I am finally letting my subscription to Family Fun  magazine run out.  I’ve been in denial for …oh, let’s say the past 8 years, that my family status (meaning the ages of my two remarkable and incredibly talented children) has long passed the prime target audience of this great magazine.  Kinda like a 25 year old still subscribing to Seventeen Magazine… it’s just sad!

But, if YOU happen to have young kids or grand-kids, you NEED to get this magazine!  There are SO many great ideas for crafts, vacations, recipes, backyard fun, parties, and on and on and on! But since my “kids” are 20 and nearly 24 – it is seriously time for me to let it go.

As a matter of fact, Family Fun was born the same year as Connor – founded in 1991 by Disney and it is the country’s number one magazine for families with children ages 3-12, with more than 2 millions subscribers. Now, if one of my two were to get married and have a child (BIG HEADS UP…that is the “right” order – BTW!) then, I will immediately re-subscribe! Until then, I shall reminisce with a couple of my favorite Halloween ideas taken directly from the pages of my beloved Family Fun….  Oh yeah, and here are my truly awful photos from when I could not remember how my own camera worked at 4 AM… yeah, good times!

Yummy Melted Wicked Witches

1 teaspoon water
4 drops yellow food coloring
1  1/2 cups flaked coconut
2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons shortening, divided
36 chocolate creme-filled chocolate or orange-colored sandwich cookies (you know, like Oreos) or fudge-striped cookies
36 Bugles
3 to 4 cups white chocolate chips
36 pretzel sticks

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine water and food coloring; add coconut.Seal bag and shake to tint coconut; set aside.

In a microwave melt chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of shortening; stir until smooth.

For witches’ hats, place about 1/3 cup chocolate mixture in a resealable plastic bag; cut a small hole in corner of bag. Pipe a small amount of chocolate on a cookie. Dip a Bugle in some of remaining chocolate; allow excess to drip off.

Position over chocolate on cookie, forming a witch’s hat. Set on waxed paper to dry. Repeat with remaining chocolate, Bugles, and cookies.

For melted witch puddles, melt white chocolate chips and the remaining shortening; stir until smooth. Place mixture in a large resealable heavy duty plastic bag; cut a small hole in the corner of the bag. Pipe mixture into shape of puddle onto waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Use a spoon to spread out puddle.

Immediately place a witch’s hat on the puddle. Place a pretzel stick alongside the hat; sprinkle reserved tinted coconut at the end of the pretzel stick. Repeat with remaining puddles, hats, and brooms. Chill for 15 minutes or until set. Store in an air tight container.

Makes about 3 dozen

Sweet Mini Acorns

Hershey’s Kisses
Semisweet or white chocolate chips, melted
Mini Vanilla Wafers
Peanut Butter chips

Unwrap a Kiss,  then attach it to a mini wafer with a bit of melted chocolate. (I mistakenly used peanut butter – once again, this was at 4AM – do as I say, not as I do.) Allow to firm up and set. Use a bit more melted chocolate to attach a peanut butter chip as the “top knot”. Allow to firm and set up. Place on platter and enjoy.   It’s really that easy!

Makes as many as you want to make

OH, and BTW… it is going to be 98 degrees today. Happy Halloween. Whatever! … sigh.

I was searching for something sweet and quick to put together today for not only this post but to bring along to a lunch date I have this afternoon. I’m meeting up with my kids’ 1st grade teacher and her daughter and two granddaughters. We’ve stayed in touch all these years later, thanks in part to Facebook and this blog. Mrs. Tunheim (Ginger, to me) was both Marissa and Connor’s favorite teacher. In fact, Connor had her three times; 1st grade, 3rd grade, and during high school he went back and was a teacher’s aide in her class for a semester… yup we all love Mrs. T! Her beautiful daughter, Kim, assisted me one summer of cooking classes back when she was a single college girl.  Kim is now married with two adorable little girls of her own, so I’m bringing along these sweets to share with them.

