Monday, October 31, 2011

Neely's Lime Bars



I'm such a sucker for lemon bars, so I had to try these out. Just a little twist on your classic lemon bar: lime curd swapped for lemon. They turned out heavenly. I think just a little less sweet than your normal lemon bar. I brought these to work for my last week at Summerlin Hospital and they were a hit! They're good for making ahead as well. Just refrigerate them and pull them out a little ahead of time to bring to room temperature before serving. Wait to dust with the powdered sugar just before serving.

Neely's Lime Bars via Food Network:


Monday, September 19, 2011

Chocolate Sweetheart Pie



I made this for a work bbq at a friend's house... afterwards I was wishing I would have made two! It disappeared so quickly! It's rich, but just sweet enough. Who knew Eva Longoria could cook?!

Chocolate Sweetheart Pie via Eva's Kitchen:

6 servings
1 store-bought refrigerated, 9-inch pie crust
8 oz. 60% semisweet chocolate
2/3 cup corn syrup
1 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9 inch pie plate with the piecrust, gently pushing it into the edges of the pan. Place in refrigerator until needed.

2. In a heavy saucepan, heat 6 oz. of the chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly, until just melted. Stir in the corn syrup and 1/2 cup of the cream. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Place the pie shell on a baking sheet and pour the chocolate mixture into the pie shell. Bake until a knife inserted 1 inch from center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let stand on a wire rack until completely cool: the center of the pie will sink as it cools.

4. In a medium mixing bowl, place the remaining 1/2 cup of the cream, the sugar, and vanilla and beat until soft peaks form. Spoon the whipped cream onto the center of the cooled pie. Top with strawberries.

5. Place the remaining 2 ounces of the chocolate in a small dish and microwave on high power just until melted, 30-60 seconds, stopping and stirring every 10-15 seconds. Remove from the microwave, and stir until completely melted. Drizzle the chocolate over the strawberries. Serve at room temperature.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes



If you have any problems with self control, do not even bother making these cupcakes because you will be sorry. I ate three in one day! :-( I couldn't stop myself! The combination of recipes I used to make these little treasures is a bit on the Sandra Lee-esque vibe for me... but they ended up being way too delicious for me to leave out of my blog. The meshing of chocolate and coconut is a perfect match. The devil's food cake is a subtle chocolate flavor and the buttercream with the coconut is divine. I actually even now prefer this over the classic coconut cream cheese frostings. Watch out Sprinkles! Oven Philosophy is in the house!

Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes via Cupcake Blog:


Saturday, September 3, 2011

Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies



I've been meaning to make these for awhile now... like back when they were all the rage on the food blogs. But it took me this long to actually get around to it. In theory, it was a good concept. I did get a lot of good feedback. They seemed well received at work... they were just a little too much for me! First off they are huge! It literally takes 2 already massive heaps of dough to sandwich the oreo. They were pretty rich too. Even with my sweet tooth, I could only finish about 1/3 of one in a sitting. Still though... they're pretty to look at, and people seemed delighted with the little surprise inside. Gotta try everything once!

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies via Very Culinary:

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Chicken & Dumplings



I got a craving that I probably shouldn't have acted on last week... and this was the result. This was the delicious, hearty, calorie-filled, amazing result! In hindsight, this probably would have been a more appropriate meal for winter time, but what can you do! A craving is a craving. Luckily I had a lot of help in the consumption process. Everyone was a fan, and once again the Pioneer Woman has yet to let me down. Now I hear about her new show that's coming out on Food Network and I can't hardly wait!

Chicken & Dumplings via The Pioneer Woman:

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Momofuku's Crack Pie


This was made by special request for my Dad. I guess he read about it on the Good Food blog and was interested. To be honest, how could you not be with a name like this? I'm not sure if it quite lived up to the name, but it was good. Maybe I need to make a trip to New York so I can have a true comparison. Adding that to the list! Butter and brown sugar and cream, oh my.

Momofuku's Crack Pie via Good Food:

Sunday, August 14, 2011

7-Up Cupcakes



7-Up cake... a classic. You know I had to switch it up a little and make it into cupcakes. Never can just go by the right recipe! Plus you know my cupcake theory: helps with portion control! So I didn't change any of the ingredients, I just made the bundt cake into cupcake form. This recipe is actually pretty big. It made a dozen regular size cupcakes plus 6 more jumbo cupcakes for me, even a little extra to spare. I would up the ingredients in the glaze recipe, maybe even double it. It seemed kind of scarce. And please, please! DO NOT substitute some other lemon-lime soda for 7-Up. This is 7-Up cake folks! Cheers!

7-Up Cupcakes via Food.com: