Chocolate Crumb Cake Loaf

A nice change from the usual cinnamon crumb cake.....This VERY chocolately version is to die for.  I used our favorite chocolate cake recipe found here....Ultimate Chocolate Cake and made a delicious dark chocolate crumb topping.  When I combined the two it was over the top delicious.  This recipe makes two loaves so you can share with friends ;)

Ingredients:

Ultimate Chocolate Cake batter
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Generously spray two loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray.  Prepare Ultimate Chocolate Cake batter and pour half batter into each loaf pan.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Meanwhile in a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder and melted butter.  Mix with a fork until big crumbs appear, set aside.  Remove cakes from oven after baking for 20 minutes...the cake will not be done and probably be runny.   Top each loaf with half of the chocolate crumb mixture.  Place cakes back in the oven for an additional 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Immediately dust the entire top of the cakes with powdered sugar and then sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.  Set aside to cool before cutting and serving.

Heart Shaped Cupcakes (using a regular round cupcake pan)

 

Happy Valentine's Day!!

 

I wanted to make some Valentine's Day cupcakes to donate to my children's school PTA Valentine's Day Bake Sale.   I have seen this technique around Pinterest and other Food blogs but have never tried it myself.  This is so simple and they come out adorable with no special tools or cupcake tins.  All you need is 24 marbles or large round glass beads, two regular round cupcake pans and 24 cupcake liners and you are all set.  You can of course make your favorite cupcake and frosting recipes but in a pinch a boxed mix and canned frosting works out great!

 

Ingredients:

 

Cake batter, prepared (any flavor you like)

1 container frosting, any flavor/color

2- 12 cupcake pans

24 cupcake liners

24 marble or large round glass beads

sprinkles or decorations optional

 

Preparation:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line cupcake pans with cupcake liners.  Prepare cake batter according to box directions or recipe.   Pour batter about 1/2 - 2/3 full and then carefully place a marble between pan and cupcake liners to make indentation (as seen in picture below).  I have also placed marbles in-between pan and liners before pouring in batter.  I think this might be easier and you will not accidently overfill liners although either way will work.  Bake cupcakes for 20-23 minutes.  Cool completely on rack before frosting.  Now you can be creative and frost and decorate your cupcakes anyway you like.

 

Line

 

 

 

Funfetti Cake Dip Ball

For our New Year's Eve party I made 3 delicious dessert cheese balls to serve for dessert.  They were all a huge hit.  Here is one of them.  This one was a most popular with the kids which was no big surprise because It tastes like birthday cake.  This is a fun and different dessert idea for any celebration.  You can serve just about anything with it from pretzels, cookies, graham crackers etc.  Just use your imagination!  I found this recipe on Pinterest and you can find the original recipe here at What's Cooking Love?


Ingredients:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups funfetti cake mix,dry

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar 

1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles

Vanilla Wafers, pretzels, graham crackers, or other cookies for dipping

 

Preparation:

 

In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer beat the cream cheese and butter together until combined. Add in the Funfetti cake mix, sugar, and powdered sugar and beat until combined.   Mixture will seem extremely dry and you will think it will never get creamy but I assure you it will.  Just keep beating it together and have patience.

Place the mixture on a large piece of plastic wrap.  Bring up all the corners of the plastic wrap and wrap into a ball.  Refrigerate the ball for about 1 hour or until it is firm enough to keep its shape.  You can also put it in the freezer for quicker results.

Place the rainbow sprinkles on a flat plate and roll the unwrapped cheese ball in the sprinkles.  Make sure to press the sprinkles into the cheese ball until it is fully covered.

 

Place the ball on a serving dish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.  The cheese ball will be very firm straight out of the refrigerator so let stand for about 10-15 min before serving.  Also you may want to place a few small spreaders on the platter to make it easier to serve. 

 

 

Cookie Dough Dip

My new favorite thing to serve for pretty much any event is a dessert dip!  I have 4 recipes that I will be posting over the next week or so.  These dips are so good and so much fun.  Every time I've served one at a party people just flipped over them.   It's great for a big crowd and very easy to throw together quickly. Original recipe found here at Add a Pinch

 

 

Ingredients:

 

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup mini chocolate chips

1 cup toffee bits

 

Preparation:

 

In a large bowl with a hand mixer (or a spoon with a lot of muscle) beat together cream cheese and butter.  Add sugars and vanilla and beat to combine well.  Next add chocolate chips and toffee bits and mix until incorporated evenly.  Transfer to a smaller serving bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to set.  Serve with pretzels, graham crackers, cookies or whatever you would like to dip into it.  Honestly EVERYTHING would taste good dipped into this.

 

Meatloaf Sliders

A fun and delicious take on a typical hamburger slider.  I just made my favorite meatloaf recipe and formed the meat mixture into small patties and baked as usual.  Top with some crispy fried onions and YUM! Great little bite for cocktail party or just a fun dinner idea.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 lb. meatloaf mix (beef/pork/veal)

1 package onion soup mix

1 egg

1/2 cup ketchup (plus extra to brush on top)

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Crispy fried onions

slider buns or dinner rolls

 

Preparation:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix meat with onion soup mix, egg, ketchup and breadcrumbs. Mix together until combined, be careful not to over mix.  Form into small patties and place on a lined baking sheet.  Brush the top of each patty with about 1/2 teaspoon of ketchup.  Bake for about 25-30 minutes.  On bottom half of bun place one patty and top with a teaspoon of crispy fried onions, place on top bun and Enjoy!!

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

For some reason, my family has NEVER made pumpkin pie as part of our Thanksgiving. We always opted for a delicious pecan pumpkin pie instead. I have always wanted to make a traditional pumpkin pie. This recipe is just perfect. So simple and soooo delicious.

Ingredients:

 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin (about 2 cups)
 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
 2 large eggs
 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
 1/2 teaspoon salt
 1(9-inch) unbaked pie crust

Preparation:

Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, and eggs together until well combined. Add spices. Pour into an unbaked pie crust. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 45 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Pumpkin Corn Fritters

I saw this recipe posted by Daphne Oz of The Chew and it looked so easy and delicious. I thought it would make for a perfect appetizer for Thanksgiving. Very simple using canned pumpkin, canned corn, with a few spices and some self rising flour and Voila! Fritters!!

Ingredients:

1 15-ounce can Pumpkin Puree
1 7-ounce can Whole Kernel Corn (drained)
2 Eggs
1 1/2 cups Self-Rising Flour
1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
Vegetable Oil for frying

Preparation:

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, corn and eggs and whisk to combine. Add the flour, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, and season with salt and pepper. When the oil is to temperature carefully drop in heaping tablespoons of batter, making sure not to over crowd the pan. Gently flip when the bottom is crispy and allow to cook on the second side.