Cake In A Mug

It's been a rough week here. BP got the flu and I had a sever sinus infection. Luckily BP didn't have a case that was really bad and he went to the doctor early enough for Tamiflu to work it's wonders. So after cleaning the whole house to make sure all the flu germs were gone and countless loads of laundry, and rest for myself, it was time for something sweet. Plus I just bought my bridesmaid dress for both of my sisters weddings. This will be the 7th & 8th time I will be a bridesmaid and it will happily be my last. I deserved a treat. 

My endless search for the new Ben and Jerry's cookie core flavors have come up empty, so why not make a single serving cake in one of our larger coffee mugs? This is even great for those of you who say you can't bake. Even better for those of you who have kids who want something quick or if you're just craving cake. 

Since the cake is still warm I put all the frosting in the middle and let it melt a little to cover the top of the cake. Let me tell you for how little effort you put in, this thing is amazing. Perfect for those cravings that come out of nowhere. 

Cake In A Mug

Makes one cake in 12 oz mug

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 tablespoons self-rising flour (if you don't have any on hand, recipe to make your own is at the end of the recipe)
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 tablespoon rainbow or confetti sprinkles
• Frosting: 
• Canned frosting, whipped cream, hot fudge, any topping you would like 

Directions

Lightly grease a 12-ounce microwave-safe mug and set aside. In a 2-cup microwave-safe measuring cup or bowl, microwave butter until just melted, about 10 seconds. Add sugar and stir. If mixture is hot, allow it to cool before adding egg yolk. Beat in egg yolk with a fork. Stir in milk and vanilla. Add flour, salt and sprinkles and stir until batter is smooth.

Pour batter into mug, filling it no more than halfway. Microwave for about 60 to 70 seconds, or about 10 to 15 seconds after cake has risen and peaked. Cake will fall and may appear wet, but should spring back to touch. If not done, microwave 10 to 15 seconds longer and check for doneness. Do not over cook or cake will become tough and spongy. Allow to cool slightly and set up before serving. Cake is best when enjoyed shortly after it's prepared.

Use canned frosting, whipped cream, ice cream, etc to top.

* You may split this into two 6-ounce ramekins or tea cups and adjust cooking time to 40 to 55 seconds for each, cooked individually.

* If you do not have self-rising flour, you can make it by whisking together 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Homemade Pancakes

Ah the weekend. Time to sleep in and relax. This weekend is filled with football playoffs, and wouldn't you know it both of our teams are in it. Lots of excitement in our house to say the least. So why not start our day off with a good breakfast. 

Downstairs I went to make pancakes, BP's request. He doesn't ask for pancakes a lot. I think in the 2+ years we've dated I've seen him eat pancakes 3 times. So needless to say the boxed mix we had in the house had expired. Now most people would say oh well and make something else, not me. I know making pancakes from scratch is so easy. And they are even tastier than the box mix. It doesn't take any extra time or need anything fancy, you will have everything you need for these in your house. And once you make them you will never go back to a box mix. 

Light, fluffy and so tasty. These were a huge hit with BP. 

Homemade pancakes 

Ingredients 

1 cup plus 1 tbsp all purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 cup milk

1 large egg 

Directions

1. Preheat pan or griddle over medium heat.

2.  In a medium sized bowl (use one with a pour spout of you have it), combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix to combine ingredients.

3.  Add milk, vegetable oil and egg to dry ingredients. Whisk until combined and no lumps of flour are present. 

4.  Met butter on hot pan or griddle. Pour pancake batter to make either silver dollar sized or large circles. 

5.  Cook until edges puff up and bubbles are present in pancake. Carefully flip pancake over and cook other side. 

6.  Repeat with remaining batter. Once all pancakes are cooked, top with syrup, fruit, chocolate chips, etc. 

Maple Bacon Biscuit Bake

Another year over and a new one starting. After a great night with friends and us sleeping in, I made breakfast for us. Nothing new lately. We've been having a lot of eggs lately and I wanted to make something amazing to go along with eggs.

With BP and his dad still sleeping, I got up and showered and then started breakfast. This is something I've wanted to make for a long time but just haven't seemed to get around to it. Today was the day I was finally making it. I didn't  even tell BP what was for breakfast just went downstairs and got to making it. 

Now I have to say, it did take me longer than I thought it would. I didn't prep like I normally do for when I bake - mistake on my part. I highly suggest getting everything ready before you start and that way you're not behind and this will move along quickly. But once I got going it picked up pace and before I knew it they were baking away in the oven and I was cooking eggs. 

