Friday, January 29, 2010

Rainbow Cake

Yummy note:
This cake came together while at my friend, Katie's house. She always has such fun things to make with the kids. It really was such a nice activity to do with them, especially since it was to celebrate their 3 year birthdays! We prepared this cake with a little help from our birthday girls, so we took an easier route than the original recipe called for in the below link. So feel free to make modifications/additions to the recipe you decide to make. By the way, what a nice treat for a birthday cake, since it was so fun and colorful! Here's our simplified version of rainbow cake! Enjoy.








Directions

Preheat oven and prepare cake pans as directed on cake mix box. We used 2 round cake pans for this, but I'm sure you can use square or whatever sizes you have. Prepare the boxed white cake mix as directed on box. Once batter is prepared and mixed well, pour it into 6 different bowls, equally, maybe about a cup into each. After batter is divided, add food coloring to each bowl. We used probably 10+ drops of food coloring in each bowl, and then mixed thoroughly to distribute the color. You can add as much as you’d like to your color preferences.

Once colors are mixed, begin to assemble the cake. See pictures for an idea of color assembly. We split the colors into the 2 pans and just poured each color directly into one another, creating the circular pattern in the cake. Continue until all of the colored batter is distributed.


Bake as directed on the box, or until cake tester comes clean. Let the cakes cool and then frost. We assembled our cakes to be a double-layer cake, but really it is up to you however you'd like to present the cakes. We used a canned frosting for both the filling between the two layers of cake and the top of the cake. Again, the best thing about this cake is that you can be flexible and modify this as you’d like. Enjoy!!





Original recipefound here:
http://www.omnomicon.com/rainbowcake

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Kahlua Cheesecake Brownies

Yummy note:
I was inspired to make these after a long day at work. Being a cold wintery day in Chicagoland, I thought this would be a good idea... a nice warm cup of hot cocoa and Kahlua paired up nicely with brownie. I mean what else can a girl want, chocolate & alcohol paired together for some well-deserving treats. So on to the Kahlua and brownie idea... I went on a recipe hunt, looking for brownies with kick and found these guys. They seriously were a hit, I see why this recipe is so popular out there. It was delish. Next time, maybe I'll think about making my brownies from scratch, but the way my day was going, I wasn't going to take any chances! Enjoy.



































Ingredients
Cheesecake Topping
8 ounces cream cheese (at room temperature)
5 Tbsp. butter (at room temperature)
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 Tbsp. Kahlua (or other coffee liqueur)

Brownies
Vegetable oil spray
1 packaged brownie mix (~19.8 ounce box or a brownie mix that makes 9x13 pan)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup Kahlua or other coffee liqueur
2 large eggs
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Cooking Directions
To prepare the cheesecake topping: Cream together the cream cheese, butter, sugar, egg and Kahlua in a large bowl. Mix until well combined and smooth. I used a wooden spoon, but you could use an electric mixer on low speed if you wanted.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly spray the bottom of a 9x13-inch pan with vegetable oil spray.

Now on to the brownies: Place the brownie mix, oil, Kahlua, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. At this point, you may add in your chocolate chips or wait until later, or you could do both if you'd like! Stir with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients are mixed together, about 50 strokes. Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan and spread it out evenly.

Next spread the cheesecake topping over the top of the brownie batter, and using a knife, swirl it into the batter to create a marbled effect. At this point, you can sprinkle more chocolate chips over the top, if desired.

Place the pan in the oven on the center rack. Bake the brownies until they are lightly browned and the outer 2 inches or so form a crust, roughly 27 to 32 minutes, depending on your oven. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes. Cut the brownies into 24 or so pieces.

*Store these brownies, covered with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze them, wrapped in foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw the brownies overnight on the counter before serving.

Monday, January 25, 2010

welcome to it's yummy to my tummy

Here's a little blog to organize my thoughts and experiments as I de-stress my way through life by baking and cooking. It's therapeutic to me, while it might be aggravating to others, so I hope my little blog will help you.
As my little girl says, "mommy, it's yummy to my tummy."