Jell-O Cookies {Just Helen}

image from Just Helen (click for source)

(Review by Denise)

This pin was so cute I couldn’t help but check it out. Turns out: cute and simple! Just Helen  has a smart thing going with these colorful cookies. Check out her recipe here.

I would have loved to make all four flavors like she did–or at least two different flavors–but this desert heat is just too much for extended baking.  (I got lucky today because it was overcast and slightly cooler!) I used a pack of strawberry Jell-O we had on hand. I did not add any food coloring as the dough, but had I wanted a brighter pink I certainly could have. I used bright pink sprinkles on one tray, and red sprinkles on another. Both look good, but the pink blends in more. (My photo from my phone is below.)

Verdict? Great! They turned out perfectly–not crispy and not doughy. The strawberry flavor is noticeable; I wasn’t sure if it would be. (One more reason to try the other Jell-O flavors!) My girls, of course, would gobble any pretty pink dessert, but I had my doubts when it came to my 5th grade son. I thought the lack of chocolate chips alone would be a disappointment. He loves them! These would be great for a colorful birthday party or if your child’s school allows home-baked treats, don’t you think?

Brownie in a Mug

(Review by Denise)

There are so many “in a mug” desserts on Pinterest! This is the first one I tried. I am disappointed to report no real blog link exists for the recipe. As you can see, it is one of those pins with the information ready to go. When I clicked for the link, http://blog.gopromos.com was the site. I have my doubts that “Go Marketing Ideas” is the responsible party for this recipe. (If you happen to know the original source, please comment!)

We topped ours with ice cream and whipped cream, because we’re awesome like that. My sister-in-law is a higher-up tier of awesome because she requested that I put some M & M’s in the brownie batter before cooking it.

Verdict? Win. I especially love that there are no eggs in it, so you can under cook it if you like mushy desserts like I do. This would be great for college students, too!

Moist Chocolate Cake {Foodess}

source: http://www.foodess.com/2011/03/moist-chocolate-cake/

I’m proud to introduce today’s reviewer, my friend Steffi! Not only is she one of “those people” who often concoct their own fancy recipes (you know: “those people” we like to befriend), she is your go-to source if you’re on the hunt for gluten free eats. Check out her recipe blog, Steffi’s Kitchen! (Fun fact: Steffi speaks German. I know…totally demotes my bragging rights for speaking Spanglish.)

(Review by Steffi)

For Father’s Day I needed something that would make my husband’s taste buds dance. My man is a chocolate lover whose sweet tooth is rarely satiated. I’m gluten intolerant and don’t really have much of a sweet tooth, so I bake only for holidays and birthdays. When I found this recipe on Pinterest from Foodess I instantly thought it would be right up Rhett’s alley.

The cake is extremely easy to make. As Jennifer mentions – it is very quick. From the time I pulled ingredients from the pantry to the time I put the cakes in the oven to bake only 12 minutes went by.  The batter smells fantastic and it looks beautiful. The one thing I wasn’t too certain of is the coffee. Rhett is not a coffee drinker and doesn’t really care for the taste at all.

The cakes baked in exactly the amount of time the recipe listed. This shocked me. I find that baking times are always off when I bake. Sure enough, cake tester was inserted at 35 minutes and came out clean and clear!

I did two 9” rounds. I iced with buttercream and filled with choc mousse. Rhett said it was indeed the moistest cake he’d ever had. There is literally no trace of coffee flavor in the cake at all. I highly recommend this recipe for cake and/or chocolate lovers.

Amie’s Triple Coconut Cake {Salad in a Jar}

Click image for source: Salad in a Jar.

(Review by Denise)

I’m going to keep this short…. This cake is so good.  I’m not even one of those crazy-for-coconut people yet it might just be my new favorite.

I love her close-up photograph of the cream of coconut can, because my store sold it in a squeeze bottle instead and I was able to easily see how many ounces to use. My store also only sells regular, shredded coconut. In the end the taste is the same–only the look is different. No loss.

But back to my first point: this cake is so good. Do yourself a favor and check out Salad in a Jar‘s recipe right here.

