White Trash-revamped

If you guys haven't noticed yet, I LOVE homemade candy. Cakes, cookies...eh, they're ok and all, but candy is where it's at! I'm sure all of you have had white trash before so I decided to vamp up the recipe a little bit. I added peanut butter (of course I would right?) to the white chocolate in addition to Cadburry mini chocolate eggs. This stuff is amazing...really really really good. It is, however, kind of rich and after a few bites you've had enough.

The other great thing about this is that you don't have to use the stove or oven AND you just dump everything into one bowl. Instead of writing a paper, I made this and am watching Grey's Anatomy...I know I know, it's trashy at times--just let me have my guilty pleasure. Besides, when you're wanting to procrastinate school, anything sounds good other than the actual work itself. 

There is a little bit of justification to not doing school too. The Memphis Tigers (my school!!) play tonight so I of course have to watch and support. They are going all the way to #1 this year I feel it. Last year #2 was an ok spot, but I feel it...#1 here we come!

Ingredients:

2 cups Cheerios

1 1/2 cups peanuts

2 cups pretzel sticks, broken

2 cups Chex cereal (I just realized I forgot to add these :()

1 1/2 cups M & M's

1 bag Cadburry Mini Chocolate Eggs

1 package of white chocolate chips (around 16 oz.)

3/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:

Put all the ingredients except the white chocolate and peanut butter in a large bowl. Melt the white chocolate and peanut butter in a microwavable bowl (about 2 min.) until smooth and creamy. Pour over mixture and mix together, coating the dry ingredients evenly.  

Put wax paper on the counter and pour mixture on top, spreading in a thin layer. Let set and break into clumps. Store in an airtight container or plastic bag.

Chocolate Chip-Peanut Butter Torte

I know that I haven't been posting many recipes on my blog, or even comments for that matter. I've been really busy with school as of lately so I haven't found much time to cook. My cake decorating class has received all my baking attention as of recently, but I promise that I'll do better and start posting more recipes ASAP! Don't forget about me and never check my blog anymore...I'm still alive. 

 I promise you that this tastes and looks much better than my horrible picture. Unfortunately before I could take a good picture it was cut up and served, hence the bad picture. This is like a chocolate chip cookie/cheesecake blessing of goodness! I found it off www.pillsbury.com I highly recommend this to anyone who likes chocolate chip cookies or cheesecake.

Ingredients:

1 roll (16.5 oz.) Pillsbury refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat and it tasted fine)

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocoalte chips

1 cup chopped honey-roasted peanuts

1 cup butterscotch chips

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup chocolate-flavored syrup (I actually used the magic shell syrup)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In an ungreased 10 or 9 inch springform pan, break up cookie dough. With floured fingers, press dough evenly in bottom of pan to form crust. Bake 15-18 min. or until light golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in sugar and egg until well blended. Stir in 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of the peanuts. Pour over cooled crust and spread evenly.

In a bowl microwave the butterscotch chips until smooth and melted. Stir in peanut butter until smooth. Drizzle over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips and peanuts.

Bake 30-40 min. until edge is set but center it still slightly jiggly. Cool on cooling rack 10 min. Run knife around side of pan to loosen the torte; carefully remove side of pan. Cool 1 hour. Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

To serve, cut torte into wedges. Drizzle 1 tsp. of chocolate syrup onto each dessert plate. Place wedges over syrup. Store in refrigerator. 

Cake #2

Here's my clown cake!

My first Wilton Cake

Here it is! My very first cake I officially decorated myself. Please be nice :)

Chewy Chocolate Chip Bars

Thank you all for your kind words wishing me to get well. Unfortunately I'm still not 100% better, but hey...as long as I'm not nauseous and throwing up I'm good. I found this recipe again off Anna's website cookiemadness.net 

This didn't turn out like I had hoped it would, but I was also in a hurry because I was doing my friend's hair and makeup for a wedding she was in. I wanted to make a smaller batch in a 8 x 8 inch pan, so I halfed the recipe and tried it. Not everything got done, but after a setting up for an hour or so in the refrigerator they were great. 

The bottom is essentially a cookie crust with the chocolate in the middle layer, topped with a brown sugar meringue. I felt better after reading in some of the comments that other people had trouble making them as well. Eh...I've had my share of undercooked bars so I know all the tricks, but the refrigerator sets them up very nicely. 

The end result tastes like a chocolate pecan pie, but that probably isn't how they're supposed to taste. I put the original recipe here (not like I halfed it) so if you want to try and half it...good luck. 

On a sugary note, my cake decorating class is on Monday so you'll soon be seeing a pretty rainbow cake! I'm putting my sister Andrea's cake on here too for a compare and contrast, so I expect everyone of you to say that my cake looks better. :)

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar, divided use

1 tbsp. milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 egg yolks

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

2 egg whites 

2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper. 

In a bowl, beat together butter, sugar, and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Beat in milk, vanilla, and egg yolk--reserve white.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir into butter mixture. Press into baking pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of batter.

