Birds' Nests

I briefly mentioned these last year when I made them but didn't elaborate.  I'm now going to let you in on the best Easter candy secret of all....Birds' Nests.

Y'all.  I can't even begin to describe how good these are.  They are super easy to make (take maybe 10 minutes) and will get you some of the best cooking compliments of your life.  I'm sure others have known about these for years, but I didn't until last year when I saw them on Pinterest and now I MUST make them every Easter!

You can check out the recipe at The Curvy Carrot.  I think some people make these without the chocolate and with other stuff in them (and call them Haystacks), but I'm here to tell you that this is the BEST way to make them.  They would be super cute for a baby shower (you could use jelly beans if the Cadbury mini eggs aren't "in season") or really any occasion that you can think of.

My one tip is to make sure they stay COLD because they tend to get melty pretty quickly when set out at room temperature or warmer.  The meltiness doesn't make them taste worse (maybe even better), but it makes them even messier!  I wouldn't serve them at an outdoor party, for instance, and might only put a small dish out and continuously replenish from the fridge if possible.

Strawberry Cupcakes

I mentioned in my Easter post that we celebrated Gramme's birthday on Easter Sunday.  I asked her what dessert she would like since it was her birthday and, while she was reluctant to add more to my plate, she finally said that strawberry cupcakes would be good.  So I set out to find the best strawberry cupcake recipe and I'm happy to report that I think I found it!

I modified the Southern Living Triple-Decker Strawberry Cake recipe to make cupcakes and iced them with the Southern Living Strawberry Buttercream Frosting Recipe.  This made 48 cupcakes and enough icing to ice them with.  They were delicious and moist and so good.  I got tons of compliments on them and even sent the leftovers to work with Jason on Monday where they also got rave reviews.

Some notes from my cooking:

- I cooked each pan of cupcakes for about 12 minutes in a 350 degree gas oven set on Convection Bake.  You'll need to modify accordingly, just make sure to test a couple to make sure a toothpick comes out clean to ensure that they're done.  They're not as firm coming out of the oven as cupcakes usually are and if you leave them until they are totally firm they will end up browning as they cool.

- By using a smaller scoop to get my batter into the cupcake cups I was able to get cupcakes that were flat on the top and perfect for icing.  I would recommend filling no higher than halfway up the cupcake cup.

- I used a little less powdered sugar and chopped strawberries than the icing recipe called for.  My icing was a tad runny as I iced the cupcakes but hardened up to the perfect consistency by the next day when they were served.  You might want to let the icing sit a little while before icing the cupcakes to make it easier on you.

- These are much better the day after you make them and even better the day after that!  If you eat them still warm they are very rich.

- I put my icing into a pastry bag and piped it onto the cupcakes.  This uses more icing than the traditional way of icing (with a spatula or knife) so be aware if you're making a full 48 cupcakes and only one batch of icing.  You'll notice in the picture that the cupcakes on the top level of the stand had much prettier icing on them than those on the bottom.  I started to run out of icing and so didn't use as much on the bottom cupcakes.  If you want the perfect shape for the top of the cupcakes you might want to make 1 1/2 recipes of frosting.

Gooey Cookies and Cream Double Chocolate Cake Bars

Jason came home three days before his engineering Christmas party for work and told me that it was a potluck.  Awesome.  I requested that he try and sign us up to bring a dessert since there were so many on Pinterest that I've wanted to try.  Thankfully, we were able to bring a dessert so I emailed him a few choices like Nutella Pretzel Brownies, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pie,  German Chocolate Cake Bars, Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie, Best Ever Buckeye Brownies, Peanut Butter Eclair Cake, and a Triple Chocolate Trifle. (Can you tell that peanut butter and chocolate are my love languages?!?)

