Healthier Texas Bourbon Pecan Almond Bars

There are so much energy calorie packed ingredients in this recipe that I am always tempted to cut sugar or butter out.  This time, I added home made coconut flakes and Organic Hemp Hearts as substitute filler.
Then, I made half Almond and then the other half Pecan to offer choice to friends who may be allergic to almond or pecan or their like or dislike.
It turned out pretty good.
INGREDIENTS and Procedure:
Crust:
1-1/2 Sticks Butter
1/2 C Brown Sugar
2 C Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
 
Filling:
8 eggs
5 C Brown Sugar + 1 C Truvia
1/8 C or 1/4 C Bourbon -- depending on your family's taste
6 TB melted Butter
1 TB Vanilla
1 C Flour
1 tsp salt
1 C coconuts flakes, home made  
1 C Organic Hemps 
1 C Pecan halves, broken
1 C Almond slices, broken
Use Paddle attachment, beat butter, 1 min; add sugar, beat 1 min; Add flour & salt; mix slow till crumbly.

Line the bottom of the 12x17" baking sheet with buttered parchment paper.  Press the mixture down to the sheet. Roll down gently with the rolling pin like the ones in this picture would do also.  

Bake at 350'F, rotate the pan at 5 minutes.
While the bottom crust is baking till light brown for 10 min, mix the filling.   I didn't want to bake the bottom crust too long because I noticed the last couple of times when I baked them in my large gas oven, the crust tasted a bit too done.

Whisk eggs & sugar in a large bowl until blended.  In a separate bowl - Stir in Bourbon, butter, vanilla, flour, salt, coconut.  Pour them into blender bowl and mix well - or by hand with rubber spatula.

  Crush the nuts slightly so they are broken.  Set them aside to sprinkle on top of the filling later.

 Crushing the nuts a bit helps cutting the bars out more smoothly.
 I don't like the store bought coconut flakes because they are waaaaay tooooo sweet for nothing.
1 C coconut flakes

 1 C Organic Hemp Hearts

 Mix them all into the butter sugar, flour, and egg mixture, Except the nuts.

Fill the baked crust and sprinkle with nuts.

 Sprinkle half with pecans, the other half with almonds.

 Press the nuts gently down a bit to cover with the filling.

 Bake until set.  350'F
Cool at least 30 minutes before cutting with Pizza cutter.

Happy Halloween 2013 LEGO Medusa Cake

I didn't want to wait too long to post this one.  But it was fun and challenging to make this cake.   After baking my grandson's birthday cakes for the past few times with this LEGO cake mold, I realized that to make the cake 3-D to stand up, the cake batter needs to be much firmer or dense cake in order to hold all the weight from Fondant draping over it.  Regardless, the cake is basically for the show.  You bake extra Chiffon cake to enjoy on the side or as a base of the figure cake.    I baked this cake for our office's Holiday party fund raiser last night.  I couldn't see it being sold to someone else, except for my grandson, so I end up donating the cash and kept the cake for my grandson.   Hope every one had a enjoyable time with your family tonight.   I think I can do the LEGO Frankenstein the next time.... :-)

I added extra half cup of flour to make the cake batter thicker to cause the cake to be dense to support buttercream frosting.
Cake Ingredients:    Creaming method
3 eggs  - separated and whipped with 1/4 C of sugar with egg yolks and 1/2 C with egg whites
1 Stick butter softened - whip up till pale with 1/4 C of sugar
1 cup sugar (- divided as above for eggs and butter)
1-1/2 C shifted flour
1 tsp baking powder with no aluminum (even though this cake only for the display)

 Rice Krispies treats - 1 batch- Add 1 C extra Rice Krispies to make firmer treat.  Shape into Medusa's backside body shape.

 Pre-make marshmallow fondant with green food color.

 1 batch Buttercream Frosting - follow the instruction on the back of powder sugar package.  Add few drops of green food color.

 Wrap the rolled out marshmallow fondant on bodice.

 Slice off the back side of the cake to make it flatter.  Frost the back and press the bodice together.

 Frost the cake and attach "octopus" sour gummy onto the head section.  Cut one section of red gummy with scissors to make eyes.  Use chocolatier tool sets or something sharp to poke eye sockets and insert cut eyes into them.

 Use Black and red Gel frosting with sparkles.   Have fun!

 "Be Ware!!! Do Not Look into the Eyes!!"

My Grandson's LEGO Mr. Gold Birthday Cake

It's time again for the Happy B Day Cake.  This year's challenge from my Grandson is LEGO's MR. GOLD cake.  Series 10 of LEGO mini-figurine is to find the very rare Mr. Gold.  There are only 5000 of it around the world, and there are couple more thousands still to be found.
So, where is it?   Well, here it is - in the form of a cake.

 Pre-prepare Marshmallow Fondant a weeks ahead.
Have three long candy sticks ready.   Some tooth picks and a couple of short candy sticks.  2 medium length candy sticks.    These sticks are used to hold the cake up and arms and legs in place.

The cake is made from a basic cake formula of mine - 3 eggs, 1 butter, 1 C sugar, 1-1/2 C flour, 1 tsp non-aluminum baking powder.  Prep the LEGO Silicone Cake mold and Bake in 350'F.

 The cake puffed up perfectly for the 3-D shape; otherwise I would have baked another one to form the 'back' of the Mr. Gold. 

Make sure the cake mold is sprayed and floured for easier unmolding.   Bake rather brown to make sure the cake will 'stand'. 

 Prepare Butter Frosting.   Cover the cracked area.

Cover with rolled out marshmallow fondant after covering the cake with frosting,
 Use 'fondant smoother' to shape.   Tip:  cut a sheet of 'wax paper' and frost over it.  Parchment paper is bit expensive for this task, but the wax paper is perfect for this task.

 

 

 Place in Box and Spray with Edible Gold spray.  Becareful not to inhale the spray.

 Use Black Gel frosting to outline Mr. Gold.   Roll the fondant around a long stick to build his staff.  Roll the ball in Crystal cake sprinkles, unless you have a plastic crystal to put on the staff, but be very careful if you have small toddler who might put anything in their mouth. So, its safer if its made from Fondant and Crystal sprinkles.

 Patch up some of the smeared black gel frosting by covering up with fondant pieces.  Smooth out with some moist finger to blend it in.

 

Didn't find Mr. Gold in a box of newly opened Series 10 box at the Toy R' Us, but this Mr. Gold cake brought cheers and smiles to every one.
Don't know what challenge it will be next year, but I have yet to make a LEGO Rapunzel for my Grand-daughter.