Suzy Q / Ding Dong Cake

Like all experiments, you have your winners, and your losers. The cake I made today was a winner when it comes to flavor, but sadly, when it comes to looks, it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

I started out wanting to make a Hostess inspired Ding Dong cake, but after trying it, it tasted more like a Suzy Q. The only part that made it kind of like a Ding Dong, is the chocolate ganache on the outside.

I began by baking a chocolate cake with Hershey's baking cocoa. (The recipe on the back of the container.)
I like using that recipe, because the cake is more firm and easier to handle than boxed.

While the cakes were cooling, I made the creme filling. Marshmallow creme frosting, to be exact.

Marshmallow Creme Frosting

One 7oz container of marshmallow Creme

One 16oz container of vanilla frosting

Place everything in a large bowl, and mix on high for 2 min.

(Top section)

The next thing I did was scoop out circles of cake, and filled them with the frosting, then put the missing cake pieces back on top.

(Bottom section)

After I had them both filled on the inside, I spread the remaining creme on top of the bottom half, then placed the other half on top.

And that my dears, is the step I should have skipped! As soon as I placed that last half on top, a huge crack appeared. Looking at the picture, it's probably because the top half is bigger. (Don't ask me why, because the pans were the exact same.)

But alas, I kept right on chugging, like the Little Engine that Could!

Next, I made the Ganache.

Chocolate Ganache

1 cup heavy cream

1 Tbs butter

12oz bag of semi sweet chocolate chips

Heat the cream and butter over medium heat, until boiling.

Pour the mixture over the chips and let stand for 5 min.

Stir until smooth.

The last thing I did was take my pastry brush, and brushed on the ganache.

I suppose if you are anticipating a broken heart this Valentine's Day, then this is just the cake for you! ☺

(Side view)

So, what did I learn today?

That the next time I decide to make one of these cakes, I'm going to keep both sides separate. Yep. One for us, and another for some lucky, close in proximity relative.lol ☺

(At least it tasted good!)

White Bean and Chicken Chili

It really seems that this blog is turning into a food blog, doesn't it? I think the winter weather just puts me in the mood to cook and bake. (Mostly bake☺)


So no, my little blog is not transitioning to a food blog, but it's safe to say I will be having more food-type posts. But only if I find something worth sharing with all of you.

Which brings me to tonight.

For years I've been talking about wanting to make white bean chili, but when it comes to cooking new things, I usually wimp out and say, "Maybe next week..."

I'm sick of putting things off! I've made up my mind that this year, I'll add more items to our family menu, because lets face it, eating the same 5 or 6 dishes over and over again, can really get to a person!

Can you believe that until today, I had never, and I mean never cooked with fresh garlic? The thought of it actually scared me! "How does one even cut garlic?" "What the heck is a garlic clove, and how in the world do I mince it?!" "PS....what does mincing mean?"


Thank goodness for YouTube and the wonderful German chef who showed me what to do!

Can you tell I'm more of a baker? lol


So, after searching the internet and finding several recipes, I discovered that most white bean chili recipes had the same main ingredients.

This is my version.

White Bean and Chicken Chili

1 whole chicken, 2 or 3 pounds

1 lb Dried Northern Beans 

7 Cups Chicken Broth

1 Cup of chopped onion

4 Cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp Cumin

1/8 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Paprika

1 tbs Chili Powder

1/4 tsp Pepper

1 tsp Salt

2 tbs Chopped Jalapeno

1 Cup Cilantro leaves, chopped (you can skip this step if you're not a fan.)

Boil your chicken until it's falling off the bone, usually an hour and a half, to two hours, making sure to turn it halfway through.

While that's boiling, cook your beans as the package suggests.

When the chicken is done, drain the broth through a strainer into a separate pot, and place the chicken on a cutting board or pan. Pour the broth back into the pot you boiled the chicken in. Let the chicken cool for a bit before pealing off the meat. I like to use my hands to do this, that way I can feel any small bones that may have found their way in otherwise.

When your beans are done, add them to the broth, along with the chicken.

Next, add your dry ingredients.

In a separate pan, saute the onion, garlic, and peppers in some olive oil or vegetable oil. When everything is tender, add the cilantro and continue cooking for another minute or two.

Add the mixture to the chili pot, and let simmer for as long as you'd like. Mine cooked for a few hours.

Make sure you taste it as you go, making sure there's enough chili powder for your taste. I couldn't add too much spice, for the kid's sake.

I topped ours off with a dollop of sour cream, which made it extra yummy.☺

I have one of the pickiest eater's in the world living in my house, and even she liked it! In fact, she ate every bite! 

This chili was a big hit, and everyone in the house gave it 2 thumbs up.