Salted Caramel Butter Bars {Eat at Allie’s}

(Review by Marci)

I am not much of a dessert person. I would rather snack on some potato chips than a cookie. If I do crave something sweet it has to involve chocolate or caramel. Enter: Salted Caramel Butter Bars from Eat at Allie’s. There is no word to describe these bars, so I am forced to make one up: Scrumtrulescent! (Thanks to Will Ferrell and his hilarious portrayal of James Lipton from “Inside the Actors Studio” on SNL for creating that fabulous word!) Apparently this recipe has made the rounds on several food blogs but originally came from a cook book called Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey. You can link back through the different blogs and see the variations, but I think they are all basically the same. Here is the recipe I followed from Eat at Allie’s.

There is a whole pound of butter in these bad boys. (1 lb. = 4 sticks.) I never claimed to pick the healthiest recipes! As it turned out, however, this was great news for my brother-in-law who had gone the whole week without butter and was suffering a mild case of the butter DT’s. Being impatient (me and my sister) and needing a butter fix (my brother-in-law) as we were, we could not wait for the bars to cool completely before cutting as suggested in the recipe. Instead we just scooped some out with a spoon and threw some ice cream on top for good measure. It was like a buttery, caramel-y, buttery pizookie. No one finished theirs. It was just too rich and buttery (but still excellent in small portions!) I covered the rest with saran wrap and walked away, disappointed. The next morning I cut them into squares and tried one. I think there may have been fireworks. The overwhelming butter taste was gone and I was just left with a thick, crumbly crust. The salt really brings out the flavor in the caramel without being sickly sweet. I guess there is something to be said for following directions. I dare YOU to try to resist spooning it out hot from the oven! Overall, I thought these bars were excellent.

Pots de Creme {Pioneer Woman}

(Review by Denise)

My man and I have a Monday night routine going: put the kids to bed early,  then eat a yummy dinner and/or dessert for two on the couch while watching our show. (Previously Walking Dead, now we’re back to Mad Men.) Recently I made The Pioneer Woman‘s Pots de Creme for us to savor during our living room date. (If you’re unsure if you’re pronouncing “pots de creme” correctly, Ree gives a lovely tutorial. We wouldn’t want to sound goofy, like pronouncing “jalapeno” with the “j” from “jam.” Just don’t do it.) Check out the recipe (and pronunciation) here.

I’m not gonna’ lie: they were fun to make. I love how she made mistakes on her own recipe and then later told us what went wrong and why. (Room temperature eggs to the rescue!) See how it starts out looking like this…

…but then just a bit of coffee makes it transform in color and consistency?

I knew I was saving those jelly jars for something. (According to Pinterest, you’re supposed to save all jars. You never know what emergency craft may call for a mason or jelly jar.)

Verdict? Pass. Yum! You’ll especially like them if you like dark chocolate.  But be warned: these babies are rich. As in…Richie Rich. I don’t know how Ree served her’s up in those giant martini glasses. Of course, that Walking Dead living room date would’ve been even more romantic if we had to share….

Pink Lemonade Pound Cake {Sugar Baby Aprons}

(Review by Denise)

Between lemons ripe-for-the-picking and lemon blossoms galore, it is lemon recipe time around here. The photo I pinned came from Sugar Baby Aprons and was so pretty. I knew this was the week to make it. Check out the recipe for Pink Lemonade Pound Cake right here.

Okay….did you do it? Did you see her photo? It’s like my cake photo above is looking in the mirror. Not! (I just said, “not.” Excuse me while I go turn on Debbie Gibson and hang up another poster of River Phoenix.)

Are you horrified at the comparison yet? It is truly laughable. Given the nature of her post (“I’m Dreamin of a Pink Christmas” with a string of pretty pink photos) as well as the genre of her blog (a store that sells retro-inspired aprons and sleepwear “where sex appeal never sleeps”), I don’t believe she took that photo after making the recipe. This is the internet. It happens. (I could also be wrong.) When you read the recipe you’ll see that the lemonade glaze isn’t exactly a glaze, like the one in her photo. It is actually poured into the bottom of the warm cake before it cools. (It makes it moist.) So the recipe and photo aren’t truly meant to match. (You can stop laughing at how horrible my cake looks in comparison now.)

Yellow cake batter + red food coloring = orange cake. (In case you were wondering.)

Verdict? Pass. I’m not eating her photo, after all. It was a solid recipe and very easy to make. My lemonade-loving kids especially liked it. The cake pretty much tastes just like lemonade: sweet and tart. (I added that glaze to make it pretty. It was just 1 cup of powdered sugar mixed with some fresh lemon juice and milk to a consistency I could pour.) So, what do you think?

