SHORTCAKES 2 1/3 cups all-purpose baking mix
1 cup Craisins® Original Dried Cranberries
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
FRUIT FILLING 1 can (14 oz.) Ocean Spray® Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1 cup fresh blueberries
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
TOPPING Whipped cream
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425°F. Mix baking mix and dried cranberries. Prepare shortcakes as directed on package for a drop biscuit.
Drop by spoonfuls, forming 8 shortcakes, onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, combine all filling ingredients in medium bowl, mixing well.
Slice shortcakes in half horizontally. Place bottom halves on individual plates; top with 1/2 cup fruit mixture for each shortcake. Place shortcake tops on fruit. Top with whipped cream. Garnish with lemon rind, if desired.
Makes 8 servings.
For more Ocean Spray recipes, visit their fun site!
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water
3/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
PEANUT BUTTER MARSHMALLOW GLAZE: 2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
1/3 cup miniature marshmallows
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In a saucepan, bring water and butter to a boil; stir in peanut butter and oil until well blended. Add to dry ingredients; mix well.
Combine eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla; add to peanut butter mixture. Mix well.
Pour into a greased 15″ x 10 ” x 2″ baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
Meanwhile, combine sugar, milk, and butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in the peanut butter, marshmallows, and vanilla until marshmallows are melted. Spoon over warm cake and carefully spread over the top.
Cool completely before cutting.
Yield: 20-24 servings.
First of all, don’t make this dessert this weekend, next month, or even tomorrow. Make it tonight. Trust me, this is one dessert you’ll wonder how you ever lived without. You’ll return to the recipe again and again and again.
I found this Peanut Butter Cake recipe in my “clipped” recipe collection – a beast of a collection that I’ve snipped from years of magazines, newspapers, and so on. This particular recipe came from an issue of a favorite magazine: Taste of Home. Taste of Home’s magazine – as well as their cookbooks – are the IDEAL thing to get for new cooks and not-so-new cooks, alike.
When I made this cake a few days ago, I didn’t (somehow!) have the right pan size. I had to use a more traditional size cake pan. It meant adding a little time to the overall cooking time, but the cake was thicker and equally delicious. Just be sure to use a toothpick to check for done-ness.
Another tip: Use real butter! I know, I know, I’m a broken record – but I simply don’t use anything but real butter in my baking. It makes such a difference.
This peanut butter cake is unlike any cake you’ve had in a while – It’s rich and outrageously delicious. The glaze tastes like peanut butter fudge – now tell me that’s not diviness waiting to happen?! When I tested the glaze to make sure it had enough peanut butter (I doubled the glaze recipe because daughter #2, Brittany, is a swiper) – it occurred to me, this glaze would be a delicious topping for ice cream or brownies. It’s out of this world fantastic.
I’d really like to take this recipe for a test drive as cupcakes but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’m just not sure how they’d behave. Why take chances when the cake is so ridiculously perfect, right?! Give this one a try – you’ll be smiling for days.
Duncan Hines has an outstanding Cupcake Challenge generating a lot of buzz. If you’re a cupcake ninja…. and I know you are… this is the contest for you. Get your spatula in gear and give the challenge a shot.
Best of luck!
Duncan Hines Makes Its Hollywood Debut ….AND YOU’RE INVITED!
Mountain Lakes, NJ (June 2010) – Duncan Hines announces that this year they will be the official dessert sponsor of the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards and Creative Arts Awards Governors Ball. In the spirit of this excitement, Duncan Hines invites their biggest supporters, bakers across the U.S., to enter the “Duncan Hines Red Carpet Cupcake Challenge” contest.
Duncan Hines is asking all creative bakers to submit their most decadent cupcakes for a chance of a lifetime. The winner will have their delicious cupcake creation sampled by the Emmy winners, celebrities and guests who will all be in attendance at this year’s Performer’s Nominees Reception on August 27th. However, the red carpet doesn’t stop there, as the winner will also receive a trip for two to Los Angeles, California and two tickets to Fans in the Stands, the best seat in the house for all the pre-Emmy, red carpet excitement.
Here is how it works, contestants can enter their Emmy award-winning photographs and cupcake recipes using a Duncan Hines product on DucanHines.com now through July 21, 2010. Even though the contest ends July 21st voting continues till July 28,2010. Visitors can go online and vote for their favorite cupcake recipe and photo. The recipes with the highest number of votes will enter the Top 10 phase. The Grand Prize winner is then selected by both Pinnacle Foods Group and celebrity judges based on creativity, ease of preparation, and taste. The winner will be announced on August 3, 2010.
