Red, White, and Blue Mini Layer Cakes for Two

This month's What's Baking challenge, from Heather of Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks, was to bake a layer cake. And I love layer cakes! You get more icing and filling than other cakes! Why not have layers? The logic seems to work, at least for me.


Since the 4th of July is coming up just around the bend, I decided to make my layer cake patriotic with red, white, and blue components. Red was simple, because I love red velvet, blue was just a spin-off of red velvet now called blue velvet, and since hubby had just taken a trip to Junior's recently and brought me some cheesecake, I had cheesecake on the brain. The assembly resembles our wedding cake as well! Our wedding cake was chocolate and vanilla layers with actual NY cheesecake in the middle covered with chocolate ganache. Well, this is similar, red and blue velvet cake with cheesecake piped in the middle covered with white chocolate ganache. And if you are thinking to yourself, "Which was better?", all I can say is... I'm not going to argue with either one!



Cheesecake:
1 1/2 lbs cream cheese
1 1/3 cups sugar
5 large eggs
16 ounces sour cream
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoons lemon juice

Cake: (Red Velvet/Blue Velvet)

2 1/2 cup cake flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, room temp
1 1/2 cup oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp gel food color, approx.
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp white distilled vinegar

White Chocolate Ganache:
8 oz white chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream

*Makes 3-4 mini layer cakes*




1. Let's start with making our cheesecake, since it has to cook and cool the longest. You may recognize this cheesecake recipe from an earlier post here. It's the same minus the crust.

2. Start by creaming the softened cream cheese. Then add the sugar and eggs, one at time, while continuing to beat on low.

3. Add flour, lemon juice, and vanilla. Stir. Fold in the sour cream.

4. Pour batter in a 9" springform pan and bake on 325 degrees for about an hour and fifteen minutes. No need to be worried about cracking or appearance for this cheesecake seeing as it be piped later. Once cooled, place in fridge until time to assemble cake.

5. Now, let's work on our cakes. We are going to make red and blue velvet cakes in 9" cake pans. To do so, we are going to simply divide the batter and add red food coloring to one half and blue food coloring to the other half. If you wanted to make a few more mini cakes, you could double the recipe and dye each batch, red and blue respectively. This recipe is from an earlier post of red velvet stuffed cupcakes.

6. In a medium bowl, sift together all of the dry ingredients for the cupcakes: flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa, and salt. Set aside.

7. In the bowl of a stand mixer add all the wet ingredients: eggs, oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar. Beat until smooth.

8. Slowly add the dry mix into the wet mix and blend for a minute or two until fully incorporated. Pour batter into two greased and floured cake pans.

9. Bake at 350 for 28-33 or until fully done. Test with toothpick. Set aside to cool.

10. Once both the cheesecake and cakes are fully cooled, you can begin to make the white chocolate ganache. Place the white chocolate, slightly broken up, into a double boiler over low heat.

11. Stir and let chocolate melt slowly. Add in the heavy cream and continue to stir over low heat. Once fully melted, continue to stir for about 2 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to cool for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally while cooling.

12. Time to assemble! Start by using a cookie cutter or I used a biscuit cutter to make 3 " circles. Depending on the exact shape of the pan and cutter, you will yield either three or four of each color. Place the blue circles on a baking rack. Blue cakes will be bottoms and red cakes will be tops, but you can feel free to switch 'em up!

13. Scoop cheesecake into a piping bag fit with a coupler and large round tip. Begin piping on top of each blue cake circle to fill the surface. Continue with all bottoms. Place red circles on top of the cheesecake filling to finish the cake tower.


14. By now, the ganache should be fully cooled. Be sure to place a dish or cookie sheet under the baking rack to catch the drips. Start spooning white chocolate ganache over the cakes and let it drip down the sides.



15. Depending on the thickness you desire, you may want one or two coats of ganache. I did two on mine. After the first coat, pop them in the fridge for 10 minutes and then apply second coat!
That's it! Now you have a perfect patriotic dessert for the 4th of July! Enjoy!



