Special Treats with COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

We've had a rainy Winter here in the Pacific Northwest.

Then we had a snow storm on the second day of Spring.

So yesterday's sunshine was a welcome sight.

For a moment, it almost felt like summer.

Growing up, my favorite summer past time was visiting

U-Pick strawberry fields and loading up mismatched

Tupperware containers until they were filled to the brim.

Last Summer I was able to carry on that tradition with Hannah.

(Please learn from my mistake - 

do not put your child in white socks, 

and do not leave the baby wipes in the car.  

Strap on sandals & bring the wipes out to the field with you.  

She was a dirty, sticky, red-stained mess in minutes.  

I give myself bonus points for remembering the sun screen, 

sippy cup, and hat though.   Parenting has quite a learning curve.)

I'm a busy mom.

Between a full time job, a long commute, 

and a toddler with near boundless energy,

any recipe I attempt needs to be 

Quick, Easy, and Kid Approved.

Desserts are no exception.

Given the sunny weather, Hannah and I decided 

that a Summer inspired treat was in order.

We ran to the store and bought three ingredients:

• 1 pound of fresh strawberries,
• a 4 pack of ready made shortcakes, and
• COOL WHIP Whipped Topping.

The first step is the hull and slice the strawberries.

dump them all in a bowl, sprinkle with sugar

and toss to coat:

Let them set for an hour (at least).

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Science Lesson:

Sprinkling strawberries with sugar helps to 

release juice through the process of osmosis.  

Since strawberries have a high water content, 

and sugar crystals do not contain water, 

The hydrophilic (water loving) sugar will draw out the moisture through the 

strawberry until the water levels inside and outside the strawberry are equal.

By taking advantage of this process, we can make sure 

that our strawberry shortcakes are nice and moist.

___________________________

You can easily do this step in the morning

and put the bowl in the fridge until dinner time.

Make sure to set the COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

out to thaw, so that it makes perfect dollops. 

This dessert is nearly perfect:

For Families - the strawberries can come fresh from a local 

organic u-pick farm, or straight from the grocery store.

For busy moms - It’s quick to make.  

5 minutes of prep, it sits during dinner, and a minute to serve it up.

For unexpected guests -  the ingredients are easy to keep on hand.

For picky eaters - each serving can be made to suit.

More strawberries for Susan, more whipped topping for Bill. 

From Plain to Special with just one dollop!

Sponsored posts are purely editorial content that we are pleased to have presented by a participating sponsor. Advertisers do not produce the content. I was compensated for this post as a member of Clever Girls Collective, but the content is all my own.

Bake Club - Cardamom Crescents

Note: I know I've been posting diet blogs this week, but we had our monthly Bake Club on Monday night, so I wanted to share the recipe we prepared.  The plus side - they weren't even that good, so I still have ~4 sitting on my counter from the 6 that I brought home.   

That should speaks volumes.  However - I DO like this cookie at Christmas.  It just feels weird to eat them in February.

Recipe from Epicurious.com, But I rewrote the direction section to better explain the steps.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided
1 cup pecans
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

Prep: 

• Arrange racks in lower and upper thirds of oven; 
• preheat to 350°F. 
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Prepare 3 Bowls of Different Ingredients:

• Mix Dry Ingredients: Whisk first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl. 
• Prepare Nut Mixture: Combine 1/2 cup sugar and pecans in a food processor; pulse until coarse meal forms. 
• Cream Butter: Using an electric mixer, beat butter and vanilla in a medium bowl until creamy, 2–3 minutes. 

Form Dough in the Mixer bowl:

• Add nut mixture; beat to blend. 
• Add dry ingredients; blend well (dough will be moist but still crumbly). 
• Transfer to a work surface; knead to form a ball, about 4 turns.

Shape the Cookies:

• Measure 1 rounded tablespoon of dough; form into a ball, then roll into a 1 1/2"-long log. 
• Gently bend into a crescent shape, pinching ends to taper (cookies may crack slightly). 
• Repeat with remaining dough, spacing about 1" apart on prepared sheets.

Baking Tips:

• Rotating sheets halfway through baking, until bottoms are golden, 
• Average bake time is 12–15 minutes, but watch them closely through the stove window.

