OK, so the first twin wanted peanut butter cups.
Trevor responded and said he also wanted chocolate, but maybe with some chocolate chips worked in. This wasn’t as specific as Tyler’s request, but it didn’t take me long to come up with something good.
Remember these babies? I’ve been wanting to make them again ever since I baked them last winter. I knew I had seen a cake version of them on Smitten Kitchen, so I went back and searched for it. Sure enough, in this post, she included a recipe for just the type of cake I was hoping to make.
After the cakes were baked and cooled, I cut a little bit of an indent out of the bottom layer of cake, filled it with the seven minute frosting, placed the other layer on top, then covered the whole thing with chocolate ganache. It was a little bit difficult to get the ganache onto the cake smoothly, but it turned out pretty well. I decorated with the extra marshmallow frosting, then sprinkled miniature chocolate chips as the finishing touch.
It was SO GOOD. My only complaint was that there was not quite enough seven minute frosting for my taste. :)
(Source: Hersheys & Smitten Kitchen)
Ingredients:
– Chocolate cake (any recipe, but I used Hersheys), baked in two layers
For Seven Minute Frosting (aka Marshmallow Frosting):
– 2 large egg whites
– 1/2 cup sugar
– 1/4 cup light corn syrup
– 2 tbsp. water
– 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
For Chocolate Ganache:
– 1/2 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut
– 1/2 cup heavy cream
– 1 tbsp. sugar
– 1 tbsp. light corn syrup
– 1/4 stick (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
Directions:
For Marshmallow Frosting (to use for filling):
Combine frosting ingredients with a pinch of salt in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and beat with a handheld electric mixer at high speed until frosting is thick and fluffy, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and continue to beat until slightly cooled. Use frosting the day it is made.
For Chocolate Ganache:
1. Finely chop chocolate. In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved.
2. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth.
3. Transfer frosting to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable (depending on chocolate used, it may be necessary to chill frosting to spreadable consistency). Stirring this over a bowl of ice water does a great job of cooling it off quickly and evenly.
My brothers’ birthday is coming up this week. We’re getting together for dinner and cake at my mom’s house tomorrow night, and I (of course) volunteered to make dessert.
The thing is, even though they’re twins and obviously share a birthday, we have always made them their own cakes. When they were little, my mom was part of a “Mother of Twins Club” and it was one of the tips given to her by the other moms to help twins feel like individuals, even though they share so much.
So, every year, without fail, they get their own cakes. Who cares if they’re 25 now? What could possibly be wrong with MORE CAKE? I do not see any negatives in this scenario.
I text messaged them last week to ask if they had any special requests in terms of ingredients. Year after year, it seems like they both tend to want something chocolate. Tyler texted back and said he’d like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups incorporated. I happened to have just the recipe in mind.
I started with my favorite chocolate cake recipe (Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Cake) and went from there. I liked the sound of Katie’s peanut butter frosting recipe, so I went with that. And um, WOW. Very rich, but completely delicious. Have you ever had peanut butter balls? This frosting tastes just like those. Except instead of a small bite of peanut butter, it’s spread all over a chocolate cake.
If you like peanut butter, you’ll love this.
(Source: Hersheys & Good Things Catered)
Ingredients:
– Chocolate cake (any recipe, but I used Hersheys), baked in two layers
– 1 stick butter, room temperature
– 1 cup creamy peanut butter
– 5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
– 1/4 – 1/2 cup milk, divided
– Reeses Peanut Butter Cups
Directions:
1. Bake your favorite chocolate cake recipe according to instructions and let cool completely.
2. Place Reeses cups into freezer for later use.
3. In bowl of stand mixer, add butter, peanut butter and 1/8 cup milk.
4. Mix on slowest setting to combine well.
5. Slowly add powdered sugar, mixing on slowest setting.
6. Adding slowly, start mixing in remaining milk, just until desired consistency is reached (you may not need all of it depending on climate and temperature).
7. When cake layers are cooled completely, level off, and place one layer on serving plate.
8. Scoop about 1 cup of frosting onto top of layer and spread out with off-set spatula.
9. Place second leveled layer on top of frosting and frost cake fully, reserving about ½ c for decorating.
10. Remove Reeses cups from freezer, unwrap and use to decorate. Place cake in fridge until meal time. Remove cake from fridge 1-2 hours before serving to let it warm to room temperature.
I’ve been really into Mexican flavors lately. Every week, when I’m doing the menu planning, Mexican always sounds good. This week was no different. When I browsed my Google Reader for new recipes to try, I came across these Mexican pizzas and figured it was about time we tried these. And wow… they did not disappoint.
