100th Post Fondant Cake!

{It's pretty much a big deal}
I sat down last week to edit and post all these great recipes I have, but haven't had any spare time to share with anyone... when I saw that the next post was going to be #100. I yelled across the room (cuz that's how it's done these days when I'm on my computer on the couch, and husby is on the other computer across the room with headphones on) and told him it was going to be #100- and he totally flipped out! I was beyond surprised, I was expecting the usual "yeah, okay whatever" that I normally get... but no! He gets up and is all excited, and tells me I can't just do any ol' recipe I have (even though I have about 10 that I haven't blogged about yet), and insists that I do something spectacular. 
Well spectacular was a little too advanced for me, haha! Realty hit me, and I decided to do something that I actually KNEW I could accomplish without a meltdown in the kitchen. I have wanted to do a cake with fondant for a long time, but I was so afraid of destruction, that I put it off for a really long time- it only seemed right to try it for such a stupendous occasion such as this.

At first, I wanted to do a two tiered cake... mmm... but then I did some research on how to successfully put a tiered cake together and decided I should aim a little lower since I haven't done anything like this before. I mean, cooking and baking is one thing... but mechanics?! Ahem, um, no. That had the words EPIC FAIL written all over it. So here we have it. A simple 8 inch two layer cake, complete with fondant.

the above picture is taken with my iphone... btw.

So obviously, it's not perfect. I wasn't expecting it to be. After all, it was my first time using fondant, ever. There are a few cracks.. one side I tore a huge hole and the frosting started oozing out all over the place. I tried to patch it up, but you could definitely tell it was there! I'd say though, I did pretty well! It was a tad dry as well, but I know for next time what it should feel like. The decoration is simply just piped on using my favorite chocolate frosting...

Mmm... So good! It was free hand, so yeah... it's definitely not perfect, either. I'm pretty proud of myself though! In case you are wondering, I used a regular box cake (gasp!) because I was more anxious to use the fondant and eat my frosting... plus I think cake mixes from boxes are pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Anyways, happy 100th to Easy Peasy! Thanks for all the comments and blog love! Here's to another 100...

Hot Dog Mummies

{mummify your dogs}
First off...

I have many reasons for not updating since JUNE. But no one really cares, as long as I'm back, right? That's what I thought.

So I've seen these done a thousand times, but only until my cousin Adrian made me a superb cookbook which included this fun recipe, did I actually try it. I first tried it a two Halloweens ago. I made them with my own recipe for pizza though... It was gross. I don't know what I was thinking. So this year, I decided to go with something I knew I liked- Pillsbury croissants. This recipe would be especially fabulous for kids! And of course, particularly amazing during October. (But let's be real- you can eat them anytime you want.)

Ingredients:
6 hot dogs (or the like)
1 can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Very carefully open and unroll the dough, doing your absolute best not to tear the crescent rolls into serrated segments. The dough will have a serrated break horizontally halfway through the dough, go ahead and separate the dough into two equal portions. This sounds more complicated than it actually is. Lay the two dough pieces flat, and cut each portion into 6, 1 inch strips. Wrap two strips around each hot dog, squishing the meeting ends together, leaving a space at one end of the hot dog for the face. If the dough happens to tear along the serrated lines, just squish it back together.

Bake on a non greased baking sheet for about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and the hot dogs are slightly bubbly. Use mustard for the eyes, and wa-la! 
 

What I'm craving...

I just wanted to show you all some things I am dying to make...

Turtle Brownies from The Curvy Carrot

Tortellini Pasta with Bacon, Broccoli and Basil from Cookin' Canuck

Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Muffins with Pecan Streusel from Brown Eyed Baker

Pineapple Bacon Burgers from Our Best Bites

Taco Pizza from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

I wish I had all the time in the world and could just eat and eat and never get full, so I could make all of these TODAY!

Add 'browsing food blogs' to my list of things I shouldn't do while hungry...

Happy Friday!



Fried Mozza Sticks

{fried cheese. totally american}
I was craving mozzarella sticks one night, but of course, all my favorite frozen food isle American delicacies are hard to find here. Instead of restaurant inspired appetizers they have a million different flavors of perogies. So naturally I figured it couldn't be that difficult to make my own. And guess what. It wasn't hard at all!
These were were so amazing! They only took a few minutes to make. They were warm and crispy on the outside and ooey gooey cheesy on the inside. Paired with some marinara dipping sauce and they are unstoppable!