Meanwhile:

• Sift remaining 1 cup powdered sugar into a shallow wide bowl. 
• Working in batches of about 8 cookies each, roll warm cookies gently in powdered sugar to coat.
• If you put hot cookies in the powdered sugar, it will melt.  
• Transfer to a wire rack to let cool. 
• Roll or dust cooled cookies with powdered sugar. 

Making these for an event?  

They can be made 5 days ahead, just store them 

in an airtight container at room temperature.

Valentine's Day Treats

My coworkers - and now Christopher's coworkers - 

expect periodic homemade treats.  

While I love baking, I'm also busy and the thought of sifting flour 

while Hannah's preparing to have a meltdown does not sound appealing.  

So sometimes - most of the time - I use a box mix.

... at least for work treats.

I've found that as long as the presentation is nice, they aren't picky.

I started with a Betty Crocker Super Moist Butter Recipe Yellow cake mix.  

(this just means you use butter instead of oil.  

This doesn't really matter to me, it's just what I had 

on hand after a big Betty Crocker sale stock up.)

I prepared the recipe as directed, preheated the oven, and began separating out all my mini cupcake liners.

TIP- The dollar store usually has 100 count packs of mini cupcake liners in holiday specific patterns.  While the quality isn't great, and a few of the liner tore while I was separating them, the 100 count was enough for 1 box of cake mix, and significantly cheaper than the store.

My mom gave me two 24 count mini cupcake pans for Christmas, 

and I made 6 dozen cupcakes - so 3 pans full.

Not knowing that it would make SIX dozen, 

I filled 2 dozen liners with white and then added the pink coloring, 

so it wasn't half and half like I wanted.  Keep that in mind.

This platter was for my coworkers.  

I frosted them with Target brand cream cheese frosting 

(I wanted to try it, and it wasn't that bad).  

I emptied the container of frosting into my Kitchenaid mixer bowl with the whisk attachment.  I whipped the frosting with 1 tsp of vanilla flavoring, and then piped it on with a disposable Wilton icing bag (easy clean up was key with this project) and a Wilton round tip (#12 I think).

I then added a pinch of pink sprinkles to each treat.  

(sprinkles were bought for about $3 at a 

TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Homegoods store.) 

Chris brought a 2 dozen pan of mixed white/pink cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, and then a 2 dozen pan of pink cupcakes with cherry frosting (which I think is gross and tastes like cough syrup, but his coworkers always rave about it.  Weird.)

I finished them with the same sprinkles, and just served them in the cupcake pan so they wouldn't tip over while he was driving.  

Not fancy, but easier to handle.

The cupcakes lasted 45 minutes in my office and 10 minutes in Christopher's.

________________________________

So to reiterate - 

How to fancy up Boxed Cake Mix & Canned Frosting:

• Add food coloring, flavoring, or citrus zest to cake mixes.
• Whip frosting for a lighter consistency
• Also, add coloring, flavoring, zest, or at least some vanilla.
• Invest in a nice reusable icing bag or a box of disposable ones.
• Buy a coupler and a few round tips -
• #10, #11, #12 - are good for topping mini cupcakes.
• #1A of #2A  - are good for normal/jumbo cupcakes.
• #1 and #2 - are good for lettering on cakes or adding fine detail.
• Find some sprinkling sugar. 
• It's a great way to make your cupcakes look store bought - especially if you just add a small pinch.

Surprisingly, the skimpyier you are on the frosting 

(see how my frosting doesn't completely cover the cupcake top?) 

and the sprinkles, the more expensive your cupcakes will look.

I had 5 coworkers accuse me to re-plating store bought 

cupcakes because they looked 'too good'.

Turns out I'm just THAT good.

Creative Cookie Cutters

You don't have to go out and buy Christmas cookie

cutters - reuse your cutters from other holidays.

It just takes a little imagination!

Schedule a Girls Night In Bake Club

Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There's no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! www.duncanhines.com.

The sad truth about my life as a new mom is that 

I have yet to find that work/life balance.

Between being a mother, wife, and employee, 

I rarely find time to be a friend.  

