Work

Peanut Butter Frosting

I combined the following ingredients to make my homemade peanut butter frosting.
-1 cup Peanut butter
-4 cups Confectioners sugar
-1 teaspoon Vanilla
-2 teaspoons Milk

This is the best frosting I have made yet! Everyone asks for this when I make their cakes. It comes out sweet.

Reeses Cupcakes (reposting)

I made these cupcakes for my mothers birthday. They were a huge hit, and I am requested to make them again for every birthday now.

Directions:
1. I used a regular Chocolate chip cupcake mix and made the cupcakes as the box told me to. However, to get the most moist cupcake, set your time for 5-8 minutes earlier than they call for. So if they say it will take 18 minutes, set your timer for 13 and check with a toothpick. I can’t stress this enough! My mom always overcooks her cupcakes, and this is the problem.
2. Let the cupcakes cool. You want them to be fully cooled before doing anything else.
3. I used half of the first bag of Reeses minis, chopped them up finely. After, I cut the rest of the minis 1 1/2 bags into halves. Then, put all of it in the refrigerator to cool… they kind of melted from handling.
4. I then took the cooled cupcakes and cut holes in the middle to fill them with my homemade filling. DON’T get rid of the cut outs.
5. I combined the following ingredients to make my homemade peanut butter frosting.
-1 cup Peanut butter
-4 cups Confectioners sugar
-1 teaspoon Vanilla
-2 teaspoons Milk
Blend this with a mixer. If the consistency is too thick, keep adding milk at small quanities. It will change fast so don’t add too much too soon.
6. After the peanut butter frosting is made, take about 1/4 of this mixture and put it in a bowl. Take your finely chopped Reeses out of the fridge and mix it into the icing.
7. Place a small spoonfull of the reeses into the cupcakes and cover with the parts your cut out.
8. Place the rest of the Reeses frosting into a frosting bag. Make sure it is only on one side of the bag. Place store bought chocolate icing on the opposite side.
9. Squeeze to ice all of your cupcakes, twist your hand to creat a pretty design.
10. Place the halved Reeses on top to decorate.
11. Enjoy.

Baking Cupcakes from a box mix

I’m by no means an expert baker, but I love baking. There is a precise science to baking, you have to follow some rules. However, after you follow these rules you are free to explore the deliciousness of baking with a twist. Here are some tips I have discovered while baking from a box mix.

1.Preheat your oven! Don’t put your cupcakes into the cold oven, it will mess with the cupcakes cooking process and the cooking times.

2. Use cupcake liners and take your time filling them. Wouldn’t it be great to finish cooking and not have those stubborn cupcake pans staring you in the face. Sure, you will “soak” them, but they will be staring you in the face every time you walk near the sink. Use cupcake liners, and WIPE away the small blobs of batter that dropped onto the cupcake pans while filling the liners with a damp paper towel. This way the cupcake pans just need to cool down and they can be put back away.

3. Play around with adding things to your boxed mixes. I have created an amazing cinnamon apple cupcake from a vanilla box mix.I posted my recipe earlier this week.

4. If you use a box mix or any recipe if it says to cook for 10-15 minutes set your timer for 10 minutes then do the *toothpick test. If the toothpick isn’t clean, cook for 3 more minutes. The point is to bake it fully but not overcooking it.

5. Cupcakes should be removed from their pan immediately so they don’t “cook” from the heat of the pan. You don’t want an overcooked dry cupcake.

6. Don’t be afraid to add a filling to your cupcakes. I have put frosting inside the cupcakes, for a reverse cupcake. I have used jam, sprinkles with frosting mixed in, and even fruit. To fill the cupcakes, let them cook a bit after cooking, hollow out a bit of the middle and fill. SAVE the hollowed part to top the cupcake. This way the isn’t a huge hole.

7. Don’t try to frost your cupcakes too soon. They are hot, even if they are warm they will melt the frosting.

8. Mix frostings. Mix a chocolate frosting with a peanut butter frosting. Put a chocolate frosting onto an orange cake. You are the designer, have fun!

9. Always store your cupcakes in air tight containers. This will stop them from drying out.

10. Have fun and experiment. Explore and create!

Let me know of the different combinations you have made. What went well together?

*See my post on Fall Cupcakes for the toothpick test

Fall Cupcakes

These cupcakes are unbelievable. Everyone in my family is addicted to these, and it isn’t fall if I don’t make them. Perfect for Thanksgiving!

Ingredients for cupcakes
1 box of vanilla or yellow cake mix
1 apple
(3 oz) or 6 tablespoons of Cinnamon Sugar
2 packets of Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Drink Mix
2 eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil

From the Dollar Tree I bought 1 box of yellow or vanilla cake mix. On the back of the box it will say it only makes 12 cupcakes, don’t believe this. Every time I have made this I was able to make 24 cupcakes plus at least 6 minis.
Also, from the Dollar Tree again, I bought 1 8 oz Baker’s Select Cinnamon Sugar container and 1 box of Alpine Spiced Apple Cider drink mix.

1. Put 2 packets of the Spiced Apple Cider into a cup and boil water. Add 1 cup of water to the 2 packets. Let it cool.
2. Peel and cut the apple into small cubes. Put into a sauce pan.
3. Add 1/4 cup of the Spiced Apple Cider to the apples and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon sugar.
4. Stir and heat until the apples are soft. Let cool.
5. Open the cake mix, pour into a mixing bowl.
6. Add the vegetable oil and egg.
7. Take the remaining 3/4 cup of the Spiced Apple Cider and add this to the cake mix (don’t add any more water. This is substituting the water)
8. Add the apples to the cake mix.
9. Grease your cupcake pan (I used liners) and fill. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.