Orange Buttercream Frosting

(Review by Denise)

I actually had to take my own photo of this recipe. Me! With my point-and-shoot! And my lack of perfectionism! But alas, the pin was quite boring: a fork and knife with a napkin. No cake. No frosting. No plates with puppies.  While the pin photo was boring, the All Recipes Orange Buttercream Frosting was not. Check it out here.

As you can see I decided to pair it with white cake. (Nothing fancy; just the boxed mix.) I am a lucky gal to have two orange trees in the backyard. This frosting was a better use of their creation than dropping on the ground for fruit flies. The recipe calls for two whole tablespoons of zest. Let me tell you something: that’s a lot. I just zested the entire orange and called it a day. (I use a microplane because they’re awesome.) I had full intentions of adding the food coloring to make it orange, but the zest gave it such a pretty, butter-yellow tint. Why mess with that? (And really, it was the zest and not the butter that made it butter yellow. I know because it was orange until all the powdered sugar went in.)

Verdict? Pass! My man, my mom and I all loved it. It was sweet without being over-the-top sweet. The zest made it pretty and fresh. The preschooler thought it was “too orangey” and the boy said it was “too orange-ish but not too orange-ish to eat.”  But kids eat things like Pixy Stix and call them delicious. I take that to mean Orange Buttercream Frosting is for the grown-ups. (More for me!)

What’s your take?

Cookie Monster Dessert

(Review by Denise)

Remember The Country Cook‘s recipe on Oreo Puddin’ Poke Cake? Well she’s back with this yummy pin. I think when I pinned the photo above, I got more repins than any other dessert. Check out Brandie’s recipe right here.

We made plans to eat lunch at a friend’s house after church, so this seemed the perfect thing to bring. Her recipe calls for a 13×9 pan, but I divided it into two brownie pans so we could eat one right away and save the other for Sunday. Brandie recommends using “a trusty helper” and it just so happens that I have a handy preschooler who loves nothing more than helping in the kitchen. (I must say, she did a fantastic job using the handheld mixer all by herself.) The cookie dough was a challenge to spread evenly, but the recipe warned me ahead of time. I thought for sure it would burn in certain spots. Nope! All is well.

Verdict? Pass. The only thing I might change in the future would be to add a bit of vanilla to the tub of Cool Whip. It just tasted a little too “Cool Whippy.” (I get to invent words here. I make my own perks.) The kids and our friends all liked it. I think The Country Cook has officially developed a yummy dessert reputation around Pin Eat Review.

What’s your opinion?

Cake Batter Milkshakes

(Review by Denise)

Don’t you hate when you have to choose between cake batter and a milkshake? Oh wait…that’s never happened. And thanks to A Beautiful Mess you will never be put in that nightmare of a situation. I made the Funfetti version, but she includes recipes for both Devil’s Food and Pineapple Upside-Down cake batter shakes, too. Check them out here. (Don’t you just love how she decorated the rims of her glasses? She gives you the tip on how to do it.)

The kids were really gearing up for this one. Who am I kidding? I was gearing up for it. I even put out the blender and box of Funfetti long before dinner was even finished cooking. But I wonder if adorable Elsie of A Beautiful Mess owns a giant blender or one of those fancy milkshake makers you see in diners. As soon as I dumped the box in the blender I thought, “Oh no…what have I done?” By the time the oil and water went in, I knew there was no way the full amount of milk would make it if our milkshakes were to actually contain ice cream. I halved the milk and barely fit the lid on. Eventually I just took a wooden spoon and mashed up the ice cream against the blades and sides of the blender. (Warning: Don’t do that with the blender on, please. Also, don’t make this milkshake in the bath tub or operate heavy machinery when taking certain prescription medications.) In the end it seemed like it would’ve been too thin if I had added all the milk, anyway. Good thing there was no room.

Verdict? Pass. The boy’s first words after sipping: “All milkshakes should be made like this!” Big girl and I loved it, too. (Little girl lost her special treat privilege. It happens.) My critique is that about halfway through I thought, “I’m drinking a glass of cake batter.” At the same moment, the kids’ tummies must have had similar thoughts because we all left them unfinished. My tip: make them for a big group of friends and put them in itty-bitty glasses.

What do you think of these cake batter shakes?