tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22545691115788122422024-03-06T00:53:44.870-08:00Art and CupcakesRebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-66002185459962973952010-09-03T17:30:00.000-07:002010-09-03T18:23:05.933-07:00Lemon Cheesecake Bars...<span style="font-family: verdana;">So I asked for suggestions of yummy things to bake, and my friend Mary Ann suggested some type of yummy bar. So tada... here they are. (Full recipe is listed at the end of the post.) </span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbj3TU4RJ-XlsO_m2cIXItzaHIR_GZ6VLKb7TMiAnexLGDXKYyjQZG0z90iumeSMHpJvEWykCGkWz0Q4G0P3p7yYDNSDH5UtsLN5njqFNj3qjXX6Ld0_Ng2BTX_LLeK9ypb7AcFR5Q3yGc/s1600/IMG_3525.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbj3TU4RJ-XlsO_m2cIXItzaHIR_GZ6VLKb7TMiAnexLGDXKYyjQZG0z90iumeSMHpJvEWykCGkWz0Q4G0P3p7yYDNSDH5UtsLN5njqFNj3qjXX6Ld0_Ng2BTX_LLeK9ypb7AcFR5Q3yGc/s320/IMG_3525.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512853910953363778" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take a 9"x9" square pan and line it with parchment paper. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. I promise you that you will regret it when you are spooning your "bars" out of the tin cause they stuck.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJQ-6hStFTjWzCNOXGlaXsN4rIx9fLNv_il4lIf3PgOVmiNOMX3AFwy97mIQBYYAHRvBGLCur5Nf6D3p3NFFzu42QDsE1ZQ9rzHQTaiPCYHIJ_waOuV46eyEAazIxX6R2HAbRvuiK5tey/s1600/IMG_3527.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJQ-6hStFTjWzCNOXGlaXsN4rIx9fLNv_il4lIf3PgOVmiNOMX3AFwy97mIQBYYAHRvBGLCur5Nf6D3p3NFFzu42QDsE1ZQ9rzHQTaiPCYHIJ_waOuV46eyEAazIxX6R2HAbRvuiK5tey/s320/IMG_3527.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512853449758620658" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Mix the crust ingredients together until they form a dough.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBZ4g1DjmH1jHSNseLo6iUGEEbVZoWzZq5-ZaQPHTCRxqKAMbXwmUxv6woj78ybs-p8FNO5wyyBHhS38Y4a08ROcNq0P5QQ2V2hRXNx4cANo-G0wTzTogg6L66SpyVPvEUs4tHeA1Zf-Dv/s1600/IMG_3528.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 293px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBZ4g1DjmH1jHSNseLo6iUGEEbVZoWzZq5-ZaQPHTCRxqKAMbXwmUxv6woj78ybs-p8FNO5wyyBHhS38Y4a08ROcNq0P5QQ2V2hRXNx4cANo-G0wTzTogg6L66SpyVPvEUs4tHeA1Zf-Dv/s320/IMG_3528.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512852990263542690" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Press the dough into the bottom of the pan. Put the pan in the oven for 15 minutes. </span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQtIRKtQCYMTM7f4ityytr9psRKrbV1spDyHshd_8QldZvnVK5gRrqFOefNtontlN-kVDQgkiYrShHrlkRCleupJnWXgls4mELSJO8IJHUpD9dwJrDRccjFuM0UGY_qNGqOEo_UKODopTn/s1600/IMG_3530.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 261px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQtIRKtQCYMTM7f4ityytr9psRKrbV1spDyHshd_8QldZvnVK5gRrqFOefNtontlN-kVDQgkiYrShHrlkRCleupJnWXgls4mELSJO8IJHUpD9dwJrDRccjFuM0UGY_qNGqOEo_UKODopTn/s320/IMG_3530.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512852407278752290" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">While the crust is baking, cream together the cream cheese, sugar and flour. (I used the same bowl for this that I made the crust in, and didn't even rinse it out, heck the ingredients are all getting baked together anyways.)</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ11pSY5y2vPe8MKxkutUVs9fpXVCcgZqqAbp_ivodMnlM7NJIRpu7C350vZhC1JA-K6jjS0NI8BumZgWRHAYIULSEdyq-oVkBaxv3wtde-4XU32z3E2vPGSqNZmZ2fn8Q8W7KH4QY0dGP/s1600/IMG_3531.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ11pSY5y2vPe8MKxkutUVs9fpXVCcgZqqAbp_ivodMnlM7NJIRpu7C350vZhC1JA-K6jjS0NI8BumZgWRHAYIULSEdyq-oVkBaxv3wtde-4XU32z3E2vPGSqNZmZ2fn8Q8W7KH4QY0dGP/s320/IMG_3531.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512852139111349554" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Add the eggs one at a time and mix on low. </span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrhXNxPsWSdbg1FdQuk05zO2Dp7fwGzV-kYWdp8HKFFAZWnepniUCsTSGIjH7AI2xdpbrCar_ChfW_1yvA7gfLV6C6hIR4EIYD98Ahxm_gqEZr41ypSWnFdy68RJVeF3C8Pn9nzuS3m0Jt/s1600/IMG_3533.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrhXNxPsWSdbg1FdQuk05zO2Dp7fwGzV-kYWdp8HKFFAZWnepniUCsTSGIjH7AI2xdpbrCar_ChfW_1yvA7gfLV6C6hIR4EIYD98Ahxm_gqEZr41ypSWnFdy68RJVeF3C8Pn9nzuS3m0Jt/s320/IMG_3533.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512851614584584546" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Add sour cream and vanilla and mix on low for one minute. </span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGJZRorXjbX1p10Wm0cc345XT7SOkqg7c87KaGVMEo1gJR5yB3lx8olrg-5YcGQxKLmPRHZW7uj4mUhG9fA0hhMssGdzSPZvkiOG1vyLjEuh_TyPdAYhyuc8NqHBE86Z7L_S5zSiYLS-O/s1600/IMG_3535.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGJZRorXjbX1p10Wm0cc345XT7SOkqg7c87KaGVMEo1gJR5yB3lx8olrg-5YcGQxKLmPRHZW7uj4mUhG9fA0hhMssGdzSPZvkiOG1vyLjEuh_TyPdAYhyuc8NqHBE86Z7L_S5zSiYLS-O/s320/IMG_3535.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512855077697073026" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Once the crust has baked for 15 minutes remove from oven and pour cheesecake filling on top. Smooth out the top with a spatula. Turn the oven down to 325 degrees and return the pan to the oven for 20 minutes. While this is baking, mix together all lemon filling ingredients in the same bowl you used to mix the cheesecake filling. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. After the 20 minutes of baking is complete, gently pour the lemon mixture on top of the cheesecake and return to the oven for 30 - 35 minutes until the center of the cheesecake is not too wobbly. </span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEi3_EnGv7mjCyPk-Xf4iTPIePUFpKRfWZIH8eK2kuUR7DhQGGe44w3QEtXG0INozoepiJGjncHCx0yZS9zKQrQO4A037_hKjpseu_p-uhC6LHCU7P4LaGSmfN5H-kLpoRu9M6UMtpHc8v/s1600/IMG_3538.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEi3_EnGv7mjCyPk-Xf4iTPIePUFpKRfWZIH8eK2kuUR7DhQGGe44w3QEtXG0INozoepiJGjncHCx0yZS9zKQrQO4A037_hKjpseu_p-uhC6LHCU7P4LaGSmfN5H-kLpoRu9M6UMtpHc8v/s320/IMG_3538.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512851183161382466" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Remove the pan from the oven and let cool. This part is hard, it smells so yummy.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg152YEIczRVmIvf5dvMhDhcKBwJZVfG_obq8sLkqtSC12SGePSljhkUI1dMIM3ZE5NtnUs5oUtDdOr9nfCjssSr4IDReMmxzH9FLtWcvMasRG9Rc7CLonLSNonVQAT0GpTSygjAf1JMy4-/s1600/IMG_3542.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg152YEIczRVmIvf5dvMhDhcKBwJZVfG_obq8sLkqtSC12SGePSljhkUI1dMIM3ZE5NtnUs5oUtDdOr9nfCjssSr4IDReMmxzH9FLtWcvMasRG9Rc7CLonLSNonVQAT0GpTSygjAf1JMy4-/s320/IMG_3542.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512849856884452594" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Remove the cheesecake from the pan and slice into bars. Look how easily the bars came out of the pan because of the parchment paper.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL9Xd1is6OhcCJzyStQ6sFiANewmjBOPHhVAlqMrqydVHziF230n3qQdmzSGhEgTimgOxcWGT8d_pfhe56kMtdKutvpPHvquNC50ODdWpY5WDnW8-TZDjPvxyc1ap4ZmQxdyN-ZxjTj_uJ/s1600/IMG_3549.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL9Xd1is6OhcCJzyStQ6sFiANewmjBOPHhVAlqMrqydVHziF230n3qQdmzSGhEgTimgOxcWGT8d_pfhe56kMtdKutvpPHvquNC50ODdWpY5WDnW8-TZDjPvxyc1ap4ZmQxdyN-ZxjTj_uJ/s320/IMG_3549.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512849268884863954" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Then you can taste. Mmmm... I would recommend that you cut these bars small since they are extremely rich. </span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn-PK8pIikS-FQbTCEzW7laKusMywKBLgm_d536dh-kxzYsJkewXI9lO1PMuGc2PvCCjO1Rs_GtNYitKElnKhxGniqUZTAnkSPwCrlrvvIguFUB3xGyZFy0jSkGHLaHjd3XWFW-Hhc8pOF/s1600/IMG_3539.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn-PK8pIikS-FQbTCEzW7laKusMywKBLgm_d536dh-kxzYsJkewXI9lO1PMuGc2PvCCjO1Rs_GtNYitKElnKhxGniqUZTAnkSPwCrlrvvIguFUB3xGyZFy0jSkGHLaHjd3XWFW-Hhc8pOF/s320/IMG_3539.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512850547606870050" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">And look, all this yumminess was created only using these few dishes. Now if you know me you know I hate to do dishes, so this recipe gets bonus points for this.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Recipe</span><br /><br />Crust:<br />11 T butter (softened)<br />1 1/3 C flour<br />2/3 C powdered sugar<br /><br />Cheesecake Filling:<br />16 oz cream cheese<br />2/3 C sugar<br />1 T flour<br />2 eggs<br />2/3 C sour cream<br />1/2 t vanilla<br /><br />Lemon Filling:<br />3 eggs<br />1 1/3 C sugar<br />4 T lemon juice<br />1 T lemon zest<br />4 T flour<br /><br /><br /></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-8763722708350848552010-08-29T09:12:00.000-07:002010-08-29T09:38:41.855-07:00Zucchini Bread<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIN9S9PSMdxJB9Z0mzNbbIPZXyMjm2mKz25_wWTQmm9TS19Ae2U22UYpB5mAQ9xQ1DKsOUn6GXUmf0vL2ETELTZqWzqs80u6UEUk4qfUG2TfgrPVL5QJqANzpWqq9i0lHlMi3eZMeZB5lm/s1600/IMG_3501.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIN9S9PSMdxJB9Z0mzNbbIPZXyMjm2mKz25_wWTQmm9TS19Ae2U22UYpB5mAQ9xQ1DKsOUn6GXUmf0vL2ETELTZqWzqs80u6UEUk4qfUG2TfgrPVL5QJqANzpWqq9i0lHlMi3eZMeZB5lm/s320/IMG_3501.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510870439740025410" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">What do you do with a two pound zucchini?<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TPm__CfRrjAzr67ytMkDPRjzbnsDZpmQLhZbl6VgTldM-b41kH717exA9VlZwNI2M28g3Jtv5aJnXUn2epyF0omIQaKg5G0Y9j8SVaSG5a_xFIxpoOCYUQtYqmLA9-dwBWUZEmwVriui/s1600/IMG_3503.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TPm__CfRrjAzr67ytMkDPRjzbnsDZpmQLhZbl6VgTldM-b41kH717exA9VlZwNI2M28g3Jtv5aJnXUn2epyF0omIQaKg5G0Y9j8SVaSG5a_xFIxpoOCYUQtYqmLA9-dwBWUZEmwVriui/s320/IMG_3503.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510870228184973394" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Well you shred it of course to make zucchini bread...<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQOGFig6de4JErMlr1PQ6OwnXRsCjymxCnYEIgS1u1XQBQ_77MyoMbz68MJlRPPXyvqp30I7brXETvqpVJrnRtJb-q2LOeKSaJTccU-BvkPeZPfpkkNUrNiyehrd7MdG5NE5B7XeeK4wd/s1600/IMG_3504.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 307px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQOGFig6de4JErMlr1PQ6OwnXRsCjymxCnYEIgS1u1XQBQ_77MyoMbz68MJlRPPXyvqp30I7brXETvqpVJrnRtJb-q2LOeKSaJTccU-BvkPeZPfpkkNUrNiyehrd7MdG5NE5B7XeeK4wd/s320/IMG_3504.