Thank you for your understanding as I feel my way through WordPress and all it’s wonderfulness. See you on the flip side!

-The Sugar Pixie

I quickly looked around for what I had, and I happened to remember I had some heavy whipping cream for an alfredo sauce I did not make (lightened up version using yogurt instead). Okay, so sugar and cream and limes, how about ice cream? Could I make ice cream without the aid of an ice cream maker = YES! Read More

I went to my trusty recipe search engine – Google, which eventually brought me allrecipes.com. I found a few recipes to use, but I decided to substitute key lime for lemon. I can not wait to try this with some other fruits as well: pomegranate, raspberry, goji, orange, lemon, mango….etc!

Key Lime Ice Cream

Yield: 1 quart size container

• 3-4 average sized key limes: zested and juiced (just about 1/4c)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup heavy cream, chilled
• 9×5 loaf pan

Steps

In another bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff but not grainy. Gently fold the whipped cream into the key lime mixture until evenly blended. Pour the mixture into a 9×5 loaf pan. Cover with a piece of plastic and press down gently into the ice cream to form a nice seal. Freeze for approximately 3 hours or until firm.

Birthday Girl - Ms. Cherie!

I love making food for parties, but this was the first time I ever had to make all the food and take it somewhere else. I was nervous and excited all at the same time. After watching many an episode of Top Chef where items are perfect in the kitchen but turn into a disaster at service I was careful to think of ways to safely transport everything to the tiny nail salon so it arrived in the same condition it left the fridge or oven in. Thankfully everything arrived in the same condition it left my house in, with maybe a minor cupcake casualty or so!

I went to the party store to pick up napkins and plates, but also to look over all the steamer/baking trays. So many different heights and weights to choose from. I always thought they were the same aluminum pans in the store but they are different. The lids had these nifty pulls to help with opening and extra foil on the sides to close the lids along with tiny holes to let the steam out. So I am easily amused!

A couple of emails back and forth between Cherie’s husband and I and a menu was born.

Menu:

• Crispy Chicken Wontons with Orange Dragonfire sauce
• Spinach, Mushroom and Carrot Quiche
• Caprese appetizers
• Cheese and fruit assortment
• Black Magic Cupcakes with Fudge Frosting
• Pomegranate Bellini’s – supplied by the birthday girl’s wonderful husband

Appetizer approximations:

I went online searching for appetizer approximations before I went shopping. I did not want to have too much or worse, not enough for the approximate twelve guests. According to What’s Cooking America’s site:

The rule of thumb for smaller gatherings is that 3 types are suitable for 8 to 10 guests; 4 or 5 for 14 to 16 people.

Schedule

The party was on a Tuesday evening so I spent a good portion of Monday preparing and baking as much as I could, because Tuesday would involve a lot of last minute baking, prep and packing.

Saturday/Sunday

• Shopping for table goods and food supplies

Monday

1. Baked cupcakes and made frosting
2. Poached chicken
3. Prepared and baked quiche

Tuesday

1. Morning
   • Orange Dragonfire Sauce
   • Wonton filling
2. Afternoon
   • Iced and decorated cupcakes
   • Caprese appetizers
   • Fruit/cheese tray
   • Assembled and baked wontons
   • Baked quiche

Mini Spinach Mushroom Carrot Quiche

Yield: 24 appetizers

1. Use the same recipe as Spinach Mushroom Carrot quiche, but finely dice everything.
2. Form small square of crescent roll dough into bottom of mini muffin cup
3. Place filling – minus egg and cheese mixture into muffin cup
4. Gently fill with egg/milk/cheese mixture
5. Bake 12-15 minutes until lightly browned.

Crispy Chicken Wontons

Yield: 48 wontons

• 3 cups Chicken – Cooked and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup Carrot – finely chopped
• 1/4 cup Water chestnuts – finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons Cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon Water
• 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 (16 ounce) package Wonton wrappers
• 2 tablespoons Butter or margarine, melted
• 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil
• Plum or sweet-sour sauce (or make your own, see below)
• Video: How to fold a wonton

Mini Caprese Appetizers

Yield: About 20-36 appetizers (Depending on your package of tomatoes/mozzarella you could easily get 36

Directions

Photo courtesy: Fotocuisine.com

Belated Happy Canada to our friends up north, and here’s to yet another exciting Fourth of July. Mine is going to start off with a bang by running a 5k in the morning and slowly go from there! I was thinking back this week that it has been just about a year since I started food blogging, even though I didn’t start my own blog until October 2009. I fondly, okay, I fondly remember NOW Christey (@fotocuisine) planting the seed in my head I should start my own blog. Like a good bread, I just needed some time to rise and think about it before I started to pull my own blog out of the oven!

