Category Archives: Dessert

Spiced Molasses Sugar Cookies

22 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by in Dessert, Holiday, Quick and Easy, Vegetarian

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Spiced Molasses Sugar Cookies

I have a distinct memory back from when I was about 12 years old of my mom driving me to an orthodontist appointment to get my braces tightened.  As we turned onto a street called “Molasses Hill Road” my mom started talking about a cookie recipe that she had forgotten about and wanted to dig up to make again soon.  The cookies she made that night were similar to these, just without the kicked up spices.  They’ve always been a favorite in my family and a staple around the holidays.  The winter spices in this cookie will warm your heart, and the cayenne will warm your mouth just enough to linger for a second after you finish eating the cookie.  I hope you love them as much as my family does!

Spiced Molasses Sugar Cookies
Yield:  3 dozen cookies
Time:  40 minutes active, 2+ hours total (includes chilling)

¾ cup butter, softened to room temperature
½ cup sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
¼ cup dark molasses
1 egg
1½ tsp. minced fresh ginger (could use dried if necessary)
2¼ cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. ground cloves
¼ to ½ tsp. ground cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you like them!)
¾ cup Sugar in the Raw (or white sugar)

  1.  Cream together the butter and both sugars.  Stir in the molasses, egg, and fresh ginger.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, and cayenne.  Add to the butter/sugar mixture and stir until combined.
  3. Cover and refrigerate the dough for about an hour and a half, until it’s chilled and easier to handle.  (Note:  I often make the dough the day before baking and I chill it overnight.)
  4. Pour the raw sugar into a shallow bowl.  Form the dough into balls of ½-inch diameter.  Roll in the raw sugar to fully coat the surface.  (Note:  At this point, you can freeze the raw dough balls in a single layer until frozen solid, about 6 hours. Keep frozen for up to one month.  When you’re ready to bake them, simply take them out of the freezer and allow to thaw at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes prior to baking.  This can be a HUGE time saver, especially around the holidays!)
  5. Bake at 350ºF on lightly greased cookie sheets for 8-10 minutes, until fully cooked through.

PDF to Print Recipe for Spiced Molasses Sugar Cookies

Cookie Dough Brownie Fudge Ice Cream Cake

07 Tuesday Jul 2015

Posted by in Chocolate, Dessert, Quick and Easy

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ice cream cake 15ed

I’ve gotten a few requests to post this recipe, so here you go…

Ice cream cake is so easy to make, that I almost feel like it’s cheating to devote a post to it!  Every time I make it, I get rave reviews and it honestly comes together so quickly that it’s becoming a summertime staple of mine.  Here are some more huge benefits to making  your own ice cream cake:

1)  You can make it far in advance (up to a month if it’s wrapped really well before you freeze it).  That’s one less thing you need to take care of right before company comes over!

2)  It’s so versatile!  You can use any ice cream flavor you like–or try out different combos!

3)  It’s a great way to get rid of left over desserts.  Have extra chocolate chip cookies?  Oatmeal cookies?  Brownies?  Crumble them up to make the crust.  One year my mom bought waaaaaay too many Girl Scout cookies (either she was feeling extra philanthropic that year, or she let her sweet tooth get the best of her!) and she crumbled up thin mints for the base.  Those lemony shortbread-y cookies would make a divine crust, too!

Have I convinced you to make an ice cream cake yet??!

 

Cookie Dough Brownie Fudge Ice Cream Cake
Yield:  12-16 servings
Time:  Roughly 45 minutes total (only about 15 minutes are hands-on)

1 box of brownie mix with the required ingredients (water, eggs, oil)
3 quarts cookie dough ice cream (I like the Edy’s Slow Churned the best!)
1 tub (16 oz) prepared chocolate frosting (I use Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Chocolate Fudge)
8 oz. whipped topping, such as fat free Cool Whip
Toppings to decorate (suggestions: rainbow sprinkles, mini M&Ms, crushed candies, butterscotch morsels,…)
Non-stick freezer paper (I discovered that Reynolds makes a great one!  It’s essentially parchment paper with one side containing a plastic coating)

1)  Bake the brownies according the instructions on the package.  I usually bake them in a large rectangular baking dish so they bake faster.  Once baked, set aside and allow to come to room temperature.