Unless I pencil 'girl's night' into my schedule it's the first thing to get cut when things get hectic.  Aware of this I've started making a conscious effort to have a monthly girls night in - and so far it's been great.

My Girls Night In is a bake club.  

I started it with two of my local friends and we take turns hosting each month.   

(We're always free to invite other women to join us - 

because we all know a friend in need of a night off.)  

The hostess selects a recipe she's been dying to try but is intimidated by, and provides the ingredients.

The guests bring light snacks and wine to munch on while the confection is in the oven.

The twist is that even if there are five of us, we only make one dessert.  

We each try a small serving at the end of the night, and divide the rest of the dessert into each girl's Tupperware container.  She can share with her husband when she gets home or bring it for lunch the next day, but this way each girl isn't forced to eat an entire cake.  

After all, it's not about bringing food home, 

it's about getting back to yourself for an evening, 

and reconnecting with the women that bring out the relaxed side of you.

Besides, when making this much frosting, you're going to need 

a few extra set of hands to help unwrap all that butter...

So call up those friends you haven't seen in months, 

pick the yummiest recipe that you've yet to try, 

and start your own bake club.  

It's just as fun as it sounds, 

Plus it's an event that's easy to plan for - all you need is a clean kitchen and a few wine glasses.

 Set a precedent that the dishwasher is loaded 

before anyone can leave so that clean up is a breeze.

It's low stress, low cost, and ... kind of low calorie.

Perfect.

Remember to check out Duncan Hines' website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.

A Perfect Fall Breakfast

We're always looking for a fun new breakfast idea 

in the Bubblelush household.

We also tend to love carbo-loading before 10am.

Thus - the Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pancake mix 

was a perfect treat for Chris to bring home.

The recipe was really easy.  Add butter, milk and egg - Stir.  

Even Hannah could handle that. 

TIP: Use a small ice cream scoop to get uniform pancakes.

I cooked them up on a hot (slightly oiled) griddle, 

while Hannah waited patiently in her high chair.

They were a really big hit!

Topping Suggestions:

maple syrup

maple agave syrup

apple butter

pumpkin butter

cranberry butter

powdered sugar

Or plain!

Although it'd probably be a little much if you used ALL of those condiments...

Hannah loved them so much that she refused to share with the dogs.

That says A LOT!

The Best Carrot Cake You'll Ever Eat

Yes, it's really that good.

I found this recipe WAY back in 2002.  Chris and I had just started dating and it was his birthday.  his request - Carrot Cake.

I've never been a huge carrot cake fan - too dry - and I'd certainly never baked one myself, so I turned to Allrecipes and hunted to a well reviewed recipe.  I can across this one and after I got over my shock that baby food was one of the ingredients, I trusted the other reviewers and tried it. 

Amazeballs.

Moist, delish and very well received by the resident Carrot Cake expert.  He liked it so much that I've been baking it every since.  This October marked the 10th year I've made this cake, so I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

Hannah's Birthday Cake

Every month some of my girlfriends and I get together for Baking club and we tackle a recipe we've been dying to try.  One month, when it was my turn to choose the recipe and host the evening, I selected Martha Stewart's rainbow cake as a nod to the fact that it was St. Patrick's Day.

March 2011 Baking Club

I loved the cake.  It was a beautiful batter, a tasty cake, and the bright colors looked amazing and SUPER impressive.

I knew I wanted to use this recipe for Hannah's birthday cake.

Link to the recipe!

It is a milk and egg white cake batter, and the only substitution I make is that I use Cake Flour (available at your grocery store in the baking aisle or in bulk bins) instead of All Purpose.  I think it makes the cake lighter.

I didn't want to confuse Hannah's color scheme with being a rainbow theme, so I mixed up the order in which I stacked the layers.

Beautiful batter.  Try to get each layer to have a similar level of intensity by starting with a small amount of food coloring and keep adding till you get to the desired color.  You can always add more color, but you can't really take it out.

Make Strawberry Jam in 10 Minutes

Peaceful Baptism Cookies

I stayed up WAY past my bedtime to make these for the family members that attended Hannah's baptism, and they were So worth the loss of sleep. They turned out so cute, people didn't want to eat them. (May2011 photo)

Cookie cutter was purchased from SurLaTable.com