Raspberry-Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Raspberry-Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

For my last recipe to try for the year, I looked to my Pillsbury® Calendar yet again for inspiration. Two of the recipes that I wanted to make and didn't get a chance to were for February and November. Seeing as the November one says it takes over 5 ½ to make, I opted for the February Coffee Cake. (I'll make the November on eventually. It looks VERY yummy!)

I'm not a big fan of raspberries, unless they're fresh. This coffee cake was good though. It had just the right amount of raspberry preserves to give it a nice fruity flavor. Strawberry would have been just as good!

It was a hit on my last day at work. It didn't matter if it was eaten at room temperature or warmed up. Everyone seemed to like it.

16 servings

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Start to Finish: 1 hr 35 mins

2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

¾ cup butter or margarine

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup sour cream

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 eggs

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

½ cup raspberry preserves

½ cup sliced almonds

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom and side of 9-or 10-inch spring form pan with shortening or cooking spray; lightly flour. In large bowl, mix flour and ¾ cup of the sugar. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 cup of crumb mixture.

2. To remaining crumb mixture, stir in baking powder, baking soda, salt, sour cream, almond extract and 1 of the eggs until well blended. Spread batter in bottom and 2 inches up side (about ¼ inch thick) of pan.

3. In another small bowl, beat cream cheese, remaining ¼ cup of sugar and 1 egg until well blended. Pour into batter-lined pan. Carefully spoon preserves evenly over cream cheese mixture. In another small bowl, mix reserved crumb mixture and sliced almonds; sprinkle over preserves.

4. Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until cream cheese filling is set and crust is deep golden brown. Cool 15 minutes. Remove side of pan; leave coffee cake on pan bottom. Serve warm or cool. Store in refrigerator.

Fudgy Peppermint Truffle Chocolate Cake

Fudgy Peppermint Truffle Chocolate Cake

It's the holidays, so I turned to the Pillsbury® Calendar that my co-worker Karen gave me. I decided to make the December recipe. There were a few flaws but I'm sure that was because of my silly mistakes. I'm not a big chocolate cake fan, but it turned out good! The cake batter had a mousse like consistency. Very thick. Maybe I used the beaters too long or on too high of

a speed? I think that because the cake batter was so thick, the chocolate truffle part didn't sink to the middle of the cake like it should have. It ended up staying towards the bottom of the cake.

The cake did seem a little dry to me, but it was still good though!

When it came time to make the icing, I didn't follow the directions correctly. I couldn't figure out why it was so thick. I even used the 2 Tablespoons of milk and it didn't thin out. Well, it turned out that I used a whole 8oz block of cream cheese instead of just 1 ½ oz! Oops! I was able to thin it out just enough so that it would run a little bit. Also, I added the chopped up peppermints (I used a candy cane) and it looked so pretty! The next morning when I pulled it out of the refrigerator, the candy had "melted" and didn't look as pretty.

It was a hit though. Everyone liked it. I'd also have to add the it smelled delicious while it was in the oven. Chocolate and mint...yum!!!!

12 Servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Start to Finish: 2 hours 20 minutes

Filling

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 oz.)

⅔ cup sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)

½ teaspoon peppermint extract

Cake

1 box (1 lb. 2.25 oz) devil's food cake mix with pudding

1 container (8 oz.) fat-free sour cream

⅓ cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

Icing

¾ cup powdered sugar

1 ½ oz. cream cheese, softened

1 to 2 Tablespoons milk

6 hard peppermint candies, finely crushed

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with shortening; lightly flour. In medium microwavable bowl, microwave filling ingredients on High 30 seconds . Stir until melted and smooth (if necessary, microwave 10 to 20 seconds longer); set aside.

2. In large bowl, mix cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until combined; beat 2 minutes on medium speed. Spoon batter evenly into pan. Drop spoonfuls of filling over batter, keeping filling away from side of pan.

3. Bake 35-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean and edge begins to pull away from side of pan. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Place wire rack upside down over pan; turn rack and pan over. Remove pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour (center of cake may sink slightly during cooling.)

4. In medium bowl, beat powdered sugar, cream cheese and 1 Tablespoon of the milk with wire whisk until smooth, adding additional milk until desired drizzling consistency. Drizzle icing over cooled cake; sprinkle with crushed candies. Store in refrigerator.


High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Heat oven to 375°F. For cake, add 2 Tablespoons flour to dry cake mix, decrease oil to ¼ cup and increase eggs to 4.

Baking Tip: A pastry brush is ideal for greasing the grooves of a fluted tube pan.