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then add remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar to whites and continue beating for another 30 seconds or so. If you add an extra egg white, use an additional 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Spread the egg white mixture over the chocolate chips. Sprinkle chopped pecans over top and bake for 28-30 min. or until edges are golden brown and pull away from side of the pan.

Let bars cool slightly, then lift from pan and score while still warm. Allow bars to cool completely or chill if desired. 

Super Small Batch of Extra Large Chunk Cookies

So I've been sick for the last two days...two precious days of my spring break. I could be negative nancy and be annoyed that I got sick on my spring break, but instead I'm choosing to be grateful that it happened now. I at least don't have to miss class.

I'm still running a fever, but today I'm getting a little antsy and decided to make some cookies. I ran across this recipe at Anna's website at cookiemadness.net I wanted to make a small batch of cookies, and these were so gigantic in her picture that I had to try them out. 

These really came out well...I was surprised. Usually big cookies don't get done in the middle, but these were super soft in the middle, but not underdone by any means. From the little bite that I took (cookies don't sound too appealing when you're sick), they were incredible. They were so soft and gooey that I might never make regular sized cookies again. 

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and very hot

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tbsp. beaten egg (break egg, mix it with a fork and measure)

1/4 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup flour, leveled in measuring cup

1 tsp. water (optional)

1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 milk chocolate candy bar, broken into pieces (I used Cadbury's Milk Chocolate bar)

2-3 tbsp. white chocolate chips

1/2 cup M & M's

Directions:

In a large bowl, stir together hot butter, powdered sugar and brown sugar until smooth. If still hot, let cool for about a min., then stir in egg. Beat with a spoon until egg is fully mixed; stir in vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Add flour and stir just until mixed.If dough seems too dry (falling apart), add water. Stir in white chocolate chips, chocolate chips, broken candy bar pieces, and M & M's. Shape dough into a fat log of about 5 inches. Chill for 1 hour. Carefully cut log into 4 equal pieces (each should weigh 3 1/2 oz). 

Place cut pieces, spaced about 4 inches away from each other, 4 to a sheet, on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for 18-20 min., rotating pan halfway through. Remove from oven and arrange a few more semi-sweet chunks on top--the candy will melt and adhere to the cookie. Cool on cookie sheet for 3 min, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. 

Let the cookies sit around for awhile to set. 

Peanut Buttter Cup Fudge Swirl Ice Cream

"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!"

If someone came up to me and asked me what my favorite dessert is, I wouldn't even need a second to tell them of my love for ice cream. Now I'm not talking about the nasty grocery store kind of ice cream...I'm talking about frozen custard or the other really fattening kinds of ice cream. Sorry, but unless I'm having a health-conscious day, I'm not going to go get frozen yogurt--it's a waste of time. 

But back to the ice cream! I've never made any before because I'm very intimidated of the ice cream maker. All the spinning, churning, ice, rock salt, etc...I had no idea how to make it. So I finally buckled down and got my dad to show me how to use our ice cream maker; it was so much easier than I thought. What does this mean? Well from now on I'm pretty much going to go a little crazy over making ice cream. Once summer hits, I'm just going to warn you that it's going to probably be a new flavor a week. This recipe is from http://www.foodess.com I added my favorite candy, Reese Cups, to the mixture because everyone knows that I like to have multiple textures in my food. 

Is this ice cream good? Oh my goodness...look at the picture? Do I really need to tell you how great it is? The ice cream is essentially more like a creamy vanilla custard, and then peanut butter swirled in just about makes me want to eat the whole container. But sadly enough I won't eat it all, well today at least. :)

Ingredients

Ice cream

2 & 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

8 large egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 bag of Reese Cups, chopped

Fudge Swirl

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/8 cup corn syrup

3/4 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

pinch of salt

To make ice cream:

Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Put yolks, sugar, and salt into a bowl. Beat on high speed with an electric mixer until yolk mixture has tripled in volume and can hold a ribbon on surface for 2 seconds, about 3 min. 

Reduce speed to medium and add cream and milk; beat to combine. Transfer mixture to saucepan; cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until it's thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. It should read 180 degrees F., about 5-7 min.

Pour custard through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl set in ice-water. Add vanilla extract. Let cool completely, stirring often.

Freeze custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve immediately, or freeze in an airtight plastic container until ready to serve. If frozen for mroe than 4 hours, let ice cream stand at room temperature 15-20 min. before serving.

To make fudge swirl:

Combine cream and corn syrup in a saucepan over medium heat until it bubbles. Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate, peanut butter, and salt. Let cool.

To assemble:

Pour ice cream from machine into a freezer-safe container (it will be the consistency of soft serve). Allow to harden slightly in freezer, about 1 hour. Remove from freezer and pout fudge sauce in a zig-zag over top. Using a butter knife, gently swirl the fudge into the ice cream. Return to freezer and allow to harden another hour or more, until scoop-able.