Cream Puff in a Pan

With my mother's permission I am posting one her most requested desserts!

Cream Puff in a pan
1 c. water

1/2 c. butter (real)

1 c. flour
6 eggs

2 small boxes or 1 large box of you favorite pudding

3 1/2 cups milk

8 oz. cream cheese

1 container of cool whip

*Chocolate syrup - optional

*crushed walnuts or pecans - optional


Directions:
In a small kettle bring water and butter to a boil. Once boiling remove from the burner and add flour. Stirring rapidly the mixture will fall away from the sides of your kettle. Beat eggs in, one at a time. Once mixed well spread into a greased jelly roll pan. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. When removed from the oven you will find a crust with many "hills/bubbles" etc. This is normal. Cool completely.

Mix together pudding, milk, and cream cheese. Spread over top of the cooled crust. Refrigerate until set. Top with a layer of cool whip. To dress them up a bit, we drizzle chocolate syrup on the cool whip and sprinkle with crushed walnuts or pecans.

Store covered in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes

I am completely hooked on foodnetwork shows like Cupcake Wars...Kid in a Candy Store, Unwrapped etc....they all have such creative, tasty ideas! Inspired by Cupcake Wars I have created my very first mocha cupcake with a coffee buttercream frosting.

Chocolate Mocha Cupcake

1 1/2 c. cake flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c. sugar

2/3 c. cocoa

1/2 c. butter - melted

2/3 c. buttermilk
2 whole eggs

2 egg whites

4 tsp vanilla

6 tbsp strong coffee (I used 6 Tbsp hot water mixed with 2 Tbsp instant mocha coffee)

Whisk the first 6 ingredients listed in a bowl. In stand mixer (I love my KitchenAid stand mixer!) beat egg and egg whites, stir in buttermilk, vanilla, melted butter and coffee. Slowing add dry ingredients until mixed well.

In a "Mini Muffin Pan" fill each cupcake 3/4 full of batter and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Coffee Buttercream Frosting
1 stick of butter - softened

4 tbsp warm water

2 tbsp instant coffee

2 tsp vanilla

6 c powdered sugar

Dissolve the coffee in warm water and set aside. In stand mixer whip butter until it is fluffy. Add vanilla and coffee water. Slowing add powdered sugar and mix well. Add a couple drops of milk if needed to make the frosting spreadable.

Lastly, pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. I kept the decorations very simple but a chocolate covered coffee bean or a plain coffee bean on the top of the piped frosting looks and tastes great!

This recipe makes 96 mini cupcakes!
Enjoy!



Brownie Dessert Pizza

     We love pizza, fruit pizza, vegatable pizza! Although our usual fruit pizza has a homemade flour and butter crust and is delightful, I saw another idea using a brownie for the crust. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Brownie Dessert Pizza

1 box brownie mix - family sized

Water-Oil-Egg as called for on box

1 8oz package cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

your favorite fruit - sliced

Direction: Mix brownie mix according to box. Spread on a 12 inch pizza pan, bake as directed on the box. Cool completely. Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together until smooth. Spread on brownie crust. Top with your favorite fruits. Optional: drizzle melted chocolates to pretty it up a bit!

I was so excited to try something new, I was slightly limited different types of fruits, but you get the concepts! This is such a pretty dish. I recommend serving them in small pieces as it tends to be quite rich!

Enjoy!

Tastes just like pumpkin pie!

Last week I decided to give up bread, potatoes and candy in an attempt to eat healthier and trim a few pounds off before our the wedding. During supper last night my fiance turned to me and said, "can you make me some brownies, a cake, some cookies, something sweet?" I chuckled and said of course. After all the guy has been quite a trooper eating oranges, cut up apples with peanut butter, and peaches as dessert for the past week.

I pulled out the cookbooks and recipe box looking for something we haven't had for awhile. I remembered a few years back at a WW meeting a gal talked about a good healthy dessert she had made. I didn't know the words "healthy and dessert" could possibly be used in the same sentence. I tonight I made it.

Pumpkin Cake

1 box spice cake mix

1 can of pure pumpkin

Directions: Stir together and pour into a greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

I whipped come cream to top Justin's and otherwise use a fat free cool whip.

**Instead of making a cake try making muffins. Yields 24 muffins. 1 muffin = 2 ww pts.

  

After the first bite...came the first comment...."tastes like pumpkin pie!"  (This cake is very moist.) It's not too late to add these two ingredients to your holiday grocery list and enjoy a guilt-free dessert with you family!

Enjoy!

Caramel Ring-A-Round

Caramel Ring-A-Round

3 tubes of buttermilk biscuits
1 stick butter
1 cup ice cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
cinnamon
sugar

Caramel mixture:: melt butter in a small sauce pan, add brown sugar and ice cream stir well. In a ziplock bag: mix a generous amount of sugar and cinnamon. Drop biscuits into bag and shake until coated. Stand upright in a bundt pan. Pour caramel mixture over biscuits. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Flip onto a serving plate and serve.

Enjoy

This recipe was borrowed from: Debbie Wherry:: The Herreid Centennial Cookbook

Berry Ice Cream Treats

My family always gets together over the 4th of July to celebrate our freedom. We take in a parade, have a potluck, fireworks of course, etc! It has been tradition for years that someone would make Great-Grandma Zelda's "Ribbon Salad" (recipe coming soon!) but this year I wanted to try something different. This is what I came up with!

Berry Ice Cream Treats

- strawberry sorbet

- vanilla ice cream

- blackberries (or blueberries)

- 1 packet of Stevia (or Splenda)

Thaw the strawberry sorbet until it is soft enough to line a custard dish. Place in the freezer until frozen well. Repeat this process with vanilla ice cream and layer over the sorbet. Freeze.

Meanwhile, place fresh blackberries in a dish and sprinkle with 1 packet of Stevia. Smash berries with a fork until it's pureed. Let the berries sit for about 15 minutes in the fridge while the dish is freezing. Spoon berries into the layered custard dish and freeze.

To serve: dip the bottom of the custard dish into a bowl of very hot water.

**You want to dip it for only a few seconds as sorbet thaws quickly.**

Tip the custard cup upside down on your seving plate. Once it releases from the cup it is ready to serve.

Serving::  This is where you get to be creative and make this dish your own! These can be served alone, on  short cakes, decorated with piped whipped cream, or with fresh fruit and so on.

Options::  If you are serving larger groups and don't want to use custard cups, use a bundt pan or any type of decorative bowl! Depending what dish you use, there are other ways of releasing your goodness to serve. You might laugh but use a small torch and heat the outside slightly while it is placed upside down on the serving platter, it works!

This recipe can be used with any type of sorbets, ice creams, or fruits to fit the theme of your party. Your guests are going to love it and want to know how you made it.

Enjoy!