The Best of the Cakes

Hi and welcome back to the review round-up of  Adventures In Baking.  This episode takes a look back at the Cakes and Cupcakes I've made during the first half of the year.  I attempted 7 cake/cupcake recipes since January 1.  It was a tough choice for Top 2 Favorites but it came down to the Hummingbird Cake I made in April and the Lemon Cupcakes I made for Mother's day. You can read all about them here and here.

The Hummingbird Cake might look like a great big donut, but it's light and moist and has just the right amount of frosting.  And the frosting on the Lemon Cupcakes.....that would be strawberry frosting. Lemon and Strawberry, nice and refreshing.

The next two favorites are the Apple Crumb cake I made in February that you can read about here and the Chocolate Cupcakes I made in March.  You can find that adventure here.

The crumb topping on the Apple Crumb Cake is perfection and as for the Chocolate Cupcakes, well, who doesn't need a chocolate fix every now and again! 

And then we have a final dessert to round out the top 5 which is the Firecracker Cake I made last weekend as a salute to the 4th of July.  You can find out how to make this cake for yourself by going here. 

This cake has personality!

There are two additional cake/cupcakes that didn't make the top 5.  The first is the Pink Velvet Cupcakes I made in January.  I mixed up the whipped cream and buttermilk in the recipe so the cupcakes were very dense.  At least I think that's why each one weighed about 5 pounds!  They weren't exactly bad, but I hope they can be better. 

The second dessert that didn't make the cut is the Whoopie Pies with Raspberry Filling I made in June.  I'm not even sure they qualify as a cake.  They're kind of a cake/cookie/pie hybrid.  I didn't find a single redeeming quality about the pies.  My taste testers really liked them though so it must be a personal preference kind of thing.  Plus they were super messy.  Not my kinda thing.

Well, that's it for the Cake/Cupcake 6 month review.  Next stop is the Breads. 

See ya next time
-Teddra

Firecracker Cake

Wow, How's that for an Adventures In Baking 4th of July Cake!  Bright and festive and you haven't even seen the inside yet.   I found the recipe here at Betty Crocker's website.  It's quick and easy and the kids will love helping to decorate it.  Enough with the jibber-jabber, let's get to it but be warned:  Lots of pictures today. 

The ingredients.  Yes I used a box mix.  And canned frosting.  Like I said, it's quick.  And who wants to spend all day in the kitchen with the oven on when it's about 120 degrees outside?   

Let's get started.  Generously grease the cake pan.  I thought about using Pam spray.  I thought about using butter.  But it was that one word, Generously, that had me reaching for the Crisco. 

Next step.  Make cake batter as directed on the box using water, oil and egg whites.  Those darn egg whites again.  What are you supposed to do with the left over yolks?

And then.  This is where it get's interesting.  Pour 1 cup of the batter into a small bowl.  Stir in red food color until well mixed.  I stopped counting after 16 drops of red food coloring and just hoped it wouldn't be too pink.

Pour another cup of the batter into a separate bowl and stir in blue food color until well blended.  For the blue color, I used gel instead of liquid drops.  Love the blue color.

The assembly.  Pour red cake batter into bottom of pan. 

Carefully pour remaining white batter over the red batter.

Carefully pour blue batter over white batter until it forms a ring around the center.  Bake as directed on box.  Cool for 30 minutes.

Final step.  The decorating.  Divide frosting evenly into 3 microwavable bowls.  Microwave one bowl of frosting on High a few seconds until it's smooth enough to drizzle.  Drizzle white frosting back and forth around the cake.  Microwave the second bowl and stir in a few drops of red food coloring.  Drizzle the red over the white but don't completely cover the cake. 

 Repeat using the third bowl of frosting and blue food coloring.

And then, cause this cake doesn't have enough going on, throw on some sprinkles just for fun. 

The taste test.  Remember those colored layers.  This is what the inside looks like.  Red, white and blue.  And it tastes good too.  The sponge is light and fluffy and it has just the right amount of frosting.  This would be pretty at Christmas using red and green.  Or Valentines Day with Pink and Red.  The only thing I'd change is to use gel coloring instead of liquid for the red. 

This was a fun cake that tastes good and  can be customized for any holiday or event. 

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

-Teddra

The Best of the Cookies

Hi and welcome to a special edition of Adventures In Baking.  Since we've reached the mid-way point of the calendar I thought I'd do a little 6 month review of my favorite adventures.  Let's start with the cookies!  I attempted 8 cookie recipes since January 1 and my Top 2 Favorites are the Peppermint Chunkies from January and the Brown Sugar Crinkles from May.  You can check out the original posts here and here. 

I've made two more batches of the Brown Sugar Crinkles since the original post and everyone has loved them.  I probably would have made another batch of the Peppermint cookies if the chewy peppermints from Andes were available and not just a seasonal item. 

Next in line on the favorites list would be the Butterscotch Pecan Sandies I made for my Dad's Birthday in January and the thick, chewy Chocolate Chip cookies I made two weeks ago using my Whoopie pan.  The original posts can be found  here and here.

