Minion Cupcakes

Ingredients

1

box Betty Crocker™ SuperMoist™ cake mix (any flavor)

Water, oil and eggs called for on cake mix box

1

container Betty Crocker™ Rich & Creamy vanilla frosting

Yellow liquid or gel food color

16

large marshmallows

32

brown candy-coated milk chocolate candies

2

black licorice wheels

             Betty Crocker™ black decorating gel

Steps

• 1

  Heat oven to 350°F. Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for 24 cupcakes. Cool cupcakes completely on cooling rack, about 15 minutes.
• 2

  Reserve 2 tablespoons frosting. Place remaining frosting in medium bowl; tint with yellow food color. Frost cupcakes with yellow frosting.
• 3

  Use kitchen scissors to cut 1/4-inch circles off both ends of 16 marshmallows to make 32 total rounds.
• 4

  Use reserved frosting to stick milk chocolate candies to marshmallows. Place marshmallow eyes on cupcakes, placing two eyes on some cupcakes and one eye on others. Cut 2 small pieces of licorice rope for each cupcake. Place licorice rope pieces on sides of eyes. Use black decorating gel to pipe a mouth onto each cupcake.

Apple Pie Rollups

Ingredients

• 4 Granny Smith Apples
• Water
• Lemon Juice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 3/4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 3/4 tablespoons soft light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• 2 tablespoons water
• 10+ slices white bread
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
• Cinnamon sugar:
• 1/2 cup caster (superfine) sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Peel apples and cut into quarters. Remove the core and cut the remainder into small chunks. Once cut, place in a large bowl of water with fresh lemon juice to stop the apples from browning.
2. In a saucepan, melt the butter and cinnamon together. Add the apple chunks, draining off most of the water. Add the two sugars and stir until dissolved.
3. Cover with lid and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes, or until softened. Make sure to stir occasionally.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together cornflour and water to form a smooth liquid/paste.
5. Add to the softened apples and simmer for 2 minutes until sauce has thickened. Leave to cool slightly.
6. Cut crusts off each slice of bread and use a rolling pin to flatten each slice. Spoon a small amount of the apple filling onto one end of the bread and roll it up short ways.
7. Dip each roll into the melted butter, followed by the cinnamon sugar and place seam down onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Leave to cool slightly before eating.

Tastemade.com

S'mores Ice Cream Cake

what you need

14

 graham crackers, divided

1/4

cup  butter, melted

2

Tbsp.  sugar

1-1/2

pkg.  (4 oz. each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

1

tub  (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping(Do not thaw.)

1

container  (1-3/4 qt.) chocolate ice cream, softened

1

pkg.  (10 oz.) JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows, divided

2

Tbsp.  milk

make it

HEAT oven to 325°F.

step 1 CRUSH 8-1/2 crackers to form fine crumbs; break remaining crackers into rectangles. Place cracker crumbs in medium bowl. Add butter and sugar; mix well. Press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 12 min. or until lightly browned. Cool completely.

step 2 MEANWHILE, microwave chocolate and COOL WHIP in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 to 2-1/2 min. or until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is blended, stirring after each minute. Let stand 15 min. Spread chocolate mixture over crust. Stand cracker rectangles, top-sides facing out, around edge of pan, pressing gently into chocolate mixture to secure. Freeze 20 min. or until filling is firm.

step 3 COVER with ice cream. Freeze 4 hours or until ice cream layer is very firm. When ready to serve dessert, reserve 2 cups marshmallows. Microwave remaining marshmallows and milk in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min. 15 sec. or until marshmallows are completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after 1 min. Cool 10 min.

step 4 HEAT broiler. Place dessert on baking sheet; top with melted marshmallow mixture and reserved marshmallows. Broil, 6 inches from heat, 1 min. or until marshmallows are golden brown. Remove rim of pan before serving dessert.

Nutella Cookies

 

Ingredients

• Sugar
• Flour
• Egg
• Nutella

Begin by mixing together the sugar and egg. Next add in the flour.

Mix together a tad. Finish up with the Nutella.

Oh Nutella, you are my friend. My sweet, sweet friend. I really like you.

Combine well. The batter will be somewhat crumbly, like this.

Using your hands, make approximately 1″ balls and place on a lined or greased cookie sheet.

Flatten each cookie dough ball with a flat bottomed glass or your hand, if you prefer.

Flatten them out for a crunchy cookie, with a little bit of a chewy center, or flatten them only slightly for a chewier version.

Bake at 350°F for 7-8 minutes or until set. Cool slightly, or snag one while still warm. Enjoy!

http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2011/02/nutella-cookies/

Kit Kat And M&M Cake

CAKE:
One 18.25-ounce box of chocolate cake mix
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups water
2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
4 large eggs

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
1/2 cup salted butter, at room temperature
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 pound powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate chips (or chopped dark chocolate)

DECOR:
Three 4.5-ounce Giant Kit Kat Bars (you'll need 36 Kit Kat sticks total)
One 12.6-ounce bag M&M's
Ribbon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans and line a cupcake pan with 6 liners (you're going to have 6 cupcakes to munch on along with your cake!)

