Chocolate Cupcakes with Flaming Strawberries Call me easily amused, but these little torch-topped cupcakes delight me. Besides being a cute novelty item for a party, I think they would add a little drama to the end of a romantic meal. I've been looking for something different to serve for Valentine's dessert, and this is definitely different. The strawberries are hollowed out and filled with a bit of liquor, then ignited with a match. For the cake portion, I chose a One Bowl Chocolate Cupcake recipe because 1. it's quick 2. it is easy, and 3. it fits my prerequisite for a light ending on date night. I should say, a light ending provided you don't eat too many. The cakes are just sweet enough, and have a light, fluffy crumb - the perfect vehicle for rich chocolate buttercream. Notes for flaming strawberries:Any alcohol below 80 proof will not ignite well. Shaina made a margarita version of this on Babble Food. Chocolate Cupcakes with Flaming Strawberries Yield: About 20 cupcakes [click to print]Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Apple Pie Egg Rolls : : Miss in the Kitchen Apple Pie Egg Rolls I saw one of the Food Network stars making apple chimichangas and thought I had to have some for myself. I bought flour tortillas and apples, and then I used the flour tortillas for tacos. Still wanting some kind of fried apple pie dessert I used the egg roll wrappers I had in place of the flour tortillas. I know, I know frying dessert just makes it more sinful, but these are totally delicious. Maybe they would be good baked, but not as good as fried. UPDATE: I did an interview with the Casper Star-Tribune newspaper and they made a video of me making these Apple Pie Egg Rolls! Apple Pie Egg Rolls Ingredients: 1 tablespoon butter 3 cups apples, peeled, cored, and diced 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 5 egg roll wrappers vegetable oil for frying for garnish: 1 tablespoon sugar mixed with 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon Cooking Directions: In a medium size pan, melt butter, add apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Serve with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce, it’s good! Enjoy! Miss
Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies I procrastinate from my homework the best when I’m baking. Seriously. Were these cookies worth it? Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies Ingredients 1 stick softened butter 6 Tablespoons sugar 6 Tablespoons brown sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 ¼ cup flour ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 11 broken pieces Oreo Cookies 1 cup chocolate chips Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.Cream butter, and sugars until well combined.Add egg and vanilla until mixed well. Rose Cake Tutorial SO excited to share with you how easy it is to make the rose cake. Seriously, once you see you are going to run right out, buy a 1M tip, and make one. That or go back to work. Or bed. Or whatever it was you were doing before I interrupted you. Ok, here we go! There were two main components to this cake. The vertical layer interior and the frosting rose exterior. I am going to do a vertical layer tutorial at a different time, (updated: you can see it HERE) as I did not get any pictures of it this go around and it is IMPOSSIBLE to explain without pictures. Now for the frosting rose tutorial! I promise you, this could NOT be easier. (I need to mention... before I froze my cake I poured a simple syrup over it. Start with your cake. Put your 1M tip (or any large open star tip) into the pastry bag then fill it up with buttercream frosting. If you have an appropriately sized coupler you can use that, or you can just insert the tip into the bag and cut off the excess. At least, I hope so anyway. :) 1.
Strawberry Basil Lemonade This Strawberry Basil Lemonade is coming to ya from the archives but I’ve given it a bit of a face lift. Strawberry Basil Lemonade was basically the first drink recipe I ever post on WGC and it’s been my most requested drink ever since. It’s a refreshing blend of homemade lemonade that gets fresh strawberries and basil pureed into the mixture. Depending on who’s enjoying this with me, I’ll add a glug or two of gin or just leave it “virgin” and enjoy it over some ice. At least that’s what I’ll be doing poolside, in Tucson, with my besties. And while this doesn’t directly figure into book tour, I’ve also managed to schedule just about every single meal while I’m in Tucson so I can hit up my favorite places to stuff my face while I’m there. So in the meantime, grab some lemons, strawberries and a handful of fresh basil and let’s make some cocktails or mocktails! Strawberry Basil Lemonade Ingredients Instructions
Make Your Own Girl Scout Cookies Make Your Own Girl Scout Cookies, Sans The Artificial Ingredients Whether you want to avoid some of the highly-processed ingredients (like trans fats and palm oil) or you just can’t wait for the annual cookie sale, we’ve got some simple ways to make healthier versions of these classic treats. Why Make Your Own Though Girl Scout cookies boxes say “trans-fat free,” the term is officially defined by the FDA as a food that contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving, meaning some varieties — including uber-popular Thin Mints, Samoas and Tagalongs — still contain trace amounts of the fat. The giveaway: Look for “partially-hydrogenated” on the ingredient list. 2 Recipes, 5 Different Girl Scout Cookies Many of the favorite Girl Scout cookies begin with the same base: The classic shortbread cookie. Recipe #1: Shortbread CookiesStart with any basic shortbread cookie recipe – like this one from Claire Robinson. One Cookie Recipe, 4 Different Cookies Classic Shortbread Cookies: Trefoils
Cheeseburger Macaroni This delicious, incredibly cheesy dish is another one of our favorite weeknight dinners. It’s beefy, hearty and whips up in less than 20 minutes. Hope you love this one as much as we do! Start with one pound of lean hamburger meat, browned and drained. Add a package of taco seasoning. And one can of this. You don’t even have to bother to drain it! Gosh, I really like Rotel. Add two cups of beef broth. (You can also just use water if you want.) And one cup of elbow macaroni. By the way, I’ve tried other shapes of pasta in this recipe, and none of them seem to work as well as good old macaroni. Stir to combine, and heat to boiling. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then add 2 tablespoons of flour. Whisk to combine, and continue to cook, whisking until the roux is fragrant and light brown in color, about 5 minutes. Whisk in 3/4 cup of milk. And bring the sauce to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat, and add 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. Glorious!
Thin Crust Pizza Successfully making thin crust pizza at home is not an easy task. When I have tried before I end up with a crust that over cooked and cracker like, or one that is limp and under cooked. That is why I was so happy to see that Cook’s Illustrated had done some testing and made some discoveries. Their big finding was that it is better to use all-purpose flour than bread flour or other high protein flours. The other great suggestion from Cook’s Illustrated is rolling out the dough, and covering it with plastic wrap. You will end up a dough that has more flavor and is easier to work with if you let it rise overnight. Homemade Samoas ? Yeah, that’s right. I made homemade Samoas. OK, so these are a bit more time-consuming to make than your average cookies (there are a few assembly-related steps), but they are so worth it. Plus: how great would these be as Christmas gifts? I found the Samoas recipe on BakingBites; you can also find recipes for Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos, Tagalongs, and Trefoils. What you need: For the cookies: 1 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup sugar 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp vanilla extract up to 2 tbsp milk For the topping: 3 cups shredded coconut 12-oz good-quality chewy caramels 1/4 tsp salt 3 tbsp milk 8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok) What you do: First, the cookies. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Now…the topping! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. (This step is sort of delicate – and can be painful, what with the hot caramel and all – so be careful. 6. 7. How beautiful are these?! Above: Homemade vs.