Petite Insanities

Ahhhhhh! Donuts are my weakness ! (and it doesn't help that they are my husband's too!) Another thing that I love more than anything... HOT PINK ! So what's better than Hot Pink Vanilla Bean Cake Donuts!? Um... I don't think anything... !!!!! This recipe has a very close consistency to actual cake so they pretty much melt in your mouth. So light and airy and super yummy! Cake Ingredients 3/4 cup flour 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 vanilla bean (scraped) 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp baking soda 3 egg yolks 3 egg whites 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup water Cake Instructions Preheat oven to 325F and grease your donut pan with cooking spray. Combine all dry ingredients and vanilla bean. Mix thoroughly making sure the vanilla bean is evenly distributed. In another bowl, mix egg yolks, vegetable oil, water and vanilla extract. Slowly add the dry ingredient mixture to the egg mixture and beat until smooth. Set aside. Beat the e...

We're staying true to summer over here in LA... (it's not over yet!!! )... so we had to share our super easy Raspberry Preserve Vanilla Ice Cream recipe! When I say easy, I mean easy ! Not to mention so subtly delicious too! I used my airy Vanilla Ice Cream recipe as a base and then added some flair! Ingredients 2 cups heavy whipping cream 2 cups milk 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup raspberry preserves 2 cups chocolate chips (optional) 2 teaspoons vanilla flavor pinch of salt Instructions Mix cream, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt together and stir until sugar completely dissolves. Pour into your ice cream maker and mix for about 30 minutes or until you reach your desired consistency. Slowly add in the raspberry preserves so they don't freeze in too large of clumps. Slowly melt the chocolate chips in the microwave. Tip: Small time increments with lots of stirring in-between works best and keeps the chips from burning. D rizzle chocolate into the churning ice cream maker...

What's better than a sugar cone topped with your favorite ice cream? ... A CHOCOLATE-DIPPED sugar cone topped with your favorite ice cream!!! This is the easiest recipe to add a little fun (and some awesome flavor) to your dessert. Even better, the possibilities are endless! Sprinkles, chopped nuts, peppermint chips (for the holidays!) or just straight up chocolate goodness, it's all good! Ingredients 6 sugar cones 2 cups chocolate chips 1 cup chopped pistachios 1 cup chopped almonds rainbow sprinkles Chop all of your nuts ahead of time. I use my trusted Slap Chop (those infomercials are amazing ). Slowly melt the chocolate chips in the microwave. Tip: Small time increments with lots of stirring in-between works best and keeps the chips from burning. Dip cones in chocolate and shake off all excess. Tip: Try to remove the chocolate from the inside of the cone to avoid it ultimately being super hard to bite into. Hold cone over a bowl and sprinkle with nuts...

Yes... you read that right! BIRTHDAY. CAKE. PANCAKES!!! These are crazy delicious and crazy sweet ! Perfect for my hubby who loves all things Birthday cake. I stumbled upon the original recipe awhile back and knew I had to make these for his Birthday. We made them together and changed it up a bit to create what we think is the best Birthday concoction EVER! Cake Ingredients 1 1/2 cups flour 2/3 cup yellow cake mix 1 1/2 cups milk 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp vanilla 2 eggs pinch of salt rainbow bead sprinkles Combine flour, cake mix, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add milk, egg and vanilla and mix with a fork until smooth. TIP : you might want to start with only half the milk and gradually add the rest as needed to make sure the batter doesn't become too runny. Different cake mixes vary in moisture. Sprinkle in the rainbow sprinkles and swirl them into the batter. Heat a pancake skillet over medium heat on the stove with a touch of butter so the batter doesn...

These might look pretty but they were a complete flop! I figure my failure will be your success so here's how NOT to make champagne popsicles... Most people know that alcohol doesn't freeze well. I knew this... I knew it when I was pouring the champagne. I knew it when I was putting the molds in the freezer and I knew it in the pit of my soul when I pulled them out. I thought I'd risk it just to see and they slid right out of the molds and immediately started to melt. I was barely able to sprinkle them with gold dust (omg so pretty, right?!) and photograph them before they were just pools of bubbly in my hands. So I did some more research and found a couple of tips to keep those pops icy cold: 1. Don't freeze the champagne by itself (like I did). A super easy alternative would be to add juice. Anything to help cut the bubbly and solidify the popsicles. I love mimosas so mimosa pops sound pretty dang delicious to me! (I actually wanted to make these but was to...

