Crowd Pleasers

We hosted a BBQ with two other couples on Sunday, and in typical fashion, we made way too much food. I, of course, was in charge of dessert. I wanted to make something light and "healthy." I decided on a white chocolate mouse parfaits. I remember having this 'to die for' white chocolate mousse from a restaurant in my home town and called them up to see if they'd give the me the recipe, and to my surprise the chef got on the phone and walked me through it. So nice of them. I won't betray their trust and give out the details but it was a combination of white chocolate, egg whites, sugar and heavy cream. So easy!

I layered the mousse with marble pound cake, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries in pretty Stella glasses. Voila!

White Chocolate Curls of Bliss!

At a recent wedding, I noticed the absense of a cake, because well....I'm obsessed with wedding cakes. However, shortly after the meal they plopped this gorgeous massive cupcake in front of me. It fit the brides style and was oh so chic. It tasted amazing too. It was a vanilla cupcake with a vanilla buttercream with white chocolate shavings on top.

As usual I had no problem devouring it either! The adorable couple took turns feeding each other cupcakes but they were gentle and sweet. My personal preference, I'm not a cake smashing kind of gal.

No trees were harmed in the forming of this blog post…

What is one of the greatest perks of blogging? Trying amazing samples! I received a generous sample of Palm Plates from Marx Foods and need to share how great they are. The plates are made from freshly fallen (never picked!) leaves that fall from Adaka palm trees. They are then washed, dried and heated into their chic shapes. Then they are used by stylish entertainers like you and me. I’d like to focus on three aspects of these plate: style, durability and price.

Style – What’s more stylish than a homemade blueberry cupcake with gooey white chocolate cream cheese frosting sitting pretty atop rectangular palm plate? I dare you to think of something! These plates inspired me to bake from scratch (if you read my blog you know I’m more semi-homemade) and here are the results and recipies:

Portobello ~ Can I please eat my cupcake, Oh please let me eat my cupcake...
BLUEBERRY CUPCAKES ~ from cooks.com

1/3 c. butter
2/3 c. white sugar
1 egg
1 1/3 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 c. milk
1 c. blueberries

Cream butter and sugar, beat in egg. Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk. Gently fold in berries.
Can be frozen. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

Yield: 10 cupcakes.

WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE ICING ~ from fabulousfoods.com

3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, at room temperature
6 ounces good quality white chocolate (Lindt is Cheri's favorite brand)
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Stir white chocolate in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water until just melted. Cool to lukewarm. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. beat in cooled, melted white chocolate and vanilla, gradually beat in sugar and continue beating until smooth. Frosting should be light and spreadable. It is helpful to chill a bit before piping.

Yield: Makes about 3 1/2 Cups (I cut this recipe into three to icing the 10 cupcakes from the recipe above.)
Durability: What sets this plate above and beyond a paper plate? Besides the obvious environmental benefits, this plate can hang homey! Now, I’m a baker – plain and simple, but you can’t test the durability of the plates with cupcakes alone! There is only recipe I make that my husband actually enjoys. It’s a hearty pasta dish from Rachael Ray that I modified to put a lighter (healthier) summer twist. I piled the plate high and went to town. Clearing my plate, I felt like I could have washed it and reused it, it held up so well. Kudos palm plate…kudos.

CREAMY PASTA WITH SPINACH AND FRIED CAPERS ~ Rachael’s original recipe here
Salt
1 pound gemelli
3 tbsp cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1/4 cup capers, drained
1 large clove garlic, smashed
2 packed cups spinach, stemmed and chopped
1 ear fresh yellow corn, boiled and kernels cut off the cob
1 cup low fat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup skim milk
3 tablespoons fresh basil leaves
Pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving the pot.

While the pasta is working, in a medium skillet, heat the EVOO, 8 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add the capers and fry until they open, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Add the garlic to the skillet and cook until lightly golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, 1 minute.

In the pasta pot, whisk the ricotta and milk over low heat until warmed through, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with the basil, and a dash of pepper. Add the pasta and toss to coat.

Discard some of the garlic and stir the spinach, capers and corn into the pasta.

