Karma's Lemon Jello Cake

There are no words for me to adequately describe how much I love this cake. I got the recipe from the lovely Karma Bennett. Well, I guess I got it from Kace, but she got it from Karma for me. I don't even think you have to be obsessed with lemon like Tyrel and I are these days...this cake is just so good. And it's easy. Seriously, make this.

Lemon Jello Cake
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 pkg. lemon jello (small pkg.)
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup water
4 eggs
1/2 tsp. lemon extract

Put all ingredients in a bowl and beat with a mixer for 5 minutes. Bake in a greased 9x13 pan for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. While hot, puncture cake with toothpick. Let it cool for five minutes and then pour the glaze evenly over cake.

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tbsp. melted butter
juice of one lemon
It is thin but it soaks deliciously into cake.


I almost ate the entire cake by myself last time I made it. So good.

Raspberry Mousse Tres Leches

White Almond Sour Cream Cake (WASC)

Ingredients

1 box white cake mix

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 teas. salt

4 egg whites

1 1/3 cups water

2 Tbls. vegetable oil

1 cups (16oz carton) sour cream

1 teaspoon clear vanilla flavor

1 teaspoons almond extract

Instructions

Mix all dry ingredients by hand using a whisk in a very large mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Bake at 325 degrees

Raspberry Mousse

Ingredients

3 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

2 cups raspberries (I use frozen,thawed)

1/2 cup sugar

1 TBL lemon juice

1 TBL unflavored gelatin

Ice Water

Instructions

Chill heavy cream for ten min in the freezer, then put in the fridge. You want it COLD. 

In a small pan, add raspberries, sugar and lemon juice. Cook on med low until the sugar dissolves. As it's cooking, press raspberries against the side of the pan to remove the fruit from the seeds; kind of puree. Let it come to a small boil, then remove from the heat. Press the raspberries through a fine sieve into a metal bowl. You want to get as much raspberry puree as possible without the seeds so you'll have a smooth mousse. Put the metal bowl into a bowl (or sink) of ice water; be carefull not to let any water get into your raspberries. Whisk the unflavored gelatin into the raspberries as it cools, until it thickens into a thick sauce. Let it cool down completely in the icewater. 

As the raspberry puree is cooling, whip your heavy cream into soft peaks. Add the confectioners sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold your whipped cream into your raspberry puree. 

2 cups raspberries

Sweetened Condensed milk

Evaporated milk

Cream

Dessert Assembly

Put your first layer of cake down. Drizzle all three types of milk on the cake. And a thin layer of raspberries. Top with a layer of raspberry mousse. Repeat.

Brownie Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies

As I mentioned in my last post with the orange cookies I did not like chocolate during my pregnancy, so it's a good thing I just found this recipe recently. I probably wouldn't have given it a second look a few months ago. These were delicious. How could you mix brownies and chocolate chip cookies and not turn out awesome? I'm going to print the recipe as I found it, but I added a little more brownie batter than the recipe called for cause I thought I would want them a little more chocolatey. Then the dough seemed a little too wet so I added some flour. Just play with it so the cookies turn out how you like them. I thought mine turned out pretty darn good.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup prepared brownie mix, chilled
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a large baking sheet with a silpat liner or parchment paper. (I used my stoneware cookie sheets without a liner or paper, so I'm not sure if they're really necessary with metal pans...)
2. Beat the butter and sugars until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla until well combined. Add brownie batter, mixing until well combined.
3. Place flour, salt and soda into a large bowl, mixing to combine. Add to wet ingredients, mixing to combine and then add chocolate chips to combine. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until cookies are cooked through. Let cookies cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy with a large glass of milk.

Orange Creamsicle Cookies

During about 8/9 of my pregnancy I had a STRONG aversion to chocolate, which was actually kind of awful but it helped me to discover the deliciousness of some other flavors I'd been shunning my whole life. I absolutely loved and craved everything citrus the whole pregnancy so this recipe came in my searches for delicious citrus recipes. These cookies are way good!

