Chocolate Mint Cake (Movie Clapper Cake)

This post originally appeared on my other blog in 2013, but since I am no longer updating that one, I am researching here!

This cake was for a friend’s 9 year old’s birthday party.  My friend always throws gorgeous Pinterest-worthy parties that I completely envy.

So for her son, she turned her den into a movie theater, complete with all of the concessions 9 year old boys could ever hope for.

No Bake Acorn Cookies

Do you have your Thanksgiving menu all set?  Well, if you need a small and easy dessert option, I’ve got you covered!  These little acorns come together in a flash  plus they’re super cute (and tasty!)

One Pot Caprese Chicken & Rice

*Disclosure: I received a product to sample from ­­­­­Book Blends.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Today I’m sharing my third post sponsored by Book Blends.  Book (and TV and Music) Blends take high-quality spice mixtures and pair them with catchy popular book, TV, and music titles.  These make great gifts or are just plain fun to have around.

My first post was Game of Scone (Black Onyx Cocoa Powder) with which I made Chocolate Pumpkin Protein Muffins.  Then I use Where the Mild Zings Are (Chili Powder) to make Honeymoon Tacos.

Today’s recipe features The Marvelous Mrs. Basil (Organic Basil) inspired by the TV show, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Muffin Tin Cinnamon Rolls

 

You guys!  I read the book for the bi-monthly Cook the Books Club pick -- ages ago!  I chose and made my recipe -- ages ago!  Do you think I remembered to actually finish my post and share it until now?  Nope!

A vacation for a wedding, worries over pandemic (we’re all fine), and an unexpected trip to say a final good-bye really threw me for a loop! Thankfully, I remembered just in time (as I was going through photos to edit).

So here we are!  This month’s Cook the Books Club pick is hosted by Simona at Briciole. She chose The Secret, Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams.   Here’s my GoodReads review:

The Secret, Book, & Scone Society by Ellery Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't typically like novels in which a regular citizen fancies themselves an investigator and goes about solving a murder (usually impeding law enforcement along the way). This book was not that.

In this novel, law enforcement is corrupt, necessitating our regular citizens to take action. Our main character, Nora goes a little too vigilante toward to end, but overall, the book was capivating and well-written.

View all my reviews

So what to make for this challenge?  There were so many ideas!  The most obvious was scones (I nearly made a chocolate comfort scone), however many bakery items made an appearance in this story and circumstances presented themselves for cinnamon rolls.

It all starts with Spud, who has very discerning tastes.  And by that I mean that he refuses to eat school lunch and insists on bringing a lunch from home almost every day.(I’ll take it as a compliment - he loves his mama’s cooking!)

Rewind back a couple months and we’re going through the monthly lunch menu seeing if there’s anything he’ll eat (one meal: taco in a bag), then I see him start deliberating…

There, at the end of the month, breakfast for lunch, including an egg and cheese omelet and cinnamon roll.

He tells me that he wants to eat school lunch that day.  But mom knows her son (and had lunch duty at his school three times a week) and I know that the only reason he wants school lunch is so he can have that cinnamon roll (there is no way on earth he’ll eat an omelet, which means he’ll have a cinnamon roll for lunch...that’s a hard no from me).

So I told him no.  And he marked it as a cold lunch with a sad face and told all his classmates how his mom was making him have cold lunch on cinnamon roll day.

So I gave in...slightly.

I gave him a balanced meal (cold chicken, grapes, and bell peppers) with a homemade cinnamon roll for a treat.

I wanted to experiment with baking these in a muffin tin with the purpose of sending these in the cold lunch.  Mission accomplished!  The cinnamon rolls were delicious as ever and easy to pack in a lunch, making me no loner the meanest mom ever (especially since he got to bring a cinnamon roll for a couple days in a row!)

Muffin Tin Cinnamon Rolls 

Dough

1 cup warm water (around 110 degrees F)

1 packages (2 ¼ tsp) active dry yeast

2 ½ tablespoons sugar

2 ½ tablespoons softened butter 

1 egg

½ tsp salt

3 ¼ cups all purpose flour, divided

Filling

¼ cup butter, very soft

½ - ¾ cup brown sugar

2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Frosting

¼ cup powdered sugar

¼ teaspoon vanilla

1-2 tablespoons milk

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water, yeast, sugar, butter, egg, salt, and 1 cup of flour.  Beat with the paddle attachment until mostly smooth, about 2 minutes.

Switch to the dough hook and gradually add the remaining flour.  Knead with the dough hook on medium-low speed until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.  If the dough is sticky, add up to 2 tablespoons additional flour.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a couple times to form a smooth ball.  Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover lightly with plastic wrap.  Put in a warm place to rise until the dough is light and doubled; about 1 hour.

Punch the dough down.

Roll the dough into a large rectangle and spread the butter all over the surface of the dough, keeping about ½-inch away from the edges.  Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar and cinnamon, then, starting from the long end, roll into a tight cylinder.

To cut into evenly sized rolls, use a strip of unflavored dental floss (or a sharp knife) to cut the dough log in half.  Then cut the half in half.  Last, cut each of the quarters into thirds.  You should end up with 12 rolls.

Arrange the rolls in a lightly greased 12-cup muffin tin.

Cover the pan lightly with a damp kitchen towel and set aside to rise for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Once the rolls are light and airy, place then into the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tops are browned.

Remove from the oven and cool slightly.

Meanwhile, make the frosting by whisking together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth.  Place in a piping bag or zipper bag with one corner cut and drizzle the frosting over the cinnamon rolls.  Serve warm.

Bangers and Baked Beans

 It’s time for this month’s Food ‘n Flix, hosted by my real life friend, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm.  She chose the movie, Knives Out.  

I absolutely loved the movie.  It was a quirky, weird (in a good way) mystery, reminiscent of the 80’s film, Clue.  Plus it was very well cast.  Being me, I don’t remember the names of any of the actors or characters, but suffice to say, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

50% Wheat Soft Sandwich Bread

 Even though I’m not always blogging consistently, I am always cooking (you should see how many posts are in my “to-do” pile...oops).  I often go back to my tried and true recipes time and time again.  But then, I start tweaking them, just a bit, and start settling in to a new version of a favorite.

Take Soft & Chewy Italian Bread for instance.  I go back to that post constantly.  Sometimes I make it as written (because it is super delicious that way), but more often I use the adaptation below.

Military Cake

This post first appeared on my other blog in 2016.  I'm slowly migrating all posts to this blog.

I made this cake for a good friend’s graduation from officer school.