Monkey Bread
I’ve read about Monkey Bread before but never really tasted it until September last year when we moved to this new house. A neighbor gave us a bundt of Monkey Bread as a welcome gesture for being the new neighbors. That was really nice of her. She’d given the kids some goodies after that day too. Halloween and Christmas. I’m pretty sure she’ll give them something for Easter as well.
I had a sweet craving the other day, and I was really tired of the kids’ disappointed sigh every time they opened the cookie jar and it’s empty. Monkey Bread is really easy to make so I thought about it. It’s easy to make because most recipes call for tubes of biscuits. My dilemma was I didn’t have tubes of biscuits in my fridge. BUT, making biscuits dough is really not that hard. So, I googled for a monkey bread recipe that doesn’t use Pillsbury biscuit dough. Yup, I googled.
Peach Cupcakes W/ Cream Cheese Frosting
My daughter kept asking me yesterday to “make something.” She even brought out the cookie cutters. I didn’t feel like making sugar cookies, or any other kind of cookies. Not this week anyway. I was craving for a cupcake though. Something with a fruity base cake. I remembered the jar of peach preserves that I bought this weekend so I decided to go with that. And my cupcakes craving was resolved, deliciously!!
Easy Dulce de Leche
Dulce de Leche is a no fuss no frills dessert that I love when craving for something sweet without having to do all the other steps when making other desserts. Except for having a lot of patience of course.
Banana Spice Cake W/ Blue Frosting
I’m still not sure if I should share the story behind this banana spice cake with blue frosting. It’s either good or bad, depending on how perfect you are as a parent. I’m not so you’ll probably pick bad.
I just can’t stand being judged…………………. Oh well, since I’ve already started, I might as well, right?
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Purple Cupcakes With Coconut Flakes
Don’t let the gorgeous purple coloring of this cupcake fool you coz there’s really nothing special about it. It’s just a regular white cupcake that I tinkered with after reading Connie’s coconut and pandan cake. I was so enamored with the green color of her cake so I thought I’d apply the coloring trick into cupcakes.
I saw the bag of coconut flakes in the pantry while prepping the ingredients so I decided to add 3/4 cup into the cupcake mixture itself. Frosting? well, I’m out of powdered sugar so I couldn’t make any. It’s not a big deal coz the cupcakes were good as is. They would have been much better with buttercream frosting for sure but if you can’t make frosting, the cupcakes would be ok too. The flavor from the coconut flakes helped a lot.
INGREDIENTS:
* 1 stick of butter
* 1/2 cup of sugar
* 1 tsp of vanilla
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup of flour
* 1 tsp of baking powder
* 10 drops of purple food coloring (or more/less depending how deep the colors you want the cupcakes to be)
* 3/4 cup coconut flakes
* 12 paper cups
Preheat the over to 350°
In a mixer, beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time. Beat together until creamy.
Combine flour, and baking powder in a bowl. Gradually add it into the mixer. Add the food coloring and continue to mix until well incorporated. But try not to over mix.
With a spatula, gently fold in the coconut flakes. Don’t over fold either.
Put the paper cups in a muffin/cupcakes baking pan. Spoon the cake batter into the cupcake pan. 2 spoonfuls for each cups.
Bake the cupcakes for 15 minutes or until the cupcakes are well-risen. Test doneness by sticking a toothpick in a cupcake and if it comes out clean than the cupcakes are done.
Let the cupcakes cool for a few minutes. Or not 
.
My children loved ‘em. Yup, loved. I just made them yesterday. They’re gone now. I had to sneak one for my husband so he could have his share. I think I had a couple, hehe.
My son kept saying they’re the best cupcakes he’s ever had. He loves exaggerating, really. I wonder what he’ll say once I make more in another color with cream cheese frosting? He’ll probably build me a statue, with lego pieces.. 
Classic Pound Cake With Nutella
One of my favorite desserts is pound cake. The recipe I usually follow uses sour cream but less eggs and butter. I’ve also baked it following Paula Deen’s recipe but I found it too sweet. Because I am constantly trying to find more dessert recipes to incorporate Nutella in, I decided to mess with the classic pound cake recipe by adding nutella into it. So was it a success or a complete mess? IT WAS SOOOO GOOD! Let’s just say, if I wasn’t so afraid of watching my thighs and hips grow an inch by the minute, I would probably bake it every week.
