Great Grandma's Famous Jimmy Cake

One of my favorite desserts of all time is a family recipe my mom has been making since..well..forever. If you are wondering, jimmies are chocolate sprinkles which are mixed into this moist cake, giving it a hint of chocolate which pairs well with a light coffee flavor.

My mom is a great cook and I have to say of all the great recipes she has made, this is probably in my top 3. Enjoy it with a cup of coffee for breakfast or dessert. 

On a side note, my apologies for the lack of posts this week. My son had eye surgery early in the week, then we had a giant Spring cleaning which lasted a few days, so I have been slackin' on updating the ol' blog.

Chocolate Chip Donuts

Normally I am not a huge fan of lots of appliances in the kitchen, but my mom picked up a little Sunbeam Donut Maker and I have to say, I love it. Having made both fried and baked donuts in the past, I prefer this appliance as it is very convenient, it cleans up quick, and most importantly it makes some damn tasty little donuts.

The recipe provided in the manual for these Chocolate Chip Donuts made tender and delicious treats that my family loved. I topped them off with a dark chocolate glaze and chocolate sprinkles. Ready for the recipe?

Strawberry Lemonade Layer Cake

This past Easter we tried out a bunch of new recipes, one being this delicious Strawberry Lemonade Layer Cake which I saw originally posted over at Easybaked.  A few things to note, besides that it is yummy, is that the lemonade 'frosting' is more of a filling mixture that is spread all over the cake and between the layers. If you make it and prefer a stiffer more traditional frosting, add a bit of powdered sugar (just a little at a time until you get the consistency you like).

Secondly, I only used half of a packet of lemonade in the filling and it was quite tart with just half. So I would highly suggest you taste test it with half and see if you want to use the rest. Many thanks to Easybaked for this awesome recipe.

Doesn't that look so good? I agree! Ready for the recipe?

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

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Okay folks. Today we are making a very sweet, very delicious Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. There are many a recipe for Upside-Down Cakes that call for cake mixes but we are gonna go with the from scratch route today. Having tried many alternate recipes over the years for this particular cake, I have to go with making it from scratch. It just tastes so good!

If you have never tried it before, it is a delicious yellow cake that is saturated with a caramel sauce (thank you butter and brown sugar!) and studded with pineapple and cherry pieces. This particular recipe has a nice addition of pecan halves which add a bit of crunch and flavor to the cake.

The one nit picky point about this recipe is that a cast-iron skillet is used instead of a cake pan. You can use whatever pan you'd like, but you will have to wing it when it comes to altering the temperature and cooking time.

If you'd like, you can serve it with a bit of lightly sweetened whipped cream, or for the more indulgent folks, a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Barnyard Party!

 Recently my little munchkin turned 4 and we had a Barnyard themed party for her. It was small scale, and mostly on the cheap, but it was a lot of fun. I wanted to share a few pictures and ideas with you if you have a little animal loving kiddo like I do.

First off, the Piggy Rice Krispies Treats! I used strawberry marshmallows and followed the recipe on the bag to make the treats. I put them in a small pan, ours was a small rectangular dish, and let then sit for about 10 minutes to cool slightly. Turn them out onto a lightly sprayed baking sheet, cut into equal pieces. We got 6 large piggies out of one batch of rice krispies.

Mold them into a circle with your hand and use a knife to cut around the ears to make them more pronounced. Using a bit of frosting, attach M&M eyes, a pink strawberry nose (half of a strawberry marshmallow with the sticky cut end dipped into hot pink sugar), and strawberry wafer cookie ears. Ta-da! Wrap individual piggy treats in saran wrap or into a treat bag for a take home treat.

For decorations we got basic party balloons, blew them up, and attached construction paper cutouts to make them look like barnyard animals.  They are sitting on top of a piece of construction paper that is taped to for a circular base, then cut into fringe pieces for the balloons to sit on top of. The exception being the duck because I thought it would be cute to set him ontop of water to simulate a pond.

For our menu we stuck to basic, tasty food. Pizza for the kids with creme filled cupcakes frosted with either vanilla or cherry frosting. For the adults, we had a hot artichoke & spinach dip and a cold veggie cheese dip which was amazing. Main dish was pulled pork with buns or the extra pizza from the kids dinners. We got a carrot cake from Costco (apricot mousse filling, yum!) decorated with frosting carrots to play into the theme.

For outfits we got some cheap little cowboy hats, denim jeans and overalls, and pretty plaid shirts.

It was a great party and we had tons of fun!

Secret Recipe Club - Mississippi Mud Brownies

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*Note* - Recipe Sharing Monday will be held tomorrow
 

 

It is time for my favorite foodie event, the Secret Recipe Club!

