German Chocolate "Schnecke" and Cheese Danish Cups

Hooray for the 4th of July!!! I absolutely LOVE celebrating the 4th! This year we are hanging out with my younger sister, her hubs, and my delicious little niece! I caught a "holiday baking bug" today and came home and started playing around in the kitchen . . . leading to the consumption of naughty goodies! (D-lish!) I came out of the kitchen telling my husband that "thank heavens we have family, friends, and neighbors to share with!" I boxed up a load for my Mutti to take with them up the mountain and hopefully they will be shared and eaten! So some of you may know what Schneke are . . . they are snails . . . well Schneke is the German word for snails . . . so whenever we made/make anything "swirly" I remember them being called Schneke from my Mission . . . kinda cute I think! German Chocolate Schnecke
Recipe by: Emily
1 Package Puff Pastry Dough, (2 sheets) thawed according to package instructions
2 cups Coconut Pecan Frosting, you can use "canned" for a short cut
1/2 cup Mini Chocolate chips

Unfold the puff pastry dough onto a lightly floured surface, spread evenly with coconut pecan frosting, sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and roll up into a log. Cut the log into 1/2 inch pieces and place on a lined baking sheet. Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until pastry is lightly browned. Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!

I have a weakness(!!!) for cheese danishes!!! I hate to say it but croissants and danishes are the two tempters for me at bakeries! I am not a doughnut girl by any means so they never worry me . . . but seeing cheese danishes is a struggle sometimes! Love' em! (Mensch!) These are great finger foods that are super fast, easy and d-lish to make!Cheese Danish Cups
Recipe by: Emily

8 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature
2 Egg Yolks, room temperature
1/3 cup Sugar
1/2 tsp Lemon Juice
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Package Puff Pastry Dough (2 sheets)thawed according to package instructions

1. Mix the cream cheese, sugar, egg yolks, lemon juice, salt, and vanilla together until just incorporated. (ie DON'T WHIP).
2. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut each sheet of dough into 9 equal pieces. Place pieces in a muffin tip and gently press down into the muffin tin cups. Equally distribute the cream cheese mixture into each pastry dough "cup" and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven until puffed and golden brown. Remove immediately from cups onto a cooling rack and serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!
You can also drizzle the cups with icing and bake them with a a little jam or preserves on top.

I would also like to pass on the "Splash Award" to a few blogs that really make a splash with their creations:

Teresa at A Blog About Food,
Marie at The English Kitchen,
Carrian at Sweet Basil, and
Sara at My Sisters Cucina!

Pass it on ladies and keeping making a splash!

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie "Cake"

Today was my handsome hubby's 28th birthday so we celebrated with a round of golf (I am lobster red after not seeing the sun much since before my mission!) going to the movie "Up" (I highly recommend it . . . darling!) and of course birthday cake!
This year I made my cookie dough loving hubby a giant cookie cake . . . so I have another cake making an appearance! (SG fam I am bringing half of it to Mom's Saturday so we don't have it at our house to tempt us . . . so grab a fork and head over!) I am going to have to change my blog title if this keeps up!My nephew has requested an Optimus Prime birthday cake on Tuesday . . . so yes I will most likely have another cake posted again! We will see if I get anything else on here between now and then! I think this would also be a great idea to do with sugar cookies or to substitue M&M's in place of the chocolate chips! I did a light chocolate cream cheese filling by adding melted chocolate chips but you can so straight up cream cheese filling by eliminating the chocolate. It seriously was a fun cake and delish to devour! Zum Geburtstag Viel Glueck babe!Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie "Cake"

4 cups all-purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp Salt
6 Tbsp Butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed Light Brown Sugar
3/4 cup granulated Sugar
3 tsp pure Vanilla Extract
2 large Eggs, plus 2 Egg Yolks
3/4 cup Heavy Cream
3 cups Semisweet or Milk Chocolate Chips (I am a milk chocolate girl myelf)

Cream Cheese Filling

4 Packages Cream Cheese, room temperature (if you use fat free cream cheese it is a little more runny, I meet in the middle and do neufchatel or half neufchatel and half fat free . . .)
1-1 1/2 cups Confectioners' Sugar
2 Tbsp Butter, room temperature
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Semi-Sweet or Milk Chocolate chips, melted (optional)

