gateau fille

perfect vanilla cupcakes

2010-11-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

I have been on the lookout for the perfect cupcake for at least 3 years. Most recipes are either too spongy, too dry, too crumbly, or simply flavorless.

Not this one. This one is flawless. Light, but dense, tons of flavor (probably from the cream and vanilla!) and risen to perfection. Pair it with salted buttercream, and you've got one delicious dessert!

If there is one made-from-scratch cake recipe you are going to try, this should be it. I promise it won't disappoint.

Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes: Adapted from A Sweet Spoonful

1 cup whole milk (or 3/4 skim plus 1/4 cream)

4 large egg whites

3 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 cups sifted cake flour

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 sticks butter, cut into pieces, room temperature

3/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line pan with cupcake wrappers.

In a bowl, mix 1/4 cup of the milk with the egg whites and vanilla extract. Set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the butter and the remaining 3/4 cup of milk until blended, then beat at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the egg white mixture in 3 additions, beating the batter on medium speed for 20 seconds after each addition.

In another bowl, using either a hand-held mixer or the stand mixer, beat the cream until soft peaks form. Stir 1/3 of the whipped cream into the batter, then fold in the rest with a spatula. Using an ice cream scoop (best tip ever for uniform cupcakes) fill the cupcake liners. Bake for 19-24 minutes, or until they spring back when lightly touched. Let cupcakes cool on a wire rack completely. Makes about 36 cupcakes.

*To make the cute decorations on top, just heat one part water with two parts sugar until golden, and drizzle over a greased piece of parchment paper. Carefully remove after cooling and poke in top!

Halloween Ideas

2010-10-20T08:16:00.000-07:00

Isn't halloween fun? :) Here are a few fun crafts and recipes that I've found while looking at blogs over the past month.

I love halloween trees. They seem so easy to make and would be great centerpieces! This one is from Martha Stewart. I think they show you how to make the little pumpkins and cats, too.

There are TONS of halloween cupcake ideas out there, but these are my favorites this year. It's surprisingly easy to make decorations out of melted chocolate, and I'm sure you can find these little spiders at any craft store. These were found on Country Living.

My friend Brooke got me hooked on halloween wreaths. Her blog has so many great ideas... click here to see them (and most of them have tutorials!). This is another of my favorites because it looks a little bit spider-like but still elegant. It was also found on Country Living.

Caramel apples are my favorite thing about fall. We have an apple tree outside our apartment, so we've been making tons of them! These beautiful apples are what inspired the craft, and the website they come from has the BEST caramel recipe. It sticks to the apples and is really easy to make. Click here to get the recipe.

I thought this was a great craft idea. I hate when halloween decorations just look like cheap clutter, and this one definitely does not! This was posted by Becky Higgins on Eighteen 25.

I saw this cute idea on foodgawker today from Jelly Shot Test Kitchen. I love halloween treats!

Happy halloween!

Coconut Wedding Cake

2010-10-07T10:05:00.000-07:00

Ready for a surprise? I'm the one who got married! The food at my wedding was also special because my family and friends made it. ALL of it. I am the luckiest girl I know.

One of the wonderful women who helped pull this all together was Peggy Nelson. You can find her blog here. I was planning on making both the wedding cake and groom's cake, but as I should have guessed, time ran out! Peggy and my sister came to the rescue by frosting and decorating the groom's cake... didn't it turn out wonderfully? She also made the beautiful mexican wedding cookies in the pictures above. She and her family have been good friends of ours for years, and I was incredibly grateful for the help.

The wedding cake was five layers, each with a different flavor: carrot, spice, vanilla with raspberry, coconut, and plain vanilla. All of it was covered with cream cheese frosting and coconut. It was certainly a labor of love, but it was fun to try something new (and saved us a lot of money!).

The pictures above are all from Tami Shellenburg. Remember Tami? I did her wedding cake last year when she was married. Her photography business is thriving and you can find her website here. It's so great to have talented friends!

And.... here is a picture of my new husband! We obviously both liked the cake. Isn't he cute?

The Cupcakes I Will Never Make

2010-09-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

I love cupcakes. All kinds. So it figures that I would marry someone who doesn't particularly like any cupcakes, and who HATES cupcakes with any type of fruit or vegetable in them.

