This week Vida contacted me and asked if I'd like a drawing she'd done of Brooklyn. What a question!!!! What was just as exciting to me as the seeing the drawing itself, was the fact that Vida contacted me out of the blue. See, I've never met Vida. She reads this blog and used one of the photos from the Boston Terrier Cake Pops aka Brooklyn Cake Pops post and turned it into a drawing. How awesome is she and how awesome is her drawing of Brooklyn?! I am so in love with this drawing and how very personal it is and can't wait to have it framed...thanks Vida! LOVE this drawing and Brooklyn loves it too!
Not that anything can compare to the delightfulness that is my new drawing, but I thought I'd share this crazy tidbit I learned this week. You can make "brownies" from a cake mix. I know, it is crazy and it is true.
I volunteered to bake something for our office football jersey event. I very rarely think these things through before I volunteer. While I do like to bake, it's usually on the weekends and almost never on a Wednesday night at 8:00PM--definitely looking for something fast and easy. I was one box short on brownie mix, but wondered if I could make something similar with cake mix. Google is beautiful...one quick search later and someone mentioned having success by adding fewer eggs and more fat...kind of like what you do with brownie mix. Genius and have to say they were quite tasty. The texture was very dense and brownie like and while three sticks of butter is crazy, it was for a potluck and it was so quick and easy.
I used two boxes of cake mix and a large sheet pan. I advocate removing 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup of the batter from the bowl before spreading it into the pan for no other reason that it was just a teeny, tiny bit too much for the pan. It overflowed just by the smallest amount, but who wants to clean an oven right? Forgive the orange and blue sprinkles. Everything this past week was orange and blue sprinkletized despite the agony of Monday's defeat.
Red Velvet Cake Mix Brownies
from Duncan Hines
2 boxes Duncan Hines Red Velvet cake mix
1 1/2 cups of butter, melted
2 eggs
1 cup water
chocolate chips(optional)
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Combine egg, butter, water in a bowl. Add box mixes, stir until the ingredients are combined, and lumps are gone.
- Add chips. Remove 2/3 cup batter and pour mixture into the greased baking pan.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes and place the cake on wire cooling rack. Cool entirely.
- Frost brownie with cream cheese frosting
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract
14 comments:
Wow, people are so talented. What a lovely surprise for someone to send you a handrawn portrait of your dog!
Nice to find another broncos fan in the blogging world. Hopefully they'll look better this week. The cake mix brownies are exactly the kind of baking I can do and they look so good!
So glad you and Brooklyn loved the drawing!
I loved doing it for you
,,,what i have learned in the short time that i've been "blogging" is there are sooooo many wonderful, generous, kind, compassionate, loving people in the blogging sphere, i've been fortunate to communicate with many (including you MaryMary) i feel so blessed and fortunate,,,who would have "thunkit", that "obsessed with polka dots" and "the life that i have" would provide me the good fortunate and introduce me to so many fabulous people!,,, the sketch of your doggie is ADORABLE!,,,
that is good to know...i am often needing to make a quick dessert for something and this would be perfect!
That is so nice! It reaffirms my belief in the core kindness of people! And she is a little doll!
Love red velvet...yummy! The butter does look scary but when it's in a pan this big, it's not really that much is it? :)
Oh I love the drawing, the cute sleeping dog and how smart are red velvet brownies? My mother in law loves red velvet cake, definitely going to try this one next time we go over and see if I can impress her with my "amazing" baking skills. :) it'll be our little secret.
such a sweet surprise, how very thoughtful it was!!
this recipe looks out of this world yummy and I think that blue and orange sprinkles are the best kind of sprinkles there are.
What a great drawing and so darling! Brooklyn looks as sweet as can be.
I have a cake doctor cookbook but I don't think I've ever seen a brownie recipe. This looks awesome!
Awww cute! What a great gift!
Those look so delicious! We are always looking for new ways to eat red velvet!
I think that with so many crazies, we forget that most people are essentially kind. What a cute drawing, I'm sure you'll treasure it for ages!
great drawing of Brooklyn - love the detail, including her diamond collar :)
brownies look really yum!
Yummy!!!!
How cute is that drawing!?! Would a wonderful surprise for you. Going to have to try those brownies someday.
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