Happy Halloween everyone!  It’s, by far, my favorite holiday, and with good reason – it revolves around sweets!! Even though I’m 21, I trick-or-treated dressed up as a 17th Century Italian commedia dell’arte “Truffaldino” complete with a masquerade mask and crazy gilded jacket (and lobster-red tights of course.) Dressed up like that, I looked no more than 15, and easily got away with grabbing candy that, as an adult, I didn’t deserve ;).

Of course, the candy wasn’t enough for me, so I decided to make the Treasury of Home Baking’s Easy Microwave Brownies.  What’s great about the book is the balance between recipes like this, and those that are quite sophisticated and take some time to make.  Regardless, these are perfect for the student trapped in a freshman dorm room with nothing more than a microwave and a refrigerator for holding eggs.  As for equipment, two medium-sized bowls, a spoon, and a microwavable baking dish are all that you’ll need.  Here’s the recipe:

Easy Microwave Brownies:

 1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1.5 tsp vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Here’s how you do it:

1) Lightly grease 8×8-inch microwaveable baking pan. (I didn’t have one so I used a casserole dish of similar size.  Worked out just fine.)

 2) Combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, eggs, corn syrup, and vanilla in large bowl. (By the way, if you happen to have two egg yolks at your disposal, substitute them for one egg – I did it and it came out great.)

 Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. (Here’s your opportunity to add any seasonings you might want.  I’d suggest cayenne pepper and cinnamon for a spicy Halloween.)

 Add flour mixture to sugar mixture; blend well.  Spread batter in prepared pan.

 3) Microwave at MEDIUM-HIGH (70% power) 3 minutes. Here’s what it looks like:

Still very soft with only a few baked spots.

Rotate pan 1/2 turn; microwave at MEDIUM-HIGH 3 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan and surface has no wet spots. (If brownies are not done, rotate pan 1/4 turn and continue to microwave at MEDIUM-HIGH, checking for doneness at 30-second intervals.)  Let brownies stand 20 minutes.  When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut into squares.

 
Done after several 30-second turns. Can you spot the face??!

Considering this is for Halloween, it’s pretty creepy! It came out just the way I like my brownies – thin, chewy, and extremely dark from the cocoa powder.  You’ll notice I didn’t top it with powdered sugar, but try cutting out a seasonal stencil and then dusting – you’ll be left with a pretty design.  Hope you had a great Halloween and/or Day of the Dead!

I present to you the ultimate in badness – it’s bad for your heart, bad for your hips,  and so badly delicious. What’s great about these Easy Cookie Bars is that they take under 15 minutes to prepare, are versatile, cheap, simple, and addictive.

I’ve already marked off several recipes in this Easy-to-Bake Cookbook, and I think you’ll do the same.

Here’s the recipe for Easy Cookie Bars:

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1.5 cups Honey Maid Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 1/3 cups Baker’s Angel Flake Coconut
1 cup Baker’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks
1 cup chopped nuts
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk.

Here’s what you do:

1) Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 13×9-inch baking pan with foil; grease foil (I used extra butter, but a flavorless oil or baking spray would work well here too. If you have a glass baking pan, lower the temperature to 325 degrees.

 2) Mix butter and graham cracker crumbs in medium bowl.  Press into prepared pan. 

I didn’t have graham crackers, so I used Townhouse crackers. They worked perfectly.

3) Sprinkle with coconut, chocolate chunks, and nuts.

 
Ready to be covered in a sea of condensed milk.

4) Pour condensed milk over top.

 
I used “Leche Condensada,” which had a touch of trans fat. Try to find one without, otherwise, you’re still young!

5) Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool in pan on wire rack.  Lift out of pan onto cutting board. Makes 3 dozen. 

All done! If you are impatient like me, dig in with a spoon while it’s still bubbling hot!!

And there you have it.  I live in a family of five, but I kid you not this was gone the next morning (and I made it late at night!).  Try using other substitutions for graham crackers, such as any kind of cookie crumbs or pretzels. Also try varying the toppings.  With Halloween on the horizon you could use a combo of butterscotch chips, pecans, and pumpkin spice. Get creative!! And buy the book!

There are a few things you should know about me.

1) I never use cake mix unless there is a dire need for it and will facilitate my grades.
2) I avoid brand names.  To me, white label or not, it’s all the same.

Behold the cake mix. Notice how it’s America’s Choice.

However.

I cannot deny the enticing qualities of this book’s Coconut Clouds. They’re made with your standard boxed yellow cake mix, and only require a few extra ingredients to come out soft and mushy with a crispy outer shell. There is a strong almond taste due to the extract, but the warm coconut flavor really shines.

The other recipes in the book range from scratch recipes to things of the more college-oriented variety .  The cookie section, as you can already tell, has some of the more interesting recipes.

