Over the weekend, I was busy testing recipes, photographing and preparing for all the work assignments I have due this week. Among the things I had to make was this marshmallow fudge for a post I wrote for Tablespoon. (Psst! Head over there to find out how I started making this in the first place!) This is a recipe I have been using for a long time, and I love the ease and simplicity of it. Plus, it’s easy to change up the add-ins to make all sorts of different fudge creations.

Truth? I use an easy method of making fudge … it doesn’t involve candy thermometers or long lists of ingredients. Purists might say that this isn’t truly fudge, but I don’t mind. It looks like fudge, it tastes like fudge and it always draws raves.

What’s your favorite fudge flavors? And do you make fudge the old fashioned way?

Marshmallow Fudge
yields 64 small pieces
Adapted from Betty Crocker Cookbook: Everything You Need to Know to Cook Today, 10th Edition

Printable recipe available at Tablespoon

1 14 oz can nonfat sweetened condensed milk
1 12 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup mini marshmallows

Use a paper towel to grease an 8×8x2-inch pan with butter — all over the sides and bottom. Set aside.

Combine the sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips in a saucepan. Heat the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, until the chocolate is completely melted. Once the mixture is smooth, remove the pan from the heat.

Stir in the vanilla extract until completely combined. Add the marshmallows and stir just enough to envelope them in the fudge mixture — but don’t overstir, the marshmallows will melt in if you stir too long.

Pour the fudge into the prepared pan and smooth the top slightly. Refrigerate to set, 1 1/2 hours or longer. Once set, cut into 1-inch squares and devour.

Will has an apron with a rocket ship on it. When it comes time to start cooking, he requests it and orders reminds me to get one of my aprons out too. Then he asks where to go. Sometimes, when whatever we are making requires a lot of measuring and stirring, we set up at the kitchen table. Other times, when our creations use the stand mixer, he pulls a chair to the counter. Yesterday was a counter-cooking day.

While we were cooking, it struck me how Will’s skills have improved. When we started cooking together regularly more than two years ago, he would frequently spill flour while sifting with the whisk and spooning the mixture into the mixer involved lots of spillage. It was to be expected … he was just a toddler. But these days he’s continuing growing, changing and learning. His movements are more fluid. And he understands things that amaze me – like why we use baking powder. Everything about him amazes me.

Last summer, the kids and I went berry picking with friends and froze a good deal of strawberries for the winter. The berries are sweet and tender, perfect for smoothies, pancakes, anything. Will, with his magical memory, remembered earlier this week how we’d picked in the pouring rain. It was so much fun.

This snack cake started with an idea: how could we use those delicious strawberries in a baked good? I honestly am not that fond of chopped berries in bread-y items. They tend to make the result a little too gooey. So, I wanted to take a different approach: puree.

The result? A moist cake, with a hint of strawberry flavor and a glorious layer of chocolate. Delish. This is best eaten the day it’s made with a glass of milk, but can store for a few days in an airtight container.

Strawberry-Infused Chocolate Chip Snack Cake
yields 16 cake bites (yes, as in small pieces)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup whole strawberries (can be defrosted from frozen)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8-inch baking pan with butter and then sprinkle with flour. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, brown sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth. Add the two eggs and beat into the batter.

Kid Step: In a large bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder using a wire whisk. With the mixer running on its lowest setting, add the flour to the butter mixture one spoonful at a time until it’s all been combined. Stop the mixer and scrap down the bowl, if necessary.

Kid Step: Add the strawberries to the bowl of a mini-food processor. Process until smooth.

Pour the strawberry puree into the stand mixer and beat to combine. Add the chocolate chips and run the mixer on low to just combine.

Kid Step: Work together to pour the batter into the prepared pan, using a spatula to scrap all the batter out. Gently tap the pan to ensure that the batter is even.

Slide the pan into the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool for at least 1 hour before cutting. A completely cooled cake is easiest to cut.

In thinking about today’s post, I thought it was a little ironic that I wrote about getting your kids more active on Friday and am writing about sweets today. But irony aside, these things can really coexist. Afterall, raising a healthy family and leading a healthy life is not about deprivation. It’s about moderation, balance, joy … all wonderful things. So, yes, you can have a delicious cookie bar and a slim waistline.

When I decided to have a healthier 2010, it never once crossed my mind to stop baking things like these bars. My kids love to cook and I love to cook with them. Seems like a win-win, right?

