I can't believe I had enough in me after these to make more sugar cookies! For our friends, I made some simple sugar cookies with royal icing.
For other friends, I made Bakerella's cake pops, covered in white and red candy melts and painted them with gold luster dust.
That night, she celebrated at the Cheesecake Factory with both sets of grandparents and one of her uncles. Her favorite character now is Celia from Monsters Inc. (random? yes) so she got a Celia cake for that party. The cake is white with pistachio buttercream.
And finally, here are the birthday cake cookies I made for her preschool class.
I personally was disappointed in this. The hazelnut flavor was great, but like this cake, I didn't like just whipped cream for the filling. I would also add more chocolate to the cake as I couldn't taste it. I just used simple syrup instead of run syrup.
Chocolate Hazelnut Nutcracker Cake
And I made a mini cake present. I didn't have time to clean it up much, hence the powdered sugar dust on the decorations.
The dough is super soft, though. To save 2 hours of chilling time, I put mine in the freezer for about 45 minutes. Worked just fine. I kept trading off between the two dough disks- kept one in the freezer while I worked with the other.
Here's my helper. I know I shouldn't let her lick the paddle, but you couldn't resist that face, either. In Christmas jammies, no less! I topped mine with a simple sugar/milk drizzle and some colored sugar sprinkles. I also drizzled a few with melted chocolate.
I actually used finely ground unsalted cashews since that's the only nut I had in our pantry. I halved the recipe and also added 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder with the flour/nut mixture.
Let me just tell you, the smell from these was AMAZING! The tiny bit of cloves (not a fan, normally) and cinnamon, with a hint of chocolate filled the kitchen, making it smell like the holidays. WONDERFUL!!
I made the ganache a little thin and left some of the chopped chocolate in tact so there's a little surprise in some of the bites. 
These cookies are honestly some of the best I've tasted. I would highly recommend giving these a shot. They're fairly quick (chill time notwithstanding) and easy and are absolutely wonderful!! Check out the recipe here! Thanks, Noskos for the great pick!
I think I cooked this too long because once it cooled, it was so hard there was NO way it was going to "pour" into the batter. I think the spoon standing up is a bad thing.
So I warmed it up and poured it in. It seized (even though the ingredients were at room temperature) and the batter looked pretty gross. I was afraid it was ruined, but I just kept beating it and it smoothed out wonderfully. 
I made the cake into cupcakes for my brother's birthday. I filled the cups 3/4 full, and it made about 16 cupcakes. They looked beautiful and I couldn't wait to try them.
My brother loves Van Gogh so I decided to use the cupcakes in the Starry Night project in "Hello, Cupcake!" Since I wasn't going to top the cupcakes with the caramelized butter frosting, I halved the frosting recipe and filled them.
I used Confetti Cakes cupcake icing instead of canned frosting used in the recipe. Unfortunately, we all thought the cupcakes were dense and heavy. My husband said they tasted like cornbread. Only three of the 15 were eaten. Sorry to my brother for the yucky cupcakes! :)
CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING
I made a cake for Braden's 4th birthday. At the birthday boy's request, Dora, Diego, Boots and Swiper were on it. Instead of an outdoor/jungle theme, the characters are at a birthday party. The flavors are yellow with chocolate italian meringue buttercream and chocolate with cookies and cream buttercream.
This girl couldn't wait to get a taste.
I thought reserving 1 cup of frosting for the filling wasn't enough. As you can see, it was spread a little thin in places (the cakes were also not level so it was thick in some other places!). I would recommend 1 1/2 cups for the filling; there was too much for the outside. I also cut down on the amount of cream cheese and butter used in the recipe, which was still wonderful. How can you not love anything with cream cheese frosting?!!
Yes, that does look like paprika on top, but it's cinnamon. I did try it, but don't think I'll have any more. It was good, but, and perhaps it's my Asian genes, but milk and rice don't really do it for me. My husband assured me that he will have no problem finishing it off. So 5 stars from someone who likes rice pudding! Check out Isabelle's blog for the recipe!
