Helloooo Secret Baker :)

On the fabulous message board that I frequent, we tried our first ever baking exchange. It's basically like Secret Santa (we used the website elfster.com) but with yummy baked goods!

When I picking something to bake, I had to think logistically, since the baked goods needed to be packable, mailable, and not very melty! I have a basic coffee cake recipe that I've used in the past for your standard cinnamon style but I decided to mix it up a bit and turn the typical coffee cake into an Almond Joy Loaf. I took all the elements of a great coffee cake (moist, rich cake) and added in all the fabulousness of an Almond Joy (almonds, chocolate, and coconut!).

Enjoy :)

PS: I received rave reviews from the loaf's recipient Jessi! Hope you enjoyed the loaf!!

Almond Joy Loaf



Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups divided sugar
2 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
8 oz sour cream
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup slivered almonds

Directions

1 - Combine 1/2 cup sugar, coconut, chocolate chips, and almonds in a separate bowl. Set aside.

2 - Cream butter and 1 cup sugar together with a paddle attachment on your mixer. Add eggs. Beat in vanilla. Mix until smooth and well combined.

3 - Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in another bowl. Add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream.

4 - Spoon 1/2 the batter into a greased tube pan.

5 - Sprinkle 1/2 of the coconut mix over the batter. Add remaining batter and then top with rest of coconut mixture.

6 - Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

Snap, Crackle, Pop!

My husband turned 30 on June 17
and this past weekend we had our entire family & group of friends over our house for cake, presents, and rice krispie treats. Yes, I said rice krispie treats! Nothing brings me back to my childhood like RK treats and I knew I wante dto make some for the party but I knew I had to dress them up. I decided to go with my hbs favorite flavors of peanut butter and choclate and dip the RK treats!

As far as directions are concerned, I followed the directions right on the box to make the treats, let them cool in a pan, then used a greased circle cookie cutter to cut out the circle shapes. I then dipped one end into a bowl of melted peanut butter discs and then right into a bowl of cookie crumbs.

Simple, fun, tasty, and impressive!

Erin go Braugh... Erin go Chocolate!

In honor of St. Patty's Day tomorrow, I decided to try my hand at what I spotted on Bakerella's blog... Cake Balls. These little puppies are bite size pieces of ecstasy! I decided to go with a chocolate cake mix and chocolate frosting... then dip them in vanilla chocolate (the green ones) and mint chocolate (the white ones). Oh yum-yum! The outside is a hard candy shell and when you bite into them, it's like a fudgey brownie consistency.

Added bonus of this recipe: you can switch up the flavors in a billion in one different ways. Kudos to Bakerella and this fabulous recipe!


Cake Balls



1 box cake mix of your choice (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can frosting of your choice (16 oz.)
1 bag of chocolate meltable discs
wax paper

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can frosting. (I found it easy to use a spatula)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (I used a cookie scoop and ended up with 60+)
4. Chill for several hours. (I left them in the fridge for 24 hours)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)

I also only melt a few pieces of chocolate bark at a time because it starts to cool and thicken. It's easier to work with when it's hot.

I then drizzled more chocolate on top for added decoration. I melted some chocolate down, put into a sandwich sized Ziploc bag and snipped off the end. Instant pastry bag!

Back to my roots, ya'll!

So I stumbled upon this recipe yesterday for Kandy Kakes... not just any Kandy Kakes, the delicious PB & Chocolate ones! Ya can't get these little squares (or circles!) of goodness up here in RI... only when we go home to MD and spend some time at the shore are we able to scoop up enough boxes to last us through the winter... or at least the 6+ hour ride home!

Needless to say, I'm thoroughly pleased with how they turned out... and they taste just like them! And can ya tell we have a thing for the combo of PB & chocolate in my house? Mmmm, delicious!

This recipe does make a whole sheet worth so make sure you can either blow your whole diet and eat them yourself
or have someone to share them with... but trust me, they'll go fast!

"Kandy Kakes"



4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking powder
2 c. flour
2 tsp. butter
1 cup hot milk
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
2 (8 oz) Hershey bars (I used one 16 oz. bag of the meltable chocolate wafers)

Beat eggs. Add sugar, vanilla, baking powder and flour. Melt butter in hot milk and add to batter. Pour mixture into greased jellyroll pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.
Spread at once with peanut butter. Refrigerate until peanut butter is hard. Melt Hershey bars and spread on top. Refrigerate until chocolate is hardened. Bring to room temperature before slicing into bars.