Reese's Wannabes

Source: heyjenrenee.com via Sunny on Pinterest

My mixer is broken so my abilities in the kitchen are currently extremely hindered. I must pick up a replacement soon as the recipes I want to try continue to grow. Just added is this Reese's Wannabe recipe from the blog Hey! Jen Renee.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups have always been my favorite candy. When I was a little girl my dad would have me a few of the minature cups in his shirt pocket when he got home from work. I'm crossing my fingers that this recipe tastes like the Reese's Eggs that are available during the Easter season, since it is still a little while before the Pumpkin shapes start to appear in stores.

Oatmeal Carmelitas

Source: tasteandtellblog.com via Sunny on Pinterest

We have always been a huge fan for caramel, often times even opting for it over chocolate, so when we find a recipe that combines these two wonderful treats we get excited about getting in the kitchen and giving it a try. We just stumbled across this delicious recipe for Oatmeal Carmelitas over at Taste and Tell. We think these will be wonderful for to whip up the next time we invite friends over for a movie night.

Source: 4shared.com via Sunny on Pinterest

This Sunday is Father's Day, so if you haven't done so yet be sure to let your Dad know how important he is to you.

Happy Father's Day Dad. We love you.

Sunny & Star

Mississippi Mud Cake

This cake may not be the prettiest dessert you will ever eat but taking a slice and microwave it for a few seconds before you eat it and you have a gooey, warm, delicious treat. Although it is called cake in it's title we think it is more like brownies. Yum!

Ingreidents: 1 & 1/4 cups butter, softened
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 & 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme
1/2 cup milk
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease one 9x13 inch cake pan.
2. In a large sauce pan over low heat, melt 1 cup of the butter or margarine and the cocoa. Stir often. 3. Remove from heat and add white sugar, beat well. Beat in eggs one at a time. 4. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt and stir into the egg mixture. 5. Stir in the chopped nut and teaspoon of the vanilla. Pour batter into the prepared pan. 6. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 45 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, to make your icing: Beat together the remaining 1/4 cup butter or margarine, 1/3 cup cocoa, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the milk and the confectioner's sugar. 8. Remove cake from oven. 9. Immediately spread the marshmallow cream over the cake. 10. Then spoon the chocolate icing over the marshmellow creme while the cake is still hot. Everyone at work loved this cake.

Happy Baking,
Sunny & Star

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Last weekend we whipped up some Red Velvet Whoopie Pies in honor or Valentine's Day. Whoopie pies are so adorable we just can't get enough of them. Red Velvet is really a Devil's Food flavor and is a popular Southern dessert. These little treats make a wonderful snack and are extremely easy to make.

Ingredients: 2 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp. red food coloring
1 1/2 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-pupose flour
1/4 cup baking cocoa
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Directions:
1. Chop chocolate. In a microwave, melt chocolate; stir until smooth. Set aside. 2. Sift the flour and set aside. 3. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 4. Beat in the eggs, sour cream, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla. 5. Add the cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda to the flour.
6. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix well. 7. Stir in melted chocolate. 8. Drop by tablespoonfuls (we used a cookie scooper) 2 inches apart onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes or until edges are set. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Filling Ingredients: 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar (we used a little over 3 for a thicker filling)
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
1. For filling, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Beat in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. 2. Spread filling on the bottoms of half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies. Happy Baking,
Sunny & Star

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Making a cheesecake always requires a little extra time but in our opinion it is totally worth it. Combining our love of chocolate and peanut butter puts this cheesecake over the top. So if you have a little extra time on a weekend and can handle waiting overnight while your cheesecake cools in the refridgerator you need to try this recipe.

Ingredients: For the Crust:
32 Oreo cookies, finely crushed or ground in a food processor
5½ Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Pinch of salt

For the Fudge:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
20 miniature peanut butter cup candies, unwrapped and roughly chopped

For the Cheesecake:
24 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs

For the Ganache Topping:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (300 degrees F if you are using a dark or non-stick pan). Butter a 9″ springform pan and set aside.

