Strawberry orange shortcake with rose whipped cream

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

Strawberry orange shortcake with rose whipped cream

Yield: Makes 8 shortcakes

Ingredients

For the fruit

• 1/2 pound strawberries, sliced
• 4 blood oranges (or 2 regular oranges), segmented and cut in half
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar 
• 1 Tablespoon rose water

For the shortcake biscuits

• 2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar 
• 1 Tablespoon orange zest (from 1 orange)
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted Challenge butter, cold and cubed
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

For the whipped cream

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sour cream 
• 3 Tablespoons (38 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon rose water

Directions

For the fruit

1. Combine strawberries, oranges, sugar, and rose water. Let sit at room temperature while you prepare the rest of the shortcake.

For the shortcake biscuits

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick mat.
2. Combine flour, sugar, orange zest, baking powder, salt, cardamom, and baking soda in large bowl.
3. Use pastry cutter or fingers to cut butter into dry ingredients until you have pea-sized crumbs.
4. Pour buttermilk into bowl and mix until it becomes cohesive dough.
5. Form dough into 8 mounds using ice cream scoop or 3-Tablespoon cookie scoop and place on baking sheet.
6. Sprinkle tops of biscuits with sparkling sugar if desired and place in oven.
7. Bake biscuits for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the bottoms are browned and the tops are golden, and set aside to cool.
8. Once biscuits are cool, use serrated knife to cut biscuits in half horizontally.

For the whipped cream

1. Whisk heavy cream (by hand or in a stand mixer) in chilled bowl until soft peaks form. 
2. Add sour cream, sugar, and rose water and continue whisking until stiff peaks form.

Assembly

1. Plate bottom half of 1 shortcake biscuit.
2. Spoon macerated fruit over biscuit bottom. 
3. Top with generous dollop of whipped cream
4. Close with top half of biscuit.
5. Spoon more cream over shortcake if desired and serve immediately.

Hot Chocolate French Toast

Hot Chocolate French Toast may very well be the most over-the-top breakfast imaginable. It has the trifecta of chocolate + marshmallows + whipped cream! And, yes, it’s still breakfast because it’s FRENCH TOAST.

I’m not sure if you’re aware, but if you write the phrase “French Toast” somewhere in the title of the dish then it counts as breakfast.

Now, I am in no way suggesting you should eat this every morning for breakfast, but I think this would definitely be a fun idea for Christmas morning! It’s fun and interactive and it gets your kids in the kitchen. You can have the little ones stuff the bread “pockets” with marshmallows and chocolate chips. Then once the French Toast is done cooking, they’ll love topping it off with whipped cream and chocolate syrup!

Hot Chocolate French Toast

Ingredients

For the French Toast

• 1 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons of hot cocoa mix
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 8 thick slices of bread

For the Chocolate Syrup

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

OPTIONAL: Whipped Cream (You can also use store bought whipped cream)

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

For the Chocolate Syrup

Make this first so it's ready when you finish cooking the French Toast!

1. In a microwave safe bowl add the cream and chocolate chips.
2. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring each time until smooth.
3. Set aside.

For the French Toast

1. In a glass measuring cup or medium size microwave safe bowl add 1 cup of coconut milk.
2. Stir in hot cocoa mix and let cool 5 minutes
3. In a shallow dish, whisk together eggs, vanilla, and salt
4. Whisk in hot chocolate
5. Cut slice of bread 3/4 of the way through to make a “pocket”
6. Fill the pocket with chocolate chips and marshmallows, but be careful not to overfill it. You don’t want it to come out in the pan while it’s cooking.
7. Place the bread in the hot cocoa egg mixture. Let bread soak for five minutes, and then flip to other side and let soak for another five minutes so both sides are coated.
8. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and coat generously with butter.
9. When the skillet is hot, cook the French Toast until golden and crisp – about 2-3 minutes per side. (Check it after two minutes because the hot chocolate mixture is sugary and will burn quicker.)
10. Remove French Toast from pan and serve immediately with chocolate syrup and whipped cream

For the Whipped Cream

1. Beat heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla on high speed until high peaks form (about two minutes)
2. If you like a lot of whipped cream, you may want to double the recipe!

This recipe is adapted from a video by Tastemade.

MINI PUMPKIN CHEESECAKES WITH CINNAMON WHIPPED CREAM

In my opinion, mini desserts are the best desserts. They're easy to serve up and you feel less guilty indulging (or you feel less guilty eating more than one)! So when my dad told me yesterday that October 21st was National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day I made an impromptu decision to drop everything I was doing in order to properly celebrate this wonderful holiday. But I didn't want to make just regular cheesecake, I opted for MINI cheesecakes of course. I also decided this treat would be best paired with homemade cinnamon whipped cream, so I decided to whip some of that up to!

Believe it or not, I had never had pumpkin cheesecake before, but they turned out just as I imagined. They're a little more savory than the Mini Oreo Cheesecakes recipe I posted in July making them perfect for the fall season. I figured I couldn't go wrong by putting two of my favorite things together - pumpkin and cheesecake!

P.S. Don't worry dad, I'm saving one for you :)

MINI PUMPKIN CHEESECAKES WITH CINNAMON WHIPPED CREAM

Yield: 12 mini cheesecakes

Calories: Approximately 200 calories per cheesecake

Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS

For the cheesecake crust

• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

For the cheesecake filling

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon  pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the cinnamon whipped cream

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

For the cheesecake crust

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in bowl.
3. Divide mixture among 12 mini cheesecake spaces (you can either use a mini cheesecake pan or a muffin pan)
4. Press down the crumbs to form a crust.

For the cheesecake filling

1. Beat the cream cheese until smooth. 
2. Add the pumpkin, egg, sour cream, sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice to the bowl.
3. Beat until well combined. 
4. Add the flour and vanilla, and once again beat until well combined.
5. Spoon filling onto prepared crusts, dividing it evenly among the 12 spaces.
6. Bake mini cheesecakes for 20 minutes.
7. Remove cheesecakes from oven and let cool for 15 minutes.
8. Cover cheesecake pan lightly with saran wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

For the cinnamon whipped cream

1. Pour heavy cream into bowl of mixer
2. Whip cream on high for a bout a minute
3. Add sugar, cinnamon and vanilla to cream.
4. Beat mixture on high until soft peaks form.
5. Top cheesecakes with whipped cream.

Recipe adapted from Glorious Treats.

I think I could have just eaten the ingredients for the crust plain - it smelled so good!

Ready to fill cavities with filling.

There's nothing quite like homemade whipped cream!

Sprinkle cinnamon on top for an extra decoration.

Don't mind me, I'm just subtlety trying to incorporate these 

mini pumpkins in as many pictures as possible.