I got this pack of cupcake pix from Michael’s two weeks ago.  I “test drove” them last Saturday on freshly baked chocolate cupcakes as a dry run of sorts for the treats I will be making this upcoming weekend.  There are six designs of two pix each, for a total of twelve.

Bat. Check.  Ghost. Check.  Frankenstein. Check.

Witch. Check.

Mummy.  Check

Dracula.  Check.

All six monsters accounted for. *wink*

Abby made a “Skeletoni”, my other WW entry, a craft she made in school.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Last night, I made chocolate cupcakes from scratch and decorated them in a Halloween motif as a dry-run of sorts for the Halloween treats I will be making come Friday (Halloween) and Saturday (for a Halloween Party).

While the recipe I found on the internet turned out decent cupcakes, I feel it needs a bit of tweaking.  For Halloween, I might just use a different recipe altogether.

I used the stencils, sprinkles and sticks I bought from Michael’s last week, to decorate the cupcakes.

I found using the stencils to be a little tricky because I had to position them right on the frosting.

And who should appear while I was re-taking photos this morning?

Guess what she’s thinking…

There’s really no need to spell it out for you.

Abby kept asking, “Mommy, are you done taking pictures?”  Hahaha!  I had to pick up the pace so she can get her hands on the monster cupcakes (pun intended!).

I used the Vanilla Pillsbury frosting for these goodies and just added a few drops of food color to them.  I might draw up a new battle plan for my halloween treats.  I’ll most probably use chocolate frosting next time…yes, from scratch.

Yesterday, we attended a halloween activity at the mall, my other WS entry.  We have a full week ahead of us!

Have a great new week, y’all!

One of my childhood favorite coolers is Mais con Hielo.  My Mom would buy large cans of creamy corn, and it was my Dad’s job to make shaved ice.  In those days, there were no snowcone machines yet, at least, not the ones for home use.

Just put a few spoonfulls of the creamy corn in a glass, add a little bit of sugar, fill the glass with shaved ice then pour some milk and voila!  A simple and refreshing dessert or snack that you can enjoy at home.  This is available in a lot of restaurants back home, but not as common in this part of the world, as far as I know!   I’d say not even in vegas hotels!  Abby loves Mais con Hielo and asks for it a lot now.

Remember the ramekins I bought at Target for $1 for 2 pieces?  These ones…

They have been sitting pretty in one of the kitchen cabinets, still wrapped up until a few days ago, when they finally had a warm shower under the kitchen sink faucet.  I decided to put them to good use and make single-serve bread pudding.  Creme brulee or chocolate souffle would have been my first two choices but that’ll happen in good time.

I adapted my pool proof bread pudding recipe to these little containers.  As expected, they came out of the oven puffed and pretty.  My only problem is that they didn’t stay that way very long.

The puffiness of the pudding was gone in less than five minutes.  They look far worse than the ones in the pic above.  I should have taken a photo!  Anyway, I did a little snooping in the internet and found some suggestions which might prove to be helpful next time.  One is to let the bread soak in the milk and whip cream mixture for a few hours, or overnight even.  I think it would also be good if I there are less gaps between the pieces of bread and make them fit in the ramekin a little more snuggly.  I shall test these solutions some time next week.

I made a total of 10 single-serve bread pudding, primarily because I only have 10 ramekins!  Hee hee. *wnk*  I used one slice of bread per ramekin.  But I will use more next time, remember, snug fit!

Ingredients

2 cups whipping cream

3 cups whole milk

1 cup sugar

3 medium sized egg

3 teaspoons vanilla

dried fruit (optional)

To make:  Place 1-2 slices of bread in a ramekin, covering the bottom.  If using dried fruit, sprinkle over the bread then top with the remaining pieces of bread.  Press down firmly to flatten and “trap” the dried fruits.  Whisk together all the ingredients for the custard then carefully pour over the bread pieces until they are practically submerged.

Let this stand for about 10 minutes (I now suggest a few hours to maybe overnight for better results!) so that the bread can absorb the cream/milk/egg mixture.  Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.  Cover each ramekin with foil and put them in a larger pan with about a quarter to half inch of hot water.  Make sure the foil isn’t touching the tops of the bread.  Put the pan containing the ramekins in the oven and bake for roughly 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and cook for another 20-30 minutes until it is puffed up, the liquid has been absorbed and the tops are just lightly browned.  Chances are you’ll have to cook beyond 30 minutes.

I’ll be making a new batch again next week!

I love cheesecakes.  I used to consider blueberry cheesecake to be my favorite but now, I like all of ‘em! :D  That’s why when I got this issue (February/March 2008) of the Taste of Home magazine, I thought I simply must try it.  And I did…twice!  For the record, the only time I ever tried making cheesecake (a simple one at that!) was sooo many years back and it’s something I’ve chosen to forget.

I’ll share the recipe with you but not without torturing you first with the details of my 2 attempts at this dessert. Fair enough?  *wink*

Attempt #1

My first attempt was in April.  I knew before hand that the finished product will look nowhere near the photo on the front cover of the magazine.  For one, I didn’t have a springform pan (yet!).  I made do with a square glass baking dish

Square baking dish aside, I thought my first brush with the layered mocha cheese was going pretty well…until I took a peek in the oven and saw two humongous bubbles at opposite corners of the pan.  Eeew!

