrote the words out, and then formed them to the 12 inch pan so that they would bend with the cake.  I think they turned out great!  I also made a delicious strawberry glaze, which I drizzled on top of the strawberries.  I will have to share the recipe with you, because it really turned out great!  This glaze would also work as a filling for inside the cake.  

Strawberry Cake Filling/ Glaze

1 small box Strawberry flavored gelatin
1/2 cup hot water
1 (20 oz.) jar Strawberry jam  (I used the seedless kind)
1 cup water
1/2 cup cornstarch


Mix the gelatin with 1/2 cup hot water.  Stir until dissolved.  Add the jam.  Stir until well blended.  Combine cornstarch and 1 cup water.  Set aside.  Heat jam mixture to boiling.  Add cornstarch mixture.  Stir over heat until thickened.  Cool and use.

You can use any flavor of gelatin and jam.  (This is what I use for my raspberry cake filling, and it is great!)



This cake turned out great, and the family loved it!  I can't wait to make another one.

Easy To Make.....Chocolate No Bake Cookies!

This post was inspired by Tina at Mommy's Kitchen .  As I checked my Facebook today, she had a post that said she was making Chocolate No Bake Cookies.  Well, I LOVE no bake cookies, and so do all of my kids.  Although if I told them I was making no bake cookies, they wouldn't know what I was talking about.  They call these little delicacies  "Gorilla Poop Cookies".  I knew that I couldn't make just a single batch with the kids coming home from school soon.  My eight year old son can eat a dozen in seconds and top it off with a cold glass of milk.

Anyway, I looked over Tina's recipe.  It seems to be a little different than mine.  Her recipe calls for 3 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder, and my recipe calls for 1/2 cup of Cocoa Powder.  I'll have to try them both ways.  But today, I used my own recipe.  I made my kids very happy.  Right when they walked in the door from school, they could smell the rich chocolate smell of "Gorilla Poop Cookies".  At least I was able to use the cookies as an incentive to get their jobs done quickly.

Chocolate No Bake Cookies

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup milk

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups oats, rolled or quick

In a saucepan, combine and heat sugar, butter, milk, salt, and cocoa.  Bring to a rolling boil.  Take off heat and stir in peanut butter, vanilla, and oats.  Line a cookie sheet with wax paper.  Place mixture by teaspoonful on to the wax paper.  Refrigerate until firm.

If you've never had No Bake cookies before, give this recipe a try.  It won't disappoint you!  And it is very easy to make!  I hope you enjoy!!!

Brad and Ashley's Wedding Cake

Here is the wedding cake that I've been working on the last couple of days.  It felt really good to be able to get back into the kitchen after being out of commission for a while.  This cake was made for my nephew, Brad, who married his sweetheart, Ashley, today.  The cake was 5 layers of chocolate cake filled with a chocolate buttercream filling.  It was topped with a home-made marshmallow fondant, and adorned with swirls, which I piped on with an eggplant colored buttercream. (Be sure to click on the picture to get a better view of it!)

This cake was a lot of fun to make!  A big THANK YOU and CONGRATULATIONS to Brad and Ashley on their special day.