tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11345052469585191682024-02-19T17:08:20.837-08:00A Little Cake Won't HurtAndreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-86140173644100710472012-10-06T15:49:00.000-07:002012-10-06T15:49:19.570-07:00First Birthday Celebration<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I can't believe it's already been a year! My little guy turned one last week, and we had his party the weekend before. I spent the couple months before the party scouring the web (and joining pinterest) to find ideas to plan the perfect party. I even did a few craft projects. I made a birthday bunting, a photo banner with a picture for every month, and a birthday hat to match the onesie I ordered from Etsy. I had also purchased a number of decorations, but the high winds made nearly impossible to put them all up. Besides I realized that I probably should have shared my grand plans for decorating with my husband and dad who ended up doing most of that work since my number one job is tending to my son. I had planned to make a smash cake, cupcakes, decorated sugar cookies, and chocolate covered Oreos, but in the end I decided a smash cupcake was fine for the first birthday. Yes, I like to go a little over the top for big events. Maybe someday I should go into party planning as a career. ;)<br />
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I had planned to put the banners above the food table, but the wind was too strong. It kept blowing the plates away.</div>
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I put a number 1 on the birthday boy's cupcake to make it stand out from the rest!</div>
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I love decorating cookies even though it's a bit time-consuming. I was curious how much cookie places charge, and couldn't believe that some charge around $90 for a dozen decorated cookies. Crazy!<br />
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I hung up the bunting and photo banner at home after the party so we could enjoy it the week of his birthday!<br />
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He did not want to keep the hat on, but we managed to get a few decent pictures with it on!</div>
<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-13485475515266465152012-09-21T14:29:00.001-07:002012-09-21T14:29:29.069-07:00Brooksters and Baked BarsLast Sunday the authors of the three Baked cookbooks were in Austin for a book signing at William Sonoma. Since I took a <a href="http://alittlecakewonthurt.blogspot.com/2010/10/baked-explorations.html">class</a> with them a couple years ago at Central Market when their second book came out I had to go. At the book signing the had a demo of the pumpkin cake in the new book and samples of pumpkin brittle and their salted caramel. It was all delicious! After watching them make the salted caramel again I really want to try it again myself. I've always had problems making caramel - either burning it, undercooking it, or having it boil over when I added the cream. I think I just need to practice and I will get it right. Plus, I've had some fleur de sel salt sitting in my baking cabinet just waiting for the perfect use. <div>
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In honor of them coming I decided to do a little more baking from their books again because their recipes never disappoint. Earlier this month I was in the mood for chocolate and coconut, and when I found the Baked Bars which are also known as Hello Dolly or kitchen sink bars I couldn't resist them. How could you go wrong with chocolate chunks, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, and walnuts surrounded by sweetened condensed milk on top of a coconut and graham cracker crust. They were quite delicious. I normally have a sweet tooth, but the comment in the recipe about these being good in small doses was definitely correct. I think when I make these again I will have to take them to a gathering, cut the recipe in half, or just freeze the other half for later.</div>
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For my first recipe from their latest book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Baked-Elements-Our-Favorite-Ingredients/dp/1584799854/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348261412&sr=8-1&keywords=Baked+Elements">Baked Elements</a> I decided to bake along with the <a href="http://bakedsundaymornings.com/">Baked Sunday Mornings group</a> and make the Brooksters. I didn't have time to finish mine until Monday night, but I'm hoping to participate a little more in the future (after I get through my son's first birthday party because that is going to take most of my time over the next week). So, this recipe combines two of my favorite desserts - chocolate chip cookies and brownies. It's simple to make but does require a bit of planning because both the cookie and brownie dough have to cool for at least 3 hours prior to baking them. I actually started making the dough Sunday afternoon after the book signing but didn't get to finish them until the next day. Fortunately I knew there would be extra cookie dough so I threw a half dozen in the oven for my husband and I for Sunday night dessert. The recipe has two options for baking these either in their special Brookster pan that William Sonoma carries or a muffin pan. I opted for the muffin pan because I just can't see paying $20 for a single purpose baking pan (at least not anymore). If I make these again I would probably try making them in mini muffin pans instead because like the Baked bar these are also very rich. They were very good and even better heated with a little vanilla ice cream, but like so many other bloggers commented I think I still like brownies and chocolate chip cookies on their own a little more. </div>
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Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-25189653665492314662012-09-12T11:38:00.003-07:002012-09-12T11:38:38.344-07:00Mile-High Vanilla Sponge Cake <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I try to bake along with the <a href="http://avidbakerschallenge.blogspot.com/p/about-abc.html">Avid Baker's Challenge</a>, but I just haven't been very consistent this year. I'm starting to find a little more time to bake lately - about once a week which is almost perfect with only two of us eating desserts in my house right now. So, I thought I would join them this month. I'm a little late posting this though I did make this cake last week.<br />
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The cake was very similar to an angel food cake just a bit heavier since it used both the whites and the yolks of the eggs. With as few ingredients as it had I thought it would be really quick to throw together, but with an 11 month old trying to "help" I don't think anything is really quick. He has a fascination with the mixer since I made the mistake before of letting him check it out (when there wasn't anything in it). Plus, it calls for the whites and yolks to be whipped separately<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;">My mom used to make angel food cake fairly often when I was a kid though I'm pretty sure it always came from a box mix. She would either make a quick glaze to go on top or top it with strawberries and whipped cream. I ended up making the chocolate whipped topping for it. The inside of this cake was very soft just like an angel food cake, but just like when my mom used to bake angel food cakes my absolute favorite part of the cake is the top crust that we always cut off and eat first!</span><br />
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Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-58543354239739372892012-08-30T15:28:00.001-07:002012-08-30T15:28:56.981-07:00Mom and Baby Cookie Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last week some of my running mom friends and their little ones came over to my house to do some cookie decorating. I had offered to teach them how to decorate cookies after bringing some cookies to our coach's baby shower. It was a lot of fun (especially watching the little ones interact with each other), but I did forget just how much work it is to prepare to decorate cookies. </div>
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I learned how to decorate from taking classes at All in One Bake Shop (now <a href="http://www.allinonebakeshop.com/classes.asp">Make It Sweet)</a> whose classes I would highly recommend to anyone in the Austin area. One of the great things about their classes is they do a lot of the prep work for you, and the parts that we do in class they seem to have down to a science how to do it most efficiently. I'm learning more each time I do them, and after this time I found some more tips online that I think will make it faster. Also, I really wanted to show everyone how to make the royal icing and flood icing (thinned out royal icing) and put it in bags, but next time I would probably do that myself so there's more time for decorating. Some tips I have are:</div>
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<li>Simplify! Just choose a few colors and styles rather than several.</li>
<li>Use glass measuring cups to mix each color. Then put half of the color in the piping bag and thin out the rest to pour into the bottles.</li>
<li>If you have a lot of cookies to decorate and are pressed for time do all of the outlines of one color first that way you don't have to worry about the icing in the tip drying. If you have a bit of an assembly line of cookies it goes faster. </li>
<li>I have some piping tip covers that seem to help a little, but one tip I read online afterwards is to put a damp paper towel in the bottom of a glass and put your tip in there.</li>
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There were a couple of little ones in our group who were at the point where I thought they might enjoy decorating, but I figured that holding a piping bag was probably beyond their level. I have some paint brushes that I use cake decorating so I gave them each a brush and put some of the flood icing (thinned out royal icing) in bowls. That seemed to work pretty well, and thanks to their moms it actually wasn't a huge mess!</div>
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My 10 month old wasn't super cooperative with my decorating efforts so I think I only managed to decorate a few cookies during the party. I was trying to figure out afterwards why I was having such a hard time piping (besides the fact that he kept trying to help), and then I remembered that I normally use my left hand to help guide a little bit. I ended up decorating some more later that night, but I still had a lot left the next day that I wanted to finish. I knew that the icing in the piping bags would be fine with the exception of what had hardened in tip (which can easily be taken care of with a toothpick), but the flood icing in the bottles separates overnight. I did a little research and determined that I should be able to remix it. I got out a liquid measuring cup so I could hopefully just pour it back in afterwards, poured the separated icing in, and just stirred it with a spoon. I have two different types of bottles - one with a wide opening and one with a narrow one. I was able to just pour the icing into the wide bottles, and for the others I had to use a funnel. I think I might need to get more of the wide neck bottles and more liquid measuring cups sometime before I do another big cookie project. It was so nice to sit down and finish the cookies while Lucas napped!</div>
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I really loved getting together with my friends to decorate cookies, and I hope we get to do it again sometime! Holiday cookies?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6PsIQH8wkZ8-3Bh9-DmH4i6DGa0TI5ImWgKecXfdZMIRMIECvMdt-Pil_8TbN4HToVKADdqh2v6bGdEySly_TnB7Bhb8OpSivl1lHovLGe_rCkcRjeD0sSB2UlT0EXLM7bMqMUCHfDpY/s1600/IMG_5687.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6PsIQH8wkZ8-3Bh9-DmH4i6DGa0TI5ImWgKecXfdZMIRMIECvMdt-Pil_8TbN4HToVKADdqh2v6bGdEySly_TnB7Bhb8OpSivl1lHovLGe_rCkcRjeD0sSB2UlT0EXLM7bMqMUCHfDpY/s400/IMG_5687.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-66269336846773977272012-08-14T16:12:00.003-07:002012-08-14T16:15:04.585-07:00Summer Squash Trail Mix Cupcakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi26I_27sglO4QFsesrhAQp5gqxCzBezxADdeA5uf6Px-Mr3zS8mtHBkDO2bfMIi2zovY_C8c1Lo-crah4RIUakZpUB5enqcjxKUN1SiiLU8-FoAw_k9u9npWv1BtXi2enwAcFDowSFQjAB/s1600/IMG_5660.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi26I_27sglO4QFsesrhAQp5gqxCzBezxADdeA5uf6Px-Mr3zS8mtHBkDO2bfMIi2zovY_C8c1Lo-crah4RIUakZpUB5enqcjxKUN1SiiLU8-FoAw_k9u9npWv1BtXi2enwAcFDowSFQjAB/s400/IMG_5660.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I haven't posted in quite a while. When I quit my job to stay home with my baby for some reason I thought I would have a lot more time than I did before, but really I only have a little more time for stuff like blogging and a lot more time with my son. But, that's fine. So, while I like blogging I don't guarantee that I will do it regularly, but I imagine that as he gets older and naps become more predictable that I will find more time to do it. I have found more time for baking than I was in the early months of his life, but it typically isn't anything that requires a lot of work though I have done a couple of fancy cakes and decorated cookies.<br />
