Cookin’ Up Country – Country Design Home

Jan 2, 2020

Coffee Toffee Pudding Pie

Have you ever needed to make a dessert quickly and don’t know what to do?! Here’s a simple recipe that you can adapt to whatever you happen to have handy in your cupboard or fridge.

A New Year’s Day lunch invite prompted me to create a simple and yummy dessert using only the ingredients left over from the holidays! Here’s the deal:

These are the ingredients I had on hand, but you can use whatever your cupboard has to offer: a Pillsbury Pie Crust (the one remaining frozen crust leftover from Christmas), a jar of Stonewall Kitchen Coffee Caramel Sauce, Jello Instant Chocolate Pudding, a 3/4 full container of Cool Whip, some confectioner’s sugar, a block of cream cheese, vanilla extract, milk and some Heath Toffee Chocolate Crunch Bits. I baked and cooled the pie crust according to the box instructions.

If you don’t happen to have a frozen pie crust, you can substitute some crushed up cookies mixed with melted butter! (or, this dessert is yummy without a crust!) Before it cooled, I added a layer of Heath Toffee Bits and drizzled some of the Stonewall Kitchen Caramel on top. That allowed the flavors to melt into the warm crust a bit. Don’t have Heath Toffee Bits on hand? Use some crushed up candy left over from Christmas (or Halloween for that matter!) Peanut butter cups with some PB added to the cream cheese, chocolate kisses or Santas, peanutty bars, even candy canes will give the dessert some yummy crunch! Or, you could use some frozen or fresh raspberries and substitute a raspberry puree for the caramel. The possibilities are endless!

While that was cooling, I creamed one 8 oz brick of light cream cheese until smooth. (OK, lets be real.

Using LITE cream cheese made me feel a little better about breaking my NY resolution on DAY 1.) Then I dumped in the confectioner’s sugar and a tsp of vanilla extract.

After beating that mixture until smooth, I folded in a cup of thawed Cool Whip.

I layered that into the prepared, cooled pie crust, then added a second layer of bits and coffee caramel sauce.

BTW, if you don’t happen to have a jar of caramel sauce on hand, you can make your own-try this super easy, super delicious recipe I Pinned using sweetened condensed milk! I put that back in the fridge to cool and made my chocolate layer using the box of Jello instant chocolate pudding mix and 1 1/2 cups of 2% milk. LOL-see, this really is a healthy dessert : 0

I smoothed the pudding onto the cream cheese layer, then added dollops of the remaining Cool Whip around the edges.

Finally, I drizzled some caramel and added handfuls of Heath Chocolate Toffee Bits until it looked like this:

When it was dessert time, the pie cut easily but messily- but isn’t that the way gooey, yummy, chocolatey good desserts should?!

Total time in kitchen, about 20 minutes. Total time to devour dessert?

About 5 minutes! Have a Happy New Year everyone- I hope you’ve made some sweet resolutions that you can keep too! xoxo Susan

Filed Under: Cookin' Up Country, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: #CoolWhip, #HeathBarToffeeBits, #Jello, #KraftFoods, #Pillsbury, #puddingpie, #quickandeasychocolatedessert, #StonewallKitchens, Pinterest

Mar 29, 2016

Things I Learned From Hosting Easter Dinner

By countrydesignhome · 4 Comments

With another Easter now done and gone, I am reflecting back on a few things that I could have done a little differently so that everyone would have had a safe and happy holiday! Such as:

1. Use cheese in the garlic smashed potatoes-lots of cheese. This year I attempted to make things that were a little healthier and not so creamy and cheesy, so I omitted the cream and cheddar cheeses in the smashed red potatoes recipe…MY BAD. So instead of being yummy and gooey, they were kind of dry and chunky…even with the added melted butter. Use cheese, people!

2. On that same note, DO NOT USE FAT FREE CREAM CHEESE WHEN YOU ARE MAKING CREAM CHEESE FROSTING for the carrot cake. Did you read that? Well, remember it. Because otherwise, your carrot cake will have a oozy, bulgy middle and weird consistency and everyone will be saying “yeah, what happened to that cake- you usually make such good cakes!”

3. Secure the paintings to the wall with heavy duty screws, or else it may fall off and hit your mother and brother in the back of the head on its way to the floor. Heavy, framed pictures and little nail hangers from the dollar store do not go well together.

Make sure you use bolts to secure it to the wall or your dog will take a fall…fortunately it hit the chair rail before it hit them…

4. When you are done dusting the wine bottles on the cupboard shelves in the dining room while making the room pretty, make sure you push them all the way back into the rack so they don’t fall out during dinner and nearly take out your niece and your future daughter-in-law!

5. Make the damn green bean casserole. It has been a family tradition over the years to have green bean casserole on Easter, but I had been noticing that I was throwing more away than people were consuming. So I sent out a group text asking for a show of hands on who actually LIKED green bean casserole. The only yays were from my two kids. The remaining conversation looked like this:

Clearly my family has a sense of humor…so I made lemon- roasted green beans with garlic, mushrooms and onions. I am throwing away most of that dish too.

I am thinking we need a new vegetable.

6. Ham has always been the go-to meat for this particular holiday, and as usual, I had Coach purchase one that was the “size of a basketball”. This year, I also made some roasted turkey tenderloins for the guests who do not particularly care for ham. What I have noted is that, while the turkey is long gone, we still have a large platter of ham left over that Coach and I now have to eat.

So, for future Easters, we will be serving turkey or some other meat that is not pink and basketball-shaped.