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons orange zest (for me that was the zest of 2 oranges)
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed juice of an orange (add more or less depending how orangey you want cookies)
2 cups white chocolate/vanilla Chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture until combined. Stir in orange zest, juice and chips. If dough seems really wet make a couple of test cookies. If they come out flat add 1/4-1/2 cup flour.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Do not flatten cookies; it will make them dry. Bake 8 - 10 minutes. Do not overcook! Cookies should be a little plump. Cool slightly before transferring to rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Lemon cupcakes with lemon buttercream

Lemon cupcakes with lemon buttercream

Cake:
1 package lemon cake mix
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup oil
4 eggs
1 small package lemon instant pudding

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix with electric mixer on medium speed for about two minutes. Use a strong mixer, this batter is thick. For cupcakes, bake them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (I was able to get 24 very full cupcakes from the recipe). For regular cake, pour into a greased 9×11 pan or two round pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Don’t over bake or the cake will be too dry! The toothpick test works to check to see if they’re done.


Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, very soft
6-8 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of sugar, then the juice and the zest. Beat until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, until icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency (I added 6 cups total). Use and store at room temperature. (Don’t refrigerate and it will last in a covered container for about three days.)

Garnish with berries, if desired right before serving.

Smore's cupcakes

Smore's cupcakes

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the graham cracker crust:

1½ cups graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup sugar

5 1/3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

For the cake:

2 cups plus 2 tbsp. sugar

1¾ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup plus 1 tbsp. cocoa powder

1½ tsp. baking powder

1½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

½ cup vegetable oil

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

For the frosting:

8 large egg whites, at room temperature

2 cups sugar

½ tsp. cream of tartar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. In a small mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter; mix well with a fork. Drop about 1 tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture in the bottom of each cupcake liner and press down to line the bottom. (Note: I found the bottom of my squeeze bottle to be the perfect size to do this job neatly and quickly.) Divide chopped chocolate on top of the graham cracker crusts evenly. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, and maintain the oven temperature.

To make the cake batter, sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on low speed just to combine. In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract; whisk together. Add to the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the boiling water and stir just to combine (batter will be thin).

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about ¾ of the way full. Return the pans to the oven and bake about 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in the top of a double boiler. (Note: I just set my clean, dry mixer bowl over simmering water, to avoid dirtying two bowls.) Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it reaches 160° F with an instant-read thermometer. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk starting at low speed and gradually increasing to medium-high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form. Mix in the vanilla until combined. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. Brown with a kitchen torch and garnish with chocolate and graham cracker segments.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies!

I'm warning you right now if you love PB and choc, you will NOT be able to stop eating these!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies! 1½ cups all-purpose flour ½ cup unsweetened cocoa ½ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon salt ½ cup granulated sugar (plus more for rolling) ½ cup packed brown sugar ½ cup unsalted butter, softened 1 cup creamy peanut butter, divided 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 egg ¾ cup powdered sugar Preheat oven to 375º F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Make the peanut butter inside FIRST. In a medium bowl, mix together powdered sugar and ¾ cup of peanut butter until smooth. Shape little balls and place them on a wax or parchment paper lined sheet, and freeze. While they’re freezing, make the cookie dough. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together sugars, butter and ¼ cup of peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg, beating to combine. Stir in the flour mixture and stir to combine, blending well. Set aside. Pull off a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough and flatten with your hands. Remove the frozen insides (just a few at a time, They thaw quickly for shaping, rolling and squishing) and wrap the soft cookie dough around the hard middles, pressing to seal. Roll the cookie into a ball and roll the cookie in the sugar. Place cookies on the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart. Using the bottom of a glass, flatten each cookie to about a ½ inch thickness. Bake in preheated oven for 7 to 9 minutes. Let stand on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack.

Smores Cookie Bars

Hello! That's what I said when I ate one of these little goodies. If you like smores then you are in for a treat!..and you better like smores or I don't know if we can be friends :)

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 king-sized Hershey chocolate bars

1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8x8 square baking pan.

In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. In small bowl whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.

Divided dough in half and press half of the dough into an even layer on the bottom or the pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme. Place remaining dough on top of the marshmallow (most easily acheived my flattening dough into small shingles and layering them together with hands)

Bake for 30 minutes, cool before cutting.

