Easter is so much easier when you have your own Easter Bunny.

Though he was a little critical of our egg dying skills.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate it! Everyone else, Happy Sunday the 12th of April!

Odd week.
Started off Monday with my husband coming home and telling me that they disbanded his group at work and starting Tuesday he would be in a new group. Good news, he still has a job. Bad new, whoa, out of left field.
Moving on, thanks to all of those who checked out my kitchen over at Use Real Butter. Yes, I know I am spoiled and have a big kitchen. Realize that I had small apartment kitchens all my life, so I earned it. Also, many people said they were bummed that the picture of me was not of me in my hockey gear. So here you go (see below). There is me at April Ice, a tournament held in Calgary, Alberta, back in 2004. I was still living in Phoenix at the time (notice the logo).
Starting tomorrow my parents arrive so I will be MIA some more. Sorry.
Spring tried to come around these parts. We had unseasonable warm weather and it made everyone happy but me. So to bring the cold weather back (there is even rumors of snow on Monday) I made some cocoa and marshmallows with a twist.
I love, loved these marshmallows. They had just enough hint of orange to make them extra special. I made the marshmallows first and knew that I didn’t want them to go with regular hot chocolate. So Out came the vanilla beans and white chocolate. This is a thick drinking chocolate again. The two of them made quite a combo!

Vanilla Bean White Chocolate Cocoa with Orange N’ Cream Marshmallows

1 batch Orange N’ Cream Marshmallows (recipe follows)
1 batch Vanilla Bean White Chocolate Cocoa (recipe follows)
Shaved white chocolate for garnish (optional)

Vanilla Bean White Chocolate Cocoa

8 ounces good white chocolate, finely chopped
2 ½  cups whole milk
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
2 vanilla beans, split, seeds removed, pod discarded
¼ cup granulated sugar

Place chopped white chocolate in a large bowl. Set aside.
Heat the milk, cream and vanilla beans in a heavy medium sauce pan over medium low heat for about five minutes. Whisk to ensure that the vanilla beans disperse.
Turn up the heat and whisk in sugar. Bring just to a boil and quickly remove off of heat.
Pour milk mixture over white chocolate. Let stand for 2 minutes, then whisk vigorously until the chocolate has melted completely.
Divide among 4 of your favorite coffee mugs and garnish with Orange N’ Cream Marshmallows.

Orange N’ Cream Marshmallows

3 packages unflavored gelatin
1 cup ice cold water, divided
12 ounces granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
¼  tsp kosher salt
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped, pod discarded
¼ tsp orange extract
¼  cup confectioners’ sugar
¼  cup cornstarch
Nonstick spray
Directions
Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with ½  cup of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.
In a small saucepan combine the remaining ½  cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat.
Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Add the vanilla beans and orange extract during the last minute of whipping. While the mixture is whipping prepare the pans as follows. If you would like to add some orange food coloring (I like to use the gel kind for marshmallows), just fold some in gently so as not to make them all orange (you want some swirl)…of course you can make them all orange if you want.
Combine the confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Lightly spray a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use.
When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula for spreading evenly into the pan. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners’ sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining mixture, using additional if necessary. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Adapted from Alton Brown @ Foodnetwork.com

…they said bitch.
I am not sure what it is about watching the Dog Shows but every time they say the word bitch I giggle like a little 12 year girl. Now I don’t giggle at things like ‘Skipper is a two year old bitch”. I can hold it together for those kinds of things. But last night while watching the dog show on TV (I love the Pomeranian, King Charles Spaniels and the Bernese Mountain Dogs) I lost all control and giggled uncontrollably for many a minute.
I mean how can you not laugh at “I had that bitch in the ring before”. I don’t know why it threw me but it did.
And while we are on the subject of dog shows, why do the women who show the dogs wear suits from the 1980′s. Do I need to buy them a calender to let them know what year it is? I realize you don’t want to show up the dog and all, but ugh, some of those outfits make them look like dogs…and not the good kind. Bow-wow ladies. You are not at home cleaning the house in your bleached stained green sweatpants, you are after all on TV. Of course, me saying all this probably makes me a bitch, eh?
Since I was enthralled with the dog show I decided to go with a no bake treat. That’s right, no bake.
When a reader mentioned she had seen something similar to my peanut butter sandwich cookies in a magazine, I had too. I just couldn’t remember which one. I went looking. It was on of those special for the holiday ones. In it were these yummy looking no bake Milky Way Tarts. Very easy to make and super yummy. What’s not to like about melted down candy bars!
The only draw back is that you have to eat them within 4 hours of making them…which I didn’t find to be an issue.

