Easy Fondant

With an electric mixer, make frosting out of shortning, powdered sugar, a little milk, and vanilla & almond flavoring. Frost your cake/cupcakes so the fondant will stick.
For the fondant, add enough powdered sugar to the previous frosting until it is the consistancy that works best for you. Also add a little more vanilla & almond flavoring so the powdered sugar isn't overpowering in the taste. Then roll it out and cut the shapes you want.
*For an even easier fondant, just purchase a can of premade frosting and add powdered sugar to it until it reaches desired consistancy.

Bundt Cake

1 cake mix
1 small instant pudding
4 eggs
1 cup water
1/2 cup oil
Mix all ingredients together. Pour into well greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let cool 10 mintues & loosen sides before turning over. Glaze.
From the kitchen of Jan Smith

Microwave Butter Toffee

Ingredients:
1-1/3c sugar 1c softened butter
2T water 1T dark corn syrup
1t vanilla 3/4c semi sweet chocolate chips
2/3c chopped walnuts
Directions:
In large microwave-safe bowl mix sugar, butter, water, and corn syrup. Microwave 4 minutes. Stir. Microwave another 6-8 minutes stirring every 2 minutes until thickened and gold in color. Add vanilla. Stir well. Pour into greased 9x13 dish. Spread chocolate chips over hot toffee. Sprinkle walnuts, pressing into melted chocolate. Cool completely. Break into pieces.

Peach Cobbler

Pour 3/4c sugar over 4c sliced peaches. Let stand.
Melt 1/2c butter in casserole dish while preheating oven to 350.
Make a batter of
3/4c sugar
3/4c flour
2tspn baking powder
3/4c milk
pinch of salt

Pour batter over melted butter. Spoon peaches over batter. Bake 1 hour at 350.
*I usually double the batter recipe and bake in a 9x13 dish.

Frosty Orange Dream Squares

40 Nilla Wafers, finely crushed (about 1-1/2 cups)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
2 cups cold milk
2 pkg. (4-serving size each) Jell-O vanilla flavor instant pudding (see note below)
1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip whipped topping, thawed, divided
2 cups orange sherbet, softened

LINE 13x9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Mix wafer crumbs and butter. Press onto bottom of prepared pan; set aside.

ADD milk to dry pudding mixes in medium bowl. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Gently stir in half of the whipped topping. Spoon evenly over crust. Refrigerate 10 min. Add remaining whipped topping to sherbet; stir with wire whisk until well blended. Spoon over pudding layer; cover.

FREEZE at least 3 hours. Use foil handles to remove dessert from pan before cutting into squares to serve. Store leftovers in freezer.

Sports Birthday: Basketball Jersey Cake & Sports Balls Cupcakes

The Cake:
1 cake mix, prepared and baked as directed in 9x13 pan
Trim corners for arm holes and make a neck hole
Frost and decorate Jersey desired color, I did Ethan's blue and added blue sprinkles
Stars: I added powdered sugar to a can of premade frosting until I got the desired consistency to roll it out and used a cookie cutter to make the shapes

The Cupcakes:
Footballs:
Frost cupcake with choclate frosting
Add white frosting for laces
Basketball:
Frost cupcake orange
Add black or chocolate frosting for lines
Baseball:
Frost cupcake white
Add red frosting for laces

Farm Birthday: Tractor Cake & Animal Cupcakes

The Cake:
1 cake mix, prepared and baked as directed-I baked it in a cookie sheet that had deep sides so that I only needed 1 cake mix for the tractor and trailer
Frosting-chocolate, green, yellow, black, white
When frosting cakes I always freeze them first, it makes it a lot easier and the cake doesn't crumble so much with the frosting.
I drew the outline I wanted for the tractor on a pice of paper, then laid it over the cake and cut it out with a knife, then transfered it to the foil-covered cake board.
Toasted coconut for hay bales


The Cupcakes:
Cow:
Frost cupcake white
Add brown spots with chocolate frosting
Black frosting for mouth, eyes, and nostrils
Pink frosting for nose
2 long black sprinkles for horns
Cut a mini-marshmallow in half diagonally, dip cut sides in pink sprinkles for ears

