Chubby Hubby Bars

I can't remember the exact moment when I tasted Ben N Jerry's Chubby Hubby ice cream, but I do know that it has always been my favorite. "Fudge Covered Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels in Vanilla Malt Ice Cream Rippled with Fudge & Peanut Butter." The only thing that would make it better is some toffee in there. So when I saw Cookies and Cups' recipe for Chubby Hubby bars, I knew I had to make them.

The recipe is a cookie base (basically chocolate chip cookie dough without the chocolate chips).

Add some chopped pretzels and peanut butter cups (I know, that cutting board is brand new. Not):

Press into a pan and bake. Then pour melted caramel:

And melted chocolate:

What? Awesome.

Cut in fairly small pieces cuz they're pretty rich. And also, if they're in small pieces, you won't feel as bad eating like 10 of them.

I don't know why, but I thought they were better the second day. Salty, sweet, chewy, crunchy... everything you could want to satisfy your sweet tooth! Check out the recipe here!

Mermaid Cake

This cake was for Naomi, who turned 5. Her mom wanted an ocean wave-type look, with ombre coloring. I was excited to try the ruffle look for the waves. Inside, the cake was also colored- graduating shades of light to darker blue. I need to get a picture of it from the birthday girl's mom!

Here's the inside: (photo courtesy of the mom!)

Fairy Cake

This set up was for Poppy (don't you love that name?), who turned 3. The party was fairy themed, so there were cake pop fairy wands, and flower cupcakes and cake. The cake was pink lemonade, cupcakes were vanilla and cake pops were strawberry.

Sugar Cookie Bars

When I was in high school, we always used to eat Granny B's sugar cookies- this huge sugar cookie that was soft and chewy and covered in pink frosting and sprinkels. One cookie had like 400 hundred calories, but who cares about such things when you have a sixteen year old's metabolism.

Since then, the closest thing to those cookies I've found is Lofthouse cookies. They're widely found in supermarkets, decorated for any holiday, but also come in the beloved pink frosting with sprinkles.

I found this recipe for Lofthouse Cookie Bars from Cookies and Cups. It's a sugar cookie base made in a cookie sheet, covered in yum frosting. And sprinkles.

I'm not sure these are too Lofthouse-y, but they are amazing. Chewy and sweet. And a LOT. I recommend making a batch and giving at least half of them away. Before you eat them all.

Cookies and Cups has the recipe here. And check out her blog. Delicious.

BlogHer Book Club- Born Wicked

This month's BlogHer Book Club book is Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood. From the publisher:

"Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship - or an early grave.
Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word . . . especially after she finds her mother's diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family's destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.
If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren't safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood - not even from each other."
I'll admit I had a bit of a difficult time getting into this book, but once I did, I really thought it was fun. The whole magic/witches/supernatural thing hasn't really gotten old for me yet, so I think this book was a fun and easy read. The twists are a little predictable, but since you can't help but root for Cate, they're welcome. I was left excited for the rest of this series!

Check out the discussion on the book here.

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Vanilla Buttercream and Chocolate Ganache

I actually posted this cake as my very first post on the blog almost 4 years ago. It's my absolute favorite, but I haven't made it in forever. I made it a couple weeks ago for a friend's birthday and fell in love with it all over again.

A moist, fudgey chocolate cake covered in vanilla buttercream:

Then drenched in chocolate ganache:

Gorgeous. And so yummy.

This is what is happening outside the zoom:

My four year old is like those Japanese people who make peace signs in every picture. She likes to hold up how old she is in every picture. Must be the Japanese in her.
This is a picture of a slice the next day- we had gone out to dinner and I didn't want to seem tacky by taking a picture while we were singing Happy Birthday and serving it up in a restaurant. Please believe me that this cake is A.MAZE.ING.

The recipe is here.

TWD- Pizza Rustica

I know one of the first rules of cooking and baking is to read the recipe all the way through. I read this recipe through a few times so I knew what ingredients, how to make the dough, and how long it would take to prepare. I decided to make this for dinner tonight. I made the crust this afternoon and left it in the fridge for a few hours. 

We eat at 5pm so I thought I'd just start this at 4:20 or so because it bakes for around 30 minutes.

How did I miss that you're supposed to cool it completely before serving? We ended up just eating it hot. And a little runny.

This is an interesting dish- a sweet crust filled with a ricotta cheese, eggs, cheese, and prosciutto (my fave). The crust isn't subtlety sweet, my daughter thought it tasted like cookies and left out eating the filling. :) Both my husband and I really liked this. My kids, not so much.

Margaret and Jessica will have the recipe!