Tag Archives: baking

March 19, 2011 · 12:56 am

Batter Babies Review & Give-Away!!!

Kimber Cakeware (http://www.kimbercakeware.com/) sent me some products to review, and yesterday I tried out one of them. I used the Batter Babies. Batter Babies allow you to make one of a kind cupcakes of two flavors or colors. This neat little gadget works really well and is very easy to use. You just put the Batter Baby in the cupcake liner that is in the pan. You put one kind of batter on one side of it and another kind on the other side and remove the Batter Baby and bake. The result, is a cupcake that has different colors, flavors or both. It is really neat for making special cupcakes.

You could do pink and purple for a princess party, or use school colors for a sporting event, the possibilities are as vast as your imagination. To make this really neat and easy you can put the different batters in squeeze bottles and it makes filling the cupcake molds very easy. I did not do that because I was in a bit of rush and my cupcakes still turned out great.

Kimber Cakeware is sponsoring a give-away for my blog readers. We will be giving away 3 sets of these to 3 lucky winners. Each set contains 6 Batter Babies. So get ready to bake some cool cupcakes and your friends will be wondering how you did it. All you have to do is leave a comment on my Mommy Ramblings FB page ( http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mommy-Ramblings/142284565832382) of what you think would be the first combination you would bake if you won. That will get you one entry, you can earn another by visiting Kimber Cakeware on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kimber-Cakeware/146735632016017?ref=ts) and liking their page and leaving me a comment that you did that on my Mommy Ramblings FB page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mommy-Ramblings/142284565832382). Give-away will end Monday March 21st at 12am. Give-away is open to residents of USA & Canada. Good luck and happy baking!!!

A friend let me know she really wanted to enter this give-away but gave up Facebook for lent. So I am modifying the rules that you can leave the comment on this blog of what combo you would bake first if you win the give-away.

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February 22, 2011 · 3:09 am

Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract Review & Give-away!!!

I was so excited when asked to review this Nielsen-Massey Vanilla. Excited, because this is a product I use and love. I remember our first bottle had to be purchased through Chefs Catalog but now it is available at Wegmans. We use this in so many of our recipes and love the flavor. We use it in our ice cream that we make, all of our baking and we especially love the flavor it adds to our belgian waffles. If you have never tried it, then you are in for a treat. Nielsen-Massey Vanillas, Inc. has an exclusive cold process method that extracts the essence from selected vanilla pods, the finest available, producing rich and delicious flavor that is unsurpassed. Nielsen-Massey Vanillas is proud to announce that its Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste was a 2010 Silver finalist for the NASFT Sofi Awards in the “Baked goods, baking ingredient or cereal” category. Take a look at their website for more information at www.NielsenMassey.com.

Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla

The world’s finest and most consistent vanilla comes from Madagascar. Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla from Nielsen-Massey has a creamy, sweet, velvety flavor that is perfectly suited for a range of products from baked goods to ice creams, salad dressings to barbeque sauces. Madagascar Bourbon vanilla does not have anything to do with the American whiskey of the same name, but is rather named for the Bourbon Islands off the coast of Africa. Madagascar supplies more than 60% of the world’s vanilla.

Give-away rules:

The Nielsen-Massey Vanillas, Inc. is being gracious enough to let one of my readers try this vanilla by sending out a 2 ounce bottle of this great vanilla to the winner. To be eligible for the give-away you MUST subscribe to my blog, LIKE my blog Facebook Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mommy-Ramblings/142284565832382, and send as many friends over to my Facebook Fan Page to post a comment that “you” sent them. The person with the most referrals by this Thursday night 12am will be the lucky winner. Good luck everyone and thank you Nielsen-Massey!!!

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February 15, 2011 · 11:11 pm

The Original GreenPan!!!

Yesterday, on Valentine’s Day, I received a very green present. Jessica, from The Original GreenPan, sent me a nice little gift bag chock full of goodies. It contained a 8″ high end, commercial grade non-stick pan, a very nice apron, pot holder, and care sponge. I am so anxious to try this baby out. As a mother, I am always so concerned with what are children are exposed to . I mean, we are long aware of the dangers of most non-stick cookware. If heated without anything in it, it can kill pets such as parrots. This does not sound like something we want to use near our growing and developing children or when we are pregnant does it? The ambitious goal of GreenPan™ was to create a new, healthy cooking experience in non-stick cookware. In 2007 GreenPan™ was ready to take off and succeeded in bringing to the market the first healthy, eco-friendly non-stick pots and pans with the revolutionary new PTFE/PFOA-free coating,Thermolon™

My Gift Bag!

The pan they sent me is from their Rotterdam Collection.

Here are some important facts from GreenPan’s website. You should visit it yourself to learn all about their extensive line of products, www.green-pan.com.

