Beer Cake!!

Hello Hello!!

Last week I had a cake order for a birthday. They told me that they wanted a cake that looked like beer and that the birthday boy had a favorite type of beer and that was "Natural Light" I decided to make a chocolate cake filled with Dulce De Leche and frosted with a vanilla butter cream. Had I not had to tint the icing and make it look like a beer I would have used a chocolate frosting but I think the butter cream complimented the cake very nicely as well! Jason was eating all the pieces that I had trimmed off and claimed that it was amazingly good! I plan on making it in cupcake form with a ganache frosting in the weeks to come!!

I used the chocolate cake recipe off the back of the Hershey's coca can! I just made a few changes! I used buttermilk instead of milk and I used strong hot coffee for the boiling water! It got rave reviews from the party goers as well!





Please pardon the horrible photos but the day before I had to have this cake done the air conditioning went out in our house! For those of you who do not know Southern Oklahoma has had some lovely hot and humid weather!! I was literally taking it out of the fridge for 10 minutes at a time so it would stop melting as the repair guys were in the attic with my husband trying to fix our AC problem! SOOOO that is why the pictures are not at the best angle. This cake was also huge! It was three 11x15 cakes stacked on top of each other!! I know my decorating skills are still amateur but I have to say I am pretty proud of this creation!

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Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes!

Well we just competed a huge task!! We put a new patio in, in our backyard and when Jason's brother and Dad came over to help I knew that I needed to make his brother his favorite dessert. However, since we were so busy in the yard and since I didn't have all the ingredients I usually do (I did not want to go to the store as that would leave us a man down and we had lots of work to do.) I busted out a box mix (don't even start with me OK! I know I know but sometimes they are useful, quick, easy and reliable!) I had just gotten a new pan at Walls Bargain Center for a bargain price of $6.99 and I had been dying to use it and my idea was to make personal size Pineapple Upside Down Cakes! This happens to be my brother in laws favorite (mine too!) SO I quickly got to work made my batter so I could get to baking and then back to digging!!
Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cake


Here is the pan ready for the cake... Gosh after I got the butter and brown sugar and pineapple in there wasn't a whole lot of room for batter and room to rise! Oh well good thing my first go at this is just with a box mix!


Hot out of the oven here these cutie cakes are...




Survey says? Yummy cake... perfect for freaks like me that like an equal amount of pineapple to go with each bite of cake! They were so yummy and too cute! I can't wait to use this pan to do my pleasantly pineapple cake (hint hint it will be coming next!)

I thought I would show you all the patio with the new furniture since it was the inspiration for the post and since I blabbed about it. If you are anything like me and hate hearing a story and then getting no visuals then you will enjoy these!

Here is my cheese ball husband the night before when we had dug the patio out and did all the frame work!


Here is the gang working on the pathway... Hey I was helping too but someone had to document the project


Ta Da!! The best part? The candle chandelier on the umbrella!


Here it is just one more time (sorry I am just so proud of us)


Well Happy First Day of Summer everyone!! Hope your summer is going well! I also got a great new BBQ cook book at Lowes this weekend... so expect some yummy new recipes that we will be enjoying on that new patio furniture!! (OK OK OK I will stop finding a way to bring up the patio!)

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Peace Love & Softball Cake

Well I am sorry it has been so long since I have posted last!! I got an order two days ago for a 16 year old birthday cake! She wanted three tiers to this cake! I have never done this before but I am always up for a challenge so I said sure! She also wanted this cake to have the theme of "Peace Love and Softball" since she is very into sports and softball. The kicker was that she wanted the cake tie dyed!! So I decided to tie dye the inside of the cake and frost the outside in her favorite color TEAL!!

Ok so here we go with the pictures...
I separated the batter into 5 bowls to drop in the pan randomly so it will look like tie dye when you cut into it. It looks more like doing Easter eggs then cake baking!

That is not too blues either... clearly my camera is not up to par (although I already knew this) so my purple looks a bit like a darker blue...

Here it is in the pan ready to bake!

All done... only 5 more cakes to go!!

I did not take any photos during the assembly of the cake because... well to be completely honest I had a melt down twice. I was ready to toss in the rag and vow to never cook again! And at another moment when my husband offered help clearly the look on my face showed that his help was better spent with him back on the couch in the living room!! Well once the frosting (Swiss Meringue Butter Cream- White Chocolate flavor YUM) was on the cake and the supports were in I came back down from my "I hate cake cloud" and remembered why I love cake! and baking! and called said husband back in the room to help me put on the candy melt decorations and make him admire the fact that I did in fact not kill the cake or myself!!
SO here are the pictures from the assembled cake... the lighting is not up to par on that side of the kitchen so I am sorry for the darkness of the photos.




On the top I did "peace love softball" she got the idea from a tie dye t-shirt that she has.

Well I was pretty pleased with the results especially with this being my first round with this massive of a cake. I lined a wooden board with a bright pink vinyl table cloth for the presentation.

