A scoop above....

Imagine the pretty possibilities with this fancy little ice cream scoop! Your guests will think that same carton of Blue Bell Vanilla ice cream is gourmet when you scoop it out in this fancy shapeand add some fresh rapsberries and chocolate sauce. Excellent gadget!

Find it here - courtesy of HWTM.

Chick Cupcakes

source: Martha Stewart

Tools and Materials
20 Vanilla Cupcakes
Buttercream Frosting
4 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
1 piece (10 inches) black licorice lace, cut into 40 (1/3-inch) pieces
20 whole almonds
140 red candy-coated licorice pastels (about 1/3 cup), or pieces of snipped red licorice laces

Step 1
Bake cupcakes and cool completely. When turned upside-down, each cupcake becomes the body of a chick. Spread buttercream frosting on a cupcake to anchor it to the serving plate while you are working. Use a small offset spatula to coat the sides thickly with frosting, and then mound more on top to create a dome shape.

Step 2
Press toasted shredded coconut into the frosting -- it stands in for fuzzy feathers. Hold the plate at an angle while applying the coconut so the excess falls back into the bowl.

Step 3
Place eyes (made from snipped black licorice laces) on chicks using tweezers. Use a whole almond for the beak and red licorice for the feet and comb; both can be pushed into the frosting by hand.

Cookies 'N Cream Brownies

These are brownies in a whole new way! And easy? So easy! My original idea for this recipe came from a friend, Kipi, who had made these brownies with Hershey's Almond Bars. My husband had told me that he loves Hershey's Cookies 'N Cream bars and would give anything for me to try this recipe with those bars, so I gave it a try and they were a HUGE hit at our church barbecue! All of them were gone literally within minutes of starting dessert. :)

-1 box original or plain brownies (plus the ingredients to make these brownies according to box directions)
-6 or 7 Hershey's Cookies 'N Cream bars (regular sized)

1. Mix up brownie recipe as directed on package.
2. Pour half of the batter into a greased 13X9" pan.
3. Lay 5 of the Hershey bars side by side on top of the mix. Make sure none of the bars are touching the edges.
4. Pour the remaining batter on the top and make sure the bars are completely covered.
5. Cook at 350degrees for 30-40 minutes or until done.
6. Optional: use remaining bars to break into chunks or use a grater/zester to sprinkle bits of the bars on top!

Enjoy!

Hello, Cupcake!

I receive, nightly, a copy of the blog put out by some of the writers at Real Simple Magazine. (If you are a fan of Real Simple, and haven't done this- you absolutely should! It's free and it's basically like waking up to a mini-magazine of ALL your favorites every morning! Go here to subscribe!)

Today's post included a book review on a precious book called "Hello, Cupcake!" by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. You can go here for Real Simple's review, but I wanted to just post a few pictures of some sweet examples in this book so that you know you should can go out and get one for yourself!

photo: "Updates from Real Simple's Simply Stated"

Below is some cute details of horses out of peanut shells, and what looks like a little bunny running into it's hole!:

photo: "Updates from Real Simple's Simply Stated"

Here are some aliens in their personal UFO's and some classic bugs out of M&M's! Below this picture is a way cool "Shark Attack" with mini-doughnuts for life preservers and channel markers from mini ice cream cones and small lollipops, as well as "Popcorn" made with marshmallows!:

photos: "Updates from Real Simple's Simply Stated"

And probably my favorites...
Spaghetti and Meatballs- with chocolate hazelnut balls for the meatball, covered in strawberry jam on a bed of icing!

photo: "Updates from Real Simple's Simply Stated"

And we'll leave this up to your findings... can you figure out where this "TV dinner" and "corn on the cob" come from!!!!! (Hint: does the "pat of butter" look like a yellow Starburst to you?)

photo: "Updates from Real Simple's Simply Stated"

Enjoy! And have fun entertaining with these great conversation starters that will TASTE sweet, too! :)

Brittany

Easy Popcorn Balls

The other day my husband and I were attending a Christmas lunch party at the lab that we work in, but we had our interviews for medical school that morning, too! We had no time to go home across town in Miami and grab whatever it was we'd be taking to the party, so we had to figure out something to take that could easily sit in the car during the interview and during errands and wouldn't go bad or melt! Lo and behold... popcorn balls! I made a few changes to a normal recipe to accomodate our tastes and what we had at home. They were a perfect non-super sweet addition to the dessert table and you can always make them as big or as small as the party would call for. This recipe makes about a dozen medium-sized balls.



Easy Popcorn Balls

2 regular sized bags of Kettle Popcorn
1/2 c. light corn syrup
1/2 c. sugar
Dash of salt

Prepare popcorn in microwave as directed, being careful not to overcook. Meanwhile, mix together corn syrup, sugar, and salt in a medium sized pan and heat & stir on low. Add 1-1/2 to 2 bags of popcorn to pan and gently fold popcorn in the sweet mixture with a rubber spatula, being careful not to break the popcorn. Continue folding until all sugar is dissolved and popcorn is well-coated. Rub butter on the palms and fingers of your hands and form popcorn into balls and set on your platter. Let cool.


