Watercolor Baby Shower Cookies If you saw my last post, you know I’ve got babies on the brain 😉 These watercolor baby shower cookies were inspired by a set of the prettiest paper doilies that I spotted at Micheal’s craft store a few weeks … Continue reading → The post Watercolor Baby Shower Cookies appeared first on SweetAmbs. http://ift.tt/eA8V8J SweetAmbs

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Baby Gender Reveal Cookies (again!) A few months ago, I made set of baby gender reveal cookies for a friend of mine (you can see those here). This time, I’m the one who’s expecting, so I made a set for myself! I was so excited to share these … Continue reading → The post Baby Gender Reveal Cookies (again!) appeared first on SweetAmbs. http://ift.tt/eA8V8J SweetAmbs

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Berry Crisp Ice Cream A berry crisp with ice cream is one of my favorite summer desserts. Berry Crisp Ice Cream is the perfect way to get it all in one. Fresh berries are one of my favorite things about summer, especially here in Oregon where we have so many to choose from. They are my favorite summer dessert. I love having my own little berry patch in my backyard – we’ve got strawberries, marionberries and blueberries. Those berries hardly ever make it into the house though as we seem to consume them all right in the garden. Lucky for me I have plenty of farmer’s markets close by with an ample supply of Oregon berries. I love making berry cobblers, fruit pizzas, and topping pavlovas with them. Not to be forgotten is the berry crisp, yummy berries topped with a crunchy crisp topping. No berry crisp is complete though without ice cream. Well, today’s recipe has taken those two things – berry crisp and ice cream and put it all into one dessert. It is one stop shopping. Can I just tell you, this berry crisp ice cream is amazing!!! I started with my basic vanilla ice cream base that I use for most of my ice creams. It’s great because there are no eggs in it and there is no need to cook it first. Having to cook it and let it cool just takes too much time when that ice cream craving hits! While the ice cream was churning I used a combination of blackberries and raspberries to create a berry syrup. After boiling the berries with some sugar I put it through a strainer to get rid of the seeds. I like a little seed and texture though, so after straining, I added half the seeds back in. Then the streusel part. This is a combination of butter, flour, brown sugar and old fashioned oats (don’t use the quick oats) Mix it all together so it resembles small pebbles and spread on a baking sheet. Bake at 305 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until toasted and browned. Stir several times during baking so it doesn’t burn. Allow it to cool. Try not to eat it all before you get it into the ice cream! Then you are going to layer the ice cream and the cooled syrup and the streusel topping into a container. Put it in the freezer and allow it to harden up. Then all you have left to do is dish yourself up a big bowl full of this berry goodness. Grab a spoon and dig in. It’s the perfect combination of ice cream, berry and crunchy streusel topping. Berry Crisp Ice Cream Print Prep time 40 mins Total time 40 mins Author: Leigh Anne Wilkes Recipe type: Dessert Serves: 1½ qts. Ingredients 1½ C whole milk 1½ C sugar ¼ tsp salt 1½ C half & half 1½ Tbsp pure vanilla (use the good stuff) 2 C whipping cream Berry Syrup 2 cups of berries (I used half blackberry and half raspberry) 1 cup granulated sugar Streusel Topping ½ cup butter, chilled ¾ cup all purpose flour ½ cup packed light brown sugar ¼ tsp salt ¾ cup old fashioned oats (not quick oats) Instructions Ice Cream Mix together all ingredients and pour into 2 qt. ice cream maker. Follow manufacturer's directions. Berry Sauce Add berries and sugar into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Boil for about 8-10 minutes, smashing the berries to help break them down. Cool slightly and then push through a fine mesh strainer. Add back in half the seeds if desired Streusel Topping Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all ingredients except for oats together using a pastry blender or fingers to work in butter. Mixture will resemble small pebbles. Add in oats and stir to combine Spread on baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until it begins to brown. Stir several times to prevent burning. Cool. After ice cream is processed layer, put a layer of ice cream in a container, then a layer of berry and then streusel and repeat. Place in freezer to harden up. Notes Berry Sauce and Streusel topping adapted from The Bitesized Baker 3.5.3208 Author information Leigh Anne Hi – I’m Leigh Anne! I have been a homebased mom for 30 years since my first baby boy was born! I love working with women and helping to inspire them to achieve their goals and dreams while still maintaining motherhood and family as their number one priority. I blog about everything I enjoy – creating treats and meals in my kitchen, spending time in my garden, entertaining and party planning, reading, self improvement and tips and ideas on style and fashion. | Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest | Continue reading Berry Crisp Ice Cream. This post is from your homebased mom. If you are not reading it from our feed, it has been STOLEN. Please contact Leigh Anne to let us know. Enjoy the posts.

