Can anything be more Minnesotan than Hotdish? I don't think so. Traditionally, hotdish is a savory mix of creamed soup and hamburger, often topped with tots. Or macaroni and hamburger and cheese. Much cheese. Or tuna and noodles topped with crispy onions and mixed with....creamed soup. But let me propose another kind of hotdish, this one sweet rather than savory. What kind of sweet served in a casserole could possibly pass for hotdish? A souffle? Mais, non...too highbrow. And a banana pudding seems much too Southern. But a crumble...yes a crumble...perfect for a sweet hotdish...

Pick a tart apple to compliment the sweetness of the caramel.

Caramel Apple Hotdish

If you had to imagine that iconic Minnesota casserole, the Hotdish, transformed into dessert...this would be it!

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 3-4 medium sized tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup good quality caramel topping

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., spray 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Set aside 1 1/4 cups of the crumb mixture. Press the rest of the mixture onto the bottom of the casserole dish.
3. Spread the apple slices evenly over the top of the crumb mixture. Drizzle the caramel topping over the apples. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the caramel. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the apples are tender. Serve warm.

Warm, buttery, with a hint of cinnamon......

I'm taking a break from healthy posting in favor of something fun! Actually, I'm digging into my past for a recipe that I originally shared on my friend Kristin's blog, Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker. I am so craving dark chocolate right about now....

Everything in moderation, right? I went a little overboard yesterday on my diet change of lifestyle. A trip through the aisles of Costco will do that. They really need little calorie UPC codes at all of the sample stations to scan into the MyFitnessPal app. On second thought, maybe it's best not to know....

The best part of this Tres Leches Cake is how easy it is....just one bowl.

I first made a Tres Leches Cake a few years ago for a holiday post. It is a Cafe Latte copycat recipe that I use frequently...it's that good! This chocolate version is take on the original and I really like how it turned out. 

Dark Chocolate Tres Leches Cake

Making a Tres Leches Cake even better is no easy task....unless you make a Dark Chocolate version!

Ingredients

• Cake:
• ¼ cup oil
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ¾ cup flour
• ¼ cup dark cocoa
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ½ cup buttermilk
• Soaking Liquid:
• ½ of a (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup half/half
• ¼ tsp vanilla
• 1 ½ tablespoons dark cocoa
• Frosting:
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons dark cocoa
• ½ tsp. vanilla
• Chocolate and/or White Chocolate Curls, for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.; grease and flour an 8 inch cake pan (using an 8" rather than a 9" pan will make it easier to split in half).
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture.
5. Slowly add the buttermilk, mixing until well blended.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly touched.
7. Remove from oven and cool for at least ten minutes before removing from pan.
8. Carefully, cut the cake in half, horizontally.
9. Place each half sliced side up on a rack to cool completely.
10. While the cake is cooling, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, the half/half, the vanilla, and the cocoa.
11. Slowly pour the liquid over each half of the cake.
12. Cover and chill for several hours.
13. When ready to assemble the cake, whip the cream until stiff, adding the powdered sugar and cocoa.
14. Place one of the cake halves on a serving plate, cut side up.
15. Spread whipped cream over the top of the cake layer, and then top with the second cake half.
16. Frost the top and the sides of the cake with the remaining whipped cream.
17. Garnish with raspberries or chocolate curls, if desired.

I topped mine with chocolate curls, but raspberries would make a tasty addition, yes?

Don't let the number of steps fool you...it's really quite easy. Now, I just need to figure out the Salted Caramel version........

Blackberry Buttermilk Popovers

I'm just back from my third (and final!) try for the big bucks at the 47th Pillsbury Bake-Off...Holy Cow what an amazing event! No win this time for my Lemon-Poppy Seed Pull Apart Bread, but the whole experience was so over-the-top exciting that I still need to float back to reality.

One thing that I have learned from my experience with the Pillsbury Bake-Off is that most home cooks are looking for something that's not only delicious, but easy to make. Working convenience foods into a recipe and putting a homemade touch on it is a perfectly fine way to make this happen. Did you know, however, that you can make something easy and delicious and from scratch? I'm here to prove it to you with these beautiful popovers!

A few simple ingredients and ...voila!...a beautiful thing!

Blackberry Buttermilk Popovers

Printable Recipe

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 pinch sea salt

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 cup fresh blackberries

1-2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a non-stick, 6 cavity popover pan (or muffin tin) with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. Whisk in the buttermilk, granulated sugar, and salt. Slowly whisk in the flour, stirring until smooth. Stir in the lemon zest.

Divide the batter into the popover pan. Add 3-4 blackberries into each well. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden. Cut a small slit into each popover for steam to escape. Dust well with powdered sugar and serve warm with butter and honey, if desired.

