Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

These I have made for a few Alpha Course Dinners.  They are a fabulous little dessert and super easy to make.

The recipe below make 6 cakes, that are baked in a Jumbo Muffin Pan.  You can easily double it if you have two Jumbo Muffin Pans.

2 eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
4 tbs pineapple juice
2/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Topping
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 can pineapple rings
6 Marachino Cherries

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a JUMBO muffin pan with cooking spray.  In a mixing bowl beat eggs, sugar and pineapple juice for two minutes.  In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add to the wet ingredients and beat on medium for 2 more minutes.

In a small sauce pan, melt the butter and then add brown sugar.  Whisk for one minute.  Spoon a layer of the brown sugar mix into the bottom of each muffin tin, then place a pineapple ring.  Add one cherry into the middle of the pineapple ring.  Spoon cake mix evenly over the pineapple ring and cherry.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Let cool in pan for about 3 minutes.  Run an offset spatula around the edges.

Place a wire cooling rack on top and quickly flip the pan over and place on a cookie sheet to catch the dripping sugar mixture.

Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle

I found this lovely trifle on Pinterest.  The original recipe is on Taste Of Home and you can always find great recipes there.  I did tweak it and used Cool Whip.  I normally don't like to, but time got away from me this week.

2 pints fresh strawberries, sliced
1 cup sugar, divided
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 large tub of Cool Whip
1 loaf (10-3/4 ounces) frozen pound cake, thawed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I used the larger one and it kind of overfilled the trifle bowl.

In a bowl, toss strawberries with 1/2 cup sugar; set aside.

In a bowl, beat cream cheese, orange juice and remaining sugar until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream; set aside.

Drain strawberries, reserving juice; set the berries aside. Gently toss cake cubes with reserved juice.

Place half of the cake in a 4-qt. trifle dish or serving bowl. Top with a third of the cream cheese mixture and half of the strawberries. Repeat layers. Top with remaining cream cheese mixture. Garnish with sliced strawberries if desired. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Yield: 14-16 servings.

This was incredibly yummy!!!!!!

Eggnog Quick Bread

So I made this for our Alpha Course a few weeks ago and never got to take a picture of it.  Then after Christmas I wanted to make it again and the stores were out of Eggnog.  Finally I found a store that had plain Eggnog, not pumpkin spice.  I made it for dessert last night and it is really good.

2 medium eggs, room temp
1 c sugar
1 c dairy eggnog
1/2 c butter, melted and cooled
2 tsp rum extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg (fresh, not pre-ground)

Eggnog Glaze
3/4 c powdered sugar
Eggnog added and stirred into the sugar until your desired consistency.

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9 inch loaf pan and set aside.

Sift the dry ingredients, flours, baking powder and nutmeg and set aside.

In a stand mixer combine eggs and sugar until well combined.  Add the eggnog, butter and extracts.  Then gradually add in the dry ingredients.  Mix until just combined.  Do not over mix or the bread with be tough.  This is a thick batter.

Pour and spread the batter into the prepared loaf pan.  Bake for 50 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out dry.

Remove from pan and place on a wire rack until cool.

Mix the glaze and pour over the bread and allow to set for a few minutes.

Pumpkin Caramel Poke Cake

I made this for dessert last week for Alpha.  It was SUPER YUMMY!

16 oz can pumpkin
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 jar caramel ice cream topping

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream and a bit of sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixing bowl, beat the pumpkin, sugar and oil. Add eggs and mix well.

Combine the dry ingredients and add to the pumpkin mixture, beating until combined, do not over mix.

Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes or, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Poke holes in the hot cake. A skewer or wooden spoon works perfectly.

Warm caramel sauce in the microwave for 30 seconds or until it flows freely. Pour over the top of the cake and spread evenly.  Let cool for 40-50 minutes and then place in the refrigerator and allow to cool completely.

Make fresh whipped cream and spread over the top of the cake.

Pumpkin Spice Cookie Cups

I made these cute little cookie cups last week for Alpha.  I did double the recipe.  The single batch makes 24 and that is listed below.

