Minion Cake

So the other day a friend sent me a picture of a Minion cake from the Betty Crocker Site and asked if I could make something like that for her son, who happens to be in Miss V's class.  Oh sure!  The more I thought about it, it kind of looked boring, it is just a flat sheet cake carved with frosting.  Well I turned to my favorite site Pinterest for inspiration and found it!  Here is a link to the inspiration Minion.  I chatted with my friend a bit about cake flavor and went out and picked up two French Vanilla Cake mixes, a couple cans of white frosting, 4 bags of mini marshmallows and powdered sugar.

When I got home Tuesday morning from dropping Miss V off at school, I started working on Mr. Minion.  I made the two cake mixes and put them in a prepared 11x15 sheet pan.  It took about 30 minutes to bake.  Wilton has a great chart on how much batter per pan and cooking temps and times.  You can find it here.

I then put out my fondant mat and used Minion Yellow Duck tape to keep it in place.

While he was in the oven, I made a batch of Marshmallow Fondant.  I kept it simple and just used clear vanilla extract and water.

When the cake was done, I flipped it and let it cool on a wire rack.

With the first batch of fondant, I colored some with black, grey, brown, pink and left some white.  So I made some shoes, hair, hands, parts of eyes, and buttons from the black.  With the white I designed some teeth, and eyes.  I made the pupils out of the brown.  With the pink I made a cute little tongue by using a small heart shaped cookie cutter.  I also made the goggles from the gray.  I rolled it out pretty thick and used different sized round cutters.

I wrapped the extra fondant up in plastic wrap to keep from drying out.  Then it was time to carve the Minion.  I kind of stood and looked at him for a few minutes deciding how he should look.

He then went into the fridge to cool down for about 30 minutes.  When he was cool, I gave him a quick crumb coat and added a little tiny section from the scrap cake for legs.  Minions have to have legs.

Then back into the fridge.  I normally like to put them in the freezer, but the cookie sheet he is on is to big to fit in the freezer.

While he was chilling in the fridge, I put the eyes together with the goggle frames and looked at the scale and looked pretty good.

When he was done with his chill time, I made another two batches of marshmallow fondant and tinted it yellow with Americolor Lemon Yellow.  Rolled it out and covered Mr. Minion.

I put on the eyes/goggles and the mouth to check for scale on the body.  Whoa....I did not like the mouth at all.  It made him creepy!

That mouth came off very quickly!  Then I made another batch of marshmallow fondant and colored it with Americolor Royal Blue.  Rolled it out and made a nice straight rectangle then put it on as his overalls.

I cut straps and put them on and put a little black button on each one.  I wanted that to dry a little so I made the goggles metallic looking by using a bit of silver luster dust and lemon extract.  You can see the difference here.

When both were done I let them air dry a bit and placed them on Mr. Minion.

Next came his eyes

Tried the funky mouth again, just to make sure.

He still looked creepy so I rolled some more black fondant and made another mouth.

Yep that one looks much more friendly and silly!  Next up arms!  I did put a toothpick in the upper arms to keep them attached to the body and did the same with the shoes.  The rest of the parts I used a dab of corn syrup.  Works like a charm!

Next up was hair!  I did use toothpicks to keep the hair sticking up.

I think he is done....then went into a box for safe keeping overnight.

I kept thinking how flippin adorable he was!  He was a lot of hours worth of work, but he was so worth it!

Mr. Minion (Miss V called him Phil) took a ride to school on her lap.  She was guardian of the Minion.

Camouflage Cupcakes

Miss V's school had a special Math Boot Camp this summer for a few of the kids.  The two teachers that put it together also have sons in the Army hence the "Boot Camp" theme.  On the last day, they had a party to celebrate their hard work.  I offered to bring cupcakes and found a great tutorial on Crafty Mama.

I started with a white cake mix and a devils food mix.

Divide the batters between four bowls.

