From Gina's Kitchen logo

brunch

Thirsty Thursday… in a mug?

By

Happy Friday Junior, Foodie Friends!

Welcome to what has become a monthly blog post-I really must get better at this writing and posting thing, lol. Well, I am thankful for my Food Network Magazine inspiration for “A Year of Brownies”.

It’s March already! I have been happily baking for my family this week, as I have my son home on spring break, as well as my niece visiting from Pittsburgh on her break. My house is full of happy taste testers! My heart is full having almost all my family together. The rest of my brood returns to the nest this weekend.

Last night I whipped up a batch of the “Irish Coffee Brownies” which happens to be the March featured brownie. You bake them in individual mugs, which are the perfect portion size for individual desserts!

I made a few minor adjustments, and I have to say they were DELICIOUS!! A little boozy (only a tablespoon of Bailey’s Irish Cream) , very dense, rich and fudgy. Highly recommend for all ages (without alcohol of course)! You could substitute the Irish Cream for a coffee flavored liqueur or Irish whiskey if you prefer. This recipe could also be the base of a brownie ice cream sundae!

I was lucky enough to find this mug at Home Goods, perfect size for “Irish Coffee Brownies” AKA “Mug Brownies”

The recipe was easy to follow, had minimal ingredients and serves four hearty dessert or snack portions of these totally cool mug brownies. You divide the batter among four microwave safe mugs, with each mug taking only 1 minute and 30 seconds to bake. Winner -winner for after dinner sweetness!

The recipe called for making your own flavored whipped cream for garnish, but I had store bought whipped cream in the fridge and opted to use that instead for ease and convenience. I had all other ingredients on hand , with the exception of coffee extract. I didn’t have that so I substituted vanilla extract and it was still amazing.

Click the link above for the original recipe. My only tweaks were store bought whipped cream and vanilla extract. We still enjoyed every bite!

I hope you try your hand at this recipe, and if you do, let me know!

Reach out to the Kitchen via email fromginaskitchen@gmail.com! I’d love to hear from you!

Until next time….

Make everyday a sweet one!

Gina

Pumpkin French Toast Casserole

By

Happy Monday, Foodie Friends!

If you caught the latest installment of the “Curly Girls” this morning (I know, it’s a day early!) you saw us in our themed helmets recapping one foodie related highlight of AnnMarie’s trip to South Africa. I paired her french press coffee (spiked with Amarula ) with a perfect fall brunch casserole. Formal name ” Pumpkin French Toast Casserole”. Those at the brunch party today just called it “DELICIOUS”, “AMAZING” and “MORE, PLEASE ”

Pumpkin French Toast Casserole

I didn’t get the chance to snap a picture of it, as we were so excited to dig in while it was warm. You can see it in our Facebook video though!

My recipe was a take on one I found on Food Network, and it did not disappoint! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did today.

We devoured that casserole before I could get a pic… I guess you could say it disappeared like a ghost! You can see the bottle of alcohol used in the coffee AnnMarie made… so cheers to that!

One and one half 15 ounce cans pumpkin puree

One 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

One tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 cup almond milk

I tsp. vanilla extract

4 eggs

one loaf brioche bread, sliced (I used two small chocolate marble loaves from Walmart!)

Two 8 ounce packages cream cheese, at room temp.

I cup powdered sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons softened butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. lightly butter or spray a 12×8 baking pan

Combine pumpkin, condensed milk, almond milk, pumpkin pie spices, and eggs in large bowl and whisk until combined. Dip read slices one by one (covering both sides of bread) and transfer to baking pan. Repeat process until bottom is covered.

With hand mixer in small bowl, mix vanilla, cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy (no lumps). Spread the mixture on top of the bread layer, spreading all the way to cover ends. Soak remaining bread slices in custard, layer on top of cream cheese mixture. (I poured the remaining custard over the whole thing after I finished layering. )

Combine softened butter, pecans, and brown sugar in small bowl. Top casserole with pecan mixture. I put my casserole in the fridge for about 90 mins, and baked before guests arrived.

Bake uncovered for 40-45 mins until top is golden.

Cheers to Monday brunch!

Gina