And the Winner is.......

And the winner of my CSN stores giveaway for the lovely 9.5" LeCreuset Tart Dish is...........

cookiesandcups!

Congratulations cookiesandcups!!!! I have sent you an email and you should be contacted by CSN within a few days. Thanks to everyone that entered my giveaway. I will have a fabulous edible giveaway coming up soon!! So be on the lookout! It is sure to make you believe that Fairytales do come true:) Don't you hate it when people just give teasers like that and just leave you hanging. Have a great day!

Orange Tian-March Daring Bakers Challenge

This was my first month as a Daring Baker. For those that are not familiar with the Daring Bakers, you can read more about it here. Basically, the Daring Bakers are a network of food bloggers that are given a recipe each month by one of the members. Each month there is a different "challenge." And challenging the recipes certainly are! At first I thought, "Oh, I am soooo in over my head...." Then I finally took a breath and decided to divide up the workload of the recipe. I just prepared each part when I had time and then assembled when I was ready to take pictures (and serve!). Apparently, I'm feeling a bit tarty here lately, since that is the form I chose for my tian. This could be made in any large pan with removable sides (springform pan, etc). The other option is to make individual tians if you have several round cookie cutters for layering the ingredients. Both options make a stunning display.
The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris. One of most interesting parts of the Daring Baker's challenges is that nearly all the elements are made in your own kitchen. The Orange Tian had several of elements. Here's what was involved:
 -Pate Sablee-a french pastry dough
- Marmalade
- Caramel
-Whipped Cream
-Segmented Oranges
I have to admit when I saw that I would be making my own marmalade, for a moment (ok, several moments!), I considered forgoing the challenge, but I certainly was not going to let a little marmalade get me down.There's just something mysterious and haunting about jelly making. I suppose I just always think of the canning part. All that hot glass, risking explosion at any moment with hot jam and glass being catapulted onto my kitchen ceiling. Then I thought, "Hey, no one said we had to can the marmalade. We just have to make it!" Now, I'm so glad I didn't give up. The marmalade was actually quite easy. The entire dessert was actually very easy to make. It simply contained several elements. In the end, I'm so glad that I joined the Daring Bakers. This was an excellent challenge. I would certainly serve this at any gathering. It is perfectly fresh for springtime. . I hope you will try this wonderful creation. It is simply divine!! I look forward to sharing my Daring Baker's challenges with you each month. Enjoy!

Daring Baker's Orange Tian

March 2010

Pâte Sablée
Recipe courtesy of  Martha Stewart
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
With a standing mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low. Add flour and salt, and beat until just combined and crumbly (do not overmix). Shape dough into a 9-inch round disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 days), or freeze for up to 1 month.

Orange Segments:
For this step you will need 8 oranges.
Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.


Stabilized whipped cream
via Tamsin Cakes
Ingredients U.S. Metric Imperial Instructions for Ingredients
heavy whipping cream 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
3 tablespoons of hot water
1 tsp Gelatine
1 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar
orange marmalade (see recipe above) 1 tablespoon
In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade.
[Tip: Use an ice cold bowl to make the whipped cream in. You can do this by putting your mixing bowl, cream and beater in the fridge for 20 minutes prior to whipping the cream.


Orange Caramel Sauce via Epicurious
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup fresh blood orange juice (I used regular orange juice)
1/2 teaspoon grated blood orange peel (or regular orange peel)
Preparation
Combine sugar and 1/4 cup water in heavy small saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil without stirring until deep amber color, occasionally brushing down pan sides with wet pastry brush and swirling pan, about 8 minutes.
Carefully add orange juice and orange peel (mixture will bubble vigorously). Stir over low heat until smooth and any caramel bits dissolve. Cool completely. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.)

