Showing posts with label Sweet Melissa Sundays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sweet Melissa Sundays. Show all posts

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

My good friend, Larry loves bread pudding. Whenever we get together, I don't need to ask what dessert he would like. I know his answer will be bread pudding. He's pretty much a bread pudding purist. I think it goes back to his childhood. His mom always made bread pudding with the leftover homemade bread. One time years ago, when I first decided to make bread pudding I asked Larry's mom for her recipe. She was such an old fashioned cook, no recipes for her. She said I just take some bread, eggs, milk and cinnamon and mix it all up and bake it. Maybe she said raisins, too. There's a few things I can make without a recipe but baking, I always have to follow a recipe.

I don't know if Larry would like the Pumpkin Bread pudding but we sure did. I made quite a few changes to the recipe. Mostly because of what I did or didn't have on hand. I cut the recipe in half and it worked nicely to fill three ramekins. I had leftover sweetened condensed and evaporated milk from this month's Martha Stewart recipe, Tres Leches Cupcakes. I was wondering what I was going to do with it when I had one of those aha moments. I can use it in the Pumpkin Bread Pudding. When we made the Pumpkin No vanilla beans for me, they're just too expensive. I do want to try vanilla bean paste. I didn't have any whole cloves or fresh ginger. My spice mixture consisted of vanilla extract, a pinch of ground cloves, a pinch of ground ginger and two cinnamon sticks. I felt like the pudding was plenty moist by itself, so I decided to forgo the sauce. We certainly don't need anything else made with cream.




This is a delicious dessert. Kind of fun to have a pumpkin dessert in Springtime. I am going to file this one in my holiday file. This would make a great addition to the Thanksgiving Day table.

Thanks to Carmen of Baking Is My Zen for choosing a great recipe. You can find the links to check out the other SMS bakers here.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Mother's Day - Orange Blueberry Muffins - SMS

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! I am always a little sad on Mother's Day. I lost my mother to cancer when I was 16. I wish I could have gotten to know my mother better. There's so many things I've missed sharing with her. There's nothing more rewarding than being a mother. I have the best son. Okay I know all mom's say that but mine really is!!




I was surprised on Friday at work with these beautiful flowers. Thanks Justin for being such a great son!!

This week's SMS recipe would be a perfect addition to a Mother's Day brunch. We've made the muffin batter for these before here and here. I remembered this being a thick, dense muffin. I halved the recipe and still ended up with 10 muffins. After putting the batter together, I felt like it was really thick and dense. I wanted to see if I could lighten it up a bit so I added about 2 tablespoons of sour cream and a little more (1 tablespoon?) of cream. I think it helped, the muffins don't seem as dense as the past recipes. I added a few more blueberries, next time I would add even more. I decided to skip the topping. They didn't brown as much as I would have liked, so I sprinkled them with a little cinnamon and sugar. These made a delicious, traditional texture muffin.






Chaya of Sweet and Savory chose this week's recipe. If you haven't visited Chaya's blog, stop by. She's amazing, she posts every day and has some of the best recipes. You can find the links to all of the other SMS bakers here!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Peanut Butter Truffles

A couple of weeks ago I talked about how happy I was that I'd been able to get SMS completed and set up to post PRIOR to Sunday. Not this week! It's been a busy week! Yesterday was a beautiful Spring day and the opening of the Farmer's Market. After the long, cold winter we had, everyone seemed as thrilled as we were to enjoy the market. We picked up radishes, herb plants, tomato plants and asparagus. Last night for dinner, I tried a recipe for roasted radishes. Yum! I will share the recipe sometime in the near future.

Okay back to this week's SMS! One advantage to making the recipe on Sunday is you can read a few posts before making the recipe. I found a couple of great tips over at Karen's Cookies Cakes & More. She quartered the recipe which was my plan as well. Everyone had been commenting they thought the recipe needed more peanut butter. Karen used the amount of peanut butter for a full recipe. Also, she used her melon baller to scoop out the balls. Thanks, Karen!!!

I am trying to use ingredients I have on hand. I didn't have bittersweet chocolate but did have semi sweet. No peanuts either, so I rolled these in toffee bits.

The recipe is quick and easy to make! I had no issues putting it together or making the balls. These are delicious! I love chocolate and peanut butter together. I thought they had a nice peanut butter flavor. Maybe the semi sweet chocolate does not overpower the peanut butter as much as the bittersweet chocolate?




Thanks to Mara of Love Your Mother Earth for choosing this recipe. You can find the links to all of the other SMS gals here!

