Desserts

My fellow CTTC Contributor Betsy, and I were part of a Cupcake Couture Blog Party that went live yesterday. We were sent fabulous cupcake wrappers from Bella Cupcake Couture and were asked to create a recipe based on the design we received.I received these gorgeous Hannah wrappers decorated with a Pink and Citrus floral design. For some reason, these wrappers just brought me into a Summer state of mind which got fruit on my brain which made me think of smoothies. I wanted to see if I could get those same bright, fresh fruity flavors from a smoothie into our favorite portable dessert and it was actually a great success!These are also semi-diet friendly and totally semi-homemade, but you wouldn't be able to tell that these cupcakes started from a box and a can of frosting. The recipe is super easy to follow and you can find it on my blog, Chronicles of a Foodie, here!PS. Don't forget to enter the Cupcake Couture Blog Party giveaway if you haven't already!

Baking Chic‘s Orange Cupcakes with Sweetened Condensed Frosting are a simple dessert that deliver some delicious flavors in a small package. The fluffy cupcakes are flavored with a generous amount of orange zest – two whole tablespoons – for a very fresh citrus flavor along with a little hint of vanilla. The sweet, orange-laced frosting is the kind that you casually spread on to your cupcakes, not the kind that you pipe elaborate decorations with. It ties in with the cupcakes perfectly in terms of flavor and also marks these as an everyday treat to bake, not one that you have to save for a special occasion. There are a lot of great elements packed into these Coffee Heath Bar Crunch Swirl Cookies from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. The swirled cookies have two different flavors of cookie dough rolled into one. Half the dough is spiked with instant coffee and the other half has melted chocolate and cocoa powder added to it. These doughs are rolled out together and topped with a generous sprinkling of finely chopped Heath bars before being rolled up and cut into buttery, swirling cookie rounds and baked. Cinnamon rolls aren’t the only bun option at breakfast. Averie Cooks made some Strawberry Sweet Rolls that offer a fruitier option for summertime brunch. The rolls start with a soft yeast dough and are filled with strawberry jam. Use a high quality jam that features pieces of fresh fruit for the best effect. The jam intensifies in flavor as the rolls bake, leaving you with buns that are sweet and fruity, as well as fluffy and tender. They’re finished off with a drizzle of vanilla cream cheese glaze to take them over-the-top. Gluten Free Canteen paired some summer fruit with a hint of apple in this Blueberry Apple Pie. The filling is mostly made with bright, sweet blueberries. There is a small amount of applesauce, which acts as a kind of binder for the filling in addition to providing a hint of apple flavor, and just enough cinnamon and lemon zest to make the berries pop. The rich filling is a great match for the pie’s crisp crust – which just happens to be completely gluten free! You could also package this filling in a traditional pie crust for those who don’t need to watch their gluten intake. The Fudgy Fluffernutter Swirl Brownies that Chocolate Moosey baked recently are a slice of decadence. The rich chocolate brownies have peanut butter chips in them and are topped with a layer of marshmallow fluff and peanut butter – which give the brownies their fluffernutter name – before baking. The sweet-salty effect is delicious on its own and just might be even better with chocolate. It might get a little messy when you’re applying the marshmallow and peanut butter toppings to your brownie batter, but that is just part of the fun.

I would have to say that the popularization of gummies in the 1980's might be the reason I'm writing this blog (and these reviews) right now. When I was a little kid, gummies hit the market with a huge bang, every kid wanted a bag of gummy bears. Gummies were the catalyst towards a time in candy when strange and gross treats started to really bloom. This meant that the world was being creative with the textures and flavours of candy available. At that very time, I started to really gain a respect for candy, I loved all of the candy variety that was around me. And now look at me, I'm writing a blog, traveling the world, and tasting flavours I could only imagine. Thanks gummies, you made my life pretty cool. And thanks sugarfina.com for reminding me how cool gummies actually still are.Click here to read the latest gummy review.CC

If you’re looking for a recipe that makes a dense, chewy granola bar and doesn’t call for peanut butter or eggs, this one is perfect! Loaded with walnuts, pumpkin seeds, chocolate and cranberries, these bars are held together by a paste made of apricots, butter and honey. The recipe, Chewy Walnut Granola Bars, is originally [...]

