When all else fails, make grasshopper pie

My oldest daughter recently celebrated her 12th birthday. For birthdays 1 through 8 I am all about making super cool theme cakes. I've done everything from a princess castle to Blue from Blue's Clues to a spider complete with pudding guts. After they turn 8 their cakes mellow out and are simply their favorite cake flavor topped with their favorite frosting. Once in a while I throw on a few sparklies or embellishments, but they're not nearly as time consuming as those earlier cakes.

Because my daughter's favorite candy is Ferrero Rocher, I searched the internet for a recipe similar to the candy and found this Ferrero Rocher cupcake recipe on Cupcake Project. (Image at right from the original recipe on Cupcake Project.) It was going to be a super nifty surprise and I couldn't wait to get started! The first thing I had to do was locate hazelnut extract and hazelnuts (aka filbert nuts), which I found at Pirate O's, a local version of my out-of-state favorite, Trader Joe's.

The morning of her birthday I decided to bake some chocolate zucchini bread, which I ended up burning by forgetting to adjust the time for mini loaves. That should've been a sign of what was to come. Here it is in a "hazelnut" shell:

• I couldn't find gold foil wrappers at Spoons 'n Spice so I went with white wrappers with gold swirl. Once baked you couldn't even tell the darn cupcakes had wrappers--sheesh!
• My cupcakes didn't rise like the recipe said they would so I had to fill them at least 2/3 to 3/4 full to break even.
• The filling was pretty runny, more like hot fudge than the center of a Ferrero Rocher; next time I'd use Nutella if I could find it.
• Without the internet I would've never known how to roast hazelnuts. (Thank you, Cottage Magpie, for your step-by-step post on how to do so.) It wasn't hard but trying to rub the skin off was a workout in itself.

• Without the internet I would've never known the easiest way to fill cupcakes without piping. (Thank you, Baking Bites, for your step-by-step post on how to do so.) After 8 or so cupcakes I finally got it right.
• My ganache didn't turn out nearly as nice as the one in the recipe's photo and was also runny. I'm going to blame the runs on the weather. (Better than blaming it on bad Mexican food.)

By the time I was done mixing, baking, roasting, rubbing, processing, filling and frosting the cupcakes it had taken just as much time, if not more, than it took me to build a pretty impressive train complete with candy-filled cars.

• Madison's favorite part was the cake, not the filling or frosting. (Note to self: next time use a boxed cake mix and simply add the hazelnut extract to the mix and decrease the water.)

I had a taste of one of the Ferrero Rocher cupcakes and I wasn't that impressed, especially with all the work that went into it. Perhaps if they'd risen better or my filling had thickened or the ganache had been Food Network Challenge-worthy they'd have been a bigger hit. I'll never know because that recipe has long since been recycled.

So what do you do when the birthday girl isn't a big fan of her birthday cake--or cupcakes in this case? You have a do-over the next night and go with the ever-popular grasshopper pie:

Grasshopper Pie
1 store-bought Oreo cookie pie crust
1 "used to be a real half-gallon" container of Dreyer's Loaded Chocolate Mint Brownie
1 can whip cream
1 bottle dark chocolate sauce
1 small jar maraschino cherries
1 small can nut topping

Take the lid off the pie crust, peel off the label and wash. Soften the ice cream in the microwave at a super low temperature at about 30-second intervals, stirring often until it's about the consistency of, well, that ice cream soup kids like to make. Spread evenly in the pie crust and place the lid upside down to cover. Crimp the foil edges around the lid to secure it. Place on an even surface in the freezer and freeze until set (at least a couple hours).

To serve, remove the pie from the freezer and let stand at room temperature for a few minutes until soft enough to cut with a sharp knife. Cut pie into slices and top with chocolate sauce, whip cream, cherry and nuts. Serve immediately.


Obviously you can make any version of this ice cream pie you'd like. You could fill it with cookie dough ice cream or take a graham cracker crust and fill it with sherbet. Go crazy! --Emily

"I doubt whether the world holds for any one a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice cream." ~Heywood C. Broun

Have you ever had any birthday cake mishaps? Do share!

Warm Chocolate Melting Cake

Need I say more? The name of this dessert gets my mouth watering every time I read it, write it or tell someone about it. This was my favorite dessert while on our Carnival cruise through the southern Caribbean last week. (The best was ordering it with a side of their butter pecan ice cream--on a daily basis!) Baked in a simple white ramekin this moist chocolate cake had the ooiest, gooiest center; it was even better than underbaked brownies. Once my spoon broke the surface that hot, liquid chocolate center clung to it and begged to be eaten. I swear it was a religious experience.

