Brown Sugar Buttercream

This butter cream was the most amazing frosting I have ever had!!! I would eat it by the spoonful if I hadn't made it myself to learn how much butter it takes to make buttercream.... but I freaking loooooooooove butter... remember my previous post?

Ingredients:
3 large egg whites {eggs at room temperature makes things so much better for baking}
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice {I did not use this and it still tasted great}
3 sticks of butter {YIKES!!!}
2 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt

Directions:
*Bring sugar and water to a boil over medium heat

*Once sugar starts to starts to boil, bring heat to a medium-low. Start beating your egg whites with a whisk attachment on your electric mixer. Add lemon juice if desired. Beat until white make soft peaks.

*Be sure to look at your syrup frequently. Let cook until 238-242 degrees using a candy thermometer {I just let my syrup boil on a medium-low heat until my meringue was making soft peaks}. Once there, add hot syrup directing into beating egg whites and continue to beat for another 6 minutes so the meringue can cool down.

*Place your hand at the bottom of the bowl. If it is cool to the touch you can start adding the butter slowly with small slices or chunks. Beat for 6 minutes and then add vanilla and salt. Beat until light and fluffy.

I used my frosting for cake bites {which was one box of yellow cake mix}. I would say it took about 90% of the frosting. I then dipped the cake bites in milk chocolate and butterscotch. This frosting would be magical for anything you make! Seriously, it was so good. I hope you enjoy it too!

Homemade Twix Bars

I found this recipe in one of my cook books. It was freaking awesome!!! The shortbread is soooooooooooo good. If you want a yummy treat that will haunt you for days, then this is the cookie bar you need to make!

Short Bread

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter {cut into small slices}

1 cup heaping all-purpose flour

1/4 cup heaping sugar

Directions: 

*Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C

*Grease bottom of a 9" square cake pan

*In an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, mix all ingredients until they start to bind together

*Press into pan and level the top

*Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden

Caramel

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup heaping sugar

3 tbsp dark corn syrup {I used brown sugar - see notes below}

14 oz sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

*Place the butter, sugar, corn syrup {or brown sugar mixture}, and condensed milk in a heavy bottom pan

*Heat gently until the sugar has melted

*Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer 6-8 minutes, stirring, until very thick

*Pour over baked shortbread and let chill in refrigerator for 2hrs {I waited about 45mins}

Chocolate

7 oz of chocolate of your choice. I used milk chocolate. 

Directions:

*Melt chocolate in a double boiler or microwave {follow directions on package}, then spread over the caramel 

*Let chill in refrigerator for 2 hrs or until chocolate has hardened

Notes:

*Substituting corn syrup - 1/2 cup of firmly packed dark brown sugar and 1/8 cup water, mix together with spatula and follow as directed above. This will not give you a caramel coloring like the dark corn syrup would. DO NOT ADD ALL OF BROWN SUGAR TO THE RECIPE, this is just a substitute, only take 3 TBSP of this mixture to add into your carmel recipe. 

*Be sure to not make the caramel or chocolate layers too thick. It is important to keep the ratio even between the three layers otherwise it can be overwhelming in appearance and taste.

*You can make some fun designs in the chocolate if you are feeling frisky!!  

ENJOY!!

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

The only thing that Gian and I are polar opposite about is chocolate. I absolutely despise it in almost every form {exception for Snickers, Twix, and Kit Kats, and well, if it is milk chocolate and mixed in as a secondary ingredient and isn't overwhelming in flavor.... I am also in love with white chocolate, but it doesn't have the cocoa bean in it soooooooooooo that explains a lot}. I will try it almost every single time in hopes that that time I will actually enjoy it, but then I remember how much I hate it and try to find something to flush the bitter taste out of my mouth. Gian, on the other hand, craves bitter sweet, semi sweet and dark chocolate like it should be sold in bulk.... SICK!!! The smell of it just crinkles my nose. Actually, last night he just ate bitter sweet chocolate with 60% cacao while we watched a movie. I think he might be related to Willy Wonka. We seriously couldn't be more on opposite sides of the spectrum if we tried.