Last weekend, Will and I made Chocolate Covered S’mores Grahams and they were dessert for most of the week. He actually wanted to make them again, but I spied a recipe for Butterscotch Blondies in Gorgeous: The Sum of All Your Glorious Parts, a book that I reviewed a few years ago. The idea sounded good, but I wanted a bar that was just a little different. So, I got out my trusty notebook, made some alterations to the recipe (adding chocolate, taking out nuts, trading half of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat, etc).

When the time came to bake on Sunday, I got out an big bowl for Will to mix in. The ingredients filled only a small portion of the bowl, but using an oversized bowl is one of tricks of cooking with kids that makes it easier and more stress-free. Yes, the smaller mixing bowl would have been perfect for this recipe, but the larger bowl gives him room to move the whisk around in. That way, he learns how to work in this confined space, while allowing margin for error. The result? Far less flour spilled. And I noticed as he mixed that his movements are becoming more fluid. He really is learning how to sift gently. How awesome is that?

There are so many opportunities for kids to help with a recipe like this. I’ve notated in the recipe the sections that are perfect for kids to help with. And working together like that, to create something, is a great experience for them.

Anyway, back to the recipe. Once we finished mixing, pressing and baking, we were left with sweet cookie bars that are brimming with buttery richness and chocolatey goodness. I liked them. Shawn liked them. The kids adored them … What more could I ask for?

These will make a fab dessert for the kids this week. And for the adults too.

Chocolate Butterscotch Cookie Bars
yields 24 bars
recipe adapted from Gorgeous: The Sum of All Your Glorious Parts

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 11×9x2 inch baking pan with cooking oil spray.

Kid Step: Using a large bowl (you want it to be bigger than you need so that your child has room to sift without making a huge mess) and a wire whisk, sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until it’s smooth and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat on medium until combined. Turn off.

Kid Step: Turn the mixer on its lowest speed. Using a big spoon, add the flour mixture one spoonful at a time until it’s all been added. It’s a good idea for the adult to hold the bowl close to the mixer while the kid-cook adds the flour. Turn off.

Kid Step: Measure out the chocolate chips and butterscotch kids. Add to the dough. Then, turn the mixer on to quickly incorporate (if you are cooking really really young kids, the adult should turn it on after the kid as added the chips).

Spread the dough out into the prepared pan in an even layer. Use your hand to press it into the corners, if necessary.

Slide the pan into the oven and cook for 30-35 minutes, until cooked through. A toothpick inserted in the center of the pan should come out clean.

Let cool completely and then cut into 12 bars.

Do you have a sweet tooth? My kids and I do. Seriously. So does Shawn. We could eat cookies and cakes and pies all day long. But, indulging that sweet tooth daily with cakes and pies and cookies and brownies … well, that wouldn’t exactly be good for us, right? So we don’t. Instead, we have sweets once in a while and in moderation. When you eat like that, you don’t want to settle for just any sweet treat. It has to be breathtaking. Magnificent. Mouthwatering.

This pie? It’s all that and more. Heck, it’s positively craveworthy. The rich and creamy chocolate filling is enhanced with the addition of instant coffee making it absolutely decadent. And it’s so ultra smooth, just like a perfect, wonderful chocolate truffle. In a word: amazing.

But seriously, don’t take my word for it. Just make it yourself. You’ll thank me.

Another fantastic pie? The Chocolate Peppermint Pie that I developed for SheKnows. It’s also amazingly smooth and creamy and will leave you drooling for more (or clamoring for more, if you prefer). What makes it just a bit different is that it has a twist of cool peppermint, like a wonderful peppermint hot chocolate … mmm. I’m making both of these pies for Christmas. I can hardly wait.

Ultimate Chocolate Truffle Pie
serves 8

1 12 oz can fat-free evaporated milk
2 large egg yolks
1 package instant decaf coffee (enough to make an 8 oz cup – I used Starbucks Via)
9 1/2 oz dark chocolate (roughly 70%), broken into pieces
1 tbsp agave nectar
1 pre-made shortbread crust (alternatively, you could use a graham one)
homemade whipped cream

Add the evaporated milk, egg yolks and instant coffee to a medium saucepan. Whisk together over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes, until slightly thickened and very, very hot. Do not let it boil.

Add the chocolate to the bowl of a food processor that’s been fitted with the metal blade. With the process0r running, pour in the milk mixture in a steady stream. Continue to process for about 30 seconds. Then stop the processor and scrape down the sides. Recover and process again, adding in the agave nectar, until smooth.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the pie shell. Refrigerate for about 3 hours until set before serving.

Serve with a big dollop of homemade whipped cream.

Devour.

