Easy Peasy Chicken and Dumplings

It was my day off, my boyfriend gets home in an hour, I'm hungry, and I'm really tired. I was craving something doughy and chewy and it was chicken night. I text my boyfriend "chicken and dough. Come up with something." I got "chicken and dumplings?" Perfect!! Only problem? I'm tired and don't want to do much work. So how to make soup with out having to do more work that opening cans? This is what I came up with.

Super Easy Peasy Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients:

Soup:
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup (so great to keep on hand for quick and easy meals) + 1 can Water
1 can Corn (Added on whim because I like corn)
1 Chicken breast, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste

Dumplings:
Approx. 2-3 cups flour (I didn't measure, just dumped some flour in the bowl) + enough water to make a stiff dough

Mix the Cream of Mushroom soup and the water. The narrower the pot you use the better. Add in the whole can of corn, including the water. Add salt and pepper as desired. Set aside for now.

For the dumpling, mix the water in to the flour, a little at a time, until it form a stiff dough. If you want to add some salt and pepper, ad it to the flour before adding the water. I say this from experience. Bring the dough together in to a ball or rope, which ever is easier for you to work with, I did a ball because my kitchen lacks counter space. Pull or cut chunks off loosely rolling them in to balls, dropped them in to the soup, leaving space between them. Doesn't matter if they are full covered.

Simmer the soup on low - medium. The dumplings will probably stick a bit, but it would cause trouble. Let the dumplings cooked part way through and then flip them over.

For the chicken, chop it in to bite size chunks and brown them in a pan. When they are cooked, dump the chicken into the soup and let it all cook until the dumplings are cooked through.

Serve and enjoy!

This cook and hour total from start to finish. It's super quick and easy when you don't have the time to make something big.

Another dead simple cake

This is a quick, light, yummy cake. And so very simple.

Ingredients

• 1 box white cake mix (you can use yellow, but it won't be as light)
•  The box said to use 3 eggs whites, 2 tablespoons oil and 1 1/3 cup water. I used 2 whole eggs and 1 1/4 cup oil.
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup frozen berries (I used blackberries and strawberries, but any fruit should work)
• Approx. 1 cup powdered sugar (I didn't measure, I just mixed up till I got the consistency)
• Approx. 1 tsp lemon juice (fresh is better, but I used the bottled stuff)

1. Mix the cake mix, I recommend the 2 whole eggs and 1 1/4 cup oil. Pour it in a grease pan. I used a 7"x11", 9"x13" works too.
2. If you're using frozen strawberries, thaw them enough to cut into slices.
3. Scatter the fruits across the top of the cake, pressing them in to the batter a bit.
4. Bake until the cake is mostly set. It will still be a little under cooked.
5. Mix up a slightly thick icing with the powdered sugar and lemon juice.
6. While the cake is still hot, drizzled the icing over the cake.
7. Let cool for about 20 minutes.

It's good while still warm or chilled over night for breakfast.

This one was bake on a whim of my roommate. I mentioned that I have one cake mix left and she wanted to bake. I hate to bake a plain cake, so I decided fruit and icing would be great. And it was!! It was moist, and being slightly under cooked, had a really nice creamy texture.

P.S. I've been typing these up ahead of time and just posting then when I get a chance.

Homer: "Mmmmmm....Caaaaake...."

Okeys. I'm mostly a sewer and an artist, buuuut I do like to make sweets. Cakes, cupcakes, cookies, etc. And it won't be happening often, but I will be posting up recipes for some of the more delicious experiments I have come up with. These won't usually have pictures, as they are mostly one time only treats, but if I do make them again, I will try to snap a few pics.

Carmel Butterscotch Cake*

This turned out delicious. Incredibly rich, but delicious none the less.

Ingredients:

• 1 box yellow cake mix, as well as the ingredients needed for it (you can make it from scratch, just make sure you make enough for a 7"x11" pan)
• 1 can vanilla frosting (again, scratch is an option, you don't really need a lot, this cake is rich enough on it's own)
• Note: You don't use a whole can, probably a little more than half.
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 package instant butterscotch pudding
• 1 - 1 1/2 cup milk (for the pudding)
• 3/4 - 1 cup butterscotch chips

*This is an easy, but time consuming cake. Simple enough for the beginner baker, but takes the better part of a day. I recommend making it a day in advance. The cake should chill over night any ways. Assemble the cake at least 1 hours before serving. It needs to chill again as it has been put together.**

**If you decide to make this in the summer, reconsider. Not working? Alright at least make sure you have a good breeze and light clothing...


Step 1 - Carmel in a Can
This is the time consuming part. And the very very hot part. Making the Carmel. Specifically Carmel in a Can. It's dead simple, though.

