Lemon Cake w/ Orange Marshmallow Icing

A week or two ago I saw an awesome looking cake on How Sweet It Is, which by the way is one of my all time favorite food blogs! Anyway, Jessica made a lemon cake that was topped with a marshmallow icing and some coconut. I couldn't get the idea of lemon and marshmallow out of my head, so I thought I'd take her recipe, and switch it up a bit based on what we had here at home.
We really like citrus, so I added just a tiny bit of orange zest to the frosting, and it turned out really well. I also nixed the coconut , because I didn't want there to be too many different flavors going on. Thanks, Jessica for the wonderful inspiration!!!

(Props to my sister for decorating the cake!)

Lemon Cake with Orange Marshmallow Icing

Ingredients:

Cake

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled (ours was salted)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• zest of 3 lemons 
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons milk 

Icing

• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 
• orange zest to taste (I zested a whole orange and just added a little bit at a time until the icing tasted the way I wanted it to.)

Directions:

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 inch pan. 
2. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. 
3. Whisk together eggs and sugar until combined, then add butter and vanilla. When these are all combined, stir in the zest, juice and milk. Add the dry ingredients slowly, stirring after each addition until everything is just combined. 
4. Pour into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cake tests done. 
5. Let cool completely, frost, and enjoy!

Icing

1. Combine egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a heat-proof bowl. Place on top of a pot that has simmering water, and whisk for about 4 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved. 
2. Transfer immediately to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat, starting at a slow speed and gradually increasing, until the mixture is glossy and forms stiff peaks. 
3. Add vanilla and zest, beat until combined!

I hope you all enjoy this cake as much as we have!!!

If you do try this recipe, please let me know what you think!

Daring Bakers March 2013--Hidden Veggies

Hi everyone!!!
This month's challenge was really fun!!!
Ruth from Makey-Cakey was our March 2013 challenge host. She encouraged us all to get experimental in the kitchen and sneak some hidden veggies into our baking, with surprising and delicious results!

I  decided that I wanted to base my recipe off of a red velvet cake that I had seen with beets in it. However, when I looked at the recipe, I thought it would be a little on the chocolate-y side, so I figured that I'd just turn it into a fudge cake. I then topped the cake with a not-too-sweet italian meringue buttercream! We even sent a couple of slices over to some friends of ours, and no one guessed that there were beets in the cake!!

(lovely decoration by my sister!)

Anyway, this was a really fun challenge and a really yummy cake!!!

Chocolate Beet Cake

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup pureed beets (one large beet was enough for me....I roasted it in the oven for about 30 minutes, in a dish with about 1/3 cup of water, then I just chopped it and blended until smooth)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 tsp vinegar (I used apple cider)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup flour (the original recipe called for 3/4c but I found the batter to be a bit thin)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and whisk all of the dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. 
2. Stir together all of the wet ingredients and add the dry ingredients about 1/3 at a time, stirring after each addition. 
3. Pour into a greased 9 in cake pan and bake for 20-24 minutes, or until the cake tests done in the center. Remove and let cool completely before icing. 

Italian Meringue Buttercream

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup room temperature sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring. Once it boils, stop stirring and insert a candy thermometer. 
2. While syrup is cooking, whip egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer to soft peaks. When the syrup reaches 238-240 degrees, pour into the egg whites with the mixer on medium speed.
3. Increase speed to high and beat until room temperature.
4. Add the butter 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time until it is all incorporated. I used the whole cup, but I think that 3/4 of a cup would work just as well and maybe the icing would hold up a bit better. 
5. Add vanilla, increase speed and beat until completely smooth. 
6. Refrigerate the icing while the cake is cooling. 

Again, this was such a fun challenge and I have truly enjoyed being a part of the Daring Bakers!!

Daring Bakers--Twelve Days of Cookies!

Good morning, everyone!!
Its time for another Daring Bakers challenge!!! This month we were challenged by Peta of Peta Eats to bake some yummy cookies! One of the recipes needed to be from the 12 recipes suggested by Peta, and the other could be a family favorite or just any other cookie, bar, or candy.

For the first part of the challenge, I chose to bake coconut chocolate cookies!!! Originally, the cookies were supposed to be like little drums, but due to our different flour, my first batch spread out like regular cookies, so we baked the second batch in mini muffin tins. Not as cute as the original, but still yummy!

Recipe (taken from Baking Glory)

Ingredients

Coconut Filling
• 6oz / 175ml Cream Cheese, softened
• ¾ cup Sugar
• 1 Egg Yolk (the only thing that I changed was to omit the yolk, and the filling still came out great!)
• 1 ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 ¼ cup Coconut Flakes, unsweetened
Cookie Dough
• 1 ¾ cup All Purpose Flour (I ended up using about 2 1/4 cups and my dough still wasn't stiff enough)
• ⅓ cup Cocoa Powder, sifted
• ½ tsp Baking Soda
• ¼ tsp Salt
• 1 ½ sticks Butter, unsalted
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 Egg

Preparation Instructions

Beat the cream cheese with the ¾ cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolk, and vanilla extract and continue mixing for another minute.

