Dessert First

FIRST: Could you please head over to this website (http://www.pomwonderful.com/cupcakecontest/) and vote for my Pink Velvet POM Cupcake & I would love if you’d spread the word via your blog, Facebook, etc!

 

I wish I could send you all cupcakes at this point! I so appreciated and enjoyed reading through all of your thoughtful comments and I am equally excited that all of you will be following along! :-) And speaking of cupcakes, here are two new flavor additions to the menu.

Another cupcake to be added to the Candy Bar line…

Reeses Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Chocolicious Peanut Butter Swirl Cake
Topped with 1 Layer of Whipped Chocolate Frosting
& 1 Layer of Whipped Peanut Butter Frosting
Garnished with a Mini Peanut Butter Cup

------------------------------------

And another addition to the Girl Scout Cookie  line…

Samoas Cupcake
Coconut Graham Cracker Bottom below our Chocolicious Cake
Topped with a Whipped Coconut Frosting
Garnished with a drizzle of both Caramel and Chocolate and finished with half a Samoa Cookie

So hopefully today you brought your sweet tooth, because it’s a recap on my cooking class (if you missed recaps of my other classes, see them here and here) that I taught this past Friday called Dessert First. The description in the community catalog stated:

“Dessert first might not always be appropriate, but in this class it's required. Learn to make semi-homemade desserts that look like they've taken hours to prepare.  Cheesecake, trifles, and more.  This class is guaranteed to be sweet!”

I look forward to my classes more and more each month because each time the attendance gets bigger and bigger. I am already starting to plan next fall’s class line-up!

So like the description stated, this class was all about the sweet stuff. I tried my best to pick out recipes that I thought would be new to people and please a variety of taste palates. After all my researching, it was a success—no one had tried the recipes before, and everyone loved them once they did! So take a few minutes and attend my “virtual” Dessert First class!

--Class Intros--

--Giving away prizes; a free 1/2 dozen of my Cupcakes —

--Explaining the first recipe, Peanut Butter Cup Trifle--

--Assembling in progress--

--The finished dessert--

Peanut Butter Cup Trifle

Ingredients:

·         9x13 pan of brownies, cut into 1 inch pieces

·         5.1 oz instant vanilla pudding

·         3 cups milk

·         ½ cup creamy peanut butter

·         2 tsp vanilla

·         8 oz container thawed whipped topping, divided

·         14 peanut butter cups, crumbled (Not the minis)

·         10 mini peanut butter cups to garnish (cut in half)

Directions:

·         Combine pudding and milk. Beat for 2 minutes.

·         Add peanut butter and vanilla, beat until smooth. Gently fold in 2 cups whipped topping.

·         In a trifle dish, layer ½ the brownies, ½ the crumbled peanut butter cups, ½ the pudding mixture. Repeat.

·          Top with cool whip and peanut butter cups.

·         Chill until serving.

                                           Serves: 12-15 (Varies)

--Explaining the versatility of  phyllo tarts--

Warm Mini Apple Pies

Ingredients:

·         1 peeled, cored and finely chopped Granny Smith apple

·         1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

·         2 tablespoons raisins

·         1/4 cup brown sugar

·         3 tablespoons butter

·         1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

·         15 Mini Phyllo Shells (1 box)

·         1/4 cup thawed whipped topping, for garnish

 

Directions:

·         In a medium skillet, sauté apples, walnuts, raisins, brown sugar and butter over low heat until apples are tender, stirring frequently.

·         Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon.

·         Cool slightly and spoon 1 tablespoon of apple mixture into each phyllo Shell. Garnish with whipped topping. Serve immediately.

 

--Prepping the next dessert--

--Cherry Cheesecake Cookie Cups--

Cherry Cheesecake Cookie Cups

Ingredients:

·         1 pkg. (16.5 oz.) Refrigerated Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

·         2 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, room temperature

·         1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

·         2 large eggs

·         2 teaspoons vanilla extract

·         1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling

Directions:

·         Preheat oven to 325° F. Paper-line 24 muffin cups. Place one piece of cookie dough in each muffin cup.

·         Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookie has spread to edge of cup.

·         Beat cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, eggs and vanilla extract in medium bowl until smooth. Pour about 3 tablespoons cream cheese mixture over each cookie in cup.

