With Sprinkles on Top

I am obsessed with all things ombre. Ombre is defined as “shaded or graduated in tone; said of color”. Ombre seems to be a huge trend right now in everything from baked goods to hair. I made this pink ombre cake and a week later did the same thing to my hair. Yes, I’m sporting some pink hair at the moment. I’m only young once, right?

This cake would be perfect for a Valentine’s Day celebration. You could use pink dyes, or do the same thing with shades of red. It’s a pretty simple process, just dividing up the cake batter and frosting and dyeing each batch a different shade of pink. I was heavily inspired by all of the amazing ombre cakes I’ve found on Pinterest. PS: If you haven’t joined Pinterest, do it! Seriously! It’s every girl’s Internet fantasy – a playground of all things pretty, stylish, delicious, and intriguing.

PS: This cake could be easily made with a box mix! No need to go entirely homemade if you don’t have the time.

Pink Ombre Cake
Recipe source: Glorious Treats
Print Recipe

Cake:
3-3/4 cups cake flour
3-3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
6 eggs
2-1/4 cups sugar
4-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups buttermilk

*I know what you’re thinking: this is a lot of cake! Yes. I wanted to be sure that I had enough batter to make 5 different layers and to have each layer be substantial.

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. In a medium bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir together with whisk, and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat 10-20 seconds.  Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 30 seconds.  Add vanilla and oil, beat.
4. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture.  Add half of the milk, then the rest of the flour and the rest of the milk.  Beat until just combined.  Scrap down the side of the bowl.
5. The batter will be thin.  Divide the batter, as evenly as possible, into 5 smaller bowls. Dye the batter various shades of pink. I started with the darkest shade first and worked my way toward the lighter shades. I used AmeriColor gel colorings — and in addition to pink, I added a few drops of purple into the darkest batch of batter. There’s no way to do this step perfectly — just use your eye as a judge and make the best color gradient between the 5 bowls as you can.
6. Prepare cake pans by spraying with non-stick spray. I used 7″ pans. I would not advise using a pan bigger than 7″, though you could probably be OK with 8″ but your cake layers will be a bit more thin. I only own two 7″ pans, so I baked two cakes at a time and washed out the pans between each round of baking.
7. Bake the cakes for about 20-25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool the cakes entirely before assembling.

Tootsie Rolls rank high on my list of favorite candy. Did you know that Tootsie Rolls were the first penny candy to be individually wrapped? Or that 64 millions Tootsie Rolls are made each day? Or that the Tootsie Roll was invented in 1896 by Leo Hirschfeld (he used his daughter’s nickname of “Tootsie” to name his candy)? I’m also a big fan of Tootsie Pops – the grape flavor being my favorite. Does anyone know if the company will actually send you free candy if you find a wrapper featuring the Indian and the shooting star? I’m sure it’s just an urban legend.

In any case, here’s a new twist on chocolate fudge. Tootsie Roll fudge!

Yield: About 25-36 fudge squares

Tootsie Roll Fudge

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Fudge made out of Tootsie Rolls, my favorite candy!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Additional Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 cups Tootsie Roll midgees
• 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
• 3-3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Line a 9×9″ square pan with foil. Grease the foil with nonstick spray.

2. In a heavy saucepan, melt the Tootsie Rolls, peanut butter, and butter over low heat, stirring constantly. Gradually stir in the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. The mixture will be very thick.

3. Spread into prepared pan. Refrigerate for a few hours until cool.

4. Using foil, remove fudge from pan and cut into small squares. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

Your yield will depend on how big or small you cut your fudge squares.

Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching! Love it or hate it, it’s unavoidable. One of my favorite quotes that I found on Twitter was, “Valentine’s Day needs to get the hell out of my Target.” Maybe I’m just bitter that Christmas has ended, winter is dragging on, and I’m single this year. But don’t let me get ya down!

I have some Valentine’s Day treats lined up over the coming weeks — hope you enjoy!

Yield: 40+ bites

Buckeye Bites

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Buckeyes made better by the crunch of a pretzel!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Additional Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons softened butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• Pretzels (any small type will work – squares, traditional twists)
• 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat peanut butter and butter until combined. Add sugars and beat until combined. If needed, add more powdered sugar until you reach a consistency that is easy to roll.

3. Roll the mixture into small balls, about 1 teaspoon in size. Sandwich the balls between two pretzels and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

4. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or carefully in the microwave). Stir occasionally until smooth and thoroughly melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.

5. Dip each pretzel bit halfway into the melted chocolate and place on the prepared baking sheet. Decorate with sprinkles. Chill in the refrigerator until chocolate is set.

Notes

Your yield will depend on how much buckeye filling you place between your pretzels.

This recipe has been on my to-bake list for, no joke, TWO YEARS. It was one of those recipes that I longed to make.. I knew I would love the results.. but I was intimidated. These cookies (sidenote: why does everyone call them cookies? they’re more of a bar!) take 11 hours to make. These cookies involve egg whites and almond paste and many assembly steps. I normally dive right into most baking projects, but this one had me so hesitant.

