Spidey Pudding "Poke" Cake

I had a great suggestion from Jilly about a Jello "Poke" Cake.  That set me off to google and go through tons of sites and recipe ideas.

This is my version that I made for Marcus' birthday:

Ingredients:

1 box of Golden cake mix

1 box of chocolate instant pudding

1 tub of whipped cream

Steps:

1. Make cake as per directions on the box


2. After you pull it out of the oven poke holes 1-inch apart.  You can use the end of a wooden spoon, straw, thick end of a chop stick, to give you some ideas


3. Only after the holes are poked, mix the pudding mix with 2-cups of milk until well blended.  Immediately pour over your cake filling the holes (it's ok for spillage all over the top of the cake.  we'll cover that up)


4. Cover and put in fridge to have the pudding thicken.


5. Take it out of the fridge,  uncover, and spread cool whip all over it.

Decorate:

Black rope licorice

Spiderman decal set from the Bulk Barn (or try the baking isle)

Gummy spider candy

1. Make an X using the rope on the cake


2. Make an + using the rope on the cake, now it should kind of look like a star/asterisk *


3. Place rope with a little bit of a dip in between to straight ropes, Web created

1. Add decals and spider candy

Marcus LOVED it!  Especially the Spidey decals and candy.  Everyone loved it.  Even my nieces who don't like pudding.

NOTE:

• Don't take too long pouring the pudding into the cake, otherwise it will thicken and will not pour down the holes


• Try different cake and pudding combinations


• Instead of pudding you can use Jello


• Mix some pudding into the cool whip before spreading


• Make 2 packages of pudding to fill holes and spread over top of cake, then either top with whip cream or omit it


• Playing around with contrasting colors can be fun too. Such as; white cake with chocolate pudding, chocolate cake with vanilla pudding or a real pretty one is white cake with pistachio pudding.

Original Recipe that I've seen several times during my research:

Pudding Poke Cake

1 pkg. (2 layer size) cake mix (white, yellow or chocolate)

Topping:

2 pkgs. (4 serving size) Jell-O chocolate instant pudding and pie filling (may also be creative with different flavors)

1/2 or 1 cup confectioners' sugar

4 cups cold milk

Prepare and bake cake mix as directed on package for 13x9 inch cake. Remove from oven. Poke holes at once down through cake to pan with round handle of wooden spoon (or poke holes with plastic drinking straw, using turning motion to make large holes.) Holes should be at 1 inch intervals. Only after the holes are made, combine pudding mix with sugar in large bowl. Gradually stir in milk. Beat with electric mixer at low speed for not more than 1 minute. Do not over beat. Quickly, before pudding thickens, pour about 1/2 of the thin pudding evenly over warm cake and into holes (This will make stripes in cake.) Allow remaining pudding to thicken slightly, then spoon over the top, swirling it to "frost" the cake. Chill at least 1 hour. Store cake in refrigerator. 

Healthy Banana-Blueberry Muffins

As pretentious as I think Martha Stewart is, I have tried several of her recipes and 90% of them have been great.  So, below is one of them I tried yesterday.  I had a craving for banana muffins.  Not too sweet.  Not cakey.  This was good and as fairly healthy.  See my notes below to see my own touches.  So, if the bananas on your counter top are looking overripe, don't throw them out; they'll add even more flavor to these muffins.

• Prep Time 20 minutes


• Total Time 45 minutes plus cooling


• Yield Makes 12

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)


• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)


• 1/4 cup wheat germ


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature


• 1/3 cup granulated sugar


• 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar


• 2 large eggs


• 2 ripe bananas (about 1 pound)


• 1/3 cup reduced-fat (2 percent) milk


• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


• 1 cup frozen blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a bowl, whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda, and salt.


2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, mash bananas with a fork (you should have 3/4 cup); stir in milk and vanilla.


3. With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. Fold in frozen blueberries.


4. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; transfer muffins to a rack to cool 10 minutes more.

