Black Bean Burgers (and some other fun things)

The summer is almost gone, and I have yet to accomplish most of my summer "to do" list. BUT, we have had a ton of fun vacationing with family, celebrating our anniversary (YAY!), and relaxing overall. I have *almost* gotten my normal running pace back, so it's about time to up my mileage! I'm debating sinking my teeth into a half marathon this fall. I think I'll see how September goes first.

I've been doing a fair share of cooking and baking, and a terrible job at documenting it here for you all. I made this

amazingly

delicious

cake.

And, unfortunately, it goes in the vault. Based on my Grammy's banana bread, this cake is seriously addicting. I will usually pass anything by in the name of chocolate, but I think if there was a war for my affection between this cake and brownies... This cake would win. I know that's some serious talk, but it's that good.

I did make a chocolate cake for a friend's birthday this week. Each piece had chocolate mousse filling in the middle (shaped like a heart), but I neglected to get pictures of the inside.

The frosting was my (heavily adapted) version of Magnolia's chocolate butter cream, and the cake was just a straight-forward chocolate cake. Very rich, and very tasty.

I have a goal. It is that at least 2 nights a week in our home, we will eat meatless entrees for dinner. I love a good black bean burger. My husband was a little hesitant to (even for one night) trade out his turkey burger for the meatless alternative. But I finally convinced him, and it was a hit!

There are probably a million different ways to make these, and here's mine.

Black Bean Burgers:

(I chose to go vegan on these out of habit, but I know that some people use an egg to help their burgers stay together. I did not have any problems.)

This makes 4 good-sized burgers

• 
  
  1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 
  
  1/2 cup (ish) cooked rice (I used some leftovers we had from another meal)
• 
  
  1/3-1/2 cup diced onion
• 
  
  1/3 cup diced green pepper
• 
  
  2-3 gloves of garlic, minced
• 
  
  1 small carrot, diced
• 
  
  salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet over medium heat, saute your veggies in some olive oil until softened (about 5 minutes or so - the carrots will take the longest). Add your minced garlic just at the end so that it cooks a little but does not burn.

In a medium bowl, use a fork or potato masher to smush your beans. You don't want puree (some whole beans are okay), but you do want most of your beans to be smashed. Add your rice (start with 1/2 cup and add more if needed) and veggies to this. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Mix by hand (literally - don't be afraid to get messy), adding more rice if necessary, until your mixture comes together enough to for patties. Shape black bean mixture into 4 patties.

Heat a little bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat (you can grill these, too, but that's my hubby's department). Cook burgers until golden on each side (about 2-3 minutes per side). Serve with ketchup, etc. like a "regular" burger, or go Mexican with some salsa and sour cream. Enjoy!

A shot from our anniversary weekend - we got to visit some beautiful places (and enjoy some good food!)

Boston Cream Cupcakes

From time to time I send baked goodies in with my husband to his work. A few months ago, one of his co-workers tore a cupcake expose (if you will) out of one of her magazines and sent it home with him for me to see. In this batch of cupcakes was the Boston cream cupcakes I made for the 4th of July.

I've never been a fan of eclairs, Boston cream pie and the like. But these are good. And the chocolate glaze that you spoon on top is one of my favorites.

Boston Cream Cupcakes:
Cupcakes:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup buttermilk

Filling:

• 1 - 3oz package cook and serve vanilla pudding (I got the bigger package and appreciated having some extra to work with)
• 1 1/4 cups milk (I used 2 1/4 with the bigger package)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Chocolate Glaze (YUM!):

• 8 oz semisweet chocolate (chopped or you can use chips)
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp butter, softened and cubed

For the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line about 20 muffin cups with liners. In a medium bowl, mix together your flour, soda, powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time until well blended. Beat in the vanilla extract. Then, beat in your flour mixture alternately with your buttermilk (I read somewhere that it's always best to begin and end with your flour mixture).

Spoon batter into your muffin tins (about 2/3 full) and bake for about 15-18 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean). Let cool.

For the filling: Resist the urge to use instant pudding (unless you're planning to store and serve directly from the fridge). It is a lot quicker and easier, but the cook and serve pudding can handle being at room temp. much better than the instant stuff. Make the pudding according to package directions, cutting back the milk to 1 1/4 cups for the small package or 2 1/4 cups for the large package. Once you remove from heat, stir in the vanilla. Cover with pastic wrap (press the wrap directly onto the top of the pudding so you don't get that pudding "skin") and refrigerate until cold and firm.