Don't have a popover pan? Use a muffin pan.

 Go ahead and sub raspberries or blueberries for the blackberries...

Now the only question is Breakfast or Dessert?

Cream-Filled Cupcake Cake

Yum

So today was my husband's birthday. What to make? Well, he loves layer cake. And he loves my cream-filled cupcakes. I think it calls for a mash-up, don't you?

I have a confession to make: I'm kind of terrible at cake decorating. When my husband tells me he wants a layer cake, I cringe. So, I had to think of something easy. Easy and chocolate-y, of course. Since I had some buttercream in the freezer, left from making cupcakes last week, it was a no-brainer to thaw it out. Then I took my favorite chocolate cake recipe, baked it into three layers, spread the buttercream in between the layers, and topped it off with some chocolate ganache. So easy it's ridiculous.

It's crazy, but the easy thing about this is the frosting. It's a chocolate ganache, made with dark chocolate chips and heavy cream and when it's first mixed together it's pourable. Seriously. Pourable. You can just let it drip down the sides.

Let's start with the cake, though. The beautiful cake. Dare I say the best cake ever? Okay...the best cake ever. Made with dark cocoa, buttermilk, and a hint of coffee to bring out even more chocolate-y flavor. 

Cream-Filled Cupcake Cake

Printable Recipe

Cake:

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark cocoa

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup hot coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; grease and flour 3 (8 or 9-inch) cake pans.

Combine egg, oil and buttermilk. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Combine the egg mixture and the flour mixture, mixing well. Slowly mix in hot coffee. Divide the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans. 

Buttercream:

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar (not powdered sugar)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In small saucepan, whisk the flour and the milk until smooth. Place over medium heat and cook until thick and bubbly, whisking the entire time. Place thickened mixture in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Cool completely. 

Combine the butter and the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat for several minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the cooled flour mixture and beat for an additional 5 minutes, or until the frosting is smooth with no gritty sugar. Stir in the vanilla.

Ganache:

1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips

3/4 cup heavy cream

Place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until it just comes to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for one minute. Use a spatula or a wooden spoon to stir the chocolate and the cream until smooth and shiny.

Assemble:

First, set aside about 1/4 cup of the buttercream for the squiggle on the top of the cake. Place one cooled cake layer, top-side down, on cake plate. Spread with half of the remaining buttercream. Add the next layer, again top-side down, and spread with the remaining buttercream. Add the final layer top-side up. Spoon the ganache over the top of the cake. Use an offset spatula to spread the chocolate over the cake, allowing it to spill down the sides. Chill the cake for a few minutes to set the chocolate. In the meantime, spoon the reserved buttercream into a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip. Pipe a squiggle over the top of the cake. Keep the cake refrigerated until ready to serve.

It's not a cream-filled cupcake without the squiggle.....

Sugar Cream Cake aka Gooey Butter Cake

Just in time for July 4th.....

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of dining at Bonge's Tavern in Perkinsville, Indiana. It was an awesome meal followed by an awesome dessert---a dessert I had never heard of before--- Sugar Cream Cake topped with a warm blueberry sauce. Oh. My. I have been wanting to reproduce that cake ever since. I do procrastinate however, so it wasn't until this week that I actually Googled the words "sugar cream cake".  The resulting recipe is a mash-up of my Google search. I have no idea if it even comes close to the recipe Bonge's Tavern has on their menu. But dang it's good. 

I made a special trip to the grocery store before work just to get blueberries, because that's how I am...it had to be red, white, and blue......

It didn't take long for someone to point out to me that my "Sugar Cream Cake" looked strikingly similar to a Gooey Butter Cake. Sure enough, the recipes are nearly identical, but for the name. In St. Louis it's Gooey Butter Cake. In Perkinsville Indiana, it's Sugar Cream Cake. The most perplexing thing? I've never made either one of them before. Serious oversight on my part.

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet..."

Sugar Cream Cake

Printable Recipe

Slightly crisp around the edges, with a gooey center that's almost pudding-like, this Sugar Cream Cake is perfect for any celebration!

Ingredients

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 4 eggs, divided
• 1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.; grease a 9x13 pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the cake mix, butter, and 2 of the eggs. Batter will be thick. Spread on the bottom of the prepared pan.
3. Beat together the remaining eggs, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Spread over the top of the crust.
4. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the top is starting to brown. Cool completely. Serve with topping of your choice.

Yield: 24
Prep Time: 00 hrs. 10 mins.

Cook time: 00 hrs. 40 mins.
Total time: 50 mins.