Ingredients:
1 cup Italian Bread Crumbs (Panko is great, too just add a little Italian seasoning)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
8 string cheeses, cut in half

Directions:
In a large deep skillet, heat up enough vegetable oil to nearly submerge the cheese sticks. About 1 to 1 1/2 inches. Heat over medium to medium high heat- be careful not to burn down your house. Get three seperate bowls ready, and fill one with your flour, one with your egg and water mixture, and one with your bread crumbs. Get out a plate for when your friend mozza sticks are finish frying.

Take one cheese stick and roll it in the flour. Enough to coat. Then coat it in the egg mixture, and finally, roll it in the bread crumbs. Make sure to fully coat the cheese otherwise it will melt out between the crust. You can double crust them if you feel so inclined. Repeat with remaining mozza sticks. Once your oil is hot, fry for about 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove with a spatula and place on plate until all your fried mozza sticks are done. Serve with marinara sauce if desired.

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a comment and let me know what you think! 

Banana Berry Brownie Pizza

{there is fruit on it so it's healthy, right?}
If you didn't already know this, you do now. Sugar cookies and I have issues. I've only made them successfully once in my life and luckily for me, I blogged about it. I've come to terms with it, and so should you. I saw all these super yummy fruit pizza recipes amidst my daily recipe browsing, but my better judgment told me to not even try to attempt a sugar cookie crust again.
So then I decided I should make the crust out of something much easier, and something I knew I could make no problemo. Brownies! What's better than chocolate? Nothing. Nothing is better than chocolate. I'm not really into citrus fruits mixed with the chocolate taste so then I had to come up with super yummy fruits that go really well with chocolate.
Bananas. Strawberries. Raspberries.
I'm sure there are others but that right there had me drooling. So off I went to the kitchen to make this delish of a brownie pizza! Go me!

Ingredients:
For the brownie crust:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup all purpose flour

"Sauce"
4 oz cream cheese, softened (about half a brick)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Toppings:
Strawberries, sliced
Raspberries
Bananas, sliced
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted (for drizzling)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Spray a pizza pan with cooking spray, set aside.
In a medium sauce pan, bring to a boil: sugar, water and butter. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips, stir until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and stir until completely blended together. Then add flour and baking soda, mix well. Spread brownie batter on to pizza pan, making it as smooth and even as possible. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, and the edges are slightly crisp. Let cool.
Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth, add in powdered sugar and vanilla and beat again until combined and smooth. Spread over cooled brownie crust.
Next, cup your strawberries and bananas. You can arrange them however you want. Don't be afraid to get creative. Hey, you can even just dump them on it and it will still look amazing! Drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired. 

 Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave me a comment and tell me what you think!

The Best Key Lime Pie [and bars] Ever

{when life gives you... key limes}
Oh my heavens, friends. This pie is hands down, the MOST amazing Key Lime Pie. I can't over hype it enough! I got asked to bring a key lime pie to my friend John's, birthday party. I was really excited because I actually have never made my own Key Lime Pie before. Almost all the recipes I researched all included a million eggs- which I grimace at the thought of. I'm not a lover of eggs. We can thank some kind of custard for that. 
Anyways, this recipe has only three ingredients. Three! I love that this pie is so light and creamy. Perfect for summer! It doesn't take long to bake, making it even more summer friendly. You can alter the amount of lime juice you use to your own tastes, you can even add a little zest if want to really pump up the lime flavor. You can't go wrong, kids. This pie will change your life!

  (ya like the vintage look? I do. I thought it was fun for a fun summer recipe)

Ingredients:

Pie filling:

3/4 cup key lime juice

3 cups sweetened condensed milk (about 2 cans)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon lime zest, optional

Graham Cracker Crust:

1 1/2 cups crushed Graham Crackers

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup melted butter

Directions:

Juice limes. This can be quite tedious, but so worth it. You'll need about 20 key limes (those are the little limes, not the big ones). What does 20 limes look like? This...

Watch out for all the seeds. Set lime juice aside.

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 9 inch round pie plate with cooking spray, set aside. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients for the crust, and stir together with a fork until moistened and crumbly. Lightly press the graham crumbs against the bottom and sides of pie plate. Bake for about 10 minutes, set aside. 

