Cake Batter Fudge

I'm learing it takes quite a bit of time when you undertake an entire kitchen renovation on your own.  And that's where a great deal of my time is spent, energy is focused.  However, I have made efforts to do some baking while waiting for everything to be hooked up, put back, finished/re-finished, etc...

As it turns out, my husband and I headed to NJ to see his brother (and family).  Not only do I not go anywhere empty handed, but if at all possible I bake something from scratch. That said, I made a batch of cake batter fudge. It was simple and didn't require dirtying up too many dishes. As a matter of fact, I used one bowl to mix the ingredients and a tray to spread out the fudge.  Easy peasy, lemon squeazy.

The original recipe can be found here, but I was inspired by the fun coloring/display as posted here by another blogger.  The first recipe is easy and fast, but I liked the idea of dropping in blue swirl to liven up the dessert.  YUM!

CAKE BATTER FUDGE

INGREDIENTS:

1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
3.5 cups white chocolate chips
3 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Almond Extract
Rainbow Sprinkles


DIRECTIONS:

Pour milk and white chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 2-3 minutes, or until white chocolate is almost completely melted. DO NOT OVERHEAT. Stir until completely blended, melted, and smooth.

Immediately add vanilla and almond and combine thoroughly. Add a handful or so of rainbow sprinkles and fold in quickly, because they will melt (and if they are stirred for too long they’ll turn the fudge an ugly muddy color).

Transfer to an aluminum-foil lined 8×8 inch baking pan for very thick fudge, or a 11X7 pan (recommended). Let set at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Once set, cut into cubes (and peel off the foil!). Store leftovers in an airtight container in a cool place.


PERSONAL NOTES:

This was ridiculously easy to make.  I think the whole thing took 10 minutes, tops.  Of course, that doesn't include the setting time, but if you're looking for something fast to make (and you don't need it immediately), this is your dish. 

The only downside to this recipe is that I don't find it tastes a whole lot like cake batter. It's good - don't get me wrong (maybe even too good - I almost can't stop eating it once I start), but it tastes more like white chocolate fudge than anything else.

Layered Chocolate Banana Pudding Cake

Thank you Weight Watchers for putting together some yummy desserts that I can enjoy and not be all like, "Whah, I'm swearing off chocolate until I drop 5 pounds." Thank you, thank you, thank you! So this is a dish like that - eating something that tastes more sinful than it actually is.  Well, to tell you the truth I fattened it up a little bit by using some Oreos, but that was a total mistake on my part because I didn't have enough of the other cookies (graham crackers) that were preferred.  Oh well. 

I decided to make this dessert today for two reasons.  One: I took a two-hour Ashtanga Yoga class this morning so I worked hard enough to earn this and Two: I had a couple of bananas that were on the verge of not making it and I wanted to use them before having to toss them.  I really don't like wasting food.  It's well... it's a waste! And the other thing is I wanted to try something that required no baking.  I know that's typically a summertime thing, but I felt like doing it now.  Besides, it's getting warm out here...

Before I get into the recipe details, I just want to let you know that this dessert comes from the new (or new-ish, I don't know) special recipe edition of Weight Watchers magazine.  It's Weight Watchers Five Ingredient 15 Minute Recipes.

LAYERED CHOCOLATE BANANA PUDDING CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups 1% low-fat milk

1 (1.4 oz) package sugar-free chocolate instant pudding mix

2 cups frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed and divided

11 chocolate graham cracker sheets, divided

3 ripe bananas, sliced

DIRECTIONS:
1. Combine milk and pudding mix in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk 2 minutes or until thick.  Let stand 5 minutes. Fold in 1 cup whipped topping.

2. Place 5 graham cracker sheets in the bottom of an 11x7-inch glass or ceramix baking dish.  Spoon one-third of pudding mixture evenly over graham crackers; top with half of bananas.  Spoon another third of pudding mixture over bananas; top with 5 graham cracker sheets.  Spoon remaining third of pudding mixture over graham crackers; top with remaining banana slices.  Spread 1 cup whipped topping over bananas. Crumble remaining graham cracker sheet; sprinkle over whipped topping.  Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Yield: 10 servings (serving size: 1/10 of pudding).

PERSONAL NOTES:

Wow, where can I begin?  This is an easy recipe to follow, let's just start there.  I had it made in about 10-15 minutes.  Seriously. So the special magazine/book where the recipe comes from is telling the trute.  It really is a 15 minute dish.

Then I started deviating a little bit (of course).  When I was at the store the other day looking to buy the graham crackers for the recipe I stopped short when I saw that the box cost almost $5!  That's a little crazy, especially since my husband and I don't normally eat graham crackers.  Although when I mentioned this to him he said I could've made the recipe again.  Sigh.

So in lieu of the graham crackers I purchased a small box of Lorna Doone butter cookies (which I know, it's not chocolate, but I figured they would taste just fine - really).  That was all fine and good except as I was putting the dessert together I quickly realized I wasn't going to have enough cookies for a second layer.  What was I to do on short notice?  Well as it happened, I had a small box of Oreo cookies because I was going to make a different dessert on another day.  So I decided to toss the Oreos in for the second cookie layer.  I know it's not what Weight Watchers had in mind (for the Lorna Doones and the Oreos), but whatever.  So it's not exactly low fat, it's kinda low fat.