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510869996811055650" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">And then you mix the zucchini with 4 tablespoons of sugar and place in a colander to drain. This step is essential as the massive amounts of water in the zucchini will make your bread mushy and inedible if you use it as is.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-09NnctjQndMAsDHMuJzW_IRL_TOSYo5zk2yyfYuLJCI8m-sD6Y93TV-cu_XK9Qo28I-DNi029TiLI-Fd595Pz6_WONMjWU-6jsMZeRTruBrIBJphVroolu_pGefUicqCdupWdStnqQw/s1600/IMG_3510.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-09NnctjQndMAsDHMuJzW_IRL_TOSYo5zk2yyfYuLJCI8m-sD6Y93TV-cu_XK9Qo28I-DNi029TiLI-Fd595Pz6_WONMjWU-6jsMZeRTruBrIBJphVroolu_pGefUicqCdupWdStnqQw/s320/IMG_3510.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510869762592060210" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Mix eggs, sugar, melted butter, and plain yogurt together...</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjos-2dFI0TyD1D2AbVyKPKVhnSAFUp4sKqRva0iBUJbodoXR3t8ejT6gRCr-mFWY5UH2oHSHsATHCotwKkQXW8XMozTsmjQGPXpwFDdq2a-gbPC7pm0GbsZEs2Mzo5KiuLbNOT5CNRkdll/s1600/IMG_3511.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 251px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjos-2dFI0TyD1D2AbVyKPKVhnSAFUp4sKqRva0iBUJbodoXR3t8ejT6gRCr-mFWY5UH2oHSHsATHCotwKkQXW8XMozTsmjQGPXpwFDdq2a-gbPC7pm0GbsZEs2Mzo5KiuLbNOT5CNRkdll/s320/IMG_3511.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510869477915028210" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt ...<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHgcTd96BoB8Cp4Le3U4TmHCwFfCRxpS02PH1uM-GaZMZLN9LT4kfgz4bKIsY5oupjw0hJ5jq-MKlO4ASW4A-UkKf66wKDq6hUtg6kdxNpoazij-LeWcAiL40mpL25g1Q8nExnRfq3Xgs/s1600/IMG_3514.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHgcTd96BoB8Cp4Le3U4TmHCwFfCRxpS02PH1uM-GaZMZLN9LT4kfgz4bKIsY5oupjw0hJ5jq-MKlO4ASW4A-UkKf66wKDq6hUtg6kdxNpoazij-LeWcAiL40mpL25g1Q8nExnRfq3Xgs/s320/IMG_3514.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510869181089174146" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Add zucchini and wet ingredients to the flour and stir together until combined...<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXNoI38lrLZ8XbJ4jN01i8PUN7hxLc1f9h8TMI-1olAhZD8sfDT5NLrpeKhrc7w2lMHhSg6NXHa1VKNVlas85AnO0ATJoFdwF8lqqz3LmHkwPTknb-s_tMcMMnxA_75CbOJxNmxnSzn__8/s1600/IMG_3515.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXNoI38lrLZ8XbJ4jN01i8PUN7hxLc1f9h8TMI-1olAhZD8sfDT5NLrpeKhrc7w2lMHhSg6NXHa1VKNVlas85AnO0ATJoFdwF8lqqz3LmHkwPTknb-s_tMcMMnxA_75CbOJxNmxnSzn__8/s320/IMG_3515.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510868490143848098" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Your batter should look like this. Do not overmix.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQtPblDW724IJUM4fzHeHHoUkhm0V6m5rebXGq-2mgaKBl2069EBf7OaT0u4Ua5O8UUitwJkAjgE1ROBX3TRHYUo8wmmj9YE8uAty10vWMlEqksucELF6vk1bK3Kf35-HmfucpupVu0oBn/s1600/IMG_3516.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQtPblDW724IJUM4fzHeHHoUkhm0V6m5rebXGq-2mgaKBl2069EBf7OaT0u4Ua5O8UUitwJkAjgE1ROBX3TRHYUo8wmmj9YE8uAty10vWMlEqksucELF6vk1bK3Kf35-HmfucpupVu0oBn/s320/IMG_3516.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510867658331272274" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Pour batter into two greased and floured loaf pans and bake at 375 degrees for 50-60 minutes. </span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-UoLorkenYH-obj1242BZkI8vnRXTg2_WgPVcfZ1zNwDhiMW_Wwo_OyTKernoh0XIPQHCJS1lbo3WvwyifAEFr0H1Z6CM3jEk1v5TvS34IqCavdaEfr8P_3O9LTNMYi5Py3fqvIVnlwp-/s1600/IMG_3518.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 234px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-UoLorkenYH-obj1242BZkI8vnRXTg2_WgPVcfZ1zNwDhiMW_Wwo_OyTKernoh0XIPQHCJS1lbo3WvwyifAEFr0H1Z6CM3jEk1v5TvS34IqCavdaEfr8P_3O9LTNMYi5Py3fqvIVnlwp-/s320/IMG_3518.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510867089615849666" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Once baked, let cool for 20-30 minutes and then slice and serve. </span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-60943798851063782532010-08-27T20:12:00.000-07:002010-08-27T20:28:40.834-07:00New Desk ...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJjCAJQRnTal9l6mhQSTAGHM_C36g28pO8EQxwkw8kBCJJJar2HSuObwEagvbi9V75H8ToXYZJW3bB3hqAx1D1UQBaW2yzpJdtZLeM4063ECT0ws8BpCsFhtuJ0IjT6NbzzwU96bnRn_Fl/s1600/IMG_3495.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 315px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJjCAJQRnTal9l6mhQSTAGHM_C36g28pO8EQxwkw8kBCJJJar2HSuObwEagvbi9V75H8ToXYZJW3bB3hqAx1D1UQBaW2yzpJdtZLeM4063ECT0ws8BpCsFhtuJ0IjT6NbzzwU96bnRn_Fl/s320/IMG_3495.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510294117611112498" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">My aunts, my mom and I went shopping today at a consignment store that had some amazing stuff. Have you ever walked into a store and just been drawn to a particular piece? Well this desk just spoke to me.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwM1ufR_nUc4tZEEjjMAbdik6wbNStmGaX3Ahowt16uP-t32WhDLt1neRKQQpHVsuTDedQHUV-xAtQI8dVwdkk5HhOI_GIv_pYkkjl9lxKaWv9qP-aGjKp1L10mAb5YXcz6RJiH9R8yJoN/s1600/IMG_3496.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 310px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwM1ufR_nUc4tZEEjjMAbdik6wbNStmGaX3Ahowt16uP-t32WhDLt1neRKQQpHVsuTDedQHUV-xAtQI8dVwdkk5HhOI_GIv_pYkkjl9lxKaWv9qP-aGjKp1L10mAb5YXcz6RJiH9R8yJoN/s320/IMG_3496.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510294476246484658" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">They just don't build furniture like this anymore. This looks like it was an old school desk. Check out how the side flips up and gives you some extra space. (It is the same on the other side as well.)<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Ipfo3_ig58KUwRTU_AK2peZt4EK4cBp0m7aiQ_f1LsY80WzajcoQKnLQA2mOTEOEH_CMNhWlYTYpQlKDufLmSGqmoY-9mfiI8IWyWatE_K5RKxmjBoUy54It3uFj4VPayuIPC60ijcmD/s1600/IMG_3498.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Ipfo3_ig58KUwRTU_AK2peZt4EK4cBp0m7aiQ_f1LsY80WzajcoQKnLQA2mOTEOEH_CMNhWlYTYpQlKDufLmSGqmoY-9mfiI8IWyWatE_K5RKxmjBoUy54It3uFj4VPayuIPC60ijcmD/s320/IMG_3498.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510295568842347186" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">Here is a close up of the top, it has a little ceramic ink well...</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3NJ9VgW6rAgTQHb1Ndp4eNwEjoxrOPoZNI8Bub_58BVapMR-JSPOzQN20dD36UYkXbRLAwArBxgJ6a3cKiNg5ZjooatI_DvSQf-eaffPm6m6a1D67v_9xHD4YudxctOgjaB8H_KhZAhC9/s1600/IMG_3500.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3NJ9VgW6rAgTQHb1Ndp4eNwEjoxrOPoZNI8Bub_58BVapMR-JSPOzQN20dD36UYkXbRLAwArBxgJ6a3cKiNg5ZjooatI_DvSQf-eaffPm6m6a1D67v_9xHD4YudxctOgjaB8H_KhZAhC9/s320/IMG_3500.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510296382084609666" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">And the top flips up for storage. Now I just have to decide where exactly in my condo I want to put this. Do you think it would be wrong to use it to store my laptop and all my other computer-y components?</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-81528113150320128222010-08-27T09:00:00.000-07:002010-08-27T09:00:04.128-07:00Birthday Cake...<span style="font-family:verdana;">So back in the craziness of making a wedding cake, one of my great college friends asked me if I knew how to make gluten free cakes. Now I am no expert on gluten free baking and I knew that I didn't want to tackle all the crazy ingredients that are in some of the recipes out there for gluten free baking. Where does one find xantham gum anyways?<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">So my friend needed a gluten free cake, and she needed it for the day after the wedding that I was making the cake for. So I said sure, I can do that. Might as well make one more cake while I am elbow deep in sugar and cake. I decided that I would make a flour-less chocolate cake, since it is easy and intrinsically gluten free and she requested cream cheese frosting.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo2y9BiJPxddyavyNHfs-2E4SbUY1Yq-ocGiqYPB7tMo6nAuW04MHTSD29UGakCXNXXmzFKpwsC32LxuluMkFxS5dRTbj9Yziwk5j33UmIFyUNpR4LgI7gyfZprBKajs7OemfmPWRMnYGt/s1600/IMG_3451.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 366px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo2y9BiJPxddyavyNHfs-2E4SbUY1Yq-ocGiqYPB7tMo6nAuW04MHTSD29UGakCXNXXmzFKpwsC32LxuluMkFxS5dRTbj9Yziwk5j33UmIFyUNpR4LgI7gyfZprBKajs7OemfmPWRMnYGt/s400/IMG_3451.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508851676539737938" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">So I took a little bit of liberty with the cake filling and the design on the outside. So I made a four layer, flour-less chocolate cake filled with strawberry/apricot jam, frosted with cream cheese icing and covered in fondant.<br /><br />I tinted small bits of fondant with three shades of blue/green and cut small circles out of the fondant and applied it to the cake to make a little bubble pattern.<br /><br />I think this cake turned out really well. And apparently it was a hit at the party, so I will have to make it again when I will get to taste it.<br /><br />Also I have to get better about keeping my camera in my kitchen and taking pictures of each step in the process instead of just the final results. Any other food bloggers out there reading that have tips for remembering to take pictures of each step? <br /></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-82228398116644581962010-08-26T10:24:00.000-07:002010-08-26T10:33:12.441-07:00Almost Christmas ...<span style="font-family: verdana;">I was reminded the other day that there are now less than FOUR months until Christmas. Which gets me to thinking that I should start contemplating gifts soon or else I will be too busy to actually do anything.<br /><br />I have in the past made homemade gifts, like the cookie mix in a jar, handmade ceramic bowls or aprons. I think that making a gift for someone is a lot of fun. Also it tends to be more economical so I can often make a much nicer gift than I could buy.<br /><br />So I am looking for suggestions, bear in mind that I cannot knit and have been working on crocheting a scarf since I was in college. But I do have pretty good kitchen skills and I know my way around a sewing machine too.<br /><br />So please comment below and let me know what kind of handmade gifts you have received that you really loved and or what type of thing you would love to see under your Christmas tree this year. <br /></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-29514290677871977672010-08-26T09:00:00.000-07:002010-08-26T09:00:01.548-07:00Some photos from my summer trip...