• Using a hand mixer, in a medium-sized mixing bowl beat together the whipped topping, vanilla, meringue powder, and ¾ cup of powdered sugar for 3 – 5 minutes or until stiff peaks have formed.
• Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
• In another bowl mix together the softened cream cheese, peanut butter, milk, and 1 cup of powdered sugar until smooth and silky (add more milk a teaspoon at a time if needed for mixing).
• Fold in one half of the whipped cream and mix until completely incorporated.
• Pour peanut butter filling in to pie crust and smooth out using a spatula.
• Pipe or spread the other half of the whipped topping evenly over the filling (I found piping with a star tip was easier that trying to spread the whipped cream).
• Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips and peanuts over the top of the pie.

Cake

• Heat oven to 375°F. Grease and flour a 10 inch bundt or angel food cake pan.
• In a medium bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the sour cream, vanilla, and almond flavorings. Mix until smooth.
• Scrape the bowl then slowly add the flour mixture about a third at a time to the wet mixture scraping the bowl as you go.
• Toss the peaches with the remaining ¼ cup of flour and the cinnamon. Scoop a third of the batter into the pan (batter will be thick), then sprinkle a third of the peaches on top. Repeat two more times with the remaining batter and peaches.
• Place in the oven and reduce the temperature to 325°F. Bake for 60-80 minutes, or until a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Allow the cake to cool at least 20 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely before glazing.

Glaze

• Combine the orange juice and sugar in a small sauce pan, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 7 – 10 minutes or until reduced by one-half and syrup like.
• Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Add the Grand Marnier, and spoon the warm glaze over the cake allowing it to run down the sides and soak in.

Icing

• Whisk together the powdered sugar, almond extract, and heavy cream.
• Drizzle the icing over the top of the cake using a spoon, or pipe on using a plastic bag with the corner cut off.
• Top with slivered almonds while the icing is still wet.

• Heat oven to 325°F. Prepare an 8 x 8” baking pan by greasing, set aside.
• In a mixing bowl prepare the brownie batter according to the “cake like” instructions.
• Coarse chop the Oreos and fold them into the batter. Pour into the prepared pan.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Drop dollops of the cream cheese mixture over the top of the brownies, and using a knife swirl the cream cheese into the brownies.
• Bake according to the instructions on the box of mix about 50 – 55 minutes.
• Cool completely before cutting.

Brownies

• Heat oven to 350°F.    Coat 9” x 13” pan with non-stick cooking spray.
• Prepare brownie mix according to the package directions using the oil, water, and 2 eggs.  Spread brownie batter evenly into prepared pan.

Cheesecake layer

• Beat cream cheese, butter, cornstarch, and ¼ teaspoon cinnamon in a medium bowl mix mixer on medium speed until fluffy.
• Add sweetened condensed milk, 1 egg, and vanilla.  Beat until smooth.
• Pour evenly over the brownie batter.
• Sprinkle with remaining ½ teaspoon cinnamon.
• Bake
• 45 – 55 minutes or until top is lightly browned and filling is set in the center. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
• Place 2 – 3 tablespoon of chocolate chips or frosting in a resealable plastic bag. Microwave on high for 10 seconds at a time until chocolate is melted.
• Cut corner off bag and drizzle chocolate over brownies.

Cake

• Heat oven to 375°F. Grease an 8” x 8” square pan or a 9” springform pan.
• Tip: Place a piece of parchment paper over the bottom of your springform pan before closing. Grease the pan and paper as you normally would. The paper makes it easy to separate the cake from the bottom.
• Cream together the butter and sugar. Add egg to creamed mixture and mix well to combine.
• In another bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
• Add vanilla to milk to make ½ cup.
• Add flour mixture alternating with milk to the creamed butter, mix until combined. Gently fold in blueberries.

Crumb Topping

• In a small bowl mix together sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Using a pastry blender or fork cut the butter into sugar mixture until mixture resembles a coarse meal.

Icing (Make when cake is completely cooled)

• Place powdered sugar in small mixing bowl. Add milk a little at a time until icing will drizzle off spoon.

Assemble

• Pour cake batter into prepared pan.
• Cover batter evenly with crumb topping. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and top is slightly browned.
• Place pan on a wire rack to cool for 15 - 20 minutes before removing the springform.
• Allow to cool completely.
• Drizzle top of cooled cake with icing.