Enjoy!

Vanilla Icing

The Holiday season is in full swing... and sooner or later you're going to need some icing for those cookies of yours that you're going to let the kids (or husband :) ) sprinkle! This recipe for vanilla icing is a modified version from my buttercream icing. It's less butter and more milk, and makes in a smaller amount so you can double it as needed for however many cookies you are making. We made almost 5 dozen large cookies, though, and this recipe was more than enough to cover them all!

Vanilla Icing
1/4 c. soft or melted margarine
1 t. vanilla
4 T. milk
2 c. powdered/confectioners sugar

In medium size bowl combine all ingredients. Mix by hand until butter chunks are smaller, then mix with mixer to smooth out (no longer than 30sec. to 1min.). Add milk as needed to thin the icing, or sugar to thicken it.

Enjoy!

Apple Cider Spice Cake with Cinnamon Glaze

My husband and I are alike in SO many ways, there wouldn't be enough days in the year to count them! The ONE thing we differ on?... Dessert. In every way, shape, and form. He likes fruity desserts, I think dessert is only dessert if it has chocolate as an ingredient. :) Recently when I made our first Thanksgiving meal together, I really wanted a dessert that we would both enjoy. I came across a recipe for a Spice Cake, but didn't have the specific type of pan it required. So I did a little bit of creating and came up with an Apple Cider version that can be cooked in any regular cake pan. It isn't an overwhelming sweet taste, but has a very holiday scent and taste and would be great as an alternative to all the extra-sweet desserts at the table (which I equally love, too!). Try it for your next holiday meal this season!

Cake Ingredients:
2-1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/4c. cornstarch
4t. baking powder
1/2t. salt
2t. ground ginger
1t. ground cinnamon
1/2t. ground nutmeg
1/2t. ground allspice
1/2t. ground cloves
1c. apple cider
3 large eggs
2t. vanilla
1c. unsalted butter, softened
2c. dark brown sugar

Cinnamon Glaze ingredients:
1/2c. sugar
1/4c. buttermilk
1/4t. baking soda
2t. corn syrup
1/4t. vanilla
1/4c. margarine
1/4t. cinnamon

For cake: Preheat to 350. Grease and lightly flour a metal 9 x 13" pan (or two 8" cake pans). Whisk dry ingredients and spices in large bowl. Mix milk, eggs, and vanilla extract in seperate bowl. Beat softened butter into dry ingredients on medium. Add milk mixture and beat on low until smooth. Add the sugar and beat about 30 seconds. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake until toothpick in center comes out clean or about 40minutes. Let cool 5 minutes.

For glaze: Combine all ingredients in medium saucepan. Bring to rolling boil over low heat. Boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Top cake with glaze and serve warm. (To get an even distribution over cake, use the back of a regular spoon to spread.)

Enjoy!
Brittany

Oreo Cookie Balls

This is a recipe I learned from my sister last night. She learned it from a friend of both of ours named Annette. These little cookies are easy to make and completely delicious!

Ingredients:

1 package oreo cookies

8oz. cream cheese

1 package almond bark

1. Use a food processor to finely chop four or five oreos. Transfer the chopped oreo crumbs into a large mixing bowl and continue until the entire package is chopped.

2. Add 8 oz. cream cheese to your oreo crumbs. Combine so that the cream cheese and oreas are well mixed (my sister just used her hands with plastic gloves on and it worked great!)

3. Toll the oreo-cream cheese mixture into bite-sized balls.

4. Melt several blocks of almond bark in the microwave according to the package instructions.

5. Roll each ball in the bark until fully covered and place on wax paper to set.

6. Optional: You can use both white and dark chocolate bark ad create the drizzled effect in the picture for a "fancier" cookie.

Enjoy! Thanks Kim and Annette for the yummy recipe!

Kristy

Homemade Buttercream Icing

In light of Kristy's post about the fabulousness that is rubber spatulas, I wanted to post a quick recipe that you could use those great rubber spatulas to frost with! For my husband and I's one month anniversary I wanted to make a cake inspired by our white almond cake with buttercream frosting wedding cake:

So, in being a sassy chef myself, I took the quick & simple way with the cake- buying a simple white cake mix from the grocery store, and added a little splash of almond extract to the final product before it baked. The buttercream icing was worth every second of making from scratch, though.

Homemade Buttercream Icing

1/2c. solid vegetable shortening, 1/2c. butter (softened), 1t. clear vanilla extract, 4c. (apprx. 1lb) sifted confectioner's sugar, 2T. milk.

In large bowl cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. Re-whip before using.

Here's my finished product! (I mean... it resembles our wedding cake enough, right?!) Let's be honest... the husband didn't care how it looked, but he loved how it tasted! We licked that bowl of icing 'til it was good and clean!

Happy cooking!

Brittany