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Put butter and brown and granulated sugars into mixer bowl; mix on medium until pale and fluffy. Mix in vanilla, eggs, and yolks. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the cream. Stir in chocolate chips.
2. For each of the 7 layers, drop 1 level cup batter onto center of a baking sheet lined with parchment (keep unbaked dough refrigerated). Spread batter with wet hands or a spoon into an 8-inch circle. Bake until edges are pale golden brown, about 8minutes. Remove from oven. Use offset spatula to reshape circle. Return to oven; bake until edges are golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes more. Transfer to wire rack; let cool. Can be stored airtight up to 1 day.
3.Mix cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and confectioners' sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add melted chocolate if desired and mix until just incorporated. Spread onto 4 cookies. Stack cookies, placing unfrosted cookie on top. Refrigerate until frosting is set, at least 20 minutes or up to 4 hours. Serve at room temperature. Enjoy!

(Yes this does make 7 cookies, but the birthday boy loves cookie dough . . . so our cake had 6!)

Cowboy Wedding Cake

My sweet, totally beautiful and amazing cousin Casi got married this weekend and asked me to do her wedding cake! It was a lot of fun because it was a western cake complete with cowboy and cowgirl silhouettes and horseshoes around it! It also tasted pretty darn good with an Almond Sour Cream White Cake and Vanilla Almond whipped filling!My littlest sister was my hero when she stayed up with me until 2 and carefully cut out the silhouettes and then dusted the accents with bronzing dust! (Thanks Velv!) My husband was also amazing as always and stepped in to knead some of the fondant when I could not bare touching the powder sugar anymore so thanks again Toph! I was trying not to cry when after driving 3 hours (and Utah roads are NEVER bumpy . . .) to the reception we discovered that the fondant had started to slide on the top 2 layers . . . my aunt reminded me that this even happens on Ace of Cakes . . . but still I wanted it to be perfect but everyone was so nice and complimentary and the reception was darling and all who attended from our clan had a great time and thoroughly loved watching Casi and Jake and seeing how happy they were! Congrats again!Thanks you two for including all of "the Parry girls" so much and Teri and Dave you two are awesome and a day and have a great son in law to add to the Christensen clan! We were thrilled to share this happy occasion with you all and look forward to many more!!!
Vanilla Almond Filling

1 Large Package Instant Vanilla Pudding
1/2-1 tsp Almond Extract
1 8 oz carton Cool Whip
1 Cup Milk

Whisk the pudding, milk and almond extract together in a bowl until all the lumps are out. Fold in the whipping cream and chill until use. Enjoy!

(This filling is so delish!)

Twilight Cake

My youngest sister is turning 18 today . . . so I volunteered to make her birthday cake! She (like all of the girls in my fam) is a SERIOUS fan of the Twilight series . . . so I surprised her with a Twilight birthday cake! I tried out a few new decorations and used a stencil and royal icing on the side, and added a little sparkle, ribbon etc. I was a little ticked when my top layer of fondant was too soft . . . but since this is my second time working with it . . . and the bottom layer of fondant had a perfect consistency I didn't sweat it too much. Also I learned that if your frosting evades the stencil form you can carefully scrape off the excess and use a moist fine tipped soft brush to wipe away the remnants and clean up the lines . . . (live and learn) I am making a wedding cake for my darling cousin in two weeks and am major pumped! It is a cowboy cake and is going to be awesome!!! Hopefully I will have something more than cake to post soon! We'll see!

Black Tie Mousse Cake

Okay I am not MIA . . . I have just been away from my kitchen a lot lately . . . lots going on in the summer . . . I seem to have become the cake lady now! Since school is out for the summer (although I will probably go to summer school . . . . just 1 class . . . yes I desperately want to finish!) we have been spending time with family and attending MANY birthdays and other events. Two of my crazy sisters and I got to act as assistants at a photo shoot this weekend for my darling cousin Casi's bridals! My SIL Brandi is a photographer and scouted out some amazing places to shoot at! They turned out amazing! I think she shot over 400 pictures and posted a few on her blog at Moments to Remember Photography!(Check them out . . . WAY CUTE!) My older sister was ready to grab her husband and get photos done all over again, while my cute little blond sis was ready to scout out a cowboy of her own! (Happy hunting blondie!) All in all it was just a fun weekend! As you can see from my pics I volunteered to make dessert for the family dinner that we had at meine Elterns with Cassi and her fiance Jake. I made a black tie mousse cake and found the recipe online . . . it was pretty good. I was a little miffed that I didn't go with my gut and use milk chocolate chips rather than all semi-sweet for the ganash . . . but it was still good.

