Desserts Archives - The Candid Appetite

Breakfast Cereal Doughnuts

September 6, 2016 by Jonathan 1 Comment

I finally found (and am giving you) the perfect excuse to make and eat doughnuts first thing in the morning for breakfast. There’s always a fight about whether or not doughnuts are a breakfast food, to be eaten early in the day, or if they’re a dessert to be enjoyed after dinner. Personally I don’t pay attention to any of that, and I just go ahead and devour them any time of day. I only have one life to live and I’m living it filled to the brim with fried doughnuts. If you are worried about such things though, or know some people that demand that doughnuts aren’t an adequate breakfast, you can finally rub it in their face that these Breakfast Cereal Doughnuts are the ultimate breakfast food. The cereal on top just proves it. Stop fighting it, and just go with it.

Don’t be afraid to jump into that kitchen of yours this week and make a batch of these doughnuts. You’re going to need them throughout the week to get through all of the work and chores and errands and homework and Netflix binge watching you have on your plate at the moment. Doughnuts just sweeten the deal and make everything better. So I think the way to go about this is to not worry about the how or the why, the only thing you and I should be worrying about right now is the yes, definitely. Grab those cereal boxes off the top of your fridge or out of that pantry and start dunking all your doughnuts into them because cereal is so much better on fried bread with glaze rather than in a bowl with milk. You know what I mean?

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Funfetti Eclairs

August 8, 2016 by Jonathan 3 Comments

I think I’ve mentioned on here once or twice that my mamma isn’t much of a baker, so it’s a surprise that I really enjoy it. Try she did though, because she wanted to make my sisters and I very happy. Growing up, she’d bake us cookies from a tube and cake from a box, and we loved it all the same because sweets are sweets to kids no matter how they’re made, let’s be honest. To this day I still have a love for funfetti cake from a box that is unexplainable to me, and I find it to be so funny because I was just talking to a friend about how we both know our way around a kitchen and can make any cake from scratch with our eyes closed, yet cake from a box still tastes the best. Why is that? There’s just something so great about the texture and taste of it. You can’t really replicate that moistness (I’m sorry) in a homemade cake. Neither of us could explain it. I think it’s just a reminder being a kid and eating it all of the time. Mom would always make us a boxed cake whenever we were bored or wanted a treat or for a special occasion. She wouldn’t make it fancy either, so there weren’t multiple layers or anything like that. She’d bake the cake in a rectangle pan and let us frost the top and my sister’s and I would load it up with all the sprinkles we wanted. That’s what I call a childhood.

These Funfetti Eclairs are a nod to my childhood, and to anyone else out there who had (and maybe still has) a love for boxed funfetti cake that will never go away. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I had eclairs growing up, I didn’t even know that they existed when I was a kid. But I figured that since funfetti everything has already been created, why not try a new take on something that hasn’t already been thought up. That’s how these Funfetti Eclairs came to be. If you’ve been following along, you’ll remember that I made S’mores Eclairs on the blog not too long ago. I’m currently on an eclairs journey and I hope you can jump on board with me because now you have two to try. You better get a move on it.

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Snickers Marshmallow Treats

July 25, 2016 by Jonathan 41 Comments

Snickers Marshmallow Treats. What can I say about these treats to end all treats? They don’t have actual pieces of Snickers in them or anything because that’s not the point of these, although that would’ve taken them to the next level if we’re being honest. Instead, they’re meant to taste just like a Snickers bar because we both know that sometimes plain marshmallow treats just aren’t enough. So a brown butter marshmallow treat base gets a thick caramel layer studded with peanuts and then topped off with melted chocolate. Go ahead and try to tell me that dreams don’t come true. I’ll call you a liar because these prove otherwise. These are what dreams are made of. The best of both worlds. Candy bar meets rice cereal treats.

