Icebox Lazy Cake

Lazy Cake, REALLY Lazy Cake 

Prep. Time: 5 Minutes
Freezing Time: 4-6 Hours

There are these cookies that my mom buys, ones called Maria cookies, and OH MY GOD are they good. They taste good dipped in tea. They taste good with coffee. They are mouthwateringly amazing sandwiching a s'more, so imagine how good they are broken up and smothered in creamy chocolate. Add a stick of butter to that, and you have got the perfect marriage I tell you! That is exactly what lazy cake is. As a kid, I went to private school, and they had fundraisers every other day. Of course, they got a lot of money, but did we ever get the grass playground we were promised? Absolutely not. We do have ugly knee scars, stitched heads, but till now no grass, and even more stupid fundraisers filled with fake tears of joy from the so called "supervisors" of the school. But, then again, there are the good memories. One of those memories is when they had an after school cooking club. Mothers would volunteer to make easy recipes with about 20 younger girls. We had no oven, only a microwave, so it all had to be quick and simple. The day my mom volunteered we made this lazy cake. And man is it lazy. I had a moment similar to that of the cream puffs moment. That moment was filled with desperate need to make this cake and devour it endlessly. Maybe it shouldn't even be called a cake. Technically it is a roll, but then again when it's sliced it resembles cake slices. Frozen, AMAZING cake slices. Of course, when I had an immensely needy chocolate craving the other day, I got up and made this lazy cake. It did have to freeze for a few hours, but until it did, I made do with licking the bowl next to a cup of black coffee. Boy, was it worth it!

Take a bite. You will get crunchy bits of cookies. They are gonna be swimming in a pool of frozen swirled creamy chocolate. It is rich enough to satisfy the chocolate craving, but not too rich where you can't eat more. The fattiness of the butter adds an amazing contrast to the cold frozen feel of the actual cake. The cookies are bland enough to compliment the sweet chocolate. The chocolate mixed with the creamy milk makes it ever so smooth and adds the perfect amount of depth to the light cookies. All together, it is the perfect bite. As perfect as it can possibly get.

Ingredients:

7 tbsp Butter (Melted)
1 14 oz. Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
3/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa
1 tbsp Corn Starch (Optional)
2 Packets Le Petit Beurre or similar cookies (200 g. each)

Directions:
Break the cookies into quarters and set aside in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the butter, condensed milk, cocoa, and corn starch. Now, pour the mixture on the cookies and coat all the cookies evenly. Form two logs onto separate pieces of wax paper or greased foil.  Wrap well and freeze for 4-6 hours. Slice and enjoy!

Cinnamon Rolls

To DIE for Cinnamon Rolls

Oven Temperature: 375 Degrees

Prep. Time: 1 Day

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total: 2 Days

Hey Everyone! For my first post I want to share a recipe that is very close to my heart. It is a recipe that truly defines me through my style of cooking. I have a ridiculous sweet tooth, and this recipe seems to be able to satisfy it, even if it is just temporarily! These cinnamon rolls are fluffy. From the beginning they rise into fluffy pillow like rolls. As they bake you will literally drool next to the oven from the wonderful aroma they let out. They come out of the oven, bubbling with yumminess. As you spread the frosting onto these warm rolls, it is sucked in leaving a glossy shine to the top of each roll. The cinnamon sugar coating will drip out into this elastic heaven as you pull each roll out. And then you take a bite. That bite. That bite. As you put it in your mouth you feel the heat cooling down. The dough, it has the perfect balance of elasticity to fluff. Then you reach the cinnamon sugar. The butter coats each individual sugar crystal and you taste the sharpness of the cinnamon. And the frosting, don't forget the frosting. It sweet, it's cheesy, but wait . . . It's tart. You taste the slightest hint of lemon and the pure vanilla. The frosting is so light. It is so fluffy. The entire thing is a perfect marriage. And that was just the first bite!

Ingredients:

Rolls

1 tbsp Yeast

1/4 Cup Warm Water

3 Eggs

1/2 Cup Sugar (Separate 1 tsp)

3/4 tsp Salt

1/2 Cup Butter

3/4 Cup Milk

4 1/2 - 5 Cups Flour

Filling

1/3 Cup Butter (Softened)

1 cup Brown Sugar

3 tbsp Ground Cinnamon

Frosting

6 oz. Cream Cheese (Softened)

1/2 Cup Butter (Softened)

3 Cups Confectioners Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/4 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Lemon Juice

1 tsp Lemon Zest

Directions:

Begin by whisking the yeast and 1 tsp sugar into the warm water. Make sure the water is not warmer than 110 degrees or you will kill the yeast! Set the yeast mixture aside.

Grab a bowl. Crack the eggs and add the sugar. With a paddle attachment or a hand mixer, begin beating immediately. Sugar will cook the eggs if it sits on them without being beat into them. As your mixture is being beat, add the salt. Mix them real good. Like you mean it.

Now, in a small saucepan melt the butter. As soon as it is melted and starting to boil, add the milk and take it off the heat. If your mixture is not taken off the heat it will be too hot and kill the yeast. And you don't want your yeast dead.

With the mixer on low add the butter and milk mixture to the egg mixture. Mix it well and then add the dissolved yeast. Mix again.

Add the flour, one cup at a time. Mix well between each addition. When you reach the fourth cup of flour let the mixer run on medium speed for 4 minutes. Now you will determine how much more flour to add. I always use 4/12 cups of flour. You can use five if you feel it is too sticky, but I don't recommend it. NEVER ADD MORE THAN FIVE CUPS OF FLOUR. NEVER, because your dough needs to be sticky and not stiff.

Now scrape all the dough into a big ball. Place it into a greased bowl. Wrap the bowl and refrigerate the dough over night. Watch a movie, call a friend, get some sleep.

The next day, take the dough out of the fridge and place it on a clean and floured surface. Pat the dough down into and even rectangle and begin to roll out into a rectangle. Roll into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Make sure the dough is not too thick. 1/4 inch is sufficient. 

After the dough is rolled, take the creamy softened butter and spread evenly over the entire rectangle. Leave an inch of uncovered dough hot dog style. Now, take the brown sugar and crumble evenly to coat the butter. Take the cinnamon, and generously sprinkle over the brown sugar.

Here comes the rolling! Start to roll the cinnamon rolls. Roll it tightly, but not too tightly, but tight enough. You get the idea. Seal the roll by putting water on the clean inch of dough. Rotate the dough so the sealed edge is touching your work surface.

With a serrated knife, and using a back and forth sawing motion, slice the roll in half. Now slice each roll in half again. Slice each quarter into 3 different 1 inch rolls. You should get 12 rolls. Lightly butter a 9x13 inch pan and sprinkle cinnamon all over the bottom. Align the rolls in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap. and set aside for 2-3 hours to allow them to rise and double in size.

When you are ready to bake the rolls, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the pan in the center rack and set the timer for 15 minutes. While the rolls are baking make the frosting. Beat the cream cheese and softened butter together until smooth. Add the sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, salt, and zest.  Beat for 10 minutes on high speed. Check on the rolls. Bake them until they are evenly browned. As soon as the rolls come out of the oven, smother them with a generous amount of frosting.

Now comes the best part! EAT and ENJOY!