Transformers Bumblebee Cake!

I love my nephews and nieces to death! They are just so much fun and such a joy in my life! My nephew turned 5 yesterday and I volunteered to make a Transformers Bumblebee birthday cake for him!
I was pretty pleased with how it turned out! Especially since I have NEVER used fondant before (or made the sticky fun stuff either for that matter!) I made marshmallow fondant and it turned out pretty good! My family decided that it tastes somewhere between a "peep" and "circus peanut." It was pretty fun to work with . . . very much a live and learn experience! I volunteered to make another cake in June . . . so we will see what happens!
How cute is my little helper? She loved the fondant and marshmallows! (She also LOVED her ladybug birthday cake that her mama made!) We have LOTS of birthdays in May to celebrate!

Strawberry and Cream Cheese filled Skinnies

Skinnies are a fav in my fam for breakfast/lunch/dinner. I remember my mom and my aunt making them as a child and they still remain a fav of mine! To celebrate the end of another semester of school I knew that we had to have a killer breakfast and since I still have bags and bags of strawberries in my freezer from making freezer jam, strawberry filled skinnies were a perfect choice! I could seriously eat these every day! The recipe for skinnies is here. Enjoy!Strawberry and Cream Cheese filled Skinnies

Strawberry filling

2 cups strawberries, whole or halved
Sugar (to taste)
2 Tbsp Water

Cook the strawberries, sugar and water in a sauce pan over medium heat until the mixture begins to boil. Cook until the strawberries have softened and the desired consistency is achieved.

Cream Cheese Filling

8 oz Cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup Whipped cream, cool whip can be used to

Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Add 1/2 cup whipped cream and beat again until incorporated. Fold in remaining whipped cream. (If you want the cream cheese lighter, fold in more whipped cream.)

To assemble skinnies: Place a skinny on a plate, spoon in desired cream cheese and strawberry fillings. roll up skinny and serve with additional whipped cream and strawberries on top. Enjoy!

Kudos to Kiki!

I have been busy with finals and with my hubby traveling a lot for work I have had no desire to cook anything lately . . . although as a stress reliever I did crank out a few batches of strawberry freezer jam . . . but I have to give Kudos to my little sister Kiki for her darling cake decorating skills! My niece turned 1 last week and we celebrated with a lady bug themed birthday party! I think the cake and cupcakes turned out darling! You have mad skills K! Way to go! And happy birthday to you today! Are you really 23? Getting up there babe!

Strawberry Ice Cream Chocolate Cake Roll

What to do with homemade strawberry sour cream ice cream? . . . make it into an amazing cake roll and top it off with some killer hot fudge sauce . . . ok!This cake roll is awesome! It is also awesome to give away to some great people! The cake is super spongy, moist and delish and this ice cream recipe is the best! I could eat it all before it even freezes it is sooooo good! Plus this looks like a light spring dessert (well, before covering it in chocolate sauce . . .) All that I can say is that I am sold on ice cream cake rolls now!Chocolate Cake Roll

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa or HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups Ice Cream(any flavor)slightly softened
Powdered sugar(optional)

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 15-1/2x10-1/2x1-inch jelly-roll pan with vegetable cooking spray. Line with wax paper; spray again.

2. Sift together flour, cocoa and baking powder. Beat eggs, granulated sugar and vanilla in small bowl until pale in color, about 5 minutes. Fold in cocoa mixture; spread batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake 5 to 7 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly in center. Invert cake onto clean towel; remove wax paper. Roll up cake with powder sugar sprinkled towel from short side. Cool completely on wire rack.

4. Unroll cake; spread with ice cream. Reroll cake without towel; press seam-side down. Cover; freeze until firm. Sprinkle top lightly with powdered sugar, if desired. Cover; freeze leftover cake roll. 8 servings.