Our non-stick pots and pans are the first to be made with a non-stick coating made of minerals instead of plastics.
PTFE coatings are manufactured with the aid of PFOA (PerFluoroOctanoic Acid), which is classified as a ‘persistent pollutant of the environment’*. Besides that, PFOA is a tough chemical that the body has the greatest difficulties in expelling and is known to be a ‘likely human carcinogen’*. We don’t use PTFE, so no PFOA can be emitted in the environment. * According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency, a US federal agency in charge of the protection of human health and the environment)
Less energy is used when Thermolon™ is applied on GreenPan™ products, which means 60% less CO2 emission compared with the production of PTFE-coated pans.

The best thing I like about Greenpan is that their products are healthy for us and our environment. They do not produce any harmful fumes!

I also like that the coating is designed for superior performance, better cooking, better taste and is easier to clean.

I am going to be doing a full review by cooking in this great pan very soon. I will let you know what I think of these environmentally friendly pans. GreenPan has a variety of collections and also includes baking and roasting pans.

Here are some of the other goodies and other views of the pan they so graciously supplied me with to review.

The handle on the pan is removable.

I will test this pan out very soon and let you know what I think. I have been very impressed with the literature they sent and the wide range of products available. I plan to do some reading later on tonight and learn more about this healthy alternative non-stick cookware. Hope you all are having a great day!!!

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February 13, 2011 · 3:34 am

Valentine’s Day Treats!!!

Besides baking Michael’s birthday cake for tomorrow, I decided to bake some sugar cookies for Valentine’s Day. I use the following sugar cookie recipe and I just love it.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt (I do not use the salt myself)

Directions

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Use Valentine’s Day theme cookie cutters. I chose to use hearts of different sizes and edges.

The dough is so easy to work with.

Prior to baking you can decorate or leave plain to dip in chocolate after baked.

I do not let them over bake and I love that they are soft and not crunchy.

The recipe makes a good amount of cookies. Amount will depend on the size of cookie cutters you use but I have three platters full.

These cookies were calling to Ethan who we told had to wait until after dinner. As you can see from his face and hands, he did not waste any time.

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February 11, 2011 · 4:52 am

It looks like I will be doing a lot of baking this weekend.

I need to do my review on the set of acrylic cookie stamps I received today from Gourmac. Michael’s birthday is the 13th so that will require a cake and I do have the supplies to try the cake pops again. Last but not least, I wanted to bake some cut-out sugar cookies with Ethan and Luke for Valentine’s Day. All this should make for a very sweet weekend. I will be having another contest for a set of brand new cookie stamps just like the ones that I am reviewing. They will be sent to the winner direct from the company and I will post rules later. We still have the “My Little Cupcake Pop Mold” giveaway going on so be sure to get in on that as it ends on the 14th. I have lots of other reviews and give-aways coming up so stay tuned.

Are you all doing some yummy baking for Valentine’s Day? Do tell. Well, I better rest up for my baking marathon. Have a good night everyone!

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Tagged as acrylic cookie stamps, baking, birthday, cake, candy, contest, free, give-aways, Gourmac, my little cupcake mold, review, reviews, shortbread, stamps, Valentine's Day

February 8, 2011 · 1:03 am

Baking Flowers!!! My Review of the John Wright Flower Cast Iron Muffin Pan!

The UPS driver had a treat for me today. The John Wright Company sent me one of their cast iron flower muffin pans. The original Wrightsville Hardware Company was founded in 1880 near their present location in Wrightsville, Pennsylvania. Along with their foundries, they have a retail store and outlet in a converted turn-of-the-century warehouse on the bank of the lovely Susquehanna River. John Wright remains America’s oldest continuously operating manufacturer of cast iron products!! Their products are proudly made in the USA.

The first thing to note about this pan is its weight. One could easily get a great bicep workout just by lifting the pan a few times. The detail is also amazing. There are 7 different flowers and the name of each flower is written into each cast iron mold.

A nice assortment of recipes accompanied the pan. I chose to make the corn bread muffins. The recipe is as follows:

Corn Bread Muffins

1 Cup All-Purpose Flour

1/4 Cup Sugar

3 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup Yellow Corn Meal

1 Egg Well-Beaten

1 Cup Milk

5 Teaspoons Butter, Melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add corn meal. Add to mixture: egg, milk, and melted butter. Beat until smooth, but don’t overmix. Bake in the greased muffin pan at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

I made the above mixture and it filled the muffin pan exactly.

The muffins are a very generous size. As soon as they achieved the desired golden brown color, they were removed from the oven.

The muffins just lifted right out of the pan without any problem or sticking. The muffins were beautiful, big, and airy.

Add some butter and enjoy!

Don’t they look delicious?

I give this pan and the John Wright Company 2 thumbs up! I think I am going to have to try their cookie pans next. They have great cookie pans that have lots of neat designs like: Alphabet Cookie, Sweetheart Cookie, Sleigh Full O’Toys Cookie and many more. Their molded cookie recipes with these pans, I just have to try. All of the John Wright molds are coated with their exclusive non-stick coating, “Ironclad Non-Stick Coating” If you would like to purchase one of their pans you can call their toll free number for the nearest store, 1-800-444-9364. You can also order from their website at http://www.jwright.com

I hope you give their pans and recipes a try. I am telling you these are the most delicious corn muffins I have ever had. Try it, and see if you do not agree.