<span style="font-family:verdana;">Just some random pictures from my trip to London this summer.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofPM9tw49GZM5Y7yIyFjoRDsmKTpv80S72aaKqwuQAhV7P4fEn161DxiPIP1JJ3T8nlsePTbVMTmLv1_Pkd4t63hI1w0BqEgMp0l-KpILj_VZysl7hhNgDkZX0QYz16J5sxwN-tK9Q2in/s1600/IMG_2725a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 231px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofPM9tw49GZM5Y7yIyFjoRDsmKTpv80S72aaKqwuQAhV7P4fEn161DxiPIP1JJ3T8nlsePTbVMTmLv1_Pkd4t63hI1w0BqEgMp0l-KpILj_VZysl7hhNgDkZX0QYz16J5sxwN-tK9Q2in/s320/IMG_2725a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508844119393000434" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">My ride across the pond ... "I do believe in fairies, I do, I do..." "And isn't she just first class?" ;)<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiul-EKYVxtxiWUBaY5TgTo4mVsPWkpDnJSJWH7H0MmBCdUC5VKdL34wXsH6TiE1QXcETq2GhXSu7LFegaGMTli63VfbErykU8RSnC2Dd75pFM1SKSCXUbL5Q6787BPC5cN2yylJ_KKSRM_/s1600/IMG_2833.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiul-EKYVxtxiWUBaY5TgTo4mVsPWkpDnJSJWH7H0MmBCdUC5VKdL34wXsH6TiE1QXcETq2GhXSu7LFegaGMTli63VfbErykU8RSnC2Dd75pFM1SKSCXUbL5Q6787BPC5cN2yylJ_KKSRM_/s320/IMG_2833.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508845809175720514" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">Church that I don't know the name of in London.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv2PaP8ljXkvzJK4awxw2YdiwAfFn5iOzbvmd99Wdxbnsu4ppNQP4t-3nB7fg4eKjjYKoN96H4MEYKLyqiAI4mj4pYghdKLnZmanahX-qgz1YcBIjfkZFLX2r39EwqC9eI4KQ_fkOQep3g/s1600/IMG_2754.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 282px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv2PaP8ljXkvzJK4awxw2YdiwAfFn5iOzbvmd99Wdxbnsu4ppNQP4t-3nB7fg4eKjjYKoN96H4MEYKLyqiAI4mj4pYghdKLnZmanahX-qgz1YcBIjfkZFLX2r39EwqC9eI4KQ_fkOQep3g/s320/IMG_2754.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508847745573369490" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Grenadier Guard ...<br /></span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIoH7M05LJ1uEpxdl8WxusDKZXbl8wBrwyOd8wzeZbbBiKdB2Mw7hV0PqWAvPxzyYN61yTM1eFJ5zNXZLyFbhaXRkiH7dKPJto19m4OWVSBxVJdYehh_GBq3GvQoMZuNuIDRUd5QuKQPBD/s1600/IMG_3018.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIoH7M05LJ1uEpxdl8WxusDKZXbl8wBrwyOd8wzeZbbBiKdB2Mw7hV0PqWAvPxzyYN61yTM1eFJ5zNXZLyFbhaXRkiH7dKPJto19m4OWVSBxVJdYehh_GBq3GvQoMZuNuIDRUd5QuKQPBD/s320/IMG_3018.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508848692960875970" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:webdings;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Wall at Cardiff Castle...</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-25585252245632156762010-08-25T21:52:00.000-07:002010-08-25T22:18:47.139-07:00Making Whoopie ... Pie<span style="font-family:verdana;">So whoopie pie has apparently become a trend and our newspaper food section did some articles on them a while back and I thought they sounded and looked tasty. Well today I decided to make them to take to a family bbq. </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">I used the recipe found <a href="http://www.whoopiepies.org/">here</a>. </span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcoqLgw46Pnunpgi680hY4UXgm0obClzcx_VUzCblMBOlIK61U57LWifzIXh1scmNDZzves0TF4j_TCxBtTFRNwqJCs_a7G8u5UzSLyWOeBB57gRpi9Rgj8LszMwTMGlLTcy17FmFSOAd/s1600/IMG_3468.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcoqLgw46Pnunpgi680hY4UXgm0obClzcx_VUzCblMBOlIK61U57LWifzIXh1scmNDZzves0TF4j_TCxBtTFRNwqJCs_a7G8u5UzSLyWOeBB57gRpi9Rgj8LszMwTMGlLTcy17FmFSOAd/s320/IMG_3468.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509581003924571794" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ingredients...</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxzSTmxvbYDEgJfyjyW-jY2FysiL3Ln29Txvo8orPpS-oTHy72-t8dxS5GP5uF0icYm8-TL2hpY428iKrfF5-XQnySRbl1y-KW_-uRfvwd_GSzBhuJ2gfYv3LMYEWs-080PMpddJsY1q6A/s1600/IMG_3470.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxzSTmxvbYDEgJfyjyW-jY2FysiL3Ln29Txvo8orPpS-oTHy72-t8dxS5GP5uF0icYm8-TL2hpY428iKrfF5-XQnySRbl1y-KW_-uRfvwd_GSzBhuJ2gfYv3LMYEWs-080PMpddJsY1q6A/s320/IMG_3470.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509580604702018274" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Mix according to the recipe until the batter is fluffy and smooth...</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4zpOeFqFED8M8zuI4BER0ZYyFdIhHA1e_ga1IjsJWurbSZb-y0TA0ZYu3qkAM5fBXDGQGHmCH2sTL_ZMZkvCqABDif8me6m8TEUyvzt0-YS0EJYx7gpzlsm2vAq1UX-6c35zfaKLY2Dzw/s1600/IMG_3471.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 205px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4zpOeFqFED8M8zuI4BER0ZYyFdIhHA1e_ga1IjsJWurbSZb-y0TA0ZYu3qkAM5fBXDGQGHmCH2sTL_ZMZkvCqABDif8me6m8TEUyvzt0-YS0EJYx7gpzlsm2vAq1UX-6c35zfaKLY2Dzw/s320/IMG_3471.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509580255504501090" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">I used a scooper to portion out little balls of batter onto parchment paper lined baking pans...</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS3P172EZRJ-86f67xUgJ6jsj2VfeC6e_hRyWZO026_haIYzpHgM4b9fIE4rwQqrnuoWK5xCg4MS_B1YMt1bRrLOUODvNf3x1poGZ4aVnt7xxOS5HlUqVKxt-8i35QTnrebXEdRDLBFb1N/s1600/IMG_3473.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 308px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS3P172EZRJ-86f67xUgJ6jsj2VfeC6e_hRyWZO026_haIYzpHgM4b9fIE4rwQqrnuoWK5xCg4MS_B1YMt1bRrLOUODvNf3x1poGZ4aVnt7xxOS5HlUqVKxt-8i35QTnrebXEdRDLBFb1N/s320/IMG_3473.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509579946232987346" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">While the cake portion was baking I gathered the ingredients for the filling ...</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkM_rJ4hjIxss3Veb1EeWj05ROE909_1_kVmNJpXS2hmw8rqbfllYRM6Rv1JLMsFeLhn4l1cx9leCtknZok6GNcCD615nAeANaJz0ztBfNgnMf6DicQg9R8s1tgo15h61rpID7Vxj95aQs/s1600/IMG_3477.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkM_rJ4hjIxss3Veb1EeWj05ROE909_1_kVmNJpXS2hmw8rqbfllYRM6Rv1JLMsFeLhn4l1cx9leCtknZok6GNcCD615nAeANaJz0ztBfNgnMf6DicQg9R8s1tgo15h61rpID7Vxj95aQs/s320/IMG_3477.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509579628014029794" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Once the cakes were baked, I let them cool...</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-vYr4gag2Zt_SgHnaFITXPhLPs6UbShAJ_XBzcW5YXFH7gn7kyJZICEwzfJMabD-ySCZH6pb8Q-N1U3j4i8mggpwH950pjwEjwzNF4J7-tub07cjKUsCpbkBBB7zrsPhzIj5-gXkvSQle/s1600/IMG_3478.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 186px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-vYr4gag2Zt_SgHnaFITXPhLPs6UbShAJ_XBzcW5YXFH7gn7kyJZICEwzfJMabD-ySCZH6pb8Q-N1U3j4i8mggpwH950pjwEjwzNF4J7-tub07cjKUsCpbkBBB7zrsPhzIj5-gXkvSQle/s320/IMG_3478.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509579292769731138" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">I paired up the cakes by size and piped on the filling...</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTcYtzjQMsAZh7c8Dnp-SX51LDhtNb-Y7YxA3l8bDmIQO5OK6RO_TR2nKe323iw_UWMvyZRAIpcO7YtmOShTenLVQpbmtUM7kFmgpiCQKeWE-yEScMYv0tETj_XO2Q1_hpt4J-npdW1US6/s1600/IMG_3480.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 253px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTcYtzjQMsAZh7c8Dnp-SX51LDhtNb-Y7YxA3l8bDmIQO5OK6RO_TR2nKe323iw_UWMvyZRAIpcO7YtmOShTenLVQpbmtUM7kFmgpiCQKeWE-yEScMYv0tETj_XO2Q1_hpt4J-npdW1US6/s320/IMG_3480.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509578800479297266" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Then put the top on and press down gently...</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfjdc-6QA5xKqAJcpn_9FDBlXtNohbA-CSTR0H7d-BkS6vGIhDjjlRItCfxC9vryqnu64_9gUJ9wRGO5OCIRLawHy15BcmTQDi9xt9Yi6dNRKLF5Wb2R6iv1TTnI8f1_d2_DAlu0qC1KYK/s1600/IMG_3486.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfjdc-6QA5xKqAJcpn_9FDBlXtNohbA-CSTR0H7d-BkS6vGIhDjjlRItCfxC9vryqnu64_9gUJ9wRGO5OCIRLawHy15BcmTQDi9xt9Yi6dNRKLF5Wb2R6iv1TTnI8f1_d2_DAlu0qC1KYK/s320/IMG_3486.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509578541711229954" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">And repeat until all are filled, then step back and admire...</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioP7wHM6MmthUFPkIlltZE2finugP-kY3rbyFAUWZk5Kw82RIp32vg_V68TaYwqe5FishGpy80OUGBRelnwSuNJoXwF27acBUsmhBEG7SzNMpCz_Bieiae5-K-z8qY1ea8pOkk44hs23cr/s1600/IMG_3489.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 309px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioP7wHM6MmthUFPkIlltZE2finugP-kY3rbyFAUWZk5Kw82RIp32vg_V68TaYwqe5FishGpy80OUGBRelnwSuNJoXwF27acBUsmhBEG7SzNMpCz_Bieiae5-K-z8qY1ea8pOkk44hs23cr/s320/IMG_3489.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509578176413820226" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">And taste ... om nom nom ... Cakey marshmallow-y goodness, in a handy little snack that you can pick up and eat. Perfect for a picnic, a backyard bbq or to pack in your lunchbox for tomorrow. Although I can't guarantee that it will still be there at lunchtime. *Sneaks back to the fridge for another one*</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-35159825236160052702010-08-25T09:00:00.001-07:002010-08-25T09:32:30.432-07:00Peanut Butter Frosting ...<span style="font-family:verdana;">To continue with frosting recipes, here it is at last the infamous Peanut Butter Buttercream.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">This frosting I started making for chocolate cupcakes and it has been a hit ever since. It was also the frosting that I used to fill the bottom layer of the wedding cake.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">There are actually two different versions of this frosting. One version uses heavy cream and thusly needs to be refrigerated for storage. The other version is more of a traditional buttercream and you don't have to worry about it being left out on a table if you are having a party and it is warm outside.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Traditional Buttercream Type of frosting -<br />This tends to be a bit heavier of a frosting.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hGwYxo01VLBLPFzFxVpgB8GQEMFXI5N14lq8cV-mfmjmKuF9cFHcFwJvCvyEdImLrh8DIW81uCIUyiQRUVEdBqgF6Iy5xhyphenhyphenEvufcT2_mdhpp7dJqEs8avnfEWEitPZLIIKcqcceyCC9i/s1600/IMG_3465.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 317px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hGwYxo01VLBLPFzFxVpgB8GQEMFXI5N14lq8cV-mfmjmKuF9cFHcFwJvCvyEdImLrh8DIW81uCIUyiQRUVEdBqgF6Iy5xhyphenhyphenEvufcT2_mdhpp7dJqEs8avnfEWEitPZLIIKcqcceyCC9i/s400/IMG_3465.