Ok, this is seriously the yummiest smoothie and the perfect breakfast for anyone on the go. I kind of stole this recipe from my favorite downtown LA juice and smoothie joint: Kashi Deli Cafe . It's their "Morning Boost Smoothie" and it's crazy delicious! The bonus... it's completely dairy free!! Ingredients 2(ish) cups almond milk 1 medium banana 1/2 cup oats 1 tbs agave 2 tsp cinnamon crushed ice Instructions Blend all ingredients in a mixer or bullet until creamy. Note: I usually don't measure my ingredients out, I just kind of throw them all together so if you want more cinnamon or less agave or whatever, the sky is the limit! These smoothies totally remind me of cinnamon toast crunch (my favorite cereal) or cinnamon oatmeal. Creamy, sweet, healthy and delicious! Enjoy! xo Sécia Check out our other recipes here ! F O L L O W   U S   O N   I N S T A G R A M   ::    @seciasophia

What's better than root beer floats?! Root beer float popsicles, of course! We're on a roll over here making popsicles left and right! Since I've posted two healthy popsicle recipes, I think it's time for something a little sweeter and these babies are certainly sweet! They're also the easiest popsicles on the planet to make! Ingredients A bottle of your favorite root beer A pint of your favorite vanilla ice cream (I used my lightest, fluffiest vanilla ice cream ever!) Instructions Place root beer in the freezer for 5-10 minutes so it doesn't melt the ice cream too quickly. Pour root beer into molds about 1/3 full. Layer spoonfuls of ice cream with more root beer until the molds are full. Mix it all up a bit: It's gonna get foamy! Place lid on mold and insert the sticks. Now, they're going to bounce right back up at you so I just tape them down in place with scotch tape. I've also read that if you boil the sticks in water for 30 min ...

Anybody near the west coast can tell you that we had one hell of a heat wave this past weekend so what better way to stay cool than ice cold popsicles! Added bonus... they're super healthy too! All fresh, natural ingredients but still taste like your satisfying that sweet craving. Ingredients 1 1/2 cups strawberries 1 1/2 cups mango Handful of blueberries 2 tsp chia seeds 2 1/2 cups coconut water Instructions Puree the strawberries, half of the coconut water and 1 tsp of the chia seeds in a food processor or blender. In a separate container, puree the mango, the rest of the coconut water and the remaining 1 tsp of the chia seeds (I like leaving the mango a little chunky because it's so yummy frozen). Spoon in layers of each into the molds and sprinkle in the blueberries as you go. Insert sticks and freeze for at least 3 hours. Run or dip molds in warm water to loosen the popsicles. That's it! So easy and sooooo delicious! The base recipe I used recommen...

Ok, these are seriously the prettiest edible things that I have ever created and they’re really yummy too! I found the recipe on the prettiest blog :: Le Zoe Musings (her photos are beautiful). Super easy to make with a standard popsicle mold (it was my first time making popsicles so there was a bit of a learning curve). I used the Norpro Ice Pop Maker from Amazon and I like it.  Ingredients Vanilla yogurt Strawberries Blueberries Kiwi Mango (a must cause it’s so sweet!) Granola Honey Instructions Layer vanilla yogurt with fruit and finish with some granola and honey drizzled on top so it sticks. Freeze overnight if you can (I did 3 hours and that was almost enough). Run under warm water to wiggle them out of the molds. Easy, right?! A couple of fun facts I learned: 1. Put the sticks in after the lid… yeah, I’m dumb. 2. Next time I want to add more granola. So good! 3. Make sure they’re totally frozen. I had a few where the stick came out w...

These gluten free chocolate chip cookies are insane! For years, this has been my trademark recipe but one of my besties is allergic to gluten so I thought I'd mix it up and try this new version so she can enjoy the yummy goodness too. Guess what happened... they are even BETTER! Ingredients 2 1/4 cups oat flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 sticks melted unsalted butter 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 2 large eggs 2 cups chocolate chips Instructions Combine the flour and baking soda in a bowl and mix together. Combine the melted butter with the sugars, vanilla and salt. Mix in the eggs. Stir in the flour mixture just until all of the dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in the chocolate chips.  Let the dough rest in the fridge for 2 hours or even overnight. Preheat ...

If you follow me on Instagram , you'll know I've been obsessed with pineapples lately. They're just so fun to photograph (AND EAT!!!) and are such strange-looking fruit, right?! If you haven't juiced one yet, you are so missing out. Fun fact: they're also amazing juiced with carrots, apples and ginger. SO GOOD! They go really yummy with watermelon too! What's your favorite juice combination? xo Sécia F O L L O W   U S   O N   I N S T A G R A M   ::    @seciasophia

This ice cream is soooo GOOD! I mean, anything that involves Girl Scout Thin Mints is gonna be amazing, right?! Mint chocolate ice cream is one of my favorites. I found this really great base recipe and then vamped it up a bit with the yummy cookie crumbles. INGREDIENTS: 2 cups heavy cream 1 cup 1% milk 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon mint extract (make sure it's fresh!) pinch of salt 5 drops green food coloring 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate 10 Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies (frozen) INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Put the Thin Mint cookies in the freezer for about 30 minutes 2. Combine all other ingredients except for the chocolate in a bowl 3. Pour into your ice cream maker and churn per the maker's instructions 4. In a glass bowl, slowly melt chocolate in the microwave 5. A few minutes before churning is complete, drizzle chocolate into the churning ice cream maker. The sudden cold temperature will cause the...

