Stupid New Blogger! Oh, & Nutella "Ravioli"

Okay! So, screw new blogger! I updated it before I went out of town LAST week and it didn't post and that post (with pics!) is gone. And now this weeks is gone too. 


So screw it. I am going away (again, guh) and will just be pulling this from the archive for now. Google/blogger/computer savvy people can expect to hear from me in the meantime. Hopefully I can post again soon!


Please enjoy these little treats! And know I sympathsize with you if you too are having a rough (to say the least) adjustment with the new look/functions of blogger.... 


Blogger is both my beloved web tool and my mortal enemy. Grrrr.... anyway! We're moving on to delicious delicious Nutella raviolis! 

If you've ever been to Italy, you know that they have absolutely the best pastries around every corner. I studied in Florence for a semester so, perhaps I have a biase but, if I could live on one food for the rest of my days, I really think it would be anything the small chain "Forno" in Florence cranked out.

Just so...beyond delicious.

In coming back to the states, you become blatantly aware of the fact that bakeries here and bakeries there are very different. Here we have donuts and cakes, there they have pastries and tarts. Sure, there is some overlap. And Italian American bakeries have tiramisu and cannoli. But, I have searched bakeries since being home and have yet to find anyone who has Sfoglia or any of the Nutella treats that were common in italian bakeries and cafe's. 

If you're one of those people who roam the earth unaware of the deliciousness of Nutella... please, take my advice, and go buy a jar today. Just smear it on an Eggo Waffle and be amazed at the pure joy of the taste. 

In italy, Nutella, or rather, hazelnut chocolate spread, is extremely common. They make it themselves or buy it in jars like we do, but unlike us, it's incorporated deeply in their dessert cuisines. 

Sfolgia is a simple square that you could buy for 1 euro that is essentially a layer of flakey, buttery, pastry, then Nutella, topped by more pastry, that you bake so the Nutella becomes more substantial itself and, combined with the pastry, is pure bliss. When i came back home and started cooking up things, I became kind of crazy about trying to recreate this treat.

Lots of batches, attempts, and goings. And this version, these little beauties, are by far the best result to be had yet. 

Made with basically pie crust and nutella alone, they're great pop-able treats. Served with a drizzle of chocolate and some icecream, I am pretty sure these could be considered a sin.

But really, how fun and cute are they?! 

I'm obsessed. And they quench my thirst for italian pastry. Make and Enjoy :)

Nutella Ravioli:

-Pie crust

-Nutella

-1 egg

-powdered sugar (confectioners sugar) for dusting

Lay out your pie crust. Using a glass with a diameter of about two inches or a cookie cutter of similar size, cut yourself some small circles which you lay out on non stick cookie sheets. Dallop a teaspoon of nutella in the center of each disc. Fold over (into half moon shapes) and using a fork, press sides shut. Brush with egg, bake about 10-12 minutes at 350 or until golden brown. Let them cool completely, dust with powder sugar, and serve! 

Pretty much a smash :)

*UPDATE* Featured Here! Go Check it Out :)

Funfetti Cake Balls

Ha, you know what food is fun to eat and NOT Clutzy Cooking Friendly?

Why yes! Yes indeed, it is cake balls! Good guess!

Okay, I'll stop being me/ridiculous now. These are delicious- make them NOW. They are chocolate covered cake. Yep. Chocolate. Covered. Cake.

I found this recipe through stumbleupon on Bakerella's food blog. I am not much a fan of Red Velvet cake though so I decided to make Funfetti cake balls.

This recipe SOUNDS so easy and, while it is... for normal humans...if you are a true clutz like I am, you may run into some difficulties when it comes to melting chocolate without burning it and then dipping the cake without scorching your finger tips off.

Or covering your counters with melted chocolate bark. Which is difficult to clean, P.S.

Also, keep the size small and bite size. I made mine too big at first and they began to crumble apart and make things more messy for me. So, smaller is better in this case! Also, since I was struggling with just making BALLS, I decided it was a good idea to try and get fancy.

Because, that's clearly a good train of thought. 


Ha, despite the burns and muttered curses, these were fun too!