Also featured on: Savory Sunday, Mangia Monday,Moutherwatering Monday, Made from Scratch Tuesday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, This Chick Cooks

Quattro Formaggi Pizza with a Twist

So my husband is obsessed with this one pizza from our area that is a white pizza with cheddar on it. He will always hands-down choose that pizza over any others, so I figured it's about time I make it for him! I changed it up a little bit and threw in some extras so it's basically four cheese white pizza with a twist. And needless to say, Robert gave it a try and loved it! He said this pizza his new favorite. Hope you enjoy this yummy pizza!




Dough:
1 pizza crust dough, whole wheat (we bought ours for a local pizzeria, but you can make our own or buy one at the grocery store)

Sauce:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup of heavy cream
3/4 cup of pecorino romano cheese, grated
2 tsp pepper
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp oregano
1 clove of garlic, crushed

Cheeses and Toppings
12 oz Mozzarella cheese, grated
8 oz Ricotta cheese
4 oz cheddar cheese, sliced
2 oz Pecorino Romano, grated
half of a fresh red pepper, cut into thin strips (or a roasted red pepper)
15 leaves of fresh spinach
1 tsp garlic powder

1. Start out by making the pizza sauce, and since this is a white pizza, it's an easy, but flavorful alfredo sauce for the pizza base.

2. Melt your butter and mix in the flour with a wooden spoon over medium heat. Keep mixing until the flour is fully dissolved into the butter (about 3 minutes).

3. Add in the heavy cream and stir to incorporate. Let cook for another minute or two while stirring.

4. Lower the heat and add in your spices; pepper, nutmeg, oregano, and crushed garlic. Stir and let simmer on very low.

5. Stir in cheese and remove from heat. Set aside to let cool.

6. While the sauce cools, start prepping our pizza dough. Shape your dough into an flat oval with your palms and place on a your work surface. Sprinkle some corn meal over the dough and flip it over. Start rolling your dough until it reaches your desired thickness.

7. Transfer your dough to a pre-heated pizza stone or a metal pizza pan/cookie sheet lightly greased with shortening and stretch it to cover the surface. (Your pizza stone should be warmed in 475 degree oven for about 10 minutes) Spread alfredo sauce onto dough.



8. Now time to start adding the cheeses! Sprinkle on the mozzarella. Next, lay the cheddar slices on top, spacing them slightly apart until you cover the pizza.



9. Using a ice cream or cookie scoop, Start scooping ricotta balls onto the pizza, keeping them spread apart. Sprinkle on pecorino romano cheese.



10. Scatter some red pepper slices and spinach leaves over the pizza. Sprinkle some garlic powder over the pizza and get ready to eat!



11. Pop that pizza in a 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, until the cheeses are fully melted and slightly golden brown. Hope you enjoy your pizza!



Also featured on Foodie Friday and Full Plate Thursday

Watermelon Fruit Basket

It's starting to get that hot streak back, which I was more than happy left those last two weeks. And while I live to bake, sometimes when it's really hot outside I just don't want to turn on the oven at all. It's on those occasions that all the no-bake desserts are my best friends.

Since it's been so warm out recently, I turned to a fruity sweet snack instead of another baked treat. This is a super easy and very fun fruit dessert to make, plus it's healthy! It can be used as a centerpiece, a dessert item, or just part of a backyard party. And all you need is a little bit of time, a knife, and a melon baller/cookie scoop.

This watermelon basket was made to celebrate my favorite uncle's recent promotion. He's now the head honcho of the east coast! We also made a cake decorated with the his company logo, but I didn't think it turned out quite cute enough for blogging. He's pretty into all things healthy so this dessert was right up his alley. Hope you enjoy this fruit basket!



1 whole watermelon
1 pint blueberries
1 pint strawberries
1 pineapple, cut into chunks
1 pint of raspberries
6 kiwis, sliced





1. The only tricky part to this endeavour is making the basket. Be sure your watermelon has a flat bottom so it will be able to stand freely and is as blemish free as possible. Begin by using a pairing knife to score the portions that are going to be cut away. You will be removing the top half of the watermelon on the outer edges. Basically, from halfway up the watermelon to the top will be completely removed except for about 3 inches in the middle for the handle.

