BabyCakes

I"M MOVING!!!

2011-07-01T09:12:00.000-07:00

Join me at my new blog website!! http://babycakesbyrachel.blogspot.com/

Same look, new location!! Please re-join as my follower, or become a new follower of my new blog! Looking forward to seeing you there!!!

Golf Ball Cake, Pineapple Cake with a Pineapple Filling & Recipe!!

2011-06-28T10:06:00.000-07:00

My nephew wanted a cake for his dad's 50th birthday. They wanted a pineapple cake with a golf theme. For the cake I altered another recipe I have used before and I found a yummy pineapple filling from

Mari's Cakes. It's so good!! Thank you Mari!!

The cake is a half sheet cake with two layers and Mari's pineapple filling. The Golf Ball itself is a Vanilla Pound Cake from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, topped with Billy's Vanillie buttercream frosting, and wrapped in fondant.

Pineapple Cake Recipe

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup apple sauce

1 teaspoon vanilla

8 oz can of crushed pineapple (drained)

Center a rack in the over and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Flour and grease a 9x13" pan.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt.

Working with a stand mixer, and a paddle attachment, or a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3 minutes, until the mixture is smooth, thick and pale. Add eggs one at a time, beating for about 1 minute after each addition. Mix until you have a light fluffy batter. Reduce the mixer to low and beat in apple sauce. This might curdle the batter, and that's ok. Add the pineapple and mix on low to blend completely. Add dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the batter.

Pour into pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Enjoy this fun tropical summery flavor! Sweet goodness!

Double Swim Birthday Extravaganza!!!

2011-06-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

My sweet girls are June babies and we had a big fun swim party to celebrate their birthdays! I went all out for this fun party. Not without help though! My dear friend Mrs. W, made the cutest designs for both girls. She made a Dolphin design for my oldest and Mermaid design for my youngest.

My girls and I had fun crafting away with the designs!

First of all we made bottle cap necklaces for each guest, some with the mermaid design and some with the dolphin design. I placed them on a black pan and set them in a stand for each girl to select their necklace at the party.

Then I made tote bags for each guest. For the older girls I monogrammed their initial on cute polka-dotted fabric and then sewed it on the tote. For the guests of my younger daughter, I had the mermaid digitized by my friend Elsa (who does an amazing job!!) and sewed that and their names on the bags. I embellished the mermaid totes with a little ribbon.

Mrs. W designed water bottle labels and thank you cards to match the invites. My girls glued them on the bottles. We included these in the tote bags. That way each child had a drink for the ride home!

Oh, isn't this a cake blog? :) Here are my cakes! We had a Mermaid cake for my youngest. I decorated the top with chocolate rocks, yummy and very rock like!! I also made cute sea creatures out of fondant to sit in the waves. The mermaid cake was a swirl chocolate vanilla cake from the Cake Book, topped with Billy Vanillie Buttercream. Unfortunately, the cake was a bit dry, and that is the first time I've had trouble with one of her recipes. :(

Here is the back of the cake showing our cute little octopus. It was so hot here, close to 100 degrees, that the cake was beginning to melt! I only use real butter, and when it gets that warm you better eat it quick!!

My other daughters cake the Dolphin cake was a Deeply Dark Devils Food Cake also from the Cake Book with the Billy's Vanille Buttercream. This cake was deliciously moist and very chocolaty! Yumm!

The poor cake was melting in the heat, but it was so good!!

Happy Birthday my sweet darlings, I love you!!!

Graduating Tooth Cake 2011

2011-06-07T06:09:00.000-07:00

My little sister just graduated from UNM . Yep, that's right! She is a Rock Star in my book!! :) She is going to be a dental hygienist, did you guess? We (my husband, my sister Nicole, and I) flew out to see her graduate, and of course she needed a cake! She didn't want a square cake with a tooth picture on it, she wanted the real deal, 3D cake. Just for her, I made one. :)

She was wearing this cute t-shirt from school, with a tooth on it. I said "We should make that one!" Turns out my stepmother Claudia designed the shirt! Perfect! Once I figured out the design, I needed a base to make the tooth on. My awesome stepmom said she could make one. Really? Wow! She and my Dad went to the workshop and came back with a wooden base to build the cake around.

I covered the bottom half of the base with rice crispy treats (actually they were fruity rice crispy treats, yumm!). I baked four 10" round Italian Cream Cakes to make the top portion of the tooth. Once I had the bottom the way I wanted I covered that in fondant. Then, I worked on the top. I carved the top to make it look more tooth like. Once that was completed, I covered the top half in fondant and made the face. We were cracking jokes all night. I was doing root canals, and fillings. So silly!

The base was a premade cake board, but it turned out not to be strong enough to hold the cake, so we placed a pan under it.

I used fondant to do the lettering,

and covered the edge of the cake board with pretty silver dotted black ribbon.

The final details: We found a "cap" at the craft store, and they just so happened to have a giant red toothbrush in the house, go figure! Claudia made the arms and the dental tool to match the t-shirt picture (did I mention she is a very talented artist?) and attached them to the cake. You can kind of see her cute t-shirt on the right side of the cake with the tooth image on it.

My Rock Star Sis and I.
Congratulations Melissa!! I'm so proud of you!!

Pony Birthday Cake for Courtney!

2011-05-14T13:30:00.000-07:00

My friend Carrie sent me a picture of the cutest cake and asked if I could make a similar one, for her daughter Courtney. What a fun cake! We love MLP at our house. :) She wanted a 10" Sweet Strawberry Cake with a Strawberry Filling and Strawberry Buttercream.

Perfect for someone turning 6!

Carrie picked up the Ponies she wanted to use on the cake and delivered them to my house. I delivered the cake to her party and assembled it on location. I was too worried about traveling with all those pieces sticking out! Unfortunately, we did have a casualty with a crack in the rainbow as I placed it in the cake. Some tape and cloud cover, all is well. Carrie was very gracious about the whole thing!! Thank you Carrie!!

I added fun edible sparkles to the stars, and a pearl dust to the clouds. Ponies love bling! :)

Complete with a water fall of course!

Happy 6th Birthday Courtney!!

What's your favorite flavor?

2011-04-28T11:33:00.000-07:00

What is your favorite flavor of cake? I'm taking a poll!!
Chocolate, Carrot, Coconut, Vanilla, Lemon, Italian Cream, or Other? Leave a comment and let me know!

My First Wedding- Mini Cupcakes & 6" Cake

2011-04-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

This weekend I reached a new milestone! I did a wedding!! It was such an honor to be able to contribute to the celebration. I loved that the bride and groom knew exactly what they wanted and were able to communicate that to me. They choose three flavors of cake. Lemon cake, with Lemon Curd Filling and a Lemon Buttercream topped with a fresh raspberry, White Cake, with a Raspberry filling, and a Swiss Meringue Frosting sprinkled with toasted coconut,

Devilishly Moist Chocolate Cake, with a Fudgy Frosting. Everything was all natural with no food coloring or fondant. All the recipes I used were from my very favorite cake cookbook of all time by Tish Boyle, The Cake Book.

For the top tier on the cake stand, I made a 6" White Cake, with a Raspberry Filling, and a Swiss Meringue Frosting sprinkled with toasted coconut. She wanted 125 of each flavor of mini cupcakes, I ended up with a few extra of each flavor, and the total was more than 400 mini cupcakes! We calculated three cupcakes per guest, one of each flavor. My husband helped me deliver and set up. He was a huge help!! The bride had fresh flowers that I used to decorate the top of the cake and around the mini cupcakes.

It took us a good 1 1/2 hours to set up the cupcakes just right. Amazingly the frosting was in good shape when we got there (thanks to my hubby's careful driving!!) and all we had to do was place the raspberries on the Lemon mini cupcakes. Just a few of the mini's got messed up and so some people (family of the bride and groom) had a little "taste test" as we were setting up, since we had plenty of extras this was not a problem. The bride and groom had a guard near by all day, so no one would be temped to do their own taste test.

I pray Jeff and Christi have a blessed life together and enjoy each other to the fullest!

The Ingredients

2011-04-06T12:41:00.000-07:00

I often think about what exactly goes into my family's food. The choices I make, I make because I believe they are the best choices for my families health. I'm not so strict and rigorous that my kids don't consume junk food or processed food, but I try to make those a very small percentage of what they actually eat. That is one of the many reasons I started baking from scratch.

Please understand, I'm not trying to say eating cake is actually good for you, but if we are going to eat it, shouldn't it be the best it can be?

I must tell you, I'm a label reader. I looked at the back of the cake box and there were things included in the mix that I didn't want to pay for with our money, and health. Things like High Froutose Corn Syrup (HFCS), or Hydrogenated Fats (Trans Fats), and things that sound foreign to me like: Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate. Which is some sort of salt, I can figure that much out, but there are many things listed on a basic white cake that I'm not sure of what it is and certainly doesn't sound like food to me. For example:

My basic rule of thumb is if it doesn't sound like food, it's probably not really food, or they would call it by it's name. It's most likely artificial or imitation food. Another rule of thumb that is easy understand is, when the food is closer to the way God made it, the better it is for you. The more we processes it, the less it resembles the original food to our eye and to our bodies. Another factor to consider is when certain elements that have been isolated out of the food, they may be missing certain key elements that make it viable to the body. Vitamins and minerals, all work together in a complex way to nourish our being. God made the apple with hundreds of components, not just vitamin C. Sorry, I just don't buy that science is smarter than God. We are just not that advanced. If you would like to learn more about today's food and what it means, I recommend this great book by Michael Pollan- In Defense Of Food.