What I’m Cooking With: A medium-sized Cuisinart pan, a Kenmore full-size food processor, a wire whisk and a rubber spatula

One more thing! Check out my latest post on Tablespoon: Don’t Toss the Lemon Peels

It goes without saying that I love me some dessert. Pie? Yes! Cake? Absolutely! Cookies and brownies? Oh, yes please! But that love does absolutely nothing for my waistline. (Or anyone’s, for that matter.) Frankly, most desserts are filled with calories and fat. Not a good thing.

Good news though, there are lighter desserts you can indulge in now and again. Made with the right ingredients (think high nutrition, low-bad-stuff), it’s possible to make a tasty, satisfying dessert without ruining that great workout from earlier.

These Chocolate Cereal Bars fit that bill. They are as easy as can be, with just five ingredients (full disclosure: this recipe is a riff on the Crispy Rice Treats recipe on the marshmallow bag). Choose a cereal that works for you, preferably something unsweetened or lightly sweetened. For the ones pictured, I used Cheerios Multi-Grain. Delish!

Do you have a favorite light dessert? Share in the comments!

Chocolate Cereal Bars
yields 20 bars

1/4 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 10oz package of marshmallows
pinch salt
1 9 oz package of lightly sweetened or unsweetened cereal
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Spray a 9×13 glass pan with cooking oil, making sure to hit the sides and bottom of the pan.

In a heavy pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until they are completely melted. Add a pinch of salt and stir a little more. Add the cereal and stir to coat.

Pour the cereal mixture into the prepared pan and press down (wet hands work best for this). Sprinkle with chocolate chips and press down again. Let cool and then cut into 20 squares (4 rows x 5 rows).

These are best eaten the same day they are made.

“Honey, those cupcakes were bangin’.” – Shawn

High praise never fails to make me smile all goofy and wide. Seriously, who doesn’t love to hear that something they made was just awesome?

These cupcakes are moist, but dense. The flavor is reminiscent of pumpkin pie, but it has notes of carrot cake too (no carrots though!). The frosting is creamy and, yes, totally dreamy. It has all the good parts of cream cheese, sweetened just right so that it counters the slightly sour note that it carries.

OMG, these are good. Just make them.

When I made these, it was Sunday morning. I woke up planning on pancakes, but decided to eat some muffins instead. Since we needed some dessert to bring to Sunday dinner, these cupcakes ended up being our Sunday baking experiment du jour.

Of course, the kids got to help too. They take turns pouring things into the bowl and then Will gets to sift it with a wire whisk. It’s a great technique, and he’s really good at it. Paige was really into the whole process, alternating between cheering Will on (literally) and trying to climb onto the table.

They could barely wait to try these. And as soon as the first one was frosted, Will did (Paige was sleeping). He couldn’t say enough about how much he liked them …

Sigh. Make these.

Pumpkin Cupcakes
yields 18 cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 cupcake cups with cupcake liners (I use a 6-cup cupcake/muffin tin and a 12-cup cupcake/muffin tin).

Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat together the eggs, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract and pumpkin puree until smooth. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture a little at a time until fully incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake cups, filling them about 3/4 full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Allow to cool for five minutes and then transfer the cupcakes to a metal rack to cool completely. Then frost the cupcakes with Dreamy Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows).

Dreamy Cream Cheese Frosting
yields enough to frost 18 cupcakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup marshmallow fluff
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all ingredients and whip until combined and smooth. Transfer to a pastry bag and frost cupcakes (must be completely cooled).

Nope, I didn’t make this. Virtual Frolic made it as a special surprise for my birthday (which is later this week). The colors were so alluring and vibrant — it’s almost too pretty to eat! Flavored with lemon, it was both refreshing and satisfying. It made for a delish dessert after strawberry picking.

Mmm. Good cake.

(Want the recipe? Head over to Virtual Frolic’s blog and let her know! Hopefully she will post it soon.)

Strawberry season is inching its way closer and closer and I cannot tell you how excited that makes me. I loved heading out to the strawberry patch with my grandmother as a child. We would pick and pick and pick (and eat and eat and eat), red juices flowing down our fingers (okay, maybe it was just my fingers) and staining my checks and clothes. I am pretty sure that I ate more berries than we would walk away with (don’t all kids? Will has certainly tried).

These days, when I go strawberry picking, it’s with a purpose: to bring home lots of berries for the whole year. Some berries get transformed into jam, others are carefully frozen to last us all year and some are for eating right away and in freshly made dishes.

Now, don’t get me wrong: I could definitely eat all the berries plain, right up front. But those fresh berries are also so tasty in smoothies, breads, cakes … and in this delish Whipped Strawberry Cream. Make sure it’s good and cold and then dish it up. It goes so well with so many things.

