Giveaway Winner + Vanilla Gelato with Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache Topping

Congratulations to Jennie over at The Messy Baker Blog for winning the Redwood Hill giveaway!

She is a lucky girl!  But, if you didn’t win, don’t worry… I will have more giveaways.

Okay, two really exciting things happened this week:

1.  The president of Micronesia visited my college on Sunday.

2. I got Homecoming Queen.  Funny story, though… they got two “Homecoming King” sashes, so I got to rep a king sash all night long.  Don’t care!

Anyway, before it gets too cold, I want to share one more freezing cold recipe with you.

I have eaten Gelato a few times, but this is the first time I had ever made it.  I could not believe how creamy it was.  So decadent and the chocolate peanut butter topping was also smooth and creamy, so there were some nice textures going on.

If you happen to get another unseasonably warm day, I suggest you make this Gelato.

Vanilla Gelato with Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache Topping

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups vanilla Kefir (I’m obsessed with Kefir right now if you can’t tell)
• 1 cup greek yogurt
• ¼ cup creamer
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp oil

Directions:

1. Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and Kefir in a medium saucepan. Whisk and heat over medium heat, frequently scraping the bottom, until the mixture begins to barely simmer around the edges.
2. Then, stirring constantly and scraping the sides and corners of the pan to prevent scorching, let the mixture simmer for 2.5 to 3 minutes to fully cook the cornstarch.
3. Scrape the hot mixture into the bowl and whisk until well blended
4. Set in the freezer to cool for about 10-15 min.
5. When cool, whisk in the frozen yogurt until you get a smooth consistency.
6. Pour the Gelato mixture into the canister of an ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.
7. Once frozen, melt the peanut butter, chocolate chips, and oil in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave until melted, about 1 minute.  Whisk until blended and spread evenly on top of the Gelato.
8. Freeze again until the chocolate layer has hardened.

Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt Cake and an AWESOME Giveaway!

I have exciting news for you all today.

1)  I get to do a really big and awesome giveaway thanks to Redwood Hill Farms and Green Valley Organics.  You guys do not want to miss this one.

and

2) I made a really delicious chocolate bundt cake, also thanks to Redwood Hill Farms and Green Valley Organics because I got the same package that I get to give away.

and

3)  I’m now obsessed with Redwood Hill Farms and Green Valley Organics… can you tell?

I had never tried lactose free yogurt or kefir before, but I honestly can’t tell the difference.  The only difference is that the lactose free kefir is not as thick as regular kefir.

Redwood Hill has all sorts of recipes, news, events, and other information on their website.  Definitely make sure to check it out!

Okkkay, now what you guys have been waiting for…

GIVEAWAY:

The prize package (minimum value of about $57.55) will include:

– 1 Eco-friendly insulated green “Get Your Goat, Have a Cow” co-branded tote bag (approximate value $5)

– 1 t-shirt (winner’s choice of Redwood Hill Farm Goat, Green Valley Organics Cow OR RHF kid-size shirt; approximate value: $15)

– 6, 6-oz cups Redwood Hill Farm Goat yogurts or free product coupons (valued at about $2.19 each = $13.14)

– 6, 6-oz cups Green Valley Organics Lactose Free yogurts (valued at about $1.59 each = $9.54)

– 1 32-oz bottle Redwood Hill Farm Kefir (about $6.39)

– 1 32-oz bottle Green Valley Organics Kefir (about $4.49)

– 1 12-oz Green Valley Organics Sour Cream (about $3.99)

Are you excited yet? Because when I received my package, I felt like a little kid in a candy store.

To enter, all you have to do is:

1. Leave a comment saying why you want the prize package.

For extra entries:

1. Like Green Valley Organics on Facebook and leave a comment saying you did so.
2. Like Redwood Hill Farms on Facebook and leave a comment saying you did so.
3. Like What Katie’s Baking on Facebook and leave a comment saying you did so.
4. Follow Redwood Hill Farms on Twitter and leave a comment saying you did so.
5. Follow What Katie’s Baking on Twitter and leave a comment saying you did so.
6. Subscribe to my RSS feed and leave a comment saying you did so.

The giveaway will end on Tuesday, October 2nd at 12:00 am.  Good luck! 🙂

If you don’t win, don’t worry, you can just buy their products!  Redwood Hill Farm and Green Valley Organics products are available at Whole Foods Markets, natural food stores and specialty grocers nationwide. To find a store near you, go to redwoodhill.com/store and greenvalleylactosefree.com/stores/

Now, for this deliiiiicious recipe (which got devoured extremely quickly in my house):

Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt Cake

Adapted from: Leite’s Culinaria

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
• 1/3 cup (1 ounce) cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups (9 ounces) all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup plain Green Valley Organics plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon, plus extra for pan coating

Glaze:

• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• ½ stick butter
• 1/3 cup Redwood Hills plain Kefir
• 1/3 cup sugar

Directions:

Make the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and sprinkle cinnamon in a 10- or 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, salt, cinnamon, and water and place over medium heat.
3. Cook, stirring, just until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.
4. Place the flour, sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl and whisk to blend.
5. Add half of the melted butter mixture and whisk until completely blended (the mixture will be quite thick). Add the remaining butter mixture and whisk until combined.
6. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until completely blended before adding the next egg. Whisk in the Green Valley plain yogurt and vanilla until smooth.
7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert onto a rack. Let cool completely before glazing.

Make the glaze:

1. Just before glazing the cooled cake, combine the Green Valley kefir, cocoa powder, butter, and sugar in a small saucepan and put over medium heat. Stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake, allowing it to drip and dribble down the sides.  It will soak into the cake and taste delicious.