When I make food from scratch, I use ingredients that I can pronounce, and know exactly what they are. Like flour, butter, eggs, milk, sugar, sea salt, baking powder, and baking soda. All familiar, traditional ingredients, and guess what? I feel happy putting these things into my food, it gives me a wholesome pleasure to watch them all come together. I enjoy cooking, and I think there is beauty in the raw ingredients, the colors, the textures are all somehow soothing to my soul. Not to mention, real food actually tastes better to me than the artificial food. Not that the artificial food doesn't taste good, but side by side I can taste the difference, and so can many other people, I know because they they have told me!

I'm not perfect, and neither is the list below. If anyone has special requests, I'm very happy to accommodate them. :) So, with no further ado, here ya go.

These are the ingredients I put into my cakes (depending on the recipe & availability of course!):
Unbleached All Purpose Organic Flour by Central Milling Company
Unbleached Cake Flour by King Arthur Flour
Organic Cane Sugar by Wholesome Sweeteners
Organic Large Grade AA Brown Eggs, Cage Free and Humane Certified by Kirkland
Organic Butter by Kirkland, or Conventional Butter with no rBST
Organic Milk by Kirkland
Conventional Powdered Sugar purchased in bulk from Costco
Conventional Food Coloring by Wilton, AmeriColor, and Adams Extract
Rumford Cornstarch from Non-Genetically Modified Corn
Rumford Aluminum-free Baking Powder, or 365 Aluminum-free Baking Powder
Pure Sea Salt from Brazil's Northern Coast by Kirkland
Arm & Hammer Pure Baking Soda
Hershey's Cocoa Natural Unsweetened
Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate Squares
Nestle Chocolate Morsels
Conventional Marshmallows (for fondant)
Conventional Non-Hydrogenated Palm Oil by Hill Country Fair (used only for greasing pans and fondant)
Organic & Conventional Lemons
Organic & Conventional Strawberries
Organic & Conventional Raspberries
Organic Carrots
Organic Oranges
Conventional Sweetened Coconut or Organic Dried Coconut
Conventional Unsweetened Canned Pineapple
Conventional Cream Cheese that is rBST free
100% pure Guar Gum by Now (for Gluten Free Baking)
White Rice Flour from Whole Foods Bulk Bin (for Gluten Free Baking)

A Chocolatey Celebration!!

2011-03-10T07:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Roger! My friend Leisa contacted me, she was planning a surprise birthday party for her husband and wanted a special cake to celebrate. This was a party to celebrate Life! The other thing she wanted was chocolate. Lots of chocolatey goodness! So, I got to work on it. I have been wanting to do a cake with stars shooting out of it and this was the perfect opportunity! I made layers of Tish Boyle's Devilishly Moist Chocolate Cake from The Cake Book, and filled them with a Chocolate Pudding filling from her Brooklyn Blackout Cake recipe, and topped them with Fudgy Chocolate Frosting. Then I decorated it all with my homemade fondant.

Celebrating you Roger!

Gabriella's Baby Dedication Cake

2011-03-09T07:52:00.000-08:00

I made this cake for a friend of mine from church. She knew exactly what she wanted and even had a picture for me to work from (of course I added my own touch too!). I love it when this works out!

I love baking for my friends, and I rejoice in each celebration that I'm asked to bake for. What an honor to contribute to life's most precious moments. As I make each cake and add fresh ingredients I often lift up the receiver and family in prayer, and even ask God to bless the celebration. My prayer for this child? "Dear God, I pray Gabriella grows in wisdom and knowledge, that she knows You and loves You all the days of her life, that she has a long and healthy life, and that she is a light in the world for You. In Jesus Name, Amen"

The cake is a Gluten Free Vanilla 8" round cake. With Billy's Vanillie Buttercream and my homemade fondant on top.

Unfortunately, I had a problem with the lighting when taking the pictures, so this is what I have:

Fortunately, my friend Rachelle sent me these (taken by FORE Photography):

Have a wonderful day!!

Rusty's Rockin' Carrot Cake

2011-03-08T09:52:00.000-08:00

After a month of silence, I've got some catching up to do. I couldn't decide where to start so, I started with my most recent cake.

My friend Russel is writing a cookbook. He gave me this recipe to try out and it is delicious!! I have made it a few times but this time I got some good pictures and I thought I would share it with you. I made this yummy cake to show our appreciation for the local teachers. With all the layoffs this past week, we had a community effort to show them some love. I made two cakes, one for each school my girls are in.

The cake is 3 9" layers of Carrot Cake topped by a Orange Zest Cream Cheese frosting. I pressed toasted coconut on the sides to compliment the coconut in the batter. I hope the teachers were feeling the love. <3

Lily's Gluten Free Birthday Cake

2011-01-31T12:02:00.000-08:00

Lily's mom wanted a fun girly birthday cake for her daughter's 2nd birthday. This is what I came up with! It's a 9" Golden Vanilla Gluten Free Cake adapted from Tish Boyle's Golden Cake from the Cake Book, with my favorite Billy Vanillie Buttercream icing, and a fondant top. The crown and wand are fun toppers. She loved it!

Here is little Lilly enjoying her cake and toppers!

Cardamom Crumb Cake

2010-12-21T10:17:00.000-08:00

This crumb cake was so easy to whip up. I made a few minor changes to the recipe. At my daughter's request I omitted the nuts. She was very happy! I didn't have any oranges so I substituted lemon zest, and instead of butter I used olive oil. You couldn't even taste it! The lemon was very fresh and the cake was a hit with all my family!

If you want to try this recipe look in Dorrie Greenspan's book Baking From My Home To Yours on pages 38-39. Or you can look on Jill's website (she picked this week!): http://jillbert.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/tuesdays-with-dorie-cardamom-crumb-cake-my-pick/

Baby Shower Cake & Cookies ~ Bananafish Bubblegum Design!

2010-12-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

A 9" three layer, Devilishly Moist Chocolate Cake from Tish Boyle's The Cake Book, with Billy's Vanillie Buttercream, topped with a fondant icing. I made matching onesie cookies to go with it.

I made all to match her bedding- Bananafish Bubblegum, from Target. So adorable!

Welcome little one!

50th Anniversary Cake!

2010-11-27T14:39:00.000-08:00

My very first formal cake! I had so much fun designing this cake and making it. Debra wanted the cake to be gold and cream, with black accents. I made two sketches for her, and this is the one she chose. I used a 6" round Golden Cake for the top, and a 9" round Devilishly Chocolate Cake for the bottom half (Thank you to Tish Boyle's The Cake Book), under the fondant icing the cake is covered in a cream cheese frosting.

I was so honored to make this cake. What a special day- 50 years of marriage!

Hope you are all enjoying your Thanksgiving weekend!

Cranberry Lemon Galette with the BEST Pie Crust RECIPE!!

2010-11-16T09:31:00.000-08:00

Today's Tuesday with Dorrie from Dorrie Greenspan's Baking From My House To Yours, is a simple rustic type of pie~a galette. This is my first galette, and it was so simple and easy to make. This Galette is a scrumptious combination of sweet and tart, so, so good!! Dorie you have done it again!! Delicious!

I didn't have a lime, it was supposed to be a Cranberry Lime Galette but I only had a lemon, so that is what I used. I also substituted homemade strawberry jam for the raspberry jam. I believe in working with what I have on hand! :) Simple substitutions like this do not really alter the recipe much in my opinion. Sure the taste will be slightly different but the principle is the same.

I baked my Galette on my stone cookie sheet. The stone prevents the crusts from burning, ie. the cookies, galette, or whatever I'm baking.

I love Dorie's pie crust, but I have a recipe I love even more. My cousin from WI gave me this little cookbook from the Sheboygan Christian School (they are famous for their pies!) and I make the crust from this home grown book~100 Years Of Butter & Love.

Here is my pie crust recipe, enjoy it with your favorite pie. I'm sure you'll be baking one up here pretty soon as we are just one week away from Thanksgiving!

Pie Crust
Makes enough for two pie crusts.
4 C. flour
1 T sugar (optional)
2 tsp salt
1 3/4 C. butter
1/2 C. water
1 T vinegar
1 lg. egg
Mix together flour, sugar and salt. Add butter and mash with a pastry blender until crumbly. In a small bowl beat water, vinegar and egg. Combine the two mixtures, stirring with fork. Divide for rolling. Works best if chilled about 30 minutes. Roll out on floured surface or between parchment paper to prevent sticking.

The crust does not taste at all like vinegar, once cooked. It has a wonderful consistency and is easy to work with. Rose Levey Beranbaum author of The Pie and Pastry Bible says "The vinegar helps relax the dough with out loosing the flakiness, making it easier to roll, shrink less and be more tender." She is also the author of The Cake Bible.

If you would like the recipe for the Galette look here at Celestial Confections blog, she picked the delicious recipe this week!

Baby Shower Cake (Gluten Free) - Monkey Design!

2010-11-12T11:02:00.000-08:00

I recently made this cake to match the bedding below for a friend's babyshower. She is having a little boy! Isn't the bedding adorable?

Silly me, I forgot to take a picture of the cake, but I'm so glad she sent me this one! I made the cake Gluten Free using white rice flour. It was perfect! I used Tish Boyle's The Cake Book's recipe for Golden Cake and just altered the flour to rice flour and added a little Guar Gum to help with the consistency.

I used BillyVanillie Buttercream, and I made the monkey with fondant. I even learned how to pipe my words with a new technique!

Welcome Baby Avery!!