I'm sure I will find some excuse to make these fruity treats during our lifetime together (there will be plenty of relief society/primary parties that call for festive cupcakes, right?), but for now I am posting the cupcakes are being put on hold. Hopefully you can make them and tell me how wonderful they are. :)

These are strawberry cupcakes with strawberry cream cheese frosting... and the best part? They are semi-homemade! Yep... made with a box cake mix and some strawberry jello. The recipe (and more pictures) are from Stupendous Treats. I recently re-discovered Haagen Dazs's strawberry ice cream, so I REALLY want to try these!

Peaches and Cream cupcakes from Cupcake Project. I'm afraid of these turning out like muffins with frosting on top, but maybe if they were made with angel food cake and whipped cream frosting... mmm!

Aren't these cute? I loved these in the summer when I was little. It's amazing enough that they look like the popsicle, but they taste like it too! (Or so I imagine from the recipe.)

Pistachio cupcakes. These might only sound good to me (which I conclude after countless attempts to buy pistachio pudding in the grocery store while my siblings or friends would tell me it was "so disgusting"). The interesting thing about this recipe is that it uses Dream Whip in the frosting! I've never worked with Dream Whip, but I'm told I am missing out on something great. It's definitely worth a shot.

I can't imagine what Orange Cupcakes would taste like. At all. Citrus into a bread product seems hard to do, but I'm sure I would love them! They look especially cute for a Halloween theme. (Side note: how did the author of My Baking Addiction get the frosting to look like that? Are there XXL frosting tips out there that I'm not aware of?)

Pineapple and Coconut Cupcakes sound genius. My mom used to make a wonderful pineapple upside-down cake when I was little and I imagine these taste similar.

These Zucchini Spice Cupcakes can be found in the Martha Stewart Cupcake book. Zucchini bread is awesome, so I don't see how these could go wrong.

Okay these are getting closer to something Dan would like, but they still have fruit in them. Bananas and chocolate are perfect together. One of my favorite treats in high school was Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory chocolate-dipped bananas. Eating them in cupcake form would just be that much better! The recipe can be found on the Love and Olive Oil blog.

Well, happy baking everyone. Let me know if you try any of these! In the meantime, I'll try to convert my fruit-in-baked-goods hating husband and join in on the fun.

New Look!

2010-09-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

Ta Da! A new look.

And a new direction. I simply don't have enough time to bake while I'm in school, but no posts= really lame blog. So, I'm going to post my favorite finds from other blogs regularly, and throw in my own creations from time to time. How does that sound?

Today's post: Little girl cakes. I'm FAR away from having my own baby girl, but I thought these were such cute ideas. The aloha cupcakes are from Bakerella, where she gives a tutorial on how to make them.

I love this "ribbon candy" frosting. This photo actually comes from a featured table on Amy Atlas's website-- and if you don't know who she is, I highly recommend checking out the site. I love the gorgeous dessert tables she makes!

Triangle banners are apparently all the rage right now for kid party decorating, and this one looks simple and classy.

More cakes to come... happy decorating!

May Weddings, Part 1

2010-05-18T10:54:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of the wedding cakes I've been making this month. One was for my dear friend Karen, and the other was for her sister-in-law, Lauren. The bottom cake was made with Swiss Meringue Buttercream (Recipe coming soon). May has been busy! Get ready for a posting of two more cakes in the next week! :)

German Chocolate Cake

2010-03-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

It was my wonderful fiancé's birthday last week, and he requested a german chocolate cake. I've never made one of these before! I did some research though, and did you know that german chocolate cake didn't come from Germany at all? It came from a guy in the United States named Sam German who worked for Baker's Chocolate Company. He invented a mildly sweet dark chocolate, and they named it after him. Hence, German Chocolate! Now for today's recipe...

Coconut Pecan Frosting

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup granulated sugar

3 beaten egg yolks

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cups shredded coconut

1 cup roasted pecans

Add everything except for the coconut and pecans in a 2 quart saucepan. It is very important that you add the egg yolks when everything is cold, because they will scramble if you add them later on. Cook this mixture over medium heat for about 12 minutes, then add the coconut and roasted pecans. (Note: to roast pecans, I just spread them out on a baking sheet and broil them for a couple of minutes. It's really easy.) The frosting will be too thin to spread at this point, but it will thicken as it cools. I recommend using this as a filling and topping, but if you want to use it to cover the entire cake then I would double the recipe for sure. Happy eating!