I frost these with my homemade Peanut Butter Frosting which I will be posting later today. They do taste great with powered sugar as well.

***Toothpick test*** If you place a toothpick into a cupcake and it pulls out “clean” (nothing gooey on it) then it is fully cooked and done.

Fisherman in Orange

Toss your line into the sea
find a spot perfect for thee.
Orange shirts and fishing poles
same hair style never got old.
socks with sandals walking through the sand
holding each child hand in hand.
Yankee, poppop, mike and dad
loving father, husband, uncle, and man.
lead a life rod and reel in hand. 

Here comes hop-a-long
walking down the street
Gaining respect from everyone he meets
The witty man makes his jokes
Lets all of us fall for his hoax
Spitting a mouth full of corn at mom
Which she took so cool and calm
Moving his dentures to make us laugh
Even the Covenant Hospice Staff
Playing cards, poker, and other games
even at horse shoes he’d put us all to shame.

Jack of all trades, master of none
he’d always stop before the job was done
Always trying to find his tools
and yelling at the boys for ignoring his rules.

Always looking at jewelry and coins
making all of us kids join.
Ivory soap for his hair
Taking us to the Mother Caprini fair
Lottery tickets he would need
and watching wrestling loving when they’d bleed
His two favourite places were thrift stores
and fishing along side the shore.

Lets not forget his love of food
pushing everyone even when they’re not in the mood.
Chicken cacciatore and chicken cordon blue
he would always make it however far and few
bringing home entenmann’s eclairs
and making steven so happy when he would share
chichamungas and chimichangas
he never knew the difference but loved them just the same
calling each one by the other name

Speaking of wrong names he never got our right
I was Steven, Robert, Brianna
that was something i could never fight.
It wasn’t me, not I, I don’t know
really did live here

Raising his voice to instill fear.
Sneaky snake always got us
Made us laugh without a fuss
Making Bobby sleep on a rock
He was a father to all kids on the block
Back in 2000 Dani and I would put on a fashion show
He would announce our moves blow by blow

Enjoy hunting, old man in the woods so booming
Stay away from bears, dear dad they’re always looming
Sail on Daddy, you won’t need your cane
for you don’t have any more pain.

Strength

This caught my attention, very inspiring.

Soft Homemade Pretzels WITHOUT Yeast

 

What you will need.

2 cups All purpose Flour

3 tbsp Unsalted Butter

2 tbsp White Sugar

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/3 cup Whole Milk (I used more than this, almost 2/3rd of a cup)

a pinch of salt

Coarse Salt or Salt Flakes

1 Egg – beaten

Put Flour into bowl, then add the Unsalted Butter, (I cut the butter into tiny pieces to work with it easier). Add Sugar, Baking Powder and Salt and mix together. It will still look like flour. Maybe a bit crumb-like. Add Milk slowly till all the ingredients are wet. Do not add all the milk at once. You have to make sure that the dough is not too sticky, but also not too dry. If you need more milk, you can add another drop. I used a teaspoon to put a little bit in at a time, but like I said I used more than 1/3 cup of milk. Once the dough is formed you do not have to let it rest, you can work with it straight away since there is no yeast.

Divide the dough into smaller balls. Roll out each ball into a long snake, or whatever shape you’d like. Shape and put onto prepared baking sheet. Once you have made all your pretzels, brush them with the egg (egg wash) and sprinkle with coarse salt or salt flakes.

Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes (depending on size of your pretzels) – they should be nice and golden on the top.
Serve warm.

 

You can serve them as is or with a delicious dipping sauce. I loved it with Honey. It made the pretzels taste like Whataburger’s Honey-Buttered Chicken Biscuit without the chicken…. hmm, gives me another idea for a recipe. My mother liked the pretzels with cheese, and my brother with mustard. The options are endless.

 

**ALSO, try adding flavors to the pretzels before you cook them. We have tried Parmasan cheese, garlic and herbs, extra butter and salt, even the popcorn flavors that they give you at the movies.

Pretty Nails

Reeses Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for my mothers birthday. They were a huge hit, and I am requested to make them again for every birthday now.

Directions:
1. I used a regular Chocolate chip cupcake mix and made the cupcakes as the box told me to. However, to get the most moist cupcake, set your time for 5-8 minutes earlier than they call for. So if they say it will take 18 minutes, set your timer for 13 and check with a toothpick. I can’t stress this enough! My mom always overcooks her cupcakes, and this is the problem.
2. Let the cupcakes cool. You want them to be fully cooled before doing anything else.
3. I used half of the first bag of Reeses minis, chopped them up finely. After, I cut the rest of the minis 1 1/2 bags into halves. Then, put all of it in the refrigerator to cool… they kind of melted from handling.
4. I then took the cooled cupcakes and cut holes in the middle to fill them with my homemade filling. DON’T get rid of the cut outs.
5. I combined the following ingredients to make my homemade peanut butter frosting.
-1 cup Peanut butter
-4 cups Confectioners sugar
-1 teaspoon Vanilla
-2 teaspoons Milk
Blend this with a mixer. If the consistency is too thick, keep adding milk at small quanities. It will change fast so don’t add too much too soon.
6. After the peanut butter frosting is made, take about 1/4 of this mixture and put it in a bowl. Take your finely chopped Reeses out of the fridge and mix it into the icing.
7. Place a small spoonfull of the reeses into the cupcakes and cover with the parts your cut out.
8. Place the rest of the Reeses frosting into a frosting bag. Make sure it is only on one side of the bag. Place store bought chocolate icing on the opposite side.
9. Squeeze to ice all of your cupcakes, twist your hand to creat a pretty design.
10. Place the halved Reeses on top to decorate.
11. Enjoy.