Thursday, August 13, 2015

BIrthday Cake Bars

Birthday Cake Bar
     Hard to believe that summer is on the down swing. Now I don't want to be a party pooper, but it's sad to see these beautiful days of summer go and I know it is inevitable. When I start seeing advertisements for school supplies and for the state fair I know the days are numbered.

     I also feel it coming as my daughter gets ready to move out as she starts another chapter in her life. She'll be attending chiropractic school and she'll be moving closer to school. We've got plenty of boxes all over the family room right now.  The school is still in Minnesota, but the other side of the Twin Cities. I would hate to see her have to drive in that traffic every day. Now she'll be close to school and have a very nice place to live with some roommates.

    The recipe I'm sharing is a recipe that you could use anytime of year. It's kind of a celebratory type of treat. This past month Food Network Magazine had a nice little insert with all these fabulous bars. There are so many bars that it makes it hard to choose. I did, however, decide on this one the Birthday Cake Bar.

     A lot of these bars just start with a base bar and then you add a little something special to create a whole new bar. This one was super easy and really not that difficult to make. You do need a lot of sprinkles that I was not sure I would be able to produce, but I did with a little bit of sprinkles from various containers. The frosting was simply a can of vanilla frosting that I had on hand.

   Everyone loved these bars and I think they were gone in about a day and a half. I know I'll be making these again real soon.

Birthday Cake Bars
2 sticks of butter
1 1/2 Cups sugar
3 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 Cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup rainbow sprinkles (I combined a variety of sprinkles to make 1/2 cup)
Vanilla frosting and some extra sprinkles

Melt 2 sticks of butter; let cool slightly. In your mixing bowl whisk sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add butter and mix well. Stir in flour and salt. Fold in sprinkles. Pour into a 9X13 cake pan that you have sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the edges are set, but the center is soft. Let bars cool before frosting and topping with sprinkles.

adapted from Food Network Magazine September 2015

Monday, July 13, 2015

No-Churn Blueberry-Cheesecake Ice Cream

Blueberry-Cheesecake Ice Cream

     I thought today would be a good day to post a recipe for ice cream. Especially since it is suppose to get to 92 today in Minnesota. What better way to cool off than by eating some ice cream?

     This is recipe for Blueberry-Cheesecake ice cream was in the July/August  Food Networks magazine and it sounded so good that I just had to make it. My picture looks a little more blueberry then the one in the magazine but it still tastes amazing. I'm thinking I should have folded more into the ice cream mixture, but once you scoop it out it is just fine.
   
     You can definitely taste the cheesecake and blueberries with this recipe. It actually tastes like you are eating blueberry cheesecake that has been frozen. I wasn't sure how I would like having the graham cracker crust part in the ice cream, but believe me it is worth doing. Without the graham cracker crust I don't know if you'd get the feel of eating cheesecake.

     I pretty much followed the directions in the magazine with one minor slip up. I added extra sugar to the graham cracker mixture by mistake. Instead of 1 tablespoon of sugar I put in 3 tablespoons. Oops! But it was ok. No one even noticed. What's a little extra sugar?

     One other thing that I had a problem with is when I had to blend the ice cream mixture. The recipe told me to blend it in my food processor. Sounds simple right? Well, my new Hamilton Beach food processor leaked out the bottom all over the place. What a mess! I have no idea why it did that. It would have been better if I used my Ninja Blender. Still debating if I should bring my food processor back or what.
Look at all those blueberries!

     Well after trying this ice cream recipe it make me want to try making some more ice cream. Heck I might even take out the regular ice cream maker and try making ice cream that way. There is nothing better than homemade ice cream. I just tastes sooo good.

    Give this one a try. It is super easy to do it just takes time to freeze so plan ahead.

No-Churn Blueberry-Cheesecake Ice Cream

For the Cheesecake Bites
2/3 Cup graham cracker crumbs (from 4 sheets)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons sugar
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Blueberry Sauce
3 Cups fresh blueberries (about 1 1/2pints)
1/2 Cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 Cup water

For the Ice Cream
2 Cups heavy cream 9minus the 2 tablespoons you already used)
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
2/3 Cup sour cream
2/3 Cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon lemon juice
Pinch of salt

 Directions
Cheesecake bites
Toss the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter and 1 tablespoon sugar in a medium bowl. Press mixture into a small brownie pan.  Put the cream cheese in the medium bowl; stir with a spatula. Add the heavy cream, lemon juice, vanilla and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar; mix until smooth. Spoon into the prepared bowls, cover and freeze until firm, about 2 hours. Remove the bowls from the freezer and run a knife around the edges and turn out onto a cutting board and roughly chop. Cover and keep frozen until ready to use.

Blueberry sauce
While cheesecake bites are freezing, make the blueberry sauce; Combine the blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook, stirring occasionally, gently squashing the berries as they soften, until the mixture is thick and shiny, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and refrigerate until cold.

Ice Cream
Put the heavy cream, cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and salt in a food processor; process until very think and fluffy. Layer the ice cream mixture, blueberry sauce and cheesecake bites in a shallow 2 quart baking dish (aka cake pan). Put cake pan cover on and freeze at least 3 hours ( I froze mine over night). Let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before scooping.

Adapted from Food Network Magazine


Saturday, June 20, 2015

Chocolate Banana Cake

Chocolate Banana Cake
     Well it's finally summer and I can finally do some baking and cooking. I had been so busy with work that I just didn't have much time to blog. I really didn't get the chance to try a whole lot of new things, but now that it's summer I can hopefully try some more recipes. I do have a few new recipes that I tried these past couple months to share with you.

     Today I'm going to share this super moist Chocolate Banana cake. Of course I had several bananas that had gotten bad so I just had to find something to make with them. I just hate to throw them out and banana bread gets a little old too. I was also in the mood for chocolate and this cake fit the bill.

     The original recipe was for an 8X8 pan, but that would never last in my house so I simply doubled the original recipe and made a 9X13 pan instead. I also had to replace the applesauce with oil, because believe it or not I had no plain applesauce on hand. I usually keep those small individual servings on hand for baking, but all I had was cinnamon flavor and cranberry flavored, so oil is a great substitute for applesauce.

    There is no need for frosting on this cake. Chocolate chips are added to the top when baking and of course to the batter its self. This cake could easily be brought on a picnic or taken to a family reunion or potluck. I know you will not have any left to bring home if you take this to any occasion.

Chocolate Banana Cake
4 very ripe bananas
1 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1 Cup Canola oil
1/3 Cup water
2 teaspoons white vinegar
2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1/2 Cup unsweetened baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 salt
1 1/3 Cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9X13 pan with cooking spray.
Peel your bananas and beat with your mixer until smooth. Add sugars, oil, water and vinegar and mix thoroughly.
Stir in flour, cocoa, soda and salt. Fold in 2/3 cup of chocolate chips. Pour batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle 2/3 cup of chocolate chips on top.
Bake for 33-37 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool and then slice and serve.

Adapted from www.momontimeout.com