Meanwhile, for the glaze: Combine your chocolate, sugar, and water in a small saucepan on low heat and stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted and smooth. Let cool.

Now, to assemble the cupcakes, slice the top off of each cupcake (just about where it hits the paper liner). Spread pudding on the cut surface and replace the cupcake top. Spoon some chocolate glaze on the top of the cupcake, helping it spread with the back of the spoon. Let chocolate glaze set and then serve, or refrigerate until serving.

Happy 4th! (Belated)

While some people might have made their 4th of July yummies a day or so early in order to blog them before the 4th of July, I did not. I am not that organized, nor do I want to feel my friends and family day old treats. I'm a last minute fresh type of girl (or just procrastinator extraordinaire - you decide). But I did have a TON of fun with my baking this year!

To start, I sent some sugar cookie stars and Boston Cream cupcakes (*recipe coming!*) into work with my husband:

(I can't resist cute decorations! Or polka dots... hence the cupcake liners.)

For the family celebration I made a cake similar to this one, but with some extra pizazz:

My labor of love and food coloring!

Patriotic funfetti and red-dyed white cake on the inside with strawberry and blueberry fruit filling!

And just for fun, since we found red, white, & blue tortilla chips, I made a delicious 7 layer dip for John and I to munch on:

Quick and Easy 7 Layer Dip:

*I like more bean than sour cream, so this recipe reflects that. If you're the opposite, just double the sour cream and cream cheese. Also, guac can be added between any of the layers.

• 
  
  1 can refied beans
• 
  
  1 package taco seasoning
• 
  
  8 oz sour cream
• 
  
  4 oz cream cheese (softened)
• 
  
  1 jar of salsa (or fresh tomatoes and green pepper, chopped)
• 
  
  shredded cheddar

Here goes: Mix together your refried beans and taco seasoning. Spread in the bottom of a 13x9 pan (I always use a little bit smaller dish for a fuller dip). Cream together the sour cream and cream cheese and spread over the beans. Top with salsa and/or fresh veggies, and finish of with shredded cheese!

Baby Shower & Delicious Cupcakes!

 was all set to post about homemade fries and chicken nuggets when it occurred to me that I never posted about my best friend/sister-in-law's "surprise" baby shower. It was a ton of fun and, given my new love of diaper cakes, of course I made her one.

She and her husband have decided not to find out the baby's gender beforehand, so we had a cute, colorful, gender-neutral party!

I saw these cuties in a Paula Dean magazine. Jelly beans, life savers, and ribbon.

What's that? You're wondering what we had for dessert? Well, strap on your seat belt, because this dessert is delicious and adorable! I saw this idea on a website somewhere, except that used it for mother's day. I modified it slightly and.... 

 

Baby shower hostess inspired cupcakes!

Hostess Cupcakes:

Cupcakes:

• 
  
  1 1/4 cups flour
• 
  
  2 tsp baking soda
• 
  
  2 tsp baking powder
• 
  
  1/4 tsp salt
• 
  
  1 1/4 cups sugar
• 
  
  4oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 
  
  1/2 cup butter, cubed
• 
  
  2 tsp vanilla
• 
  
  2 eggs

Filling:

• 
  
  4 Tbsp butter, room temp
• 
  
  1 cup powdered sugar
• 
  
  2 tsp vanilla
• 
  
  3 Tbsp heavy cream
• 
  
  1 cup marshmallow fluff

Ganache:

• 
  
  6 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 
  
  1/2 cup heavy cream
• 
  
  1 Tbsp butter
• 
  
  2 tsp vanilla

Icing (to write with):

• 
  
  1/2 cup butter
• 
  
  2 Tbsp milk
• 
  
  2 cups powdered sugar
• 
  
  1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place liners in cupcake pan (this makes about 18 - 20 cupcakes).

To make the cupcakes, mix together your flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium size bowl. Set aside.

Next, pour your sugar into a small saucepan and add 1 cup of water. Bring this to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Then, pour into a large bowl and add your chocolate and butter. The heat from the sugar mixture will cause your chocolate and butter to melt. Stir occasionally until smooth and let cool slightly (it can be warm, just not hot).