What a pitty!  When the rest of the mocha layer looked pretty decent!  Thank goodness the bubbles can be popped and will be covered with chocolate glaze anyway. How the chocolate glaze on the cake in the magazine cover came out so smooth is beyond me…

If you look past the white spots on the sides of the cake (which I can’t!) and just close your eyes while you take a mouthful, I promise you that you’ll still say “uhmmm!”.  It IS really good!  But ever the OC person that I am, I knew I’d have a date with this dessert again soon.  I was on a quest for near perfection. Hee hee.

Attempt #2

It was about three weeks ago when I attempted to do this cheesecake a second time.  This time, I made sure I had a sprinform.  It’s too bad I wasn’t able to take a photo of the cheesecake prior to glazing it with chocolate.  You would have seen remarkable improvement in that I was able to avoid any huge bubbles.  I just had a few little ones.  Hee hee hee!

However, I failed miserably on the glazing part.  The chocolate was far from smooth and I think the glaze came out a little too thick!  It was difficult to slice through the chocolate glaze and it cracked when I tried to cut a slice.  In the end, I decided to just take out the chocolate glaze.   Tsk tsk.

This is how a slice looked without the glaze.  I drizzled some chocolate syrup instead.  At least, there were no more white spots!

And because parts of the cake became a little mushy after I took out the glaze,  I ended up cutting a round cheesecake into squares.  There are cheesecake squares being served in a lot of places anyway!

Hubby thinks it’s better that the cheesecake are served in little pieces.  Because I’m telling you, this is a very rich indulgence!  Or was he just trying to make me feel better?  Hmmm…

I’m already drawing up a rematch with this cheesecake.  It sure hasn’t seen the end of me yet!  I still want to come up with a finished product that is as close to the one on the magazine cover as possible.  Wish me luck!

oOo

Finally, the ingredients and procedure.  Full credit goes to Sue Gronholz of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin who contributed this recipe to Taste of Home Magazine.

Ingredients:

* 1-1/2 cups cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs
* 1/4 cup butter, melted
* FILLING:
* 2 tablespoons plus 1-1/2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
* 1 tablespoon boiling water
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
* 1-1/2 cups sugar
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 4 eggs, lightly beaten
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled
* GLAZE:
* 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
* 3 tablespoons butter
* Chocolate-covered coffee beans, optional

Directions:

* Combine cookie crumbs and butter; press onto the bottom of a greased 9-in. springform pan. In a small bowl, combine the coffee granules, water and cinnamon; set aside.

*  In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and flour until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in vanilla. Divide batter in half. Stir melted chocolate into one portion; pour over crust. Stir coffee mixture into the remaining batter; spoon over chocolate layer.

*  Place pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 16 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan. Place in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan.

*  Bake at 325° for 45-50 minutes or until center is just set and top appears dull. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight.

*  In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and butter; stir until smooth. Spread over cheesecake. Remove sides of pan. Garnish with coffee beans if desired. Refrigerate leftovers.

Yield: 16 servings.

oOo

Come with me to the Dallas World Aquarium, my other WS entry.

Have a great week ahead!

Romano’s Macaroni Grill’s New York Cheesecake with Caramel Fudge

Click HERE to see the cheesecake’s effect, my other WW entry.

oOo

If you wish, you can read more about the rest of our Macaroni Grill experience and see more food pics, HERE.

My daughter has loved tapioca pearls from the very first time she tasted them.  So yesterday, I decided to finally make something out of the tapioca pearls I’ve been keeping in the pantry for several weeks already.

This is the semi-finished product.  It is good enough to be eaten as is.  But adding fruit bits gives it an extra umph.

See what I mean?  Abby preferred the fruitless version.  Hubby, on the other hand, requested I top his with fruits.  Good thing there was one last cup of Del-Monte peaches in the fridge!  I also loved the added flavor diced fruits bring to this dessert.  It’s a refreshing Thai dessert which I will nevertheless not mind having while vacationing in one of those Mykonos villa rentals.

This is very easy to make.  You just have to give an allowance for the chilling time.

Ingredients:

3 cups water

1 1/2 cups sugar

16 oz (1 pack) small tapioca pearls (1 mm in size)

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 1/2 cups coconut milk

diced fruit of choice (mango, peach, cantaloupe, honeydew, etc.)

Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a medium sized pot.  Turn the heat to low, when the water starts to boil.  Stir in the milk.  When the mixture returns to a boil, turn off the heat.  Stir in the coconut milk.  Let cool at room temperature and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Soak the tapioca pearls in cold water for 20 minutes.  You’ll notice that the pearls will expand, become sticky and turn bright white.  Drain.  Bring water to a boil in a medium pot than turn off the heat.  Add the drained tapioca pearls and stir continuously for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.  Then drain at once using a fine mesh sieve.  Run cold water through the sieve to stop the tapioca pearls from cooking further. Combine the pearls with the coconut mixture and continue to chill in the fridge.

To serve, ladle the tapioca with coconut into a bowl and top with diced fruits.

oOo

The recipe I used as reference for this calls for 1 cup milk and 2 cups coconut milk.  But since I had only 1 can of coconut milk which was equivalent to 1 1/2 cups, I decided to increase the amount of milk.  The original recipe also calls for on 2/3 cups of tapioca pearls.  However, for us tapioca lovers, you could barely taste and feel the presence  of the tapioca in what was a more than generous amount of coconut cream.  So add or decrease the amount of tapioca pearls you will use according to your preference.

Have a great week ahead!

oOo

Bridalveil Falls is featured in my other Weekend Snapshot entry.