Proper Rice Crispy Brownies

  As I said on my personal facebook page, I guarantee a sugar rush on the first slice.  Now, despite that feeling, this cake is incredibly delicious.  I just recommend sharing it with an entire party and not a whole cake for two or three people.

  I've been wanting to try something like this for a long time.  Also, to be honest, the original plan was to not only have two layers of brownies with peanut butter cream icing and a casing of rice crispy treats, but to have the whole thing coated in a big homemade marshmallow.  But as I was going, my partner and I decided that that would be too much.  It's already a taste explosion as it is.   (Speaking of which, check this out!)

  You'll need to make three things.  First, the brownies.  Then, the icing, which you use to seal the two layers of the cake together and then coat the outside.  I used a modified version of Wilton's butter cream icing recipe.  Then, you encase the whole thing in a rice crispy treat.  I'll tell you how to do the whole thing.  First, with the brownies:

Chewy Fudge Brownies

What You Need:

1 Cup of butter (2 Sticks)

4 1oz squares of unsweetened chocolate

4 Large Eggs

A Dash of Salt

2 Cups of Sugar

1 Tsp Vanilla

1 Cup of Flour

What You Do:

Preheat oven to 350°f

 

1) Melt the butter over low heat in a small sauce pan.  Once butter is melted, add chocolate and stir constantly until melted. Be careful not to burn the chocolate. 

2) In a large bowl, whip your eggs until they are nice and frothy.  I like to use a hand mixer with the two beaters.  Beat for a few minutes and then add the sugar and salt.

3) Mix the melted chocolate and vanilla into eggs.  

4) Add flour, stir only until mixed.  Usually, when it comes to adding flour, I stir by hand.

5) Grease (or use Wilton's instant cake release) two round cake pans and evenly divide the brownie mix between the two. 

6) Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. (I start checking around 20 minutes in)

7)Let the brownies cool before you go popping them out.  In the meantime, you can start mixing up the peanut butter icing!

Peanut Butter Cream Icing

What You Need:

1/4 Cup of Vegetable Shortening

1/4 Cup of Softened Butter

1/2 Cup of Peanut Butter

1 1/2 Cup of Confectioner's Sugar

Milk

What You Do:

1) Cream together the shortening and butter.  

2) Mix in the peanut butter.

3) Gradually add powdered sugar.

4) Start adding milk, a tablespoon at a time while mixing until the icing has reached a nice spreadable consistancy.

5)  Once the brownies have cooled, you can pop them out of their pans and place one on top of the other with a nice layer of icing. Spread icing over the outside of the cake and then start making the Rice Crispy Treats.

Rice Crispy Treats

I probably don't need to explain how to make these, but since I took a picture, I may as well.

What You Need:

1 10oz Bag of marshmallows

5 cups of Rice Crispy cereal.

1/4 Cup of Butter (half a stick)

What You Do:

1)  Melt butter and marshmallows in a pan.

2)  Stir in the cereal.

3) If you were just going to make rice crispy treats, you can press the mix into a mold or a cake pan and allow to cool, but were going to encase our cake with the stuff.

I've found the easiest way to cover the cake with the rice crispy treat is to wait until the mix is just cool enough to bare (don't let it actually harden...act fast!) and use your hands.  Grab a blob and just mush it around until you've created a nice shell. If you have enough left over, and feel confident enough about your cake, you can use it for the bottom of the cake as well.

YAAAY! ENJOY!

Quick update on the recipes.  I hadn't realized how horrible I had written the last recipe for the Fluffernutter Pie.  Well, I fixed the problems and now have it in Master Cook format and pdf.  I'll have the Gourmet Recipe Manager format up eventually.  GRM can convert Master Cook files anyway, so if you need it NOW, you can always download and convert real easy.

Enjoy

Well, I hate to say it, but this Yule time could have gone better! I suppose a good deal of bitterness has developed after two years of missing my mother. This is also almost the time of year that I found myself homeless a year ago.

However, this is also the time that I turned my life around and, in five more days, I will be celebrating the one year anniversary of when my partner and I made our commitment. Naturally, I will be working, but it's still exciting to think that so much time has gone by so quickly and with little incident. I also reconnected to an uncle of mine that I had no idea had so much in common with me. So, I still write this year up as a win for me.

I have to say that the best gift this year is the wii that Santa brought to our family, but the more useful of gifts(I still haven't gotten some from other family members) so far was a brand new Kitchen Aid mixer!



Before, I was mixing everything with a whisk, fork, and hand. Then, I had bought a six dollar had mixer at Wal Mart. That was a waste of money. The first batch of chocolate chip cookies I made nearly burned the motor out and it's not like the dough was over-thick or anything either. But this sweet momma has turned my cooking around entirely! Sure, I have to pull a TV tray out and hold it steady while I'm mixing (I have no counter space), but it's so much faster and efficient! I can't wait to see how it will be able to help me with pizza dough!

Of course, my favorite present came from my son.




Those are my partner's lovely hands by the way.