The idea of it is you are assigned a fellow food blogger each month, it is kept a secret of course, and you go to their food blog and pick a recipe (or more) to make. On the assigned date, everyone posts their creations and you go and visit and see all the goodies that were made. Sort of like a secret Santa, right?

My host who is organizing my group is Tina from Moms Crazy Cooking. Thank you Tina for hosting!

I came across this recipe while browsing my assigned blogger, Melanie at Fabulously Fun Food. This was a new blog to me so I had a fun time browsing through all of her archives for the perfect recipe to try. I had a few recipes in mind, like the Smothered Enchiladas or the Golden Macaroni and Cheese. When I saw the post for Mississippi Mud Cake I knew I'd found the one. It did not disappoint at all. It is super rich, gooey, sweet, chewy and delicious. After making these I have to say I think they are more brownies than cake, as they are very dense and rich. My little change was to rename them brownies instead of cake. :)

One thing I really appreciated about Fabulously Fun Food is that Melanie openly shares her experiences with good and bad recipes. At the same time, she isn't mean about it. Constructive criticism on how to improve the recipe is a great attribute. I have seem my fair share of food blogs that are outright mean and rude when a recipe doesn't turn out how they'd like. Often times, it isn't even the recipe at fault, it is all of the 'alterations' or mistakes the cook made. That is one of my pet peeves. I don't like it when bloggers are mean to each other. Can't we all get along? *wink*

Ahhmazing. Ready for the recipe?

As I tend to do with my Secret Recipe Club assignments, I went a little overboard with the amount of pictures. I don't think you will mind, though.

Notes:

• I halved this recipe and baked it in an 8" x 8" glass baking dish that was liberally sprayed with baking spray (The kind with flour in the spray). Alternatively you can butter the dish and dust with cocoa powder. 
• The original recipe called for homemade chocolate frosting but I substituted premade frosting, which I don't mind at all. If you are anti-prepared frosting, feel free to make yours from scratch. The frosting recipe can be found here.
• Originally the pecans are added to the cake batter, but I preferred to have them on top. Do whichever you prefer. They can be omitted if you have nut allergies in your family or if you just aren't a fan of nuts in baked goods. They do add a great flavor and crunch so I recommend adding them.

Mississippi Mud Brownies
Makes one 15" x 10" cake

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
1 (10.5-ounce) bag miniature marshmallows
1 can prepared chocolate frosting (I used a milk chocolate frosting)

1. Whisk together melted butter and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in flour. Pour batter into a greased and floured 15- x 10-inch jellyroll pan.

2. Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; top warm cake evenly with marshmallows. Return to oven, and bake 5 minutes. (If you use a different size pan you will have to adjust cooking time. Just keep an eye on it and keep checking for doneness).

3. Remove cake from oven and cool completely. You can transfer the cake to thefridge once the pan is cooled enough. (Don't put a hot pan in a cold fridge).

4. When ready to serve, microwave the chocolate frosting for 30 seconds and stir. Spread the frosting over the cake, then garnish with chopped pecans.  Using a sharp knife that has been sprayed lightly with Pam, cut into squares.

Source: Slightly adapted from Fabulously Fun Food and The All New Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook

Sour Cherry Crumble Pie

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If you aren't able to get your hands on fresh cherries, I have an alternative that uses a great quality canned cherry. This is not cherry pie filling, these are red tart cherries in water that are drained and cooked on the stove to create a deliciously sweet and tart filling. On top of the cherry pie is a crunchy and sweet crumble topping. Traditionally crumble toppings use brown sugar, but we like to use plain sugar for a twist. Ready for the recipe?

Pink Lemonade Pie

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While Summer may be winding down, the weather certainly seems to be holding on with high temperatures. If you are in the mood for one last Summer treat, try this recipe for a refreshing Pink Lemonade Pie. It comes together quickly and requires a few hours in the fridge to chill, so plan ahead. Ready for the recipe?

Peanut Butter Cornflake Clusters

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I've been on a mission to try to use up items from the pantry before I make the big move to Montana next week. I had a full box of unopened corn flakes that I wasn't sure what to do with. I knew I could use them for Cornflake Crusted Chicken, but I'd still have a ton leftover to deal with.  When I came across this recipe at Sticky, Gooey, Cream, Chewy, which Susan called the 'Holycraptheseareamazing Cookies,' I knew I had hit the jackpot.

Basically what we are dealing with here is a chewy, delicious candy bar-esque dessert. The recipe makes a ton of cookies and it only has a few ingredients to boot. My family loved them and I bet your family will too. Ready for the recipe?

Cinnasticks Copycat (aka Cinnamon Sticks)

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I hope you are ready for an easy, tasty treat today. I made these Cinnasticks when I made the Cheesy Garlic Sticks and both were very well received. I think it is kinda fun to make these things at home instead of relying on delivery, but that is just me.