On with the recipe:

2 2/3 cups flaked coconut, divided
1 package DUNCAN HINES Moist Deluxe Classic Yellow Cake Mix
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon almond extract

Procedure:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Reserve 1 1/3 cups coconut in medium bowl.  Set aside.

All of the ingredients, together in harmony.

 2) Combine cake mix, egg, oil, water and almond extract in large bowl.  Beat at low speed with electric mixer.

 Work that in there. I used a combo of unsweetened and sweetened coconut.

3) Stir in remaining 1 1/3 cups reserved coconut. 

  It’s like a coconut-covered, pee-colored snowball!

4)Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into reserved coconut. Roll to cover lightly. 

  Be sure to place them far apart-they WILL spread like cream cheese on a bagel.

5)Place on ungreased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, placing balls 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on baking sheets. Remove to cooling racks.  Cool completely. Store in airtight container.

I’m dreaming on coconut clouds…
 

Makes 3.5 dozen cookies.  Buy the book here at the Kollege Kitchen Amazon Webstore!

I do not like potato chips. I used to. Now I don’t. And yet, they’re perfectly delicious when surrounded by a mound of butter, sugar and flour. I give you the Potato Chip Cookie from the book College Cooking by, get ready for this, actual college students Megan and Jill Carle.

The book’s dessert section is small but surprisingly upscale. Very few of the recipes rely on pre-packaged ingredients, and include Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Crepes with Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce.  Seems pretty sophisticated for your average college student, but as long as one is equipped with an oven and hotplate and a half hour to spare, they’ll enjoy these recipes immensely.

So, the recipe calls for ridged potato chips (Remember rrrruffles have rrridges?), but I decided to use these:

Notice how these were on sale…

Here’s the recipe:

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup crushed ridged potato chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting (optional)

Procedure:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2) Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl and stir until smooth.  Add the potato chips, pecans and vanilla and stir until combined. Add the flour and stir until incorporated. Drop teaspoonfuls of the dough about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet and baked for 12-15 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Cool on parchment or waxed paper and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.   Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Since I have no money, I decided to make only a quarter of the recipe.  Here’s how I went about it:

Mmmm….fattening.

Pecans are expensive, so I’d say buy a big bag for cheap, or crack them on your own.   You’ll exercise your wrists in the meantime. 

Dough balls in the sunlight.

The dough is on the dryer side and holds its shape. The recipe says to stir the butter and sugar but I should stress that what you should really do is cream the two together.  Also, don’t feel limited by the amount of potato chips or pecans called for – the recipe is very versatile. I’d say, use any nut you want, and substitute potato chips with anything from Doritos to Pirate’s Booty.  Here they are after being baked: 

Aw they’re all paired up.

As you can tell, I decided to not dust them in powdered sugar.  It’s the most unnecessary accoutrement desserts have ever been burdened with.  And besides, these cookies are delicious on their own.  Soft, but with a crunchy texture and a lip-licking saltiness that is positively addictive.  Try these right away – it’ll take you under 15 minutes to make. I’d say 2 minutes to eat them all.

Buy the book  now from the Kollege Kitchen amazon webstore!

While Christmas is my favorite materially-based holiday, the winner might just be Halloween for its aura, meaning, and overall sense of fun and anarchy.

As a result, I’ve been busily scrounging the depths of every holiday cookbook to find cool recipes that evoke the spirit of Hallowe’en.  This recipe – Cup O’ Worms – is by far the easiest and creepiest, and it’s from The Ghoulish Goodies cookbook by Sharon Bowers.  Perfect for the poor college student who has no oven and only some milk, a spoon, and bowls at their disposal. 

Here’s the recipe.  It serves 8 normal people (and 4 people like me.)

Ingredients:

2 3.5 oz boxes instant chocolate pudding mix
4 cups milk
24 chocolate wafers or 12 Oreos
Gummy Worms
Cocoa Powder

Procedure:

1) Prepare the pudding and milk according to the package directions.
2) Place cookies in heavy zip lock bag, and crush with a rolling pin or wine bottle (for you college boozehounds.)
3) Coat worms with cocoa powder (I totally forgot this step.)
4) Layer 2-3 tbsp. of pudding at the bottom of a clear glass. Top with one gummy worm, followed by more pudding, chocolate cookie crumbs, and 3 gummy worms.  Serve.

I decided to mix this really cool recipe up a little. I made both chocolate and pistachio pudding.  I figured the latter could count for sludge, slime, or algae.  I forgot the cocoa powder-ha-and used wine glasses instead of regular ones.   Regardless, this is the kind of recipe that you can manipulate any which way you want, so have fun with it. Maybe you can use vanilla pudding and it can be pus? Happy (early) Halloween my minions!

