Dole Whip Recipe

I feel like this post has been a long time coming!  There are so many Dole Whip recipes on the web, and this might not be the first that I try because, like this recipe, they are all so easy.  However, this is where I found the one that I used this time!

The Dole Whip is a Disney staple!  It's basically a cult following, with t-shirts and twitter accounts dedicated to this sweet and refreshing delight!

Of course, that means that if you're anything like me, you're going to crave this delicious (and vegan!) dessert at home!  If so, here's a recipe to try it!

To make one Dole Whip, you will need:

• 1 1/2 cup frozen pineapple (it won't fit exactly in the cup, but that's accounted for)
• 1/8 cup almond milk (or, really, any milk)
• A splash of honey OR 1/4 cup whipped topping (Cool Whip)

You will also need a really high powered blender, or a food processor.  I originally tried to use a Magic Bullet and that did not pulverize the pineapple as necessary, so I pulled out the food processor and, though it took a while to blend it all smooth, it worked beautifully.

All you need to do is put the ingredients in the food processor or blend and blend until smooth.  I put about 1/4-1/2 tsp. of honey in for a little extra sweetness, but you could put more or less based on your taste preference.  Also, if they pineapple isn't blending well, you can add 1 tbsp at a time extra almond milk.

At the end, you will have a soft-serve texture!

Edit: I made the Dole Whip again 3 days later (it was delicious and I am obsessed) but tried it with Cool Whip instead of honey.  IT WAS MAGICAL.  I highly recommend this version, as it did taste more like the Disney version to me.

I put the pineapple mixture in a piping bag with a star tip to squeeze it into my bowl to make it look more fun and fancy, but it will taste just as delicious just scooped into a bowl!

It was SO GOOD.  I reached the end of the bowl before I realized it.

Next time, I might add a little cool whip, since it doesn't have dairy, but you could easily add just a little bit of whip cream as well to make it a little more creamy.

You could also add some coconut rum or spiced rum over the top like they did at the Flower and Garden Festival this year and are beginning to do in Animal Kingdom!

I plan on doing so for my roommates once I go back to college in a month :)

Still it hits that craving for many people's favorite dish at Disney World!

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Olaf's Carrot Cupcake

If you remember from the Princess Red Velvet Cupcakes, I used to be quite the cupcake baker.  And when I saw the Olaf carrot cake cupcake being featured at Disney, I knew it was something I was going to have to try my hand at.

The version I'm trying to replicate is from the 24 Hour Rock Your Disney Side event earlier this year (2014) and since then they've updated to a version with a piece of white chocolate for Olaf's head.  If you want to get fancy with the chocolate, you can always try that instead!



For 28 Carrot Cake Cupcakes, you will need:

• 2 1/3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups pureed carrots (about 4 medium carrots)
• 2/3 cup milk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Begin by mixing the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, together in a small bowl and setting aside.  Next, cream together the sugar and butter, adding the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla.  Before combining the wet and dry ingredients, puree the carrots until smooth.  I recommend adding the milk in order to smooth out the puree.  Alternate adding the dry ingredients and carrot puree into the wet ingredients, mixing between each addition.

Fill the cupcake liners 1/2 to 2/3 of the way full and bake for approximately 16-20 minutes.

For the cream cheese frosting and face designs, you will need:

• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese (softened)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (softened)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4-6 cups powdered sugar
• 2-4 teaspoons milk
• Dark food dye
• Carrots
• Chocolate bar

To begin, cream together the cream cheese and butter until the two are completely mixed.  Add the vanilla and mix.  Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time until the desired consistency is reached.  If you add too much powdered sugar, add milk to thin the frosting out a bit, one teaspoon at a time.  I think that the Olaf structure of the icing would be easiest to attain with a stiffer icing, however mine was not and I thought it looked okay, so it's up to you!

Yum!

Allow the cupcakes to cool.  Get the largest round piping tip you have (or cut the corner out of a plastic bag) and create 3 tiers using the cream cheese icing.  Set some aside and color it with black or other dark colored food dye.  Use a very thin piping tip, or a toothpick (that's what I did) to draw on Olaf's mouth, eyes, and eyebrows.

