Easy Tutorial: Homemade Rolled Marshmallow Fondant Icing

To read more about making your own marshmallow fondant, I recommend clicking here for Peggy Weaver’s informative site.

Space: The Fondant Frontier…

For years, I thought all smoothly rolled, fondant-iced cakes had to taste bad. That’s because the only fondant icing I’d ever encountered was that horribly expensive, boxed, pre-rolled stuff that Wilton makes out of glycerin. Technically edible, yes, but who on earth would want to?

This was before I discovered how easy it is to make your own rolled fondant icing using marshmallow creme as a base. And the best part is: it’s delicious. No more peeling the fondant off the cake slice before eating it. My world has officially been rocked!

In case you’re unfamiliar with rolled fondant icing, think of wedding cakes. Have you ever wondered how professional bakers achieve that impossibly smooth frosted surface? The answer is: they didn’t actually frost it. They used rolled fondant. And now you can, too!

Cheap Recipe: Black Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake

For a text-only version of this recipe and complete ingredients listing, click here.

I made this cheesecake (out of season) for less than five bucks, once and for all confirming my belief that there is a God and that he is good and loves us.

The trick to making a cheap cheesecake (or, in this case, a cheap, gloriously rich, decadent and twirly homage to raspberry cheesecake) lies in the shrewd purchase of certain components. However, I’m happy to tell you that with a few simple tips, a fancy and delicious cheesecake can be made for around five dollars, if you know what to use and where to look. Click on the link directly below for my money-saving suggestions and hints for making homemade cheesecake on the cheaps, or continue reading for the recipe.

[Click here for a few quick notes from Gracie on Saving Money While Making Homemade Cheesecakes]

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Sugar-Free Recipe: Russian Tea Cookies

These little shortbread cookies are nice with a big mug of herbal tea.

Grace’s sister here, getting into the spirit of Thanksgiving by appreciating one of my favorite blessings: my awesome boss, who goes along with most of my crazy ideas and laughs at all my irreverent jokes.

My boss loves cookies, but he happens to be a Type I diabetic, so he can’t just pork down half a package of sugar wafers when he’s having a rotten day. (I have no idea how he maintains his sanity without the assistance of pink sugar wafers. I think he might be magic.)

Aaaaaaaanyway, my all-time favorite cookies are those little round shortbread cookies that are made with chopped nuts and rolled in powdered sugar. At the late, great Cristaudo’s Bakery in Carbondale, Ill., they were referred to as “Russian tea cookies.” Here in Oklahoma, people call them “Mexican wedding cakes,” and I’ve also heard them referred to as “snowball cookies.”

Seasonal Recipe: Creamy Pumpkin Pie

For a text-only version of this recipe and complete ingredients listing, click here.

Velvety-smooth texture and rich, sweet flavor. Divine.

There is only word I can think of to describe how ultimately smooth and creamy this pie is: velvety.

You’ll never bring a rubbery pie to the Thanksgiving table with this recipe. That’s because there aren’t any eggs in it, and the pudding isn’t instant. This sucker’s done right.

This recipe makes enough filling for two pies. Because, frankly, why would you ever make just one? 🙂

Seasonal Recipe: Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

For a text-only version of this recipe and complete ingredients listing, click here.

This was so tempting I forgot to take a photo until after I’d already eaten half of my brownie. My bad.

So I casually posted my status on Facebook yesterday as “pumpkin cheesecake brownies in the oven…”, and by bedtime I had a whole list of messages from friends asking for the recipe.

I guess they just really sound like a good idea. Which, incidentally, they are. So, here goes…

Seasonal Recipe: Canned Strawberry Applesauce

 For a printable version of this recipe and complete ingredients listing, click here.

Another fun project from the “mostly homemade” files…

My goal for this week was to post something fun, easy and seasonal. The result? Canned Strawberry Applesauce!

This is a lovely recipe that results in a sort of cross between applesauce as we know it and mashed, sugared dessert strawberries like you probably ate on pie crust growing up. My dad spreads this on toast, I like it with whipped cream, yet it’s just as comfortable riding side-saddle with dinner, or with cereal and yogurt for breakfast.

The Brownie That Broke My Heart…

The Pityless, Gluten-Free, Black Bean Brownie: She’ll tear your heart out and leave ya’ cryin’…

Let me begin by saying that I wanted this to be good. Really good. And for some odd reason, I expected it to be.

After hearing about these mysterious bars from all  whispered corners of the low-carb and gluten-free worlds, it had to be good. It had to be dynamite. And after building myself up over time to finally whip up a batch, it OWED me that.

Kid-Friendly Recipe: Punchy Cakes

For a printable version of this recipe and complete ingredients listing, click here.

Jamie told me his Punchy Cakes were, “SO beautiful, Mommy!” Hey, at least one person on this planet marvels in awe at my gifted ability to mix cake batter with Kool-Aid packets. Guess Christmas will be easy this year, huh?

