Mama's High Strung ® dessert Archives - Page 2 of 9

Homemade Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake

November15

Homemade chocolate cake makes me swoon. Homemade chocolate cake with cherries… well, that’s a whole other rodeo.

Make this tempting Chocolate Cherry Cake in a Bundt pan so that when you cut into it at the table… voilà! Beautiful cherries will come spilling out. The cherry pie filling (please, don’t judge) keeps the cake moist.

Oh, and this cake has a secret ingredient: I used freshly brewed coffee to really punch-up the dark chocolate taste.

This is really an easy cake to pull together. Melting the chocolate is probably the most difficult part of this “dump” cake recipe.

So make this recipe tomorrow after you buy the ingredients today… and then saddle-up for the rodeo.

Homemade Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake

prep: 15 minutes

bake: 40 to 50 minutes

serves 12

you’ll need…

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

2 cups cake flour

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup shortening, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 cup plain yogurt, divided

½ cup freshly brewed coffee

3 eggs

1 can (21 ounces) cherry pie filling

let’s get to it…

Spray a Bundt pan with cooking spray and dusty lightly with flour; set aside. Place oven rack in center of oven. Heat oven to 350°F.

Break chocolate into small pieces and place in a small sauce pan. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat when most of the chocolate has melted (it will continue to melt).

Sift cake flour, sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt into a large mixing bowl.

Add shortening, half of the yogurt, coffee and eggs. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl once or twice. Add remaining yogurt and melted chocolate and beat another 2 minutes.

Pour mixture into Bundt pan. Pour cherry pie filling on top of cake mixture. Pat mixture down slightly (you’ll still be able to see it).

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (make sure you aren’t sticking it in the middle of the cherry pie filling).

Loosen cake from sides of pan. Cool in pan 30-minutes. Carefully turn out onto a serving plate.

If you’re obsessed with Cherry Pie Filling like me, you’ll love these recipes:

Cherry Pie Ice Cream

Cherry Pie with Vodka Crust

posted under Plated + Served, Recipe Box | 6 Comments »

The Best Cutout Cookie Recipe

October28

There are ghosts flying around my kitchen.

Halloween starts the deluge of sweet treats and eats in my home,* and I’ve finally come up with the best cutout cookie recipe ever! These are so buttery and delicious, I know this will become my go-to cookie recipe for the holidays. The secret is to use superfine sugar!

Since I was making the cookies from scratch, I turned to Wilton to help me make everything else easier.

I’ve always struggled to get the thickness of these cookies just right, so I really liked using the Rolling Pin Guide Rings. You slip the rings on either end of the Rolling Pin and roll out the dough to a perfect ⅛-inch thickness.

I used the Royal Icing Mix to give the cookies a smooth, glossy finish. This is such an easy way to make your cookies look like they came from a fancy-do bakery! The finishing touch? The fun Candy Eyeballs and Black Icing Color I used for the mouth. I ordered these items on line, but you can also find them at Michael’s and other craft stores.

So, go ahead and let the ghosts fly in your kitchen! Don’t forget to print or bookmark this cookie recipe… you’re going to love it for all of your holiday cut-out cookies!

*That’s actually a lie. There are always sweet treats and eats in my home because I have a wicked sweet tooth.

The Best Cut-Out Cookie Recipe

prep: 20 minutes, plus 30 minutes resting
bake: 8 to 10 minutes

makes about 24 cookies (depending on the size of your cookie cutter!)

you’ll need…

2½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup superfine sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

2 sticks butter, softened and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened

1 package Wilton Royal Icing mix

1 package Wilton Candy Eyeballs

1 Wilton Icing Color (I used black)

let’s get to it…

Mix the flour, sugar and salt at low speed in a stand-up mixer. Add the butter a piece at a time until the dough looks crumbly. Add the vanilla and cream cheese and mix until the dough forms large clumps.

Remove the dough from the bowl and knead by hand once or twice. Cut the dough in half. Form two 4-inch disks. Wrap each disk tightly in plastic and let rest in the refrigerator for 30-minutes.

Place oven rack in the center and heat oven to 375°F. Place 1-dough disk between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll out to ⅛-inch thickness. Place on a baking sheet. Cut into desired shapes about 1-inch apart. Remove excess dough from around cutout cookies and set aside.

Bake for 5 minutes; rotate pan and bake 3 to 5 minutes longer or until light golden brown. Repeat with second dough disk. Leftover scraps can be mashed together and rolled out to make more cookies. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

decorating the cookies…

Prepare the Wilton Royal Icing mix according to package directions. Decorate with Eyeballs and Icing color, or with whatever candy you have on hand!

posted under Plated + Served, Recipe Box | 8 Comments »

GingerDEAD Men Cookies

October27

This is a repost of one of my favorite Halloween recipes… GingerDEAD Men Cookies!

