Blueberry & Croissant Breakfast Puff

Blueberry & Croissant Breakfast Puff is my new favorite breakfast food!

I love breakfast, I love going out for breakfast – however, since finding this Blueberry & Croissant Breakfast Puff recipe I may never eat out for breakfast again!

I made this for a brunch with family and friends over the holidays! It was a HUGE success.

I was a little taken back by the cream cheese addition – but it absolutely makes the dish. It cuts the sweetness, adds a creaminess without dominating the palate.

The blueberries are the perfect fruit for this dish as they swell with cooking and then release all their juices and flavor in each bite.

I dislike bread pudding and equally ‘soggy’ foods – so I was slightly concerned that this would turn into one of those dishes………it didn’t! The croissant pieces on top stay flaky and buttery while the underneath becomes creamy, gooey and delicious!

Blueberry & Croissant Breakfast Puff is a firm favorite with Captain America & I and will be staying on our breakfast menu for a while to come.

If you are hosting a brunch with friends or family, or just want to try out a new breakfast recipe with your family then this is a must! Try it this weekend!

Ingredients

6 large croissants, cut up (about 10 cups)

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

2 packages (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 1/3 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla

2 cup milk (we used rice milk)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place croissant pieces in a 9 x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with blueberries.
3. Beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla in medium bowl with electric mixer until well blended. Gradually add milk, beating well after each addition.
4. Pour evenly over croissant pieces. Let stand 20 minutes.
5. Bake at 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes or until set in center and golden brown. You may want to cover it with foil for the last 10 minutes if the tops are getting too browned.

Find the original recipe here

My Favorite Apple Recipes

What better way to celebrate Fall than with a Apple recipe round-up!

As you will have realized by now I am a HUGE fan of baking!

I also LOVE FALL! It’s my favorite season!

Today we are in Apple Hill in Northern California – one of my favorite places to visit during the Fall!

I really hoped we would be able to make the trip but the past few weeks have been so busy – Captain America decided to treat me, kind of like a belated Anniversary celebration day out and took me to Apple Hill!

While I am stuffing my face with all things apple – you get to delight in this wonderful round up of my favorite apple recipes that I have gathered for you to feast your eyes upon!

There were so many of my favorite apple recipes I decided to compile them into a Pinterest board which you can find here:

It has everything from apple pie to caramel apples, from apple cider to apple cider doughnuts. I was drooling just compiling the board, and probably by now I have just about had my fill of apples and all foods containing apples……wait….I’m not sure that would ever be possible!

I hope you enjoy my favorite apple recipes contributed to The Pretty Pintastic Party over the past few months!

Now get in that kitchen and staring baking!

My Favorite Pumpkin Recipes

I am a HUGE fan of pumpkin recipes! I cannot get enough!

 

Even after Halloween is over I still never get tired of Pumpkin recipes.

There are so many wonderful recipes out there to get you inspired and get your creative cooking juices flowing I wanted to find some of my favorite pumpkin recipes out there are compile them in one big round-up.

From Pumpkin Muffins, to Pumpkin Spice Latte’s, from Pumpkin Pie to Roast Pumpkin Risotto. I have brought together some of my favorite pumpkin recipes from The Pretty Pintastic Party and added them to one Pinterest board for you to savor over, get inspired and get cooking!

Many of the recipes are REALLY simple, and some take a little time and skill but hopefully there is something for everyone to enjoy, savor and have a go at!

You know you have leftover, half-carved pumpkins – don’t throw them away! Use them to create delicious recipes from the list of my favorite pumpkin recipes!

To make it easy for you and to make sure you don’t miss a single recipe I posted them all on this Pinterest board which you can view here and follow! Enjoy!

Blueberry Crumb Pie

I am a huge fan of desserts – especially pie!

Captain America unfortunately cannot eat many desserts as he is allergic to dairy (except cheese) and chocolate…..which rules out many desserts! He is, however, a HUGE fan of pie…..and blueberries! Needless to say, this Blueberry Crumb Pie got devoured!