The Sandies use way too much butter, but are so light and flaky you can't eat just one.  The chocolate chip on the other hand are so nice and BIG and round (and melty when they're warmed up in the microwave for a few seconds) that one'll do ya.

And then to round out the top 5 cookies, we have the Snickerdoodles I made in February.  You can read all about these cookies here.  Soft and chewy with a touch of cinnamon.  'Nuff said.

The three remaining cookie's I've made so far this year are the Chocolate Mint Thumbprints, S'Mores and Toffee Chip Snickerdoodles.  While they each had their own unique quality, they just weren't a cookie I'd want to eat again.  And life's too short to eat cookies that don't WOW you!

That's it for today.  Check back later this week for the round up of The Best of the Cakes! 

Happy Baking!

-Teddra

Happily Ever After

Hello and welcome.  Wow, is it warm and toasty outside today.  Perfect time to break out the craft supplies and get to work.  I finished this card that was made for a co-workers wedding.  His bride chose purple for the wedding so I wanted to incorporate those colors in the card.  I started by embossing white cardstock with the Victoria embossing folder from Cuttlebug. 

To make the focal point, I used the heart border die cut from Papertrey Ink.  I cut the border in several shades of purple cardstock and then layered them on top of one another and trimmed the strip to fit the card.  Rather than layering them right on top of one another, I offset the top layer to the right so only the bottom portion of the heart is showing in the lighter color.

After die cutting the borders, I noticed the left over piece had a pretty cool looking border also so I added a strip on top of the hearts to provide the perfect spot for the sentiment.

This card is being entered in the layers challenge at Young Crafters Unite.  Click here to check out the contest and play along. 

Happy Crafting
-Teddra

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hi-ya and Welcome to Adventures In Baking.  After the variety of sweet treats I've baked in the past six months I realized I haven't focused on the most basic treat of all .... the chocolate chip cookie.  My aunt and uncle lived in Park City, Utah for several years and the recipe I'm using originated in that area.  My aunt sent me the recipe from a book titled Chocolate Snowball.  The author of the book, Letty Halloran Flatt, is the executive pastry chef at the Deer Valley Resort in Park City and the cookies, cakes and muffins are sold in the resort bakery.  The book is available on Amazon (I checked.  And added it to my wishlist.)   

The ingredients.  Flour, sugar, eggs, yada, yada, yada. 

Let's get started.  Combine flour with the baking soda and salt in a small bowl.  Set aside.

Next step.  Cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs and vanilla.  Mix well. 

What?  You wanted to see yet another photo of butter and sugar creamed together.  Nope, didn't think so.  I'd like for you to meet Betty.  (I name quite a few of my electronics, don't you?  Yeah, I'm weird like that).  Anyway, back to Betty.  Betty is my hand mixer.  I named her after Betty Crocker.  I'm contemplating her retirement.  I'm thinking about purchasing a Kitchen Aid stand mixer.  Not that I need one, Betty does a fine job.  But the Kitchen Aid mixers are so pretty.  In a soft buttery yellow.  Sigh.  I have the $$$ set aside to make the purchase but just can't make myself do it.  Maybe that's my answer right there.  I shouldn't have to make myself buy a mixer when I have a perfectly capable one already.  I have this argument with myself at least once a month.  Where were we?  Oh yeah, cookies. 

Final step.  Add the flour mixture and stir in the chocolate chips. 

The taste test.  Oh yeah.  These are five-star cookies.  Bakery quality.  How did I get them so thick you ask? Rather than using a flat cookie sheet or jelly roll pan,  I used my whoopie pie pan.

I filled the wells with cookie dough so they wouldn't spread out and all the cookies will come out the same size.  They're sooooo good.  They're crispy on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside.   Best when served with a glass of cold milk.

The clean up.  I made 27 total cookies.  After the first 12, I added 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts.  I figured the thickness of the cookie could handle walnuts. 

On the next episode of Adventures In Baking....I'm thinking it needs to be something festive for the 4th of July.  Any suggestions?

Adios

-Teddra

Papertrey June Blog Hop Challenge

Hello and Happy Monday to you!  Today I'm sharing a card for Papertrey's monthly blog hop.  This month we were to use inspiration from the following photo.  One of the things that really pulls me into the scene is the grey textured background, so that was my starting point.




All supplies are from Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Harvest Gold, Smokey Shadow, Soft Stone, White
Dies:  Limitless Layers 2.25" squares
Ink:  Harvest Gold, New Leaf and Smokey Shadow
Ribbon:  New Leaf
Stamps:  Basic Background: Tin Types, Garden Variety

Thanks for stopping by!
-Teddra

Mother's Day

Happy Friday!  Just popping by today to show you a card I recently made.  Earlier this week, when I posted my Father's Day card, I realized I never shared the card I made for Mother's Day.  It's one of my favorites.  My mom is a quilter so I was inspired to make a patchwork card.  I used six different patterned papers from Authentique with shades of turquoise, orange and cream.  I cut four, one inch squares of each design and layered them on a piece of turquoise cardstock.  I also used a few die cuts to layer on as an accent piece and a little piece of ribbon to tie it all together. 

Have a great weekend!
-Teddra