Once the cake was delivered I proceeded to go outside in the backyard and enjoy my new toy!

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Sunflower cupcakes

Last week I got a call for an order for a birthday cake and some cupcakes. I was so excited as I have not had many "official" orders and even though I have not had many I just knew this was going to be great! I have so many recipes I want to try and decoration ideas to test out but I am sure that my butt would be as big as a house if I decided to try one recipe a week! I know what you are thinking "Heather, just give them away" yea ok! That is a great idea in theory but we all know how that would go. Taste of the batter here.... lick of the frosting there... and before you know it your stomach hurts there is frosting from your nose to your chin and you are surrounded by little paper cup holders that have now been torn to shreds all around you. Then you think well I was just going to have one.... Well I try to not even tempt myself by trying to not bake all the time unless I have a purpose or a place to send the goods! SOOO my point being, it was AWESOME to get this order as it gave me cause to try a cake recipe I had wanted to try for so long as well as decorate some cupcakes and try another cake recipe! The only problems was I got the call Wednesday night and they needed the goods by Saturday morning... So that meant I needed to get my ducks in a row Thursday so that Friday after work I could everything baked! I decided that since last Saturday was the first day of spring that I would do some cheerful sunflower decorated cupcakes! For the cake they had requested something with with fresh fruit and it made me think of a recipe I have been dying to try that Cassie from How To Eat A Cupcake made a while ago! The recipe is here!!! And let me tell you folks.... this cake got rave reviews. I ended up making a cupcake version of it Monday, but that's another blog! The most amazing part I have got to say is the Swiss Meringue Butter Cream frosting!! I made it the way that Cassie made it with her tweaks from the original. I have watched her make SMBC for years and always wanted to try it out but to be perfectly honest... I was scared!! Yes YES I have admitted it! I was afraid of frosting! NOT ANYMORE KIDS!! I have made this frosting now 3 times. I can't seem to make it without the white chocolate though! That is probably because once I realized how easy it was to quest and conquer the amazing silky smoothness that is the Swiss Meringue Butter Cream I have gone on a bit of a binge! It is like suddenly realizing you like something that you never knew existed. You can't get it out of your head, you think about it all the time, and often realize that anything that you are eating could most definitely be made better by putting this new found magical item on it! I swear I am currently having an affair with Swiss Meringue Butter Cream!! For the cupcakes I made SMBC (without the white chocolate amazingly enough) and tinted it! It was great! I used a cake recipe I found here. The cake complimented the frosting quite nicely! Of course the touch that made the cupcakes in my opinion is the ladybugs!!!!
SO now lets get to some pictures!
Here is the center of the cupcakes before they bloomed into beautiful yellow sunflowers!


Well I have to say I think they look quite good but it just seems like something is missing!!


Tada!!! Ok how cute are the ladybugs?


Here is the birthday cake! I decided to top it with a strawberry garnish and some freshly grated white chocolate. As we can see I cant seem to frost a cake to save my life so thank god I was saved by the wonderful flavor of the cake!




Here it is in the box ready to go!


I just have to show you these cupcakes again! I felt so proud and although my pipping skills are lacking you have to start some where and I was pretty happy with the end result!


I just don't know how I will ever made baked goods again that do not have Swiss Meringue Butter Cream frosting and ladybugs!

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Red Velvet... Yes I know IT'S ABOUT TIME!!

I am sorry it has taken me over a week since I got back from my trip to blog FINALLY!! I hope you can all forgive me... Life just got so busy and the weather has not been very good for baking... It has bee stormy and hot an HUMID beyond belief!!
So enough of the excuses (although I plant to blog the photos of the weather that I have right after this to show you what I mean!)
So I have promised a blog of Red Velvet goodness and what is what you are going to get!!
Here is a little history on Red Velvet cake... It is a rich sweet cake with a hint of chocolate and has a distinctive reddish brown color...It is said to have originated in the Southern states...
But enough talk... let's get down to business.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch pressed)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 ounce red food coloring
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda then set aside. Usually I do not take pictures of the ingredients but I got new measuring bowls that I will have a seperate blog about and I just had to show them off... I just LOVE them!




Cream together the butter and the sugar until fluffy.. about 5 minutes...


Add the eggs one at a time...


Once you have added in all the eggs it should look about like this...


Mix in the sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla...
I did not use and ounce I used this new Wilton food coloring I had bought... I did not know how much to use which is why my cake is not as read this time as it has been in the past...


Gradually add in the flour mixture until it is incorporated but do not over mix!!


Pour the batter into two greased round pans. Bake cake for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes before removing from pan and setting on wire rack to cool!

I used vanilla frosting as in my research that is the original intended frosting for this cake. Many like cream cheese frosting and I will try it next time.... but.... this cake is sooooo YUMMY with vanilla frosting!!





Look at that... In the lighting in my kitchen it looks brown but it is actually a reddish auburn color... I wish I had added more coloring but I did not want to over do it!! I love this cake! It is rich and light at the same time... Jason agrees that is a keeper! This is the cake I intend to be the traditonal birthday cake at our house! I just wanted to share it with you...this is the second time I have used this recipe and I just love it... I hope you guys do too!!