So…the house finally cooled off last Saturday just long enough for me to go on a baking frenzy and heat it all back up again. But at least it meant that in the wake of my white dust bender (flour, that is) were several goodies to keep our mouths occupied the rest of the weekend.

I always wanted to bake a cupcake that looks exactly like a cartoon one.

...and then I made one that looks like a Muppet for no apparent reason.

These were a quick and easy project, and Jamie (almost 4 years old) had a ball helping me with them. The recipe’s pretty simple, but they’re so kid-friendly and much easier than dealing with Jello cake (aka “Poke Cake”) that I thought I’d share it anyway. Here goes:

Start out by whipping up a batch of plain old white cake batter. Just use the boxed variety (doesn’t matter).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (or whatever the box recommends), add whatever amount of water/oil/eggs it calls for, and don’t for one second feel bad that you didn’t make the cake from scratch. Unless you’ve been planning on changing your name to Laura Ingalls Wilder, no one cares if you made it or Poppin’ Fresh did. Seriously. Just move on.

Cake batter from a mix--I won't tell Martha if you don't.

When the batter is mixed evenly, divide it into 2 bowls or batter cups.

Add the Kool-Aid.

Empty a packet of unsweetened Kool-Aid mix (we used Tropical Punch and it was terrific) into one of the batter bowls and mix well until the batter is a bright, glowing red. Slightly radioactive-looking batter is just right. Perfect.

If you feel like mixing a second Kool-Aid flavor into to the other half of the batter, feel free. Lemonade flavor would probably work well, or Orange. We left it at one flavor, though.

(I’m not entirely sure what the blue and green ones would do in the oven, but there’s only one way to find out. I personally will not be using the blue Kool-Aid at any point because I don’t like buying it. It looks too much like 1980s-era toilet water back when everyone was obsessed with those horrible blue tank pellets. But hey; life’s short. Eat toilet cupcakes if your heart’s set on it. They will be DELICIOUS.)

Alternate spoonfuls of white and colored batter into muffin cups.

Spray or line muffin tins (somewhere between 14 – 24, depending on whether you beat it by hand or with an electric mixer.) My mixer finally met its maker this summer, so we hand-whisked them and therefore didn’t get as many cupcakes out of our batch. (Which was absolutely fine with me, because Jamie was bouncing off the walls after eating the first one.)

Oven-ready.

Spoon a dollop of the plain batter into the bottoms of each muffin cup. Then, go back and spoon a dollop of the Kool-Aid batter into the cups. Alternate back and forth until cups are about 3/4 full.

Pop the cupcakes into the oven, bake for about 18-20 minutes or until inserted fork/toothpick comes out clean, and cool completely on a wire rack.

A word to the wise: do your spoon lickin' from the white-batter-bowl, or everyone's going to know when you wind up with a Kool-Aid mustache from the other batter bowl. Just sayin'.

In the meantime, prepare your frosting. You can use homemade buttercream, canned, whatever.

If you want, you can mix a packet of unsweetened Kool-Aid (maybe a different flavor from what you used in the batter) into the frosting and cream it well. Pipe onto cupcakes and decorate with your lovies. 🙂

The great thing about Punchy Cakes versus Jello Cake (besides the fact that there’s no straw-pokin’ and Jello-funneling ) is that these suckers don’t have to hang out in your refrigerator between munches. As far as I’m concerned, that makes them far easier hot-weather, outdoorsy treats than Jello or pudding cake!

But, as always, you be the judge…

Cheap Recipe: Gooey Three-Way Applesauce Puffs!

For a printable version of this recipe and complete ingredients listing, click here.

2-3 ingredients is all you need! Oh, and did I mention that one of these is FAT FREE???

Okay, so once you read this recipe, you’ll think, “That was so easy it doesn’t even NEED to be a recipe!”

But the beauty of it is, when you make them, everyone is going to say, “How did you make these??” and “What is in them??”

The truth is, you only need 2-3 simple, easily-procured ingredients to whip up a batch, and the 2-ingredient method is…FAT FREE!!! You’ll never believe it from the taste, though!

Can it get ANY easier than this?

In fact, there are sort of three tiers to the diet-friendliness of this recipe: The regular-cupcake-fashioned sort, while still actually better for you than regular cupcakes, has cream cheese frosting on the top and is therefore the most fattening of the three.

I love when people do not realize this is actually EASIER than frosting the tops!

Next, the cream-filled variety is even lighter, because you don’t have to use nearly as much frosting if you’re sticking it in the center of the cupcake as if you put it on top.

(I also love this method because it looks much harder than it is and also makes transporting the cupcakes much quicker and easier–just throw them on top of each other in a bowl and carry to work!)

And lastly, if you omit the cream cheese frosting altogether in favor of powdered confectioner’s sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on top, you’ve got yourself a bona fide, fat-free, scrumptious cupcake. (The applesauce makes the cake so deliciously moist and sticky you don’t have to worry about your “bald” cupcakes being dry!)