For those of you who don't understand what you're seeing (i.e. you non geek folk) those are Nintendo remotes and a NASA Space Shuttle. Woot for chocolate molds from amazon.com! Oh, AND!!! The Shuttle flames are sprinkles! I can't tell you how happy that made me when throwing this all together. 

Hehehe...


Anyway, this simple recipe is delicious but, can be messy. My methods clearly got me into more trouble then they were worth but, I am willing to try making this recipe again with chocolate cake and white chocolate shells at next opportunity. Or maybe yellow cake with a chocolate shell. Or carrot with a white chocolate shell!!!

Don't those just sound yummy? Absolutely all of them. Sign me up for the variety pack.

Ha, so! Mix it up, make them up, and let me know how they go!

Cake Balls

-1 cake mix

-1 can frosting

-1 package chocolate/almond bark for coating

Bake cake according to directions on box, in a 13 by 9 pan. Once cooled, crumble cake into large bowl, add can of frosting, and mix up til dough like. Round into balls. Place on cookie sheet and put into freezer til solid, (try an hour, I never did this and mine therefore fell apart!). Melt chocolate bark and dip balls into chocolate. Set aside on wax paper til cool. Add sprinkles if desired. Peel and serve :)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Balls

Peanut Butter Capn' Crunch - "Chocolate Rain Drops"

Dessert 1/5 of the "Super Bowl Cereal Challenge"

These are chocolate cake with peanut butter, dipped in chocolate, and rolled in peanut butter crumbs. They. Are. Delicious. I used the same recipe I used for funfetti cake balls, just with some minor adjustments, and the youtube video inspiration was Chocolate Rain. Thus the name:

Chocolate Rain Drops

-1 cake mix

-1 can frosting

-1 package chocolate/almond bark for coating

Bake cake according to directions on box, in a 13 by 9 pan. Once cooled, crumble cake into large bowl, add can of frosting, and mix up til dough like. Round into balls approx the size of a cherry. Place on cookie sheet and put into freezer til solid, (try an hour, I never did this and mine therefore fell apart!). Melt chocolate bark and dip balls into chocolate. Set aside on wax paper til cool. Peel and serve :)

*To make this Peanut Butter Captin Crunch! Pulse 5 cups PBC in food processor until fine grains. Add approx 2 cups into the batter prior to addition of canned icing. With icing, also add 1 cup crunchy peanut butter. Dip in chocolate and roll in the remaining cereal dust. Allow to harden and serve. 


*UPDATE* Featured On:

Inappropriately Delicious Apple Dumplings

Yep. That's right. That is indeed the most delicious thing one can bake with apples.

Take a good long look, my friend. It's small little thing, each individual dumpling. You see it and you may feel jipped out of a properly sized serving. Perhaps you'll think that one small fritter couldn't be enough apple-deliciosity for you, no way, no how.

As the old (and more then pseudo inappropriate) saying goes: size doesn't matter if you know what to do with it. And this lil pastry knows how to make your mouth happy.

Okay. That sentence was definitely more then pseudo inappropriate. But that's how good these apple dumplings are. They are inappropriately good. Flakey, sugar crusted dough wrapped over apples. A rich, apple & cinnamon sauce that you can spoon over the dessert and inevitable scoop of ice cream. It's sinful I tell you! And in the best way possible...

It is probably because they have inappropriate amounts of sugar/butter/soda. Soda alone makes a dessert all kinds of fizzy, naughty, and inappropriate but when it's paired with MORE sugar and then the age-old seductress Butter... that's just pure sin.

And that, my friends- (speaking of which, ANYONE READ THIS? feel free to comment so I know you're reading, it won't bite)- is why Pioneer Woman rocks my world... your world... the world. She makes food that isn't afraid to say "screw you" to caloric intake. Look at this recipe, look at these dumplings!

You need to make them. Yes, need, as in necessary to fill your carnal apple craving with this butter lusty recipe. Fall needs apples (see my previous post) and therefore you need apples. And this is the best way to get them.

