Sofia The First Cake

 Featured cake

This cake was made with butter cream frosting for the bottom and fondant on the top.

The fondant is made to look like Sofia's dress and has candy pearls around the bottom.

Sofia and her friends were purchased from the Disney Store along with her crown.

From scratch apple pie turnovers-great for a seasonal classroom snack

For this recipe, I used my grandmother's crust recipe which is completely amazing. Usually I make this as a pie in a glass pie plate which makes a top and bottom crust. Everyone who eats this begs for more which is why I always make two pies. This time, I only had two apples and my family was begging me to make apple pie. So I went ahead and made these instead, which taste just like the apple pie just in your own serving. The kids loved them as they make a great fall snack in the classroom. This recipe makes 8 5x3 inch personal pies. Best of all, this recipe only has 7 ingredients!

Ingredients:

For crust-

2 Cups sifted flour

2 tsp salt

5 1/2 heaping tbsp Crisco

1/3 cup warm water

milk (optional)

For filling-

2 large gala apples

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp flour

For a whole pie, just use 8-10 apples for the filling.

Directions for dough:

1. sift flour and salt together 
2. take 1/3 cup flour mix out into a small bowl and set aside
3.  add 5 1/2 heaping tbsp Crisco to the flour mix and mix with hands until pea size balls form
4. add 1/3 cup warm water to the 1/3 cup you set aside. Mix till paste like and add to main mix
5. mix with hands until a soft ball of dough forms
6. cover bowl with damp paper towel

 Directions for apple filling:

1.  in a bowl add sugar, cinnamon, and flour and mix together
2. peel the apples and cut into small chunks
3. add the apples to sugar/cinnamon mixture and mix together 

Directions:

1. line a cookie sheet with foil and turn the oven on 350 degrees
2. take a chunk of dough off the ball and roll it out 
3. scoop some apple filling into the middle
4. fold the side over to the other side of the dough and pinch all around so juices don't escape
5. with a knife, slice vent holes on the top so the steam can escape
6. put the turnovers onto the foil lined sheet and dab milk onto them and sprinkle with cinnamon
7. bake them at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes 

 

 This recipe can also make a pie, just use 6-8 gala apples

 

Chocolate strawberry carrots in dirt

My daughter just had snack day at her school and she wanted chocolate covered strawberry carrots in dirt pudding. She has a ultimate love for strawberries and chocolate. She also loves cookies and pudding so I thought this was a cute way to highlight her love of these foods. I just bought some white chocolate and dyed it orange with frosting gel and dipped my rinsed and dried strawberries in it. Then I drizzled the same chocolate out of a zip lock bag with the corner snipped. I whipped up the chocolate pudding and crushed the cookies. Putting them together was fun. My daughter had a lot of fun carefully placing the strawberries in each cup of "dirt". She went to school telling all her friends and teacher that she made them!

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Fudge Recipe

This is the creamiest and most flavorful fudge I have ever made. I cant keep one batch for more than a day. Its so easy to make and it takes about 10 minutes plus set time. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar, I like to use natural golden cane sugar which is amazing for baking

1/2 cup milk, I use whole milk

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup peanut butter, I use Jiffy creamy

Directions:

1.  Bring sugar and milk to a boil, stirring continuously 
2.  Boil 2 1/2 minutes. I set the timer. It has to be exact.
3. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla
4. Pour into container or pan and cover.
5. Wait till set or eat it hot and creamy. It always tastes better when cooled and set. 

 Enjoy!

 
 

 

Paris Cake

 

This is the Paris themed cake with ribbon and charms. 

 Ribbon and charms with black butter cream icing pearls and white candy pearls

Eiffel tower with butterflies from Etsy

Enjoy!

How to peel a banana

I always used to peel my banana stem up. It usually got mushy at the top which was very displeasing. One day, I was playing with my kids and we decided to peel the banana upside down. Fortunately, it worked very well and now this is how we open our bananas. 

All you do is pinch the bottom of the banana and it opens freely and there is no mushy outcome. 

Enjoy!!!

Homemade blueberry muffin recipe

 

 These are the tastiest blueberry muffins I've ever eaten. It is my go to recipe. The blueberries are sweet and gooey while the muffin is moist with a slight crunch topping. Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar 

1 tsp salt

4 tsp baking powder

2/3 cup canola oil

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

2-3 cups fresh blueberries

Topping:

2/3 cups brown sugar

 1/4 cup flour

1 Tbsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp very soft butter 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 3 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, salt and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. 
3. Place canola oil into a separate bowl; add the eggs and buttermilk. Mix this with flour mixture very gently. Too much stirring will ruin the batter.
4. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
5. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Crumb Topping:
Mix together 2/3 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 1 Tbsp cinnamon, and 2 Tbsp very soft butter.
Mix with fork until coarse texture and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
This mixture will not sink into your muffins.

My daughter likes them with very little topping but you can add as much as you like.

Enjoy!