Today we celebrated Kenzie’s birthday with the family. I used my new baking pan by Wilton to begin her Panda Cake. Lesson #1 – If you spray the pan with baking spray, don’t add flour too. I ended up with a faceless panda. I could have patched it, but didn’t feel like it, so I crumpled up my first cake, and used it for dessert. Vanilla cake goes very well as a strawberry shortcake. I still had to bake another cake however.

My pantry and fridge had dwindled down. I had no eggs, no bread, no flour etc… so I settled for a Duncan Hines Devil’s Food Cake mix. Kenzie is not a big fan of chocolate, but she didn’t have a choice here. This time I just used the cooking spray and the cake came out of the pan perfectly. I let it rest overnight and began frosting it this morning.

Perfection in cake decorating is afar off for me, but it works, and the kids thought it turned out well. We went easy and had Papa Johns Pizza. I threw in a Caesar Salad, then we had cake and ice cream. I can take a birthday rest now until July.

She insisted on only having three candles…

 More Peeps Stuff!

I saw this last Easter in a Taste of Home Magazine and bought all the necessary ingredients to make it. Well, it never got made in 2008. So this year I bought the ingredients again (Peeps) determined to complete the task… and I did! It was really cool! The cake was a box mix, but doctored. The frosting however, was Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting.

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 Box Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Golden Cake
• 4 large eggs
• 1 pack vanilla instant pudding mix (4 serving size)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 18 – 20 Yellow Peeps Chicks*
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips, regular and mini

Cake Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9″ round cake pans, though I used three 8″ pans for a taller cake.

Combine all of the ingredients and mix for 2 minutes, or until smooth. Divide into pans and bake for 20-25 minutes (or until it’s done). Remove, cool layers in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to cooling rack.

Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter, melted (1/2 cup)
• 2/3 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

 Sunflower Peeps Cake:

Prepare cake and frost. Place Peeps Chicks around the border of the frosted cake (face in). Using regular size chocolate chips, form rings in the center of the cake. For the last few rings, use miniature chocolate chips. *The Taste of Home recipe says not to separate the chicks… but I found they wanted to keep “bouncing back” to shape…so i ended up separating them.

For the past seven weeks, my son has been studying our state (Florida) at school. This is always a big project for the 4th grade that is culminated by an entire day known as “Florida Day” and a field trip to the Nation’s Oldest City – St. Augustine. Florida Day is comprised mainly of foods native to Florida such as gator tail, shrimp, oranges, strawberries and of course Key Limes – which was my assigned dish.

While Key Lime Pie is native of Florida, I didn’t know how much interest a room full of 10 year olds would have, so I threw together some mini cupcakes… a sure fire hit with kids. This was also extremely last minute, so I did with what I had… both time and product. Here is what I made:

Key Lime Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 (18.25 oz) box white cake mix (& the ingredients called for)
• 1 (4 serv.) box lime jello mix
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup ice water
• 4 – 5 key limes, or 2 regular
• 1 batch cream cheese frosting (I used a tub)

Directions:

Prepare cake mix as directed. Stir in the zest of one lime (less if using regular limes). Bake as directed for mini, or regular size cupcakes. Remove from oven and poke holes in each cupcake with a toothpick or small skewer. Once the cakes have cooled, prepare the jello: Pour 1 cup boiling water over mix and stir until dissolved, then add one cup ice cold water. Spoon liquid over cupcakes and place in the fridge for a few hours, until the jello has set. Remove and frost. Garnish as desired.

For the frosting, I stirred in a little jello powder that I had reserved. It gave the cream cheese frosting the nice lime hew. I also stirred in more lime zest to enhance the flavor of the key lime, then piped the frosting onto the cupcakes and garnished with a slice of the lime. I was very pleased with how they turned out… and my son brought back an empty dish…

Bana -rama, Yum!

Now that title is a mouthful, but exactly what you should do with this dessert, get a mouthful!

Well, when I was at the supermarket the other day, they had banana’s for 20 cents a pound. I bought like three bunches! Then when I got home, I realized there was no way we would eat all of them before they ripened too much. And I already have a freezer full of ripe banana’s for breads. So I put on my thinking cap… Banana pudding is a perfect way to use some of them, but I didn’t have any vanilla wafers. Hmm, I did have an over abundance of graham crackers from a recent smores night. That was it – now I had a banana agenda… Trial and error left this wonderful dessert that sways only slightly from the original classic. Hope you enjoy!

Banana & Graham Cracker Pudding With Caramel

Ingredients:

• 1 cup crushed cinnamon graham crackers (about 6 sheets)
• 2 – 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (as desired sweetness)
• 1/4 butter, melted
• 2 boxes Instant Vanilla Pudding (4 serving size)
• 4 cups cold milk, (2 cups per box)
• 2 – 3 large bananas, sliced
• 1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping, divided (warmed & pourable)

Directions: (you need the oven for the first part only)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8″ square pan with cooking spray. Combine graham crackers and sugar, then add butter, mix until the crumbs are moist and press into the bottom only of the pan. It will be about a 1/4 inch thick. Bake in the oven for 8 – 10 minutes, or until the crust is set and hard. Remove and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, prepare one box of pudding as directed on package. Pour into bottom of a medium sized bowl and top with a layer of banana’s. Using the back of a butter knife, break the graham crust into chunks. Layer 2/3′ s of the chunks over the bananas and drizzle half of the caramel the layer. Now, prepare the other box of pudding and pour on top. Garnish with remaining banana’s. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour. When ready to serve, sprinkle remaining graham crumbs over the dish, and drizzle the caramel on top. If desired, warm extra for topping individual servings.

Note: I served the pudding in custard cups and placed sliced banana’s, some reserved crumbs and drizzled caramel. (photo)

Big Name Banana Pudding