Not-Just-For-Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake

2010-11-09T21:47:00.000-08:00

This shortbread cake is perfect for this time of year. The flaky sugar cookie crust is scrumptious and the cranberry center is a nice compliment. It's pretty easy to put together. I used a spring-form pan and that worked great for me.

If you want to try it check out a Singleton in the Kitchen's great blog! Or look in Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Baking From My House To Yours page 208-209.

Pirate and 70's Cakes!

2010-10-27T06:49:00.000-07:00

What fun projects I had this week! The Pirate cake is a delicious Devilishly Moist Chocolate Cake, and the 70's cake & the Green Cake are Vanilla Cakes (Golden) both recipes can be found in

The Cake Book by Tish Boyle.

All cakes are 8" cakes. On the 70's Cake,

I used Cream Cheese frosting and fondant decorations. I just love this look!!

The Pirate Cake has buttercream under a fondant icing.

Isn't he sweet? "I matey!"

I'm trying out a new buttercream decorating style here. FUN!!

Hope you are having a great week!!

Italian Cream Cake, and Buttered Pecans w/Recipe!!

2010-10-21T13:53:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law recently had her birthday. She really wanted an Italian (Wedding) Cream Cake, but her friends couldn't find one for her. They ended up getting her chocolate, which she said was very good. So, when she came to town to visit, I surprised her with her long awaited Italian Cream Cake!

I found this recipe in an old local cookbook I've had forever. I love little finds like this. I've made this cake several times over the years, and it always comes out perfect. I love to top this cake with buttered pecans, it's the perfect compliment. I've included all the recipes below with a few minor adjustments.

Austin Heritage Cookbook

Italian Cream Cake

2 sticks of butter

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

6 eggs, separated

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups cake flour, sifted with

1 tsp. soda

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups coconut

1 cup pecan pieces

1/2 tsp. cream of tarter

Cream butter, shortening, sugar, and salt. Add egg yolks and vanilla. Add flour alternately with buttermilk. Stir in nuts and coconut. In a clean bowl combine egg whites and cream of tarter, beat egg whites until stiff. Fold in gently. Pour into a 9x13 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until done. You can also use three 8" round pans and cook for about 30 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 lb. cream cheese, softened

1 stick butter, softened

1 lb box of powered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients an spread over cake

Rachel's Buttered Pecans

1 cup pecans

1 tbs. butter

Sauté pecans and butter in a skillet (I like to use my cast iron). Cook about 10-15 minutes on med high heat. Once pecans are fragrant and slightly darker they are ready to remove from heat. Cool on paper towel and they should be slightly crisp once cool. You might want to make a little extra to make sure you have enough. I know I do, because my husband always likes to taste them before I can use them. :)

Carmel Pumpkin Pie- with nuts or without?

2010-10-19T12:02:00.000-07:00

I started with a whole pumpkin. It's the season isn't it? It's so easy to do. Next, I grabbed the leftover pie dough from the fridge (we made quiche this week). I rolled this out and put it in my deep pie dish. Little did I know this was too much room. The crust fell over just a little bit during baking because it was too high. Still tasted good though. I ended up making the filling in my Kitchen Aid mixer because that seemed the easiest way to break up the pumpkin.

The filling called for homemade caramel. This was my first time making caramel and I loved it! I have made candied pecans so it was similar to that. I was so excited I hollered from the kitchen when I finished, and my husband didn't get it.

So Tasty!! I made homemade whipped cream ahead of time and it was a little cold when I took it out of the refrigerator. That is why it looks a little "lumpy" in the picture.

I love nuts, my kids don't. So, I ended up sprinkling buttered, toasted pecan pieces on one half of the pie and leaving the other plain. Everyone's happy. If you want to see this recipe check out Mortensen Family Memoirs, or you can find it in Dorrie Greenspan's book Baking From My House To Yours, pg. 322-323.

Hoot Owl Vanilla Sheet Cake

2010-10-12T06:09:00.000-07:00

My good friend Ms. W over at Haphazard Happenstance asked me to make a cake for her daughter's birthday, and not only did she know what she wanted, she sent me this design! How cute is that?

I told her it wouldn't be exact but I could do something similar. So, I got to work and made the cake. I used buttercream and fondant accents.

This is a 11 x 15 sheet cake, made with Vanilla Cake and my Billy Vanillie Buttercream.

The Hoot Owl is my favorite!

Happy Birthday Kyla!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

2010-10-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake. My husband's favorite flavors for his 40th birthday. I found this recipe in Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters. It's such a fun cookbook with lots of old fashioned recipes. They have collected from all over. This cake is very thick and the frosting is rich. It made one 8" layer. The taste is wonderful but the crumb was a little dry for me. It did not call for any eggs, and I think if I made it again I would add some eggs to the mixture. It was perfect with some Natural Vanilla Bean, Blue Bell Icecream. The only flavor that has no HFCS and of course no hydrogenated fats.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband of 14 years. I'm looking forward to many more happy healthy sweet years with you. I love you!

Celebration Church Country Fair 2nd Place Ribbon!

2010-10-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

A Hummingbird Cake! I found this recipe in several places, but choose to try the one from Nancie McDermott's cookbook, Southern Cakes. She describes it "Wonderfully rich and pretty in understated way". A perfect description. It's traditional flavor comes from bananas, pineapple, (I made mine toasted) pecans, and cream cheese pecan frosting.

I have never entered or won any contests, so I was very excited to win 2nd place!!

Red Velvet Cake, With Chocolate Filling and Cream Cheese Frosting (with recipe)

2010-10-07T06:47:00.000-07:00

My first Red Velvet Cake. I used an 8" square pan for the three layer Red Velvet Cake, between each layer was a luscious chocolate filling with mini chocolate chips, and topped with a cream cheese frosting.

After searching the web and my friend's trial with the recipe from Southern Living's Red Velvet Cake being too dry, I found these wonderful recipes for Red Velvet Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting in Nancie McDermott's cookbook Southern Cakes. This is a wonderful book! The filling recipe was found in Tish Boyle's The Cake Book. I love the drizzled chocolate look with the mini chocolate chips.

This cake came out moist and a beautiful dark red.

Here are the cake and frosting recipes below. I already found the Red Velvet Cake recipe posted on the web, so I don't feel too guilty posting these recipes here. This is an excellent cake cookbook. I have tried several of her recipes and they all are delicious!

From Nancie McDermott's book Southern Cakes (pg. 103):

Nobody knows for sure where this cake comes from, but lost of people agree with me that it is one magnificent cake. It's signature carmine coloration is dazzling, and I adore it's tangy little grace not of flavor, created by the unusual combination of vinegar, buttermilk, and cocoa in the batter. Red food coloring is the not-so-secret ingredient responsible for it's sassy color. Try gel paste food coloring if you'd like to experiment with another route to red.

Red Velvet Cake

Cake

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk*

2 tablespoons cocoa

One 1-oz bottle (2 tablespoons) red food coloring

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 tablespoon cider vinegar or white vinegar

TO MAKE THE CAKE, heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans generously, and line them with waxed paper or kitchen parchment. Grease the paper and flour the pans.

PREPARE THREE SEPARATE MIXTURES for the batter: Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl and use a fork to mix them together well. Stir the vanilla into the buttermilk. Combine the cocoa and the red food coloring in a small bowl, mashing and stirring them together to make a thick, smooth paste.

IN A LARGE BOWL, beat the butter with a mixer at low speed for 1 minute, until creamy and soft. Add the sugar, and then beat well for 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl now and then. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each one, until the mixture is creamy, fluffy, and smooth. Scrape the cocoa-food coloring paste into the batter and beat to mix it in evenly.

ADD ABOUT A THIRD of the flour mixture, and then about half of the milk, beating the batter with a mixer at low speed, and mixing only enough to make the flour or liquid disappear into the batter. Mix in another third of the flour, the rest of the milk, and then the last of the flour in the same way.

IN A SMALL BOWL, combine the baking soda and vinegar and stir well. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to quickly mix this last mixture into the read batter, folding it in gently by hand. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans.

BAKE at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, until the layers spring back when touched lightly in the center and are just beginning to pull away from the sides of the pans.

COOL THE CAKES in the pans on wire racks or folded kitchen towels for 15 minutes. Then turn them out on the racks or on plates, remove the paper, and turn top side up to cool completely.

*NOTE: If you don't have buttermilk, stir 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice into 1 cup of milk and let stand for 10 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting (pg. 148)

Makes enough for one 3-layer cake, one 13-by-9 inch cake or 24 cupcakes.

One 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened (1 cup)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

One 1-pound box (3 2/3 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

IN A MEDIUM BOWL, combine the cream cheese and butter and beat with a mixer on medium speed to mix well. Add the confectioners' sugar and vanilla and beat at hight speed until the frosting is fluffy and smooth, stopping once or twice to scrape down the bowl and mix everything well. Spread the frosting on a cooled cake, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Happy Birthday Payton!

Gluten Free Birthday Present Cake

2010-10-06T10:30:00.000-07:00

I worked on a new project last week- a gluten free cake. This is a triple layer strawberry 8" round. It has strawberry buttercream under the fondant. I used a special Gourmet Writer to write on the fondant.

Thank you Courtney for believing in me!! Happy Birthday Jordan!

Double Apple Bundt Cake

2010-10-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

A simple, apple Fall cake. I skipped the raisins but did add toasted pecan pieces.

It smelled delicious!! I ended up giving this to a friend that is going through some tough times. I thought it would be fun to cheer their family up.

This weeks recipe was picked by Honey Muffin, check out her blog for the recipe or you can find it in Dorie Greenspan's book Baking From My House To Yours.

Hope you enjoy this one!

