The Very Epic Picaken

Do y'all know what a picaken is?

Well, don't fret. I didn't know what a picaken was either until a close friend of mine requested one for her graduation party back in May. She earned a doctorate, and thus deserved an epic dessert. My friend first heard of the picaken through this blog, but it seems picakens (or piecakens) are all over the internet.

First off, I apologize for the quality of the photos--all except the final photo were taken with my phone, and are, therefore, a bit blurry/crappy.

Okay, so here's what you do if you're super stressed and don't have time to make anything from scratch (my scenario for making this picaken):

Ingredients:
1 frozen pie, cooked and cooled to room temp, or 1 store bought already baked pie (I chose apple)
1 box cake mix (I chose spice cake)
1 tub frosting (I chose cream cheese flavored)

Procedure:

1. Preheat your oven to whatever temperature your cake mix tells you to preheat to (I think mine was either 350F or 375F).

2. Mix up your cake batter as directed. Grease a large (9", in my case) springform pan, taking time to carefully lock the outer rim so you don't have any leaks. I recommend also placing a baking sheet below the pan in the oven to catch any potential drips.

3. Place about 3/4 cup cake batter in the bottom of the pan, coating the whole bottom.

4. Take your baked, room temp pie and flip it over onto a cooling rack or large plate (the bottom of the pie will be face up). Then flip it over again into the springform pan.

5. Hysterically weep.

6. Pour the remaining cake batter over the pie, being careful not to cry too much into the bowl so as to not change the salt content and/or water down your cake.

7. Pop the cake into the oven for the recommended time on the cake box, then start swearing after that time has passed, because your cake is NOT going to be done yet, friends. It can take upwards of 20 extra minutes to have the interior portion of the cake bake properly--just be sure to check it with a toothpick (the toothpick should come out clean). Nothing should be jiggling. That will happen after you eat the picaken.

8. Cool that sucker. It will take a long, long, LONG time to cool. Like, overnight, folks. Just plan accordingly, because you need to ice this guy to cover up any pie crust poking out.

9. Ice it. It may come out crumbly (like mine), but that's okay. It will taste WONDERFUL, and you won't care as much about the crumbles.

10. Enjoy with lots of friends! This picaken can serve about 10-15 people--maybe more!

My sweet friend made me a picaken in return--same combination (apple pie/spice cake/cream cheese frosting), but she made her cake and frosting from scratch! Delicious!

What combinations of flavors would you try?

Peanut Butter Rollo® Cups

Whew. Another six months, and no recipes. Well, at least I know for sure you don't expect much out of me. Now that we're clear on that, how about some cookies?!?

I can't take credit for the inventiveness of this recipe, as I followed this recipe exactly.

I will say that they are best served warm (that way the Rollo inside is gooey), and they're fun to take to parties to watch unsuspecting friends chomp into them only to be pulling a giant string of caramel away from their face :). Ah, social awkwardness, we know each other too well.

I've copied the recipe below for your convenience, but like I said kudos to the real author, found here.

Peanut Butter Rollo Cups

Makes About 3 dozen cups

Ingredients:

1/2 cup margarine 

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup granulated white sugar, packed

1/2 light brown sugar

1 egg, at room temperature

1-1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

About 36 Rollo® candies, unwrapped

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Optional Glaze:

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. 

2. Cream together margarine, peanut butter, egg, white sugar, and brown sugar. 

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

4. Add the flour mixture, half at a time, to margarine mixture, beating well to combine. 

5. Place a heaping teaspoon of cookie dough into the palm of your hand. Press one candy into the center and press dough around it to form a ball. Roll in confectioners' sugar and place in un-greased mini-muffin tin. 

6. Bake 12-14 minutes, until lightly browned on top. Let cool in the baking tins at least 15 minutes, then remove to racks to cool completely. 

7. (OPTIONAL) Heat chocolate chips in microwave until melted. Take a fork and drizzle chocolate over the tops of the cooled cups.

These would be a perfect treat to bring to a New Year's celebration!

Spinach Stuffed Italian Portobellos

Holy Cow. 2 recipes in less than 6 months. I'm on a roll, people.

I wanted to put meat in this dish, mixed in with the spinach and cheese, but the pan I wanted to use was washing in the dishwasher. Therefore, because of my extreme laziness, we have a healthier, vegetarian dish :).

I served this as a main dish with my zucchini crisps as a side, but I think this would easily work as a hearty side dish to a steak dinner.

Spinach Stuffed Italian Portobellos

Serves 2

Ingredients

3-4 large portobello mushrooms, washed and gills removed with a spoon

1/4 c olive oil

1 Tbs Italian seasoning

1 can spinach (or better yet, frozen spinach thawed)

1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, and a little extra for sprinkling on top

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 450 F. Line a baking sheet with aluminium foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.

2. Mix Italian seasoning and olive oil. Coat both sides of the mushrooms and let them marinate for about 15 minutes.

3. Place mushrooms on baking sheet, gill side down. Bake for 15 minutes, flipping them over halfway through.

4. Meanwhile, mix the spinach, breadcrumbs and Parmesan in a medium sized bowl. Once the mushrooms are done, fill the caps with about 1/2 cup of filling, and top with a sprinkle of Parmesan.

5. Put back in the 450F oven for about 5 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the topping mixture is heated through.

Parmesan Zucchini Crisps

Hey Everyone!

It's been a while. Like, 6 months. I got into a slump. A cooking slump, a life slump, a slumpy slump.

I'm not sure I'm totally out of it, but at least I've recently felt inspired to try cooking new things again. I'm completely out of practice for taking food photos, so I'm going to have ease back into taking good looking photos again.

I recently made these zucchini crisps I found on the EatingWell website (which I highly recommend as a healthy recipe search engine!).

Tony and I both really enjoyed them. They are simple enough to cook on a weeknight, but actually look pretty impressive when served!

Enjoy!

Parmesan Zucchini Crisps

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 medium zucchini, sliced diagonally into1/4" medallions
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Procedure:
1. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat.
2. Add zucchini to skillet, toss in oil and cook for about 20 minutes, flipping the medallions over about half way through. The zucchini should be lightly browned on both sides and soft in the middle.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste, then place a pinch of Parmesan on top of each medallion. Cook on low heat for about 2 more minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy as a side or even an appetizer!