No Bake Milky Way Tarts

1 package (4 ounces) min i graham cracker pie crust

Midnight Milky Way Layer:
2 Midnight Milky Way bars (1.76 oz each), cut into small pieces
¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 TBSP heavy whipping cream
1 TBSP unsalted butter

Milky Way Mousse
1 Milky Way bar (2.05 oz), cut into small pieces
1 cup plus 1 ½ TBSP heavy whipping cream

Garnish: Cut up Milky Way pieces

Place crust on a rimmed tray.
For the Midnight layer: Put ingredients in a small heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir with a whisk until candy bars, chips cream, and butter melt and mixture is smooth. This takes awhile, about 10-13 minutes. Pour into crush, over and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm, or up to two days.
Put the regular Milky Way bar and 1 ½ TBSP cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir with a whisk until candy melts and mixture is smooth. Refrigerate 15 minutes to cool.
Add remaining 1 cup heavy whipping cream into the bowl of an stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk cream on high until stiff peaks form.
Add the cooled Milky Way mixture into the chipped cream. Whip for 30 seconds.
Spoon into piping bag( (I used a large star tip). Pipe in a spiral on top of Midnight layer.
Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 4 hours.
Right before serving garnish with extra candy pieces.

Adapted from Women’s Day Holiday Appetizers 2008

By the way, if you are interested in seeing and hearing about my kitchen, then catch my tour over at Jen’s blog, Use Real Butter (it’s up now). Be sure to check out all of the kitchens she has been featuring, it’s been fun to look at all the different styles of kitchens.
So I’m weird. I think that has been established. I am needle and dentist phobic. Also, been established.
My third phobia is spiders. However, I understand that they play a valuable roll in the food chain by eating other bugs. BUT I don’t like them in my house.
So once a month I stand in what I think is the middle of my house and verbally warn any spiders in my house that they are welcome to stay but can not come and out and be seen. If seen, I will send the husband to kill you (one of my main reasons for getting married, full time bug killer ). I do this for bees as well. But I yell at them outside. They don’t listen as well as the spiders. I see them all the time. And I never kill them because I am usually running from them. Because of course, I have a bee allergy. But like spiders, bees play an important role and so I tolerate them. They do at least make honey, which is more than what I can say about the spiders.
Last week,  Jessie over at Cakespy had a post about these yummy cupcakes from one of our local shops, Cupcake Royale. They were Honey Peanut Brittle Cupcakes. I soooo wanted one. But that would be a 45 minute drive and involve me spending large amounts of money. So I figured, why not make my own.
You don’t have to use the peanut butter crunch topping. I found it at the store when looking for peanut brittle (which this time a year is hard to find and I am too busy to make my own). It’s like a Butterfinger with no chocolate, though they make a chocolate covered kind as well. I think that it adds a little depth to the cupcake.
I will say that if you are a honey lover, these are super yummy. I could not get enough of them. I ate them all day long, finally throwing out (the horror, I know) the rest to save me from going up a pant size.

Bee Hive Honey Cupcakes with Honey Buttercream Frosting topped with Peanut Butter Crunch

Honey Cupcakes

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup creamed honey
¾ cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups self rising flour
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and honey. Beat for about  3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
Beat in egg, scrape down sides after blended. Add in vanilla and beat for another 30 seconds.
Starting with the flour first, alternate between flour and milk, ending with flour. So 1/3 of flour, ½ of milk, 1/3 of flour, ½ milk, 1/3 flour.
Blend until fully combined.
Fill cupcake pan (you can use liners, I just don’t like to) 2/3 of the way full with batter. Fill until all batter is used.
Bake for 20-22 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes in pan. Then remove from pan and place on a wire rack to finish cooling. Cool completely before frosting.

Honey Buttercream Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup honey plus 2 TBSP
4-5 cups powdered sugar
milk as  needed for thinning out frosting

In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and the honey for 2 minutes.  Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar .
Start on low speed on the mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.
Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency.
Use milk to thin out frosting to reach desired consistency.

To assemble cupcakes:

Take cooled cupcake. Place frosting in a piping bag. Starting at one end pipe in a circle, continuing around and around until you form a beehive shape.
Dip top of cupcake into crushed Peanut Butter Crunch Candy. I used Fairhaven Crumblz Original Peanut. If you can’t find it, crushed up Butterfinger or crushed up peanut brittle would work nicely as well.