A Christmas Tradition

2010-01-15T09:33:00.000-08:00

These cookies are very special to me because they are the foundation of my favorite childhood memory. As a twelve year-old, I was extremely shy and quite awkward in social settings. It was a strange and lonely time for me. On top of my not having very many friends, I was sick with mononucleosis and strep throat for much of my seventh grade year. The one part of my life that was stable and sure was the relationship I had with my family. My mother became my strength and I looked up to her for everything. This is why, when she had agreed to participate in a community-wide Christmas cookie exchange and had to make 12 dozen cookies, I was honored that she would ask me to help her.

As life goes, we started the baking process at around ten p.m. the night before the exchange, and ended up baking until well into the early morning (and yes, it just so happened that this extravaganza fell upon a school night). I loved that time I had with my sweet mother to talk and laugh together. She knew how to love me better than anyone else and I am eternally grateful for her kindness towards her young, awkward daughter. She became my best friend that night and has remained that way since. These are the cookies that we made together, and no matter how many cookbooks I sift through, these will always be my favorite.

Orange Shortbread Cookies

Adapted from The Lion House cookbook

1 cup butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp (or more) grated orange rind

1 tsp orange extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)

1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Mix in orange rind and orange flavoring. Gradually add flour until all is incorporated. Divide dough in half; roll out to 1/4 " thickness on a floured surface. Use a circular cookie cutter to make shapes. Place cookies on baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes, or until very slightly browned. Cool cookies on wire rack. Meanwhile, melt chocolate chips in microwave or in double boiler. Dip half of the cookie in chocolate and cover in chopped nuts if desired. Let harden on wax or parchment paper. Because of the high butter content in these, they will take on the flavor of any surrounding food. Make sure they are stored in a covered container. Enjoy! They are delicious! (Makes about 4 dozen)

*Note: The way my mom and I did them was a little bit different. We rolled them into 2 inch logs and flattened one side with a fork. After baking we dipped the non-flattened side in chocolate and nuts. They were very pretty.

Apple and Raisin Bread Pudding

2009-11-10T18:34:00.000-08:00

I have never really loved bread pudding. Or Tres Leches. Or Flan. I think it has something to do with the squishy feeling in my mouth- I like things with texture and variation. That's probably why I ended up loving this bread pudding! It is full of raisins and apples to break up the soft monotony of bread with custard (although... that was pretty darn good too). I also added a simple strudel topping for added crunch on top. Altogether, a new favorite of mine! This would be awesome with ice cream or whipped cream on the side.

Apple and Raisin Bread Pudding

(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

1 pound bread, crusts removed (I used cottage wheat)

1 Cameo or Braeburn apple, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

3 oz. raisins (2 little boxes worth) plumped in hot water for 15 min

3 large eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

3 cups milk (I used skim and it turned out great)

1 Tbs molasses

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 Tbs butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut bread into 1 inch cubes and toast for 6 minutes or until crisp on top. Arrange in a buttered 13x9 inch pan and sprinkle raisins and apples on top.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs with sugar for 1 min and add spices, salt, and vanilla. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine milk and molasses. Cook until very warm to the touch, and add to the egg mixture while stirring constantly. Pour over bread in pan and let sit for 5 minutes while preparing the strudel.

Mix brown sugar, flour, and butter with your fingers until small peas form. Sprinkle over bread mixture and bake for 40 minutes or until puffy and firm to the touch. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Leesa Turns 22!

2009-11-04T08:52:00.001-08:00

My roommate and dear friend Leesa turned 22 yesterday! Happy birthday to her. I met Leesa just two months ago, but she has quickly become one of my best friends! She's always up for a laugh and we have tons of fun hanging out in our little apartment.

Leesa is very unique in her eating habits because she was diagnosed with Celiacs disease last year. This means she can't eat gluten (which is in 99% of baked goods). She has done so well and has been a great example to me of self discipline... I don't know if I would be strong enough to do what she does.

Since it was her birthday, she needed a cake! I was really nervous about this at first because I've never baked gluten-free other than some cupcakes awhile back. Sarah and I looked and looked online for a good cake recipe, which we ended up finding on foodgawker. (Side note: if any of you love looking at pictures of beautiful food, check this site out. It's my new favorite.) The cake is really strange sounding because it is made with black beans. Yes. I know. Gross, right? WRONG! This cake didn't taste like beans at all. I am not even a fan of chocolate cake and I loved this! Please, please try it. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

(Adapted from Healthy Indulgences)

1 can unseasoned black beans (15 oz)

5 large eggs

1 Tbs vanilla

6 Tbs unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup plus 1 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a 9 inch round pan by greasing lightly, placing a 9 inch round of parchment paper in the bottom, greasing lightly again, and dusting with cocoa powder.

