Pumpkin Caramel Poke Cake & Apple Cider Sangria

 Hello, Monday...back so soon? And with this Monday...Hello December, feels like just yesterday you were visiting last year...Anyways.

So, remember how I said last week that I was finished posting Fall recipes. Guess what? I lied. and so today you have more pumpkin and more cider. In my defense...Fall is not officially over until December 20th! See people...this means you have 17 days left to gorge yourself on pumpkin whip up some quick tasty treats! It can't be helped. I need to share this with you. 

and by now you should learn...sometimes when I say "tomorrow I am posting this" it can loosely be translated to say "at some point...in the future" haha ugh. I'm trying to be better. Life is just hectic, as it is for everybody!

Anyways, are you familiar with  The Country Cook? Oh. My. Goodness. If you're not, do yourself a favor and check her out. She has such a sweet personality and I love her recipes. And if you've ever been on pinterest before then more than likely you have pinned one of her recipes and not even known it. My favorites are her "poke cakes. Hence...my title and what I whipped up.

As I have always said...I get my ideas for recipes from lots of different people and sites...but many I make up are completely on a whim and all mine. Obviously I didn't originate whoopie pies or mudslides...but many of the flavor combinations are all my own and that's the case w/this cake. When I first stumbled upon a caramel cake mix and a pumpkin pudding, the idea was pretty immediate. It is rather tasty and I hope you enjoy.

Ingredients
1 box caramel cake mix
ingredients used to make cake(eggs, oil & water)
2 boxes pumpkin pudding mix(if you can't find, check my notes & I'll have alternate)
2 cups caramel coffee creamer
2 cups milk
1 container whipped topping(the cinnamon one was perfect for this) or 1 cup whipping cream
1 package heath bar bits

Prepare cake according to directions for a 9x13 cake, allow it to cool for a few minutes. Then, w/a handle of a wooden spoon or something similar  poke holes in the cake. They should be big, so the pudding can "poke" down in there...but really there is no rhyme or reason to this.

In a separate bowl, whisk together pudding using the coffee creamer & milk, then pour directly over the cake into the holes, reserving a 1/2 cup into the fridge to set up. Once you have poured into holes, making sure to "seep"  down into the holes, use the back of a spoon to spread it out evenly and place in fridge to set up, at least 2 hours.

To make "icing" use remainder of pudding and mix w/a container of whip cream. Sprinkle some heath bar bits over the cake and top with the "whipped icing"

Set back in fridge till ready to eat.

***notes.
if you want to use all milk, feel free. I just am a big fan of using flavored coffee creamers to completely change up the flavoring of something. I rarely make pudding w/out one. If you can't find the pumpkin pudding, you could always use cheesecake/or vanilla pudding and use pumpkin spice coffee creamer to make it instead. and the second time I used this...I just got an extra packet of pudding and mixed the dry packet it/w a cup of whipping cream to make my "icing" really easy and so tasty!

Now...if only I could get mine to be as pretty as hers! Or I can just be content in what my inadequacies are;) haha and yes...my recipe varies a little from hers. It's b/c I did hers from memory and I was a little off...but mine came out great too. or so I decided.

And b/c why not I ask...a tasty drink to get you through the week. I love sangria! I abhor apple cider. Somehow together I adore it. I don't make sense. I know. But I love what I love. haha The only reason I came up w/this idea was stumbling upon the bourbon at a party. and nobody hearts bourbon more than me!

Ingredients
1 bottle dry red wine
1 bottle sparkling apple cider
1 cup apple cider bourbon
3 apples cut up(I used a mix)

Combine all ingredients together in a pitch, stir to marry the flavors together. All that's left is to bask in the glory of this tasty beverage.

I have partaken in this from both the fridge and room temp.

***Notes
If you can't find the apple cider bourbon, use 1 cup of bourbon and one cup of apple cider. 

Funny story...the whole time I was typing this as I was reading to myself, pudding sounds like "puddin" I am a word nerd. I love words, ones that are interchangeable  I get made fun of so much for this...So when my accent creeps in, no matter how hard I try, I can't squash it. 

