holiday baking Archives - The Mom Maven

Easy Recipes-Holiday Guide 2011-Shortcut Desserts

cindy — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:56:01 +0000

Hearst Magazines released Shortcut Desserts, a new 116-page bookazine brimming with recipes for indulgent cakes, sweet and spicy pies, melt-in-your-mouth cookies, creamy puddings, flaky pastries and more, all developed and tested by the editors of Good Housekeeping, Redbook, and Country Living. These quick and easy recipes draw on convenient, pre-made ingredients and provide fool-proof strategies sure to inspire even the most timid chef to dessert greatness. On newsstands now, Shortcut Desserts costs $9.99 and can also be downloaded as a digital edition on Zinio at www.Zinio.com.

Shortcut Desserts offers advice on such topics as choosing proper mixers, pie pans, rolling pins, and cookie sheets. Plus, simple baking tricks demonstrate the best ways to measure butter, flour, sugar, and sticky syrups, so recipes turn out right every time. Finally, Shortcut Desserts reviews the best store-bought mixes and pie crusts to shorten prep time even more.

Recipes such as Chocolate Raspberry Cream Cake (pg. 12) and Vanilla Crème Brûlée (pg. 69) will satisfy your craving for a rich treat, while updated classics like Grilled Angel Food Cake (pg. 26) and Shortbread Tiramisù (pg. 73) are sure to impress hungry dinner guests. You can even get the kids involved with creative recipes like Grasshopper Cake (pg. 28), Cheesecake Lollipops (pg. 89), and Banana & Chocolate Pizza (pg. 45). Go ahead, indulge there are lots of easy recipes in here!

I chose to make the Cheesecake Lollipops for Thanksgiving and they were a big hit. They don’t look nearly as pretty as the ones in the magazine but they tasted delish! Word of warning…don’t just read the ingredients and prep time when deciding what to make. I did that and really created a mess for myself. The recipe says “30 minutes plus chilling and freezing” so I started making them at 8pm the night before Thanksgiving. Once I started making the lollipops I read at the end of step one, “refrigerate at least one hour”, then at the end of step two “freeze until firm, about 2 to 3 hours”! YIKES! Then it got worse…the end of step four states, “freeze at least 2 more hours or until serving time”. That is a minimum of 5-6 hours in the freezer and fridge. I ended up leaving them in the freezer overnight after step 2, got up at 6:30am to complete steps 3-4 and then freezing them until we left for my mom’s house at 10am and then putting them in her freezer until it was time to eat them. Lesson learned: Read the ENTIRE recipe before planning to make anything!

Shortcut Desserts

Cheesecake Lollipops

Total time: 30 minutes plus chilling and freezing (5-6 hours)

Makes 30 lollipops

1 cup cold low fat (1%) milk (I used 2%)

1 package (11.1 oz) no-bake cheesecake mix (without crust packet)

1 cup finely crushed chocolate wafrs or chocolate sandwich cookies

1 package (12 oz) chocolate chips

2 tsp vegetable shortening

Garnishes, sprinkles, crushed nuts, and/or mini chocolate chips

To large bowl, add milk and cheesecake mix. With electric mixer on low speed, beat until combined. Increase speed to medium and beat until thick, about 3 minutes. Stir in crushed cookies. Cover bowl and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Line baking sheet with parchment. With moistened hands, roll cheesecake mixture by tablespoonful into 30 balls and place on prepared baking sheet. Insert wooden stick into each ball. Freeze until firm, about 2 to 3 hours.
In small saucepan on low, melt chocolate chips and shortening, stirring until smooth. Spread out sprinkles, nuts and other garnishes on parchment.
Remove pops from freezer. Carefully dip each pop into melted chocolate, turning to coat, then roll it in your choice of garnishes and return to baking sheet. Freeze at least 2 more hours, or until serving time.

We enjoyed our Cheesecake Lollipops and I can’t wait to make some of the other recipes in this book. Pick up your copy at your local newsstand today.

