Funnel Cake

Note: After eating this humongous thing depicted in the above photograph, I had no desire to make it myself. Thus, no recipe follows. 

Amidst the 4th of July celebrations and hanging out at the Freedom Days in Provo I realized something:
I have never had a funnel cake.

Thus I headed over towards the food stands, passing on the navajo tacos and BBQ dinners, and bought myself a plate full of deep fried batter, topped with cinnamon-sugar and caramel.

I knew there was a reason why I ran eight miles that morning.


The concept of funnel cake is not new to me. In Finland during May Day celebrations people eat Tippaleipä, which is basically the same thing as funnel cake but somewhat smaller. I recall having one only once in my life.

This may have been the only time I will ever have a funnel cake, either. I ate the entire thing, and even though it was quite good, I think I've had enough of fried batter for a long, long time.
I owe that to my behind.  

Lemon Cheesecake Bars

You wanna hear a secret?

I have a whole stash of boxed cake and brownie mixes hiding in my cupboard.

Sure, I prefer a cake made from scratch, but these boxed miracles are quite useful when used for things other than simple layered cakes.

They are my shortcuts to homemade oreos, bundt cakes, and these lemon cheesecake bars.

Some days everyone could use a little shortcut, right?

Lemon Cheesecake Bars

1 pkg of boxed Lemon cake mix
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 egg

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp lemon peel, grated
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Blend cake mix, butter and egg together with a fork and until a dough forms. Press on the bottom of an ungreased 13x9x2  pan. Set aside.

3. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Mix in powdered sugar, lemon peel and lemon juice. Reserve 1/2 cup of mixture and put it in the fridge. To the rest of the cream cheese mix, beat in eggs. Spread this over the cake in the pan.

4. Bake until set, for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely.

5. Spread reserved cream cheese mixture over cooled bars. Refrigerated until firm and chilled.

Mint Chocolate Biscotti

I saw people making biscotti on TV. I thought about it for a day or two and I knew I had to make some. Otherwise there would be no peace for me.

Luckily there was a bag of Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips calling my name in our kitchen cupboard. 

I must use them!

I must make biscotti!

I must make Mint Chocolate Biscotti!

The peace has been restored!

Mint Chocolate Biscotti

1/3 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips

1 egg yolk

1 Tbsp water

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Combine flour, cocoa and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside.

3. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Stir in flour mixture and mix in baking chips until well combined. 

4. Divide dough into two equal parts. Shape into 9x2x1 inch loaves on the parchment paper, 4 inches apart. (If the dough is sticky, wet your hands to shape it easier. Do not add more flour.) Brush with egg yolk/water mixture.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until firm. Let cool for 10 minutes. Decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees.

6. Use a serrated knife to carefully cut diagonal 1-inch slices. Place slices flat on their sides on a baking sheet (no paper). Bake for about 10 minutes on each side, or until dry. Watch so they don't burn. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

I used some melted leftover Andes chips to dip the biscotti in. Yum. 

If you feel like the biscotti burn or get too dry during the second bake, you can decrease the oven temperature to 250 degrees.

Cinnamon Rolls

Nothing beats warm gooey cinnamon rolls on a rainy afternoon. Especially when your bread machine takes care of all the hard labor.


Cinnamon Rolls

1 cup warm milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups bread flour (I use all purpose)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast


Filling:
Brown sugar
Cinnamon
1/4 cup softened butter

Frosting:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Place ingredients for the dough in the pan of your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle and press start.
2. When the cycle is done, turn dough unto a floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Cut dough in half and roll each half into a rectangle. Spread each rectangle with half of the softened butter. Spread some brown sugar on top and then sprinkle with cinnamon. (I just use as much as I feel like using, no measuring here.) Optionally, you can also add some raisins. Roll up dough and cut into 8 rolls, totalling 16 rolls. Place rolls in two lightly greased pie pans, 8 per pan. Cover and let rise for about an hour, until doubled.
4. Bake until golden brown, 15-20 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and salt. Spread frosting on warm (not hot) rolls.