Baby Monkey Dessert Table

Whew! Finally doing another blog post with yet another baby shower dessert table. I realized it was time to sit down and post these images since the baby was born this weekend that this shower was held for. So exciting, and baby Avery is a beautiful healthy baby boy with two great parents.

Tracy (mommy) wanted a blue and brown monkey theme which I thought was great. Not only are monkeys cute they provide some great inspiration for banana themed desserts. I included the labels I made to show the full menu as well as to show the simple design. Just like the last dessert table I posted I hope to post some of the individual recipes but for now here are some images...

Color palate

labels - click to enlarge

Peanut butter chocolate layer cake

Mini Dirt Cakes

Chocolate and vanilla cake balls

Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies

Mini banana nut cupcakes

mini monkey breads

Supply sources:

Brown and white striped cups and blue and white polka dot cups, and blue and white striped straws: http://www.shopsweetlulu.com/

Blue and white polka dot platter: www.ikea.com

Ruffled edge platter: www.sweetandsaucysupply.com/

Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

These are one of my most favorite treats of all time, they are like chocolate crack. My mom has been making these since I was a little girl, the only thing is that I can only remember her making them at Christmas. Almost everyone has heard of marshmallow rice krispy treats but almost no one has heard of or had a chocolate rice krispy treat. Come to think of it, I have never seen these for sale at any supermarket or bakery... that makes them even more special.

My mom and I made these this year at Christmas so I included some pictures of how she traditionally decorates them. Super easy - grocery store bought icing tubes in green and red with a little leaf tip on the green and voila! You have holly! I couldn't resist and wanted to make them for St. Patricks day this year only instead of holly I made little clovers on top with store bought vanilla icing that I died green. Just as cute, and just as fun to eat. If you like chocolate you will love these. Enjoy...

Ingredients:

• 11 1/2 oz package (2 cups) Milk chocolate morsels
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup sifted confectioners sugar
• 4 cups kellogs rice krispies

Directions:

Combine milk chocolate morsels, butter and corn syrup in a medium sized saucepan. Stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat - stir in vanilla extract and sugar. Add the rice krispies mixing carefully until well coated. Spread evenly in a 13x9x2 pan and chill until firm, best overnight.

My moms cookie cutters

Over the holidays I went back to Savannah to visit my mom and family. As most families do over the holidays - we baked. I had it in my head that I wanted to make Linzer Cookies, which are traditional Austrian cookies that I love. They're two cookies placed on top of each other with raspberry or strawberry jam in the center and a hole cut out of the top one dusted with confectioners sugar... so good. So in order to make these I needed some round cookie cutters and then smaller round cutters for the hole in the top cookie. I asked my mom where her cookie cutters were and I was happy to see that she had quite the collection. I am the youngest of 4 children and my mom was quite the baker when we were growing up (and still is) we have home video's of us decorating cookies at almost every holiday made with these very cookie cutters. Getting them all out brought back a lot of memories and I thought I would share her expansive collection with all of you.

Raspberry Thumbprints

1 inch balls spaced 3 inches apart... they do spread during the baking process.

Wet your thumb when making thumbprints to keep your finger from sticking.

So Thanksgiving is all wrapped up, literally... I think I have enough left overs to last till Christmas. The great thing about Thanksgiving being over with is that now we have a excuse to make tons of cookies and Christmas treats for everyone we know. To get in the holiday spirit while I was in an airport the other day and picked up the current Martha Stewart's Holiday Cookies issue. 101 recipes for every holiday cookie under the sun. Issues like this are great because you can keep them forever and always refer back to them in times of need – like a cookbook only much less expensive.

My friends Steej came over yesterday to help decorate my Christmas tree. It was beautiful out and the perfect Saturday for Christmas decorating, Steej had the great idea to bake some cookies while we decorate... great idea! My first thought was to bake linzer cookies since I have been dying to try them out but I didn't have any almonds or hazelnuts so I decided to sift through the Holiday Cookie issue and landed on Raspberry Thumbprints which looked to be incredibly simple based on the recipe. The dough is very easily thrown together on the fly but it does take a little time to roll each ball and fill with the raspberry jam. With that said they were well worth it. I love raspberry jam so I always have it handy and I think the red color make them perfect for Christmas. They aren't overly sweet which makes them great for a middle of the day treat. I had one this morning with my coffee and I'm not complaining.

Original recipe from Martha Stewart's 2010 Holiday Cookie issue

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) of butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup of raspberry jam

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the work bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy. 3-4 minutes. Add egg and beat until completely combined. Reduce speed to low, add flour and mix until incorporated.
2. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place on parchment lined baking sheets spacing at least 3 inches apart.
3. Moisten thumb with water, and gently press center of each ball to make and indentation. heat jam in a small saucepan over medium heat until melted. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon into each indentation. Bake rotating sheet halfway through, until cookies are golden brown around the edges about 15 min - make sure not to over bake. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Store extra's in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pie's

Jose Tellez down in CBN took this photo for me, I think it came out really great. All of mine are super green from the lighting in the room. I promise my next post will have better photos :-)

In addition to my mini pumpkin cheesecakes that I made for our office Chili cook-off I also made some mini pumpkin whoopie pies. If you read my blog often you will find I love to make whoopie pies. I just think they are fun, super easy, and taste great. Since it is the season of pumpkin and I had already made pumpkin cheesecakes I thought I would stick with the theme and go with pumpkin whoopies, I mean what isn't to like? Pumpkin as an ingredient makes for some really moist and flavorful desserts - everyone loved them and they were the perfect size to just pop in our mouth. These would be awesome for kids on Thanksgiving, they are so good they might even want to help you make them.