Chocolate Coffee Break Muffins

2010-09-21T11:20:00.000-07:00

This weeks recipe was very simple to make. I am not crazy about coffee flavored food. I LOVE coffee don't get me wrong, but when it's in ice-cream or muffins, eh, I could live without it. So, to make it more pleasing to my palate, I added coco powder ~ 1/2 a cup to the recipe. It made the muffins taste more like a chocolate biscuit, perhaps I need just a tad more sugar? They were perfect served up with a little honey butter. Yum!

This recipe was picked by Rhiani of Chocoholic Anonymous (hopefully the recipe will be posted soon!) or you can find it in Dorie Greenspans' Book, Baking From My Home To Yours on pg 15.

Celebration Church Country Fair

2010-09-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

My beloved church is hosting a Country Fair in celebration of it's 10 year birthday. As part of the activities they are holding a Blue Ribbon Food Contest!! I have never competed in a contest for baking or otherwise. I'm going for it!

But what to make, what to make??!!! I can't decide. So, I'm asking you my internet friends/family. Any suggestions?? I can't wait to hear your response!

If I decide to use your suggestion I'll give you a prize! If you want to see more about our church festivities check out this link:

http://www.celebrationchurchtx.com/10th-birthday-bash

Devilishly Moist Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

2010-09-20T11:49:00.000-07:00

This cake was so moist and delicious! I used Tish Boyle's The Cake Book recipe for Devilishly Moist Chocolate Cake, my all time favorite recipe, and I made cream cheese frosting to go with it. The cake was a square 8" three layer cake. I used the crumbs from the cake layers to decorate the sides of the cake, and I drizzled warm chocolate across the top. It's pretty but a little messy, and this one does not take hours to decorate! :)

To add to it, I made chocolate covered strawberries, that surrounded the cake. I love to do this! It adds extra elegance to the cake and they taste so wonderful!

"Cinderella" Castle Cake

2010-09-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

This Labor Day I spent the day decorating a super fun cake for my friend Emily's kiddos. The cake was a Golden Cake from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle. The buttercream is my Billy Vanillie recipe that I've posted here. The cake is made from four 8" square pans, topped with buttercream, then decorated with white and blue fondant. The fondant I make from powdered sugar and marshmallows.

My husband made the flags for me and even made a special trip to the store when (gasp) I ran out of powdered sugar. He is a very good husband. <3

Just for fun I thought I'd share my very first fondant cake I made, that just so happened was also a castle cake. You can see how far I've come in a year + a few months, of baking. It's not that long, but I have had a bummpy and fun ride making cakes! I've had some super great cakes, and some not so great, I'm sad to say. Overall, I have learned so much.

My first cake ever! June 2009, My daughter's Pony birthday party cake. The fondant was hard for me to smooth out, the cake was hard to form, not to mention I did not have The Cake Book!, but the idea was good. It inspired me to keep trying.

Thank you Emily for the honor of making your cake! I'm truly blessed that my friends and family believe in me and support me as I learn the "art" of cake decorating and baking.

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Crisscrosses

2010-09-07T19:52:00.000-07:00

We like chocolate in our peanut-butter. Yumm! These little tasty treats were easy to whip up. Easy Peasy, Old Man Squeezey as my 1st grader likes to say.

To see these cookies again and get the recipe you can check out Jasmine Cuisine who picked our recipe this week. The first part is in French but if you scroll down you'll get the English version. She's a French Canadian ya know. Or you can find the recipe in Dorie Greenspan's Cooking From My House To Yours on page 78.

Hope you had a great Tuesday! Ours was wonderful and rainy.

Chocolate Espresso Shortcake

2010-08-31T21:31:00.000-07:00

This week I made these fun little shortbread cookies. I mostly followed the recipe as Dorie instructed, but I did make one change- instead of pressing the cookies into a plastic baggie, I ended up pressing the cookies between some parchment paper into a glass baking dish. It worked out great and I saved a little plastic from going into the landfill.

I shared these at our Meet and Greet MOPS meeting on Monday and they were a hit!

If you want to make some you can find the recipe on this blog: Life's too short not to eat dessert first Or in Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Baking From My House To Yours.

Hope you are enjoying the last days of summer!

Oatmeal Breakfast Bread

2010-08-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

This scrumptious Oatmeal Breakfast Bread was delicious! It had the consistency similar to bread pudding, so moist. I added plump raisins and topped with a sugar pecan crumble. Upon baking the crumble turned into flaky crispy candied pecans. It was very tasty. I took it to Retrouvaille to share with our couples. This was the last slice! I saved it to share with you.

Thank you Natalie at Oven Love for picking this weeks recipe! Check out her blog to find the recipe or find it in Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours.

Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream

2010-08-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

Creamy, decadent, and delicious.

This is a small bowl with small scoops, because this ice-cream is so rich that is all you need. Funny Dorie, says we can keep this in a covered container for two weeks. Like it will last that long.

I used Callebaut chocolate, and left it with out toppings or filings. I wanted to try it in all it's splendor first. I'm not sad. Find the recipe in Dorie Greenspans' book Cooking with Dorie, From My House To Yours on page 430. Or check here on Katrina's blog Baking and Boys.

Hope your summer is going swimmingly!

Chewy, Chunky Blondies

2010-07-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

This has got to be one of the easiest and rewarding recipes ever. I made them Saturday morning before our Post sessions at Retrouvaille, and took them hot out of the oven to the car. By the time I got there, they were the perfect temperature for eating. Warm, soft, and chewy. I will say they were devoured, and kind of funny to me, the middle ones went first!

I made mine with 2 cups of chocolate chips, 1 cup cookie sized walnut pieces, and 1 cup dried coconut. I was thinking these would be good with some oats but I didn't have any or that would have went in. I didn't use the brown sugar. I use organic sugar, it already has a nice light caramel color from some of the natural molasses that is still in there, and they tasted great! I ended up baking these for about 7 minutes more than she recommended. They came out perfect.

I also wanted to note, that I love my stand mixer. I don't think I ever mixed anything long enough with the hand held type I used for years. Even if I did mix it the recommended amount of time, it was never as fluffy as I can get it in my stand mixer, and that really seems to help with the consistency of my baking.

If you like easy delicious recipes, you should try these! Look in Dorie Greenspan's book Baking from My House To Yours on page 109 or check Nicole's blog Cookies on Friday for the recipe posted online.

Lots of Ways Banana Cake- Pudding!

2010-07-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

I grew up with mom making banana bread. It was best served warm out of the oven with lots of butter. These are fond memories for me. My mother is a wonderful cook and baker.

When I first got married I made lots of fresh muffins and mom's banana bread for my new husband. He really enjoyed them, the only problem was I made too many. We got tired of them, and I haven't made them in a long time. So, when I saw this recipe for banana cake, I was thinking to myself, what can I do with it?

Luckily Dorie Greenspan has lots of suggestions, but I couldn't find just what I was looking for. My husband loves pudding, so I decided to put the two together. This is a great combo!

I made homemade Stirred Custard, Fresh Whipped Cream, and layered it with fresh bananas and Banana Cake. My husband was delighted!

I had so much I made enough to bring to Girls Night In at Erica's house tonight!

The Banana Coconut Cake. To me it tasted very similar to regular banana bread, I did add the coconut milk and toasted coconut. It is very moist and has a wonderful texture.

Check here for the Banana Cake Recipe at Only Creative Opportunities by Kimberly who picked our recipe this week. Or look in Dorie Greenspan's book Cooking From My House To Yours on pages 204-205.

Stirred Custard

by Better Homes and Gardens, New Cook Book.

3 beaten eggs

2 cups of milk or light cream

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a heavy medium saucepan combine eggs, milk or light cream, and sugar. cook an stir over medium heat. Continue cooking egg mixture until it just coats a metal spoon. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Quickly cool the custard by placing the saucepan in a sink or bowl of ice water for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour custard mixture into a bowl. Cover surface with clear plastic wrap. Chill until serving time. Serve over cake or fruit. Makes 3 cups (6 servings).

Fresh Whipped Cream

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Place all ingredients into mixing bowl and whip with an electric mixer until firm peaks form. Keep your eye on the cream, you don't want to over mix it.

Banana Cake Pudding

1/2 Banana Cake

5 bananas

Fresh Whipped Cream

Stirred Custard (x2)

1. Cube banana cake and put about half of it at the bottom of a glass bowl. 2. Cut up 2 bananas and layer on top of cake. 3. Spoon Stirred Custard, that has been slightly chilled, over the top. 4. Next layer the whipped cream on top of the custard. Smooth out the layers, then add another small layer of cake and bananas. Repeat steps 3 & 4. I crumbled some cake on the top and decorated with banana slices.

Happy Baking!

Tarte Noire TWD

2010-07-06T21:26:00.000-07:00

A chocolate ganache tart, with a sweet cookie crust.

Beautiful, elegant and simple. Serve with sliced berries and a dollop of whipped cream, or eat as is. You won't be disappointed.

Find the recipe in Baking From My House to Yours on page 351, by Dorie Greenspan, or find it on dharmagirl's blog bliss: towards a delicious life.

Vanilla Cake

2010-06-29T22:27:00.000-07:00

Tuesdays With Dorie

Ok, so I'm out of town, but I was determined to make this weeks cake. It looks and smells so good, I'm sure we will love it! It's a good thing my SIL had what I needed to make this work. Thank you Carolyn!! Summer time seems to be getting in the way of my baking.

Excuse my pic, it was actually taken w/my cell phone. Seriously roughing it! If you want to see this recipe look over at Wendy's blog pinkstripes, or in Dorie Greenspan's book-Cooking from my home to yours.

Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake

2010-06-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

Ah, Tuesdays with Dorie! I love this recipe! This cake is easy to put together. I baked it in a glass loaf pan, the recipe was a little big for my pan, so I made a couple of cupcakes to go with it. Once cooled the cake is sliced into 3 layers. I filled the layers with some of my homemade strawberry compote, then it's topped with a sour cream chocolate frosting.

I found these organic strawberries at my local grocery store. As I picked them out, they looked so familiar. Then I realized, they are the same ones I used to buy at the Monterey, CA, farmers market! They are super sweet and delicious. They almost did not make it on the cake! What an exciting find!

To see the complete recipe look on pages 286-287 in Dorie Greenspan's Baking from my home to yours. Or look here at Amy's website Amy Ruth, she picked today's recipe!

8th Grade Graduation Cake

2010-06-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

I made Tish Boyle's Devilishly Moist Chocolate Cake and topped it with delicious Fudgy Chocolate Frosting from The Cake Book. This time I made a 12" x 18" sheet cake for an 8th Grade Graduation Party. I used fondant for the stars, and I piped buttercream for the writing.

Happy Baking!

Jace's Birthday Cake

2010-06-16T22:29:00.000-07:00

My nephew Jace turned 5 and he had a super fun birthday party. I made him a chocolate cake with Scooby-Doo! Of course it's Tish Boyle's Devilishly Moist Chocolate Cake from The Cake Book. One of my favorites!

I topped it with buttercream tinted green (matching the fondant) then topped that with homemade fondant. Everything you see on the top of the cake is fondant.

Pink Princess Cake

2010-05-30T17:11:00.000-07:00

My little daughter turned 6 and we had a Princess Tea Party for her and her friends. She wanted a Pink Princess Cake. I was happy to make one for her!

Her favorite part of the cake, (this is what she told me) were the little bows

on the dress.

It is a white cake from Tish Boyle's Cake Book. With Billy Vanillie pink buttercream, topped with pink fondant. My little girl said it was "The best birthday party ever!" So that works for me!

Here is where we got our inspiration. Check it out and other fun ideas!

http://www.howdini.com/howdini-video-7075975.html

Hope you are having a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pie

2010-05-25T18:29:00.000-07:00

This easy recipe is quite tasty, except if you don't like coconut that is. My girls did not care for this pie but my husband and I thought it was quite yummy! A simple crust of short bread and toasted coconut, then a yummy filling of chocolate icecream and bananas. Perfect for a warm day.

Check out this recipe here. Or find it in Baking From My Home To Yours, by Dorie Greenspan. on pg 350.

Flag Cake for Rylan

2010-05-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Rylan!! Actually he is 7, but it was easy to fix as soon as his mom showed up to pick up the cake. Oops! :) It's a Delicious Chocolate Sheet Cake sized 11 x 15. My first one! I even had to go buy a new pan. How else are you going to make a flag cake? I hope he had a great party! I was very happy with this cake. Me? I'm still baking away!

Next up is Tuesdays with Dorie! See ya tomorrow friends!

Lemon Lust Cake w/fresh blueberries

2010-05-23T12:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week of baking. I made a Lemon Lust Cake from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle for my sister's boyfriend Wade. Happy 42nd birthday!

It is a 4 layer 9" cake, each layer has lemon sugar syrup, a creamy lemon filling made from Lemon Curd, and then the outside is covered in a Lemon Curd Buttercream frosting. It is lemonly goodness. I topped it with a few fresh blueberries. If you like lemon cake this is a keeper recipe. I also made a few cupcakes from the same recipe, as listed in the previous post Hippo Cookies and Lemon Cupcakes.

I've made this cake before and covered it with fondant. Click on the following link if you want to see the other cake, and the cupcake recipe by Tish Boyle, Lemon Birthday Cake for Bryce. I thought it would be fun to show you the different looks this cake can have. Hope you are having a great weekend! I'll see you soon as I've got more baking to do!

Hippo Cookies and Lemon Cupcakes!

2010-05-22T15:27:00.000-07:00

I made Hippo Sugar Cookies for my friend Melena's class. She teaches preschool and on the last day of school she wanted to send the children home with a sweet little something. Her class is the "Happy Hippos". I found a cute little cookie cutter online. Hippo-Cookie-Cutter

I used the same recipe as I did for my Valentine's Day Cookies. I bagged each cookie individually and put stickers on them that say "Have a great Summer". My friend Erica designed the stickers. Thank you Erica!!

On the back of the wax paper bags, I placed another sticker, that Erica designed for me, with my information on it. Everything was Hippo-y! I loved making these cookies!

Melena decided at the last minute she wanted just a few cupcakes to go with her cookies. Not a problem!

I made her some Lemon Cupcakes. These came out so good. I was in the middle of making a Lemon Lust Cake out of The Cake Book by Tish Boyle, so it worked out wonderfully!

The raspberries were a fun added element. Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Chocolate Cake and White Cake with Bavarian Cream

2010-05-19T08:08:00.000-07:00

I made two birthday cakes last week. The first one a delicious deep chocolate cake with a chocolate pudding filling, and a fudgy icing. I used a recipe out of The Cake Book by Tish Boyle. I made chocolate covered stawberries to go on top. Of course I sent that separate, so it could be assembled it at the party. Here are the pieces, you just have to use your imagination here my friends! Or look at this very similar cake I made last December Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Covered Strawberries.

The top of the cake, just imagine it surrounded in pretty chocolate covered strawberries. I'm still perfecting my writing. Believe it or not, it's getting better. :p This is a 10" cake on the bottom and an 8" cake on the top. I used wooden dowels to hold it all together.

My next cake was a White Cake with Bavarian Cream filling. I have only made the Bavarian cream filling once before and I think I managed to get that down this time (It's so yummy!!), but I had trouble, and I mean Trouble, with the icing. It was a combination of problems- humidity, not enough sugar, then too much sugar in the icing. I struggled with this one, oh well, no one is perfect! I hope you had a nice birthday Maryori! :)

Here is the side of the cake. Isn't that cute?

Hope you have a great week, and I'm back to baking!

Cherry-Topped Cheesecake Cups

2010-05-12T08:38:00.000-07:00

Oh my, these are absolutely scrumptious! I wanted to make something (besides my tart) just for the moms in my life. Something special, small, and well, delicious. These fit the bill, and I'm not just saying that. Ok, well me and my taste buds are saying that! :) I did have to keep a few, I'm a mom too you know.

Oh, you will never guess where I found this recipe! That is what I call a little joke. If you have been reading this blog, you just might know what my favorite cake book is, and that is where I found this scrumptious recipe! The Cake Book by Tish Boyle. Oh yes I did! These were really easy to make and came out perfectly! I couldn't be more happy with them. The only thing I did differently was I used canned cherries, instead of the Morello Cherries, but it still tasted super yummy.

I have some exciting news! Well, at least for me. :) I keep raving about Tish Boyle's book, and well, she emailed me! She has put BabyCakes by Rachel as one of her favorite blogs on Tish Boyle's Blog. If you want to see, just click on this link Tish Boyle's Blog, and scroll down, and it's on the left side. How cool is that? I am so honored! Her recipes are so good!! I am so glad I found her book, and it has helped me develop my baking skills. If you are interested in learning to bake cakes, develop you skills, or learn new wonderful recipes, this is the book for you!

I hope you all have a great week! I have some cakes I'm baking this week so I'll have them up soon!

Quick Classic Berry Tart

2010-05-11T06:15:00.000-07:00

This Mother's Day we celebrated with a beautiful Berry Tart. I wouldn't say it was "Quick", but it was quite good and worth the effort.

I love fresh berries and whatever reason we have to eat more is good by me. I actually made two tarts, one for my mother and sister, and one for my husband's mother and grandmother. We had a fun day filled with family, and church. The best of it all.

The way to do this "quick", I believe, is to make the pastry cream and the crust the day before you assemble the tart. Then assembling is a snap. I made the pastry cream as directed, and I actually split it between the two tarts. It was plenty for both. For glazing, the recipe called for boiled red currant jelly, but I opted for fresh raw honey. It worked perfectly.

As you can see I prefer to use a ceramic tart pan vs a metal one. I usually have good results, but this time the crust seemed to stick. Maybe I played with it too long? Next time I will use some parchment paper. The berries I found were at their perfect ripeness, and the tart was delicious.

Thank you to Cristine for picking the recipe. It was a perfect accompaniment to our day! If you would like to see the recipe check her page or look on page 377 in Baking From My Home To Yours, by Dorie Greenspan. Don't forget to check out the TWD blog roll. I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Chockablock Cookies

2010-04-27T09:03:00.000-07:00

Chocokablock Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. I made these cookies this morning. What a fun concoction of ingredients. In my rendition, I didn't use vegetable shortening in my cookies. I don't like those pesky transfats, and I always have plenty of butter on hand~"butta is better" says Julia Child. I think the molasses makes this cookie, they are the backbone of flavor, with the chocolate next. All the add ins I used are: pecan pieces, mixed raisins and dried cranberries, chocolate chips, and unsweetened coconut. I declare these cookies delicious!