Price: I wish wish wish these plates were more affordable. Generic paper plates are about $7 for a pack of 20 at a party supply store, the palm plates average about $33 for a pack of 25. I'm not sure I would order and use these for your run of the mill backyard BBQ but if I was throwing an annual family get together and shelling out $600 for a pig and knew I'd have tons of heavy slaws and salads, then what is and additional $50 for some Aunt Sally pleasing, earth friendly, durable, discussion starter palm plates? Who knows, maybe their like flat screen tv's - they're new and jet setting, so they're expensive. When they catch on and everyone wants one on their wall to impress the neighbors, supply and demand will win over and the price will drop.

All in all, I think these plates have a definite place in society amongst the green crowd, the chic and stylish crowd and the eh whats another $50 crowd. I would definitely recommend these palm plates to give a high style flair to your next cocktail, garden, or anything else party.

Birthday Blunder

My husband's birthday was Saturday. Since we had a wedding, I decided to surprise him with Bon Jovi tickets for Friday night. I wanted to make something for the tailgate, but nothing too elaborate that you couldn't eat with your hands.

Not to mention I had to work a full day so it had to be quick and easy over my lunch hour. I *settled* on a quick box of brownies. I decorated them with chocolate chips and sprinkes to make them a little bit more appealing.

I baked them according to the directions and still burnt them. Ugh, boxed mixed disaster! I guess that will teach me to bake from scratch! If anyone has a favorite brownie recipe - I would appreciate!

Star Sighting (literally) - Ringo Star

I work in Midtown Manhattan, and walking out for lunch today I ran into the 70th birthday celebration for Ringo Star. I threw myself in with the poppa - rozzi and waved to Ringo on his way into the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square. They also were throwing out peace and love cookies. I'm currently sitting at my desk enjoying a big red heart shaped cookie.

Thanks for the treat Ringo - Happy 70th Birthday!

Craving Review - Mr. Cupcake

I've been dying to try Mr. Cupcake in Clifton, NJ for a while and this past weekend, a cupcake craving hit hard. You can see my full review at Yelp.com

I think Mr. Cupcake does smart advertising. I got a coupon in the mail for two free cupcakes, no strings attached. It was enough to push my craving over the edge, and just so I didn't look cheap -I paid for two additional.

Overall I gave them four stars. I found their cupcakes to be slightly undercooked - but not necessarily in a bad way. Some people make them dense, others make them fluffy. I would say these definitely lean towards dense. I missed the cupcake wars show on 6/27 but plan to try and catch the re-run on DVR.

From Top Left - PB&J, Carrot Cake, Oreo Cheesecake, French Toast.

An excuse to celebrate...

A dear friend switched apartments in NYC and had us all over for a housewarming. The evite said there would be cake, to which I interpretted that I should bake her a cake.

I used graham crackers and royal icing to make the house perched on top of the cake. Surprisingly easier than expected. The cake consisted of yellow cake with Martha Stewart's chocolate icing. This IS my new favorite icing recipe (see below). It was a Dark Chocolate frosting, and tasted like a chocolate candy bar on cake. Thanks Martha. Delish!

I then garnished with a white chocolate fence (which could have been easier if i'd just piped on the fence, but my initial idea was to have it stand out from the bottom of the cake, but it didn't materialize), a chocolate chip driveway and some green icing shrubs. To make the fence I outlined it in pencil on wax paper, flipped it over and used a new kids paintbrush dipped in melted white chocolate to paint within my outlines. I rested it on the cake mold (to get the right bend of the cake) in the fridge for a couple of hours.

My friend was thrilled and it tasted great - and well - thats all that counts.

Martha Stewart's Dark Chocolate Frosting
1 pound semi sweet chocolate (I used to chips so I didn't have to chop)
6 tbsp Cocoa Powder
6 tbsp Boiling Water
3 sticks butter
1/2 conf sugar
Pinch of Salt (I used salted butter so I skipped this)

Use a double boiler to melt the chocolate, stir until chocolate is completely melted (about 15 mins). Let chocolate cool to room temperature (take off the stove). Combine Cocoa powder and boiling water.

In electric mixer beat butter, conf sugar, and salt until light and fluffy (3-4 mins). Add melted chocolate, beat on low (1-2 mins). Beat in cocoa mixture. Serve!