One Year Ago...Mrs. Flint's Banana Bread!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Sweet Potato Bread - SMS

A few months ago, I was struggling with blogging. I questioned whether or not I had what it took to blog on a regular basis. Lately I feel like I am in a rhythm with posting and cooking. It feels so good! When I first began participating in Sweet Melissa Sunday's, Sunday would come around and I would be rushing to bake and post by a reasonable hour. The past few weeks, I've had my post finished before Sunday. It feels so good!

When I read Melissa's comments on this recipe, I had a feeling I was going to like this bread. I love pumpkin bread and this reminded me of my pumpkin bread recipe. This was an easy recipe to put together. The only change I made was to the glaze. I didn't have rum, I substituted additional orange juice and a teaspoon of vanilla.

I don't own a full size bundt pan. Mine is a smaller bundt pan and is too small for a standard bundt pan recipe. I used 4 mini bundts, a mini and medium size loaf pans. The mini loaf and bundts were done in 45 minutes. The larger loaf pan took about 55 minutes.

I ate one of the mini bundts after it's first glazing. It didn't come out of the pan very well, so it was just begging to be eaten. How do you grease and flour those mini bundts? I didn't just like this recipe, I loved it.




Thanks to Lorelei of Mermaid Sweets for choosing such a wonderful recipe. Stop by SMS to check out all of the the other bakers creations.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Malted Milk Cupcakes (Almost) - SMS

When I read the recipe for this week's Sweet Melissa Sunday's, it brought back childhood memories. As a kid my Dad used to make me malts using malted milk powder. There was always a jar in the cupboard. One summer I spent two weeks with my favorite Aunt and Uncle in Denver. I remember my Aunt Mary and I buying one of those milk cartons of malted milk balls. I think I ate the whole carton.

Normally I bake Sweet Melissa Sunday's on the weekend or the day of the post. This week, I needed cupcakes for one of my staff members at work. Perfect, I can bake these! Even better, we won't be eating another batch of baked goodies.

I went to the store to pick up the malted milk powder and the malted milk balls. I purchased the malted milk balls. The malted milk powder, not so much. A jar of this was just under $4.00. As I looked at it on the shelf, I could hear my Dad saying, $4.00???!!!

Half of this recipe made 16 cupcakes. Of course, I had to try one of these. I love the deep chocolate flavor of these cupcakes. This is the same receipe we made for this Devils Food Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting. The Devils Food Cake was much denser than these cupcakes. I always struggle determining half of 3 eggs, so I used 2 eggs in this recipe. Wonder if that's why?

I searched to see if there was a substitution for the malted milk powder. The only one I found was Ovaltine, which I didn't have either. I took the lazy way out on this and used a can of white frosting I had on hand.



Thanks to Nicole of Sweet Tooth for choosing a recipe that brought back wonderful childhood memories. I am anxious to see what the other SMS bakers thought of this recipe and the malted milk frosting.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Pecan Shortbread Cookies-SMS

Happy Easter!! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day!!

Something I've always wanted to make but never have, is shortbread. When I saw this week's recipe was Pecan Shortbread Cookies, I was excited. I was hoping this would be my first time making shortbread. While I thought these cookies were deeeeeeeeeeelicious, they remind me of Russian Teacakes or Italian Wedding Cookies.

This was an easy recipe to put together. My only challenge was my butter wasn't cold enough. I didn't end up with balls as the recipe describes. I really am enjoying this cookbook but wish there were more pictures. I don't know about you but I really like seeing a picture of what the finished dish should look like.

Laura of The Lab chose this week's recipe. Check out the other talented Sweet Melissa bakers here.


One Year Ago Baby Carrots with Dill.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Caramel Apple Crisp - SMS

This week's Sweet Melissa Sunday's is hosted by my blogging pal, Susan at Baking With Susan. Susan and I joined Sweet Melissa Sunday's about the same time and became blogging friends. It is because of Susan I became involved in Operation Baking Gals. If you haven't been to Susan's blog, stop by and check it out. She's creative, funny and shares great recipes.

Things have been a bit hectic this weekend at our house. We spent all day yesterday looking for a new car. It's painful and exhausting. I compared it to trying on swimsuits. Ugh! After a long day of shopping and negotiating, we're the proud owners of an Escape Hybrid.