The smell of these in the oven was mouth watering.  I couldn't wait for them to get out of the oven. 10 minutes seemed like forever.

When it was (finally) ready I cut a piece and snuck a quick taste - you know, strictly for quality control. Oh man was this better than I could of ever imagined. I quickly made a plate for all 3 of us and it was time to eat. To say this was a hit in our house would be an understatement. BP's dad is the biggest fan of this. So much so that he's already requested it again. 

Maple Bacon Biscuit Bake

Makes one 9"round pan 

Ingredients:

Topping:

1 lb bacon, cooked and chopped into small chunks

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tbsp melted butter 

Biscuits:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

1 cup cold milk

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Lightly grease pan and set aside.

2.  Make topping. Cook bacon and then chop into small pieces (1/2" or slightly smaller). Combine bacon with brown sugar, flour, maple syrup and butter. Mix well to combine. Pour mixture into prepared dish and flatten out so mixture is evenly spread over bottom of pan. Set aside. 

3.  Make biscuits. Whisk dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Add in butter and work butter into mixture until it is crumbly. Add milk and stir together to make sticky dough. 

4.  Scoop heaping tablespoons (using a cookie scoop works perfect here) on top of topping later. 

5.  Bake for 10 minutes. Turn oven off and leave biscuits in oven for 5-10 minutes more, until they are golden brown on top. 

6.  Remove from oven and immediate turn pan over onto a large plate. Lift pan off and scrape any topping left off bottom of pan. Cut or pull apart biscuits and serve. 

Fudge

BP and I love game nights. And because we didn't want to go out on New Year's Eve, we decided to have game night at our house with some friends. A night filled of good food, great games and friends that we love. 

Now this fudge is delicious and ridiculously easy. If you have 10 minutes you can make this. I made some Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Fudge a couple weeks ago for BP's office Christmas party and poker night at our house. Needless to say it was a hit and gone in minutes. 

To get ready for game night, my prep started with the fudge. Since it takes a while to cool I knew this would be first up. I got two pots out and started baking. This required me to constantly stir both pots for 5 minutes. Not an issue for me at all. I've been ambidextrous all my life. I remember sitting at the dinner table when I was little and my mom telling me that I needed to choose a dominant hand for writing and using utensils. I eventually did (she was worried I wouldn't) and it never came in handy until I got into massage school. It also came in handy when my right hand got injured and left me with permanent nerve damage in two fingers and half of my arm. And then again today. Never fear mom, it's a good thing you let me naturally develop those skills. Stirring two pots at once was easy. But I recommended you have a helper if you want to make Chocolate and White Chocolate Swirl Fudge like I was. 

Fudge

Makes one 9x13" pan

Ingredients 

1/2 stick butter

4 cups (1 bag) marshmallows

2 cups sugar

1 cup heavy cream

Pinch of salt

3 cups chocolate chips (milk, semisweet, dark or white) 

Directions

1.  Line a 9x13" pan with foil. Crimp foil around the edges so foil will stay in place. Set aside.

2.  In a large pot, combine butter, sugar, heavy cream, marshmallows and salt over medium-high heat. Stir until everything is well combined and marshmallows are melted.

3.  Simmer, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes.

4.  Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips. Mix until smooth.

5.  Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly. Let cool completely and then cut into squares. 

Homemade French Dip Sandwiches

I apologize for my lack of posting lately. Things have been hectic to say the least. Work has been stressful and last week I baked every single night once I got home from work. And since last night was so busy for us, we ended up eating out every night last week. Something we don't like to do but our schedules forced us to do it. So this week we have been making dinner at home every night (minus going out to celebrate BP's birthday earlier this week). 

This is the second time I've made this, so when I threw the idea out for them, the guys were excited for it. And seriously these things are amazing - especially once you realize that prepping for this is 5 minutes. You read that right, 5 minutes.

 

Now as we were eating dinner tonight we started thinking of ways to make these even better: carmelized onions, horseradish mayo, endless options. But trust me when I say once you make this it will be on your menu again and again. Proof of this is when BP's Dad came downstairs and we were talking and I said I will make this again, he looks at me  and gives me a thumbs up and says its a winner and he's looking forward to when we have it again. 

Homemade French Dip Sandwiches 

Ingredients 

• 4 pounds beef - rump roast, sirloin, steak any large hunk of beef will work great in this 
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed French onion soup
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
• 6 French rolls

Directions

1. 1. Trim excess fat from the rump roast, and place in a slow cooker. Add the beef broth, onion soup and beer. Cook on Low setting for 7 hours.
2. 2. Take meat out of crock pot and slice thin. Transfer sliced meat back into crock pot. 
   3. Preheat oven to broil. Split French rolls and set aside. 
   4. When oven is ready, take sliced meat and fill sliced rolls. Place cheese over the tops and bake in oven until the cheese is melted. Pour au jus  into small bowl for dipping. 
3. 
   

