Cake Batter Pie Anniversary Special!

Hey everyone! So I know I've been super terrible and I haven't done a blog in quite awhile. Real life took over for a bit, sorry... Will had a live show for work that took up a lot of time, and then right after that we left for a vacation in Vegas (which went terribly wrong so many times... but that's for another post). I've also been busy working, and trying to get my application for school done. Anyway, enough with the excuses.

I was getting ready to make a brand new beauty blog post, but then I turned on my camera and found these pictures from MONTHS ago! Our anniversary was way back in the beginning of June, and that is why I baked this super yummy/weird pudding pie. Will is a huge fan of anything cake batter flavored, so for his present this year I decided to get everything cake themed I could find... It was kind of hard because I had this idea super last minute and didn't have time to order anything online, but I think it turned out pretty well. 

The final set-up included a pack of cupcake flavored lip smackers (I know lip smackers are for girls but guys get chapped lips too!), a cupcake piggy bank, birthday cake flavored M&Ms (which are chocolate cake flavored, if you're wondering/buy them and are surprised that they aren't yellow cake flavored like most birthday cake flavored things), a red velvet cupcake candle, a vanilla icing candle, a vanilla cupcake candle (there are a lot of candles that smell like cake!), a headband for small children that has a cupcake antenna, and method's vanilla creme scented hand soap (I also got the body wash but that's not in the picture). Also pictured is a card I got him which I think was supposed to be for a granddaughter, but it was bright green and had cupcakes all over it, so I just crossed that part out. An additional present, and why there are Swedish fish on the pie, was a Beta that was a super cool cream color, who I named Buttercream (he has since died... RIP Buttercream). 

Anyway, to the baking! I found this recipe, along with a bunch of other awesome cake batter themed foods, on Pinterest. The original post is from Pizzazzerie. I decided on this pie because it was something that would keep long enough to hide it from Will and make it in advance, and it seemed like one of the less weird recipes, although a lot of them seem like they could be pretty good. 

 Ingredients for the crust:

About 13 squares of graham crackers

1 tablespoon of sugar

1/4 cup of butter, melted

 For the pudding:

3 cups milk

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup corn starch

1/3 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

6 tablespoons funfetti cake mix

 For the topping:

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon sugar

sprinkles/any other decorations you'd like

 First, in a food processor (or if you don't have one in a ziplock with a hammer) grind the graham crackers into fine crumbs

 Place the crumbs in a bowl

 Add your sugar

 And the melted butter

 And combine until it sticks together nicely

 Then place in the pie plate and spread it out, pushing it into the shape of the pan

 Next, place the egg yolks in a bowl

Not pictured: heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat until it is almost simmering

 Add the cornstarch

 The sugar

 And the salt

 And beat on medium speed until thickened

 While mixing, add the heated milk slowly until everything is combined

 Return this mixture to the saucepan and heat until thickened

 Remove from heat and add butter

 And vanilla extract

 Make sure there aren't any lumps by straining the pudding

 Add the funfetti mix

 Pour into your crust

 Cover with saran wrap, making sure that it's touching the top of the pudding so you don't get a yucky film on top, and place in the fridge for a few hours

 For the topping, make whipped cream by combining the whipping cream...

 The vanilla

 And the sugar

 And then beat it until it looks like whipped cream

 Take your pie out of the fridge once it's solidified a bit (mine was still a bit too runny at this point)

And top with the whipped cream and any other decorations you'd like.

My biggest problem with this recipe was that it never solidified like it should have... I think that the weird runny texture of the pie made it weirder to eat, but it did taste like cake batter, which was awesome. Will seemed pleased, at least by the effort I made! 

Apple Streusel Cupcakes (They're Muffins)

So a few weeks ago while browsing barnes and noble I found this awesome cookbook in the clearance section. It has a lot of recipes that look good, but more importantly each recipe has pictures and nutritional information, the paper is super nice-smelling (IMPORTANT), and it was only $7. 

 I decided that first I would make these apple streusel muffins (not cupcakes). I don't know why the book refers to these as cupcakes, but they're wrong. According to the recipe, these cupcakes make a good dessert served with whipped cream. No. They are breakfast muffins, end of discussion. And at 160 calories per muffin, they aren't that bad for sugary goodness.