Yay, for trying new things!☺

Easy-Peasy Cinnamon Rolls

I was craving cinnamon rolls today, and figured since I already had frozen bread dough in the freezer, why not give it a whirl?

Best decision I made all day!!

If I would have known they were this easy to make, I would have done it a long time ago!

One loaf of frozen bread dough is enough to fill two 9 inch round pans.

What you'll need.

1 loaf of dough

2tbs Butter, melted

2/3 Cup Packed brown sugar

Cinnamon (I didn't measure. I just used what looked good.)

1/2 Cup of whipping cream

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1 to 1 1/2 tbs milk

1/8 tsp vanilla


Knead your bread a little before starting, to get the air bubbles out.

Roll your dough out, until it's about 20 inches long, and 5 or 6 inches wide.

Brush the melted butter on top of your rolled out dough.

Sprinkle on the brown sugar, rubbing it into the melted butter.

Sprinkle on the cinnamon, as much as you'd like.

Roll the dough up jelly-roll style, and slice it up. (I got around 14 or 15 slices out of it, each around 1 1/2 inches thick.

Place the rolls in 2 round pans, and let rise for 40 min.

Before placing them in the oven, drizzle the rolls with whipping cream. (You could also use half and half for this.)

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 min. (I baked mine for 26 min, and they came out perfect!☺)

For the icing, just mix your 2/3 cup of powdered sugar, with 1 to 1 1/2 tbs milk, and then add the 1/8 tsp vanilla.

Drizzle the icing over the rolls while they're still warm, and there ya have it!

This recipe was inspired by one I found on Allrecipes.com, and here's the link to that.

They're a huge hit, and my oldest said that I'll never have to buy them in the store ever again! ☺

Rainbow Cake Part Two: The Next Level

After my youngest daughter saw her sister's birthday cake in August, she decided right then and there, that she too wanted a rainbow cake for her birthday.

So here we are, five months later, and my sweet rainbow loving girl finally got her cake.♥

Holly absolutely loves all things rainbow! (I was the same way when I was little. I even had a pair of rainbow jeans in 6th grade!;-)


This time, I made the inside of the cake the same as Megan's, only instead of chocolate frosting in the middle, I used strawberry. Because if there's anything Holly likes more than rainbows, it's the color pink.☺

The directions to the cake are right here.

And since Holly loves rainbows, I decided to kick things up a bit, and give her rainbow frosting.

I got the idea from Pinterest. Isn't it cool?! The directions can be found right here. There are pictures too! I used Betty Crocker Gel Food Color.

The frosting I used was homemade buttercream frosting. I had never made it before, but I can assure you that after tasting it, I'll never go back to store bought again!

Here's how I made it:

2 Sticks of unsalted butter

4 cups of powdered sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1tbs Vanilla

4tbs milk

Beat softened butter until creamy. (I just used my hand mixer)

Add 3 cups of powdered sugar, and mix until it has a cornmeal consistency.

Add 2tbs of milk, and continue mixing.

Next, add the remaining sugar and mix, followed by the other 2 tbs of milk.

Add your 1/4 tsp of salt, and 1tbs of vanilla and mix.

If it's too runny, add a little more powdered sugar, and if it's too thick, add more milk.

The frosting ended up being the perfect consistency for what I needed. I did have to make two batches though, because this wasn't enough to frost the entire cake. Next time I'll just double it.

(I almost forgot to take a pic of the inside! At least I got this one, right?lol)

Before you pipe the frosting onto your cake, you'll want to place the bag in the freezer for a few minutes. If the frosting is too warm, it gets runny and makes it hard to decorate the sides. Maybe there's another trick for that, but I'm kind of new at this.☺

The cake was a big hit, and the only mishap, was that the frosting on the side of the cake, stuck to the cake safe and came off when I lifted the lid. It probably happened because I had it in the fridge all night, and didn't let it sit out long enough before taking the lid off.

Oh well! Lessons learned I guess!☺

Let me know if you try something like this! I would love to see what you came up with! ☺

Even with the sides messed up, it was still a pretty cake.☺

Santa Bread

I finally made another Pinterest find! (Yay for productivity!!) I really thought I would get around to making more of the holiday stuff I pinned, but alas, life as a mommy to 3 kept me busy. ☺

This one was found via Taste Of Home, and the directions are there when you click the link. Pictures and all, thank goodness!! ☺

I used the suggested 2 loaves of frozen bread dough, instead of making the from scratch recipe given. It explains how to make it either way you choose.

I read the reviews at the bottom, and used the suggestion of brushing on the plain egg yolk before brushing on the red, that way they don't bleed together.

I also used chocolate chips for the eyes, instead of raisins.

All and all, I'm really pleased with the outcome! Next time I'll make his pom-pom a little smaller, because a little warning, Santa rises like crazy in the oven!! ☺


We'll be serving our Santa bread with some Hoppin' Jalapeno and Bacon Dip, from Tastefully Simple. But I'm not going to lie....cutting into it will be a little heartbreaking!! What a cutie!!