The reason I am so amused is b/c just this weekend a friend of mine from TX and I were talking. She said something to the effect that when she pictures "my South" it's "debutante balls and big dresses" and "her South" is "daisy dukes and cowboy boots" I howled and laughed till I almost cried...

Yes, I love MK and Kate Spade, my Frye boots, and Paige denim. I love fancy restaurants and good wine. I adore fruity martinis and I have worn high heels to grocery shop on more than one occasion...but

~I grew up on a tobacco farm in the middle of nowhere
~if the boondocks had a backwoods, Gladys, VA would be it!
~I learned to drive in a 25 year old jeep and a tractor
~my nearest neighbor was almost 3 miles away
~the only store we had was "Burls Market" 
~I am pretty sure the "penny candy" was original to it's 1943 store opening
~I am fully aware that camo serves a purpose & it isn't a fashion one
~I love cowboy boots
~I prefer bourbon/whiskey to wine and I like it hot...and straight out the bottle;)
~Wide open spaces rock my world
~I realize that everything just tastes better in a mason jar
~I know the difference between a ruger and a remington

Just funny how in life...even our friends can have a completely different picture of us than we do of ourselves!

linking up today with Lisa

and

Whoopie Pie Wednesday: Pumpkin Caramel

What says Fall better than pumpkin and caramel? Not much, just ask Bath & Body Works, this must be why a majority of their Fall candles involve the confluence of these two scents. Pure goodness. And they just so happen to taste good as well!!! These have been requested no less than 6 times in the last 2 weeks, I think that is a good sign;)

Ingredients
cookies
1 box caramel cake
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup water
filling
4-6 oz pumpkin flavored cream cheese(softened)
1 cup heavy whipping cream(cold)
1 packet cheesecake flavor pudding packet

Preheat oven to 350'
Mix together dry cake mix, oil, eggs and water
I normally use a round TBSP to place on cookie sheet, but you can also use a round TSP to make them bite size and get more out of it. Bake 8-9 minutes

For the filling
Cream softened cream cheese on low for 1 minute to get fluffy, add half the pudding packet, and 2 tbsp whipping cream, beat until fully incorporated and slowly add the remaining whipping cream and beat until peaks begin to form. Set in fridge for an hour to firm up.

Once the cookies have cooled, lay one cookie flat, top it w/the filling and then place it's partner on top. 

***Notes
the only place I have seen the caramel cake mix is The Gates of Hell Walmart, so if you can't find it anywhere, you should be able to add 2/3 tbsp of caramel ice cream topping to a yellow cake mix to get the caramel flavoring. and the pudding packet is optional, you don't have to use it. and if you can't find the pumpkin cream cheese(this is everywhere here) you could add 2 tbsp of pumpkin pie filling to regular cream cheese and get same effect.

All I know is this is like Fall, jumping all around in your mouth. Get on it, people, get on it. and you should probably burn the pumpkin caramel latte candle while you're at it, just to fully immerse yourself in all things Fall.

And thank you to everyone who wrote the kind words, messages and texts. Each one was special to me. Yesterday's post wasn't easy to write, but the reactions made me gad I did it.

bourbon caramel french toast casserole

Yes. Bourbon. Caramel. and french toast, all in one. You're welcome.

 Down South we're known for our casseroles. Especially around the holidays. This is one of my favorites, it's quite simple to prepare and oh. so. delicious. and I think I have made roughly 25 different versions.  I originally had this the first time 4 years ago when a group of my favorite ladies and I were making breakfast for the Ronald McDonald House. It called for regular milk, eggs, cinnamon and french bread.  