Instead of chocolate glaze, which would have been amazing, we did simple cinnamon-sugar. Toss the donuts in a paper bag with cinnamon and sugar, shake away and enjoy! Crisp on the outside, tender and chewy on the inside...heaven! Make sure you wipe your counter after setting the paper bag on it- I spent 15 minutes wondering what the crusty, sandy stuff was glued to my counter!!
1 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons warm water (105–115°F)
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for sprinkling and rolling out dough
1 cup whole milk at room temperature
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
3 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
About 10 cups vegetable oil for deep frying
Stir together yeast and warm water in a small bowl until yeast is dissolved. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If yeast doesn’t foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)
Mix together flour, milk, butter, yolks, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and yeast mixture in mixer at low speed until a soft dough forms. Increase speed to medium-high and beat 3 minutes more.
Scrape dough down side of bowl (all around) into center, then sprinkle lightly with flour (to keep a crust from forming). Cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (Alternatively, let dough rise in bowl in refrigerator 8 to 12 hours.)
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 12-inch round (1/2 inch thick). Cut out as many rounds as possible with 3-inch cutter, then cut a hole in center of each round with 1-inch cutter and transfer doughnuts to a lightly floured large baking sheet. Cover doughnuts with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until slightly puffed, about 30 minutes (45 minutes if dough was cold when cutting out doughnuts). Do not reroll scraps.
Heat 2 1/2 inches oil in a deep 4-quart heavy pot until it registers 350°F on thermometer. Fry doughnuts, 2 at a time, turning occasionally with a wire or mesh skimmer or a slotted spoon, until puffed and golden brown, about 2 minutes per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain. (Return oil to 350°F between batches.)
I got this one in the Santa hat
Pair it with some oven fries with fry sauce and even the kids will eat it. Side note: I've heard that fry sauce isn't widely known outside the Rocky Mtn area. Is that true? Have people outside this region really been depraved of the ketchup/mayo combo that makes fries even yummier?
Shredded BBQ Chicken SandwichesOven Fries
2 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed
Ok, so past the refrigeration and second rising, (which, I admit, I cut short), and into the oven the Kugelhopf (muffins) went. I was pleasantly surprised how much they puffed up after the first 10 minutes. I put the foil tent over them and that's about when this wonderful, buttery, sweet smell starting wafting through the kitchen. After another 10 minutes, I took them out because they were golden brown already. I brushed butter over them and sprinkled sugar on the tops. I convinced my husband to try some tonight so I sifted powdered sugar over them and we dug in.
WOW! They were really good- warm and buttery, just the slightest perfect amount of sweetness. I admit I really didn't think I'd like these, but they're pretty amazing.
Thanks to Yolanda for the great pick! Check out the TWD blogroll for other results!
Tender vegetables and chicken in a smooth, creamy sauce, topped with a flaky, cripy crust... the perfect round-up to a cool(ish) Fall day. I added a tiny bit of curry powder to the sauce for a slightly different flavor, just enough to taste it in the background without overpowering the lightness of the dish. I also used frozen peas and corn because that's what my kids will eat, but you can use whatever veggies you like.
Chicken (Curry) Pot PIe
Pastry Topper (from BHG.com)
¾ cup sliced celery
½ cup chopped carrot
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon curry powder
1-1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
2-1/2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
½ cup loose-pack frozen peas
½ cup frozen corn
Directions
1. Prepare Pastry Topper; set aside.
2. In a large saucepan cook celery, and carrot in oil over medium-high heat until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, and curry powder. Add broth and milk all at once. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in chicken, peas, and corn. Pour into a 13” x 9” baking dish.
3. Place pastry over chicken mixture in dish. Turn edges of pastry under and cut slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
4. Bake, uncovered, in a 400 degree F oven for 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
Pastry Topper: In a medium bowl stir together 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in 1/3 cup shortening until dough pieces are pea-size. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cold water over part of the mixture; gently toss with a fork. Push moistened dough to side of bowl. Sprinkle an additional 3 to 4 tablespoons cold water over remaining flour mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork until all dough is moistened. Form into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 13x9-inch rectangle.
Here's the recipe. And if you want to see some rugelach, go here!
