Super Mario Galaxy Cake!

Hello all! So I had to share a cake I just made for my nephew. He wanted his cake to be Super Mario Galaxy. I must admit I didn't know a ton about the game, but my husband was very happy to help me "research" for it. He came up with a great part in the game to use for the cake. This is where Mario defeats the "bad guy" Bowser. He is the one being squished under the globe. I had a few people at the party ask if the globe was styrofoam, but no no, it is all edible and I just made the globe sparkle with an edible shine spray. I also wanted to make it more personal so I made a Super Jeremy to go on top. My nephew gave me some figurines to put on the cake and when I asked him if he wanted anything special he said "yes, I want some figures I can eat." He was excited to eat the bad guy and be made into a character himself. Happy Birthday Jer I love you!!

Bowser getting smashed by Super Jer!

Side view.

Super Jer!

Candy Corn Kiss Cookies!!

So, have you seen all the Halloween stuff out? Of course you have. A few weeks ago it was annoying to me, but now I am getting excited and of course have begun to bake! I found these new Hershey Kisses at Target a couple of weeks ago and have had them sitting in my pantry while I was trying to come up with a great idea of how to use them. Well, being the baking nerd that I am I had this idea come to me in my sleep. Yes I bake and eat cookies in my sleep, and they are calorie free that way!! Anyway, these are beyond simple, they are bright and festive, and taste insanely good. I was hoping if I put them in these cupcake holders that read poison no one would eat them, sadly I was wrong. Guess I will just have to make another batch! Let me know what you think!

So here are the Kisses you are looking for. They are cute and tasty!!

Here they are unwrapped and ready to go!

And here they are melted and swirled to candy corn cookie perfection!!

Candy Corn Kiss Cookies

2 Packages Hershey Kisses Candy Corn Flavor

2 Cups Butter (softened or room temperature)
1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

Cream together and add:

2 tsp. Vanilla

5 Cups Flour

Press into a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until just golden. Remove and sprinkle your candy corn kisses evenly all over the top. Return the oven and bake for another minute or two until kisses are fully melted. Remove from oven and immediately swirl kisses with a knife and cool until chocolate is set.

Fall Popcorn!

Well, school has started and it has already started to get cool outside. This has my mind turning to fall. I found some caramel bits the other day and had to put them to good use! Fancy popcorn is soooooo expensive, but super easy to make and you can cater it to what you like. Here is a super easy way to put it together!!

These are all the ingredients you really need, but you can add any of your favorite treats. You can also use regular popcorn, but I like kettle corn. Pop two packages according to directions and spread out on two cookie sheets to cool.

Next you need to prep your chocolate and caramel. Melt you chocolate and set aside. Now let me tell you about these awesome caramel bits. The worst thing about using caramel has always been unwrapping those little clear wrappers off the caramel. Well now Kraft has omitted that all together with these little caramel bits. I bought these in the baking isle at target. Melt with one tablespoon water stirring every 30 seconds until smooth and set aside.

Now the fun part. It is like splatter painting but much tastier!! My kids thought this was soooo much fun. They decided to add mini M&M's to one but you could add nuts, candy corn, Reese's pieces, the possibilities are endless!!! Then just throw them in the freezer for a few minutes and break them up and you are ready to eat. It is salty, sweet, crunchy, and gooey, YUM!!!

Snickers Brownies!

Hello All!!! Ok, I must apologize for dropping off the planet, but even in those crazy busy times I have been keeping up on my baking. Here is a tasty one you must try. After I made that candy bar cake for my husband I had to think of something to do with all those snickers bars. I think I found a tasty solution. So make a batch of these for someone you know who has had to go back to school whether it be a teacher or a student. Both could use some chocolate caramel therapy!!! Enjoy!

So this is really simple. Just whip up a batch of your favorite brownies. Spread half the batter in a greased 9x13 pan and top with 4 chopped snickers bars. Cover them in a layer of Hershey's ice cream caramel topping.

Spoon on the rest of the batter and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until batter is cooked through. Serve to a hungry student or loved one immediately!!

