JELLO cheesecake squares

Another Hawaii favorite is the cheese squares from Zippy's! Mmm Mmm delicious! Here's a recipe I got from my cousin that replicates Zippy's onolicous cheese squares

Ingredients: 

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Crust:

1 1/2 sticks of butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts and macadamia nuts are best)

Filling:

1 small package of lemon Jello
1 cup hot water
3/4 cup sugar
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
2 cups of heavy cream (1 pint)

Topping:

1 large package of cherry (or strawberry) Jello
3 cup hot water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream together butter and brown sugar; add flour and nuts.  Press dough into buttered 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until crust is brown.  

Dissolve small package of lemon Jello with 1 cup of hot water. Let cool. Cream together sugar and cream cheese. Whip up 1 small whipping cream, and add to cheese mixture. Add cooled Jello into cheese mixture. Pour on cooled crust and then chill.   

For topping mix large cherry Jello and 3 cups of hot water. Let cool. Pour on top of cheese mixture and chill completely.

Pumpkin Crunch

Tis' the season for Pumpkin Crunch! Born and raised in Hawaii I have never tasted Pumpkin Crunch and someone told me I've been missing out. That same night, I went online to find what I've been missing out from Hawaii's famous Pumpkin Crunch. Here's the recipe I found. Ever since then, I've been hooked! I love pumpkin crunch!

Pumpkin Crunch (servings:  A LOT!  One recipe makes a 9″ x 13″ pan, enough for about 36 bars, so these are great for a large crowd) (recipe adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks, Jean Hee’s Best of the Best Hawai’i Recipes).

For the pumpkin bars, you will need:

1 can solid-packed pumpkin (29 oz.)

1 can evaporated mile (13 oz.)

1 cup sugar

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 box yellow pudding cake mix

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs, and cinammon together.  Line a 9″ x 13″ pan with parchment paper.  Pour the pumpkin mixture into the pan.  The mixture will be on the runny side.  Sprinkle the cake mix evenly over the pumpkin mixture.  Sprinkle the nuts over the pumpkin mixture, and pack them in.  Drizzle the melted butter evenly over the nuts.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes.

 

Allow the pumpkin bars to cool for five to ten minutes on a rack.  Invert the whole slab onto a tray or cutting board.  Peel off the parchment paper.

 

Allow the slab to cool thoroughly.  Spread the frosting over the slab, and refrigerate for a few hours before cutting.

 

For the frosting, you will need:

1 (8 oz. package) of cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

3/4 cup Cool Whip

Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment.  Fold in the Cool Whip.Spread evenly over the slab.  Refrigerate for a few hours. 

 

Cut into bars, and serve immediately, or place them in muffin tins for easy transport to a potluck.

Brownie Pops

Wanted to mix it up by making brownie cake pops. These were fab! Warning: Because these are brownies, they will get hard after a week so eat them quickly =)

 

 

The first cake pops I ever made...

  

Here are the first cake pops I made. This was done the long way using the frosting to bind it together.

Flavor:  Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting

 

 

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

It's the season to be baking! I love love love holiday baking!! Especially in October because I love anything pumpkin   I  didn't like pumpkin in the past but the pumpkin cream cheese muffin at Starbucks is to die for and that's the start of my love for pumpkin bake goods. Here's a recipe I found courtesy of whippedtheblog.com for a Pumpkin Bundt cake. This cake is really moist and mmmm so delicious!

 

Pumpkin Buttermilk Bundt Cake
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15-oz can; not pie filling)
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs

For glaze:
2 T butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1-3 T cream or milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour bundt pan. Combine together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl.
Beat butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth.
Spoon batter into pan. Shake a few times to be sure to remove any bumps then bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then invert rack over cake and reinvert cake onto rack. Cool 10 minutes more.

To make glaze, heat butter until melted. Stir in sifted powdered sugar. Mix in cream or milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. Drizzle over cake while it is on a wire rack so excess falls through. 

Here is tonight's leftovers...

More baby cake pops....

On Sunday 10/2/11, we threw a baby shower for my sis-in-law.  I saw these little sweet tart baby feet and thought it'd look cute on the cake pops and they did! Talk about going cake pop crazy lately

 

The cake was in between the cake pop stands...

 

Cake Pop Flavor: Red Velvet

 

She gave birth 3 days after her baby shower (10/5/11) to my healthy nephew, Devin Jace (DJ)!