I am not good at making pie crusts. I've never made many and when I have they've always been a disaster. Of course, as is pretty normal for me, I am baking Sweet Melissa Sunday's on Sunday. I decided to try and make a double pie crust and get everything else done I needed to do today would be mistake. I would be frustrated and cussing like a sailor, not a good way to spend Sunday afternoon. Since it's Susan's week for hosting, I really wanted to participate, so I decided to make a Caramel Apple Crisp instead.

I made the filling pretty much as the recipe called for, with a couple of exceptions. I used Fuji apples and I couldn't resist, I added a little cinnamon. Since I didn't have any heavy cream. I decided to give the caramel sauce a try using evaporated milk. It worked pretty well, although I think I heated it too early and it developed a skin on the top. I made the standard crisp topping using oatmeal, brown sugar, flour and melted butter.

I baked the crisps at 350 for about 30 minutes. I took them out of the oven and they were beautiful, puffy and nicely browned. I guess I never realized crisps fall as they cool.




I love the addition of the caramel sauce to the apples. The cinnamon adds just the extra flavor needed to make this a great pie (crisp).

Check out the other Sweet Melissa Sunday's bakers here. I know you'll find some beautiful apple pies.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Carrot Cake - SMS

Thanks for stopping by Little Bit of Everything. I am so excited!! This is my week to host Sweet Melissa Sunday's. As I flipped through the cookbook a few weeks ago, it was hard to decide which recipe to choose. I wanted a recipe I could make without a big FAIL and something I knew I would like. I love carrot cake. The best carrot cake I've ever eaten was at an Omaha restaurant, The Flatiron . The chef, Jennifer Coco, is nominated for a James Beard award for the second year in a row. The Flatiron's carrot cake was to die for yummy!! I am in search of that carrot cake recipe. Would this one be the one?

I admit I haven't baked a lot of layer cakes. For sure, I haven't baked many from scratch. One of the first was this one. The results were great and left me feeling encouraged to bake more layer cakes. One of my 2010 cooking resolutions is to attend cake decorating classes. I wish I had done that before this week, so my cake would be even a fraction as beautiful as some of the other SMS bakers.

Baking a layer cake always takes me back to my childhood. My mother made a lot of layer cakes. Although no one recipe sticks in my mind. Do you think that's because the mind isn't what it used to be? I remember when she was baking a cake and I would come stomping into the kitchen, she'd say walk softly or you'll make the cake fall. We had to tiptoe through the kitchen. We didn't dare think about opening the door. I opened the door at one point on this cake and could hear my mother scolding me!

The only carrot cake I've ever made uses baby food carrots. It's a delicious moist cake and so easy to put together. This cake was relatively easy to put together. The most time consuming part is grating the carrots. If you have a food processor, it makes it easier.

I've read some of the other Sweet Melissa bloggers comments about the 1 1/2 tablespoons of cinnamon in this recipe being a typo. I thought it seemed liked a lot but I love cinnamon, so I didn't hesitate to go ahead with tablespoons instead of teaspoons.

When I tested the cake at 40 minutes, it was done. I was concerned that it might be overdone but it was perfect.





I'm sad to say this wasn't the to die for carrot cake recipe. I thought this cake was good but not great. The texture is the moist texture you expect in a carrot cake but the cake is lacking in flavor. I liked the bites with frosting much better than the ones without. I am glad I used the cinnamon as tablespoons and not teaspoons or it would have really been lacking in flavor. I am anxious to see what the other Sweet Melissa Sunday's bakers thought of this recipe.




Along with each recipe in the book, Melissa shares a story or some other tidbit about the recipe you are making. Melissa made this cake for her sisters wedding.

Carrot Cake with Fresh Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
- makes one 8-inch cake -
From...The Sweet Melissa Baking Book, by Melissa Murphy.

Ingredients
For the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound carrots, grated medium fine
3/4 cup walnut pieces, coarsely chopped

For the fresh orange cream cheese frosting:
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
Zest of 1 orange
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softene
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Procedure
Before you start
Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Butter and flour two 8x2-inch round cake pans. Line each pan with an 8-inch round of parchment paper.

To make the cake

1. in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat the eggs at high speed until light and frothy, about 1 minute. Decrease the speed to medium and add the oil, sugar, and salt, and mix until just combined. Decrease the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

3. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the carrots and walnuts.

4. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Spin the pans to level the batter. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a rack to cool for 20 minutes before turning the layers out onto the rack. Cool completely before filling or frosting.

To make the frosting
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, sugar, and zest. Start on low speed and then increase to medium-high speed and beat until smooth, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

2. Add the butter and mix on medium speed until just fluffy and smooth, about 45 seconds more. Add the vanilla and mix until just combined. Do not overbeat.