It was a huge cheat dessert and SO SIMPLE to make, especially as I cheated and bought pie crust!

For the avid readers among you – you will know about my dislike for making pie crust  and my many not so successful attempts at making my own! Yes, I know it’s really easy and all you need is__________ (fill in the blank) Trust me I have tried many a ‘fail safe’ recipe and I still end up with a mediocre crust. This time I bought a frozen pie crust and it was delicious!

The blueberries were in season and exceptionally cheap so this was not only easy, but cheap!

The balsamic vinegar is a tip I read a while ago and I tried it with a few pie fillings and it was wonderful – but it MADE this recipe – it really brings out the flavor of the fruit, cuts the overly sugary-ness of a normal pie filling and added a zing to the berries! No-one could taste the difference and the few people I told were very surprised!

 

If you can find a small bottle of Balsamic Brandy Glaze (it is often sold in smaller foodie stores, olive oil shops etc) BUY IT! It is well worth the money, you can use it in so many more recipes than you would expect and it lasts for ages! You will not regret it!

Now onto the recipe for Blueberry Crumb Pie!

 

Ingredients:

1 ready-made pie crust

32 oz blueberries

3/4 C sugar

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp balsamic brandy glaze (optional)

For the crumb topping:

1 C flour

1 C brown sugar

1 C oats

1/2 C butter, melted

Directions:

In a small pan heat the blueberries, sugar, balsamic vinegar and balsamic glaze for a few minutes until the blueberries become coated and start to disintegrate.

 

 

Remove from the heat, allow to cool for about 10 minutes and add the cornstarch, stirring it to thicken the sauce.

Add the mixture to the pie crust (follow the instructions on the packet for how best to handle the pie crust) and set aside.

 

In a small bowl, mix the flour, oats and sugar, then add the melted butter and rub together using your fingers to form the crumbs.

Gently spoon the crumb topping onto the pie ensuring all the filling is covered evenly

Bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes, checking occasionally so it does not burn. Cook until the crumb topping is golden brown.

 

Strawberry Banana Marble Cake

I am on a strawberry kick this week! How can you not be at this time of year!

I found this super easy recipe for a Strawberry Banana Marble Cake and I just had to make it!

 

Thanks to Averie Cooks for the wonderful inspiration for this delicious Strawberry Banana Marble Cake – I made a few key changes to make it my own (and you know me-I can’t just follow a recipe!) and the results were wonderful.

It’s a very moist cake, slightly denser than your average cake but with a lighter finish and rich strawberry and banana flavor – a perfect combination!

 

Ingredients:

Yield: one 9×9-inch pan

3/4 C granulated sugar
1/3 C liquid-state coconut oil (melt in microwave before using)
1/4 C milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 C ripe mashed bananas (about 3 medium bananas)
1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
3/4 C Strawberry puree

Glaze
about 1 C powdered sugar
2 tbsp fruit juice (I used cranberry to make the frosting pink!)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9-inch square pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, coconut oil, milk, and vanilla.

Add the bananas and stir to combine.

Add the flour, baking powder, optional salt, and stir to combine. Batter will be lumpy; don’t overmix or cake will be tough.

Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.

Pour over the strawberry puree unevenly over the top of the cake.

 

Using a spoon, lightly mix the puree with the cake batter making a swirl pattern

 

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until center is set and slightly spring to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.

Place pan on a wire rack and allow cake to cool fully before glazing. While cake cooks, make the glaze.

Glaze – To a small bowl, add 1 cup confectioners’ sugar and juice, and whisk until smooth. Depending on desired consistency, you may need to play with sugar and juice ratios slightly.

Evenly drizzle the glaze over the cake before slicing and serving.

 

 

Strawberry Lemonade

Until very recently I had never had Homemade Lemonade! Yes I know! How is that even possible?

Ever since I had it – I can’t get enough of it!

We had some fresh strawberries and lemons and this wonderful Strawberry Lemonade was created!

 

I was amazed at how simple homemade lemonade is to make? It took about 10 minutes (including the squeezing time) and the large pitcher we made lasted about another 10 minutes! For some reason I believed it would involve a lengthy process and the results would not really be worth the effort! How wrong I was? 

