Turtle Cookie Balls - Valentine: I Turtle-y Love You + Printable Gift Tag

I am a sucker for a corny Valentine.  Especially if a food pun is involved.  Even though Little Devil is grown up and we are far removed from the days of school Valentines, I think I will always celebrate the day by making something fun and silly for friends and family.  In the past I've done Coca-Cola Cupcakes (Valentine I SODA Like You) Copycat Beaver Nuggets (I'm EAGER to be your Valentine) and Banana Crumb Muffins (Valentine I'm BANANAS for you).  In fact if you search "Valentine" on my blog, you'll see a lot of Valentine inspiration.  Valentine's Day is right up there with my favorite holiday: Halloween.  It's January 6th as I'm typing this and I already put out my Valentine's Day decorations.  January is dreary and boring and I'm ready for fun!   Last year, I made Turtle Cookie Balls with the theme of "I TURTLE-y Love You" and they were a huge hit.  This made a large batch for sharing and the little no-bake cookie balls were surprisingly easy to make.  They had all of the flavor of  delicious turtle candy with chocolate, caramel and pecans in a fun and giftable cookie form.   I found the cutest little containers for gifting and designed a little gift tag to go along with the theme.  Valentine's Day is right around the corner and I'm already brainstorming ideas for this years punny, funny Valentine idea so stay tuned.  In the meantime, enjoy a batch of Turtle Cookie Balls! 

These cookie balls, reminiscent of a
delicious chocolate-caramel-pecan
turtle candy are great any time, and make
an adorable gift or dessert. 

Perfect for Valentine's Day with the
theme, "I TURTLE-Y Love You"

All bagged up in the cutest Valentine 
cartons with matching gift bags.

Boxed up and ready to go.
All they need is a cute gift tag!

Feel free to use my Turtle
Valentine Gift Tag.  
Just click on the picture to enlarge
it, right click to save the image and
resize to your liking and print onto
cardstock.

Happy Valentine's Day!  
I would TURTLE-Y Love it if you made these
Turtle Cookie Balls.

TURTLE COOKIE BALLS

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
approximately 70 vanilla wafer cookies, crushed (2 and 1/3 cups)
3 tablespoons caramel ice cream topping
16 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate (or chocolate almond bark) melted for dipping
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, crushed vanilla wafers and caramel topping until well blended.  Shape into approximately 42 (1-inch) balls.  Place on a cookie sheet and freeze for 10 minutes.  (NOTE: I used my smallest cookie scoop to help me form the balls in the same size.) Remove the balls from the freezer and using a fork or dipping tool, dip into melted chocolate.  Shake off the excess and place onto a waxed-paper lined tray.  Sprinkle with the chopped pecans before the chocolate sets up.  Refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the balls to firm up before serving.

Coconut Cake

 So Mr. Devilish Dish and I have never been big fans of coconut.  In fact our food tastes are pretty similar.  We love most of the same things and our dislikes are similar as well.  Last year, two friends at tailgate had upcoming birthdays.  One of them said, "How about a lemon cake?" Great!  Easy.  I love lemon cake.  Whipped that birthday cake right up.  The other request was Coconut Cake.  That took a little more effort, since I'm not a coconut fan.  What I realized after eating this cake is I am in fact a Coconut Fan!  Since that tailgate last fall, I've made this cake for several occasions.  It is similar to a tres leches cake.  But it only has two milks.  I guess that makes it a dos leches cake.  It is a very moist cake and honestly gets better with age as it sits in the refrigerator.  I changed up the original recipe to a whipped cream "frosting" versus a store bought dairy topping.  I love the flavor and texture so much better.  That is the only thing that keeps this cake from lasting for days in the fridge is the whipped cream frosting might get weepy.  Honestly though, it won't last that long.  You'll eat this cake all gone before you have that problem.  It's an easy cake too, basically a doctored up cake mix style cake.  The secret to the crazy good flavor is the two milks:  Cream of Coconut and condensed milk.  It is so decadent, it's made coconut lovers out of Mr. DD and I for sure!

