Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Fruit Fluff

8 oz. cream cheese (I did fat free to make healthier)
1 tub of cool whip ( I also did fat free)
1 cup of your favorite frozen berry

Blend all ingredients together.

Serve as a fruit dip with any fruit or use as a base for a fruit salad.

Toffee Apple Dip

8 oz cream cheese softened
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. toffee pieces

mix together and serve with Granny Smith apple slices

Monday, January 25, 2010

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

1 box yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1 C milk
2-3 drops yellow food coloring
1-2 drops red food coloring
1/3 C orange juice concentrate
1 recipe whipped cream frosting (below, minus lemon extract)

Mix together cake mix, eggs, and milk. Drop enough food coloring to make a good orange colored batter. Pour batter into paper liners and fill 3/4 full.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack until cooled.
Once the cupcakes are cool, cut out the top, set aside, and make a place for the filling, leaving the walls and bottom of the cupcake strong enough to support the filling.
In a separate bowl, fold 1/3 C orange juice concentrate into whipped cream. Spoon the filling into the hole and top with set aside portion of cupcake to seal the filling. Top with desired frosting or a dollop of any leftover filling mixture. ( I used cream cheese frosting, and the book recommends that, vanilla buttercream, or whipped cream.)

Lemon Cream Cupcakes

1 box lemon cake mix (I misread this and made it with yellow cake, so if you liked it this way, go for it)
2 eggs
1 C sour cream
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 Tbs. lemon zest
1/2 C crushed lemon drop candy (I just topped them with a few lemon heads)

Mix together cake mix, eggs, sour cream, and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add grated lemon zest and combine. Fill paper liners 3/4 full.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Remove and cool cupcakes on a wire rack.

Whipped Cream Frosting:
2 C heavy whipping cream
1/4 - 1/2 C powdered sugar (depending on preference)
1 tsp. lemon extract

Pour cream into large mixing bowl and start mixing at low speed. Gradually increase speed until cream thickens and soft peaks form.
Turn off mixer and add sugar. Start slowly and beat until stiff peaks form. The stiffer the cream, the easier it is to frost the cupcakes. Add lemon extract to whipped cream, and combine well. Keep refrigerated.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Pretzel Snowman

This is pretty self explanatory but here is the recipe
1 bag of white chocolate chips
1 bag of mini chocolate chips
fruit roll up
bag of gummy savors
Dots
Orange frosting
Bag of pretzel sticks
melt white chocolate in microwave for one minute, take out and stir with wooden spoon, place back in microwave for 30sec
dip pretzels in white chocolate and spread with plastic spoon or knife down the pretzel
place on wax paper and add mini chocolate chips as the eyes, nose and buttons and orange frosting as the nose or you can chop up an orange dot and use that.
place in fridge for 2 min to cool
then tie on fruit roll up as scarf and add gummy(stretch over top of pretzel) and dot as the hat. I used a little bit of frosting to get the gummy to stick on top.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Pound Cake

Ingredients
3 sticks butter (room temp)
1 8 oz. block cream cheese (room temp)
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
3 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 300*

In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter, cream cheese, eggs, and sugar.
Then add the vanilla and almond extract, mix together.
Add flour one cup at a time.
Pour into greased loaf pans or bundt pan and bake for an hour and 20 min.
Some ovens will vary, put toothpick in to check.
When cooled slice and top with whipped cream and fruit. Or chocolate sauce. Or anything yummy!

Tip: When dealing with sifted flour, if a recipe says for instance; 2 cups sifted flour, you would sift flour and then measure it. It the recipe says 2 cups flour; sifted you would measure out 2 cups, and then sift it. Just a little FYI!!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Cucumber Open Faced Sandwiches

1 loaf bread with crusts cut off, and then cut into fourths
2 cucumbers, sliced
8 oz. cream cheese

Topping:
1 C Mayo
1 C Sour Cream
1 packet of ranch salad dressing mix
1/2 C raddishes, finely diced
1 medium carrot, finely diced
1 1/2 tsp. dry dill weed
pinch of salt

Spread some cream cheese onto each piece of bread, and top with a slice of cucumber and some topping. Enjoy!