Sheep:
Frost cupcake white
Add a 'Whopper' candy for nose
Black frosting for eyes
Add mini-marshmallows for wool (can cut these in half to make less bulk)

Pig:
Frost cupcake dark pink
Light pink frosting for nose
Black frosting for eyes, mouth, and nostrils
Cut a pink mini-marshmallow in half diagonally and dip cut sides into pink sprinkles (I found the pink mini-marshmallows in the bag of fruit flavored marshmallows) for ears

Chick:
Frost cupcake yellow
Red frosting for whatever that thing is on top of its head (I think this is actually supposed to go under his beak?)
Yellow sprinkles for feathers/wings
Black frosting for eyes
I used and orange sprinkle-covered candy that I cut into a triangle for his beak but you can also use orange frosting

Mountain Dew Apple Rollups

2 granny smith apples peeled and quartered.
2 cans crescent rolls
2 sticks butter – I cut this down
1 ½ cups sugar – I cut this down too
1 tsp vanilla
Cinnamon
1 small can of Mt. Dew

Peel and core apple, cut into 8 slices each.
Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll ( I roll mine out a little)
Wrap pinching ends together – place in a 9X13 sprayed or buttered pan.
Melt butter, then add sugar, vanilla and barely stir. Pour over crescents.
Pour Mt. Dew around edges, sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake 350 for 30 mins.
Serve with ice cream - spoon sauce over top. YUMMY!!

Blueberry Crumb Pie

4 cups blueberries** (washed and drained)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbls. lemon juice
2 Tbls. butter

Stir sugar, cinnamon, and flour together. Coat blueberries with it. Pour into uncooked pie crust. Cut butter (approximately 2 Tbls.) into small pieces and place in the blueberry mixture. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Top with Crumb mixture.

Crumb Mixture
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 stick butter

Cut butter into the flour and sugar and mix together until crumbly.

Cover edge of pie crust with foil and remove 15 minutes before it should be done cooking, Bake at 425 for 35 to 45 minutes.

**Fresh apples or peaches or frozen/fresh blackberries can be substituted for blueberries.

Mini Cheesecake Easter Baskets

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
12 NILLA Wafers
1-1/2 cups BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut, tinted green
36 small jelly beans
12 pieces shoestring licorice (4 inch each)
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; beat just until blended.
PLACE wafer on bottom of each of 12 paper-lined medium muffin cups. Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly over wafers.
BAKE 20 minutes or until centers are almost set. Cool. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Top evenly with coconut and jelly beans just before serving. Bend each licorice piece, then insert both ends into each cheesecake to resemble the handle of a basket. Store leftover cheesecakes in refrigerator.

Cream Cheese Pie

1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Filling:
2 (8oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
2 Eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 tsp. Lemon Juice
3/4 c. Sugar

Topping:
1/2 pint Sour Cream
3 1/2 Tbs. Sugar

Beat together the filling ingredients. Pour into crust. Bake 30-40 minutes at 350-375 degrees, until center doesn't jiggle when slightly shook and lightly brown around the edges. Take out and leave five minutes. Mix sour cream and sugar and pour on top. Bake another five minutes. Cool. Place in refrigerator 5 hours

5-in-1 Bars

Ingredients:
3 C graham cracker crumbs
2/3 C margarine
1/3 C sugar
24 oz milk chocolate chips
3 C coconut
2 cans sweetened condensed milk

Instructions:
1. Mix crumbs with melted butter and sugar.
2. Press crumb mixture on bottom of 15 x 10 cookie sheet.
3. Top with chocolate chips, coconut, then sweet-ened condensed milk.
4. Bake at 350° for about 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cake

1 french vanilla cake mix
1 sm instant french vanilla pudding mix
¾ cup water
2 eggs
½ cup oil
1 cup sour cream
1 c + ½ c. chocolate chips

Mix first five ingredients at medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in sour cream. Then stir in 1 cup chocolate chips. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle ½ cup chocolate chips on top. Bake @ 350 for 30-35 minutes.