“We are thrilled to invite our passionate baking consumers to share this experience with Duncan Hines,” says Lora Van Velsor, vice president of Marketing for Pinnacle’s Duncan Hines Food division. “Duncan Hines was a real person who stood for superior quality and today we still celebrate Duncan Hines’ inventive spirit through innovative programs like the “Duncan Hines Red Carpet Cupcake Challenge” and sponsorships like the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards and Governors Ball,” continues Van Velsor.
Before Fodor’s and Zagat, there was Hines. At a time when there was no such thing as restaurant critics and ratings, Duncan was onto something new. Four little words would come to have significant importance to restaurants all across the country: “Recommended by Duncan Hines.”
Duncan spent years discovering new trends in food and sharing them with his expanded following of “foodies.” His reputation for honesty and reliability were two of the most important ingredients in his recipe for success. These qualities lead to what Duncan Hines stands for today. Today, the Duncan Hines brand still celebrates the man’s inventive spirit through a relentless commitment to quality and innovation.
About Duncan Hines
A household name for decades, Duncan Hines is one of America’s most recognizable brands. The brand was started by a man named Duncan Hines who was a traveling salesman, food critic and book author in the 1940s. Today, the Duncan Hines product line includes over 80 different mixes ranging from cakes and brownies to muffins and cookies as well as ready-to-spread frosting. With a relentless commitment to quality, every product and recipe is developed in celebration of Duncan Hines’ inventive spirit and passion for baking. For more information on Duncan Hines, log onto www.duncanhines.com.
The cupcakes pictured at the top of the post are the Caps and Diplomas Cupcakes from Duncan Hines. Too cute. Too too cute! Click through the link for more wonderful Duncan Hines recipes.
Yesterday in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Buddy Valastro (“Cake Boss“) gave cake decorating a whole new meaning – to the tune of a 10-ft long and 1,000-plus pound cake in the shape of a Vineyard Vines flip flop!
It was part of festivities to celebrate the opening of the boardwalk that spans a 1.2 mile stretch of oceanfront in downtown Myrtle Beach.
No doubt the entire area is breathtaking, but I can’t keep my eyes (or my mind) off of this cake!
Catch Cake Boss on TLC and be sure to grab your own Cake Boss DVDs. I’m anxious to add these dvds to my food chef dvd collection. The Cake Boss would be a spirited addition!
One of the biggest perks of publishing a food blog is the opportunity and privilege to try new products or take a new look at old products. I was recently contacted by the very friendly people with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. They wanted to send me information and a coupon to try their I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spread. My first thought was, “Do these people (friendly as they are) realize who they’ve just contacted? I’m the self-appointed butter queen!” Seriously, it doesn’t take too long to realize my stand on butter – how many of the recipes on Get Cooking beseech you not to use anything but butter. I’m pretty sure I’ve even threatened (a time or two to hunt you down and swat your hand) if you used a substitution.
Geez, in fact, in a recent e-mail I told someone that one of the cornerstones of my cooking (in addition to a great set of knives, buttermilk, olive oil, real peppercorns….) was butter.
Then I had to go and try I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. Honesty? I expected to laugh in the face of the bright, enthusiastic yellow tub. Heck, even it’s friendly.
I whipped out my spreader and put some on a fresh biscuit. I thought, No way… this can’t be! So I tried again. My cat and I exchanged looks as I headed to the refrigerator to take out a stick of the real thing (always on hand, you know). I put some of it on a piece of biscuit and the taste was just like the one I’d just tried. Twice.
I called in my youngest daughter (the Princess of Butter). She flipped for it and said she had a new favorite “butter.”
We’ve since used it on garlic bread, pancakes, oatmeal, pasta, potatoes, and steamed vegetables. Not once have we wished for real butter because not once did we remember that we weren’t eating real butter.
So. If they taste the same, why should you be tempted to try I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter instead of butter? Glad you asked. Here’s one simple fact: Soft spreads contain 70 percent less saturated fats than butter and no cholesterol. For more interesting facts and nutritional information, please visit The Big Fat Truth!
Orange Pound Cake Recipe
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup lowfat vanilla yogurt
1 Tbsp. orange juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. grated orange peel
3/4 cup I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!® soft spread
3 large eggs
Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour 8-1/2 x 4-1/2-inch loaf pan; set aside.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; set aside. Combine yogurt, orange juice and vanilla in small bowl; set aside. Combine sugar with orange peel in large bowl.
Beat I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!® soft spread into sugar and orange peel mixture with electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately beat in flour mixture and yogurt mixture on low speed just until blended. Spoon batter into prepared pan.
Bake 55 minutes or until lightly browned and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.