Candy Bar Cake

I'm back!! So my husband and I just recently celebrated our anniversary and I wanted something cute, but different to do for him and this is what I made. I saw some of these online and you could pay major bucks to have someone make them for you. I opted to make my own, saving me money and giving me a fun craft project. This idea is so simple, but is a perfect gift. All I did was buy a paper mache' hat box at the craft store and a case of candy bars from Costco. I hot glued on the large candy bars. The smaller ones had a thinner wrapper that melted with the hot glue, so I used double stick tape. I cover the top in Rolos, then wrapped them all in a pretty ribbon. I only did one layer, because it was a big hat box, but you could also make it look like a multi-tiered cake using different size boxes. The cool thing about this is that when you are done you can still put a present inside. So the wrapping AND the present are the gift. I also used ours as our center piece for our romantic dinner! So Fun!!! Just pick your favorite candy, grab your glue gun and go crazy! Enjoy!!

Summer Zucchini Sheet Cake

Happy August!! Well, if any of you have a garden, or a neighbor with a garden, then you know that in August we usually have more Zucchini than we know what to do with. We have been eating it with dinner for weeks when I finally thought I should make some Zucchini bread. Just as I was pulling out my old trusty recipe I thought, hmm a cake would be similar, and would have frosting, so I went for it. This recipe is compilation of a few great cake and zucchini bread recipes, so it has the best of both worlds. I have made it twice in the last two weeks, and we could not stop eating it. You know it is good when you kids say things like this "Hey Mom, you should always fix my zucchini like this!" and "Mom, are you baking today? Because we are almost out of Zucchini Cake!!" Awesome. I cannot guarantee the same health benefits, but the taste, I can. Delish!!! Happy Baking!!

Summer Zucchini Sheet Cake

3 Cups White Sugar
4 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups Vegetable Oil
3 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
3 Cups grated Zucchini
3 Cups Flour
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 package milk chocolate chips

Combine all of these ingredients together. Now, I will say this made just a little too much batter, so either make yourself about 4 cupcakes too, or leave out about a cup to a cup and a half of batter so it doesn't overflow in your oven. If you are worried about it put some tinfoil underneath to catch any drips. Also here is a tip to save you from grating for hours. I just chopped my zucchini in big chunks and then threw it in the blender. Not only was it faster, but makes it so your cake is smooth with no zucchini strings in it. Pour into a greased cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes or until the middle is set. I frosted mine in cream cheese frosting, but any white frosting will do. Enjoy!

Pie in a Cookie Pan!!!

Happy 24th of July weekend! So here in Utah we celebrate Pioneer day which always includes a lot of family and a lot of food. I was trying to think of something other than a cookie to bring to a family party when this idea popped into my head. I love pie, but will admit that you have to make a lot of them to feed a lot of people. Plus it is hard to serve them without the pieces getting all broken. So, this will solve both of those problems. My pie in a cookie pan will feed a happy hungry crowd and you can serve it with your regular square spatula with no mess! Woo Hoo!! Feel free to pick any flavor. I went with peach MMMMMM! Have a tasty weekend!

So, I will fully admit I went with canned filling. I didn't need the hassle of peeling, pitting, boiling and thickening. It made it much faster. Here is my dough and the recipe. My children helped me make this with no problem.

Pie Dough

6 Cups Flour

3 Cups Unsalted Butter

3 tsp. Salt

1 1/2 Cups Ice Water

So first measure in your flour and salt then break up your butter. You want your butter straight from the fridge. It is harder to break up, but well worth the effort. Use your hands to mix the butter into the flour and salt until the whole mixture is crumbly. Next add your water a little bit at a time until your dough just comes together. Do not over kneed your dough or it will get tough. You will still see pockets of butter and that is what you want. Those create all those awesome buttery layers. Cover your dough and throw it in the fridge for about 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Now we are ready to roll. Flour your counter and roll out half of your dough to about the size of your cookie sheet. The trick to getting it in your pan is to roll it up on your rolling pin and then roll it onto the pan! Be sure to grease your cookie sheet!!!

Trim off any extra dough and then use a fork to poke the bottom crust. You do this so the steam has somewhere to escape so your pie doesn't blow up in the oven.

After that, spread in your pie filling. I used 4 cans for this big pie. Before you put your top crust on sprinkle the pie filling with sugar and cinnamon. Roll out your second crust and use the same rolling pin technique to get it on top of the pie. I used a small cookie cutter before rolling it onto the pie to make some decoration. You can do the same or just make slits to let steam out. Be sure to pinch around the edge to keep all that tasty filling in. Next I dip my fingers in milk and rub it all along the top of the pie. It helps make it golden and gives it that perfect crunch. Right after you rub on the milk sprinkle the pie with sugar. I used sanding sugar for a stronger flavor and crunch. You could also top with cinnamon too. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot or cold.