Ho Ho Ho!!!

Puppy Chow

Last night I made my first batch of puppy chow for the holidays. Can you believe I've only known about puppy chow since 1999? Sure 12 years sounds like a long time, but think of all those other years I went without it's yummy goodness!

And it turns out, I make mine a little differently than what most recipes call for.

FYI, I like mine better! ♥

Amy's Puppy Chow


12oz bag of semisweet Toll House chocolate chips

1 cup Jiff creamy peanut butter

1 stick of butter

1 Box of Crispex or Rice Chex

Powdered sugar

A big bowl with a lid.

Melt the butter, chocolate chips, and peanut butter in a sauce pan.

Pour your cereal into your big bowl, and then pour the mixture over the top layer a little at a time, stirring after every coating.

After the chocolate mixture is completely added, pour some powdered sugar over the top. Put the lid on your bowl and start shaking it like a polaroid picture!!

Keep repeating the last step until everything is coated with the powdered sugar.

And that's it!!


It's so yummy, and soooo addicting!!

Cheesy Potato Soup

I, like so many of you, have fallen victim to the wonderful world we call, Pinterest.

And up until now, I've only been pinning things, and never actually trying anything. But in my defense, can I just say how fun it is to pin stuff on there?! There's just something so gratifying about it!:-)

So, for my first Pinterest recipe find, I decided to make Slow Cooker Cheesy Potato Soup. If you click on the link, it will give you the Betty Crocker version. If you keep reading, you'll get my version of the same soup, only with a few revamps.;-)

For My version, you will need--

32 oz. of diced potatoes (4 cups)


1/2 cup chopped onion


I medium celery stalk, diced. 


32 oz. chicken broth, or 4 chicken bouillon cubes in 4 cups boiling water.


1 cup of water


1 package of cooked bacon, chopped, to garnish when it's done.


Green onion for garnish.


Put all of the above in your slow cooker, except the bacon and green onion, and cook on high for 5 hours. (Cooking on low is fine too, just make sure to allow more time.)


After 5 hours on high, (6-8 hours on low) you'll need to mix--


3 tbs all-purpose flour and 1 cup of milk.


Add the mixture to your soup, and stir. Let it cook for another 20 min. on high heat.


The last ingredient you'll add, is 1 bag (8 oz.) shredded American cheese. I find it helpful to take the cheese and melt it in the microwave with a tbs of butter. It will end up creamier that way.


Stir the soup every 5 min. to allow all the cheese to melt into the soup nicely. It's super hot, so it doesn't take very long.;-)


After you're ready to serve it up, sprinkle some bacon pieces and finely chopped green onion on top.


And that's it!!

Doesn't it look yummy?!

I added some of the bacon into the soup while it was cooking, but it ended up with fatty pieces, so I won't do that again.

We ate our soup with rolls, which made me realize how wonderful this would be in a bread bowl!

Maybe next time!:-)

January 16, 2012

I made this soup again tonight, and left the bacon out, and it was wonderful! It was super yummy on a cold winter's night.☺

Why Yes, I DO Have Room For Caramel Corn!

This past weekend, my family and I had some fall fun. We went to the pumpkin patch, had chili in the slow cooker, and I made my first batch of caramel corn of the season.

Until last year, I was too afraid to make homemade caramel corn, because people had told me it was hard to make, and took FOR-EV-ER. (That's right, I'm talking "The Sandlot" For-Ev-Er.)

But I decided to give it a try, none the less. And oh man, did I make the right decision!

I found the recipe online and in my old Betty Crocker cookbook, and changed a few things here and there. That's what I love about Allrecipes.com, because you get real pointers, from people who have actually tried the recipes.

That's how I decided what to cook the caramel corn in. A roaster pan!

This is what I use.

To start out, I heat my oven to 250, and then I pop 1/2 cup of un popped popcorn, in my air popper. (I couldn't tell you how much popcorn comes out of a microwave pack, so to me, this is the best way.)

I mean, you can do it that way, but you would have to make sure you get 5 quarts from it.

1/2 cup un-popped corn = 5 quarts popped corn.

After I pop my corn, I grab it by handfuls and place it in the heavily sprayed with non-stick cooking spray  roasting pan, making sure all un-popped kernels stay out.

When all the popcorn is in the pan, place it in the preheated oven. (The warm popcorn makes it easier to stir when it's time.)

While that's in the oven, you can start making the caramel mixture.

First, melt 1 cup of butter in a medium size sauce pan.

Next, stir in 2 cups of light brown sugar, and 1/2 cup of corn syrup.

Stir constantly until it boils.