One more good thing about this Yule Time has been a great improvement in my cooking and baking skills and reputation. Having my own kitchen to work in has been a big factor in this- not to mention a growing family. It's not just me and my son anymore. My partner is a part of the household and I LOVE to cook for her as well as my son. (My son just happens to be too picky to be able to properly appreciate and critique what I do.)

Kana, my partner, just so happens to be a major carnivore and has been longing for a steak or a roast, or SOMETHING that is thick, meaty, and rare. I've never been too big on overly-meaty dishes, and red meat isn't all that appealing too me, so cooking it has been somewhat foreign to me. So, one of the presents for my hubby this year was to learn the special art of cooking a roast!




My first ever roast came out great! Even I liked it a little bit. The potatoes and the gravy were especially good. I'll have to share the recipe I used later. I do want to share one recipe with everyone though.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

This isn't an original or new concept, especially to experienced bakers or cookie eaters, but to a lot of people, it's a favorite! My family love these and so do some of my co-workers. In fact, I was asked to make these as a Christmas present for some. So, I may as well share, just because I'm proud to say I can make these- and well at that.

You can use any peanut butter cookie recipe, but if you don't know any, you can use the one I use. This recipe is a hand-me-down recipe from my partner's side of the family.

What you will need
1/2 C white sugar
1/2 C brown, packed sugar
1/2 C softened shortening
1/2 C peanut butter
2 Tbsp milk
1 Tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 3/4 C white flour
1 Tsp baking soda
1/2 Tsp salt
20 oz bag of Reesee's mini peanut butter cups (how many depends on how many cookies you make. I recommend estimating high and having leftovers)

How to do it
Preheat oven to 375f.
Cream shortening and sugars together, then add the peanut butter, milk, vanilla and egg. Mix until smooth.
Sift together all the dry ingredients and then gradually add to the liquid mixture.
Once all ingredients have been nicely blended, spoon balls slightly smaller than a ping-pong ball onto a greased cookie sheet. Flatten the balls in a criss-cross pattern with a fork.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.
While cookies are baking, begin unwrapping your peanut butter cups.
When cookies begin to brown, remove from oven and immediately push the peanut butter cups into the center.
Allow to cool, then enjoy.


Enjoy the cookies, everyone, and I'll be back later!

Dear Readers

The fluffernutter sandwich was a strong staple for lunch back when I was a young girl. The smooth mixture of peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwiched between two slices of bread ranked right next to the peanut butter and jelly and egg salad sandwiches.

Much to my surprise, after speaking with several of my peers, the amount of people who have never heard of the fluffernutter is astounding. It is quite simple and a delicious snack to compliment any boxed or bagged lunch and I feel that everyone should have the change to enjoy it.

To make a fluffernutter is simple. Take two slices of bread. Spread a healthy amount of marshmallow fluff on one slice, then spread your favorite peanut butter on the second slice. Press the gooey sides together and enjoy. The sandwich, however, is not the purpose of this letter.
In the past, thanks to the adoration of the fluffernutter by both my partner and myself, I created a recipe for a new way to enjoy the fluffernutter: The Fluffernutter Pie. (I later discovered a few similar recipes on-line and used them to help perfect the pie.)

The Fluffernutter Pie is a very rich and smooth desert best enjoyed on a nice, warm afternoon after playing hard on the playground and quickly scoffing down a healthy lunch. It even goes well sided with apple slices and a cold glass of milk.

The Fluffernutter Pie
You will need:

1) A small sauce pan
2) A medium sized mixing bowl
3) A crust (In the picture, I used a store-bought oreo crust. I like it the chocolate, but you can also use graham cracker crust)
4) A fresh jar of peanut-butter
5) A fresh jar of marshmallow fluff
6) 2 Cups of whipped cream
7) A packet of unflavored gelatine
8) 1 Cup of water
9) 3 Tablespoons of sugar
10) 1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract

First, mix together 1/2 cup of water and the packet of gelatin into the saucepan mix it until well blended. Allow the gelatin to sit for about a minute. Go ahead and put the pan over medium heat and sir the mixture constantly until completely dissolved.

Take the pan off the heating element and pour the mix into your bowl. Add the the rest of the ingredients, except for the whipped cream. Save that for later. Beat it all together. It is best if you have an electric beater, but it -IS- possible to get all the lumps out with a fork.

Once it is all blended, cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator. Let it cool, checking it every five minutes for consistency. Remove while the mixture is still soft, but mounds when scooped with a spoon.

Now, I typically take the time to taste it. Take just a little lick off of a spoon. Does it need more peanut butter? Does it need more fluff? At this point, I usually add a heaping spoon-full of both fluff and peanut butter. I lightly mix it all together and then swirl in the whipped cream once it is done.

Pour the mixture into the crust and cover the pie. Place pie in the refrigerator until the mixture sets and takes on a more gelatin consistency. Once it is set, feel free to garnish the pie. I like to spread whipped cream over it, top with toasted mini-marshmallows, and lace with a chocolate drizzle. Serve with a tall glass of milk.(You may need it.)

Feel free to experiment. If you do, tell me about it. Send me a picture! Let me know how you like it.

--Cadence