I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

Recipes

Apple Cider Donut Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Caramel

Apple Cider Donut Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Caramel

We’re just a few days away from Thanksgiving!!!!

Are you ready?!?!?!

I can’t wait!!!

Apple Cider Donut Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Caramel

Well, we basically did our Thanksgiving at home this past weekend, but I still can’t wait to have a 4 day weekend!! We are going up to Price’s sister’s house on Friday so we decided to do our Thanksgiving in advance so we would’t be doing Thanksgiving dinner 2 days in a row. Now we just get to relax this Thursday to watch the parade and dog show. yes!

Apple Cider Donut Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Caramel

Do Chinese places deliver? Does wondering that make me a horrible person?

Don’t answer that.

Anyway, I think I am a wonderful person for making this Apple Cider Donut Bread Pudding. But I didn’t just stop there!! Oh no, I covered that sucka in a warm Apple Cider Caramel.

Apple Cider Donut Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Caramel Apple Cider Donut Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Caramel

Apple Cider Donut Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Caramel Apple Cider Donut Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Caramel

Why did I think that making a caramel sauce would be so hard? Why did I wait so long to do it? Insanity I tell you!!!

So this is not your average bread pudding… It ditches your bread behind for donuts!!!! And the best kind of donuts too! Man, apple cider donuts have a special place in my heart.

Apple Cider Donut Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Caramel Apple Cider Donut Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Caramel

Apple Cider Donut Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Caramel Apple Cider Donut Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Caramel

I’ve made ‘bread’ pudding before with day old croissants, which was awesome!! But during our recent ‘it’s-actually-too-cold-to-go-apple-picking’ apple picking experience, we picked up some day old apple cider donuts. Perfectly marked down and perfectly imperfect for this recipe!!!

Apple Cider Donut Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Caramel

The bread pudding is super easy. The caramel actually is easy as well- I swear! So it will be super easy to enjoy this dessert at your Thanksgiving this year!!

It will make everyone oohh and ahhh!!

Apple Cider Donut Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Caramel

Apple Cider Donut Bread Pudding with Apple Cider Caramel

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

For the Bread Pudding

  • 12 Apple Cider Donuts, 1 day old
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 Cups milk
  • 1/2 Cup heavy cream
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

For the Caramel

  • 2 Cups apple cider
  • 1/2 Cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 1 Cup brown sugar, packed
  • 3/4 Cup heavy cream
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Process

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8×8 square baking pan, or a 2 quart casserole dish.
  2. Break apart your donuts into 8 pieces each. Place in your baking dish.
  3. Beat the eggs and combine with the milk, heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Slowly, evenly pour over the donut pieces. Let sit for 15 minutes to soak in the liquid.
  4. Bake for 45 minnutes, or until set in the center.
  5. While the bread pudding is baking, prepare your caramel. Using a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat, bring the apple cider to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and slowly cook until cider has reduced from 2 cups to 1/4 Cup. It will be fairly thick and syrupy.
  6. Add the sugar, cream, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring continuously. You’ll want it to be syrupy at this point.
  7. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla extract. Transfer to a heat-proof container and let cool.
  8. Serve your warm bread pudding with a healthy drizzling of caramel and some whipped cream. (You will likely have to reheat the caramel sauce for drizzling consistency if it cools or you store it for a few days as the caramel thicken as it cools.)

Caramel slightly adapted from Bashful Bao

Quick Oatmeal Cookie Apple Crisps

Oatmeal Cookie Apple Crisp

A few weeks ago, when we went to Apple Crest Farm, we picked up a 1/2 bushel of utility Cortland apples. Utility or second or hail apples are great to grab when you have the opportunity since they are sold at a reduced rate because they are ripe then or are blemished with spots from things like hail storms They are still great apples, but just are not pretty. Who cares when you are making pies or crisps or sauces with them?!?!

Oatmeal Cookie Apple Crisp_1

So we had A TON of apples. Awesome.

Oatmeal Cookie Apple Crisp_2

One day when I was at work on the weekend, Price made apple crisps with Autumn for their afternoon activity. She basically just ate the apples. ha!

Here’s the thing, I didn’t like apple crisps. Well, I figured I didn’t since I don’t like berry crisps. I don’t like the oats with the berries. It’s the flavor and texture, it’s just wrong to me. But I figured I would try Price’s to be nice since he made them, and damn, I loved it.

Oatmeal Cookie Apple Crisp_5 Oatmeal Cookie Apple Crisp_6

Since then we made 2 more crisps and we demolished them. No shame.