Sunny Orange Marmalade via Southern Living:
Ingredients
12 oranges (about 6 pounds)
2 lemons
4 cups water
9 cups sugar
Preparation
Peel oranges, and cut rind into thin strips. Chop pulp, discarding seeds. Cut lemons into thin slices, discarding seeds.
Combine orange rind, chopped pulp, lemon slices, and 4 cups water in a large Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and chill 8 hours or overnight.
Combine fruit mixture and sugar in a Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 1 1/2 hours or until a candy thermometer registers 215°.
Pack hot marmalade into hot sterilized jars, filling to 1/4 inch from top. Remove air bubbles; wipe jar rims. Cover at once with metal lids, and screw on bands.
Process in boiling water bath 5 minutes.

Assembly of the Orange Tian
For making this recipe in one large dish such as a tart pan:
Bake the Pate Sablee in the tart pan. Let cool completely. Cover the cooled Pate Sablee with Orange Marmalade. Cover with stabilized whipped cream. Arrange the orange segments over the whipped cream. Freeze for atleast 20 minutes to help whipped cream set. Drizzle with caramel. Slice and enjoy!

Fresh Fruit Tart & A Le Creuset Giveaway!!!

Spring is quickly making its entrance here in the South. It will quickly usher its way in and then out again before we've even had a chance to turn around. We generally only have 3 seasons we recognize here in the South: Winter (better known as Wintah' for us in the Bible Belt), Summer (Summah') and Hot Summer (Hawt Summah'). Sure, for the blink of an eye, we might catch a glimpse of another season, but it is certainly short lived. So, Southerners savor any mild weather that comes our way. 60 degree weather and low humidity has every Southern Belle pulling out her flip-flops and running for the tanning beds. It also makes us start reaching for lighter fare. Lord knows we shudder at the thought of having to step out in that blessed swimsuit for the first time each summer. If you're in that same boat,  then I've got a recipe for you! A Fresh Fruit Tart. Nothing spells Spring for me quite like a fresh fruit tart. All the bright colors chilled to perfection atop a shortbread crust. Oh, but don't be fooled. There is certainly a sinful element to this tart. It is nestled in between the fruit and the crust. It is the creamy, luscious cream cheese based filing. Making this fresh dessert just sinful enough to be considered as such, yet still light enough to maintain your dress size (or pant size for you fellas). Unless of course you eat the entire thing.....then there's no guarantees.
Oh, and wouldn't this make the perfect addition to your Easter buffet! And, it can easily be made a day or so in advance. Enjoy!

Fresh Fruit Tart

Recipe adapted from one created by
Miss Paula Deen via Food Network
Ingredients
Crust:
•1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
•1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•1 1/2 sticks  butter, softened and sliced
Filling:
•1 (8-ounce) package Light cream cheese, softened
•1/2 cup granulated sugar (or 1/4 c. splenda & 1/4 c sugar)
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract or Princess Cake Emulsion
Topping:
•Fresh strawberries, kiwi slices, blueberries, raspberries
Glaze:
•1 (6-ounce) can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
•1 tablespoon cornstarch
•1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
•1/4 cup granulated sugar
•Whipped cream, for garnish
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the crust: In a food processor, combine the confectioners' sugar, flour, and butter, and process until the mixture forms a ball. With your fingers, press the dough into a large tart pan (preferably with a removable bottom), taking care to push the crust into the indentations in the sides. Pat until the crust is even. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until very lightly browned. Set aside to cool
For the filling and topping: Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together until smooth. Spread over the cooled crust. Arrange the fruit as desired.
For the glaze: Combine the limeade, cornstarch, lime juice, and sugar in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until clear and thick, about 2 minutes. Let cool. With a pastry brush, glaze the entire tart. You will not use all of the glaze.
Keep the tart in the refrigerator. Remove about 15 minutes before serving. Slice into 8 wedges and serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

If your still reading, you must be waiting for the best part......Its Giveaway Time again!!!
So.... you'd like to make a tart, but you don't have any kind of tart pan. Hmmm...Well, then today is your lucky day! The nice folks over at CSN Stores contacted me regarding hosting a giveaway for them. Well, you know I said Yes!
CSN offers tons of products from kids bedding to cookware. They are certainly a one stop shop for all your needs. So for the giveaway, I have chosen this:

