Sugar Swings! Serve Some: August 2016

Friday, August 26, 2016

Watermelon Angel Food Bundt Cake Plus more Bundts!


Is it really almost the end of summer??? I've been seeing lots of back to school pics on my Facebook feed so it must be that time again.  But as usual I'm not ready.  I've been crazy busy at my regular day job and feel like I haven't even started summer yet.  

And on top of that my oldest kiddo just turned 12 this month.  12!!! And my twins (the babies) are now 9.  9!!!!! Nine is big kid territory so I'm trying to really just enjoy time with them as much as possible (which usually means trying to pry them away from their electronic devices - although its been so hot its really hard to do anything outside these days).

Anyhoo, I'm finally back into baking again.  I took some time off this summer because I was just not into it, but I think I'm finally getting back into a groove.  

Since it feels like summer just got here, I thought something watermelony was needed.  This recipe is super simple and uses an angel food box cake to start it off.  A little dark green icing gives great contrast and a watermelon like look!


It's a light and airy cake with watermelon flavor - perfect for these hot August days.  

Well hot if you are in this area!

See more details here at sheknows

And if you like bundt cakes (like me!) here are some others that you may like!






Halloween Bundt Cake (also made with natural food colors)





Thanks for swinging by! Have an AWESOME WEEKEND!

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Brioche Ice Cream Sandwich Sliders


Hey all! In the east coast we're still in the middle of a heat wave with 90+ temps for the past couple of weeks.  I don't mind the heat and humidity but the rest of my clan seem to be melting so I thought they could use a nice cold treat.  

And since ice cream sandwiches are one of my favorite ice cream treats of all time I thought I'd try a twist on them.  Ice cream on brioche or as I'm calling them:

ICE CREAM SLIDERS!


And did you know Breyers Ice Cream turns 150 this year??  150?? It's amazing they've been around so long but I guess it makes sense since I can remember my mom buying Breyers when my sister and I were little.  She always said they had the best vanilla ice cream because you can see the little vanilla specks in it.  She's right.  Breyers is always my go to brand.  

The super cool folks that work with Breyers were able to provide me with some ice cream to re-create a recipe they have on the Breyers site.  There are fun recipes for every month developed by Chef Curtis Stone and Lindsay Price Stone.  

I just *had* to make the Italian Ice Cream Sandwiches - well not exactly the same recipe but made with these flavors: black raspberry chocolate, vanilla caramel gelato, and french vanilla.

All delish!


And see, you can see the vanilla flecks in the french vanilla!


These sliders come together really quickly.  Warm and slice your brioche buns. Remove some of the interior bread. (Try to resist shoving the extra warm brioche bread directly into your mouth as to not waste it!).  

Find some fun extras to chop up and roll the sides in like almonds, pistachios, and freeze dried raspberries.


Spread your favorite ice cream onto one side of the bun.  Make your ice cream layer about 1 to 1 and 1/2 inches or so in thickness.  This gave the perfect ice cream to brioche ratio.


Mix and match your favorite flavors! You really can't go wrong.


And I know you are probably thinking "ice cream on bread? what the heck, that sounds odd" - well in Italy they have been doing this for years - maybe eons - ok maybe not eons but for a long long time. 

 The sweet brioche matches so nicely with creamy ice cream and you know the Italians don't mess around with their food so trust me on this one.  The warm brioche makes this one of my current fav desserts!

You can find the recipe here out the other fun Breyers recipes too.  Hope you are enjoying August because very soon we'll be all up to our necks in pumpkin spice'd things!

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Pokemon Go Sweet & Salty Snack Mix - with Pikachu and Mini Pokeballs


Are you into the Pokemon craze like we are? The kids and I have such a fun time playing it.  What's not to love - super cute Pokemon characters, augmented reality, gamification and exercise!


We walk around catching Pokemon, hitting Pokestops, and battling in gyms - and bonus - we talk to each other about neat topics while doing all this.  It's actually a great way to do something fun with the kids (and something they like just as much).  

If you have kiddos all into Pokemon Go, then this cereal snack mix will be a hit.  It's sweet and salty and seriously addicting.

The Pokeballs are made from yogurt covered pretzel balls.  


Dip half into melted red candy wafers 


Add the rest of the detail with melted black candy wafers and use a round white sprinkle as the center


The tiny Pikachu heads are made with Corn Pops cereal, red and black sprinkles.  Yellow melted candy wafer was used to attach everything together and black edible marker for ear, nose, and mouth.


And because regular Pokeballs were not enough - I also made Great Pokeballs. 

You know just in case you have a really tough Pokemon to catch!


You can throw it all into a bowl and let everyone dive in....


OR serve in individual cups!


This sweet and salty cereal mix would make a great addition to any Pokemon party or if you need to restore your energy after a long afternoon of pokemoning!

PS In case you are wondering I'm currently Level 15 - 105410 XP and Team Mystic!

Pokemon Go Cereal Snack Mix
Ingredients
  • 5 cups of Crispix cereal
  • 1 cup of Corn Pops cereal
  • 2 cups of pretzels
  • 1 cup of raisins and/or dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup agave syrup
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • For pokeballs: yogurt coated pretzel balls, red, blue, and black candy wafers, round pearl sprinkles
  • For pikachu: Corn pop cereal, red and black round sprinkles, yellow candy wafers, black edible writing marker
Instructions:
  1. Combine 1st 4 ingredients in large bowl.
  2. Combine butter, syrup, brown sugar, salt in bowl and microwave 1 minute until melted.  
  3. Add baking soda and vanilla and microwave another 30 seconds.
  4. Add to bowl with cereal and mix well.  Spread onto backing sheet to dry.
  5. For Pokeballs: Melt some red or blue candy melts in small bowl in microwave in 20 second intervals until candy is just melted.  Insert toothpick into bottom of pretzel ball and dip 1/2 into candy.  Let harden 10 minutes. Melt black candy melt in microwave and add to a freezer bag.  Snip one small corner and pipe the black detail onto ball (use picture of pokeball as guide).  While black candy is still wet attach white ball sprinkle to center.  Do the same for blue great balls except use blue melted candy wafers and add 2 red lines on top of ball with melted red candy wafers.
  6. For Pikachu: Find the right sized Corn pop cereral for the head.  Cut 2 small ears out of the cereal for each head.  Melt yellow candy melt in microwave and add to a freezer bag. Snip one small corner and use it to attach the ears to the head. Let harden.  Use more melted yellow candy to attach red and black sprinkles.  Add mouth, nose, and ear detail with black edible writing marker.
  7. Add pokeballs and pikachus to snack mix before serving.  Store in airtight container.
Prep time: 60Assemble time: Total time: Yield: 8 cups of cereal mix