In a large bowl, add all ingredients for the pie filling. Mix with a whisk until creamy and smooth. Go ahead and give it a taste... feel free to add more juice and/or zest if you feel so inclined. Pour into crust, and bake for 5-10 minutes. You should start to see tiny pinhole bubbles form on the surface and burst. Do not brown.

Take the pie out of the oven, and set it aside. Once it's cooled, place in the refrigerator for a couple hours. 

Garnish with whipped cream (homemade of course) and sliced limes, if desired. 

I got a little carried away with taking pictures... my bad!

You can also make a great bar rendition, which is great for larger crowds and sure to please everyone! Just follow the recipe the same as above, only using a 13x9 inch square pan instead.

Thanks for reading! Please remember to leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Source: allrecipes 

Ferrero Rocher Cake

{please don't droll on your screen...}
I went on this Ferrero Rocher kick, and then it just hit me. I should make it into a cake. I searched and searched for something comparable, just so I could see how other people made this cake. I don't mean to brag, but as far as my search went, I found zero Ferrero Rocher cake... just cupcakes. So... yeah

This cake was super easy, and more importantly, delicious. I only got one piece, and my dear husband got NONE! It went THAT fast! I was really proud of myself after making this cake. I love to see myself succeed, and I feel like I'm really making progress in the whole baking field. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 recipe for Chocolate Cake (here is a great one I can't wait to try from Our Best Bites)
1/2 small tub of Nutella
About 20 Hazelnuts, chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to your recipe specifications. Prepare cake batter, as per directions. Pour batter into a sprayed 8 inch round spring form pan, or whatever round pans you may have in the kitchen. Bake as per directions. Let cool.
While you are waiting, go ahead and make your frosting. Here is my absolute favorite chocolate frosting recipe. Mmm, it's so good... but I don't mean to brag.
Once your cake has cooled, cut the cake in half to create two layers, or if you are using two pans, you can just ignore that part. Very carefully spread the Nutella on top of the bottom top half of the cake. Take the top part of the cake and place it on top of the Nutella frosted part of the cake. Frost the cake with your chocolate frosting, make sure you don't use up all the frosting if you are planning on decorating more.
I'm not an expert on cake decorating, but this is the best way I can tell you how to get the nuts on the side of the cake. Take a small handful of nuts, and spread them from you finger tips to the center of your palm. Quickly lay your hand up against the side of the cake, trying to get as much of the nuts to stick as possible. It'll be messy, but it works.

Repeat until you have the desired amount of nuts on your cake. You can take the remaining chocolate frosting and pipe a fun design on the top of the cake. The world is your oyster. Slice it up and eat it all!

Don't forget to leave me a comment! Oh man I'm craving Ferrero Rocher now.

Raspberry Shortbread Dreams & Mother's Day Tribute

{a taste of raspberry heaven}
The one thing I hate about a casual work place, is that I check my email, and in my email I get about 5-10 recipe updates a day. I of course, have to open the emails and read them. All my will power then goes out the window and I can't help but browse the entire site. Without that lack of will power however, I wouldn't have found these little dreams of cookies. They are pretty dang easy, and super tasty. Feel free sit yourself down on the couch and eat the entire batch. No judgments here! 

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (vanilla would taste divine as well)
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 to 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam (or any kind of jam you fancy)

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 to 3 tablespoons water or milk

Directions:
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in almond extract. Gradually add in flour and mix until a dough forms. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Shape dough into 1 inch balls, and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Take the end of a wooden spoon or your thumb, and make an indent in the center of each cookie. Fill with jam.
Bake for 14-18 minutes. Let cool.

Make your glaze, should be drizzling consistency. Drizzle over cookies and devour!

And because it's Mother's Day on Sunday, I'm giving my awesome mom a huge shout out! 

In September of 2010, my mom was diagnosed with Lung Cancer. She underwent chemotherapy along side a heavy dose of radiation treatment. In January of this year, we learned that it had spread and therefore, became terminal. This Mother's Day is especially hard for me to be away from home, because it may just be my mom's last Mother's Day.

Without my mom, I don't know that I would know how to cook. She taught me everything I know by example. She got me my first cookbook. She is truly an inspiration to me and I dedicate all my cooking endeavors to her. Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Thanks for reading!