A beautiful 9.5" Le Creuset Tart Pan for my sweet readers! I love this tart pan...I really want one for myself. Hint, hint Easter Bunny :)
 Here's how you enter to win:
You must be a Sinful Southern Sweets follower to enter. So, follow me publicly via Google Friends. Then,
1)Go to the CSN Store. Browse around and then come back here leaving me a comment and telling me of another CSN item you love. This counts as one entry.
2) You can earn another chance to win by following me on Twitter. Leave a comment telling me you're  now following or were already following.
3) Tweet about my giveaway. Leave me another comment saying you tweeted with a link to the tweet. You can do this once a day.
4) Blog about my giveaway. This will earn you 3 extra entries for this. Make sure to leave 3 separate comments.
*Make sure to leave your email address if it is not public in your profile so I will have a way to contact you.
Good Luck!!
And when you win that great tart pan, make sure to try Paula's springtime tart recipe!! Winner will be announced Monday, March 28th. Good luck!!

Momofuku's Milk Bar Compost Cookies

Where do I even begin with an oddity such as this? The whole concoction is just fabulously absurd, ridiculously divine and wickedly sinful. But, I'm all about fabulously absurd, ridiculously divine and wickedly sinful. How about you?
So, first of all the name on these threw me completely. I had not a clue who or what Momofuku was or is. I knew what it sounded like. It sounded like something I would yell as I backed my car into something. If that's what you thought too, well, we were both wrong. Momofuku actually translates to "lucky peach." For those of us who do not get out much, Momofuku's Milk Bar is a hot and happening sweets eatery (with the occasional appearance of a savory edible) in New York run by pastry chef, Christina Tosi. I have no clue why the essence of the name boils down to "lucky peach milk bar." Perhaps, they just wanted to be different. They are known for their breakfast cereal- flavored soft serve ice creams, something called "crack pie" and a variety of eccentric cookies. This cookie is one of them. Compost cookies. Ahhh, doesn't that name just make your mouth water :) Ok, so maybe the name lacks a bit to be desired, but the taste does not. Plus, this is a multi-tasking cookie. You get to clean your pantry out and make cookies at the same time!
Shamefully, I will share the list of items I used in my own version:
Girl Scout Cookies-DoSiDo's and Dulce De Leche-crushed
Frito Corn Chips
Pretzels
Ruffles Potato Chips
Peanut Butter M&M's
Chocolate Covered Almonds
Valentine Candy (chocolate)
Baby Ruth candy bars
Snickers candy bars
Milky Way bars
Rice Krispies
Peanut Butter Captain Crunch
*Just crunch up the dry stuff and chop everything else.
One very odd element to this cookie (besides the gallon of snack foods poured into the mix) is the amount of time spent beating the butter. You begin the recipe by beating the butter mixture for 10 minutes. Yes, that's right, 10 minutes. The only other thing I've ever beaten for that long (or longer) is frosting. But, Christina Tosi, knew what she was doing when she developed this smorgasbord of ingredients. So don't skip that step. Also, don't forget to refrigerate the dough for at least an hour. Look, some things, can't be explained, but this is vital. You'll end up with puddles instead of cookies. Also, don't eat the dough raw. Oh come on, you know why...you'll get worms, or salmonella or whatever the latest scare is about raw egg. Plus, you may not be able to stop the dough consumption. Its absurdly good :) Now, go clean out your pantry and make these Compost Cookies!! Enjoy!