Jason chose Picky Palate's Gooey Cookies and Cream Double Chocolate Cake Bars and I have to say that I'm glad that he did!  These were pretty easy to make and baked quickly and tasted great.  They were very rich warm but weren't too rich when they were cooled.  And were just as yummy a day or two later as we enjoyed leftovers!  Definitely a good option if you're looking for a pick up dessert to take to Christmas dinner!

Lazy Mom's Lazy Cake Cookies

For two people with such a sweet tooth this recipe has become our kryptonite.  It is astonishingly easy and AMAZING! If you haven't seen this on Pinterest yet then you need to go and repine it and make it the next chance you get.  So good and so easy!

Lazy Mom's Lazy Cake Cookies

1 box Yellow or White Cake Mix
2 Eggs, beaten
5 T melted Butter
2 cups Chocolate Chips (or M and M's or anything!)

Mix together, put in greased pan, bake on 350 degrees for 20 minutes!

*Recipe via Lazy Mom.  She has great recipes! Go check her out!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Delight

If you're in need of an easy dessert that you might be able to make just from what's in your fridge and pantry this is a good one.  It's something that Jason and I whip up on night's when we need a little pick me up or want to celebrate a little.  This is a single serving dessert so don't expect to make it for a crowd but it sure is the thing to satisfy your sweet tooth!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Delight

Serves 1

1 sheet of Graham Crackers

1/4 cup Reese's peanut butter chips

Instant chocolate pudding

Cool Whip

Graham Cracker Crumbs

Milk

1. Mix up pudding with milk as instructed on package and let chill.

2. Microwave peanut butter chips in 30 second intervals until it is melted, stirring between each interval.

3. Crush up a few graham crackers to make crumbs.  I keep these in my pantry.

4. Lay out one graham cracker sheet.

5. Spread melted peanut butter chips over the graham cracker.

6. Spoon and spread pudding over the peanut butter.  Let chill for 5 minutes or as long as you can stand.

7. Top with Cool Whip.

8. Garnish with graham cracker crumbs.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight

I needed to bring a dessert to Thanksgiving and so the weekend before when we were in Tuscaloosa I gave Jason, Charlie, and Dad a choice of three desserts.  They chose the one that included 'Chocolate Chip Cookie' in the title and now having had the dessert I'm glad that they did!  This was so good but wasn't overly sweet with all of the Cool Whip mixed in that it made it the perfect Thanksgiving (or anytime!) dessert.  If you go to Taste of Home's website their picture shows it much higher than this.  I'm thinking to achieve that look they probably put it in a smaller pan or something to cook.  If you make it in a 9x13 pan it has much thinner layers but it is still so good!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight

1 tube refrigerated Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup Confectioners' Sugar

12 oz (1 carton) Cool Whip, thawed, divided

3 cups cold 2% Milk

1 package (3.9 oz) Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix

1 package (3.4 oz) Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix

1. Let cookie dough stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften.  Press into an ungreased 9x13 baking pan.  Bake at 350 for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.

2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Fold in 1 3/4 cups Cool Whip.  Spread over crust.

3. In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes; let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set.  Spread over cream cheese layer.

4. Top with remaining Cool Whip.

5. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight until firm.

From Taste of Home via Pinterest

Snickers Cake

I made this cake when Jason's family was over for Christmas and it was a big hit.  I made it early in the day so didn't serve it warm but it might be better that way because it's still pretty gooey when you pull it straight from the oven!

Snickers Cake

1 German Chocolate Cake Mix

Ingredients called for on cake mix (oil, eggs, water)

1 14 oz bag of Caramel squares

1/4 cup Milk

1/3 cup Butter

1-2 cups Chocolate Chips

1 cup Pecans, chopped (optional)

1. Mix together cake mix as directed on the box.  Pour half of the batter into a greased 9x13 baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

2. While it bakes, unwrap all the caramels. Put the caramels, milk, and butter in a sauce pan and melt over low heat, stirring constantly until caramel is melted and smooth.

3. Pour the caramel on the cake as soon as it is finished baking.

4. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and pecans (if desired) on top of the caramel.  Spread the remaining half of the prepared cake mix batter on top.

