Taking a Break

I'm taking a break from both my dinner blog and this dessert blog. You can follow me on my other blog, Present Letters. I hope to resume in December. Cookies, cookies, cookies.

Check out the previous posts for some yummy desserts. You won't be disappointed.

Owl Cupcakes

Need something for a Halloween party for those little stinkers? Well here is a cute idea. I made these for my granddaughter’s birthday party as she was into owls at the time.

Again, this comes from my favorite cupcake cookbook, Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Track & Alan Richardson.

The only thing I can say is plan to spend a lot of time creating these. There is a trick in separating the Oreo cookie, you must twist the cookie very slow—as slow as you possibly can and then you’ll have better luck at keeping the icing on one side of the cookie (which you need for the eyes).

What’s all on the face? Oreo cookies—just one side with the icing and on top of that a Junior Mint. The beak is a piece of candy—a banana runt.

And what do you do with that other half of the Oreo cookie with no icing? You cut it in half, well that's what it said. But I cut off more in the middle, so that the owl's ears would be smaller. You could probably go smaller than what I did. Those are then covered with (chocolate) icing.

Hope you owl have a Happy Halloween!

Carole's Favorite Coffee Cake

We had a potluck at the house for the Mullen’s going away party. There were so many desserts, I wasn’t able to try Carole’s coffee cake. She took it back home with her. She wanted to leave it, but knew I had so much other stuff, she thought she’d give it to her neighbor. I found out later that Norm loved it and wished he had some of it, so I baked him one. This way I was able to give it a try since I missed the opportunity.

Recipe:
1 1/2 cups white flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening (I used butter)
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
Topping (below)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease round layer pan, 9 x 1 1/2 inches, or square pan, 8x8x2 or 9x9x2 inches. Blend all ingredients except Topping; beat vigorously 1/2 minute. Spread in pan.

Sprinkle Topping over batter. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick in center comes out clean. 9-12 servings

Topping: Mix 1/3 cup brown sugar (packed), 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 3 tablespoons butter until crumbly.

I didn’t think my coffee cake looked as moist and rich as Carole’s. Mine tasted a little on the salty side, so I’m not sure if I did something wrong and not being able to compare how Carole’s tasted, I don’t know what happened. My husband ate the entire thing though, so I guess it wasn’t all bad.