·         Bake for additional 15 to 18 minutes or until set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Top each with level tablespoon of pie filling. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

--Saving the best dessert for last!--

--Mini Molten Chocolate Cakes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream--

Mini Molten Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

·         4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

·         1/2 cup  butter

·         1 cup powdered sugar

·         2 whole  eggs

·         2 egg yolks

·         6 Tbsp.  flour

·         Ice cream for serving, if desired

 

Directions:

·         Heat oven to 425°F.

·         Butter 4 small custard cups; place on baking sheet.

·         Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min. or until butter is melted; whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar.

·          Add whole eggs and egg yolks; mix well. Stir in flour. Spoon into prepared cups.

·         Bake 13 to 14 min. or until sides of desserts are firm but centers are still soft. Let stand 1 min. then carefully run small spatula or knife around cakes to loosen; invert into dessert plates. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream.

What dessert would you want to try first?

Recipes Revealed + Food For Thought

Here's the recipes from yesterday's post in case you wanted to try em' out yourself:

Mini Pumpkin Tarts
Yields: 15 tarts
Ingredients:
1 package mini Phyllo tarts (15 to a package)
3 oz canned pure pumpkin
1/3 frozen whipped topping, thawed (extra for garnish)
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (extra for garnish)
1.5 oz of cheesecake-flavor instant pudding mix
Mint leaves for garnish (optional)
Directions:
Remove the shells from the freezer and let them thaw at room temperature for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the pumpkin, whipped topping, and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl, whisking until smooth. Add the pudding mix and whisk until smooth and thick. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the filling into each of the shells (you can also pipe the filling with a pastry bag or a plastic sandwich bag with one corner snipped off), then top the tarts with whipped topping, a sprinkling of the pumpkin pie spice, and a mint leaf, if you like. Makes 15 tarts.

Luscious Blueberry Swirls
Yields: 15 tarts
Ingredients:
15 Mini Phyllo Shells (1 box)
1/3 cup light sour cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1/3 cup blended blueberry fat-free yogurt
1/3 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Directions:
Combine sour cream and powdered sugar. Spoon about 1 teaspoon sour cream mixture and one teaspoon blueberry yogurt, side by side, in each Fillo Shell. With the tip of a knife, gently stir the sour cream and yogurt to make a swirled pattern ( do not over mix). Top each shell with whole blueberries and serve immediately.

And now....

-Do illeterate people get the full effect of alphabet soup?

-If you ate pasta and antipasti, would you still be hungry?

Hopefully that gets you thinking for today! =) On a more serious note..

Are you a caffiene addict? We're only supposed to consume about 300 milligrams a day.

How much is in your 8 oz. cup of..

Drip coffee...95 mg

Brewed Tea...47 mg

Mountain Dew...36mg(funny, I am drinking that now)

Coca-Cola Classic...23mg

Diet Pepsi...23mg

Snapple Iced Tea...9mg

Have a super Saturday!

Cooking Demo=Success

Hey everyone! Finally Friday =) Did this week seem to drag on or what?? Yesterday was my highly anticipated cooking demo I did for my public speaking class as a demonstrative speech. A little recap if you missed the last post on it: I was having trouble deciding what I wanted to make. I finally decided on showing 2 desserts(one more fall/winter themed and one good for spring/summer) My theme was how to make 2 party appetizers for under $15 using 1 base product, which was the wonderful and ever-so versatile Mini Phyllo Cups! So I whipped these up in my dorm before class and it left my dorm smelling like pumpkin pie and blueberries--yum! I used my handy new cake carrier I bought from Wal-Mart to haul them across campus to class, and then I was the 4th person to present! I was worried about making the 5-7 minute time slot..mostly worried I wouldn't make it to even five minutes, but I was pleased to find out that I clocked in at 6:57, and I could have even kept talking more. Yes I am a chatterbox, but it does come in handy for instances like this. Overall, I had a blast! I could totally see myself doing that for a living. I got a ton of recipe requests, and there was no trace but crumbs in my pan left! I was really glad I could spark a little creativity in my classmates and also show them that gourmet snacks can be simple to make and all you need is a little pocket change and your imagination!!
p.s. I got an A! 8-)