To complete the cake

1. Cut 4 strips of wax or parchment paper about 12 inches long by 3 inches wide. Place the bottom cake layer trimmed side up on your serving plate. Tuck the wax paper under the edges of your cake on all sides. Later, after frosting the cake, you can pull away the stripes to reveal a nice clean serving plate.

2. Using a metal offset spatula, spread the filling across the top of the layer, but leave about 1/2 inch uncovered around the outside edges. (This leaves room for the filling to be squished down but to stay inside the cake.)

3. Place the second layer trimmed side down on top of the filling and press down gently with your hands.

4. Apply a light, even layer of frosting on all sides of the cake. Place the cake in the refrigerator to chill for a good 30 minutes.

5. After the crumb coat has chilled, smooth on your final layer of frosting.
The cake keeps in a cake saver in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It tastes great eaten at room temperature or chilled.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Sugar Cookies - SMS

This week's Sweet Melissa Sunday's recipe was chosen by the talented Nina of Nina's Cupcakes. You make a sugar dough that can be used for pie crust or cookies. I thought it was very interesting this recipe didn't give the time or temperature to bake the cookies. Several of the SMS baker's felt this recipe was lacking in flavor. I followed their advice and tried to add some more flavor. I added lemon juice and a little extra sugar.

This sugar cookie dough is chilled and then rolled for cutouts. I have a plastic storage container filled with cookie cutters. As I was going through it trying to find a cutter to use, I found lots of Halloween, Easter, Valentines Day and Christmas cookie cutters. Guess I need to get a few any occasion cutters. I used my medium sized round biscuit cutter. I should have rolled this dough a little thicker, the cookies are too thin.

I baked them at 350 for about 10 minutes. I gave one to Tim to taste. "Kind of blah? What are these?" I decided to turn these into an easy version of black and white cookies by dipping them in chocolate. Doesn't chocolate make everything taste better?!! The chocolate did add some much needed flavor but still I don't think I will make this recipe again.


Sunday, February 21, 2010

Strawberry Lemonade - Sweet Melissa Sunday's

Today in Nebraska marks the 78th day with at least one inch of snow on the ground. Even though I have lived in the midwest all of my life, I've never experienced a winter quite like this one. Strawberry Lemonade reminds me of summer picnics. It was so nice to enjoy this reminder of summer on what is yet another snowy winter day.



The lemonade is a delicious, easy recipe and one I will make again. I had a few raspberries leftover from last weekend, so I added those to the syrup. I made the sugar syrup on the stove. I never seem to be able to "melt" the sugar without doing it on the stove.

Thanks to Jessica of My Baking Heart for choosing this recipe to give us a wonderful reminder of summer.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Easy Chocolate Mousse - Sweet Melissa Sunday's

Happy Valentine's Day!

Quick post and iPhone picture for me today. We are in Kansas City with our good friends Karen and Larry!

Easy Chocolate Mousse? I guess it depends on how you define an easy recipe? To me, easy doesn't require three bowls and two different rounds with the mixer. I've never made chocolate mousse so maybe compared to other recipes this is easy.

Mine didn't quite turn out as it should have. Instead of whisking the egg whites into the chocolate I folded them in. I read the recipe SEVERAL times but still messed up. I hate it when that happens. My mousse ended up with little chunks of chocolate in the mousse. Everyone really liked it and we renamed it Chocolate Chip Mousse.



Thanks to Spike of Spike Bakes for choosing a great Valentine's Day recipe. You can find the links to all of the other Sweet Melissa Sunday's members here. I'm sure you'll find lots of pictures of beautiful chocolate chip mousse (without the chips).

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Classic Red Velvet Cake - Sweet Melissa Sunday's

It's a good day. A week after returning from vacation, I feel like I am back in the groove. It's Sunday and I am baking Sweet Melissa Sunday's. Unlike a lot of bloggers, I tend to bake and post all in the same day. I always feel really together when I have a couple of posts waiting in my queque. Today, there's....ZERO!!

I decided to make cupcakes instead of a cake. That way, hubby or I or both can take them to work. I also cut the recipe in half. A while back I found the greatest site for decreasing or increasing recipes. Since I am not a math whiz and tend to cut a lot of baking recipes in half, this site is a lifesaver!!!

This recipe is a breeze to make. I frosted them with the cream cheese frosting and decorated with some Valentines Day themed sprinkles. I baked these for 25 minutes but should have pulled them out of the oven at 20 minutes. I read everyone's hints about how the baking soda turns red food coloring brown AFTER I'd baked these. Mine are definetely more brown than red. The flavor of these didn't wow me. They are good but not great.




