Cadbury Creme Egg Brownies

A few weeks ago, after Easter, the supermarkets were all selling leftover Easter candy at extremely discounted prices.  At first I wasn’t tempted but when the Cadbury Creme Eggs went down to $.10, I gave in and bought eight of them thinking I would use them in a cupcake recipe.  Instead I used them in this brownie recipe for Mother’s Day.  This recipe resulted in very gooey and chocolaty brownies – sounds good doesn’t it?  Well my sisters loved them.

The hardest part of this recipe is cutting the Cadbury Eggs, so it’s pretty easy and tasty.

Brownies with egg filling lined up.

Hot out of the oven.

Cadbury Creme Egg Brownies

Yield:  16 bars                Cook Time:  40 minutes

Ingredients

Brownie:

• 1 package of your favorite brownie mix (my favorite is Ghirardelli – any flavor will do), prepared as directed

 Filling:

• 8 regular size Cadbury Creme Eggs cut in half

Directions:

Step 1:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2:  Line an 8” by 8” baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.

Step 3:  Prepare the brownie mix as described on the package.  Pour half the brownie mix into the pan and smooth out on the bottom of the pan.

Step 4:  To cut the Cadbury Creme Eggs, you’ll need to find out where the filling settled.  I rolled the eggs gently across the table to see where they would rest with the heaviest portion on the bottom and then cut them in half across the top.

Step 5:  Place the Cadbury Eggs cut side up (i.e. the cut side up, so you can see the creme) in four rows, four across.  I placed them on a bias so they would fit better.

Step 6:  Pour the remaining brownie batter on top of the Cadbury Eggs.  There won’t be enough batter to smooth across the top of all the Cadbury Eggs and spaces between but during the baking process this will all even out.

Step 7:  Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.  The middle will still be gooey.  Cool for 15 minutes in the pan.  Use the aluminum foil to take the brownies out of the pan.

Step 8:  Cool completely before attempting to cut into 16 even squares.

Enjoy!!!

Giant Fauxtess Cupcake

The Fauxtess Cupcakes I made a few weeks ago were such a hit that I decided I wanted to make a cake size version of it for Mother’s Day.  I had seen other sites that had a cake version of it, so I incorporated the idea into this recipe.

As with the cupcake version, I used Duncan Hines Devil’s Food cake mix and followed the baking directions for two 9 inch cakes.

Enjoy.

Fill the cake by cutting the top out of the bottom layer, fill and smooth.

Put the second cake on top and ice and pipe curlicues on top.

Can’t wait for the first piece.

Giant Fauxtess Cupcake

Yield:  1 cake                Cook Time:  30 – 33 minutes

Ingredients

Cake:

• Prepare your favorite devil’s food cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)

Filling:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup Marshmallow Fluff
• 1 1/2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoons heavy cream

Frosting:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 oz. semi-sweet mini chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

Directions:

Step 1:  Preheat the oven to 350°.  Spray two 9 inch round cake pans with cooking spray and dust with flour.

Step 2:  Prepare the cake mix as instructed on the package.

Step 3:  Fill the each cake pan with half the cake batter.  Bake as directed on the package for 9 inch cakes.  When a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean the cakes are done.  Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes in pan before removing to cool completely.

Step 4:  For the filling, in a medium bowl beat together the butter, confectioners’ sugar, Marshmallow Fluff and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the heavy cream with a mixer (handheld is fine) until fluffy.  Reserve 1/2 cup of the filling.  Prepare the cake by inserting a sharp knife into the top of the bottom layer of the cake at a slight angle about 1 to 2 inches from the edge and cut a circle without going through to the bottom of the cake.  Spoon the filling into the center of the cake and smooth.  Carefully add the second cake layer on top.

Step 5:  For the piping, beat the remaining 1 teaspoon of cream into the remaining 1/2 cup of marshmallow mixture and cover until ready to use.

Step 6:  For the frosting, in a small saucepan heat cream over medium heat until steaming while stirring constantly.  Remove from heat, add the chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes.  My chocolate didn’t melt completely, so I put the pan back on the burner that was still warm to melt completely.  Add the butter and stir until smooth.  Cover the top and sides of the cake using a spatula.  Spoon the remaining marshmallow mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a very small plain tip and pipe curlicues across the center of the cake.  Alternatively you can use a Ziploc bag and cut a 1/4 inch off one of the corners and pipe curlicues across the center of the cake. Refrigerate the cake for 10 minutes or more to set the frosting.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe adapted from Annie’s Eats (originally from Food and Wine).

Walnut Maple Pie

As I mentioned in my last post, I went to my niece’s birthday party recently and I never show up with just one thing.  I’ve always wanted to make Pecan Pie but my husband doesn’t like it, so I made Walnut Pie to bring along in addition to cupcakes.  I had seen the recipe on Simply Recipes in the fall and made a note of it.  What drew me to this recipe is that it contained maple syrup instead of corn syrup.

The only difficulty I had with this recipe or any pie recipe is that I haven’t mastered the pie crust.  Since I don’t want to wait until I perfect pie crusts (and I’ve never been a fan of the crust, I sometimes use Betty Crocker Pie Crust mix in a box.  From my point of view, the crust is only a vehicle for the yummy filling (sorry pie crust lovers.)  The box mix makes two crusts; it makes one pie with a top and bottom crust or two pies with just a bottom crust.  I used half the mix for this recipe.