Momofuku's Milk Bar Compost Cookies
Recipe from Regis & Kelly
INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Corn Syrup
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Large Eggs
1 3/4 cups AP Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Kosher Salt
1 1/2 cups Your favorite baking ingredients!(mini chocolate chips, raisinettes, rollos & cocoa krispies)
1 1/2 cups Your favorite snack foods (chips, pretzels, etc)
(goldfish, ritz, & fritos)

DIRECTIONS:
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars and corn syrup on medium high for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
On a lower speed, add eggs and vanilla to incorporate. Increase mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. During this time the sugar granules will fully dissolve, the mixture will become an almost pale white color and your creamed mixture will double in size.
When time is up, on a lower speed, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix 45-60 sec just until your dough comes together and all remnants of dry ingredients have incorporated. Do not walk away from your mixer during this time or you will risk over mixing the dough. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
On same low speed, add in the hodgepodge of your favorite baking ingredients and mix for 30-45 sec until they evenly mix into the dough. Add in your favorite snack foods last, paddling again on low speed until they are just incorporated.
Using a 6oz ice cream scoop, portion cookie dough onto a parchment lined sheetpan.
Wrap scooped cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or up to 1 week.
DO NOT BAKE your cookies from room temperature or they will not hold their shape.
Heat the conventional oven to 400F. (350F in a convection oven)
When the oven reads 400F, arrange your chilled cookie dough balls on a parchment or silpat-lined sheetpan a minimum of 4" apart in any direction.
Bake 9-11 min. While in the oven, the cookies will puff, crackle and spread.
At 9 min the cookies should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown towards the center. Leave the cookies in the oven for the additional minutes if these colors don't match up and your cookies stills seem pale and doughy on the surface.
Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pan before transferring to a plate or an airtight container or tin for storage. At room temp, cookies will keep fresh 5 days. In the freezer, cookies will keep fresh 1 month.

Redemption Cake

A letter to my husband:
Dear Mr. Sweets (AKA Mr. Sinful Southern Sweets),
I am not overly compulsive. I have not spent every waking hour contemplating the cause of the dry cake that you have indicated that I made last week. Nor is it abnormal for wanting to try to redeem myself for the dry cake you have accused me of creating.
Thank you...Have a delightful day

Don't you hate it when you have the best of intentions, like doing something nice for someone, but in the end, the outcome doesn't really seem so nice after all? Last week, my husband reminded me that his business partner's (KA, but some call him SA) birthday was coming up on Thursday. So, I had it all planned. I even made my husband call KA's mother to find out his favorite cake. Yellow cake with chocolate icing. Easy, enough. Though strangely, this is also Mr. Sweets favorite cake as well. But nonetheless, I let that go. So that's what I was going to send. But, you know what kind of cake I ended up sending? Dry cake. Overbaked Cake. Uhhhgg!~ And after racking my brain, I realize it wasn't really the recipe's fault. It was total user error. But, isn't that usually the case. Unfortunately, I baked the cake on a convection setting without adjusting the time/temp. Well, if it were just a birthday it would be one thing, but it was the big 4-0 for KA! So in an effort to redeem my well intentions, I have made another cake for my husband to take to work.
This time I made an extra set of layers so I could make sure that I wasn't sending dry cake. Mr. Sweets indicated that the cake part on this one is so light it's as though its not even there. I'm hoping he's not saying that he feels like he's just eating slabs of icing with air floating in between:) Poor Mr. Sweets, he can't give constructive criticism without someone overjudging his comments. Perhaps, the constructive criticism would be better received if he just didn't say it out-loud :) Just kidding, Mr Sweets. Kind of...
This cake will be a favorite to those who adore the heavenly combination of peanut butter and chocolate. Peanut Butter frosting fills the 2 (incredibly soft and not dry) yellow butter cake layers. Peanut butter cups line the top of the peanut butter frosting. The exterior is coated with a light creamy chocolate frosting. Then, the whole thing is topped with a few extra peanut butter cups.
After working on this cake all morning, I tried to offer a bite to every person in my house. From each, I received the same response. "I'm not hungry." Princess Runwilder even exclaimed "No cake..no hungy." I just looked at them all and blinked in disbelief. Since when did you have to be hungry to eat cake?!?!?! Cake is an emotional food. You can be happy, sad, stable or unstable. But you don't have to be hungry. I fully enjoyed the cake myself. And, I wasn't hungry either.
Should you decide to make this cake, (and I highly recommend you do) it makes 4 round layers. If you want to share, you can make 2 (2-layer) cakes. Give one away and keep one so you can make sure you're not giving away a dry, petrified cake :) Or you can make 1 full cake and freeze the other layers for later. You will have plenty of peanut butter filling for 2 cakes, but you will need to make 2 separate batches of frosting (I wouldn't try to double the recipe, you may never get it to whip up).  You will think the frosting will never turn into a spreadable consistency, but it will. I thought I would surely burn the motor up on my hand mixer before it came together, but the mixer is fine and the frosting is whipped.
You know, the more I think about this, I think Mr. Sweets is trying to pull a fast one on me. Do you think Mr. Sweets is figuring out that if he comes home and (gently) complains about my baking that I will just keep trying to redeem myself with more baked goods. Hmmm...was that first cake even dry after all?.....
Another letter to Mr. Sweets:
Dear Mr Sweets,
The first cake had better have been dry.. or your next cake will be laced with Ex-Lax.....
Have a nice day and as always Enjoy!