1 package pumpkin spice cookie mix + ingredients listed on package to prepare
¼ cup flour
1 package vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice


Mix vanilla pudding mix and pumpkin pie spice with 1 cup heavy cream and whisk it until it's smooth, place in refrigerator so it will be thick and cold when you are finished baking the cookie cups.

Mix pumpkin spice cookie mix according to package directions and add in ¼ cup flour to the mixture. This will make the dough a bit stiffer.

Make 24 balls of cookie dough and place them into mini muffin pans sprayed with a baking spray so they won't stick.  Then press up the sides of the muffin pan.

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Check with toothpick. Bake at 350, reduce the temp to 325 if using dark coated pans.

When removed from the oven, I like to use the end of a wooden spoon or part of my apple corer to make the well a bit deeper and cleaner looking.

Let cool 5 minutes in pan, then remove the cookie bites from baking pan and cool completely.

Place filling into a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip and pipe filling onto cookie cups.

Refrigerate them until ready to eat, remove 30 minutes before serving so they will come to room temperature.

I can't even begin to tell you how yummy these were!!!!

Easy Beer Bread

Last week was Chili night at Alpha.  Miss V made her chili on Tuesday night and I whipped up two batches of Beer Bread.

3 1/2 cups self-rising flour
(if using regular flour add 1 tablespoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt)
3 tablespoons sugar
12 oz. can beer (I used Octoberfest)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 stick butter softened


Mix flour and sugar together in large bowl.

Add beer, egg and butter to flour mixture and mix well.

Scrape batter into greased loaf pan; bake at 350 for 50 minutes.  This dough is very lumpy and thick.  After baking you may also brush more melted butter onto the top of the loaf to soften it a bit.

Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Strawberry Shortcake

Last Friday was our last Alpha Class for the season.  I asked my Facebook friends all about Strawberry Short Cake and they all said to use sweet biscuits.  I googled for a bit and came across one of my favorite sites.  Joy of Baking and posted was just what I was looking for.

I do have to say I was a bit preoccupied and made the biscuits to thin, but in the end I don't think it really mattered.  I did double everything and made two batches of the scones.

 Strawberry Shortcake – Joy of Baking

Scones:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cold unsalted butter
1 large egg,
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup cream, half and half, or milk

Filling:
2 pounds fresh strawberries
1/4 cup - 1/3 cup granulated white sugar (or to taste)

Topping:
1 cup cold heavy whipping cream (double cream) (35-40% butterfat)
1 - 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar (or to taste)

Scones:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place rack in middle of oven.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.   In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.  Whisk together the egg, cream and vanilla extract and add to the flour mixture, mixing just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat or roll the dough into a 7 inch (18 cm) round. With a 3 inch (7 cm) round cookie cutter, cut out rounds and place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with a little cream. Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of a scone comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack.

Filling:
Wash, hull, and slice the strawberries. Place about one third of the strawberries in a large bowl and crush them with a potato masher or fork. Add the remaining sliced strawberries, along with the sugar. (The amount of sugar used will depend on how sweet the berries are.) Set aside to macerate at room temperature for about 30 to 60 minutes.

Whipped Cream:
Chill the bowl and whisk in the freezer for about 15 - 30 minutes. Place the cream and sugar in the bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. The whipped cream can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for a few hours.

To serve:
Cut the scones in half and place the bottom half of the scone (soft side up) on a dessert plate. Top with some of the strawberries and whipped cream. Place the top half of the scone on the strawberries. Top with whipped cream and a few more strawberries. If there is any juice from the strawberries, drizzle a little over the top of the scone. Serve immediately.

Serves about 6 - 8 people.

They came out wonderful and I would definitely make them again, but make the scones a bit thicker.  They are just easier to split when they are a little thicker.

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Melt in Your Mouth Monday 161

Banana Pudding

Last Friday's Alpha Dinner was pulled pork or sloppy joes and our group is about 18 people I figured one dessert.  I kept seeing different Banana Pudding recipes so I asked my Facebook friends their thoughts and it was a bit varied.

