Tiramisu

I made the most AMAZING tiramisu for Christmas dinner and I'm so excited to share this recipe. It's the perfect dessert for any special occasion. In fact, I'm thinking of making it again for a New Years Eve party.

I don't know about you but I always thought tiramisu was really complicated to make, boy was I wrong! It's really easy and just takes a few simple steps.

Doesn't this look good? It was heavenly and we even had a bit for breakfast the next day :)


A traditional recipe calls for mascarpone cheese, but if you can't find it easily regular cream cheese works beautifully. You can also use Cool Whip instead of fresh whipped cream in this recipe. Lastly, if your kids like to help out in the kitchen the way mine do, have them dip the lady fingers in the coffee -Fun!

Ingredients:

8 oz Mascarpone cheese or Cream Cheese –softened
6 Tbsp sugar (divided)
1 1/2 cups fresh whipped cream (see how HERE) (Cool Whip may be used as an instant alternative)
3 Egg Yolks
1 1/2 cups Strong Coffee (mixed with 2 Tbsp Rum (optional))
1 package Lady Fingers
Cocoa Powder

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix softened mascarpone or cream Cheese with 3 Tbsp of sugar until sugar is completely dissolved.
2. In a separate bowl, mix 3 egg yolks with remaining 3 Tbsp of sugar and whisk continuously in a double boiler until eggs are cooked (approx 3-4 minutes). The color of the yolks will turn a lemon yellow when done.
3. Immediately mix the egg mixture into the cream cheese mixture and gently stir.
4. Add 2 Tbsp of the coffee into the mixture and mix.
5. Fold in the whipped cream into the mascarpone/cream cheese mix.
6. Dip each Lady Finger into the coffee (for 1-2 seconds on each side) and place into square or rectangle tray until the bottom is completely covered.
7. Spread 1/2 of the mascarpone filling evenly on top of the fingers.
8. Lightly dust cocoa powder over the filling. Tea strainer works great!
9. Repeat with another layer of coffee dipped fingers.
10. Top with remaining filling.
11. Sprinkle cocoa powder over the top to form a coating.
11. Chill overnight or about 8 hours to set.

Source: Adapted from Show me the Curry

Slow Cooker: Mushroom Chicken (#2)

OK folks, here it is the recipe for that other slow cooker mushroom chicken. This is probably coming at good time too, since I know most of us are looking for quick, fix-it and forget dinners after all that holiday cooking we've been doing.

This recipe really fits the bill but you may be wondering what the big difference is between mushroom chicken #1 and #2. Mushroom chicken #2 starts with cubed chicken. It also does not use any "cream of ____" soup, which a lot of folks prefer to do without (me, I'm OK with it once in a while).


So the other big question....Which was my favorite? I honestly don't know. I made this one some time ago, so it's hard to compare the two but they were BOTH great. I don't think you could go wrong with either recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
3 boneless,skinless chicken breasts cut into cubes
1/2 cup green onions, sliced
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 3/4 tsp chicken bouillon granuales
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 water
1 can evaporated milk (5oz)
5 tsp cornstarch

Directions:

1. Combine salt, pepper and paprika in small bowl; sprinkle over chicken

2. Layer chicken, mushrooms, green onions and bouillon in a 4 1/2-quart slow-cooker. Pour wine, water over top. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or 5-6 hours on low. Transfer chiken and vegtables to platter; cover with foil to keep warm.

3. Combine evaportaed milk and corn strach in small pan, stir until smooth. Add 2 cups of cooking liquid from slow-cooker; bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute or until thick, stiring constantly. Serve over chicken.

I served this over brocolli rice.

Source: Betty Crocker

Nutty Reindeer Treats

Here is another holiday treat I made recently. I saw these on another blog and thought....HOW CUTE!!!

These were made for my daughter's preschool Christmas pageant luncheon. I really would have liked to have taken step-by-step photos but I made these the night before and was in a bit of a rush. They are made with a Nutter Butter cookie that is dipped in chocolate (I brushed on the chocolate), then decorated with a red M&M for the nose, candy eyes* and pretzels for antlers.

Please click HERE for instructions on how to make these.

My little angel (center with the red hairband) performing in the school's annual Christmas pageant.


The kids loved these!!


I individually wrapped each reindeer in a cookie baggie and tied it with a festive ribbon. This kept the cookies fresh and made them an easy take-home treat.



*These are the candy eyes. You can find them at a store like Michaels.

White Snowflake and Christmas Tree Sugar Cookies

I still owe you all the second slow-cooker mushroom chicken recipe but I'm holding off on that for a bit, so I can bring you some holiday goodies instead :)

I made these snowflake and Christmas tree cookies for my neighbor's annual cookie exchange party. I knew there were going to be some amazing tasting treats at the party, but I decided to good for looks mostly this year...and these fit the bill!



I used my regular sugar cookie and royal icing recipe.

I was given a sample of Dave's Dirty Vanilla to try out and used it in this recipe. So, why is it called "dirty vanilla"? Well, Dave was frustrated with the sub-par vanilla extracts he was using for baking and after much experimenting developed a cold extraction process that yields a vanilla with more subtle flavors and aroma. There is a Madagascar Bourbon vanilla bean in each bottle of Dave's Dirty Vanilla! I loved the "dirty" part....the little specks of vanilla seed! To learn more or buy some of Dave's Dirty Vanilla visit his site HERE.


