It is my birthday today! And I made myself a treat. These caramels are seriously the best I have EVER had in my whole life. It is my mom’s recipe that she had been using for the past 40 years. Talk about tried and true!

I remember as a child I would sit at the table while my mom cut up the caramels. My job was to cut the wax paper into squares. My mom would pass me a caramel every once in awhile. She always made them this time of year and especially at Christmas. They not only remind me of my childhood, but they are to die for YUMMY!

Here is her recipe:

2 cubes of Butter (1 cup) I like to use salted

2 cups of Sugar

1 1/2 cups Light Corn Syrup

2  14oz cans of Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Before you get started get a bowl of ice water ready and set next to the stove.

In a large heavy bottom saucepan melt the butter. Add the sugar, corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk. Stir constantly on medium high heat until it comes to a rolling boil. Turn down heat to medium. Continue to stir constantly to avoid scorching. If it does start to scorch, turn the heat down a little. Stir until it starts to get a little darker. Check to see if it is done by spooning a little of the caramel into a bowl of ice water.  Continue to check the caramel until it is the consistency you want. When it is right, remove from heat and add the vanilla. Pour into a greased pan. I use a cookie sheet. Let completely cool before cutting and eating. It takes a few hours for it to completely cool and set up. The longer you wait the better. I usually make it at night so I don’t get interrupted by kids while stirring and then it is ready and firm by morning.

The other thing I like about this recipe is you can use it to make caramel popcorn as well. Just cook it for less time so it is softer. It is soooo good!

On Pinterest I have been pinning fudge recipes. It is just not Christmas without fudge :) I decided to find some recipes that were different from what I usually make. I pinned some Oreo fudge and made it. It was good. I also pinned some Rootbeer float fudge and made that. It was awesome! I pinned one that said it was cake batter fudge but when I read the recipe, it didn’t have any cake batter in it. It only had a few ingredients and I just wasn’t convinced that it was going to do it for me. So, I made up my own recipe!!!

When I make up recipes I make small batches so if I mess up I won’t be wasting as much. So I have the recipe for a small batch that fits in a small casserole dish and you can double it to fit in a large casserole dish.

Cake Batter Fudge

(small batch)

3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 package white chocolate chips

3/4 cup yellow cake mix (dry)

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup marshmallow cream

(big batch)

1 can (14 oz) of sweetened condensed milk

2 packages of white chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups yellow cake mix (dry)

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 cups marshmallow creme

In a heavy duty sauce pan add the chocolate chips, cake mix,  and the sweetened condensed milk. Stir while on low heat until the chocolate chips melt. then add whipping cream and marshmallow creme and stir until mixed well.  Pour into a greased pan. Sprinkle on the sprinkles! Let sit until firm. Cut with warm sharp knife to get nice clean lines.

* This recipe, like all fudge recipes that do not have butter and sugar, takes a little longer to set up. I like to make mine the day before I need it. But you can eat it before that if you want.

It is so totally worth the extra time it takes to set up. Your patience will be rewarded with the creamiest fudge ever!

After picking raspberries from our garden I decided I wanted to make some kind of dessert. My boys love cake. They love to help make it, watch it bake through the window on the oven, and frost it. This raspberry cake is divine and I don’t even like cake! It was easy considering it was made from scratch :) I didn’t take any pictures of the process because I wasn’t planning on posting this. But since this is the most “creative” thing I have done all week, this is what I am sharing. I will, however, give you the recipe.

I got the recipe for the basic yellow cake from the Martha Stewart Wedding website (which is stunning and makes me want to get married again).

Makes 1 eight-inch cake, 3 cups of batter

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
• 1 1/3 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted, plus more for pans
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup milk

I originally posted this on my other blog The Birthday Blog back in September when Ihad just barely launched my blogs.  Since it is now camping season I thought it would be fun to share this super fun cake!

My niece wanted to go up the canyon for a BBQ for her 10th Birthday. So I surprised her with a giant s’more cake!

Here is how I made it:

I chose to use actual chocolate for the s’more. If you don’t want to deal with melting it down and everything, you could also use chocolate frosting.
I melted a large bag (24 oz) of chocolate chips. I put them in a bowl and microwaved them for 30 seconds. stirred, and then 10 more seconds. There will be some chunks and that is good. Keep stirring until it is smooth and then pour it into a pan lined with wax paper. Let it set up. It may take several hours. After it hardens if it has streaks use this trick I learned from the food network. Get a dry rag and “buff” the chocolate. The streaking is usually only on the surface and you can lessen the streaks by doing this.

I came up with a homemade graham cracker recipe.
2 sticks of butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
Cream these together and then add
2 tsp baking soda
4 cups flour
4 tablespoons water
chill for 30 minutes before rolling out
This dough is so yummy! And since it doesn’t have raw egg it is safe to eat. It tastes like cookie dough :)

I cut mine to be about 9 inches by 10 inches. You can use an 81/2 x 11 piece of paper as a guide if you are worried about it being straight.

I used the flat end of a wood skewer (kabob stick) to make that pattern like on a real graham cracker.

Bake each cracker for 15 minutes each at 375 degrees.  This way they will be hard enough to hold their shape and crunchy like a cracker. If you want it softer (like a sugar cookie) bake it for less time.

Thank you for all the support with my blog. Thank you for sharing it with others, stumbling my posts, and posting on FB. I see a difference :) THANK YOU.