2. In a large bowl, whisk together cake mix, flour, sugar and salt. Add remaining ingredients and beat with hand mixer for 2 minutes, or until well blended.

3. Scoop the batter into 6 cupcake liners 3/4-full. Divide the remaining batter into the prepared round pans. Bake the cupcakes for about 25 minutes, and bake the cake rounds about 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then remove the cake layers to a wire rack to cool completely.

4. When the cake is cool, you're ready to assemble. Place one layer on a serving plate, and tuck strips of waxed paper underneath the sides of the cake.

5. Prepare the frosting: In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended. Increase speed to medium, and slowly add milk and vanilla, beating until smooth. Microwave chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl at MEDIUM 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30 second intervals. Gradually add melted chocolate to mixture; beat until blended and smooth.

6. Frost the 1st cake layer. Set the 2nd layer on top of the first. Frost the 2nd layer and along the sides of the cake too. Stick Kit Kat's to the sides of the cake, leaving a very small space in between each Kit Kat (1/4-inch). Wrap a bow around the cake, securing the Kit Kat's. Fill the top of the cake with M&M's. Pull out the strips of waxed paper and discard. Use any extra frosting to frost your 6 extra cupcakes.

7. If you refrigerate the cake for a couple of hours or so, it will be much easier to cut and serve. Of course, you'll need to remove the bow just before serving.

Tips:

*You can certainly use your favorite layer cake recipe for this cake. The doctored-up cake mix recipe that is included here is actually quite good!

*You can also use a yellow cake or your favorite flavor... following the same instructions here for jazzing it up.
*Technically, you can use all of the batter in two 9-inch round pans, but it might make the cake too high to work for this recipe. You don't want the cake to stand higher than the height of the Kit Kat's- or they will not be able to act as a "fence" to hold in the M&M's.

Elmo Cupcake

Ingredients

• 24 Cupcakes (any kind will do, we used vanilla)
• 12 Oreos (have more on hand to be on the safe side)
• Sharp Knife
• Red Buttercream (recipe below)
• Piping Bag
• Grass Tip
• White Fondant
• Orange Fondant

Directions

• Split the Oreos carefully and scrape off the icing with a sharp knife. Cut the Oreos into halves so they look like smiley faces.
• Apply a small blob of buttercream underneath the Oreo mouth and attach it to the cupcake near the bottom.
• Half fill a piping bag fitted with the grass tip with the red buttercream.
• Squeeze icing onto cupcake, once it is a attached gently ease the pressure while pulling up and away from the cupcake, stop squeezing and lift off the cupcake to form "fur" that sticks out, it takes some getting used to but keep at it and you'll be a pro in no time! Try piping on different angles to get messy looking fur.
• Roll white fondant to make Elmo's eye balls and orange fondant to make his nose.
• Place the eye balls and nose on the iced cupcake.
• Pipe black icing onto Elmo's eye balls, you can be creative here and make him cross eyed, looking up or in opposite directions which helps bring character to each cupcake!

Red Buttercream:

220g Butter (softened)
2 t Vanilla Essence 
3 C Icing Sugar 
Approx 4T Milk
Pink & Red Red Gel Colours

• Beat butter until light and fluffy.
• Add vanilla and beat until incorporated.
• Sift icing sugar into a separate bowl then gradually add to butter mixture one cup at a time.
• When icing becomes to lumpy and dry add milk one tablespoon at a time until the consistency is soft and easy to pipe.
• Add pink gel colouring to icing to make it bright hot pink.
• Add red red gel colouring to icing to make it red.

Decorating Variations:

Fur:
Roughly icing cupcake with red icing.
Place coconut in a zip lock bag with red food colouring and shake until colour is even and bright red all over.
Place coconut in a bowl and dip cupcakes to cover the entire surface.
Eyes:
Either marshmallows or white chocolate buttons.
Melt dark chocolate in a zip lock bag, snip the corner and pipe dots on the eyes.
Nose: 
Orange peanut M&Ms.
Mouth:
Liquorice.

http://www.lydiabakes.com/2012/07/elmo-cupcakes-tutorial.html

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

Ingredients 

1 pint (2 cups) medium-large strawberries (18 to 20 strawberries)

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips or white vanilla baking chips

1 teaspoon shortening or vegetable oil

Directions 

1. Gently rinse strawberries and dry on paper towels (berries must be completely dry). Line cookie sheet with waxed paper.
2. In 1-quart saucepan, melt chocolate chips and shortening over low heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
3. Dip lower half of each strawberry into chocolate mixture; allow excess to drip back into saucepan. Place on waxed paper-lined tray or cookie sheet.
4. Refrigerate uncovered about 30 minutes or until chocolate is firm, or until ready to serve. Store covered in refrigerator so chocolate does not soften (if made with oil, chocolate will soften more quickly at room temperature).

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/chocolate-dipped-strawberries/b8b85c58-e5b3-405a-889f-9e997996738d