Sweet Beats

This is actually something I like to make a lot. Perhaps because it’s a really simple recipe lol. I prefer a thicker cookie and these bake extremely well that way. A yummy variation to this recipe that I like to make is chocolate sugar cookies. I just add about 1 tbs of cocoa powder to the mix. It’s also fun to add a little color to the cookies which I’ll tell how to do as well. These remind me of easter eggs so I think these would be fun to have at any Easter brunch. :)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened 
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp milk
*1 stick of butter flavored Crisco shortening can be used in place of the butter and shortening. This is what I used.*

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a mixing bowl cream butter, shortening and sugar until creamy.
3. Add egg, vanilla and milk. Mix well.
4. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. 
5. Gradually add flour mix to the creamed mixture. 
6. Mix until you get a nice dough.
7. Shape into 1 inch balls.(It helps if your hands are slightly floured as it keeps the dough from sticking.) 
8. Roll cookie balls in sugar and place on a greased baking sheet or parchment paper.
9. Bake for 7-9 minutes for a soft cookie or 10-12 for a crisp cookie. 

 *To get colored cookies put some sugar in a ziploc bag and add a drop of food coloring down the side of the bag. Seal bag closed and shake until sugar has changed color.*

Enjoy! :)

-Kristen Brooke

This is a recipe I’ve done twice now. Each time was for a friends birthday. Making an ice cream cake isn’t as daunting as it seems. This is probably not how they do it at Dairy Queen but it works haha. The important thing to remember is to give yourself enough time to make the cake. I usually give myself 3 days but it can be done in 2. I’ve never tried to make it in 1 day but I guess you could if you started early in the morning and have an intense deep freezer lol. Also make sure that you make enough room in your freezer for the cake! I find that putting the top of a cake carrier over the cake while it’s in the freezer helps a lot.

Materials:
Three cake pans 
Plastic wrap
Aluminum foil
Cake leveler
Wax paper
Cake circles (optional)
Ziploc bag 

Ingredients:
1 box of chocolate cake mix (I usually make my cake from scratch, but box mix works just as well)
1 pint cookies and cream ice cream
Frosting (I made a vanilla buttercream but any will do) 
One pack of Oreos 

Day 1:

Prepare cake in two cake pans according to box instructions. While cakes are baking set out the ice cream to soften it up so it will be easier to scoop. When cakes are finished set aside to cool. While the cakes are cooling, place a piece of plastic wrap inside the third cake pan(this will help make removing the ice cream easier) and scoop your ice cream into it. Fill pan to the top and smooth it out. Wrap the entire pan in plastic wrap and then wrap with aluminum foil and place in the freezer. Take the two cakes out of the pans and level one off to be the bottom layer of the cake. Wrap them individually in plastic wrap and foil and place in the freezer. Let the cakes and ice cream freeze over night. 

Day 2:

If using the cake circles cut pieces of wax paper into triangles and place on the circle. This will help to keep the cake circle clean while you’re decorating it. Remove the cakes and ice cream from the freezer and unwrap. Place the cake that was leveled off on first then the ice cream and finally the last cake. You will need to work fast because your ice cream will start to melt. If your ice cream layer is bigger than the cake layers you will need to trim it off. I find it easiest to take a knife and run it around the cake. You want it to be all even(and you can snack on the ice cream trimming lol). When your cake is even all around you want to start to apply your first layer of frosting. 

*Now after doing this twice I’ve come to the conclusion that frosting does not stick well on ice cream lol. If anyone knows how to better do this part then please let me know!*

Apply a layer of frosting over the entire cake. Try your best to get as much to cover the ice cream layer as possible. After you’ve got a nice layer on the cake place it back into the freezer to sit over night.  

Day 3:

Before you get started with the cake you want to go ahead and get your Oreo garnishing ready. Place 5-10 Oreos in a Ziploc bag and seal tight. Crush Oreos with a rolling pin or with your bare hands lol. I personally like to just pound on them :D You also want to separate some Oreos to make the border around the cake. You can remove the cream if you want. 

Now, remove your cake from the freezer. Apply the rest of your frosting on the cake in a nice smooth layer. It should be a little easier to get the frosting to stick to the ice cream layer now. When the cake is completely frosted place the separated Oreos around the bottom of the cake to make a border. Sprinkle the crushed Oreos on top of the cake. Removed the wax paper from beneath the cake. If not serving immediately put cake back into the freezer until ready to serve. 

And volia! You have an ice cream cake. This can be done with any flavor of cake and ice cream. If you have any questions about anything I did here, don’t hesitate to ask. Or if you’ve got any suggestions as to how I could do something differently let me know! Enjoy! :)

-Kristen Brooke  

Let’s try this again. :)

Well this has been a loooong time coming lol. I’ll finally get around to posting some recipes, almost a year later. But I’m going to be a lot better now. I’ve got a few already ready to go up. And I’ve got a ton of new recipes that I want to try so hopefully I’ll get to do that soon. 

Work has consumed my life this summer so I haven’t baked anything very interesting unfortunately. So all these recipes are from ones done a while ago. But hopefully I’ll have some more creative ones coming up. :)

I’m moving into a new apartment in 2 weeks which has a bigger kitchen than my current one, so I’m excited to bake in it. 

I haven’t figured out how to add music to a regular text post just yet lol. Haven’t decided if I’m just going to post playlists or actual music each time. We’ll see. 

Anywho, looks like my first recipe will be something I made for my good friend Meghan’s birthday, a cookies and cream ice cream cake. yum yum! :)

-Kristen Brooke

Welcome to Sweet Beats.

This blog is pretty much going to be a combination of the two things I love the most: music and baking.

Each week I’m going to post a new recipe that I’ve tried, either original or borrowed and provide an accompanying playlist of what I listened to while baking that recipe. Or it just might be of what I’m listening to in general.

I hope you all enjoy reading this blog as much as I’ll enjoy doing it. And feel free to leave comments with any tips you might have or if there’s a recipe you want me to try or an artist I should check out. :)

Kristen Brooke