I also want to take this opportunity to extend exuberant, hearty, and heartfelt congratulations to my friend and colleague, Gwen Walters and her wonderful Pen & Fork, for winning Best Food Blog 2011 award given by Phoenix New Times!  Yay Gwen!!!  You can always check out Pen & Fork by just clicking on the link over there on the right side of this very page… it is AWESOME!

Finally, some of you probably LOVE to bake…. and you probably know that I really don’t… so you might be feeling hungry for more sweet recipes.  If so, the blog where I snagged this recipe from (BakerGirl) looks luscious and is probably right up your alley.  So, because I’m such a thoughtful person,  I’ve added a link to it over there on the blogroll too, so you can get your sweet-tooth on whenever you feel the urge. I had to alter the recipe to fit the items I had on hand – for instance; I mixed cinnamon and chocolate graham crackers since I did not have any regular in my pantry. I also only had regular sized marshmallows, so I just cut them into 6 pieces each to make them “mini”. Oh yeah, and I only had a couple “giant” Hershey bars in my freezer, so I used one of those instead of the 4 regular bars and just cut it into smaller pieces.  Let this be an example to you… you can always make it work if you have to!

S’mores Cracker Candy

recipe adapted from Bakergirl

16 sheets of graham crackers
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3 cups mini marshmallows
4 Hershey bars (1.55-ounce), broken into pieces
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 15x10x1-inch jelly roll pan with aluminum foil, leaving a 1-inch overhang over the ends; spray foil with cooking spray. Line graham crackers on the foil, cutting any as needed to cover the pan completely.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes together and is smooth and the mixture comes just to a boil (about 4-6 minutes). Remove from heat and pour evenly over crackers, spreading with an off-set spatula. Bake 6 to 7 minutes, or until bubbly.

Remove pan from oven and immediately sprinkle mini marshmallows, chocolate bar pieces, and chocolate chips over the crackers.

Return pan to oven for another 3 to 5 minutes, or until marshmallows begin to soften and puff up.

Cool completely. Carefully lift out the foil and place on a cutting board. Cut into squares and enjoy!

 Makes 1 to 28 servings, depending on if you want to share or not!

Inspiration for this recipe came to me after enjoying a white chocolate and limoncello cupcake while visiting my daughter in San Francisco. Limoncello and white chocolate are a match made in heaven. You may use store-bought limoncello or make your own with THIS RECIPE.

I brought these sweeties to a neighborhood luncheon last week to test them out, and since they were a hit, I will be making them tomorrow, along with this puff pastry appetizer, on Channel 3-  Your Life A to Z.          I hope you can tune in at 10:00 AM Tuesday morning.

Oh, and please note, there are only six ingredients – seriously, these are “easy-breezy”!

White Chocolate and Limoncello Cookies

1 cup heavy whipping cream
14-ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
3/4 cup sugar
2 sheets (1 package) puff pastry
1  1/2 tablespoons cold limoncello liqueur
1 teaspoon additional lemon zest

In a 4-cup glass measuring cup or a large microwave-safe bowl, heat the cream to the point just before it boils, between 2 and 3 minutes, depending on your microwave.  Add the white chocolate to the hot cream and let stand for 4 or 5 minutes before whisking the mixture to blend completely.

Cover and chill for at least 2 hours before using.

Combine the zest of 1 lemon with 3/4 cup of sugar.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.

Sprinkle a work surface with 3 tablespoons of the lemon sugar and place one sheet of puff pastry on top.  Sprinkle the top of the puff pastry with another 3 tablespoons lemon sugar and roll out just enough to even out the seams in the dough and to press in the sugar mixture into both sides of the puff pastry dough.  Use a 2  1/2-inch round cookie cutter and cut out rounds.

Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheets.  Repeat with remaining puff pastry sheet and remaining lemon sugar mixture. You should end up with about 30 rounds. Prick the rounds all over with a fork and place in the oven to bake for approximately 15-18 minutes or until they are lightly browned on top.

Set aside to cool.

Remove the white chocolate cream from the refrigerator and transfer to the bowl of standing mixer.  Using the whisk attachment, beat the mixture until it becomes stiff.  Mix in the 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest and the limoncello, combine well.