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Easy Recipes-Holiday Guide 2011-The Ultimate Cake Mix Cookie Book

cindy — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:41:21 +0000

Holiday baking season is upon us. With Thanksgiving next week and Christmas only a month after that it is time to find some new, easy, tasty recipes to bake for all of the parties and family gatherings. I’ve already begun baking by testing some recipes from The Ultimate Cake Mix Cookie Book. If you follow me on Twitter you may recall me uploading photos of my creations a few weeks ago. Before I tell you about what I made, let me tell you a bit about the cookbook first.

With The Ultimate Cake Mix Cookie Book, you’ll find that the secret to some of the tastiest, easiest, and most irresistible cookies imaginable begins with a box of cake mix. With just a few extra ingredients and a mixer, anyone can become a baking genius!

The Ultimate Cake Mix Cookie Book from Camilla Saulsbury, winner of The Food Network’s Ultimate Recipe Showdown Best Cookie Recipe, is filled with more than 375 recipes that start with a simple box of cake mix and end with a delightful assortment of drop, shaped, bar, filled and traditional cookies. This book can make you the star of your next bake sale, family party, or holiday event.

With over 200 new recipes and simplified instructions and ingredient lists, there are cookies for every occasion including:

Bake Sale Bestsellers

Kids’ Favorites

Trendsetter Cookies

Chocolate Lovers Cookies

Health-Conscious Cookies

Try delicious recipes like:

Bittersweet Chocolate Esspresso Bars

Lime-White Chocolate Cookies

Red Velvet Whoopies

Pistachio-Cherry Biscotti

Banana Monkey Bars

Camilla V. Saulsbury is a food writer, recipe developer, and cooking instructor. She has won numerous national contests, including The Food Network’s Ultimate Recipe Showdown grand prize cookie recipe. Her recipes have appeared in Southern Living, Better Homes & Gardens, Woman’s Day, Cooking Light, and other cooking magazines. She lives in Texas.

Peppermint Bark Bars

I chose two easy recipes to try the S’mores Bars and the Peppermint Bark Bars. Since the Peppermint Bark Bars are perfect for the Christmas season I’ll share that recipe with you.

Ingredients:

1 (18.25oz) package devil’s food cake mix
1 stick butter-melted
1 large egg
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup crushed peppermint candy canes or red and white striped peppermint candies

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
line a 13×9″ baking pan with foil
crush peppermint candies
Mix the cake mix, melted butter,egg, and peppermint extract in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until blended.
Pat the dough evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake 21-25 minutes until just set at center.
Remove from oven and sprinkle withe the semisweet chocolate chips, the white chocolate chips and the crushed peppermint candies.
Bake 5 minutes longer.
Transfer to wire rack and cool completely.
Cut into small bars.

I made the Peppermint Bark Bars and shared a few with my family and then I brought them to church and shared them with the kids in my Wednesday night Girl’s Clubs and they were well received by all. I brought the S’mores Bars to game night at church and everyone loved them but I must say they are best when served warm.

I can;t wait to try more recipes from The Ultimate Cake Mix Cookie Book. Just click the link and order your own copy in time for your holiday baking.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the cookbook for the purpose of this review. All opinions are 100% mine.

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Easy Recipes-Holiday Dessert Idea: Duncan Hines Decadent Cakes and Amazing Glazes

cindy — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 16:05:31 +0000

Back in September I introduced you to Duncan Hines new Decadent Cakes. Today I want to tell you about the Amazing Glazes. Duncan Hines Amazing Glazes are the easiest way to add a beautiful finish to your baked goods. Just microwave, shake and pour! How easy is that? One of the many easy recipes I’ve shared this year.I baked a Duncan Hines Decadent Triple Chocolate Cake in a 9×13 pan.
Microwaved, Shook and Poured the Vanilla Amazing Glaze. I feel there isn’t enough glaze in the bottle to properly glaze a 9×13″ cake.
Then I took the cake to the church staff meeting and let my co-workers give me feedback. The cake was good but not chocolatey enough…especially for a “Triple Chocolate Decadent Cake” but the glaze was delicious! We all loved the vanilla glaze. I think it would be perfect on the Decadent Apple Caramel cake that I made before…and might be making for Christmas morning.

On the Duncan Hines website there are videos with hints on ways to use the Amazing Glazes, a $1.oo off coupon and some great recipes using the Decadent Cake mixes so check them out! Don’t fo.rget to Like Duncan Hines on Facebook for more yummy ideas

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