Other than that, it was a wonderful holiday filled with fun and laughter…and thankfully, no fatalities. I hope yours was as well! Now, I need to find some recipes to use up the rest of that ham…any suggestions?? (Please do not say pea soup. I do not make, or eat, pea soup…) Susan

Filed Under: Cookin' Up Country, My Little Red House, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: Easter Dinner Disasters, Easter Recipes

Dec 18, 2014

Being Sick (& Yummy Sea Salt Caramel Pretzel) Bites

By countrydesignhome · 3 Comments

I’ve been sick these past few+ days with some sort of flu or cold or whatever is “going around”. Sick as in I couldn’t go to work, couldn’t attend the annual neighborhood Christmas party and essentially just found myself lying on the couch for hours watching Hallmark Christmas Movie Marathons. This week so far has been a total frustrating fail for me. I kind of felt like this guy-agghhh!

No big DIY projects, no blogging, no nothing, other than trips back and forth from the couch to the fridge to the pantry to open yet another can of soup or box of crackers. Coach would leave saying “my poor darlin'” and come home hours later with me still in the exact same position on the couch and say “really??”-lol-he’s not used to seeing me doing nothing, and I mean nothing-not a paint brush or sandpaper in sight-for days. But, you know, it hasn’t been all that bad. This little forced break given me an opportunity to step back and take stock of what I’m doing with this blog and the barn shop and start implementing a plan moving forward that doesn’t result in me being so run down and exhausted that I end up lying on the couch watching endless Castle reruns and stocking up on kleenex tissues whilst staring at a large, dark green evergreen in the corner of my family room.

The house is not even close to being decorated, because I just didn’t have the energy to open up all of the giant bins and sort them out, never mind actually placing the items somewhere decoratively. Coach and I finally got a tree Monday night (good thing I’m not part of any of those blogging holiday house tours…) & it finally has lights but no ornaments.

BUT, today marks a new day and newly inspired (and sugared up : ) by our annual work cookie swap which took place yesterday,

I’m on the mend and ready to add some holiday spirit to our home : ) In the meantime, I figured I’d share this yummy recipe for Sea Salt Caramel Pretzel Bites I used for the cookie swap. (And I assured my co-workers that I did not breathe on them and repeatedly washed and disinfected my hands before handling!) The original recipe for Salted Caramel Pretzel Pecan BonBons

was via BakerByNature...but mine didn’t come out exactly as the photo (aren’t these gorgeous?!?), but they were still pretty tasty, if not a bit extra chewy! Here’s the how-to:

1. Assemble ingredients: Bag of caramels, bag of pecan 1/2’s, bag of mini pretzels (these I did not have in my pantry),

some melting chocolate, sea salt, holiday sprinkles (these I had on hand). I didn’t have any of the main three ingredients at home, so I ran over to Walgreens since that is the closest store to my home, and I figured they would have the basic snack bags the recipe required. Which they did, which made me happy, so I didn’t have to trek all the way to the grocery store. And they had more kleenex and cough drops too, which made me healthy (sort of). And that is why they are at the corner of Happy & Healthy. So that was a win.

2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place a piece of parchment paper on a large cookie sheet. Or a small one depending on the # of bites you wish to make. The beauty of this recipe is that you can make small batches as you go.

3. Place the number of mini-pretzels equivalent to the number of bites you wish to make. 12 makes a dozen. 24 makes 2 dozen. Simple math.

4. Unwrap the caramels…meh, not fun. When my kids were little and I needed unwrapped caramels, I used to have them race to see who could open them all the fastest-worked every time!

But the only “little one” I have around me these days is a Frenchie named Bartlet,

and unwrapping caramels is near-impossible without opposable thumbs, unless you want caramels with drool and bite marks. Place an unwrapped caramel on top of each mini-pretzel. The recipe mentioned above called for chocolate mixed with coconut oil and vanilla, so I skipped that step by buying caramels that were coconut and vanilla flavored. Right?!?

5. Place in oven and bake just until they soften. Now the original instructions said 7-8 minutes, JUST TO SOFTEN. But, I left mine in a bit too long (I swear I was watching them, but then I got distracted and…they over-melted. So I scrambled to put the caramel back onto the pretzel by taking a small knife and scooping it back up.

6. Quickly place a pecan 1/2 on each one. These look pretty messy because I was placing pecans and scooping up oozing caramel lava as I went along.

If you melt them correctly, you won’t have this problem. Lightly sprinkle each with sea salt. Good thing sea salt is a thing right now, because I have this giant cannister full that will probably last me forever!

7. While they cool, you melt the bag of chocolate in the microwave according to the directions. These are the bags of Wilton Candy Melts you can get at your local crafts store. They have many flavors and colors, but I happen to like my chocolate dark, especially when mixed with salted caramel.

I always use a heavy bowl and cook in the microwave on high, the first go round for 30 seconds, then take it out and stir.

Then every 15 seconds until the chocolate is drippy and all the little disks are melted.

DO NOT OVERCOOK. OR YOU WILL HAVE A BIG SCORCHED BLOCK OF CHOCOLATE.

8. I dipped the bottom of the cooled pretzel in the chocolate, then flipped them over on the parchment to let them dry.

9. Once dry, I flipped them back over, reheated the chocolate just enough to melt,

then drizzled it over the top,

adding a few holiday sprinkles.

Coconut is optional as well.