One plain white, one devils food, one tinted with Americolor Avocado gel and the last one white mixed with a bit of the devils food batter.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Line the muffin pans with white cupcake liners.

I used my mini cookie scoop and added a bit of devils food to each cup. Then some of the green, then white, then brown.  Repeat until the cups are about 2/3 full then bake. 

Remove the cupcakes and place them on a cooling rack.  Cool completely.

While they were cooking I made a double batch of Buttercream Frosting.

6 Cups Powdered Sugar
4 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
2 tsp vanilla extract
A little milk

Whisk butter in your stand mixer until smooth.  Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and mix to combine, repeat until all the sugar is incorporated.  Add the vanilla and a dash of milk.  Whisk on high for approximately three minutes until light and fluffy.

When done, divide the frosting into three bowls.  Tint one with Americolor Avocado, one white and tint one with a bit of brown food gel.

The tutorial said to place the frosting into separate piping bags, then put them in one large bag with a star tip.  This just didn't work for me at all.

So Miss V said to put a little of each color into one bag and let it mix naturally.  So I did and she loved it.  I didn't, but they weren't for me.

They were a huge hit!  Miss V loved the buttercream frosting and asked that I never ever buy canned white icing again!!!!

Egg, Cheese, Potato and Bacon Breakfast Bowls

The other day while Miss V and I were grocery shopping, she saw Jimmy Dean Breakfast bowls.  They were on sale so I let her pick two to try.  Well yesterday morning she had the one with bacon.  She ate probably a third of it and was full.  She liked it, but said it was just to much to eat. That made me think a bit....I bet I could make some, but have it Miss V size.

This morning I had to stop by the store and I picked up some bacon for her Miss V sized breakfast bowls.  I had plenty of eggs, hash browns and cheese.

I used 7 eggs and half a small carton of egg whites.  I blended them up with a bit of milk in the blender.  Cooked the bacon in the oven, wow does that save on clean up.  Then cooked the hash browns.  When everything was done, I let it all cool down.

 

Mmm, yummy hash browns!

 



When everything was cooled, I then assembled them.

First a layer of the hash browns

Then some eggs

Sprinkle of cheese, this was Mexican blend

Then some BACON!

 

I ended up with nine Miss V sized breakfast bowls.

 

I really don't like to heat things in the microwave.  I think I will just pop them out into a Fiestaware bowls and cover them.  I think they will take about 2 minutes to reheat.

Watermelon Shark

Here is what I carved for a July 4th picnic.  I didn't really have any directions, just kind of followed a few pictures online.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kreacher's French Onion Soup (Serves 6)

Miss V has checked out the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook a few times and we have made a few things from it.  Well she has been asking to make something else and I told her that she could pick one recipe and we would make it.

4 medium onions

1/2 stick butter, melted

1 baguette

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (subbed grated Swiss)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

6 cups beef or chicken stock (I used beef)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Peel the onions, cut them in half from pole to pole, and slice as thinly as possible.  In a heavy soup pot, heat the butter.  Remove the pot from the heat.

 

Remove one end of the baguette and slice six 1-inch-thick slices for the croutons.  Dip pastry brush into hot butter and brush onto one side of bread.  Place the slices butter-side up on a baking sheet and sprinkle with the cheese.  Toast the bread in the oven for about 10 minutes or until browned. (I waited until the soup was finished and my husband was home from work)

While the bread toasts, return the pot to the heat and add the onions.  Season with salt and pepper.

 

Stir in the sugar and continue to stir over medium-high heat until the onions have browned, about 15 minutes.

 

Blend in the flour.  Gradually, add the stock while stirring and bring the soup to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for 30 minutes.  

 

Ladle the soup into bowls and float a cheesy crouton in the center, then sprinkle cheese around the crouton.

 

This came out really good!  We did substitute shredded Swiss cheese for the Parmesan.