Drain and rinse beans, shake to remove excess water. Place beans, 3 of the eggs, and vanilla in a blender and puree until completely smooth. Whisk together cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda in a small bowl, set aside.

Beat butter with sugar until smooth and light in color. Add eggs one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition. Pour bean batter into egg mixture and mix until smooth. Finally, add cocoa mixture and beat on high for 1 minute. Pour into prepared pan and hit bottom of pan firmly against countertop a few times to remove any air bubbles.

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan before inverting. This cake is best after left out for a few hours so all of the flavors can come together. We served this with slightly sweetened whipped cream, caramel sauce, and a crushed Skor bar.

Cream Puffs

2009-10-31T13:40:00.000-07:00

Many people that I know are scared of making fancy french pastries. This is probably a valid concern when talking about puff pastry with layers of butter between each layer of thinly spread dough, but cream puffs are seriously very easy. (That can be our little secret. You can let the people you are serving think they are some intricate dessert you have labored over all day.)

Cream Puffs

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

4 large eggs, slightly beaten

pinch of salt

2 Tbs granulated sugar (if making sweet instead of savory cream puffs)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Bring water, milk, butter, salt, and sugar to a boil. Stir constantly until bubbles appear and add all of the flour at once. Remove from heat and stir vigorously until all of the flour is incorporated into a smooth paste. The mixture will form a ball and the sides of the pan will be clean.

Mix in eggs one at a time. It is very important that the liquid is completely absorbed before adding the next egg. Once all of the eggs are added, transfer the dough into a Ziplock gallon bag and cut the tip off to form a hole approximately 1/2 inch in diameter. Brush with milk or egg wash.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pipe 1 inch circles, leaving at least an inch between each. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown, then turn oven off and crack the door slightly. Let the puffs (Haha. I don't know what else to call them) bake for an additional 10 minutes to dry out.

For the filling, you can use vanilla ice cream, custard, or whipped cream. We did whipped cream and loved them. Just whip some heavy cream with a few Tbs. of powdered sugar and a tsp. of vanilla until stiff, then pipe into the cut shells.

Sarah Turns 21!

2009-09-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you about Sarah. She LOVES sweets. (I think that is why she is so sweet... Sarah is the closest thing to perfect you will ever find.) She went to pastry school in Mexico and later worked in our college bakery making all sorts of delicious things. She knows her sugar.

This weekend marked her 21st birthday, which meant I had to find the perfect cake to serve. Since we are roommates and best friends, she's seen and tasted every type of cake I've ever made! I wanted her to have something new.

Luckily, I love to look at food blogs. It is my most productive way to waste time. This cake was found on Cookie Baker Lynn and fit perfectly for the occasion!

Lynn's Peanut Butter Cake was perfect. It is four-layer white cake with peanut butter frosting between each layer and chocolate frosting on the outside. I added peanut butter to the chocolate frosting too, (just because my mom does that whenever she makes peanut butter cups) but you can really use anything with chocolate and butter in it. Sprinkle Reece's Peanut Butter Cups on top and voila! Your cake is done. Hope you like it as much as Sarah and I did!

Peanut Butter Frosting

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/8-1/4 tsp salt (to taste)

3 cups powdered sugar

3-4 Tbs milk

Cream the peanut butter and butter together until light in color and smooth. Add vanilla and salt and mix until well incorporated. With mixer on low, add powdered sugar in a little bit at a time until too stiff to mix (or until all of it bunches up on your mixer like it did for me!) Add milk and continue with the sugar until it has all been used. Add milk and mix until frosting is smooth and spreadable.