I went with a recipe from My Life as a Mrs. The reason I picked this was that it did use a thicker cookie because I had to make this early on Friday and I didn't want it getting to mushy.  I have heard that banana pudding is supposed to be mushy, but I like a bit of texture.

2 (3.4 ounce) boxes instant French vanilla pudding
2 1/2 cups cold milk
16 ounces heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies
6 to 8 ripe bananas, sliced

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the instant pudding and the milk until well combined. Place in the fridge to thicken.

In another bowl, beat the cream until medium to stiff peaks form. Mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla into the whipped cream.

In another bowl, add the softened cream cheese and the sweetened condensed milk and beat until well combined. Fold 2/3 of the whipped cream into the cream cheese/sweetened condensed milk mixture. Then, fold that mixture into the pudding and fold until well combined.

Line the bottom of a trifle dish with some of the cookies (breaking them in half helps them lay better). Top with sliced bananas and then 1/3 of the pudding mixture.

Repeat two more times.

Top with remaining whipped cream.

Refrigerate for at least a few hours before serving.

I totally missed that you were supposed to add the pudding mix with the cream cheese mixture for the first layer.  Woops.  I had Brownie Trifle in my head when it came to layering.

Anyway I quickly folded the rest together and completed the layers and put it in the fridge to cool.

It came out really well and didn't have to many leftovers.

Key Lime Cake

I love love love Key Lime pie and when I spotted this cake on Pinterest I knew I had to make it.  The original recipe can be found at Your Homebased Mom. I made it yesterday morning.

For the cake
2 C all purpose flour
1 1/2 C sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
2/3 C oil
2/3 cup key lime juice
3/4 cup sour cream

For the frosting
1 C butter, softened
2 – 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
2 – 16 oz boxes confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 C key lime juice


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 8-inch cake pans.
Mix together flour, sugar, powder, soda and salt into mixer.
Add eggs, oil and lime juice. Beat until smooth.
Add sour cream and beat until smooth.
Pour in prepared pans and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool and frost.

Make the frosting:
Mix together butter and cream cheese until smooth.
Add in confectioner's sugar
Add in vanilla.
Add in 1/4 cup of key lime juice.

I made a big woops!  I didn't let the cakes cool long enough in the pan and when I went to flip them out onto a cooling rack it was to close to the edge and when I tried to slide it back a little the cake cracked in half.

So when it was time to assemble, I did not slice the two cakes in half to make four layers.  I also had a bit of a problem with the frosting.  It is very fluffy and the layers didn't really stick to each other so the top slid a bit.  Since I only had two layers I did have extra frosting and used a large star tip to pipe on decorations around the bottom of the cake.

Mine wasn't so pretty, but the taste DEFINITELY made up for it.  This is such a wonderful and refreshing cake.  I would definitely make this again.

Mini Shepherd's Pies

Since it was Spring Break, and didn't have to worry about keeping something hot while I picked up Miss V from school I found this little recipe for Alpha dinner.

The original can be found at Tablespoon.

1 box Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box

Filling:  (I doubled this so that I could make some later)

1 bag of frozen peas and carrots, thawed
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
2/3  to 1 cup beef broth
1 envelope of brown gravy
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

3 cups of mashed potatoes

Heat oven to 400°F.

Unroll pie crusts. Roll each crust to 12 inches in diameter. Using 4-inch round cutter, cut 6 rounds from each crust. Firmly press each round in bottom and up side of each of 12 ungreased regular-size muffin cups.

Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven. Reduce heat to 350°F.

In skillet, heat butter over medium heat until melted and hot. Add onion to skillet; cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add beef to skillet; cook 5 to 7 minutes longer, stirring to break up any large pieces; drain. Place meat mixture back into the skillet and add the broth and brown gravy mix and cook on medium until thick and bubble.  Add the peas and carrots, salt and pepper.  Cook until veggies are hot.

Fill each muffin cup with 1/4 cup beef mixture. Top each pie with about 1/4 cup of the warm mashed potatoes. Bake at 350°F 25 to 30 minutes or until crusts are golden brown and mashed potatoes are lightly browned. Let stand 10 minutes in pan before serving. Run knife around outside of each pie to loosen before removing.