Frost, if desired (you’ll most definitely want to do this), with Orange Glaze (See Below). Orange Glaze: Combine 1 cup confectioners’ sugar with 1 Tbsp. orange juice. Add more orange juice if needed
Find lots of outstanding recipes using I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter on their website. I’ll add a few more of my favorites to the site over the next few days. Don’t forget to visit The Big Fat Truth and grab a tub or two or twenty of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter the next time you’re in the store.
Yesterday I made a gorgeous Red Velvet Cake – to celebrate baseball getting back into swing. Sure, it’s pre-season but that’s enough for any baseball fanatic worth his or her salted peanuts to get excited about. Since my family is ALL about the St. Louis Cardinals, the dessert obviously had to be red and white.
Naturally, I went with a homemade Cream Cheese Frosting for my Red Velvet Cake. The Duncan Hines Cream Cheese frosting isn’t bad (at all, in fact), but there’s just something extra special about homemade Cream Cheese frosting. I switched up my favorite recipe a little this time because I was feeling it and I loved the results. I believe it was better than ever this time.
Here’s the recipe. Take note that this is for a huge Red Velvet Cake, so you might want to half the recipe. Then again, it’s so delicious, you might want more than you actually need!
Outstanding Cream Cheese Frosting
2 packages (8 oz) cream cheese, softened (I use Philadelphia Cream Cheese)
1 stick margarine
4 teaspoons half and half (use a little more if you want it creamier)
2 teaspoons vanilla
6 – 8 cups powdered sugar
Beat the cream cheese, stick of margarine, half and half, and vanilla in a large bowl on low until creamy. Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time and blend until it’s has a glorious spreadable consistency.
After I frosted the cake, I covered the top with chopped walnuts and it was almost too beautiful to cut into. Almost.
I always make a little extra frosting than I’ll need for one reason and that reason is a beautiful girl named Brittany. My dear, lovely daughter wasn’t born with “a” sweet tooth – every single one in her head is a sweet tooth. She has her own little system for serving herself a piece of cake as a result. She inserts the cake knife, cuts out her piece of cake… then at the last minute, returns to the cake for an extra helping of icing. This, of course, leaves exposed parts of the cake, so I’ve learned to keep extra frosting on hand in the refrigerator for patching up what has become known as “Brittany’s Barrens.”
Sometimes I use the leftover frosting to frost cookies. My resident cookie monsters love that. It’s also wonderful on store-bought muffins.
This morning, I was in the process of making some of those remarkable Pillsbury Toaster Strudels (the Strawberry and Cream Cheese variety) when I got a yummy idea. Instead of using the little packet of icing, I broke out my Cream Cheese frosting and… voila!…. something Heavenly was even more so.
This is a truly delicious frosting and makes cakes, cupcakes, and cookies better than they have a right to be.
The Pillsbury Dough Boy would squeal with delight for this Cream Cheese Frosting recipe on his Pillsbury Toaster Strudels!
The recipe below is from recipe from New York Times Bestselling novelist and avid baker Mary Burton.
Just over a year ago, author Mary Burton was quoted in the Richmond Times-Dispatch talking about how her passions—writing and baking—both contribute to her creativity. The article shared a recipe along with Mary’s view that, for her, they are intertwined, most probably because she experiences each as requiring creativity as well as expertise.
So, when the going gets tough, Mary heads to the kitchen where the stress level immediately ratchets down a few notches and she finds herself busy working out dialogue and untangling plot lines before the oven has even preheated. As she told the Times-Dispatch, “…you can tell how the writing’s going by the number of cupcakes on the counter.”
I love that! I find a similar solace in my kitchen as well. In fact, I’m pretty sure there’d be a lot more empty therapist couches is more people took up cooking. What a stress reliever!
For the recently published novel DYING SCREAM, Mary Burton shared her gift with protagonist Adrianna Barrington. Figuring that when Adrianna wasn’t helping track down a serial killer she would welcome a chance to chill, Mary gave her a great kitchen along with a penchant for pastry and other baked delicacies.
And, as long as it’s coming up on St. Valentine’s Day and Adrianna is carrying a torch for Homicide Detective Gage Hudson, Mary also decided it was time for her have her own recipe for readers to bake and enjoy ― Adrianna’s Carrot Cake Love Muffins.
The rest of us get to benefit from her creativity, how cool is that? What’s say, as a thank you (we cooks are nothing if not gracious) to Mary Burton, we all buy her newest novel, Dying Scream? After all, we bakers have to stick together!
To see last year’s Valentine’s Day recipe for Mary Burton’s Buns— CLICK HERE.
Finally, to see the Richmond Times-Dispatch article— CLICK HERE.
Adrianna’s Carrot Cake Love Muffins Recipe
3 cups of shredded carrots
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
To the shredded carrots add eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil and vanilla. Mix well. Shift flour, salt, cinnamon, baking power and baking soda into carrot mixture. Gently mix and scoop into muffin cups. Makes about 12. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
(If possible, hand shred the carrots. It takes a bit longer to shred by hand but the carrots hold more moisture and this really enhances the texture of the muffins.)