10. Allow to dry, then store in the fridge or a cool, dry place. Like my family room. Because we don’t turn the heat past 55. Sweaters, folks!! Unless I’m sick, in which case I got to turn it up to 60-lol! Then you share the goodies with friends and family, because you can’t eat all of them yourself. Or could you….have a sweet Thursday everyone! Susan

Filed Under: Cookin' Up Country, Inspiration, My Little Red House, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: Salted Caramel Pretzel Pecan BonBons by Baker by Nature, Sea Salt Caramel Pretzel Bites, Sea Salt Caramel Pretzel chocolate bites, Walgreens, Wilton Candy Melts

Nov 28, 2014

S’Mores Chocolate Pie Bites-YUM!

By countrydesignhome · 3 Comments

One of our annual Thanksgiving family favorite desserts is chocolate cream pie. Over the years, I have baked many an apple, pumpkin or squash pie, only to see them get pushed aside in favor of the creamy-chocolate-graham-cracker-crust delight. This year, I made the chocolate pies (shhh, no one knows that I served one, but there is another one left in the fridge), but also created a new family favorite: S’Mores Chocolate Pie Bites!

These yummy little clouds of toasty chocolate goodness were a fam favorite, and sure to become another traditional holiday treat! I originally saw these marshmallow melted cups transformed into shot glasses, but since this was a kid-friendly holiday, I decided to create the pie bites instead. Here is the How-I-Did-It:

These are quite simple to make and only require four key ingredients: Chocolate Pudding Mix… I used the Jello Cook and Serve Chocolate Fudge Pudding.

I was making the pies at the same time and planned to use the pudding as the filling, but you could certainly save some time and make the instant stuff. Milk to make the pudding according to the box, Large Marshmallows…these Jet Puffed Marshmallows

are just that-large and fluffy. These misshapen sugary lumps were sent off to the land of misfit marshmallows.

I figured if they weren’t straight before I toasted them, they would become melted molten messes once the heat hit them. Saving them for some hot cocoa action : )

Keebler Graham Cracker Crumbs…

you can make your own crumbs, but I happened to have these already crushed and ready to go. OK, ready?

1.Toast the marshmallows. If you are lucky enough to live in a part of the country where freezing cold weather is not a factor, then do this outside on your firepit or campfire. We, unfortunately, had quite a snow fall on the day I was making these, so the stove top burner it was. Mine is a glass topped burner, so I just cranked it to high.

WARNING!!!! Do NOT TOUCH THE HOT BURNER. THIS IS NOT A KID’S PROJECT. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO THIS AFTER HAVING A WEE BIT TOO MCUH SPIKED CIDER… THIS IS DANGEROUS!!!!

2. Spear the marshmallow with whatever implement you wish to use. I tried a single metal skewer but the marshmallow kept turning as the inside melted. This three-tined fork was the perfect length and the tines created heating holes that caused the inside of the marshmallow to melt more evenly.

Now, don’t ask me why, but the fork handle never got hot to the touch. Which was interesting, because the hot glow from the burner on HIGH made me feel like I was under a sun lamp!

3. Starting with the bottom, hold the marshmallow over your heat source approximately 1-2 inches above the surface.

DO NOT TOUCH THE BURNER. Hold it there until you see a light smoking from the marshmallow, this means the sugar is starting to melt. Time to turn the marshmallow. Look at that-a thing of golden sugary beauty!

4. Repeat around the sides, turning when you see the pale smoke trail as you lightly brown each side until the entire marshmallow,

except the top, is a light golden brown.

…this is what happens when Coach distracts you and asks a question about the upcoming Holiday Fair in the Barn at Todd Farm.

5. Remove the marshmallow from your fork using another implement- DO NOT USE YOUR FINGER!! The interior of the marshmallow is HOT and melty.

6. Place toasted marshmallow on foil to cool. Not wax paper, that will melt. And then you’ll have a S’Mores Pie Waxed Paper Bites. As they cool, you will notice that the marshmallow centers begin to implode, but the toasted exteriors stay upright. The hot melted middles sink down, creating the cup vessel you will need to hold the pudding. So cool!!

7. Make your pudding according to the instructions on the box. This is the cook-‘n serve style, so it takes a few minutes cooking in a sauce pan to get to the molten lava stage.

8. Using a teaspoon, fill the toasted marshmallow cups to the top (each one will take about a teaspoon of pudding). I was a bit worried that the hot pudding would disintegrate the marshmallow cups, but they were little toasty troopers and stood up fine.

9. Immediately sprinkle with the graham cracker crumbs. This is a sprinkle-as-you-go project…you have to add the crumbs to each one after you fill them.

If you wait until the pudding has cooled, the crumbs will just fall off. And you cannot have a S’Mores Chocolate Pie Bite without graham cracker crumbs!

10. Cool in fridge. An hour or so should do, since each S’Mores Chocolate Pie Bite only holds about a teaspoon of pudding.

11. Arrange on pretty platter and serve. The best part is no serving implements required, just pick up with your fingers and enjoy!

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving that you shared with family and friends. Now it’s time to go continue with the kitchen clean-up…hope you’re planning s’more fun today! Susan

PS: If you like this blog post and would like to receive emails containing my awesome inspired designs and DIY’s, please add your email to the subscribe button in the column on the right! We promise, we don’t use your emails for anything other than messages from me! Thanks!

Filed Under: Cookin' Up Country, My Little Red House, The Barn Workshop-DIY Series, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: hot to make marshmallow cups, how to make toasted marshmallow cups, Jello Cook "n Serve Pudding Mix, Jet-Puffed Marshmallows, Keebler Graham Cracker Crumbs, S'Mores Chococlate Pie Bits from Country Design Home, S'Mores Chocolate Pie Bites, S'Mores Pie Bites

Aug 20, 2014

Everything AND The Kitchen Sink!