I’d like to thank everyone who participated in last week’s giveaway, along with all of the past weeks this month! Last week brought us the best response from all of the giveaways so far! I got so many great ideas for cake flavors; I’m adding them to my must-make list. A huge congratulations to last week’s winner (you know who you are). I hope you get good use out of that grill pan. If I were you, I’d start grilling EVERYTHING in sight. Now it’s with sad news that I tell you, we’ve come to the end of the giveaways. You only have this one more chance to win (but honestly there will be more giveaways coming soon, the next one will be on Instagram to be precise). This week’s giveaway is another signed copy of my cookbook The Slider Effect, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, AND I’m happy to announce that you’ll also win a swanky Hamilton Beach Stand Mixer! It comes in a fancy red color, along with the whisk, paddle and dough hook attachment. If you’ve always wanted a stand mixer to make your life easier, now is your chance to win one! Start planning out all of the cookies and breads you’ll be making very soon. Have I mentioned how amazing a stand mixer is?! You’ll definitely want to win this one!

To enter, leave a comment below letting me know what your favorite meal has been at a restaurant. Tell me all of the details like what restaurant, what city and why you loved it so much. Really, I’m just wanting to create a good guide of restaurants around the country so I can write them down and visit them in my travels. Thanks for your help. I can’t wait to read all about them! As always, my mamma will be picking the winner at random. It’s one of her greatest pleasures in life, what can I say? I love reading all of your comments so feel free to elaborate as much or as little as you’d like. Remember, let’s keep things fair with only one entry per person, and if you win this prize (or won last prize), you can’t enter the following weeks or this week. Sorry but I want everyone to have a fair chance. You have until Friday night to enter! Good luck, I’m rooting for you!

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Vanilla Birthday Sprinkle Cupcakes

July 18, 2016 by Jonathan 53 Comments

It’s time for another giveaway on the blog, as promised, although this week is a little special because tomorrow happens to be my sister’s birthday. This is my middle sister, the one who I call my twin because we look so much alike, and because I’ve declared us “twins” I think we should share the presents she gets tomorrow. Just saying. Since it is her big day, I wanted to make sure I dedicated this post and recipe to her. She loves sprinkles, cupcakes and the color pink so here we are. She also isn’t a fan of chocolate (thankfully we don’t share this weirdo trait) and so vanilla or yellow cake is always her go-to choice of cake. A while ago I made her this Tres Leches because that’s her absolute favorite cake, and so this year I wanted to go back to basics and make these simple but pretty great looking Vanilla Birthday Sprinkle Cupcakes. Now thanks to my sister Nick, we can all act like it’s our birthday and celebrate with something sweet.

Thank you to everyone who participated in last week’s giveaway! The response was so great and your stories were so touching to read. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of those childhood memories. I felt like I was right there reliving them with you. A huge congratulations to Marisa Franca for winning! Even better news for everyone else is that you still have two more chances to win! This week’s giveaway is another signed copy of my cookbook The Slider Effect, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, AND a swanky Lodge Enameled Cast Iron Square Grill Pan in the greatest color red I’ve ever seen. I use a grill pan several times in the book and it is a key component for many of the sliders, especially if you don’t have an outdoor grill. I’m an hardcore fan of the stove top grill pan because you can bring a little summer to your kitchen in the winter. You can also avoid going through all of the motions of heating an outdoor grill or firing up some charcoal; instead you can be right in the comfort of your own kitchen still getting that amazing grill flavor!

To enter, leave a comment below letting me know what your favorite birthday cake flavor is/was/or has been. If you don’t eat cake for your birthday, then just tell me what your favorite birthday treat is! As always, my mamma will be picking the winner at random. It’s one of her greatest pleasures in life, what can I say? I love reading all of your comments so feel free to elaborate as much or as little as you’d like. Throw in your favorite birthday memory if you’re feeling super chatty. I enjoy chatty as a matter of fact. Remember, let’s keep things fair with only one entry per person, and if you win this prize (or won last prize), you can’t enter the following weeks or this week. Sorry but I want everyone to have a fair chance. You have until Friday night to enter! Good luck, I’m rooting for you!