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So, I do still get a CSA share every other week, and I decided this time I would do a better job about using everything before I get the next share. Only problem is I found out last night that they had me scheduled to get another share this week even though I shouldn't be getting one until next week. I think something got messed when I went on vacation and pushed out one of my pick up dates. Rather than dealing with trying to call them I changed my pick up day of the week to Saturday rather than Wednesday to give me the rest of the week to finish what I had. I decided I needed to use up some of the squash by baking. <br />
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I had made Martha Stewart's Zucchini Spice Cupcakes before using half zucchini and half summer squash so I decided to try all summer squash this time. My son fell asleep for his morning nap and actually let me lay him down so I got busy getting ingredients out. I soon realized I would have to improvise quite a bit as I didn't have vegetable oil or walnuts. I ended up using a mixture of safflower, canola, and olive oil because that's all I had. I've tried cake with olive oil in it before that I liked so I figured it was worth a try. I had a bag of trail mix with walnuts, almonds, raisins, cranberries, and dates. At first, I thought about pulling out all of the walnuts, but then I decided I would just chop it all up and see how it works. <br />
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When they came out of the oven I thought they looked a bit more like muffins than cupcakes, but the inside is soft like cake. They turned out delicious! I think I still prefer them with just walnuts, but I would say this was a nice substitute!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikxc0y5R-cWpRFEJ6OzfUuw1Wcqwy9TSJnX2v8sBSMxowoiMoOnCJvvUVSuPJm_ewS3BVgmdV2OF_G1912q2IpkV48_jOiDxmrxCHZ2D7WIXEZnGOmwHQaL6a1vkn9uTxbM1TYMy0bAH9V/s1600/IMG_5634.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikxc0y5R-cWpRFEJ6OzfUuw1Wcqwy9TSJnX2v8sBSMxowoiMoOnCJvvUVSuPJm_ewS3BVgmdV2OF_G1912q2IpkV48_jOiDxmrxCHZ2D7WIXEZnGOmwHQaL6a1vkn9uTxbM1TYMy0bAH9V/s400/IMG_5634.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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These are great without the icing as a little snacking cake, but they're even better with a bit of cream cheese icing. I mixed up some with half butter, half cream cheese, vanilla splash of milk, and powdered sugar to the consistency I want for piping. I frost a few for the next couple days and then freeze the rest so they taste fresher. It doesn't take long for them to defrost in the fridge. <br />
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I set one out on the plate to take a picture, but I had to go change my baby's clothes as he has decided that the dog water bowl is a fun place to play. When I came back I saw my cat licking her lips and part of the icing missing from one side, but you'd never know that by looking at the picture above!Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-44012971417777558982012-05-02T21:23:00.000-07:002012-05-02T21:23:40.272-07:00Cranberry Orange Scones and Big Changes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKRstB89ottL7M22oquolV3JIvusYxW-Twpx7BUEEsrC00Iz2WCMtv9pmBx4JCQitzZo47FNOSkNEi6-gsUfqVK-aE08d8B4WH-z9TdAyFUyvWb7xjAsJg2QnUfbTv4-nPzYM5MTucwE6B/s1600/IMG_4936.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKRstB89ottL7M22oquolV3JIvusYxW-Twpx7BUEEsrC00Iz2WCMtv9pmBx4JCQitzZo47FNOSkNEi6-gsUfqVK-aE08d8B4WH-z9TdAyFUyvWb7xjAsJg2QnUfbTv4-nPzYM5MTucwE6B/s400/IMG_4936.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This month's recipe for the Avid Baker's Challenge is scones. We're baking out of the Weekend Baker cookbook which has become one of my favorite because the recipes tend to be pretty quit and always delicious. This one disappoint. We were given some flavor options in the cookbook, and I went with cranberry and orange. In an effort to make them slightly healthier I substituted just over a third of the AP flour for whole wheat flour. Then to negate that I sprinkled them with turbinado sugar right before baking and a orange juice and powdered sugar glaze right after baking. <br />
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The big change in my life right now is I quit my job to stay home with my son. This week is my first week of not working. I'm hoping to have more time to bake and blog (especially if I can ever get him to nap in his crib rather than on me). If not, I'll just do what I did this time and put him in the Ergo carrier while I mix everything and put him in the highchair when I'm dealing with the oven. It's a little slower that way, but I guess he gets to learn really early about baking. <br />
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Also, I got my first CSA share today! Even though this blog has been primarily focused on baking I thought it would be fun to do a post every week or two about what I've made with my share. I'm cooking and eating so many of these things for the first time so this should be interesting!<br />
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I think the directions were probably pretty standard for making these, but I've only ever made one other scone recipe. <br />
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Here they are just after glazing. I'm not sure how much of the glaze actually stayed on the scones, but it seemed to add to the flavor.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF6-GXe5qmRuIroL61Z-eOhIxmqn6D58Dy_UOyRGk27brcRinvgZwriJWNGz05lMwnPf9DOIMw2A0lW904MPG6oON4ncPfuEfeJ7mbw5Vu-Qp1ZzaEoSa-_bNeAryBphuw-dW4FjN_QcLu/s1600/IMG_4955.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF6-GXe5qmRuIroL61Z-eOhIxmqn6D58Dy_UOyRGk27brcRinvgZwriJWNGz05lMwnPf9DOIMw2A0lW904MPG6oON4ncPfuEfeJ7mbw5Vu-Qp1ZzaEoSa-_bNeAryBphuw-dW4FjN_QcLu/s400/IMG_4955.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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My little helper looking on wondering "Mommy what are you doing? Why is that so interesting?"<br />
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I was worried that substituting some whole wheat flour would make these too dense, but they were just perfect. I baked them for 18 minutes like the recipe called for. The bottom of them were a little dark, but the inside was soft and not at all dry. The next day they tasted delicious heated for just 15 seconds.Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-55720389553050130492012-03-13T14:00:00.000-07:002012-03-13T14:16:03.170-07:00ABC - Emergency Blender Cupcakes<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTv3FQTZrB8yDnW6xSN-Hgz00E5NY-_BVFbDaM4Mvdr2LLxtFg0VB0exeLxDeUIGqhfcZEzGJaDdrw8tcLKbcpz-Eaki9SStW378upxjPNxLRisZ6mq28zXWZJpB3Z4q9PoiGNMN6a7wM/s1600/IMG_4607.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTv3FQTZrB8yDnW6xSN-Hgz00E5NY-_BVFbDaM4Mvdr2LLxtFg0VB0exeLxDeUIGqhfcZEzGJaDdrw8tcLKbcpz-Eaki9SStW378upxjPNxLRisZ6mq28zXWZJpB3Z4q9PoiGNMN6a7wM/s400/IMG_4607.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5719488740441522322" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;">The recipe for the Avid Baker's Challenge for March was the Emergency Blender Cupcakes. I've made them two or three times before and really liked them, but I've never actually made this frosting. I did actually make them early this month, but I'm just now getting a chance to sit down and type up a blog post. My life with a baby is definitely much busier than my life pre-baby, and I was a busy person anyway. Fortunately life got a little less crazy a few weeks ago when we decided to stay in our current house. We had planned to sell and even got it ready, but then decided it just wasn't worth it. The great thing is I get to keep my kitchen that I absolutely love! Now that we're done with that and I'm figuring out how to do more things with my little helper Lucas I'm hoping to do more baking again.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;">These cupcakes are so easy to make. My only problem is when I've made them before I've tried to use my blender which is a piece of junk. I always end up wanting to get a new one, but this is the only thing I would use it for right now. So, this time I opted for the hand mixing method which was much easier. The cupcakes turned out perfect - moist and delicious! The frosting was good though a bit heavier than I really prefer, but it was nice to try something a little different than my normal buttercream.</span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigukYDPbCBbX8BrftHWlmL1-fTeZNmiEHMi8wncWQIRKLZ_B37_7D7vcXARp8JWQb2S4nopyApzNi6Dlbk0rsu52ERmDzAUpLG2CHtlAcoFAUjWV8t6vKeyzBKc2BSFku_gMw9q-Ujac_A/s400/IMG_4632.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5719489427376247122" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-50933535551502471472012-01-05T11:52:00.000-08:002012-01-06T15:58:43.211-08:00ABC - Nut-Crusted Chocolate-Banana Swirl Cake<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXt5FcHxSAcBgA1K-SG3SW6JqcsbPe-tSGl5c2-rCfnlTY6OUyTzTLwy_rHpVfx_mrUdzMB31EqmYPOMNjpbDnggWctmKACgj4CRA5UeWqOGahVUQT9ibIuATPlFW7aEOOd5fZZfKWCOcG/s1600/IMG_4491.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgD2w6ssIiRugSzLOJMgMP2eBg6J3GkajcxbgHn9zFsd189J6WJ-3AblV0CVuOdd5HllwC3CAIjJIiFAXgOBYlwiYsjcCssYHCYt9IK1mkgCokx1YvyLzVp0uhRR8nTg3pxg4kBZ9Ew4BH/s1600/IMG_4484.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgD2w6ssIiRugSzLOJMgMP2eBg6J3GkajcxbgHn9zFsd189J6WJ-3AblV0CVuOdd5HllwC3CAIjJIiFAXgOBYlwiYsjcCssYHCYt9IK1mkgCokx1YvyLzVp0uhRR8nTg3pxg4kBZ9Ew4BH/s400/IMG_4484.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694672542616688738" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;">Well, it's been a while since I last posted, and a lot has changed. I now have a 3 month baby boy which means I didn't do much baking over the holidays. I missed baking so I thought what better way to get back into it than joining up with the Avid Baker's Challenge. It's only a once a month baking and blogging commitment so I thought I would give it a try. Plus, they're baking out of one of my favorite cookbooks - the Weekend Baker. I'm a little late on posting this one but with starting back to work this week I just didn't have time to get it done by the 3rd. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;">This month's recipe was the Nut-Crusted Chocolate-Banana Swirl Cake. I figured it must be good because the banana muffins from the cookbook are delicious. It certainly didn't disappoint. It was moist and I loved the mixture of plain banana cake with chocolate banana cake. The only issue I had was with the nuts sticking to the pan, but they sure were delicious to pull out of the pan and eat alone. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); font-size: 16px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXt5FcHxSAcBgA1K-SG3SW6JqcsbPe-tSGl5c2-rCfnlTY6OUyTzTLwy_rHpVfx_mrUdzMB31EqmYPOMNjpbDnggWctmKACgj4CRA5UeWqOGahVUQT9ibIuATPlFW7aEOOd5fZZfKWCOcG/s400/IMG_4491.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694672547453302802" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); font-size: 16px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-74307218691517203692011-05-02T20:05:00.000-07:002011-05-02T20:34:37.532-07:00German Chocolate Cake and My Big News<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdJgjcWRPTcYHWEkH4FWs2jG7WATkf8-Dy3jDM8mGDNW9Q-EhFsUWbTMBxBMUAX_PX1tRjRB_-_PEpzuKu1CbqObqIsBTuBhFUpUTgN5ozfoQsIz7f3koyG4KDezjYwGR5-upYPvEI6meh/s400/IMG_3267.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602323362057417346" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Before I get to this cake from Rose's Heavenly Cakes I need to apologize for my absence from the blogging world the past couple months. I haven't done much baking in the past couple months, and the little baking I've done has actually been for charity (unless you count the box mix lemon bars and canned cinnamon rolls that I broke down and made). But, I think I have a pretty good reason. I'm about four months pregnant with my first child!! I'm finally starting to get my energy back so hopefully I'll have time to join in on some of the baking and blogging fun for at least the next few months. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Now, on to the cake. This week was Free Choice Week for the HCBers, and I was craving German Chocolate Cake. Since neither my husband or myself need an entire 9 inch layer cake around the house I cut the recipe in half and made a 6 inch layer cake. It worked out pretty well except that since I had to overlap the bake even strips it seemed to cause my cake to fall apart a little on one of the sides. Fortunately that was nothing that a little chocolate icing (ganache with some extra powdered sugar to thicken it up) wouldn't fix. This cake was really pretty simple to make. The only other issue I ran into was the filling thickened a bit too much, but I just heated it a bit prior to spreading it on the cake.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvctSNC2T-3IrDJdr-T29IS-c-TQh-z3VfEqUUa7SOC_FKw_XofXjso-rbbO3q5KhMKjSX8YqWqTQL6x6MdZQLjFRzK8zMKzECrVduSncOEj2fLkHwojhwR0SJOiWi9NCEWlSix52yt6RA/s400/IMG_3288.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602323365927033666" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The taste verdict: I liked how moist the cake was, but I wished the filling was a little sweeter. I think I've learned that I like my cakes a bit sweeter than Rose. My husband really liked this cake. When I told him that I thought it could stand to be sweeter he said he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. </span></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhYDorzhcdcEhTKMIEi8O16xGvHDK9c_aP9jRB4VuZTFSENCSBYBVwL1m5AjuQ19B1-tZwA9v3diLk9S1TGUYjegm5i2IXKaA060g816_1ZtdvK5s_SVqP7UMHRfeIInWscROm7AB-Nyp/s1600/IMG_3294.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhYDorzhcdcEhTKMIEi8O16xGvHDK9c_aP9jRB4VuZTFSENCSBYBVwL1m5AjuQ19B1-tZwA9v3diLk9S1TGUYjegm5i2IXKaA060g816_1ZtdvK5s_SVqP7UMHRfeIInWscROm7AB-Nyp/s400/IMG_3294.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602323370701535394" /></a>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-10657002525541328102011-02-24T04:59:00.000-08:002011-02-24T05:20:06.371-08:00Golden Lemon Almond Cake<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfFNqlBWoxUBFZZrKdRQxjC1IwQWru-Zykms3rqVwY9C0dNebKZUOVlXfiIIwPHbt2O0QTqs8gHLLhGpUR1zBy1AdYL02udvUll9DCmWbY4X0IMsHbAvrOAk0z8DEO01E3rxzfM5cPcnR/s1600/IMG_3045.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfFNqlBWoxUBFZZrKdRQxjC1IwQWru-Zykms3rqVwY9C0dNebKZUOVlXfiIIwPHbt2O0QTqs8gHLLhGpUR1zBy1AdYL02udvUll9DCmWbY4X0IMsHbAvrOAk0z8DEO01E3rxzfM5cPcnR/s400/IMG_3045.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577241954385167650" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I guess it's been a few weeks since I last posted. I started my new job and have something else going on that's kept me from doing any baking with the exception of a few charity items that I had already committed to. Since this week was free choice week with the Heavenly Cake Bakers I really wanted to bake this cake. This cake had ranked really high with the rest of the group, and it sounded like a pretty simple cake to make. I had already purchased the lemon oil so I didn't have to go looking for that. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This cake came together pretty quickly. With the exception of getting the ingredients out the only other part that took much extra time was toasting the almonds and then cooling them. I stuck mine in the freezer after toasting them so they would cool quicker. I didn't really take any progress pictures. I've found that I'm taking fewer progress pictures now that I have a nice, new camera. I just don't want it getting messed up whereas with my old one I didn't really care that much. I did get a picture of it when it came out of the oven.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAfxpLmwfFWnIWgORXfEP9e3QI3b-CpX93t6NuHTnyaP8oM_2ZRD9v8PX8-MF3fQM4v4aJTvGr9NWTbDtyKaBaoFxvMuDIZLYIn4f4HnhJvzJ_37PWPwbQhyphenhyphenZaAN-dtCoHS3OADG64dCPL/s400/IMG_3029.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577241958729683538" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Since I finished the cake fairly late Tuesday evening I only had a tiny sliver of it and then had a normal slice the next day, but the recipe mentions that it's better the next day. I do agree that there was more flavor the next day, but I always love the taste of bundt cake or bread that's still a little warm. Daniel and I decided this is definitely one of top cakes I've made. I just loved the strong lemon flavor and the crunch of the sugar on the outside from the syrup mixture. (I had to use a little granulated sugar in my syrup because I ran out of turbinado, but it still seemed to work well.)</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ7uI6qz8iotmJEovM9fuE72W1NkJmN92CZqMJVgx1hJGLApuXsfan5Wslg6QpmtpBaZTBzMcsRj1lfU0_PkpImdGU1zhbd2HzjY0xWYhnr_zY798-tDvUA9SSMtdz2KqP8bxbcnXWmunS/s400/IMG_3080.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577241966250897922" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-44187809951442719152011-01-30T12:19:00.000-08:002011-01-30T12:49:57.963-08:00Cradle Cake<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwuwPAGLzBiCx5l22a6s6JAQJdiiyJ9-LFJgF_4E6XAnANkFT37WPVnbXqLTTdIZhVDkQZ4otwsYzxAYbX-fWnCax-zbMLMHfx0p5Cl9_jX3tZO4ioGRIvlzHDkeqWkVGZXx6nx8G_Y7LW/s1600/IMG_2840.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwuwPAGLzBiCx5l22a6s6JAQJdiiyJ9-LFJgF_4E6XAnANkFT37WPVnbXqLTTdIZhVDkQZ4otwsYzxAYbX-fWnCax-zbMLMHfx0p5Cl9_jX3tZO4ioGRIvlzHDkeqWkVGZXx6nx8G_Y7LW/s400/IMG_2840.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568080099768779778" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This week's cake for the Heavenly Cake Bakers was the Cradle Cake. Some of the other bakers were really looking forward to it, but I never really saw what was drawing them to it until I tasted it. It doesn't really look that special, but it tastes amazing. I made the cake Thursday night because I knew I had other baking projects to do and wouldn't have time for everything on the weekend. Besides I'm still in between jobs so I have a little extra time to bake during the week. (I start my new job on February 7th. It was supposed to be tomorrow, but not all of the paperwork was done on time.)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The dacquoise came together pretty easy. It didn't really seem to want to spread up the sides of the pan that well so I had to mess with it again after I had the cake batter ready.</span></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisJpZI0uXXZwyQKcmxNttudaj33oLOu1ci8BeKXQ-E0sTX-XJEZ-2x5onrQWlkr6aQIZbldl4-2G6bFyzD_bgwrXLPBTD-Ar8K32VBApSFrsHDZP4zntaXnCM2kgh5z9DDWt0FHYaniev9/s1600/IMG_2818.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisJpZI0uXXZwyQKcmxNttudaj33oLOu1ci8BeKXQ-E0sTX-XJEZ-2x5onrQWlkr6aQIZbldl4-2G6bFyzD_bgwrXLPBTD-Ar8K32VBApSFrsHDZP4zntaXnCM2kgh5z9DDWt0FHYaniev9/s400/IMG_2818.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568079240386943682" style="text-align: left; display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The cake batter was just a simple buttermilk cake recipe that was really quick to make. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm_RKf3gUURI6LPnV4qGC1Q_A_K74uvGieGDvUM4kO1IHeKyoHKd6Gb0_efbDdt4ykCeofKdzmkah8nmpRAFTjYGBIB0JEgWSXvcZsGbKO1JwTAK-01IjjU7rm2rZSLwD7F5v-isR9S3mQ/s400/IMG_2819.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568079247815087090" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">After I spooned the batter inside the dacquoise I realized that my pan was actually 10 inches instead of 9 so I had to push some of the dacquoise back down towards the batter.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBVg2lzoXMWrLQTlzSGW1fJJlmTMoJKKMR0173_jqJk7GyNXUvn1jNwmZeiJupFlzEMcJfexfGiJu1UIZLGYHMHkTKTdAYttEDF3FOJERDFraBT-9SxQ8ls8w41RN_qinQSxNT_QprQPm/s400/IMG_2824.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568079254358119346" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I was very glad this wasn't going to be the top of the cake because it looked pretty ugly when it came out of the oven with all of the cracks around the edge of the cake part.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinTN8SAr1q8rZMfSlfKZUhHOWM9Xx-5RwD4gzslFpioQ8Uxa0-cnq5C5vepi_lk1f3oVfGBigKfNsEI9Q3mUhqTQHpjOP99ac_s-xJa7vQ5BL6haBwVp6s3q8oW56zPFGBwe-EepEo1nHb/s400/IMG_2826.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568079263656936466" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The cake looked much better once I removed it from the pan, but it definitely needed something on top. I decided to go with the glaze because it was much quicker, and Daniel wanted some cake.</span></span></span></span></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigeZGXdID8_favZf8l3b8QK49vgf-KtXldObWcNhGBiqe52_ritE5xJBD9XpEeCIX51bYpZiVwUQ1w0C49kPHwMlhdKjw2OnUc-IvkE22j51NsuBQvj4_dWss-FdMuIofJ8ugVqq1fLiKh/s1600/IMG_2831.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigeZGXdID8_favZf8l3b8QK49vgf-KtXldObWcNhGBiqe52_ritE5xJBD9XpEeCIX51bYpZiVwUQ1w0C49kPHwMlhdKjw2OnUc-IvkE22j51NsuBQvj4_dWss-FdMuIofJ8ugVqq1fLiKh/s400/IMG_2831.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568079266025104226" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I didn't have enough patience to wait for the cake to completely cool before cutting it. I absolutely loved this cake. The cake is very tender with a sweet, crunchy crust. Daniel said this was probably his favorite cake so far.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixRbxmc8-4TOq_hizGV_9YEsUiAgt9o6XJTpcB77f_vYBXarZ4G5OE_1MQszelo_xPny3eSEykQvdeWQFKHM3YM4ComfEZF8KL43tWyH-pDUS3UGCn6TEFsooUTbyUfqJ8ysl3B6qL_QsV/s400/IMG_2845.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568080106007439474" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div></div></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-36367334749583284972011-01-30T09:02:00.000-08:002011-01-30T12:15:55.982-08:00Double Chocolate Loaf with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Spread<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaNU4Esa1vE5_Ac84GOKbf6gI5xlTLa80uRGUnaHM-Td06j5ktB7DpjvAvdhllz0k3AcDTD4QRB3RQ5-kh7OPkSFiEHlgfXBn7CyPXGNo1ZB_fri3qg1PfHjonZaONSTn-ko-L3vEV81Ko/s1600/IMG_2877.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaNU4Esa1vE5_Ac84GOKbf6gI5xlTLa80uRGUnaHM-Td06j5ktB7DpjvAvdhllz0k3AcDTD4QRB3RQ5-kh7OPkSFiEHlgfXBn7CyPXGNo1ZB_fri3qg1PfHjonZaONSTn-ko-L3vEV81Ko/s400/IMG_2877.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568073068759223554" /></a></div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Today's recipe for the BAKED Sunday Mornings group was an incredibly easy double chocolate loaf. The only thing that would make this easier would be weights in the recipe for dry ingredients. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">All you have to do is mix the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and the wet ingredients separately. Then mix in the wet ingredients and stir in the chocolate. I used Callebaut semi-sweet callets because that's what I had, and I've been trying to use up ingredients that I already have rather than buying new ingredients for everything I make. I guess that made it a touch sweeter, but it still wasn't overly sweet.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">While the loaf cooled I made the peanut butter cream cheese spread and then stuck it in the fridge. Daniel and I had a slice after lunch, and to me it was good but a bit heavy. Daniel really liked it. The outside dried a bit so it was crusty on the outside and moist on the inside which is a quality that he loves in dessert.</span><br /><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL2ViY4yvp3g5jXxSsWahrVj_lLxU3NgbiXBb7DM6yOZgcfNmYsWcXcLqemsxmCa7EtFyobiIBNBtMbRLokZuGCZMAhhGtnkllCsmBkMEtvmzSO8BRDyklU6AFH_oObVhV6xg4pA4UZcVf/s400/IMG_2879.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568073072768339026" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div> </div></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-41681067405842605782011-01-19T06:19:00.000-08:002011-01-19T07:15:31.944-08:00Whipped Cream Cake<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizj8LLX-AdS0kLt_byYyl00ouQgs4Jq3jGwcntJyqwarejbL1UM9q4LSrbfawpVpzJuB-dtUwZle7TGSYolin0W7mZ1jITXLiIkxBMO7vX8b5Qt33rfZQfBSfXMMEmImpAuKd635nEBqEn/s1600/IMG_2794.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizj8LLX-AdS0kLt_byYyl00ouQgs4Jq3jGwcntJyqwarejbL1UM9q4LSrbfawpVpzJuB-dtUwZle7TGSYolin0W7mZ1jITXLiIkxBMO7vX8b5Qt33rfZQfBSfXMMEmImpAuKd635nEBqEn/s400/IMG_2794.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563908264893737042" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Last night I really needed a break from job search activities. The last couple days I've had four interviews - two phone screens and two on-site. That's good, but it's also very tiring. So, when I got home yesterday I decided I would take a break by walking my dog and then baking a cake. I wanted to participate in free choice week for the HCB group anyway. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There are so many cakes that sounded good, but I decided that I should make some simple that I already have the ingredients for. When I saw how simple the Whipped Cream Cake is I thought that might be good, but I was afraid it would taste too plain. But, when I looked through Marie's old posts and saw that everyone loved it I decided to go for it. Plus, it would give me a chance to use my new bundt pan that I got with my Williams Sonoma gift card after Christmas. Daniel thought I was crazy for buying a new pan until he realized that there were more crispy edges with this pan. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The batter came together really quickly. I didn't even take any pictures of the process. The only things that really took any extra time were processing the regular sugar so I could have super fine sugar and sift the dry ingredients.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQi0EbSW6shS0p4uf0ItjkQzUYRJj7H0cZusxvDI5DCbkDUh2pFIWHEKNEddbYCWf00o3ANlVtwoQTdiwwxYzq6fVL7yR1PGAYAOV4fj3zPntzdheDkieEIWabu_27rFblp6D3Pt8LnQjF/s400/IMG_2774.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563908273467847618" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Daniel was very happy when he came home to see that there was a cake baking. The cake came out of the pan with no problems, and I let it cool a little before I sprinkled some powdered sugar on top.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIzgS6NXeVH1SPLrlfhKj1dN0Ixqy6KayGRSBR6bjqnnPo-Gvzkkt0otfVjfOGiJGJwjB8SE-q_uE9Ovw5HMD3NLP2DJSQYhKameZqad-DSfRToOzqQpnYYiTQXoGewOSr-L-bgVDeV2t5/s1600/IMG_2784.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIzgS6NXeVH1SPLrlfhKj1dN0Ixqy6KayGRSBR6bjqnnPo-Gvzkkt0otfVjfOGiJGJwjB8SE-q_uE9Ovw5HMD3NLP2DJSQYhKameZqad-DSfRToOzqQpnYYiTQXoGewOSr-L-bgVDeV2t5/s400/IMG_2784.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563908260649264306" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I originally cut some nice normal sized slices, but we each ended up wanting a little more. It has such a soft, moist crumb with a nice crispy outside edge. Daniel and I both loved it!</span><br /><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcitcCLyJz1PWG_YxCqgOZ8Leknk8XhL0UPCw-sW0sRNkxu7O6nCFsYHzW-XTo2FGWvfPvrfA_pApoJZsgaw8ygohJIMhx_q6iGC33Px5WuHAA6LecBX4nWzgs78F3aIy_1-26SI2AiRxx/s400/IMG_2800.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563908271011673714" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div></div></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-36277228399147034572011-01-15T14:00:00.000-08:002011-01-15T14:20:43.341-08:00Elmo Cupcakes<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6I2qMRJQsVYzUBUBu3eKhXlgyaIEC4ttgAKKJ4BLybaA38znKN4zPAASJXrNaqcfIRWspjOuz8MM_CEYtVbFX99MjbNmLvr4hSM-A0vwpsXvBOtrOdGynJkEhwB6Emn1Pq23ybl5l1rm/s1600/IMG_2764.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6I2qMRJQsVYzUBUBu3eKhXlgyaIEC4ttgAKKJ4BLybaA38znKN4zPAASJXrNaqcfIRWspjOuz8MM_CEYtVbFX99MjbNmLvr4hSM-A0vwpsXvBOtrOdGynJkEhwB6Emn1Pq23ybl5l1rm/s400/IMG_2764.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562538944365519938" /></a></div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I delivered my second cake order for the charity Free Cakes for Kids today. It was for a special needs adult who wanted either cookies or cupcakes and either Elmo or circus theme. After doing a little searching I thought Elmo cupcakes would be fun and not too difficult to make. The flavor request for the cupcakes was chocolate so I went with the Devil's Food cupcakes from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook. I'd made them before with good luck so I thought that would be a good choice again. I ended up with 28 cupcakes so that left a few for tasting because the containers I had held a dozen each. I got the cupcakes baked last night and then planned to decorate this morning.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwfhu7WQV29r_by7gId8tXW4b7zU-pdp71ROkA0QT-8vg6ODwsl7uAUEWi_kjqavb_nGrS4Yr_DFt1Qoaz2cGzOJvMgF3W1sSkvz6WrjthQPyOySvlrWUo2bu27THtqB2SdbaeGHEvpjV/s400/IMG_2747.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562538952563281522" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I think I underestimated just how long it would take to decorate them. Originally I thought I would pipe the fur and the face on the cupcakes, but the one I saw online that I liked had used fondant for the face. Plus, I realized this morning that I didn't have any black food coloring so I decided to just pipe on the fur and use fondant for the eyes, nose, and mouth. The fur took a bit longer than I thought to pipe on, but there was certainly nothing difficult there.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9harhAdCG_GKIzUGLR3R8PlAu55SU0XFeACShsUm9YQvaBgMSIALCU8BJkhVwIZP9JxspYRn8nI8jfFOo4_DhxsyxFL-Ig1xNTwTN2CUYgEbu6g3PFmYvQ4Lf6umovoJ0ZPC9-PPDKQYF/s400/IMG_2753.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562538954207139810" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The only thing difficult about the face was trying to get the mouth to be the right shape and then trying to stick the black part of the eyes on the white part after they were on the cupcakes. Those things wouldn't really be that hard except I was in a huge hurry. Daniel printed off a map and directions to the place I was dropping them off while I was finishing the cupcakes, and that's when I found out it would take about 40 minutes to get there. Oops! But, I got them all decorated and in their containers and managed to make it there on time! Aren't they cute?</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpNKJzf9BijH4bowejzyVsiADu0Uqr1I2poarBAC14yfS717quYPC73pBt4ApnixA2y7q7k7HVrNfw43SlyVJsPkp8DyMBZWV5oklXLVmEp0jiTLjdI7ehSSqDr-UQJ1acV7XyI6-cCld/s400/IMG_2757.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562538948234181602" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></span></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-86654569554515785212011-01-11T09:48:00.000-08:002011-01-11T10:11:48.553-08:00White Velvet Cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFtY2AWo19ErgIm9aNmvgl4GDXXLCXUTzfvNFw1u53Rb-bxAy0-J7a19XQpv0qQMdyBLv-sruP7byFcQJGkWvGc2Xzg4-O4tuqzSdk8GYRzd06qm0hQ6hM41A0AmeQgZJb2q-xkPCQiIWK/s1600/IMG_2726.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFtY2AWo19ErgIm9aNmvgl4GDXXLCXUTzfvNFw1u53Rb-bxAy0-J7a19XQpv0qQMdyBLv-sruP7byFcQJGkWvGc2Xzg4-O4tuqzSdk8GYRzd06qm0hQ6hM41A0AmeQgZJb2q-xkPCQiIWK/s400/IMG_2726.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560988873901761090" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I thought I would take a little break from my job search to post the latest cake for the Heavenly Cake Bakers. I've made this cake at least a couple times before just not the icing so I was very interested to see how it would turn out. Besides, I tend to be more of milk chocolate person than a dark chocolate unless of course it's paired with mint in which case I love the either one.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I baked the cake Sunday evening, and I really didn't take many pictures because it is incredibly simple to make. I think it takes more time to wait for the eggs and butter to come to room temperature prior to starting than it does to mix the batter. Since I started the cake a little late I decided to wait to ice it until the next day. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I thought I would have time during the day, but the job search has definitely kept me busy. I've had very little down time which I guess is a really good thing. I'm not really concerned about finding something. I'm more concerned about the best jobs not moving quick enough for me, but I'm sure it will all turn out well in the end. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So, back to the cake. I finally decided before dinner that I would take a little time for myself to make the ganache and finish the cake. The ganache is also very simple to make, and when Daniel saw the icing sitting out he got excited about having cake for dessert until I told him that the ganache needed to set up for a little white before I could frost the cake. I tried frosting it after dinner, but it was still pretty runny so I stuck the messy, iced cake in the fridge until later that night. Then I got it cleaned up and decided against trying to do anything really decorative on the cake because I just didn't have time. I was happy that I finally got to use my covered glass cake stand that I got for Christmas. I was getting tired of having an ugly plastic cake container on my counter all the time so I asked for this one for Christmas, and my mom bought it for me.<br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir7Ha6bw1GJXUe3GggPOmqxcVaXGLDjNQckpw9pIS35jFfv6QYdXrE8yB1Ptc5TC36gD6P_fZFjnC5c2mwgI_PEF4HqjOJcR1Tbs5zPxKBi3NBzwo_kqlAU5zdAicX_8MsAK4Wd2h9rkPL/s400/IMG_2730.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560988877961821426" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Daniel and I really liked the cake. My crumb probably wasn't as small as it should be because I opted for regular sugar instead of superfine, but it still turned out wonderful. The ganache is very creamy.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtXw1hyphenhyphenNY1LZBVfnxxVsa5xpIEqJa4u44T7_uAXLCSMjv3N1kCdoxBWgXj6xjd354Hyayc28K5wKSHu9H5aj6q4nBxXGtSin5ZXpRZuCFjkCE0J23TMO65eR_xU7OuR-H2lrqFjseqyE8Y/s400/IMG_2739.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560988885161799602" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></span></div></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-27729839635531872792011-01-03T19:15:00.000-08:002011-01-03T20:01:36.502-08:00Giraffe Birthday Cake<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGDV3ybRuhR_9zeM2ayTq-lVWPaE3nxcJHoHxYd3j61QmA60XM2RZ8JgIwg96A4W81ySnOfyuQXk7EAuEqAQwaUYSnXyceNFnmVBHoZNra65OTt4_kZtvkyX1JTUTDk8n9f-0A0ozirueH/s1600/IMG_2715.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGDV3ybRuhR_9zeM2ayTq-lVWPaE3nxcJHoHxYd3j61QmA60XM2RZ8JgIwg96A4W81ySnOfyuQXk7EAuEqAQwaUYSnXyceNFnmVBHoZNra65OTt4_kZtvkyX1JTUTDk8n9f-0A0ozirueH/s400/IMG_2715.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558167309412941234" /></a></div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Before the holidays I ran across a charity called </span><a href="http://www.freecakesforkidsaustin.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Free Cakes for Kids</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> which provides birthday cakes for kids in need. I looked through their website and found that there was no requirement to be a professional baker or work out of a commercial kitchen so I thought that would be the perfect way for me to practice my cake decorating skills and give back at the same time. I emailed the director and received an application. I sent in my application a few days before Christmas, and I was super excited when I got an email back with volunteer information. Immediately I looked through the list of current cake requests to find one or two that would fit my schedule, my skills, and that sounded like fun. Since I was going to off from work today (and Daniel had to work) I thought it would be a good day to deliver my first cake. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The cake I picked was for a girl turning 18 who wanted a giraffe theme. I didn't really know what to do for it. I thought about trying to sculpt a giraffe, but I was afraid that would be a little too cutesy for an 18 year old. I found a picture online of one with a giraffe pattern and big bow (the Wilton style ones) and thought I could do something similar though I prefer the look of the simpler bows. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The cake itself was pretty simple. The request was for a vanilla cake. I went with another recipe from Tish Boyle's </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cake-Book-Tish-Boyle/dp/0471469335/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Cake Book</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - the Basic Golden Cake Layers. And, I just used vanilla buttercream. I made the cake ahead of time and froze the layers. This seems to help me time-wise and helps firm up the cake prior to frosting it so I don't end up with crumbs in the icing. Then last night I iced the cake and stuck it in the fridge, and then I stayed up late coloring all of the fondant and getting the cake board covered with fondant so it could dry. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">First thing I did today was put ribbon around the edge of the cake board. That is such a simple thing that really makes a huge difference in how the cake looks. Then I pulled out the fondant to cover the cake, and I realized the base color looked too pink so I added a bit of yellow and darker brown in hopes that I could fix the color. I think it turned out okay. I also think I'm getting better at covering cakes with fondant because I was much happier with how smooth it looked, and it went much quicker than previous cakes I've done. The next part of adding the pattern is what really challenged me. I have a very logical mind so trying to do something that's artistic rather than just following some method or example is difficult for me, but once all of the pieces were in place on the cake I was really happy with how it turned out. Next up was the bow which is a very methodical thing so I didn't have any major problems there, and this one was much easier than the one I made for my mom since I didn't have to worry about placing a strip of black on the edge of the ribbon. Since, I had placed the cake on a cake board that was a little bigger than the cake itself I hid it with a teal boarder which I think ties the whole thing together nicely. I wrote happy birthday and added a little tag with her age (which was also done on the original cake I found). </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I was really happy with how this first cake turned out. I got lots of nice comments when I delivered it, and I really hope the birthday girl enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to making lots of cakes for this group. My favorite part of baking is getting to share with others, and giving a cake to someone who wouldn't otherwise receive one is the best way to share this.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9zv2WPGNgr452yAAG2pna8KbXeYA5Dmo31qPuRrag9dTyecGqXLcExhWxmrRgLj5Em7fubFGG8g67YJabatiUP_57ddPCVM46TNoKL3Q44BqierLc8rWhd2SfzIJ_iFysdAcFkf9IaUhj/s400/IMG_2716.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558167316808590914" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></div></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-53089681711733071952011-01-02T16:54:00.000-08:002011-01-02T17:35:35.377-08:00Baked Sunday Mornings: Almond Joy Tart<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvuk0gdw3z727EeMK5kZ7k7F2UJRKhsToRIYpNf5LkOkJtj59NGGXkx5PDLZPYOKKuh4h2e65LuEFWcgNSihS2CZhSFR6g5A5FvnQeAhd_IgVHtYcKPB35u3b78cyZtDs4_HbdPBcKUuc/s1600/IMG_2691.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvuk0gdw3z727EeMK5kZ7k7F2UJRKhsToRIYpNf5LkOkJtj59NGGXkx5PDLZPYOKKuh4h2e65LuEFWcgNSihS2CZhSFR6g5A5FvnQeAhd_IgVHtYcKPB35u3b78cyZtDs4_HbdPBcKUuc/s400/IMG_2691.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557760675931852818" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Almond Joy was one of my favorite candy when I was younger. I just love the combination of chocolate and coconut cream. This recipe was pretty easy. There are several steps which all have wait times, but none of the steps are all that time consuming. It's just something that you have to plan ahead for just a little. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">First you make the almond tart dough and put that in the fridge for at least an hour. You can also make the ganache for the coconut cream filling at the same time because that also has to sit in the fridge for a while (at least 4 hours).</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrInww0YmuPoG2VqUIxnA7KRcViTPVV27oS0vO8dIR7uUqZwz5G-VpYFzWqyW6glsjYtFIxdMm2mdNy1en073_DrEX1SqX31Qp7AfBcpnZzpa-IprL-xEK3ffYINRbkb1xjMsc0_QAKzhZ/s400/IMG_2677.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557758302544959138" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Then the tart dough has to be rolled out and pressed into the tart pans. The recipe recommends using tart pans with removable bottoms, but both Williams Sonoma and Sur la Table just had the smaller tart pans in one piece so that's what I used. I had no problems removing them from the pan after they baked. I cut the recipe in half because after the holidays and my mom's birthday celebration we were feeling a little bit of dessert overload. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS1JzHvTKK0mAZEIb9b1DVZId9boswdOfUKzvj1G757JEKK9S2XF3fGWirMQQ7mBsKbRxE0VSE-ha6x2NiP1UuySNF1at9iPh9fZMipapfdrKnnkuzmw7_tmduZUXv5YbWxAx2-iXW_uCO/s1600/IMG_2678.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS1JzHvTKK0mAZEIb9b1DVZId9boswdOfUKzvj1G757JEKK9S2XF3fGWirMQQ7mBsKbRxE0VSE-ha6x2NiP1UuySNF1at9iPh9fZMipapfdrKnnkuzmw7_tmduZUXv5YbWxAx2-iXW_uCO/s400/IMG_2678.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557758303567677010" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">After they bake the rest is a piece of cake. You whip the ganache and add the coconut and rum and fill the tart shells. I ended up with more filling than I needed for my tarts. I don't know if my pans were actually a little smaller. After you fill them you have to put them in the fridge while you make the chocolate sauce. I decided to use some 52% Callebaut instead of doing the mixture of milk and dark chocolate. Then you pour the sauce over the tart. Since mine were filled a bit high I ended up with chocolate sauce running over the edge of the tart. It kinda looked like the Bostini I made a month or so ago.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrSxxA5xaGbSO9JXw08ofIFliFvEwNhXbEKzpsVKdnM9-MfFqgZyCkSyP0cr5uk_xrVfzfG8LXJTJQhodH1IloIJkqowmFA55UQ7IFrD8zBdHy98GGXnm8LOcWNENMmMg-oRlZgFiNaqtg/s400/IMG_2703.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557767033711143026" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Daniel and I split one after dinner, and we both really enjoyed it. The tart shell was a little hard. I might have cooked it a little too long, but that didn't really affect the flavor. It was really delicious. </span></div></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-74771898315687332442011-01-02T08:55:00.000-08:002011-01-02T08:11:05.947-08:00Happy Birthday Mom!<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOE0gvv_EHRHalmKMrkq-cLEJ45eyrrQSL-GhUnS6CRLTwwuD2JgaLXnvMLJC1dh-_tYkA_AwJ-hCoQ4o3iwqPshaGF9EpW9mwTKjUI9vPipDwtb54CDWt5cu3m0fEPRrq2s_9tEIgPBb/s1600/IMG_2643.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 326px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOE0gvv_EHRHalmKMrkq-cLEJ45eyrrQSL-GhUnS6CRLTwwuD2JgaLXnvMLJC1dh-_tYkA_AwJ-hCoQ4o3iwqPshaGF9EpW9mwTKjUI9vPipDwtb54CDWt5cu3m0fEPRrq2s_9tEIgPBb/s400/IMG_2643.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557612841861836914" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years Eve! Our celebrations are normally a little different from everyone else's because December 31st is also my mom's birthday, and this year it was the big 50th. And, of course I made a cake.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I knew that I needed to make a chocolate cake, but I wasn't sure which filling to use. I got Tish Boyle's "The Cake Book" for Christmas, and I decided that her Devishly Moist Chocolate Cake sounded really good. It called for using 9x3 inch pans which I don't have, but that meant I could bake some cupcakes along with the cake for taste tests. The recipe was incredibly simple to make. She gives weight measurements for the dry ingredients which made it even easier. And, the cake was probably the most moist chocolate cake I've made. Daniel said the recipe is a keeper. I finally decided on her Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache for the filling and then just used a standard vanilla buttercream for the outside with fondant on top. It definitely made for a very rich cake.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidK-PgJnYvQ_XFnB2pkH57gWFZi13xV5MxJlAgPCehW6OEGpzauvWOD6rqaO06SVeOTxTOrQJSu8R1RdcBaS0lFhqo6WnLgNgVrN3c0ESSI9DLt1lh2tlmJFTfAxyss_-I6n83tJMmmei7/s400/IMG_2630.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557612838440652482" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 259px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I decided to go with a classic birthday present design for the cake. I had learned how to make this black and white bow back in August when Marco Antonio Lopez and Sonia Escobar taught a class on modern cake design and thought that would be perfect for my mom's cake. It's not a difficult technique, but it took more time to make than I thought it would. You cut out pieces of white fondant for the ribbons and then use a <a href="http://www.makinsclay.com/US/eng/products/ultimate.htm">clay extruder</a> with black fondant in it to get the long thin strips of black. I used a brush with water to attach the black strips to the white. I think this cake was probably my cleanest fondant work. I covered the cake board well enough ahead of time so it could dry, and then I attached a black and white ribbon to the edge of the board to give a really clean look. I had planned to do a design on the white part of the cake but ran out of time. I still think it turned out really well, and I think my mom really liked it. She sure doesn't look like she's 50!</span></div><div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjcNfVAwBFCY0cpCbEcv_McvgFUuPmwLNi1hv2vsZB2Cga7Pu9CVsgKVyNsfzSSYCwJ7raqWQG4IxWv3BFlMG9iN5csPprjwDRbDNMl-FQy_URKg2sbDLHukNOb7XHf-rQ9izKn6AhXz9X/s400/IMG_2644.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557612845964715234" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 366px; " /></span></div><div> </div></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-68648832346332539762010-12-27T17:20:00.000-08:002010-12-27T15:20:59.038-08:00Cranberry Crown Cheesecake and Christmas Pies<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzxan77dElOa6qNNpY6GTn5DzncechyIqrCqbyXNUUgQYZUNFNeFddOGk1S7SIe0z_jSGhRWbLKZZiFTZN5pRJdtxTQAlcVUCntgyv6Fjd1XxbWMyxRK8MsgWW2u383pxF142yKT9pT4G/s1600/IMG_2472.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzxan77dElOa6qNNpY6GTn5DzncechyIqrCqbyXNUUgQYZUNFNeFddOGk1S7SIe0z_jSGhRWbLKZZiFTZN5pRJdtxTQAlcVUCntgyv6Fjd1XxbWMyxRK8MsgWW2u383pxF142yKT9pT4G/s400/IMG_2472.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555214226864245762" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Since this week's selection for the Heavenly Bakers was very appropriate for holiday celebrations and because I was already taking two pies to my in-laws' house for Christmas dinner I planned to take this cheesecake to my mom's house for our smaller Christmas lunch. And, since I had recently purchased the correct size of tip to make ladyfingers I decided to try them again. Besides, my previous ones didn't get posted since I didn't actually finish making the lemon crown (maybe I'll try again sometime). For some reason my ladyfinger batter doesn't soak in all of the powdered sugar. Here are one of the sheets of completed lady fingers:<br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZuyAsF6qe3Ly2-ML2pzxLWCwEF90XhCEsJnyP91PHzX_uhQZKlq_UnjgFykqjO5ItZo9GtXkIHP6sjnTEHuKDonaHG5xjchQbvCumHQmpphLPTZKXHzBxGG2RIWaT6hi8zeGn9D7J-HeB/s400/IMG_2430.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555214230266168514" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I opted to make a round ladyfinger base like we did for the lemon crown rather than positioning the individual ladyfinger across the base. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPLut7A9mq6WYXt0Zv3_AH1Q8_YMIGRePX8RscHJddbmPg5jNM5UfvqCWB6WpY-cSYmfnADKo28D4DusAjTHlIqRVq29iX0Z9ZvaEl_5M06UV1Mib0JsN1GBJyGK2ln7VcADCgWmDmFEAj/s400/IMG_2432.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555214235795545826" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The cheesecake filling came together very quickly. I wrapped the springform pan with foil and then put the whole thing in one of my 12" cake pans with water. Water in the pan sure does make it difficult to carry to and from the oven.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2PhwWzLcFOrseUTg5A7cgvcpXmHN6PxMOJmRMK8MkKzL3Tc95V1nTFnSGzgo12vAvbV6oU5mYLDg6wuRywuCEWrUOdJnzkIUFyzBfZ-yrhoRMzQhn6HbwvKk3FLfk1SMmR7wSPa_maj3v/s400/IMG_2438.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555216354339965554" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It looked really good when it came out of the oven. I left it out to cool for about an hour and then covered it with a bowl and stuck it in the fridge.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBLJxI8YrA3mFSelVX_KD_PX4PJz4RErhYmTNnON0jPIVFD9f5N2mHLHcXWvLVc-pCiXwtv_OBSaQMgMpz0upxXPi23mSvnZbvu4iN4NLOQuckDdcV-3tIiCC5v6JjhDEnwSo3ILOdeY-F/s400/IMG_2442.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555216362363289762" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">There was a little condensation on the bowl in the morning. That moisture caused the ladyfingers to get a little soggy, but they weren't bad. The cranberry topping came together very quickly. It took a minute or two longer than the recipe indicated to get the cranberries to pop but not that long. I found some ribbon that perfectly matched the color of the cranberries and wrapped it around the cheesecake. Then I played with my Christmas gift (a SLR camera) to try to get a nice picture of the cheesecake. I still have lots to learn on how to use it.