Easter Cake Cocktail

April 13, 2014 ~ Angela ~ 14 Comments

You didn’t think I’d let Easter come and go without giving you at least one holiday-appropriate cocktail, did you? Despite the fact that ~~Mother Nature has obviously lost her flipping mind~~ it is in the 80s today here in Jersey (after being cold enough for winter jackets last week) I am trying to stay in the Spring/Easter spirit. This cocktail definitely put me in the right frame of mind!!

Cocont, lemon, white chocolate…. Hmmmmm. Kind of sounds like a liquid version of my Lemon Coconut Magic Bars, doesn’t it?! They were a hit, and I am sure this will be too!

Easter Cake Cocktail

Ingredients:

1.5 oz Malibu Coconut Rum
1 oz Drillaud White Cocoa Creme de Cacao (or any white chocolate liqueur)
.5 oz Limoncello
2 oz half & half/milk/coconut milk
2 tsp white cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
ice
Whipped cream and sprinkles for garnish (optional)

Directions:

In a cocktail shaker, combine rum, creme de cacao, limoncello, half & half and cake mix. Stir to incorporate cake mix into the liquid before adding ice and shaking till cold. Pour into glass and top with whipped cream and sprinkles. You could also use coconut flakes as a garnish instead of sprinkles.

* Please note that for these photos I doubled the recipe to fill the mason jar.

Even though I have named this drink after the upcoming holiday, it would make a lovely summer drink as well. You could even blend in some vanilla or coconut ice cream to make a Lemon Coconut Cake Shake!

Do you have a favorite Easter cocktail? Leave a comment letting me know what it is! I am always looking for holiday themed drink recipes! Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Lemon Coconut Magic Bars

April 4, 2014April 5, 2014 ~ Angela ~ 22 Comments

Hi all! Is it finally starting at act like spring where you are? I think the temperature here in NJ actually got above 60 degrees today! Of course, it’s supposed to be all crappy and rainy today but that’s okay because I just baked a batch of sunshine last night. 🙂 Lemon cake, coconut flakes, Lemon Creme Oreos, pretty pastel White Chocolate M&M’s. These Lemon Coconut Magic Bars look like spring and taste like summer!

Lemon Coconut Magic Bars
Adapted from Samoa Magic Bars by The Domestic Rebel

Ingredients

1 box of lemon cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup Easter White Chocolate M&M’s
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup coconut flakes
10 Lemon Creme Oreos
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13×9 inch pan with foil, spray the foil lightly with cooking spray and set aside. (I used a metal, nonstick pan. The baking times may vary if you use glass.)

2. In a large bowl combine the cake mix, egg and butter until a soft dough forms. Press the dough evenly in the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

3. While the dough is baking, roughly chop the Oreos into small pieces and measure out the M&M’s, white chocolate chips and coconut flakes.

4. Remove the pan from the oven and pour about 3/4 of the sweetened condensed milk on top of the cake. Next, evenly cover the cake with the chopped Oreos, white chocolate chips, coconut flakes and White Chocolate M&M’s. Drizzle the remaining sweetened condensed milk on top.

5. Return to the oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes.

6. Remove from the oven. Allow the bars to set at room temperature until cool before cutting into bars. I stored mine overnight in a covered container in the refrigerator before taking them in to work the next day, but according to the original recipe these will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for several days.

I’ll be honest – this might be the best (non-alcoholic) thing I’ve made to date. The house smelled wonderful while it was baking, the lightness of the lemon and the coconut flavors keep it from being TOO sweet and I just love the colors of the M&M’s. This would be an easy treat to make for Easter, or for the weekend, or for Monday… You really don’t need any reason to make these bars other than the fact that they are absolutely delicious!

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Buttons (Or, Why Sometimes Boxed Is Better)

April 10, 2012April 10, 2012 ~ Angela ~ 1 Comment

I have been tasked with making cupcakes for a coworker’s 60th birthday celebration tomorrow. At first I was thinking of making the Snickerdoodle cupcakes I posted about in Cupcakes Taste Better Than Gasoline, but then I decided I wanted to try something new – something light and fruity for spring. I did my usual internet perusal and found a recipe for lemon cupcakes made with light coconut milk. Sounds tasty, right?

Since I always like to be cautious, I baked them last night. This way, if they didn’t turn out as hoped I still had tonight to make a new batch. Good thing. They were…weird. Perhaps it was the light coconut milk? I’ve cooked with it, but never baked with it before. The batter was made from scratch, and that was the only thing in it that wasn’t normal for a cupcake… Whatever it was, I knew that recipe was not a keeper.

So today I regrouped with a good old-fashioned lemon boxed cake mix. Easy peasy, trusted results! I put lemon batter in, I got lemon cupcakes out! I did try a little experiment with the frosting – I decided to make a cherry flavored buttercream. It may very well be the best thing I have ever created. I had a decent amount left after frosting the cupcakes. I didn’t want to wash it down the sink but I knew that if I put it in a container in the fridge that I would end up gorging myself on it at some point later in the evening. I did eat a giant blob of it before disposing of the rest. 😛

So, lemon cake + cherry frosting = Cherry Lemonade Cupcakes! I got a bag of colorful buttons from the local craft store to use as decoration because the birthday girl loves to sew. Hopefully people can control themselves long enough to remove the buttons before diving into one of these babies…