Becca's Wedding

2009-09-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

First off, my apologies for the poor quality on these pictures. I'm not sure why they look a little bit grainy. I really need some help when it comes to the technology department. Anyway, My cute friend Becca was married a couple of weeks ago and I was lucky enough to make her cake! Becca has a really fun and bubbly personality which was definitely reflected in the type of cake she asked for. It was made of 350 cupcakes! This idea has become really popular in the area lately. Becca's wedding colors were based off of bright gerber daisies so we had lots of oranges and pinks included in the fondant flowers. Like me, Becca does not particularly like chocolate cake so we did them all vanilla with cream cheese frosting. There was only one actual cake layer that sat atop the cupcake display so that she could still have the traditional "cutting of the cake". While cupcakes may seem simple (they did to me), this cake took SO LONG to make. See the stand they are all sitting on? It's made out of cardboard boxes that my kind mother and I measured, cut, taped, and covered in two layers of fabric. Luckily that was a one time project and I now have a cupcake tower that I can use for more weddings! Also, fondant takes forever to work with. I ended up just buying a pasta machine to make the rolling-out process go faster... but it was a great learning opportunity!

P.S. Special Thanks to my wonderful friend Breanna who helped me transport the cake and set it all up. It is quite the adventure to transport 350 frosted cupcakes on a hot August day. I couldn't have done this without her help!

Tami's Wedding Cake

2009-08-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

WHY do I love baking so much? After pouring cup after cup of batter into pans and waiting hours for all of the layers to be done, and after getting flour and powdered sugar and cream cheese all over my clothes and hair... you would think I would be sick of cake. But I'm not! I would gladly start it all up again tomorrow morning if given the chance. Seriously. This is so funny to me but I'm glad I have found something I'm so passionate about! I can't wait to do Becca's wedding in a couple of weeks. This cake was vanilla with raspberry filling and cream cheese frosting. I loved it. Tami and I definitely have similar taste preferences when it comes to dessert. Can I tell you a secret though? This cake was flavored with vanilla, almond, and lemon. I totally messed up one of the layers and put PEPPERMINT in instead of lemon! Haha I couldn't believe it but when I tasted it afterwards it wasn't half bad, so I went with it. I'm sure some people were very confused if they were lucky enough to get one of the random minty pieces, but I actually thought it was a nice addition! Who knows... maybe I have created a new favorite. Just don't tell Tam Tam.

Tami also wanted 250 cupcakes in varying flavors to go along with her cake (she had a dessert bar for her reception), so I got to decorate all of the cupcakes on Friday with one of my best friends. Luckily I didn't have to do it all alone-- Tami's sisters and cousin offered to bake a lot of them. We had chocolate, pumpkin, oreo, vanilla, and coconut. I should have taken more pictures before the crowd showed up, but here is one:

I've never had Oreo cupcakes before so I had to just invent a random Oreo recipe. It's not hard and they turned out to be my favorite flavor!

Oreo Cupcakes

1 white cake mix

1 small box vanilla instant pudding

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup oil

4 eggs

5 Tbs cocoa powder

6-8 Oreo cookies, crushed

Mix all ingredients well. Fill cupcakes 2/3 full (I found that the perfect amount was 2 Tbs plus 1 tsp.... or one ice cream scoop in my case). Place in a 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes or until the cupcakes spring back when lightly touched.

We served these with Oreo cream cheese frosting and a mini Oreo placed on top.

Tami's Wedding Shower

2009-07-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today marks a very important moment in my life... THE MOMENT I BECAME FRIENDS WITH FONDANT! Or at least acquaintances. Bottom line is, I'm not afraid anymore! I'm so proud of myself. This is like riding the X roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm for me. The first time I ran into fondant was when I tried making my own (which turned into a dry mess that kept shrinking back into a little ball and refused to be cooperative). I know that Wilton's fondant tastes bitter and frankly would ruin any cake it covers, but at least I had fun with it and at least I know the consistency I should be looking for if I ever tackle the homemade version again.

These cupcakes are not coming with a recipe today because they are just a plain old white cake batter with (big surprise...) cream cheese frosting.

I am so frustrated when it comes to frosting right now. I know how to do cream cheese, Italian buttercream, and chocolate. But what does a girl choose for an outdoor wedding cake? Buttercream is heavenly but will ooze all over the cake if left on its own for more than five minutes. Chocolate = groom's cake = big no no. Cream cheese might work but I'm still hesitant because of the heat. The middle of August just doesn't give me a lot of options! The one that I have had recommended countless times is the Wilton one. I'm not a fan. It has shortening in it and I absolutely hate the filmy feel in my mouth after I eat frosting like that. If anyone has any suggestions, I would be extremely grateful!

Happy 24th of July. Yay for pioneers!