5. Bake for 20 more minutes at 350 degrees.

From Six Sisters Stuff via Pinterest

Puppy Chow

Puppy Chow

One of my favorites from growing up!  We originally got the recipe from my friend Kate's Mom.

1 box Chex cereal

1 cup Peanut Butter

1 cup Chocolate Chips

1 lb Powdered Sugar

1. Pour Chex into a very large bowl.

2. Melt peanut butter (30 seconds in microwave) and melt chocolate (30+ seconds in microwave).  Once melted pour over cereal and mix until cereal is coated.

3. Slowly add powdered sugar and mix until all cereal is coated with powdered sugar.

Strawberry Angel Cookies

Strawberry Angle Cookies (via Smuckers)

Got this from Pinterest also.  As a note, make sure you make these cookies small, they are much better and much easier to handle when they're smaller.  They also are very sticky so if you're storing them you might want to layer between wax paper to avoid them sticking together.

1 package Angel Food Cake Mix

3/4 cup Strawberry Preserves

3 Tablespoons Mini Chocolate Chips

1. Heat oven to 325 F.

2. Coat cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

3. Mix cake mix and preserves with a mixer until thoroughly combined (about 1 minutes).  Beat an additional minute.

4. Stir in the chocolate chips.

5. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the cookie sheet.

6. Bake 10-12 minutes or until tops are just lightly browned.  Place on a cooling rack to cool completely. (Cookies will be soft and chewy.)

Saltine Toffee

Saltine Toffee (via A Southern Grace)

An easy toffee recipe that is very yummy!

1 cup Unsalted Butter

1 cup Brown Sugar

2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Saltine Crackers

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Lay out the Saltine's evenly on the sheet.

3. Melt the sugar and butter until a boil is reached.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5-8 minutes or until the mixture has thickened and sugar has completely dissolved.

4. Pour sugar mixture over saltines and spread evenly.

5. Bake 5-8 minutes or until the toffee becomes bubbly.

6. After removing the pan from the oven, let it sit for 3-5 minutes.

7. Sprinkle on the chocolate chips.  Let them soften and melt and spread around to evenly coat the top.

8. Let cool and then cut or break into pieces.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies (via Baked Perfection)

I love Reese's.  These are similar and I can make them at home!

1 box of Brownie mix

Ingredients to make brownies (usually water, veggie oil, and an egg)

1/2 cup Peanut Butter Chips

1/2 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup Peanut Butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Mix brownie batter as directed on the box.

2. Grease mini-muffin pans with non-stick cooking spray.

3. Spoon brownie batter into muffin pans (about 1 heaping teaspoon into each).

4. Bake for 13-15 minutes until they are set.

5. After brownies come out of the oven wait for the centers to fall.  If they don't fall take a spoon and tap the center to create a well.

6. Place peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on high for 45 seconds.

7. Fill the wells in the brownies with peanut butter.

8. Top the brownies with peanut butter chips and chocolate chips.

Apple Pie Dip and Cinnamon Sugar Chips

Apple Pie Dip and Cinnamon Sugar Chips (via The Peach Kitchen)

Another hit from the Christmas Party and a recipe that I got from Pinterest.  It was good cold but I might serve it hot next time so that it will be out of this world!

2 cups (about 2 1/2 regular sized apples) Apples, peeled and diced

2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Cornstarch dissolved in 1 teaspoon water

