Just because I loved them…. It was my SCUBA dive instructors birthday, so I made these fun little decorated cupcakes for him.

Brownie Cookies – “Brookies”

1 package brownie mix

Make brownies according to package and let cool. Cut about ten 1 inch squares. Enjoy the remaining brownies. (I used a pan about 8 X 8)

2. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an 1in x1in brownie square. Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of the brownie square. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until brownie square is enclosed with dough. Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking.

Ref: Bakerella & Picky Palate

So this isn’t the cookie dough recipe it was originally listed with. I tried it, I didn’t like it. Dough spread out too thin and while they were still AMAZING tasting cookies, I just wasn’t a fan of a cookie the size of my head with a small square lump in the middle. Looked like weird cookie tumor. haha But if you want to make amazing chocolate chip cookies, click on Bakerella. So I used the cookie recipe from Picky Palate for her Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies. (The cookie recipe listed above is the one I used from Picky Palate) Which you can find my attempt at that little slice of heaven previously. 😀 Worked like a charm, just what I was looking for. Also side note, I think I baked the brownies a tad longer than I should have which is why it was a harder lump in the middle and didn’t ooze into the middle of the cookie like it should. Still good though, works well with Picky Palate’s stiffer cookie batter. Oh I also didn’t use a cookie scoop. I didn’t have one, nor felt the need to own one. Just as easy to use a tablespoon and shape it accordingly.

Ref: http://picky-palate.com/2011/01/06/oreo-stuffed-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Ace of Cakes!! (sort of, lol)

My boyfriend and I are not only are both scuba divers but we also share the same birthday! Mike likes to joke that he’s dating me because he’ll never get in trouble and forget my birthday… funny boy. Anyways, regardless of the fact we share a birthday, I wanted to make him a fun cake……

This is all about the decor, because with this much effort, not gonna lie, I boxed it. 😀 Cream cheese frosting is delish and I spread it on wildly leaving the peaks as you can see in the pic. Then I found icing color you SPRAY on, (that’s right SPRAY from a can) to create the cool wave effects. 😀 I found the icing spray color at Michael’s. Freaking awesome. I also found at Michael’s fun candy molds in sea creatures! And candy pens to make the candy decorating super easy! The diver legs are two thick pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate and I drew the fins with the yellow chocolate pen on wax paper. When they dried, I attached them to the pretzel legs using more chocolate as “glue”. 😀 And Mike’s dive fins ARE yellow. The color sharks are attracted to. Yup.

The candy pens were kinda expensive, I think they were like $9.95 or something. BUT all you smart phone users need to download the Michaels app because they can scan coupons straight off your phone! Go green! And yay for people like me who consistently leave their paper coupons at home….. hehe.

The last cake was for a going away/back to school thing for a friend. For those of you that don’t know, it’s a dive flag. 😀 Freaking water people, I know. 😀

Pumpkin Cheesecake
Originally uploaded by jamileslie

Ingredients

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese,
softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs

TOPPING:
2 cups sour cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

For filling, beat cream cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, spices and salt. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Pour into crust. Bake at 350 degrees
F for 50 minutes. Meanwhile, for topping, combine sour cream, sugar and vanilla.

Spread over filling; return to the oven for 5 minutes. Cool on rack; chill overnight.

Ref: AllRecipes

Picture is not the prettiest, but was the best I could do before Mike finished it, haha. Not going to lie, I’m totally proud of myself and my first cheesecake attempt. 😀 The above is what the recipe said. I made some minor modifications. I used pumpkin allspice instead of all the spices separately and added a dash more cinnamon. I also threw in a dash of vanilla extract to the cream cheese mixture just because it’s awesome. 😀 Didn’t realize how much the main batter would rise so I will definitely leave a little more room for the sour cream topping next time. (I filled it to the brim) I’d like to say I was truly ambitious and made the graham cracker crust too, but lets not kid ourselves. Baby steps, baaaaaby steps. hahaha Bottom line, DELICIOUS!