Marble Cake

2009-07-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

After a very long break from blogging, I finally have a recipe to share! I've been baking quite a bit this summer and am proud to announce that there will be several wedding cakes coming up in the next month. That's right! Two of my friends are getting married and have asked me to make their cakes. Tami's will be a four tiered vanilla cake with raspberry filling and Becca's will be a cupcake wedding cake in fun pinks and oranges.

But... you have to wait. Sorry. Don't be sad though because today I have an amazing marble cake to share with you! It was originally going to be Zebra cake but the cake batter was very thick and the stripes ended up having a very pretty marble effect instead. Fine by me! I'll just have to make Zebra cake later on. Which means another post! Yay!

Marble Cake

1 Betty Crocker Super Moist white cake mix

4 eggs

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sour cream (reduced fat is fine)

1 small vanilla pudding mix

1 Tbs vanilla

2 Tbs dark cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients except the cocoa. Mix on low for 30 seconds, then on medium for 2 minutes. Divide batter in half and add cocoa to one bowl. (NOTE: do not put in more than 2 Tbs of cocoa powder. The batters need to have the same consistency for the cake to rise properly.) Prepare two 9-inch round cake pans. Start by putting a heaping tablespoon of chocolate in the middle of both pans, then put a heaping tablespoon of vanilla right on top. Continue this process of alternating the chocolate and vanilla batters until all is used. (You might need to tap the pans on the countertop occasionally to make the batter spread out.) Bake for 25 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched.

I covered my cake in cream cheese frosting but chocolate or plain vanilla would be very good too. Good luck!

Homemade Fries

2009-03-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

Alright, I know this isn't a dessert of any sort. I just had to share it with you! This recipe is adapted from Joy the Baker and makes just about the best fries I've ever had.

French Fried Potatoes

3-4 medium Russet potatoes

2 Tbs olive oil

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp crushed dried rosemary

Salt and pepper to taste

Wash and slice potatoes into thin strips (I like leaving on the skins but you can peel them if you would like). Toss with olive oil and herbs and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 40-50 minutes or until crispy and golden brown, turning every 10 minutes.

Cake Tips

2009-03-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

I made this cake for my friend Alex yesterday. Since I already gave you the recipe for chocolate cake, I thought I would share with you a few tips I've learned since I started baking.

1. Mix well. Making a cake isn't like making muffins and pancakes-- you can mix it as much as you want! I like mixing on low/medium for a minute or so, and then I turn it up full speed. I like my batter to have some air in it.

2. Pan choice. You need good pans. Thick, light-colored metal ones work best, and they are definitely worth the investment. I found mine for about $14 each from a kitchen supply store and they have served me incredibly well.

3. Preparing the pans. I have tried many methods to get my cakes to come out easily, and this one is foolproof. Cut out 2 parchment paper circles that fit the inside of your pan. (It's okay if they come up the sides a tiny bit.) Get out your Crisco, and grease the pans well. Lay the parchment paper down, press out the air bubbles as much as you can, and then grease the parchment paper tops. Flour the pans, and you are set to go!

4. Know when your cakes are done. The easiest way to do this is to feel the tops. If they bounce back a little bit and don't sink down, you know they are ready. The cake will also be pulling away from the sides of the pan.

5. De-pan the cakes quickly. The cakes will stick when the Crisco gets hard again, so don't wait too long to get your cakes out of the pan. If you happen to forget, you can put them in the oven at a low setting for a couple of minutes to re-melt the Crisco. Getting the cakes out scares some people, but if you have a cookie rack then you will be fine. Just invert the cake and let it rest completely. When it is cool it will be easy to move around and place on top of the first cake layer. (Invert one cake onto the cookie rack and one onto your cake stand. You want to move the cakes as little as possible.)

6. Splitting a cake. This is kind of tricky. You want to use a long serrated knife and only work with the cake when it has cooled completely. Working at about eye-level with the cake, run your knife through the middle section using long strokes. Put your entire hand under the cake to support it when transferring.

