Creamy, Dreamy Peanut Butter Torte

My little sister texted me last night and said that she needed me to make a treat . . . so I complied!
This cake is super rich! It is definitely one to share with the hubby! Thankfully it was in my home for less than 24 hours so I don't have to be tempted all day by it . . . but we did of course taste it before sending it out the door . . . and it was so good!
Creamy, Dreamy Peanut Butter Torte
Recipe by: Emily

Cake layer:
1 cup All- purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1/4 cup Cocoa powder
1/4 cup Boiling water
2 large Eggs, beaten
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Buttermilk

In a bowl combine flour, salt and baking soda with a wire whisk, set aside. In a large bowl combine sugars and butter with an electric mixer until a grainy paste forms. In another bowl combine the boiling water and cocoa powder until smooth. Add cocoa mixture, eggs, vanilla to sugar mixture, blend until smooth. Alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk to cocoa batter. Blend until just combined. Bake in a 8 ir 9 inch spring form pan in a 350 degree preheated oven for 25 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan.

Peanut Butter Filling:
8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
14 oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
3/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 cup Heavy Cream

In a large bowl beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy with an electric mixer. Beat in the condensed milk, peanut butter, and vanilla. In another bowl beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. Pour over cooled cake.

Chocolate Ganache:1 cup Semi-sweet Chocolate chips
3/4 cup Heavy Cream

Microwave cream until bubbles form, just before it begins to boil. Add chocolate chips to the cream and allow to sit for 5 minutes before stirring. Cool chocolate to room temperature before spreading on cake.

To Assemble:
Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen from the cake pans edge. Remove the outer rim of the cake pan. Circle the cake edge with wax paper to help keep the cake together while setting. Replace cake pan rim to cake, circled with wax paper. Pour the peanut butter filling over the chocolate cake. Refrigerate for 15 minutes before pouring ganache over the top, spread the ganache evenly and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Enjoy!

(To make an even richer and more moist cake you can pour condensed milk over the chocolate cake layer and let it soak in.)

Bacon wrapped Apple and Caramelized Onion Stuffed Pork Loin Glazed with Real Maple Syrup

Mensch! We just got back from a LONG day trip up north for my hubby's work and boy do I so not feel like even looking at my kitchen! We have been nashing on treats all day that we were drawn to along the way (!!!) . . . gummi's, cookies, and salted black licorace from our little outing to Ikea, Ice Cream from "the Big Red Barn," and some Mexican Food at a hopping place in Linden (a little town in UT). It was fun but we are something beat! So here is dinner from a few days ago! Which has found a place on my top 10 list! I just love all of the things that you can do with pork loin . . . and don't even get me started on bacon! I rarely buy it because I know that my kitchen will be forever splattered with grease and that I will forever be found munching on it! But the wonders that it does wrapped around a stuffed pork loin are amazing! I paired the pork loin with spicy brown mustard roasted potatoes! They are awesome and too easy! Just cut up potatoes, toss them in a bag, add brown mustard, a little salt and pepper and then toss onto a HOT baking sheet (a hot pan keeps then from sticking) and roast until cooked through . . . delish!Bacon wrapped Apple and Caramelized Onion Stuffed Pork Loin Glazed with Real Maple Syrup
Recipe by: Emily

2.5 lb Pork Loin
1 Apple, cored, peeled, and diced
1 Medium Onion, sliced thin
8 strips of Bacon
1/4 Cup Panko bread crumbs
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
Salt
Fresh Cracked Pepper
Real Maple Syrup

1.Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook the sliced onions in a frying pan over medium heat for 20 minutes, allowing them to caramelize. Add the diced apples, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Continue cooking until the apples are soft and the mixture has caramelized. (Add a little water along the way if you need to to prevent burning and sticking.) Add the bread crumbs and mix well. Remove the apple/onion mixture from the stove and set aside.
2. Butterfly the pork loin creating an even layer. Season with salt and pepper and then spoon the onion and apple mixture into the center lengthwise. Fold one side of the pork over the filling and roll up making sure that the filling is secure. Wrap the bacon strips around the pork loin and secure with toothpicks if needed. Place in a roasting pan and drizzle with maple syrup. Roast pork loin for 30-40 minutes or until pork is cooked through. For the last few minutes of cooking turn on the broiler and crisp up the bacon, turning often to crisp the bacon on all sides. Allow the meat to rest covered with foil for 10-15 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

Optimus Prime Birthday Cake . . . and some family fun!

(This little beauty = "Optimus Prime, animated Transformer Cake," kept my little sister and I up until early in the morning . . . but our cute little T-man Birthday boy was happy . . . so we were happy!)

I have been a bit of a slacker this summer about posting . . . It has been pretty busy and I have opted to spend time with my handsome husband rather than with my computer . . . Our family did have a great 24th of July celebration though!

A doughnut loving cutie looking so cute chocolate coated!

Another chocolate covered happy face that enjoyed Auntie Em's homemade doughnuts for the 24th of July Celebration!

The only evidence that I spent HOURS in the kitchen making doughnuts and pastries!

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.

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 substitute 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 myself)

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 8 minutes. 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!

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! 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!