Find the recipe on Mary's blog: Popsicles and Sandy Feet or page 86 in Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Lemon Birthday Cake for Bryce

2010-04-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

I made a Lemon Cake for Bryce and Terri's birthday. This is one of my new favorite flavors! I found this delicious Lemon Cake recipe in The Cake Book, by Tish Bolye. I also included a very similar recipe off her website just below, and a link to her blog if you are interested in checking it out. She is my all time favorite cake author! My cake is a four layer, nine inch cake. It is layered with a lemon curd whipped cream filling, it has a lemon sugar syrup, and is topped with a lemon buttercream icing. Then on top of the buttercream is a layer of fondant. It's just a fun festive birthday cake!

http://tishboyle.blogspot.com/2009/06/pucker-up_06.html

Pucker Up Lemon Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

Lemon Curd:

8 large egg yolks

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

Lemon Cupcakes:

3 cups cake flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

1/4 cup freshly squeezed strained lemon juice

2/3 cup whole milk

Lemon Buttercream:

1 cup granulated sugar

5 large egg whites

3 tablespoons water

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup lemon curd

Make the Lemon Curd:

1. Set a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl and set aside. In a medium, heavy, non-reactive saucepan, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until blended. Stir in the lemon zest and juice, salt, and butter and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 7 to 10 minutes (do not let the mixture boil, or it will curdle). The mixture should leave a path on the back of a wooden spoon when you draw your finger across it. Immediately strain the mixture through the sieve, pressing it through with a rubber spatula.

2. Set the bowl containing the lemon mixture in a large mixing bowl filled one-third of the way with ice water (be careful that the water doesn’t splash into the lemon mixture). Stir the lemon mixture frequently until it is slightly chilled, about 15 minutes. Cover the surface of the curd with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use (up to 3 days).

Make the cupcakes:

3. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners.

4. In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.

5. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add the sugar and beat at high speed for 3 minutes, until well blended and light. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, reduce the speed to medium, and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and mixing until blended. Beat in the lemon zest and lemon juice until blended. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating it with the milk in two additions. Mix just until blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared cups and smooth the tops.

6. Bake the cakes for 20 to 22 minutes, until they are golden brown around the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in the pans, set on wire racks, for 15 minutes.

7. Transfer the cupcakes to wire racks and cool completely.

Make the buttercream:

8. Pour enough water into a skillet so that it comes 1/2-inch up its sides. Bring the water to a simmer; reduce the heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer.

9.. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, egg whites, and water. Place the bowl in the skillet of water and whisk gently until the mixture registers 160°F on an instant-read thermometer.

10. Transfer the bowl to the mixer stand and, using the whisk attachment, beat at medium-high speed until the meringue is cool and forms stiff, shiny peaks, about 5 minutes.

11. Reduce the speed to medium and beat in the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Beat in the vanilla. Beat at high speed until the buttercream is smooth, about 1 minute.

12. Add the lemon curd and beat until well blended.

Fill and frost the cupcakes:

13. Using a paring knife, cut a cone-shaped wedge out of the center of each cupcake (the diameter of the cone should be about 1/2 inch).

14. Fill the center of each cupcake with lemon curd.

15. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tip (Ateco #5) with the buttercream. Pipe a generous swirl of buttercream on top of each filled cupcake. Serve the cupcakes immediately, or refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Amish Cinnamon Rolls

2010-04-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

What could be more wholesome than homemade bread? I remember homemade bread growing up, I would watch my mom kneading it in the kitchen. We would chat as she worked. She had a giant ceramic bowl that she aways used for her bread. She would set it in the corner with a dish towel across it while it rose into goodness. I think she got the bowl in Portugal, I'm not sure where it is today, but the memory remains. Not until I was in my 20's did I start making my own bread, but I kneed my bread just like she does. Funny what you pick up as you watch, learn, and absorb as a child.

My sister gave me some Amish starter a few months ago. I quickly got tired of making Amish Friendship Bread, I did not like the box of pudding needed to make it. The bread is delicious, but I want something all natural, to feed my precious family. I found a web site dedicated to making all sorts of fun treats with the Amish starter. I have tried Amish pancakes, and Amish biscuits, both of these are very good! The plus? No added box of anything, just pure natural ingredients. My new endeavor- Amish Cinnamon Rolls. I thought I'd share..

Above is my starter, mixed with flour and milk. It has to rise for 12 hours before I can make my rolls. I have set it aside in a warm spot in my kitchen, with a dish towel across the top of the bowl.

12 hours later (and a little more) my dough has risen nicely. As I moved it, it did fall just a tad, as you can tell in the picture. But no worries, I was ready to mix more ingredients in, and make my rolls!

These are making me hungry, they are so yummy! I made this particular batch for a friend that just had a baby. I hope her family enjoys this sweet treat!

If you want some starter, it's meant to be passed around. So, just let me know (if your local) and I'll be happy to give you a cup. Or want to make your own starter? Look here for a recipe- Amish Friendship Bread Starter. I use a large glass jar to keep my starter in, and I give it a stir with a wooden spoon. No metal should touch it, as it can leach into the starter. That would be a bad thing. I use organic sugar, organic flour, and organic milk in my starter.

Amish Cinnamon Rolls

2 cups flour
1 cup milk
1 cup Amish batter *
Combine and let set at room temperature overnight or 10-12 hours. Stir down.
Combine:
3 t. sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
Add into small bowl all at once to stir down. Pour dough out on well-floured board. Knead until no longer sticky. Roll out to 1/2" thickness in a rectangle shape. Brush dough with soft butter.
Combine:
1/4 cup sugar
1 TBS cinnamon
1/2 cup crushed nuts
Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture over dough. Beginning at wide side, roll up, and seal seam.
Cut 1" slices. Place on well-greased cookie sheet. Let rise 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees F 30-35 minutes.

* Note: This recipe requires the Amish basic batter. This is the batter that results after day 10 in the basic Amish Friendship Bread recipe this recipe is found here: Amish Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Roll Glaze

1/4 cup butter
2 oz cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter and cream cheese in saucepan on the stove. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well, and pour over warm rolls.
Thanks to Nina Pepin for her mother's frosting recipe found in More Please! my Shoreline (CA) MOPS cookbook.

Swedish Visiting Cake

2010-04-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

This a very easy and very tasty cake. The simple flavors of lemon and almond meld into a delicious cake. I was surprised it did not have any baking powder or soda in the recipe. I wondered about this, but went with it anyway, and I'm so glad I did!

I loved that I could make it in my cast iron skillet. Did you know that cooking in cast iron is good for you? It's an easy way to add iron into your diet, and it's free from harmful toxins sometimes found in cookware.

Here is a tempting slice just for you! I made this cake and brought it to Connect Group this past Friday. It was the perfect way to break bread with friends.

Sometimes the most simple things in life are the best. Enjoy your week!

If you would like to try this cake you can find the recipe on Nancy's blog at The Dogs Eat The Crumbs or on page 197 in Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Giant Cupcake "Happy Second Birthday!"

2010-04-05T08:22:00.000-07:00

A Giant cupcake! I loved making this cake. It is a vanilla cake, with buttercream icing. I made matching Billy Vanillie cupcakes to go with it. This was the first time I've used the Giant Cupcake Pan by Wilton. (I made the Easter Basket after this one!)

I made this to match her birthday party plates:

Girl's Lil' Cupcake 2nd Birthday Dinner Plates (8) Party Supplies

I made a candy shell for the bottom of the cake, then I covered it with stripes of fondant. I placed the cake inside the candy shell. Then I put the top half of the cake on. I made the matching fondant circles for the top of the cake.

Next I made a cute little cherry for the top of the cake. I made this out of gum drops. I thought it looked just like a maraschino cherry!

Here is the Birthday Cupcake Cake with the matching cupcakes.

The cupcakes again!

I hope you all had a great Easter weekend!

Giant Easter Basket

2010-04-03T15:12:00.000-07:00

I made a fun Easter Cake for my family. They are arriving soon! I found the eggs and the "rope" at the store and I used the bottom from the giant cupcake pan by Wilton. This is a quick post! I hope you enjoy the idea!

Happy Easter! blessings, Rachel

Coconut Tea Cake

2010-03-30T08:05:00.000-07:00

A well-mannered tea cake. This cake is delicious and easy to make. Dorie Greenspan calls it's purity and flavor well mannered. I just love that. Who knew a tea cake could be so well-mannered? Well, I'm certainly inviting it over for tea.

I have to share a funny story about this well-mannered cake. It calls for rum. I don't actually drink rum or any flavor of alcohol. I used to, but I've changed my wicked ways. :) Oh, so much for the better believe me, but that's a different story entirely. So here I am, with no rum, and my well-mannered cake to make. After helping with a marriage ministry last Saturday, we zipped over to our local "drive in" burger joint (yes, you know the one) to feed some little hungry mouths. (I know you are appalled! Fast food?!, Wait! It gets better...) As my husband began ordering food, I hopped out of the car and walked next door to the local liqueur store. I asked for a small bottle of the Meyers Rum behind the counter, and inquired if there was an even smaller bottle? The man behind the counter tried to convince me I would get a better deal with a bigger bottle. No need! So, here I come with my little bottle in a brown paper bag, getting into my mini van with my sweet little family. Oh, my husband was having a good time watching me! He teased me all the way back to the house.

This cake was so delicious! It had a nice soft tender crumb and a slightly chewy crust that was divine! The coconut flavor was not overpowering but just right. I had no problem getting it out of my pan. As usual, I used palm oil and I dusted it with all purpose flour. It worked like a charm. Anyone like to join me for a cuppa?

Carmen picked out our delicious Coconut Tea Cake, you can find the recipe on her blog Carmen Cooks or on pages 194 and 195 of

Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. If you want to see other versions of this well-mannered tea cake, visit the other bloggers on the TWD Blogroll!

Blessings, Rachel

Soft Chocolate and Raspberry Tart

2010-03-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

Today is Tuesday's with Dorie, and this week I made the Soft Chocolate Raspberry Tart. This past weekend, my Mother and Father in law came over for dinner. The perfect excuse to make the tart. It was so scrumptious and did not leave us disappointed.