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February 6, 2011 · 4:15 am

My Little Cupcake Pop Mold Review.

Well, I just got done making about 40 cake pops. The “My Little Cupcake Company” sent me a mold and one to giveaway to a reader of my blog. They sent everything out so fast and gave me a nice history of the company and business cards and brochure. The mold was invented by a mother of 3. I love mom-invented products. The mold itself is very sturdy and easy to use. It has a hinge on the bottom which is very handy and makes the mold really easy to operate even with sticky hands. The company will be coming out with at least three more designs in the near future. If you can’t wait to see if you win the giveaway, you can visit their website at http://www.mylittlecupcakepop.com/ You can purchase the mold direct from there or they are available as well on Amazon.com.

The first step is to take your cooled baked cake and put it into a large bowl and break it up into small pieces.

Then I added my cream cheese frosting and mixed it all together.

Then take the mixture and scoop it out with a cookie scoop and put the balls in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

You will have about 40 balls. Then take your “My Little Cupcake Pop Mold”

Open the mold and put one of the balls in.

Close the mold and let the excess squeeze out. Then wipe off the excess and put it into a bowl to re-mold later.

Open the mold and you should have a nicely formed little cupcake.

Repeat with the rest of the cake balls and then put the formed cake balls in the freezer again for at least 30 minutes.

Melt your chocolate, then dip the bottoms of the cake balls into the melted chocolate.

After you dip it in the chocolate, put a pop stick in it and let it dry upside down. When dry, melt the white chocolate and dip the top in white chocolate and sprinkle with decor of your choice.

Stick the pops into Styrofoam and keep going.

Okay so that is it. Now for my review. This was not a lot of work until the end. The dipping of chocolate is messy and tedious. There are also some casualties where the ball falls off the stick. I think that is why some people just make cake balls and not pops. The mold itself worked well. It is just a lot of work and for me I do not know that I would do this again. I mean the end result was okay but nothing that spectacular that I would have to make these again. Maybe it is me. Maybe I am not that creative or this just is not my thing. I do not feel the need to rush and make another batch. Like I said, someone else may have a knack for it, and I do appreciate that the mold was designed by a mom. As I said in a previous post she does recommend using a pack of Oreo cookies and a brick of cream cheese. Maybe that mixture holds better and definitely is less work than making your own cake and frosting. Maybe sometime soon I will give that a try, who knows? It depends how fast I forget. I am giving away one brand new mold. If you want it and you will give this a try then you need to subscribe to my blog and like my Facebook blog fan page. In the next day or so I will post a post about the giveaway and it will have the instructions for the contest. I think I am going to spend a bit of time with my treadmill now. Have a great Saturday night!!!

I will leave you some pics of the little guys eating them. Luke had a problem with it falling off the stick but he solved that by just stuffing the whole thing in his mouth. : )

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Tagged as baking, blog, cake pops, Chocolate, contest, dipping, Facebook, give-away, Like, make, my little cupcake pop mold, review

January 7, 2011 · 10:43 pm

Paula Deen’s, Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

I am really not sure if these are a true Paula Deen creation because I see the recipe with a different kind of cake mix without the Paula Deen name. Anyhow, I made these Chocolate Gooeey Butter Cookies a few weeks ago and my husband loved them and has been begging me to make them again so I did. They are super easy and from what I have been reading you can use any flavor cake mix. So far I have only chocolate varieties. Next time I may try a golden or butter cake mix and see how they taste. Anyway here is the super-duper easy recipe. Feel free to comment with your individual results and if you tried different cake mixes. Would love to hear your opinions.

Ingredients

1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (18-ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner’s sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and “gooey.” Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners’ sugar, if desired.

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Tagged as baking, Butter, Chocolate, cookies, Cream Cheese, Gooey, Paula Deen

December 20, 2010 · 5:27 am

Christmas Cookies Everywhere!!!

Well, yesterday we took the little ones to see Santa. I will post about that by itself. We also shopped a bit, had dinner and got home very late. So I was really enjoying a day home to bake. I had made two doughs the other day and they were chilling. The first cookie I made was PB & J Thumbprints. but I only managed to get a dozen and a half into the freezer, they were so good. Next, I made my spritz dough and made several dozen and got just about everyone in the freezer because I worked fast! Then I wrapped a ton of presents while the babies napped. Got another burst of inspiration and took out my chilled gingerbread dough and cut out some men, women and children. I have them decorated and cooling completely and they will be packed away in the freezer as well. The other night I made the two sheet cake layers for Luke’s birthday cake and I made cupcakes. I froze them all to decorate on the eve of the 23rd. So a pretty good day for baking and wrapping. Christmas is coming up on us so fast, I cannot believe it. Well, I better get those Gingerpersons in the freezer before they get eaten. Hope everyone is getting everything they need to do done and not getting stressed out and forgetting the reason for the season.