This is the best coconut cake.
You don't even have to like coconut!

The ingredients...

The secret is the Cream of Coconut 
and the condensed milk.
Whisk these together and set aside.

Prepare the cake.

Poke holes in the warm cake with 
the end of a wooden spoon.

Pour the milk mixture allover 
the cake.

Allow the cake to soak up the milk
mixture and cool completely.

Prepare the sweetened whipped cream.

Generously frost the cake with the 
sweetened whipped cream.

Top with toasted coconut.
This is optional.  I did this originally so
folks would know this was a coconut cake.
Mr. Devilish Dish doesn't like the texture
of the toasted coconut as garnish on this cake.

Chill completely.
Overnight is better.

Most recently I made this for my Dad's 
birthday fish fry.  Big hit!

Such a good cake.  Enjoy!

COCONUT CAKE

1 boxed white cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 small box vanilla instant pudding
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 can cream of coconut
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 pint heavy cream
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
toasted coconut- optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9x13-inch cake pan and set aside. In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer combine the cake mix, eggs, milk, vegetable oil, pudding mix and vanilla.  Mix until smooth and creamy and pour into prepared pan.  Bake for 32-35 minutes of until a toothpick poked into the center of the cake comes out clean.  

While your cake is baking, whisk together the cream of coconut and the condensed milk.  When you remove your cake from the oven, immediately poke holes into the hot cake with the end of a wooden spoon.  Pour the cream of coconut mixture slowly over the whole cake.  Let the cake cool completely and soak this mixture up.  

When the cake is cool, whip together the heavy whipping cream with the tablespoon of sugar until it is thick and spreadable.  Use this mixture to frost the cake.  Top with toasted coconut if desired.  Cover the cake and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.  Even better the next day.

Southern Pecan Praline Poke Cake

As I've told you before, my brother-in-law is a chef in New Orleans.  Which works out great for me because I love that city and I love that cuisine.  He came home to visit the family for Thanksgiving.  The Saturday after Turkey Day, the Oklahoma Sooners played the Louisiana State Tigers.  Obviously our tailgate was Cajun-themed and we put the chef in charge of gumbo.  Legit Louisiana gumbo with andouille sausage and leftover smoked turkey parts.  My contribution to the day was dessert.  Finding a dessert that would stand up to to the quality of the gumbo was no easy task.  I've been told that King Cake outside of Mardi Gras is bad luck and a big no-no.  I settled on this Southern Pecan Praline Cake because not only was it simple to make, but the sugary praline layer is reminiscent of that delicious Pecan Praline Candy.  Bonus, it tasted great even though I made it the day before.  It was such a hit at the tailgate, I had several requests for the recipe.  As usual, tailgate is so hectic I never even ate a piece of cake, nor did I get any pictures of it.  Then I had the brilliant idea to re-create the same menu for our family Christmas meal.  Afterall we still had a freezer full of andouille sausage and my side of the family will never turn down a good 'ol Southern meal.  We enjoyed Gumbo with Potato Salad (the authentic way) but we also served rice to appease Little Devil.  My brother brought a big batch of Jalapeno Cornbread, and I shared some spicy saltine crackers and homemade bread & butter pickles gifted to me by a coworker.  The highlight of the meal was truly this cake.  As anticipated, it brought down the house.  An easy crowd pleaser for sure, and the tastiest finish to any home cooked meal.  

This is the best finale to
any Southern meal.

The ingredient line up.

Bake the cake according to the box mix
directions.  While it is baking prepare the 
praline mixture by boiling together butter,
brown sugar and pecans.

Using the handle of a wooden spoon, 
poke holes evenly over the warm cake.  
Spread the praline mixture over the cake,
allowing it to seep into the holes.  
Spread the remaining mixture evenly 
over the entire cake.

Whip together the softened cream cheese,
heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract
until very fluffy.  Spread over the praline
layer carefully frosting the entire cake.