Add the shredded coconut and continue beating until everything is well incorporated.

Preheat oven to 375° F / 190° C.

In a medium size bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. In the bowl of a mixer add the butter and sugar and beat together until light and fluffy, add the egg and beat until smooth.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until the mixture is stiff but still pliable.

Using a tablespoon, scoop some of the cookie dough into your hand. Flatten the dough into a circle that’s about 2in to 3in (5cm to 7.5cm) in diameter, add about a teaspoon of the coconut mixture into the middle of it and then fold the sides of the dough but do not seal it at the top.

Repeat this with remaining cookie dough.

Place the cookies on a greased cookie sheet and bake the cookies at 375° F / 190° C for about 18 to 20 minutes

Cool on a wire rack.

All in all, these coconut cookie s were fabulous and we all really enjoyed them!!!

Next up, I made two versions of pb cookies. My dad's birthday was this month, and he requested peanut butter!! The first recipe that I made was a traditional peanut butter cookie recipe, and the next, was a peanut butter cookie with peanut brittle that I found here. And here are the recipes:

Peanut Butter Cookies w/ Peanut Brittle (I halved the recipe and got 8 cookies)

Ingredients:
Brittle: 

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts

Cookies:

• 6 T room temp butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 T corn syrup
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/16 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 recipe peanut brittle

Directions:

1. First make the brittle but pouring the sugar into a heavy bottomed saucepan and melting over medium heat, being careful not to stir too much in the beginning so that the sugar doesn't crystallize. Once it is more melted, start to stir so that it doesn't burn. Cook until deep amber, about 3 minutes. Once melted, remove from heat and stir in nuts, immediately pour onto a well-greased baking sheet. It will start to set really quickly so try to get it as thin as possible. 
2. Then, start on your batter by creaming the butter, sugar and corn syrup together for  2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat in the peanut butter, then the egg and beat for 30 seconds on high. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat on medium-high for 3 minutes. During this time, your batter should double. 
3. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix no longer than 1 minute just until dough comes together. 
4. Crush half of your brittle by putting it in a ziploc and rolling with a rolling pin. Then add to your cookie dough, mix on low for 30 seconds. 
5. Using a a1/3 cup measure (I didn't fill mine up all of the way), portion out dough onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet at least 4 inches apart and refrigerate for at least an hour. 
6. Preheat oven to 375 and bake for 16-18 minutes. They should still be soft in the middle. 

These tasted best on the second day because the texture of the brittle really came through by then!!! These were probably everyone's favorite of the three that I made and were really, really delicious!!! 

Finally, the traditional peanut butter cookies were delicious too!!!! I just used a recipe that was in our family Better Homes & Gardens cookbook....basic cookies, so I'm not going to share here but I really , really enjoyed this challenge and making two cookies that were so unique and different!!!

Can't wait til next month!

Microwave Brownie Cake

Heeeey! Long time no see, huh? I've been coming up with some recipes....and didn't want to post until I had at least a couple in the works.....

I'm sure everyone has seen those microwave mug cakes at some point before.....I know I sure have! I actually made a couple a few years back, and while we all liked them, I have been looking for something a little more brownie-like, since I'm actually not the biggest cake person. I tried out a couple basic recipes for mug cakes to see which worked best and tasted best and from those experiments, came up with a pretty decent fudge brownie cake. 

I've made it a couple of times so far and it has turned out well, one thing I will say is that a little bit of baking powder goes a long way...the amount in the recipe below makes a very dense treat, while just adding a little bit more makes it much more cake-like. So it really depends on personal preference. For example, I preferred this version, while some of my family thought that, while tasty, it was almost too dense. 

Fudge Brownie Mug Cake 

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• pinch salt
• 1 heaping teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1-2 tablespoons sugar (depending on preference)
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg yolk
• 1-3 teaspoons milk (or until batter reaches a good consistency)

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a mug or ramekin in the microwave.
2. Stir in the flour, salt, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, and egg yolk. Add milk until the batter reaches a consistency similar to that of a  thick brownie batter or cookie dough.
3. Place in microwave and cook for 45 seconds. If not done, cook in 5-10 second increments until it is. Top with some melted chocolate and enjoy!!

If anyone tries this out, let me know what you think!!!!

Daring Bakers October....Mille Feuille!

Hello!!

Hope everyone is having a nice Saturday so far! If you remember, a couple of months ago I said that I had joined the Daring Bakers club and made the cappuccino eclairs. Well, I haven't been able to do any challenges since then, so when I read what this month's challenge would be, I absolutely had to do it!! We're making mille feuille, also known as napoleons or custard slices, which are basically layers of puff pastry, custard, and an icing.

  Our October 2012 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Suz of Serenely Full.
Suz challenged us to not only tackle buttery and flaky puff pastry, but then take it step further and
create a sinfully delicious Mille Feuille dessert with it!