Unicorn Cookie Time-lapse! A few days ago, I posted a photo on Instagram of a bunch of cookie cutters I recently got from Ann Clark Cookie Cutters. Here’s a quick video of what I did with the unicorn shape! Here’s what you’ll need to decorate unicorn … Continue reading → The post Unicorn Cookie Time-lapse! appeared first on SweetAmbs. http://ift.tt/eA8V8J SweetAmbs

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No Fry Fried Ice Cream}Kids Can Cook Happy National Ice Cream Day! This No Fry Fried Ice Cream is the perfect way to celebrate and it’s totally kid friendly because there is no frying involved. Did you know there was a National Ice Cream Day? Well, at our house we like to think of every day as National Ice Cream Day! So in honor one of my favorite holidays, I have a fun post for you today. I invited my little friend Addy to come over and help me make some kid friendly no fry fried ice cream. One of my favorite desserts at a Mexican restaurant is fried ice cream but making it at home just seems a little overwhelming – how do you fry ice cream? Well today I have a fun no fry version that the kids are going to love making and eating because it involves two of their favorite food groups – ice cream and sugar cereal! Truth be told, the adults are going to love this too. What’s your favorite cereal?? I had a few cereals to choose from – Rice Krispies, Cocoa Krispies, Fruity Pebbles, Captain Crunch and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. You will need to smash up the larger cereals like the Captain Crunch and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. This is a fun activity for the kids to do in the kitchen. They can choose their favorite cereal and make their own serving of no fry fried ice cream. I prescooped the ice cream ahead of time and then put them in the freezer so they were nice and firm. The next step is to choose your favorite cereal – fruity pebbles anyone? Place a 1/2 cup of cereal along with a tablespoon of melted butter and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar in a bowl and stir to combine. Make sure your hands are clean because it is much easier to do this next step with your hands versus a spoon. Put the ice cream into the cereal and turn to coat. Push in on the cereal so it sticks good. You can put the ice cream back in the freezer at this point to firm up a bit if you want but if your ice cream was nice and hard it probably won’t be necessary. It will be ready to eat so just place the cereal covered ice cream on a plate and then you are ready to garnish! We added some whipped cream and some strawberry syrup to our Fruity Pebble No Fry Fried Ice Cream! Just watch for the smiles! Another favorite combo was Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal with caramel syrup. And truth be told, I’m a big fan of Captain Crunch too! My newphew introduced me to a Captain Crunch milkshake when we were in Bear Lake and it is quite tasty! When Addy’s family came to pick her up we shared with her brothers. They were pretty excited about the whipped cream! Making kid friendly no fry fried ice cream is the perfect way to celebrate just about anything, especially National Ice Cream Day! No Fry Fried Ice Cream}Kids Can Cook Print Prep time 10 mins Total time 10 mins Author: Leigh Anne Wilkes Recipe type: Dessert Serves: 1 serving Ingredients 1 scoop ice cream, vanilla or flavor of choice ½ cup favorite cereal, crushed if needed 1 Tbsp butter, melted 2 Tbsp brown sugar whipped cream chocolate, strawberry and/or caramel topping Instructions Scoop ice cream and place on baking sheet and place in freezer to firm up. Put ½ cup of cereal, melted butter and brown sugar into a bowl and stir to combine Coat frozen ice cream ball with cereal mixture. Refreeze if needed Garnish with whipped cream and syrup of choice. 3.5.3208 Author information Leigh Anne Hi – I’m Leigh Anne! I have been a homebased mom for 30 years since my first baby boy was born! I love working with women and helping to inspire them to achieve their goals and dreams while still maintaining motherhood and family as their number one priority. I blog about everything I enjoy – creating treats and meals in my kitchen, spending time in my garden, entertaining and party planning, reading, self improvement and tips and ideas on style and fashion. | Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest | Continue reading No Fry Fried Ice Cream}Kids Can Cook. This post is from your homebased mom. If you are not reading it from our feed, it has been STOLEN. Please contact Leigh Anne to let us know. Enjoy the posts.