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Thursday Night Pineapple Creations!

Hello Hello...
Well lately I have told myself that I need to suck it up and be a bit more brave about inventing my own recipes. I have a huge desire to do it but I am so scared and nervous about failing. Baking and cooking is something I enjoy and I think I am good at it... So I guess I am nervous to try and fail because I am afraid it would take away some of that passion I have for it as well as make me more hesitant in the kitchen. Well I woke up the other day and said WAIT... Stop being a nervous Nelly you baby and just do it, worst case scenario you throw it away and start over! You never know if you can or can't do it until you TRY!! (You are getting anxious to know what I have tried aren't you??? Well you are not if you already scrolled down to peak at the pictures! Cheater...)

Pineapple is one of my favorite foods let alone fruits! I just love it... especially in summer... which is right around the corner so get ready to see more pineapple on this page! Any who, Pineapple Upside Down Cake is amazing I think it is not too sweet, just light happy and pineapplicious! It is also so bright and pretty that it just makes you smile looking at it. I love it so much I decided that I wanted to make my own. Not tweak an existing one but just try to make my own based on my experience in the kitchen as well as what I know and see what happens. SO I DID IT!! YEP... I sent some emails to Sophie from Flour Arrangements and after getting some support and some feed back I decided to try it out and see what happened! Here is the recipe I used..

Ingredients
-2 cups flour
-2 eggs
-1 cup sugar
-1 cup pineapple juice -unsweetened just all natural juice-
-1/3 cup applesauce
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon baking soda

For the topping
-1/2 cup ( 1 stick butter)
-1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
-pineapple slices
-marashino cherries

First I took all the wet ingredients and combinded them in my mixer. I then added the dry ingredients,( I had combinded the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside)


I then took my bundt pan and sprayed non-stick spray on the inside. I melted the 1/2 stick of butter for topping and poured it into the bundt pan. I then took the 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar and sprinkled it in the pan over the top of the butter. I layed the pineapple slices in the pan and placed a cherry in the center. I then poured the batter over the top and it was ready for baking. I baked it at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.
This picture is right before I took it out of the oven. You can see the bubbling almost like there was too much wet ingredients... between you and I... I started to panic at this moment haha


I got the cake pan ready and I flipped to unveil the cake!!


The topping was maybe almost too much for the size of the cake as it melted all into the cake pan...

Here is a look at the cake cut open...


OK so now I know you are wondering... Did it taste like poo or rubber or was it actually good??
I thought it was pretty good and I was super proud for that being my first invention. A couple differences I might make is disolving the brownsugar into the butter for topping then linning the pan with it... there was a slight crunchiness from the granuals of brown sugar on the topping.
Another change I am thinking of is using some cake flour and 1/3 oil instead of applesauce. I love the applesauce and the idea of it making it lower fat and calorie but I think it would be less dense with these changes... When I do test it with the changes I will be sure to share... I also would love any ideas or feedback you may have for me!! All and all this was a very positive FUN experience... I did not take a picture of the preped pan like I wanted because... well because I was like a mad scientist with flour everywhere and crazy hair and eyes :O) I was inventing!!!

Sinfully Yours,

Heather

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Cake Balls Round Two...

OK so I am a huge fan of Bakerella... and as you all know she has recently gone on the Martha Stewart show where Martha show cased her cake balls! I have been obsessed with them since the moment I saw them and knew that I had to try to make them as soon as possible....
Well the first time around did not go so well but the second time was better so the pictures and commentary are going to reflect the first and the second time.

The first step of the cake balls is to pick your favorite box cake or homemade cake recipe. I choose to go old school with the Funfetti cake...

Once you make the cake you have to let it cool completely and then crumble the cake very fine into a bowl...

Next you add in a container of frosting (per Bakerella you use a whole container of frosting, however, I did this the first time and it produced very mushy wet doughish balls... The second time around I barely used half of th frosting container and they were still able to make into balls and the consistancy was much better)

Once you mix the frosting into the cake you need to form it into balls. The balls must be chilled before you dip them. Both times I put them in the freezer for about 12 minutes and then dipped them.

The first time with the Funfetti cake I tried to use the almond bark like Bakerella does... I found that either melted on the stove or in the microwave it was very thick and hard to work with and just made a mess... Plus when taste tested they were awful! Horrible little weird dough balls things. The second time around we made strawberry cake and melted white chocolate to dip them in. We added a little bit of oil to the chocolate to make the chocolate a little bit more thin and easier to work with. This produce much better results.



The cake had much more of a cake consistancy the second time around. The white chocolate did make them very rich. I still love this recipe but I do feel I need to play with it more to make more of what I was looking for. Miss Bakerella makes it look so simple :O) but I guess that is what all good bakers do! If any of you have made these and have any tips let me know... I am up for all help and suggestions.

Sinfully Yours,

Heather

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