Transfer the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe a swirl onto the top of each cookie round.

Top the cookies with white chocolate shavings.  Chill until you are ready to serve.

Makes about 30 cookies

To make chocolate shavings you will need a block of white chocolate.  Heat a block of chocolate in the microwave on low for just a few seconds.  Run a vegetable peeler along the softened chocolate to create shavings.

It has been 11 days since the above hashtag* in my post title first appeared on Twitter. It was Friday, August 12, 2011 and the food blogging community came out in full force to support one of their own. I was in Florida at the time, but I witnessed a beautiful and quickly growing phenom. When I returned home, my time was all about preparations for, and then posting about, this blog’s 2nd Anniversary Party.  But that hashtag and all it means has not been far from my heart or my thoughts these past days.

I am always on time and hate being late, but for the first time it has been great to be late. Had I made the Pie For Mikey a week ago, I would not have had a chance to see the outpouring of love from all of the amazing food bloggers out there. It reinforces why I so enjoy blogging on an almost daily basis. So today, 11 days later, I want to share it with you.

First, you must leave this site to watch and listen to this beautiful video… right now, please!  Honestly, don’t press “read more” until you’ve seen the video.

Absolutely gorgeous and moving, wasn’t it? Now you hopefully realize that what the food blogging community has done these past days has been to make, share, and then post about a Pie For Mikey.  A pie to share with their loved ones and to remember that each moment in life is a precious gift and not to be taken for granted. From what I’ve read about Mikey, Jennie, and their two young daughters, they truly loved deeply and did not take one moment for granted.

How about a little comic relieve here?  I can provide that with my own story of peanut butter pie. It was more than 25 years ago that I made my first, and until today, my last PB Pie.  I do not recall where the recipe came from, but I do recall that I made it for an intimate dinner party for six. We’d finished a lovely dinner on the patio of our little townhouse and it was time for dessert. I brought out all the plates, serving pieces, and the PB Pie. I grabbed the big old knife and cut into it, and … eww, it was a runny sloppy mess. Oh well, who cares what it looks like, we all thought, it’ll still taste great.  So I slopped it onto the plates, laughing all the while.  Then… we tasted it… it was disgusting.  Honestly, it was inedible! I have no idea where it all went wrong; so we just threw it directly into the trash and I have never lived it down. To this day, my dear friend, Nancy, loves to remind me of the night I “served” that flop of a PB Pie.

So now you know my deep dark secret and why I never attempted to make a PB Pie again, until today. Many of the bloggers (such as 5 Second Rule, Eat the Love, Pen & Fork, and  Zoe Bakes) created their own versions of “Pie for Mikey” but I, understandably, played it safe and used Jennie’s recipe. The recipe and the pie are perfect!  My wish is that you will go to In Jennie’s Kitchen, get the recipe, and make it too.  And then I hope that you’ll serve it to the ones you love and remember to cherish each other and every God-given gift of moments you have together. God bless.

P.S. Just in case you want more recipes for Peanut Butter Pie, got to THIS LINK and be inspired and amazed!  And… just in case you have any problems with the link to get the pie recipe from In Jeannie’s Kitchen, I’ve pasted the recipe below.

*Hashtag:  Twitter users often prepend # to words in their Tweets to categorize them for others; so hashtags are the theme of the Tweet. Users can then click on a hashtag to see other similarly-themed Tweets.

Creamy Peanut Butter Pie from In Jeannie’s Kitchen

8 ounces chocolate cookies
4 tablespoons butter, melted
4 ounces finely chopped chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup creamy-style peanut butter
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Add the cookies to the bowl of a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs.  Combine melted butter and cookie crumbs in a small bowl, and stir with a fork to mix well.  Press mixture into the bottom and 1-inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave.  Pour over bottom of cookie crust and spread to the edges using an off-set spatula.  Sprinkle chopped peanuts over the melted chocolate. Place pan in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Pour the heavy cream into a bowl and beat using a stand mixer or hand mixer until stiff peaks form.  Transfer to a small bowl and store in refrigerator until ready to use.  Place the cream cheese and peanut butter in a deep bowl.  Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in the confectioner’s sugar.  Add the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Increase speed to medium and beat until all the ingredients are combined and filling is smooth.