5 (or however many you want) Tortilla's

2 Tablespoons Butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 1/2 Tablespoons Sugar

1. Combine apples, leon juice, brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon in pan.

2. Heat mixture on the stove for a few minutes until it's boiling and has extracted the juices from the apples.

3. Add the cornstarch-water mixture.  Keep on the stove until it's boiling and the sauce has thickened.

4. Serve warm or cool.

5. Cut the tortilla's into wedges.

6. Put tortilla wedges onto a slightly greased baking pan.

7. Combine 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon and sugar until mixed.

8. Brush tortilla's with butter and then sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture.

8. Bake at 410 F for 5-8 minutes or until the chips are browning.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

I recently had some cookies with craisins in them and thought they were fantastic.  So when I saw this recipe that was a mix of chocolate, oats, peanut butter, and craisins I was ecstatic about making it.  I made these for out Bible Study group and I really enjoyed them.  They're not the perfect food for a gathering like that because they're better served right out of the fridge.  The longer they sit out the more they melt as soon as you put them in your fingers.  But if you're just looking for a sweet snack it's nice that you eat them right out of the fridge.

These bars are almost fudge like but the craisins give them a really sweet taste and the oats give them texture.  I'm not normally a texture person in my cookies, etc (I really dislike nuts in my desserts) but I really enjoyed these.  Plus they're no-bake so they were quick to mix together and pour in a pan.  You do need to let them sit in the fridge before serving but an hour will get them perfectly hard.  

If you're looking for a new recipe for Christmas or the holiday's this is a good one to consider.  I found the recipe via Pinterest and the recipe was from the blog, New Nostalgia.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

Makes a 9x13 pan of bars

1 cup Peanut Butter

2/3 cup Honey

1/2 cup Coconut Oil (no substitutes!)

2 cups Oats

1 1/4 cups Mini Chocolate Chips

3/4 cup Dried Cranberries

1. In a medium sized saucepan, melt together peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil.

2. Remove from heat and add oats, chocolate chips, and dried cranberries.

3. Stir until combined and chocolate chips are melted.

4. Spread into a 9x13 pan.  Refrigerate until hardened (about an hour).

5. Store in the refrigerator.

Caramel - Peanut Butter Bars

I pulled this recipe out of Sandra Lee Semi Homemade in April of 2010 but only got around to making it the week before James was born. She lists it as a great bake sale idea but the bars would also be good to give as gifts to neighbors at Christmas or for some other occasion.  While they were pretty easy to make I will warn you that they are very rich and very peanut buttery!  So be prepared -- if you aren't a big peanut butter fan you won't like these bars, but if you like peanut butter then this might be just the dessert for you!  But the dessert did get better the longer it sat so I'd definitely recommend it if you're baking them ahead of time.

Caramel-Peanut Butter Bars

Makes one 9x13 dish to be cut into bars

1 box yellow cake mix

1 cup regular Oats

2/3 cup creamy Peanut Butter

1 large egg, slightly beaten

2-3 Tablespoons whole milk (I used 2% because it was as high fat content as I had)

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened

1 12.25 oz Jar Caramel Ice Cream Topping 

1 cup SemiSweet Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and oats.  Using a pastry blender or two forks, cut in peanut butter until mixture is crumbly.

3. In a small bowl, combine egg and milk.  Add to peanut butter mixture; stir until just combined.  Reserve 1 1/2 cups peanut butter mixture.  Press remaining mixture into prepared pan.

4. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy.  Add caramel topping; beat just until combined.  Carefully spread over peanut butter layer in pan.  Sprinkle remaining peanut butter mixture over cream cheese layer.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

5. Bake for 30 minutes, or until nearly set in center.  Cool completely in pan on a wire rack (about 1 hour).  Cut into bars.

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Yet again, another Pinterest find.  Seriously, if you haven't checked out Pinterest and don't mind being sucked into a bottomless pit of ideas, go and check it out.  It's amazing...and a huge time waster....but still, amazing!

When I saw the picture that came with this pin I knew I wanted to try it.  I've been kind of blah about breakfast foods recently and have been jumping back and forth to things that only really sound good for a day or two.  So I really wanted to try this.  One negative about this cake is that it's hard to have all the ingredients on hand to make it any time.  It calls for buttermilk and unsalted butter which aren't staples at my house (the unsalted butter should be, but hasn't been).