Well, since I'd never made puff pastry or anything like this before, I didn't want to stray too far from the traditional dessert, but instead of a regular vanilla creme patisserie, I decided to incorporate a local fruit that is in season right now, the delicious passionfruit! I got three of the fresh fruit, boiled them with the milk and sugar for the creme, and then strained out the seeds to make a delicious, beautiful creme patisserie! Here's my full recipe:

Passion Fruit Mille Feuille

For the pastry:

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup cold butter, cubed
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water 

        beurrage:

•     14 tablespoons room temp butter
• 3 1/4 tablespoons flour

Pastry Directions:

1. Cut the 1/4 cup of butter in to the 1 3/4 cups of flour and salt until the mixture resembles dry crumbs. 
2. Add the water to this mixture, kneading on a lightly floured surface for about three minutes or until the dough is smooth.
3. Chill the dough for 30 minutes. 
4. While the dough is chilling, combine the room temp butter with the small amount of flour. Place between two sheets of plastic wrap and work into a 4in square. Chill for 10-15 minutes until the butter slightly firms up. 
5. Roll the chilled dough into a 6 inch square, place the beurrage in the middle, with each corner of the beurrage touching the center of one of the sides of the dough. Fold the corners of the dough over the beurrage and seal the edges. 
6. On a well-floured surface, roll the dough until it is a rectangle with about 1/4 in in thickness. Fold the right side towards the middle, and the left side over that, so you have a thin rectangle with three layers. Repeat the folding process, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for thirty minutes. 
7. Do two more folds and chill for 30 minutes.
8. Do the final two folds and chill until needed. (Note: If your kitchen is really warm, like mine, you might want to just do one fold at a time and refrigerate)

For the Pastry Cream:

• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 whole passionfruit
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 whole eggs
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pastry Cream Directions:

1. Combine 1/2 cup of the milk with the cornstarch, whisk until fully incorporated.
2. In a medium sized pot, combine the rest of the milk, the sugar and the pulp of the passionfruit (including the seeds!). Bring to a boil, remove from heat, pour mixture through a strainer to remove seeds and set aside. 
3. Add yolks and then the whole eggs to the milk/cornstarch mixture, whisk to combine. Pour in about 1/3 of the warm milk mixture, always whisking in order to prevent the eggs from cooking. 
4. Bring the remaining milk back to a boil, add egg mixture, whisking as you pour. Cook, whisking constantly, over medium heat until it thickens. 
5. Beat in the butter and vanilla until incorporated, whisk until cream is smooth.
6. Pour into a bowl, place plastic wrap on the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming, and refrigerate overnight so that the cream will thicken. 

For the chocolate sauce:

• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• 8 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons flour

Directions:

1. Heat milk, butter and vanilla in a medium pot. 
2. Combine sugar, cocoa and flour, and when the butter melts, add the dry ingredients to the pot. 
3. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. 

Making the Mille Feuille:

• 1 batch pastry dough
• 1 batch pastry cream
• 1 batch fudge sauce
• 2 cups icing sugar 
• 2 egg whites
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions:

1. Roll the dough out into a 12x18 in rectangle and cut into 3 equal parts. 
2. Place one of the sections on a piece of parchment paper and refrigerate the other two, place paper on a baking sheet, top with another piece of parchment and a pyrex dish. 
3. Bake at 400 or about 15 minutes, remove the pyrex and top layer of parchment, bake 10 more minutes or until dough browns. Repeat for the other two sections. 
4. Once the pastry has cooled, place one sheet on a flat board or dish, spread with half of your chilled pastry cream, place another sheet on top of that, top with remaining cream. Place the last sheet of dough on the top of everything, place in the fridge. 
5. While the pastry is chilling, make the royal icing. Whisk the whites and the lemon juice until frothy, stir in the sugar. It should be thick enough to make trails across the surface. If not, whisk in a bit more sugar. 
6. Remove pastry from fridge, pour glaze on it. Immediately drizzle the chocolate sauce over the top and refrigerate for a couple of hours so that everything sets. 

Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches

Ok, I realize that it has now been two months since I last posted.......and I said that I was planning on getting back to posting regularly. I'm sorry. A lot has been going on, and I really didn't know in what direction I wanted to take this blog. I actually am still not 100% sure, but I do know that I have been having fun not just following recipes, but creating them and coming up with different flavor combos and testing them out. So, one thing that I know for certain is that I want to share some of my recipe "wins" with all of you invisible internet people out there. :D I'm really getting comfortable with cooking, and it is something that I love.

I probably will also include fitness-related posts here....that is one of my passions. I am planning on going into college next year as a pre-Physical Therapy major, so fitness and health will obviously be a large part of my academic career as well as my professional life. I want this blog to reflect not who I was two years ago when it began, but who I am today. Yes, I have dealt with an eating disorder and definitely still struggle with negative feelings. But I am also a whole lot happier now, more content with myself, and really able to explore areas that I love, and I want to be able to talk about that.

