Tag Archives: Dessert

August 21, 2012 · 8:05 pm

First Day of School Strawberry Brownie Cupcakes

Quite a few people have asked me what’s it like to officially be a stay at home mom, now that the kids are back at school that is…and I say that it is AWESOME!!!!

After Andy and I dropped the boys off, he left me back at home and headed off to work. As I was standing in my kitchen, I explained to mom that if we had a grandfather clock, the ticking would have been the only sound echoing through the house. It was stone silent. No children, friends, TV, music, washing machine, dog barking, you name it…there was nothing. Molly was looking at me suspiciously, so we went for a walk. Afterwards, I went into cleaning mode! The upstairs was my focus and my goal was to wade my way through the disaster of a mess by the end of the week.

I thought that it would be nice to make the kids a fun snack when they got home from school, so Pinterest was where I landed! We love strawberry and we love brownies, so I knew that this was the recipe for the day.

Strawberry Brownie Cupcakes

1 box of strawberry cake mix
1 box of brownie mix
1 can of cream cheese icing

Preheat the oven to 325. I used Pam and greased two cupcakes pans. In one bowl, prepare the strawberry mix according to the package directions. In another bowl, prepare the brownie mix according to the package directions. Fill each cupcake with 1/3 brownie mix and then top with 1/3 strawberry cake mix. Bake for 25 minutes or until done. Top with cream cheese icing.

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Filed under 1st Grade, After School Snacks, Recipes

Tagged as Dessert, Recipe

June 2, 2011 · 8:46 pm

Wk 48 – Starbucks Iced Lemon Poundcake

I asked Andy what kind of cake he would like me to make him, and his response was Lemon Cake with Icing, you know just like the one at Starbucks: cool, moist, and delicious! So, I cruised through a few food blogs and came across this recipe from www.picky-palate.com. He loved it! He says, “I don’t think I have actually ever had a favortie cake…but this might be it!” This was a great find…thanks Jenny. 🙂

Starbuck’s Iced Lemon Pound Cake Copycat Recipe

1 box yellow cake mix

1 box of instant Lemon pudding mix

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

8 ounces sour cream

6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Icing

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

5-6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray pan generously with cooking spray.

2. Place all cake ingredients in no particular order into stand or electric mixer, beating until well combined, about 1 1/2 minutes. Pour batter into pan and spreading evenly. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. Remove and let cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan.

3. To prepare icing, place powdered sugar into a large bowl. Drizzle in lemon juice stirring until smooth and thick. Should be a good drizzling consistency. Drizzle icing over cakes and let set for 20 minutes for a firm icing. Otherwise slice while still wet if desired.

Note: You can make this same recipe into cupcakes, small loaves and even a layered cake. Adjust baking time accordingly.

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Filed under 52 Week Challenge, Recipes

Tagged as Dessert, Recipe

May 12, 2011 · 1:52 am

Wk 45 – Peach Poundcake

The tagline for this recipe, found on page 106 of Everyday Feasts, is “A refreshing fruit-filled twist on a classic recipe” and I couldn’t agree more. Fruit is grown here year round and if you just ask around I am certain that most anyone who cooks can direct you to a local farmers market. One of our personal favorites is Parksdale, over in Plant City. It is well known throughout Central Florida and has even been featured in Food Network Magazine for its Famous Strawberry Shortcake. The prices are cheap and you never know what you are going to stumble across. Last summer I bought and entire basket of Georgia peaches (about 25) for 6.99 and towards the end of strawberry season you can pick up a full flat for near the same price, maybe higher or maybe even lower. So what do you do with all of this fruit???…you make pound cake! You’ll see from the pictures below that this recipe is versatile enough to use any fruit of your liking….Bon Appétit!

Peach Pound Cake

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 cups eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups chopped peaches

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 10-inch Bundt pan generously with butter and sprinkle with sugar, shaking out the excess. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat well.

Add the flour mixture gradually, beating constantly until blended. Fold the peaches into the batter, spoon into the prepared Bundt pan. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.

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Filed under 52 Week Challenge, Junior League Recipes

Tagged as Dessert, Recipe

May 30, 2010 · 3:34 pm

Wk 2 – Chocolate Chip and Banana Muffins

Here’s what you do when you have to many banana’s that are too ripe….

1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
2 cups mashed overripe bananas (about 6)
3 large eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup of mini chocolate chips, or 1 1/2 cups of regular chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease 2 mini muffin tins or line them with paper or foil liners. In a large bowl, combine sugar, melted butter, bananas and eggs; mix thoroughly. In a medium bowl, mix the flour with the baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until the batter is evenly moistened. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter into the cups or tins, bake for about 18 minutes, use the toothpick test for doneness, let muffins cool and serve.

These muffins are the perfect size for kids, great for breakfast, great as a snack, or can be wrapped in plastic and frozen for up to 1 month. Let them thaw and toast in a 350 degree oven.

Yields 48 mini muffins….

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Filed under 52 Week Challenge, Recipes

Tagged as Breads, Chocolate, Dessert, Fruit, Yum

May 18, 2010 · 1:05 am

Pick Your Own Blueberries

There’s nothing better than waking up on a Saturday morning with your family, grabbing a cup of coffee, and heading outside. Today we took the boys to Blue Youth Berries to pick their own Blueberries. The weather was beautiful, low 80’s, no humidity, and not a cloud in the sky. I stumbled across this place through my next door neighbor Kelly, she had seen them advertised and decided to check them out the weekend before. This location requires you to make an appointment, so before heading out a little planning was required.

Upon arrival we checked in and were handed a 5 gallon white bucket. Davy was so excited to get his own bucket. We stayed for about an hour and picked 3 gallons. The kids loved running up and down the isles, and everyone there was so friendly. How much does that cost you ask? $13.00. $5 for the first pound and $4 for each additional. In case you are wondering what that looks like…see the glass pitcher. It amazes me that most of the year at the local grocery store I pay $6 for two small containers. Farms and farmers markets are so much more fun and affordable. I have attached a link to Pick Your Own, this website can help anyone anywhere find fun places to pick your own food.

I wanted to make something different (don’t get me wrong cobbler and pancakes are definitely some of our favorites) and healthy. We are always trying to teach Davy to make good choices, so Italian Ice was the winner. This can be made with any fruit and goes great on a warm night after a BBQ.

2 cups of fruit (Blueberries)
2 tbl sugar
2 tbl honey
1 tbl lemon juice
2 cups of ice

Using a blender or food processor, blend the first 4 ingredients and then slowly blend in the ice. Freeze for roughly 2-2.5 hours in a shallow baking dish. Enjoy!