Super Simple Summer Sweet

Yes. I like alliteration. 

It makes my ability to name recipes that much less pathetic. 

This way it sounds cute and rhyme-y. 

Well...that's what I was going for...humor me.

Anyway, what this dessert should be called is how-to-beat-the-heat-with-a-little-cheating-and-still-come-up-with-a-treat-worthy-of-a-birthday-celebration. Except that's a little wordy.

I started out wanting to make a fruit pizza type dessert and it evolved  into this. 

See... I didn't want to turn on the oven because it is a bajillion degrees and we don't have air conditioning and when I wanted to cheat and go buy a crust there was nothing in town that would work. 

I turned to my freezer reserves and found a lemon loaf. The wheels started turning and I came up with this kind-of individual fruit pizza on a loaf dessert. 

I went with lemon loaf and blueberries & blackberries because, well, everyone knows that lemon + blueberries = perfection. And then I went with a cinnamon loaf and caramelized pecans because, well, cinnamon + caramel + pecans = perfection.

(I just wanted to point out, in the photo below, that there is a bite mark in the lemon loaf. That happened when I went to get my camera. I came back and that is what it looked like. Our dad isn't claiming responsibility but I'm pretty sure he's the culprit.)

Super Simple Summer Sweet

Ingredients

Bottom Layer

2 loaves - your favorite flavors, sliced fairly thickly 

Middle Layer

2 - 8 oz bricks cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

2 cups whipping cream

Top Layer

approx 2 cups of blueberries & blackberries

approx 1 1/2 cups of caramelized pecans 

Caramel Pecans

1 1/2 cup pecan halves

3 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp whipping cream

Directions

Place slices of your favorite loaf on a serving platter (or individual serving plates).

Above is my lemon loaf.

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Above is a cinnamon swirl loaf I bought at the grocery store. 

Prepare Middle Layer - Beat the cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides as needed. Beat in the sugar until well combined. 

In a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. 

Scrape the cream cheese into the whipping cream and beat briefly to combine.

Spread evenly on top of the loaf slices. (I got 10 slices per loaf so 20 slices in total)

Prepare the caramel pecans - In a medium frying pan, place pecans, brown sugar, butter, and cream. 

Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture is bubbly and browned, about 5 minutes or so. 

Remove from heat and spread onto a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. 

Cool completely. (You can speed this process by placing in the freezer for a few minutes.)

Take out 10 pecan halves and then coarsely chop the remainder.

Sprinkle the loaf slices with either the blueberries & blackberries or the caramelized pecans.

The berries are so pretty, aren't they?

I think my favorite was the caramel pecans though.

You can serve these immediately or cover and chill until ready to serve. (I made mine the night before and they were fine the next day.)

Look at all that lemony, cheesecake-y, berry goodness.

Or, maybe you prefer some cinnamon-y, cheesecake-y, caramel pecan goodness. 

Either way - it is beat the heat amazingness. 

Imagine all the possibilities here!

Banana loaf with the cream cheese middle then topped with caramelized bananas and/or pecans.

Pumpkin loaf with cream cheese middle then topped with caramelized pecans.

Apple loaf with cream cheese middle then topped with streusel.

Chocolate chip loaf with cream cheese middle then topped with shredded chocolate.

And on and on and on....

 

Be sure to visit Carole's Chatter for tons of tasty links!

 

Surprise Inside Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Our mom was helping a friend of hers who had lost a daughter to cancer. They were putting together a menu for the memorial service and needed some squares and loaves for dessert.

I volunteered to make a loaf for them. I wanted to do something a little bit special to help celebrate her daughter's life. I found out that her daughter's favorite color was blue so I decided to make this loaf with a lovely blue flower inside. 

Sometimes little things can mean a lot. 

Surprise Inside Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Ingredients

Blue Flower

 2 recipes for our Vanilla Cake 

(OR 1 box white cake mix & ingredients to prepare it)

blue food coloring

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

8 oz (1 brick) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, room temp

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

Directions

Prepare Blue Flower batter - Preheat oven to 350. Line the bottom of a jelly roll pan with parchment paper, set aside. 

