Dump Cake, yumm

My dear friend Katy suprised my at work yesterday by bringing me a "piece" of her dump cake. I have never had a dump cake before, but it was quite tasty. Check out her blog for the recipe. http://tickle--me--pink.blogspot.com/2007/11/dump-cake.html

Sugar Cookies!

Decorating sugar cookies is one of my favorite things to do. There is something relaxing about icing the cookies that I love. I went to my friend Katy's house to make the cookies. I was feeling lazy earlier in the day so instead of making sugar cookie dough from scratch, I just bought a tube of Pilsbury. It was on sale and I have a coupon so it was only $1.50 which is probably pretty close the cost of homemade. Katy made cream cheese frosting for the cookies. When I got to her house, she told me she forgot that she didn't have a rolling pin, so we had to make due with a Pam can.

We colored the icing in many different colors.

After many hours of decorating we were finally finished. Here is my cookie family. John is on the left in the orange shirt, Zerbie is in the middle, and I am on the right in the pink dress.

My grandpa is in town and asked if he could have some of the cookies so I made a couple espcially for him. He likes to buy old cars and fix them up. So I made his maroon car and yellow car.

Here is a plate of our wonderful cookies. The airplane is a Beta Theta Pi airplane. That is the fraternity the John and Katy's boyfriend Kyle are in. Katy loves pink and is from Texas and loves pink so I made her a pink cowboy hat. The heart is a world.

Another yummy plate of cookies. Katy tried to make a palm tree, but it looks more like a stalk of celery. :)

Here we are after the cookie making adventure.

My BGEX Gift!

Here is my gift from the BGEX (Baked Goods Exchange for all you non-JKnotties out there). She made Kahlua Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Fudge Butter Cream Frosting with Halloween Sprinkles. Yum....


Kahlua Chocolate Chip Cake

Ingredients:
1 (18.25 oz.) Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1 small (1 oz.) instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt (or sour cream)
¼ cup canola oil
⅓ cup skim milk (or buttermilk)
1 large egg
3 large egg whites
⅓ cup Kahlua liqueur
⅓ cup semisweet chocolate chips (some like a few more)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Coat a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and dust with cocoa.
Place all ingredients, except chocolate chips, in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer for 2 minutes or until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted int eh middle comes out clean. Cool before cutting.

Fudge Butter Cream Frosting

Ingredients:
½ cup butter
¼ cup shortening
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup hot fudge topping
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Cream together the butter with the shortening.
Sift the cocoa with the confectioner’s sugar and add to the creamed mixture. Mix together adding 1 tablespoon at a time of milk to keep the mixture smooth, don’t add more than ¼ cup of milk.
Add the hot fudge topping and the vanilla. Blend until smooth and creamy.

Marshmellow Goodness

One of my friends Nikki (http://www.illtakethatrecipe.blogspot.com/) posted a homemade marshmellow recipe. All my friends raved at how good they were, so I decided I needed to make them. They were right, they are way better than store bought.

Homemade Marshmallows
.75-oz unflavored gelatin (3 envelopes of Knox gelatin)

1/2 cup cold water

2 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cups light corn syrup

1/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Line 9 x 9-inch pan with plastic wrap and lightly oil it. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water. Soak for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine sugar, corn syrup and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a rapid boil and boil hard for 1 minute.

Pour the boiling syrup into soaked gelatin and turn on the mixer, using the whisk attachment, to high speed. Add the salt and beat for 12 minutes.

After 12 minutes, add in the vanilla extract beat to incorporate.Scrape marshmallow into the prepared pan and spread evenly (Lightly greasing your hands and the spatula helps a lot here). Take another piece of lightly oiled plastic wrap and press lightly on top of the marshmallow, creating a seal.

Let mixture sit for a few hours, or overnight, until cooled and firmly set.In a shallow dish, combine equal parts cornstarch and confectioners’ sugar.

Remove marshmallow from pan and cut into equal pieces with scissors (the best tool for the job) or a chef’s knife. Dredge each piece of marshmallow in confectioners’ sugar mixture. Store in an airtight container.

4th of July Dessert

This is one of my favorite desserts. It is usually advertised as a 4th of July dessert, but could easy be served on Labor Day, Flag Day, Memorial Day, or any other day that it sounds good on. :)

Ingredients:
Pound cake (I prefer Sarah Lee), cut into bit sized pieces
Strawberries, wash and cut into halves
Blueberries
Whipped Cream (I use low fat)

Directions:
In a clear glass dish place a layer of pound cake, then a layer of whipped cream, then strawberries and blueberries. Continue layers until the dish is full. Cover everything with a layer of whipped cream. Then, arrange the rest of the blueberries and strawberries into a flag design on the top. Enjoy!