Meringue Cookies with Sugar Stamps! Have you heard of Sugar Stamps? Dotty of Sugar Dot Cookies sent me a few designs to try out and I am in love! I’ve been on a meringue kick lately and these have really upped my game. — When … Continue reading → The post Meringue Cookies with Sugar Stamps! appeared first on SweetAmbs. http://ift.tt/eA8V8J SweetAmbs

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Root Beer Float Ice Cream Enjoy some rootbeer float ice cream – a fun summer treat!I love a good root beer float. It is one of my favorite summer treats and always reminds me of my childhood when we would go to the drive in and get a root beer freeze which is basically a blended root beer float. When we were in Bear Lake a few weeks ago we had a lot of milk shakes and my flavor of choice all week was a root beer milk shake. When I got home I decided to make a batch of root beer float ice cream. Basically a frozen root beer shake. I like to use root beer extract in my root beer freezes and in my root beer ice cream, it gives you a better and stronger root beer flavor than just regular root beer. I think a good root beer freeze needs to be nice and frosty and this ice cream gets a nice frosty texture to it. I decided to add in some meringue cookies I had on hand and it gives the ice cream a great texture and added flavor. The meringue maintains some of it’s crunch and doesn’t get too soft. The combination with the root beer ice cream is yummy! You can definitely make it without the meringue cookies too but I always enjoy a bit of texture in my ice cream as long as it’s not nuts. I don’t like nuts in my ice cream. I used my 2 quart Cuisinart ice cream maker. I’ve been keeping it busy this summer – remember the yummy banana ice cream and cinnamon toast crunch ice cream I’ve shared recently!? After the ice cream is processed I always store my ice cream in my Tovolo ice cream container. It keeps the root beer float ice cream at the perfect consistency for easy scooping and eating. Root Beer Float Ice Cream Print Prep time 5 mins Cook time 30 mins Total time 35 mins Author: Leigh Anne Wilkes Recipe type: Dessert Serves: 2 qt Ingredients 1 cup sugar 2 cups whole milk 2 cups whipping cream 1 tsp vanilla 1½ tsp root beer concentrate 1 cup of crushed meringue cookies Instructions Mix all ingredients together except for meringue cookies. Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturers directions When ice cream has set up, stir in meringue cookie pieces and then store in freezer to harden. 3.5.3208 Author information Leigh Anne Hi – I’m Leigh Anne! I have been a homebased mom for 30 years since my first baby boy was born! I love working with women and helping to inspire them to achieve their goals and dreams while still maintaining motherhood and family as their number one priority. I blog about everything I enjoy – creating treats and meals in my kitchen, spending time in my garden, entertaining and party planning, reading, self improvement and tips and ideas on style and fashion. | Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest | Continue reading Root Beer Float Ice Cream. This post is from your homebased mom. If you are not reading it from our feed, it has been STOLEN. Please contact Leigh Anne to let us know. Enjoy the posts.

Ballerina Cookies I had so much fun making these pretty ballerina cookies! — Here’s what you’ll need for this project: Roll-out cookie dough (use your favorite recipe or get mine in the tutorial shop) Plaque cookie cutter Flood consistency royal icing Medium … Continue reading → The post Ballerina Cookies appeared first on SweetAmbs. http://ift.tt/eA8V8J SweetAmbs

