Coconut Wedding Cake

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?

May Weddings, Part 1

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

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

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.

Leesa Turns 22!

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.

Marble Cake

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!

Perfect-for-Dipping Chocolate Chip Cookies

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

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.