I think the all white cookies look so pretty and sophisticated but the really reason I made them this way was out of sheer laziness-LOL. I didn't want to have to mess with making several different colors for the frosting.



My daughter appreciated both the look and taste of these cookies :)

Slow Cooker: Mushroom Chicken (#1)

A few weeks ago, I posted about a great slow cooker mushroom chicken recipe I had made. I actually have two different slow cooker mushroom chicken recipes to share. This first recipe, I made more recently and really loved it. The mushroom gravy was soooo delicious!! I could have eaten that by itself-Ha!

While dinner cooked in the slow cooker, I took the kids out for a long bike/scooter ride. They sure worked up an appetite!



I served this over mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach (Pictured here with a salad. These are actually my leftovers). This dinner was so easy to prepare and so were the sides. I used Oreida Steam n' Mash potatoes. To make them extra creamy and yummy, prepare the potatoes according to directions on the bag and then add 4oz of onion and chive cream cheese. For the spinach, simply sautee in large pan with a little butter,olive oil and garlic. So good, so easy!



Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/2 pounds)
1 8-oz. pkg. fresh button mushrooms, quartered
1 6-oz. pkg. fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced
1/4 cup butter
1 0.7-oz. pkg. Italian dry salad dressing mix
1 10-3/4-oz. can condensed golden mushroom soup
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 of an 8-oz. tub cream cheese spread with chives and onion

Directions:

Melt butter in a saucepan. Then add the salad dressing mix. Stir in soup, wine and cream cheese until it combines and melts. Add all the mushrooms to your slow cooker. Place chicken on top and pour sauce over chicken. Place lid on slow cooker and cook on low for 5 hours. Serve over rice, pasta or mashed potatoes.

Source: Cleverly Inspired

Sesame Street Cake and Cupcakes

I was recently asked to make these Sesame Street cupcakes and "smash" cake for a little boy's first birthday. I couldn't help but say yes. I had tried my hand at these before but it was some time ago (see those HERE) and I knew I wouldn't ever be making them for my own kids again. Sadly, our Sesame Street days are already over. And much too soon for my liking :(

Below are instructions and tips on how I made these. If you have any additional questions, please leave a comment below...Thanks!

The "Smash" Cake

- Bake a 2-layer cake. Use your favorite recipe. This cake was classic vanilla.
- The birthday boy's mom asked for a small cake. The smallest cake pan I had was 5" which I thought might still be bigger than she would like. So, I baked the cake in one 9" cake pan and then used a 4" ring cutter to get the two layers. I thought the cake was the perfect size.
- Dye frosting your favorite color. I used a very pale blue here so I didn't need to add a lot of food coloring.
- Frost the cake with a crumb coat first and then another layer of frosting. Smooth out the frosting. Here is a post on how I smooth out my frosting.
- To make the sign I used Wilton's fondant, dyed it green and yellow. See this post for a few more tips on how to work with fondant.
- Apply the sign to the cake and press gently to have it adhere.
- The use a tiny round tip (this was a Wilton's #3) to write the number and name on the sign.
- Finally add a decorative boarder at the base of the cake and on top to give it a finished look.

Elmo Cupcakes

- Dye the frosting red. You will need A LOT of food coloring to get a true red frosting needed for Elmo.
- Apply frosting to the cupcake using a small star shaped tip.
- Add candy eyes*.
- Add a nose. These are just orange colored peanut M&M's. Buy the big bag of M&M's b/c the single serving bags (that you find near the check out register) will only have 3-4 orange per bag.
- Add a mouth. This mouth is made from an Oreo cookie. I twisted the cookie apart, used a sharp knife to scrape off the white cream center and then cute it in half.

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

- Dye the frosting blue. You will not need a lot of food coloring to get the right shade. So start with just a little and add more as needed.
- Apply frosting to the cupcake using a small star shaped tip. I used the same tip that I used for Elmo.
- Add candy eyes*.
- Add a cookie. These cookies are the Famous Amos mini cookies (cut in half). They were the perfect size, not too big, not too little.

Oscar the Grouch Cupcakes

- Dye the frosting green. I added just a tiny bit of brown food coloring here too to give green a bit more of an olive hue.
- Apply frosting to the cupcake using a grass shaped tip.
- Add candy eyes*.
- Add a mouth. This mouth is made from an Oreo cookie also.
- Add a tongue. Just pipe a small amount of red frosting into the center of the mouth. I used leftover frosting from the Elmo cupcakes
- Add eyebrows around the top half of the eyeballs. Use brown frosting for this and a very small star shaped tip.

More Tips:
- *I cheated and bought candy eyeballs from a local cake supply store to save time. There are a few ways to make these at home but that is a post all on it's own. If anyone wants to see that, please let me know and I will post a tutorial.
- Give yourself some time to make these, at least two days. Try baking the cake and cupcakes one day. Then make the frosting and decorate the next.
- I used coordinating greaseproof liners (red, blue and green) to match the cupcakes.
- Making several different frosting colors it is helpful to use this plastic wrap technique (aka..."the frosting condom") to save pastry bags and make clean-up easier.


Here is the birthday boy enjoying his first taste of cake. How cute is he??!! Happy 1st birthday Maddox!