Now, about the cookies. I don't know if anyone else has already made some like these....I'm probably not the first. But, this recipe I created by myself and am really proud of it. So, without further ado, here's my first completely original (to my knowledge) recipe:

Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches (makes 18-20 sandwiches)

Ingredients:
For the cookies:

• 1/2 cup butter 
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 medium carrot, grated
• dash of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon (or more if you are like me and really, really love cinnamon!) 

For the filling:

• 1 egg white (I just used the leftover white from the cookies)
• 7 tablespoons sugar
• 3 1/2 tablespoons water
• pinch cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional....but really, really yummy!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in egg yolk, beat until incorporated. 
2. Gradually stir in flour until a dough forms. Add vanilla, carrot, salt, baking powder and cinnamon, mix until fully combined. 
3. Drop onto a baking sheet by rounded teaspoonfuls, giving the cookies 1-2 in space. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges of the cookies have browned a little bit and the middles are set. These cookies are on the soft side, so they may not look completely done, but if the edges have browned, they will set up after cooling. 
4. While cookies are cooling, make filling. Combine the egg white, sugar, water, and cream of tartar in a small bowl and set over a pot of simmering water. Whisk for 3-5 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer, add in vanilla and cinnamon, beat on high until stiff peaks form, another 3-5 minutes. 
5. Spread filling onto half of the cookies, top with the other half. There will be filling left over, but it keeps for a few days in the fridge. Enjoy!!!! 

A funny story about these cookies...when I was asking my family for ideas for what to call the cookies, my dad said: "eye candy". When I asked him how he came up with the name he said that carrots are good for your eyesight, the cookies were sweet, plus they were pretty! Anyway, they were a hit over here, so if anyone tests these out, please let me know what you think!!!

August 2012 Daring Bakers--Filled Pate a Choux

Hey everyone!!!!! So, to begin my blog revamp I am super excited to say that I'm now a part of the Daring Bakers! whoo! There's a new challenge every month, and this month's happened to use pate a choux. If you remember, I have made eclairs before (check the recipe tab!) and enjoyed that, so I was really looking forward to trying something new with pate a choux. 

Kat of The Bobwhites hosted this month's challenge and encouraged everyone to get creative with the shapes and fillings of our choux. She made some cute swans, and here's the link. 

Yesterday, my sister and I made these and everyone loved them!!! We don't really have anything that we could have piped the swans with, so we just used some cookie cutters and made hearts and stars!Also, we had been wanting to try making faux caviar for a while and found a recipe here that didn't require any special ingredients, so we incorporated some chocolate "caviar" into the mix as well. Here's the recipe:

Cappuccino Cream-Filled Eclairs with Chocolate Ganache and Chocolate "Caviar"

For the cappuccino creme patissiere:

• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 teaspoons very hot water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant cappuccino mix

1. In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup of milk and the cornstarch, stirring until smooth.
2. Heat the rest of the milk in a saucepan until boiling. Remove from heat.
3. Stir first the whole egg, and then the yolks, into the milk/cornstarch mixture. Add about 1/3 of the hot milk to that gradually, whisking the entire time. 
4. Put the saucepan back on the stove over low heat. Pour in the tempered egg mixture in a stream, whisking constantly. Continue whisking until cream thickens and boils, to avoid lumps. 
5. Stir in the butter and vanilla.
6. Combine the water and cappuccino mix, stir into the cream. 
7. Pour cream into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, making sure that the wrap touches the surface of the cream. Refrigerate. 

For the choux:

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup flour
• 4 eggs

1. In a medium sized saucepan, combine water, butter and salt. Bring to a rolling boil, remove from heat. Dump in all of the flour at once and stir until it forms a smooth paste. Cook a little bit longer until the flour pulls from the edges of the pot. 
2. Dump dough into a bowl, work for a few minutes until it is cool enough to touch. 
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating a little bit after each addition. Beat until a smooth, thick paste forms. 
4. Preheat oven to 375, grease or line baking sheets. Spoon or pipe out paste into desired shapes, making sure to smooth down any edges before baking.
5. Bake until golden and puffy. 
6. Remove from baking sheets, let cool completely before filling. 

For the ganache:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 12 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 14 tablespoons sugar
• 6 tablespoons oil

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan.
2. Heat until everything is combined. Pour into a container. 

For the chocolate "caviar":

• 2-3 cups oil (refrigerated overnight)
• 1/4 cup salt
• 3 oz hot chocolate (we made ours with milk and the ganache above) 
• 2 packs unflavored gelatin
• 3 tablespoons water

1. Combine the water and gelatin, stirring until there are no clumps of gelatin. Let sit while you prepare the hot chocolate.
2. Fill a large bowl with ice, add water till about 2/3 full. Stir in the salt. Pour the cold oil into another bowl, set inside the ice bath. 
3. Pour the hot chocolate into the gelatin mixture, stir until the gelatin melts. With a dropper, drop 2-3 drops of chocolate mixture into the cold oil to make a "caviar". Keep dropping the chocolate into the oil until the bowl is full. Let sit about 3-5 minutes, remove with a strainer and set finished caviar in another bowl. Repeat this process as many times as you can before your gelatin mixture gets too thick. 

