Weekends!

This weekend I did what I have been doing most weekends lately...I made a cake. This time I did Spiderman. It was fun to do something different and that I have not done before. Even the flavors of the cake and filling were different from the norm ....Funfetti marbled cake (the marbling was an extra gesture to make it more "Spiderman" in the middle) and strawberry filling! The cake had BOY written all over it....I hope the birthday liked it. The cake was covered in buttercream, Spiderman was molded in fondant, the buildings were white chocolate, and the details and webs were royal icing. I had a great time making this cake. The picture is not the greatest..I need a new camera. I also added to the cake after I took the picture. I ended up putting buildings on the top of the cake for some more definition and more spider webs.

Toffee Bars

This is a recipe I tried this week out of our church cookbook. I think the friend that had submitted it said that she had never even made them.... I have had an eye on them for awhile now. They are made with a shortbread type crust and then filled with toffee and chocolate, so how could they not be good!

All said and done they will not go down on my favorites.....just not something extraordinary. I did make a bunch of modifications to the recipe...i just had to after figuring out in my head the calorie count. I used Fat Free Sweetened Condensed Milk (because that is all that I had), I also used half whole wheat pastry flour, I lessened the butter to 1/2 c. used only the egg white and used only 1/2 the chocolate chips and toffee the original recipe calls for. Maybe without these substitutions they would rank in the extraordinary? But for all the calories...I need it to be fantastic at first bite. I am posting the original recipe here. If you try it without the substitutions let me know how it is.

Recipe:

Toffee Bars:

2 1/3 c flour

2/3 c brown sugar

3/4 butter

1 egg

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 pkg chocolate chips

1 pkg toffee bits

Combine flour and sugar, cut in butter until crumbly like a pie crust. Add egg and mix well. Stir in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips. Reserve 1 1/2 c. of this mixture. Press remaining mixture in a 9x13 inch greased pan and bake for 10 min. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crust, top with toffee bits and remaining chocolate chips. The top with the rest of crumb mixture. Bake for 25 min. or until golden brown. Cool and cut into bars.

The Bowling Cake

Here is another cake that I did for a little boys birthday. They were having the party at the bowling center. This was such a fun cake to do. The bowling ball was rice crispy treat. All edible of course. The cake was chocolate fudge with an Oreo cookies and cream filling.

The Old Standby

Oatmeal Cookie...my old standby whenever I am needing a little comfort, warm, gooeyness....but feeling like I need something with some kind of goodness. This is the Oatmeal Cookie recipe that is tried and true. They turn out warm and chewy on the inside and have just a little crunchy crispness on the edges. I got this recipe from a supermarket check-out stand recipe book. The little leaflet said COOKIES and BARS! so I could not pass it by. It turns out it was filled with some of my favorite treats to date...like Smore Bars, Toffee Crunch Bars, (recipes to come) and of course the standby Oatmeal Cookie.

The only modifications I made from the original are as follows:First I added about 1/2 the shortening called for, and I added 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour and 1/2 cup regular all-purpose (instead of straight all-purpose). I also only used the egg whites....why?because the yolk just give me the creeps...always has. Give them a try, I promise you will not be disappointed!

Oatmeal Cookies:

1/2 c butter

1/2 c shortening

2/3 c sugar

2/3 c brown sugar

2 eggs (I always use only whites)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup flour

3 c old fashioned oatmeal

1 c raisins....okay so I made another modification......

I added about 1 c chocolate chips and 1 c butterscotch chips...I said they were comfort food!

No raisins for my cookie!

Blend sugars and butter/shortening until light and fluffy. Add eggs and continue to beat at med. speed for 3 min. Add the rest of the dry ingredients except oatmeal and mix. Add Oatmeal and chocolate chips and mix just until blended. Bake at 320 for 12 min. on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Yeah...Fall

I know I said I wouldn't let this turn into a log of my daily workouts...but can I just tell you that I had the BEST run of the year today! The reason why.....it was a mere 68 degrees! It felt heavenly...I even had to wear a long sleeved shirt. At the end of the 4 miles I was begging for more...but thought I had better not push it. Tomorrow I might try to sneak another neighborhood in there to extend it just a little. This being said I am thinking of everything fall....one of my very favorite fall treats is the EASIEST pumpkin cookies you will ever make.

Don't let it fool you though, easy sometimes is better...they are good!

These cookies are dense rather than cakey like the regular homemade version of pumpkin cookies. One year while pregnant with Ryan I literally begged..... on my hands and knees for my sister Jessica to come over and make these for me .. weekly...okay, daily (I was on bedrest for 5 months!) They just scream Fall to me.

Recipe:

1 box pumpkin quick bread mix (Pillsbury)

1/2 c butter (softened)

1 egg white

3/4 c chocolate chips (more or less to taste...you know my opinion!)

Mix all ingredients together, mixture will be crumbly at first but come together after a few min. Add chocolate chips last. Drop by spoonfuls and flatten slightly. Bake at 320 for 12 min. on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

The Purse Cake

I did bake Cinnamon Rolls this weekend...I am on a quiet quest for a good cinnamon roll recipe. So far I have not been thrilled with any that I have tried....it is probably just me. I am not going to post the recipe because they were not anything very impressive. I am however going to post another picture of a cake. This is a "make-up" party cake that I did last spring for a little girl turning 7. I loved the earring backs. The cake is covered in buttercream...(I like to cover all if the cakes in buttercream because they taste so much better) Fondant would be more"perfect" looking but it really is all about the taste right? The accent pieces are in fondant.

Ike

Hurricane Ike had everyone thinking we were in for a rough and wild Saturday. So much that they cancelled all of the girls games, and the kids spent the day indoors. All that we got out of it after all... was a drizzly and uneventful weekend. It was a good thing I had a cake and a cookies order to fill my time.

I made this cake for a friend whose son is leaving on his mission, she wanted 2 dozen cookies and a cake for the open house. He is going to California (which explains the sun cookies). The cake is a rich butter cheesecake flavor with a raspberry white chocolate filling. The white chocolate gives just a slight crunch in the middle when you bite into it...YUM!

She hasn't picked them up yet so I hope that she likes them.