Most cinnamon stick recipes have you add the cinnamon sugar mixture to the dough and then bake it. In the past I had tried this, and while it was good, it made the topping a little crunchy and weird. This time around, inspired by a comment from a former Domino's employee on a recipe I saw on Food.com, I made my cinnamon sticks according to what the reviewer instructed.

Instead of adding the topping and baking, I brushed the dough with butter flavored oil, baked it, and after it came out of the oven warm I sprinkled it with a cinnamon sugar mixture, then followed up with the icing. Ready for the recipe?

Cold Tea Gingerbread with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

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If I ever have my own bakery, this recipe is going on the menu. Delicious doesn't even begin to describe it. Moist and spicy with the pleasant tang of whipped cream cheese frosting. This recipe is from 1910 and from the amazing cookbook, Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters. Ready for the recipe?

Puppy Chow

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You know it. You love it. It is a childhood classic. Ready for the recipe?

Cream Puffs with Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream

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All righty. So, cream puffs. Believe it or not, very easy to make. Just like Bavarian doughnuts, there are two typical types of filling. A thicker pastry cream or a lighter whipped filling. For these I went with a vanilla bean pastry cream. Do not imagine vanilla pudding, this pastry cream is from scratch and so tasty. Drizzle with melted chocolate if desired.

Ready for the recipe?

Strawberry Cheesecake Squares

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Cheesecake Squares are a great recipe for when you don't have tons of time to make a proper cheesecake, or if you only have one block of cream cheese in the fridge and can't make it to the store to buy any more.

Cheesecake purists can omit the jam from the recipe with no other changes. I enjoyed the jam in these squares, but next time around I'm going to go the purist route. Ready for the recipe?

Moist Ginger Pumpkin Bread

Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables Week marches on! Today we are moving on to baked goods with this Moist Ginger Pumpkin Bread. Spicy and sweet. Moist and delicious. It is hard to beat that. Ready for the recipe?

Strawberry Summer Cake

Before I get to the recipe for this delicious Strawberry Summer Cake, I wanted to say thank you for all the feedback on my previous post. If you missed it I asked what you thought the ideal amount of posts per week was appropriate for a blog. I am still mulling it over. Jo-Anna sent me a great link from Will Work for Followers that addressed this very issue. Check it out here if you would like to see his answer for the ideal posting frequency. I was leaning towards trying out posting every other day, but after reading Dan's post I am still trying to decide if every day will be better for growing my blog. Who knows? I sure don't.

Anyways, on to the cake!

Caramel Bacon Rolls

As promised I have my recipe for the Caramel Bacon Rolls. If it is only two ingredients can it be considered a recipe? Probably not, but I'm doing it anyways.

I had already made the regular bacon cinnamon rolls a few times before and I figured I would try using a different flavor of rolls for my contribution to the bacon party. At first I was going to try orange, but at the last minute I decided to try caramel instead, to channel the candied bacon craze that is going on amongst the foodies. I thought it turned out delicious. I would still like to try the orange rolls next time.

Bacon Cinnamon Rolls

Oh yeah baby. Bacon Cinnamon Rolls. They are the perfect sweet and savory combination. If you want to fancy it up, you can of course make the cinnamon rolls from scratch, but I really like the Pillsbury Cinnabon style of canned cinnamon rolls, so I use those. You can use a good quality precooked bacon, or regular bacon. I like the precooked bacon from Costco personally.

Either way, you have to crisp up the bacon a bit before you add it to the cinnamon rolls. Use the microwave or cook them up in a pan. One reason I like the precooked bacon is I can nuke it for a minute and I'm ready to roll. I never cared much for standing over a skillet getting splattered by bacon grease. If your bacon is extra extra fatty be sure to trim it off.

In my experience when you add bacon to a roll like this, it takes a few extra minutes for the middle roll to cook though. Ovens vary, so make sure you take it out and test it to see if it needs extra time to bake. To test it, just pull out the pan, poke the middle roll gently with a spoon or random utensil, and if it is still doughy, it needs to bake longer.

Caramelized Peaches with Ice Cream

I'm feeling uninspired today. I have been sitting here a while, trying to think of an interesting way to introduce this dessert, but it just isn't coming. Here is what you need to know: Peaches are delicious. Roasting peaches in the oven brings out a delicious flavor that is perfect for a light Summer dessert. If you would like to lighten it up you can substitute sorbet for ice cream. I think I'll stick with ice cream though.

Secret Recipe Club - Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I have a deep love for zucchini breads of all kinds. I make them all the time. Up until recently my favorite had been a coconut zucchini bread (recipe another time, ahem), but my top spot has now been replaced by the ultimate, the best, most amazing (according to Ali) Chocolate Zucchini Bread.