For assembly:

1. Once pastries are cool, poke holes in each one that are large enough to pipe the cream into. Fill a pastry bag with some of the creme patisserie, and pipe it into each eclair until it is full but not stuffed. 
2. Once all eclairs are filled, drizzle some of the ganache on top, and then sprinkle with the "caviar".
3. Enjoy! :D

So there ya have it, our take on a "fun" filled choux! If anyone tries this, please let me know what you think!!!!

See ya later!

Red Velvet Tres Leches Cake

So I'm posting a day later than usual, but I really wanted to test this recipe out Tuesday and post it yesterday, but that didn't work out. So I baked the cake yesterday and decided that if it turned out, I'd post it today!

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I found this recipe for tres leches cake. I was showing it to my sister and she said that it would be really good with a red velvet base (red velvet is her favorite cake of all time). Anyway, we pieced together a red velvet sponge cake recipe from a couple of different places, mixed it up and hoped for the best. After baking, we proceeded to pour the condensed milk, evaporated milk and heavy cream into the cake, just like for the original tres leches cake, and topped it all off with whipped cream. Here's the recipe for ya:
Red Velvet Tres Leches Cake

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• Dash of salt
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 (13.5oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (13.5oz) can evaporated milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream 
• 1 pint very cold heavy whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

1. Grease and flour a 9 X 13 inch pan. 
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light, beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth. 
3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. 
4. Measure out the buttermilk into a small bowl, add the food coloring to it. 
5. Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture, mix to combine. Add about 1/3 of the buttermilk to the butter sugar mixture, stirring to combine. Continue alternating between the flour mixture and the buttermilk until everything has been stirred into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the tablespoon of vinegar, mix the batter very well. 
6. Pour into the prepared ban and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until the cake is firm to the touch. 
7. Turn out onto a rimmed platter and let cool. Once the cake has cooled, combine the evaporated milk, condensed milk and 1/4 cup of cream and pour it over the entire cake. Let soak for about 30 minutes. 
8. In the small bowl of your mixer, combine the pint of very cold cream and the 3 tablespoons of sugar. Beat on high for about a minute or until it is thick and spreadable. Spread the whipped cream over the cake. Enjoy!'

We did notice that the cake was a lot easier to serve after it had been chilled for a while....the sponge seemed to set up a little bit more and was easier to cut. 

One of my favorite things about the cake itself was that it doesn't get soggy at all! The sponge cake really does just absorb the milks and makes the cake taste wonderful! The middle pieces are definitely the best because they have the milk mixture throughout the entire piece as opposed to the edge pieces, which always have a little area that doesn't have any milk. 

My sister and I were really excited about this dish because we came up with it together and worked together to bake it!!!! It was definitely one of the most fun things that we did over the Carnaval break!!! :D Well, it and making my grandmother's chicken and dumplings (recipe to come!) last night with my mom, too!

Oh, I do have some exciting news (besides cake of course...:D)! As of yesterday, I officially reached the goal weight that I set a little over a year and a half ago. I still have a ways to go emotionally speaking but am so proud of myself for having at least reached one of my "big" goals! What better way to celebrate than with cake! haha

Well, it is time for me to actually get to work....see ya'll later!!!!

Do you like cooking with others or do you prefer to cook alone?

For me, it depends. Some things I prefer to make alone just because they're recipes that I found or that I really like. But other times, I really love cooking with my mom or my sister....we always have a great time!

Chocolate is Good

Super creative post title, huh? Oh well.....I've  never really been good at that.....

Anyway, I've had a pretty nice week so far, not a whole lot going on, but nice nonetheless. Yesterday was Valentine's day, so I made a really yummy chocolate dessert for the family....my first attempt at a chocolate souffle! It made four servings, so there weren't any leftovers, which was nice as well. I used this recipe, with just a couple of changes, so I'll post what I did here!
Individual Chocolate Souffle Cakes

(definitely not my picture)

Ingredients:

• 9 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 5 teaspoons flour
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cocoa (ours is really rich, so I got away with using a little less than the recipe)
• 4 tablespoons milk (I didn't use skim.....we don't have it, and it really isn't my favorite to bake with)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 egg whites, room temperature 

Directions:

1. Grease four (6 ounce) ramekins and sprinkle each with 3/4 teaspoon of sugar, making sure to coat the sides of the ramekins well. 
2. In a small saucepan, combine the flour, 4 tablespoons of the sugar, cocoa and milk. Heat over medium for about 3 and a half minutes, or until smooth and thickened. Spoon into a medium sized bowl and let cool for about 6 minutes. Stir in vanilla and cinnamon. 
3. In a medium sized bowl, beat the egg whites at high speed until soft peaks form. Add the remaining 4 tablespoons of sugar 1 teaspoon at a time (so about 12 teaspoons), beating until stiff peaks form. Fold in about 1/4 of the egg white mixture into the chocolate, gently fold in the rest of the whites until combined. Spoon chocolate/egg white mixture into the ramekins, tapping each to even out the souffle batter. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until puffy and set. Do NOT open the oven door too much during baking, as the changes in temperature will cause the souffles to sink when they are removed from the oven. If you want, sprinkle some powdered sugar on each souffle. 