 

Homemade Wendy’s “Frosty” – Chocolate Frozen Yogurt

I’m obsessed with making ice cream right now.

I got my mom an ice cream maker last year for Mother’s Day and she’s never used it…. I might have had myself in mind when I bought this. But, before you start judging, she loves when I make her homemade ice cream.

Last summer, I only made ice cream a couple of times because it always turned out runny no matter how long I left it in the machine.  This year, though, I’ve figured out that if you keep the main piece of the machine in the freezer and never take it out, the ice cream thickens up super quickly.

So, since I’ve learned that trick (last week) I’ve made ice cream several times.  This chocolate ice cream/frozen yogurt tastes just like a chocolate Frosty.

Chocolate Frozen Yogurt
Adapted From: All Recipes

Ingredients:

• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 3 cups milk (I suggest full-fat milk, but any will work)
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• Dash of salt

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. (I added the cocoa powder while the ice cream was churning, but it really doesn’t matter when you add it).
2. Add ingredients to ice cream maker and follow the machines instructions.
3. Freeze and enjoy!
4. When I take mine out of the freezer, I like to put it in my KitchenAid and whip it up so it’s nice and creamy.

Extra Moist Chocolate Lava Cakes- Muffin Tin Chef Review

If you’re looking for quick, from-scratch, appropriately sized meals, then I highly recommend you get the cookbook Muffin Tin Chef.  Who knew that a muffin tin is the most versatile piece of cookware in our cabinets?

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Muffin Tin Chef, and to be honest, I put it aside for a while during the last busy weeks of my college semester.   When I moved back home and was finally able to read the book, I was kind of surprised at how much I liked it.

It really is clever how many dishes Matt Kadey was able to downsize into the size of a muffin tin.  I think I liked the book so much because:

1. Easy portion control.
2. Quick cooking time.
3. All from scratch.
4. Small batches.
5. Variety of desserts, dinners, lunches, breakfasts, appetizers, and snacks.
6. Easy to follow instructions.
7. Simple to make a 3-course meal quickly.
8. Well.. anything muffin tin sized is just cute.

So, if you don’t have this book, I suggest you buy it… even if it’s just solely to get the recipe for these chocolate lava cakes.  These are like flour-less cake, except for a minor addition of flour.  They taste so good though.. the gooey chocolate had me at hello.

Muffin Tin Chef- Extra Moist Chocolate  Lava Cakes

Found on page 122.

 

White Chocolate Butterscotch Bark and {8 Ways to Drive Free Traffic to Your Blog}

It can be a tough blogosphere out there if your blog isn’t getting any traffic.

Trust me, I know how frustrating it is.

When I started out a little over a year ago, I made this blog expecting to wake up with tons of comments and visitors.  Obviously, that didn’t happen and I woke up discouraged.  But, I kept doing it because it’s what I love to do.

That would be my one word of advice to any blogger starting out: Don’t give up.

If you’re discouraged like I was, here are some tips I’ve learned along the way to help drive traffic to my blog:

1.  Tastespotting and foodgawker.  If you’re a food blogger, I would suggest taking a photography course or doing some research on how to take professional food photographs. Getting your photos accepted on these two websites will benefit your traffic big time.

2.  Post Often. The more you write, the better your chances of getting traffic are.  First of all, the more you write, the more people have to read… duh.  Second of all, search engines will pick up your keywords and send viewers to your site.

3.  Join sites like Reddit.  Don’t feel bad submitting your own content to Reddit every once in a while; there’s no harm in that.  It will get you recognized and get your blog out there.  However, do not post every single post you write on Reddit.

4.  Add a StumbleUpon widget to your website.  Check out StumbleUpon’s audience tools.  They’re super helpful.  Most importantly, add their badge to your site, just in case you have a few sweet readers who want to submit your website.  All of their tools are very beneficial.

5.  Google AdWords: Keyword Tool.   When you’re writing a blog post, put a few of the words into the keyword tool and see if there are any words you could use that would draw more traffic to your blog.  Use those words often: in the title, in the actual post, in the labels.

6.  Advertise yourself on Twitter and Facebook.  When you make a new post, tweet about it, make a status about it, email people about it.  Do what you’ve gotta do to get your blog name out there.

7.  Guest Posts.  Ask other blogger’s if you can write a guest post for them.  You’d be surprised how often they say yes.  And if they don’t say yes, don’t worry about it, at least you tried.

8.  Comment.  Guarantee you if you comment on 50 other blogs, you’ll at least get 20 replies back.  It’s as simple as that.  You can’t expect people to write on your blog if you don’t write on theirs.

What do you guys do to drive traffic to your blog?


I made this Butterscotch Bark because butterscotch chips and butterscotch “discs” were on sale at Wal-Mart and I got a little sale happy.  I didn’t really need them, but I figured since they were on sale, I should probably buy them.  Luckily, they make for a pretty good bark.  I love making bark because it’s so adaptable.  If you don’t like butterscotch, you can add whatever you want and it will still be good.

White Chocolate Butterscotch Bark


Ingredients:
1 package (12 ounce) white chocolate chips
1/2 package (6 ounce) butterscotch chips
24 butterscotch “discs”, chopped to small pieces
*Optional:
1/2 cup chocolate Cheerios
1/2 cup chocolate frosting, melted
Sprinkles

1.  Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave or with a double broiler.  Poor onto a piece of parchment paper and spread out with a spatula.
2.  Melt the butterscotch chips and drizzle over the white chocolate.
3.  Sprinkle the chopped butterscotch chips evenly over the top.
4.  Sprinkle and drizzle the optional toppings over the top.
5.  Let cool until the chocolate has hardened.
6.  Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.