I have a serious question. Can you, a normal person, actually consider one muffin a full breakfast? Especially these… these, like, baby muffins. Well, they are of traditional muffin size and not fattened up, triple-pumped Americanized muffins covered in crumble and streusel, but really? One of these would be like the equivalent of drinking a glass of water for me. (Also if someone could make the caloric effect be equivalent to that of a glass of water… that would be great.) And now my day is going to revolve around how I’m irked at the lack of crumble and streusel on top. For an actual muffin to make it into my breakfast rotation, I need a few other things of substance on a plate next to it. Maybe some fruit. Peanut butter. Some eggs. BACON. Those kinds of things. That’s why I sort of prefer my muffins to be snack worthy foods. I’d never kick a muffin outta bed for breakfast but… I like them at other times of the day too. Like right now. At 10:30PM when I’m writing this post and eating my emotions because Psy makes me feel so uncomfortable as I watch him on Dancing with the Stars. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been on a massive mascarpone kick the last few months. Putting it in EVERYTHING. Sweet, savory, using it as a spread… literally, all the things. I’ve always enjoyed it but maybe… just… never knew it’s true potential? All you italians just collectively rolled your eyes in my direction. I bet. So two weeks ago I attempted to make a lemon mascarpone loaf and it came out like… dense, unbaked cheesecake. I mean, it was SO dense. Crazy dense. Perhaps I should have measured stuffed out instead of just being a cocky brat and thinking ‘oh of course this will turn out!’ and throwing stuffed into a bowl???? Maybe, you know, figured out where things went wrong? And since I have no patience and just couldn’t handle waiting another 75 minutes while loaf cake #2 baked… muffins it was. Muffins are like the poor man’s cake. Errr… the lazy man’s cake? The impatience man’s cake? I think you get it. The good news is that I still covered that lemon loaf in one hell of a sugar bombed glaze and it made it’s way into multiple mouths. It’s just not perfect yet. So until then… muffins. Make-it-up-to-you muffins. Settle for now. Brown Sugar Lemon Mascarpone Muffins Yield: 12-16 muffins Total Time: 35 minutes Ingredients: 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour 1/2 cup loosely packed brown sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 4 lemons, zested 8 ounces cold mascarpone cheese 3/4 cups milk 1 large egg 1/3 cup greek yogurt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with liners. In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. Stir to combine. Mix in lemon zest. Add mascarpone cheese and mix in with a fork, stirring until crumbly, evenly dispersed and covered in flour. In a small bowl, whisk together milk, yogurt, egg, vanilla extract and butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring until just combined and wet. Use a 1/4 cup measure or ice cream scoop to fill the muffin liners 2/3 of the wall full. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until tops are set and golden. Remove and let cool slightly before serving. So fluffy! ©2012 How Sweet It Is

Summer should be full of bright colors and bold flavors, and the foods of summer are no exception. Grills come out to cook meats and veggies, and fresh fruits get incorporated into everything from drinks to dessert. Even cake and cookie mixes can get into the summer spirit, and Pillsbury‘s seasonal Key Lime and Orangesicle mixes are the perfect example. They have bold colors and flavors that fit in well with the spirit of the season, but let you cut down on some of the time you have to spend in the kitchen when it comes to entertaining. To kick-start the summer, I’m hosting a summer giveaway from Pillsbury that includes over $120 of goodies that will allow you to celebrate everyday occasions even better. The giveaway includes: One box of Pillsbury Funfetti Premium Cake & Cupcake Mix Funfetti Frostings (1 each of four new frosting flavors) One box each Summer Seasonal Cake & Cookie Mixes Frostings (1 of each of Creamy Supreme Key Lime and Creamy Supreme Orangesicle) $100 dollar Visa or American Express gift card To enter the contest, just leave a comment below and tell me what your favorite summertime treat to bake is. The winner of the contest will be chosen at random, so those who love to bake fudgy brownies to take to weekend picnics will have just as much chance of winning as those who serve up simple strawberry shortcakes! The contest ends at midnight Sunday, May 26th and one winner will be randomly selected from the entries at that time. Don’t forget to fill in your e-mail on the comment form (it will not be made public), as that is how I will contact the winner, and good luck to everyone! And if you need some inspiration when it comes to putting those mixes to good use, try my Orangesicle Magic Bars Or my festive Funfetti Ice Cream Cone Tuiles, which you’d never believe were made with cake mix.

Sisters and Brothers, how many of you would love to experience chocolate from around the world, meeting the creators, and tasting the uniqueness of each culture?  Doreen Pendgracs has done this and she continues to do this for her multi-volume book series, Chocolatour: A Quest for the World’s Best Chocolate.  The first book is due out later this year and we hope to bring you a book review of it

Kcal 0 Fat 0.0g Carbs 0.0g (diet soda) Last week we received a curious package from an anonymous reader asking us to request this Chocolate Cream Pie flavoured soda. There is probably a good argument that you shouldn't be drinking unheard of drinks from strangers that arrive in the post :-) but we are a little more adventurous than that at ChocolateMission so we thought we would give this Faygo branded bottle a try. A little research on the internet revealed the following regarding Faygo: 'Faygo Beverages, Inc. is a soft drink company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The beverages produced by the company, branded as Faygo or Faygo Pop, are distributed in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Central Southern regions of the United States. Aswell available in southern Canada. Faygo Beverages, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Beverage Corporation, which also owns Shasta' .... thanks WIKI Following a sufficient chilling period in the ChocolateMission HQ fridge we shared the largish 591ml bottle out between three of us. Aesthetically the liquid looked no different to your average cola with its dark coloured complexion, aroma wise we were left unimpressed by the chemically sweet smells on offer. Fearing the worst but hoping for the best we commenced the taste test and were pleasantly surprised by our findings. The taste had a strong vanilla flavour base and had underlying elements of coffee and chocolatey syrup. It wasn't exactly the most sophisticated of flavour experiences but it was unique and not like any other sodas we had tried before. Add in to the mix that it was refreshing, easy to drink and on the whole pleasant enough then by our estimation its a drink worth trying if you are a soda fan that gets the opportunity. 7.2 out of 10 n.b. In case your wondering we did survive this 'soda from strangers' experience :-) its a full 48 hours since we drank the stuff

Molasses adds a little more flavor to a traditional oatmeal raisin cookie. My husband loves the soft and chewy texture of these cookies. The recipe is from his mother.

I make these attractive cherry coconut cookies every Christmas for family and friends. During that busy time of year, I appreciate the fact that they freeze well, so I can make them ahead.