Better Than Mine

I've never claimed to be original, but one time I made up a recipe for hot fudge sauce, and it was really good. However, when I made Laura's birthday "uncake" I used a different fudge sauce and I will be the first to admit that it is better than my made up recipe. So using what I learned in church two Sundays ago (thanks, Michele), I will admit I was wrong, and to make up for posting an inferior hot fudge sauce, I will now give you an even better hot fudge sauce recipe. I got it from Real Mom Kitchen, but she got it from San Diego Cooks. And now you got it from me. Don't say I never gave you anything.
You can make it in the microwave like the other two did, but I made it on the stovetop because I wanted more control. Does that make me a control freak?
I "borrowed" San Diego Cooks photo because I am being lazy about taking a new picture.

Legitimately, I could use this photo because it's the same fudge, but you've already seen this one. 

Hot Fudge Sauce- (directions adapted)

1/4 cup butter

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup corn syrup

1 can sweetened condensed milk

a pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over low heat.  Add chocolate chips and corn syrup. Stir to combine. Add condensed milk and salt and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract and stir. Be prepared to eat it straight from the pan with a spoon. Refrigerate any leftover sauce in an airtight container. It will keep for several days. 

Paula Deen's Dessert

I saw a recipe in a couple places online and was excited to try it. It got rave reviews so I had high hopes. It's Paula Deen's recipe, with a variation or two.

It's not rocket science. Line a 9x13" pan with heavy-duty foil. Add ice cream sandwiches to it, filling it as full as possible, which means getting a little creative near the edges.
On top of the sandwiches, add sliced bananas, strawberries (skip the strawberries! Leave them out!) and maraschino cherries. Top with hot fudge sauce and some butterscotch or caramel sauce. Sprinkle with Heath toffee bits. Add more fudge sauce than this! Cover it entirely with fudge sauce, then your sister will be happy.

I made my own hot fudge sauce, just because I like it so much, however, from the original recipe, I upped the chocolate to 6 oz. (instead of 4) and added 2 tsp of vanilla (instead of one).
Add another layer of sandwiches.
Mix an 8 oz can of crushed pineapple (drained) into an 8 oz container of Cool Whip.
Sprinkle with more toffee chips and some chopped peanuts or pecans or both. Freeze for four hours. Lift it out of the pan (using the foil for handles) to make cutting easier.

Here's my review. It sounds fabulous, right? Yes, it does (it's okay, I'll answer my own questions). However, the problem was when you bite into the frozen strawberry (my piece didn't seem to have any cherries), you can't really taste what it is, it just tastes like a frozen rock. What would I do to change it to make it better? (I'll still answer my own question) I would layer the whole thing the same way, but then serve it immediately, or just leave the strawberries out. I might even add a little more hot fudge sauce onto the plate before putting the dessert on it! That stuff is so good!

My sister said the hot fudge sauce was the best part and needed about three times the amount that I'd put on it. She said the bananas were fine, and the cherries were fine, but the strawberries were no good because they had no taste, they were just frozen lumps. So, Paula Deen's version was the way to go, and the re-make was a mistake.

It Hit The Spot

Even though the snowman only lived one day, he was still fun while he lasted. However, I think it put us in the mood for...
ice cream with hot fudge sauce. It was weird- Laura and I were both craving it and neither of us knew about the other one's craving.
After dinner I said I wanted some vanilla ice cream with hot fudge sauce. She said "Me too! But with strawberry ice cream instead!" We both got what we wanted!
I had some Mrs. Richardson's hot fudge sauce in the refrigerator, but when I opened it, I knew it was only worthy of being thrown away. It looked gross (I'll spare you the details).

So I made new sauce!

Oh yeah. That's what I was wanting in my life!

Here's how to make some for yourself. This was way more delicious than the stuff in the jar, even on the jar's best day! Taste some for yourself! Here's how.

Patti's Hot Fudge Sauce (yes, this is an original)

4 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate (4 squares)

1/4 cup salted butter (or if you're using unsalted, just add a pinch of salt to the sauce)

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

scant 1/2 cup mini marshmallows (I grabbed a fistful- it was about 35)

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a small pot, add butter (and salt, if necessary), condensed milk, chocolate and marshmallows. Stir over low heat until everything is melted and glossy. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

Serve immediately over your favorite ice cream, or just eat it from the spoon. Either way, you'll be in heaven.

A Birthday Uncake

Laura was craving a Red Robin mud pie for a couple of weeks. She found a recipe online and asked if I would make it for her birthday "cake." It looks totally ugly, but everyone loved it. The ugly problem happened because my homemade hot fudge was still too warm (room temperature) to cover the frozen ice cream and it all slid right off the mountain to the bottom of the plate.