I once tried a slow cooker recipe for a similar sort of pudding cake but it just didn't cut it. The texture and flavor left something to be desired. That's why I was super excited when Kristyn, one of our cruising cohorts (see photo below), said she had a recipe for a dessert similar to Carnival's Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. My grandfather-in-law used to say, "Food tastes better when shared." I'm not sure how this dessert could taste any better, but in the spirit of sharing, here you go!

Back: Julie & Dave; Front: Kristyn, Kim, me & Nathan

Kristyn's Decadent Chocolate Cake (aka Martha Stewart's Molten Chocolate Cake)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tins
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for muffin tins
3 large eggs
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Whipped Cream , for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously butter 6 cups of a standard muffin tin. Dust with granulated sugar, and tap out excess. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, beat in flour and salt until just combined. Beat in chocolate until just combined. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.

Place muffin tin on a baking sheet; bake just until tops of the cakes no longer jiggle when the pan is lightly shaken, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes.

To serve, turn out cakes and place on serving plates, bottom sides up. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve with whipped cream if desired.

"A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest piece." ~Ludwig Erhard

Cake photo by stu_spivack, shared via Flickr.

New kitchen = lots of baking

And lots of baking equals added pounds on the scale, therefore a new kitchen equals added pounds so stay away from new kitchens! (Does anyone recognize the transitive property from geometry? I think I was one of the few kids in high school who actually liked geometry.)

This week I made The Pioneer Woman's Tres Leches Cake, which everyone loved though I found it not my fave due to its lack of chocolate. Sorry, just can't get past a chocolate-free dessert (unless it's a macaroon). Here's how my Tres Leches Cake went and yes, it wasn't quite as pretty as The Pioneer Woman's but it was yummy! You can find the original recipe here.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.


Separate five eggs, yolks in the mixer, whites to the side. Can you tell I had some issues separating those eggs? If you look closely you'll even see an eggshell hidden among the whites.


Whip the egg yolks with some sugar until they're a beautiful pale yellow. (By the way, that's the only kind of yellow I can wear.)


Gently add milk and vanilla to the mix then combine it with the flour mixture.


Wash your mixing bowl and then add the egg whites, or in my case, egg sort-of-whites and whip until stiff peaks form, then add the remaining sugar. In my case that never happened. Perhaps too much yolk? So I let it whip for minutes on end and finally gave up and gently combined it with the yolk/flour mixture.


Pour the batter into a generously greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for about 35 minutes. Mine took only about 30 so check it as you go.


Flip the cake onto a platter and let cool completely. (Note to self: find a really cute rectangular platter; it looks much better than a cookie sheet.)


In a pitcher combine sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and a little cream. Poke holes in the cake with a fork and pour all but 1 cup of the milk mixture over the cake letting it soak in as you go. (I agree with Ree, all of the milk mix would've been too much.)


Chill the mixing bowl and then beat the cream and sugar until thick and spreadable. I actually added another tablespoon of Splenda and a teaspoon of vanilla. I thought it tasted a bit better that way!


Spread over the top and sides of the cake. (Yes, Quinn, my photo is a bit too "warm." Still figuring that out!)


Decorate with whole or chopped maraschino cherries and serve. Yum!


And if that wasn't enough, the draw of my new kitchen had me baking these:


These homemade Oreos are not even going to last 24 hours. Here's the recipe because I know you're dying to make them now too!

Homemade Oreos
* I double this so we can give a plate to the neighbors!
1 chocolate fudge cake mix
2 eggs
2 T water
2 T oil
1/4 cup baking cocoa

1 can whipped vanilla frosting

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix until well blended. (This is pretty thick so I'd use a stand mixer or hand mixer for sure.) Form into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a glass press down on the dough to flatten the cookies a bit before baking. Bake at 350 for about 8 or 9 minutes or until set. Let cool 2 minutes on the cookie sheet and remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cool spread about a tablespoon or so of the frosting on the bottom of one cookie and then place the bottom of another cookie on top of the side you just frosted. Voila! Homemade Oreo cookies!

You can also find a recipe for the filling online but I didn't have the time to make that from scratch. The whipped vanilla frosting works well in a pinch! --Emily

"I want to have a good body, but not as much as I want dessert." ~Jason Love