Total Lunar Eclipse

If you didn't get a chance to stay up and see the total lunar eclipse this month, you missed out. Unless you're not into that kind of stuff. I just happen to be a nerd for it :) It was absolutely beautiful! Yes, there will be more total lunar eclipses, but there hasn't been one like the one the other day in almost 400 years! What was so special about this one? Well, it just so happened that this total lunar eclipse fell on the winter solstice. Pretty darn cool!

These are the best pictures that my little digital camera could take. Enjoy :)

Pecan Pie Cheesecake

Pecan Pie Cheesecake

I was trying to figure out what to take to work for our Day-Before-Thanksgiving "party". I guess when it comes down to needing something baked, I'm the one to bring it. I don't mind at all. I love baking!

So, I was searching online trying to find something interesting. I decided on a cheesecake. I've made a few lately and I'm determined to conquer the world of cheesecakes! They're so good! The question was, what kind to make? Pumpkin? Regular with fruit? Peanut butter? Too many to choose from! Then I found it...Pecan Pie Cheesecake!! Hello??? Putting pecan pie filling on top of a vanilla wafer crust, then cheesecake on top of it all? Oh, hello bigger butt!!! I can feel you expanding already! Challenge, on!

I have to say, it really wasn't difficult to make. Just a little time consuming. The end result? Delicious!! Very rich, but delicious!

Pecan Pie Cheesecake

Crust

1¾ cups vanilla wafer crumbs

¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350º. Combine wafer crumbs and brown sugar. Stir in melted butter. Press into bottom and up sides of 9" springform pan. Bake for 6 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Pecan Filling

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup dark corn syrup

1/3 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1½ cups chopped pecans

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour into crust and set aside.

Cheesecake Filling

3 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened

1 ¼ cups firmly packed brown sugar

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 eggs

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Reduce oven to 325º. With a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat cream cheese at medium speed until creamy. Add brown sugar and flour and beat until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. stir in cream and vanilla. Pour over pecan filling. Bake for 1 hour. Turn off oven and leave cheesecake in oven with the door closed for 1 hour. Remove from oven and run a knife along the outside edges to loosen cheesecake from sides of pan. Let cool. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

*Recipe found at http://www.bakeorbreak.com/

Mikie

Our sweet Mikie had to be put down. We had him for 15 years of his 17 year old life. Play like a puppy in Heaven Mikie! We miss you!

Mikie and his blanket he would cover himself up with.

Mikie and his little pest of a buddy Harley.

Kristy vs. The Rake

Kristy vs. The (hard) Garden Rake

October 10, 2010

Anthony and I were outside working in the yard. When we bought our new house we decided that we wanted to pull up all the bushes and shrubs that were poorly planted in all three flower beds in the front yard. Two of them reminded me of that big brown shaggy muppet "monster" from The Muppets/Sesame Street. I can't remember his name. Anyway, I didn't like the way they looked. So, Anthony decided it was a good day to work in the yard and pull all that stuff out.

I was working on something and Anthony asked me to come over and hold open one of those paper yard bags from Home Depot. So, I walked over and what do you know? I stepped perfectly on a HARD tined/pronged (whatever it's called) yard rake. Anthony had so thoughtfully left it laying in the yard prong side up. Next thing I know I feel and hear this hard pop on my face and immediately cover my face and start crying. I'm a big baby, I know. I kept saying "why did you do that?" "who leaves a rake laying face up?" I felt stuff pouring out of my nose and Anthony ran inside to grab some paper towels. He kept trying to get me to go inside but all I wanted to do was stand there, out in the front yard, bleeding and crying. I told him to be careful because I thought my glasses had fallen off. He said my glasses were broken and not fixable. Too bad, because I loved those glasses!


I mean really, that kind of thing doesn't happen in real life! You only see that kind of thing in 3 Stooges episodes or cartoons! No one does that for real! Unless you're me!


I finally made it inside and when I looked in the mirror I saw this huge gash on my nose! Yikes! It hurt so bad! I thought I had broken my nose, but apparently the pop I heard was the sound of my glasses breaking. The bright side is that I actually had my head down a little so when I stepped on the rake, it hit me on the nose. Had I been looking straight, it would have hit me in the mouth and no doubt broken some teeth. I'd rather suffer some black eyes, a swollen nose, a nice scar and have to replace an old pair of glasses then have to pay for extensive dental work. That rake hit so hard that I know I would have had a lot of damage to my mouth! Blessings counted!!!


The picture below was taken a week later. I think the black eyes made my green eyes stand out even more :)

Painting Project #1

Painting Project #1

Before

The mantle: An ugly brown color with some type of wooden lattice work.

Before:

The front wall of our house. It was an ugly sea green color. I hated it! Yuck!

And After:

The mantle. Disney's Ariel's Song. Anthony actually picked out the color :)

We actually picked that color for the front wall but decided to make the mantle "pop" and use it there too. It was bright at first, but we really like it! So not boring AT ALL :)