By countrydesignhome · 4 Comments

As you all know by now, we have now opened our vintage shop in the Barn at Todd Farm,

and so far things are going very, very well! Lots of our rescued, re-cycled and re-furbished pieces have been sold, and shoppers appear to be very excited about the variety of vintage goods we are offering.

Following our first Sunday (which seems like a lifetime ago, but was actually just a mere three weeks ago!) I realized we needed to make a change in our displays. When we set everything up and stepped back to admire our work that first day, we all said “this is great, as long as nobody buys these big pieces that have all of our dishes and pottery on them”.

BUT, that is exactly what happened, leaving us scrambling to find new spots for pie plates and Pyrex and pots and pans. So, I decided that we needed a permanent, dedicated spot to safely and attractively display our kitchen wares. The perfect solution, in my mind, was an old kitchen sink and countertop with shelves above it, so off to Craigslist land I ventured and found this awesome old General Electric porcelain sink for $40!!! A steal!!!

Once I had acquired the sink, it really was just a matter of building a solid base that would be sturdy enough to hold the weight of the sink and anything else we put on it. I started with a plywood top, cut with an extra 1/2 inch around the perimeter, and a hole cutout for the sink. Which turned into several cuts, which in turn created a nice new Mustachio for Coach.

Who, by the way, was really not on board with this whole sink thing. He did help me, but reluctantly, not seeing my vision and thinking that I was wasting valuable time that could have been spent working on other “saleable” projects.

The legs were built from 4×4 scraps Coach had hanging around somewhere behind the barn, cut to standard countertop height of 35 inches.

I simply attached those with large L brackets and some screws, then created some cross-pieces for stability, attaching those with smaller L brackets as well.

I would show you the rough-cut details, but they are really not very pretty and you can’t see them anyway : ) Once that was completed, I added an old, chippy shutter for the front panel,

and then I added some of these little metal strips (I have a big bin of these I grabbed at a yard sale. Have no idea what they are for, but they make a nice 1 inch decorative edge. Got plenty more if you need any…)

for the decorative edge trim. Conveniently, there are holes already drilled in the strips, so I just used some brass tacks to attach them to the plywood edge.

For the sides, I affixed some burlap panels with a dowel and some tacks. Nothing fancy. We don’t really have any kind of a storage area in the barn shop, so the burlap panels allow us to use the under-sink for keeping bags and tools, etc. The sides are simple blue burlap panels, but the front panels are actually made from old burlap potato sacks (which we have plenty of for sale in the shop : ).

Not crazy about how those look, so I’ll be changing those this upcoming weekend. Once we brought the sink to the shop, it was simply a matter of finding the perfect spot to build it in, then adding the shutter shelving and filling it up with our kitchenware and painted mason jars.

We even added an old window because everyone loves to look out the window when they are at the kitchen sink, right??

So, what happened when we opened up the shop 6 am Sunday morning?? Every person walking by and into the shop went right to my sink display and admired it, inspected it, asked how much it was. Initially shocked that folks were interested in buying my old sink, Coach quickly recovered and started asking $650. Wait, what?!?!?! THE SINK IS NOT FOR SALE. REPEAT. THE SINK IS NOT FOR SALE!

But both Coach and Lisa (his partner in crime this week) were hell-bent on selling that sink out from under me. Soooo, I compromised and used the old “if I really don’t want to sell it, then ask a ridiculously high price and if someone really wants it, they can have it trick”. $1000. FIRM. In the meantime, I am off to paint the pieces that I didn’t get a chance to paint because I was building the kitchen sink. Have an unsinkable Wednesday, everyone!! Susan

Filed Under: Auctions, Fleas & Fabulous Finds, Cookin' Up Country, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love, The Barn Workshop-DIY Series, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: Antique Kitchen Sink, Barn at Todd Farm, Building with vintage kitchen sink, Farmhouse Sink Refurbished, Vintage Farmhouse Sink Display, Vintage Kitchen sink

Jun 5, 2014

Mason Jar 3-Berry Cobblers

By countrydesignhome · 6 Comments

So, you would think that after that whole Cupcake Tower of Terror disaster that I would be staying away from baking for weddings, right? Well, that is the case where cakes are concerned-no more falling frosting fiascos! But, for the same wedding, I created some yummy individual three berry cobblers in little personalized mason jars as favors for the guests to enjoy. Those did NOT fail, or fall for that matter!

The recipe was a tried-and-true favorite from a co-worker (thanks, Krista!) that was adapted for the mini jelly jars, and two batches was enough for 6 dozen jars. Here is the how-I-did-it:

1. Prepare the jars. These are 1/2 pint, wide-mouth Kerr glass jelly jars I purchased from a local Ace Hardware store, ordering them online and picking them up at the store. Despite the fact that they were factory sealed in plastic, I still ran them through the dishwasher to ensure cleanliness.