Lemon Drop Cookies

These are so good! They're the cookies Noelle and I made for Cassie's SLC shower and they were a big hit. One important tip is to take them out of the oven before you think they're done to ensure that they stay SOFT and deliciously chewy. Oh so good... Our cookies ended up a little flatter than we expected but they were still tasty as could be. I'm sure you could add a little flour to the dough and they'd probably plump up a little more. This recipe makes a lot of cookies - ain't nobody gonna complain about that!



Lemon Drop Cookies
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups butter flavored shortening
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon extract
4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Grated or finely chopped zest of one lemon
1 (6-oz) package lemon drops

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
juice of two lemons (about 4-5 Tablespoons) - (You can use less if you want your glaze a little thicker)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In mixing bowl cream sugar, shortening, and eggs; then add vanilla and lemon extract. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Crush lemon drops in blender or food processor. Add lemon zest and crushed lemon drops; mix well. Roll into balls, flatten slightly with your hand, and bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet (You must use parchment here to avoid sticking).

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool slightly on pan for a couple of minutes. Make the glaze by mixing powdered sugar with lemon juice to desired consistency. Brush glaze over cookie tops after cookies have cooled slightly. If the cookies are too hot the glaze will just melt off. Let cookies cool completely. ENJOY!

Makes 4 to 5 dozen cookies.

Apple Streusel Squares

(From Eagle Brand recipes)



These were kind of a lot of work, but pretty worth it when all was said and done - DELICIOUS! Just make sure to cook them long enough because the bars in the middle of my pan ended up a little runny even after they cooled. Obviously you don't want to burn them either, so find the perfect middle ground (that's easy right?). I left out the cranberries because I didn't have any and wasn't sure I wanted them in my bars anyway. Also, I didn't have as many pecans as the recipe called for, but it was still delicious with less.

Apple Streusel Squares
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 large eggs
1 (21 oz.) can apple pie filling
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cold butter
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped pecans

* HEAT oven to 350°F. Line 13 x 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
* COMBINE graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans in small bowl. Press evenly onto bottom of prepared pan.
* BEAT cream cheese in medium bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk and eggs until smooth. Pour over prepared crust. Spoon apple pie filling evenly over cream cheese layer.
* COMBINE brown sugar, flour and cinnamon in medium bowl. Cut in cold butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cranberries and 1/3 cup pecans. Sprinkle over apple layer.
* BAKE 35 to 40 minutes or until golden. Cool completely before serving - best served chilled.

Banoffee pie

This is Banana Cream Pie kicked up about 10 notches!!! YUMM - Plus there's no fat - beleive me its true!

Recipe: Banoffee Pie
Curtis Stone from the Today Show

Ingredients
Crust
9 ounces graham crackers
1 stick butter, melted

Toffee sauce
1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

Filling
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
5 small bananas (about 1 1/2 pounds total)

Preparation
To make the crust: Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper.
Blend the graham crackers in a food processor until they are finely ground.
Pour the melted butter over the crumbs and process to blend well. The crumbs should stick together when pressed. Press the crumb mixture over the bottom and 1½ inches up the sides of the springform pan. Refrigerate.

To make the toffee sauce: Place a medium-heavy saucepan over medium heat.
Combine the sugar and 3 tablespoons of water in a medium-heavy saucepan.
Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and boil without stirring until the color is deep amber, occasionally swirling the pan and brushing down the sides with a pastry brush dipped into water, about 5 minutes. Stir in the condensed milk and butter. Continue stirring for 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly. Remove the toffee sauce from the heat and spread 1 cup of the sauce over the prepared crust and refrigerate for about 1 hour or until the caramel is semi-firm. Keep the remaining caramel sauce at room temperature.

To fill the pie: Using an electric mixer, beat the cream in a large bowl until thick and very soft billowy peaks form. Very thinly slice 3 of the bananas into discs. Fold the sliced bananas into the softly whipped cream and spoon into the prepared pie crust. Slice the remaining bananas and arrange them decoratively over the pie. Rewarm the remaining toffee sauce gently over low heat. Drizzle some of the sauce decoratively over the pie. If the sauce has thickened too much to drizzle, stir a few tablespoons of milk into the sauce to create a thinner consistency. Drizzle each pie wedge with more sauce and serve.