 Ingredients for the muffins:

1 cup applesauce

1/2 stick salted butter

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/3 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons baking powder

 first combine butter and sugar

 Add the egg

 The flour

 The other dry ingredients

 And the applesauce

 Ingredients for the topping:

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 1/2 tablespoons nutmeg

 Combine the dry ingredients

 Cut in the butter until you get nice crumbles

 Like this

 Distribute the batter into muffin tins

And coat each muffin in topping

Sorry I don't have a finished product picture... but I forgot to take one while eating the delicious muffins. They were good... but I think they would be much better with the addition of apple chunks. Also, the recipe is wrong. It makes 12 muffins, not 14... unless you're making really small muffins. Also I would suggest that you make a little extra topping... if you like topping, which of course you do because it's delicious cinnamon-sugar goodness. 

Lazy Days Of Summer!

I'm so sorry that there is not an interesting post this week... and for the lack of a post last week. I've been relaxing! It is summer vacation after all! Last week I was with my mom in Vegas! It was such an interesting experience. I got home last weekend and didn't have time to do a post then, and this week I've just been relaxing. It's been so nice. I've read more books in the past week than I have since  I started college I think (pleasurable reading... obviously I read my school books... >_>). I was planning on making something from the new cook book I bought a couple weeks ago, but then Will and I had a craving for brownies and we made some a few nights ago... and we made them from a box (gasp!). I will absolutely for sure post something more interesting next week though!

Chocolate Chia Pudding!

 Hey guys! This week I decided to make something super easy (and supposedly healthy). I found this recipe on Pinterest, of course. It's originally from Food Doodles. Chia seeds seem to be all the rage right now, and if they really are as healthy as people are saying, this pudding is a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth without ruining your diet.

It's so simple, with only 5 ingredients:

Chia seeds

Milk (any kind you want)

Honey (or any other liquid sweetener/sweetener that will dissolve)

Vanilla

Cocoa powder

First measure out 2 tablespoons of chia seeds into a bowl

 Next add 1 cup of milk. The original recipe says you may want to add more if you're leaving it overnight, but I found 1 cup was perfect.

Next add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

2 tablespoons of honey (or however much you prefer)

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Then stir to combine. It takes awhile for the cocoa powder to mix in properly

After leaving it covered in the fridge overnight. 

I really really enjoyed this recipe. It was super fast to make, and it really is filling. It tastes exactly like chocolate pudding you would buy from the store, except I like it better because the chia seeds absorb the liquid and have a texture very similar to tapioca. I'm not sure about the whole chia seed fad that's going on, but if they are as healthy as people are saying, I would absolutely make this pudding again, because it certainly doesn't taste healthy. 

Chicken Parma and Lemon Pilaf

This week I decided to try a recipe for an actual meal! I usually prefer to bake, since the ingredients in baking are all generally the same, and most of the time you don't have to deal with gross ingredients (like raw chicken!). This is one of my absolute favorite meals. My mom made it for me growing up, and about a year and a half ago I asked her for a recipe... The recipe she gave me was all over the place, giving me instructions out of order, and she didn't give me any exact amounts for the ingredients... so when I made it this time I just added ingredients until I thought the amount was appropriate. 

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

 Ingredients: 

Flour

Panko bread crumbs

White rice (I used instant cause I cheat)

Boneless skinless chicken breasts

Parmesan cheese

Chicken broth

Eggs

White wine

Salt

Pepper

Paprika

Turmeric

White pepper

Lemon juice

First do the gross stuff: cut each breast in half and cut off the icky bits from the chicken, then rinse them and set them on paper towels to dry 

Next, combine flour, paprika, salt, and pepper

 Combine eggs, paprika, salt and pepper

 And combine panko, paprika, salt and pepper

 Coat the chicken breast in the flour mixture

 Then dip into the egg mixture

 And then coat in the panko mixture

 Next put the coated chicken breast into a baking dish

 Repeat this process with the remaining chicken

 Next add chicken broth

 And white wine to the baking dish, until there's about 1/4 inch of liquid in the pan

 Next place slices of butter on top of the chicken, and top it off with the parmesan

 Cover with aluminum foil, place in the oven, and bake for ~50 minutes. Then I took off the aluminum foil and turned up the heat to about 475 and baked for an extra 10 minutes to toast the top

 For the rice, follow the normal rice instructions, but instead of using water use chicken broth, and add lemon juice, butter, and turmeric. In this case I added about a tablespoon of turmeric, which was a bit too much.

The finished product. 

This turned out pretty good, except I added a bit too much chicken broth to the pan, so the chicken was extra moist, which isn't exactly a problem... and the addition of too much turmeric, which made the rice a little intense, but still good. This is also awesome as leftovers.