Random Dessert Post

Have you ever had a cake ball? No? You need to try it!!! I saw a recipe on red velvet cake balls (I think on pinterest) and was too excited to try it.

People say that they are easy to make... and they are; they're just a labor of love for me because of the time it takes to make them.

These beginning and middle pictures were taken by the person who's blog I got the recipe from. The finished product picture is mine.

Red Velvet Cake Balls

• 1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake) 
• 1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.) 
• 1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate) - I used meltable white chocolate (bark or morsels) -
• wax paper

Instructions

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)
I also only melt a few pieces of chocolate bark at a time because it starts to cool and thicken. It’s easier to work with when it’s hot.

My finished product. And it is YUMMY to my TUMMY!!!!

#15 - Baking 3 new desserts from scratch

#15 - Part 2

So I LOVE LOVE LOVE red velvet cake, cupcakes, and cake balls (see next post), so when I saw red velvet brownies on Pinterest, I thought "why not?".

I wasn't so happy with the out come but hubby and my co-workers seemed to love it. Berto even took it to work and his two employees liked it too.

It wasn't moist enough for me. But maybe you'll like it.

Red Velvet Brownies
adapted from Smells like Home

1 cup  unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 oz red food coloring (optional)
4 tsp pure vanilla extract, divided
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter and flour an 9 X 13 baking pan.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then stir in food coloring and vanilla. Mix flour, cocoa and salt in a separate bowl.  Slowly add in the flour mixture and mix on medium-low speed, just until combined.  Do not over mix.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir up the batter with a rubber spatula once or twice just to ensure all of the flour has incorporated from the sides of the bowl and there isn’t anything stuck on the bottom of the bowl.  You’ll want one uniformly colored (red) batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the brownies.  Set aside to cool, cut into bars and serve.

#15 - Baking 3 desserts from scratch

#15- Part 1

So school kept me very busy this last semester. But I managed to get some baking in. From scratch and not so scratch.

First one up... I went to www.allrecipes.com to get a recipe for bread pudding.
It is called 'Gramma's Apple Bread Pudding'. I made it for sabbath dinner (dessert). I felt like I baked it too long because the top came out a little crispy. But... it was gone in 30 minutes. I didn't get a after picture because I forgot to take one and by the time I remembered only 25% of it was left in the dish.

I diced the apples for mine and I used golden raisins.

I used about 1/2 a bag of Nature's Own Honey Wheat Bread.



 

 Added the golden raisins. If you like raisins, you could probably add more. I don't care too much for them in my food so I just used what was suggested.
 

 I used 2 granny smith and 2 fuji apples.

 This is what is looked like before I put it in the oven.

 *It looked delish before I even put it in the oven.*

Ingredients

• PUDDING
• 4 cups soft bread cubes
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 2 cups peeled and sliced apples
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, beaten
•  
• VANILLA SAUCE
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 7x11 inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, combine bread, raisins, and apples. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1 3/4 cups milk, and 1/4 cup margarine. Cook and stir until margarine is melted. Pour over bread mixture in bowl.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and eggs. Pour bread mixture into prepared dish, and pour egg mixture over bread.
4. Bake in preheated oven 40 to 50 minutes, or until center is set and apples are tender. *(I'd suggest baking it for at least 1 hour. But monitor it after 50 minutes.)
5. While pudding is baking, mix together sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/2 cup margarine in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat, and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Serve over bread pudding.