These tasted great, but were really hard to get out of the pan.  Next time I make them, I will definitely spray the sides of the muffin cups with cooking spray.

Let the leftover filling cool and store in the refrigerator.

Coconut Chocolate Bundt Cake

I made this Friday morning for our Alpha Class.  You can find the original recipe at Just a Pinch.

1 devils food or chocolate cake mix
1 pkg (4 serving size) chocolate instant pudding mix
1 1/3 cup water
4 eggs
1/3 c  coconut oil
1 1/3 cup shredded coconut
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Chocolate Glaze
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla extract

Shredded, toasted coconut for the top

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, water, eggs, & oil in large bowl until blended. Beat on medium speed 4 minutes. Stir in coconut & chocolate chips. Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray, or grease & flour (or dust with cocoa), and pour batter into pan. Bake approximately 1 hour (mine was done at 50 minutes). Let cool in pan for 15 minutes, and then remove from pan and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

To make glaze, combine sweetened condensed milk & chocolate chips in a small saucepan. Over medium low heat, stir constantly until chocolate chips melt and mixture is smooth. Do not allow it to bubble. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Allow to cool for just a bit before glazing cake.

You can sprinkle the cake with the toasted coconut.

This cake was FANTASTIC!

Fruit Pizza (aka Fruit Topped, Frosted Sugar Cookies)

I am having a hard time figuring this sessions group out.  The last session's participants gobbled up dinner and desserts.  This session it is the opposite.  Last week a woman made a huge salad that had fruit and that went over well.  So I figured that I would try to make some dessert that would have fruit.

I looked and finally came up with mini fruit pizzas, also known as Fruit Topped, Frosted Sugar Cookies.  Then the search for the perfect one.  I made my own favorite butter cookie recipe and had to figure out Nutella or Cream Cheese Frosting.  All of the Cream Cheese Frostings had Cool Whip.  I am not a huge fan of Cool Whip.  I just don't like the after taste left in my mouth.

Then.....Ahhhhhh!  Someone posted a great frosting recipe. You can find the original at Pinch of Yum.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Combine Cream Cheese and Butter until smooth.  Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar until well combined.

Since I was making this ahead of time, I put it in a Gladware container and stored in the fridge.  I took it out about 30 minutes before assembling the cookies to make it more spreadable.

For the Cookies.

6 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups unsalted butter - room temp
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs - room temp
4 Tbsp milk
3 tsp vanilla

Sprinkles, sugars, and whatever decorations that you like.  I have a sprinkles addiction...

Combine flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Cream sugar and butter, then add eggs milk and vanilla.

Slowly add the flour mixture and beat until combined.

Roll out on waxed paper about 1/4 inch thick and then put into the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes.  While chilling preheat oven to 350.  After chilling, cut out shapes and place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

I can not stress this enough, keep everything; pans, dough, cookie cutters cold.  This makes it so much easier.  Between batches I would chill the pans in the fridge and the cookie cutters in the freezer.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.  You do not want them to brown.

For the fruit we had
Strawberries, cut into thin slices
Blueberries
Red Grapes
Mandarin Oranges, drained
Pineappe Tidbits, drained
Mango, diced
Banana, sliced
Kiwi

I left some of the cookies plain, some were spread with Nutella and some with the Cream Cheese Frosting.  Then Master Chef Victoria had fun decorating them.

In typical Miss V fashion, she did make some smiley faces on some of the cookies.

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Melt in Your Mouth Monday

Valentine's White Chocolate Hearts

Ok, I know I am not the only one who saw this and Pinned it.  The original recipe can be found at Number 2 Pencil.  I mean, how cute are they????

Anyways, while working on them, I kept thinking there is no way these are going to come out like the picture and just kept working away.  When I turned them out, my suspicions were correct.  This morning, I went back and looked closely at the picture on the blog and there were a few that well, just seems a little perfect like they were made in a different order.  I may be incorrect in my thinking, I know everyone wants their food to look perfect.  Mine certainly aren't but I am sure it won't matter to much, Miss V thought they were awesome!

