Banana Pudding with Chocolate Shavings and Toasted Coconut

Pudding is one of my favourite snacks. I always have pudding in my fridge (always chocolate). I guess it's a weird obsession at 26 years old but I enjoy it so much, so why not? I was looking through Food Gawker one night and came across Banana Pudding. It blew me away! Why have I never thought of banana pudding? I love anything flavored with banana; banana milkshakes, banana smoothies, banana cream pie, banana bread, banana cupcakes, chunky monkey, and the list goes on. The great thing about this pudding is its texture. It's not made with gelatin so its just natural and smooth. I topped it with chocolate shavings and toasted coconut! It was really delicious!

Recipe
Banana Pudding

Ingredients
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups milk (I used 1%)
2 large eggs
2 small (or 1 large) ripe bananas, pureed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Chocolate shavings (optional)
Toasted Coconut (optional)

Directions
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the cornstarch and sugar. Gradually whisk in the milk until smooth. Over medium heat, cook the mixture until it is thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. Turn heat down to low and cook for an additional 2 minutes; keep stirring.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs. Pour a small amount of the milk mixture into the eggs and stir quickly to prevent the eggs from cooking. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and whisk together.

Bring the pudding to a gentle boil over medium. Once it starts boiling, cook for one minute longer. Remove from the heat and pour into a tupperware container. Stir in butter, vanilla, and banana puree.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (and up to 2 days) before serving. Garnish with chocolate shavings and toasted coconut.

Wasted Chocolate Cake

Yes! This happened! I saw a picture of this cake and needed to make it. The amount of chocolate used is both overwhelming and incredible! My friend and I brilliantly used a different cake recipe from the original (Art of Dessert) and followed the design. The best chocolate cake EVER is of course, Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate Cake. It's so good that to eat another chocolate cake seems like a waste of chewing energy and calories. To say the least, this was the BEST chocolate cake I have ever had. 

Barefoot Contessa's Buttercream Frosting is unbelievable BUT since we were covering it up with chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate, we decided to use store bought icing since it is mainly being used as a delicious glue. 

Recipe

Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate Cake

Ingredients 

Butter, for greasing the pans

1 ¾ cups All-purpose flour, plus more for pans

2 cups sugar

¾ cups good cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1 cup buttermilk, shaken

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee 

Ingredients (for the rest of the cake)

2 cans of chocolate frosting (store bought)

2 bags (600g) of semi sweet chocolate chips

2-3 tbsp heavy cream

assorted chocolate candies for the top of the cake (we used coffee crisp bites and maltesers)

Directions 

1) Preheat the oven to 350. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.  

2) Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.

3) In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

4) Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

5) Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

6) With your hands cover the sides of the chocolate cake with semi-sweet chocolate chips and cover the top with assorted chocolate candies. 

7) In a double boiler, melt 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips with 3 tbsp heavy cream and drizzle it over the top of the cake and let it drip down the sides.  

Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the PERFECT chocolate chip cookies! I have tried so many chocolate chip cookie recipes; some are good, some are okay and some are bad but none of them are what I'm looking for. I like when my cookies are flat, with crispy edges and have a chewy center. Barefoot Contessa's (Ina Garten) chocolate chip cookies fulfill my cookie fantasy. They are exactly what I've been searching for!

Recipe
Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 extra large eggs at room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teas baking soda
1 teas kosher salt
1 1/4 pounds semi sweet chocolate chunks
1/2 cup toffee bits (I added these for a little something extra ;)

Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Cream the butter and two sugars until light and fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and add to the butter with the mixer on low speed, mixing only until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks (and toffee bits).
- Drop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, using a 1 3/4 inch- diameter ice cream scoop or a rounded tablespoon. Dampen your hands and flatten the dough slightly. Bake for exactly 15 minutes (the cookies will seem underdone). Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Orange & Coconut Cake

When I first saw this recipe, it didn't jump out at me. There's no chocolate in it so I was about to scroll past it. Luckily, I kept reading. Shez, from One Bite More, described this cake as the best cake she has ever made. I had to give it a try. I'm not a baker so I was not looking forward to screwing up this recipe. It's rare that I make delicious baked goods. An hour and a half later it was out of the oven. It smelled amazing. I waited for it to cool and drizzled some glaze over it along with some coconut. It was delectable! The cake was moist and light, kind of like a sponge cake. It had the chewy texture of the coconut inside and the sweetness of the glaze. It came out PERFECT! That says a lot coming from me. Try this cake. It will not disappoint.

