Pink Lemonade Cake Donuts

Oops!  I'm a week late and missed National Doughnut Day but doughnuts deserve to be eaten everyday.  Well, maybe not everyday, unless you happen to have an awesome metabolism or great will power because I don't know about you but I can never just stop at one!

National Doughnut Day may have inspired me to make some doughnuts but it was the poor neglected doughnut tin that I bought last year that prompted me to finally make some.  I have quite a few odd shaped bake ware gifted to me that I just need to try out or condemn to Goodwill. 

I also happened to have one or two pink lemonade cake mixes languishing in the cabinet that was purchased on clearance last summer. Is there really a difference between yellow and pink lemonade other than color?  I'm pretty sure there isn't but I could swear that pink lemonade taste better.  Why would pink taste better than yellow?  My head hurts.

I think I avoided making cake donuts because I dreaded cleaning the damn pan afterwards.  But you know what these babies just fell right out my pan (from Wilton). The pan is nonstick but I did spray it really good with cooking spray in between each batch too.  Filling each cavity was a breeze too because I used a plastic zip bag as a piping bag.  Glad I could just toss that thing in the trash when I was finished with it!

At the last minute I decided to add yellow food color to the glaze and sprinkle the cakes with colored sugar.  Not sure if I like the color but they tasted great so who cares?  My stomach sure didn't!

Feel free to use your favorite cake mix to make some doughnuts of your own.  I bet chocolate would be super tasty.  These don't come out dense like traditional cake doughnuts but light and fluffy like a cupcake.  Best part?  They're baked not fried!  So maybe it's okay to eat more than one;)

I'll be linking this recipe to these great linky parties !

Pink Lemonade Cake Donuts 

Ingredients:

FOR THE DONUTS:
2¾ cups Lemon Flavored Box Cake Mix (or use Pink Lemonade if you can find it!)
¾ cup Buttermilk
2 TBS Melted Butter
2 Eggs
pink food coloring (optional)

FOR THE GLAZE:
1 cup Powdered Sugar
3 TBS Whole Milk
1 tsp Lemon Extract (or Vanilla or Orange or Almond...etc.)

 Directions:

1.  Combine donut ingredients in stand mixer with paddle attachment (or combine in large bowl and combine with rubber spatula).  Mix ingredients until all large lumps are gone.  Little lumps are okay.

2.  Transfer batter to a large freezer type zip bag.  Cut off a small portion bags corner to make itinto a piping bag.  Pipe donut batter into greased donut cake pan cavities until 2/3 full.

3. Bake donuts in preheated 425F Degree oven for 7-9 minutes or until toothpick inserted into a doughnut comes out clean.  Allow donuts to cool in pan 2-3 minutes and then remove to wire rack to continue cooling.

4.  While donuts are cooling prepare glaze by combining glaze ingredients in a small bowl.  Stir until all lumps are gone.

5.  Dunk each donut into glaze and place on wire rack glaze side up.  If you want to add sprinkles do so immediately after dunking into glaze.  Allow glaze to harden before serving or consume immediately for a delectable mess and an opportunity to lick fingers;)

Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake

I don't know if I've ever you told you this, but my husband is a weird one.  He won't eat a orange or clementine (even the Cutie brand!) straight up but he'll sit there and cut open a Meyer lemon and suck on it.  He believes we should always have lemons (and limes) just hanging around.  Of course I'll buy some but more often then not they just end up wrinkled and old!

Meyer lemons,sugar (not pictured),all-purpose flour (not pictured),salt (not pictured) eggs,milk,butter

I do have to admit that I love buying citrus.  It's so pretty!  Bright yellows and orange.  They smell delicious too, especially in the middle of winter.  I can eat a whole bag of cutie clementines in one sitting!  My tongue hates me and I get a horrible case of heartburn but I just can't stop eating them.

Sugar, flour and salt in one bowl and the yolks, milk, butter, lemon zest and juice in another

I originally intended to make a lemon creme brulee with these lemons.  Peter has been begging me to make him some ever since I bought some ramekins.  Unfortunately, my eggs were bad.  I cracked them open, separated them and all seemed well.  The I started stirring them up and  OMG!  worst smell ever!  It smelled like rotting chicken.  I've never had eggs go that bad on me, ever.

Add flour mixture to lemon mixture and stirr

I felt bad that my honey wouldn't get his creme brulees  but I just wasn't up to all the egg separating again.  Instead I found this Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake recipe on the back of my bag of Meyer lemons.

Beat egg whites with electric mixer until soft peaks form

Actually when I read the title of the recipe I missed the whole pudding part of it's description.  A minor oversight I suppose but when your expecting a cake and you get pudding and a cake it's quite the surprise.

Gently fold in egg whites into batter

After the cake had come out of the oven a cooled off I was very surprised by how kind of runny it was in the middle and sort of freaked out.  Two baking disasters in one day?  Really?!  So I take a look at my recipe again to trouble shoot and realize that everything is all right because it's a pudding cake and not a sponge cake like I first thought.  Interesting.

 

Bake until puffed and golden

So being the adventurous eater that I am I force my husband to try it out first. He was a bit confused too but assured that I wasn't trying to poison him he took a bite and didn't die.  The cake is very yummy.  I would have liked it a bit more on the sour side but Meyer lemons are kind of on the sweeter side so that might not be very possible.  If I make it again I'm going to add a wee bit less sugar.