Oatmeal Cookie Apple Crisp_7 Oatmeal Cookie Apple Crisp_8

I wanted to use up the rest of the apples so I got to work on another big batch of apple crisps but I was low on oats. I just  grabbed a box of Krusteaz‘s Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookie mix to try as a substitute topping mix. I figured it’s basically the same thing!

Oatmeal Cookie Apple Crisp_9 Oatmeal Cookie Apple Crisp_10

Winner, Winner more apple crisp for dinner! (oh yeah, that’s a thing…)

Oatmeal Cookie Apple Crisp_3

This recipe makes 2 apples crisps, but if you don’t have a bunch of apples, or just don’t feel like making 2 apple crisps, then half he ingredients. Save the rest of the cookie mix for your next apple crisp!

Grab some ice cream and dig into your hot apple crisp!

Oatmeal Cookie Apple Crisp_4

Quick Oatmeal Cookie Apple Crisps

Makes 2 8×8 apple crisps

Ingredients

  • 12 Cups Apples, peeled, cored, sliced into 1/4″ thick pieces (I needed 14 Cortland Apples)
  • 1 Cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 Cup Sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon ginger
  • 1 teaspoon cloves
  •  1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 Cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 package of Krusteaz Brown Sugar Cookie Mix

Process

  1. Preheat your oven to 375.
  2. In a very large bowl or 2 medium sized bowls, combine your sliced apples with both sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, salt, and vanilla extract.
  3. Divide the apples between the 2 baking dishes
  4. Combine the melted butter and cookie mix. (You can even reuse the same bowl) Mix until the butter is thoroughly combined in the mix.
  5. Using your fingers, crumble the cookie mix on top of the 2 baking dishes. Ideally, you want a mix of fine, small, and large crumbles throughout.
  6. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Enjoy!

Red Velvet Waffles with a Cream Cheese Drizzle

Red Velvet Waffles

I believe that we have a superhero in each of us.

We all have special abilities to help others, to save the day, to be someone’s hero.

It might be simple or it might be a spectacular thing. Maybe just getting someone an afternoon coffee when they are having a rough day. Or slipping a note in your kid’s lunch box on a day when they are nervous about a test. Or maybe it’s helping your friend pay for groceries when they are short that month. It can be little, it can be grand, but we all have great kindness and superhero powers in us.

…

Read More

Halloween Monster Cupcakes

Halloween Monster Cupcakes

Boo! Halloween is less than a week away and we are still scrambling with our costumes.

Well, we have Autumn’s all set as she is going at Minnie Mouse – of course! But Price and I are trying to figure out what to do for us. Get dressed up? Skip it? Do a family theme? Do whatever?

Ultimately, it will be fun as Autumn will love it, so it will be great but right now I’m all over the place.

Halloween Monster Cupcakes-1

Don’t get me wrong, I love Halloween but the dressing up part leaves me all panic-y until the last minute. We’ve had years when we have gone all out for parties but the past 3 years have been hard with either being super pregnant, having a wee one, and now a toddler who gets to bed at 6.30. Limits out trick or treating time, plus not many people give out candy by us, which is why we don’t get many, which is why I say to myself, why bother dressing up? I’m just in a quasi sick funk this week and need to shake it off!!

What are you doing? Are you getting dressed up? Skipping it? Handing out candy? Turning the light off?

Halloween Monster Cupcakes-2

I recently brought these Monster Cupcakes to Autumn’s daycare for the kids to enjoy. They enjoyed them as a fun afternoon treat to celebrate the upcoming Halloween.

Halloween Monster Cupcakes-5 Halloween Monster Cupcakes-6

Halloween Monster Cupcakes-7 Halloween Monster Cupcakes-8

These cupcakes are really easy to make. You can follow my instructions and use a boxed mix and cans of frosting, or you can make it all homemade. It just depends on your preference (and time constraints). You really can’t go wrong with how you decorate them either. It’s fun to be creative. Plus you can def involve kids!

Halloween Monster Cupcakes-3

Whip a batch of these frightfully delicious cupcakes for Halloween!!!

Halloween Monster Cupcakes-4

Halloween Monster Cupcakes

Makes 18 cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 box of cake mix for the cupcakes, and accompanying ingredients
  • 2 containers of frosting in bright colors
  • 5 Twizzlers’ Pull and Peels candies
  • 36+ eye candies

Process

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 cavities of 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
  2. Prepare the cake mix according to the package instructions.
  3. Evenly portion out the batter in the 18 cupcake liners. Bake according to package instructions. (As you are putting a bit more batter in each cupcake to make 18, instead of 24, it might take a bit linger than the package instructions.)
  4. Once the cupcakes have fully cooled, frost half with one color, and the other half with the other color.
  5. Cut the Twizzlers in half, then half, and half again to create 8 1″-long pieces. Either fray the pieces by separating the 9 ‘fibers’ while leaving a bit connected at one end. Or completely separate the 9 ‘fibers’.
  6. Decorate each cupcakes with 2-3 candy eyes and the Twizzlers pieces to make fun hair!

