Saturday, August 27, 2011

Spiced Pumpkin Smoothie

I just found this recipe on Real Simple's website while I was looking up lunch ideas for me and Natalie. If this tastes ANYTHING like Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Cream Frappucino, I'm ALL.OVER.IT!!!

Spiced Pumpkin Smoothie

1 cup ice
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 tbsp honey
a pinch of ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend that bad boy til it's all frothy and full of goodness!!

PW's Sunrise Punch

I haven't made this yet. But you bet I'm gonna! Especially on days when I start school, and I've got to get me and the kids out the door. :)


Sunrise Punch recipe:
2 cups orange juice
2 cups pineapple juice
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons meringue powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
Fill rest of blender with ice and blend

Monday, April 11, 2011

Cream Cheese Pound Cake!

Oh yeah .... YUMMY. This pound cake is perfect. It's heavy like traditional pound cakes, but it's very moist. There are a couple tricks to this cake. There are no leavening ingredients, which means you've got to incorporate a lot of air into the batter. The butter, cream cheese and sugar need to be beaten for a while. Like, 5-7 minutes. (This is obviously easier with a stand mixer.) It's going to triple in size and it should be very smooth. When it's in the oven, do NOT open the door while it's baking. The cake will fall in the center. Let it bake the entire time. Now, if you're like me and have the misfortune of having an older oven or an oven that isn't calibrated quite right, you'll need a barrier to keep it from burning. I don't have a flat pizza stone anymore, so I actually use my 9x13 stone on the bottom rack. My bundt pan is not very big and the cake spilled over the sides while it was baking. Doesn't make for a very pretty cake when it comes out, but it tastes AWESOME regardless. :) I have seen that it can be baked in a 10 inch tube pan or two 9 inch loaf pans as well. I will be using the two 9 inch loaf pans today. If you don't have cake flour and don't feel like running to the store to get some cause you have everything else - sift 3 cups of all purpose flour and remove 6 TBSP.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 block (8 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
3 cups sugar
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 eggs
3 cups cake flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare your pan - spray/grease/butter (I used spray and flour, and I had problems with it sticking, so I'll be using the spray on it's own and see how it fares).
Cream together the butter, cream cheese and sugar until it's light. (This is where I was telling you it needs to go for 5-7 minutes.) Add the vanilla and almond extracts. Add flour and eggs alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Pour batter into the prepared pan(s).
Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. (or until a toothpick comes out clean....)