"Dalmatian" Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for a one-year-old's first birthday party. I dyed the frosting pink in honor of the little girl's big day. The recipe is from Betty Crocker.

2 packages (3 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups miniature or regular semisweet chocolate chips
1 package devil's food cake mix
1 1/3 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
Vanilla frosting (I made my own, you can use pre-made)


1 . Heat oven to 350ºF. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
2 . Beat cream cheese, sugar and 1 egg in medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips; set aside.
3 . Beat cake mix, water, oil and 3 eggs in large bowl on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes.
4 . Divide batter among muffin cups (1/4 cup in each). Top each with 1 tablespoon cream cheese mixture.
5 . Bake 21 to 26 minutes or until tops spring back when touched lightly. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Remove from pan; cool completely, about 30 minutes.
6 . Frost tops with frosting. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate any remaining cupcakes.

Ben & Jerry's Vanilla Sweet Cream Ice Cream

If you are watching your figure, then don't even bother trying this recipe. I made this with my brother-in-law last week. It was a fun and tasty way to bond!

Ingredients:

*2 large eggs
*3/4 cup sugar
*2 cups heavy or whipping cream
*1 cup milk
*2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more. Pour in the cream, milk, and vanilla and whisk to blend. Transfer mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer's instructions. Makes 1 quart.

***Vanilla Superfudge Brownie can be made by adding 1 cup of coarsely chopped frozen fudge brownies to the ice cream about 2 minutes before it is done freezing in the machine. ***

Lemonade Party Cake

Ingredients:

1 package lemon cake mix
Water, vegetable oil, and eggs as called for on cake mix directions
1/2 can (12 ounce size) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed (3/4 cup)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tub fluffy white or lemon ready-to-spread frosting
lemon and strawberry slices (optional)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350F. Make and bake cake as directed on package for 13" x 9" pan. Cool 15 minutes. Stir together lemonade concentrate and powdered sugar. Poke top of warm cake every 1/2 inch with long-tined fork, wiping fork occasionally to reduce sticking. Drizzle lemonade mixture evenly over top of cake. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled. Spread frosting over top of cake. Garnish with fruit slices. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

-From Betty Crocker cake package. I made it for book club last year.

Cupcakes!

I made cupcakes for book club last night. The cake is just a devil's food mix, and the vanilla frosting is made from 3 cups of powdered sugar, 1/3 cup butter, 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of milk. I decorated them with jelly beans, gummi fruit slices, nonpareils, and sparkling sugar. Cute as well as delicious!