I wrote this recipe for my friends at Right@Home. What makes this recipe so simple is the “secret” ingredient: boxed cake mix! Let the kids help decorate these little men with their favorite candy or sweet topping. Make them scary or BOO-tiful… but get creative! Fun Gingerdead Men Cookies for a great Halloween!

Save-A-Step Gingerbread Skeletons

prep: 15 minutes (and 2 hours in the refrigerator resting)
cook: 10 to 12 minutes
makes: 12 6-inch Gingerbread Skeletons

you’ll need…
1 package Spice Cake Mix
1¼ cups all purpose flour (plus a little extra for rolling out the dough)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup dark molasses
3 teaspoons dried ground ginger
1 16 ounce can Ready-to-Serve White Frosting
Candy, cereal and other sweets for decorating

let’s get to it…
Heat oven to 375°F.
Blend cake mix, flour, eggs, oil, molasses and ginger in a large mixing bowl. Remove dough from bowl, divide in half and place in two Ziploc® Brand Storage Bags Gallon size or wrap separately in Saran™ Premium Wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.
Lightly flour a work surface and place half of the dough in the center. Cover with parchment paper or waxed paper and roll dough to ¼-inch thickness. Cut with gingerbread man cookie cutters. Place 1-inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool in pan for 5 minutes and then remove from pan and cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before decorating.
Spread frosting on each of the cookies and decorate with candy.

Cooking Know How:

Evenly divide frosting into four separate Ziploc® Brand Freezer Storage Bags and add a few drops of orange, black or purple food coloring to each bag. Reserve one bag for white frosting. Knead the sealed bags to mix the colors completely. Push the frosting into the corner of the bag and snip off a corner and squeeze into a bowl. Use the Ziploc® Brand Freezer Storage Bag as a decorating bag by snipping off a tiny corner: very small for dots, and a little bigger for writing and outlining.

Use cut up red and black licorice and marshmallows to make “bones” and Red Hots cinnamon candy or frosted cereal for “eyes.”

posted under Plated + Served, Recipe Box | 2 Comments »

10 Tips for Making Caramel Apples

October23

So you’re ready to make caramel apples, eh? Well knowledge is power, so here are some ways to guarantee success.

10 TIPS FOR MAKING CARAMEL APPLES

1. BUY INDIVIDUAL APPLES. You don’t know what you are getting if you buy apples in a bag. Yes, buying the bag is cheaper, but you want to bite into a hard, crisp apple… not one that’s soft with bruises.

2. WASH THE APPLES. Apples produce their own wax naturally. Many growers (even organic) also add another layer of USDA-approved wax to give them shine and retain moisture. You’ll want to remove this wax so the caramel will stick. Simply place the apples in a colander and pour on boiling water. Dry completely to remove the white film.

3. USE FOOD-SAFE STICKS. Chopsticks, craft sticks or pop sticks are perfect for holding the apples. It’s very Pinteresty to use sticks you’ve gathered outside. Unless you’re going to boil these twigs and let them dry out thoroughly, pass up this idea. Do you really want to use something that a squirrel sat on earlier in the day?

4. CHILL YOUR APPLES. Line a baking tray with parchment paper, put the sticks in the apples and then put the apples on the tray. Refrigerate until ready to dip. This will help the caramel stick!

5. USE THE RIGHT POT. Use a heavy pot. A heavier pot distributes the heat evenly so you won’t get “hotspots” and burn the caramel.

6. GET A THERMOMETER. A candy thermometer is absolutely essential. Many recipes give you visual clues, but what I may consider “dark amber” someone else may find to be “already burned.” Don’t risk it.

7. USE A SILICONE SPATULA. A heat-resistant spatula allows you to really scrape the sides of the pot so the caramel doesn’t overcook and burn.

8. HAVE THE DECORATIONS READY. This goes back to basic mise en place; have everything in place before you begin. You want the decorations on plates and ready to go before the caramel on the dipped apples cools too much.

9. DECORATION PERFECTION. When decorating the caramel-covered apples, roll the apples in the decorations (nuts, candy, whatever) or put the decorations in your palm and press them gently into the apple. If you try to sprinkle on the decorations, they will just fall off. Get ‘em to stick the first time.

10. HAVE PATIENCE. Making caramel apples takes lots of patience. Waiting for the caramel to reach the right temperature. Waiting for the caramel to cool before decorating the apples. Waiting for the decorated apples to set before you can dive in and finally eat them…

Now that you’re armed with these 10 Tips for Making Caramel Apples, click here to find the Perfect Caramel Apples Recipe. And if, by chance, you have any leftover caramel… pop some popcorn and pour it on top. Now that’s enchantment!

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posted under Extra Helpings | 10 Comments »

Hi…
I’m Christina Chavez

I was a TV journalist for many years, but with a house full of kids I decided to come off the road, go to culinary school and follow my passion for cooking. Mama’s High Strung is all about food… everything from creative recipe ideas to some really cool kitchen gadgets and cooking tips. I live in Chicago, but I love to travel and write about my food discoveries! You can reach me by email: mamashighstrung@gmail.com