Stir in 1/3 of the whipped cream into the filling mixture (helps lighten the batter, making it easier to fold in the remaining whipped cream).  Fold in the remaining whipped cream.  Pour the filling into the prepared springform pan.  Drizzle the melted chocolate on top, if using, and refrigerate for three hours or overnight before serving.

Serves 10 to 12

After you have this decadent ice cream, you may never want to eat a plain old peanut butter cup all on its own again!

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

2 cups half-and half
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup creamy peanut butter
8 Reese’s peanut butter cups, chopped into large bite size pieces

Whisk together the half-and-half, whipping cream, cocoa powder, sugar an salt in a large saucepan or pot.  Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, unit it comes to a full boil, watch carefully and be prepared to remove from heat, as it will foam up and boil over.  Remove from heat upon the boil and whisk in the peanut butter, stirring until completely and thoroughly blended.

Chill the mixture or place over an ice-bath, stirring until chilled, then freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacture directions.

Stir in the peanut butter cup pieces just before removing from ice cream maker.  Transfer to an airtight container and place in freezer until ready to serve.

Makes just over 1 quart

Two weeks ago when I posted a picture of all the tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and garlic that we’d be using in classes, a loyal follower asked to see a picture of what my refrigerator looks like at the start of classes.  I said, “Oh no you don’t!” I assured her that it was so full, one had to worry about things falling out when opening the door, and that my extra freezer in the laundry room was so full that I had to use duct tape to insure that it would keep closed – embarrassing but true! But she insisted that she would enjoy seeing the fridge, so I told her I’d post a picture before the next set of classes… the day has come…ouch!

Above is the new set of tomatoes, potatoes, citrus, and friends and below……. is the fridge – don’t judge, it’s my job.  And you will never see a picture of the duct taped freezer, and that’s final!

Now on to prettier and tastier things….

Ganache (pronounced /gah NAHSH/) is a rich mixture of chocolate and cream which can be used as a frosting or filling. Depending on the intended use, different ratios of chocolate to cream are used, to create anything from a light glaze to a dense and rich chocolate truffle. Although ganache is exceedingly luxurious, yet it is what I like to call “easy-breezy” to make!  Ganache was developed in the mid-1800s, and both France and Switzerland claim the credit for the invention.

To make ganache, heavy cream is brought to the boiling point and then poured over chunks of chocolate. The mixture sits for a moment, then is whisked or stirred until the chocolate melts and is completely incorporated into the cream. Adding butter or oil to the ganache will make it highly glossy, and adding liqueurs, coffee, or other flavorings is often desired, depending on its intended use.

Using one part cream to every three parts of chocolate, will result in a chocolate glaze which can be used like a chocolate frosting.  Using one part cream to two parts of chocolate yields a very rich, dense chocolate filling which can be used in truffles and other candied desserts.

Chocolate Ganache Wontons

Ganache
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Wontons
24 wonton wrappers
1 large egg, lightly beaten
5 cups vegetable oil
Powdered sugar for dusting
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
Ganache: Bring cream and butter to a boil in a 1-quart saucepan. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and let stand 1 minute.  Whisk until smooth, then chill, covered, until firm, about 1 hour.

Wontons: Lightly brush 1 side of each of 12 wonton wrappers with beaten egg, then put 1  tablespoon chocolate ganache in center of each. Fold filled wontons in half to form triangles, pressing gently around filling to eliminate any air bubbles and sealing edges with more egg, if needed. (If there are any pockets of air, wontons may burst when fried.)

Make 12 more wontons in same manner.  Place all on a wax-paper lined tay and freeze filled wontons until firm, about 20 minutes.

Heat oil in a 4-quart heavy saucepan or deep-fryer over moderate heat until it registers 365 degrees on deep-fat thermometer.  Fry wontons, 3 or 4 at a time, turning once, until golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes total. Transfer with tongs or a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Return oil to 365 degrees between batches.

Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm wontons with ice cream.

Makes 24

What makes something suddenly become a fad, the new “in” thing, all the rage?  Especially when it’s something that’s been around forever?  And when I say “forever” – I’m talking more than 200 years.  And what I’m talking about are cupcakes!

According the source of all modern knowledge… Wikipedia… “The first mention of the cupcake can be traced as far back as 1796, when a recipe notation of “a cake to be baked in small cups” was written in American Cookery by Amelia Simms. The earliest documentation of the term cupcake was in “Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats” in 1828 in Eliza Leslie’s Receipts cookbook.”

This particular fad began in earnest on April 13, 2005, when Sprinkles’ Cupcakes opened its first store on Little Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills, and from then on, cupcakes have been king.  Now there are cupcake stores popping up on every other corner and there are even TV shows devoted to the little cupcake, Cupcake Wars and D.C. Cupcakes to name just two.

But I’ll tell you what, cupcakes have always been popular (for 17 years now) at Les Petites Gourmettes, and that’s no fad.  Why? Because they bake quicker than a cake, they are the perfect serving size, and kids have always loved them!  So if it seems as though I’ve been posting a bunch of cupcake recipes lately, I have been, just trying to give the people what they want.  Hope you enjoy!

I give the students take-home boxes each day so they not only don’t waste food, but so they can share their creations with their families. These cupcakes are so light, lovely, and sophisticated that the kids couldn’t wait to share them with their moms.  And it is usually their moms they think of first. (Yes to that!)  So much so, that I overheard one student say yesterday, as they almost walked out the door without their take-home box, “Oh my mom would kill me if I forgot it!” Too cute.

Chocolate-Strawberry Cupcakes

Cupcakes
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons  baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, well shaken before measuring
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup hot coffee
Strawberry Meringue Buttercream
1 1/2 cups hulled and diced strawberries, plus 24 strawberry slices for garnish
4 egg whites, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, each stick cut into eight 1-tablespoon-size slices, at room temperature

Cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place cupcake liners into muffin tins.  In the bowl of a standing mixer use the paddle on the lowest speed to mix together the sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt.

Add the eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla.  Mix on medium until well-combined, about 3 minutes.  Carefully pour in the hot coffee and beat on the lowest speed to combine well.

Pour the very thin batter into a liquid measuring cup (with a spout) and fill each lined muffin cup 2/3 full.  Bake in preheated oven 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool 5 minutes in the muffin tins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Buttercream: Puree the diced strawberries in a food processor.  Combine the egg whites, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer.  Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the water touch the bottom of the bowl).  Whisk constantly by hand until the sugar has dissolved completely.  You can test by rubbing a couple drops between your fingertips, it should feel smooth, not grainy.  With hot pads, carefully remove the bowl from over the saucepan and wipe the bottom of the bowl with a towel to dry.

Attach the bowl to the mixer.  Using the whisk attachment, begin to beat on low speed and gradually increasing to high speed until the mixture is light, fluffy, glossy, and completely cool. Test for coolness by touching the bottom of the mixing bowl, it will take at least 10 minutes.

With the mixer on low speed, add the butter 2 tablespoons at a time, mixing well between each addition.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, increase the speed to medium, and mix until the buttercream comes together, about 3 or 4 minutes.  Remove the whisk, switch to the clean paddle, and beat at medium speed for 2 more minutes.  Gradually add the strawberry puree, and mix to combine.

Transfer the buttercream to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and frost cupcakes. Garnish with strawberry slices and serve.

Makes about 24 cupcakes

Half of these cupcakes are topped with homemade Samoas and the other half with store-bought cookies

Yesterday in class we made the Samoa cookies, today we are using those cookies to make some seriously out of the world cupcakes. I would say, “Hey, don’t let the 7 1/2 sticks of butter (nearly 2 pounds!) between the recipe for the cookies and this recipe for the cupcakes, scare you off”… but I would be lying, it totally scares me!  According to my math (and my math is iffy at best-since I married a CPA and I rarely use that part of my brain) that is about 2 tablespoons of butter per cupcake! So let’s just agree that one cupcake would serve as your dessert for several days and not buy into the guilt.