[you can really use any combination of cake mix/pudding mix/chips that you want.]

Chocolate Peanut Butter Trifle

1 chocolate cake mix
1 pkg. peanut butter chips
4 1/4 C. cold milk, divided
1/2 C. whipping cream
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 small pkgs. Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix
1 small carton Cool Whip
8 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups


Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour the batter into a greased 13 x 9 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.In a heavy saucepan, combine chips, 1/4 C. milk and 1/2 C. cream. Cook and stir over low heat until chips are melted. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Cool to room temperature. Place the remaining milk in a mixing bowl; beat in pudding mixes on low speed for 2 minutes. Place pudding in the fridge for 3-4 minutes to set up a bit.To assemble, crumble half of the cake into a 4 qt. Trifle bowl or large bowl. Layer with half of the peanut butter sauce, pudding, Cool Whip and ½ of the crumbled Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups; repeat layers ending with Cool Whip and remaining ½ of crumbled Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Texas Sheet Cake

Caramel Apples

1 lb. dark brown sugar
1c. unsalted butter
14oz. sweetned condensed milk
2/3c dark corn syrup
1/3c maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp molasses
1/4tsp salt
Combine all ingredients and heat on stove top at medium/low heat until sugar dissolves-there should be no grittyness from the sugar. Cook at a rolling boil until it reaches 236 degrees stirring constantly and slowly. Pour into metal bowl to cool to 200 degrees.
Wash apples and insert sticks before dipping into caramel. Place dipped apples on a cookie sheet with buttered foil and place in fridge for 15 minutes and let stand for 1 hour before serving. Some caramel may run off the apples but you can press this back onto the apples once the caramel has cooled.
Can roll in sprinkles, chopped nuts, drizzle with melted chocolate, etc.

Apple Crisp-from the kitchen of Dana Williams

Mix in baking pan:
6 apples
1c. flour
1c. sugar
2tsp. cinnamon

Mix and spread over top of first mixture:
2c. oatmeal
2c. brown sugar
2 cubes melted butter

Bake at 325 for 40 minutes.

Easy Chocolate Truffle

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1-1/2 pkg. (12 squares) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
suggested coatings, such as ground PLANTERS Walnuts, unsweetened cocoa, powdered sugar and/or BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut

BEAT cream cheese in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add sugar, mixing until well blended.

ADD melted chocolate and vanilla; mix well. Refrigerate 1 hour or until chilled.

SHAPE into 1-inch balls. Roll in walnuts, cocoa, powdered sugar or coconut. Store in refrigerator.

1.When covering them in chocolate, do it double burner style and melt the chocolate on the stove. It works well, you don't burn it and you can always throw a few more in.
2. White chocolate MUST be melted in the microwave. 1 min. or 30 sec. then stir. Repeat. It's made differently so it behaves differently.
3. Mark them with something on the outside (likes crumbs on top) so you know which are which.
4. You can make them multiple at a time. Get a few people together and each person take a part. We did all or ours in about 3 hours or so.
5. Make the balls SOOO much smaller than you are naturally inclined. If they are small they are bite size and easier to eat.

We also did choc. covered pretzels. We used the small sticks and the put sprinkles on the warm choc.

Easy Oreo Truffles

1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

Make It
MIX 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.

DIP balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.) Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Black Tie Truffles

1 pkg. (6 squares) BAKER'S Bittersweet Chocolate
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 Tbsp. butter
1 tub (7 oz.) BAKER'S White Dipping Chocolate

MICROWAVE bittersweet chocolate, whipping cream and butter in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until chocolate is completely melted, stirring after each minute. Freeze 1-1/2 hours or until firm.

ROLL into 24 (1-inch) balls; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Freeze 20 min.

MELT white chocolate; use fork to dip in truffles. Return to baking sheet. Drizzle with remaining chocolate or decorate with sprinkles. Refrigerate until firm.