Weekend Recap - Memorial Day Edition

Y'all I have had an absolutely fabulous weekend. 

I did not want it to end 

and getting up for work today was just ... ugh. ;) 

I really need to find a job that let's me work by the pool. 

Friday: D's little sister, M, graduated from high school. 

She is definitely excited to be done with high school. 

Saturday: We spent the day at D's family farm; 

celebrating M's graduation. 

We rode four-wheelers, grilled, roasted s'mores, 

and shot off fireworks. 

D's family camped out at the farm this weekend. 

D and I did not. 

We went back home to sleep in a real bed. 

And, more importantly, shower in a real bathroom. 

D's cousin & his girlfriend bogged down the Ranger 

Sunday: D and I went back to the farm and had camping breakfast. 

Why does camp breakfast taste better than regular breakfast? 

Then we spent 3 glorious hours in the pool. 

I have officially started my summer tan. 

We finished the night off baking a red velvet cake, per M's request, 

and I made a chocolate trifle. 

Monday: was spent poolside all day. 

D's family celebrates most summer holidays by the pool. 

Definitely, my favorite tradition of theirs. 

Both the cake and trifle were big hits. 

Overall, it was a fairly busy weekend with a lot of downtime. 

I am looking forward to similar weekends this summer. 

I hope all of you had a great 4 day weekend as well. 

Easter 2013

I cooked Easter supper 

for my friends 

Sunday night. 

This was the first time 

I cooked Easter by myself. 

I have helped my Aunt 

cook it many times 

in the past. 

So, I was a little worried. 

But everything turned out great! 

My menu included: 

baked ham, 

mashed potatoes, 

macaroni and cheese, 

deviled eggs, 

cornbread, &

chocolate cake w/ chocolate butter cream 

for dessert. 

I was most worried about 

the mac & cheese 

because it was a new recipe. 

I tried to do the copycat version 

of Panera's mac & cheese. 

Recipe found here. 

It turned out pretty good. 

It was super rich! 

I will definitely tweak the recipe next time. 

How was your Easter weekend?

stress relief

Baking is my favorite form of stress relief.

There is something about the process that

just calms my mind. 

My little sister's birthday was at the beginning of July

and I had a lot of fun baking for her.

She requested my Cream-filled Red Velvet Cupcakes

instead of a birthday cake.

I also wanted to try a new recipe I found on Pinterest:

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies.

{talk about alliteration}

I LOVE anything with cream cheese in it

and these cookies did not disappoint.

They do have more of a cakey texture to them

and I was not thrilled with that.

But they had a great flavor!

I had some extra cream cheese icing from the cupcakes.

And I discovered something heavenly!

I made a cream cheese chocolate chip cookie sandwich.
{sigh}

I do not even want to know how many calories were in that concoction.

I am dreaming of baked goods right now.

Between my sister's birthday & mine in early August

I am doing the "No Junk Food Challenge."

It is really not that hard because I do not eat

that many sweets.
Not that you can tell from this post.

The hardest thing to give up is

peanut butter & nutella.

I think I will be having a PB&J for my birthday lunch!

Source: myfitnesspal.com via liz on Pinterest



temptation ;)

It never fails. 

I decide to start eating healthier 

and out of no where 

I start craving crazy stuff. 

Does this happen to anybody else? 

I am not a big sweets eater, 

but lately every cupcake I see looks like heaven! 

And pinterest does not help one bit. 

Here are some of the yummy goodies I have been torturing myself by pinning; 

 knowing I cannot even think about baking any of them right now. 

Source: melskitchencafe.com via ae on Pinterest

Source: smells-like-home.com via ae on Pinterest

Source: mybakingaddiction.com via ae on Pinterest

Source: divine-baking.com via ae on Pinterest

Source: thesweetslife.com via ae on Pinterest

Source: keepitsweetblog.com via ae on Pinterest

cake time!

This cake is buttery tasting and due to the whole eggs, a pretty pale yellow color. 

It goes well with a variety of fillings and frostings.

It does have a tendency to be a little dry so I add a simple moistening syrup just before I frost the cakes.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

YELLOW CAKE

Makes two 8x2 inch round cake layers:

2 1/4 cups cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp cut into tablespoon sized pieces

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs, at room temp

3/4 cup whole milk, at room temp

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray two 8x2 inch round pans with nonstick spray, line with parchment, then give the parchment a quick spray as well.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

3. Beat the butter using the flat beater attachment until soft and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar gradually and beat until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl once or twice, and then beat in the vanilla.

4. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down after each addition, allowing each egg to be absorbed before continuing. Add the flour mixture in 4 additions, alternately with the milk. Begin and end with the flour mixture and beat briefly until smooth on low-medium speed after each addition.

5. Divide batter evenly between the pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula. Bake for about 23 minutes, or until a toothpick shows a few moist crumbs. The cake will be tinged with light golden brown around the edges and top and will have begun to come away from the sides of the pan.

6. Cool on racks in pans for 8 minutes. Unmold directly onto racks, peel off parchment, and allow cakes to cool completely. 

MOISTENING SYRUP

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and stir to wet the sugar. Add the split vanilla bean and all the seeds, if using. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

2. Turn the heat down to medium and simmer for 1 minute. Make sure all sugar is dissolved.

3. remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. (Whisk in vanilla extract, if using, at this point.) Remove the vanilla bean and seeds and refrigerate in an airtight container.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And here is the final product.

I used hydrangeas to decorate the cake because that is what J will be carrying in her bridal bouquet.

It was a big hit at the shower! 

It was a labor of love and took me a few late nights to finish it.

But J loved it and that was my goal!

yummy butter cream frosting!

One of my close friends, J, is getting married in September and I am one of her bridesmaids!