Recipe

Ingredients
225g butter
1 3/4C sugar
2tbsp raw cane sugar
4 eggs
1/4C orange juice
2tbsp orange zest
250ml natural yoghurt
1 1/2C plain flour
1C shredded coconut
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup icing sugar
orange juice (just enough for the glaze)
1/4 shredded coconut (topping)

Directions
1. Let the butter come to room temperature. Chop it into fat cubes and toss it in the large bowl of a stand mixer with the sugar and grated palm sugar. Beat until it is light and fluffy and pale. (If you don’t have a stand mixer, a hand held mixer or a wooden spoon + enormous biceps will do the job too).
2. Zest the orange and then juice it. I got slightly less than 1/4C of juice. Toss the juice, zest, eggs and yoghurt into the butter mixture and stir well to combine. It will look lumpy and curdled but that is ok.
3. Sift the plain flour and baking soda into the bowl then toss the shredded coconut in as well. Stir well to combine.
4. Tip the mixture into a well greased kugelhopf tin and bake it in a 170C oven for an hour, checking at 50 minutes to see if it’s done. A skewer poked through the middle of the cake should come out with a very light crumb attached. Let the cake cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes before upending it onto a rack to cool completely.
5. Add a little bit of orange juice to the icing sugar until you get the consistency of a glaze. Drizzle it over the cake and sprinkle some coconut on top.

Food For Thought: It would also be really good if the oranges were replaced with lemons! Lemon and coconut is a good combination... OR limes!

Samoas Cupcakes

It's Girl Scout cookie time. GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!!

My mom buys Justin a box of Samoas every weekend which is both a good thing and a bad thing. It's a good thing because he always let's me have one :-) It's a bad thing because for the whole weekend that box is STARING at me. Seriously, every time I walk past it it's just staring me down, daring me to eat one! I just have to close my eyes and keep walking, because Lord knows, I don't need to eat too many of those!

I threw my mom a big surprise birthday party for her 60th birthday and these little beauties were the star of the party (besides my fabulous Mom!).

These cupcakes were a lot of work (I kept forgetting ingredients, and ended up going into town three times... And I live in the woods so a trip to town takes a while...) but in the end, these cupcakes did NOT disappoint! They were the perfect combination of chocolate, carmel and coconut. They were just perfect!!

Recipe adapted from Sweet Pea's Kitchen

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes:

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup natural cocoa powder
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups milk

For the Caramel Frosting:

• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa powder.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, salt, baking soda, vanilla, and coconut extract until fluffy and light, at least 3-4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the milk beating just until combined.
4. Fill the cupcake papers 1/2 full, making sure that the batter is divided evenly. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 20-22 minutes. Tilt each cupcake in the muffin pan so it sits at an angle. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan at this angle for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. To toast the coconut, spread the coconut onto a rimmed sheet pan. Toast in a 350°F oven, stirring frequently, until the coconut is an even brown color, about 10 minutes.
6. To make the frosting, melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the salt and brown sugar and heat the mixture to boiling, stirring constantly. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the milk and return to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in vanilla. Cool to lukewarm, about 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Once the caramel frosting mixture is lukewarm, transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the powdered sugar and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Adjust consistency with a little more milk or powdered sugar, if necessary.
8. Heat chocolate chips in microwave for about 30 seconds or until drizzling consistency.
9. Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip. Pipe a spiral of frosting, beginning at the outer edge and working inward. Drizzle the frosted cupcakes with melted chocolate and garnish with toasted coconut.

Food For Thought:

I love these cupcakes. They were PERFECT!

Mounds Brownies

Do you ever see a recipe that turns you on so much that you can't stop thinking about it?!!?!?! Like a recipe that's always in the back of your mind just BEGGING you to make it? A recipe that you DREAM about?!?!?!?! This is that recipe for me. I spotted it on Food Gawker a few months ago, and I have NOT been able to stop thinking about it!!!

