Happy Valentine’s Day!!! On a day like today, I’m going to reference the words of one of my favorite actresses, Emma Stone: “you’re a human being, and life is wonderful, so eat the damn red velvet cupcake.” And she’s right! Even out of all the fancy layer cakes, red velvet is definitely my flavor of choice and what’s even more exciting is that it’s a Paula Deen recipe, which means it must be utterly delicious! Continue reading
Surprise!…Here’s a full-sugar, chocolate-coated dessert to enjoy: an incredibly tall and delicious Chocolate Ganache Stout Cake! I recently started incorporating liquor in some of my desserts, like in a Butter Rum Cake (recipe coming soon!) and this very tasty chocolate cake. (Don’t worry–the alcohol cooks off.) Using stout in this cake adds a richer, deeper dimension to the chocolate without making it seem too heavy. Continue reading
Happy, happy birthday to my amazing sister! Because I bake for every holiday, birthday, or even just Sunday night family dinners, my sister required that her birthday cake top them all. My first thought was an elaborate bright pink cake, but I had already covered that with my Pink Chocolate Ombre Cake, so I moved onto the next thought: a Ferrero Rocher layer cake! (Keep in mind that I had just tasted Nutella for the first time quite recently, so its decadent and addicting amazing-ness had just dug a special place in my heart! ) Continue reading
These are the wisest words I’ve ever heard: “Ice cream is happiness condensed.”-Jessi Lane Adams
For my grandma’s birthday, she requested a dessert from her two favorite sweet categories, chocolate and ice cream, so what else was I to do but make a delicious chocolate ice cream cake?! I usually don’t even let my family keep Oreos in the house because I would eat them all within seconds, but I thought this a fitting occasion to make an exception! To me, the only thing better than Oreos themselves is an Oreo dessert…a tall, dark, and handsome chocolate cake doesn’t stand a chance against an Oreo cookie or cupcake, and certainly not an Oreo Ice Cream Cake! (I learned this after making my Oreo Chocolate Layer Cake!) Continue reading
Obsessive-ness runs in my family; my dad has a strict punctuality requirement, my mom swears by post-its and agendas, and my sister combines all of the above. Thanks to them, I have a lot in common with Guy Pearce, who claims that his “problem is [that he’s] an addictive personality“, for I too “can’t have one cup of coffee… or just one piece of chocolate cake.” Being slightly compulsive certainly has its benefits and its drawbacks, but because I’m an all-or-nothing person, at least I can fully commit myself to any undertaking. And, since I’m also a Taurus, I’m even more resolute; there’s no stopping me once I’ve set my mind on something! Thus, here’s the dessert of the week: a fantastic German Chocolate Cake! Continue reading
Yet again, my sister desperately asked me to bake a cake for her school project. Her assignment was to create a business and her’s was a bakery, so of course she just needed to bring a cake to school the next day. She requested either a pink or chocolate cake, but she was certainly not expecting something as grand as this amazing ombre layer cake! I’ve always loved the ombre affect, but when it recently became popular in the baking world, the beautiful gradient layers always intimidated me, for they seemed so complicated! But, it was actually pretty simple! The amazing vanilla cake was light and fluffy–a must–and the frosting was a perfect chocolate-y flavor! Combine all of that with the amazing decoration, and this cake is truly incredible! Feast your eyes on this moist, rich, delectable cake and enjoy!!
Recipe: Pink Ombre Layer Cake
***NOTE: Please excuse my camera; the actual cake was colored gorgeous layers of pink, but for some annoying reason, they photographed as orange.
(Photo by Brooke B. Oreo Cookie Dough Cheesecake.)
I’d like to introduce Brooke, the Sweet Prima Donna, a healthy dessert blogger. Our collaboration to bake the world’s best cheesecakes produced fantastic results! I baked classic New York Cheesecake and Brooke created fabulous Skinny Oreo Cookie Dough Cheesecake Cups, the perfect fun-sized dessert for individual servings! Enjoy Brooke’s recipe below!
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Hello lovelies!
I’m Brooke B. from The Sweet Prima Donna. The Sweet Prima Donna is a website dedicated to serving you up recipes for all your favorite desserts made skinny and or healthier. I believe that everyone should be able to enjoy life to the fullest, and that includes being able to indulge in the foods we love! I hope with my recipes you are able to do so without the guilt. I always say, “Life is short, eat dessert first!”, and I’m an honest believer in this!
I want to thank Carissa so much for allowing me to take over her blog today! We are both very excited about our baking collaboration and have been working hard to get ready to share with you all! Carissa informed me that she was going to share a New York Style Cheesecake with my friends on the Sweet Prima Donna Blog, which got my wheels turning. I hadn’t really thought much about making a cheesecake, but I’d seen some pretty delicious recipes floating around for cheesecake. The one that caught my eye above all was an Oreo Cookie Dough Cheesecake, holy yum! Right then and there I knew that was the recipe I was going to try to make skinny, I mean oreo, cookie dough, and cheesecake all in one place… there was no way that that wasn’t a scale tipper, ahah.