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The Best Caramel Cake The secret to a good caramel cake is all in the frosting. The frosting for this one is amazing! I have been on a quest for the perfect caramel cake for years. I posted my first version here. You see, when my husband was a child his favorite cake was a white cake with caramel frosting. I’m pretty sure his mom just used a white cake mix and topped it with homemade caramel frosting. I have the recipe somewhere and I’ve made it a few times. A caramel cake is really all about the frosting. It has the base of a nice, light, fluffy yellow or white cake but the frosting is the star of the show but it definitely needs a good cake to let it shine. I’ve experimented with lots of from scratch cakes and I’ve finally found one that is everything a cake should be. Light, fluffy, tender, moist and flavorful. It is the perfect base for a great caramel cake. I used Bob Red Mill Super Fine Cake Flour to give the cake amazing texture. Cake flour has less protein than regular all purpose flour and that helps give the cake a lighter and more airy texture. It does make a difference and it’s worth the effort to buy and use cake flour. Now for the frosting. I basically eat cake so I can have frosting. It is my favorite part of the cake and this caramel cake had lots of frosting goodness. I used 3- 8 inch cake pans for this cake. After baking and cooling, be sure and brush off as much of the crumbs on the outside of the cake as possible, it makes frosting easier. I love using this cake turn table to frost my cakes. It makes it so easy to turn the cake as you frost it. And the non slip mat keeps the cake in place. I also use a cardboard round underneath the cake to it is easy to remove from the turntable and place on my serving plate. I also love using an offset spatula to frost my cakes. I am definitely not a professional cake decorator so it may not look perfect but it tastes pretty perfect!I took this cake to our neighborhood 4th of July potluck and it got lots of oohs and aahs and it received multiple thumbs up! The frosting is made with butter, butter and more butter just the way frosting should be. It also uses dark brown sugar, evaporated milk, vanilla and powdered sugar. Unlike many caramel forstings this one doesn’t need to be cooked for long periods of time. It’s cooked in the microwave for a few minutes and then into the mixer. It makes a generous amount of frosting so don’t be stingy with those layers. Celebrate summer with a delicious caramel cake. Caramel Cake Print Prep time 30 mins Cook time 25 mins Total time 55 mins Author: Leigh Anne Wilkes Recipe type: Dessert Serves: 12 servings Ingredients 1 cup butter, softened 3¼ cups Bob's Red Mill cake flour 1 tablespoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 2½ cups sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 4 eggs, room temperature 1¼ cups milk (I used whole milk) Frosting 1 cup butter, divided 2 cups dark brown sugar ½ cup evaporated milk 1½ tsp vanilla 6 cups powdered sugar Instructions Preheat oven to 350˚F. Spray three 8-inch pans generously with baking spray and flour. Cut circles of parchment paper or wax paper to fit pans and place one in the bottom of each pan. Combine cake flour, baking powder, and salt together; set aside. (If you are using the extra fine cake flour you won't need to sift the flour, if not put the flour, baking powder and salt through a sifter.) Beat butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and then eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add flour mixture and milk alternately in 3 batches, beating until smooth after each addition. Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake until golden, 25-30 minutes. Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes; invert cakes onto a cooling rack; let cool completely. Brush off crumbs from sides and top of cake. Place one cake layer on a plate or cake stand. Add icing and spread to cover. Repeat with remaining layers. Frost entire cake with a generous layer of icing. Frosting Place ½ cup butter, brown sugar and evaporated milk into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, stir. Return to microwave and cook on high for 2-3 more minutes or until the mixture is smooth and no longer gritty. Can also be done in a saucepan on the stovetop. Heat until ingredients are combined and no longer gritty. Cool mixture for 15 minutes. Place in mixer and add in powdered sugar and mix on low until incorporated. Turn to medium high and mix for another minute. Add in ½ cup of softened butter and mix on medium high for 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Frosting should be a nice spreadable consistency. Add more milk if too stiff or more sugar if too thin. Frost cake. Notes Cake Recipe from Saveur 3.5.3208 Author information Leigh Anne Hi – I’m Leigh Anne! I have been a homebased mom for 30 years since my first baby boy was born! I love working with women and helping to inspire them to achieve their goals and dreams while still maintaining motherhood and family as their number one priority. I blog about everything I enjoy – creating treats and meals in my kitchen, spending time in my garden, entertaining and party planning, reading, self improvement and tips and ideas on style and fashion. | Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest | Continue reading The Best Caramel Cake. This post is from your homebased mom. If you are not reading it from our feed, it has been STOLEN. Please contact Leigh Anne to let us know. Enjoy the posts.