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5YTikgMeZ2JvaMxkdu4U0vkfb2qS9LWl61OMrm8Yp78ecC31wOs1ydPtZt6oETxU_o4slCZ2CDrDE7r6fz61wKMpSiRonoCBu4Bg2uEb7LoTHTDZkFaB_xZ-MKzgsrGU6p3ESdFIck5B/s400/IMG_2463.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555216366011585250" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I took the cheesecake to my mom's house, and it was well received by everyone there. It sat out a bit so it wasn't as hard as it should have been, but it still tasted great. Daniel who doesn't normally care for cheesecake really loved it. He liked how it wasn't quite as rich as normal cheesecakes.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3eOGuVeomyDgN2bca-T7mdMASLVyrQT9vRYzeYQc-k9eIg-sS3vAnk1OQiurCf5y8rWbxgJBOWZ7NZspOux8DnPSPa8Ty0ueN2844aV6cedj_9Xvc2hKKikPRIHkASzc7aiJyHyZVYY0h/s400/IMG_2524.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555216372442901042" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I also made two other pies for Christmas - the Pecan Tart from the Pie and Pastry Bible and a cherry pie from Cooking Light. My MIL requested I bring the pecan tart for Christmas dinner, and my brother loves cherry pie so I had to make that one as well. I realized part way through making the pecan tart that I was actually using the wrong pie dough for it, but that ended up being a good thing because I had better luck with the Basic Flaky dough than the Cream Cheese dough which I also tried making. I really like Alton Brown's method of cutting the edges of the ziplock bag and using the bag to roll out the dough. It worked well for the basic dough, but that's where I ran into problems with the cream cheese dough.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggtswj-Dwt-oerdGRrPUb-sxfVaxUekPq3j4QVL4Fb5aVr7waynzeKGDB9OGJ-4MUB7Td033t5vRLNPs5s2lGpdeP_1l3cjNg8WDVOdPSr-n_jnxDlipm_289t4bjNl6AJyra_Y65EMW9S/s400/IMG_2440.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555218250032580498" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I had better luck with the par baked tart shell this time than I did for Thanksgiving. I turned the oven temperature down 25 degrees. I decided to do two layers of pecans this time because it just seemed a little shallow last time I made it. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtId1a44fBgEHuTQQ3UnbmMF1I96n9McOsq3JgeR00SH_Vwkm_HciZS5nCN9TxzDUQfTpnq_5Fnm75hxz2q63ooXN0QH_Pob_7uE4Exr7Q-Q1WixJN3NR8bxU8db-5g6WkoCiPN1wTe5Iy/s400/IMG_2448.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555218712551911730" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I had some leftover whipped cream from the coconut cake last week that I rewhipped and then piped onto the pecan tart and my mom's pumpkin pie. I think this has now become on of my favorite pies. Daniel seems to love it as well. I really like the chocolate lace topping on it.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOtBImhq8Mgas6MMYc3Ba1sBviiCp9Ap7tlvaItGeShCZ8tQDMk9ViN8eGzh4hagC1Q1GJdORhcRGLcgT2T6RDlXCFSyvXfkksdzcacsi_4OJ-uaW0URs1BtSQTgoSgdisZTf_tHYZZRc/s400/IMG_2504.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555218240051652258" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I had originally planned to make the cherry pie from the pie and pastry bible, but my cream cheese pie dough just completely fell apart when I rolled it out so I went with my backup plan. I made the recipe from Cooking Light which I had made before. It calls for store bought crust but still uses fresh cherries. While pitting the cherries this year I decided that my little brother needs to come help with that part next year. Since I used the store bought crust I decided to focus more on my lattice work. I think it turned out much nicer than normal. It's amazing what a ruler can do for you.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7go8pqkYEp-utKhQvUxag91t1djwOGxyKW4c-2NLnMe9ajSuKepWxrO8jx-MKDQ0Fdm-lnCu_hft-s-o38Agd32GIjKRg6mnQ8FcEGzI02uLSaNQXJvuaZwjTvg28p3YDcnc6ov0vP-as/s400/IMG_2441.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555218244985512434" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Some of the cherry filling bubbled out a little over the lattice so it wasn't quite as pretty when it came out of the oven, but it still tasted great.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhsiNCNDddTZ4JE2GIXrrRX7hc_SM-yF10OfaKT5oE8Rjr8sC1evYYZFYbY56CJvljssy2W3zpvH8OL8e5to6dpTQGNo-TVtF7eBdMjLSMHz92qz1KKzKKESDcRZRPhS85jpizdJZPASaS/s400/IMG_2444.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555218252101827538" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Several people in my family have commented that they were never huge fans of cherry pie until I started making them. I've made this recipe 3 or 4 times now, and it always turns out wonderful.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Gz1Rjp1r9lL65j6x4S3HfpbUcfeJ7vsFA1Ke0TcHmoFfSDqMkAfEzbXSIkUFGkLzjVbV0GjHscW7usF_baDPraGjT_pKLFULKhw92SbJGSgwtbTUrROrf0wK-_XgZaRwU24UEPL7ZDzO/s400/IMG_2514.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555218248598978770" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-64395320661416440572010-12-19T20:56:00.000-08:002010-12-19T21:25:21.198-08:00HCB: Heavenly Coconut Seduction Cake<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZf0iSGAKwOpzucUAKv1POXjprHCKXwYa1BqDvhhJKm8jGy7yYXQQHdHP-6jEDHhnQVJFiIkKFdMQDXLNW47Wmkx00cKa68lrP7TGFHtibhlSKEb0NJliUtvdHlwdgNYtyak3gZl0Xf3U5/s1600/IMG_2414.JPG"><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZf0iSGAKwOpzucUAKv1POXjprHCKXwYa1BqDvhhJKm8jGy7yYXQQHdHP-6jEDHhnQVJFiIkKFdMQDXLNW47Wmkx00cKa68lrP7TGFHtibhlSKEb0NJliUtvdHlwdgNYtyak3gZl0Xf3U5/s400/IMG_2414.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552625924695100578" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This week was another free choice week for the Heavenly Cake Bakers, and since I just joined the group a few months ago I have plenty of cake to choose from to catch up on. This particular cake had been calling my name ever since I got my copy of Rose's Heavenly Cakes last Christmas. The whipped cream icing isn't something that I would normally love because it's much lighter, but the fluffy icing just looks heavenly with the coconut on top. So, when I realized that our free choice week was going to fall on the same week as my in-laws' dinner party I volunteered to bring this. Only problem was the party was on Friday, and I ended up being incredibly busy the whole week. I also had a truffles class on Thursday from 6:00 to 9:00, but I decided that the cake seemed simple enough for me to throw together after the class. Wednesday night before going to bed I put out all of the non-perishable ingredients so that would be one less step for me. Then when I left the class I called Daniel and asked him to pull the butter out of the fridge so it would be softened by the time I got home.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When I got home I got all of the ingredients measured and the pan lined with parchment. I wish the bake shop sold 9 inch parchment circles. They sell most of the even number sizes, but not 9. It sure would make my cake baking even simpler.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu-z6j0NG7Y9QbhyphenhyphenyrRZIZZSWLIJL_iJhKyb0-rVZeex97D1_LEDnsgyQljtCKFTn8I5pPhMaw1ZV4zAhyYjG7pgtP2eeV5Ns3nP8XO765HkvRla2UUnx2NeV427hW7oKVmFmHMSOQpevW/s400/IMG_2395.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552625041192402482" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">First you mix the wet ingredients including part of the cream of coconut.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDLWmVCvyLfzICh_iPK1FBZYH2MOa6ZnjOVFelayAVFODxyMmoXNXWAl9_0Y2qUtZFvEyRiDul5-jCLqzBgedjs3b4JjkLxAB-BWju7ogsOKYnXcfje55nMx8XIlukjESSOPjFVgmE3ZG/s400/IMG_2397.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552625047637808914" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Then the directions say to process the sugar and coconut. Apparently my brain wasn't working at almost 10pm because I put in the rest of the cream of coconut instead of the dried unsweetened coconut. Fortunately I realized it and scooped out as much as I could and continued on with the processing. It didn't seem to cause any problems. Next you mix the dry ingredients.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5G_gtwWxlwWWChhoAHBDPz4yq-SA8zvzZ9Aoga4jVZDJLg6wcl1MARjQVXUWW74gaHYpoBHUV1SsmO8zWgCTSWSt0gP4e7rBfgKPetkK75xwckWYvr-CSal1usNEzmIAWpKa1f_2j0Etk/s400/IMG_2398.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552625049615989634" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Then the butter and remaining cream of coconut get added to the dry ingredients.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBKekvCA0e3zNsMGArfLKs3IxnAZIzbQJZH5wGxDA5yxxLXYkqQfZRJ_uy-OmtJevLPBX8ti8Mh5CVKukK9igIF_Q_MQrlgva8nl5uQNufET_72qdTImOtkP_8hB4BUJ8SBpdcVUTBL3Zz/s400/IMG_2399.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552625056996975234" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Then you add the egg mixture and it's ready to go in the pan.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVTiky_-vGo9PnsRkzTnFjO9X4mQUDTc2ZBb0bwwNqQNvyJtc8wFfqrx7aWnHXRMsQ7E4SsXAwPsKVjK2Ssa7u2ApYzreYuaageSPtGm6dnC7pkhghKCvVfVlASuvby-EaNw6C3S6fJtjW/s400/IMG_2403.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552625916471216706" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The bake time was pretty quick. It gave me just enough time to clean up my dishes and throw together lunch for the next day. Including baking time this cake came together in about an hour.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKOpyvozDH5Kp3uQsXRFkrV9cqiG_Eoep1O-yFlXpGTgi-50SAf1eDNp3WSD52nr7QYMWaJi7zWsT_9wJuVDSUtEb8LWxveRT4OWBpDhacNyzFAxEOqpy9td9R2eJjpCC1evLV3GOOwGRg/s1600/IMG_2407.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKOpyvozDH5Kp3uQsXRFkrV9cqiG_Eoep1O-yFlXpGTgi-50SAf1eDNp3WSD52nr7QYMWaJi7zWsT_9wJuVDSUtEb8LWxveRT4OWBpDhacNyzFAxEOqpy9td9R2eJjpCC1evLV3GOOwGRg/s400/IMG_2407.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552625920378311810" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I waited to make the whipped cream until the next day right before going to the party, and that was just as quick as the cake. I had wanted to do something fancier with the cake, but there was just no time for that. So, I went with my standard shells and rosettes. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqR5st3ETK9P-uCWQNnHq08yt6TGy0onDYuWmYYE-s6M0wJmomYNOh2oo5TtEFkFEcfuccNuTRAiL2y5Xqy3A5Ne5BdCpZ9EHYyc_nwdKk6ImiB9LfR79fUYPGoaB75sPDbKht3b4m5n7t/s1600/IMG_2408.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqR5st3ETK9P-uCWQNnHq08yt6TGy0onDYuWmYYE-s6M0wJmomYNOh2oo5TtEFkFEcfuccNuTRAiL2y5Xqy3A5Ne5BdCpZ9EHYyc_nwdKk6ImiB9LfR79fUYPGoaB75sPDbKht3b4m5n7t/s400/IMG_2408.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552625039502151970" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Everyone at the dinner loved the cake. Everyone commented on how light it tasted. Daniel even loved it, and he's like me in that he prefers buttercream to whipped cream icing. </span></div></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-17829288660623941042010-12-15T20:44:00.000-08:002010-12-15T20:58:25.854-08:00HCB: Financier-Style Vanilla Bean Poundcake<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL_T5DhHwK77jy6NezUKEpI9Nwr0qwKLVjVVHxBb0lcTlfyrEQ2THQMzXvx72T3E_XSfgxDwLoCwAj_obycUQO9CRrVdCBEsJ0ng1w0vgtD8XxMyDpLAYmT2_b3FRssJI6YqRL5HPDUCh6/s1600/IMG_2351.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 335px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL_T5DhHwK77jy6NezUKEpI9Nwr0qwKLVjVVHxBb0lcTlfyrEQ2THQMzXvx72T3E_XSfgxDwLoCwAj_obycUQO9CRrVdCBEsJ0ng1w0vgtD8XxMyDpLAYmT2_b3FRssJI6YqRL5HPDUCh6/s400/IMG_2351.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551138204946901826" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />I've been so busy with holiday baking lately that I haven't had time to post anything here. I'm going to try to play catch up over the next few days. I actually made these little cakes on Saturday afternoon because I had a big cookie decorating project to do Saturday evening and Sunday (and still more to do Tuesday evening). </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If we thought last week's cake was simple this one was even easier to make. I had ordered my financier pan a few weeks ago, but I didn't realize that it was actually a mini financier pan so mine were about half the size they should have been. I guess I'll have to get the regular size one sometime. The batter came together pretty quickly. The only part that took much time was pulling out the food processor to process the sugar and vanilla bean. I also recently purchased a larger piping tip so I was able to pipe the batter into the pan. I had a little extra batter so I baked it in one of my holiday cookie pans (that I use for candy not cookies), but they stuck to the pan a little so the details were lost.