2. To make the crust, stir the Oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt in a small bowl with a fork until the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the springform pan. Freeze the crust for 10 minutes. 3. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a rack and let cool.

4. To make the fudge, put the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream to a simmer over medium heat. Immediately pour the simmering cream over the chopped chocolate. Let stand for 1-2 minutes, then add the vanilla extract and stir with a whisk or rubber spatula until smooth and combined. Pour the fudge into the cooled crust and spread evenly over the bottom. Place in freezer for 10 minutes. 5. Remove from freezer and sprinkle surface with the chopped peanut butter cups. Return to freezer for 10 more minutes. 6. Meanwhile, prepare the cheesecake filling. Beat the cream cheese and peanut butter together on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and continue to beat on medium speed until thoroughly combined. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs one at a time, beating until combined after each addition. Scrape the bowl and mix on low for another 20 seconds. Pour the cheesecake filling over the fudge and peanut butter cups. 7. Bake until the sides of the cheesecake are set and the middle just slightly jiggles, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool to room temperature (at least 1 hour). Refrigerate the cheesecake at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled. Our cheesecake baked for 55 minutes and was baked slightly too long. You can tell this by the fact that our cheesecake had a couple cracks in it. But the taste of our cheesecake was unaffected. 8. After chilling, carefully remove the sides from the springform pan. 9. Before serving, prepare the ganache topping. Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a simmer over medium heat. Immediately pour the simmering cream over the chopped chocolate. Let sit for 1-2 minutes and then stir with a whisk or rubber spatula until smooth. Pour the ganache on the top of the cheese and, using an offset spatula, spread evenly over the top of the cheesecake. Return to the refrigerator to set the ganache, about 20 minutes.

We prepared this simple frosting to garnish our cake. This recipe can but cut into half and still have plenty to provide the garnish. This frosting would also be amazing on chocolate cupcakes.

Peanut Butter Frosting

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Does anyone have any suggestions for what we should bake next weekend?

Happy baking,
Sunny & Star

Turtle Candies

I'm currently under the weather and haven't been feeling well since last Thursday. In addition Christmas is quickly approaching and we are finishing up last minute tasks such as shopping and baking and are trying to spend time with family so posts this week will be sporadic but we will be back on schedule soon.

We love all of the wonderful desserts and candy at Christmas. This an incredibly easy treat to make and very yummy. In about 10 minutes you have a wonderful snack to munch on while spending a night watching Christmas movies.

Ingredients: Pretzels
Caramel filled chocolates (We used Dove candies but feel free to substitute another candy such as Rolos)
Pecans

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. And make a single layer of pretzels on the cookie sheet. 3. Put a chocolate on top of each pretzel. 4. Bake in the oven for about 3 minutes.
5. Gently push a pecan onto each candy. Don't press too hard or you will squeeze the caramel out. 6. Allow to cool.

We hope everyone is having an amazing week, that you find some time to relax and enjoy the holidays.

Happy baking,
Sunny & Star

Thunder Cake

We did a variation of this cake here, which was totally delicious and this cake didn't let us down either. We have no idea why this version is called Thunder Cake but when something is this good and simple to make who cares what it is called.

Ingredients: Box of chocolate cake mix
1 jar hot fudge sauce
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 small container of cool whip
3 Milkway candy bars, cut into small pieces

Directions:

1. Bake the box of cake mix according to the directions on the back of the box and bake in a 13 x 9 pan. 2. Once the cake is finished baking punch holes in it with a spoon. 3. Poor the sweetened condensed milk and fudge sauce of the cake. 4. Cool cake completely.
5. Spread cool whip on cake and then sprinkle candy on top. 6. Refridgerate cake for several hours.

This cake is even better the next day. So delicious.

Happy baking,
Sunny & Star