I found this recipe of Chocolate Pumpkin Pie knowing that Gian would most likely love it. I made it, and according to Gian it was the best pumpkin pie he had ever tasted.... I am ok with that!!! Guess what I did... yeah I tried it, didn't like it, it was far too chocolatey for my liking, but as stated above, that is apparently abnormal. I thought this would be a nice twist on a holiday favorite. Especially if you are wanting to try something new without losing your tradition. Here is how it is done.

What you will need:
3oz Bitter Sweet Chocolate {chopped}
6oz Semi Sweet Chocolate {chopped}
4tbsp Unsalted Butter {cut into small pieces}

Directions:
-Make your pumpkin pie filling as directed and set aside.

-In a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter. Stir frequently until smooth and remove from heat.

-Fold in melted chocolate mixture into prepared pie filling, then pour into pie crust.

-Bake as directed to original recipe.

If you are a chocolate fan then you must try this! It is so simple and doesn't add on too much time to your baking. My chocolate melted in about 5-10 mins. I think milk chocolate might make the pie filling too sweet, but if you try it let me know how that turns out.

Hope you have a happy holiday this week!! Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year: it brings families together, it reminds us what to be grateful for, and it is the most anticipated meal of the year... who could ask for more?!?!

Happy Thanksgiving

Gobble Gobble 

Avocado Corn Dip

Because of the overwhelming amount of Black Beans in our pantry, I was determine to find a way to make them tasty in meals or as a side dish. I am pleased to tell you that this recipe is also great in nachos, tacos, quesadillas, or anything else that needs a mexican twist.

Ingredients:
1 can of sweet corn {drained}
1 can of black beans {drained}
2 large avocados, chopped
1-2 sweet red bell peppers, diced
2 limes, squeezed
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp hot sauce {I used Chalula}
Diced jalepenos {optional}

Directions:
*In a large bowl, toss corn, beans, avocados, bell peppers, and jalepenos.

*Squeeze lime juice into mixture.

*Add garlic salt, black pepper and hot sauce and stir gently with a spatula.

*Serve as a dip with chips or add to your favorite meals for more variety.

Enjoy!!!

Cakie Rolos

I first made these cookies back in 2007 for some friends. I had never tried the recipe before, but I made these cookies and they just disappeared. Great... now I am craving them and will probably have to make them tonight after dinner.

I call them Cakies {"kay-key"} because they are cookies made from cake mix. They are soooooo delicious! And... a useless piece of information you may like, Keiki {pronounced like "kay-key"} means child or baby literally meaning "the little one" in Hawaiian.

Ingredients:
1 Box of German Chocolate Cake Mix
1 Egg
1/2 Cup of Melted Butter
2 Rolls of Rolos

Directions:
*In a bowl mix together the cake mix, egg, and butter. The mixture will look a lot drier then most cookie dough.

*Take a tablespoon size of cookie dough and in another hand, a Rolo. Form the dough around the Rolo until you can not see the Rolo anymore.

*Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350 for 10 minutes. Remove from sheet and place on a cooling rack (they may be very very soft at first but will become firmer the longer they cool).

*Feel free to use other firm candies like Resses or Milky Ways.

ENJOY!!!!

Bananas Foster Pancakes

One day, while I was in Idaho with my sister, we decided to do breakfast for dinner. We thought pancakes would be the best breakfast dinner, but we wanted a twist on it, so I added some things from the cupboard and made what tasted like bananas foster pancakes. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Pancake mix {Bisquick, Krusty's, or homemade}

2 tbls Cinnamon

2 tsp Honey
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Bananas {sliced}

Directions:
Make pancake batter per recipe direction.

Add cinnamon and honey to the batter.

On a hot griddle, place butter and olive oil, just enough to coat the pan {the olive oil keeps the butter from burning too fast, and the butter adds a delightful crispy ring around the pancake}.

On the pan, sprinkle about 1tsp brown sugar in a circle, the size of a silver dollar. Then add 2-4 bananas slices directly on top of brown sugar. 