So there ya have it....a relatively easy chocolate souffle! This was soooo tasty, and I loved how the dessert was rich and chocolate-y, without feeling heavy or "too much". Not that I typically feel that chocolate is ever too much, but I really enjoyed the lightness of the souffle. Hard to believe that with such simple ingredients, you get a really nice dessert! Have you ever made a souffle? Was it sweet or savory If not, have you ever had a souffle and what is your favorite? 

So yesterday I pretty much stayed at home all day, which was nice. At one point it was just me and the cats in the apartment, so I had some "quiet time". I got a lot done and had some time to think. I also worked out at home because I just didn't really feel like going to the gym. My hip was actually hurting a bit, so I just did a yoga dvd. I was really proud of myself for being able to take an easy day plus eat a dessert without feeling too bad about it. Not gonna say that I felt completely okay, but I didn't feel terrible or guilty either. I really believe that I'm getting better at listening to my body, and yesterday my body wanted rest and chocolate! :D

What did you do for Valentine's Day?

Well, that's about it for now...see ya'll later!

Awesome Weekend and Oatmeal Cream Pies

Hey everyone!!!! How was your weekend??? Ours was great!!! It felt like it went by a little bit too fast, though and no one was really happy about today being Monday...:P

Saturday we went up into the community for the ladies' afternoon. It was so much fun!!! There was a devotional time in the beginning, and then we took a picture of each of the ladies and let them make their own "picture frames" so that they could have a nice picture at home. Then we came home and pretty much just hung out.

Yesterday was my dad's birthday!!!! We started out the day with egg and cheese sandwiches and blueberry muffins (his favorites), and really just spent the rest of the day around the house, which is what he wanted to do.
To surprise him, my sister and I made him some homemade oatmeal cream pies, from this recipe. They were soooo yummy!!!!! Whenever we're in the States, Dad always gets cream pies, so when we saw this recipe, we immediately thought of him! :D I'll type out the recipe here for ya'll!!!

Oatmeal Cream Pies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 T honey
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups oatmeal (quick)

Directions:

1. Cream together butter, brown sugar and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and honey and beat until everything is incorporated. 
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Slowly add flour mixture to the wet ingredients until everything is combined. Stir in the oats and mix until they are evenly distributed. Place batter in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. 
3. Take chilled dough and drop by tablespoon onto baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350. The cookies might look a little undercooked or moist in the middle, but they will set. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely. To make the cream pies, spread some filling on half of the cookies and sandwich them with the plain cookies.

Marshmallow Creme Filling

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. In a double boiler, combine egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar. Heat until the egg whites are frothy and the sugar is completely dissolved (about 160 degrees). 
2. Transfer egg white mixture to the small bowl of a mixer, and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in the vanilla extract. 

This did make a little more marshmallow creme than we needed, but we just put the leftover in the fridge to use with other things!!! :D 

What did you do this weekend?

Well, I should probably start on school...see ya'll later! :D 

What I've Been Up To

True story: Our first year here, we arrived in the middle of October. In Brazil, October and November have school holidays practically every week. We had been living in Recife a full month before we ever went to school for an entire week w/o a holiday. Yesterday was Dia dos Mortos, day of the dead, which, no one really celebrates or anything, but it is a nice excuse to close schools and stuff. That's why I didn't post yesterday, because I was hanging out with the family.

Also, a friend of ours from northern ireland, who has been working with us for the past two years, and living in our apt, is leaving next week. So, everyone from the ministry came over here and we had a little goodbye party for him! :D Everyone got here at about 4, and we had some snacks. I made chocolate cobbler, my dad made 7 layer bean dip (refried beans, salsa, sour cream, green onions, tomatoes, olives, and cheese between every layer), and we had lots of chips and dip + mini dessert. Then, we headed over to the steak restaurant across the street for dinner! Everyone had a great time!

Other than that, not too much has been going on around here....I found out (the hard way) that Brazilian summer temps can actually kill bread yeast before the package is even opened. My mom and I successfully made caramel sauce from a new recipe after our third try, so I'm going to share that recipe with you:

Creamy Caramel Sauce:


Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• pinch of cream of tartar (i actually didn't measure, maybe about 1/4 tsp?)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, heated until warm
• 2 T butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Combine the sugar, cream of tartar and water in a heavy saucepan (with at least 5 cup capacity b/c the caramel sort of bubbles up when you add the cream later on) until the sugar is completely moistened.  
2. Place a good candy thermometer in the pot as well, making sure that the tip is immersed in the sugar solution. 
3. Heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves completely. Stop stirring and let boil until it turns a deep golden brown (ours got to about 300 F, but our pot cooks unevenly, so your temp might be different). 
4. Remove from heat and stir the hot cream into the sugar mixture. This is when it bubbles up a lot. Keep stirring until the caramel is smooth and add the butter, stirring until completely combined.
5. Let the caramel cool for a few minutes and add the vanilla. If you want, you can also add a pinch of sea salt to the caramel. 