Close ups

Valentine Cut out Cookies 2014

Yesterday I made some cute cookies for Alpha which is on Valentine's Day.  I don't like to really celebrate Valentine's Day.  I know it is just me, but telling someone once a year that you love them because the calendar says you should, just doesn't work for me.  I do like to make cutesy little treats though.

For the Cookies

6 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups unsalted butter - room temp
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs - room temp
4 Tbsp milk
3 tsp vanilla

Sprinkles, sugars, and whatever decorations that you like.  I have a sprinkles addiction...

Combine flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Cream sugar and butter, then add eggs milk and vanilla.

Slowly add the flour mixture and beat until combined.

Roll out on waxed paper about 1/4 inch thick and then put into the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes.  While chilling preheat oven to 350.  After chilling, cut out shapes and place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

I can not stress this enough, keep everything; pans, dough, cookie cutters cold.  This makes it so much easier.  Between batches I would chill the pans in the fridge and the cookie cutters in the freezer.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.  You do not want them to brown.  I did find that 10 minutes were perfect for this size cookie.


I saw cute two toned cookies somewhere on Pinterest and thought I would try them out.  So I tinted some of the dough Fuchsia with Americolor Gels.  Doing this, you need to keep everything COLD or you will have a problem cutting out the two sizes and fitting in the opposite colored heart.

Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

This week's Alpha dinner is Mac and Cheese.  So the other day I was looking for some sort of different mac and cheese to make for Friday night.  I made the "Panera" version last time and it got so grainy in the crock pot on the warm setting.  It was so disappointing.

I had pinned a couple different versions of Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese.  I wanted to make a small batch to test it out, but none of them really stood out so I made my own up.

1/2 pound small pasta (I used pasta ruffles)
2 tbs unsalted butter
1 1/2 tbs flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cups of shredded sharp Cheddar Cheese
3/4 cups of shredded mild Cheddar Cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large chicken breast, roasted and chopped
6 tbs Franks Red Hot sauce (not the wing sauce)
3/4 cup Panko Bread Crumbs

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook pasta to al dente according to the package instructions.

Melt butter in a large heavy sauce pan over medium heat.  Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Cook for 2 minutes.  Whisk in the milk and cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.  Whisk constantly!

Reduce heat to low and stir in cheeses and sour cream until melted.  Add in the Franks Red Hot sauce and chicken.  Stir well to combine.  Taste for seasoning.  (I started with 3 tbs of Red hot and went up to 6 since we like it spicy.  I would probably use less for church).  Stir in the hot pasta.

Spray a baking dish with cooking spray.  (I can't remember what the size is, but it is a bit smaller than a 13x9 dish).  Spoon the mac and cheese into the dish.  Sprinkle the Panko on top and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.

This was spicy and we loved it!  When I make a full batch I think I will end up by using about 1/4 cup of Franks Red Hot so that it isn't to spicy.  I do have a small bottle to bring along just in case anyone wants to add more to their own servings.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

When I am feeling short on time, I love making Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.  This is one of my favorite recipes.

2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 salt
1 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temp (put them in a bowl of warm water for about 5-10 minutes)
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375.

Spray a 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 glass baking dish with cooking spray.

Sift together the first 3 ingredients.

Cream the coconut oik and sugars until light and fluffy.

Add in one egg at a time until fully incorporated and add vanilla.

Mix in the dry ingredients and gently add the chocolate chips.

Press dough into the greased pan.

Bake for 20 minutes and it will be golden brown.  Do not overbake, you want these to be crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.

Pretzel Treats, no Kisses, no problem!

I need another small and quick treat for Alpha and I know how much everyone enjoyed the Hershey Kisses and Pretzel treat I made the first session. I figured I would make them again.  Woop....one little problem, I only had Peppermint Kisses left over from Christmas and that really wasn't going to taste so good.  So....I just happened to have some Bright Pink and White Wilton Candy melts.

I layed out the square butternap pretzels on a foil lined cookie sheet and placed white and pink candy melts on them.  Put them in a 350 degree oven for two minutes.  Do not go over two minutes or you will have a melted mess.

Quickly put a festive M&M on top and gently push down.

Allow the candy melt to cool and harden.