Simple, quick recipe – amazing results!

The only thing you really have to watch out for is the lemons – as all lemons are different! Some are sweeter, some are tart, some are sour. You will have to taste the lemon and strawberry mixture (before adding the water) a few times to make sure you have the right balance of sweetness!

Here’s the recipe for Strawberry Lemonade:

Ingredients:

Makes 2 Quarts/64 oz

1 C fresh lemon juice (that took 3 lemons for this recipe)

1 C fresh strawberries, hulled

1 C sugar

Water

Directions:

Squeeze the juice out of the lemons over a large cup/pitcher

Add the lemon juice to a blender and add the hulled strawberries.

Blend the mixture until the strawberries are totally crushed.

Pour mixture into a 2-quart pitcher

Add the sugar and stir well

TASTE TEST – This is the stage you need to taste the mixture. Is it too sweet? If so, add a little more lemon juice. If it is too sour, add a little more sugar but continue to taste it!

Add cold water to fill the pitcher to the 2-quart mark

You are ready to serve!

Serve over ice and garnish with slices of lemon and strawberry!

Enjoy!

 

How To Freeze Stone Fruit

It’s fruit season pretty much wherever you are in the world right now!

You can get freshly harvested, perfect fruit in every store, many farms, Farmer’s Markets and roadside stalls – there is an abundance. Last year, we couldn’t get enough of it! We made pies ate it fresh, made Sorbet and still had extras left over.

This year I decided to be pro-active and freeze some of this delicious fruit so we can enjoy it throughout the year – and I wanted to share what I learned with you about how to freeze stone fruit.

Do you have an abundance of fresh fruit, maybe you grow your own, or you went a little crazy at a ‘pick-your-own’ farm this weekend – follow these simple steps for how to freeze stone fruit so you don’t waste any of that wonderful, fresh fruit but can now enjoy it throughout the year!

Step 1

Wash the fruit

Step 2

Cut in half & remove the stone/pit

Step 3

Slice into smaller pieces – this will vary depending on the fruit you are dealing with. I chose segments with the peaches I was using.

Step 4

Place the fruit pieces on a non-stick surface on a baking tray and loosely cover with plastic wrap (I used silicone baking mats but you can use any non-stick parchment or wax paper if you don’t have silicone mats) 

Step 5 

Place the baking tray on a flat surface in your freezer and freeze for a minimum of 4 hours (up to overnight). Remove the plastic wrap and place the fruit in a freezer safe container or bag. Label and freeze until you are ready to use the fruit.

If you are using the fruit in a pie you don’t even need to defrost the fruit in advance – just place the frozen fruit pieces in the pie crust and bake!

30+ Mouthwatering Ice-Cream Recipes

I LOVE Ice-Cream!

It’s one of my favorite desserts and I love it in all it’s forms!

I have been so excited seeing delicious recipes pop up all around the internet – especially those shared at The Pretty Pintastic Party every Friday which was the foundation for this 3-+ Mouthwatering Ice-Cream recipes!

 

When I dug a little deeper I found some incredible recipes for cakes, popsicles, ice cream, granitas and even some dairy-free options which are a plus for Captain America!

I hope you enjoy these 30+ mouthwatering ice-cream recipes as much as I did – check them out – click on some of the links to visit the sites and see the recipes in full and show the creators of these delights some love!

Happy Summer!!

 

Fruit Based Ice-Cream

 

Guri-Guri Hawaiian Ice-Cream by My Pinterventures

Lemon Coconut Ice-Cream by Sweet & Spicy Monkey

Coconut Lemongrass & Hibiscus Ice-Cream by What’s On The List

Roasted Fig & Ginger Ice-Cream by Blahnik Baker

Spiced Apple Ice-Cream by Gidget Goes Home

 

Ice-Cream (non-fruit)

 

Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream by Gidget Goes Home

Bubblegum Ice-Cream by TipToe Fairy

‘Adult’ Almond Joy Ice-Cream by Seduction In The Kitchen

Maui Snow White Russian Ice-Cream by Seduction In The Kitchen

Malted Banana Ice-Cream with Peanut Butter & Chocolate Covered Pretzels by Eat It & Say Yum

Banana Nut Butter Soft-Serve by Raia’s Recipes

Skinny Red Velvet Cake Ice-Cream by My Big Fat Happy Life

Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice-Cream by Meatloaf & Melodrama

Mexican Spiced Chocolate Ice-Cream by Gidget Goes Home

 

Sorbets, Granitas, Sherbets & Semifreddo

 

5-Minute Peach Sorbet by Captain America & His English Rose

Coconut, Lemongrass & Hibiscus Granita by What’s On The List

Sweet Cherry Coconut Sherbet by Sweet & Spicy Monkey

Guilt-Free Mango Banana Ice-Cream by Boogieboard Cottage

Peach Mango Sorbet by Lori’s Culinary Creations

Berry Sorbet by Lori’s Culinary Creations

Mango Lemon Semifreddo by Swirl & Spice

Simple Lemon Sorbet by Gidget Goes Home

 

Ice-Cream Sandwiches

 

Nutella Cookie Ice-Cream Sandwiches by The Baking Fairy

Easy Lemon Ice-Cream Sandwiches by Meatloaf & Melodrama

Peanut Butter Fudge Ice-Cream Sandwiches by Delightful E Made

Banana Berry Frozen Yogurt Bars by Flourishing At Home

Popsicles

 

Vanilla Sugar Cookie Popsicles by Little Miss Celebration

Mango Popsicles by First Time Foods

Healthy Popsicles For Kids by Caroline Nixon’s Blog

Ice-Cream Cakes

 

Oreo Ice-Cream Cake by Coffee With Us 3

Brownie Reese’s Ice Cream Cake by Mom ‘n Daughter Savings

Ice-Cream Cake with Circus Animal Crust by Food Faith & Fitness

Ice-Cream Cake with Crunchies by Thrifty Treasures

The Best Birthday Carrot Cake & Cupcakes

Recently I needed to make a cake for an event AND a birthday cake for a friend.

I decided to make a bulk batch of carrot cake and make the best birthday carrot cake and cupcakes! Creating 2 cakes in one!

I actually used the cupcakes as the birthday cake – because it was serving multiple people at church – and cupcakes are easier to serve, and I took the cake to the party!

The cakes were VERY easy to make, especially as I didn’t grate all the carrots as many recipes suggest you do. I used my trusty Vitamix to chop up the carrots until they were really fine. You could us e a food processor or a grater attachment…..or you could be very dedicated and grate them all by hand!

The cakes were absolutely delicious! Even convincing Captain America that carrot cake is indeed fabulous! The birthday boy (well man actually!) loved them as did the rest of our congregation!

The large cake, even though it took much longer to cook than I anticipated, went down a storm at the party too!

I will definitely be making these best birthday carrot cake & cupcakes again……and I don’t think I will be waiting for a birthday to make them!

If you need advice on frosting cakes and cupcakes you can read my tutorial here: Frosting Techniques

The best birthday carrot cake and cupcakes tasted best the next day after the flavors had settled and have gotten friendly with one another. It is also more moist on the 2nd day as well.

 

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Spiced Carrot Breakfast Muffins

Do you get bored with the same old cereal and toast?

Do you skip breakfast because you don’t have time in the mornings?

Sometimes it is nice to try something different for breakfast.

Try these Spiced Carrot Breakfast Muffins as the perfect alternative for a healthy breakfast, packed with nutritious, wholesome ingredients, for the quick breakfast on the go.

The spiced carrot breakfast muffins are very simple to make, especially if you cheap and use a machine to grate all the carrots! You can make a bunch in advance and freeze them-ready to grab one first thing in the morning.

I made these recently for our morning snack at church, as a healthy alternative to the usual cakes, cookies and doughnuts. Unlike many breakfast muffins they are moist, not too sweet and they have all the usual breakfast favorites-oats, nuts and flaxseeds-it’s like granola in a muffin!

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