When Life Gives You A Fallen Cake, Fill It With Pudding

Boy, it's been a while since I posted.  Summer is crazy with kids home from school and I don't think I accomplished half of what I wanted.  So here's to a new school year!  I hope it will be the best for you and the children in your life! 

I debated making my son's birthday cake this year.  I usually always make my cakes but I thought, "wouldn't it just be easier to buy one?"  But I couldn't do it.  So I looked online for a yellow cake recipe and found one that called for a cup of butter and four eggs all at room temperature.  I made sure I had my eggs and butter at room temperature and got started.  With so much butter and eggs the cake had to be good!

As my oven timer was beeping I anxiously pulled open the door and this is what I saw .  . .

Well this isn't exactly what I saw.  It was a yellow cake and all I saw, at the time, was wasted butter and eggs!   I would have to buy a store bought cake after all.  Now, I'm one of those people who hate to waste things and I ruminated for a long time about letting this two layer cake go to waste.  I decided to poke holes in the cake and pour warm Jello on it so that way at least my kids could have a snack.  But it wasn't good enough for my obsessed mind.  Suddenly, I had an epiphany!  When life gives you a fallen cake, fill it with pudding! 

I made a big batch of vanilla pudding and filled the perfect little bowls, my fallen cakes had made, with it.  Voilà!  I had my cakes and make them even better!

I frosted the cake with homemade cream cheese frosting and decorated it with matching candies.  My fallen cake turned out to be a hit!

Watermelon Slushie

I don't have a talent for picking out good melons.  If fact, I'm pretty bad at it as shown in the picture below.  The frozen square in the picture is watermelon though it's almost orange.  

I bought many not so good melons last summer and I hated throwing them away so I cut them up, bagged them and placed them in the freezer.  They have sat in my freezer taking up space until I discovered Pinterest.  Watermelon recipes were often pinned and gave me ideas on how I could use my massive amount of frozen not so good melons.  This is the recipe I came up with.  It was a hit with my family.

Ingredients:
4 cups cubed watermelon, seeds and rind removed
1 cup raspberry sherbet
Juice of one lemon
1 1/2 cups cold ginger ale

In a blender, blend watermelon, sherbet, and lemon until smooth. Stir in 1 1/2 cups ginger ale. Enjoy!

Almond-Chocolate Blondies from Master Your Metabolism Cookbook

This recipe is one I didn't want to miss.  I clicked on the little advertisement link on Facebook and this recipe came up along with a push for me to join Jillian Michaels' program.  I didn't want lose this recipe so I'm posting it.   It looks so yummy!  Enjoy!

Almond-Chocolate Blondies

  1 cup almond butter

  2/3 cup honey (clover or orange blossom)

  1/4 cup coconut milk

  3 large eggs, at room temperature

  2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

  3/4 cup white whole-wheat flour

  3/4 cup ground flaxseed

  3/4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder

  1/4 teaspoon baking soda

  3/4 cup 70% cocoa mini chocolate chunks

        Olive oil spray for the pan

 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8-inch square glass baking dish with olive oil. In a large bowl, place almond butter, honey,  coconut milk, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk  together until well blended and smooth. In a  separate bowl, whisk together flour,  flaxseed, baking powder, and baking soda  until well mixed. Add dry ingredients to  almond butter mixture and stir just until  blended. Then stir in chocolate chunks.  Scrape the batter into prepared dish and  bake until browned around the edges and a  toothpick comes out with moist crumbs  clinging to it, about 35 minutes. Let cool  about 15 minutes before cutting.   Cut into 20 squares and serve. (Store at  room temperature an airtight container  for up to 3 days.)  