Redemption Cake

Yellow Butter Cake:
Recipe courtesy of Cake Central
Ingredients
1 Duncan Hines butter recipe cake mix
1 cup of sugar
4 large eggs
2 sticks of butter (softened)
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup self rising flour
3/4 cup buttermilk
Instructions
Add first 5 ingredients beat at medium speed for 4 mins.
Then add next 2 ingredients beat at medium speed for additional 2 mins.
Pour evenly into 4 – 8″ prepared pans. Bake for 25 – 30 mins in preheated oven at 325 degrees.

Peanut Butter Filling:
Recipe via All Recipes
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup cream
Directions
1.In a large bowl, beat butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in 1/2 of the confectioner's sugar. Mix in 1/4 cup of the cream. Beat in the remaining confectioners' sugar. If necessary, add a little more cream or milk until the frosting reaches a good spreading consistency. Makes enough to frost one 2 layer 9 inch cake or one 9x13 inch cake.

Chocolate Frosting:
Recipe courtesy Southern Living
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 stick  butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a medium saucepan, bring cream, sugar and corn syrup to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Remove mixture from heat and add chocolate and butter; stir until completely smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Pour mixture into a medium bowl set in a larger bowl of ice water. Beat until shiny and thick.

To assemble:
Place one layer of cake crown side up on a serving plate. Top with peanut butter filling. Cover filling with chopped peanut butter cups (Reese's). Stack next cake layer (crown side down) on top of peanut butter cups. Frost top and sides with chocolate frosting. Garnish as desired with additional peanut butter cups. Wallow in self pity for approximately 15 minutes because you will be running, yet again, on the treadmill for several hours, yet again, to try to maintain damage control from the cake herein consumed. Oh, and consider thyself redeemed :)

Berry Cream Cheese Muffins

Don't you just love it when an early morning creation actually turns into something edible. Not only edible, but down right yummy. And, not in any way resembling a hockey puck. Well you just never know with baking. As I've said before, baking is a precise science. You start futzing around with the dynamics of a recipe and quite often you get a muffin-hockey puck or just a rock. I'm not sure which is worse. I've not convinced my family to consume either (willingly). But today was a different day. Today my monkeying around with ingredients paid off. My girls actually both ate breakfast.  Any mother of small picky princesses/princes truly knows what an accomplishment this can be!  Yet, the most amazing part of all is that the whole recipe only had 4 tablespoons of sugar. That's almost unheard of for a toddler/preschooler to consume anything with such a small increment of sugar! No bouncing off the wall-.crazy kids for me today....Enjoy!

Berry Cream Cheese Muffins
Ingredients:
2 1/4 c. self rising flour
4 tablespoons white sugar
1 large egg
1 cup milk
1/4 c vegetable oil
8 oz whipped berry cream cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl, cream together the cream cheese and sugar. Add the oil and egg. Alternate adding the flour and milk until just mixed. Do not overmix.
Grease or line 12 muffin cups. Divide batter among the muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Stroopwafels

Stroopwafels are my friend. 