Thinking back to where I was a year ago, here’s the recipe that started it all – Strawberry Cupcakes! Decorate them with some crushed pecans, blueberries, sprinkles or just leave ‘em naked and enjoy every delicious bite of icing!

Strawberry Cupcakes with Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting!!

Yes, you did read that right FIVE MINUTE CAKE. I found this recipe on instructables.com and doctored it up a bit. Make it your own by adding some nuts, berries, crushed candy bar, marshmallows etc. I made this as a quick birthday cake for my husband Dave, but don’t add the candle right away because it will melt into it. (I wasn’t lazy, we just had a lot to eat that weekend and he chose this recipe!)

Five Minute Chocolate Cake

Yield: 1 mug of cakey goodness, easily shared or devoured by 1

• 4 tablespoons flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons applesauce OR oil
• 3 tablespoons chocolate chips (or goji berries, nuts, crushed candy bar)
• Tiny tiny pinch of salt
• Splash of vanilla or other flavoring (coffee, peppermint, cinnamon, almond)

Directions:

1. Measure all the ingredients into an oversized coffee cup (or other microwave safe cup like container)
2. Cook time varies. For mine, I cook for 2 mins on a 1300W microwave

This is one of my favorite banana bread recipes and for the sake of demonstration and sharing I made these mini size. As usual, I also had to tweak the recipe to see if I could make some healthier substitutions, and thankfully it all turned out fine!

Mini-Banana Muffins

Yield: 4.5 dozen

• Mini-muffin pan
• Non-stick cooking spray
• 1/4 cup Butter or solid Vegetable shortening
• 1/4 cup Unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 3/4 – 1 cup Mashed ripe bananas
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/8 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup Nuts (optional)
• Pinch of Cinnamon

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In an electric mixer, mix together butter, applesauce and sugar.
3. With the mixer running, add in one egg at a time until incorporated.
4. Mix in the mashed banana until blended together.
5. In a separate bowl, mix together: baking soda, baking powder, salt, flour, nuts and cinnamon.
6. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix thoroughly. The dough will be sticky.
7. Spray the mini-muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray OR use muffin liners if you want.
8. Using a 1 Tbs measuring spoon, portion into each of the cups.
9. Bake between 10-12 minutes. The muffins will puff up slightly but any longer than 12 minutes and you may overcook the muffins.
10. Remove pan from oven and let cool slightly before inverting the muffins onto a cooling rack.

I have been on a butterscotch kick lately, trying to find all sorts of recipes to try butterscotch chips in. It seems like the only time I ever used to have them was when someone would make a 7-layer cookie.

In addition to the butterscotch chips, these also have toffee another favorite of mine. I had a few leftover snack size Heath bars and some ‘Bits o Toffee’. I finely chopped the Heath in our mini-food processor and tossed in the small amount of bits of toffee I had leftover.

Our 3yo daughter helped me make the batter and I baked them while she took a nap. The original recipe used a regular size muffin pan to make 12 ‘brownies,’ but I took advantage of our mini muffin tins to make these brownies into bite-size treats. I first tried my medium cookie scoop, but then I downsized to the smallest scoop with a little extra. The bites that were made with the medium scoop were getting stuck in the tin and spilling over the sides of the cups, that’s when I decided less was more.

Butterscotch Toffee Bites

Makes 3 dozen mini bites, or 1 dozen blondies (standard 12 cup muffin pan)

• Mini-muffin pan or standard size muffin pan
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) Unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups All-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 1/2 cups Light-brown sugar (packed)
• 2 large Eggs
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
• 2 chocolate-covered toffee bars (1 1/4 ounces each), finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
  • If toffee bars are not available feel free to use some Hershey’s ‘Bits ‘O Brickle‘ or ‘Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits’
• 1/2 cup Butterscotch baking chips
• Optional: Small cookie scoop (Size 60, portions 2 tsp)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With non-stick cooking spray, prepare a standard 12-cup (each 2 1/2 inches wide) or mini muffin pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in eggs one at at time until combined, and then add vanilla.
5. Slowly add flour mixture, and beat just until combined (do not overmix).
6. Gently fold in chopped toffee and butterscotch chips.
7. Divide batter among prepared cups, filling each about halfway.
8. Bake until golden brown, and a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean:
   • Mini bites: 13 to 15 minutes
   • Larger bites (standard muffin): 18-22 minutes
9. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool for 10 minutes.
10. Turn out blondie bites onto rack; cool completely, top side up.