For the cheesecake base I used the recipe from Gina’s Skinny Recipes, which was a fabulous, easy to make cheesecake recipe. I also like the fact that it used greek yogurt, which gave them some extra protein, plus cream cheese has quite a lot of protein, so these cheesecake cups have quite a good amount of protein for being a dessert food! Her recipe called for a vanilla wafer as the crust, but I subbed the wafer for a reduced fat oreo. I then used my recipe for skinny chocolate chip cookies for the dough, and made it egg free so it was safe to eat raw by subbing an egg white for vinegar and baking soda.
These babies are out of this world. I’m not the biggest cheesecake fan to be honest. I’m the type of person that has to be craving a good old fashioned slice of cheesecake, but these kept me coming back to the plate for more. If the fact that I ate four the night I made these didn’t sell you on how good they are, or the fact that my sister and her friends pleaded for more, maybe this picture will do the job:
Skinny Oreo Cookie Dough Cheesecake!
(Photo by Brooke B. Oreo Cookie Dough Cheesecake.)
Servings- 12
Calories- 170 per cheesecake cup
Fat- 7g
Protein- 4.6 g – pretty good for a treat, don’t you think? (:
Ingredients:
Cheesecake Base: Recipe adapted from Gina’s Skinnytaste
Cookie Dough Recipe: Recipe adapted from my recipe for skinny chocolate chip cookies
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350.
2. Line cupcake tin with liners. Place an oreo in the bottom of each liner.
3. Beat cream cheese, sugar, stevia, and vanilla until smooth in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat in yogurt, egg whites, and flour gradually. Be sure NOT to overbeat.
4. Pour an even amount of batter into each cupcake liner until halfway full.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until center is set (Mine took exactly 20 minutes). Cool to room temperature
6. While the cheesecakes are cooling make cookie dough. To begin combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
7. Combine sugar, stevia, and butter in a large bowl of an electric mixer, and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.
8. Add in vanilla and baking soda/vinegar mix and beat for another minute.
9. Add in flour & chocolate chips, mix just until combined. If the dough is dry add in fat free milk, rice milk, or soymilk by the tsp. (I used 1 tbsp all together)
10. Once the cheesecakes are cooled spoon the cookie dough on top of each cheesecake, about 1/2 tbsp a piece. Place in fridge to let the cookie dough set, and the cheesecake to cool further.
11. Open the fridge and gobble them all up!
My tummy is growling thinking about these… maybe another batch will be in order tonight.(; Hopefully you are feeling the same as well! Enjoy & thank you again for letting me join you all today!
Ever since last year’s Mothers’ Day brunch, my mom has been wanting a”strawberry shortcake” inspired cake…how perfect for the 4th of July! (Add blueberries for some extra patriotism!) I was actually pretty hesitant to make this recipe because I usually don’t like mixing fruit and cake, but this cake surpassed my expectations!!! The whipped cream and the vanilla sponge cake–soo light and airy!– really enhanced the cake and made it taste even more delicious! (if that’s even possible!) This “strawberry shortcake-esque” creation is the perfect summer dessert! Enjoy!!!
Recipe: strawberry cream cake
***NOTE: My concoction: I didn’t want a cream cheese frosting, so I just whipped heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla to use as the filling. (You can use whipped cream/cool whip)
I’ve discovered heaven… in cake form. Words cannot describe this perfect masterpiece of rich chocolate, timelessly fantastic oreos, and all things of sweet goodness! (And please note: I am a very discriminating critic.) The chocolate cake is light and fluffy, the cookies and cream whipped filling is sweet beyond perfection, and the frosting is the perfect flavor and consistency; what more could one ask for?!? When I made this cake for family dinner last night (the recipe had been sitting on my baking shelf forever!), not to my surprise, the cake was an unbelievable hit! This cake should be on everyone’s baking “bucket list”– it’s a must bake (or a must eat!) for all!!!
Recipe: Chocolate Oreo Cake
***NOTE: I tripled the amount of the whipped cream filling between the two cake layers. Also, in order to frost the cake easier, I used an extra 1/4 cup (a little less than) of powdered sugar in the frosting for a thicker, more spreadable consistency.
It’s Sunday again, which means dessert time! As a combination of Fathers’ Day and birthday celebrations, a light carrot cake is this week’s featured dessert! (per my parents’ requests) This gorgeous carrot layer cake is filled and topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting; the cake itself has a tropical hint of pineapple and coconut, making the cake super moist and extra delicious! Whip up this surprisingly simple recipe for a fantastic dessert and to wish your dad a “Happy Fathers’ Day”!!! Enjoy!
Recipe: Carrot Cake
**NOTE: I did not add the cinnamon to the frosting; I wanted an old-fashioned, vanilla cream cheese taste instead.
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