Bourbon Bacon Jam

When I'm bored I look on the websites of the baking blogs that I follow. I usually find recipes here that sound great and I want to try out. And as always, I tweak the recipe. I can't help it - I look it over and instantly my mind starts going this needs to be added or swap this out for that. I do try the recipes the way they are intended to be, but I usually end up always making my version instead. 

So one day I'm looking through things and there it is, Bourbon Bacon Jam. My minds first thought - this is either going to be amazing or awful. There will be no in-between. I told BP about it and he agreed that it could only go two ways. And I knew that I was going to make it now, especially since my parents and one of my sisters were coming into town to finally visit us. 

Thursday night was full of cleaning and baking. My dad had requested Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes (he also requested his favorite chocolate cupcakes but I didn't have enough time to make both. He had to choose one - and my dad being my dad teased me about why I couldn't make both for him). 

On my list was this jam. 

Cooking this stuff smells amazing. I have never made jam before so I was a little worried that it would turn out to be a horrible mess. Once it was done cooking, time for it to cool. I took a bite of it warm and it was tasty - but this is jam and it needs to be cold.

Hours went by and BP was growing impatient about taste testing it. So on our way to bed he tried a little...he took two bites it was so good. The nerd in me started doing a little dance inside my head. 

Saturday we had everyone over for breakfast before our long day of fun filled events. And the star of breakfast was this jam. Amazing. It can go on anything - any bread, sandwich, hamburgers, you name it, it can go on it. Sweet and tangy and oh so amazing. Worth the wait for it to cool all the way. 

Bourbon Bacon Jam

Makes 8 oz

Ingredients 

1 pound uncooked sliced bacon, cut into tiny pieces (freeze it slightly to make it easier to cut into tiny pieces 

1 small yellow onion, diced

2/3 cup strongly brewed coffee

1/2 cup Apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup sugar 

2 tbsp molasses

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp bourbon (whiskey would work well here too)

Tiny pinch of ground cloves

Directions 

1. In a large skillet, cook the bacon until brown and crispy. Transfer bacon to a plate lined with paper towels. 

2. Carefully remove all of the oil from the pan except for 1 tbsp. Add the onions and cook until soft. 

3. Add the coffee, vinegar, sugar and molasses. Stir until combined. 

4. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, add the bacon. 

5. Reduce the temperature to low and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

6. Turn off the heat. Add maple syrup, bourbon and cloves. Mix well, making sure you scrape the bottom of the skillet. Transfer mixture to 8 oz jar. Let cool completely and be chilled before serving. 

Pumpkin Pot de Crème

Oh fall baking, how I've missed you. Nothing is better than the leaves changing color, the weather getting cooler, apple and pumpkin picking, and the aromas of fall baking. Now there are only really two seasons in Northern Virginia - summer and winter. There really isn't a fall or a spring here. It's the end of September and we're still having days in the low 80's. But pumpkin is out and since in our house the men only like it from September until the end of November it's time to bake it up with pumpkin.

Earlier this week BP was on Facebook and came across '25 Pumpkin Desserts To Bake This Fall'. Of course we looked at it and BP asked for these to be the first thing I make.  We all know how much I love requests from people, I can't really say no to it sometimes. 

Even though today was rather warm (low 80's again here), these were getting made. And they are pretty simple too. Make the custard and let it chill. Total time about 30 minutes of your time for a delicious dessert that is easily summers up as "pumpkin pie without the crust". 

Yep - a hit in our house. And way easier than worrying about making a pie crust look good - something I'm still working on. 

Pumpkin Pots De Crème

Ingredients 

2 cups heavy cream

5 large egg yolks, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

1/3 cup pumpkin purée

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Pot de Creme:

1. In a medium saucepan, bring heavy cream and sugar to a boil, whisking constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Put aside and let cool for five minutes.
2. In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks.  Add ¼ cup of heated cream mixture to egg mixture and whisk to combine. Continue adding cream mixture in ¼ cup increments to eggs until the two are fully combined. Place fully combined mixture back in to a pot and cook over moderate heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the custard coats the back of the spoon, about 4 minutes. Add in pumpkin puree, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and vanilla and stir to combine. Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until very smooth, about 1 minute. Pour the finished custard through a strainer.
3. Refrigerate until chilled about 2 hours.
4. Serve topped with whipped cream and favorite toppings.