2. Prepare the crumb topping/crust. This recipe is enough for one 13 x 9 pan of cobbler, or 3 dozen mini jars. So double it for the 6 dozen:

TOPPING/CRUST

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

2 Cups Rolled Oats (I used instant and it didn’t seem to matter at all)

1 1/2 Cups Packed Brown Sugar

1 Tsp Gground Cinnamon

1/2 Tsp Ground Nutmeg

1 1/2 Cups Cold Butter

Combine all dry ingredients in large bowl, then cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

3. Prepare the berry filling, literally just mixing the berries and sugar in a large bowl and set aside.

FRESH FRUIT FILLING

1 1/2 Cups Fresh Blueberries

1 1/2 Cups Fresh Blackberries

1 1/2 Cups Raspberries

4 TBLSP Granulated Sugar

I used fresh blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, but you can use any berry combination you would enjoy. This recipe was enough for three dozen jars, so I doubled it to make the 6 dozen. One thing I noted: the large whole raw berries (like the raspberries) take up more space, but once cooked, they collapsed and left extra room in the jar so it didn’t appear as full. Next time (and for these there will be a next time : ) I will slightly chop the larger berries so more fits into each jar prior to baking.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place as many jars that will fit onto a cookie sheet and spray the insides with non-stick cooking spray.

Take 1 TBLSP of the crumble mixture and lightly press down into the bottom of each jar. I used this wooden thing that was in my pastry drawer. Don’t know where it came from, don’t know what it is, but it worked perfectly! Continue until all of the jars have the base crust.

5. Fill each just with the berry mixture, until it is about 1/4 inch from the top. Leave room for the crumble topping!

6. Add 1 TBLSP crumble topping to each jar, pat lightly to secure. You can adjust the crumb topping/crust ratio as you like, but remember to adjust the recipe as well!

7. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the filling is bubbly and the topping is lightly browned.

8. Remove from oven and cool. You can serve these warm from the oven with a bit of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, or save them for later. I kept them lightly wrapped, but did not seal the tops on until it was time to assemble them as favors. Which I did with the help of my dear friend-thanks Alice!

9. The personalized labels were purchased on Etsy from Snappy’s Boutique. The owner was great to work with and the labels were beautifully printed on vinyl round stickers, one for the top of each jar.

10. The bamboo wooden spoons I stamped with cute little sayings like “berry happy” and “sweet love”. Of course, you could paint them or decorate them or simply leave them blank.

11. The spoons were attached to the jars with purple raffia ribbon-the wedding color- (and a little scotch tape to keep them from sliding off!)

and then we added a second bow for pretty : ) This was the best tool-a fork stuck in a ribbon reel taped to the counter-to tie the tiny bows with the chiffon-like material. Ah, necessity is indeed the mother of invention. Shark Tank, here we come!

12. I picked up the unfinished crate at Joanns (with a coupon, of course : ).

In order to make it appear somewhat rustic, I “stained” it with paint thinned with water,

then added another coat of blueish-purplish-white paint that I dry-brushed to give it a more rustic look.

13. The little chalkboard was also from Joanns, that I backed with some fringed burlap, then added the chalk graphic.

I used my easy chalkboard transfer method for the Three Berry Cobbler sign. Click the link for the DIY.

14. To safely stack the jars in the crate,

I added separators made from burlap-covered cardboard panels.

Done! Now who doesn’t love a rustic crate filled with pretty jars of yummy three-berry cobbler that is easily and safely transportable?!? Well, this girl does : )

And hopefully the guests did as well… Have a berry-licious Thursday everyone!! Susan

Filed Under: Cookin' Up Country, The Barn Workshop-DIY Series, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: Ace Hardware, Cobblers in Rustic Crate, Joanns, Mason Jar Cobblers, Mason Jar Three Berry Cobbler Recipe, Mini Mason Jar Cobblers in Crate, Mini mason jars for cobblers, three berry cobbler recipe

May 26, 2014

Cupcake Tower of Terror

By countrydesignhome · 15 Comments

These past few weeks have been so incredibly busy with 2 destination weddings and a law school graduation (with the accompanying parties : ) thrown in for good measure. All of which has left precious little time for blogging, never mind DIY’ing! For a spectacular wedding in the clouds this past weekend,

I had volunteered to make some desserts, specifically cupcakes and mini fruit cobblers in mason jars.

(I’ll share the successful cobbler story later. Today’s blog is about the cupcakes. And the tower.) Remember those Life-Changing Cupcakes I made last year for a wedding shower?

Well, I decided to use that recipe again, since those were such a big hit, but we had decided on two flavors for the wedding. The trouble really started with the lemon cupcakes. As I was baking the batches, one would come out OK, the next batch would collapse as soon as I took them out of the oven. As someone who has been baking since I was a kid, and having made my share of wedding cakes as well, I was baffled by this. But, I just kept baking until I had the necessary 6 dozen for the wedding guests. Those fallen lemon cupcakes were a sign…

Now, everyone knows that the proper way to serve cupcakes at a wedding is to ~~buy~~ build a cupcake tower so that it has the appearance of a wedding cake, right? So, I did a little Pinterest research and came up with the best plans (or so I thought) for creating a strong and sturdy tower that would show off the decorated cupcakes. Here is the How-I-Did-It (but don’t you do this…)

5 stacked shelves were created, beginning with a 16 inch base and cutting them smaller in 2″ increments to the top. I purchased a package of cake rounds (these are moisture resistant cardboard that you can purchase at your local arts and crafts supply store).

For added strength and support, I sandwiched a layer of foam core board that I cut to the same size for each shelf. For the supports in between, I took some old, empty, clean tin cans (OK, MISTAKE #1, they should have remained full to add extra weight to the tower), wrapped them in white craft foam cut to fit and hot glued into place

(it looked like fondant, so I was quite happy with that).

But then I needed some sort of trim, so I used that foam faux wainscoting from my country cupboard makeover, cutting it along the ridges

and then hot gluing it into place for a nice clean edge. For a final trim, I glued purple satin ribbon around the edges.