Summer Pies

I love fresh summer pies. I come from right near the Blueberry capital of the world, Hammonton, NJ. This year, my mom and I went and bought 20 pounds of blueberries. It will get us about 5 pies each. As a family we sorted through all 20 pounds of them and picked off stems and weeded out bad blueberries and put 4 cups each in a bag. We then place them in the freezer for instant gratification when the urge for a pie comes along. If you're going to do this - do not wash the blueberries before putting them in the freezer, wait until you take them out to thaw.

Fresh pies are well....easy as pie. Sometimes I make my own pie crust (I have an amazing recipe too) and sometimes I buy it. So kill me, I'm lazy.

Fresh Summer Blueberry Pie -

1 Box Pillsbury Pie Dough or Homemade Pie Crust

4 cups blueberries

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup tapioca

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tbsp butter

Combine blueberries, tapioca, lemon juice and cinnamon in a bowl, let stand for 10 minutes. Line pie dish with one pie crust. Add blueberry mixture. Dot butter on top of blueberry mixture. Top with remaining crust, crimp edges and cut vents. I recommend covering the crust edges with foil for all but 5 minutes of baking time to prevent burning. Bake on 450' for 45-50 minutes. Enjoy!

Tip - Place the pie on a cookie sheet in case your filling over flows.

Pic of Portobello staring down the pie and licking his chops. Crazy pup, pie is for people!

Mt. Icing

I went to a local diner with my parents last Friday (See my yelp review here). I had already eaten dinner but figured I could grab dessert while they ate. I surveyed the dessert counters and settled on Mt. Icing.

1.) Because I love red velvet for the cream cheese icing (who doesn’t)
2.)Who could resist a cupcake the size of my head piled with enough icing to cover Mt. Rushmore?

Ultimately it took me three sittings to finish this cupcake. Some at the diner, dessert after dinner the next night and lunch the day after that. Believe it or not, it was best on the third day. It stayed moist and the candied walnuts were quite tasty. I had at least a 1/3 of the icing mountain left over too.

My only complaint? The cream cheese icing was made with way too much butter. Good cream cheese icing doesn’t need much butter. Therefore I’m going to skip sharing the Mastoris recipe and give you my favorite straight from the Philadelphia box:

Ingredients
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pkg. (16 oz.) powdered sugar (about 4 cups), sifted
BEAT cream cheese, butter and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.
ADD sugar gradually, beating until well blended after each addition.

Happy Healthy 30th!

This has to be one of my most ambitous cakes. My friend in Boise turned 30 last Thursday. All she asked for was to be rich and skinny. I wanted to make her a cake for her surprise party but needed to keep it healthy and had to get it from NJ to Boise. I found this cake as an inspiration online:

I'm pretty sure the baker in this photo used white chocolate around the edges. I used a similar technique with one and 1/2 cans of Pepperidge Farm Pirouette cookies cut in various lengths. I baked up some angel food cakes (4 in total), wrapped them in a ton of saran wrap, and packed them in my carry on. I had my friends boyfriend pick up 2 cans of Pirouette's, lots of fresh berries and cool whip. My grand idea was to icing the cake with cool whip and have it all stick together perfectly. Luckily I also had the foresight to pick up some whipped icing in case my grand plan went hay wire. Normally I would make my own icing - but I was getting off a 9 hour flight and had only a couple of hours until the big party and a million things to do.

I can tell you that cool whip does not work well on a defined cake, especially when your friends freezer is completely full of lean cusines. It starts slipping everywhere and needs to be in the freezer ASAP. I ended up using it on the bottom to ensure healthyness, but quickly threw the regular icing on the top half, hence why it looks sooo much better.

Either way my friend loved her cake, the whole thing was devoured and that makes me happy too! Here's my throw together traveling 30th birthday double decker recipe:

2 boxes Angel Food cake prepared in 4 cake pans (2 larger, 2 smaller)
2 cans of Pirouette cookies
Various fresh berries
4 containers of whipped vanilla icing or coolwhip (if you dare) - (I will find a homemade healthy whipped icing, but i'm going to need to experiment and update)
Fun Candles and ribbon for the finishing touch

Icing cakes and place cookies around the outside. Top with berries and candles and then tie the ribbon around the outside of the cake, if using cool whip stick cake in the freezer - perfectly level immeadiately to stabilize the cake and cookies. Otherwise the cookies will slide all over and you'll be playing Mr. Fix it with frozen icing. Keep cool whipped cake in the freezer for at least two hours.