These dutch based delicacies were first concocted sometime around the mid 1700's. Its said that an unknown baker took leftover crumbs and formed them into cookies and filled them with a caramel syrup. I have read throughout the internet that Stroopwafels are sold by the dutch on the streets as snacks, and each Dutchman consumes 20 stroopwafels per year......First I want to say this.... Everywhere I read that statement about the quantity consumed, it was written as "OMG, the dutch consume 20 per year!!" Uhhh, well....Hmmmm. Glad I'm American. Because, I may very well have hit my yearly dutch limit by 3 o'clock today. And seriously, is 20 really that many of anything to consume in a whole year?!?! Ok, I agree, perhaps 20 cakes would be a touch gluttonous. But these are cookies people....Moving on..Perhaps I'm just embarrassed at my stroopwafel consumption and I'm lashing out at the reasonable consumers of the world.

My love-affair obsession  fondness for these dutch treats began several years ago. My in-laws had traveled to Holland on vacation. They brought these flat, disk-like treats back for all of us. And thus began the addiction.. If you've never heard of them, they are very thin butter- laden cookies filled with a special caramel filling. (Butter-laden meaning a whole pound of butter in the following recipe).They are typically served at room temperature or slightly warmed. I have read its great to let them rest over the top of a steaming hot cup of coffee or tea. The steam slightly warms the caramel.
All I can say about this particular recipe is...... thank God they are time consuming. If I could make these as quickly as desired, the doorframes to my house would no longer be wide enough to accomodate me. No, no, hang on. Don't let this scare you away. Despite the fact that they are a bit time consuming, you will forever be grateful that you have broadened your culinary horizons. Here's the catch. You must have a pizzelle iron. The pizzelle iron is vital to making the cookie part of the recipe. Don't worry, its worth it. And you can always make waffle cones with it in the summer:) Just in case you're still a bit worried, I've got a step by step tutorial on the cooking/filling part of this recipe. I assure you, stroopwafels will be your friend too! Enjoy!

 

Dutch Stroopwafels

recipe courtesy of Diana's Desserts

Ingredients:

For The Wafles:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
For The Filling:
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons dark corn syrup
Instructions:
Preheat pizzelle iron.
To Make Wafels:
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.
Cut one (1) cup of the butter into the flour. Mix in the sugar, cinnamon, eggs and yeast mixture. Mix well and set aside to rise for 30 to 60 minutes. Roll dough into about 24 small balls, place each ball into the preheated pizzelle iron and bake for about 30 seconds, one at a time. The unbaked dough will look something like this (Ok so it doesn't really have that neon glow unless you've got lighting issues, but you get the idea.  Lets just call it angelic dough :)

Then the baked dough:

To Make Filling:
In a saucepan boil the brown sugar, the remaing one cup of the butter, cinnamon, and dark corn syrup until it reaches the soft ball stage (234-240 degrees F 112 -115 degrees C). It will look something like this:

Oh, doesn't that look sinful.....after enjoying a little time alone with the caramel, move along to the assembly.

And, yes, you do want to assemble. As good as the caramel is alone, just think of the finished product!

To Assemble:
Cut each wafel into two (2) thin wafels and spread with filling. Repeat this process until all the filling is used. Note: You will want to bake a wafel and assemble immediately after removing from the pizzelle iron. Hold the hot wafel in a towl to slice.

Put the two sides together and you've got your long awaited Stroopwafel.

Let cool completely on a wire rack 

Yes, I know they look like a pain, but they really are worth it.

Now, shall we  hot glue the entire pound of butter used in the recipe to our right thigh or our left?

LOL! Hope you try them when you have some extra time!

And the Winner is......

Thank you all so much for entering my giveaway!  I enjoyed reading your favorite recipes to cook with your little ones and hope to try some of them soon! So the winner has been chosen. It was...

Barenakedchef!!! Barenakedchef, I have sent you a message and hope you and your kids love baking with this great set!!

I will be posting a recipe in just a bit for an addictive dutch recipe!!

Kids in the Kitchen & A Giveaway!!!