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509208003248321778" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Ingredients:<br />- 1 stick butter (room temperature)<br />- 3/4 C of creamy peanut butter (room temperature - I use Skippy)<br />- 1 t vanilla<br />- 3 C powdered sugar (sifted if you are worried about lumps)<br />- splash of milk<br />- pinch of salt<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">In the bowl of your stand mixer with your whisk attachment, cream together the butter and peanut butter. Add the vanilla and one cup of powdered sugar and a pinch of salt. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time add a splash of milk to help the frosting come together. Once you have added all the powdered sugar mix the frosting on medium speed for 1-2 minutes.<br /><br />If you need a thinner frosting for piping or a crumb coat you can add more milk or water to reach the consistency that you need.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSdeyNiAee9F9orE84RTPpyH-B7q4UmaSSGFTiqv9-xC7EyZZS0lWEiYcPY_EMmPqTW_oVVT_2Un-WVRd3h8oazIF6KJdA_pI1nN0xy3ktK2-DEoOPJJDdKK3xDPtzqrpgo-AGGwOtKq1/s1600/IMG_2321.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 295px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSdeyNiAee9F9orE84RTPpyH-B7q4UmaSSGFTiqv9-xC7EyZZS0lWEiYcPY_EMmPqTW_oVVT_2Un-WVRd3h8oazIF6KJdA_pI1nN0xy3ktK2-DEoOPJJDdKK3xDPtzqrpgo-AGGwOtKq1/s320/IMG_2321.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509209769899501970" border="0" /></a>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-59828202745450398212010-08-24T09:00:00.000-07:002010-08-24T09:00:05.305-07:00Seven Minute Frosting ...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1QjClCeOG3CP5BTBRjMc5A2eQnX2m8hvxJtBz5fKABhg6-lVkLyDEPkbVuF8gg8hD86eU5CUhFGQtdTaU0IyiMk0Kei_OsP5WPcLOkaZ2Q-dsnJGM0bdWS9onhCQP24TXZhXPH89mLoAf/s1600/IMG_3429.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 295px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1QjClCeOG3CP5BTBRjMc5A2eQnX2m8hvxJtBz5fKABhg6-lVkLyDEPkbVuF8gg8hD86eU5CUhFGQtdTaU0IyiMk0Kei_OsP5WPcLOkaZ2Q-dsnJGM0bdWS9onhCQP24TXZhXPH89mLoAf/s320/IMG_3429.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508835538926855682" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />I have used this frosting on several of the cupcakes I have made lately since it is so easy to do (at least in my version) and I love the light fluffy texture that it has.<br /><br />If you search the internet for Seven Minute Frosting you will get a ton of different recipes that people have come up with, many of which require that you do things like whip egg whites using a hand mixer over a double boiler while ensuring that they are at a specific temperature. Well let me tell you I tried this method and unless I spontaneously grow two more arms it is virtually impossible to actually do all the things required at the same time. Or hey it might just be that I am not coordinated enough.<br /><br />So I figured there had to be a better way.<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />- 1 1/2 C sugar<br />- 2 T corn syrup<br />- 6 egg whites (I use large eggs)<br />- 1 T flavor extract (vanilla or anything else you desire)<br />- 1/4 C water<br /><br />In your stand mixer, beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Then add 1/2 C sugar and beat to stiff peaks. I start my mixer running and move on to the next step and just watch the egg whites so I don't overbeat them.<br /><br />In a small saucepan over medium high heat, combine 1 C sugar, corn syrup, water and flavor extract. Heat to about 225-230 degrees, stirring so you don't burn it.<br /><br />Usually just as my sugar is getting to the right temperature my egg whites are at stiff peaks. With your mixer set at about medium speed, pour the hot sugar mixture down the side of your mixer bowl, and turn the mixer up to medium/high. Beat the frosting till it is glossy and cool (about 7 minutes).<br /><br />Then fill a pastry bag or ziplock bag with frosting and pipe onto the top of your cupcakes.<br /><br />This frosting can be torched or placed under a broiler to be caramelized a bit, like in the s'mores cupcake post. Or just used as is, like I did on the tequila sunrise cupcakes.<br /></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-67303989460405240052010-08-23T21:55:00.000-07:002010-08-23T22:07:15.681-07:00Jack & the Giant Dragon...<span style="font-family:verdana;">An art post ... indeed this blog does actually have art in it as well as cupcakes and baking adventures.<br /><br />My baby cousin (really my cousin's son - I'm not sure what the term would be for him but I call him cousin) went to his first day of kindergarten this week. And after school he called me to see if I would draw him a dragon that he could color in and glitter.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">So instead of going out to lunch as planned I got out my trusty number two pencil and some white printer paper (clearly not any fancy art supplies for me) and set down to draw a happy dragon. If I had been at home I might have actually used the digital tablet that I bought ages ago and I haven't used in a while.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVYA4S6aicoazVdbQUVQqs7PPAkuxmkt6m7C8qSlsSQ5YLaRqdEL9cB3DnhxaugU_MG87r6u-uigDOBJq8nW7mtQP71Z17YMRmfs61f3YND2wVSIUaRPnIIEBUOlKxEpBxmoU3XYCMIZms/s1600/IMG_3462.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVYA4S6aicoazVdbQUVQqs7PPAkuxmkt6m7C8qSlsSQ5YLaRqdEL9cB3DnhxaugU_MG87r6u-uigDOBJq8nW7mtQP71Z17YMRmfs61f3YND2wVSIUaRPnIIEBUOlKxEpBxmoU3XYCMIZms/s320/IMG_3462.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508833227908376194" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Here is the original sketch, I didn't worry to much about cleaning up messy edges and such. Now since this project was to be colored in and glittered I blew it up on the office copier and then pasted it to some poster board so that it would hold up to all the glue and glitter to come.<br /><br />And here is the finished project.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzuNBb5eV9Dn7eVsE8nEkhbAWqNUVahkVveekdQ_y_SKr9_1cPkXuAED21p_-TR-NnzmBTa0JxuZvS-_m9dRNCUtkxInHcdykqhiWnjGL-4duraY6Z9488jFKfD460epkrtHqwlXZyntr/s1600/Dragon.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 411px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzuNBb5eV9Dn7eVsE8nEkhbAWqNUVahkVveekdQ_y_SKr9_1cPkXuAED21p_-TR-NnzmBTa0JxuZvS-_m9dRNCUtkxInHcdykqhiWnjGL-4duraY6Z9488jFKfD460epkrtHqwlXZyntr/s320/Dragon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508833861137536242" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Those are some serious glitter skills. Way to go Jack :)<br /></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-34054023807361704872010-08-23T11:57:00.000-07:002010-08-23T12:07:42.874-07:00This weekend was a little bit crazy ...<span style="font-family: verdana;">and so, although I did make some yummy and quite pretty tequila sunrise cupcakes there is no photographic proof of such.<br /><br />On the plus side, since I made cupcakes my little brother is at this very moment cleaning my kitchen :) I'll call it a win.<br /><br />So this was somewhat of a 'cheater' recipe as I used a white cake mix as a base and then altered it since I was short on time and measuring ingredients didn't fit into my schedule.<br /><br />Here is the recipe:<br />- One box of white cake mix<br />- 3 eggs - yes whole eggs (I didn't need the cake to actually be white)<br />- 3/4 C tequila<br />- 3/4 C water<br />- 1/4 C vegetable oil<br />- 1 splash of orange flavoring<br />- 1 splash of cherry flavoring<br /><br />Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix together cake mix, eggs, tequila, water and oil. Mix for 2 minutes until batter is fluffy. Divide batter 1/4 in a small bowl and leave 3/4 in the bowl. Stir in cherry flavoring to the small bowl and add a drop or two of red food coloring. Stir in orange flavoring to the larger bowl of batter.<br /><br />Spoon red cherry flavored batter into the bottom of the cupcake liners (just enough to cover the bottom of the liner) top with orange flavored batter to fill to 2/3 full.<br /><br />Bake for 16-18 minutes.<br /><br />While those are baking make 7-minute frosting (see next post for recipe) and frost once they are cool.<br /></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-69868627526424746992010-08-21T09:00:00.000-07:002010-08-21T09:00:03.595-07:00Wedding Cake Baking - Part 4: Vanilla White Cake<span style="font-family:verdana;">This post will be fairly short as I didn't take a lot of pictures. I used the Classic White Cake <a href="http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Classic-White-Cake">recipe</a> from Wilton and baked two 10" layers.<br /><br />This cake is fairly dense for a white cake which works well for a stacked tiered cake as it is able to support the weight of the next layer, unlike so</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">me fluffy light white cake recipes which tend to sink when heavier tiers are place on top of them.<br /><br />I filled this tier with lemon curd. The trick to using a fruit or curd f</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">illing in a cake is to make a fairly stiff buttercream frosting and make a circle of frosting around the edge of the cake to hold the filling in.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ7BfTaJpB3_9yzURq9gVrGCZcYVCKoUxluZt29WoVLbQamvJ1Grk245OB0J2d09Y2hwSOBboTsYACr0f-qYTQAjqjhJQ1PhWWogwWL0_SNEUM4jXIQegd_EfpdwBZb57TSHdWNTZ46RHP/s1600/IMG_3335.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ7BfTaJpB3_9yzURq9gVrGCZcYVCKoUxluZt29WoVLbQamvJ1Grk245OB0J2d09Y2hwSOBboTsYACr0f-qYTQAjqjhJQ1PhWWogwWL0_SNEUM4jXIQegd_EfpdwBZb57TSHdWNTZ46RHP/s320/IMG_3335.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507189547555418818" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Take note that my cake did not look perfect at this point. It had cracked on the top of the cake but since it then became the middle of the cake it wouldn't show, and it would just let more of the lemony goodness in.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQpgHrRRG2yX-z0r4LRgmZoPJS4P1S3oZHrrKYzOUE5xgk-1RiwNGds8cK2T2ds9YlgXrIiicGtDrqSNkNQ4eAdE1cPxpq2NsuNGln49YzjdunWBeRsApvCov7g3aPQZvxySl2gVBFktp/s1600/IMG_3336.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 235px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQpgHrRRG2yX-z0r4LRgmZoPJS4P1S3oZHrrKYzOUE5xgk-1RiwNGds8cK2T2ds9YlgXrIiicGtDrqSNkNQ4eAdE1cPxpq2NsuNGln49YzjdunWBeRsApvCov7g3aPQZvxySl2gVBFktp/s320/IMG_3336.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507190085534844818" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />This cake was a hit, the perfect sweetness of the white cake married with the tartness of the lemon curd.