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw6ZYIfv_p6NpE0CLY1uEaPZi-0FaHv7-RSoCPBEESffB8K3BzkZpHH-GDohsFqcOFaPwqF4xrvsR3_2XRfm3cvxshYEWYWTkSt2_ZOAkRcEoEaCn5kYS8gzsHcW9D7SJlZvRPnvzgRZiW/s400/IMG_2347.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551138198049747442" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I guess I overfilled them a bit because the ran over the edges, but I just trimmed off the excess. For some reason those little pieces that you trim off always seem to taste better than the rest of the cake.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF1bW02oWN6-9gHJnXyhh0VCh3lyiq9IqyRAfcJ9FQ3lW27en6CPp8Kzhxif_pGTjL_ppxbojW5A71w1RveEBs_dFsRRDbUNyfqn1LSTVsIjDXNcptXqLzM4OrGY95OpAGoJn-bCZhQ6cY/s400/IMG_2349.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551138201101530338" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And, in case you want a sneak preview of what ate up all of my time, here are my finished cookies. I will try to get another post up later this week about the cookies. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilWnBIdTOEpUww9jrkwU8pGaLS8frxL0YxG4380A71R4wbRZye50UsmS060opm3Ka2XhJokRq00DPGXKMN0K-3IZC8b9yjuYo8pbaCPWNCuSNKt6RnkcmzJFWsSQI1yX4XW7QTwQ8sMMFB/s400/IMG_2384.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551138452865980130" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-21166172709240655312010-12-08T06:01:00.000-08:002010-12-15T20:44:04.947-08:00Heavenly Cake Bakers: Chocolate Velvet Fudge Cake<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKu43g8GbmQJVqRHYeZx8K4vgb2xdpqQ60GXMZfqwa-p_krTbv91d6H20Tvvxfk_0VtduDg-TGz2Y1S05bm9p8RR2KM3js9rEUc0bKiZl71q6kaej49Rzf0abmvvL_C_jklmmhL_A4d-yC/s1600/IMG_2314.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKu43g8GbmQJVqRHYeZx8K4vgb2xdpqQ60GXMZfqwa-p_krTbv91d6H20Tvvxfk_0VtduDg-TGz2Y1S05bm9p8RR2KM3js9rEUc0bKiZl71q6kaej49Rzf0abmvvL_C_jklmmhL_A4d-yC/s400/IMG_2314.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551135790584415906" /></a></div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This is going to be a quick post. I had planned to bake this cake on Sunday, and then I ended up being super busy. Then Monday I thought I would have time, but we took our cat to the specialty vet for surgery in the morning and then ended up at the emergency vet with our dog in the evening. So, I finally got around to baking this cake last night. Good thing it was a super simple cake because I didn't get started making it until after 9:00 last night. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Misen place minus the cocoa and water mixture which was already in the fridge cooling:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq7HZY43gJbqkXgvD2rKZMGj5siQG_q9CS6wktjBQYIt-vw0aoIlLODKFqIKICtdSZbaIPxXw46De7lhGbAjzC5suOcuide5XP4Mj09oubjkvNQ5HeU0U7Ro1HOXcLWw569rELug0u0od_/s400/IMG_2307.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548312974772690530" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This batter came together very quick. First you mix the dry ingredients and then add in the butter and cocoa mixture. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI7Rz9x0S79ua3-4mhbnxb_buGX2LFrz6Qc-PM6o3t9ZU3bzn9uvphkzwxz-eHfo4j48vaIRXdcqvQBlAf0SVm48bxE03xr-GDIf7PZHuIVa2n2j2jy9ufQ-LdEvueAC9nTVuEKRNnquuH/s400/IMG_2308.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548312996193998754" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Then you add in the egg mixture. The batter looks really good at this point.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj12obx3ac78zdEnZbbLpkOsDpDhoodeoZOBmMTDih3YncgGwajDXBHr3qXLQ-YJK3kSl8UjUyHIMUIXuZxMsHIFffyKgVk0n9ZqYFCeRgSGLKbH4-bnrfeyLORtlgACXpx38HS0Qc1cdfF/s400/IMG_2309.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548313014653120946" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The directions for the recipe said to use a silicon pan and put it on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. I didn't know if I still needed to do that with a metal pan, but I did anyway. Only problem is it looks like the cake got a little dark on top, but it looked fine once it came out of the pan.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTzlLP9xTaDvrJlY7n2LEV2EX9T25wIhvRxg27JO5PH3_GhsqxC-1wyeBxQNJbJMTDAN0mjxiFX9T33fn4kJmExje06CWqwNcdfv0qjd-WQ8nxa3SxKvv_Hirttt5FgGsaSUX-iPe6qRiz/s400/IMG_2310.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548313037236487074" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I finished baking the cake just before 11:00 so neither of us really wanted to have a slice right before going to bed. I'll have to update this post tonight after we've tried the cake. </span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I'm a little late updating this post. There have just been too many things going on lately. My husband and I did taste the cake that morning and really liked it. My husband especially liked how moist it was. I tend to prefer cakes with icing, but this one was really good.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQhWwn1uRx1QjebdWPJnUGL1JL7FbehMUhPmPcfIkwpko2Q7X2e7dlrKvSOi4JOr2k_l_7nxKwTl0CaxoNcOEDEFfcFgVrczUMo02WlfoN3XLmoAD865q2UuRx0_4LTQ9Ibgdh3fqnja-/s400/IMG_2318.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551135797570885586" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-77179125953370317802010-12-05T07:53:00.000-08:002010-12-05T11:32:47.617-08:00BAKED Sunday Mornings: Sweet & Salty Brownie<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZgltR1yF0F-qmZ-fGAuFR0yi3lVk6NoE2EJ_Ul9AbWSh-TovOjopiGd8bOCMOS_wQC43g-PUsWPwRDFE6mQNWEaUCSoRRvyVeUdTQmV55W6u_RMhkC42c6o3ePJbZ5Ftum7B300wnaHBb/s1600/IMG_2300.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZgltR1yF0F-qmZ-fGAuFR0yi3lVk6NoE2EJ_Ul9AbWSh-TovOjopiGd8bOCMOS_wQC43g-PUsWPwRDFE6mQNWEaUCSoRRvyVeUdTQmV55W6u_RMhkC42c6o3ePJbZ5Ftum7B300wnaHBb/s400/IMG_2300.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547228773415687106" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This week's selection for <a href="http://bakedsundaymornings.blogspot.com/">BAKED Sunday Mornings</a> is the Sweet & Salty Brownie. I was really looking forward to making these. I got to try them in the <a href="http://alittlecakewonthurt.blogspot.com/2010/10/baked-explorations.html">class</a> I took with Matt and Renato at Central Market and really loved them. The only problem for me was they called for fleur de sel which I didn't have. When I went to the grocery store the only kind they had was $14 for the small container, and I really didn't want to spend that much on it so I decided to substitute regular sea salt which I already had. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The first step for making the brownies is to make caramel. Caramel has become one of my baking nemesis. Last time I made some for the <a href="http://alittlecakewonthurt.blogspot.com/2010/10/caramel-apple-birthday-cake.html">Caramel Apple Cake</a> it boiled over. I was determined to not let that happen this time. I think I just needed to make sure the cream was warm (which I did last time) and pour it in very, very slowly. Only problem this time was my sugar mixture burnt on the first try. I had my thermometer in there, and it never got anywhere near the 350 degrees when it was done.<br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTSp1p8htNoOUk4yOaht-NfqjVh5I0XCK8MB6P_YV1UR7D2-FaPZEv9n6mM0wUP_9T0sx4-2nmSdWstfWrk6wXso0tiSN4y3RxypEayCunyU24-WHQIHKs3Aq1qHm_1ri2qb7Ma9u3eM57/s400/IMG_2275.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547228777544603026" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Things went much better the second time around. I used the thermometer again but only as a gauge to know when it was getting closer. I really just went by color of the sugar mixture. I added the cream in small increments to keep it from boiling over, and it all worked. The only thing I wasn't thrilled with was it was a little too salty tasting with the sea salt rather than fleur de sel. I think I may have to put fleur de sel on my Christmas list (good stocking stuffer).</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSbaLp8Nx4w_NWSM3oF7Yzq3ciuynk306Hi3LPDF8YwN9IIQi1j_-qgUElM3XUXEwcp7Bo6OLB_qppZcqj1K70skYDVytFmmrhG6-qTCa-VpN4OqJmptHRDfLMppHo9VDodhj1z_TeHU1J/s400/IMG_2279.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547228786284902690" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Next up was time to make the brownie batter. This was pretty simple. It just required using a double boiler to melt the chocolate and butter and then add the sugar. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeVbEXh1Ej1t2qj3OoKUov6xiJbJK6RyVhoJk_zTMNeqVOibvkKqQlPhOZNCHwj590PSQTpPg0cpBe8OuTsSEAKQ0n7oWn9BxVNBbVNaIJu3pWJKqH4iMyLM5Yp2t1gPWIp3t3NDqpL2f8/s400/IMG_2283.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547236222180499778" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Once the mixture cools the eggs and then the flour mixture are folded into the rest of the batter. By the way if anyone is wondering what method to use for measuring the flour in these recipes the authors told me they spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then level it with a knife. I personally prefer using weights, but as long as I know which method to use I figure it should come out pretty close to the right amount.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXsO7hTo0_JnBd6hPYKpmZAhiigg1tK8FuMNYBjITi0y6HV7mjzUcHRArfe9lSUQF_iPv8LnXwqTRr6rKzMhGlLWwOQ-1wU2jFd3b80pvGINJIyyxHASUS1li8KRYtOZf6bzjsQrg-ITjv/s400/IMG_2285.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547236232933739314" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Half of the batter gets spread into a glass pan lined with parchment paper. Then the caramel is spread over that followed by the remaining batter. It then goes into the oven for 30 minutes. Mine took 35. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-SxNGIFk6AF0a_8ooUBa8-IBVbIhfe_q2vOPgZ8mhWCF_rTJ-PNmINh_FHxaNdIbxk9G1hwSc8xEXu1JZ8_-nJ550TPkGpPdvXPWNUc9wmNzfgFL_YIop_MXKgBYzk23-x810wqljgYPQ/s400/IMG_2288.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547236235354866146" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">When they come out of the oven you sprinkle them with fleur de sel and course sugar. I used a little less sea salt than the recipe called for, but I think I should have cut it way down because they were a little salty. I will probably try brushing off a little of the salt before serving them. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghIQ0-52t_MUtSjpbWW12pa0j-CVwIMTDmrXoeyXE4AUcKIZQ6AF26QMitt8Tz-rrq9mkGMISpMbYyqSqlNFHODct_wDc_d13LInOKzG7NBi0GPsQkS5CNHG10OVXJ207zVgvlDVX_QMOG/s400/IMG_2291.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547236240915224706" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lining the brownie pan with parchment paper sure does make it easy to get the brownies out of the pan. I was actually able to lift them all out which makes serving much easier. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmcANEB_8wwPkG2TEiPDFl7eSX1o3KdOQg7iyZR5iDi5i7FdiTy3SKkGtr4GUrEYnD7207-zhwNA1NLnpW53aVqQ1WBp-WeKrdz5JohJ-KgJj2XgSmINMv2-Xayeqskh7Z0yGHZMrm7lv/s400/IMG_2293.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547236243898822210" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Since I have another thing to bake today and because the authors give instructions for freezing brownies I thought I would give that a try and take some of them to work for our holiday potluck on Friday. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PehCNPsx7_Bi_aCHQzqwruv5dmHGToR1sJNlShBtdU8SauJ8hWLLpTEjiYRBL-uqOCGiAKA8gaP0NYKKpdGvQXlG5gza7aPCaZiZ3AVUUVwBkXwKgfHg5i1_jNpzvTObF0KQJTPkQp-n/s400/IMG_2306.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547236595560892930" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Since I know my husband is one of those who prefers the end pieces, and I don't really have a preference I kept the end ones for us to try. I ate one for breakfast this morning. It was really good, and my only complaint is the salt flavor is a little too much. It's probably the sea salt vs. fleur de sel that caused that so maybe I'll try them again sometime with fleur de sel. The brownies are very moist, and I love the caramel flavor. I have a little caramel leftover so I might try drizzling some with the caramel.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA2dtz5NhVNIqy91LWRBDdVqww9KQVONLdDRCRgTTGpC0Ay8mq4xI174AbODstaMNZyqrzFOQuOjVa1rt9pNXQG3gjn3nlEOwhNMV1pZYJcBSi4zxwimYD4Anwzo3OZBsIIMMZQ5zY3_i_/s400/IMG_2302.