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Baskin Robbins Cake Bites {Giveaway}

December 4, 2011 By 165 Comments

Here in NOLA, just about every holiday party we attend will have petit fours.  This deliciously decadent treat consists of a square piece of cake covered in poured icing…perfect size to sample a few.  In fact, the National Restaurant Association declares that mini desserts are one of the biggest food trends of 2011!  While the petit fours have been around for a long while and I have done my fair share of “sampling,” I have often wished for some ice cream on the side.  Apparently, Baskin-Robbins heard my request and developed their newest product, Cake Bites! About the product:

“Cake Bites are elegantly decorated miniature desserts that marry cake and ice cream into one mini dessert – reminiscent of French petit fours. Enrobed in decadent white and dark chocolate, ganache and caramel drizzle—Cake Bites are the perfect treat indulgent treat for one or to server guests while entertaining this holiday season.”

We had the pleasure of trying a box of four Cake Bites in the following flavors:

  • Double Chocolate – Chocolate ice cream over chocolate cake, enrobed with chocolate ganache and finished with a chocolate accent.
  • Praline Caramel – Pralines ‘n Cream ice cream over white cake enrobed with white chocolate ganache and  finished with caramel drizzle and chopped pralines.
  • Chocolate Mint – Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream over chocolate cake, enrobed with chocolate ganache and finished with white chocolate drizzle.
  • Vanilla Blondie – Vanilla ice cream over white cake, enrobed with white chocolate ganache and finished with chocolate accent.

The four pack comes in a cute box with a bow, perfect for bringing to a dinner party or as a hostess gift.  As much as I didn’t want to share, I allowed my family to participate in this review.  My daughters tried the Vanilla Blondie and the Chocolate Mint while my hubby chose the Praline caramel.  It’s no surprise that I went for the Double Chocolate.  They were all gone in a matter of minutes….best.review.ever.

The Baskin-Robbins Cake Bites Cake Bites are available now and can be purchased individually or in a mix-n-match 4-pack.  They cost $2.99 (SRP) for a single Cake Bite or $9.99 (SRP) for a box of 4.  I would definitely consider bringing this to a holiday party.  They were both tasty and pretty!

GIVEAWAY

One winner will receive $14 in Baskin Robbins Gift Cards!

How to Enter:

1. Tell me which flavor Cake Bites you are most excited to try!

Additional entries:

1. Blog about this giveaway and link to The Not-So-Blog (10 extra entries).

2. Follow me (@BridgetteLA) and @BaskinRobbins on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway. Every time you tweet you get an additional entry! Limited to 10 a day, please. (You must have over 50 Twitter followers to qualify for unlimited entries!)

3. Subscribe to my blog.

4. Become a Fan of The Not-So-Blog and Baskin Robbins on Facebook.

5. Place my blog button on your sidebar.

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on December 16th. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to U.S. Residents only.

This post is the opinion of the Experimental Mommy.  Others may have a differing opinion of the product.  While a sample was received to facilitate this review, all opinions remain 100% honest.
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Have a Sweet Valentine’s Day with Baskin Robbins!

February 12, 2011 By 3 Comments

I love going out to a romantic dinner for Valentine’s Day.  But no matter how tasty the gourmet desserts look, I never have enough room to fit them after a full meal!  Rather than stuff yourself to capacity, why not surprise your sweetie with a special treat when you arrive home?

Baskin Robbins has created three feature cakes specially designed for Valentine’s Day:

  • Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Ice Cream Cake - Made with layers of Very Berry Strawberry and Chocolate ice cream, the 6-inch fully decorated round is frosted with rich chocolate-flavored whipped topping, topped with a strawberry glaze and features a customized love note.  Serves up to 8; $19.99.
  • Sweetheart Ice Cream Cake – A sweet and simple way to say “I love you,” the Sweetheart cake is ¼-round and dotted with adorable mini red icing hearts, a red chocolate heart and a single red rose. Serves up to 8, $12.99.
  • Double Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake – Perfect for chocolate lovers – a  fully decorated 9-inch round cake, featuring Chocolate Chip ice cream over Devil’s Food cake, frosted with chocolate flavored whipped topping and borders, and finished with a rich chocolate ganache glaze. Serves up to 16; $29.99.

Valentine's Day Cake
I decided to take my own advice and head to my local Baskin Robbins to find the perfect Valentine’s Day treat.  I was surprised to find even more options ready to take home at the store!  There is no need to pre-order…score!  I found a small cake that feeds 2-4 people which is perfect for my family.  The pink accented cake featured chocolate chip ice cream and chocolate cake which will definitely be a crowd favorite.  The cakes should defrost for 15-20 minutes which was basically our ride home, so our cake was ready to eat as soon as we arrived.

As you can tell, my daughter was more than excited to dive in!  After slicing a few pieces, my daughter and I sat down to enjoy our treat and we loved it.  I definitely think this size cake is a perfect after-date dessert and the price was only $9.99 at my location.

Head to your local Baskin Robbins branch and check out the Valentine’s Day selection!

This post is the opinion of the Experimental Mommy.  Others may have a differing opinion of the product.  A product was provided to facilitate this review however all opinions remain 100% mine.
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Granny’s Famous Butter Cookies!