<br /></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-57490002402261540082010-08-20T09:00:00.000-07:002010-08-20T09:00:04.287-07:00Wedding Cake Baking - Part 3: Chocolate Cake<span style="font-family:verdana;">And now to the actual cake. Two of the cake tiers were chocola</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">te cake and I used the same recipe for both. I adapted the chocolate fudge grooms cake <a href="http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Chocolate-Fudge-Grooms-Cake">recipe</a> available on the Wilton website in order to make enough to fill the two 12" cake pans. And then used the recipe as written for the two 8" cake pans.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Now I have a basic chocolate cake recipe that I typica</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">lly use for</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> all my chocolate cake needs but when I attempted to upsize it to fill a 12" pan it turned out dry around the edges by the time the middle baked. Which led to to searching out the</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> Wilton recipe.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjofFvrHq-_qYhlJy1TKF5nDmqVLaADgq3zunNZtDLRO0wQo-2DDeUPTd-ZsenNUJWSyeAoToJvGw7BIl-UnJm7rsLSuZ-hVZYWqRui9XMYPVLtf-IjxbRUcHm6wFDFRynsufKE9QhTJ6ud/s1600/IMG_3435.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjofFvrHq-_qYhlJy1TKF5nDmqVLaADgq3zunNZtDLRO0wQo-2DDeUPTd-ZsenNUJWSyeAoToJvGw7BIl-UnJm7rsLSuZ-hVZYWqRui9XMYPVLtf-IjxbRUcHm6wFDFRynsufKE9QhTJ6ud/s320/IMG_3435.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507167575878924754" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">First I combined the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and whisked it together. This aerates the flour and combines the ingredients, I tend to do this rather than sifting all the flour.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqVkSrNI7p-1QPUfaxQYG88ZUwImkAk3bF6gb6Q7CSxf3czcsSxSCSAYA6xCo8unWb-ejulE9UGU-oJ13f3XCYSLGHsDy6VqP_pfqKXTwsbJH3zE_dHTchvBPPK64Yl4hV_a7cc45xjMm/s1600/IMG_3434.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqVkSrNI7p-1QPUfaxQYG88ZUwImkAk3bF6gb6Q7CSxf3czcsSxSCSAYA6xCo8unWb-ejulE9UGU-oJ13f3XCYSLGHsDy6VqP_pfqKXTwsbJH3zE_dHTchvBPPK64Yl4hV_a7cc45xjMm/s320/IMG_3434.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507168766488232466" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">In a stand mixer, I creamed the butter and sugar together. Then added eggs, vanilla and then alternated adding the milk and the flour mixture, till I had a typical looking cake batter.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5vwbI7XbdBUFpN8TEdLlIgxzRHSRu_VmtdlicGglnAU1pn7xQsW4Q5CNz9J0Yp696b-0QV8IhY8Gu1Z-OoDDV5py-LYtXnwgvBumFOYUnCOQQMDQZ5t8dUJ9nhQveVgDiwGtSu_aDjGt/s1600/IMG_3437.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5vwbI7XbdBUFpN8TEdLlIgxzRHSRu_VmtdlicGglnAU1pn7xQsW4Q5CNz9J0Yp696b-0QV8IhY8Gu1Z-OoDDV5py-LYtXnwgvBumFOYUnCOQQMDQZ5t8dUJ9nhQveVgDiwGtSu_aDjGt/s320/IMG_3437.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507174790924619650" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Now to the chocolate. The recipe calls for unsweetened chocolate, but generally the baking chocolate that you get at the grocery store is not of the highest quality. So I buy dark chocolate in bulk from Whole Foods since they are the most reasonably priced place to buy chocolate by the pound. If you don't have a Whole Foods store nearby you could check other specialty stores or a cake supply store. I chop the chocolate and then melt in the microwave in short bursts of 15 sec</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">onds, stirring in between.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_s1_cE9aFHKcOvGrAr_7Ni3jFqPMvg-BbZH72eieRx74VKKyult44N5D9buhN_Z4XU2D7eq43gB3cyfLNgyvyxIV46Tt6rxig9agGRiV5AIFx4_W04OkzOsvsT2s845CS-YdQQuKsl5D/s1600/IMG_3438.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_s1_cE9aFHKcOvGrAr_7Ni3jFqPMvg-BbZH72eieRx74VKKyult44N5D9buhN_Z4XU2D7eq43gB3cyfLNgyvyxIV46Tt6rxig9agGRiV5AIFx4_W04OkzOsvsT2s845CS-YdQQuKsl5D/s320/IMG_3438.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507175557480864434" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Then add the melted chocolate to the cake batter and mix for a couple minutes until the chocolate is fully incorporated. I split the batter into the two pans; I poured the batter into the pans till they looked even and then weighed each of the pans to make sure they contained equal amounts of batter. (This is helpful as you can make sure your baked layers are even for splitting.) </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I baked the layers at 325 degrees for about 50 minutes and then let them cool. Once cool, I split each layer in half and poured a little simple syrup on them to keep them moist.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifW0gcLJWNbb5OpVFT64b9xnT6c1R9JAoLNrxyvk69kDFHfuJgpfuUqmWy1lChmPnjKHUTlov4YyZMJV0rKfxPqcbIoa97rFVgxjLX5vPIr93dDH8BbAkaTA9uXmcD-Gg5EvGapEOSB-AX/s1600/IMG_3331.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifW0gcLJWNbb5OpVFT64b9xnT6c1R9JAoLNrxyvk69kDFHfuJgpfuUqmWy1lChmPnjKHUTlov4YyZMJV0rKfxPqcbIoa97rFVgxjLX5vPIr93dDH8BbAkaTA9uXmcD-Gg5EvGapEOSB-AX/s320/IMG_3331.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507182243061117362" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">And now its time to frost. I filled this tier with peanut-butter buttercream (recipe to follow in another blog post) and stacked.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWwj1ozrXcZ0r2zYNuzDBK6kohb16671yVo1YEKqtJd-QKKqvWJfirjRwyg7W3Z2e6m3ffqHuiJwESI75wqTq2eiayYk0Q0fBi09TqvufXbeOnTJgPys9Scxc6HlPMyUQPJcVFdvbr8uAv/s1600/IMG_3333.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWwj1ozrXcZ0r2zYNuzDBK6kohb16671yVo1YEKqtJd-QKKqvWJfirjRwyg7W3Z2e6m3ffqHuiJwESI75wqTq2eiayYk0Q0fBi09TqvufXbeOnTJgPys9Scxc6HlPMyUQPJcVFdvbr8uAv/s320/IMG_3333.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507183197155220786" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">And filled and stacked...<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1TmVl2wpoW5pRBT7_qbEKN5T4TbXssXYF82oHx3B1pG8PpeXy1csdd9Nesou4tuOUTPlsecH_slNv41yBsVZMcmbQrOYVZ14C2gSeeqOEmnooNHTsf7tXPBTuxgqUn3Kj2DhXHCzVgCDe/s1600/IMG_3334.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1TmVl2wpoW5pRBT7_qbEKN5T4TbXssXYF82oHx3B1pG8PpeXy1csdd9Nesou4tuOUTPlsecH_slNv41yBsVZMcmbQrOYVZ14C2gSeeqOEmnooNHTsf7tXPBTuxgqUn3Kj2DhXHCzVgCDe/s320/IMG_3334.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507184078243322162" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">And once I had completed all 4 layers, I chilled the cake and crumb coated (iced) the whole tier with vanilla buttecream. While practicing this cake I attempted to use the peanut butter icing for the crumb coat and icing, but you could see the pale tan icing underneath the white fondant.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjklgzO5pt9AipNJnXEYHy8yIfRQruftHTEIvy3gV38ePp1GDf473EyBx-BrlaSLXIbBS77w2k18d3p_2ZUqecGMwtiL8fAmOgRC021Uw5SM6jGd1JT6fhYg8WrsHHSBKTFaBZvhptRHVe3/s1600/IMG_3337.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 227px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjklgzO5pt9AipNJnXEYHy8yIfRQruftHTEIvy3gV38ePp1GDf473EyBx-BrlaSLXIbBS77w2k18d3p_2ZUqecGMwtiL8fAmOgRC021Uw5SM6jGd1JT6fhYg8WrsHHSBKTFaBZvhptRHVe3/s320/IMG_3337.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507185250933406306" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">I then covered the cake with fondant and painted the fondant with a pearl colored luster dust. Sorry for the lack of pictures, I got a little rushed and forgot to take pictures of that step. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-25448840214760117812010-08-19T09:00:00.000-07:002010-08-19T09:09:26.758-07:00Wedding Cake Baking - Part 2: Lemon Curd<span style="font-family:verdana;">For some reason I never realized how easy it was to make lemon curd until a couple of years ago, when I made it to fill a cake for a dinner my friend Lauren and I made for her mom. And once I made that realization I have never gone back to the processed jarred stuff sold in stores.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />I made this particular lemon curd to fill the second tier of the wedding cake. The great thing about making a white cake with lemon curd filling is that you use the egg whites in the cake and the leftover yolks you use in the curd.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5dTd_c9xVnJFvBYM_Kn2ZLV4wDqRRqkAhLTqgWy3aFCXOjmgk5PbAB3dYpbZBffePqvfdMo83F6syFHXDD1vsh0NuRBoJb-zhrVZcQFWS2I6lKWd5c6Ej7gMVSnmTI9A9HDAJGg6L_GVM/s1600/IMG_3439.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5dTd_c9xVnJFvBYM_Kn2ZLV4wDqRRqkAhLTqgWy3aFCXOjmgk5PbAB3dYpbZBffePqvfdMo83F6syFHXDD1vsh0NuRBoJb-zhrVZcQFWS2I6lKWd5c6Ej7gMVSnmTI9A9HDAJGg6L_GVM/s400/IMG_3439.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507149549127883346" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I use a <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/lemon-curd-recipe/index.html">recipe</a> from Alton Brown that is available on the Food Network website.<br /><br />You need lemons, egg yolks, sugar and butter. (I made a double batch of this recipe).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">First you zest your lemons and then squeeze them. I tend to microwave my lemons after zesting for about 5 seconds as it seems to make them easier to juice.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXsU7t1XrbIV8mRPeH00GXUftMmzMfEPagKVj3HK_QZOuH2sM3DeqW6WsnBmaZo2wkVR5pJsUomJRMU8y7eNYUsQn2zJr0Xou2jWA52eqBvQMx_G44BG45WNQg-OsE3M_cgBR6EUyYI6iq/s1600/IMG_3441.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXsU7t1XrbIV8mRPeH00GXUftMmzMfEPagKVj3HK_QZOuH2sM3DeqW6WsnBmaZo2wkVR5pJsUomJRMU8y7eNYUsQn2zJr0Xou2jWA52eqBvQMx_G44BG45WNQg-OsE3M_cgBR6EUyYI6iq/s320/IMG_3441.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507150144309408370" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Then in a big metal or glass bowl, mix your</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> egg yolks and sugar until you have a paste like consistency. Then add lemon juice, and lemon zest and whisk together.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKpzX59hezUd6Co1B2vQ6qBrXkGkoeMu5V0lqWSnKpWmMFApPdUGnJSXtM999uprsSr5hsYQNtL4W84Ny4j0vk6oi0jRIbKOfUs4RLOTcv9stKaqTjjgf2LBfj-O0BiUlff4rZJYWWR4sQ/s1600/IMG_3442.