2. Then using a sharp knife, cut out the top right and left portions, being careful to leave the middle section for what will be the handle.

3. Remove sections of pulp from inside the basket bottom and inner handle, placing them aside to later be shaped into melon balls. Continue until the watermelon is hollow.

4. Using an ice cream scoop, scrape around the hollow inside to make it even and smooth. (No need to be too fussy though, it will be covered up with all the yummy fruit soon!)

5. Using a sharp knife, begin making diagonal cuts on your handle to make the triangular edges. Continue along all the edges of the handle and basket.

6. Then start filling your basket with the fruit. Blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries can go in whole. The pineapple can simply be cut into chunks. The watermelon (and any other melon too, we usually use cantaloupe or honeydew as well) needs to be balled. Using a cookie scoop or melon baller, stick the end in the melon and turn it around full circle, then pull it out and you have a melon ball! Feel free to add in any other fruits you like as well.

7. Toss all the fruit together in your watermelon basket and you are all set! (I placed the kiwi slices on top and did not toss them in because they are more delicate.) You can also serve this with a fruit dip, like this Irish Cream Fruit Dip. If you have any leftover strawberries and blueberries, these Red, White, and Blue Berries are perfect for upcoming 4th of July parties. Enjoy!



Also featured: Mangia Mondays, Mangia Mondays, and Mouthwatering Mondays

Marinated Chicken Kebabs

Here's a quick and easy marinade for chicken kebabs! Perfect for these months of summer heat to do all the cooking outside!


2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
3 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp dried pepperoncino
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup corn oil
3 tbsp water
3 lbs chicken cutlets, cut into cubes
wooden skewers



1. Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. This mixture is basically a homemade version of a Good Season or other Italian dressing dry mix and can be stored for approx. 2 months in a sealed container. You could even double or triple this recipe and have it in your pantry(use approx 3- 3 1/2 heaping tbsp for each batch.) Then when you are ready to make the dressing, you have it on hand!

2. Add the olive oil, corn oil, and water to the dry seasoning and whisk to blend well.

3. Place the chicken cubes and the dressing together into a sealed bag or container and refrigerate overnight (at least 4 hours) to let the flavors become fully absorbed.

4. Soak your skewers half an hour or so before you are ready to assemble to help prevent burning. Slide the marinated chicken pieces onto the skewers.

5. Now you are ready to grill! Throw your kebabs on the grill until fully cooked, rotating halfway through to even char all sides. Enjoy your chicken kebabs as appetizer, a quick dinner, or a barbecue side dish!




Also featured on: Mouthwatering Mondays, Mangia Monday, and Mangia Monday

Stuffed Crust Pepperoni Pizza

So today my little brother, John, is graduating from 8th grade. I can't believe he's that old already!! And his birthday is this weekend so it's a super party packed weekend ahead (and don't forget Father's Day is in there too). One thing that anyone who knows John is aware of is eating habits. He is the most particular eater ever. (As I've mentioned before in my younger days, I tended to be a picky eater too but I surprisingly grew out of it). And my little brother is no different! His favorite foods consist of the ever famous Kraft Mac and Cheese, Chicken cutlets, Pizza, and Eggo Waffles. But at least there is some good homemade food he likes too. And pizza is probably his favorite food ever. So for this weekend of celebrating, we will be having some homemade pepperoni pizza for my ever picky, ever crazy, ever silly, little brother!

1 pizza crust dough (we bought ours from a pizzeria, but you can make one or buy one from a grocery store too)

1 1/2 cup of quick marinara sauce
10 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 tsp salt
3 tsp pepper
1 clove of garlic, crushed
3 oz Pecorino romano cheese
5 oz pepperoni, sliced thick (or about half a stick)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
12-14 mozzarella sicks, cut into thirds




1. Shape your dough into an flat oval with your palms and place on a your work surface.

2. Sprinkle some corn meal over the dough and flip it over. Start rolling your dough until it reaches your desired thickness.