What I would do differently when I make it again is not try to replicate the shape of how Red Robin does theirs. I would start with an Oreo pie crust, then line that with the peanut butter sauce (recipe to follow), vanilla ice cream, crushed Nutter Butter cookies, and chocolate ice cream, frosted with hot fudge, using less ingredients of everything so it all fits in the pie shell. Here's the original recipe.

Red Robin® Mountain High Ice Cream Pie ingredients

Makes 12 servings

6 cups chocolate ice cream

1 cup peanut butter cookie pieces

6 cups vanilla ice cream

1 2/3 cups creamy peanut butter

3/4 cup chopped peanuts

4 chocolate-flavored graham crackers, crushed

1 cup fudge topping

1 (20-oz) squirt bottle chocolate topping

1 (20-oz) squirt bottle caramel topping

Garnish:

Chocolate sauce

1 can Redi-Whip

3/4 cup chopped peanuts

12 maraschino cherries, with stems

Notes:

Directions

Line a 3-QT bowl with Saran wrap and freeze for at least 30 minutes.

Soften the chocolate ice cream and pack it into the bottom of prepared bowl. Make sure the surface of the ice cream is smooth and leveled.

Evenly spread the peanut butter cookie pieces over the top; cover the bowl and freeze for at least one hour.

Then, soften the vanilla ice cream and spread it over the peanut butter cookie layer, again smoothing a level ice cream surface. Cover the bowl and freeze again for at least one hour.

After the vanilla ice cream is hardened, use a spatula to spread 2/3 cup of peanut butter over the top.

Evenly spread the chocolate graham cracker crumbs over the peanut butter. Cover the bowl and freeze again for at least one hour, preferably longer.

About five hours before serving, partially fill a sink with warm water. Then, remove ice cream bowl from the freezer and hold it in the warm water for about one minute; you want the ice cream around the edges to soften just enough that you can invert the domed-shaped ice cream onto a plate.

Turn a large plate upside down and place it on top of the ice cream bowl; flip bowl and plate together, gently tapping on bowl until the ice cream dome falls onto the plate. You may have to immerse the bowl in warm water again to release the ice cream dome.

Once released on the plate, cover the ice cream dome with plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for another 1 - 2 hours.

Without heating, evenly spread the fudge sauce over the entire surface of the ice cream dome ("mountain"); freeze for 1 hour.

When the fudge sauce has hardened, spread the remaining 1 cup of peanut butter over the entire surface as well; freeze again for 1 hour.

About one hour before serving, use a warm knife to slice dessert into 12 pieces. Place wax paper between the cuts so it is easy to divide when you serve it later. Then cover and return to freezer. If desired, freeze dessert plates, too.

Just before serving (finally!), and on each serving plate, use squirt bottle of  chocolate topping to make 3 parallel (side by side) lines.

Make quarter-turn of each serving plate and use squirt bottle of  caramel topping to make 3 parallel (side by side) lines which are perpendicular to the chocolate lines.

Turn each serving plate so the lines appear as an "X."

Near the back of the "X" design, place a slice of ice cream upright onto each serving plate; spray generous amount of Redi-Whip on top and down the curved edge of the slice, onto the plate over the sauces.

Sprinkle about a tablespoon of chopped nuts over the Redi-Whip on each plate; add a cherry on top and serve immediately.

Peanut butter sauce-  (adapted slightly)

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream ( you can use half and half)
• 1/4 cup sugar 
• 1/4 cup light Karo syrup
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients (except peanut butter) in a saucepan stirring constantly until all ingredients are dissolved.
2. Let the mixture cool completely then add the peanut butter and stir well.
3. It will look like a mess, but keep stirring and it will turn out smooth and still have the grain texture.

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

I made these last weekend for a church dinner. Cherry chip cake with hot fudge squirted inside, topped with Pastry Pride, more hot fudge, sprinkles and a cherry.

This time, I wanted to make something with peanut butter and chocolate.  

I have a pan that holds a treat up inside of the cupcake. I tried it two ways- first I put the Reese's® peanut butter cup on the spike and the put the batter into the liner, shaking the pan a bit to settle the batter around the chocolate. 

The second way was putting the batter in first and then adding the pb cup to the spike. I think the second way worked better.  It showed through, but I didn't mind that. 

I used my regular chocolate frosting and topped it with Reese's Pieces mini's. 

I thought it still looked a little plain, so I mixed up a sprinkle concoction and finished it that way. I think if I make these again, I will change the frosting to a peanut butter and chocolate frosting swirl. That would be awesome. 