Once cool, stir in the vanilla. Using an electric mixer, beat your eggs into the cooled chocolate mixture 1 at a time. Then, mix in your flour mixture in 3 batches.

Spoon batter into cupcake liners (about 2/3 full) and bake for 20-25 minutes. They will sink down a little in the middle, but when you add the filling, it will correct this.

For the filling, use an electric mixer to cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and then the vanilla and 1 Tbsp heavy cream. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and 2 Tbsp heavy cream in alternating batches. Beat in marshmallow fluff and set aside.

To fill the cupcakes (once completely cool), place your filling in a pastry bag (I used my pampered chef easy accent decorator for this one) with a good size star tip on it. Poke the tip into the center of each cupcake and fill. I filled until the cupcake puffed back up and I met resistance.

For the ganache, on low (the lowest of low settings) heat in a small saucepan, combine you butter, chocolate, and heavy cream and stir until melted. Let cool for a few minutes and then add your vanilla, stirring until it is smooth and glossy.

Spread ganache on each cupcake and refrigerate at least 15 minutes (I did 2 batches of ganache, chilling in between because I wanted a nice, thick frosting).

Meanwhile, make your icing! Beat all the ingredients together, adding more milk if necessary to thin out. Put into a pastry bag (I did NOT use my PC decorator for this) with whatever tip you desire to write with (I used a #2, plain) and decorate!

YUM!

Also, because she is my best friend, I "custom made" some onesies for her sweet baby (the whale one is an inside joke - Sea World, anyone?):

Happy Summer!

Strawberry Coconut Trifle

I need to preface this trife by saying 2 things:
1.) I don't like coconut, and I like this trifle. The flavor is so light, you can hardly tell it's coconut. Delish!
2.) This was made at a Papmered Chef party, and my rendition is a concoction of what I remember from that day. Still tastes great, but if you want the original, I'm sure you could google "Pampered Chef Strawberry Coconut Trifle" or ask your local PC consultant.

At any rate, here we go!

Strawberry Coconut Trifle

• 1 lb of strawberries, sliced
• 1 angel food cake, cubed (the original used something heavier, like pound cake, but I really like the angel food)
• 1 can of sweetened, condensed milk
• 8oz sour cream
• 1 can coconut milk (not sweetened)
• 1 container of cool whip
• 1 (small) package of vanilla instant pudding

In a medium bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the condensed milk, 2/3 cup of the coconut milk and sour cream, making sure it is thoroughly combine. Add your cubed cake to this mixture and stir to coat.

Combine pudding mix and remaining coconut milk; whisk until thickened. Add the rest of your condensed milk and  whisk until incorporated. Fold in the cool whip, leaving 1 cup or so left to decorate at the end.

Now you're ready to assemble. Start by layering 1/2 of your cake mixture on the bottom of your bowl/serving dish. Top with 1/2 of your sliced strawberries and 1/2 of your pudding mixture. Repeat 1 time.

To garnish, use the remaining cool whip to make fancy designs, or just spread on top like me:

Serve immediately or chill  until you're ready to devour!

Victory Cookies

I call these victory cookies because they were baked in celebration. But really, they're double chocolate cookies and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. :o) And they're pretty good, if I do say so myself. Not that I created these recipes myself. The PB cookies are from Magnolia (I just threw in some chocolate chips), and the double chocolate are from.... somewhere. I highly recommend giving these a try.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup butter (cubed)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs (room temp)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup M&Ms, chocolate chips, or other chocolate candy

Preheat the oven to 325 and grease cookie sheets if necessary.

In a small bowl, combine your flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, on the lowest heat setting, slowly melt your butter and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Stir until smooth and remove from heat. This mixture may be slightly warm, but not hot when you proceed. Otherwise it may scramble the eggs.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, mix your chocolate mixture, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Add your flour mixture a little at a time and stir until well incorporated. Stir in M&Ms or desired candy pieces. Cover and let dough chill 15-30minutes.

Drop by rounded tablespoons (or bigger if you're me) onto greased cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake 11-12 minutes, until they have spread and flattened and cracks just begin to appear on the tops of the cookies. Let cool and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies:

• 1 1/4cups flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter (softened)
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg (room temp)
• 1 Tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla (I always add some more)
• 1/2 - 1 cup chocolate chips (depending on your taste)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips (if you'd like)

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a small bowl, combine your flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together your butter and PB until light and fluffy.