Pour pancake batter directly on top of the brown sugar and bananas. Keep the size of the pancake to match the size of the brown sugar on the pan {the brown sugar will carmalize with the butter and bananas}.

When you see bubbles form in the pancake it is ready to flip and ready to serve.

.::---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------::.

Taaaaaaaaaaaaaa Daaaaaaaaaa!!!! You have delicious pancakes. We didn't use any butter or syrup because it didn't need any, it was perfect just the way it was, but feel free to add whatever you want on top. 

Blackened Ahi

I thought I would share this recipe with you. I love Ahi, and our local grocery store ships in Hawaiian fish live then butchers them at the store. That is as fresh as they come. I usually buy their Ono, which is divine and my favorite fish,  but I thought I would try something new, so I bought Ahi.

One of my favorite ways to eat Ahi is seared and spicy. So I went down the spice isle and found this....

Like my ghetto photo?!?!

Right away, I knew I could make something amazing. Here is how you cook it.

Ingredients
*1lb of Ahi {it should be a steak, or fillet-like cut. It can be as thick or thin as you want. 1 lb should feed 2-3 people}
*Salt
*Pepper
*Cajun Blackened Seasoning
*1 Tbls Olive Oil
*1 Tbls Butter

~Warm pan on stove on medium heat.

~ Salt and pepper all over fish and then evenly sprinkle the cajun seasoning. Take one finger and rub seasoning so it thinly coats the fish completely. Flip fish and repeat step on other side.

~Add olive oil and then butter. Let butter melt completely {The butter keeps the olive oil from burning too fast}.

~Add fish and let cook for less then 5 min and flip. Fish should be pink in the center and cooked on the edges. Do not cover pan while cooking fish, it can overcook the fish causing it to be tough and too well-done.

~Serve with rice and some veggies {I did string beans}.

This is one of my favorite meals to cook. It is fast, easy, and reasonably priced. I hope you like it!!

I am linked up with: Finger Prints on the Fridge,

The Best Meal!

When it comes to dinner I usually don't like to go off a recipe because I feel like I can never use all the ingredients. It's cheaper for me to just shop for what I need and it is faster because I don't have to take the time to read every step to see if I have done it right.

As of recent, I have been trying to add more fish into our menu. I am really picky about what kind of fish I eat because it always seems fishy. While I was at the grocery store, I decided to look at what the butcher had for sea food. I saw ahi tuna and ono, which are two of my favorite fishes in the whole wide world. I love deep sea tropical fish. One day I hope to go deep sea fishing when I go home to Maui to visit. These fish are really hard to come across if you're anywhere else, except Hawai'i. I looked at the butcher, Grant, and asked how fresh this fish really was. He informed me that they are trying this new way of shipping the fish. They next-day-air the fish live and swimming and then they butcher the fish at the store. I was sold!!! I thought, "What a brilliant way to keep such a wonderful fish fresh - really fresh!" I bought the ono not knowing how to make it at all! {Ono is Hawaiian for "good." It literally is the best fish ever! It is a white, flaky fish with a very mild taste}

When I got home that night, I knew I had to make it right away so it would still be delicious and fresh. I started brain-storming. I looked in my pantry; I had bread crumbs and corn flakes. I thought I could bread the fish. I looked in my fridge and found parmesan - what a perfect combination.  I threw all three items into a zip block bag and took a rolling pin to make the corn flakes smaller. I now needed to make a liquid to dip the fish in so the breaded mixture would stick. I again ran to the pantry and saw cream of chicken. I added salt, pepper, milk, melted butter and water to get the right consistency and flavor. It made so much. I couldn't let it go to waste so I poured about 2 cups worth into a shallow dish {pie pan} to dip the fish, and the rest I put on the stove to cook and get warm.

I added some olive oil to a pan and fried the fish, Ono, very slowly to make sure it would cook all the way through because they were really thick slices.  It was all done and beautiful, I had the fish and rice with the gravy poured over it and it was delicious!!! I was so pleased with the way it turned out.