Whipped Strawberry Cream
serves 6-8

This recipe makes a creamy topping that can be paired with cake, ice cream, French toast, waffles, fresh fruit or even could go into a parfait. It’s light on the sweetness though, relying more on the strawberry flavor then on the typical sweetness of whipped cream. You could add more confectioner’s sugar if you want this to be sweeter.

1 cup strawberries, hulled and quartered
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners sugar

Puree the strawberries and granulated sugar together and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the heavy cream and the confectioners sugar. Whip with a hand mixer or stand mixer until very stiff (go one step beyond smooth).

Fold the strawberry puree into the heavy cream mixture by hand, using as few strokes as possible to combine.

Chill until ready to serve.

The first time I hosted a holiday meal was about four and a half years ago. It was Thanksgiving and we had it at my house. When I think of that holiday, I think about how frantic I was all day and how it felt like I would never get everything done. I ran and rushed and was short with people … so not fun.

Man, have I come a long way. Holidays are no longer frantic here. I know how to plan and organize and it pays off in spades for my relaxation level. Making a meal isn’t just about choosing good dishes. It’s about choosing dishes that go well together and complement each other. Furthermore, it’s about planning the best method for cooking things and in what order.  These days, I not only make a menu for a holiday meal, but I also time out everything and make whatever I can in advance.

When I was planning the menu for Easter brunch, I wanted to keep the hands-on cooking on Easter to a minimum. The ham was a given and an easy frittata fit the bill as well. I enlisted my husband to make eggs over easy and two potato hash browns. … But I wanted something sweet and breakfast-y too. I considered making and reheating pancakes, but reheated pancakes are never that good.

Then I remembered: Cate had posted about a make-ahead French toast recipe last summer that had me drooling. I inquired about the recipe and she forked it over (and might have cursed me a bit for making her mouth water at the thought too).

The name: Creme Brulee French Toast (though admittedly, that is a bit of a mis-nomer since you never actually brulee the French toast). It’s a delicious, sweet, crave-worthy dish that comes together really quickly and sits overnight before baking to an ooey-gooey, sweet and tender French toast. Absolutely divine. Above, you see only the browned side, but at the bottom of the pan is the caramel-y goodness that is the piece de resistance of this dish (sorry no pics of that — it was devoured too quickly).

This is a fantastic celebration, special occasion, happy day breakfast … I can’t thank Cate enough for this delightful, delectable, delicious recipe. It’s a family fav.

Creme Brulee French Toast
adapted slightly from All Recipes via Sweetnicks

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp corn syrup
12 1-inch slices of French bread (about 3/4 of a large loaf)
6 large eggs
1-1/2 cups fat-free half-and-half
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in brown sugar and corn syrup and continue stirring until the sugar dissolves and it becomes a smooth liquid. Pour into an ungreased 9×13 inch baking pan, tilting the pan so that it spreads out evenly in the bottom. It will get thick and unpliable quickly.

Arrange the bread slices in the baking dish, pressing into the butter mixture. You may need to cut some in half to fit them all.

Whisk the eggs, half and half, vanilla extract and salt together until fully combined. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread. It will look like a lot of egg, but don’t worry. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, remove the French toast from the fridge, remove the plastic and let sit for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and sprinkle the cinnamon evenly on the bread slices.

Bake, uncovered for 40-55 minutes, until it puffs up and is lightly browned. Serve immediately.

It all started with the beautiful marble cake that Shawn bought for me. It had this delicious creamy frosting and was decorated with a firm, rich buttercream that melted in my mouth. I loved it. Loved every part of it. It was so sensuously smooth that it made my tongue dance with glee . . . Except when I went to eat the last sliver of cake, something was missing: the scalloped buttercream edging from the bottom of the cake.

Yes, folks, my last bit of buttercream was stolen out from under me. Surely you can understand my devastation. It’s been all I could think about since then. I’ve been driving Shawn crazy with my musing about the delectable taste of that buttery buttercream . . . Like a jilted lover, it haunted me with conviction and certainty until he finally went and bought a little more for me to enjoy . . .

Oh, the sweet sensation of buttercream on tongue . . .

That’s why when I read this post on Smitten Kitchen about making Swiss buttercream, I just knew . . . I had to do it. I haven’t yet, but it’s coming . . . perhaps even for the birthday Will shares with his grandmother.

In the meantime, I did what any sensible person would do: I sent Shawn back to the store for a little more cake.

Do you have a favorite frosting?