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S’mores Eclairs

July 11, 2016 by Jonathan 50 Comments

Because it’s summer and because I think we’re all kids at heart, it’s time for another s’mores recipe. S’mores will never go out of style, and don’t let anyone tell you differently. I didn’t grow up eating s’mores as a kid, but I can tell you that I’ve since fixed this problem and have been doing everything in my power to eat them as often as possible now as an adult. You might recall that these S’mores Doughnuts have a special place in my heart, forever and always, along with these S’mores Cookie Sandwiches and S’mores Cupcakes (from way back when). These S’mores Eclairs are no different, and in fact, they might just be my new favorite s’mores dessert. Don’t tell the doughnuts though, because they’ll get upset. If you’re an eclair lover then you’ll go crazy for these, and what’s more they’re so much easier than the classic recipe because you don’t have to worry about making a pastry cream for this one. They’re filled with store-bought marshmallow fluff instead!

I hope you all enjoyed last week’s giveaway! I loved reading all of the entries. It was the highlight of my week, each night reading them before bed. And by the sounds of it, many of you had a fun 4th of July. Thank you to everyone that participated and a huge congratulations again to Alexandra Robertson for winning last week! Good news for everyone else is that you all have three more chances to win! This week’s giveaway is another signed copy of my cookbook The Slider Effect, and 2 professional-grade baking sheets and 2 wire racks that fit in the baking sheets perfectly. I can’t tell you how these save my life every day when cooking, but particularly when making sliders. I use them throughout the book, and even mention them in the first chapter as being a staple in slider making. You need them in your kitchen. Trust me.

(Please forgive that janky image above, it’s bringing down my blog post but I wanted to show what the prize is). To enter, leave a comment below letting me know what your favorite childhood summer memory is?! As always, my mamma will be picking the winner at random. It’s one of her greatest pleasures in life, what can I say? You should also know us well by now, and know that we love lots of details. Tell us why this is your favorite memory, what made it so special, what traditions you did with your family during the summer, etc. I love reading all of your comments so feel free to give me your whole life story. Remember, let’s keep things fair with only one entry per person, and if you win this prize (or won last prize), you can’t enter the following weeks or this week. Sorry but I want everyone to have a fair chance. You have until Friday night to enter! Good luck, I’m rooting for you!

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Zebra Cake Doughnuts

May 20, 2016 by Jonathan 7 Comments

I’m not ashamed to admit that my biggest store-bought guilty pleasure is a Zebra Cake. The best part is that they usually come packaged in a pair so you have to eat both right away in one sitting. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then I suggest you stop everything you’re doing right this second, and look up zebra cakes because Little Debbie sure knows what she is doing. She doesn’t mess around. The cakes are sweet but not too sweet, which if you ask me is the perfect balance for any dessert. They’re octagonal pieces of soft yellow cake filled with a marshmallow creme center and then completely covered in a vanilla icing and finished off with their signature chocolate strips, giving them that classic zebra look. I think I loved them even more because I thought zebras in general were so fascinating. And even though I’m a grown up now, and still think that zebras are just as cool, I don’t think I’ll ever get over these little cakes. This isn’t a sponsored post or anything, I just really love them.

I wanted to create something that was reminiscent of my favorite treat, so I thought what better way to commemorate a classic than by turning it into a delicious doughnut? And because these are no joke when it comes to sugar, icing, and creme, I knew I had to “lighten” them up somehow, so I decided to bake the doughnuts instead of deep frying them. It was the only way to go. I’m not always one to automatically jump on baked doughnuts because I feel like if I’m going to have a doughnut, I should go all the way and have a really good doughnut, but somehow baking these is crucial because it gives them that classic taste and texture from the original. If you don’t have a baked doughnut pan but have been meaning to get one, this is the recipe to do. Now is the time, don’t want any longer. The great thing is that you’ll have it for life and then you’ll be able to make doughnuts all the time. Did you know I have a doughnut section on the blog? I do! It’s on the homepage so when you have a chance, browse through it, there’s sure to be a doughnut or two you’ll be dying to try out.

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