Mmmm slime and mud. 

 

I prefer these but the filling in Oreos could look like maggot bits! 

I chose Sour Neon – but take your pic. I’d even suggest those gummies that look like body parts. 

I’ll take the white wine glass, thanks. 

You can buy Ghoulish Goodies by Sharon Bowers here at the Kollege Kitchen webstore!

Yet again I’ve succumbed to the simplicity of these college recipes. This time around it’s the “Easy Brown Betty for Late-Night Snacking,” and it’s delicious despite my general disinterest in apples. So much so that I ate half of an 8 inch square pan…that’s 32 square inches of applesauce, butter and graham crackers….heh.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup applesauce
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
4 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. lemon juice
3/8 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1/3 cup butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs

Procedure:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8″x8″ baking pan.
2) Combine the applesauce, granulated sugar, brown sugar, lemon juice, 1/8 tsp. of the cinnamon and ground ginger. Set aside.
3) Melt the butter. Toss the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter.
4) Press the graham cracker crumbs on the bottom of the prepared pan.  Spread the applesauce mixture along the top.  Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon on top.
5) Cover with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake for another 5 minutes, to lightly brown the applesauce.  Let cool on a rack.  Cut into squares.  Serve warm as is, or topped with ice cream or whipping cream.

(Serves 4-6)

Here’s how I did it:

Consolidate equipment by crushing the crumbs right in the pan.

I find crushing the crackers in a ziplock pan with a rolling pin works best – and is a great stress-reliever.

Melt the butter in the microwave.

Graham cracker crust, pressed.

I would mix the butter and crumbs in the pan – just do it with your hands. It’s so much quicker and easier.

Applesauce – stir together with the tablespoon used for the spices – less mess.

Ready to be baked…

Going into the oven!!!

And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for. The result is a plain, slightly moreish looking little slice that somehow possesses a firm filling of applesauce.

Look at that beauty…don’t bother using a fork!

I need more suggestions for desserts that make apples taste good. What do you think?

You can buy The Everything College Cookbook by clicking here to the KollegeKitchen webstore!

When i saw this recipe, I was like there is no way you could make a shepherd pie in 30 minutes. There is just too much work involved in it. There is so many ingredients, so many things to prepare. You gotta pan cook the meat, boil the potatoes and smash them, and finally broil it in the oven. Way too many things to do. So instead of doing it alone, I decided to get some helpers. Obviously when we cook in our dorms, we usually have people joining us for the meal, whether is it our room mates or friends.

So I had three friends who came in at different points in the preparation process. Firstly I had Elspeth, a good friend of mine who is also from Singapore. She basically helped with the preparation and the potatoes.

Then Esther who wanted to help but really couldn’t do anything so I got her to read the recipe from the book to make sure we were going as planned, which you would think is such an easy job. Surprisingly(not to me though), she managed to screw it up…

And finally we have Jenny who is the most experienced of them all. She actually did most of the cooking of the turkey.

So what did this meal involve?

Ingredients

3 Big Idaho potatoes (I used 5 normal size ones which wasn’t really enough)
1.3 Ibs of ground turkey
Quarter Ibs of Bacon
2 Tablespoon or 8 sticks of fresh thyme
1 box of frozen carrots and peas
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Cup of Chicken Stock
1 Cup of Sour Cream
1 Tbs of corn starch
Half stick of salted butter
Smoked Paprika (optional)

Firstly boil 3 idaho potatoes. I can’t remember what potatoes i used, but word of advice, use big potatoes and use more. Doesn’t hurt to have more potatoes. Cut them into smaller pieces to cook faster too.

Brown chopped bacon in huge skillet. Like a giant skillet which i bet most people don’t have so I suggest getting a wok from Ikea which i did and use that. Drain oil. Add turkey to brown.  Season with pepper and salt. When meet start to brown, add in chopped onions(one medium size), defrosted frozen peas and carrots(one box), chopped bell pepper, 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme. Mix and break the meat well.

Hopefully by then the potato is done. Start mashing them in a big bowl. Add salt and pepper. Half a stick of salted butter and half a cup of sour cream. Mash well.

Back to the turkey. Add one cup of chicken stock and half a cup of sour cream. Mix well. Add 1 tbs of corn flour or till ground turkey has a slightly thick sauce. Pour turkey onto a caserole dish. Spread the mash potato evenly on top of the turkey. Pop caserole dish into the broiler to brown the top, which only takes a few minutes.

For some weird reason, explaining the recipe now seems to make it sound really easy but in actual reality, it was quite a messy issue. Maybe because this recipe is suppose to be a smoked paprika turkey shepherd pie, but i couldn’t find the smoked paprika, so i did without it. But i guess adding paprika will make it slightly smokey and spicy.