So I made plans to pick up what I was lacking at home but then couldn't find a good time to make it.  Another downside is that it's not a really simple recipe so it wasn't something that I could simply whip up in the morning unless I wanted to get up and make it way before Charlotte got up and, lets face it, at 30 some odd weeks pregnant, that's not going to happen!

Finally, Jason suggested that he'd watch Charlotte after dinner so that I could make it then and just reheat what I wanted to eat each morning.  Stellar idea!  I started cooking and after a few measurement problems (I am pregnant remember and sometimes counting to 7 is hard!) I finally got it cooking.  It took a little longer than the 35 minutes the recipe called for but once it came out it looked delicious.  Jason and I had it for dessert that night and it was fantastic.  The next morning I heated up two pieces for Charlotte and I but Charlotte wouldn't touch it so she missed it and that left more for Jason and I!

I would highly recommend this recipe.  It's a really dense cake but it's not too sweet and perfect for breakfast or for a more tempered dessert.  It was good reheated for about 40 second in the microwave in the morning's but was also great fresh out of the oven.  Next time I might mix it the night before and bake it in the morning, but either way it's a great dish!

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Makes 1 square dish

1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature

7/8 cup + 1 T sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Cream butter with 7/8 cup of sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.  Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with 1/4 cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk.  Fold in the blueberries.

4. Grease a 9 inch square pan with non-stick spray.  Spread batter into pan.  Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar.  Bake for 35 minutes (or more).  Check with a toothpick for doneness.  Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Halloween Treats

For playgroup last week I put together a few desserts that I had seen a few weeks ago. They turned out really cute and tasted good too! I might make up another batch of ghosts to give out to special trick or treaters this weekend! Both of the recipes were from Parenting.

Marshmellow Ghosts

Makes 6 ghosts

* 8 large marshmallows

* 6 wooden skewers (points cut off)

* 1 cup white-chocolate chips

* 1 Tbs vegetable shortening

* 12 cinnamon Red Hots (I used M&M's)

* Black decorating gel

1. For each ghost, push three marshmallows onto end of skewer; set aside.

2. Microwave white-chocolate and shortening in a microwave-safe dish on medium-high for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave in 10-second intervals until smooth.

3. Holding the skewer, spoon the melted mixture over marshmallows until covered; place on wax-paper-lined cookie sheet. Use two Red Hots for eyes and decorating gel for a mouth.

4. Refrigerate until chocolate has hardened; serve.

**I just mixed the chocolate in 1 cup of chip increments and it worked great!

 

Witch on a Stick

1. Cut off the tops of pretzel rods and set aside.

2. Melt 1 cup white-chocolate chips, 1 Tbs shortening, and a few drops of green food coloring; stir until smooth.

3. Dip the cut end of the pretzels into the chocolate, covering the top 2 inches. Place on wax paper and sprinkle the sides of each with coconut flakes to form hair.

4. Top each with a Hershey's Kiss and refrigerate until the chocolate has hardened. Draw on eyes, nose, and mouth with black decorating icing; finish by covering the Kiss, too.

Apple Dumplings

Last weekend I was in charge of putting together the food so I went in search of some new recipes. I found a recipe for Apple Dumplings in the breakfast section of my Alabama Rich in Flavor cookbook and decided to try it out for breakfast on Saturday. I omitted the Mountain Dew that the recipe calls for because I figured we'd get enough caffeine the rest of the day and even without it they were great! I would highly recommend making this for breakfast or topped with ice cream for dessert.