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547236590479817938" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-41332557047730178962010-11-27T09:11:00.001-08:002010-11-27T10:57:17.611-08:00Thanksgiving Dinner<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1CfIvX_1z3imP0YZ6e5lIXPSWGKb4nNYxjRncYNDcZunEguVjSCL-0SyZg-ZHmJkQC7tPwNjlqxqbGeAal6YjN9r5fk0ZX0BDsnOXtee931LV5rITezACJKIPG6O_lNQLPLoHEw5dShBS/s1600/IMG_2248.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1CfIvX_1z3imP0YZ6e5lIXPSWGKb4nNYxjRncYNDcZunEguVjSCL-0SyZg-ZHmJkQC7tPwNjlqxqbGeAal6YjN9r5fk0ZX0BDsnOXtee931LV5rITezACJKIPG6O_lNQLPLoHEw5dShBS/s400/IMG_2248.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544280186813575810" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />I hope everyone reading had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Mine was busy but great. My dad and stepmom drove down from Kansas to visit us, and my mom, stepdad, younger brother, and my in-laws came over for dinner. I had grand plans for dinner and dessert and with lots of help we managed to pull off most of them. The above picture shows me in the center with my main helpers - my mom (on the right), my dad, and my stepmom (on the left). </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Let me back up to last weekend first. I went to two Thanksgiving related classes last Saturday. The first was a Thanksgiving dinner class at Le Cordon Bleu. I learned some new recipes, and I decided to incorporate the brussels sprouts recipe and dressing recipe (with some tweaks) in my menu. The second class was a tarts class. I didn't make any of the tarts from class yet, but I plan to make one or two of them sometime during the holidays. I did use the Chantilly Cream (whipped cream) recipe from class rather than using canned or frozen whipped cream. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I wanted my Thanksgiving menu to use more fresh produce and scratch recipes than usual so in addition to the two recipes from class I also used Alton Brown's </span><a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/best-ever-green-bean-casserole-recipe/index.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">green bean casserole</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> recipe, a mashed sweet potato recipe from Cooking Light, and butter rolls from the Bread Bible. My mom brought fruit salad, and my mother-in-law brought cranberry sauce. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We also had the normal turkey (bought a free range one from Whole Foods this year) which I had hoped to brine, but I ran out of time. The instructions that came with it made it sound like it would take 4 hours to cook the 17lb bird, but I was planning to follow the Le Cordon Bleu chef's and Alton Brown's suggestions to cook for 20-30 minutes at 500 degrees first and then lower the temperature. I didn't realize how much faster the turkey would be done doing that so it ended up being done really early and was a tiny bit dry. It still tasted good, but it wasn't perfect. We also had ham which was really simple and turned out great. My dad took care of cooking the ham.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I had never made brussels sprouts before, and I didn't really think they would be good. But, they were great with maple syrup, bacon, and pecans. I was really amazed that everyone ate them.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZT6Jtnb1aNfJG2AAz9XvfxW3kCje4W9xALdbN9jsMCspbySIlfXQfr67q72KOBBwGYpoSzaGCBztXHtBRAJWyIwEUDm_hbabssa80CzHX2vmROemC1m2heEpm4PPASeVm7pbtU6WTtyfR/s400/IMG_2233.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544282467517808098" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The green bean casserole was really good, but it was definitely a bit more work than your normal canned variety. You have to blanche the green beans, bake the onions coated in panko crumbs, cook the mushrooms and other ingredients to make the cream of mushroom, and then bake it all in a cast iron skillet in the oven. But, it really did live up to the recipe's name of Best Ever Green Bean Casserole.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBvtCwd3EeKswnn7sr3RaeaCsSl19_zs3o9xkAxr8CxvEi0LSSolKGyflcTuR0EBY-1NOB-ffdbBd-dtC4jyx7bXvgWT_nGqltgu2X9Qw7IM1YYzUccPyDz70UB7SneaR3YvDaS7TJx7pu/s400/IMG_2230.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544285533436009922" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The day before Thanksgiving I had planned to spend the whole day baking, but I had an appointment and a couple other errands so I was a little short on time. Fortunately my mom came over to help when she got off work. I had chosen three recipes from the Pie and Pastry Bible - Pumpkin Pie, Designer Apple Pie, and Pecan Tart. I also chose Bobby Flay's pumpkin pie from Throwdown which has a graham cracker crust. I made all of the pie dough before my mom came over and had started making the dough for the rolls and the first pumpkin pie filling so we had a lot of work left to do. This was my first time making pie dough (outside of a class) so I ran into some problems, but it mostly turned out okay. The all butter recipe was my favorite. I did discover that I prefer Alton Brown's technique of rolling the dough in a ziplock bag and just cutting the edges of the bag. Amazingly in a few hours we managed to get everything except the apple pie mostly done, and the apple pie was about half way there. I finished the pie and rolls that evening except for baking the rolls. I stuck them in the fridge overnight, pulled them out of the fridge a few hours before dinner so they could continue to rise, and baked them right before dinner.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Here's the designer apple pie. My one complaint about this pie is it was a little shallow. I almost wish I had filled it with apple and then put the design on top of the other apples.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgug05AMhRulrTGCghdhCbsXuFYx9bR611FL9ZP-PeOT8oCQg0coZ4RitTSwpGHemPkGu1-4jLmewXu3zNLlZOPrek8X6KA9Qnv8OXxBW-hAjaFqjpe17C5XYHCYylYP3Uw6ed9ykQSTm1c/s400/IMG_2239.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544280179903961826" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The pecan tart with a chocolate lace design and whipped cream rosettes:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9xCPeBQ-KaSsV2tjEzb8utc0GPhtUMXL1EVtE-s0_BlZ4gzI-24J2Oe1taHx6X-ui4H-8OaLfc7xjyadkjhG1kxbMbfE_nfV8PKpqbRYlApt6pBJMZb-0UIQf0CMr6BD_ZDlDzWpQ4xYS/s400/IMG_2243.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544280183027577218" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The butter rolls were delicious. I bought some backup premade rolls just in case, but there was no need to even open the package.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7rEv4i8CWLXGbGKWoOslH5vWf7Ol2pYPA0eaF3HKPxF2HT3vzdbvina4iWObhGiYX1LOgBVJrI1JGQanfQt82UQbSNXOlIHMmcrazyvkvtqtbhC3pvZAN_5LFSvX1Fm3sOGbCG7EdYhO-/s400/IMG_2237.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544292028977465154" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I had my husband set up the tables. We put the food on a separate table buffet style so we could have more room at the table. He was a great help with all of the little things that needed to be done.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG_NDgbliyOww94qOSJIwHZMD3XK-5gstns5p0zz7oT1uj0JFC_ZxMyW-AcPk4bx6aWhatF28EJgsb3z91IwOAeVN9pU653SpSqNFrxJ5xlT0pK8Xz8zEz_wi8x9yPYqt9pFwLOML6jn3O/s400/IMG_2229.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544280166611901858" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE_0Z9z3Jzf22fuaKPBmQTYAJFAFLB_xczKNY-7F8yEHSXT9ANzco5svR0fZgE9YX5uOqOkbtHIv0gekRNRAGMSdam4N4sgTVfmH7MgJr20RIDSqwjVj7d-Obj62W2ZjeD8kZZ_TbjhFFH/s400/IMG_2235.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544280173643769378" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div><div> </div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1134505246958519168.post-38970396792061956622010-11-22T15:54:00.000-08:002010-11-22T17:01:51.711-08:00HCB: Chocolate Genoise with Whipped Peanut Butter Ganache<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBawTNoNxpCAJjoYFjR-SOg1-nw0ry_2_a0VJUsrnii7gLrVCVJIbC4kyh8C2nNAiFEJzMpMQo8oNlYxFQw6TRzHyeUq-l0pYEaMSm_1I_ZH21n2URSgummCBF0eXUzZUcYwA5uJON9Yz4/s1600/IMG_2216.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 363px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBawTNoNxpCAJjoYFjR-SOg1-nw0ry_2_a0VJUsrnii7gLrVCVJIbC4kyh8C2nNAiFEJzMpMQo8oNlYxFQw6TRzHyeUq-l0pYEaMSm_1I_ZH21n2URSgummCBF0eXUzZUcYwA5uJON9Yz4/s400/IMG_2216.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542540140139714770" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />This is going to be a much shorter post than normal because my Thanksgiving Day list seems like it's never ending right now. I was pretty skeptical about this cake as it sounds everyone else in the group was. For one thing I had never made a genoise before so I really had no idea how it would turn out, and the flavor combination of black raspberry, chocolate, and peanut butter sounded a little odd to me. I actually didn't use the black raspberry liqueur and went with a pomegranate juice instead, but it still turned out much better than I had anticipated.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I had a busy weekend with cooking and baking classes on Saturday and then two things to bake on Sunday so I finally got started on this cake Sunday before dinner. It was pretty simple, but there were a few parts of the recipe that were a little more tedious than your simple butter cake. Clarifying the butter was one of those. I had never done that before so I wasn't completely sure if I let mine go long enough. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyrOHJ94PJtCmU61FKJsWBNBhor48L9KZYtycsT2_EAM88NJvYwecIN5wRpudrIycMOcmPwiOnF9Xg4DDmPEGyXMTD3OcTOYq1jV4Jb18c5KnswNbNS28l-F0FRdEsTEREhmuOYQaoMXY/s400/IMG_2194.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542540158019440178" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 388px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Having to heat up the eggs over a pot of simmering water was another one, but it wasn't too bad. Only thing I probably should have done was strain the eggs just in case any of them curdled, but I think it turned out okay. For the most part the rest of the batter was relatively easy. I really need to get a fine mesh strainer or sieve to use for sifting because it would be much easier than the hand crank one. Once it was done baking I let it cool while I ate dinner and then started the icing and simple syrup later.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2A6MXsf2hZfRhlvjTTCNfQPeb7HD_cmxvTdm_7NPIpRD1F3AiResmxJxQfOxQON7CGDK41o57uoLXQpdBOyGbVLywaJSw1D8mPRamiyty8XWe1dR5700oUL3Sj3G74zRLjisAyxG_PW4y/s400/IMG_2202.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542543523176374258" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The icing came together pretty easily. When I started noticing it was getting a tiny bit grainy I stopped whipping it.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGTLRktV8lxIQCCwhyphenhyphenTXVQpEdE731DYbACbYL_qARc3Wnx6rYXZ1Oq6S118i2R3Lx_XmMaIg5LOlZlZvvF-p9aIVy342YSvgoqSNBLb3QKj_130DLdPCS0aMMUbAS2Eis3kl4fiYXg4Vg/s400/IMG_2209.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542540148131647986" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 354px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The only problem I had was mine was really moist and a little warm so I couldn't do any piping on the cake like I wanted. I wanted to put it in the fridge, but my fridge was already pretty full with stuff for Thanksgiving. I stuck the rest of the icing in the fridge in hopes that I could do a little in the morning. This morning I started moving things around in the fridge because I needed to make space for the turkey anyway, and I managed to get the cake in there while I got ready for work. So, I was able to make it look pretty before I left.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZgeiNL9r4o7-Nk-kr1N6VeGfYgdmUukwo8b6DrYcKOVfOGUJT3HeLvQyhm3PPq-Pum_yejbyBOeuRWIOEArIaUIWwLUT1sdbcU6dw9t8ZG1A9yf12ZEG8AwMy5ZYywgl2EuwkJTbqQU0/s400/IMG_0465.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542543947611861282" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I took the cake to work for the monthly birthday celebration and saved one slice for my husband. The rest of the cake disappeared. My coworkers commented on how moist it was. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitYYUmEjUVAiqLM9cQKKZbEkrDh_x1JsvfAroiegaGtXxXf6q70cfkqfCd9AfAxHDbd1bk-r49WZVsiCbAlrrbSg8rpDsEa-krNPvCEDfQbyXpj7rEfr15pvp_5OJGldwpzF-Ewn48XDxN/s400/IMG_2221.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542540145805169826" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 354px; " /></span></div><div><br /></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11219860093366793324noreply@blogger.com2