So verdict:

Time: 3 (took us about 45 minutes at least to get everything out.)
Difficulty: 5 (With the use of fresh thyme and so many things going on at one time, it really isn’t that easy. Not all of us are like Rachael Ray who have an army of people behind the scenes preparing the ingredients in nice proportions for her.)
Taste: 8 (Real good. Kinda tasted like a pot pie but instead of pastry we had potatoes. I really liked the whole thyme and turkey combination. The filling was way too watery as it called for 2 cup of stock so i reduced it to 1 and added corn flour)

The good thing about this meal is that it really does feel like a home cooked meal. It is such a nice warm meal to share together and it really nutritious too. I would definitely try this again. Got a feeling it will probably take me a shorter time because now i kinda have everything in my head. Which is one thing we have to take note about cooking these recipes. We usually take a longer time the first time we try it because we are constantly referring back to the recipe and getting the order of the preparation wrong. Like for myself, i forgot to cook the potatoes first. So the second time we attempt to cook the dish, not only do we have the rough idea of what goes into the dish, we can improvise if we miss out something or just add in things along to way to create our own magnificent meal that is not only quick and easy, but filled with flavor!

If you are interested in getting this Rachael Ray Cookbook, order it online from Kollege Kitchen Webstore!

Hello fellow dessert-o-philes. First off – welcome to the blog. It is here where I will be sharing you everything and anything having to deal with sugar, from easy desserts to three-hour productions…awesome New York bakeries to international sweet oddities.

Have your toothbrushes and Trident gum ready, because this blog will inevitably cause you cavities.

And now for my first blog recipe…ever.

I can assert that I adore a well-made chocolate mousse. It should be intense, ethereal, but rich and completely overwhelming.

This recipe sort of achieves  that.

It has four ingredients and takes – I counted – 2 minutes to make. Throw it in the refrigerator, have dinner, and it’ll be waiting for you, creamy and thick, to devour it.

Here’s how it works:

1) Pour a half cup of heavy cream into a blender.

Mmm…35% butterfat…

2) Add 2 tbsp. each of unsweetened cocoa powder…

This is Valrhona but don’t be afraid to use Hershey’s!

3) 2 tbsp. of confectioner’s sugar…

Did you know confectioner’s sugar has cornstarch in it?

4) And 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract to the heavy cream.

This brand is significantly cheaper than McCormick’s…

5) Put the lid on the blender, and blend until the mixture thickens (which will take an extremely short amount of time so don’t get comfortable with your finger on that button.)

Look at it go!

6) And you’re done! Simple as that. Chocolate mousse in less time than it takes to brush your teeth! Now just throw it in the fridge (or the freezer for an ice cream-like consistency) and indulge.

Om.

Also known as crisp, crumbles are one of the easiest desserts to make if you have a casserole dish and an oven. They don’t take long to make and are the perfect dessert for a dinner party, especially if you are just starting to learn how to cook. Adapting from an apple crisp recipe I got from Bon Appetit’s website, I decided to make a banana crumble that would surprise all my American friends who have never heard of it.

Topping
1 cup of Light Brown Sugar
3/4 cup of All Purpose Flour
1 cup of Oats
1 cup of Walnuts
1 stick of unsalted butter (finely diced)
Whisk the brown sugar and the flour together first before adding the rest of the ingredients. Mixtures should have small clumps of butter throughout.

Rum Raisin
1 cup of Raisins
1 cup of Dark Rum
Simmer in pan for 5 minutes. Flambe to reduce the alcohol further. It should burn for a few minutes and it’s a really nice sight to show off your “culinary skills”.

Filling

10 bananas sliced into chunks
1 lemon squeezed
1 splash of orange juice
Cinnamon (to taste)
A dash of Nutmeg
1/4 cup of sugar
1 Tbsp of flour
1 Tsp of Vanilla Extract
Put all the ingredients in one bowl. Add the rum raisins. Mix it all together.

Pour the filling into the casserole dish. Spread it out nicely. Pour the topping over the filling and ensure that the clumps are well distributed throughout. Bake in oven at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Turn on broiler at HI for about 5 minutes to brown further. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with a generous serving of Vanilla Ice Cream. Ice cream is a MUST. In fact, i recommend Trader Joe’s french vanilla ice cream. It is not optional! Don’t listen to other recipes that say so! So this takes about 45-55 minutes, but its soooo worth it. It’s filled with yummy warmy goodness that is sure to please everybody!

Welcome to Kollege Kitchen! This is a blog for anyone who wants to post their reviews on recipes from cookbooks they are using. We look forward to developing a community here who understands the value of time and eating well, and we invite anyone to contact us if you are interested in contributing posts. Do visit our webstore at kollege-kitchen.amazonwebstore.com!