Prepare the Vanilla Cake as per instructions HERE. (Or, if you are using a box mix - as per directions on box.) 

Once batter is mixed, add in as much of the blue food coloring as needed to reach the color you like. Pour the cake mix into the prepared pan. (By the way, in the following photos I did 2 different colors by splitting the batter in half before adding the colors.)

Bake until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean, about 20 - 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it. 

When done, remove from heat and let cool in pan for about 10 minutes. Run a knife around the outside of the cake to loosen from edge of pan. Carefully invert cake onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

When cool - using a small cookie cutter in whichever shape you prefer, cut out the cake into shapes. Set aside while you prepare pound cake batter.

Prepare Pound Cake batter - Spray a 9 X5 loaf pan with cooking spray, line with parchment paper, and then lightly spray again.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, scraping down sides as necessary. 

Beat in the sugar until smooth.

Beat in vanilla.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well combined.

Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just mixed.

Place several spoonfuls of pound cake batter into the bottom of prepared loaf pan. 

Place the cutout, colored shapes into the center of the pan. Be sure to press the shapes together firmly as you put them in the pan.

When you can't fit in any more shapes, carefully spoon the pound cake batter around the cut out shapes, being careful not to break off any pieces. Be sure to completely cover the top of the shapes.

Bake at 350 until toothpick inserted near the center - but NOT in the center where the shapes are - comes out clean, about 60 minutes or so. Top should be golden brown.

Let cool in pan for 10 minutes or so then gently run a knife around the outside of the loaf to loosen from sides of pan. Use the parchment paper "handles" to lift out the loaf. Let cool completely on wire rack.

This slices better when it has had time to cool completely. I left mine, covered, in the fridge over night and then cut it the next day.

It is a lovely way to bring a little bit of color to a plate of squares and loaves. It is also a cute thing to make for Easter (use an egg shape), Halloween (use a ghost or pumpkin shape), Christmas (see HERE, we did a gingerbread man), pretty much any holiday or event. 

It does take a bit of work as you have to make 2 cakes BUT it is sooooo worth it. You can mix up flavors and colors for endless variations. Plus, you can make the first cake far in advance and simply freeze it until you are ready to make the loaf. 

When I finally finish off the loaf I made with the green cake (from the above photos), I will post a photo of that one too!

UPDATE - Here is a pic of the green flower loaf - 

We're sharing at these great linky  parties - Six Sister's Stuff, Horrific Knits, Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons, Carole's Chatter, Feeding Big, 

Apple Coffee Cake Muffins

It had been a while since I made muffins for a treat so I figured I needed something deliciously muffin-y. 

They are really flavor-able, very fluffy and light, and the crumble topping is my new favorite.

Muffins are so easy and quick to whip up, I don't know why I make them more often.

Well....except for the fact I would be eating them all the time. 

They are so handy to have in the freezer and then just warm up for a tasty breakfast on the go. 

FYI - They are also perfect for tea time or brunch. 

We made a Banana Crumb Muffin a while back that you can check out HERE.

Apple Coffee Cake Muffins

Ingredients

Crumble

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp cinnamon

4 Tbsp butter, melted

Muffin

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup Greek yogurt

2 cups apples, cored and diced

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners, set aside.

Prepare crumble - Stir together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and melted butter until well mixed. Set aside.

Prepare muffins - In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar until well mixed. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well combined.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. 

Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, alternating with the Greek yogurt, until just combined. Do not over mix!! 

Stir in the apples.

Scoop a heaping tablespoon of batter into prepared trays. Flatten the batter in the bottom of the liner. Top with 1 tsp of the crumble. (see photo below)

Top the crumble with another heaping tablespoon of batter. Then add another 1 tsp of crumble.

When all the muffins are topped with the remaining crumble; bake at 350 until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean, about 15 or so minutes. Tops will be brown.

Cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely. (Although they are also delicious warm!)

I doubled the recipe to make 24 because everyone in our family LOVES muffins. 

