Meringue Cups

I love meringue and even better, meringue cups that you can fill with whatever you like! For these, I filled them with chocolate ganache.


Recipe for meringue cups is as follows:

*2 eggs whites at room temperature
*1/2 cup of sugar
*1 tsp of vanilla extract
*1 pinch of cream of tartar

Beat eggs whites on low-medium until frothy.
Add tartar.
Beat for about a minute then gradually add sugar.
Beat on high speed until glossy peaks form (about 5-7 minutes).

Using a star tip nozzle, go around in a small circle and pipe the base and the bottom.

Then pipe upwards making walls around the center.

Bake on 200F for about 1 1/2 hours. Let them sit in the over after you turn it off for about 30 min. Fill as you desire!

Penguin Fondant Topper

How to make a penguin fondant topper:




Supplies:

fondant in black and white (yellow for the feet and nose or just color later w/ luster dust)
pizza cutter
circle cutter
heart cutter
small square cutter
small tulip (small flower) cutter to use for feet




1. Make a black circle and cover your cupcake
2. Make a white heart shape for the body using the heart cutter like demonstrated below:








3. Make the feet and nose (cut the square shape at the end for the nose)

VERY easy peanut butter and chocolate fudge recipe!




*1 12 oz bag of semi sweet chocolate chips (or milk chocolate depending on what flavor you like)
*1 can of sweetened condensed milk

*Mix together on low heat until all chocolate is melted. Pour onto wax paper (make
sure the wax paper lines the sides of the pan too) in a 9x9 pan. Put in the fridge while you continue.

*1 10 oz bag of Reese's peanut butter chips
*1 can of sweetened condensed milk.
*Repeat the above steps and pour over the slightly chilled chocolate layer.

Add any candy or marshmallows at this time then chill for a few hours!

Cotton Candy Donuts




Makes 6

3/4 cup cake flour
2 tbsp cotton candy sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg, beaten
1/3 cup milk
2 tbsp butter, melted


*Beat egg. Sift and mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix together.
*Spray a donut pan with baking spray and bake for about
8-12 minutes at 350F or until tops of donuts spring back when touched. Be careful not to overbake.


Cotton Candy buttercream

2 cups of confectioners sugar
1 stick of butter
1 tbs milk
1 tsp of cotton candy flavoring or 1 tsp of vanilla extract if you do not have this or don't want too much cotton candy flavor!

Mix all together and frost your donuts!

Pumpkin Mini Cheesecakes

To make this the easy way, you will need a cheesecake mini pan like this which can be found on amazon.com:

If not, you can spread the cheesecake in a brownie pan (after you have made a crust bottom with graham crackers) and cut into circles with a circle bun cutter.

If you have the pan, just use Oreos!

Place vanilla Oreos (a single cookie; not the full cookie with the filling) in each cup. The pan is non-stick so you don't necessarily need anything, but if you want to be completely safe, you can add a bit of butter to each cheesecake cavity before filling.


For the cheesecake filling:

*one block of full fat cream cheese (room temp)
*1/2 cup of pumpkin from the baking aisle(I use Libby's pumpkin filling)
*1/2 cup of sugar
*1 tsp of vanilla
*1 egg
*pinch of salt
*pinch of nutmeg (I don't like a lot so I didn't want to use too much)
*1/2 tsp of cinnamon

1. Mix the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes until well blended and fluffy. Then add the remainder of the ingredients.
2. Fill a pastry bag to easily fill in the cheesecake cavities (you can fill just about to the top)
3. Bake for 20 minutes on 350F
4. Cool for about 20 minutes and then place in the fridge covering loosely with saran wrap. They will be ready in about 4 hours.
5. Top with ganache, buttercream, whipped cream, etc!

Coffee No-Bake Cheesecake with Chantilly Cream

Finally posting this recipe! Sorry that it took so long; I've been neglecting the blog.

For the Crust:
*1 cup of vanilla Oreos (about 20 cookies) OR just buy graham cracker crumbs and you can skip the whole process of crushing Oreos :)
*2 tbs of unsalted melted butter

To make the crust:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 6-inch springform pan
2. Crush Oreos in a food processor and mix with melted butter.
3. Press the mixture into the pan and bake for about 10 minutes.
4. Refrigerate or freeze to cool while you make the filling.


The recipe for the cheesecake itself can be found on the back of Knox Gelatin, but I doubled it as follows:

*2 envelopes of gelatin
*1 cup sugar
*2 cups of boiling water
*4 packages of 8 oz full fat cream cheese (softened)
*1 tsp vanilla

For coffee flavor add:
*1 tsp black coffee



1. Mix gelatin and sugar in a small bowl and add about 2 cups of boiling water. Stir for about 5 minutes or until the gelatin is dissolved.
2. Beat cream cheese, vanilla, and coffee in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the gelatin mixture slowly and beat until well combined.
3. Pour the mixture onto the prepared crust.

It should be completely done in about 6-8 hours (to be completely safe though, I usually let set overnight). Thereafter, you can remove from the springform pan and top with whatever you would like! I put buttercream, Reese's Cups, and chocolate sauce on this one

For the Chantilly cream on the outside of the cheesecake itself:

*Place mixing bowl in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Take out and add two cups of heavy whipping cream to the bowl. Then add two TBS of pure granulated sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla.
Mix on medium and then up to high speed until soft peaks form

No-Bake Pastel Rainbow Cheesecake

I love no-bake cheesecake for the summer! Plus, it's so easy to make for a quick cheesecake craving :)





For the Crust:
*1 cup of vanilla Oreos (about 20 cookies) OR just buy graham cracker crumbs and you can skip the whole process of crushing Oreos :)
*2 tbs of unsalted melted butter

To make the crust:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 6-inch springform pan
2. Crush Oreos in a food processor and mix with melted butter.
3. Press the mixture into the pan and bake for about 10 minutes.
4. Refrigerate or freeze to cool while you make the filling.


The recipe for the cheesecake itself can be found on the back of Knox Gelatin, but I doubled it as follows:

*2 envelopes of gelatin
*1 cup sugar
*2 cups of boiling water
*4 packages of 8 oz full fat cream cheese (softened)
*2 tsp vanilla


1. Mix gelatin and sugar in a small bowl and add about 2 cups of boiling water. Stir for about 5 minutes or until the gelatin is dissolved.
2. Beat cream cheese and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the gelatin mixture slowly and beat until well combined.
3. Get three bowls and add the cheesecake mixture to each bowl as evenly distributed as you can. You can then add food coloring to each; whatever color you desire. I added blue (bottom), yellow (middle layer), pink (top layer)
4. Pour the first color on top of the crust and freeze immediately. Also at this time, you will want to refrigerate the other two bowls of cheesecake filling. The reason for freezing the first layer is because you want it to set before you add the second color on top and you want it to be fairly quick so your other two bowls of cheesecake don't start to set! If you add all layers on top of each other right away, it will blend through and be more like a rainbow swirl rather than distinct layers (which would be a great look too)! After freezing for about 30 minutes, you can add the second layer. Freeze again for 30 minutes, and then add the last and third layer on top. You can then place normally in the fridge at that point.

It should be completely done in about 6-8 hours (to be completely safe though, I usually let set overnight). Thereafter, you can remove from the springform pan and top with sprinkles, whipped topping, or whatever you like!