I don't eat candy bars, but if there is an Almond Joy or a Mounds candy bar anywhere near me, I'll do just about ANYTHING for a bite (I really do mean ANYTHING!). And when I saw these Mounds-like brownies posted on this blog I just KNEW I had to make them.

But I couldn't think of a good reason to make them. I didn't have any big parties or potlucks coming up. No one's birthdays (that I hadn't already planned other delicious treats for), no one I know got promoted, or engaged, or had something really fantastic happen to them that gave me a great excuse to make these brownies. So, alas, I had to just make them. And I did. And they were good. Like, REALLY good. So good in fact, that after one brownie (okay, maybe two. I mean three. FOUR. Okay, four....) I had to give them away. I just couldn't have them around me because they were so tasty I knew I wouldn't be able to stop myself from eating the whole pan. Gosh... just thinking about them brings a chocolate covered smile to my face :-) I highly recommend making them if you ever get a chance. And I know I say that about ever recipe I post, but I really mean it this time. Make them!!

Picture and recipe are courtesy of Katrina over at In Katrina's Kitchen.

Ingredients:

• 1 Family Size (9x13) pan of brownies, prepared
• 5 1/3 Cups shredded, unsweetened coconut
• 14oz Can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 ½ Cups powdered sugar
• 1 Can of chocolate frosting

Directions:

1. Prepare brownies and let cool completely.

2. In the bowl of your mixer combine coconut, sweetened condensed milk, and powdered sugar until all ingredients are incorporated.

3. Spread coconut mixture over brownies.

4. Place can of frosting in the microwave for 10 seconds (please be sure to remove foil liner and lid) until pourable.

5. Pour frosting over the coconut mixture. Let cool and set up.

Food for Thought:

Here is my suggestions for the recipe. I couldn't find unsweetened coconut so I just used sweetened coconut and cut the amount of powdered sugar down to 1/3 cup. I found the brownies to be pretty sweet though, so I think next time I make them I"ll use sweetened coconut and omit the powdered sugar all together. :-)

Delicious yummies that have kept me busy (and full)

MEGAN!!!

Wow, you have been eating so well since you got home!!! Ahhh I can't wait to come visit you and you can take me to all these places. I am especially interested in going to that rib/chicken place. That looks to die for!!!

You know how much I love cupcakes. LOVE THEM! Well take a look at these little guys. Katie over at Dashing Dish made these beauties. I really like her blog, she has great low-fat recipes, including these cupcakes. I made them for a party, and they were DELICIOUS! The cupcake was SO easy to make (only three ingredients) and they were super dense and tasty! Katie made hers with a cool whip frosting, but I made a cream cheese frosting for mine. I really loved the pumpkin/cream cheese combo. They tasted like fall, and they fulfilled all my fall fantasies! Make them, they're to die for. (PS, this is Katie's photo, not mine.)

Here's another photo and recipe from Dashing Dish! Another win! I made this cheesy broccoli soup for the fam a few weeks ago and it was a hit. I did make a few changes to the recipe though. I added a little fat free half and half at the end to make it a little more creamy and I added extra cheddar cheese. I loved the addition of the cream, but I must say, I went overboard on the extra cheese. Next time I make it I"ll add less cheese. But seriously, this soup was so easy and really good. It was a great fall soup!

Speaking of soup, I miss our shabu shabu place! Mmmmm, I could really go for a nice warm bowl of Shabs right about now. Man, I miss that place. Oh, the memories it brings back :-) I hope I can make it back to Seoul one day so I can go back there!!

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. I love this dip. LOVE IT! Gina at Skinny Taste created this little gem, and oh ma gosh! I could eat it every day. Notevenkidding! Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip. My mouth is watering just thinking about it, and I've already made it like THREE TIMES since I got home, that's how good it is!

Can't wait to eat this stuff again. Seriously, make it! The first two times I made it, I added extra cheese, because why not!?!?! And the first time I made it, I forgot the garlic (who does that!?!?!?!) and the second time I made it, I made it with EXTRA garlic, and an onion instead of shallots, and I thought it was better the second time. Every time I make it I've doubled the recipe, and ever time there isn't any left at the end of the party! Make this dip please, you won't regret it!!!

