I remember eating this as a kid, the fun part is the magical Jello separation. I thought this would be the perfect recipe to go with my baby shower party colors.

While the Broken Glass Jell-o and Layered Jello are gorgeous, this is pretty too in it’s own way, and oh so tasty.

ingredients:
2 large packages (6 oz each) Jell-o (any flavor)
1 packet of unflavored Knox gelatin
4 cups boiling water
half of a container of vanilla ice cream about 3/4 quart

In a large bowl combine the Jell-o, unflavored gelatin and the boiling water. Whisk until dissolved.

Now you want to quickly add the ice cream until it is melted and combined. I’ve found that exactly half of a container works well. Now, they’ve changed the size of these things, believe it or not, so one container of ice cream is now actually 1.5 quarts, it is no longer a half gallon!

Once mixed well, pour into a 9″ x 13″ pan. Refrigerate overnight, cut into squares and serve. If you are doing this for a party, I suggest putting the cut pieces into cupcake liners.

The ice cream will magically float to the top of the jello and you will have a creamy+jello concoction that looks like it took a lot of prep work. GREAT for parties!!

Part of my own personal ‘Iron Chef: Battle lemons’ series.

I have been wanting to make cake with olive oil for some time now, and the abundance of lemons gave me the perfect opportunity because the combination is terrific.

ingredients:
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large lemon (zest and juice)
1 cup flour
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a mini cupcake pan with liners.

Using a microplane, grate your lemon zest directly into the one cup of flour and set aside. I like to sort of infuse my flour when cooking with lemons, to get the mixture going before I even start baking.

In a small bowl, squeeze all the juice out of the lemon and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until thick and pale. On low, slowly add the flour mixture, then the olive oil, and finally the lemon juice.

You will get a beautiful glossy batter. Pour the batter into the prepped baking cups. Bake for 10-15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Once cool and ready to serve, dust the powdered sugar over the tops of the cakes. What you will have a nice moist, perfectly light cake, ideal for an afternoon snack. But my kids like them for breakfast!

Part of my own personal ‘Iron Chef: Battle Lemons’ series.

This is really light and refreshing and freezes really well. You can even hollow out the lemons and reserve it in the shells! But who has time for that. Just eat it.

Ingredients
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
juice of 3 Meyer lemons
zest of one lemon
1 can pineapple chunks, drained

Prep your lemon zest and set aside. Same with the lemon juice.

First make a simple syrup. Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. When the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Place the lemon juice and the pineapple chunks in a blender and puree until smooth. You’ll end up with a foamy, almost smoothie like substance.

Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer. You want just the best stuff, not the gunk. Add the zest and the simple syrup and stir together. Place in the refrigerator and chill until cold.

When you are ready, freeze according to the instructions for your ice cream maker. Scoop into a freezer safe bowl and store in the freezer until you are ready to serve. This sorbet is always soft and scoopable. Great on a HOT summer’s day.

Part of my own personal ‘Iron Chef: Battle Lemons’ series.

This a great side dish and since it’s baked, a little bit healthier. The lemon brings out a refreshing taste in the fries that you wouldn’t expect.

ingredients:
4 baking potatoes
1/8 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons garlic
zest of one lemon

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Wash and pat dry your potatoes. I like the skin on, but if you don’t – go ahead and peel them. Slice the potato into stick-like fries.

Toss all the ingredients in a bowl, and lay it out on a lined baking sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes. That’s it! Couldn’t be easier. You know what goes great with this? LEMON COKE. Honest.

Part of my own personal – ‘Iron Chef: Battle Lemons’ series. I was recently ‘gifted’ with a bag of a zillion lemons. Yes. I counted them. They were very ripe and I needed to work fast, I thought of every single possible dish I could make and ended up with tons of new lemon-y dishes.

This isn’t a fantastically high tech recipe, but you know. Whaddya gonna do. I love Lemon Coke. I order it when I go to old skool soda fountains. I’m retro like that.

ingredients:
1 can of coke
juice of HALF a lemon

Pour a can of coke into a cup. Cut a lemon in half and squeeze the juice in. Stir.

Told you it was a lame recipe. But SO GOOD.

These go GREAT with Lemon Zest French Fries…

I needed a chocolate cut out cookie and made a variation on this Martha recipe. The dough is perfect for rolling and cutting out into any shape. This is a great recipe for a quick cut out cookie. Batman would be proud.

ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Valrhona cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
1 Large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

ganache:
9 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until creamy. Mix in egg and vanilla. Slowly add flour mixture until just combined. Cut dough in half, and wrap them in plastic. Refrigerate about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8 inch thick. You can use any cookie cutter you like, but bat-wiches are pretty awesome.

Space them about 1 inch apart on baking sheets prepped with parchment paper or silpats. If the dough gets too soft, refrigerate, reroll and cut. Bake about 12 minutes. Cool on on wire racks.

To make the ganache, put the chocolate chips in medium bowl. In a saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. Pour over chocolate; let stand 5 minute, then stir until smooth. I like to chill it in the fridge for a bit, until it becomes spreadable. Maybe about an hour. Spread onto bottom of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies.

I had dreams of Girl Scout cookies this year. Dreams of making Thin Mint Ice Cream. Dreams of putting it on top of a cupcake. Dreams of topping it with chocolate. It was a wonderful dream.

You will need 12 chocolate cupcakes for freezing, and some Magic Shell topping.

Thin Mint Ice Cream
ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups milk
3/4 white sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/2 box (1 roll) of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies

In a bowl, mix together the cream, milk, sugar and vanilla. Cover and put in the fridge.

Now when I thought of making this – I wondered if I’d need to add peppermint extract to bring out the mint-i-ness. Turns out the cookies are sooo minty they are just perfect as is.

Rough chop the cookies into small pieces. I don’t suggest using a blender or bashing them in a bag, because they are covered in chocolate you will just get a gooey mess. How do I know? Trust me…Anyway, get them into small pieces.

Turn on your ice cream mixer according to manufacturer’s directions. Pour in your vanilla base.

When it gets near the end of it’s run, carefully add in the chopped cookie pieces. Pour into a freezer safe bowl, and freeze until solid.

When you are ready to serve your cupcakes, pull the frozen chocolate cupcakes out of the bag, top it with a scoop of the ice cream, then pour on the Magic Shell for a nice candy top. I served these at a party and they held up well. The combination was delicious! Just as I had dreamed…

I make a lot of ice cream cupcakes. I don’t like the cake to be too hard, because you don’t want to lose a tooth for god’s sakes. These are really light and fluffy, almost too light and fluffy to eat unless you are planning to freeze them. I’ve found they make a great base cake or cupcake for an ice cream dessert.

ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups Valrhona cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup coffee

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prep a cupcake pan with liners.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine.

Now these will puff up a bit, so I only fill the cups halfway full. You should get 24 cupcakes. Pour the batter into the prepped pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then let them cool on a wire rack.

I often cut off the tops, or hollow out the center just a touch, if I am going to top it with ice cream for ice cream cupcakes but you don’t have to do this. Once cooled, put the cupcakes in a freezer bag and freeze until you need them.

My mom used to make me shaped pancakes on a Sunday morning, and let me tell you, it certainly makes you more interested in eating your breakfast. Here’s how I made these bunny ones for the kids on Easter.

Similar to my cinnamon vanilla waffle recipe, this one for pancakes is just as popular with my kids. Especially when you form them into fun shapes to eat.

ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
1-1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all the ingredients together until just combined. If you need more milk, go for it – just don’t let it get runny. You want to be able to shape these things.

Heat a pan over medium high heat, I like to melt some butter in there for flavor, but you certainly don’t have to. To make the bunny – use a large Tablspoonspoonful of batter and start with the head – making a nice oval shape.

Then use half the Tablespoon and pull up one ear.

Then the other. Once you know the pancake is ready to flip – gently turn it over and you should have a nice little bunny head.

I used small pink heart quinns for the nose and black POKER quinns for the eyes.

Obviously, you can make any shape, but bunnies are easy and fun…and recognizable!!

This is adapted from a Martha Stewart cupcake. I adjusted the flavor a bit and cut the recipe to make 12. This is flavorful just on it’s own, you don’t even need frosting. Wait. Let’s not get crazy.

ingredients:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, softened
1-1/8 cups packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/8 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sift flour, baking powder and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar. Slowly add the eggs, then the vanilla.

Alternate the flour mixture and the buttermilk. Fill each prepped cupcake cup 3/4 full, and bake for 18-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

I put together a little ‘Peeps mise en place’ for the kids to make their own. Now, I adorned these with Peeps in coconut nests for Easter, although they didn’t need it. Just topped with some lovely vanilla buttercream, and this cupcake needs no decoration at all.