When Little Bear's Away, Big Bear Gets to Play!

In honor of Little Bear's birthday this past week I, Big Bear, made her a super easy and super delicious Oreo Poke Cake. As a birthday present I asked LB to pick a dessert of her choice for me to make and she chose one that she had seen on Pinterest a while back. Luckily for me, it was one that even the most kitchen-challenged husband could attempt. It's all box mixes or pre-made ingredients that get put together to make a cake that nobody would know wasn't homemade.
I had no idea what a "poke cake" was when LB asked me to make one. I assumed that it was poked, but how and for what reason was beyond my comprehension. Turns out, after the cake is baked you poke it with the end of a mixing spoon and pour pudding into the holes. Makes sense.
LB graciously allowed me to take some of her birthday cake to work. Not to brag or anything, but it was so amazing nobody believed I made it instead of her. To quote a co-worker "This is the best, and most moist cake ever!"

See how the pudding absorbs into the cake?

Oreo Poke Cake
1 box chocolate cake mix (and any eggs/water/oil called for on the box)
1 small box instant vanilla pudding (and any milk called for on the box)
2 containers whipped topping

Take the whipped topping out of the freezer and put in the fridge to thaw. Mix and bake cake mix according to the instructions on the box in a greased 9x13 pan. Allow the cake to cool thoroughly (I stuck it in the freezer for 20 minutes to speed that up). After it is cooled, take the handle end of a wooden spoon and poke holes in the cake being careful not to punch down to the bottom of the pan. I did 5x10 for the holes. Next, mix the pudding and milk in something that is easy to pour from, like a large measuring cup. Slooooowly pour the pudding over the holes in the cake. There should not be any pudding pooled on top of the cake, so stop pouring if that starts to happen! If it absorbs, start pouring again until the cake can take no more. Put the cake in the fridge until the pudding is set. Right before serving the cake spread the two containers of whipped topping on top of the cake. This will impress, amaze, astonish, and/or astound all those who taste it.

Better Than Cinnamon Rolls

Have you ever found a recipe that was absolutely fantastic, one that was destined to become a family favorite, only to realize the main ingredient is seasonal?! I have. Cinnamon chip scones. They're mouth-wateringly delicious. But, stores stopped carrying cinnamon chips year round and they were only available around Christmas. Then, stores stopped carrying them at all. That was a sad few years in Little Bear World. But rejoice! Cinnamon chips have been found again! I cleared the shelf and sent 6 packages to Momma Bear while also stock piling my own stores. And so, without further ado....

Heaven. Seriously.

Cinnamon Chip Scones
2 C flour
4 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
1/4 C sugar
4 T butter (cold)
2 T shortening
3/4 C half and half
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1/2-3/4 bag of cinnamon chips (the whole bag is seriously just too much)
OPTIONAL: Lemon or orange zest

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the butter and the shortening. The dough at this point should look crumbly but will stick together if you squeeze it. Slowly add the half and half, vanilla, and the egg. Fold in the cinnamon chips. At this point add in any optional citrus zest.
Flour a counter top and place the dough on the floured surface. Lightly coat your hands with flour and hand form the dough into a disc about 1/2 inch thick. I usually just squish it until it looks about right. If you have a biscuit cutter, by all means, use that. I'm not that fancy and just use a drinking glass to cut out my scones and biscuits.
Place on a regular, ungreased cookie sheet and bake for about 12-15 minutes. NOTE: The scones will not, I repeat, will NOT brown. If you cook them until they look all golden delicious on the outside, they'll be hard as rocks inside. Not tasty.
After baking, place on racks to cool. Enjoy as I did with a nice glass of moo juice!

As always my friends, check us out on Facebook at Little Bear's Cupcakery

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Hope you all had a fabulous Zombie Jesus Day Easter! My lucky coworkers were treated to an Easter cake worthy of pictures. And nomming. There was much nomming going on at the office this weekend. With how put together this cake looked, I was shocked by how easily it all went together. I would have made some headache reducing changes though, and I'll let you know what those are.

Easter Cake
1 box cake mix and any eggs/oil/water called for on the box (I used chocolate)
1 batch white buttercream (in two separate bowls, 1 1/2 C in one, the remainder in the other)
1/4 C Cocoa powder sifted
1 t Chocolate extract
Green food coloring
Wax paper
2 jumbo packs of Kit Kat bars (or Twix, or Cadbury Fingers)
Cadbury eggs, or Robin's Egg Whoppers
Mini chocolate bunnies

Go ahead and make the cake mix as it is called for on the box. Spray two 8 inch round cake pans with non-stick spray. Evenly divide the cake mix between the pans and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Check for doneness at about 18 minutes and keep an eye on those cakes! Let cool for about 30 minutes while you're making the frosting and whatnot.
Tint the 1 1/2 C buttercream with green food coloring, set aside. With the remaining frosting, mix in the cocoa powder and chocolate extract.
Pick a serving platter/plate/tray or whatever you want to present the cake on. Tear off strips of wax paper and line the edges of that serving dish. This way you will have a clean plate and a cake you didn't have to move. Once the cakes are cooled, invert one out of the pan and place it bottom side down (or right side up) on top of the wax paper. You'll want to see about 1/2 inch to an inch of wax paper from the side of the cake. Spread half of your chocolate frosting on top of this cake, this will be the filling. Don't worry about making the sides perfect, you won't see them anyway. Invert the second cake out of the pan and place it bottom side up (or upside down) on top of the chocolate frosting. With the remaining chocolate frosting, frost the sides of the cake. Again, don't worry about it being perfect, no one will see this anyway it's just glue for the candy.

