Sin Cake

I am sure many of you know this recipe. Some people call it Better Than Whatever or Better Than Sex Cake. My mom always used to say that it is so good it must be a Sin to eat it. And so we have always called it Sin Cake. We have made this recipe for many years, but recently I decided to try it out in Cupcake form for a friends baby shower and it was a huge hit. I also took them to a church activity last night, and everyone kept asking who brought the gourmet cupcakes. :)

The best part is that this is a pretty simple recipe. No weird ingredients and you probably have most of it already in your pantry. So find a time to make these and you will not regret it!

Sin Cake
Serves: 24 cupcakes or a 9x13 pan

Ingredients:
1 Chocolate Cake Mix (prepared and baked according to package directions)
1 recipe Homemade Caramel (see below)
2/3 can of Sweetened Condensed Milk (leftover from caramel)
Crushed Heath of Skor Bars or just use the Heath Bits in the baking section
1 tub Cool Whip or Cream Cheese Frosting (see below)

Prepare your cake mix and bake it. Use either a 9x13 pan or make cupcakes. After your cake is finished baking let it cool for a just a few minutes. Make your homemade caramel. Then poke holes in the cake with a skewer while it is still warm. (My favorite is to use the end of a wooden spoon). Pour the remainder of the Sweetened Condensed Milk all over the cake, especially in the holes to allow it to soak into the cake. Then pour the caramel over the cake just like you did the condensed milk. At this point it is best to refrigerate for an hour or so, or however long you need to. Once the cake has chilled spread the Cool Whip over the top of the cake, and the sprinkle on the crushed Heath of Skor Bar. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!

This what it should look like after the condensed milk and caramel.

Cupcake Directions:
After baking the cupcakes and placing on a cooling rack with aluminum foil underneath, and making the caramel. Poke holes in each individual cupcake, about 10 holes or so. Then, while the cupcakes are still warm, spoon the sweetened condensed milk over the cupcakes and into the holes so that it soaks into the cake. Then do the same with your homemade caramel. Refrigerate until chilled. While it is refrigerating make your Cream Cheese Frosting. (I choose to use the Cream Cheese Frosting on the cupcakes because I feel it holds up better than the Cool whip would. But you could certainly use Cool Whip on the cupcakes too). Then pipe your frosting on the cupcakes and top with the crushed Heath or Skor Bar. Now take them to a party or share with your neighbors and all will be impressed.


Homemade Microwave Caramel
1/3 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 C Butter
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C White Sugar
1/2 C Light Corn Syrup

Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Stir and cook another 2-3 minutes.
This a soft set caramel and it will not harden or set up to cut into squares so keep that in mind.


Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 C Butter (softened)
8 oz. Cream Cheese (softened)
4 cups Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla

Beat the butter and cream cheese together until combined. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until the desired consistency is reached. Add vanilla. And you're done!


I hope you enjoy this recipe and it becomes a favorite to your family. Refrigerate leftovers (if you have any!).

Raspberry Cream Pie

I was able to taste this de.li.cious. pie at our friend's annual Pi Party back in March. It won best pie, almost hands down, it was amazing. We all sat there trying to figure out what was in it. Finally we asked. A couple weeks later a friend of mine made the pie but in a blackberry version with graham cracker pie crust and it was also amazing. I am telling you, you HAVE to try this pie. It is so good!
If you have never visited The Pioneer Woman's Blog then you are seriously missing out. She really has some amazing recipes. And I have read that her cinnamon rolls are amazing! Head on over to her site, the pictures are great!

Raspberry Cream Pie
from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

25 whole Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted

1 cup (generous) Raspberries

3 Tablespoons Sugar

2 containers (6 Ounce Each) Raspberry Yogurt

1 package (3.4 Ounch) Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

Extra Raspberries For Garnish

Preparation Instructions

To make the crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crust cookies in a food processor (or smash in a Ziploc bag with a rolling pin). Stir in melted butter until all combined. Pour into a regular pie pan and press crumbs all over the pan and up the sides. Bake for 3 to 4 minutes---just long enough for it to set.
Cool crust completely.

Place raspberries on a plate or in an empty pan. Smash them with a fork, then sprinkle on 3 tablespoons of sugar. Stir together and allow to sit for 15 minutes.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine raspberry yogurt with the instant vanilla pudding mix (just the powder itself.) Beat on low until combined, about 1 minute. Pour in heavy cream and whip on low for 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula. Turn mixer on medium-high speed and beat for two minutes, or until mixture is thick.

Turn off mixer, then fold in raspberries until just combined. Pour into cooled pie pan and spread evenly. Freeze for two hours, or until very firm. Cut into slices and top each slice with cookie crumbs, dollops of whipped cream, and extra raspberries. Keep in freezer, allowing time to thaw before serving.

