4th of July Strawberries

First time doing this!

 

Supplies Needed:

 

Strawberries – the pointier the better!

Lollipop Sticks

White chocolate

Blue Sprinkles

INSTRUCTIONS:

 

Melt your chocolate the way you want.  I used my melting pot.

Put aside a bowl of blue sprinkles.

While the chocolate is melting, put lollipop sticks in the tops of the strawberries (where the green stuff is).

When the chocolate is done melting, dip each strawberry three quarters of the way in the white chocolate.  You might need a spoon to cover the missed spots.

Let it cool down a LITTLE, but NOT completely and then dip it a little bit in the blue sprinkles.

Repeat for each strawberry.

 

 

Sugar Cookie Lemon Tarts

SUGAR COOKIE LEMON TARTS

I made these for my daughters teacher for teacher appreciation week.

Supplies Needed:

Butter

Sugar

3 eggs

3 egg yolks

flour

salt

baking powder

whipping cream

1 large lemon

powdered sugar (optional)

Mixer

Parchment paper

Mini muffin tin

Cooking spray

INSTRUCTIONS:

 

Mix 8 tablespoons of butter and 1/2 cup of sugar in the mixer.  Add in 1 egg until fully mixed.  Add 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 1/2 cups of flour, and a pinch of salt.  Mix until there are no clumps of flour left.  Wrap the dough in parchment (or wax) paper and put in freezer for 15 – 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease the mini muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together 2 eggs, 3 egg yolks, 1/4 cup whipping cream, juice from the lemon, and 1/4 cup sugar until smooth.  This is going to be your lemon filling.

By this time, the dough should be ready.  Make little balls and put them into each slot in the muffin pan.

I used a tool from pampered chef to make them into cups, but you can use your thumb or fingers.

If you are using the same tool as me, I lightly coated it in flour before each time so it would not get stuck to the dough.  Make sure the dough is even on all sides.

When they are all done, carefully fill them with the lemon filling, just about to the top of the cookie crust.

Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes or until the crust begins to turn golden.  Let them cool completely.  Refrigerate before serving, serve chilled.

Optional topping:

Just sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Thank You Gift for Labor & Delivery Nurses

I want to say THANK YOU!!  to Kitty from Sweet Sticks by Pada Cake for these AMAZING cake pops!  I told her exactly what I wanted and she did it!  CLICK THIS for her facebook page!

 

 

Easy Peazy Cake Pops

Supplies Needed:

Wilton chocolate disks (I used these because they work best in my melter)

Lollipop sticks

Box of Cake Mix

Can of frosting

INSTRUCTIONS:

Start by baking your cake as directed on the box.  When it is done baking, let it cool completely.  Break up the cake and crumb into a large bowl.  You might want to cut off the edges if they are hard.  When you crumble the cake, make sure the crumbs are FINE!  Or else your cake pops will be lumpy.

Next, add in 1/2 can of frosting and mix.  If it is not sticking together, add just a little bit more, but not the whole can or the cake balls will slide off the lollipop sticks.

 

Now it is time to get a lil messy!  Make round balls out of the mix.  When done, put them in the refrigerator for about an hour to chill.

While the cake balls are chilling, start melting your chocolate, and remember to stir!

After an hour, pull your cake balls out of the fridge two at a time (so they don’t get warm).  Stick a lollipop stick in the chocolate and stick it half way into the cake pop.  Wait about 30 seconds and dip your cake pop half way in the chocolate.  Use a spoon to coat the missed spots and the chocolate drip off.

 

Decorate as you wish before the chocolate hardens!  Refrigerate for 10 minutes and they are ready to be eaten!

 

 

 

Baptism Cake from Bethel Bakery

This…cake…was…AMAZING!  Bethel Bakery is THE best!  I told them exactly what I wanted and they nailed it!  We got a white almond batter, white chocolate mousse filling, disco dust (the rainbow sparkle dust), and scroll work.

 

 

 

 

Marshmallow Crosses for Baptism

These were another favor we used for our twins baptism.

 

Supplies Needed:

Bags of marshmallows (Depends on how many crosses you want to make)

Skewers

Sprinkles

Treat Bags

Ribbon

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Take 4 marshmallows and place on a skewer.  You will need to cut some skewers smaller and carefully for the crossbars.  Place a crossbar thru the second marshmallow and place a marshmallow on each side.  Using a brush, or your hand, or a paper towel, put water all over the fronts of the marshmallows.  Sprinkle your decorations and tap off excess.

Bag and tie.

 

 

 

End of the year teacher gift

My daughter gave these to her teachers, bus driver, and dance teachers at the end of the year last year!

 

Easter Classroom Treat

Supplies Needed:

 

Easter Grass

Marshmallow Peeps

Treat Bags

Stapler

INSTRUCTIONS:

 

Place Easter grass in treat bag.  Put in peep.  Staple your tag to it!  Easy and cute!

 

7 Layer Rainbow Cake

Oh boy…was this a challenge!  Sorry for the crappy iphone pics, I didn’t have my camera!  Next time I make this (if I make it again!), I will take good pics!  My friend Shawnel and I had a baking day and made all kinds of stuff…oh, and made a mess in the meantime!  But it was so much fun!

Supplies Needed:

7 Boxes of white cake mix

5 cans of frosting

food coloring

eggs

8″ Round Cake pans

 

DIRECTIONS:

Depending on how many cake pans and bowls you have, mix the cake mix according to the directions.  Add food coloring of your choice to all 7 of the batters.  Bake all the cakes and let cool.  When cool, start by placing one cake onto a plate or what ever surface you will be using.  Before placing the next cake, add a layer of frosting.  Do this until all the layers are stacked on top of each other.

 

Frost the entire cake.

Cut and serve!

 

Chewy Caramel Brownies

Ingredients:

 

2 sticks butter

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used a food chopper)

1 ½ cups sugar

4 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 ¼ flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

3 5.5oz packages Werther’s chewy Caramel chews

¼ cup heavy whipping cream

 

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with foil and grease the foil well with cooking spray.

In a large, microwave-safe bowl, combine the chopped chocolate and butter. Microwave in intervals of 1 minute at 50% power until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth, stirring in between intervals. It took me 3 and a half minutes total.

Whisk in the sugar, eggs and vanilla until incorporated. Stir in the flour and salt just until combined.

Spread about HALF of the brownie batter in the bottom of the prepared pan in an even layer.  Bake for 18 minutes.

Remove from the oven (keep the oven on!) and let the brownies cool while you make the caramel layer.

 

To make the caramel filling, combine the caramels and cream in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds at 50% power. Stir at every interval. It will look like it is messy and not working, but it will work! Continue the microwave process until the caramels and cream are melted and combined. This took 5 and a half minutes total for me.

Immediately spread the caramel mixture over the brownie layer you just baked.

Pour the remaining brownie batter over the caramel layer and spread it evenly across the caramel.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the final brownie layer.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Let cool completely and refrigerate for a few hour before slicing and serving. The brownies sliced easier and tasted soooo good when cold. Lift the brownies from the pan using the edges of the foil. Remove the foil and cut the brownies into individual squares. Store in an airtight container.