King's Hawaiian Bread

I've come across numerous copy cat recipes for King's Hawaiian Bread. Some had the additions of potato flakes and flaked coconut. While these versions sound interesting and delicious, I settled for the recipe that was the simplest and which I had all the ingredients in my pantry. The original recipe is written below, however I did substitute half of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. The rolls turned out light, buttery and sweet...just how they should be :)

Cherry "Boy Bait" Cake

If you're looking for a basic cake recipe to use with fruits of the season, this is it. The original "Boy Bait" cake is moist, flavorful and works well with any fruit you chose to incorporate. Today, I had some fresh sweet cherries on hand. I made some changes to the original recipe and used all brown sugar and topped the cake with a crumb topping made of oats, nuts and cinnamon. I was pleased with how the cherry variation turned out and have been fantasizing about trying it with chunks of peaches the next time around.

 

Meatballs in Marinara

It's hot outside. Let's make something that does not require the use of the oven, shall we? Nothing makes me say Mmmm louder than a good meatball. I was thrilled to see this recipe from "Can you stay for dinner" because it didn't require pre-frying the meatballs before placing them into the sauce. The raw meatballs are submerged in the marinara and slow simmered for an hour. The flavor of the meatballs ooze out into the sauce making it more flavorful. Brilliant!

The original recipe says it yields 15 meatballs, but I was able to get 24 1 inch balls. Serve these with pasta and a chunk of focaccia bread (recipe here). Or you can skip the pasta all together and make meatball marinara subs topped with mozzarella cheese. I'm really glad I have leftover meatballs in the fridge :)

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

If you haven't guessed already, I kind of have a thing for blueberries. I love them in scones, muffins, pancakes, and in smoothies. When I came across the recipe for these cheesecake bars they immediately moved to the top of my To Bake list.

What sets these bars apart is the oatmeal cookie type base and crumb topping. The end result was something that tasted like cheesecake, oatmeal cookies and a blueberry crisp. Strange, true and delicious.

Raspberry and Cream Cheese Rolls

These rolls are time consuming no doubt about it. So bake them for those who are worth the time and effort. You will be rewarded with their appreciation and admiration ...or that's the way it plays in my head anyway. 

Don't let the amount of time needed deter you from trying the recipe.  Most of it is spent waiting for the rolls to rise. And you know what I always say, you can't rush the rise, baby. The 3or 4 hours of waiting time could be spent tackling all those projects you've pinned. Or if you're like me, looking for blog posts to pin and not doing any actual crafting. I have every intention on tackling them one day. Really? Really.

Sorry for the lack of step by step photos. An enormous amount of coffee was consumed this morning which resulted in the jitters. I was unable to steady myself sufficiently for decent shots. It happens.

Let's get baking!

Baklava

One of my favorite sweets has to be baklava with it's multiple layers of toasted nuts sandwiched between ultra thin sheets of crisp dough drowned in honey syrup. The thought of making it at home seemed daunting. But my worries proved to be unfounded because it turned out to be really easy. I mean, it's not like I was had to make my own phyllo dough.

This recipe calls for finely chopped nuts and you can use any combination you like. I like to use almonds, walnuts, and pistachios. Save a few spoonfuls of chopped pistachios to sprinkle over the top after it has been baked. It makes it look extra fancy.

Marbled cupcakes

For almost the entire month of April, my home has been a construction zone. Mr. Incredible and I had been planning on installing hardwood floors in our living room the first week of April, but it was delayed a week due to shipping issues. I found a DYI wainscoting project to do in the upstairs reading room while we waited for the flooring to arrive. Surprisingly, Mr. Incredible was willing to take it on. It was to be a short and easy project...3 days maximum. It took a little longer than that, but I think it came out well.