Muffins can be dusted with powdered sugar or topped with a cream cheese icing. Both are delicious.
Cream Cheese Icing
1/2 cup cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups of powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons of milk
Cream all together until fluffy. When the muffins have cooled ice with frosting.
Check out this recipe from Dave Lieberman and Del Monte for Beet Mash Chocolate Cupcakes, just in time for Valentine’s Day! Everyone knows that chocolate is an aphrodisiac, but did you know that beets are too?? (Yes, beets!)
Did you know?: Not only are beets nature’s multivitamin but beets are also rich in boron, a mineral thought to get the love juices flowing.
Dave recommends using canned sliced beets (he suggests Del Monte® Fresh Cut® Sliced Beets)—with canned beets you get all the flavor and nutrition for a lot less money, plus they are easier to mash!
Check out www.Delmonte.com/Solutions for a $1.00 off coupon on any 4 Del Monte® Brand Products to use in your recipe. I heart coupons, so I’ll see you there.
Beet Mash Chocolate Cupcakes (or Cake) with Beet Frosting
Recipe courtesy of: Dave Lieberman, campaign spokesperson for the Del Monte “Value without Sacrifice,” Chef and Author of The 10 Things You Need To Eat
FOR THE CUPCAKES:
One 14.5 oz. can Del Monte® Fresh Cut® Sliced Beets, drained
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2-1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
FOR THE ICING:
2 sticks unsalted butter
Approx. 1/2 can of Del Monte® Fresh Cut® Sliced Beets, drained
1 pound confectioners sugar
For Cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
For Cake: Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
In a small bowl, mash the drained can of beets finely with a potato masher and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, granulated sugar, oil, eggs, and water. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Fold in the mashed beets and mix well.
For Cupcakes: Pour the batter into greased cupcake tins. Bake about 15-20 minutes, until set but moist. (Or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean)
For Cake: Pour the batter into a greased 10-inch Bundt pan. Bake about 70 minutes, until set but moist. Let cool, and turn out onto a large serving plate.
Make the Icing: Mash the ½ can of beets finely with a potato masher. Melt 1 stick of butter in a saucepan and add mashed beets. Simmer on very low heat for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cream the second stick of butter with a mixer in a bowl. Mix in the melted butter and beet mixture until fully incorporated. Gradually beat in the confectioners sugar.
Ice the cupcakes with a thick layer of icing.
The cupcakes and cake serve 12-15.
The wonderful thing about edible gifts for Valentine’s Day is that you can impress the socks off of your sweetheart without spending a fortune. Gifts you make, yourself, are somehow more meaningful.
Baked Alaska Recipe Courtesy of the Millennium Alaskan Hotel Anchorage
Cake:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
4 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup sifted cake flour (sifted, then measured)
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled
Filling:
2 quarts ice cream, softened (flavor of your choice)
1 quart sorbet, softened (flavor of your choice)
Meringue:
6 large egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Cake:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray 9-inch-diameter springform pan with nonstick spray. Whisk eggs, sugar, and vanilla in large metal bowl to blend. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bowl to touch water); whisk constantly just until mixture is warm, about 2 minutes. Remove bowl from over water. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until very thick and ribbons form when beaters are lifted, about 7 minutes. Add flour in 3 additions, gently folding just to combine after each. Fold in poppy seeds, then quickly fold in butter in 2 additions (do not overfold). Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake cake until top is golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 28 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack. Remove pan sides.
For Filling:
Line 4-quart 10-inch-diameter bowl with plastic wrap, leaving 8-inch overhang. Spread sorbet in even layer over bottom (not sides) of bowl. Spread ice cream over sorbet. Place cake atop ice cream, pressing slightly to compact. Cover with plastic wrap overhang; freeze at least 4 hours or overnight.
For Meringue:
Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time; beat until thick and glossy. Beat in vanilla.
Unfold plastic wrap from over cake at top of bowl. Invert dessert onto 9-inch-diameter tart pan bottom; remove plastic wrap. Working quickly, spread meringue over dessert, swirling to form peaks and covering completely. Freeze at least 30 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead; keep frozen.)
Preheat oven to 500°F. Place dessert on its tart pan bottom on heavy large baking sheet. Bake just until meringue is light golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to platter. Serve immediately.
. Taste of Home’s magazine – as well as their cookbooks – are the IDEAL thing to get for new cooks and not-so-new cooks, alike.
DVDs. I’m anxious to add these dvds to my food chef dvd collection. The Cake Boss would be a spirited addition!
? After all, we bakers have to stick together!