Oh, what a happy day it was on Tuesday when we opened a box from the Curious Chef company. At Least, it started out happy. Princess Runwild was just ecstatic when I showed her the beautifully packaged box of child-sized baking utensils.  I snapped this picture......

And then my camera battery died. Unfortunately, we had to wait to proceed on with our review of the Curious Chef product....and our cookie making. It was a long afternoon...

But, then the battery finally charged and we were ready again! I thought this little project was just going to be Princess Runwild,

but as you can see Princess Runwilder started making her way into the scene.

 Eventually, she took over the project.

 Have I ever mentioned that Runwilder is the Alpha Princess. Yes, I think the oldest is scared of her. Heck, sometimes, I'm even scared of her :)

So let me tell you a bit about these Curious Chef kits. We received the 6 pc Cookie Making Kit.

Photo Courtesy of Curious Chef®

Let me just tell you, these are well made utensils. They are not cheap and flimsy. As the company states "These are not toys. They are real cooking utensils." This company really got it right on these products. Even though these are sized for children, and as you can see even little Princess Runwilder can use them,

 They also fit nicely in my own hands. Yes, you see where I'm going with this..The princesses will have to share them with the queen :) Seriously, the rolling pin and the wisk are my two new favorite kitchen utensils! This kit would make a perfect gift for your budding little chef. Oh, and this company also makes a pizza kit, a Chef Essentials Kit, and a 17 pc Measure and Prep Kit. Lots of great products to choose from.

Now, let me move along to the recipe we decided on for trying out our new kitchenware. We used a sugar cookie recipe that was on the back of the Curious Chef box. I was quite intrigued with this recipe. It did not all all look like the recipe I generally use for sugar cookies. This recipe had sour cream included in the ingredients. I love sour cream in baked goods. So we went with it. It absolutely was a different cookie. But, different in a good way. The cookies were very puffy and large, but still retained their shape of the cookie cutter. They were very mild almost like a tea cake. These were very cake-like indeed. Not overly sweet. Yet, that was probably for the best since we slathered icing over them. I highly recommend including the icing! Don't you love child-decorated cookies!?!? I think they are just the sweetest! Enjoy!

Curious Chef Roll Out Cookies
Ingredients
1 Cup Shortening
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 Cup Sour Cream
1-1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1-1/2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
Frosting
Directions1.Wash hands with soap and water
2.Gather all of your ingredients
3.Preheat oven to 350° F
4.Measure out shortening and sugar, place in medium size mixing bowl
5.Cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy
6.Beat in the egg, sour cream and vanilla
7.Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add these ingredients to creamed mixture and mix well
8.On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/3-in. thickness
9.Cut with your variety of Curious Chef cookie cutters
10.Lightly coat baking sheet with cooking spray, skip this step for non-stick sheets
11.Place cookies 1 inch apart on baking sheet
12.Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes or until set
13.Remove from oven using hot pads, cool for 1-2 minutes to allow cookies to set
14.Transfer cookies to wire rackes to finish cooling complelely
15.When cool, frost cookies as desired
16.Decorate with additional toppings if desired

So you like this cute little Curious Chef set? Well, you can buy one here if you just can't stand to wait.....Or you can enter my giveaway. The nice people at Curious Chef sent me 2 of these great 6pc Cookie Kits. One for me and one for one of y'all! All you have to do is leave me a comment stating your favorite recipe to cook with your kids, grand-kids, nieces/nephews,  cousins, or someone elses kids. 

Extra entries:

1) Follow my blog-1 extra entry-leave me a comment stating you're following(or were already following).

2)Follow me on Twitter-1 extra entry-leave a comment that you're a twitter follower

3) Tweet about my giveaway-1 Extra entry per day-Leave a comment with a link to your tweet

4)Blog about my giveaway-2 Extra entries-Please leave me two separate comments with a link to your post

The Giveaway will end at midnight on  Tuesday, March 9th. Please make sure your email is listed in your profile or include it in your comment. Winner will be announced on Wed. morning. Good luck

*All opinions stated in this post of the Curious Chef products are purely my opinion. I was not paid any compensation to make these statements.