Cherry Bombs and too much frosting

My awesome boss had a birthday earlier this month and it was the perfect opportunity to try out this new recipe I had been craving for several weeks. These were so incredibly easy to make but I can't remember when I've spent so much time on a recipe – she was worth it and since these were the bomb (sorry, I know that was bad), I will be making them again. {Although next time I will be making the work unfriendly version with the cherries soaked in pinnacle whipped vodka.}

When I found these online the recipe called for devil's food cake mix but I had red velvet so that's what I went with. And a word of caution – you don't need a ton of frosting! I got a little over zealous and used a large tub and the cake balls did not want to stick together so at 11pm I was in the kitchen making a pan of brownies to add to the mix. This worked okay but the cake wanted to stick more to me than the cherries!

I put the cake balls in the fridge overnight thinking the chocolate would stick better and I was pleased with the turn out. I'm sure these would be delicious with all kinds of different fruit, soaked in alcohol or fresh. If you make some I'd love to hear how they turned out! Happy eating!!

 

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Painting Party part 2

 

A great group of friends had some fun Saturday night tapping into their creative side. The paintings are so different and that's what made last night such a blast! This is why I love teaching classes – thank you girls for a fun evening!!

Our painting.

Waiting for the paint to dry.

Still waiting but having a great time.

We had to pose by the boy's bikes since they crashed our party!!! Looking forward to doing it again!

 

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To the moon and back, but not Mars and Nutella Gooey Butter Cake

The other day I read an article about private space exploration and the possibility of a couple getting to do a fly by of Mars. The article said this needed to be a married couple because living space would be tight – about 1/2 the size of an RV and it would be for 501 days so you need to be cozy with each other. They also needed to be past child bearing age because the cancer risk will go up about 3%. The kicker – there will be no privacy, a limited supply of toilet paper, no showers, and drinking water would come from the couple's filtered sweat and urine – ummm, eww!

As G and I were laying in bed the other night on the anniversary of our first date four years ago we laughed about our goofiness and how well we work together. I told G about the Mars trip and he got really quiet thinking about it. He looked over at me very seriously and told me he would go fly by Mars with me. We could handle 501 days of being together and being goofy. So I thought about it and told him nope, I just couldn't do it. I'm not sure what happens when you run out of that limited supply of toilet paper, I couldn't go almost 2 years without a shower and shaving and I like filtered water but recycled urine and sweat is not my cup of tea. Once I put it that way, G quickly agreed. He leaned over and told me he'd go to the moon and back with me – now that is doable…well, if we still had a space program, we wanted to be astronauts and little details like that.

Not sure why talking about going to the moon and back, but not Mars put me in a baking mood but it did and the next morning I was in the kitchen working on another dish for the work potluck. The gooey butter cake has been a huge hit so I decided to try the Nutella version because who doesn't like Nutella?

 

These were fabulous!!!!! And easy to make. Let me know if you try them – this was adapted from Paula Deen's gooey butter cake recipe.

Cake:

1 (18 1/4-ounce) package chocolate fudge cake mix

1 egg

8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 cup Nutella

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

8 tablespoons butter, melted

1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and Nutella until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well. Spread Nutella mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to overbake as the center should be a little gooey.

Side note – mine took the whole 50 minutes and I let them cool overnight. I cut them into squares and dusted with powdered sugar. Did I mention these were a huge hit? Enjoy!

 

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