NOTES:

• I used graham cracker crumbs since I didn't have wheat germ


• Googled wheat germ substitute and this was an awesome answer for it "oatbran, it is granular like cornmeal, it is good to, flaxseed meal, even cornflake crumbs or graham wafer crumbs they are not only a binder but add some fiber to the cookies, cakes or breads, just remember they also absorb moisture, with molasses it is fine but a sugar based recipe requires a small amount of extra moisture, honey, molasses, glucose and brown sugar are what is known as hydreants, meaning they keep or absorb moisture from the air to keep thing moist for longer periods of time."


• I did half with blueberries.  half with out.


• I used fresh blueberries


• I used 2 1/2 super ripe bananas and mashed to a little more than 1 cup


• If you want to cut the fat even more, substitute half the butter with applesauce

Snack Mix

The original recipe for this snack mix is made with three different cereals, seasonings, onion powder, garlic powder, peanuts, pecans, and walnuts from about.com.  I've changed it based on what works for me - what I have on-hand and what The Boy likes best.  I learned which  one he prefers from when he picked out the cereal he liked from the first time I made it based on the original recipe.

Every adult and kid who has tried it ALWAYS eats it.   It makes A LOT.  Cut the ingredients in 1/2 if you prefer a smaller batch.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups Crispix cereal


• 2 cups Multi-Grain Cheerios cereal


• 1 cup Gold brand pretzel sticks


• 2 cups whole almonds (unsalted)


• 2 cups cashews (used salted because that's what I had, but would try unsalted next time)


• 1 cup whole wheat Gold Fish crackers


• 1/2 cup butter or margarine


• 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce


• 1 teaspoon celery salt


• 1 teaspoon onion powder


• 1/2 rounded teaspoon garlic powder

Preparation:

Measure cereals, pretzel sticks, nuts, and crackers into a large bowl or food storage bag; gently stir or toss to combine.

In a large, deep skillet, melt margarine with Worcestershire sauce. Add celery salt, onion powder and garlic powder. Stir mixture to blend.   Pour over cereal mixture and with a spatula, keep turning until all pieces are coated. Spread out on 2 large baking sheets (with sides) and place in oven for 1 hour at 250°C. When cool, store in tightly covered container.

ENJOY!

Baked Brie

I had never tasted this delicious, creamy, combination in my 20+ years before I met a great French Canadian friend of mine.  Baked Brie was never served at my family functions back then.  It is now though!  It seemed so uppity when I first heard of it, but really it's easy and delicious.   I just had never been exposed to such rich gorgeous cheese that goes so well with the sweet butter and brown sugar combination and fruit that was served with a satisfying crunch on a cracker.

There are so many other ways to make this.  I've heard of it being served in puff pastry with more savory flavours, but I like this recipe because it is so easy and I usually have everything on hand except the cheese.  Also, I've never worked with puff pastry, so it sounds a bit intimidating.

It takes only 10 minutes of prep before you stick it into the oven.  And you look so fancy and worked so hard on it when you impress those lucky taste buds of your guests.

Ingredients:

1 wheel of Brie or Camembert cheese
butter
brown sugar
chopped dried fruit (i.e. cranberries, apricots)
crackers

Steps:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread a thin layer of butter on top of Brie.

Spread a thin layer of brown sugar on top of buttered Brie.

Spread a thin layer of chopped fruit on top of brown sugared Brie.

Place cheese on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until softened, 15 to 20 minutes.

Transfer to a serving plate; cool about 15 minutes.

Serve with crackers.

NOTE:  If I'm going to bring it to a friend/family function, I place it in my circular cake pan and open the Brie, but not take it out of the package, just exposing the top.  Prepare a Brie with the butter, brown sugar, and half a wheel with cranberries and the other half with apricots.  The wrap it back up.   Now you can easily bring it with you and bake on location.

[polldaddy poll=4536213]