Let it boil for 4 minutes without stirring.

After the 4 minutes, remove from heat, and stir in 1/2 tsp of baking soda, and 1 tsp vanilla.

Remove your popcorn from the oven, and poor the mixture over the top in thin streams, stirring in between coatings.


I stir it with a long wooden spoon, so I'm less likely to get burnt by hot caramel. The first time I made it, I used a rubber spatula with a short handle, and got a pretty bad burn. Instant water blister.

If you do decide to use a rubber spatula, just make sure to spray non-stick spray on it first.

After you have all your caramel mixed into the popcorn, put it in the oven.


Now, you're going to pull out the pan every 15 min. and stir it. You'll be stirring it every 15 min. for an hour. (I sometimes even let it go for an extra 15 min. at the end.)

After it's done, let it cool for a few minutes before you grab a handful. (Which you will, because it's awesome!!)

Make sure you put it in an airtight container!:-)

I promise you it's delicious!! I used to like the caramel corn that comes in the big tins at Christmas, but ever since I've started making my own, I can't go back. This is just too yummy to give up!

I hope you give it a try!:-)

Banana Fana Fo Fana Bread

This has been a super rainy weekend, here in Northern Indiana. For some reason, every time it rains, I feel the need to bake something.

Does anyone else do that?

I guess it's not only rainy days, because I probably triple my baking time in the winter.

Yeah, didn't you know? Winter + Snow = Toll House Cookies

Simple math people. Simple math.

Well, yesterday wasn't a cookie day, but it was a banana bread day. I love the way it makes the house smell!!

FYI If they make it as a Yankee Candle scent, it's probably going to taste and smell AWESOME!

The banana bread recipe that I've used for years, is in a cookbook my Grandma gave me in 1987, called Alpha-Bakery Children's Cookbook.

There's a recipe for each letter of the alphabet in it.:-)

I follow the recipe to the T, except I sprinkle a little cinnamon on top. (Sometimes I even stir some in.) And I don't usually add nuts.   

3/4 cup of sugar

1 1/2 cups ripe mashed bananas (about 3 1/2 large bananas) Don't use ones that are still a little green, because they aren't sweet enough.

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup nuts (If you like)

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1. Heat your oven to 350

2. Grease your loaf pan with shortening. 

3. Mix sugar, bananas, oil, and eggs in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into pan.

4. Bake for 60 to 70 min., making sure the center is clean, when poked with a wooden pick or knife.

5. Let cool for about 10 min. then loosen sides of loaf from pan, and remove.

I've always found that when you wrap it up in plastic wrap while its still warm, it stays moist for days.

Although this time I won't have to worry about that, because we're already down to our last slice! Yummy!

After it was done, my husband requested some icing to drizzle on top. (I'd never tried it like that, but decided to humor him just the same.) And to my surprise, it was actually pretty good! It kind of makes it taste like a cinnamon roll.

I just used your basic icing recipe. Mix 1 cup confectioner's sugar, 1 1/2 tbs milk, and 1tsp vanilla until smooth. EasyPeasy. The icing will make it quite rich though, so grab some milk!:-)

It was good, but I'm more of a purest when it comes to banana bread, and think it's perfectly prefect, just the way it is. (My husband likes sugar, with a side of sugar.)LOL

HAPPY BAKING!!

My First Rainbow Cake

Megan decided she wanted me to make her birthday cake this year, instead of buying one at the store like we usually do. She requested the rainbow cake that was featured in the August issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray.


I had seen rainbow cakes online before, but those looked like they would take a lot more effort than this one. I can't believe how easy this was!!

Isn't it pretty? (Toot Toot! Yep, that was my horn.)

The only thing I did differently, was that I skipped the yellow. I figured since my orange looked a little yellow,  adding it wouldn't look as nice.

So, here are the directions, if you ever want to give it a try!

1. Mix white cake batter according to the box directions.
2. Divide it among 6 (or in my case 5) bowls, starting with 1/2 cup in the first bowl, and working your way up to 1 1/2 cups in the last bowl.
3. Whisk a different color of gel food dye into each bowl. RED in the smallest, then orange, yellow, green, blue, and end with VIOLET in the LARGEST bowl.
4. Don't forget to rinse your whisk after each color. (I just used a fork for each bowl.)
5. Starting with the LARGEST (violet) pour each bowl into the MIDDLE of a greased 9 inch round pan.
6. Spin the pan after EACH color, to distribute evenly. (Always poor it gently in the middle.)
7. Bake at 325 degrees for an hour. (Tent with foil for the first half hour to prevent browning, making sure NONE of the foil is touching the cake.)

I wanted to make a layer cake, so I did two of these. It's a fun and easy cake to make, and everyone was in awe over it.

And best of all, the birthday girl Loved it! After all, it was her special day.