As the book states, each serving is only 116 calories! Obviously, the way I made it will have a higher calorie content.  I'm OK with that.

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

Back in early December, I went to dinner with a girlfriend of mine for some good Japanese food.  While I love Japanese in general, my friend went on to insist that I try the tempura cheesecake for dessert.  Really??? Fried cheesecake?  I know that somewhere in the middle of the country people are already frying up sticks of butter, but did I really want to have tempura cheesecake? 

Yes, I really did need to try the tempura cheesecake. It was outrageous.  It was warm, it was creamy and cheesecakey with a typical (and yes, absolutely delicious) tempura shell.

The reason I bring up the tempura cheesecake is because when I tried these Pumpkin Streusel Muffins, the inner cream cheese filling reminded me of the tempura cheesecake.  You really need to try it to know what I'm getting at.  And while the muffins are good at room tempurature, they are MUCH better warmed up.  Then again, most things are...right?

So here's the next muffin experimentation.  The original recipe can be found here from allrecipes.com.  It was pretty easy to make.  The combination of flavors - pumpkin and cream cheese - and textures - brown sugar and moist cake - make this a hit. 

PUMPKIN STREUSEL MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup canned or cooked pumpkin

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, cut into cubes

STREUSEL:

 

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon cold butter

1/4 cup finely chopped nuts

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. In another bowl, beat the egg, milk, pumpkin and oil. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups one-fourth full. Place one cream cheese cube in the center of each muffin cup; top with remaining batter. In a bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add nuts. Sprinkle over batter. Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

PERSONAL NOTES:

When adding the cream cheese to the muffins, I used reduced fat.  Plus, I added 1/2 egg and 1 tsp sugar and blended them till creamy.  I felt it added a little extra "umph" to the mix.

 

I also substituted unsweetened applesauce for the oil.  Actually, I used 1/4 cup applesauce plus 1 tbls.  Then added 1 tbls oil.  For some reason muffins come together much nicer if it has even a little bit of oil.  So I add just that small amount. 

The streusel topping became rather gooey when baked.  A lot of it stuck to the pan which made me soak it for some time before scrubbing it off.  But by then it wiped clean pretty easily.

Ghastly Meringues

When I saw these in Food Network Magazine recently (October issue) I knew I had to try them out. I'd never actually made meringue cookies before but figured it would be easy enough.

It was!  They only take about 5 minutes to whip up (literally) and another 5 to pipe the shapes onto the cookie sheet.  It's the baking that takes a while.  And frankly, I'm not sure if it's because they're still a little warm, but my ghosts aren't completely solid the whole way through.  So, as the recipe says "bake until dry, 1 hour to 1 hour, 15 minutes" - you should do it!

Anyhow, here's the recipe:

GHASTLY MERINGUES

INGREDIENTS:

3 large egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until frothy.  Beat in the sugar; increase the mixer speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, 5-6 minutes.

2. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip.  Pipe 8-10 swirls on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake until dry, 1 hour to 1 hour, 15 minutes.  Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and let cool completely.

3. Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave on 50 % power until melted, about 1 minute, stirring halfway.  Transfer the melted chocolate to a zip-top bag and snipa corner. Pipe the chocolate on the meringues to look like eyes.


NOTES:

Keep the meringues in the oven for the time specified!  My batch made closer to 16 cookies (about 40 calories per cookie).  I guess the piping tip was smaller than what the folks at Food Network used.

But they are yummy!

Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

These are YUMMY!  I found this recipe last year when I was looking for something different to make for Thanksgiving dessert.  It was a big hit - people keep asking for it!

No personal notes to add; I make it as-is...

 

Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Makes 16 | Prep time: 25 minutes | Total time: 5 hours

For the Crust:

20 chocolate wafer cookies, (half a 9-ounce package)

2 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:

2 packages bar cream cheese, (8 ounces each)

1 cup sugar

1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin puree

3 large eggs

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

282 calories per serving (16 servings)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. Set aside.

In a food processor, blend cookies with sugar until finely ground (you should have about 1 cup crumbs); add butter, and pulse until moistened.

Transfer crumb mixture to prepared pan, and press gently into bottom. Bake until fragrant and slightly firm, 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Place cream cheese in food processor; blend until smooth. Add sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs, flour, pumpkin-pie spice, and salt; process until combined. Set aside.

Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each, until melted. Add 1 cup pumpkin mixture; stir to combine. Set aside.

Pour remaining pumpkin mixture into prepared pan. Drop dollops of chocolate mixture onto pumpkin mixture; swirl. To create swirls, drag the blade of a paring knife through the chocolate and pumpkin mixtures several times to make a marbled pattern.

Bake until cheesecake is set but jiggles slightly when gently shaken, 40 to 50 minutes.

Cool in pan. Cover; chill until firm, at least 2 hours (and up to 2 days). Using overhang, transfer cake to work surface. With a knife dipped in water, cut into 16 squares. Serve.