1. Punch 2 holes in the top of your can of sweetened condensed milk. I used a corkscrew, but popping a few holes with a can opener works too.
2. Remove the label from your can and place it in a pot (a medium pot is best as it'll leave enough room for the water without risking it going over the edge) and put the pot on a back burner (so that it's out of the way, but make sure it's not over the vent for the oven).
3. Fill the pot with water up to about a 1/2" from the top of the can.
4. Turner the burner on low, you just want it to simmer, at most a light boil.
5. Now, let it boil for 6 hours. Yes, 6 hours. I had to do this in 90+ degree weather, pray you don't.
6. Check in on the water level every now and again and pour more water in to keep the water level at the 1/2" mark. It may make some noises, but it's fine. You will most likely be watching it like a hawk, it's fine. It's not going to blow up.
7. Some of the milk will pool up on the top on the can. IT'S FINE. It's not going to boil over and pour out. It won't be as caramelized as the rest inside the can, but it'll be thick, slightly darkened and have a nutty flavor. It's yummy, feel free to eat it off the top of the can.

As that's cooking, work on the rest of the bits and pieces for the cake.


Step 2 - Ze Cake

1. Mix up your cake mix (box or scratch). You can add butterscotch chips to the batter, but it really won't make a difference in the final cake. They melt and get over powered by the filling and frosting.
2.  Grease a 7"x11" pan, parchment paper is optional, but makes getting the cake out a lot easier. The reason I used a 7"x11" pan instead of a standard 9"x13" pan, besides the fact that I hate the one we have, is that it makes it thicker and easier to cut in to two layers.
• If you do use parchment, make sure it's hanging over the ends on the pan enough that you can lift it out, like a parchment sling.
3. Bake the cake for how ever long you need to. You'll want a relatively firm cake.

Once the cake has baked, let it cool in the pan (if you didn't use parchment , if you did, use the hanging ends to lift it out of the pan and set it on a towel or baking rack to cool). Once cool, put it in the fridge to chill over night.


Step 3 - Butterscotch Filling

1.  For the filling, you'll mix up the instant butterscotch pudding, but with less milk. Depending on how thick you want the resulting filling to be, you'll use between 1 cup (really thick, makes about 1 1/2 cup filling) to 1 1/2 cup (pretty thick. I recommend this thickness. Plus, you'll have left over filling. Yum!!) of milk.
2. Once you've mixed the pudding and whisk it pretty well, add in the butterscotch chips to taste. I used about 1/2 cup (all I had, they were given to me by my mom and spurred the entire concept of the cake) and would have liked more. You can even sprinkle more on top of the filling once you've spread it on the cake.
3. Put this in the fridge to chill.

Step 4 - Again with the Carmel

1. Once the Carmel has boiled for the 6 hours, turn off the stove and remove it from the water.
2. Let it cool a bit in a towel. When it's cool enough to handle, use a can opener and crack it open. You're patience shall be rewarded 10 fold. The dark golden Carmel-y goodness is so very very worth the time. I plan on making big batches of in the future (which my beau is all for helping me with).
3. You won't need much of the Carmel for the cake, so feel free to taste a bit.
4. Scrape the golden goodness in the a seal-able container and let chill in the fridge. You might want to stir it up a bit while it's still warm because the bottom was caramelized more that the rest of it. 

Step 5 - Assembly


From here, it's pretty straight forward.

1. Split the cake down the middle, creating 2 layers. You don't need to worry about leveling it off. Set the top aside
2. Take you're butterscotch filling and spread it on the bottom layer. Be generous, but feel free to save yourself a bit. I won't tell.
3. Put the top layer on and gentle press and twist it in to the filling. This will keep it from sliding off later when it gets eaten.
4. Frost. You don't need to be really generous with the frosting, just cover the surface of the cake and make sure none of it shows.
5. Break out the Carmel awesomeness and heat about half in the microwave. Not too much, just enough to loosen it up a bit.
6. Using an off-set spatula or a butter knife swirl the warmed Carmel in to the frosting. You don't have to use all of what you heated, just enough to flavor the frosting. You could mix it in to the frost before frosting, but it won't look as pretty.
7. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour. 2 or more is better.

Eat!!


I made this cake for my beau's birthday in the middle of July in 90+ degree weather, but oh MAN was it worth it. The cake in nice, rich and having been chilled, and eaten with a glass of ice cold milk, was a great cool-down.

The entire concept of the cake started with the butterscotch chips and cake mixes my mother had given to me when she was cleaning out her cupboards. I let my boy pick what cake mix he wanted and on a whim asked him if he wanted butterscotch or chocolate filling. I then found out that butterscotch was his favorite and that his mother would make him a Carmel cake for his birthday every year. So it was nice to give him my version of a Carmel cake.

It was a big hit and will most likely be made again at some point. But definitely in cooler weather...The Carmel was amazing. A small can goes quite a ways and would be great with apple wedges.