Yummy gingersnap cookies

Okay, I don't like gingersnap cookies. And I really don't like gingerbread men cookies, or gingerbread houses, or really any dessert that has the word "ginger" in the title. I don't know what it is, but I just REALLY don't like it. But that all changed with these cookies.

I saw this little beauty on Foodgawker and immediately knew I had to make these cookies. I don't know what it was, but I thought about them ALL THE TIME! When Sunday afternoon came around, I just couldn't wait any longer. They were BEGGING to be made, so I headed over to A Bitchin' Kitchen and drooled over their picture one more time, then made 'em.

Ohmagosh, Megan. These cookies were EVERYTHING I wanted them to be and more! They were the perfect ginger flavor and sooooooo chewy and yummy and the white chocolate just adds the right extra bit of sweetness to the cookie. Megan, MAKE THESE! Seriously, you won't regret it. They are so good! I can't stop talking about them slash eating them. Gahh!! They're sooo good!!!!

Grandma Hall's Sugar Cookies!

Well, here it is! The famous Sugar Cookie recipe! This is from my great-grandma Hall, and it's been a Christmas staple in our family for many generations! I hope you get as much use out of this recipe as we have!!!

Justin bought some cookie cutters a few weeks ago and wanted to make some special Christmas cookies. He bought a lab, a palm tree, a starfish, an elephant and a triceratop. Hmmm.... Christmas triceratop cookies?!?! That's what Justin wanted, so that's what we did!! My favorite is the starfish!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter- room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 well beaten egg

1 tbs. cream

1 tbs. vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

Method:

Cream together butter and sugar. When it's nice and creamed, add in the egg, cream and vanilla. ** NOTE** Mama Jean says it's very important to use GOOD vanilla. Don't use imitation vanilla, use good, high quality, natural vanilla extract. It will make all the difference in the world, and will make the cookies taste super delicious!!! When that's all mixed well, add the flour, salt and baking soda until it's all well incorporated. Mold the dough into a ball and wrap in wax paper and refrigerate over night. If you don't have time to let it sit in the fridge overnight, try to refrigerate for a few hours, or pop it in the freezer for a few hours. It's best to work with when it's cold.

When it's chilled, take it out of the fridge and taste it. Seriously. Taste some of the dough. I like it right out of the fridge, for some reason it's super tasty that way. Turn it out onto a floured surface and divide the ball into two sections (it's easier to roll when it's cold and in smaller sections). When your cookies are all rolled out and cut, bake them for 7-8 minutes at 350 degrees.

Let them cool completely before you frost them.

Here is Justin working on his cookies!

Some of the cookies waiting to go into the oven!

Boone wanted to help. Or just eat them all...

Justin is trying to feed a lab cookie to Boone, who is a lab. Sadly, Boone didn't get to taste any.

So, the frosting. There isn't actually a recipe for the frosting, I just know the ingredients, and I add them until the frosting is a consistency that I like. When Justin and I made his batch of Christmas cookies, I recorded the amounts of ingredients for you. I recommend cutting this recipe in half for frosting the cookies; I made way too much!!

My Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter- room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

7 cups powdered sugar

5 tbs. cream or milk (I use fat free half and half)

Method:

Cream together the butter and vanilla. Then add one cup of powdered sugar at a time, alternating with about one tbs cream. Keep adding one at a time until you have the consistency that you want. Again, this is what I did when Justin and I made cookies, but I will definitely cut this in half next time because it made way too much. If I was frosting 24 cupcakes however, this would be the perfect amount.

Our finished Christmas cookies! Yummmmmmm!!!!

The Dessert Queens

My good friends, Sarah and Wendy, are the dessert queens!! For my coming home party, Sarah baked the most delicious, oooey, goooey, rich, chocolate chip cookies stuffed with BROWNIE! Ya, I said it, BROWNIE!! Wendy made a white, coconut cake with vanilla, basil and lime frosting topped with fresh raspberries (baked in individual ramekins). Coming home to good friends with real ovens and baking talents makes coming home sweet and delectable!

Sarah's chocolate chip cookie stuffed with brownie

Wendy's coconut cake with vanilla, basil and lime frosting