Coconut Mango Ice Cream Coconut Mango Ice Cream http://ift.tt/29fykEY Home Cooking Adventure RSS Feed

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Ice Cream in a Bag Making their own ice cream in a bag is a perfect summer activity for the kids. Two summers ago I shared Bread in a Bag as part of my Kids Can Cook series. It was a huge hit and a video of the process recently went viral on Facebook! You can check out the video in the post here, just scroll down. This summer, I thought it would be fun to do Ice Cream in a Bag. It’s as much fun as Bread in a Bag and what is more fun than making your own ice cream on a warm summer day! I enlisted the help of my little friend Brooke. She is in my husband’s Primary class at church and she was more than willing to help me out when she heard ice cream was involved and she got a ride home in Ruby. The supplies are pretty simple, a large gallon size zippered plastic bag and a sandwich size plastic bag. You will also need half and half (a combination of whole milk and whipping cream), some sugar, vanilla, chocolate syrup, ice and rock salt. The first step is to combine the milk, sugar and vanilla into the large gallon size bag. You can leave it like this if you are a vanilla fan but if you are a chocolate fan, like Brooke, add in some chocolate syrup!She then smooshed the bag around to get all the ingredients combined and the chocolate syrup nice and mixed in. Smooshing is fun, just make sure the bag is securely zipped and get as much air out as possible. Fill your larger bag full of crushed ice, about half way full and then pour in the rock salt. Place the smaller bag into the larger bag and again, remove the air and zip it closed. Then comes the fun part, for about 5-10 minutes shake the bag! Your weather temperature will effect how quickly your ice cream sets up. If it’s really hot out, it might take a bit longer. Have fun with this part. Place a little catch with the bag but just make sure you catch it! And you can just shake and shake. If the bag is too cold to hold, just wrap a towel around it. Once the ice cream is set up just squeeze it out of the bag into a bowl. You can always place the smaller bag into the freezer for a bit to help it harden up more if you’d like but we found ours did just fine by shaking it. Of course the addition of some sprinkles is required. And then just add a spoon! It is so yummy and so fun to make. Ice cream in about ten minutes. The amount is the perfect single serving size. Ice Cream in a Bag Print Prep time 5 mins Cook time 10 mins Total time 15 mins Author: Leigh Anne Wilkes Recipe type: Dessert Serves: 1 serving Ingredients 1 gallon zippered plastic bag 1 sandwich size zippered plastic bag ½ cup half and half 1 Tbsp sugar ½ tsp vanilla 2 Tbsp chocolate syhrup ⅓ cup rock salt ice Instructions Fill gallon bag half way with crushed ice. Fill sandwich bag with half & half, sugar, vanilla and chocolate syrup. Smoosh to combine ingredients. Zip bag closed removing as much air as possible. Add rock salt into large bag with ice. Place smaller bag with liquid inside larger bag and remove as much air as possible and zip closed. Shake or toss bag for 5-10 minutes until the ice cream sets up. Remove smaller bag from larger bag and squeeze ice cream into a bowl. Enjoy! 3.5.3208 Author information Leigh Anne Hi – I’m Leigh Anne! I have been a homebased mom for 30 years since my first baby boy was born! I love working with women and helping to inspire them to achieve their goals and dreams while still maintaining motherhood and family as their number one priority. I blog about everything I enjoy – creating treats and meals in my kitchen, spending time in my garden, entertaining and party planning, reading, self improvement and tips and ideas on style and fashion. | Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest | Continue reading Ice Cream in a Bag. This post is from your homebased mom. If you are not reading it from our feed, it has been STOLEN. Please contact Leigh Anne to let us know. Enjoy the posts.

Crackling Meringue Cookies for The 4th of July! These meringue cookies are delicious on their own, but adding Pop Rocks makes them crackle when you bite into them! They’re like a party in your mouth… perfect for a Fourth of July celebration!— Here’s what you’ll need for this … Continue reading → The post Crackling Meringue Cookies for The 4th of July! appeared first on SweetAmbs. http://ift.tt/eA8V8J SweetAmbs

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