Just me then? Thought so.

Well when I was in 5th grade, the fabulous Mrs. Miller had us make a cookbook for our folks consisting of recipes from each student in the class. Which for some reason, Ma Dukes had kept all these years. Thats where I got this little number from.

I’m making it my mission to make (and/or adapt) each recipe from this “book”, and hopefully I will chronicle it here.

We’ll see how that goes.

Anyways, the original recipe for this is the bomb-diggity, however it called for a boxed cake mix, which I didn’t have on hand, so I made a butter cake base from scratch and added some gooey goodness on top. That felt like a crazy run-on sentence. I don’t think Mrs. Miller would approve of my comma usage. Regardless, this recipe wasn’t quite what I was expecting but it was deeeelish nonetheless!!

I mean c’mon, you can’t go wrong with butter and cream cheese!!

Texas Butter Cake

1 3/4 c. flour

1/2 T. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

3/4 c.  butter, softened

1 1/4 c. sugar

2 eggs

3/4 c. milk

1 t. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add all ingredients to large mixing bowel/electric stand mixer. Mix/blend all ingredients together until smooth. Grease and flour a cake pan, mine was 9×9 inches. Spread batter evenly in bottom of pan. Then mix:

1, 8oz package cream cheese, softened

1 box powdered sugar (I think it’s about 10 oz? sorry)

2 eggs

Beat these ingredients together until smooth. Pour on top of cake mixture. DO NOT MIX THEM TOGETHER! Embrace the layeriness of it. Now pop it in the over for 40 minutes or until light brown on top.

Voila!! Super easy. The next time I need ooey gooey goodness and have a boxed cake mix in my house, I’ll make the original recipe and share, but for now, suck it Trebeck!

Source: adapted from my 5th grade recipe book, bottom cake recipe from here

In my defense, they were for a girls night in, so it was perfectly fitting!

My original idea for these was were? (grammar police, help!) to make a Malibu Bay Breeze-type cupcake. I wasn’t sure how to go about finding the perfect combo of coconut, pineapple and cranberry. I got 2 out of 3 for this attempt. I need to work on incorporating the cranberry part.

Or not.

Vanilla Pineapple Cupcakes  (you can use any  vanilla cake recipes, or a boxed mix…here’s my favorite)

1 1/2 C. flour

1 C. sugar

1 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

1 stick softened butter (unsalted)

1/2 C. sour cream

1 egg, room temperature

2 egg yolks, room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

+ 1 C. crushed pineapple, drained thoroughly (more or less depending on how pineappley you like it)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add butter, sour cream, egg, egg yolks, and vanilla. Beat together until smooth (you can hand mix or use an electric stand mixer, your choice!)  Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowel to remove any flour pockets. Add drained pineapple and blend until well incorporated.

Divide batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Malibu Frosting

2 sticks of butter, softened

5 C. powdered sugar (give or take)

1/4 C. Malibu Rum (or coconut rum of your choice)

Cream butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and rum alternately until desired consistency is reached. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and decorate!

I had made the mistake to trying to add cranberry juice to the icing, to give it a little color and flavor. Yeah, that didn’t work so well. So my frosting wasn’t very rummy. I think having just the 1/4 C. of rum will give it more of a rummy flavor. If for whatever reason you don’t want it to taste that rummy, then by all means substitute or cut with cranberry juice or milk.

Is rummy even a word? I know it’s a game…..but….oh well. Have a cupcake.

I had made this a batch of mini cupcakes and with the extra batter, made 6 full sized cupcakes. Check out this big guy I decorated just for yours truly.

Beauteous. Talk about a sugar rush!  Ever since I got a cake decorating kit for my bridal shower, I’ve been a bit addicted to decorating baked goods. Can you tell?

Source: cupcakes from Brown Eyed Baker, frosting is a Fuller Nest original!

Yum.

May I divulge a little secret to you?  ((I’ve been known to use a boxed mix from time to time)) GASP!   I know, I know. But I like to think of myself as a lady of convenience. Some days you need cake/cookies/brownies STAT. That, or I just don’t feel like making a ginormous mess out of my kitchen. It happens.