So this stuff tastes really, really awesome! :D It took us a couple of tries to make because we had to get used to the speed at which the caramel cooks. It can definitely go from perfectly cooked to burned before you can add the cream to it! 

On a slightly healthier (and sort of uglier) note, there's something I've been eating a lot of lately for lunch. Black eyed pea burgers! You could use pretty much any bean to make it though. All I do is take about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of beans and mash them with about 1 to 2 T of flour(depending on how soft the beans are) and cook it on our griddle on both sides until they're crisp! The best thing about the burgers is that, if I decide to use less beans, I'll add some chopped veggies or rice in, I can season each one differently, etc. So even if I eat several bean burgers a week, no two ever taste the same! Pretty, they are not, but they definitely taste delicious! 

This particular burger I seasoned with bbq dry rub and served it on a slice of whole wheat bread! 

See what I mean about them not being pretty? hahaha

Another thing I've been loving is circuit training. I personally really dislike strength training in any shape or form, so for me to be able to break up a strength workout is great for me!!!! When I'm at the gym, my schedule looks a little like this: run, arms, hills, legs, light jog, abs. That way, I can break up my strength training into smaller portions and can better motivate myself to actually do them! :D At home, I'm loooving the 30-day shred!!! For a 20 minute workout, it definitely kicks some serious butt! hahahaha

Well, that's about it for now.....

How has your week gone?

What are your go-to lunches? 

Taco Night (take two)

Good morning!!!!

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for stopping by to say happy birthday yesterday! =D Thanks, Janae for the birthday shout-out!!!! I had an awesome day!! We hung out at home, then went out to eat and rented a movie to watch! =D

So tonight, we're going to go to my dad's side of the family's house to celebrate a late Christmas and to eat tacos! =D We were originally going to go a few days before Christmas, but my aunt was sick, so we postponed. She's feeling much better now, and we decided to get together tonight! =D It'll be fun!!!!

 

Oh I have a question for ya'll. Some friends gave both my sister and me a Nook for Christmas. Its sort of like the Amazon Kindle, but Barnes and Noble makes it. Anyway, since I live out of the country most of the time, I have no idea what books to get. What are some good books that you've read recently? I've already downloaded John Grisham's latest, "The Confession", because I had already read some of his books before. Its pretty good!

Oh last night I tried Edy's Apple Pie Ice Cream, and it was ok, but I think I'll stick with good old Double Fudge Brownie from now on. Apple Pie had like chunks of cinnamon apples and pie crust in vanilla ice cream. So really it wasn't very pie-like in flavor....mostly just vanilla. Not bad, but in my world, chocolate trumps vanilla everytime. =D Just a matter of personal preference,I guess.

Well, I have to get going....

Happy Wednesday! =D

Birthday Workout

Good morning!!!!

Yes, I'm working out on my birthday. Wanna know why? It is Tuesday. I workout on Tuesdays. Creature of habit and all. I probably need to work on the whole flexibility thing.

Well, anyway, in honor of my birthday, I chose some new vids, so here are the links:

Booty Burn: (its Cindy Whitmarsh, and I have loved all of her workouts so far)

http://www.exercisetv.tv/workout-videos/body-sculpting/booty-burn-s9799

Sculpt and Burn:

http://www.exercisetv.tv/workout-videos/cardio/cardio-sculpt-and-burn-9880

And one of the 10 minute cardio workouts....I haven't decided yet.

So I really have no idea what I'm going to be doing today....except go out to eat........and eat ice cream. I've never been a big fan of birthday cake....I mean, I'll eat it, but I was the one with the giant chocolate chip cookie instead of a cake. Or fondue. Or in today's case, ice cream. And maybe some chocolate something or another...because surprisingly, my ice cream has absolutely NO chocolate in it. But it's Apple Pie ice cream, which sounded good.

ICE CREAM!!!!!!!!!!

Do you like birthday cake, or do you eat some other sweet on your birthday?

I've already had my party, so today's just going to be relaxed, I think. I might even read the driver's manual at some point (ack!). I have to take that test before January 11th....so I'll probably just end up spending the day in my pjs studying. Fun stuff. I honestly have no idea why anyone even reads this blog, seeing as I'm so incredibly boring. But you do, and as long as someone reads this, I'll be here. =D

Well, I should probably get going.....what with my busy schedule, I just don't know what to do first today! =D

Happy Tuesday!

Party Fun Stuff

This post will be quick because I can barely think straight, and when I mix sleepiness and blogging, its not pretty.