We threw her a bridal shower last Saturday and I baked the cake for it. 

This is the frosting that I used and I always get great compliments on the taste. 

It is not as sweet as a traditional buttercream and it has a great texture especially for decorating.

I know the recipe can look a little daunting but it is not as complicated as it seems.

 

ESSENTIAL BUTTER CREAM

Makes 7 cups
1 & 1/4 cups plus 1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
8 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 & 1/2 pounds(6 sticks) unsalted butter, at room
temp, cut into small pieces

1.  Place the 1&1/4 cups of sugar and water in a small
saucepan. Stir to wet all of the sugar. Bring to a
boil over medium-high heat, swirling the pan
occasionally to help dissolve sugar. Dip a pastry
brush in cold water and wash down sugar crystals from
the sides of the pot once or twice. Turn down the heat
so the mixture simmers gently. You want to be able to
bring the syrup to a rapid boil when needed. 

 
2.  Meanwhile, place the whites in your clean,
grease-free mixing bowl and whip until frothy on low
speed using the wire whip attachment. Add the cream of
tartar and turn the speed up to medium-high. When soft
peaks form, add the 1/3 cup sugar gradually.  Continue
whipping until stiff, glossy peaks form. This is the
meringue part of the butter cream.

  3.  Return the sugar/water mixture to a rapid boil and
cook until it reaches 248-250 degrees. The trick here
is to have to syrup ready at the same time as the
glossy meringue. If the meringue is done before the
syrup, turn the mixer speed down to the lowest setting
so that the whites are continuously moving, but not
highly agitated. If the syrup is done first add a bit
of hot water to lower the temperature and continue to
cook until meringue is ready.

4.  While the syrup is cooking at a rapid boil, there
are many visual clues to use to see how it is
progressing. It starts out thin with many small
bubbles over the entire surface. As it cooks, the
water evaporates and the mixture will become thicker.
The bubbles get larger and do not rise to the surface
so rapidly. The bubbles will become thick and sticky
and pop open more slowly as well. At this point, the
syrup definitely looks thickened, but it has not begun
to color, which would mean it is about to turn into
caramel. The stage you want, called the firm ball
stage, is right before the sugar starts to color. If
you drop a bit of the syrup into a glass of cold water
it will harden into a ball. When you squeeze the ball
between your fingertips, it will feel firm.

5.  When the syrup is ready, with the mixer running on
medium-high speed, pour in the syrup in a steady
stream, without getting any on the rotating whip or
the sides of the bowl. If it does, the syrup will
harden and cling and not make it down into the
meringue mixture. Turn off the machine to add the
syrup if you find it easier. You just do not want to
let the meringue sit still for longer than a few
seconds.

6.  The meringue must be whipped until it cools, which
may take as long as 15 minutes, depending on the
ambient temperature. At this point, beat the meringue
on high speed. Occasionally touch the outside bottom
of the bowl; you should be able to feel it cooling
down. When the bowl is no longer warm, stop the
machine and touch the surface of the meringue with
your finger to double-check that it is indeed cooled.
If you add the butter while the meringue is warm, the
butter will melt and ruin the texture of the
butter cream by turning it liquidy. It will also
decrease the volume of the final product.

7.  When the meringue is cool, turn the machine down
to a medium speed and begin to add the butter, a
couple tablespoons at a time. The meringue will
change the moment the butter becomes incorporated; the
texture becomes thicker, creamy, and smooth as it
turns into butter cream. Continue to whip the
butter cream, adding the remaining butter. Keep beating
until the butter cream is completely smooth.  If at any
time the mixture looks lumpy or separated, just
continue to beat; it will come together.

8.  After butter cream is completely smooth you can add
1 tablespoon of flavoring (ex. vanilla), if desired.

weekend randomness

A-Team was AMAZING!

I will definitely be buying it on DVD.

And I am almost tempted to go see it again in theaters.

Which I never do.

We had a great time in Savannah yesterday.

Uncle J enjoyed spending time with us,

but I think he enjoyed getting a free steak more;)

I got him Battlestar Galactica 4.5 for Father's Day.

I am the only one of his girls that appreciates sci-fi

This afternoon I baked homemade cinnamon rolls.

It was A LOT of work,

2 hours of work to be exact

but so worth it!

They were delicious and enormous.

Sadly, this will be the last fattening yummy food that I can bake for a while.

We have really fallen off of the exercise and eat right wagon.

So tomorrow starts the new plan.

And, because of my schedule, I have to workout in the mornings:(

I am NOT a morning person and I HATE to exercise.

I do not think this is going to be a good combination.

Hopefully everyone had a great weekend!

finally friday!

I am glad this week is over.

I think I did okay on my test.

I never think I do well on tests but usually do.

I still have the take-home portion to complete

but that is open book so I am not too worried about it.

Hopefully next week will not be quite as busy.

I did wind up making a Georgia peach cobbler last weekend.

And it was delicious!!

I am making another one for a cook out we are having tomorrow with the girls.

I think this may become my go to summer dessert!

Have a fabulous weekend!

baking=yummy goodies

I have been on a baking kick lately.

Much to the chagrin of my roommates;)

Although the BFF's boyfriend LOVES it!

I have always liked to cook but I love baking.

It relaxes me and I love seeing people enjoy my desserts.

Granted it is not very good for the waist line,

but I try to give as much of it away as I can.

I am the office favorite on those days;)

A couple of weeks ago, by request, I made some of my cream cheese filled red velvet cupcakes.

Last weekend I baked a triple chocolate cake with cream cheese icing.

Yesterday was a homemade apple pie.

I think next I want to try a peach cobbler.

This is actually one thing I have never baked before so it will be an experiment!

What are your favorite things to bake or

if you do not bake, what are your favorite desserts?