Apple Dumplings
Serves 8

2 10 oz cans Crescent Rolls
2 or 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped
2 sticks butter, melted
1 c Sugar
1 t Cinnamon
Place two crescent rolls together to make a rectangle. Fill with apples and fold up like a package. Repeat with remaining crescent rolls and apples. Place, seam side down, in a 9x13 baking dish. Combine butter, sugar, and cinnamon; pour over rolls. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

A few weeks ago I was looking for a dessert recipe for Bible Study. I wanted something that had chocolate in it but wasn't a brownie and was something that could be eated without any utensils. So I searched my trusty recipe source (Tasty Kitchen) and came up with a few options. I gave Jason the choice of which one to make since he would get leftovers and he chose the Chocolate Peanut Butter bars. I'm so glad he did because they were so good! And while making them I might have stumbled upon my new favorite, super guilty pleasure of peanut butter and brown sugar (don't worry I was cleaning the spoon after everything had been safely put into the pan and the pan was cooking in the oven!). These are really good and very easy. And they have oats in them so they're healthy right?? Oh... just because they have oats doesn't mean they're healthy?? I will choose to ignore that you just told me that! Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Bottom layer:
1 box Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
1/2 cups Butter, melted
1 whole egg

Top layer:
1/2 cups smooth Peanut Butter
3 tablespoons Butter
1/2 cups packed Brown Sugar
1 cup Oats
2 tablespoons All-purpose flour
Semi sweet chocolate chips

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pray a 9x13 dish with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix cake mix, butter, and egg together until well combined. Press into bottom of pan.
- Melt peanut butter and butter together in a microwave safe bowl until butter as been melted. Stir in brown sugar, oats, and flour until oats and flour have been incorporated. Sprinkle over chocolate layer and gently press peanut butter crumbles into chocolate layer.
- Top with chocolate and bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cut into squares and serve. Great warm or cooled.

Pineapple Zucchini Cake

A few weeks ago we joined Grow Alabama.  This is an organization that you can sign up with to receive a box of locally grown, mostly organic or working towards an organic qualification produce.  Each week you get a list of things for your box and you can eliminate items that you don't want and get an extra portion of items that you want.  We have found it to be a great way to introduce more produce into our diet while knowing that we are supporting local farmers and families. 

The first week that we got a box we received zucchini in our box.  Since it had been too cold to grille and that's usually how I would enjoy zucchini I set out to find some zucchini recipes.  So I started out by searching typical recipe sites and then I went to The Pioneer Woman because I've found that she has great, go-to recipes.  And I found a recipe from her recipe website, Tasty Kitchen.  I had forgotten about Tasty Kitchen but I went and checked it out and if you're not using it for your recipes you should be!  It's full of reader submitted recipes that other people comment on and put their opinions.  It includes ratings and pictures.  It's a great resource!

Anyway, so I found Ree's post about Pineapple Zucchini Cake and I decided to try it.  It is similar to carrot cake so don't flip out too much about there being zucchini in it.  And the pineapple's make it moist.  It is a really delicious cake that's topped with cream cheese icing!  Go check out Ree's post about it which links to the original recipe on Tasty Kitchen or here's the recipe. (BTW, sorry about the quality of the picture.  All I had with me was my camera and it was kind of dark!)

Pineapple Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
    * 1 cup All-purpose Flour
    * 1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (can Use All White Flour If You Don't Have This)
    * 1-¼ cup Granulated Sugar
    * 1/2 Cup Sweetened Flaked Coconut
    * 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
    * 1 teaspoon Salt
    * 2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
    * Freshly Grated Nutmeg, To Taste (1/4 To 1/2 Tsp?), Optional
    * 1 Pinch Ginger (about 1/16 Tsp Or So), Optional
    * 3 Tablespoons Canola Oil
    * 2 whole Large Eggs
    * 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
    * 2 Cups Grated (unpeeled) Zucchini (*see Note)
    * 1 (20 Oz.) Can Crushed Pineapple In Juice, Drained (reserve In Case You Need It For The Cake Batter Or The Frosting)
    * FROSTING
    * 2 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
    * 8 Ounces Low-fat Cream Cheese, Softened (can Use Full-fat Cream Cheese)
    * 2 Cups Powdered Sugar, Approx.
    * 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
    * Splash Of Milk Or Pineapple Juice, If Necessary
    * Chopped Walnuts Or Pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, coconut, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk.