Here's a picture as well (albeit a poor quality one) of the way all the dumplings look in the pan together, not just in an individual serving. Now, make me proud and bake them ASAP. And don't you dare call this dessert in and forget the ice cream. Go all out or get out of the kitchen.

Ingredients

-2 whole Granny Smith Apples

-2 cans (8 Oz. Cans) Crescent Rolls

-2 sticks Butter

-1 ½ cup Sugar

-1 teaspoon Vanilla

-Cinnamon, To Taste (I poured A LOT in, there is so much sugar, trust me when I say this can take it!)

-1 can (12 Oz.) Mountain Dew Soda

Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan.

Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour entire mixture over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

Nutella Lasagna

Another layering of the philo dough and attempt to use the groceries in my apartment. This time, instead of trying to get rid of the remaining bananas and raisins, I was trying to use the rest of my marshmellow fluff and nutella. Cutting the philo into strips, I spread with one, then added a strip, then spread with another, and stacked til I was finished. Baked at 350 once again, this time for about 20 minutes, and got this gooey, sticky, delicious mess.

There isn't much to say or go on about here. This is a case of not a real recipe...just you know, throwing things together in my clutzy cook mannerism. The delicious should speak for itself :)

Banana Philo Wraps

Having to move out of your apartment is difficult. Memories to package up, roommates and neighbors to say goodbye to, blank walls to have to stare at and remember. And then there are all the groceries you have that you need to use up before you leave. This particular recipe is a combination of leftover raisins, bananas, and philo dough. I layered the dough out with mushed up bananas, raisins, and cinnamon sugar. I rolled it up in a spiral, brushed it with egg whites, and then covered the whole thing in cinnamon sugar. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, or until golden. Slice and serve :)

I liked it warm and with some vanilla ice cream. It was pretty much a great experiment.

Nutella Ravioli: Italian Pastry Inspiration

If you've ever been to Italy, you know that they have absolutely the best pastries around every corner. I studied in Florence for a semester so, perhaps I have a biase but, if I could live on one food for the rest of my days, I really think it would be anything the small chain "Forno" in Florence cranked out.

Just so...beyond delicious.

In coming back to the states, you become blatantly aware of the fact that bakeries here and bakeries there are very different. Here we have donuts and cakes, there they have pastries and tarts. Sure, there is some overlap. And Italian American bakeries have tiramisu and cannoli. But, I have searched bakeries since being home and have yet to find anyone who has Sfoglia or any of the Nutella treats that were common in italian bakeries and cafe's. 

If you're one of those people who roam the earth unaware of the deliciousness of Nutella... please, take my advice, and go buy a jar today. Just smear it on an Eggo Waffle and be amazed at the pure joy of the taste. 

In italy, Nutella, or rather, hazelnut chocolate spread, is extremely common. They make it themselves or buy it in jars like we do, but unlike us, it's incorporated deeply in their dessert cuisines. 

Sfolgia is a simple square that you could buy for 1 euro that is essentially a layer of flakey, buttery, pastry, then Nutella, topped by more pastry, that you bake so the Nutella becomes more substantial itself and, combined with the pastry, is pure bliss. When i came back home and started cooking up things, I became kind of crazy about trying to recreate this treat.

Lots of batches, attempts, and goings. And this version, these little beauties, are by far the best result to be had yet. 

Made with basically pie crust and nutella alone, they're great pop-able treats. Served with a drizzle of chocolate and some icecream, I am pretty sure these could be considered a sin.

But really, how fun and cute are they?! 

I'm obsessed. And they quench my thirst for italian pastry. Make and Enjoy :)

Nutella Ravioli:

-Pie crust

-Nutella

-1 egg

-powdered sugar (confectioners sugar) for dusting

Lay out your pie crust. Using a glass with a diameter of about two inches or a cookie cutter of similar size, cut yourself some small circles which you lay out on non stick cookie sheets. Dallop a teaspoon of nutella in the center of each disc. Fold over (into half moon shapes) and using a fork, press sides shut. Brush with egg, bake about 10-12 minutes at 350 or until golden brown. Let them cool completely, dust with powder sugar, and serve! 

Pretty much a smash :)

*UPDATE* Featured Here! Go Check it Out :)