*Headache reducing tip!* I wish I had done this, it would have looked just as cute but with way less stress. Spread 3/4 of the green frosting on top of the cake. With a spaghetti tip, pipe in some clumps of grass to hide the candy eggs in. I did the whole top as grass and I blew out two frosting bags and it took me an hour. Sigh. Massive headache. Also, do the grass first to avoid getting green all over the side of the fence. Oh well, I know for next time now!
Unwrap the Kit Kat bars and line them up against the side of the cake to look like a fence. I did break mine in half before doing this to move around the round cake more easily.

Place the candy eggs and chocolate bunnies on the 'grass' on top. CAREFULLY pull out the wax paper. Hold against the cake with one hand and slowly pull with the other. You don't want to undo all that work.
This cake (without piping an 8 inch round of grass, blah) took me about an hour and a half. Including baking time, cooling time, and decorating time. Awesome! If you have an extra hour to spare and several piping bags you don't mind losing, go ahead and grass the entire top of the cake :D
For a super sweet presentation, find a pretty yellow or green ribbon and tie it around the cake with a big ol' bow in front. 


What awesome desserts and treats did you all make for Easter?

As American as...Pear Pie?

It sounds strange, I know. The other day I found myself in need of a quick dessert, and as I had two apples and two pears, I thought to myself "Self, why not a pie?" But I knew I didn't have enough apples for a whole pie. Out of luck. Or was I? Pears have a very similar texture and slightly sweeter flavor than apples, and if I mixed some in with the apples no one would be able to tell. Right? Absolutely. So while I was running around my newly renovated pantry (thanks Big Bear!), I was trying to think of what flavor profile to use in a pear pie. Hmmm, cinnamon and nutmeg, standard for apple pie, check. Ginger? Ooooh, two kinds of ginger? YES PLEASE! So this is the story, all about how, the apple pie got flipped, turned upside down. And mixed with pears.
I didn't get a picture in before my coworkers started to devour it. Sorry...

Super Flaky Pie Crust
1 C butter (softened)
1 C flour
1 t salt
1/4 C water (cold)

Apple-Pear Pie Filling
2 medium apples
2 medium firm pears
1/4 C sugar
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1 t ground ginger
2 T crystallized ginger
4 T flour
2 t caramel extract/sauce

Crumbly Topping
1/2 C butter (softened)
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C flour

Start with the pie crust (if you aren't using a pre-made dough. I won't tell anyone if you are). In your mixer cream the butter with itself. Slowly add in the salt, then the flour. If you use salted butter, omit the extra salt. Slooowly add the water (you may not use the entire 1/4 C, or you might need more.) Once the dough will more or less come together with pressure from your hands, you'll want to stop with the water. Place the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap and wrap tightly into a ball. Refrigerate for up to an hour. I usually just stick it in there while the oven is pre-heating and I'm getting my filling together.

For the filling. Peal the apples and pears. I usually slice mine into quarters, core it, then each quarter into thirds, then each third into chunks (usually 1/3 to 1/4 of each slice). Put all that yummylicious fruit into a big bowl and add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger, flour, and caramel extract/sauce. Don't add the crystallized ginger here. Preheat the oven to 375.

By now your dough should have rested enough. If it hasn't been in the fridge for at least 30 minutes go grab yourself a cocktail and come back later. Now it should be between 30-60 minutes. Flour a flat surface, such as a counter or a silpat mat. Flour a rolling pin and start rolling out one big pie circle. Don't worry about uneven edges, you'll cut those off after it's in the pan. The dough should be about 1/4 inch thick, and about 12-15 inches across. Spray and flour a pie pan. Flip the pie pan on top of the rolled out dough. Using your hands to help, or a spatula, get under the dough and push it into the pan while turning right side up. Yay! You're almost there! Mold the dough to the shape of the pie pan, allowing the excess dough to hang off the edges. Take a butter knife, or any other non-sharp knife, and cut the excess off. Reserve that for a few minutes from now. Using a fork, prick the bottom of the pie dough. This allows steam to escape during the baking process so your crust doesn't go all weird shapes on you and ends up tender and flaky. Pour the filling into the pan, spread around evenly. Now you get to sprinkle the crystallized ginger on top of the apple/pear mixture.

For the topping, cream together the brown sugar and butter. Add the flour. Drop globs of it all of the top of the pie. Mmmm...globs.

With the reserved dough, roll it out again. Again, about 1/4 inch thick. Go grab a cute little cookie cutter. I used a ducky for the upcoming Easter holiday. Place the cutout dough around the edge of the pie.
Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes and then lower the heat to 325 for the last 30 minutes. If the crust starts to brown too much, use a crust guard or some foil around the edges.

What other sorts of strange pie combinations have you come up with?