Happy V-Day <3

Happy Valentine’s Day lovelies! Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of any yummy desserts I baked today (gasp!). I admit, I slacked off this year. I had something wonderful planned out that required red velvet cake mix, but when I went to two stores, and both were sold out :( Even though I didn’t make this recipe, I still wanted to share it with you, in case any of you are need a last minute dessert, or want something to keep in your recipe box.

I hope you all have a wonderful day with your valentine, romantic or not. Think of it as a day to be thankful for anyone in your life that you love.

Red Velvet Rice Krispy Treats (find the original recipe here)

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter

3 cups mini marshmallows

1/3 red velvet cake mix (powder only)

4 cups Rice Krispy Treats cereal

1 cup baking chips (or chocolate chips, whichever you prefer)

1 tub cream cheese frosting (or make your own!)

Directions

In a large pot over medium-low heat, melt butter. Add marshmallows and cake mix, stirring frequently until the marshmallows are melted.

Remove from heat and stir in cereal, then chocolate chips.

Press into a greased pan (a shallow baking pan works best) and allow to cool in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Cut treats (if you have a heart-shaped cookie cutter, awesome!) and decorate with cream cheese frosting.

Enjoy with your valentine.

 

Have a happy day everyone! As always–it’s a cake walk!

Ballin’ Cake Balls

I was introduced to cake balls last summer at my job. The interns organized weekly Friday potlucks and I (of course) monopolized the baking requirement. All summer I heard “I just really want to bring it cake balls!” from my co-worker but alas, she never had the chance.

As you’ve probably seen at your local Starbucks, they have started selling cake pops for their 40th anniversary. You could easy stick some wooden dowels into your cake balls to make them into cake pops, but I didn’t have any on hand.

What I love most about these treats is they are bite sized! Perfect to eat dessert on the go…but also dangerous because since they are small (and delicious!) it’s hard to have just one. With that said, I present chocolate covered red-velvet cake balls. Recipe courtesy of Bakerella

Ingredients
1 box red velvet cake mix (you can use a box mix or make it from scratch. Same goes for the frosting)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark/chocolate chips(regular or white chocolate)
Wax or parchment paper

1. Cook cake as directed on the box (13×9 pan instructions)
2.After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
3. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. It usually works best when you use your fingers, but it will get messy!
4. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet that is lined with wax or parchment paper.

5. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
6. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.

(Read before you melt chocolate: For best results, melt chocolate in 30-second intervals! Stop to stir and to ensure you don’t burn the chocolate. For white chocolate, make sure that the container you are using is NOT WET. If the bowl is wet, the white chocolate will turn hard and will not melt). 

7. 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 like to keep these in the fridge in a tupperware container–this way the cake balls stay fresh and the chocolate won’t melt.

This recipe has sneaked its way into my heart, my cook book, and my stomach. I can already tell that this will be a dessert that I will make over and over. It’s a very simple recipe, and I love that you can easily switch the flavor and cake and frosting to your liking. And, it’s roommate approved! YUM!

Do you guys have any favorite cake flavors that you’ll be using in this recipe? Let me know–I love comments!

Happy baking readers! And remember–it’s a cake walk!

Red Velvet Valentine

Valentine’s Day is here again! This is the holiday you either love or hate. Whether you have a special someone as your valentine, or you’re planning a single ladies (or guys) night, everyone loves some red velvet cupcakes! I’ve made this ruby dessert many times via Better Crocker, but this year I decided to try to bake them from scratch. Most of the ingredients are everyday household items, so there is no excuse not to try this easy, delicious recipe that will have your valentine seeing red (which in this case, is a good thing!)

The recipe I followed–which includes the cupcake batter and cream cheese frosting–is adapted from the lovely Paula Deen, via the Food Network website. Click here for the original recipe.

Ingredients

Cupcake

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cocoa powder (If you’re a real chocolate lover, feel free to add a few more teaspoons.)

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 tablespoons red food coloring (One small bottle of food coloring roughly equals one tablespoon.)

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Recipe Tip: If you don’t have/can’t find/don’t want to buy buttermilk, you can use this instead: add 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup milk. Stir, let sit for 5 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pans with cupcake papers.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled (an ice-cream scooper works great!) Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick to make sure they are fully baked. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

(A little pinker than I anticipated–I ran out of food-coloring–but a little pre-taste determined they were still delicious.)

Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe Tip:Paula Deen is known for her large portions. The following a half-serving of the original. If you decide to make the original full batch and end up with a lot of leftovers, no worries: the frosting can be frozen, and then thawed for later use!

1/2 pound cream cheese, softened

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy. Frost to your hearts desire. Serve to your special someone.

(The finished product. Do they make you want to fall in love?)

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! If you guys use the recipe, let me know how it turns out. Also, please leave comments on any tips you may have for me, or if there are any recipes you would like to see on the blog. Have fun baking! And remember–it’s a cake walk.