For this tart I used organic raspberries and I even found a nice block of bittersweet chocolate - Callebaut Chocolate. I'm not big on fancy chocolate but this time I splurged. It was worth it. The tart crust came together very crumbly, but I went with it, and pressed it into the pan. It worked wonderfully.

You can find this recipe in Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Mommy? I’m Hungry! If you want to see other versions of this delicious tart check out the TWD Blogroll!

Tuesdays With Dorie: Thumbprints for Us Big Guys

2010-03-09T07:55:00.000-08:00

As an attempt at increasing my culinary baking skills I have taken on a new project. Introducing Tuesdays with Dorie! That's right I've joined the online baking community that bakes from Dorie Greenspan's wonderful cookbook Baking From My Home To Yours. So, 2 out of every 4 Tuesdays, or more, I will be posting my baking endeavors from this book. That of course, is in addition to all my cakes that I will continue to post.

These thumbprint cookies are so tasty!

I used ground walnuts in the mix and topped them....

with my homemade Olallieberry Jam. (It came with us when we moved back to TX, from CA.) I think this is my very last jar. It is so good, a mix between a raspberry and blackbery. I will miss you Olallieberry...

Before baking my thumbprints looked quite round.

They spread out after baking. I sprinkled them with powered sugar and placed a dollop of warm jam in the center.

If you want the recipe you can find it in her cook book or you can check out the Ugly Dude Food now, he picked out the recipe for this week. Feel free to check out all the other bakers on the TWD Blogroll!

Blessings, Rachel

Fairy Cake

2010-03-07T19:38:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to do a fairy cake and here was my opportunity. A sweet little one year old birthday party. I do believe this is my favorite cake yet! It had a lot of fun elements, and coordinating pieces. I used the paper plates and napkins to get my inspiration. If you want to see them here they are:

The cake is a simple white cake, and a Swiss Meringue frosting both from the Cake Book by Tish Boyle, filled with a Bavarian Cream filling -from The Cake Bible by Rose Beranbaum, and topped with my homemade Fondant. I used a 10" for the bottom tier, and 8" for the top tier.

Here is the little coordinating 4" smash cake for the birthday girl. For her cake I also used the same white cake but I used the Billy Vanillie Buttercream under the fondant, and no filling for that sweet little one.

I also made some cupcakes to go with the cake. These were fun! These were also white cake and the Billy Vanille Buttercream. My daughters helped me make the fondant flowers for the top of the cupcakes.

My sister in law came to my aid in helping me make the little fairies. We had so much fun assembling them and making all the little pieces to create them.

Our red head fairy.

The Princess Fairy on the top. She actually has a crown but I was so tired when I took these pictures I missed the crown. I put luster dust on the flowers, stars and fairies.

Here is the back of the cake. You can also see part of the top of the cake. My husband even helped roll the fondant balls. He is so sweet! I just loved the way it came out! So girlie and fun!

I want to thank everyone for their help! Janey thanks for hanging out and coloring the fondant with me. :)

Have a great week! Blessings, Rachel

Birthday Present Cake for Lauren

2010-03-05T11:32:00.000-08:00

A Birthday Present Cake for Lauren. Lauren is turning 13 and wanted a cake that looked like a present. She wanted a white frosting with two shades of pink. Her cake is Billy's Vanilla, from here on out I've decided to call it Billy Vanillie. I just can't help it, I'm an 80's child.

I really liked the her and her mom's idea to make a tag. My first attempt at that is below. I made it a little wonky for fun, then added a little flower for accent.

I used my new embossing rolling pen, I got at the cake show. I'm loving this! That is how I made the flowers on the ribbon. I added luster dust to all the ribbon, but I can't see it in the photos. It made it nice and sparkley.

I added a little plastic wrap for support while she transports it. Now I'm off to make another cake! Have a great day everyone! Blessings, Rachel

That Takes The Cake! Austin Cake Show

2010-03-04T13:33:00.000-08:00

Here are some fun photos of the Austin Cake Show. There were tons of hours, and labor that went into these beautiful cakes. I did not enter any of the contests but I sure had fun looking at all the cakes.

For your viewing pleasure:
http://picasaweb.google.com/rachcummins/AustinCakeShowThatTakesTheCake#

Blessings, Rachel

Purse Cakelet from my Cupcake Envy Class at the Austin Cake Show

2010-03-03T07:39:00.000-08:00

A purse cakelet. How fun! I went to the Austin Cake Show this past weekend and it was AMAZING! Wow, there is so much talent in this city. I have so much to learn!! Here is the cakelet I made. It's not made of real cake but styrofoam, and covered in fondant.

This is Amy Eilert, the owner of Cupcake Envy. She is showing us how to "build" a cakelet purse.

She made a pattern to cut the purse.

Here are some of the display cakes she made.

Here I am with the Cupcake Envy Gals!

The Cupcake Envy Gals!

My Cakelet

Have a blessed day! Rachel

Fondant Birthday Cake for Nicole

2010-02-26T13:00:00.000-08:00

I made this Super Fun, Blue, Purple and Orange birthday cake for Nicole who is turning 12 today! Hurray Nicole!!

This cake was a serious endeavor. I made only two tiers, but each tier was a different flavor. The top tier was Strawberry and the bottom was Lemon. For each cake I made a soaking syrup, a curd, a filling, and a flavored buttercream to go with the cake. The Lemon Cake was from my very favorite The Cake Book by Tish Boyle. She makes tasty cakes, and I'm sure glad I found her book! The Strawberry Cake was a mix of different recipes, and some of my own ideas. I'm learning how to compile my own cake recipe! I'm excited that I'm finally figuring out how it all works and what tastes good.

Once I had that completed, I covered it with my homemade fondant and decorated it. It was so fun and very rewarding! I learned a ton!!

The back of the cake

The bow of course.

To celebrate my new Strawberry Cake compilation I made my very first fondant video. It's a little goofy, but hey, at least I'm trying new things. I have to say, I made this video with absolutely no sleep. With that in mind, I'm sure you will think it's grand. hehehehe. Hopefully I'll get better as I continue to work on it and as my friend Erica continues to coach me on what to do! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbHiegAsQEo

Have a great Friday!! Blessings, Rachel

Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia- Recipe included!

2010-02-22T20:41:00.000-08:00

These brownies were so delicious! My little brother (age 28) was here recovering from his knee surgery, and he told me he really liked brownies. What could I do but make them for him?

I found this recipe as I was browsing the internet looking at some of my favorite foodie websites and I saw a Tuesdays With Dorie (TWD) challenge to make brownies.

My brother and I couldn't eat them all so I took some to bible study. I cut them up nice and small as my friends requested.

Each bite was chocolate bliss.

Rick Katz’s Brownies For Julia

Dorie writes “In 1995, when I was working with Julia Child filming the PBS series Baking with Julia and writing the companion book, Boston-based pastry chef Rick Katz was running the prep kitchen in Julia’s basement. Working between the washing machine and the dryer, Rick was in charge of getting the recipes of each of the twenty-six visiting chefs ready for their close-ups. An ordinary human would have had his hands full, but superman Rick always found time to make us extra little goodies, among them these very dark, very fudgy brownies. The way he prepares the batter is different from any other brownie recipe I know. Half of the eggs and sugar are mixed in with the chocolate, while the other half are beaten until they double in volume and are as light as a sponge. Whipping the eggs creates the surprisingly creamy, soft and definitely fudgy texture.

1 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350º F. Put a 9 inch square baking pan (I actually used a 9 x 13" Pyrex for this) on a baking sheet. Grease and flour your pan.

Whisk flour and salt together and set aside.

Set a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, put the butter and chocolate in. Stir frequently until the ingredients are just melted-you don’t want them to get so hot that the butter separates. (Or melt in the microwave) To the chocolate mixture, add 1 c. sugar and whisk gently just to incorporate it, then remove the bowl from heat. Stir in the vanilla and transfer to a large bowl.

Put the remaining cup of sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer using the whisk attachment or a medium bowl using a wire whisk. While whisking stir in the eggs.

Next, little by little pour only half of this sugar-egg mixture into the warm chocolate, stirring very gently without stopping-you don’t want the heat of the chocolate to cook the eggs. The remaining half of the sugar-egg mixture in the bowl should be beaten more with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, on medium-high for about 3 minutes, or until they double in volume.

Using a spatula and a light touch, fold the whipped eggs into the chocolate, stopping just short of blending them in completely. Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the batter and delicately fold them in, working only until they disappear. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with the spatula. I added walnuts to the top of the brownies. Just enough to cover.

Bake for 25-28 minutes, or until the top looks dry. I ended up cooking them for about 10-15 more minutes. They were still very runny. Poke a thin knife into the center and take a peek: The brownies should be only just set and still pretty gooey.

Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.

The brownies are fragile and best cut in the pan. Cut eighteen 1½ x 3 inch bars.

Here is where I found this yummy recipe. I did tweak the recipe a bit. One, I had a hard time understanding it as written, and two, I made some personal changes. I hope you enjoy!

http://chocolatechic.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/february-9-3/

Beautiful Blogger Award

2010-02-22T06:01:00.000-08:00

I have been awarded the "Beautiful Blogger Award" by my friend and fellow blogger, Erica at http://www.haphazardhappenstances.blogspot.com/. Erica has lots of fun ideas and random thoughts to keep us on our toes! I love looking at her blog and seeing all the fun crafts she has made and all the great deals she has found. Erica you are a blessing to know, thank you for being my friend!

