-Baked the weekend away-

Last weekend while i was home visiting my mom I took some time to make a chocolate mess out of her kitchen. The first recipe that I made was Chocolate Merlot Cupcakes...These cupcakes are by far the best cupcakes that I have ever made, but then again why wouldnt they be. They pair my two favorite flavors Chocolate and Wine. I took a great merlot cupcake recipe and then had some fun with it and made it my own. The second treats i made were S'more Cake Balls, I made these for a BBQ my mom was having at work. I figured that Smore's are the signature treat of summer so why not make these for the BBQ.

Chocolate Merlot Cupcakes

Ingredients

2 cups flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup DARK brown sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup cooled, strong coffee

1/2 cup Merlot

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup vegtable oil

*You can make buttermilk on your own instead of getting a huge thing of it and letting it go to waste. For every 1/2 cup of milk add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and you have buttermilk!

Directions

Preheat over to 375 degrees

-In a lagre bowl mix (Flour, cocoa powerder, sugars, baking soda, baking poweder & salt)

-In a medium bowl wish together (eggs, coffee, wine, buttermilk and oil)

-Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Fill cupcake liners half full and bake.

-Bake 20-25 minutes

Once the cupcakes had cooled i decided to cup out the center of the cakes and make a merlot filling to add the extra wine flavoring. This filling does not have a recipe since i just made it up as i went. I used cream cheese, wine and some powder sugar.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix Together Frost & Enjoy!!

The day that i made these i went and got a pedi cure so I took some cupcaks back to the salon i went to as a thank you for making my feet look AMAZING!!!

S'more Cake Balls

Ingredients

1 box devil's food cake mix

1 box (3.4 ounces) instant chocolate pudding mix

4 eggs

1 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup marshmallow creme (I used a whole small container)

1 cup coarsely crushed graham crackers

1 bag (14 ounces) Light Cocoa Candy Melts

1/2 cup finely crushed graham crackers

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degree.

Spray one 13 x 9 x 2 in. sheet pan

-In large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water and oil; MIX

-Bake 35-40 minutes for sheet pan, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

-In large bowl, use hands to crumble cake until no large chunks remain. Add marshmallow creme and coarsely crushed graham crackers; mix with large spoon until well combined.

-Form mixture into cake balls. Chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours.

-Melt Candy Melts according to package directions. Put cake ball on a spoon dip into the chcolate roll it around to ensure it is fully covered and then place on a cook sheet. Once on the cookie sheet sprinkle with graham crackers.

These cake balls were great. Not as good as the french toast ones but still good. I was sad that the marshmellow flavor was not more prominent. I think next time i make them I am going to hide a mini marshmellow in the center of them to make the marshmellow flavor stand out more.

I hope you all enjoy these funny chocolate treats!! Happy Summer!

Verdict Is In

The verdict is in. DRUM ROLL PLEASE… Cupcakes win. I was sadly hoping that pies would win so that I would have a challenge and have to make something that I have never made before. However, I do love making cupcakes so I am not sad that I have to make them! I have picked a fun new flavor to share with everyone. I am pairing two of my favorite things CUPCAKES & WINE! The flavor will be a chocolate merlot cupcake with a merlot butter cream frosting or a cream cheese frosting still have not decided which one will be best. Fell free to leave me a comment and tell me which one you would like to see on top of these cupcakes. I am very excited for these yummy little treats.

Announcement: People from Pocatello I will be making these while I am home this weekend so please shoot over and get yourself a cupcake.

Even though pies lost I am giving myself the personal challenge to make one from scratch. My mom and aunt were saying that they had a favorite pie growing up that I believe my grandma or great grandma used to make and I am going to give that a go… WISH ME LUCK! If you have anything that will make this pie baking experience easier for me please let me in on the secrets.

Thank you for all that votes…. Look out for another poll soon. I love hearing what my readers like.