Cake

• Heat oven to 325° F.  Grease and flour a 10-inch fluted tube pan, set aside
• In a large saucepan combine sugar, coffee, unsweetened chocolate, and butter. Heat while stirring over medium-low until the chocolate and butter are melted. Heat this mixture only long enough to completely melt the chocolate and butter. Do not boil, we are not melting sugar and making candy, the sauce should appear granular.
• Remove from heat and cool (since we are going to be adding egg to this mixture, it is extremely important to allow the sauce to cool down somewhat. Scrambled eggs would not be a good thing here).
• In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
• Tip: When baking, mix your dry ingredients flour, baking powder, soda, salt, powdered spices together with a whisk in a separate bowl. This accomplishes two things, one it combines the ingredients without overworking the batter, and it sifts the flour.
• Stir yogurt, eggs, and vinegar into chocolate mixture in saucepan. Gradually add flour mixture, stirring just until combined (Vinegar is added to assist the leavening ingredients in this very heavy cake, but will add no taste. Do not be surprised to see the batter bubble, it is the vinegar doing its job).
• Fold in the white baking chips and pour into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. (Because this is such a dense cake be sure to test the cake in several places. I like to use a wooden skewer instead of a tooth pick to make sure the cake is done all the way through).
• Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on rack

Chocolate Ganache

• Place the chocolate chips in a mixing bowl.
• In a small sauce pan over medium-high heat warm the cream until it is almost ready to boil. (Do not boil). Pour the hot cream into the bowl of chips and mix until all of the chocolate is melted and becomes smooth (the residual heat from the cream will melt the chocolate).
• Finish the ganache by stirring in the Kahlua.

Assemble

• Pour the ganache over the cooled cake while the chocolate is still warm. It will flow easily and become smooth. As the chocolate cools it will set up and will keep its shiny appearance.
• I finished this cake with some white, light, and milk chocolate that I drizzled over the cake after the ganache had set up. I tempered the chocolates one at a time and used a small plastic bag with the corner cut off to pipe on the finishing touches.

Cake

• Heat oven to 350° F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by lightly coating with oil and lining the bottoms with parchment paper.
• Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and nutmeg together in a bowl. Set aside.
• Mix the eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, brown sugar, vanilla, and pineapple together in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until fully incorporated.
• Stir in the carrots, nuts, and plumped fruits just until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake on the center rack for about 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
• Cool cakes in their pans for at least 30 minutes before attempting to remove them. Then, remove from the pans and peel off the parchment paper. Cool the cakes completely before frosting.

Frosting

• Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
• Add extract, juice, and zest and beat just until incorporated.
• Beat in sugar, one cup at a time, until frosting has the flavor and consistency you want. (You may not need to add all of the sugar).

Assemble

• Spread a layer of frosting over the top of one half of the cake. Place the second layer on top and spread with frosting. Sprinkle with chopped pistachio nuts.

• Heat the oven to 375° F.
• Peel, pit, and slice peaches into one inch wedges (drizzle with lemon juice to prevent the peaches from turning brown).
• Soak the dried cranberries in hot water for about 10 minutes to hydrate. Combine the peaches, cranberries, cinnamon, ginger, chili powder, ¼ cup of the sugar, and the cornstarch in a large mixing bowl. Let the fruit stand, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves, 5 to 7 minutes.
• While the peach mixture is resting, make the dough by creaming together the butter and remaining ½ cup sugar in a medium mixing bowl.
• Beat in the egg, vanilla, and lemon zest until the batter is smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and stir until just combined.
• Transfer the peach mixture to an 8-inch square-baking pan. Drop the dough using a tablespoon over the fruit.
• Bake until the fruit is bubbling and the crust is golden, 50 to 55 minutes.
• Serve the cobbler warm with whipped cream or ice cream. Garnish with a dusting of chili powder. Now this is one “devilishly” delicious cobbler.

• Heat oven to 350° F and line a 13″ x 9″ pan with parchment paper.
• Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs followed by vanilla and mix well. Add the flour, baking soda and salt and continue to beat until well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
• Press the cookie dough evenly into the pan.
• Arrange the Oreos evenly on top of the cookie dough (One package is just enough to cover the whole thing).
• Prepare the brownie mix as directed on the package and pour batter over the top of the Oreos. (Use a spatula to spread it evenly).
• Bake for 40-50 minutes on the center rack of your oven or until a nice crust has formed. The center of the brownies will look slightly under baked but will set up as they cool.