Add in the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix until well combined. Add the milk and vanilla and mix. A little at a time, mix in the flour mixture, beating until well incorporated.

Cover and chill dough 30minutes.

Place some sugar in a bowl or on a small plate (about 1/8 cup). Roll tablespoon size balls of dough in the sugar and place on your baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Use a fork, spatula, bottom of a glass, etc. to gently press down on the cookies to flatten. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies will firm up as they cool, and you'll get to enjoy a deliciously soft and chewy treat!

Yum!

Ice Cream Cupcakes

What better way to cool off during the summer than with some of your favorite ice cream? (Okay, I admit: Slurpees are pretty great too.) My brother in law recently celebrated a birthday, and for dessert I tried my hand at ice cream cupcakes. Super easy!

The crust of your cupcake can be whatever your heart desires. I used brownies for mine because, well, I love brownies. -And they went with my ice cream flavors. But cookie dough, etc. would work just as well!

Ice Cream Cupcakes:

• 
  
  1 batch of brownie batter (box or homemade)
• 
  
  About 1 half gallon of ice cream per 12 cupcakes (you use about 1/2 cup ice cream for each)
• 
  
  Chocolate ganache, marshmallow fluff, sprinkles, etc. for decorating

In a greased muffin pan, place about 2 Tbsp of brownie batter (or cookie dough). Enough to make a crust without taking over the cupcake. Bake in the oven at 325 for 10(ish) minutes. Keep an eye on it and remove when just done. Since you will be freezing this, you want your crust to be more chewy, less crunchy (that way you don't have to go see the dentist for a cracked tooth when all is said and done).

Remove pans from oven and let cool 30 or so minutes. In the mean time, you can take your ice cream and place it in the fridge to soften.

Once crusts have cooled, scoop out enough softened ice cream to fill the cups in the tin. Cover and freeze 1 hour.

If you'd like to decorate your cupcakes, remove after 1 hour in freezer and top with chocolate ganache, marshmallow topping, and/or sprinkles. (*Note: If you use the marshmallow topping, as I did on the rocky road cupcakes, place a sheet of wax paper on top before you cover. Otherwise the marshmallow will stick to your plastic wrap or aluminum foil.)

Enjoy! -A perfectly portioned summer treat!

Carrot Cake Mini Tarts

Dear Emily,
       What is your obsession with small, tartlike desserts?

That is a great question, and I don't know what it is about them that I adore so much. But since the day I got my first mini muffin pan (or tart pan as some like to call it) during my freshman year of college, I have been hooked.

Tonight we're going to a big family dinner, and I (surprise surprise) am in charge of dessert. The request of the guests of honor were "anything with peanut butter and chocolate," so I decided to make those mini peanut butter pies. Then, I had the idea to do a trio of mini desserts. My husband requested mint brownies, and then I had the idea for mini carrot cakes.

Carrot Cake Mini Tarts

The theory behind this dessert is extremely easy. And pretty obvious.

Make a carrot cake mix (homemade or from scratch), but make it a little more dense than usual. Add a few Tbsp of butter, or a little more oil, or just an extra egg yolk.

Put your batter in mini muffin cups and bake at 325 until just done (about 10-15minutes).

Remove from oven and press down the middle to make an indentation. Let cool.

Once cool, remove from pans and make some yummy cream cheese frosting.

Put your frosting in a decorator (cake tips or cookie press) and fill the indentions with frosting. -Or just scoop it in. There you have it.

My husband highly recommends them. :o)

And stay tuned because I have some cheddar buscuits coming soon that you won't want to miss!

Sugar Cookies and Royal Icing

This will be quick because I should be walking out the door to head to a lunch with my mother in law, sister in law, and adorable nieces. But I started the coffee pot on the "clean" cycle without thinking (it takes forever it seems...), so I have a quick minute to blog you a great sugar cookie recipe and royal icing recipe.

The cookies are divine. I love them. That means a lot because: a.) I'm not big on sugar cookies, and b.) the recipe uses almond extract (a fan of which I am not).

Now, the royal icing... well, it's royal icing. Intensely sweet, but perfect for decorating.

Here goes.

Sugar Cookies

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 4 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 2 teaspoons Almond Extract
• 4 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder 

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add your egg and yolk and beat until well incorporated. Then, add your extracts (I almost left out the almond, because I'm not a huge almond extract fan. DON'T do it! This adds GREAT flavor!).