This recipe was chosen by the talented baker, Rosy of Rosy Lip and Lavender. You can find the links to all the other bakers here. I am anxious to read everyone's posts and see if anyone's cake turned out red.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Black Bottom Brownies - SMS

As you're reading this post, we're enjoying the sunshine of a Caribbean cruise. We're enroute from Fort Lauderdale to the Cayman Islands aboard the Crown Princess.

Brownies are one of those desserts that can so easily overbake. I have the hardest time telling whether or not they are done. These were no exception. The cream cheese filling began to brown, so I pulled them out a few minutes early. The texture and flavor were perfect. Not sure what I did but my cream cheese seemed a little too soft and as a result my chocolate chips sank down on top of the chocolate layer. Everyone at my house loved these, they were gone in no time!!!




Thanks to Cynthia of Bakingtherapist for choosing a yummy recipe. Check out the other baker's creations here!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Lemon Walnut Sour Cream Pound Cake - SMS

This week's Sweet Melissa Sunday's recipe was chosen by Raeann of Basically Baby Boots . Great choice, Raeann!!! I love pound cake!! I couldn't wait to try this recipe. Sour cream pound cakes are my favorite!!! This cake batter had the most beautiful lemony color and fragrance.

I have a habit of not always reading a recipe thoroughly and missing a ingredient or a step. Not this one, this recipe came together perfectly. Somehow I messed up the timer and went to check how long left and what? it wasn't counting down. I had to estimate how long it had been in the oven, so I began checking it way before it was done. I believe it took close to 1 hour and 30 minutes to bake. I did feel that some of the edges were getting too brown before the center was done. I covered it with foil for the last 10 minutes.

The end pieces of the pound cake were a little dry. Once you made it to the middle, those pieces had a nice moist texture and the best flavor. This recipe is a keeper!!!


Next Sunday's recipe, Black Bottom Brownies.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Chocolate Pie Crust - SMS

Why doesn't pie crust like me? Maybe it's like an animal and smells my fear. Santa brought me pie weights and a pastry blender for Christmas. Like a kid on their first day of school, I was excited about making this pie dough. I didn't feel like the dough came together like it should, it seemed a little too crumbly. I added a little more water. Concerned about overworking the dough, I formed the ball and put it in the frig. After the alloted time, I cut my circle of parchment formed my crust. I sprinkled on the shiny new pie weights and in the oven it went.

Tim's favorite pie is pecan. I needed a pie for Christmas Eve dinner and Sweet Melissa's Chocolate Pecan seemed like a natural. I didn't have any maple syrup or dark corn syrup so I substituted honey and light corn syrup with a little molasses.

Unfortuntely, my crust was like all of the other pie crusts I've made over the years, hard and not flaky. The color on the pie crust was too brown and the flavor rather bland. The filling was okay but not as good as other pecan pies. All in all is was really disappointed in these recipes. I will keep trying, pie crust is one of those cooking challenges that I want to conquer.


Donna of L’Amour de Tarte chose this week's Sweet Melissa Sunday's, Chocolate Pie Crust. We could choose whatever filling we liked. Stop over to Sweet Melissa Sunday's and see some of the other baker's beautiful flaky pies.

Next week, Lemon Walnut Sour Cream Pound Cake!!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Chocolate Creme Caramels - SMS

When I read the Sweet Melissa Sunday's recipes for January, I was thrilled. January is going to be a crazy month for me. I am traveling on business and we are going on a cruise!! I knew I needed to have these posts done in advance. I decided to make the Chocolate Creme Caramels for the holiday treat bag for my staff at work!

I was a little nervous because I'd heard how tricky caramel could be. Even as I was making these, I heard Sandy Gluck on Martha Stewart Living Radio talk about the challenges she'd had when making caramel. EEEKKKKK! I hope these turn out!!

There are two recipes in the cookbook for Carmels. The base recipe is Honey Creme Caramels and to make the Chocolate Creme Caramels, you just add...Chocolate. The carmel mixture is the most beautiful honey brown color while it is cooking.




Well turn out, they did! These are the most delicious caramels and remind me of one you might purchase at a fine candy store. Now with that said, don't make this recipe if you are in a hurry, it's not a quick one. The caramel took about an hour to get to 248 degrees. It seemed like it took forever to get from 225 to 248!!! I didn't have an 8 x 8 pan, so I'd planned to use a 7 x 7. I ended up with enough caramel for for two 7 x 7 pans.