 

Garlic Herb Croutons

2 French baguette (about 12 ounces), preferably day-old, cut into 1/2-inch dice or you may use Cuban Bread

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbs Dried Italian Herbs
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
A couple of Garlic cloves peeled and smashed

Preheat the oven to 300°F.
Heat the olive oil in a small sauce pan and add garlic.  Let simmer until you smell the garlic.  Make sure to not to over heat the oil and burn the garlic.  I simmered it about 15 minutes then removed the pan from the heat and allowed to cool for 15 minutes.

Combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and toss quickly to coat the croutons well.

Transfer the croutons to two baking sheets and spread them out in a single layer. You may add a bit more oil and seasonings.

Bake, rotating the baking sheet front to back midway through, until crisp all the way through and golden, 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Yield: About 8 cups

 

 

 

Serve on top of your favorite tossed salad.

 

Quinoa and edamame salad wth sesame-ginger dressing

Here is another salad that I have made this month.  I did double the recipe.  The original pin just went to a magazine, but the recipe was listed in the pin.

2 cups cooked quinoa
1 1/3 cup shelled cooked Edamame
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped cucumber

Dressing
1 1/2 tbs toasted Sesame Oil
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1/2 tsp garlic powder

In a small bowl make the dressing then toss with the other ingredients.  Refrigerate for a couple hours to allow flavors to develop.

This came out ok, but I think I would make a little more dressing.  The quinoa really absorbed the dressing so quickly that some of the grain was kind of dry.

Lemon Orzo with Mint and Feta

Yep another Pinterest recipe.  I have been on a kick of making different kinds of salads that keep well in the fridge.  You can find the original recipe on Fork, Knife, Swoon.

1 1/2 cups dry orzo pasta

2 tbsp olive oil

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1 large English cucumber, seeded and chopped

1 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped (Miss V did this for me with scissors)

1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped (Miss V did this for me with scissors)

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

 

Cook the Orzo according to package directions.  Drain and place into a medium bowl and coat with the olive oil.  Allow to cool.

 

In another bowl combine the lemon juice, zest, cucumber, mint, parsley.  Stir in the cooled orzo and feta cheese.

 

Season with salt and pepper.

 

Chill in the fridge for a few hours to allow the flavors to develop.

 

 

This came out pretty good.  I think next time I would like a little more lemon zest.  We had this with grilled chicken and I had some more of my Roasted Edamame Salad.

Chicken Caesar Lasagna Rolls

I have neglected my blog again and I am sorry about that.  I have made a few new things in June, but just haven't made myself sit and blog about them.  I am going to catch up today.  For the most part I have been making lots of old stand by recipes.

I found this idea on Pinterest months ago and well it just looked really interesting and I decided to make it this week.  You can find the original recipe at Mother Thyme.

First thing you want to do is make the sauce

3 tbs unsalted butter
2 tbs flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup Caesar Dressing
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour until blended. Gradually whisk in milk and Caesar dressing whisking constantly until the sauce is thick. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Next cook the lasagna noodles.  I ended up using 4 whole wheat noodles and 6 white noodles.  Drain and rinse under cool water.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make the filling

1 pound shredded chicken.  I like to roast mine in the oven with salt and pepper.  Let cool then the shred them.
1/2 cup Caesar Dressing
1 egg
15 oz ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella, divided
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt & pepper

In a large bowl, stir together the ricotta, egg, 1/2 cup mozzarella, parmesan, parsley, garlic powder, Caesar Dressing, salt and pepper.

 Place 1/3 cup Caesar Sauce in the bottom of a 13x9 glass baking dish.

Dry the noodles and lay them on a clean surface.  Divide and spread the filling on the noodles and carefully roll the noodles.  Place them seam side down in the baking dish.

Pour the remaining sauce over the noodles and sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella cheese over the top of the noodles.

Bake for 30 minutes until hot and bubbly. 

Serve with a large green tossed salad.

I totally forgot to take the after pictures.  We have been having some really wicked storms at dinner time.  Anyway these were really good.