Sinfully Sinless Tiramisu

At the beginning of July I started a '30 before 30' list. My birthday has come and gone and I accomplished 14 things on the list. Given that it was started a month before my 30th birthday, I'm happy with that, but I'm going to keep going until I do everything on that list.

One of my goals was to cook something with an ingredient I've never used. My dad was coming for a visit and I knew that he would enjoy the Sinfully Sinless Tiramisu that I found over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe. It actually called for two ingredients I had never used - ladyfingers, and rum extract. Here's a tip when you're looking for ladyfingers - I looked at 3 different stores and finally found them in the international food aisle, near the pasta.


So what do it mean by "sinfully sinless?" Well, this recipe substitutes cocoa powder and rum extract for the espresso/rum mixture and the coffee granules. So for those, including me, who abstain from coffee, this title is fitting. Now, I've never actually had tiramisu, so I can't be the best judge. But, I thought it was good. I couldn't find mascarpone cheese in any of my grocery stores (maybe I was looking in the wrong place?), so I had to use cream cheese. My dad said that it was missing the bite of the coffee granules and he could taste the cream cheese, but he enjoyed it. It was a nice, light dessert to finish off the night. So if you're looking for something different, give this a try!


Sinfully Sinless Tiramisu
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
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*Serves 6-8

1 ½ cups good-quality hot chocolate, made with water and using 1 ½ times the hot chocolate powder
½ teaspoon rum extract
½ tablespoon pure vanilla extract
4 large egg yolks
½ cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ cup heavy whipping cream
8 ounces mascarpone cheese (can sub cream cheese in a pinch)
½ cup heavy whipping cream
About 36 crisp ladyfingers cookies/biscuits
1 tablespoon natural cocoa powder

Make the hot cocoa according to the instructions above – using water instead of milk and using 1 ½ the amount of hot chocolate powder you would normally use to make a cup for drinking. Allow the hot cocoa to cool while you are preparing the rest of the recipe. Once it is lukewarm, add the vanilla and imitation rum extract. Due to the high cocoa to water ratio, whisk the cocoa mixture frequently to keep the cocoa suspended.

Set a medium saucepan over medium heat and fill with about 1-2 inches water. Let it come to a simmer while you proceed with the recipe. In a medium bowl (an appropriate size to be placed on the pan that is heating), beat the egg yolks at low speed with a mixer (hand or electric) until just combined. Add the ½ cup sugar and salt and beat at medium-high speed until pale yellow, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula once or twice. Add ¼ cup cream to the yolks and beat at medium speed until just combined, 20 to 30 seconds; scrape the bowl. Set the bowl with the yolks over the saucepan of water that has come to a simmer. Cook the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly and scraping along the bottom and sides of the bowl with a heatproof rubber spatula, until the egg yolk mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 4 to 7 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and stir vigorously to cool slightly, then set aside to cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.

Add the mascarpone cheese to the cooled mixture and beat at medium speed until no lumps remain, about a minute. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and set aside. In the now-empty bowl (no need to clean the bowl), beat the ½ cup heavy whipping cream at medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold 1/3 of the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture. Then gently fold in the remaining whipped cream until no white streaks remain. Set the mixture aside.

Give the hot cocoa mixture a good whisk to combine. Pour it into a shallow baking dish like a pie plate. Dip 1 ladyfinger into the hot cocoa at a time, allowing it to soak up the hot cocoa for about 1-2 seconds per side. Transfer each ladyfinger immediately to an 8-inch square baking dish. Lay the cookies side-by-side to create one even layer. You may have to trim/break the soaked cookies to fit the pan. After finishing the first layer of ladyfinger cookies, spread half of the mascarpone cream mixture evenly over the ladyfingers, spreading to the edges of the pan. Using a small fine-mesh strainer, sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon of the natural cocoa powder over the mascarpone layer.

Repeat the soaking process with the ladyfingers, creating one more layer of ladyfinger cookies over the mascarpone/cocoa layer. Spread evenly with the remaining mascarpone mixture. Dust with the final 1/2 tablespoon of natural cocoa powder. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours to chill and set. This can be made up to 1 day in advance. Cut into squares and serve.

Thin Mint Cake

I've officially entered my 30's. Kinda cool. Kinda crazy. I had pinned this thin mint cake from i am baker months ago knowing it would be my birthday cake. I even told my husband I would make it, which I did. But he assembled and frosted it and did a beautiful job, telling me that he tried to make it blog-worthy.


A few notes about this cake. You use a boxed cake mix. You add banana and cinnamon.

Here were my initial thoughts. I could taste the banana and cinnamon because I knew it was in there. My husband, who has a very sophisticated palate, could not taste them until I had told him they were in there. The texture was very much like a boxed cake mix, just a little more moist because of the banana.


Texture aside, I really liked this cake. I go crazy for anything chocolate mint, so it is a perfect match for me. Next time I make it I'm going to make a chocolate cake from scratch and add in the peppermint extract, cinnamon, and banana. I used a different buttercream recipe than i am baker's, and thought it was good. Really easy, too.


Thin Mint Cake
from i am baker
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1 box chocolate cake mix
1 cup water
2 sticks butter (softened)
4 eggs
1/2 ripe banana, mashed
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. + 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine all ingredients in a mixer on low for thirty seconds, then increase speed to medium and mix until just combined.

Pour into prepared pans (I used two 8 in pans) and bake for 30-40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.


Quick Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
from Gale Gand

3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream

In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

Oreo Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies

Yes, it's another Oreo recipe. You'd think I live and breathe Oreos in this home, but this one wasn't my fault. You see, it all started when my husband walked in the door with a grocery bag full of Peanut Butter Oreos, and Lemon cookies. Two packaged cookies. What am I, the joyful baker, supposed to think?