My favorite juice EVER! Packed with vitamin A and tons of water, watermelon juice is so sweet and delicious. Super yummy by itself or combined with any of the below ingredients*. I LOVE mine with sparkling water and a twist of lime. You know you want it! *Lime, Mint, Rosemary, Sparkling Water, Vodka (duh!) Check out our other juice recipes here ! xo Sécia F O L L O W   U S   O N   I N S T A G R A M   ::    @seciasophia

I've been having a love affair with my french press lately. There's just something kinda awesome about pouring in the water and watching the tea or coffee swirl around and brew. And don't even get me started on how much I love pressing down the grounds or leaves {yeah… I know that's pretty weird}. The other day I was craving coffee but realized I had run out of milk (which is a must if I'm having coffee). Dilemma? Nope! I thought, why not just brew my favorite tea with a bit of coffee too! I've had a " dirty chai " before and they're not half bad.  OMG this concoction was soooooo good! Just mix 1 heaping scoop of  White Ayurvedic Chai with  1 scoop of your favorite coffee. Add water and strain (or get that everlasting enjoyment out of pressing that french press like I do!). Add sugar to taste and enjoy!  Give it a try! xo Sécia F O L L O W    U S   O N    I N S T A G R A M   ::    @seciasophia ...

I never take baths… Never!  But I had some muscle aches the other night and thought… what the hell, let's give it a try. Problem: this non-bath-taking-girl had no bubble bath on hand and I'm pretty sure bubbles are a must when it comes to time in the tub. Soooo, a quick google search and bam ! Homemade bubble bath in minutes. And guess what- I'M AND IDIOT! Bubble baths are amazing! Pretty sure this is happening at least once a week from now on. P.S. Rubber duckies are so lucky. xo Sécia F O L L O W    U S   O N    I N S T A G R A M   ::    @seciasophia

Seriously… It's like eating amazing, vanilla air. Super creamy and super delicious. As I write this, my love is on his way home and about to be pleasantly surprised with this yumminess paired with our favorite homemade chocolate chip cookies . Are you drooling yet? Ingredients 2 cups heavy whipping cream 2 cups milk (I used 1% because that's what I had in the house) 3/4 cup sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla flavor pinch of salt Mix all ingredients together and stir until sugar completely dissolves. Pour into the ice cream maker and mix for about 20 minutes or until desired consistency. Add in a cup of your favorite fresh fruit during the last couple minutes of the process if you want a little fresh, fruity flair!  Serve immediately or store in the freezer in an airtight container.  Yum! xo Sécia F O L L O W    U S   O N    I N S T A G R A M   ::    @seciasophia

Late last night we decided to bake pie. Okay… we decided to bake  three  pies! Ben wanted pumpkin, his dad wanted cherry and I had to have pecan. Have you ever tasted pecan pie followed by a sip of coffee? Only the most orgasmic of flavors ever! Thanks to Ben's mom {because moms are great} we were able to whip these babies up in no time. It all started with the crust... :: The Crust :: 2 2/3 c. un-bleached flour 1 tsp. salt 1 c. crisco 8 Tbsp. ice water In a small bowl combine flour, salt and crisco. Use a fork to mash in the crisco but make sure to leave chunks to create a lighter, flakier crust.  Add the ice water and work between your hands to create the dough. Separate  half of the dough and mold into a ball.  {note: the other half of the dough could be used as a pie top if needed. Otherwise, why not just make a second pie with it?!} Flour a dry surface and begin rolling crust with a rolling pin. Flip and re-flour surface and crust continually...

Anyone who knows me knows I'll use any excuse to pop a bottle of champagne. This vintage-inspired concoction has become my go to beverage for just such an occasion and it's ( almost ) as much fun to make as it is to consume. I was super excited when Crystal of Wabi Sabi asked if I wanted to add a special drink to her cocktail series ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ) and of course, this was it! Not too sweet, and just enough bubbles to make your head spin ( in a good way ). What you need... 1 sugar cube a few dashes of aromatic cocktail bitters fresh raspberries & blackberries champagne (my very, very, very favorite champagne is Francis Ford Coppola's Sofia Blanc de Blancs ) Place the sugar cube in a champagne flute Add a few dashes of the cocktail bitters (the more you add, the prettier the pink color will be) Pour champagne and add the fresh berries Hope you love it as much as I do! xo