3. Transfer your dough to a pre-heated pizza stone or a metal pizza pan/cookie sheet lightly greased with shortening and stretch it to cover the surface, even have some overhang if possible. (Your pizza stone should be warmed in 475 degree oven for about 10 minutes)

4. Now I wanted to try something different with this pizza, so I took mozzarella sticks chunks and lined them around the edge of the pizza pan and rolled the overhang of crust on top of the mozzarella sticks to make a stuffed crust. Be sure to pinch the dough together or the melted cheese will escape-a lesson I learned.

4. Spread your sauce over dough top with mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle on your seasonings; salt, pepper, oregano, and basil.

5. Add the pepperoni slices. I purchased a stick of pepperoni and used a mandoline to cut them. It was a super fast and easy way to cut pepperoni and you can gauge the thickness you desire.

6. Sprinkle on your Pecorino Romano cheese(and you can use more than the suggested amount above, it's ok. I won't tell anyone) and maybe even a little extra mozzarella too since this is a stuffed crust pizza, it's all about the cheese.


7. Bake your pizza for about 15-20 minutes on 425 degrees. I also like to broil the pizza on low just for a minute when it's done to crisp the pepperoni. Enjoy your pizza!!


Also featured on: Ultimate Recipe Swap and Full Plate Thursdays

Review of 2011 Bloggers Bake Sale

A few weekend ago, I hosted one of the many bake sales for the 2011 Bloggers Bake Sale team for Share Our Strength through the Great American Bake Sale. This is the second year of the annual event, created by Gaby, from What's Gaby Cooking, where food bloggers from across the nation join together by setting up local bake sales on the same day to share their yummy treats and at the same time raise funds and awareness for Share Our Strength!I hosted one of the bake sales for the New Jersey region at local farm and garden center, Heaven Hill. Share Our Strength is hosting a campaign to raise to end childhood hunger in America by 2015 and is helping children all across America gain the nutrition that is needed.


During the week approaching the bake sale, my grandmother became more ill and weak and moved in with my family. Sadly, she passed away the same week. We were so busy with everything going on at home that I didn't get to bake at all. Luckily, I had solicited the help of some wonderful food bloggers who were gracious enough to help out and their efforts were wonderfully appreciated! So the day before the bake sale, I woke up at 5am and started baking like a crazy woman. It was a lot of fun and my family pitched in to help with the massive amounts of flying baking sheets and dirty dishes. By the end of the day, we had everything baked, cooled, and individually wrapper and ready for the bake sale.



The bake sale ended up being a hit and we raised 300 dollars! I'm so grateful for all the people who stopped by our bake sale and supported us! We did have some very delicious treats for sale and we sold well over half our baked goods. Two wonderful ladies, Danielle and Melissa, who are fellow Jersey Bites writers baked up some wonderful treats from raspberry oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to dark chocolate brownies and peanut butter cup filled chocolate chip cookies to brownie cookies bars. Danielle even worked the bake sale with me while being 8 months pregnant! Also, Donna, from My Tasty Journey, baked cappuccino chocolate chip cupcakes/muffins (guest post from Donna with the recipe for these coming soon!) and a bunch of loaves of banana breads. They were so yummy! Thank you girls so much for all your baking! My contributions were largely in the form of cookies. I'm not sure why, but I was on a cookie frenzy! I baked M&M sugar cookies, traditional chocolate chip as well peanut butter chocolate chunk, and cinnamon roll cookies. I also made some lemon blueberry muffins and cashew peanut clusters. My mom made some yummy super crumb cakes too, which were big sellers! I wish I had taken more photos of the individual items, but oh well, next time. And next year, I plan to try again and to challenge myself even more and raise more money for Share Our Strength!


(this is my adorable cousin and her bestie, who might as well be part of the fam, bringing in the crowds)

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

This is slightly late, but it's been a crazy month so far. This month's What's Baking theme was to a bake a sweet treat for Mother's Day. I choose these Lemon Blueberry Muffins which I've made a few times before and they always come out great!



1 cup milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour,plus a few tbsps
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 tbsp grated lemon zest





1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients; 3 cups of flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

2. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. (The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.)