Place the smaller cake on the larger cake and serve! Watch your guest smile.

Back to the good old days

I decided to bring out a childhood favorite for Memorial Day. I made Oreo Dirt Cake from here.

It turns out it wasn't just a childhood favorite for me, but some of my husband's friends as well. They made them in Home Economics and called them Dirt Cups. I went to the dollar store to get a beach bucket for the effect as well.

So excited that there are leftovers too! I let Portobello model the leftovers. :)

Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 package Oreo cookies

1 8 oz. tub Cream Cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 Stick Softened Butter

3 1/2 cups milk

2 small pkg. Instant Vanilla Pudding

12 oz. Cool Whip

Method:
Cream together cream cheese, powdered sugar and softened butter. Mix 3 1/2 cups milk and instant pudding for 2 minutes and add 12 oz. Cool Whip. Add liquid mixture to creamed mixture.

Place Oreo cookies in large ziploc bag and crush to desired "dirt" texture with a rolling pin. Put 1 1/2 inches of cookie crumbs on the bottom of the sandpail or flower pot (lined with aluminum foil) and layer the pudding mixture and crumbs. End with pudding mixture. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Just before serving, add 1 more inch of cookie crumbs and decorate with gummi worms. If you're using a flower pot, poke a few silk flowers - or real flowers with stems covered in foil - into the cake. (Large colored Gerbera daisies look best!) Serve with a colorful plastic trowel.

A play on words...

I decided to whip up some quick cute cupcakes for my friend Rachel’s birthday pub crawl this past Saturday.

I loved these Martha Stewart Vanilla Letter Cupcakes and knew I didn't have anything to cut R's out of sugar cookies.
However, I remembered I had bought this Williams Sonoma Cookie Letter Press kit.

So I baked a quick batch of funfetti cupcakes and decorated them with homemade sugar cookies. I may use box mix from time to time, but I always bake cookies from scratch. Funny enough I generally always have the ingredients to whip up cookies on hand as well, but I digress. I wanted to make them blue like Martha but I’m out of blue food coloring, so I settled with green. I secured a "Happy Birthday" cookie to a "Rachel" cookie with a bit of icing then stuck them in the cupcakes. They were a big hit and the surprise made my friend smile, all I could ask for. Pics of both sides below :)

Mooo-ve on over, its a Dairy Free Birthday Cake!

I have a coworker who is deathly allergic to all dairy and shellfish. He is so allergic that even stirring a spoon in a pot that contains dairy and then using that spoon on a nondairy pot sends him the hospital for days!

Today was his birthday and not the first time I've taken on the endeavor of baking for him. However, this is the first time I'm traveling for work and have to bake out of a hotel room with no supplies. Another coworker and I found a dairy free yellow cake mix and chocolate icing mix by Cherrybrook Kitchen and used the hotel stove. I doctored the icing to use the mix, vanilla soy milk, powdered sugar and peanut butter.

The cake turned out pretty darn good if I say so myself. The key to any good birthday cake is a moist cake and superb icing. You could definitely tell the cake mix contained rice flour versus cake flower, but it was nice and moist due to a tad bit of extra canola oil. The icing turned out great because peanut butter can make anything taste good! The whole team in the office was pleasantly surprised.

Inspiration: Hey Dude!

I'm an avid equestrian and I was thinking it could be cute to create horse-y cupcakes. I did a quick google search and came across some that I think I could handle and some that are so darn cute, I felt the need to share, even though I don't think I could ever replicate these!

These are from Blue Cupcake and I would be extremely proud to take these out to the barn for the pony kids!

I also came across these examples, and these might be more up my skill level.

Maybe for one of the next big horse show's I'll bring one of these "easier" examples along.

Hill Country BBQ Cupcakes

Check out my yelp review of Hill Country BBQ here: YELP

I knew right when I saw the case of cupcakes, I had to try one at the end of our meal.

We shared one peanut butter and jelly cupcake amongst five friends. After serious amounts of BBQ, we couldn't even finish it. However it was delish! There were a few reeces pieces on top of a mound of peanut butter icing. There was a nice helping of jelly inside a vanilla cupcake.