Butterscotch Toffee Bites

PS: In honor of these ‘BT bites’ here’s a tiny plug for a crazy good dance musician, BT. For a limited time go download a free tune (Love Can Kill You) from his newest CD – ‘These Hopeful Machines.’ Amazing artist and extremely down to Earth and overall wicked cool guy. You have to follow his tweets on Twitter (@BT) if not for his insightful thoughts, but the pics he posts!

It was time for recipe club again, and I wanted to try something new. Some friends and were talking about poundcake on Twitter, which lead to a search for various poundcake recipes. I took some inspiration from a Honey Vanilla Sour Cream Poundcake and a lightened up version of Sour Cream Poundcake with Rum Glaze to come up with my recipe.

I actually made this recipe twice: the full version, and a half version, because my first cake got stuck in the bundt pan! I must say the halved version of the cake was tastier, but the first cake made for great strawberry shortcake.

I am always excited and nervous to try a new recipe, especially when it is a recipe I have made some tweaks too. I am mostly excited when it is a new set of flavors, but nervous about how the various ingredients or substitutions will come together. This was one of those times where I did not have a care in the world until it came time to remove the cake from the bundt pan – another of my kitchen enemies.

The Recipe Mash

The Honey Vanilla Sour Cream Poundcake (Brown Eyed Baker) I first looked at had quite a few eggs in it, several cups of sugar and about a cup of butter. This was really close to what a true poundcake should have in it – about a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs and flour. I wanted something a bit healthier, so went searching for a lightened up versions of poundcake recipes. That is when I stumbled on a lightened up family recipe of a Sour Cream Poundcake with Rum Glaze (Cooking Light). I compared the two recipes, and while some parts were similar (the number of eggs caught my eye first) the reductions made sense and I was willing to give it a try.

Cake stuck in pan

Cake Attempt #1

I pretty much used the Rum Glaze cake recipe verbatim, minus the rum glaze part and just added in some honey. Our 3yo daughter helped me make the first cake, and to her credit she waited until we were all finished before she asked to lick the bowl, spoon, paddle etc. This batter was GOOD, and super light and fluffy. This cake turned out extremely fluffy, and almost reminded me of an angel food cake. It seemed a bit on the fragile side, because when I would cut it the pieces would kind of crumble apart. I am fairly positive this cake would hold its own with some icing as well.

Poundcake served at Recipe Club

Cake attempt #2

After my first cake broke trying to remove it from the pan, I decided to try and make the recipe again since I needed something to take to recipe club. (Most of the rounded part was stuck in the pan) I was using organic eggs (expensive) eggs because I forgot to pick up the regular eggs from the grocery store when I went out that morning. We were already low on eggs and I did not want to go through another three eggs and then not have enough to last till our next grocery trip. I decided to just use 1 egg, and half the recipe. Usually, when I half a recipe I round up the egg, but this time I just used the one.

Compare and Contrasting

I really did not expect the cakes be that drastically different, but there were some differences between the two. The biggest difference between these two cakes besides, one is half a recipe is that cake 2 (poundcake) had less egg, and therefore did not rise as much, in fact you can see the cake actually fell a bit in the middle. Eggs are a critical part of the baking as they are what help make the baked good rise.

Bundt Cake 1: (Right)

• Lighter (both in taste, texture and color)
• Moister
• Fragile

PoundCake 2: (Left)

• Denser
• More yellow in color
• Defined but mellow honey/sour cream flavor

Honey Vanilla Sour Cream Cake

Yield: 1-10” bundt cake

Ingredients

• 3 cups Cake flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 3/4 cup Butter softened
• 2 cups Granulated sugar
• 3 large Eggs
• 1/4 cup Fat-free milk
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons Honey
• 1 cup Fat-free sour cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a separate bowl, gently measure cake flour and combine with baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix thoroughly with a whisk.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs one at a time until well incorporated.
5. Add milk, honey and vanilla and beat until combined.
6. Lower the mixer speed and alternate the addition of flour mixture (end with the flour) and sour cream to the sugar mixture. Beat until just combined.
7. Liberally spray a 10” bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray.
8. Spoon and level batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Loosen cake from sides of pan using a narrow metal spatula. Place a plate upside down on top of cake; invert onto plate.

Half Recipe Measurements

Yield: 1- 1 ½ quart rectangular loaf dish. (5-inch x 9-inch x 3-inch loaf dish)

• 1.5 cups Cake flour
• ½ teaspoon Baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon Salt
• 1/8 tsp Baking Soda
• 3oz Butter softened (about 5 1/3 pats of butter)
• 1 cup Granulated sugar
• 1 large Eggs
• 1/8 cup Fat-free milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon Honey
• 1/2 cup Fat-free sour cream

Directions:

Same as above. Feel free to line loaf dish with some parchment paper for easy removal.