Speaking of guilt, I’m going to add a little “Linda’s Psych 101″ into today’s post.  This is what I feel about “guilt”… it is a wasted emotion. I’ve heard it said that “The Jewish people invented guilt, and that the Roman Catholics perfected it.” I would have to agree, and here is one Roman Catholic who wants to abolish it!

The thing is, guilt is about being attached to judgment and that judgment comes from the outside, which means one is relying on others to define oneself… this is not good. Reasonable people already know right from wrong, smart from stupid, and good from evil, so if you shouldn’t be doing a specific thing, then you already know you shouldn’t, and you go from there.  That has nothing to do with guilt, that’s just dealing with the situation as it comes up.  Worrying about judgment is what brings about guilt.  End of today’s “Linda’s Psych 101″.

Bottom line: Eat one cupcake; then give the rest away, freeze them and have one every now and then for the next 3 or 4 months, or bring them to the office and let your cohorts feel however they are going to feel once they’ve each eaten 3 or 4, it’s up to you!  Just make them and enjoy!

“Samoa” Cupcakes

Cupcakes
2  2/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1  1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1  1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1  1/2 teaspoons coconut extract
1 cup coconut milk, divided
1 cup sweetened coconut
14 Samoa cookies*, broken into pieces
Caramel Coconut Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract
1 pound powdered sugar, divided
Topping
12 Samoa cookies*, cut in half

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line cupcake pans with 24 liners.

Cupcakes: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and creamy.  Add eggs one at a time, making sure to beat well after each egg.  Add the coconut extract and mix until blended.

Beat one-forth of the flour mixture into the butter mixture followed by 1/3 of the coconut milk. Repeat with flour, then coconut milk two more times, then end my mixing in the last of the flour, just until combined.  Fold in the coconut and the broken cookie pieces.

Fill cupcake liners with batter about 3/4 full.  Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate pans and bake another 9 minutes or until cupcakes are golden brown. Insert a toothpick into the center of one of the cupcakes to be sure it comes out clean.

Do NOT make the frosting until the cupcakes have been removed from the oven.

Frosting: In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium high heat. Stir in 1/3 cup of the coconut milk. Slowly add the brown sugar and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved, about 2 minutes. Do not let the mixture boil.  Remove pan from heat, stir in the coconut extract, then pour the mixture into the bowl of a standing mixer.

Add half of the powdered sugar and mix to combine well.  Mix in the remaining powdered sugar,  scraping the sides of the bowl often.

If necessary, add 1 more tablespoon coconut milk to create the consistency of frosting you want.  Mix on high about 2 minutes, scraping sides making sure all the sugar is incorporated.

Frost cupcakes with caramel coconut frosting, working quickly; the frosting hardens as it cools and is then difficult to work with.  Top each with a Samoa cookie half.

Makes 24

*these may be either Girl Scout Samoa cookies or Keebler Coconut Dreams cookies or homemade Samoa cookies

Yesterday, May 30th -Memorial Day 2011, was the first day of our 2011 Summer Classes. It marks the beginning of Les Petites Gourmettes’ 17th year. Seventeen years, that’s a long time! But it’s only about half as long as Girl Scout Samoa cookies have been around.

Today in class, the kids made homemade Samoa cookies, well kind of.  More like the top layer of Samoa cookies, the caramel-coconut-chocolate part, minus the crispy bottom cookie part. I’m including the full recipe (bottom and top portions) here.  The only reason we skipped a part was because of time restraints. We are going to use the cookies for our Samoa cupcakes that we are making today.  That recipe will be posted tomorrow.  If you want to make the cupcakes and if you don’t still have a box of Girl Scout Samoa cookies in the cupboard, and don’t want to make your own, you can purchase Keebler Coconut Dreams Cookies instead.

Please don’t be fooled by all the cookie and cupcake talk, we make healthy stuff too, in fact the onions, potatoes, and tomatoes you see here will be used up when the week is over… the garlic on the far right… it’ll probably last till the end of the summer.