Then I went to New York a few weeks before Christmas. How many of you have been to New York at Christmastime? Well, let me tell you, it is magical. I walked until my feet screamed, took an absurd amount of photos, and fell in love with these rainbow delights. I was walking through a Christmas market in Central Park and saw that one of the vendors was selling these cookies. I bought three of them and they were in my belly in no time. I think they have climbed the ranks and become my FAVORITE cookie that I’ve ever made. Even beating out my beloved grandmother’s cut-out recipe… and my go-to recipe for chocolate butter cookies. These bright and colorful cookies are indescribably good.

So I put my fears aside and made them when I returned to Wisconsin. The homemade version was every bit as good as what I ate in New York. And I learned (yet again) that I should just do what intimidates me… because 99% of the time, it will all work out.

Seven Layer Cookies
Recipe sources: Smitten Kitchen and Sugarcrafter
Print Recipe

Note: These cookies, from start to finish, take about 10-11 hours to make. This is NOT 10-11 hours of active work, but there are significant periods of refrigeration, freezing, etc.

4 large eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
8 oz. can almond paste
2-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
25 drops red food coloring
25 drops green food coloring
1 jar (12 oz) apricot preserves, heated and strained [I used a slightly larger jar — err on the side of having too much jam!]
7 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped [I used 9 oz, so I would be sure to have enough; but you could probably be just fine with 7 oz]

1. Put oven rack in the middle of oven and preheat to 350F. Spray a 9×13″ pan with nonstick spray and line the bottom with wax paper. Leave a 2-inch overhang on 2 ends, then spray the paper with nonstick spray.

2. Beat egg whites in mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, until they just hold stiff peaks. Add 1/4 cup sugar a little at a time, beating at high speed until whites hold stiff, glossy peaks. Transfer the egg + sugar mixture to another bowl and set aside.

3. Switch to the paddle attachment. Beat together the almond paste and remaining 3/4 cup of sugar until well-blended, about 3 minutes. Add butter and beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add yolks and almond extract; beat until combined well, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, then add flour and salt; mix until just combined. Fold half of egg white mixture into almond mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly.

4. Divide batter among 3 bowls. Try to be as accurate as possible to ensure that each bowl gets the same amount of batter. [I used a kitchen scale to ensure even amounts of batter] Stir red food coloring into one and green food coloring into another, leaving the third batch plain. Set white batter aside. Chill green batter, covered. Pour red batter into prepared pan and spread evenly with an offset spatula. [the layer will be THIN, don’t worry! Just spread the batter as evenly across the pan as you can]

5.  Bake red layer 8 to 10 minutes, until just set. Do not over-bake! The layer will look undercooked, but a tester will come out clean. Using paper overhang, transfer layer to a rack to cool, about 15 minutes. Clean pan, then line with parchment or wax paper and spray paper in same manner as above. Bake white layer in prepared pan until just set. As white layer bakes, bring green layer to room temperature. Transfer white layer to a rack. Prepare pan as above, then bake green layer in same manner as before. Transfer to a rack to cool.

6. When all layers are cool, invert green onto a parchment or wax paper-lined large baking sheet. Discard paper from layer and spread with half of preserves. Invert white on top of green layer, discarding paper. Spread with remaining preserves. Invert red layer on top of white layer and discard wax or parchment paper.

7. Cover with plastic wrap and weight with a large baking pan. Chill at least 8 hours.

8. Remove weight and plastic wrap. Bring layers to room temperature. Melt chocolate in a double boiler (or VERY carefully melt in the microwave). Once thoroughly melted, remove chocolate from heat. Quickly spread half of chocolate in a thin layer on top of cake. Chill, uncovered, until chocolate is firm — about 15 minutes. Cover with another sheet of wax paper and place another baking sheet on top, then invert cake onto sheet and remove paper. Quickly spread with remaining chocolate. Chill until firm.

9. Before cutting, freeze the cake for about 30-45 minutes. It will be MUCH easier to cut the bars while frozen — trust me on this one! Cut lengthwise into 4 strips, then cut strips crosswise into 3/4-inch wide cookies.

A few more tips…
–  These cookies are moist and will keep, in an airtight container at room temperature, for about 2 weeks. They will keep even longer in the freezer.
– Do not use too much apricot jam between each layer. If you do, the cakes will slip and slide. You want a nice, thin layer of smooth jam between each layer of cake.
– I will reiterate: cut these cookies when frozen! If you attempt to cut while they are at room temperature, the layers of cake may slide around and you won’t get nice, clean, neat cookies.
– Work quickly when you spread the chocolate over the top and bottom of the cakes. Once you remove the chocolate from its heat source, it will seize up if you let it sit for too long. Stick to the 15-minute time refrigeration period after spreading the first layer of chocolate.

And if you’re like me, you might be a little sad that Christmas has come and gone. But here’s a little New York cheer. Only 11 months until Christmas!

I made this cake for Brady’s 2nd birthday! The space between “Happy Birthday” and “Brady” was left to make room for a “2” candle. I made an almost-identical cake a few years ago, so instead of re-typing directions, check it out here. If you have any specific questions about the animals, leave me a comment! Here’s another photo :)