Applesauce + dry cake mix = AWESOME.

Begin by preheating oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, empty the contents of one regular-sized white cake mix.

Take a 24-ounce jar of applesauce (about 2-1/4 cups), open it, and dump it in over the mix. Stir well, remembering that batter will still be bumpy after mixing, unlike regular cakes made with water, eggs and oil.

Batter is supposed to be a little bit lumpy!

(Don’t bother unloading your electric mixer for this one, folks–a plain old batter spoon or wire whisk will do fine.)

Once all cake mix has been stirred into applesauce, spray or line 12 muffin cups. (This is a denser batter, so don’t expect to still get 24 cupcakes out of that mix!)

1 mix will make 12 big cupcakes.

Pour or spoon batter evenly into the muffin tins. Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes (start checking after 20 or so), until tops are golden brown and inserted toothpick comes out mostly clean.

Remove from oven and allow to cool in muffin pan for a couple of minutes before transferring to wire cooling rack.

Nothing wrong with sticking those bad boys in the fridge for a few minutes!

Once airing on the rack, transport to refrigerator for quicker cooling time (about 15 minutes).

While muffins are cooling, prepare a frosting decorator bag (or large Ziplock!) with desired decorator’s tip dropped into an open corner. Spoon prepared cream cheese frosting (canned frosting is fine!) into bag.

I always keep a large-sized set of shakers filled with powdered sugar & cinnamon around for breakfasts/desserts.

Remove cooled cakes from fridge and decorate tops, if desiring regular-looking cupcakes.

(Or, if you like your cupcakes fat free, skip frosting altogether in favor of cinnamon or powdered sugar!)

My boss's words: "Boy, those sure went down smoothly, didn't they?"

For the “light” cream-filled variety, stick the frosting tip directly down into the center of the cooled cupcakes and squeeze until center tops shift slightly, indicating the cupcake is now filled with frosting. Repeat until all cupcakes are filled/decorated!

Cheap Recipe: (Platinum) Blondies

For a printable version of this recipe and complete ingredients listing, click here.

Warm, sweet and deliciously sinful: this giant cookie is the Marilyn Monroe of the dessert table.

This sweet treat is a clever excuse for using up the little portions of this-and-that accumulating in your pantry. Often times dessert recipes will call for specific amounts of candy or nuts that are not simpatico with normal packaging units in most grocery stores. Thus, you’re left with little tidbits of ingredients wasting space in your cabinet that don’t seem like enough to do anything with.

Finally, here’s a handy recipe for just these types of situations. Like a cross between a pan of brownies and a gigantic chocolate chip cookie, blondies have a certain fancy elegance to them that equals more than the sum of their parts.

Mix & match leftover candies to make up 1 cup.

My signature “platinum” version of this goodie (pictured above) crosses macadamia nuts with white chocolate or other light-colored morsels.

A springform pan is desirable but not mandatory.

However, because the amounts are small and blendable, blondies in general are also a clever way to use up other excess items: chopped-up chocolate Easter bunnies (often times the chocolate is cheap and doesn’t taste great on its own merits unless you’re under the age of seven), part of a box of leftover movie candy (think Reese’s Pieces, M&Ms or trail mix), or even bits of surplus fruit rocking around your counter (sliced bananas and coconut flakes are great candidates).

Mix brown sugar with all-purpose- or cake flour.

Begin by coating a 9″ round springform pan (OR a 9″x9″ glass dish) with a heavy layer of nonstick cooking spray or Baker’s Joy. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter before you blend!

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour (all-purpose or cake flour) with 1 cup brown sugar. Add 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon baking powder; stir well.

In a measuring cup, melt 1/3 cup butter with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Incorporate liquid into flour/sugar. Break an egg into the batter and mix well.

Batter will be thicker than regular cookie dough.

Stir in approximately 1/2 cup macadamia nutmeats (can substitute peanuts, pecans, walnuts, etc.) and about 1 cup candy morsels. (I used a combination of white chocolate and butterscotch chips–I had about a handful of each in leftovers–just enough!)

Mix in nuts & morsels. (Please ignore the Dark Knight standing watch--the 3-year-old was underfoot while I was baking.)

The mixture will be very dense and not look like nearly enough to fill your pan. Ignore this appearance–it will be plenty.

Pour the thick batter into your springform pan (or baking dish) and spread it as evenly as you can in about 30 seconds’ time. Don’t spend longer than that–the oven’s heat will finish the job for you.

Oven-ready batter.

Place the springform on a cookie sheet and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes, or until fork inserted into center comes out mostly clean.

(If top is browning too quickly, you can place foil or an extra cookie sheet on top during bake time.)

Let blondie cool entirely before serving.

The platinum blondie.

Remove from oven, pop away side of pan if using springform, and allow to cool completely before slicing/serving.

Ice cream and caramel make wonderful toppings for this, or wrap slices in waxed paper to pocket to work in the morning for “coffeehouse-style” sweets on-the-go.