Cut carrots into small points to use as Olaf's nose.  If you want, you could also use an orange taffy or fondant and design the nose using that.  Carefully cut shaving off of the chocolate bar to use for the hairs on his head.  Assemble the face of your Olaf and you're done!

So will you try to make the Olaf cupcake yourself?  Let me know in the comments how it turned out!

"The Grey Stuff" Recipe

"Try the Grey Stuff it's delicious!  Don't believe me?  Ask the dishes!"

One of the most iconic new menu items introduced with the opening of Be Our Guest Restaurant was the Grey Stuff!  Originally, this dish, inspired by the line in Lumiere's song in the movie, was served on a plate only for special occasions.  Now, the Grey Stuff is the icing on "the Master's Cupcake," so that everyone can try this delicious treat!

But what if you want to make the Grey Stuff at home?  Maybe you haven't made it to Be Our Guest, or maybe you have and want to have more Grey Stuff.  I found the recipe online and decided to give it a try myself!

To make the Grey Stuff, you will need:

• 1 package vanilla instant pudding
• 1.5 cups whole or 2% milk (or 3/4 cups almond milk or other milk substitute)
• 15 Oreos, original
• 8 ounces whipped topping (Cool Whip)
• 3 tablespoons chocolate instant pudding
• edible pearl sprinkles (optional)

To begin, mix the vanilla pudding mix and milk.  Allow to cool in the fridge for 5-10 minutes.  While it cools, blend Oreos in a food processor until they are a crumb-like consistency.

After the vanilla pudding has chilled, add the Oreos and mix well.  Fold in the whipped topping until well combined.  Mix in the 3 tablespoons of chocolate pudding mix...this should turn the mixture grey!

To present it the way Disney does, use a cake decorating bag with a  star tip and swirl.  Add the edible decorative pearls (which I did not have), and enjoy!

Unfortunately, my "Grey Stuff" didn't turn out so grey.  Maybe a tablespoon less chocolate pudding mix?  Still, it was delicious and made me happy with every bite, thinking about being back in the Beast's castle.

It would also be delicious served on a chocolate cupcake, just like they did with the Master's Cupcake!

Did you make the Grey Stuff?  Did you have better luck with it turning grey?  Let me know in the comments!

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Princess Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe

If there is anything I know better than Disney, it's how to make a good cupcake.  In fact, before this blog, I started a cupcake blog (of which I forget the url), which ended because of my freshman year in college and my lack of oven to continue my craft.  From there, my love of cupcake baking sort of fizzled out...but for special occasions I'll still whip some up from time to time.

I made these Princess Red Velvet Cupcakes for my 3-year-old cousin.  I typically spend a lot of time with her over the summer, but because of my internship I won't see her much at all.  We always play with her Disney Princess toys when I visit her, so I knew this would be a cupcake we would both love.

For 24 red velvet cupcakes, you will need:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (softened)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 bottle (or about 2 tablespoons) red food color
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Begin by mixing the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, and salt) in a separate, smaller bowl.  Next, cream together the butter and sugar until fulling incorporated, then add the eggs one at a time.  Carefully add the red food coloring (because it will make a mess) and vanilla, and mix until the batter is thoroughly red.  Add the dry mix and the milk in parts, 1/3 of the dry, 1/2 of the milk, 1/3 dry, rest of the milk, and the rest of the dry. Mix until just incorporated...do not over mix.  Last, add the baking soda and vinegar, letting the two react on top of the batter only briefly before mixing them into the batter.

Fill cupcake liners between 1/2 and 2/3 of the way full.  Bake for 18-21 minutes, checking at 18 minutes.

A trick I learned to tell if a cupcake is done is to press on the top of the cupcake with your finger.  If an indent is left in the cupcake, they need 1-3 more minutes.  If they spring back into place with no indent, they are done!