7. Making a box cake moist. I spent quite a long time reading about tips for a moist cake yesterday, so I'll share with you some of my findings. They haven't been tested yet, but I'm excited to see what happens! One woman recommended replacing all of the water with milk. Another said to add plain yogurt in place of the oil, and another said that adding a couple of tablespoons sour cream does the trick. I'll let you know which one I like best. :)

8. Frosting the cake. This is my favorite part by far. Start out with a frosting that is thick enough to stay on and not droop all over, but not thick enough that it pulls on the cake. You can add a few teaspoons of milk or powdered sugar to fix either of these problems. I highly recommend buying a metal spatula to use while spreading your frosting. (NOT an offset one... just plain. The offset kind are terrible to work with in my opinion.) When putting frosting in the middle of your cake, make sure to spread it to all sides-- but don't put too much on. I used to want my cakes to look like the ones in magazines that have a thick middle layer, but I have since learned that it doesn't work well with most frostings. Usually the thick-middle method results in your cake sliding around and looking lopsided. Stick with just enough to show when you slice. Next, do a crumb coat. This means that you will put a thin layer of frosting all around the outside of the cake, locking all of the crumbs in. Let this harden in the refrigerator for a bit before applying the next coat.

Okay that's all the tips I have for now. Hope this helps! :)

Italian Cream Cake

2009-03-02T15:06:00.001-08:00

This is my dad's favorite cake. He used to get bags of pecans from his grandpa's house every summer and his mom would have to come up with lots of recipes to use them in. She made pecan pie every Christmas for all of her neighbors, but I personally like what she's done with the pecans in this recipe even more than her wonderful pies. I've made my grandmother's version many times before and loved the texture and taste of it, but it takes a lot of time so be prepared. Unless it is my dad's birthday, I usually just stick with the semi-homemade version. I've put up both recipes for you to choose from.

Italian Cream Cake (Grandmother's version)

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp baking soda

5 eggs (divided)

2 cups sugar

1 stick butter

1/2 cup Crisco

2 cups sifted flour

1 Tbs vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans

1 small bag of coconut

Combine soda and buttermilk and let stand a few minutes. Beat egg whites until stiff, set aside. Cream sugar, butter and shortening; add egg yolks one at a time and beat well after each addition. Add buttermilk mixture alternately with flour to sugar mixture. Stir in vanilla, fold in egg whites. Gently stir in pecans and coconut. Bake in three 9-inch greased and floured cake rounds for 25 minutes.

Italian Cream Cake (Semi-homemade version)

1 vanilla cake mix

1 tbs vanilla extract

1 bag shredded coconut

1/2 cup pecans, plus more for decorating

Prepare the vanilla cake mix as the box directs. Chop pecans and add to cake mix with vanilla. Add in 1/2 of the bag of coconut (I usually chop my coconut beforehand a little so that the cake holds together better). Pour into 2 prepared cake rounds and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until the center bounces back when lightly touched.

The reserved 1/2 bag of coconut is for the outside of the cake. To toast, set the oven on broil and lay the coconut out on a cookie sheet. Hold under the broiler for 30 seconds at a time, mixing between. Once the frosting is on and the coconut has cooled, just press onto the sides of the cake using your hand. This is a messy process but makes the cake so much prettier.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8-oz package regular cream cheese

2 sticks butter

1 tsp vanilla

4-5 cups powdered sugar

Cream butter and cream cheese together. Add vanilla, then add powdered sugar in stages. This makes plenty to cover and decorate one cake.

Rainbow Cake

2009-03-02T14:48:00.000-08:00

My friend's mom showed me a picture of this cake and I have wanted to make it ever since. It's surprisingly easy to do and just takes an extra few minutes to add dye to the cake mix. You can just put vanilla frosting on if you would like, but I made whipped cream frosting because it looked like clouds to me. :)

Rainbow Cake

1 vanilla cake mix

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple food dye

Prepare mix as directed on box. (See, I told you this was easy!) Divide the batter into 6 smaller bowls and add food coloring to each. They don't have to be deep in color, just enough to notice the color difference. Pastel is just fine. Grease, line with parchment paper, grease again, and flour 2 round cake pans. Begin with the red batter and pour 1/2 of the batter into each cake round. Pour 1/2 of the orange batter directly on top of the red in each pan, and continue this process throughout all of the colors. Put in a 350 degree oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Whipped Cream Frosting

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups powdered sugar

1 Tbs vanilla pudding mix

Whip the cream until soft peaks form, adding the sugar in stages. Add the vanilla and pudding mix and whip until desired consistency is reached. The pudding in this recipe helps hold the normally delicate whipping cream together and makes the frosting more spreadable.