Once I had all the top layers ready, I stacked and hot glued as I built my tower, with the covered cans centered (MISTAKE #2-the top one was not quite centered, but once they were hot glued into place, there was no going back…) For an extra decorative touch, I cut some paper doilies

to fit around the edges and glued into place to create a lacy scalloped look.

For the base, I used a 16″ scalloped plastic cake round on feet that is typically used for just this purpose. But, it was pretty plain, so I added the lacy doilies to that, but then also placed a scalloped, foiled cake round in the center. MISTAKE #3. Finally, I glued the entire tower to that foiled round (did I say MISTAKE #3 ?!?)

For the topper, I baked one six inch round, decorated it and then added a beautiful bouquet in shades of purple that was created by our friends at Parker Florist in Wakefield.

OK, everything was transported safely to the venue on the top of a mountain, the cupcakes tucked into these awesome boxes I picked up at Michaels (they have inserts with holes big enough to fit my fat fingers around the cakes to remove them once it was time to fill the tower.) Aren’t they so pretty!?

Once the ceremony was performed and the delicious wedding dinner was finished, it was time to assemble the tower. So, with the help of my BFF’s, we walked down the hill from the main house to the tent where the reception was taking place, me carrying the tower, them carrying the boxes of cupcakes (did I mention that it was raining as well?)

The tower was settled down onto the designated table, which, because we were outdoors on the soggy lawn, had a bit of a tilt to it. (MISTAKE #4. NEVER ATTEMPT TO STACK A CUPCAKE TOWER ON A TILTED TABLE). I placed the floral round on the top (MISTAKE #5. DO NOT REST THE CAKE TOP ON THE TOP OF THE TOWER-IT MUST BE SECURED). As we were stacking the cupcakes on the tower, it started to wobble forward-remember, it was on a tilted table. So I decided to start stacking from the back to balance it. Reaching around behind to add more cupcakes, I accidentally hit the tower, which instantly fell forward, spilling cupcakes all over the table and ground.

And my shoes.

In an instant we went from Cupcake Wars to Cupcake Disaster. As the tower was plummeting to its grassy grave, my dear friend Alice caught the flower topper as it was flying by, resulting in a splotch of bright purple frosting on her brand new jacket!! (Alice, please send me the dry cleaning bill : ) At one point, I attempted to put the tower back together, but if you recall MISTAKE #3, the piece that was glued to the foiled round based gave way, so there was no way to re-attach it to the base. Apparently, hot glue and foil don’t adhere well. Lesson learned.

As we were scurrying around, attempting to save the remaining cupcakes, I was convulsed in laughter, thinking that this could have been an episode of I Love Lucy. Turning around to see the table of guests directly behind me with their mouths agape, watching the spectacle unfolding before them, I said “nobody saw that, right!?”, which resulted in more laughter from everyone involved. Now, if someone had been recording this, we most definitely would have won top prize on America’s Funniest Videos, which I then could have used to purchase a fabulous wooden cupcake tower like this one of these beauties on Etsy. But, alas, I didn’t even have my camera with me until it was over! So, the remaining unharmed cupcakes were set out on the table for the guests to enjoy,

which they reportedly did. The bride graciously laughed it away and the party danced on into the night. My heartfelt congratulations to the bride and groom-hopefully this is the first and last disaster for many years to come. So, you ask, what’s my take-away from all of this? NEVER AGAIN. Don’t ask, I won’t bake them. I’m sticking to wood and paint, from this day forward. Hope you have a memorable Memorial Day, everyone! Susan

Filed Under: Cookin' Up Country, Outdoor Adventures, The Barn Workshop-DIY Series, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: cupcake tower, Cupcake Wars, cupcakes for wedding on tower, DIY cupcake tower, falling cupcake tower, smashed cupcakes, wedding cupcakes

Mar 20, 2014

#tbt Photo Memory Cake

By countrydesignhome · 10 Comments

It’s #throwback thursday! I’m not certain who came up with this idea, but it’s kinda fun to see so many friends and family posting old photos of loved ones on social media. This week’s throwback is actually a post I penned back in 2012, when I first started blogging (boy, that seems like a lifetime ago…) Back then, I had about 5 followers, maybe a half dozen “likes” on Facebook and I had no idea what Instagram even was! Since hardly anyone actually saw this post, I thought I would re-share it. Hopefully it inspires you to try one too!.

So, in the spirit of #tbt, here is the Memory Cake that I created for my sister’s (ahem, milestone) birthday, using old photographs that I printed on icing sheets. And, if you have a faded photograph of someone you hold near and dear, don’t forget to share it!!

“Faded photographs, covered now with lines and creases”. When it’s time to celebrate a special family occasion, such as a milestone birthday, people often create videos or scrapbooks using old photographs. This year, for my sister’s (I am not going to divulge the year she was born, but let’s just say Elvis was in the building) birthday celebration, I decided to add a sweet twist to an old idea. A photo cake!! I have made hundreds of cakes over the years for birthdays, anniversaries, even weddings, but I have to say that this particular cake was really special, as it touched my heart, as well as my sister’s. I am not going to give you a full tutorial on how to create a cake like this. It is not simple, and you do need a basic understanding of cake decorating and using fondant. However, I will provide you with what I think are the most important things a cake artist needs in his/her “tool box” in order to create a memorable photo cake. Let’s start with the cake. You need a good solid cake that will hold up to the heavy fondant and piped icings. I normally make mine from scratch, but when I am pressed for time, I sometimes us a box cake mix, doctored up. This is a great basic