3. In a small bowl, mix together the milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture. Stir together just until incorporated. (Do not over mix this mixture or the muffins will be tough when baked.)

4. Toss your blueberries with a few tbsp of flour to coat them. (If you are using frozen, do not thaw them first.)

5. Fold in the blueberries and lemon zest very gently to not break the blueberries or you will have blue batter.

6. Fill each lined muffin cup with the batter, using a cookie scoop or an ice cream scoop. Remember to fill any unused muffins cups with water to prevent the pan from warping.

7. Place on the middle rack of a 350 degree preheated oven and bake until very lightly browned and firm to the touch and/or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 - 22 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool. ( I also made a few mini muffins and those bake on the same temperature for 9-11 minutes; test in similar fashion.)

Makes 16 - 18 regular-sized muffins.





Source: Joyofbaking.com, originally from Oregon's Cuisine of the Rain by Karen Brooks.

Also featured on: Foodie Friday

Still standing...

Hello readers! It's been a sad and busy week for us. I apologize for my lack of posting. This month already has proved to be challenging. The month began pleasantly anticipating the usual May fun of my birthday and Mother's day. I also, began planning for the 2011 Bloggers Bake Sale to support Share Our Strength in the fight against childhood hunger. However, life switched paces quickly as my grandma's cancer worsened and she was placed into hospice care and moved in with my family. We tried our best to make her comfortable, and to spend as much time as we could with her. Unfortunately, she grew weaker by the day and lost her battle with cancer on May 13. Her services will be held this week, so I won't be posting much until after then. She was a beautiful woman inside and out, as you can see from these photos. Thank you for all the prayers and kind words. My family greatly appreciates it!

On a positive side note, the bake sale was a huge success! I will share a post later this week with recipes, photos, and details surrounding the bake sale! Thanks to all those helped me with the bake sale during this hectic, saddening time. Thanks to Donna, from My Tasty Journey, and Melissa and Danielle from Jersey Bites, for all their hard work baking sweet treats for the bake sale! I couldn't have done it without, especially during this time for my family! Your generosity was so appreciated!!

Check out the Bloggers Bake for Hope Virtual Bakesale

If you are interested in buying some wonderful, homemade, and creative baked goods and also help raise money for Breast Cancer/ Susan G Komen Fund, then here's your chance! Stop by the Bloggers Bake for Hope Virtual Bake Sale website starting today and going on through midnight on Friday, May 6th. You can then bid on the item of your choice (and there are lots of photos of yummy sweets to peruse, including Anginettes made by me!)

After that, simply choose the amount you would be willing to donate in exchange for that baked good and place a bid. The winner will be notified afterwards and sent to paypal to finalize their order. Then us, the bloggers, will be packaged your baked good and sending it your front door. I hope that you take some time to visit this virtual bake sale and help fight breast cancer with sweet treats!

We finally bought a house!

I apologize for my absence this past week or so, but don't worry it's for good reason... I have an announcement to make.

We are home owners!

Hubby and I bought our first house last week and it has been a crazy few months trying to get everything finished up. We are super excited and ready to tackle the new and fun challenge of owning a home! There is some construction that needs to be done still so we won't be moving in for a little while, but our weekends are happily full of sledge hammers and dumpsters! My hubby teases it's our home away from home since we aren't staying there yet. I can't wait to fully move in ! I'll be sure to keep updating throughout the process. Ah, my very own kitchen... Soon!

Since our attorney is close family friend, I thought I'd make her a treat to say thank you for her hard work with the closing. And what's more appropriate then house cookies! I made these once before when one of my best friends bought her first house. I tried adding some new elements such as keys, moving boxes, and sold signs. I made templates for the cookies by drawing on card stock and then cut the cookies out using a small paring knife.

These cookies were a variation of the usual vanilla and almond version. I've been playing with different flavors recently and trying to new variations of my usual sugar cookie recipe. I truly loved this one! It was different and the lemon was a great addition!


Lemon And Vanilla Cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp Madagascar bourbon pure vanilla powder
Zest of half a lemon (or the zest of a whole lemon, if you love lemon)
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt


1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and powdered sugar on medium until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.