Source:  https://www.jillianmichaels.com/register.aspx?promo=5B290769-0C11-4383-ADF3-E1FB75F6B99B&awardid=FB&visit_id=0&np=1

Lion Birthday Cake

When my son was turning five, I asked him what kind of cake he wanted.  Of all things he said, "A lion cake."  A lion cake?!  How was I supposed to do a lion cake?  So I turned to my trusty friend the Internet and found this Lion Cake with directions.  I tweaked it a bit and made it larger since I wasn't in my right mind and invited a bunch of  kids to the party.  The lion Cake was a hit!  I mainly followed these directions but here are some changes I made:

• Followed these directions to make my cake taste more homemade
• Added another round for the body
• Sliced sides off the cake, meant for the face, slicing narrower at the top and wider at the bottom
• Used the sliced pieces for the legs and tail
• Added chocolate chips for the claws
• Frosted with homemade cream cheese frosting 

Enjoy!

Raisin Filled Cookies

These cookies are divine!  A lot of people are aren't fans of raisins but this cookie could change that.

This a combination of a couple of recipes with winning results. Enjoy . . . 

Raisin Filled Cookies

Raisin Filling Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds seedless raisins
         Hot water
2       cups sugar
1/2    teaspoon salt
1/2   cup flour

Put the raisins in a bowl and cover with hot water.  Let sit several hours or until they are plump and soft.  Drain the raisins, reserving the water, and mash them up a bit.  Put them in a medium saucepan and add the sugar, salt and 1 1/2 cup of water.  Mix the flour with just enough of the water to make a smooth paste and mix it into the raisin mixture.  Heat to a boil, stirring regularly, then set aside to cool.

Make up one batch of Sugar Cookies (Click here for recipe)

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead in just enough flour to prevent dough from sticking to your surface and rolling pin.  Roll out dough to about 1/4-inch thick.  Cut dough out with cookie cutters and lay half the pieces on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.  Put about (depending on how big your cookies are) 1 tablespoon of raisin filling in the center.  Top with another piece of the same shape.  Pinch the sides together to seal.

Hint: Create a couple of cookies, bake them and then, once they are cool enough, taste them to test the thickness and amount of filling.  Adjust cookie thickness and amount of filling to your taste.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, then remove to a cooking rack.

Raisin filling and cookie assembly directions source: http://elanwoman.com/eat/

Fig and Ginger Truffles

I made Fig and Ginger Truffles right after my daughter was born.  I wanted something healthy yet chocolaty decadent.  These did the job!  They are healthy too.  I was reminded of these little gems today by a friend.  She hasn't been able to forget them either.  Guesss what I'm making tomorrow?

Find the recipe here:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/healthy-appetite-with-ellie-krieger-/fig-and-ginger-truffles-recipe/index.html

Chocolate Bread Pudding

I've been making this recipe forever.  I think I got it originally from a Eagle Brand Chocolate Sweetened Condensed Milk can.  Unfortunately, they don't make chocolate sweetened condensed milk anymore.  This is the recipe that was on Eagle Brand's website quite a few years ago.  It has been a hit every time I make it for parties or family gatherings.  It's also a delicious way to use up old bread.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Bread Pudding

4 c. French bread cubed
½ c. chopped nuts
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2- 1 ounce squares of unsweetened chocolate melted
1 ½ c. water
2 tbs. butter melted
Whipped cream

Preheat to 350.  Butter a 9-inch square-baking dish. Place bread cubes in baking dish and sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over bread. Blend melted chocolate and sweetened condensed milk. Set aside. In bowl beat eggs and vanilla.  Add, water, butter and chocolate milk mixture. Mix well.  Poor evenly over bread, moistening completely.  Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until knife is inserted and comes out clean.  Serve warm with whipped cream.
Makes 6-9 servings

Hot Fudge Sauce . . . You will want to eat in one setting!

This hot fudge sauce is so darn good I could probably eat it by the spoonful  . . . . OK, maybe I have but it is really good!  I love adding this to my Double Chocolaty Chip Frappuccinos (DCCF).  Enjoy!

Hot Fudge Sauce 

1 cup butter
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups white sugar 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 


Combine butter, cocoa, sugar and evaporated milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and boil for 7 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Carefully pour hot mixture into a blender and blend for 2 to 4 minutes. Serve immediately. Store in refrigerator.

Source: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?RecipeID=22810&origin=detail&&Servings=16