Step by Step (10″ bundt cake)

Preheat oven to 350. While the oven is preheating, measure dry ingredients into a seperate bowl and mix together with a whisk.

• 3 cups Cake flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy.

• 3/4 cup Butter softened
• 2 cups Granulated sugar

Add eggs one at a time until well incorporated. Then slowly add milk, honey and vanilla and beat until combined.

• 3 large Eggs
• 1/4 cup Fat-free milk
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons Honey

Lower the mixer speed and alternate the addition of flour mixture (end with the flour) and sour cream to the sugar mixture. Beat until just combined.

Then liberally spray a 10″ bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray. Gently spoon and level batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Loosen cake from sides of pan using a narrow metal spatula. Place a plate upside down on top of cake; invert onto plate.

Enjoy with some berries (blackberry, strawberry) and a nice cup of tea!

I was hungry for a Black Forest cake, but more specifically chocolate and cherries. I thought about making this for Valentine’s Day but plans (LASIK surgery) got in the way. So I decided to make this and share with family for our youngest daughter’s first birthday. The thing I love about black forest cake is the chocolate and the cherries, so I wanted to feature those two things in my cake.

Growing up, I remember eating a cake from a box that used this special fluted pan and as far as I can remember, it was called black forest cake. It was a layer of chocolate cake, that when it was inverted to cool, you poured this packet of cherry pie filling in it. Not sure if there was anything else to it, but that’s what I remember. So going on childhood memories I decided to make my own cake.

I have some fabulous recipes for chocolate cake and chocolate frosting and that’s what I used here. I picked another element, chocolate ganache, from a Chocolate Raspberry Torte our family makes. Two out of the three recipes I used are actually already on this blog, and the ganache was a cinch to make.

The Cake

I used my ever popular Black Magic Cake for the cake part. This chocolate cake is so incredibly moist and gets right to the point to fix any chocolate craving.

I divided the batter between two round cake pans and for some added chocolatey goodness, I sprinkled some semi-sweet chocolate chips on top of the batter to melt into the cake as it cooked. The cake bakes for about 30-35 minutes until a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean.

More Chocolate – Icing and Ganache

Most Black Forest Cakes are iced and filled with a cherry flavored whipped cream and chocolate curls, but I wanted mine to highlight my favorite components. Instead of filling the cake with maraschino cherries and whipped cream I simply used my Fudged Fudge Frosting as the cake filling. Using an offset spatula, spread the chocolate ganache as smoothly as possible over the top of the cake and messily down the sides. The cake kind of took on a rustic look with the ganache randomly flowing over the sides – because I can never get it smooth enough without the filling getting in the way.

Pipe a fudge frosting border (or moat) with your favorite decorating tip to contain the cherry pie filling on the top.

The Finish

Once the ganache and icing set (or crust) a bit, add the cherry pie filling in small spoonfuls. The entire can of filling most likely will not fit, but most of it will. It is far easier to add more filling then to take cherries off.

From there, you can choose to add a bear – like I did or eat as is.

Enjoy!

Recipes Used:

Black Magic Cake Recipe

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk or sour milk*
  • *To sour milk: Use 1 tablespoon vinegar plus milk to equal 1 cup.
• 1 cup strong black coffee OR one the following options:
  • 2 teaspoons powdered instant coffee, plus 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 tablespoon instant espresso, plus 1 cup boiling water
• 1/4 c vegetable oil + 1/4 unsweetened applesauce (OR 1/2 c vegetable oil)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and begin boiling just over a cup of water. While the oven is pre-heating prep 2-round cake pans (8″ or 9″)
2. Mix together, sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
3. Add eggs, buttermilk (or soured milk), coffee, oil (or oil/applesauce mixture) and vanilla and beat on medium speed until combined. Batter will be very thin.
4. Pour batter evenly between the two pans.
5. Bake 30 to 35 minutes until a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean.
6. Cool for 10 minutes and remove from pans. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Fudged Fudge Frosting

• 6 cups Confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 c Crisco
• 4 – 1oz squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 1/2 boiling water (added some powdered espresso)
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl
2. Beat on low until well blended
3. Beat at least 1 minute more
4. Enjoy!

Chocolate Ganache

• 1 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup Heavy Whipping cream

1. Place ingredients in microwave safe measuring cup.
2. First cook for 45 seconds, stir gently
3. Continue to cook in 30 second intervals until chocolate is smooth. Do NOT overcook, or chocolate will seize.
4. Use an offset spatula to spread evenly over cake surface.