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKpzX59hezUd6Co1B2vQ6qBrXkGkoeMu5V0lqWSnKpWmMFApPdUGnJSXtM999uprsSr5hsYQNtL4W84Ny4j0vk6oi0jRIbKOfUs4RLOTcv9stKaqTjjgf2LBfj-O0BiUlff4rZJYWWR4sQ/s320/IMG_3442.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507150807408305618" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Place the bowl over a double boiler over medium and whisk until hot and the mixture coats the back of a spoon.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-UUohZbn99ob-0yOc80r1ACh0oZp2ZQqUzuCAuuuELwfb_d7LUpiqgjiHJlOiE4oqftnK85FBlelMdtD5xxFPIDpVJPpmpyD-4WQHGU5zIBufaK7DCAkswYOhP70qZTIq7QQAqGC03p_/s1600/IMG_3443.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-UUohZbn99ob-0yOc80r1ACh0oZp2ZQqUzuCAuuuELwfb_d7LUpiqgjiHJlOiE4oqftnK85FBlelMdtD5xxFPIDpVJPpmpyD-4WQHGU5zIBufaK7DCAkswYOhP70qZTIq7QQAqGC03p_/s320/IMG_3443.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507152112110745874" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Then you remove the bowl from the double boiler and add the butter one pat at a time, whisking until it has fully melted and repeat the process until all the butter is incorporated.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzwuR-mGyFyrlJDmBmWoKol273G6ftXM7u4KCC74bpg_8icFeQ2QrvdOWiM0iG4n7hHVmXlzSTkTy2yXIS0Q6EtozffH_3eLVicoqutgUaWojclC8eAarkvzgdpAmYJubywiqJGYkzpuNq/s1600/IMG_3444.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzwuR-mGyFyrlJDmBmWoKol273G6ftXM7u4KCC74bpg_8icFeQ2QrvdOWiM0iG4n7hHVmXlzSTkTy2yXIS0Q6EtozffH_3eLVicoqutgUaWojclC8eAarkvzgdpAmYJubywiqJGYkzpuNq/s320/IMG_3444.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507151353952947666" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I then pour my lemon curd into a mason jar (I think this is the easiest way to store it) and place in my fridge to cool, until I am ready to use it.<br /></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-69680835856478742682010-08-18T15:09:00.000-07:002010-08-19T09:43:10.326-07:00Wedding Cake Baking - Part 1<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolTVyHflPWyURZokBY7wJlCRHYwv3w_lbS-y7MZ7w_zAeqNiJUn4lkQhDpGCxu9XVZ2CwV3hqwcK42BQ6b8_UVEQZ-92Wrv5GHxaW7pYmjVjAnUS0f8UiWAqi8fwLB8QFQRMnl1T29fRn/s1600/cakeconcept.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolTVyHflPWyURZokBY7wJlCRHYwv3w_lbS-y7MZ7w_zAeqNiJUn4lkQhDpGCxu9XVZ2CwV3hqwcK42BQ6b8_UVEQZ-92Wrv5GHxaW7pYmjVjAnUS0f8UiWAqi8fwLB8QFQRMnl1T29fRn/s320/cakeconcept.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507162163721655698" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Since this was my very first wedding cake making experience, I had practiced it a bit and knew generally how long the process was going to take. So I made a very handy timeline that laid out when I should do each part of the wedding cake baking so that I would be organized and efficient, and so that I wouldn't forget anything.<br /><br />The picture on the right is the cake concept that I showed the bride.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day One - Wednesday</span><br />- Bake all cake layers:<br /> - 2: 12" chocolate cake layers,<br /> - 2: 10" vanilla cake layers,<br /> - 2: 8" chocolate cake layers<br /><br />- Make lemon curd for filling the vanilla cake tier.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day Two - Thursday</span><br />- Make Peanut-butter Buttercream<br />- Make Vanilla Butter Buttercream<br />- Split and fill all cake tiers (12" with peanut-butter, 10" with lemon curd, 8" with vanilla buttercream)<br />- Crumb coat all three cake tiers.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day Three - Friday</span><br />- Frost all cakes with vanilla buttercream and then cover with white fondant<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Day Four - Saturday (Wedding Day)</span><br />- Assemble cake stand<br />- Make floral cake topper and base<br />- Box cakes up for transport to wedding venue<br />- Assemble cake on location and place flowers in the spacer between the top two tiers.<br /><br />This timeline actually worked out really well and had time budgeted into it so that I actually had time to bake and decorate a cake for an event on Sunday (more on that later) and do unexpected things like find flowers for the cake and pick up the parents from the airport when they came to town unexpectedly.<br /><br />I would say that if you were going to be working on the cake full time (as in not going to work for 8 hours a day and then commencing baking afterward) you could definitely condense this into a shorter time period.<br /><br />And I know some of you might be thinking "eating cake that was baked 4 days ago is probably not very good". Well I kinda thought the same thing when I started this project. But that is why I did practice cakes and picked recipes that were moist, but more about the specific cake recipes later.<br /><br />All in all, I would say that this project went fairly smoothly and I would most likely attempt it again.<br /></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-36806726334218777422010-08-15T21:22:00.001-07:002010-08-15T21:39:24.862-07:00Why I haven't been blogging the last week...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxb6uV00wZPxnIV4_G0uwTkWDlprzKJfov1QS-LNu8JBLLGp7YIbOZbVlbSimvRunurK3T1KVJU6QvlCedWX5OVfIEXan2nkPghh8UPYu9UpvY0fgDiMouBH1ZUZNXoinnSjJb1Piv_2Ib/s1600/IMG_3457.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxb6uV00wZPxnIV4_G0uwTkWDlprzKJfov1QS-LNu8JBLLGp7YIbOZbVlbSimvRunurK3T1KVJU6QvlCedWX5OVfIEXan2nkPghh8UPYu9UpvY0fgDiMouBH1ZUZNXoinnSjJb1Piv_2Ib/s400/IMG_3457.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505858778785799330" border="0" /></a> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I baked a WEDDING CAKE! </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Here is the happy couple cutting the cake...</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5SWCIDQkLc2Bq7qGFw0D7_ZbrepgcvXy5xML4SWsYN3ZdBPqq1HWDJVAfidJ86k51ulj53JsomLnPqcIwJWXm0AeXdoXAcZ4JxZJ-8RY7cmECk0yApN62Kbl-n286bjjPqTJ0NmnWIty8/s1600/IMG_3458.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5SWCIDQkLc2Bq7qGFw0D7_ZbrepgcvXy5xML4SWsYN3ZdBPqq1HWDJVAfidJ86k51ulj53JsomLnPqcIwJWXm0AeXdoXAcZ4JxZJ-8RY7cmECk0yApN62Kbl-n286bjjPqTJ0NmnWIty8/s400/IMG_3458.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505859290091717746" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Congratulations Becca & Will!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">More info on the making of the cake to come later ... </span><br /></span></div>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-20373217885909552662010-08-09T21:53:00.000-07:002010-08-09T22:05:41.600-07:00Success ...<span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Woohoo! S'mores cupcakes version 2 are sooo much prettier than yesterdays failed attempt.</span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoPAumVgIsmraUu6365zAKjfS687fFkIKoqaOkAAlUeStloFM2JA6px2OgaqF26ot6dMkuGUZ6IlnGjuAgKWW-okuprNDpTOPP90U4oKKwXn6aaCDpW_WQB5Azw2IGGPicRhusrgi0twyY/s1600/IMG_3429.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoPAumVgIsmraUu6365zAKjfS687fFkIKoqaOkAAlUeStloFM2JA6px2OgaqF26ot6dMkuGUZ6IlnGjuAgKWW-okuprNDpTOPP90U4oKKwXn6aaCDpW_WQB5Azw2IGGPicRhusrgi0twyY/s320/IMG_3429.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503640551116918930" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:arial;">Here they are just frosted with a vanilla frosting that has the marshmallow-y texture, perfect for a s'more.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vcNMg2dRAJBVM71F6fH5xCsiuO_bQPydVD-PTSkzHVMtfF17pn-WuuDJy7vd71TikpWa5czCtswpL_yLLvZuO1Q2ewb6SHbkPf1r1o7t4DdrZmGOKRZbtIDGa2oSku5rXRf_9M3Mvsnz/s1600/IMG_3431.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vcNMg2dRAJBVM71F6fH5xCsiuO_bQPydVD-PTSkzHVMtfF17pn-WuuDJy7vd71TikpWa5czCtswpL_yLLvZuO1Q2ewb6SHbkPf1r1o7t4DdrZmGOKRZbtIDGa2oSku5rXRf_9M3Mvsnz/s320/IMG_3431.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503641734156003218" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">And then all golden brown and toasty...</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX0Am7KDeuIOEU0T59TKrpQaqSNULq7JVES-GBPiBTmHpAzG3uUJfQfCeGEkNVHO3VShBkXm6k3tBQO65ttkGkkI1iSk0iK02KzVZhGkerugB0E8k4fpgjX44FioCQj6Hr4qXRnhYw8nJM/s1600/IMG_3432.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 263px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX0Am7KDeuIOEU0T59TKrpQaqSNULq7JVES-GBPiBTmHpAzG3uUJfQfCeGEkNVHO3VShBkXm6k3tBQO65ttkGkkI1iSk0iK02KzVZhGkerugB0E8k4fpgjX44FioCQj6Hr4qXRnhYw8nJM/s320/IMG_3432.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503642348444570370" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">And all tasty and ready to eat...</span><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoPAumVgIsmraUu6365zAKjfS687fFkIKoqaOkAAlUeStloFM2JA6px2OgaqF26ot6dMkuGUZ6IlnGjuAgKWW-okuprNDpTOPP90U4oKKwXn6aaCDpW_WQB5Azw2IGGPicRhusrgi0twyY/s1600/IMG_3429.JPG"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-47594850206130721562010-08-08T11:59:00.000-07:002010-08-08T12:23:54.578-07:00Ugly ... but oh so tasty...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8aSEQW1waY5Bu2xlI-O5ZrJ3tGMjEAuMDJG7EO7gBq922oxp6bU1jAIMu69OHwObrdAMglB9E6z0ZDgnLeZHwzH37QYLZHZG9jpOOU4uJ9OyUJmRtiMCiaFz8GrbBbHIwZ8KElcU854t_/s1600/IMG_3419.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8aSEQW1waY5Bu2xlI-O5ZrJ3tGMjEAuMDJG7EO7gBq922oxp6bU1jAIMu69OHwObrdAMglB9E6z0ZDgnLeZHwzH37QYLZHZG9jpOOU4uJ9OyUJmRtiMCiaFz8GrbBbHIwZ8KElcU854t_/s200/IMG_3419.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503116947567092898" border="0" /></a>So I have wanted to make S'mores cupcakes for a while now, so I thought I would make a batch today.<br /><br />I started by making a graham cracker crust for the bottom of the cupcake, just graham cracker crumbs and melted butter pressed into the bottom of the cupcake liner.<br /><br />Then I placed a marshmallow into each cupcake, <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQKkStdam85akRPnld-TfO3jhfhlylRaAaYszxboHb4ySiNJy1NGinLRoxXJUPeDoHL8DU1_GIoEt7bcZ180gkjBaDDErtaaWZVAgpGyuKw3Sr-5T4zLdlAOZgqyO0meUpiR9MiGoRx50/s1600/IMG_3422.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 273px; height: 204px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQKkStdam85akRPnld-TfO3jhfhlylRaAaYszxboHb4ySiNJy1NGinLRoxXJUPeDoHL8DU1_GIoEt7bcZ180gkjBaDDErtaaWZVAgpGyuKw3Sr-5T4zLdlAOZgqyO0meUpiR9MiGoRx50/s200/IMG_3422.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503117593986582018" border="0" /></a>and covered with a flourless chocolate cake batter. Baked in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes.<br /><br />The cupcakes looked quite good as they were baking and as they came out of the oven.