A Delicious Train

My son requested a train cake for his birthday, and since we couldn't find any train cake toppers, my husband and I ended up sculpting our own. We made it a lot more difficult for ourselves due to the frosting we chose. Chocolate peanut butter frosting is very good, but we always have more trouble spreading it than any other frosting. Between the frosting and all the little pieces, the train was harder to put together than the ship from two years ago. We happened to have a box of animal crackers, so I thought a circus car would be fun.

Train Cakes

My son's birthday is coming up and he has requested a train cake. My husband is the resident cake baker, but I thought I would help him out by Googling "train cakes." I was thinking he would make a sheet cake and cut out a silhouette of an engine, but I didn't see any pictures of something like that.

I found a very cute but time consuming train cake, lots of sheet cakes that required meticulous decorating skills (funny I can't find them now that I am looking for a link), and these little train toppers that I remember my mom using when I was growing up.

I had forgotten about those train toppers until I saw them online. I decided that as far as convenience goes, those probably will be our best bet AND we can use them again in the future. After doing a quick online search I found a couple cake decorating stores in the area, so Monday morning I will see if either of them have the toppers in stock. If not, then we will be reviewing our options of the various train cakes out there.

The Ice Cream Conspiracy

It used to be that when we went to the store and bought a carton of ice cream, we came home with half a gallon of ice cream. Then a few years ago some of the big names such as Dreyer's/Edy's and Breyer's reduced the cartons to 1.75 quarts. Once everyone made the adjustment to a smaller quantity for the same price, they raised the price. At some stores now, one of those brands can cost $5.99. Ouch.

Last month as I was trying to decide which flavor to buy for my daughter's birthday, I noticed that some of the cartons were only 1.5 quarts, while some of them were the "old" size of 1.75. Today I read that the big names are almost done phasing out the "larger" cartons in favor of the new size.

This turn of events made me even more pleased that we can make our own ice cream. My husband calculated that one batch of ice cream costs about $2.50 and makes 1.5 quarts. This is a much better price than the store bought stuff.

There are two regional ice cream companies in the area which still advertise that their cartons are "Still A Full Half Gallon!". They are both good ice creams, but the price of them is much more than making our own, so we will just stick with that.

The Healthiest Cookies in the World

Or so my husband bills them. He calls them such because they have no sugar, only ¼ cup of honey, and the only fat is from the peanut butter and the oats. Of course, the raisins and concentrate also raise the fructose level of the cookies.

No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Mix these ingredients and bring to a boil:
¼ C. Honey
¼ C. Cocoa powder
¼ C. Orange juice concentrate
¾ C. Water
⅓-½ C. Raisins

Turn off stove and mix in:
⅓ -½ C. Peanut butter
½ tsp. Vanilla
2 ¾ C. Oats

Pat the mixture into a large pie pan, slice and enjoy.

Rocky Road

I found this recipe online a long time ago and liked it because it was so quick and easy. It is extremely sweet and rich so don't eat too much at once!

Rocky Road

2 C. chocolate chips
1 C. peanut butter
4 C. marshmallows

Heat chocolate chips and peanut butter in pan over a low heat until melted. Place chocolate chips in 9x9 inch pan and pour chocolate mixture over them. Stir thoroughly and enjoy.

N.B. This will be a very gooey dessert. If you would prefer it firmer, refrigerate for a couple hours before eating.

Happy Birthday!

On Sunday we celebrated my son's birthday. About a year ago I had seen on the Internet a ship cake and I thought I would try my hand at it. If you want to see it better you can click on the picture.

My husband made the cake and frosting and I "sculpted" and frosted it. All the guests were quite impressed. I thought it best not to mention that it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. Next time I will probably do better just because I will have more experience.

The ship was a chocolate cake with chocolate peanut butter frosting. Since we were having so many guests I also made a spice cake with cream cheese frosting. (I'll give the recipe in a future post. It was excellent!) It ended up being one of the situations where one cake wasn't enough but two cakes were way too much. We don't mind that!

Mocha Brownies

I found this recipe on Recipe*zaar and decided to try it because it is something that I have done before (brownies) and something new (mocha flavored). It was rated extremely well, which was added incentive since sometimes one has to be cautious about unrated or low rated recipes.

These turned out to be very moist and while the mocha flavor was definitely there, it wasn't too strong either. Most people who tried them thought them to be very good.

Mocha Brownies with Coffee Frosting

½ cup shortening
½ cup butter
1 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon hot water
4 teaspoons instant coffee
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon salt

Frosting
½ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 ½ tablespoons milk
2-3 teaspoons instant coffee

1. Preheat oven to 350°F Grease a 13x9 inch pan.
2. Melt shortening and butter over low heat or in the microwave.
3. Remove from heat and add cocoa, blend well.
4. Add sugar and mix well.
5. Dissolve instant coffee in hot water and mix into creamed mixture.
6. Add eggs one at a time, beat well, by hand, after each addition.
7. Stir in vanilla, flour, and salt.
8. DO NOT OVER BEAT!
9. Bake 25-30 minutes.
10. Cool completely before frosting.
11. For frosting, cream butter and vanilla.
12. Add powdered sugar and mix in well on medium speed.
13. Dissolve instant coffee in milk and add to mixture.
14. Beat on high until light and fluffy.

Potluck Dessert

Tonight is the last night of classes before my husband gets his M.A. Tomorrow his professor is throwing a party at his place and has requested that we bring a dessert. Now, I love opportunities like this to try new and exciting recipes. My husband, on the other hand, hates me trying new things because he is afraid it might not turn out well, or worse, he might not like it.

So here I am, trying to comb the Internet and my cookbooks, trying to find something that is a) something he will like, b) something that has a good chance of turning out well and c) has chocolate in it, because, in case you haven't guessed, we have a propensity for it. I will post what I have decided on when I am done sleuthing.