November 8, 2010 By 2 Comments

When it came to my Granny’s cooking,  all of us had our “favorite” things that she would make.   For a few of us, it was her Butter Cookies.  The best part about making these is getting to use the fun cookie press.  This was my favorite part (besides eating them) and it took many tries and lots of patience on Granny’s part but I finally got the hang of it.

I could never guess how many batches she made in her lifetime.  She used to make them all the time, and even packed them up and shipped them off to my cousin in California once because he just “had” to have them.  When I was in my first year of teaching, Granny and Grandpa came to visit my classroom.  The kids (or I) could have never guessed that Granny would come with a giant can of these for the whole class.   They are very simple but very good.  Not too sweet and not too filling!  I could eat a whole can by myself…..and back in the day Granny would let me, and never tell Mom!

Butter Cookies

What you Need:

The Helper's most important job: Sprinkle Application.

1 stick butter (Don’t even look at the margarine!)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon almond extract (but I like a little more)

3 Tablespoons cream, half and half, or milk

Sprinkles, any kind or color

At least One Little Helper to stand on a chair at the counter, any age


This is the official "Granny" pattern but I think any kind will work.

How to make them:

Cream the butter, sugar, and egg yolk together using your electric mixer until good and fluffy.  Combine baking powder, salt, and flour.  Add this to the butter mixture and mix well.  Add almond extract and up to 3 T milk as needed to get the consistency right.  You need it to be about as stiff as mashed potatoes.

Put the dough into a cookie press; the pattern we always used is flat on the bottom and zig-zag on top (see photo to the right).  Press out cookies onto cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray into lengths about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long.  Decorate with sprinkles if you want, but they are just as good plain.

Bake at 350 degrees until the edges are light golden brown.

Here I am as a young first year teacher. Granny and Grandpa came to visit, bearing cookies. All of my 3rd graders thought they were the coolest grandparents ever.....and I agree!

Bridgette butting in here: I just had to say that I have actually tasted Jennifer’s Granny’s Butter Cookies and they are indeed little slices of heaven. Try them!
Filed Under: My So-Called Life Tagged With: , , , ,

I am taking over…who wants a Brownie Trifle?! (shh, don’t tell Bridgette)

July 24, 2009 By 17 Comments

Bridgette is busy at BlogHer and I am in charge!!!!  *evil laugh*  I hope she is having fun and learning all sorts of new tricks that she can attempt to teach me, but who am I kidding?  She will have  to teach me at least twice.  I am so new at this it’s not even funny!

Anyway, since my very first product review was for FairyTale Brownies I thought I would share a recipe a friend recently gave me for Brownie Trifle.  This is a good one when you have no time but need to impress.  It’s so easy, takes almost no time to make, and holy cannoli is it good.  See, I said I wasn’t June Cleaver.  June would make Baked Alaska  or Cherries Flambe’ or some other pooh-pooh dessert.  Me?  BAM!  Brownie Trifle.  It looks impressive but takes no time and is so dang good it will make you want to slap your momma.  Don’t really slap her though.

brownie-dessert-toffee-trifle

You will need:  One box brownie mix (to make a 9×13 inch pan) and whatever the box says you need to make that (oil, eggs, etc).  I prefer any kind of brownie mix that has chocolate chunks in the mix.  You will also need a small box of chocolate pudding (instant), 2 cups of milk, 2 pints fresh strawberries (see variations below though if you don’t like strawberries), 6 cups of whipped topping, thawed (like Cool Whip), and 2 Hershey bars.

Directions:  First, bake the brownies as directed and cool.  In the meantime, make the pudding using 2 cups milk and let refrigerate a little bit until it is set.  If you are using strawberries this is a good time to wash them and slice them.  Once  the pudding is chilled, fold in 2 cups of the whipped topping and set aside.  Now you are ready to assemble it!  Use a  big glass bowl or trifle dish if you have one (’cause you KNOW June Cleaver has a trifle dish AND a deviled egg plate…but we won’t go there).

Cut the brownies into bite size pieces  (I just crumbled mine up because I hate doing dishes and it saved me a dirty knife).  Then layer in bowl:  1/2 of everything except the Hershey bars:  brownies, pudding mixture, strawberries, and cool whip.  Repeat.  End with cool whip on top and then grate two Hershey bars on top to make it look pretty, y’all.  Or grate one and eat one, I won’t tell!   Cover with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  This part is important, because it tastes great right away, but AWESOME after it has set up completely.

Now for the variation:  My kids love fruit in general but don’t want anything healthy mukking up their dessert.  So the other recommendation is to use cut-up Peanut Butter Cups.  HOLY COW.  I made this last week for some friends and the wife doesn’t eat peanut butter cups, (I know, what is wrong with her?) so I used crushed up Heath Bars.  WHAT?  Someone get the smelling salts!  Heath Bars and Brownies?  That should be illegal.  You really can do anything you want as I can’t imagine any type of candy bar plus brownie plus pudding and cool whip goodness tasting bad.    Let me know if y’all try it and what you use. June likes to shake it up to keep ‘em guessing!  Enjoy!

jensig

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