 

 

 

Shrimp & Curried Coconut Risotto

Shrimp and Curried Coconut Risotto

Is your refrigerator running? Well, you better go get it! ha!

Okay, I have a point with starting with corny joke. I swear.

Shrimp and Curried Coconut Risotto_01

Our vacuum was acting up so I kept joking around that “Our vacuum sucks since it doesn’t suck” So Price dove into research mode, making me continually joke “But does that vacuum suck?” every time he would tell me about his findings. In the end we bought the Shark Rotator Pro Complete Lift-Away Vacuum (NV552), because we wanted a vacuum that had a hepafilter, had the ability to turn off the roller when on hardwoods, had a lot of attachments, and was relatively affordable (about 1/2 as much as a Dyson).

Since getting it we have been cleaning every inch of our house. It is amazing and horrifying at the same time as we are living in one of those corny infomercials when the people vacuum with their old one and then go over it with a new one to discover everything that was left behind. It’s amazing and horrifying. At the very least I am enjoying Price cleaning every surface in sight with every attachment the vacuum has. Win!!

Highly recommend this Shark vacuum #notsponsored!

Anyway, it’s Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day!!!!! YAY!!!! It’s my 4th year now!!

This month I had Sue’s blog Couscous and Consciousness. She is from New Zealand! So far away, but that is why I love blogging and Secret Recipe Club since it connects everyone from everywhere.

Shrimp and Curried Coconut Risotto_04 Shrimp and Curried Coconut Risotto_05

Shrimp and Curried Coconut Risotto_06 Shrimp and Curried Coconut Risotto_07

I had a lot of fun going through Sue’s Recipe Index since she had such a wide variety of recipes. We picked out several for considering, including her Salted Caramel Coconut Macaroons, Homemade Ricotta, and Pearl Barley Salad with Pistachios, Fava & Pomegranate (which I still have on my to-do list!). Ultimately, I selected her Shrimp & Curried Coconut Risotto.

I hadn’t made risotto in sooooo long so I was drawn to it. Plus, the combination of the flavors was so enticing. I couldn’t resist. 

Shrimp and Curried Coconut Risotto_02

I’m glad I made this as it was a very satisfying lunch on a cool fall day. It made it really glad that I made a double batch since it made for great leftovers.

Sue’s tips about preparing this dish were spot on, like how you shouldn’t toast the coconut shavings. Sure, it will look pretty, but the contrasting texture from the crisp coconut to the soft risotto just wouldn’t work. I heeded her advice since it made a lot of sense.

So my 2 cents, if you like the flavor of curry then add a bit more. But, of course, this all depends on your curry blend, so just try it out as you go.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Monday! xox

Shrimp and Curried Coconut Risotto_03

Shrimp & Curried Coconut Risotto

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 teaspoon medium curry powder
  • 3/4 Cups arborio rice
  • 4 Cups chicken stock, hot
  • 1/2 pound fresh shrimp, peeled & uncooked
  • 1/3 cup cream de coconut
  • generous handful chopped cilantro
  • toasted shaved coconut and wedges of lime to serve

Process

  1. In a large stock pot, heat the oil and 1 Tablespoon butter in a large frying pan, set over medium heat until te butter is melted and the oil is simmering.
  2. Add the shallot and cook until softened, approximately 2-3 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic and grated lemon zest, cook for another minute
  4. Then add the curry powder, again cooking for another minute before adding the rice.
  5. Add approximately 1/2 Cup of the hot stock, continue stirring until all the liquid is absorbed.  Then continue in the same way, adding the stock in ladle full batches, and each time stirring until the liquid is absorbed before adding the next ladle. Continue doing this until the rice has begun to release its starches and becomes “creamy”, but still has a little bite left to it.
  6. Add the shrimp when you have 1 last batch of stock to add. By the time the rice has absorbed the stock the shrimp will be almost done, and will finish off cooking in the final resting time.
  7. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the rest of the butter and the coconut cream, cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
  8. Stir the cilantro just prior to serving.
  9. Garnish with the coconut shavings and wedges of lime when serving.

Adapted from Couscous & Consciousness

____________________

newsrcbanner

Check out all the other great Secret Recipe Club posts this month!

And be sure to check out my 4 years of Secret Recipe Club posts!!!!

____________________

Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.