Drizzle caramel sauce over the frosting.

Top with remaining toasted pecans.
Cover and refrigerate at least two hours 
to allow the flavors to meld.

This is the yummiest cake.  
The tangy cream cheese frosting is 
the perfect counterbalance to
the sweet praline layer.

Enjoy at the end of any Southern meal,
especially if you have a brother-in-law
that can make gumbo!

SOUTHERN PECAN PRALINE POKE CAKE

1 box yellow cake mix + the ingredients called for to make the cake (eggs, oil, water)
2 cups chopped pecans, toasted and divided
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup prepared caramel sauce (I used a good quality ice cream topping sauce)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare the cake mix according to the box directions.  Pour batter into a greased 9x13-inch baking pan.  Bake the cake for approximately 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in to the center of the cake comes out clean.

While the cake is baking prepare the praline filling.  In a skillet over medium heat, melt the stick of butter and add the brown sugar and 1.5 cups of the toasted pecans.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat until you have a thick, sticky mixture.

Using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes evenly allover the warm, baked cake.  Pour the brown sugar mixture over the cake, carefully allowing it to seep into the poke holes, and then spread evenly across the surface of the cake.  Set aside.

In a mixing bowl of a stand mixer, beat the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract until smooth and very fluffy.

Spread the cream cheese frosting evenly over the cooled praline layer on the cake.

Drizzle caramel sauce over the top of the frosting and garnish with the remaining 1/2 cup of chopped toasted pecans.  Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving to let the flavors meld.

Enjoy,

Champagne Cake - Happy New Year!

It's my first post of 2026 and it's only January 1, so I think I'm off to a good start.  There's no better way to celebrate the New Year than a glass of champagne, or in this case a cake of champagne!  Mr. Devilish Dish has really honed up his cooking skills this past year.  Partially because I had surgery on my hand and he has had to do a majority of the cooking for the past several months and partially because he really enjoys it.  When I say he has polished up his skills I'm talking master level, molecular gastronomy skills.  For example, our New Year's Eve meal (cooked entirely by him) was Surf & Turf (Steak & Lobster Tails) with clarified butter, a Lobster Velouté Sauce (made from his homemade seafood stock) Wilted Spinach & Bacon, and a Roasted Cauliflower Puree.  All I did was wash dishes.  And welcome in the new year with a freshly scrubbed kitchen.  OH!  And I made this cake.  At no point did I think this cake would be worthy of the meal he prepared.  As I was trying to decide how to frost it, I was second guessing myself and thinking maybe I should have made souffles or something more elegant.  I could not have been more wrong.  This cake was absolute perfection.  The sponge, though surprising easy to handle and release from the pan, was so delicate and soft, with the best champagne flavor.  The recipe makes a ton of champagne buttercream frosting, but I decided to keep the look very simple by going for the "naked" style cake and just frosting the center and top, with a very light coating around the outside of the cake layers.  Not only do I think it gave the cake an elegant appearance, the cake itself is so tasty it doesn't need a lot of frosting.  In fact we ate a second piece at midnight with a little bit of raspberry sauce.  (Another of his creations.) If last night's meal and dessert are any indication of our cooking adventures for the upcoming year, I'd say you all are in for lots of great recipes in 2026.  But first let's celebrate with Champagne Cake!

A terrific way to welcome
 in the New Year.

Surprisingly few ingredients.
So simple to make.

Combine the eggs and vegetable oil.
Add in the champagne, followed by the 
granulated sugar.

Combine the dry ingredients and add
to the champagne mixture.

Divide the cake batter evenly between
two prepared cake pans.

Bake and allow to cool completely
before frosting.

Frost the entire cake OR leave the 
sides "naked" like I did.

Such a simple, elegant cake. I had 
the perfect vintage gold cake stand
for the occasion.

I opted to not use a lot of frosting on this
cake and I'm glad I did.  The flavor and texture
of the cake sponge is so delicate and delicious,
it would be just as good without the frosting.