2)  Remove the ice cream from the freezer and allow to soften for a few minutes as you prepare the pan and assemble the brownie crust.

3)  Line your counter with two long sheets of foil.  Place a spring form pan (8 or 9-inches in diameter) in the center of the foil.  (This will catch any leaks from the softened ice cream.  Plus, it’ll make wrapping it up for freezer storage a cinch!)  Lightly spray the base and inside walls of the pan with non-stick spray.  Crumble up the brownies into pieces and press them into the bottom of the pan.  You may not need all of the brownies (in which case–feel free to snack as you go!).

4)  Scoop the ice cream into the pan, covering the brownie base with a single layer of scoops.  Gently press the softened ice cream scoops together to create a relatively flat layer of ice cream.

Ice Cream Cake

5)  Evenly spread the chocolate frosting over the layer of ice cream.

Ice Cream Cake

6)  Top with another layer of ice cream, basically repeating step 3.

7)  Evenly spread the whipped topping over the final layer of ice cream.  Top with sprinkles or other decorative toppings.

Ice Cream Cake Ice Cream Cake

8)  Place the freezer paper directly on top of the finished ice cream cake, with the plastic coated side touching and entirely covering the top surface of the cake.  Tuck the edges of the freezer paper in, and wrap the foil around the cake, wrapping up entirely.  Seal the entire foil-wrapped cake in plastic wrap or place in a freezer storage bag.  Store in the freezer until ready to serve!

Freezer Paper

My instructions on how to wrap the cake may seem a bit specific, but I’ve learned the hard way that regular parchment paper, waxed paper, and foil all tend to stick to the cool whip once it’s frozen and it’s really tedious picking off small bits of the wrapping when you want to serve the cake!  The freezer paper worked wonderfully and will continue to be the only way I wrap up my ice cream cakes before storing them in the freezer!  Feel free to use any method that works for you, though!

PDF to Print Recipe for Cookie Dough Brownie Fudge Ice Cream Cake

Chocolate Chip Biscotti

16 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Bread, Breakfast, Chocolate, Dessert, Vegetarian

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Chocolate Chip Biscotti

This recipe is one of my mom’s favorites.  Every time we get together for breakfast or brunch, she requests that I make my chocolate chip biscotti, claiming it’s the best she’s ever had.  Let’s hope you agree!  (In the photo above, I made half the biscotti using this recipe, and the other half was chocolate cherry biscotti, to create the plate of “zebra biscotti”!)

Chocolate Chip Biscotti
Time:  10 minutes prep; 40 minutes total
Yield:  40 pieces

½ cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¾ cup mini chocolate chips
1.  Preheat the oven to 375ºF.  Lightly grease a jelly roll pan and set aside.

2.  Whisk together the oil, eggs, sugar, and vanilla.

3.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder.  Slowly combine the flour with the oil/sugar mixture, forming a sticky ball of dough.  Mix in the mini chocolate chips, kneading gently with your hands.

4.  Divide the dough into two pieces.  Roll into two separate logs, each roughly the length of the jelly roll pan.  Place on the prepared pan and gently pat down to flatten to about a 1-inch thickness.

5.  Bake at 375ºF for 22-27 minutes, until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool just enough that it’s comfortable to touch.  Cut into ½-inch wide slices.  Return the slices to the pan, cut-side up.  Bake for an additional 6-10 minutes to lightly toast the surface.  Store in a sealed container for up to one month.

PDF to Print Recipe for Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Chocolate Chip Biscotti

JanisCakes Custom Order!