These caramels made a wonderful addition to the treat bags for my staff. Thanks to Jeanette of The Whimsical Cupcake for choosing this fabulous recipe. You can find the recipe on her site and links to all of the other Sweet Melissa Sunday's members here!

Next up...Chocolate Pie Crust and Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Chocolate Cheesecake - Sweet Melissa Sunday's

I love cheesecake! Cheesecake is one of my signature desserts. My friends and family have always said they are good enough to sell. I always bake those cheesecake recipes that are my favorites. Trying a new one isn't something I do very often. So true to form, this week's Sweet Melissa Sunday's has helped me to think outside the box. (Does any one say that anymore or was that a 90's term?) It also occurred to me, I haven't blogged about cheesecake before so I blogging is challenging me to try recipes I wouldn't normally try.

I did make quite a few changes to this recipe. If possible, I try to use the ingredients I have on hand rather than buying them. I used almonds instead of hazelnuts in the crust. I didn't use any expresso powder, I thought I had some instant coffee but didn't seem to find it. Also, in reading how rich this is, I decided we didn't need a whole cheescake. I cut the recipe in half and used a 4" mini cheesecake pan. However filling made enough for two 4" cheesecake pans. Wouldn't that be an 8" pan? Interesting! Anyway, since there was only one crust, I poured the extra filling into some custard cups. I'm anxious to see how they turn out. I decided not to make the glaze and just dust with powdered sugar.

When I checked the cheesecake at the end of the baking time, it didn't seem to have the same "crust" all of my other cheesecakes have. I hope it is done.

Thanks to Shandy of Pastry Heaven by Shandy for choosing this week's recipe. You can find the links to all of the other Sweet Melissa Sunday's bakers here!


The Sweet Melissa Sunday's bakers are taking a break until January. Check back to see January's delicious creations. In the meantime, Happy Holidays to all of my fellow Sweet Melissa Sunday's bakers!!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

No Sweet Melissa Sunday's

No Sweet Melissa Sunday's for me today. The main reason, we're in LA with my son Justin. Also, I am not a Fruitcake person, not sure I would have baked if I had been home.

This weeks recipe was chosen by Karin of Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice. You can find the recipe at her site. Also, stop by the Sweet Melissa Sunday's site and check out the blogs of the bakers who did make this fruitcake.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Raised Waffles with Warm Brown Sugar Bananas

I love waffles! This recipe is perfect for Sunday morning breakfast. I've been wanting a new waffle iron. After making this recipe, I am for sure getting a new one. I didn't feel that these waffles came out crispy or golden enough in my waffle iron.

This recipe does require a little more time than most waffle recipes. You make the batter most of the way, the night before. The finishing touches the next morning are quick and easy. The topping for these is heavenly, my favorite part.

The topping for these is h e a v e n l y!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It reminds me of bananas foster, which I love! I cut the waffle recipe in half but made the full recipe of the topping. I am so glad I did, even making the full recipe, I really didn't feel like it was enough topping. I used honey instead of maple syrup. I guess my brown sugar and butter mixture wasn't hot enough? I didn't get the flame when you add the rum. Bummer! I was so looking forward to an intentional flame experience (and Tim was on stand by with the fire extinguisher).



Thanks to Lauren of Fried Pickles and Ice Cream for choosing this recipe. You can find the recipe on her site. Also, you'll find the links to all of the wonderful SMS bakers here!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Butter Toffee Crunch - Sweet Melissa Sundays

Considering my sweet tooth, when I read this recipe makes 3 pounds, I decided to cut it in half. Cutting recipes in half always reminds me of grade school...converting fractions. I decided to take advantage of the internet and find a recipe converter. I found a great site that allows you to enter the entire recipe, directions and all and even print it if you like.



Cavities or no cavities, I am so sorry I didn't make the full recipe! This toffee is absolutely delicious and so easy to make. The mixture reached the 290 degree temperature much quicker than I expected. Don't take your eyes off that thermometer or you will overcook it. When you purchase toffee, you see it in those nice little triangle shapes. So how do the candy makers do that? I used the wooden end of my meat mallet and some pieces are nice shapes but others are small crumbles? Maybe the candy makers have eat all the leftovers? Kind of like that one unforgettable I Love Lucy episode?

This recipe would be great for holiday gift giving. Thanks to Kaitlin of Kait's Place for choosing such a wonderful recipe. You can find the recipe on her blog and links to all of the other Sweet Melissa baker's here.