Then I made it better. Being humble is my specialty.

this will yield one large casserole or two small(roughly 9x 13 or two 9 x 9, I also sometime use loaf pans)

Ingredients

1 cup caramel coffee creamer

2 tbsp bourbon(I used Makers Mark)

3 eggs

2 tbsp cinnamon sugar

4 tbsp butter

1 large french bread loaf(or 2 small)

whip cream topping

1 cup cold whipping cream

2 tbsp caramel ice cream topping(or syrup)

1 tbsp bourbon

(whip all ingredients together until stiff peaks form)

 rip medium sized pieces of the bread (you could also cut the bread into "uniform" cubes. but why?) lay the pieces in the pan. Whisk the creamer, bourbon and eggs till smooth, add a smidgen of the cinnamon sugar and pour over the bread pieces, making sure to coat as many pieces as possible. I usually use my hands to press the pieces down and completely coat them. Cover in foil and place in the fridge overnight or at least 8 hours.

 Preheat oven to 350' and bake, covered in foil for 20 minutes and then uncovered for 15-20 more minutes. Top w.butter and sprinkle on cinnamon sugar, & if you have it, top w/some of the caramel ice cream topping. This takes roughly 20 min to prepare, it's super simple...I promise.

We have this Christmas and Thanksgiving for breakfast...the rest of the time, I make these as dessert. I top it with the homemade whip cream and that's all she wrote. I made this version for Wiki's bday and a friend of ours, Busa, ate a bite, took a deep breath and said "That may be the best thing I've ever eaten"

I'm not positive, but I think that means he liked it;)

*notes. If you don't want to use coffee creamer, milk is fine, that's what the original calls for anyways, just don't use skim milk. 2% is probably the lightest you could go and still get the same texture. Just find a way to add caramel to the milk, ie, pudding pack or the ice cream topping. & for the whipped topping, you can also just use cool whip and add the caramel and bourbon. Tasty in it's own right.

Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip

As I have previously stated: I have strange food tendencies, they have no rhyme or reason. pumpkin is a prime example- not a fan by itself. Ech is my normal reaction. However, in conjunction with caramel I am suddenly enamored with it. I have made several different versions lately, but this was the one that pleased my palate the most. Plus, I heart cheesecake dips, there's a plethora of variations you can put together and constantly create new flavor combinations...and they're relatively simple to make. I find I adore simplistic dishes that taste complex.


The inspiration for this particular one came about due to my cousin's allergy to...chocolate. Yes, she's that person, ruining it for the rest of us;) haha Anyways, I was heading over for her lil fatty's first birthday and I wanted to make some desserts she could consume. I am a good cousin. Are you reading this, B? You know this is a factual statement.


There are two ways you can make this; one is homemade and the other is more Sandra Lee "semi homemade" style. Which, I feel that if it has more than three ingredients and I make it at home, there's zilch that's semi about it, but you know, that's just my two cents.


Ingredients
version one uses cool whip(if you can find french vanilla, get that) softened
version two uses 6 oz whipping cream
4 oz softened cream cheese
2 tbsp pumpkin spice 
2 1/2 tbsp caramel sauce

directions
***To make whip cream: pour cold whipping cream into bowl and mix till peaks begin to form, add the 1/2 tbsp pumpkin & 1/2 caramel sauce at this point, mixing thoroughly/cool whip version- add 1/2 tbsp pumpkin spice & 1/2 tbsp caramel to the cool whip, be careful to fold and not over mix, as this will remove the "whipped" factor from the cool whip. Next mix together 1/2 tbsp pumpkin spice, 1/2 tbsp caramel sauce and cream cheese together. Then fold the cream cheese mixture into the cool whip/cream and add remaining pumpkin and caramel, folding lightly to incorporate fully. Refrigerate for at least two hours.  Drizzle top w/caramel sauce.

I like to serve this with either graham crackers or apples. It's good any time of the year, but fall obviously is where this tasty treat packs a more powerful punch. 


Here are a few other pics from Ethan's Mickey Party. Hot Dog Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog. If you have kids...you more than likely got that.

 Please excuse the sideways pics...I'll fix when I get to my computer, For some reason this one won't let me rotate.