01 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by in Dessert

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1st Custom Order

This is my very first JanisCakes post to not contain a recipe, but I have exciting news to share instead!  I am thrilled to announce that I recently filled my very first JanisCakes custom order!!  I’ve always dreamed of selling my baked treats and that dream finally came true for me in the most unexpected of ways.  My husband and I bought our first home about a month ago, and it won’t surprise you to hear that the very first thing I unpacked was my kitchen.  Although not everything was in its perfect place, the kitchen cabinets were soon full and I was cooking meals the very next day.  My hubby and I were anxious to meet our neighbors, so we decided to go around knocking on doors, introducing ourselves, and giving out plates of freshly baked homemade goodies.  We met so many genuinely nice people, and we’re fortunate to have such amazing neighbors.  I am especially grateful for one in particular who emailed me later that day asking if I (dun dun dun….) BAKE FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO BUY.  Did that sentence make your heart skip a beat, like it did mine??  She wanted to buy some treats for her party that weekend, so we tossed a few ideas back and forth until we came up with the perfect dessert menu:

1)  Mini Vanilla Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling and Raspberry Frosting (link to similar recipe)

1st Custom Order

2)  Mini Mocha Cupcakes with Kahlua-Espresso Frosting

1st Custom Order

3)  Butterscotch Bars  (link to recipe)

1st Custom Order

Pretty soon, my brand new kitchen was alive with action!  I baked up a storm, so giddy the entire time because I was filling my very first custom order!  It was a very proud and happy moment for me when I delivered the treats the next morning, creating a genuine happiness deep inside of me–a feeling I won’t soon forget!

1st Custom Order

Of course I baked extras of everything, allowing for inevitable mess-ups: overfilled cupcakes with raspberry erupting from the center, cupcakes that were way too big or way to small, overall ugly or misshapen desserts, slanted frosting, too sparse on the edible shimmery star decorations,… and basically every other imperfection you can imagine!  Plus, I needed to make a few extra to taste test to make sure all the flavors came together in just the way I wanted.  As you can imagine, this left me with quite a few rejects, which my nephews happily gobbled up!  Fortunately even the rejects passed their test!

1st Custom Order

1st Custom Order

1st Custom Order

Feel free to message me if you ever want to place a JanisCakes custom order.  I’d be more than happy discuss ideas and options with you, creating a perfect dessert spread to match your needs!  And remember, all JanisCakes treats are entirely nut-free, so they’re safe for people allergic to peanuts and/or tree nuts to eat as well!

-JC

 

Roasted Summer Fruit A La Mode

20 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by in Boozy, Dessert, Fruit, Healthy, Quick and Easy, Vegan, Vegetarian

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Ice Cream Over Roasted Summer Fruit

I created this recipe by accident.  I bought tons of fresh blackberries to make blackberry mint mimosas on Mother’s Day, and I ended up with lots left over.  I knew I had a narrow window of time to use them all before they spoiled, so my first thought was to make a blackberry and rhubarb crisp–one of my all time favorites!  In the spirit of cutting out some calories as bathing suit season approaches, I decided to forego the oatmeal crisp topping (which is typically loaded with butter) and instead just toss the fruit with some brown sugar and roast it.  I had a few ripe peaches sitting on my counter, so I diced those up and threw them in too.  Although I had good intentions of keeping the dessert light and low cal, once the fruit was hot and bubbly, I couldn’t resist topping it with a scoop of low-fat vanilla bean ice cream!  The flavors tasted divine together, and they just screamed summer! Next time I make this, I’m going to stir 2 tbsp. of honey whiskey (such as Wild Turkey American Honey or Jack Daniels Honey) into the fruit before roasting it.  It can’t hurt, right??

Roasted Summer Fruit À La Mode
Yield: 2 servings
Time:  25 minutes total

1 cup blackberries
3 peaches, diced into bite-sized pieces
1 cup rhubarb, diced into bite-sized pieces
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
(2 tbsp. honey whiskey*–optional)

2 to 4 scoops of your favorite ice cream**
1.  Toss together all of the fruit, brown sugar, cinnamon, and whiskey (if using).  Transfer to a lightly greased baking dish.

2.  Bake at 375ºF for 20 minutes.

3.  Spoon half of the mixture into a serving bowl.  Top with one or two scoops of your favorite ice cream.

* Try using Wild Turkey American Honey or Jack Daniels Honey.

** I highly recommend Edy’s Slow Churned Vanilla Bean Ice Cream!  A fruit flavored sorbet would also be delicious.

 

PDF to Print Recipe for Roasted Summer Fruit A La Mode

PS…Did you know that “à la mode” is a French saying meaning “in style”?  Thank goodness for the French making it fashionable to top dessert with ice cream!