Pink Lemonade Ice Cream Pie

This pie can be described in two words. Simple and Delicious. Pretty good words right? I don't know about you, but it has mostly been in the 70's here for the last 3 weeks, and at 38 weeks pregnant I have had no desire to turn on the oven and cook. Which has left things very interesting come dinner time. Anyway, when I found out about our friends annual Pi Party (you know 3.14), I knew I wanted to make something refreshing.
And then I remembered this pie:

So perfect, just 3 ingredients and put it in the freezer. And I don't think there was anyone who didn't enjoy it.

Pink Lemonade Ice Cream Pie
Servings: 16 or 2 (9-inch) pies

1 can frozen pink lemonade concentrate
1 tub of vanilla ice cream (just a cheap, no-name brand one)
2 graham cracker pie crusts

Set your ice cream and pink lemonade out on the counter to soften. Don't let your ice cream melt completely. Once they have softened, pour the ice cream and pink lemonade into a large bowl and stir until well combined. You don't want any big chunks so just work with it for a few minutes. Then divide your pink lemonade ice cream mixture evenly between the 2 pie crusts and place in the freezer to set up until ready to serve. Once the ice cream has set just slice, serve and enjoy!

Variations: Because you are using vanilla ice cream, this recipe leaves a lot of room for variation. Try out some different juice flavors: like raspberry lemonade, regular lemonade, limeade, you could probably even try orange juice for a take on an Orange Dreamsicle Pie. (I have never tried it, but I bet it would work!) Also feel free to add some mix-ins like marshmallows or even fruit. You could add some frozen raspberries with raspberry lemonade concentrate and I am sure it would be great! You can also use a regular pie crust instead of graham cracker if you prefer. Get creative and have fun with it!

This is a great summer recipe so hopefully you can get some use out of it over the next few months to come. Make it for a party and share with friends and family, or just eat two pies yourself, I won't judge.

Let me know if you try it, or if there are other variations you have tried!

Pinterest: Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

Most of my posts have been coming from Pinterest lately. Sorry, about that. But believe me, I have tried quite a few recipes from Pinterest that haven't worked out, so in my opinion it is nice to know which ones to try!

As you might have been able to tell, we have been busy lately. My sister recently had to have her baby 5 weeks early due to preeclampsia and my Mom (Vera), was helping her out for a while. My nephew was in the NICU for about 2 weeks but is now home with his family! And I have been getting ready for our second little boy to come in 4 weeks. It is like I suddenly realized I actually need to start getting things ready now. :) But, that's why I didn't get a post out last week. I have also been trying to spend lots of fun time with my toddler, knowing he is going to be seriously neglected in the coming weeks. It breaks my heart a little, knowing my world won't focus around just him anymore. But he is SO excited for his little brother to come, and so are we!

Anyways, a good friend of mine, whose due date is tomorrow, is also having a little boy. And as her wonderful friends :), we put on a baby shower. We decided to go the route of a brunch, instead of a lunch this time and I think it turned out great. We had a variety of bagels with cream cheese, juice, and build-your-own yogurt parfaits. It was all SO good! Normally we do some kind of cake or cupcakes for dessert at baby showers, and we were trying to figure out what to do since it would be earlier in the morning. Then I stumbled across Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes from Pink Parsley on Pinterest. I couldn't believe how perfect these would be. I mean it is just a cinnamon roll in a cupcake liner, but seriously how cute! And so easy to eat.

I will be honest, making breads are not my favorite. I always stress about it rising just right and such. Everything turns out fine in the end, but you know, I am learning and getting better each time. I choose to use the recipe found on Pink Parsley because I wasn't sure if other recipes would work just as well. I liked the cinnamon rolls, they were a little denser and drier than I expected, definitely not a gooey cinnamon roll. If you want gooey I would try your own recipe. But, I liked how they held up and everyone said they tasted great. My husband LOVED the frosting and raved about it for days, which is totally uncommon for him. So give it a try. I will definitely try to bake them as cupcakes using different cinnamon roll recipes in the future, and see how they turn out! Happy Baking!

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes
adapted from Beantown Baker, originally from La Fuji Mama
Servings: 24

• 2 1/4 tsp. or 1 packet dry active yeast
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
• 1 cup warm milk (approximately 110 degrees Fahrenheit)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 tsp. salt
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour

• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2-2 cups powdered sugar 

Dissolve the yeast and 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar in the warm milk in a large bowl and let stand for about 10 minutes until foamy.

Mix in the eggs, butter, salt, and other 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. Add flour and mix until well blended and the dough forms a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead about 5-10 times. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about one hour).

After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners, and lightly spray over the top of them with cooking spray.

Roll dough into a 12x22 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 24 rolls using dental floss or a pastry cutter. You may have to unroll each roll and re-roll in order for the dough to fit in a cupcake tin.

Place each roll in a cupcake liner. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Alternatively, allow to rise overnight in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Let rolls cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, mix cream cheese and butter using the whisk attachment of a mixer. Slowly add the powdered sugar until desired consistency has been reached.

A few notes, my dough did not rise hardly at all overnight in the refrigerator. But they cooked up just fine. I did re-roll each one, and cut off excess that was too long, and then I pieced all the excess pieces together to make other rolls.

Seriously, how cute are those? I know you want one! :)