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc2bJDn8vBZzvrJ99Ljqf1fgn2dGrsKo8E9Kbz5EUp0FOBca-_qdutXf9kRh-q9xdx5gPi6fAxs0ugcbQoBob01vKaJmEuQdzQRatPGb00EnJaOGs7useG3R6KfqxrnHhWQ_3v4IGiXyjl/s1600/IMG_3423.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc2bJDn8vBZzvrJ99Ljqf1fgn2dGrsKo8E9Kbz5EUp0FOBca-_qdutXf9kRh-q9xdx5gPi6fAxs0ugcbQoBob01vKaJmEuQdzQRatPGb00EnJaOGs7useG3R6KfqxrnHhWQ_3v4IGiXyjl/s200/IMG_3423.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503118394411334466" border="0" /></a>If only they had stayed looking just like this, I could have topped them with frosting and they would have been perfect.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4C2rItMV_IuQdXvxB4r3tpxbrCz62HCyLpkx6nMyp9g71CZ3nanfnLy382ZQfSVX2FTUmYXnUXkhHCQFaZnm-lNHGm6bD-aKhEjW_ZNzEMIWDQu9flZischjfTrYWgG0rELqB-4-B1ir2/s1600/IMG_3424.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 273px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4C2rItMV_IuQdXvxB4r3tpxbrCz62HCyLpkx6nMyp9g71CZ3nanfnLy382ZQfSVX2FTUmYXnUXkhHCQFaZnm-lNHGm6bD-aKhEjW_ZNzEMIWDQu9flZischjfTrYWgG0rELqB-4-B1ir2/s200/IMG_3424.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503119087700085298" border="0" /></a><br />Instead I pulled the cupcakes out of the tin and set them on the cooling rack. When I came back into the kitchen 5 minutes later they looked a little bit different. See how much it shrank back down after the marshmallow cooled. This would make it way too difficult to frost.<br /><br />So I figured that I might as well taste one... so I cut it in half so you could see the layers first. Yum, a perfect graham cracker crust which gives it texture then moist chocolate cake and goooey marshmallow.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC8GBYcTck27HUkO-2WhYGuu_YUYqW0bnM3ywnd1BBoX5YsA_C13GiOChzkZOz86mmgOlz4Erlw-ybPCsrg1LJj7ljNimFkMlsgdfA3AJgei4GpzHInhCdvK6oAqlt69sWneht76Q2lpSR/s1600/IMG_3427.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 337px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC8GBYcTck27HUkO-2WhYGuu_YUYqW0bnM3ywnd1BBoX5YsA_C13GiOChzkZOz86mmgOlz4Erlw-ybPCsrg1LJj7ljNimFkMlsgdfA3AJgei4GpzHInhCdvK6oAqlt69sWneht76Q2lpSR/s200/IMG_3427.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503120319344762738" border="0" /></a>So although they are ugly, I don't think I will have any problem eating them today.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-3020634986816635252010-08-08T10:10:00.000-07:002010-08-08T10:25:36.819-07:00Chocolate Apricot/Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcakes...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCe-YkpgPj4anj1LKq-XiCftVwxyXFMhrEOUdEWloOI3v0PNryZFZp7-658N6SMGJlnWsYLw_qyZ0F9K81FRJJkG0VCbtihNYt2bXi1AYBLFkVG2ejfptVX6yETBX43TYN9W5YjLRVPkSQ/s1600/IMG_3400.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 247px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCe-YkpgPj4anj1LKq-XiCftVwxyXFMhrEOUdEWloOI3v0PNryZFZp7-658N6SMGJlnWsYLw_qyZ0F9K81FRJJkG0VCbtihNYt2bXi1AYBLFkVG2ejfptVX6yETBX43TYN9W5YjLRVPkSQ/s320/IMG_3400.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503088506795868834" border="0" /></a>Wow long title for a short post today, just lots of pictures...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirRFxvJXSyUgPXwxLQd9wFClYo8XAVJDBSSpHFr74-scq4Q5c-p7EyfYzY8vmtiRxBKV1p2Y5KP0KS_GuvxHKITbcTQkz13cNjcYY-2G6IhMpYomgOUyJGXR5BP0VH1caRm3cDiSVaAl7T/s1600/IMG_3405.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 297px; height: 305px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirRFxvJXSyUgPXwxLQd9wFClYo8XAVJDBSSpHFr74-scq4Q5c-p7EyfYzY8vmtiRxBKV1p2Y5KP0KS_GuvxHKITbcTQkz13cNjcYY-2G6IhMpYomgOUyJGXR5BP0VH1caRm3cDiSVaAl7T/s320/IMG_3405.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503089053317226530" border="0" /></a><br />Chocolate cupcakes filled with apricot/strawberry jam and covered with cream cheese whipped cream frosting.<br /><br />Adding cream cheese to the whipped cream frosting helps the whipped cream hold its shape and also adds that little bit of unexpected flavor.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ4xGnpXFcwPId7H0hE6b7bcV1CLLPPvqS0ZK7YroMtJGRTnzdQdlSgmQEO_R8PVHMfN4dUqQL5_fP9ASWweAUJzP5rFmCkavryWo4gT-VVOUlktpVitl6Z7J2Q2Kus8J3DhJfweGBjXAI/s1600/IMG_3413.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ4xGnpXFcwPId7H0hE6b7bcV1CLLPPvqS0ZK7YroMtJGRTnzdQdlSgmQEO_R8PVHMfN4dUqQL5_fP9ASWweAUJzP5rFmCkavryWo4gT-VVOUlktpVitl6Z7J2Q2Kus8J3DhJfweGBjXAI/s200/IMG_3413.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503090871972302946" border="0" /></a>The little toppers on the cupcake are raspberry hard candy that I made from scratch.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-68328505914163391402010-08-06T15:30:00.000-07:002010-08-07T09:46:11.170-07:00Sticky, sticky, yummy jam…<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I grew up in a small town and our house was surrounded by apricot orchards. Therefore every summer we would make up batches of apricot jam when the apricots were perfectly ripe and then we could enjoy the taste of summer throughout the year. </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">Now I live in the middle of the city, and I’m not sure there is even an apricot orchard left in this county, which is sad. But every Friday in the summer I walk downtown to the farmers market and buy up all my fresh fruits for the week. Well after enjoying some fantastic apricots, I decided to make jam. </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I picked up supplies at the grocery store; canning jars, lids and</span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgunzwO-KeBo64YA137DSE3k232nFLgPT2LzlZN4-uQiIwDIS6QMtBm9TuVPYWnKDBq6sNYzi6FcvZ-MAbk62Ggj6hCnjS1LdKl0nYOzABRjNOYyTEeTUbq9lZxxTYWvx7Y3kKV8t0G7X4-/s1600/IMG_3348.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 169px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgunzwO-KeBo64YA137DSE3k232nFLgPT2LzlZN4-uQiIwDIS6QMtBm9TuVPYWnKDBq6sNYzi6FcvZ-MAbk62Ggj6hCnjS1LdKl0nYOzABRjNOYyTEeTUbq9lZxxTYWvx7Y3kKV8t0G7X4-/s320/IMG_3348.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502428715844896002" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"> pectin. And then walked do</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">wn to the farmers market for apricots. The ve</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">ndor looked at me a little funny as I loa</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">ded up my bag with ten pounds of the squishiest looking apricots. I’m sure she thought I was crazy cause no way could I consume that amount of fruit but see the secret to our jam has always been using the apricots that were almost overripe. </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">So the recipe for apricot jam is very easy containing only a few ingredients; apricots, lemon juice, pectin and sugar. </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I pit the apricots and blend most of them in my blender till I have a liquid. About ¼ of the apricots I cut into quarters and throw into the mix for texture then I add the lemon juice to the mix. Now here is where I veer off the recipe from the pectin box. I double the recipe. Despite the fact that the recipe says DO NOT DOUBLE in big bold letters. But the reason for this warning is that some stovetops do not get hot enough to heat your jam quickly enough for the pectin to do its job, but my stove has a huge burner that is capable heating the jam mixture sufficiently, so I break the rules. </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">I sterilize the jars in the dishwasher (my dishwasher has a sterilization function) and then fill the still hot jars with jam, then place a lid on the jar and tighten the ring to hold the lid on.<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmCjisAvuY_bXVpgQc3iExmapje299XZGDzy-cxQ8TA5OCE0IimArE2RW7OKOJ0l57YkYOIwld2h5GB2eZy9sR3mVZQBuSQhrgvu_VtHbLJTHLow5sV1Dr0dDljmDFFes4sP8-ErtCMUQ/s1600/IMG_3350.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 221px; height: 189px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmCjisAvuY_bXVpgQc3iExmapje299XZGDzy-cxQ8TA5OCE0IimArE2RW7OKOJ0l57YkYOIwld2h5GB2eZy9sR3mVZQBuSQhrgvu_VtHbLJTHLow5sV1Dr0dDljmDFFes4sP8-ErtCMUQ/s320/IMG_3350.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502429336562498370" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Then I flip the jar over and leave the jar on the counter. As the jam cools and sets the air pressure does something science-y and the lids seal. You will know that the jars have sealed when the pop out button on the top of the lid sucks down and doesn’t click/pop when you press on it. </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Now after making a double batch of apricot jam, I had some apricots left over and I also had half a flat of strawberries in my fridge. Well I like apricot jam and I like strawberry jam, so why not apricot/strawberry jam. So I followed the same process and made some apricot/strawberry jam. </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">And now I shall find a whole bunch of uses for these yummy jams… or I could just eat them using a spoon.</span></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-60007637724918025492010-08-06T14:53:00.000-07:002010-08-08T12:43:52.882-07:00Drunken Raspberry Cupcakes…<span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" >I went on vacation for almost all of June and therefore missed the bridal shower for my friend for whom I am making the wedding cake in a week. </span> <span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" >So I didn’t get to make her pretty cupcakes. But then about two days before the bachelorette party my other friend said “Did I ask you to make cupcakes for the party?” Well I don’t remember her asking but heck cupcakes are easy. </span> <span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" >So what kind of cupcakes do you make for a bachelorette party, well boozy ones of course. And as the wedding flowers are going to be fuchsia hydrangeas, I thought it has to be pink.</span><span style="font-size:150%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-size:150%;"><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYuITfD00yX1WfLpSI1c4R6GXwyTy9OLd3NsJSEf9qO-2e9ECPbGJAT6wRZs0BsoqSoXbXUQGz6pOxUqjJnxbnxu03C3X5TByxSAxrDp5hfR3PXAUTv-BLvklNm9kdyCk2jMmrXdN_fb_S/s1600/IMG_3364.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 274px; height: 205px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYuITfD00yX1WfLpSI1c4R6GXwyTy9OLd3NsJSEf9qO-2e9ECPbGJAT6wRZs0BsoqSoXbXUQGz6pOxUqjJnxbnxu03C3X5TByxSAxrDp5hfR3PXAUTv-BLvklNm9kdyCk2jMmrXdN_fb_S/s320/IMG_3364.