Pumpkin Whoopies:

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tblsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups solid pack pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350, line two making sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and salt into a bowl or piece of waxed paper.
3. In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the brown sugar and butter on low speed until just combined. Add in the pumkin, then the egg, beating well. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.
4. Slowly add the flour mixture and beat on low until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go.
5. Using a small ice-cream scoop or a pastry bag or really anything you choose... make small rounds of the batter as small or large as you like. I made mini ones so I used my eye to make them all roughly the same size and by using a large round tip on the end of my pastry bag. Make sure to space them at least two inches apart from each other.
6. Bake one sheet at a time for about 12-15 minutes each, or until the cakes begin to crack and are firm to the touch (this will also change depending on how small are large you make them). Let the cakes cool completely before icing them.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth,
2. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined.
3. Slowly add the powdered sugar, maples syrup and vanilla until smooth.

To assemble:

1. Flip over half of the completely cooled whoopies so the flat side is facing up.
2. Pipe enough to cover the whoopie 1 1/2 tsp - 1 tblsp of icing depending on how large the whoopies are.
3. Place another whoopie flat side down on top and press down lightly. If your icing gets too soft you can always put it in the fridge before hand to firm it up a bit. These are best served at room temperature. Store left overs in an airtight container. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

It's fall and in Texas that means somewhat normal temperatures. I believe that it's the best time of the year to live here, high's of 65 lows of 40... my favorite. To celebrate I have been baking anything with pumpkin since it is the ultimate fall ingredient. I am surprised my local grocery store hasn't run out yet since I have been buying a ridiculous amount. A few years ago a friend of my gave me this super simple recipe that is sure to cure a fall craving. These are great for a lazy Sunday with a big cup of coffee. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of pumpkin
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or a little more :-)
• Cinnamon/Sugar mixture to sprinkle on top (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line a cupcake pan or muffin pan with your liners. I used cupcake pans for mine since I like them a little smaller.
2. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
3. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix together pumpkin, eggs, and butter.
4. Carefully add your dry ingredients and mix until well combined, don't over mix.
5. Using a small ice cream scoop or a spoon, fill each cupcake liner up 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 20-25 min.

4th Flag Cupcakes

4th of July is upon us and I thought we should celebrate with cupcakes! My original plan was to make a "flag cake" which in case you have never seen one it is two sheet cakes layered on top of each other usually with a whipped cream frosting and then you use either raspberries or strawberries to create the red stripes of the american flag and blueberries to make the stars. It is an adorable festive cake that I recommend you try one day if you haven't already. However, this year I wanted to make something a little more unique and I was in the mood to experiment so I drew out a cupcake that had all the colors of the American flag only in a deconstructed way so it wasn't as literal. These are easy but still special and look like a professional cupcake. If you want you can always make the cupcake part in advance along with the raspberry drizzle and assemble when you have a little time to spend doing them carefully. Happy 4th, enjoy!

Makes about 17 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

• 1 package of yellow cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup of oil
• 1 1/3 cup of water
• 1 package of fresh blueberries
• 1 package of fresh raspberries

Whipped cream frosting and filling:

• 4 cups of heavy whipping cream (might need to make this in two batches, it makes a lot)
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 3 tsp of almond extract

Raspberry Drizzle:

• 1 (12 oz) package of frozen raspberries thawed and drained, juice reserved
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons of raspberry liqueur (if you have it, don't worry if you don't)

Directions:

1. Preheat you oven to 350 and center your rack.
2. Mix the cake mix with eggs, water, and oil according to the back of the cake mix package.
3. Line your cupcake tray with which ever color liners you like and fill 3/4 of the way to the top so that you get a little overlap once they bake making sure you have enough to cut off and use later for tops.
4. Bake for about 15-18 min. Cool completely on a rack, once cooled carefully cut the top of each cupcake off using a serrated knife.
5. While the cupcakes are cooling make your raspberry sauce. Add enough water to reserved raspberry juice to measure 1 cup (make sure you do this otherwise it will be way to thick in the end) Stir together sugar and cornstarch in a 1-quart saucepan. Stir in juice and raspberries.
6. Heat to boiling over medium heat. Boil and stir 1 min; strain out the seeds and let cool completely, your done. If you want you can add the liqueur after you strain it.
7. In a stand mixer fixed with the whisk attachment, whisk together your whipped cream ingredients - cream, sugar, and almond extract until stiff peaks form. About 2-3 min.
8. In a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip fill with about a quarter of the whipped cream mixture and insert into the center of the cupcake bottoms to fill the centers with cream.
9. In a larger pastry bag fitted with a large round tip put a layer of frosting on the top of the cut cupcakes. Place a small handful of blueberries on top of the cream layer on each cupcake.
10. Put your cupcake tops back on top of the blueberry cream layer. Using the rest of the whipped cream frosting pipe a mound of whipped cream on top of it as high as you want, I feel for these they look best when there is a good amount of height to them, go all out :-)
11. Drizzle with the raspberry sauce using just a spoon or you can put it in a ziplock bag and cut a tiny tip off and drizzle that way. Top each one off with a fresh raspberry and your done! Happy 4th Flag Cupcakes!

Whipped Cream mixture for the inside of the cupcakes and the topping

Tops of the cupcakes cut off, whipped cream inserted into the center of each one - yum

Layer of blueberries and cream

Replace your tops and using a large tip pipe big mounds on top

Raspberry sauce on the stove top - make sure you cool it all the way before putting it on your cupcakes

Sorry for the dark photos, it was late and my house is rather dark...