2. Add in the egg, vanilla extract, vanilla powder, and lemon zest until blended.

3. Next, pour in the flour and salt on low speed just until incorporated.

4. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough until chilled and firm(about 2 hours).

5. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough out between two lightly floured pieces of wax paper to about ¼-inch thickness.

6. Cut with cookie cutters and transfer to the prepared baking sheets.

7. Bake on 375 for 8-10 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through baking, until fully cooked but not at all browned.

8. Allow to cool on the baking sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

9. Decorate with royal icing, marshmallow fondant, or any other favorite toppings! I used royal icing from this recipe I used earlier to make house cookies, which was my first attempt to decorate with royal icing and ever since then I've been hooked!

Source: Annie's Eats
Also featured on: Tempt my Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday

Banana Split Float and Introducing... Hubby's Kitchen Endeavors!

Welcome to a new section of my blog devoted to the men in our lives. It's called Man Made! (yes cheesy, I know) It's a compilation of the food and drinks that are made by hubby, with or without assistance. This usually consists of drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), all things grill related, and any form of cooking involving a giant flame. Hubby himself will be sharing his new concoctions with you whenever he gets a moment in the kitchen to experiment! I'm so proud of hubby and his culinary skills considering when we met in college, he could barely handle making mac and cheese from the box, and he lived off hamburger helper and various "processed, pre-made food". Since then he has mastered much more and introduced real home cooking into his repertoire. Hope you enjoy this new little segment! (Man Made recipes unless otherwise noted are hubby's own creations, for better or for worse, and are made, photographed, and written by himself)


Banana Split Float

On occasion I get to help in the kitchen, usually I'm in charge of all "tall jobs" and make a great sou-chef. My kitchen tasks consist of cutting chicken, peeling 4 million cloves of garlic, or getting that plate off the top shelf. Once and a while I have a culinary inspiration, and it almost never works out. I would say that 9 times out of 10 the smoke alarm goes off and on a good day we still have enough of an appetite to enjoy the take-out that became a necessity. One of the places in the kitchen that I'm not so bad is Mixology.

Amanda had purchased this bottle of banana liqueur to make bananas foster around Christmas time, but life got in the way so she never got around to it. So I had been staring at this bottle for a few weeks and the craving finally took over last night and I just had to use it! I rummaged around and came up with a little something. Banana Split - for grown ups! I found some of our favorite daiquiri mix and a ton of little toppings and sweet liqueurs. I grabbed our trusty blender and went to work. Each layer tastes delightful on its own but all together this drink combines well an taste like one of my favorite desserts!

2 1/2 cups of ice, divided
2 oz banana liqueur
1 tbs caramel sauce
4 oz strawberry daiquiri mix
1 oz Grey Goose Vodka
1 oz Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
4 small scoops of vanilla ice cream
2 oz Bailey's Irish Cream
maraschino cherries, for topping

1. First, blend 1 cup ice and banana liqueur until smooth. Then add caramel and blend again for 10-20 seconds

2. Pour into bottom of the glass and rinse blender.

3. Blend 1 cup ice, daiquiri mix, and vodka for about 30-45 seconds. Then add chocolate liqueur and blend again until incorporated.

4. Tilt glass and pour slowly while spinning glass. Rinse blender.

5. Blend 1/2 cup ice, ice cream and Irish cream. Blend until there are no chunks of ice left and mixture is creamy.

6. Pour slowly to float foam on top of liquids. Top with a maraschino cherries or two, throw in a straw, and you are all set to enjoy your dessert/drink!



Also featured on: What's Cooking Wednesday

Giant Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie

Welcome to the Autism Awareness section of my blog post for the month of April in honor of my brother! I'm sure most people have heard of autism, but how many people really know what it is? Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder that affects people in every walk of life. It is classified by particular behaviors and difficulty in communications. Not every person with autism presents the same characteristics. People are categorized "on the spectrum" based on levels of functioning. But what's so surprising is how very many people are being diagnosed with autism, asperger's or other disorders on the PDD spectrum. According to a study done two years ago, one child in every 110 children is born with autism. Even more so affrected are boys with a 1 to 70 ratio. Where we live has one of the highest rates of autism in the country; 1 in 94 children born are affected. Those results are staggering when compared with other developmental delays. These reasons, plus many more are simply the beginning of why it's crucial to spread awareness. The more we know, the more we can accomplish.