Perfect-for-Dipping Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-02-23T14:29:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, chocolate chip cookies are not the most exciting or impressive dessert. However, all food blogs need a solid chocolate chip cookie recipe if you ask me, and this one is the best I've found so far. Zacc had me try it at his friend's apartment last week and I was intrigued by the addition of ground oatmeal and a grated chocolate bar. This is definitely not your typical cookie.

Zacc's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 sticks butter (3 sticks)

2 cups white sugar

2 cups brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

4 cups flour

5 cups ground oatmeal

4 eggs

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 8-oz grated chocolate bar

1 24-oz package chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars, add vanilla and eggs one at a time. Blend half of the oatmeal in a blender at a time and add to the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients and add in small amounts to the wet until everything is combined. Add chocolate bar and chocolate chips and mix. Place in 1 Tbs balls on a cookie sheet and bake for 7-10 min.

Be aware that this recipe makes lots and lots of cookies... it might be a good dough to package up and freeze for later if you don't plan on eating them all in one sitting.

Semi-homemade Chocolate Cake

2009-01-28T12:52:00.001-08:00

This is one of the easiest cakes I've made. Just doctor up a regular chocolate cake mix and tub of frosting, and suddenly you've got something you can be proud of! To make the cake, I used a regular chocolate cake mix and added about 1/2 of a bag of melted chocolate chips to the mix. I baked it using 9" round cake pans. If you want your cakes to come out cleanly and without cracks, I recommend using the following technique. Cut a circle of parchment paper to fit the inside of your pan. Grease the bottom and sides of pan, place parchment circle inside, grease again, and add about 2 Tbs flour to coat. (If making a chocolate cake I recommend coating with cocoa powder instead. The flour will leave white marks on a chocolate cake.) After the cake was done baking and had cooled, I topped it with chocolate buttercream and dusted it with cocoa powder.

Semi-Homemade Chocolate Buttercream

1 tub storebought chocolate frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 bag melted chocolate chips (or 1 chocolate candy bar)

2-3 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Mix this all up using the paddle attachment until the frosting is smooth and creamy and holds its shape. It makes quite a bit, which is perfect for frosting and decorating the chocolate cake.

When assembling the cake, I recommend putting the first cake layer dome-side down (or cutting the dome off completely). This way, your cake will be level and will be easier to frost. The top layer should be done the same way-- I find that the dome side of round cake will flake off easier, resulting in a mess of frosting with specks scattered throughout. Dome side down will solve this problem. After frosting, I cut out a "K" using cardstock. I placed it gently on the cake and dusted the whole thing with cocoa powder. After removing the "K", I outlined it using a #4 tip and finished it off with a decorative border (tip #106 or 107 work equally well) and placed Junior Caramels around the outside.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

2009-01-28T12:48:00.000-08:00

Alright... these are my favorite cupcakes hands down. The pumpkin makes them super moist and the cream cheese frosting is the perfect topper for these little cakes. Definitely a winner.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

1 white cake mix

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup water

15 oz. pumpkin

3 eggs

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

Mix together and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes (or until the center bounces back when lightly touched). These were a hit with cream cheese frosting and nutmeg sprinkles on top.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 sticks butter

8 oz cream cheese

4-5 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Cream together and pipe on cupcakes. I used a # 1M tip from Wilton in this picture. Note: When piping, make sure to hold the tip directly above the cupcake. I started out at an angle and the frosting didn't look as pretty.

Bananas Foster

2009-01-28T12:24:00.000-08:00

I got the idea for this from the golf course restaurant by my parent's house. My dad would always take me there for my birthday dinner and I remember the best part of the night was the end-- the chef would come out with a skillet of flaming bananas that he would pour over vanilla ice cream. Hence, the rum flavoring in this. :) I love it.

Bananas Foster

5 ripe bananas

1 14-oz can peaches in light syrup

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp rum flavoring

3/4 cup brown sugar

Vanilla bean ice cream

1 package pastry sheets (I use Pillsbury Farm frozen sheets. You can find them by the frozen pie crusts in a regular grocery store)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and cut 9 equal squares out of the puff pastry sheet. (There are two sheets in each package, but for this recipe you will only be using one.) Place them on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown and flaky.

Skin bananas and cut lengthwise twice. You should have 3 long banana pieces from each. Lay these lengthwise in a large skillet and cover with the brown sugar, cinnamon, rum flavoring, and peach juice. Reserve the peaches for later use. Let simmer until bananas are soft and the syrup thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. To assemble, place a pastry square on serving dish and top with ice cream and bananas.