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

1 Duncan Hines Butter Golden cake mix 

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup sour cream

3 eggs

1/4 cup water

Reese's ® peanut butter cups (miniature), optional

In your mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients except the cake mix and the pb cups, and beat until blended. Add the cake mix and beat on medium speed for two minutes. Bake at 350°F for 15-18 minutes unless you've added a Reese's ® miniature peanut butter cup to the batter, and then they will need to bake for 18-21 minutes. Top with your favorite frosting. 

xoxo, Patti

One Day- Two Failures

I was all set to make a delicious dessert for our game night. This was the beginning of a very long baking day.
Here we have a cookie crust, pressed into the baking sheet and poked with a fork for ventilation.
Coconut mixed with melted butter, because the THREE sticks of butter in the crust evidently wasn't enough calories by itself.
Here's your best tip of the day. This is how I store my leftover coconut. When I open the bag, I use scissors to cut off the top of the bag, and then I use that cut strip to tie the bag back up. I do that with my frozen veggies too.
The recipe said bake until golden brown. If you look closely, you can see the butter still bubbling up from the crust. Evidently I over-baked it, because it was a brick.
A pineapple cream cheese filling...
topped with the coconut.
Looks pretty yummy, right? No. It was this nice filling sitting on a brick. It was break-your-teeth hard. But a couple of the people wanted to try it anyway. They liked the top a lot. Perhaps I'll try this again but either change the base or cook it less, and maybe rethink the butter quantities.
So I tried new-recipe #2. What was reported on a credible blog as really delicious, all the candy bar pieces sunk to the bottom of the cake making it a mass of sugar, hard and unedible.
My oldest has always said you don't try new recipes when people are coming over. You try them beforehand so you know what to expect. When will I learn?

I went with tried and true. We had Skookies, but even that nearly failed! I pulled the first three out of the oven only to see that the next three weren't quite done, so I left them in there and then they were practically burned. My nice guests swore they were still edible and they managed to choke them down after slathering them with ice cream and hot fudge sauce. At least my hot fudge sauce was perfect.

And we had a really fun night after we got past the dessert phase of the evening.

They Win Some, They Lose Some

I know Laura wants titles with more disclosure, but I can't seem to bring myself to do it. Sorry, Boo.
Do you know about the website How Does She? They've got some pretty good stuff over there. A couple of weeks ago I came across this hot fudge recipe that I wanted to try.

Yesterday I tried it. How does it compare to my very own made up recipe? I had a perfectly random taste tester (thank you, Karen) give me her opinion in a blind taste test (well, not with a blindfold- she just didn't know which recipe was which, or which one she was "supposed" to choose) and she chose my recipe. Just in case you can't remember what that recipe is, I'll post it for you again.

So that was a lose for How Does She. But do not despair, because here's their win. These rolls were the best I've ever made. The b-e-s-t, ev-er! I've posted roll recipes on here in the past, but after making these rolls, they are the only ones I will ever make in the future. After all, why have 15 recipes for the same thing if one is superior to all others?
I will post their winning recipe tomorrow.

And just for some loveliness...

I already posted this on FB, but just in case you missed it, here is my sweet grandson watching How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

Hot Fudge Sauce by lil' ol' me.
1 stick butter
1 can (14 oz...do they even make another size?) sweetened condensed milk
6 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate (I use Bakers)
1/2 cup miniature marshmallows (or a handful, depending on the size of your hand)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Combine all ingredients except the vanilla and stir until everything is melted together and well-combined. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool slightly and serve over vanilla ice cream Topped with crushed candy cane sounds amazing to me right now...

but seriously- my favorite way to enjoy this is to just eat it with a spoon.

Go ahead, I dare you.

Bliss in Every Bite

I made some cookies on Monday that are probably the most delicious chocolate peanut butter combination I have ever tasted before.

The recipe is the brain child of Lizzy Early from Your Cup of Cake. The only difference between hers and mine is that I added the extra drizzle, which is just leftover ganache that is also under the baby Reese's peanut butter cups. Lizzy suggests that you make a depression in the cookie before baking. I used the back of this measuring spoon (it's a tablespoon). 

Once the cookies are baked (and they are super fast and easy since they start with a cake mix), you fill them with a peanut butter frosting and then a peanut butter/chocolate ganache, topped with mini Reese's peanut butter cups. Not miniature Reese's, but mini Reese's. They are each about the size of my baby fingernail. As if that wasn't enough, I made this on the same day. It's from Six Sister's Stuff.

You can get the recipe for that right here.  But their recipe doesn't have that layer of peanut butter goo in it. For me, that's practically the best part of the fudge, so here's that peanut butter sauce recipe. 

Okay, the treats are ready! It's time for friends to come over. The set up in the back was for banana splits. 