In a separate bowl, mix together your flour, salt, and baking powder. Add this mixture to yoru "wet" mixture in 3 parts, beating until just combined.

Refrigerate the dough for about an hour (or more if you'd like!). Roll out on a lightly floured surface (PS: I never use a rolling pins, just the palms of my hands), and cut out. Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes, until just golden. Cool and frost (or enjoy as they are).


Royal Icing:
I have tried many royal icings, and they are all SO sweet! This one is the same, but it doesn't have that meringue flavor that the egg-using recipes do.

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp clear corn syrup (I know, I know... but it gives the icing a nice shine!)
• 2 Tbsp milk

Combine the above using an electric mixer (60-90 seconds). Add more milk (a tiny bit at a time), and thin to desired consistency. If you want your icing shinier, add more corn syrup. Once mixed to desired consistency, you can use coloring paste to color. If you're using liquid food coloring, make sure you leave out enough milk to balance it out.

*Also, I have heard that adding a drop or 2 of lemon juice will help your icing not get air bubbles. Just saying.

Happy sugar rush!

Better Late Than Never

*UPDATE* I also just so happened to make the other photoless brownies (from the post referenced below) for a dinner with friends the other night. And THIS time, I got a picture. Enjoy. These might just be my favorite brownies ever:

Original Post:

Do remember way back last summer when I blogged about these mint brownies that I made for a wedding but never got a photo of?

Well, because they involve green, I made them this year for my husband to take into work as a St. Patrick's Day treat. And, though it's not an exceptional one, I did grab a photo. The only thing I did differently in the batch in the photo is leave off the chocolate galze on the top (for festivity's sake).

Better late than never!

Mini Peanut Butter Pie cups

Lately I have been craving Mountain Dew. And not even the diet, caffeine free stuff. Nope. I have been desiring the full fructose, full caffeine version. And because my husband is a Mountain Dew afficionado, we have cases of the stuff on hand. Which leads me to my confession: for the past 3 days (including this morning!), I have been indulging in a can a day. Whew! It feels better to get that off my chest. I have also been to the gym everyday this spring break, though the sugar/fructose content in the aforementioned Dew may cancel out any positive effects of that....

But let's move on to a different indulgence.

Ah, soft, peanut butter cookie crust cup. Light fudge layer. Topped with peanut butter pie filling goodness. These are hard to keep your hands off, if you love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter as I do! (Or peanut butter and most things really... bananas, apples, pancakes...)

Mini Peanut Butter Pie Cups
*I made these in a mini muffin pan, but with slight temperature/time adjustments in the oven, you could make them in a regular muffin pan as well.

• peanut butter cookie dough (This could be store bought, store mix, or homemade - I prefer homemade. Speaking of, I'll have to share my recipe with you sometime. It's vegan.)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 8oz cream cheese - softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• a dollop or 2 of Cool Whip

Pam your muffin pan (you can use liners, but I don't know how well that would work) and press a little bit of cookie dough into each cup. The dough will puff up a little bit as it bakes, but not like cupcakes, so make sure your dough reaches almost to the top of the pan.

Bake these cups in the oven at 325 degrees about 8-10 minutes. Until golden, but not overdone (you don't want the cup to be too crunchy or it offsets the soft filling). Once slightly cool, press down in the middle of each cup with a spoon, thumb, nifty press from Pamered Chef, etc to create a defined cup. Let these cups cool completely.

Once cool, melt your chocolate chips and butter in a small saucepan on low heat, stirring until smooth. (If you happened to have some sitting around, you could also melt 1/2 cup of chocolate frosting, too. Whatever works.)

Once completely metled, remove from heat and spoon a little bit (not too much - peanut butter is the star here) of your chocolate sauce into each cup like so:

Don't worry about making it look pretty. You'll be covering this up with peanut butter filling. Let the chocolate set (room temp. or fridge, you choose) until firm.

Meanwhile, cream together your cream cheese peanut butter and sugars (sometimes I even throw in a little vanilla - depends on my mood. I do enjoy vanilla). Once smooth, add a dollop or two (or 3 or 4...) of Cool Whip and stir until you reach your desired taste/consistency.

Now, you can do many things with the peanut butter filling (eat it by the spoonful...). You can simply spoon it into the cups. Or you can get fancy and use a decorator tip/press to make it look all cutesy. You can guess which way I chose.