Homemade Samoa Cookies

Cookie Bottom
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk

Topping
8 cups shredded or flaked coconut
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups milk chocolate chips

Cookie Bottom: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.

Cream together the butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer until light and fluffy.  Mix in the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and milk; blend until smooth.

Place a large piece of parchment paper on a counter and scrape the dough onto the parchment, flatten with your hands. Place another sheet of parchment on top and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to a 1/4-inch rectangle.  Remove top sheet of parchment and using a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out cookies and place on prepared baking sheets.

Now, using a clean drinking straw, make a small hole in the center of each cookie. Discard or eat, the little pieces of dough. (Smile!)

Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden. (Maintain oven temperature.)  Cool on baking sheets for 3 minutes, then transfer cookies to cooling racks.

Topping: Spread coconut on a baking sheet and toast in 350 degree oven, stirring occasionally until lightly browned, about 5 to 6 minutes. (Watch carefully, coconut burns easily!)

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, combine butter, sugar, and corn syrup.  Bring to a full boil, stirring constantly with a heat-proof rubber spatula or a wooden spoon. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Slowly pour in the sweetened condensed milk, stirring constantly. Continue cooking over low heat until a candy thermometer reaches 225 degrees.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Beat until thick creamy with a hand mixer.  Immediately stir in toasted coconut and mix well.

Spoon by tablespoonfuls onto the cooled cookie bottoms, leaving the hole in the center open. Flatten slightly very gently to adhere to cookie. Cool completely.

Melt the chocolate chips and drizzle thinly in stripes over cookies. Let chocolate harden at room temperature. Store in a airtight container.

Makes about 4 dozen

My friend and neighbor, Ronnie, is a CAbi (Carol Anderson by invitation) Consultant. CAbi is a line of beautiful woman’s clothing that is sold at private parties in people’s homes. Recently one of Ronnie’s hostesses served these decadent toffee cookie bars that are seriously candy rich! The recipe is from a recent Pillsbury Bake-Off.  I believe the original Bake-Off recipe used white chocolate chips, but the hostess substituted peanut butter chips, which I think is a great idea.  Also the original recipe makes 24 bars, these are far too rich for that, so I cut them into 45 bars… much more manageable for the tummy!  Thanks, Ronnie for passing on this recipe to me. I hope you enjoy that I’m passing it on to you!

Chocolate Toffee Caramel Bars

1 package Pillsbury Moist Supreme Butter Recipe Cake Mix
1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 eggs
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate or peanut butter chips
Three 1.4-ounce Heath candy bars, cut in chip-size pieces
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
32 caramels, unwrapped
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 13×9-inch pan.

In large bowl, combine cake mix, oil, and eggs; blend well.  Stir in chocolate chips, white chocolate or peanut butter chips, and Heath bar pieces. (mixture will be very thick.)

Press half of mixture in bottom of prepared pan.  Bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in medium saucepan; combine butter, caramels, and sweetened condensed milk.  Cook over medium low heat until caramels are melted and mixture is smooth, stirring frequently.  Slowly pour caramel mixture evenly over partially baked crust.  Crumble remaining cake/chocolate mixture over the top.

Return to oven and bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes or until top is set and edges are deep golden brown.  Place pan on a rack and cool at room temperature  for 20 minutes.  Run knife around sides of pan to loosen bars.  Cool at room temperature an additional 40 minutes.  Refrigerate 1 hour.

Cut into 45 bars (5 bars on the short side of the pan and 9 bars on the long side of the pan). Store in refrigerator.

Makes 45 bars

My dad will be celebrating his 80th birthday a month from tomorrow and these are just one of the many 1931 (the year of his birth) inspired items I will be serving at the big shin-ding that my sister, Sloane, and I are throwing for him. I’ll have much more to tell you about the party and menu-planning in the coming month, but first, and explanation of how this dessert relates to 1931.