Pumpkin Cake

1 (29 oz) can pumpkin puree
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 package yellow cake mix
1 cup butter1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 small tub whipped topping

DirectionsPreheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. (These could be substituted with 3t Pumpkin Pie Spice.)

Mix until smooth and pour into a 9×13 inch pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix over pumpkin mixture, then sprinkle chopped nuts and pat down gently. Melt butter or margarine and drizzle over cake.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 45 to 60 minutes. (Be sure to check the cake after 45 minutes because oven temperatures vary.) After cake cools, turn it upside down so the top of the cake will be the crust. Remove the parchment paper. Top with dessert topping (optional) before serving.

Chocolate Mousse Trifle

Ok, so I really can't take any credit for how delicious this dessert turned out. Once you see what it consists of you'll see it just had to be pretty amazing. I wanted to make a trifle for home evening treat last night; a good amount of the fam involved doesn't love fruit so I knew I needed a non-fruity trifle. I LOVE chocolate mousse so I decided to kind of combine a few recipes to come up with this chocolate mousse brownie concoction. This simple mousse recipe could be eaten plain or with anything else that mousse generally goes with. Also I made the whole thing and let it chill for about two hours before serving, but it was even better today because the mousse had really set up, so if at all possible I would recommend preparing it the day before serving. I'm sure this trifle would also be good if you substituted chocolate pudding for the mousse (but not as good). Also I'm sure you could use chocolate pound cake (or yellow pound cake for that matter) instead of brownies.



Chocolate mousse (8 servings)
1 C semisweet chocolate
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla
2 C heavy whipping cream
2 Tbs sugar

Melt chocolate (I prefer double boiler method for melting chocolate, but how ever you do it just make sure not to scorch chocolate); stir until smooth. Stir a couple large spoonfuls of melted chocolate into beaten egg yolk - mix well (this is to ensure that the yolk doesn't turn into scrambled eggs when you add it to the hot melted chocolate); add chocolatey yolk to melted chocolate. Cook on low-medium heat (again, double boiler method) and stir for 2-3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Cool, stirring several times.
In a mixing bowl, beat whipping cream until it begins to thicken. Add sugar; beat until soft peaks form. Fold cooled chocolate mixture into the whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate. The longer the mousse is refrigerated the better it sets up.

Trifle:
Bake a 9x13 pan of brownies. Let brownies cool. Cut into 1 inch squares.
Place half of the brownie squares in trifle dish (or other tall bowl if you don't have a trifle bowl).
Spread half of the mousse mixture over the brownies.
Chop up some chocolate (I used Symphony chocolate, but anything would work...even chocolate chips) and sprinkle over mousse mixture.
Spread whipped cream over mousse. I had some Cool Whip left over from something I made a while back so I used that, but I think it would be OH SO GOOD with fresh whipped cream. I don't know exact measurements on the cream and the chocolate chunks because I just winged it, but just use how ever much you want and it will turn out just fine.
Repeat the layers with the other half of the ingredients...brownies - mousse - chocolate chunks - whipped cream; and then top off with some shaved chocolate to make it look pretty. Cover and refrigerate. (You want the mousse to set up for 2-24 hours; it doesn't matter if it sets up before putting the whole thing together or after, but just make sure you give it some time in the fridge one way or the other).

I'm telling you, this is rich and it is good. It sounds like a lot of work, but the most time-consuming part was letting the chocolate and the brownies cool. The actual hands-on work wasn't bad at all. Prepare for some clogged arteries and enjoy :)

Key Lime Pie

This recipe is like the easiest version ever for a key lime pie, but it is oh so good. It really makes a difference if you squeeze your own limes vs. using the store-bought bottled juice, so it's definitely worth the trouble of squeezing your own.

Key Lime Pie
9 inch graham cracker crust (homemade or store-bought - both work great)
2 1/2 Cups sweetened condensed milk
1/2 Cup sour cream
3/4 Cup key lime juice
1 Tbs grated lime zest (I've never actually added the lime zest but it may make the pie way more delicious...who knows?)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice and lime zest. Mix well and pour into graham cracker crust.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 7 to 10 minutes, until tiny bubbles burst on the surface of the pie. DO NOT BROWN. Chill pie thoroughly before serving. Garnish with lime slices and whipped cream if desired.