To start assembling the filling, crushed walnuts in the pie crust.

After adding the maple syrup mixture.

Hot out of the oven.

Have a slice.

Walnut Maple Pie

Yield:  1 pie                Cook Time:  40 – 45 minutes

Ingredients

Pie Crust:

• Prepare your favorite single crust pie recipe or Betty Crocker Pie Crust – single crust instructions

Filling:

• 2 large beaten eggs
• 1 cup maple syrup (use real maple syrup; next time I may use 1/4 cup additional maple syrup)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups roughly chopped walnuts

Directions:

Step 1:  Prepare the pie crust according to instructions whether it’s your favorite recipe or a mix.   I used the no-roll directions for the mix. If rolling the crust, transfer the crust to the pie pan and freeze for at least 30 minutes.

Step 2:  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (since my pie pan is glass I didn’t preheat to prevent the glass from cracking and only baked the pie for the lowest time specified).

Step 3:  Mix the first four filling ingredients in a medium bowl.  Wisk in the salt, flour and cinnamon until the mixture is smooth.

Step 4:  Spread the walnuts evenly in the pie crust.  Pour the maple syrup mixture over the walnuts.

Step 5:  Place the pie plate on a cookie sheet and then on a rack in the middle of the oven.  The cookie sheet will prevent any drippings from overflowing onto the bottom of the oven.

Step 6:  Bake at 375 degrees for 40 – 45 minutes.  You may need to cover the crust with aluminum foil or pie protector part way through baking to prevent the crust from browning too much.  I didn’t protect the crust but probably should have.
Note:  The filling will puff up while baking and you may see cracking.  The cracking should disappear when the pie cools and the filling deflates.

Step 7:  Remove the pie from the oven and cool completely.  Serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe adapted from Simply Recipes.

Fauxtess Cupcakes

Last weekend was devoted to planting seven new fruit trees and my niece’s ninth birthday, so I my post for last week is late.  As always, I was looking to bake something new for the birthday party to wow everyone.  I’d set aside several variations of copy-cat of Hostess Cupcake recipes but this one caught my eye and I wasn’t disappointed.

Instead of using the cupcake recipe in the original recipe, I used Duncan Hines Devil’s Food cake mix.  The mix instructions say that the mix yields 24 cupcakes but I made them large, so I only ended up with 14.

These cupcakes got great reviews.  My husband’s only complaint is that he wanted a thicker layer of frosting.  Enjoy.

Filling the cupcake by cutting the top out of it.

Put the top back on.

Frost.

Ready to eat.

Fauxtess Cupcakes

Yield:  14 cupcakes                Cook Time:  23 – 28 minutes

Ingredients

Cupcake:

• Prepare your favorite devil’s food cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)

Filling:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup Marshmallow Fluff
• 1 1/2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoons heavy cream

Frosting (next time I will probably double this):

• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 4 oz. semi-sweet mini chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)
• 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

Directions:

Step 1:  Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line cupcake pan with paper liners.

Step 2:  Prepare the cake mix as instructed on the package.

Step 3:  Fill the cupcake pan liners to 3/4 from the top.  Bake as directed on the package for cupcakes.  I had to bake longer for about an extra 5 minutes because the cupcakes were larger than indicated in the instructions.  When a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean the cupcakes are done.  Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes in pan before removing to cool completely.

Step 4:  For the filling, in a medium bowl beat together the butter, confectioners’ sugar, Marshmallow Fluff and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the heavy cream with a mixer (handheld is fine) until fluffy.  If you have a pastry bag and a 1/4 inch tip, you can fill the pastry bag with all but 1/2 cup of the filling and use the 1/4 inch round tip to pipe the filling into the middle of cupcake by inserting the 1/4 tip 1/2 inch deep into the top of each cupcake and fill.  If you don’t have a 1/4 inch round tip as I don’t, spoon all but 1/2 cup of the filling into a Ziploc bag and cut a half inch off one of the corners.  Prepare the cupcakes by inserting a sharp knife into the top of a cupcake at a 45 degree angle about 1/4 inch from the edge and cut a circle.  You should have a small cone cut out of the top of the cupcake.  Gently turn the cone on its side and, about 1/4 inch from the top of the cone, cut the excess bottom portion of the cone.  Pipe some of the filling from the Ziploc bag and place the top of the cupcake over the filling.  You or your favorite taste tester can eat the cupcake middles.  Note that I needed to use about another teaspoon of the 1/2 cup of marshmallow mixture for the filling.

Step 5:  For the piping, beat the remaining 1 teaspoon of cream into the remaining 1/2 cup of marshmallow mixture and cover until ready to use.

Step 6:  For the frosting, in a small saucepan heat cream over medium heat until steaming while stirring constantly.  Remove from heat, add the chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes.  My chocolate didn’t melt completely, so I put the pan back on the burner that was still warm to melt completely.  Add the butter and stir until smooth.  Transfer to a small bowl and dip the top of each cupcake to thoroughly coat.  Spoon the remaining marshmallow mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a very small plain tip and pipe curlicues across the center of each cupcake.  Alternatively you can use another Ziploc bag and cut a 1/4 inch off one of the corners and pipe curlicues across the center of each cupcake. Refrigerate the cupcakes for 10 minutes or more to set the frosting.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe adapted from Annie’s Eats (originally from Food and Wine).