Combine oil, eggs, and vanilla; stir well. Stir egg mixture, grated zucchini, and pineapple into flour mixture. Batter will be stiff and dry but keep folding it and it will all come together. If it still seems too dry, just add a little splash of the pineapple juice.

Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for about 33-35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs and cake is pulling away from sides of pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

To prepare frosting, combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla just until smooth. Add a splash of milk or pineapple juice if necessary. Spread frosting over top of cake. You can garnish with chopped pecans or walnuts, if desired.

NOTES : If your zucchini are huge, scrape the seeds out of the center before you shred it so it’s not too watery. Also, I spread it all out on layers of paper towel to drain it and dry it off a bit. Then I measure out 2 cups. Not sure if this is critical though. Nuts can also be added to the cake batter if desired. This recipe makes a very generous amount of frosting.

And this recipe can be turned into a Carrot Cake just by substituting shredded carrots for the zucchini.

Valentine's Petits Fours

Last year at Valentine's I channeled my inner Bakerella and made Red Velvet Cake Cookies.  They were a huge hit and have been a huge hit multiple times between then and now.  If you haven't ever made them then please go make them for yourself today.  Consider it your Valentine's present to yourself.

This year, I'm channeling my inner MckMama and Amanda to bring you Valentine's Petits Fours.

Yes, I made these myself and yes, I'm rather proud of them.  I had never worked with Fondant before and it was surprisingly easy and, with some vanilla added in, surprisingly tasty.  I've never been a big fondant fan, actually the one thing that I said about my wedding cake was that I didn't want fondant because it always makes cakes (that I had had in the past) taste horrible.  Please excuse me if your wedding cake had fondant on it, I'm sure it tasted lovely, but apparently the bakers in my hometown don't know how to flavor it and keep it from tasting like rubber so I try to avoid it.  That being said, despite how much I've maligned the fondant name in the past, I decided to try these because they were oh so cute and I figured they would look pretty even if they didn't taste good.  I followed Amanda's instructions from MckMama's blog and I think the end result was quite satisfactory!  I didn't get all fancy with the royal icing but the next time I make them I think I will!  Here's my condensed version of the previous post (the post has pictures, etc to go with steps so hop on over there for more detail).

Valentine's Petits Fours
Makes: However many you want to make

You will need:
Oreo Cakesters (my Target had the golden cakesters and they were probably better than original but its your preference)
A box of fondant (from Hobby Lobby)
Rolling Pin (from Hobby Lobby)
Red Food coloring (the gel kind from Hobby Lobby)
Colorless Vanilla extract (from Hobby Lobby)
Cookie Cutters
Royal Icing (if you are so inclined)

Instructions:
- Take a good chunk of fondant and put a little bit of vanilla extract in it and work it in until you feel like the fondant is pretty well flavored.  My precise measuring of the vanilla extra included maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of one of Charlotte's soft tipped spoons. 
- If you are coloring it then add in some food coloring and do the same mixing that you just did before.  To make a deep red it takes a lot of food coloring but start with a little and work your way up to it.
- Break off a piece of the fondant and start rolling it out with the rolling pin.  I rolled it straight on to my granite because that's supposed to be best but if you don't have a stone countertop MckMama recommends rolling it out on wax paper.  Make sure that you bring the ends of the fondant up onto the rolling pin while you're rolling so that they won't stick to the counter making it hard to peel off.
- Once it's rolled fairly thin place the fondant on top of a cakester and use your fingers to gently press it down on the top and sides.  It really helps when you're doing this if you've see Ace of Cakes.  I felt like I was a professional from all of their episodes that I've watched.
- Once the fondant is pressed down on the sides cut around the cakester leaving a little edge.  Then pick up the cakester and using your fingers press the fondant down to seal the edges.
- Decorate as you desire.  I bought a paintbrush at Hobby Lobby and used it to paint water onto the top of the cakester and on to the back of the heart to fuse them together.