Sprinkle with some powdered sugar and dig in!

If your interested in making this pudding cake yourself you can check out the recipe here.  I didn't make any changes and made just as the direction on the back of my bag instructed me to.

Link to Recipe:  Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake

Gooey Lemon Peppermint Chip Cookies

I think the best part of Christmas is Christmas Clearance.  I stock up on a lot of baking supplies right after Christmas due to the oh so very low prices.  I usually end up buying seasonal flavors like pumpkin, peppermint, cocoa, etc.  I like to stock up on my favorite seasonal candies too, especially my all time favorite Terry's Chocolate Oranges.

Not pictured: 1 egg, vanilla extract, and peppermint chips

This year I didn't find any chocolate oranges on clearance.  Bummer!  Someone must have beat me to 'em! I did invest in a few packages of Andes Peppermint Chips though.  This year was the first year I have ever seen them and only at the Walmart.  I can usually find the Andes Creme de Menthe chips year round though.

I was inspired by this pin on Pinterest that has been making the rounds:

Source: alifeunprocessed.blogspot.com via Heather on Pinterest

I figured if sucking on a lemon through a peppermint straw is tasty then lemon cookies with peppermint chips have to be mighty tasty too!  Glad I was right.  These cookies are so yummy!

I used a gooey butter cookie recipe as the cookie base by swapping out yellow cake mix with lemon cake mix.  Gooey butter cookies and cake are my favorite and lemon my all time favorite cake flavor.  Peppermint is not usually my thing but they added a cooling effect to these cookies that reminded me of lemon cooler cookies.

The cookie dough does need to chill out in the fridge for a bit before dishing out and rolling in the powdered sugar.  As the name implies they are very gooey to work with.  Other than that these cookies are easy to make and addictive.  Enjoy!

Gooey Butter Peppermint Chip Cookies

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened  

1 egg, room temperature

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix  
5 oz. (half a bag) Andes Peppermint Baking Chips
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
  
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Add cake mix, and stir until well blended. Stir in Peppermint Chips. Refridgerate dough in covered container for one hour.

After chilling dough, Roll dough into 1inch balls and roll the balls in the confectioners' sugar. Place 1 inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. 

Bake for 10 to 13 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

Ginger and Lemon Glazed Cookies {12 Days of Sweet Treats}

This past Sunday I went to Walt Disney World with some great friends and family.  We went to Micky's Very Merry Christmas Party.  It was a a very fun night but way to short!  We did manage to ride everything we wanted too though:  Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain and Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion.  Lines were short and there was free cocoa and cookies all night!

They had two types of cookies:  chocolate chip and snickerdoodle.  Honestly, they were pretty grody.  The cocoa was delicious.  You could also get apple slices or apple juice instead of the cookies and cocoa too.  So what ever you do, don't go to that Christmas Party just for the cookies!

If you need some cookies, stay at home and bake some of these babies up.  They are a slice and bake cookie with a unique flavor.  The cookie is ginger flavored and it is covered in a lemon glaze.

I found the recipe on the Martha Stewart website.  She always have a ton of good cookie recipes and craft projects.

I made these with my sweetie in mind.  He love, love, loves, lemon!  I figured these would pair well with his evening cup of hot tea.  He really did love the unique flavor of these cookies and said I should make them again.  I agree.  I really enjoyed them too.

Ginger and Lemon Glazed Cookies

adapted from Martha Stewart.Com

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Salt

6 ounces (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/2 cup finely chopped candied ginger

1 large egg

1 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon extract

Glaze:

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

1 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoons honey

1/4 cup water

Directions

Sift flour, baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt into a bowl. Cream butter and brown sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add ginger, and beat for 2 minutes. Beat in egg,vanilla and lemon extracts until well combined. Add flour mixture, and then beat on medium-low speed until dough just comes together.

Arrange two approximately 12- by 12-inch square pieces of wax paper on a work surface. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a 10-inch-long log, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Transfer each log to a sheet of wax paper. Roll the wax paper around each log, cover in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.

Slice each log crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick cookies and arrange on baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between cookies. Bake, switching the baking sheets between the upper and lower racks about halfway through baking, until light golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Continue baking cookies on cooled baking sheets.

Whisk confectioners' sugar, lemon zest and juice, honey, water, and a pinch of salt in a bowl until smooth. Drizzle glaze over the cooled cookies. Let stand until glaze is set, at least 20 minutes.

Lemon-Pineapple Fizz

For some reason I really wanted to go all out and be festive for Memorial Day weekend.  It's a 3 day weekend for me and my hubby happened to be off so I just really felt like I should make something extra special to nom on.

I found a couple recipes I wanted to try out and figured this was the perfect opportunity to put them to the test.  One was this recipe I found via Pinterest:

Sunday Sweets: Aunt Georgia’s Cheesecake

This recipe is from my boyfriend’s Aunt Georgia. Every time there was a family dinner she would make this recipe. According to the bf it is like crack and the most epic thing ever. I have to agree. It isn’t really cheesecake in the traditional sense but it does have cream cheese and is way simpler to make than the traditional style New York Cheesecake.