They make great gifts for neighbors too! 

And tasty after school snacks....

And are perfect to bring to office potlucks...

What aren't muffins good for?

Be sure to visit Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons and My Turn (For Us) and Easy Life  and Horrific Knits for some crafty and delicious links!

Carrot And Date Muffins

I almost forgot about these healthy little treats. 

I made them last month for the seniors at our local Seniors Center and they were a big hit. 

Whip these up if you want something healthy for breakfast or for an after school/after work snack. 

I adapted the recipe from Alive Magazine December 2013 edition.

The nutritional info per muffin (recipe makes 12), is:

140 calories, 16 carbs, 7 fat, and 3 protein. 

Plus....they are really tasty and only take 2 seconds to make. Which never hurts, right?

Carrot and Date Muffins

(Adapted From Alive Magazine, December 2013)

Ingredients

1 cup whole dates

1/2 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup carrot, grated

3 eggs

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, shredded

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch salt

1 apple, shredded

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line 12 cup muffin tin with paper cups (or 24 mini muffins). 

In a small saucepan, simmer dates with the 1/2 cup of water until dates are very tender. 

When tender, place in food processor or blender. 

Add in vanilla and process until smooth.

Pour puree into a medium mixing bowl, beat date puree with carrots and eggs. Gradually beat in the coconut oil.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, coconut, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.

Stir in the apples - just until evenly distributed, don't over mix.

Scoop evenly into the 12 muffin cups (or 24 mini muffins). 

Bake at 350 for approx 20 minutes - toothpick inserted near center should come out clean. (Time will be a little less for the mini muffins - check at 12 minutes and go from there.)

Remove from oven and let cool about 10 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack to cool completely. 

There is no processed sugar in these, the only sweetener is the dates, plus only 1/4 cup of oil.

And, you know what, you'd never know it. 

Let's not forget about the carrots and apple goodness too! 

P.S. - These freeze really well and taste just as good reheated for a few seconds in the microwave. 

Be sure to visit these great blogs for tons more links - Adorned From Above, Dizzy Busy & Hungry, 

Blueberry Banana Bran Muffins

I'm not sure how people are able to make bran muffins look not so bran muffin-y. 

I mean... they're not the most attractive looking things out there. 

That being said, they are tasty and healthy. Your insides will thank you, if you know what I mean.

I made them even a bit more healthy by cutting out almost all the fat and lowering the calories. I made one batch and cooked it in muffin tins and made another batch and cooked them in a skillet (like pancakes). The muffin tin way is probably a bit lighter but both versions tasted really yummy. 

These freeze really well. All you have to do is microwave one for a few seconds and it is good to go.

According to Myfitnesspal, the nutritional info is: 

106 calories, 1 fat, 21 carbs, and 4 protein.  (That is PER MUFFIN. One recipe makes 12 muffins.)

Blueberry Banana Bran Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups bran

1 cup 1% milk

1/2 cup mashed banana

1 egg

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup blueberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the bran and milk and let sit while you prepare the rest of the batter.

In a separate bowl, mix together the mashed banana, egg, brown sugar, and vanilla. Set aside.

In a third bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and baking powder, and blueberries. 

Stir the bran mixture into the mashed banana mixture until well combined.

Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Do not over mix. 

Fill the prepared muffin cups with batter. 

Bake at 350 until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 15 - 20 minutes. 

Enjoy for breakfast or for a quick 100 calorie snack anytime.

Or, if you are feeling like trying something a little different, you can cook them in a skillet like a pancake. I made baby sized ones, about 1 generous Tablespoon of batter.

The recipe made 48 baby pancakes, each only 25 calories.

Again, these freeze really well. You can just pop one out of the freezer as you need it and microwave it for a few seconds. 

4 mini pancakes or 1 muffin. 

Both 100 calories (okay, 106 calories technically), both tasty, both fairly healthy. 

I like them because they are quite filling so I feel like I've really indulged in a treat. 

Chef In Training and Table For Seven have tons of fantastic links, be sure to click over and check them out!