Either way, taste is what matters! Refrigerate until you're ready to serve, and I do hope you enjoy!

Berry Sweet Cake and Buttercream Icing

For her birthday, my mother in law requested a white cake with fruit frosting. And okay, so I didn't follow directions exatcly (it's hard for me to follow directions in general...), but it is a white cake with delicious buttercream icing and fruit filling in each layer. And it was very well received.

I made a 3 layer white cake mix. You can use a box or make one from scratch.

While the cake baked, I mixed up a batch of

Magnolia's Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

*This is enough for a 3 layer cake. For 2 layer ratios, see end of recipe.

• 3 sticks of butter, softened
• 8 cups of powdered sugar (the recipe says 8-10, but more than 8 is too sweet for me!)
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 Tbsp (I usually add a shot more) vanilla

Start by creaming together your butter and 4 cups of powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Add the remaining sugar 1 cup at a time to desired taste and consistency. This can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature (cold - such as the fridge - will cause it to harden).

*For a 2 layer cake, use 2 sticks of butter, 6 cups of powdered sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and 2 tsp. vanilla.

While the cake cooled, I sliced up about 1 1/2 cups of strawberries (yum!) into a bowl and added a Tbsp of sugar to the bowl and mixed. I let that sit in the fridge while I made the blueberry filling layer.

Blueberry Filling

*I only used blueberry in 1 layer. If you want blueberry in both, you will need to double the recipe.

• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp corn starch
• water (about 1/8 cup - maybe less)

In a small saucepan on medium heat, place the blueberries and enough water to form a very shallow layer of water in the bottom of the pan. Bring the water to a boil and stir until the blueberries begin to burst.

Stirring constantly, add the sugar. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Using a strainer, strain your blueberry mixture into a bowl to remove blueberry skins (you may want to do just a little at a time). I always use the back of a spoon to push the mixture through. Once finished, you can use as is. If you desire a thicker consistency (I did), add your blueberry mixture back to the saucepan with 1 Tbsp more water. Bring to almost a simmer and quickly add your cornstarch 1 tsp at a time until sauce thickens. Make sure you break up and clumps before adding.

Cool to room temp. and you're good to go.

By this time, the cakes have cooled. Remove your first layer from the pan and use a serrated knife to level the top. I also chose to cut the middle of the top a little deeper, forming a shallow bowl on the top of the cake in which to place my fruit.

Using your buttercream frosting, ice the first layer of your cake. Spread a generous amount on the top of the cake, but use a small amount on the side (a crumb coat, if you will). Place your strawberry or blueberry (or a little bit of both if you want to get crazy) filling on the top of this layer.

Now, remove your second layer from its pan. Give it a very light coating of frosting on the bottom before placing the bottom of the cake on top of your fruit filling (this is so the cake does not get soggy from fruit juices). Level the top of the cake the same way as before and frost as before. Add your remaining filling to the top of this layer. It should look similar to this:

Get your last layer and again coat the bottom with a thin layer of frosting. Place the final layer on the top of the cake (level if you'd like), and coat the entire cake with a thin layer of frosting (known as a crumb coat). Place the cake in the fridge for 1 hour to let the icing harden.

After 1 hour, remove the cake and frost the cake with the remaining frosting. Now that your first layer of frosting has hardened, it should be easy for your top coat to go on.

Voila! Refrigerate until serving. Oh, and don't be surprised if this happens overnight:

I think it looks pretty cool myself.

Enjoy this sweet treat!

Pudding Treats!

It's true. I have a thing for Cool Whip. There are few desserts that Cool Whip does not make better. And because I have such an affection for Cool Whip, I tend to lean toward such things that compliment its light and creamy texture. Like pudding.

Simple. Easy. Yummy.

For the Banana Pudding single servings you'll need:

• 
  
  Vanilla Wafers, broken into chunks
• 
  
  1 box of banana instant pudding
• 
  
  1 box of vanilla instant pudding
• 
  
  1-2 medium bananas, sliced
• 
  
  Cool Whip, if desired

It's as easy as this: combine both pudding mixes in a large bowl and make according to package directions.

Meanwhile, line the bottom of your single serving bowls (I made 6 smaller ones) with some vanilla wafer chunks. Once pudding has set, add a layer of pudding over the top of your wafers. Top the pudding with banana slices and more wafer chunks. Add another layer of pudding and refrigerate 2+ hours. Add cool whip and wafer to serve.