Once you have all your layers baked, cooled and chilled, it’s time to start decorating!! I used to freak out when my cakes weren’t level, or pieces pulled off around the edges, but then I started watching Ace of Cakes. Duff Goldman describes cake decorating as using”‘smoke and mirrors” to get the desired results. He, by the way, has a line of awesome cake decorating stuff at Michael’s Crafts. A little extra glob of frosting here, a bit of fondant there can make what initially looks like a disaster into a beautiful edible work of art. This handy tool, a cake leveler (I know, it looks like a hacksaw, right!?) levels each layer so that they stack properly. When cakes bake, they rise and end up with a “dome” in the middle which needs to be planed down. This leveler makes a perfectly even cut, and you can use it to cut exact layers as well. I use a basic buttercream frosting recipe, especially if the cake will be covered in fondant, which is actually just sugar and water cooked until it becomes a pliable sweet dough. You can find fondant pre-made in your local arts and crafts store, but this recipe is super easy, a lot cheaper and the fondant actually tastes really delicious! Rolling out the fondant smoothly can be tricky- you have to keep covering your work surface with confectioner’s sugar to prevent sticking. Once it is rolled out to your desired thickness (it should be 1/8-1/4 inch thick) and size, you simply roll it right right onto your rolling pin and then transfer it to the cake. It is important that the frosting “crumb” layer of the cake be smooth, as you will see every bump and lump through the fondant! Unfortunately, they don’t make “spanx” for cakes!!

Stacking the layers is the next step. Place each layer on it’s own base! Stick dowels or sticks into the layer below, cut exactly at the level of the fondant. Without this step, your cake could end up unintentionally looking like the Leaning Tower of Pisa,

as the weight of the higher layers will eventually sink into the one below. Next up, adding the photos.

On this cake, the photographs were “pasted” on using a watered-down buttercream frosting. “Now where did she get those photographs, and are they edible?!?” you ask. The photos were printed on my Canon IP3600 photo printer, using special frosting paper from Icing Images (yes, its actually frosting on a plastic back that you put in your printer!) with special food coloring inks,

which make for edible decorations. (Disclaimer: on this cake, some of the photos became non-edible, as I ran out of food coloring ink at the last minute and had to switch to regular ink instead. Luckily I was there to cut the cake and remove the pics prior to serving : ). The final touch: the ribbons. I was going for a “movie reel” look, but couldn’t find ribbon or tape anywhere.

So I fused these two ribbons together to make one long continuous piece to wrap around the cake and give it a vintage look. The topper was just a sparkly plastic Happy Birthday from the dollar store. And, again, I am not going to divulge the actual number of candles on the cake, but there was enough heat to start it on fire-lol!!!

So there you have it. Photo cake deconstructed. Now, I think there is some leftover pound cake that should go well with my morning coffee!! Have a sweet day everyone!

And a very special happy birthday to my big sister. XOXOXO Susan

Filed Under: Cookin' Up Country, Inspiration, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: #tbt, #throwbackthursday, baking, birthday cake, birthday cake with photos, cake, cake decorating, cake with pictures on it, Canon, Icing Images, memory cake, memory photo cake, throwback thursday

Feb 9, 2014

Chocolate Fudge Sea Salt Caramel Cupcakes

By countrydesignhome · 1 Comment

OK, so this is post #8. I honestly don’t know how all you bloggers out there manage to post every day! All of the writing and photographing and editing and posting and social media-ing (I think that’s a word) and cooking and sewing and painting and antiquing and junking and dumpster-diving and organizing and cleaning with homemade organic products-how are you getting that all done and still living a normal, productive life?!

I am trying to keep up, but feeling a bit more frazzled every day-just don’t know how to make this happen! That being said, for this blog post I was searching for a decadent chocolate recipe that you could make for your special someone for Valentine’s Day, when I remembered this one I had published from last year: Dark Chocolate Fudgy Sea Salt Caramel Cupcakes! So, in order to keep my blogging sanity and provide you with a scrumptious recipe, I am reblogging it. So, enjoy the blog, and the cupcakes. Have a sweet, sweet Sunday everyone! XOXOXOXO Susan

“Life-Changing Cupcakes”

“This past weekend was another crazy whirlwind of activity featuring a trip to Cape Cod, a bridal shower and a birthday party-whew! We had planned the shower the prior weekend (in between coats of paint on the whale table) and had decided that cupcakes would be the featured dessert. So I found this amazing recipe on, where else, Pinterest from the blog Jan Can Cook (tons of great recipes! If you want to take a look, just click the link below : ) and we decided they would be perfect.

I mean, after all, who doesn’t love dark chocolate and caramel and buttercream and a pinch of sea salt?!? I followed her recipe (click the link above) with a couple of exceptions. For the cupcakes, I used Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge

and I added a cup of Toll House mini semi-sweet bits

into the batter before pouring it into the cupcake liners. For the caramel to put inside the cupcakes, I used good ol’ Hersheys ice cream topping-quicker and easier and oh, so gooey and yummy!

Just warmed it up in the double boiler and then spooned it into the little cavities

we had scooped out of the centers.

(By the way, this bowl filled with little cone-shaped fudgy chocolate goodness are leftovers- and fabulous dipped in the warm caramel for a snack : )

The Caramel Buttercream Frosting Recipe

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 Tblsp water

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 (1.5 sticks) cup salted butter, room temperature

2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

Stir together granulated sugar and water in small saucepan until clear. Heat in small saucepan over med-high heat and cook for 5-7 minutes without stirring until liquid turns a light amber color- do not overcook- it will burn!!! Remove from heat, allow to cool for a bit and then slowly beat in the cream and vanilla with a spoon. In a mixing bowl, beat the softened butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed and slowly add confectioners sugar until it is all incorporated and smooth. Turn off mixer and slowly drizzle in caramel mixture. Turn mixer to med-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Cool until ready to frost cakes.