The fresh fruit and real whipped cream compliment the gooey sweetness....imagine what else you could top this with...plain, with a sprinkle of powdered sugar, cranberries for the winter months, grilled pineapple for a tropical twist...the possibilities are endless!

Happy Independence Day, America!

Café Latte’s Turtle Cake

Who doesn't love a great piece of chocolate cake? Now, add some fudgy frosting, some buttery caramel sauce, and some crunchy toasted pecans and what do you have? Heaven on a plate Café Latte's Turtle Cake! 

Café Latte is a St. Paul restaurant known for its desserts. Wonderful, wonderful desserts. Luckily for me they shared a couple of their recipes with the public, so I didn't have to attempt a copycat recipe. This, my friends, is the real deal.

Several years ago, I found the recipe in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. That version was made in a 9x13-inch cake pan.... it was super easy to make and very tasty. I never in a million years thought that I would attempt the layered version, since it looked complicated. Layers? Yikes! I'm so glad it's really not all that hard. You should try it.

Café Latte's Turtle Cake (from Café Latte)

Café Latte's Printable Recipe

Cake Ingredients:
• 1 Egg.
• 2/3 cup Vegetable oil.
• 1 cup Buttermilk.
• 2 cups Flour.
• 1 3/4 cups Sugar.
• 1/2 cup Good quality cocoa.
• 1 tsp. Salt.
• 1 tbsp. Baking soda.
• 1 cup Hot coffee
Frosting:
• 1/2 cup Milk.
• 1 cup Sugar.
• 6 tbsp. Butter
• 2 cups Good-quality semisweet chocolate chips.
• 3/4 cup Caramel.
• 1 1/2 cups Toasted pecans.

Prepare oven and pans: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 (9-inch) cake pans.
Cover each bottom with disk of parchment paper.

To make cake: In bowl, combine egg, oil and buttermilk. In large separate bowl, mix
together flour, sugar, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Gradually add wet ingredients to dry
until well mixed. Gradually add hot coffee. Scrape batter into prepared pans.

To bake cake: Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes
out clean. Let cake rest in pans for 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool.

To make frosting: Mix sugar and milk in saucepan. Add butter. Bring to a boil.
Remove from heat. Add chocolate chips to pan. Using wire whisk, mix until smooth. If
frosting is too thick or grainy, add 1 or 2 teaspoons hot coffee.

To assemble cake: Place one cooled cake layer, top-side down, on cake plate. Spread
with one-third of frosting, pushing it out gently from edges to make a petal effect.
Sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans, Drizzle with 1/4 cup caramel. Add next layer, again
top-side down. Repeat frosting and sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans and drizzle with 1/4 cup
caramel. And final layer top-side up, frost with petal effect and finish with remaining
pecans and caramel.

I actually used 8-inch cake pans and they worked well.

I also used dark cocoa for the cake...it was like a midnight chocolate cake.

My layer cake fear is real...I've had far too many lopsided catastrophes for it not to be. For years, I chickened out and made this cake in the 9x13 pan. I won't lie--it's good that way, too. Plus, it's much easier to bring to a picnic. The last time I tried to make the layer version, it cracked right down the middle. So ugly, but so tasty. This time it was to be for a birthday, so it had to work.

The beauty of this recipe is how the frosting drips over the sides of the cake. This hides many flaws, trust me. The only issue came when I transferred the cake to the cake stand...oops....a chunk came out of the side. I ended up cutting the parchment paper off around the cake and leaving a bit of it underneath. Then, I took pictures strategically....

The kid's helped with the candles and the cake was a success!

A little ice cream and we're good to go. Happy Birthday, Josh!

Dark Chocolate White Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Sea Salt....#improv

It's the third Thursday of the month...this can only mean that it's an Improv day! Improv is a monthly blogger challenge put forth by the lovely Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker. Each month Kristen gives us two seasonal ingredients with which we are to create something wonderful. This month our theme is Ebony and Ivory!

Of course I went for the chocolate....why wouldn't I? Actually, a few months ago I had created a Sea Salted Dark Chocolate Cookie. I loved them, but I forgot to write the recipe down and I couldn't remember where I got the inspiration. So, I Googled. What I found was a pretty good sounding cookie from a certain Martha Stewart. You can find her recipe here ------ >  XXX  Of course I had to put my spin on things (not to mention make it an Ebony and Ivory themed cookie), so I changed it up. Here's what I made:

Dark Chocolate White Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Sea Salt

Printable Recipe

1 cup flour

1/2 cup dark cocoa (I used Hershey's Special Dark)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more for sprinkling

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup coconut oil

2 eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup dark chocolate chips (60% Cacao), melted

2 teaspoons espresso powder or instant coffee

1/2 cup good quality white chocolate chips

2 oz good quality white chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the sugar and the coconut oil for several minutes or until light. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Stir the espresso powder into the melted chocolate and add to the sugar mixture. Fold in the flour/cocoa mixture just until completely blended; stir in the white chocolate chips and chopped white chocolate. 