With this award, I am to tell you 7 interesting things about myself and then pass it onto another Beautiful Blogger.

1. I can't decide which I like more, making the cake as delicious as possible or the fun of decorating it.

2. I am married to a wonderful guy who I met in high school. Who knew?

3. I live in a partially restored late 1800's farmhouse in Georgetown, TX.

4. I'm joining a raw milk coop this week, and I'm very excited about it.
5. I have a sweet little Papillion named Fifi who likes to torture her big sister Callie a wiem. Here is Fifi-

6. When I'm not making cakes I'm taking care of my two sweet little girls 5 and 9 years old.

7. I love my church- Celebration Church in Georgetown TX. Come visit sometime!

Now, it's my turn to pay this blog award forward. I'd like to send it along to my friend and sister in law Carolyn at http://bikerunyoga.blogspot.com/ and my friend Vanessa at http://kingdombound.wordpress.com/, she is so wise!
Blessings, Rachel

Lauren's Cupcakes

2010-02-18T06:33:00.000-08:00

My good friend's daughter, Lauren, just turned 6 and she wanted vanilla and chocolate cupcakes for her birthday party. Her birthday is just one day before Valentine's Day. She had Valentines theme this year. It was so cute! I made the Devil's Food Chocolate Cake from Tish Boyle and Billy's Vanilla cupcakes. All cupcakes were frosted with Billy's Vanilla Buttercream.

Purple, pink and white cupcakes are decorated with pink and purple fondant hearts.

For Lauren I made a L on a special cupcake just for her.

Below is my new cupcake tree (a present from my step-mom). It's so cute, and it worked perfectly for these cupcakes!

I put the L cupcake on the top of the tree. I made so many cupcakes we had to put the extras on a platter. You really can never have too many. ;)

A close up of the cupcake tree.

Happy Birthday Lauren, you are so precious to us!! We love you!!

Blessings, Rachel

Valentine's Day Cookies- recipe included!!

2010-02-16T15:06:00.000-08:00

We love Sugar Cookies! Christmas, Valentines, Easter, or anytime! They are just yummy. I have tried quite a few recipes and up until now I had not found the perfect one. I've looked on all recipes, through my library of cookbooks, and I just could not get the right recipe. They are either too soft or too sweet or not sweet enough. Then came Martha, oh thank you Martha!! These are delicious!!

These cookies have just the right amount of sweet. They taste great frosted or fresh from the oven. This one is frosted with Royal Icing. First I piped the outline with a stiff Royal Frosting, and then I flooded the heart with a thin Royal Frosting. This frosting is opaque, and is a more traditional look.

Love is in the air...

I made this design, it reminded me a little of Mary Engelbreit. I used the Royal Icing for the outline then I flooded the cookie with a frosting mix of powered sugar, food coloring, and water. This sugar frosting looks a bit translucent. I love the combination of the two frostings!

A sweet array of cookies!

Our cookies all dressed up and ready to give away for Valentines. :)

Blessings, Rachel

Ideal Sugar Cookies by Martha Stewart

Makes 2 dozen

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons brandy, or milk

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Royal Icing - Optional

Directions:

Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; add dry ingredients, and mix until incorporated. With mixer running, add egg, brandy (or milk), and vanilla; mix until incorporated.

1. Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into discs, cover with plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.

3. On lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch in between. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes; do not allow to brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

4. Decorate with Royal Icing, optional.

Royal Icing
makes 2 1/3 cups

1 box confectioners sugar (1 lb)
5 tablespoons meringue powder, or 2 large egg whites

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar and meringue powder. Mixing on low speed, add a scant 1/2 cup water. For a thinner consistency, usually used for flooding, add more water. A thicker consistency is generally used for outlining and adding details. Mix until icing holds a ribbon like trail on the surface of the mixture for 5 seconds when you raise the paddle.

To look on Martha's website click here:
http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.fc77a0dbc44dd1611e3bf410b5900aa0/?vgnextoid=7ee2640093b0f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default

Aunt Julie's Birthday Cake

2010-02-05T21:08:00.000-08:00

My cousin Heidi planned a fabulous Surprise Birthday Party for her mom. I asked Heidi if I could make the cake, and she said "yes!". So, when I asked her what her mom's favorite cake was she said "she didn't really have a favorite but that she liked chocolate". I knew just what to do.

I made the Devil's Food Chocolate Cake from The Cake Book by Tish Bolye. To go with it, I made the Chocolate Pudding Filling and the Fudgy Chocolate Frosting from her Brooklyn Blackout Cake recipe. This is by far the most wonderful chocolate cake ever! Yummy!

After the cake was cooled in the refrigerator, for about an hour, I cut the top of the cake layer to make it flat. Then I piped a ring of the fudgy frosting around the layer to place the filling in.

Next I filled in the ring with the chocolate pudding filling. I made the pudding the night before so it would be nice and firm for the filling. You don't have to do this for all fillings, but I had made this one before and I knew if it was too warm it would be runny. Still tasty, but not as pretty of a presentation once the cake was sliced.

I placed the second layer on top of the first to make the bottom tier of the cake.

Once I had it assembled I covered the tiers with the fudgy frosting. I used a chocolate fondant from Rose's Cake Bible, to cover the top tier and a marshmallow fondant to cover the bottom tier. I spent the afternoon making some fondant roses for the sides of the cake. I thought of a new idea on how to make these, but I'm still experimenting with them. I will share more with you, as I figure it out.

Happy Birthday Aunt Julie!! We love you!! Rach

Old Fashioned Lemon Poppy Seed Cake- Recipe!!

2010-01-20T15:05:00.000-08:00

Ok, ok, I did not make this recently, but I did make it and since I'm participating in a 21 day fast with my church, I'm not making cake for just a little while longer. So, I thought I'd share some oldies and goodies with you!

I have a love of things old. Hence my old house, my old antique stove- among the many! So, I found this wonderful cookbook by the Brass Sisters, Heirloom Baking. It is composed of recipes from days past. The recipes have been collected from scraps of papers, journals, family cookbooks, and their own recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation.

Here is my flour, no they don't give the measurements for weighed amounts, but to insure a successful cake, I do measure each dry ingredient. :)

My ingredients ready for mixing!

The batter looks yummy! I am scraping the sides down after using my mixer.

All ready for the oven.

My finished cake. I made a lemon sugar glaze for the top. The crumb was perfect and the lemon taste was just the right amount.

Anyone want a slice? mmmmmmm....

The cake was quite scrumptious, although a little on the sweet side.

Thank you to all the cooks that have come before me!

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

from Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters

For Cake

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup poppy seeds

3 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

For Lemon Glaze

1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

pinch of salt

1. Set the oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 350degrees. Coat an 8-cup Bundt pan or an 8-cup tube pan with vegetable spray or butter and dust with flour.

2. To make the cake: Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With mixer running, add eggs, on at a time, and sour cream. Add poppy seeds. Fold in sifted dry ingredients in thrids. Add lemon juice and lemon zest and mix well.

4. Pour batter into pan. bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until cake pulls away from sides of pan and tester inserted into cake comes out clean. Cake may crack on top. Place pan on a rack and cool about 20 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges. Turn out cake onto a rack and allow to cool completely.

5. To make the lemon glaze: Mix together confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a small bowl. Slip a sheet of wax paper under rack to catch drips. Use a teaspoon or fork to drizzle glaze over the top of cake. After the glaze has set, store loosely covered with wax paper at room temperature. Cake can be frozen and reheated.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Blessings, Rachel

Angel Food Cake with Strawberries and Chantilly Cream

2010-01-08T06:49:00.000-08:00

This old fashioned Angel food cake was baked in my old fashioned kitchen. I covered this yummy Angel Food Cake with Chantilly Cream and layers of fresh strawberries. I made this cake for my Father in Law's birthday. I love my in law's they are so dear to me! :) I didn't have the proper pan so...

I had to borrow their pan. This pan I'm sure has been around at least 10 maybe 30 years?? The descriptions in my cookbook- Baking At Home with The Culinary Institute of America, says you should have an Angel Food Pan that has legs. The cake cools upside down, in the pan, I had to double check that, but it's true! This pan has legs and a removable center, even better!

For just about every cake I make I use my Kitchen Aid mixer. My Step Mom gave it to me this past year, it to is an oldie but a goodie! It is at least 10 yrs old. I love it!!

The next step is to measure out the ingredients. I carefully weigh the dry goods. Unfortunately the Baking At Home does not have the weights listed, but that's ok, I can figure it out.

Here are all my organic and natural ingredients!

I just found this King Arthur's Unbleached Cake Flour. This is my first time using it. I'm very happy about it!! Yay! Cake flour is heavliy processed, so thank you King Arthur!!

My egg whites and cream of tarter getting mixed up. The cream of tarter makes little lumps in the eggs, but it turns into silky whites.

Here soft peaks of silky egg whites are formed.

I add the sugar a spoonful at a time.

I sprinkle on the flour and fold it into the egg whites.

The mix has been put in the pan and is ready for cooking! I have to run to the store for strawberries. So,

I leave the timer with my trusty husband, and he will take the cake out of the oven when it dings!

My cake is cooked and cooled. It did not rise all the way, due to an oven temperature situation, but it seems to be ok. I whip up some Chantilly Cream and start piping it on the cake.

Fresh strawberries cleaned and dried with the greens removed.

I am layering strawberries, whipped cream, strawberries, etc...

Done!

I used a silver platter to place the cake on. One of my Christmas gifts from my Mother in Law, a heirloom to pass down to our girls. Happy Birthday Kent! Love, Rachel