Waving cupcakes make kids smile and have blue teeth!

Wave cupcakes were on the menu for an event for girls club as our them has been Walk on Water.
I found a video that had 5 different shades of blue water, big sugar clams with pearls, graham cracker crumbs for beach - this is what I have. I realized my ability to make different blues wasn't happening and my time also wasn't going to work for 5 different blues. When I shopped for the supplies the store didn't have graham crackers and until that night in bed I forgot I was going to use some from home, totally forgot. You know what? These were great, the girls loved them, they knew what they were and enjoyed them all the same!  (Note: these are blue so my no blue food rule still applies, but kids LOVE blue food, why?  I have no idea.)

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature (3 sticks)
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 - 4 Tbsp heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, using the paddle or whisk attachment whip butter on medium-high speed (if using whisk attachment whip on high speed) until nearly white and very fluffy, about 7 - 8 minutes, frequently scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add in powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract and mix on low speed until blended, then increase speed to medium and beat until very light and fluffy, about 5 - 6 minutes, frequently scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Immediately spread over cooled cake or cupcakes.

One giant puff is easier than a bunch of small puffs

I love to bake, sometimes I think I'm pretty good at it. Something I cannot figure out are cream puffs. They've brought me to tears on more than one occasion. I just cannot figure them out. I saw this cake version and decided to give it a try. It was honestly very easy and the pan of puff was very impressive coming out of the oven! I filled it will pudding and cool whip, topped with chocolate syrup and our guests couldn't get enough!
Something I tried with this recipe that I failed at something else recently - mix your pudding and milk together first before adding to the cream cheese... trust me, it will mix in smoother and your filling will be perfect. No weird lumps of pudding mix or cream cheese floating around in there.

Cream Puff Cake Recipe
½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
2 boxes instant vanilla pudding mix, 3.4 ounce each
2 ½ cups milk
8 ounce cream cheese softened
8 ounce Cool Whip thawed
¼ cup chocolate syrup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 13×9 baking dish with baking spray. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, add the butter and water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Remove from heat and whisk in flour.
Pour flour mixture into a mixing bowl and add in eggs one at a time until well blended. Add vanilla extract.
Spread into prepared baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool completely.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the pudding mix and milk until blended. Beat in softened cream cheese (for about 3-4 minutes).
Pour into cooled crust. Top with cool whip. Drizzle with chocolate syrup.
Refrigerate for at least one hour. ENJOY.

A float or a punch - either make happy faces

"Should we serve punch?"
"Oh that would be nice!"
We were having an event for our girls club that included the prayer partners and girls - and lots of fun themed treats. I was trying to see what else we should serve and punch was brought up. I asked my mom for her punch recipe. "Oh my mother always did the punch and I don't have any of those recipes." Hrm... She's my go to for things like this. So off to the internet. The thing about almost all punch recipes is I'm allergic to something in all of them. I finally found this recipe and figured it was workable and ingredients would be easy to find, I mean... maybe... I subbed orange sherbet for the rainbow because I could only find orange.
Oh... Ok... here's the challenge... who has a punch bowl anymore in the year of our Lord 2026... no one I tell you... no one. Could I have gone and found one at Goodwill? Probably but then I'm stuck storing a punch bowl! I found a big bowl at church and what I thought was a big glass bowl at home. When I brought mine to church, suddenly it looked small, but it worked!
I didn't get any pictures of the actual bowls of punch because I was running around the whole night but the girls loved the punch and one even told me how much she loved the "float". Huh... yeah, she wasn't wrong, it was very much like a float! I recreated it for my family so they could have a try and they agreed it was pretty tasty!

Rainbow Sherbet Punch
Sprite
Hawaiian Punch
Rainbow Sherbet

Mix equal parts Sprite with Hawaiian Punch. Then, top it with the rainbow sherbet ice cream and serve.
Note that these ingredients are best served cold, so its a good idea to chill the punch and sprite before using.

Measure your dough balls, or don't - whatever

Easter Sunday is my holiday to host for my family, we love it. We get to have an egg hunt, have a ham, and enjoy some fresher foods with spring in mind. I decided these dinner rolls looked pretty good to try for Easter. I was able to make them the day before and put them in the fridge over night for a slow second rise. What I should have done was measured my dough and weighed each doughball. It's certainly not what I actually did. We had some giant rolls and some cute rolls. Rolls for everyone to pick a size. I took them out of the fridge in the morning before we left for church and set them on top of the warm oven (with ham inside) to come to temp and rise a bit more, they baked up beautifully, add some butter and big flakey salt on top and there you have beautiful rolls for Easter or whatever meal you are enjoying.

Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls Recipe
3 Tbsp warm water, (115˚F)
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast, (1 packet yeast)
1 cup low-fat milk, warm (105-110˚F)
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted or very soft, plus more for the pan
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp fine sea salt
3 1/2 cups bread flour, divided (add an extra 1/4 cup if needed)
For the Topping:
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided, melted
1 tsp kosher salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 3 Tbsp very warm water (115˚F). Sprinkle the top with 1 packet of yeast, whisk to combine, and let rest uncovered for 7 minutes until foamy on top.
Add warm milk, melted butter, sugar, egg, and salt. Whisk until blended, then gradually whisk in 2 cups of flour then switch to the dough hook attachment and add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour in thirds, letting it incorporate with each addition. Add more flour a little bit at a time until the dough feels moist to the touch, but it shouldn’t stick to clean/dry fingertips.
Knead 10 minutes on speed 2 of a stand mixer, or knead by hand. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl as it kneads and will be smooth and elastic.
Transfer dough to a large oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (90-100˚F) for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in volume.
Transfer dough to a smooth, clean work surface. You should not need any additional flour at this point. Divide the dough into 12 even pieces then divide each piece of dough into 3 small pieces. Cup your hand over each of the small pieces and roll over work surface to form a ball. Butter a 12-count muffin pan and place 3 little balls of dough into each muffin cup.
Oil a sheet of plastic wrap and place the oiled side loosely over the rolls. Let rest in a warm place for 30-45 minutes until visibly puffed. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425˚F with a rack in the center.
Once rolls have risen, brush the tops with 2 Tbsp melted butter and bake in a preheated oven at 425˚F for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. As soon as they are out of the oven, brush with more melted butter and sprinkle with kosher salt. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes and serve warm.

Really crunchy, or worms... no in between

I'm from the Midwest, we enjoy our salads with mayonnaise and Cool Whip. Oh, you want some leafy greens in your salad? You clearly aren't from the Midwest! One of my favorite midwestern salads is Pretzel Magic. Mind you, as a kid I refused to eat this dish that was at almost every monthly birthday celebration on my mom's side of the family. As an adult - I have no idea WHY I didn't try it, it's fantastic! This Strawberry Crackle Salad is a riff on Pretzel Magic. No Jell-O in this salad, and you can add chopped pecans, which I did not mostly because I wasn't sure they'd be appreciated by all my guests. I did use gluten free pretzels since I have some GF family members. The pretzels baked with butter and brown sugar were crunchy, I mean CRUNCHY! Wow. I was worried too crunchy, but everyone agreed they were good. This makes a giant bowl of salad, I sent some home with everyone knowing there was no way we'd get it all eaten. The next day I was told the pretzels had lost their crunchy and had the texture of worms. Um.... gross. So make this and eat it right away. Adjust the ingredients if you want to make a smaller version because it will not keep overnight. But if you like the texture of worms... make it a day ahead, but I'm not sure that's what anyone really wants in life... wormy textured food. Blech!

Strawberry Crackle Salad Recipe
Crust and Topping
2 cups crushed pretzels
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted
Filling
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
16 oz Cool Whip
Fruit
4 cups sliced strawberries

Preheat and Prepare Baking Sheet: Preheat your oven to 400°F (205°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent sticking and for easy cleanup.
Mix Pretzel Topping: In a medium bowl, combine the crushed pretzels, chopped pecans, and brown sugar. Pour the melted butter over the mixture and stir until everything is evenly coated and well combined.
Bake Pretzel Mixture: Spread the pretzel mixture evenly on the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes until the mixture is bubbling and golden. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool completely on the baking sheet before breaking into small pieces.
Prepare Cream Cheese Mixture: In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with the granulated sugar and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy. Gently fold in the Cool Whip until just combined. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the mixture until you are ready to serve.
Assemble the Salad: Just before serving, spread the cream cheese mixture in a serving dish or bowl. Top evenly with the sliced strawberries, then sprinkle the cooled pretzel crunch mixture over the top. Optionally, mix some pretzel crunch into the cream layer or reserve extra for garnish.