The coconut oil can make the cookies spread, so be sure to chill the dough for a few minutes after you've dropped them on the cookie sheet. 

Drop the dough by tablespoons (I use a cookie scoop) onto the prepared pan. Sprinkle each mound of cookie dough with a little sea salt. Chill the dough for a few minutes before baking (so the cookies don't spread too much), then bake for 10-12 minutes. Let them cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.

It might be worth your while to pour a glass of milk before you dig in....

Perfectly fudge-y in the middle.

Okay--wipe the crumbs off and let's take a look at what everyone else is making---

An InLinkz Link-up

Blueberry Bread and Butter Pudding....#improv

Welcome to the February edition of the Monthly Improv Challenge, hosted by Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker . For the uninformed, the Improv Challenge is a monthly party where everyone uses the same two ingredients in different wild and crazy ways. This month's theme is Bread and Butter---how fun is that?!!

Before you get too excited, I didn't get very wild and crazy this month. Rather, I went for some good old comfort food.

How many of you have had extremely poor weather lately?--raise your hands. Yup--I thought so. One of the best ways I know of to soothe the weather blues is to make comfort food. Pudding made out of bread is one of the best comfort foods I know, so that's what I made. Bread and Butter Pudding. With blueberries. And it was wonderful.

Blueberry Bread and Butter Pudding

Printable Recipe

1 loaf thin sliced, firm white bread, 16-18 slices (I used Pepperidge Farm White Sandwich Bread)

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup blueberry jam

1 cup blueberries

6 eggs

3 cups milk

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees; spray a 9X13 casserole dish with cooking spray.

Spread half of the bread slices with about a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of jam. Top the buttered bread with an unbuttered slice. Cut each sandwich in half, diagonally. 

Arrange the sandwich halves evenly in the casserole dish, standing some upright, if needed. Sprinkle the blueberries over the bread.

My casserole dish is slightly smaller than 9X13, so I had to stand up some of the sandwich halves....

Whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, nutmeg, and vanilla; pour evenly over the sandwich halves. Let the mixture sit for about 20 minutes to allow the eggs/milk to soak into the bread.

Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the custard is set. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve warm or cold.

Simple. Awesome. Comfort.

The only thing that would have made this better would have been some warm blueberry sauce. Alas, I did not make any, but this recipe looks good: Warm Blueberry Sauce. Make it and let me know how it is. In the mean time, check out what everyone else is making with Bread and Butter.

An InLinkz Link-up

Easy Peach and Blueberry Galette

It's been so hot and humid in Minnesota the last few days that it is hard to imagine that Autumn is nearly upon us. One telling sign, though, is the sound of acorns falling on the roof. It is literally raining acorns in our yard. Actually, I don't think I've ever seen so many acorns. What's up with that? It must have to do with the strange weather pattern this Summer....hot, cool, hot, cool...sheesh.

Amazingly, as soon as I wrote "hot and humid", it cooled down to 60 degrees. I will welcome pumpkin season, but not just yet. Shoot...there are still some good peaches to be had! I found a couple in the fridge that had to be dealt with and came up with this very quick and easy galette.

Ok..I'll admit that this is the same formula as my Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe...fruit, jam, pie crust..so easy!

Peach and Blueberry Galette

Printable Recipe

Make it easy, but elegant, with this Peach and Blueberry Galette.

Ingredients

• 1 refrigerated pie crust, softened per package directions
• 1/2 cup reduced sugar apricot preserves
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 medium peaches, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 egg yolk
• 1-2 tablespoons sparkling sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.; line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Unroll the pie crust on the pan. In a medium bowl, stir together the jam, flour, and cinnamon. Carefully, fold in the peaches and the blueberries. Spoon mixture onto the crust within 2 inches from the edge. Fold edge of crust over filling, pleating as necessary. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk with two teaspoons of water. Lightly brush crust edge with the egg mixture; sprinkle with sugar.
3. Bake for 17 to 23 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling. Cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Prep Time: 00 hrs. 10 mins.

Cook time: 00 hrs. 23 mins.
Total time: 33 mins.
Tags: blueberries, peaches, easy, summer, dessert, pie crust, sparkling sugar, tart, galette, crostata

Love the sparkly sugar....

It's hard to beat a Pillsbury pie crust when you need something quick...I keep them in the fridge for that very reason. Go ahead and try some different fruits and jam...the combinations are endless. Raspberries, strawberries, blackberries....they are all good!

What's your favorite end of Summer fruit?