Well, what I thought was that I could turn those Oreos into something really good. And I thought I was a genius for tweaking Picky Palate's Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip cookies and making them peanut butter. But then I decided to google it and found that I wasn't as much of a genius as I originally thought. Runs With Spatulas had already made these. Been there, done that. And she even had the most awesome slideshow of a cookie eating an oreo I've ever seen. OK, it might be the only slideshow I've ever seen of a cookie eating an oreo, but still. It was awesome.


Knowing I wasn't a genius didn't stop me from making these cookies. And enjoying them. A lot.


Oreo Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from Picky Palate, Runs With Spatulas, and All Recipes
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1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 package Peanut Butter Oreo cookies

Preheat the oven to 375° F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter and sugars until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time until combined.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix into the wet ingredients slowly until just combined. Put batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

To assemble the cookies, take one tablespoon of cookie dough and place on the top of an Oreo cookie. Take another tablespoon of dough and place on the bottom of the Oreo cookie. Form the dough around the Oreo and seal the edges together. Flatten each ball with a fork, making a criss-cross pattern.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies begin to brown around the edges. Do not over-bake.

Strawberry Cream Puff Cake

Strawberries and cream puffs? Um, yes! I really enjoyed making this cake I found over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe. Maybe because it was something I had never made before, or because I knew both my husband and I would love it, or because it just sounded so fresh and light and summery. And it was, all of the above.


I love how the baked shell puffs out and has so much texture. And the cream cheese filling is so light and creamy. Top it with strawberries and you are sure to impress anyone! It's a beautiful cake, and really pretty easy to make. Next time I make it, I may have to try a combination of different berries. Yum!


Strawberry Cream Puff Cake
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
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Cream Puff Base
5 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
2/3 cup flour
3 eggs

Cream Cheese Mixture
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup powdered sugar

2 cups strawberries
1 tsp sugar

For the cream puff layer, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring the butter, water and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the flour all at once and stir quickly until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and stir the mixture until smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until the mixture is shiny with a satiny sheen. Don’t overbeat.

Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan (or a 9-inch circle cake pan if you don't have a springform). Using an offset spatula, spread the mixture on the bottom and one inch up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and prick pastry with a toothpick 10-12 times. Return to the oven and bake 5-10 minutes more until golden brown but not overbaked (you can insert a toothpick into the center and if it comes out with sticky dough, it still needs longer in the oven). Cool completely.

For the cream cheese mixture, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar and beat with the cream cheese until mixture is smooth and light. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread onto the cooled cream puff shell.

Mix sliced strawberries with sugar, and place on top of the cake.

Oreo Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes

My favorite dessert is cheesecake. Hands down. I always have 4 bars of cream cheese in my fridge, just waiting to be made into something delicious. And when we have girls' nights at the Cheesecake Factory because it's the only place nearby that stays open past 11, it never even crosses my mind to NOT order a piece.

When I came across this recipe at La Mia Vita Dolce (her pictures are amazing), I knew I had to make it. The crust is absolutely genius - you use a whole Oreo and plop it down into the cupcake liner. How easy is that?!


I made these to serve at a baby shower, and everyone loved them. Mind you, they looked much prettier at the shower. I took these pictures before I left, but dressed them up with whipped cream and a quarter of an oreo once I got to the shower. So just imagine them prettier, for me.


Oreo Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes
from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes via La Mia Vita Dolce
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Makes 30

42 Oreo, cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, 30 left whole and 12 coarsely chopped
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 275° F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole Oreo cookie in the bottom of each lined muffin cup.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Gradually add the sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in the vanilla.

Drizzle in eggs, a little at a time, beating to combine and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add in sour cream and salt, beat to combine. Using a large spatula, fold in the chopped Oreo cookies.

Divide batter evenly among the cookie-filled muffin cups, fill each cup almost to the top. Bake, rotating muffin tins halfway through, until the filling is set, about 22 to 28 minutes. Transfer the muffins tins to a wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate (in the muffin tins) at least 4 hours (or overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

Chocolate-Coconut Bars

It's been awhile since I made a recipe from Martha. Do you all refer to her as Martha? I mean, we are BFF's (I've been to her show twice and she waved at me), but I'm guessing that others do it as well.

I pinned this recipe a couple of weeks ago, and I've been craving it ever since. I never had all of the ingredients on hand to make it, though. So a few nights ago when my husband called on his way home from a church activity and asked if I needed anything, I said, "yes! pecans!" And so the next morning my daughter and I got to work.

This is the perfect dessert to make with your kids! We crushed some graham crackers (well, I crushed, she ate). We sprinkled chocolate chips and pecans (and she ate). We poured sweetened condensed milk and sprinkled some coconut. And in no time at all we had a delicious, rich, easy treat!

Chocolate-Coconut Bars
from Martha Stewart
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3 cups finely ground cookies (12 ounces), such as graham crackers or chocolate wafers, or a combination
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup pecan pieces
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly splash a 15-by-10-inch rimmed baking sheet evenly with water, then line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together cookie crumbs, sugar, and butter until combined. Evenly press onto bottom and up sides of prepared baking sheet. Bake, rotating halfway through, until firm, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; cool, about 20 minutes.

Sprinkle cooled crust evenly with pecans and chocolate. Pour condensed milk over the top, spreading to cover completely (do not let it drip over the edges). Sprinkle with coconut.

Bake until coconut is toasted, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool completely. Trim edges, if desired, and cut into equal-size bars.

Happy 4th of July!

American Flag Rice Krispie Treats

idea courtesy of Random Thoughts of a Supermom