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502419431683273554" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" > </span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" >So I made </span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" >my normal yellow cake recipe, substituting out a bit</span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" > (ok a lot) of the liquid with Chambord and tinting the batter pink. </span> <span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" >Now to frost them I made a basic buttercream but used chambord as flavoring instead of vanilla.</span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" > Using a #2D piping tip I piped on flower petals to achieve a hydrange</span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" >a lo</span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" >ok </span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" >a</span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" >nd sprinkled with a bit of clear sugar sprinkles.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdi0JOJuOTW-IbUNZXlIXfnu49asJhyphenhyphenvkF44LsLPcU6uVBi1XUIv4OxteuwsqNkPwX1HyP46uEKCLXJkV415yOwqkrdUSt_24zxFr0fJUepeU5S5cfRxe5-xyCU0PiotxE4ZVBJ-I-ciOR/s1600/IMG_3372.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdi0JOJuOTW-IbUNZXlIXfnu49asJhyphenhyphenvkF44LsLPcU6uVBi1XUIv4OxteuwsqNkPwX1HyP46uEKCLXJkV415yOwqkrdUSt_24zxFr0fJUepeU5S5cfRxe5-xyCU0PiotxE4ZVBJ-I-ciOR/s320/IMG_3372.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503125448234380834" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" >These cupcakes</span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" > have quite a bit of frosting on them and as I have a couple of friends that don’t like a lot of frosting (</span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" >I know … it’s a bit weird) I rolled out some fondant in a light blue/teal color and cut out a cupcake topper and used a bit o</span><span style=";font-family:lucida grande;font-size:150%;" >f buttercream to attach the fondant to the cupcake and a bit of white royal icing to make a heart on top.<br /></span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-32915980181965638472010-05-29T19:28:00.000-07:002010-05-29T20:12:34.339-07:00Mmmmm... bread...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJq7mo2wpyV67sZk1FvSmeWkIqiSkGd1y2Fk7D8S2l56fSsL598dIHnSTAlCrr-ckxKbBZeCs0PLV2DMs4HIDj-u54bq9qvRt-bcSKU1EsVaQ1ObeLFb0dW8tdUt9LXiSMLSHu49jZN21r/s1600/artisanbreadinfiveminutesad_3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 204px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJq7mo2wpyV67sZk1FvSmeWkIqiSkGd1y2Fk7D8S2l56fSsL598dIHnSTAlCrr-ckxKbBZeCs0PLV2DMs4HIDj-u54bq9qvRt-bcSKU1EsVaQ1ObeLFb0dW8tdUt9LXiSMLSHu49jZN21r/s320/artisanbreadinfiveminutesad_3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476885482683721826" border="0" /></a><br />The aroma of fresh baked bread might be the best smell in the world. I baked a couple of loaves today and man does my condo smell delicious.<br /><br />I have been using the master bread recipe from the book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" for several years now and it is the easiest recipe ever. No kneading at all and only four ingredients.<br /><br />This recipe makes enough dough for three or four loaves, and extra dough can be stored in the fridge for a couple of weeks. So typically I make a batch of dough and then I have fresh bread every night for a week.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyk9rugaqYEhBGmYSuuMs4t_xwSXxvrw8s0OUGWDbEEpzgr8E1zqwvGA9SrjCc2JSEEXIjY1iO-kWeZg3Whlhiny_JQHjURBD6_jViJ_w0OFd7Zhh-00uuFDvBK2Qb_lPVDqdWlfIPa2zx/s1600/IMG_2696.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 175px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyk9rugaqYEhBGmYSuuMs4t_xwSXxvrw8s0OUGWDbEEpzgr8E1zqwvGA9SrjCc2JSEEXIjY1iO-kWeZg3Whlhiny_JQHjURBD6_jViJ_w0OFd7Zhh-00uuFDvBK2Qb_lPVDqdWlfIPa2zx/s320/IMG_2696.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476888273907090818" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The bread turned out perfectly with a crisp crust and a chewy interior. And let me tell ya if you are making bread for a dinner or event I recommend making two loaves, that way you have one to snack on when it is fresh and warm out <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRDZ3PxAycME_P3hlwwVy5TFzxHs2Q7siJNkA3arBo8m7BemDfWNnZ1qL71Obm99tbRqnomVaX7iiUWgJKwQ_DExX5uPkAQTDqiFOin9elYA9KmtAJaPn-n3ieOzebJi9sMI4MsEqPEI-K/s1600/IMG_2704.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 163px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRDZ3PxAycME_P3hlwwVy5TFzxHs2Q7siJNkA3arBo8m7BemDfWNnZ1qL71Obm99tbRqnomVaX7iiUWgJKwQ_DExX5uPkAQTDqiFOin9elYA9KmtAJaPn-n3ieOzebJi9sMI4MsEqPEI-K/s320/IMG_2704.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476889082381230914" border="0" /></a>of the oven, and still have a perfect loaf to show off to your guests.<br /><br />My next adventure will be making brioche from the recipe in this book as well.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-2752576697203390232010-05-19T23:12:00.000-07:002010-05-19T23:18:20.833-07:00Cute on a Stick...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQuUWSxNMzd3Xhk92EqXVHwiw1Lbb0E8BjBvsS3s5jsP25Eb69IcmsiagrB-K_HqlCgqi5TgRuU9oL-bUvXdgzSAHhWSyYiXyu043YJW4BVwxcwgXv5evPWp_gDNygblgZCO2MMoD2tvc/s1600/IMG_2677.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQuUWSxNMzd3Xhk92EqXVHwiw1Lbb0E8BjBvsS3s5jsP25Eb69IcmsiagrB-K_HqlCgqi5TgRuU9oL-bUvXdgzSAHhWSyYiXyu043YJW4BVwxcwgXv5evPWp_gDNygblgZCO2MMoD2tvc/s320/IMG_2677.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473231631376981426" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Ok... so I don't actually have time to tell you all about this but I couldn't go to bed without posting this awesome overload of cuteness.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">More tomorrow...</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-63779680147754419362010-05-18T21:11:00.000-07:002010-05-18T21:23:47.491-07:00Bargains...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDBgbgvOwDKwMNIf_kX0GioDEzk_m7mUPoKKrkVsfdYPUeI26HyAI7i0OnZE5H24xmh1Xptl-HaDSnOYGbcUWZzRgQR4J7yJgL3UDSaHCvCx5cW93viYn5GY-_ZxrEuHw5HHutQBaJrnF5/s1600/IMG_2662.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDBgbgvOwDKwMNIf_kX0GioDEzk_m7mUPoKKrkVsfdYPUeI26HyAI7i0OnZE5H24xmh1Xptl-HaDSnOYGbcUWZzRgQR4J7yJgL3UDSaHCvCx5cW93viYn5GY-_ZxrEuHw5HHutQBaJrnF5/s320/IMG_2662.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472829501480722306" border="0" /></a>So I was on my way to Costco after work (cause I needed to buy gas for my car and Costco was only $2.99/gallon, whoo hoo) and on the way there I stopped in at Ulta. Stopping at Ulta can be very dangerous for my wallet.<br /><br />So when I walk into Ulta I always head straight to the back of the store to the clearance section and hope that there will be some good polish deals. Well today I hit the jackpot. I bought all the above items (approximately $140 worth of stuff) for how much you ask ... it was only $30. SWEET!<br /><br />So basically in one visit to Ulta I tripled my collection of Essie products.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2254569111578812242.post-22764016709788824922010-05-13T16:22:00.001-07:002010-05-13T16:37:23.734-07:00Whoa … sparkles… *gets distracted*So I generally stick to fairly basic crème polishes for when I am at work, but tax season is over now and life around the office is a little slower paced and definitely more laid back so I am being a little more adventurous in my polish choices.<br /><br />So in the last set of polish I bought I had picked up IDK from the China Glaze OMG collection. This polish collection was released in 2008 or 2009 so you will have to do some wandering around your favorite online polish retailer to find it.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhci8o_KPar1szpwTsA8EWlwvKdzDA0iC9NOwiCWs42Ftg1wAPm_G6oeB21oiPL6Kh9Y3MMrdywBWJZRqFH4AKvc5WOE_-5JFOhQmlkGPQunEuD_LElO0L1tLANZy1lKuHzcxV8v14mmBIj/s1600/IMG_2645.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 233px; height: 146px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhci8o_KPar1szpwTsA8EWlwvKdzDA0iC9NOwiCWs42Ftg1wAPm_G6oeB21oiPL6Kh9Y3MMrdywBWJZRqFH4AKvc5WOE_-5JFOhQmlkGPQunEuD_LElO0L1tLANZy1lKuHzcxV8v14mmBIj/s320/IMG_2645.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470902197674868850" border="0" /></a><br /><br />IDK is a light purple holographic polish; now indoors or in the shade it just looks like a very pretty lavender, so it is perfectly acceptable for work. (see photo on right)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6jK3ShZNM2-6q3nMT5vK261OIkTXb_RfF7Om2dxcOQaoGDLHu7KKPA40GTYtWixIPEM1WRklhvwoeLtB29vwKEwcJ3DEbUcSlIju1KjChEgj_EzkaEoiAbjC4Jc660m2t8SNcPK2j76xG/s1600/IMG_2642.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6jK3ShZNM2-6q3nMT5vK261OIkTXb_RfF7Om2dxcOQaoGDLHu7KKPA40GTYtWixIPEM1WRklhvwoeLtB29vwKEwcJ3DEbUcSlIju1KjChEgj_EzkaEoiAbjC4Jc660m2t8SNcPK2j76xG/s320/IMG_2642.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470900007270138754" border="0" /></a><br />But step out into the California sunshine and WHAM! this polish is all sparkle and shine. I wore this polish today at work and proceeded to hand people paperwork, etc and no one mentioned anything about the color, but we went to lunch and as soon as I got out of the car and into the sunshine one of my coworkers was like OMG that polish is amazing. So clearly this collection was aptly named.<br /><br />When applying this polish I was a little worried as my first coat of polish seemed to streak and leave bare spots, the second coat covered perfectly though. I left my manicure without my trusty topcoat of Seche Vite, as I have heard that using a topcoat tends to reduce the sparkle of the holographic polishes. So one coat of Seche Restore as my base coat and two coats of China Glaze IDK, for some serious sparkle.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSZKR6THC0eZC73y18543KWJQltXDR_If0eEMt8MWSTuA-_8EXMXGQ_ZovTluya7Zu2jEdWunHsBO7UkZVDaTxXBkxyIZruSislnyr4Pp41gnmMhYe4-PaEn5y98R53P10UYTE6ELB68r9/s1600/IMG_2643.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 271px; height: 119px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSZKR6THC0eZC73y18543KWJQltXDR_If0eEMt8MWSTuA-_8EXMXGQ_ZovTluya7Zu2jEdWunHsBO7UkZVDaTxXBkxyIZruSislnyr4Pp41gnmMhYe4-PaEn5y98R53P10UYTE6ELB68r9/s320/IMG_2643.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470900601799943538" border="0" /></a><br /><br />All in all I think this polish will be getting a lot of use this summer. *goes back to staring at the pretty sparkles*Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707720021376936260noreply@blogger.com0