INGREDIENTS: (Inspired by this recipe)
2 cups butter
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
4 cups of flour
2/3 cup of milk
3/4 cup nutella
Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease the bundt pan and a loaf pan (this additional pan will be explained in the instructions)
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Gradually beat in the flour, alternating with the milk, until everything is incorporated.
Pour half of the mixture into the greased bundt pan.
Spread 1/2 cup of nutella on top.
Dot the top with the remaining nutella.
Using the butter knife, gently stir the whole thing to incorporate the nutella with the batter. Don’t be afraid to go all the way to the bottom. Now as you can see in the picture, the batter is almost overflowing which is not a good thing. This is where the extra loaf pan came in handy. I realized that the bundt pan is filled to the top so I decided to scoop some of the batter to transfer into the loaf pan. I scooped out about 3 cups I think.
Since you’ve seen this here, I suggest that you should divide the batter and nutella beforehand so you won’t have to scoop some out after everything has been poured and stirred. Learn from my mistake.
Stick both bundt and loaf pans in the oven and bake for 70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when you test the pound cake.
Once baked, run the edge of a butter knife along the edges to loosen and cool in a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from the pans.
I was trying to get a marbled effect but I forgot how to do it when I was stirring the batter in with nutella so the result looks like this. However, the taste was still to-die-for. The richness that pound cake has worked so well with the nutella. A little goes a long way that’s for sure. Not too chocolate-y and not to sweet either. Just Perfect!
Busy-Day Cake
The name of the cake says it all, no? I discovered this classic, fast, and easy cake from the Better Homes & Garden BCA Pink Cookbook that I received from my mother-in-law. It’s so perfect for those days when you’re craving something sweet but you don’t necessarily want to spend hours preparing a dessert using complicated ingredients and then spending time decorating and doing all that fancy stuff. With the exception of whipped cream, any kitchen should have all the ingredients on hand. But since you’ve just read this recipe here, then I suggest you grab a tub of either cool whip or a can of whipped cream the next time you’re in a grocery store.
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
whipped cream
Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a round cake pan (8 x 1 1/2 inch). Set the pan aside.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder in a medium bowl. Add milk, butter, egg, and vanilla. Beat with a mixer on low speed until combined. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Spread into the round pan.
Bake for 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes or so.
Cookbook said to cool for about 30 minutes but that’s too long in my opinion, hehe.
Cut in triangle slices, and serve warm with whipped topping on top. Add berries too if you want. If I’m being honest, it’s perfect for those PMS days,
Red Velvet Cake W/ Buttercream Frosting From Wal-Mart Supercenter
I was going through PMS last week so I was craving for something sweet. I asked my husband who called me as soon as he got on the road after work, which he always does, to find some kind of dessert at the store. I was craving sweet so bad but I didn’t feel like making anything in my own kitchen. I have my days too, yah know. I told him to check out the bakery at Wal-Mart Supercenter coz they usually have pretty little cakes that do not cost that much. He came home with this small red velvet cake with buttercream frosting. I thought the roses on top were just too pretty to eat. I loved the red trimming on the bottom too, oh and the small square that said “red velvet” was edible.
The cake was great. It was moist, and the frosting was very light. It’s a good dessert to satiate anyone’s craving or if you’re going to a party and you decide to bring the dessert. While I recommend this cake for convenience and PMS-induced cravings, I have to say I still prefer my own red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.
Ina Garten’s Coconut Macaroons
As mentioned in the chocolate cupcakes with buttercream coconut cupcakes recipe, I’ve finally made the coconut macaroons. I learned how to make it from watching an episode of Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa on Food Network. My first attempt on making macaroons years ago certainly baffles me how I completely messed that one up after seeing how easy it actually is.
Mocha Mudslide Ice Cream In A Waffle Bowl
It’s 91 degrees outside. Whewwwww. A bowl of ice cream definitely sounds good, no? Here’s a mocha mudslide ice cream in a waffle bowl, drizzled with chocolate syrup.