For the cream cheese frosting, you will need:

• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese (softened)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (softened)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4-6 cups powdered sugar
• 2-4 teaspoons milk
• Pink food coloring

To begin, cream together the cream cheese and butter until the two are completely mixed.  Add the vanilla and mix.  Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time until the desired consistency is reached.  If you add too much powdered sugar, add milk to thin the frosting out a bit, one teaspoon at a time.  Once you like the consistency of the frosting, add pink food coloring (or just a little red) until the color is what you want.  I went with a bright pink.

Allow the cupcakes to cool, and frost with whatever tip (or knife!) you want to make the cupcakes as fancy-looking as you would like.

To make the tiara garnish, you will need:

• Yellow decorators chocolate
• Pearl sprinkles

Melt the chocolate (I use the double boiler method).  Prepare a surface to put the chocolate on (I used foil that I sprayed with a non-stick spray).  Place the melted chocolate in a squeeze bottle or a piping bag with a small round tip.  Carefully create tiara designs (as shown below) as simple or elaborately as you want!  Decorate the tiaras with whatever sprinkles you prefer, such as the pearls.  Allow to harder for a few minutes in the refrigerator.

If I were doing this again, I would probably use the edge of a can with foil and non-stick spray on top to design the tiaras, allowing them to have more curvature than these.  I ended up carefully cracking these to try and curve them around the top of the cupcake.  It would be a bit more complicated, but it would look really cute!

    This is the finished product!

You might feel so inclined to add a hidden mickey...like me!

Though not a recipe from Disney, these cupcakes will make any Disney princess lover feel like royalty!  And they taste pretty delicious too!

So, do you think you'll make these cupcakes for yourself, your friends, or little cousins like I did?  Do you have any questions on how to make them?  Leave a comment!

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Norway's Rice Cream Recipe

When the trio of desserts that comes at the end of the meal at Akershus arrived at our table, fiancé and I were leery of the "rice cream."  The first bite or two we were both a bit perturbed, but the more and more I ate the more and more interesting I found the dessert to be.  Though it isn't something I would want all the time, I knew it would definitely be something that I would get a random craving for.

And boy did I!

I found a recipe on Disney Food Blog (one of my favorite Disney blogs!), but decided to tweak it a bit in order to make it lactose-intolerant friendly.  This basically meant that I used Cool Whip instead of making my own whip cream and using a milk-alternative, but you could easily use normal milk and still use Cool Whip for an easier and quicker version.

To make my version of Norway's Rice Cream (makes 4-6 servings), you will need:

• 1 1/2 cups water (for the rice cream)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup short-grain rice (I used long grain, but I think the short grain would be better)
• 2 cups milk (I used almond milk)
• 2 cups Cool Whip*
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• About 1 cup strawberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water (for the strawberry sauce)

For the Rice Cream:
To begin, boil the water with the teaspoon of salt in a medium sized saucepan.  Add the rice once the water is boiling and reduce the heat to medium-low.  Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the rice absorbs all of the water.

Once the water has been absorbed, add the 2 cups of milk and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed.  The rice should stick together in clumps just a little bit, but be easily stirred.

Add the 2 cups of Cool Whip and the vanilla extract and refrigerate until chilled.  Store covered in refrigerator.

*If you want a more authentic version, make whipped cream yourself!  This will give the dessert a creamier texture.  Just take 1 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup of sugar, and the listed 1 tsp vanilla extract and whip together until stiff peaks form.  Mix this into the rice and milk combination.


For the Strawberry Sauce:

Puree 1 cup of strawberries.  Add the strawberry puree, water, and sugar to a saucepan and allow to simmer until thickened to a syrupy consistency.  Allow to cool to room temperature, and refrigerate to store.






Pour (or drizzle) some strawberry sauce on top of a serving of rice cream, and that's it!  You've made Norway's Rice Cream at home!

In the parks: Rice cream is available both as a dessert at Akershus and at the Kringla Bakeri, both located in Norway's plaza in World Showcase.

What's your favorite food from Disney that you would like to see a recipe for?  What would you like to see next on YADisney?  Let me know in the comments!



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