Now back to our regularly scheduled program... I've been trying to think of a way to share Autism Awareness in my food this month and have come up with some good ideas and some not so good ideas. This simple recipe is merely a fun way to spread awareness with baked goods which feature the colors and symbols of Autism Awareness. Some people call this concoction a cookie pizza and others call it a cookie cake. I'm leaning toward pizza, but either sounds good, because it'll be gone so fast!



Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie "Cake/Pizza"
This cookie cake is simply a double batch of the peanut butter cookies I previously made here, but I will share the revised recipe.

1 stick butter (softened)
1/2 cup peanut butter ( I used smooth, but chunky would be great too)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar 1 egg
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I used min kisses!)

Chocolate Ganache (for topping)
1 cup of heavy cream
1 1/2 cup chopped chocolate



Giant Cookie

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cream butter, peanut butter, sugar, and brown sugar in a mixing bowl.

3. Add the egg and continue to beat until fluffy.

4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

5. Slowly add dry mix to peanut butter mix while beating.

6. Stir in chocolate chips.

7. Cover a 16" pizza pan with foil or parchment and spread cookie dough with a lightly greased spatula. I even gave the foil a quick spray before filling the pan just to be sure there had no surprises later...

8. Bake on 350 for 18-23 minutes, until fully cooked through. Remove from oven and let cool.


Ganache

1. Take your chocolate bar and break it up into smaller pieces for easier melting. Spread out the pieces in a large bowl. You can use whatever chocolate you have on hand, but the better the chocolate, the better the results. I used a large milk chocolate bar I had hanging around Valentine's Day.

2. Heat the cream on medium-low. Watch it carefully. It will simmer for a few minutes and then as soon as it reaches a boil, immediately remove it from the heat and pour over the chocolate.

3. Stir the chocolate and cream together until smooth and fully incorporated.

4. Pour the ganache over the cookie and help spread it out to the edges with a spoon or spatula.

5. Then decorate as you desire. You can use candy, marshmallows, other types of melted chocolate or peanut butter, icing, nuts, or whatever toppings you want. I used mini M&Ms in the colors of the autism awareness ribbon. Then just cut a slice and eat!



For more information about Autism, please visit these sites:
Autism Society of America
Autism Speaks
Easter Seals



Remember to Support. Educate. Advocate. for Autism Awareness now and all through the year!
Source: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, previously blogged by me, originally from Stephanie Cooks

Also featured on: Full Plate Thurdays

Fruit Salad with Sweet Dressing

April is an important month for me and my family, because April is Autism Awareness Month! For anyone who knows me, you know that I love my family tons! My little brother is very special to me. He's my buddy. And he's autistic.

Throughout the month of April, I hope to share, a little about my brother and about autism, along with many of my posts. As I'm sure many people know, the Autism Awareness ribbon is characterized by puzzle pieces and primary colors. Also, the color "blue" has become a symbol a Autism Awareness through the Autism Speaks insignia. I will be blogging about autism along with my usual recipes for this month. Thank you to everyone in their support of Autism Awareness and spreading the word!

This is a very simple fruit salad which I chose to feature today, because its colors are similar to that in the Autism Awareness Ribbon. I hope to feature some foods that highlight the color themes for Autism Awareness, as well as, some of my brother's favorite foods in the up coming weeks.

6 strawberries, sliced
4 oz blueberries
1/2 cantaloupe, diced
1/2 pineapple, cubed
1 bunch of green grapes
1 bunch of red grapes
4 tbsp honey
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lime juice
2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp cinnamon

1. Rinse all of the fruit and pat dry with paper towels. Place all the fruit in a large bowl.

2. In a small bowl, add honey. Slowly, add in lemon and lime juice while stirring.

3. Stir in vanilla and cinnamon.

4. Drizzle the dressing over the fruit and lightly toss until well coated. Serve chilled.