These little delights came from a boxed brownie mix. By all means you can use your favorite *from scratch* brownie mix, but like I said, I’m all about convenience.

Side note?  Two adorable little neighborhood girls knocked on our door the other day. Apparently we live next to some budding bakers/entrepreneurs. Anyway, we had the offer of purchasing candy or cupcakes. Ever a cupcake fan, hubs and I went for 2 cupcakes. Please, take a gander at our purchase…

Exhibit A.

Exhibit B.

Pretty huh? They apologized for the icing, they cupcakes were so hot, it melted. We’re honestly not quite sure what the chunkiness on top is. Mystery globs, I assume. We give the girls an A for effort, hopefully they raised enough money for whatever it is kids these days want. ((God, I feel old!))

At lease I had these bad boys to cleanse my palate….

Hello my loves!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Brownies (makes about 24 mini brownies)

1 boxed brownie mix (or your favorite brownie recipe)

24 (approx) fun sized reese’s peanut butter cups, wrappers removed

Prepare brownies according to package instructions, don’t forget to preheat your oven! Using a mini cupcake pan, spray each cup with cooking spray. Fill each cup 1/2 to 3/4 of the way full. Smoosh (that’s the technical term) a reese’s cup into the center of each brownie cup. It does not have to be covered by the batter. Place brownies in the oven and cook according to package directions. While brownies are baking, whip up the peanut butter frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting

6 T. butter, softened

3/4 C. powdered sugar, sifted

1 C. creamy peanut butter

1/4 C. milk or cream

In an electric stand mixer, beat softened butter and peanut butter together until creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk/cream until the desired consistency is reached. I made mine a little on the dryer side, so I didn’t use all of the milk. That’s up to you! Once the brownies are cooled, pipe icing onto brownies using a pastry bag and the tip of your choice. I didn’t use a tip, just kept it wide open. If you’re feeling extra fancy, you could crumble some extra peanut butter cups onto the top of each.

Make sure you have friends and family to pawn these off on. Or go out and buy bigger pants.

Source: frosting adapted from here

Warm. Chocolatey. Gooey.

Heaven.

Seriously, you can’t go wrong with a combo like that! I found this recipe on an amazing site Peas and Thank You. One of the first food blogs I ever stumbled upon, and what a life changer it was! Now, I am by no means a vegan. In fact, I love steak. And butter. And cheese.

I’m drooling already.

Anyhoo, here’s my adaptation of this recipe. I love the fact that, because there are no eggs in it, I can guiltlessly eat as much cake batter as I want. And the applesauce makes me feel like this might actually be good for me.

Apples, right?

Chocolate Lava Cake (makes approx 4 ramekin cakes)

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1 t. vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips +1-4 T (for the ooey gooey centers)

1/2 cup flour

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

powdered sugar or fresh fruit for garnish (if desired)

Gather your ingredients and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix your applesauce, syrup, vanilla, and 1 cup of chocolate chips in a bowl or saucepan. Heat it up, either over the stove, or by microwaving the bowl in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until the chocolate is completely melted. I opted for the microwave….ever a slave to convenience!

Add in your dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Butter or use cooking spray to grease 4 ramekins or custard cups (or more depending on their size.) Fill each ramekin about 3/4 of the way. Don’t overfill! This leads to a hot mess. Literally.

Now poke the remaining chocolate chips into the center of each ramekin. Mine are oblong, so I ended up putting about a tablespoon into each. You can use more or less depending on the severity of your chocolate addiction. Mine is obviously pretty far gone. I think I need an intervention. The chocolate chips don’t need to be completely covered, the cake will fluff up around it as it bakes.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Aw yeah! So delightfully perfect. The outer edges will be crispy, the centers will be soft and gooey. Mmmm!

Sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar and/or fresh fruit and chow down. Sharing optional.

Hope you enjoy as much as I do!

Source: adapted from Peas and Thank You

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