While it isn’t the healthiest thing in the world, there are things you can do to make it not-so-bad. First, we used whole wheat tortillas, and fat free refried beans. We also went fairly easy on the sauce and cheese. To make it even lighter, you could substitute ground turkey for the ground beef. Anyway, indulge a little… it’s worth it. ;)
Although the recipe called for 10″ tortillas, we used the smaller ones (8 inches, maybe?) and they were plenty filling. Cooking them directly on the oven rack crisps them up really nicely. Overall, this one was a homerun for us. It’s definitely being added to the list of favorites!
(Source: Delicious Meliscious)
Ingredients:
– 1/2 lb. ground beef
– 1/2 small onion, diced
– homemade taco seasoning (recipe below)
– 1/4 cup water
– 4 flour tortillas (8 inches)
– 1/2 can refried beans
– 1/4 – 1/2 cup taco sauce or enchilada sauce
– shredded cheese
– 1/2 tomato, diced
– green onions, diced
– sliced black olives
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and cook the ground beef until brown; drain. Return to the heat and add the onion, taco seasoning and water. Continue to cook for several minutes, until cooked through, stirring often.
2. Spray both sides of each tortilla with cooking spray and place directly on the middle rack of your oven. Bake for about 6 minutes, turning halfway through, until golden brown and crispy. Watch carefully so they do not burn. Remove to a baking sheet.
3. Microwave the refried beans for 30-60 seconds, or until spreadable.
4. Lay 2 tortillas out on a baking sheet; top each with a spoonful of the beans, ground beef, and sprinkled cheese. Top with another tortilla and lightly press down.
5. Top the second tortillas each with taco sauce. Layer with diced tomatoes, cheese, green onions and a few black olives.
6. Bake for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Cut into wedges and top with sour cream and/or salsa if desired.
Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix
(Source: Cooks.com)
Ingredients:
– 1/2 tbsp. chili powder
– 1 tsp. onion powder
– 1/2 tsp. each ground cumin, garlic powder, paprika, powdered oregano and sugar
– 1/4 tsp. salt
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. This recipe makes enough to season 1/2 lb. of ground meat. For 1 lb. of meat, double the recipe.
I ♥ slipper socks.
In fact, I love them so much that I have about eight pairs of them just so I have enough to last me between laundry loads. In the winter, if I’m at home, I’m wearing slipper socks. At all times. (Well, unless I’m sleeping, in which case I’m barefoot because I can’t sleep with anything on my feet. I’m weird like that. But I digress.)
It’s September 30, that’s what. Seeing as how it was only 48 degrees when I got home from work today, it couldn’t be avoided. There’s something very wrong about wearing slipper socks before October. I know, I know… tomorrow’s October. But still.
In any case, my feet are warm and happy. And I’ll admit I am pretty giddy about the return of my most favoritest comfy slipper socks. Even if I am a little bit disturbed at how early I had to bust them out.
What next? Turning on the heat?
Not happening.
Thanks to all who made suggestions on my post about where to take our next vacation. We’re still debating about what to do in the late January/early February time frame, but for now, we’ve got our sights set on a smaller vacation.
For a while now, we’ve been discussing taking a trip down to New York City in December. Even though I’ve been to the city many times, I’ve never been at Christmastime.
But then, earlier this week, Michael said, out of nowhere, “What if we go to San Antonio for Christmas?” And, well… he may have been partially joking, but the idea kind of stuck. It would be kind of nice to go to Texas for Christmas. Not actually FOR Christmas, but in early December. During the Christmas season, you see.
As much as I like New York City, and even though I still want to get there at Christmas time, we are so.much.closer to NYC. It’s a super short flight, we could drive if we had to, and essentially, we could go at any time. Any year.
But going to Texas? That’s not something we would just do.
We were originally considering San Antonio as a “stop” for one of our January/February vacation options, but we figured… why not just go to Texas for a long weekend in December? For us, it’s no further a flight than the one to Las Vegas, and we certainly managed that earlier this year.
After chatting with my lovely Texas friends (whom I’ve never actually met in person, but who knows, maybe I can convince them to drive to Austin from Dallas? It’s only.three.hours. I’m just saying), we rounded out the idea even more. Not only would we visit San Antonio, but we’d also spend a few nights in Austin.
And it just keeps getting more and more tempting.
So, although we have yet to book anything, we are seriously considering heading on down to the Lone Star State.
I just have one question: Are cowboy boots and hats required? :)
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