Yummy! I made some hot fudge sauce and more peanut butter sauce for the splits, but I left my triple crock pot on high and the sauces overheated. We just dipped out of the very center and we survived. I thought the cookies were even better the next day. I couldn't stop eating them, so I had to give every last one of them away. 

Life is Uncertain, Eat Dessert First

On Sunday we had dinner with most of the extended family in Utah so they could all visit with my kids and grandkids (I wish Danny had been there too!). This was the highlight of the meal. Holly made it (assembled it?).

Super simple to make- (Nora and Agnes "helped", so that part for Holly may not have been so simple). Just cut ice cream sandwiches in half (or quarters, depending on the size of your sandwiches) and line them around a chilled springform pan. Fill the middle area with more ice cream (we used strawberry, which was really store-bought vanilla mixed with homemade strawberry jam) and topped with a jar of hot fudge topping, whipped cream, and slices of banana and strawberries for garnish.

Sara loved it and ate two slices!
Except for the part that stayed on her face instead of going in her mouth.
Here are some of the people that came over. Others were either inside or tending kids on the swings and slide.
We had a good time. Sorry if you missed it!

Frozen Butterfinger Pie

Several days ago, some friends and I were discussing Pinterest. I told them I only used it for pinning the things I wanted to remember, and that I didn't look at what other people pinned. When I came home, I decided to see what all the hubbub was about in looking at other people's pins. Big mistake. Now I want to see other people's pins all the time. And to round out the obsession, I did a search with the word "Butterfinger." Second big mistake! Or not! I was having some company over tonight and needed a killer dessert, and this is what I decided to make.

The recipe came from here, but I didn't have any Cool Whip so I used sweetened whipping cream. 

To decorate the plate, I made the peanut butter sauce from this post and the hot fudge sauce from this post. I added a squirt of pressurized whipped cream and topped it with a Butterfinger Snackerz.

Frozen Butterfinger Pie (adapted slightly)
Oreo pre-made crust (or make your own, as easy as this)
8 oz cream cheese, softened (I would have preferred a little less cream cheese, but that's just me)
half of a 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk (so, 7 oz!)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
8 oz tub Cool Whip (or 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and 1/4 cup powdered sugar whipped together until stiff)
8 miniature Butterfinger candy bars, coarsely chopped (or 4 regular-sized bars)

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, condensed milk, peanut butter and powdered sugar. Beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes). Add the Butterfinger pieces, then fold in the whipping cream or Cool Whip.
Spread mixture into crust. Cover and freeze about three hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving, and garnish as desired.

Oh, Pinterest. I'm afraid I'll be spending way too much time at your place from now on.

Cupcake Extravaganza

My stepdad wrote his life story and had the book published, so he gathered his extended family to share the book with them. This involved feeding them as well. When I discussed the menu with my mom, she said she had it all figured out except for the dessert, but thought she'd just buy some pies and cupcakes. Gasp! I told her how gross store-bought cupcakes were, and then, yes, volunteered to make the cupcakes. She told me she'd need 100. After much thought, day and night (I lost three night's worth of good sleep), I knew which cupcakes I wanted to make.

Just getting started

Agnes is always a willing helper

Minions

Here's a quick look

Butterfinger cupcakes. Caramel is in the middle, topped with a peanut butter frosting and chopped Butterfingers.

Lemon cupcakes. Lemon curd is in the middle, topped with a cream-cheese lemon frosting. 

White-chocolate raspberry cupcakes. Raspberry filling is in the middle, topped with a swirl of melted white chocolate and a marion berry jam/cream cheese frosting, and three silver dragees (we'd have preferred using a fresh raspberry instead, but we were "fresh" out).

Banana Split cupcakes- we got the idea for this by watching an episode of DC Cupcakes. They have chopped bananas baked into a vanilla batter. Hot fudge is in the middle, topped with Pastry Pride, chocolate syrup, chopped peanuts and a cherry. 

Let's get them outside for the party.

I had to hire a new taste-tester since my other one moved to Arizona in July of 2012. 

Put the fork down and nobody gets hurt. 

She eats her cupcakes with a spoon?

I couldn't resist posting this picture. 

Here's Walt and my mom, while Cheryl holds the microphone as he tells his experiences with writing his story.

So, which would you choose?

My favorite was the Butterfingers cupcakes because the peanut butter frosting was so divine. Cheryl liked the lemon one best, Amy liked the raspberry one best, and the banana split was my favorite for presentation purposes. The kids thought the minion cupcakes we're awesome. So, I guess they are all winners. I have to make more tomorrow to take to the ERC (Employment Resource Center) on Wednesday. Which ones should I make, because I'm only making one kind, not four.
P.S. My apologies for taking soooo long to update the blog.