The Thin Mint single serving goes like this:

• 
  
  1 package instant chocolate pudding
• 
  
  1 package instant mint chocolate pudding
• 
  
  Some thin mints or grasshoppers
• 
  
  Cool Whip, if desired.

Using the method above, layer your single serve bowls with the chocolately ingredients. Refrigerate and enjoy!

Red Velvet Cake

Just in time for Valentine's Day, "Emily's Test Kitchen" (as we call it around here) tried its hand (okay, I tried my hand) at some yummy homemade red velvet cake.

This recipe is from Magnolia bakery and after I share it with you, I'll share how I plan to tweek it for next time.

Red Velvet Cake

• 3 1/2 cups cake flour (Don't have any? Don't worry! I'll share how to make your own in just a minute)
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 eggs at room temperature
•  6 Tbsp red food coloring (I opted for a good smear of food coloring paste - available at Michael's, etc.)
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (Again, never fear. I'll show you a handy dandy way to supplement)
• 1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and greasing 3 round cake pans.

*Now, if you don't have cake flour (or don't buy it because, like me, you have trouble finding unbleached cake flour), you can make a simple substitute. Using all purpose flour, measure out the amount of cake flour that the recipe calls for. Then, for each cup of flour, remove 2 Tbsp. from what was meaured. That means that for this recipe, I would measure out 3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour. Then, I would put 7 Tbsp of flour back in the bag (2 x 3.5 = 7). Then, I would replace those 7 Tbsp of flour with 7 Tbsp of cornstarch. That means I would measure out 7 Tbsp of cornstarch and pour it into my bowl of flour.

The trick with this method is that you have to sift the cornstarch and four together a few times (I actually did use a sifter) so that it is evenly distributed and so that the flour gets aerated. And tada! You're done!

**For the buttermilk substitute: First of all, can you believe my grocery store was out of buttermilk? Insanity! Now there are a couple of substitutes for buttermilk out there. The 2 main ones involve lemon juice or vinegar (and if you're going to use one of those, for heavens sake use the vinegar!). My preferred method of substitution (and I really like to use real buttermilk unless it's unavoidable) is to use cream of tartar. You will need 1 3/4 Tbsp cream of tartar for every cup of milk.

What you do is slightly warm the milk over low heat in a saucepan (just barely warm -  think baby bottle). Then whisk in the proper amount of cream of tartar. Make sure it is well combined. You may have to whisk it more than once. When using any method of buttermilk substitution, I try to let my milk substitute sit for about 5-10 minutes before use. That way it really has time to "sour" (in a good way of course!). So for this recipe you would need to mix 2 1/8 Tbsp of cream of tartar into your slightly warm milk.

Also, when baking, it is actually a good idea to let your butter/cream cheese/eggs/etc. come to room temperature, or soften - unless, of course, you are using a recipe that specifically calls for cold butter/eggs/etc. Here are my eggs, hanging out and waiting to warm up.

*Note: I am not above putting eggs in my pocket to use body heat to help them come to room temperature more quickly.

Now that all of that is out of the way, let's bake!

In a large bowl, combine your butter and sugar using an electric mixer. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add your eggs one at a time to this mixture, beating well after each egg to make sure it is fully incorporated.

Add your cocoa powder, food coloring (again, I used paste vs. liquid because paste goes much farther in much littler quantities), and vanilla to the butter mixture and mix well.

Add the salt to the buttermilk and add this mixture to the butter mixture in 3 parts, alternating with your flour. (In other words: buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, flour - done!) Beat until the ingredients are well incorporated but do not overbeat.

In a small bowl (or measuring cup), stir together your cider vinegar and baking soda (Remember those volcanoes from science class? Oh yes, it's going to happen). Add this to your batter, making sure that you beat until smooth.

Divide your batter among your 3 cake pans and bake 30-40 minutes (until a toothpick comes out of the center clean).

Cool

Frost

Enjoy!

If you're wondering about the texture difference in the icing, we were testing out whether we perferred buttercream or cream cheese with this cake. Buttercream was our winner!

And also, because I said I would, when I make this cake again, I will make the following adjustments:

-2 eggs and 2 egg yolks room temperature (instead of 3 eggs)

-4 Tbsp cocoa powder (instead of 3)

Enjoy!