I used a serrated knife to slice the cake,
the sponge is so light.

This would be outstanding served with 
fresh fruit on the side, or a tart fruit sauce.
BONUS:  You'll have 2 glasses of champagne leftover
from the bottle when you make this cake. Perfect
for enjoying with your dessert and ringing in
the New Year. 

CHAMPAGNE CAKE

For the Cake:

1 1/4 cups champagne
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Buttercream Frosting:

1 stick unsalted butter
6 cups powdered sugar
1/3-1/2 cup champagne

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper, greasing the parchment paper also.  

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the champagne, vegetable oil and eggs.  Add the sugar.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Slowly add this mixture to the champagne mixture until combined.  Whisk by hand to get out any lumps.  Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and bake approximately 27-30 minutes.  Allow the cakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on a wire cooling rack.  

To prepare the frosting, beat the butter in a stand mixer until soft and smooth.  Add in 3 cups of powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add about half of the champagne, then add the remaining 3 cups of powdered sugar, one cup at a time.  Once this mixture is combined, add the remaining champagne a little bit at a time until the frosting is desired consistency.  If the frosting is too thick, add a little more champagne a small amount at a time.  If it is too thin, add a little more powdered sugar a small amount at a time.

Once the cakes have cooled, place one layer onto a serving plate or cake stand.  Frost the top of this layer before placing the second layer on top.  Frost the top of the second layer, and if desired the sides of the cake layers as well.  Leave the sides plain if you desire the "naked cake" look like I did.  This makes a lot of frosting so decorate as you desire.

Slice and Enjoy,

Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cake Dip

If you don't have any holiday spirit by now, here's your chance.  What's better than a Little Debbie Christmas Tree Snack Cake?  A whole bunch of them made into a festive dip.  This dip is decadent, fluffy and delightfully sweet.  And it comes together quickly so it is perfect for holiday parties, Christmas Eve snacking and last minute guests.  I served my dip with graham crackers for dipping, but this would be ideal with fruit or pretzel sticks too.  It's such a fun presentation of a nostalgic treat.  It's full of red and green sprinkles as well as holiday spirit.  

Isn't this just the cutest dessert?
Perfect to get everyone into the
holiday spirit.

I somehow lost my pictures of the 
ingredients, but the first step is 
blending the cakes, cream cheese,
milk and vanilla.

I like to make my own whipped cream 
in lieu of using whipped dairy topping.
Feel free to use either.

Carefully fold in your whipped cream
or whipped topping.  You want to keep
the dip light and fluffy.

Transfer to your serving dish and cover 
and refrigerate if you aren't using 
right away.

Or, if you are using right away, garnish with 
red and green sprinkles and plop that remaining
Little Debbie Cake right in the middle.

LITTLE DEBBIE CHRISTMAS TREE CAKE DIP

(8) Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes (they usually come 5 per box.  You'll need 2 boxes and have a few for snacking or decorating)

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla 
8 ounces heavy whipping cream + 1 tablespoons sugar OR (1) 16 ounce carton whipped topping (like Cool Whip) *SEE NOTE
Red and Green Sprinkles

Remove the wrappers from the tree cakes.  Set one aside for garnish.  Break up the remaining 7 trees into the bowl of a stand mixer (Or large bowl and a hand mixer) Add the softened cream cheese, milk, and vanilla.

Mix the ingredients on medium until the mixture is well-blended and smooth.  

 *NOTE: Beat the 8 ounces of whipping cream with the 1 tablespoon of sugar until you have a nice, stiff-peaked whipped cream.  I do this step because I really like the texture and flavor of freshly whipped cream instead of using a whipped dairy topping.  If you want to skip the whipped cream step and use a 16 ounce carton of whipped dairy topping please do.

Fold in the (already) whipped cream or the whipped topping carefully so your dip will become light and fluffy,

Transfer to a serving dish.  If you're not using it right away, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

When ready to serve garnish the top with red and green sprinkles and add the remaining Christmas Tree Cake.