Votes Needed

Hello Friends-

For those of you who have not noticed I have placed a poll on the right side of the page. Whichever one wins will be what I make next. So please vote so I can see what my readers are into and then I can share a fun recipe for the winning treat!

Much Love to all my amazing readers

Keep Calm and Cupcake on!

Dead Week Study Treats

I did what I do best when I want to avoid something… I baked. Paige and I spent the greater part of Saturday afternoon and well into the evening in the kitchen making treats that I could give out as study treats for dead week. What better way to spend hours studying then with some amazing Cake Pops and Peanut Butter cups to munch on.

Peanut Butter cups are one of my signature treats. When all other recipes fail I know I can always fall back on my version of a Resses peanut butter cup. My mom and I have been making these for years. Every year during the holiday we were search high and low or cup mini cup cake cups to put them in and then place them in cute tins and give out as gifts. Before we knew it we were getting request for them at every holiday. They are a quick and easy and absolutely AMAZING!

Recipe

½ a brick white chocolate almond bark

½ brick milk chocolate almond bark

1 cup creamy peanut butter (don’t do the healthy peanut butter they won’t taste as good)

- I always add a little bit more peanut butter because I LOVE IT!!

2 cups Rice Crispys

Instruction

In a microwave safe bowl place the white chocolate and milk chocolate. You can break it up so that it melts faster if you want it is not necessary. Place the bowl in the microwave and start melting in 1 to 2 minutes increments you don’t want to melt it to quickly and burn it.

Once the chocolate is mostly melted add the peanut butter and place back in the microwave for one more minute.

Stir the chocolate and peanut butter to make sure it is evenly mixed.

Add the rice crispys and stir again.

With a regular sized spoon scoop mixture into the cups and place on a cookie sheet. Once you have filled all of the cups place the cookie sheet in the fridge and you are done.

They do not take very long to set up! Peel back the wrapper and enjoy!

The second yummy treat we made was French Toast Cake Pops. I have made Cake Pops quite a few times and they are some of my favorite treats. However, this is the first time I stepped outside of the box and made a fun flavor like French toast. I was pretty scared that these were such a crazy flavor that no one would like them…But that was anything but true these were a total hit.

Recipe

1 box (about 18 ounces) yellow cake mix

1 box (3.4 ounces) instant butterscotch pudding mix

4 eggs

1 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

4 teaspoons maple flavoring, divided

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon. Divided

1/4 teaspoon salt

¾ container butter cream frosting

1 Bag candy melts ( I used white and orange)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Spray one 13 x 9 x 2 in. sheet pan.

In large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water, oil, 2 teaspoons maple flavoring and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; beat at medium speed with electric. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake 35-40 minutes for sheet pan, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean

Cool in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling grid and cool completely.

In small bowl, combine icing with remaining 2 teaspoons maple flavoring, remaining 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and salt. In large bowl,

Cute the cake into chunk and use hands to crumble cake (rub two chunk of cake together) until no large chunks remain. Add icing mixture; mix with fingers until well combined.

Form mixture into cake balls, Wash your hands every few balls so that they don’t start to stick to your hands. Chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours.

Melt Candy Melts according to package directions. I start and 1 minute increments.

Dip sticks into melted Candy Melts and insert into cake balls; let set. Wait until candy is completely firm before dipping the pops completely in melted Candy Melts; let set.

So my cake pops didn’t have a section that gets flat from laying down after I dipped them in chocolate I bought a Styrofoam block and stuck the pops into it.

Both of these treats are super fun to make and even more exciting to eat. It was rewarding to hear how much people enjoyed there Dead Week Study Treats.

-Finals-

Dear Blog Readers-

I am very sorry that I have not posted a fun recipe in a while. Finals have been approaching and I have been studying and packing to move into a new house once finals are over. However, I did make Cake Pops, and Peanut Butter Cups this past weekend and can't wait to share the recipe and photos with you soon. 7 more days and i will be back in full blogging force.

Thank You for reading my blog!!

Katie Stuart