In the middle of the Great Depression, on July 26, 1931, the Midwest and heartland of the United States were in the midst of a bad drought when swarms of grasshoppers descended on crops throughout the American heartland, devastating millions of acres. The swarm was said to be so thick that it blocked out the sun and one could scoop the grasshoppers with a shovel. Eww!

Grasshopper pie comes from the after-dinner drink, which originated at Tujague’s, a landmark bar in the Latin Quarter of New Orleans. The cocktail is made by shaking 1/2-ounce cream, 1/2-ounce white crème de cacao, and 1- ounce crème de menthe together with ice cubes, then straining.

We’ll be making tiny tartlets for the party , but this recipe may be made into a large 10-inch tart too, which honestly, would be about a thousand times easier!

Grasshopper Tartlets

Crust
1  1/2 cups fine chocolate wafer crumbs (about 30 wafers)
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Filling
1  1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (Knox)
1  1/3 cups chilled heavy cream, divided
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup green crème de menthe
1/4 cup white crème de cacao
4 large egg yolks
Grated chocolate, for garnish

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Grease 30 mini-tart tins.

Crust: In a bowl stir together the wafer crumbs, the sugar, and the butter until the mixture is combined well, pat the mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of the prepared tins and bake the shells in the middle of a preheated 450 degree oven for 5 minutes. Let  cool.

Filling: In a metal bowl sprinkle the gelatin over 1/3 cup of the cream and let it soften for 5 minutes. Whisk in the sugar, the crème de menthe, the crème de cacao, and the egg yolks, set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until it registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer, deep frying thermometer, or and instant-read meat thermometer.

Transfer the bowl to a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stir the mixture until it is cooled and thickened. In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the remaining 1 cup cream until it holds stiff peaks and fold it into the crème de menthe mixture.

Spoon the filling into the cooled shells and chill the tartlets for at least 3 hours, or until is set.

Sprinkle the tarts with the grated chocolate just before serving.

Makes one 10-inch tart or about 30 tartlets

Need a quick dessert? Do you have 10 minutes? If so, these are for you.  Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it’s a rich dessert, indeed. Plus this is perfect for the summer, when you don’t want to heat up the oven.

I can’t believe it’s been a full week since I’ve posted a recipe!  It wasn’t suppose to be that way, it’s been a rough week! I know that one of these brownies will make me feel much better.

10 Minute Brownies

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, cut into small pieces
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts or pecans

Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.

Place butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl.  Heat on high 1 minute.  Stir, if chocolate is not melted, continue to heat in 30-second increments until completely melted.

Crack eggs into a large bowl, beat well with a whisk.  Add sugar, mixing well.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Add the melted chocolate mixture and the flour mixture to the egg mixture, alternating.  Beat the batter until well combined.

Pour into prepared pan.  Sprinkle chocolate chips and nuts over the batter.

Place baking dish in microwave and cook on high for 5 minutes.  Let brownies rest 5 minutes before cutting.

Serves 12

My baby girl was in Stonehenge yesterday. I don’t know why, but this photo that she posted on Facebook, made me want to make these cookie bars…

“Hint of  Mint” Chocolate Cookie Bars (aka Stonehenge Bars)

Dough
1/2  cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2  cup  shortening
1 cup  sugar
2 1/4  cups flour
1  teaspoon baking powder
1/4  teaspoon  salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
Filling
5.32-ounce package (9 squares) Ghirardelli Dark & Mint Squares plus 1/2 cup chocolate chips (or 1 1/2 cups mint chocolate chips)
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Dough: In the bowl of a standing mixer beat butter, shortening, and sugar together on medium to high speed for 1 minutes.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the egg and vanilla until completely combined.

Remove dough from bowl and form into a thick log. Cut off 2/3 of the log and press the 2/3 piece of the dough into the bottom of an ungreased 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

Filling: Place the chocolates in a medium glass bowl, add the condensed milk and microwave on high for about two minutes or until the chocolate melts, stir until smooth.  Stir in the almonds and vanilla.

Spread the filling over the dough in the baking dish.  Dot the remaining 1/3 dough over the filling.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until golden. Cool completely in the pan, on a wire rack. Cut into 21 bars.

Makes 21 cookie bars