Last night was super-duper fun! We had Jimmy John's (I got the Turkey Tom unwich), and then lots and lots of fondue! Played Apples to Apples and watched part of a movie. Bought popsicles and a pint of Blue Bell Vanilla w/ strawberries ice cream. We randomly made a trip to the workout room at 11 PM, just for the heck of it. Consumed lots and lots of caffeine. Scared the other people staying at the hotel. Lots of fun! =D

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!!!!! I promise that tomorrow's post will be back to normal! =D

Christmas is Near!

I just can't believe that Christmas is Saturday!!!! Still in shock, here. =D Saturday at 11:30 my church does a midnight service, and I think we'll be going to that. It is soo awesome!!! And then, on Christmas morning, I have a special surprise planned for my family! (Can't say what it is yet for fear that someone will read....but I'm soo excited!)

Last night we visited with some friends, and guess what? We ended up making those holiday pretzels again! Thanks for the recipe Julie! We love it! =P

Last night I also borrowed a book from my friend, "A Walk to Remember" by Nicolas Sparks. Have any of ya'll ever read it???? I've seen the movie, which I loved, and am super excited to read the book!

So next Tuesday is my birthday and next Sunday is my party. My best friend, her mom, my mom, and I will go to a nice hotel nearby and watch girly movies, eat plenty of chocolate...that sort of thing. One thing I can't decide on is what I want for my dessert: fondue or chocolate cobbler???? Both sound sooo yummy!!! I might have to do one for the party and one on my actual birthday. Hmmmm....which sounds better to ya'll?? Does anyone have a tried and true fondue recipe? =D

I am finally going to be done with school today......and I'm super glad about that!! =D  All that I have to do is write an essay about the 3 key things that I learned from taking my SAT prep course.

1. Never, ever take a prep course again.

2. I learned not to reccommend the SAT prep to anyone.

3. I hate taking long tests.

Sorry about the negative list....my teacher apparently couldn't come up with a final, so he basically lumped together all of the work I've done this semester into 7 parts and called it a test. Section 2 had me online taking 25 practice tests which basically took up my whole day from 11 AM to 4 PM. Exactly what I wanted to do during my Christmas break. Oh well, at least it will be done and over with....

A couple more random questions for ya'll:

What is your favorite Christmas movie?

I really have no idea....we just watched The Family Man and that was cute, but I don't know if I have an all-time favorite. =P

What are some of your family's Christmastime traditions?

  Well, we usually spend Christmas day at home. My sister and I get an ornament every year. Whenever we're in the States we go to the 11:30 Christmas eve service.

Well, I have to go write an essay...

Happy Monday! =P

Special Member of the HC Family

Good morning, everyone!!!!!!!!!! Happy Wednesday!! Can you believe that tomorrow's Thanksgiving? I know I can't! This home ministry assignment has flown by! (I don't know if I've said this, but we're missionaries in South America, but we're in the States until Jan.)

I'd just like to thank everyone who visited the blog yesterday! Seeing the number of visits literally made my day (again)!

So has anyone here ever been to Gigi's cupcakes? They're absolutely wonderful, and have tons of fun cupcake flavors. There are flavors of the day and seasonal flavors also. So far, my family has bought Midnight Magic Chocolate Chip, Wedding Cake, Peanut Butter Cup, Banana Cream Pie, Hunka Chunka Banana Love, Miss Princess, Raspberry (flavor of the day), and Blueberry (flavor of the day). And we still have a buy 3, get 1 free. These cupcakes cost like $3, but there is soo much frosting that we usually just quarter them and eat off of them for days. My personal favorites have been Peanut Butter Cup in first place and Midnight Magic Chocolate Chip, which is basicaly dark chocolate cake with chocolate chips baked in, topped with chocolate buttercream and more chocolate chips. Yum. Seriously though, I'd kill for the recipe for peanut butter buttercream that was used on the pb cup cupcake. It was fabulous!

Its looking like today is going to be a pretty quiet day. I am going to do extra school, both because tomorrow is Thanksgiving and because we're going out of town Friday. This is the reason that I've been blogging earlier in the morning: I can take my time and write a post without feeling rushed, and I have something to do besides school when I'm the only one awake. So you all get to read my half-awake ramblings. Lucky, aren't ya? Well, at least I don't blog after my Algebra II lesson, you'd be getting grumpy, sarcastic posts instead of just the sarcastic ones.

Oh, I would like to introduce ya'll to a veery special member of my family:

the HC cat!!!!!



the HC cat

 Cute isn't he? Although not necessarily healthy, he is in fact a chocoholic! He prefers ganache over milk! Of course, he also likes peanuts and lunchmeat better than cheese, which just makes him plain weird. He's about 2 years old and weighs 12-15 pounds, I think.

Do any of ya'll have pets? If so, could you tell us a little more about them?

Oh! Whaddya think of the new header? Keep it or leave it?

Well, that's about all I've got for now.......

See ya!