(Normally I would insert a photo here, but we were having so much fun I forgot to take it! So I am just going to show you some pretty garden flowers : )

The buttercream frosting mixture was pretty soft, as it was hot and we were down the Cape, so there is a lot of moisture in the air. Once I piped it onto the cupcakes, we put them in the fridge to firm up. You don’t even need a piping bag- you can just scoop the frosting with a spoon and plop it on top- the more the better! In the recipe it says to pour the chocolate ganache on the frosted cupcakes, but we just dipped them right into the bowl and allowed them to drip a bit, then inverted them.

The Ganache Recipe:

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate-chopped. I used the 10 ounce bag of Ghiradelli Square chips-perfect for melting.

1 cup heavy cream. 1 Tblsp Dark Rum (Optional)

Melt in a pan over low heat and beat with wooden spoon til smooth. Allow to cool slightly before glazing cupcakes.

For the final touch, we snipped some mini-marshmallows (snatched from the S’Mores Popcorn Mix- recipe soon!) into flower shapes and popped them on top of the ganache. Cute! (we tried to figure out how to cut them into starfish, as the shower had a beachy theme, but that wasn’t happening…)

So the shower was moving along, and the cupcakes were just sitting there lonely and forgotten, next to the lemon water. I mean, it was a wine-tasting- who’s drinking lemon water?!?

So my friend grabbed the tower and some napkins and started passing them around. Suddenly, the room was filled with “oohs and aahhs” as each person took their first scrumptious bite. The hostess declared that she would choose me for her Cupcake Wars team, but the sommelier’s comment was the best when she exclaimed: “These are life-changing cupcakes!” Now I’m not certain if that is the case, but they were a big hit! Don’t be afraid to try these, even if you are a novice baker. Perfectly simple recipe. Perfectly delicious. Susan”

Filed Under: Cookin' Up Country, Inspiration, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: Blogger Activity Advertisement, Chocolate Cupcake Recipe, Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Cupcakes, Country Design Home Logo, Fudgy Sea Salt Caramel Cupcakes, Life Changing Cupcakes, Sea Salt Caramel Cupcakes

Jan 29, 2014

Hearty Oatmeal Jam Squares

By countrydesignhome · 11 Comments

I have been making these super easy, delicious Oatmeal Jam Squares forever! This recipe was from an old, dog-eared Quaker Oats Wholegrain Cookbook.

They only take a few moments to prep, make minimal mess because you mix it all in one bowl with mostly (I would guess) stuff you already have in your pantry and fridge, 25 minutes to bake and done. Delish! Here’s the how-to:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I have an electric oven, so I always set it 25 degrees less as I feel it cooks faster and hotter than gas, so mine was set at 325. Grease 13 x 9 pan and set aside. This pic looks a little weird, because I used cooking spray and it squirts out rather than lightly sprays. Whatever works…

Oatmeal Jam Squares Grease Pan

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups quick oats

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed (you can use either light or dark brown, but I feel the dark brown gives the bars a richer flavor)

2 sticks (one cup) butter or margarine, softened, not melted

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (Optional)

1 1/2 – 2 cups jam or jelly or preserves, any flavor Note: The original recipe called for 3/4 cup. You can use as much or as little as you like. The more jam, the gooier the bar : )

Measure out all dry ingredients, set aside.

Place softened butter in large mixing bowl (I used one margarine, one butter. Not sure why, I just do that)

Oatmeal Jam Squares Softened Butter

and mix just until sticks are broken apart, not creamed. I used dough hooks in my mixer, you can use those, or mix by hand with wooden spoon.

Oatmeal Jam Squares Blending Butter

Dump in all the dry ingredients on top of the butter in the large mixing bowl.

Oatmeal Jam Squares Ingredients in Bowl

Mix with dough hooks, or by hand with a wooden spoon, until mixture is crumbly and well-blended.

Oatmeal Jam Squares Dough Hooks

Remove and reserve 2 cups of mixture, set aside.

Oatmeal Jam Squares Mixture

Place remaining mixture into prepared pan and pat down until firm crust is formed.

Oatmeal Jam Squares Crust in Pan

Do not compress too much, but make sure there aren’t any errant chunks scattered around.

Oatmeal Jam Squares One Cup Jam

Spoon jam onto crust

Oatmeal Jam Squares Jam in Pan

and smooth out to the corners, completely covering the crust.

Oatmeal Jam Squares Jam in Pan Smoothed

As you see here, I am using two types of jam,

Oatmeal Jam Squares Jam Jars

but you can use whatever you happen to have available. I have used everything from orange marmalade to grape jelly, and it all tastes great! Sprinkle remaining topping over the jam, evenly spreading to corners. Bake for 25-30 minutes until jam is bubbling around the edges, the crust is light brown and set.

Oatmeal Jam Squares Baked

Remove from oven before crust over-browns! Over-browning is bad. Makes the bars crunchy instead of gooey. And I like gooey. If you like crunchy, then leave them in a bit longer. Cool completely. Cut into squares and serve.

These are delicious (and nutritious) enough for breakfast and snacks but sweet enough for dessert. Have a yummy Wednesday everyone! Susan