Girly Pink Birthday Cake

I skipped posting again last week. I’ve been terrible this month. In my defense I was in the midst of moving last weekend. I considered myself unpacked when I put my mixer up. I realized I was not unpacked when I had to get ready for work and had to dig through boxes to find work clothes and shoes. Still working on that one.

I’ve also been busy repainting furniture…channeling a lot of crafty over here

February is also rodeo season in Texas. I love everything about the rodeo (except the parking/traffic). It’s something everyone needs to experience. And in order to get the full experience you need to eat the deep fried oreos. You should probably run 10 miles before going so there’s less guilt in devouring these treats…but they are so worth it.

The Girly Pink Birthday Cake

I know “Girly Pink Birthday Cake” is terribly vague and not very descriptive…but I had no idea what else to call this cake. I based the cake off of the party invite and I’m kind of obsessed with how simple and girly it looks. Decorating actually went pretty quick. I applied a crumb coat to cover the top of the cake and to make an even base on the sides.

I used my tip that is a very large circle (it’s not a wilton tip so it doesn’t have a number…think of a large version of Wilton #12). I applied 4 large dots in a column on the side of the cake. Using an offset spatula, I then “smeared” each dot. Repeat this all around the cake. Each new column you apply should slightly overlap the previous column. The last group gets a little tricky…so make sure you start on the back side of the cake just in case you have issues blending it together.

The canvas triangles for the banner I actually found in the scrapbook section. I thought I was going to have to cut the pieces myself, but this size was perfect! “Happy birthday” was too long to fit across the cake, so that’s why I just used her name. I love the color of the canvas with the pink. Sometimes simple is better!!

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Pay It Forward Friday

A few days ago I was left a comment reading “I’ve nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award”. Whaaaat? I don’t know you and I don’t know what this is. After checking out her blog (By the way- thanks Sweet Spell Bakeshop!), I realized that this was just a friendly gesture, a random act of kindness. At first I wasn’t going to pass it on because I didn’t think too much of it. But I realized that it had brought a smile to my face and considering it was a completely harmless act, I should keep it going. People so frequently use the internet for cruelty, to pass on judgements they would never dream of saying in person. To call out people they don’t even know. Which is dumb. But it happens. So why should I break the chain of something positive that’s circling around? That is why I’m continuing this.

Thank you to Sweet Spell Bakeshop for nominating me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.

According to this whole deal, I’m supposed to do the following things:

• Link back to the blogger who nominated me
• Post the blog award image on my page
• Tell 7 facts about myself.
• Nominate 15 other blogs and let the nominees know they have been chosen.

Here’s 7 Things About Me:

1. Cupcakes aren’t my favorite. I love oatmeal raisin cookies. And cheesecake.
2. If my job required me to sit at a desk all day, I would fail miserably.
3. I have a library card. And use it frequently.
4. I can’t stand the taste of coffee, but I love the smell. Sometimes I go down the coffee grounds aisle at the store just for the smell.
5. I love Wheel of Fortune. I’m pretty good at it, too.
6. I’m on a mission to travel the world. Off to a slow start though.
7. I’m a sucker for BBQ. Brisket, onions, and sauce…all I need.

I don’t know 15 other bloggers. But I will list the ones I do know, because they are amazing people and strong influences in my life.

1. http://leahgoldstein.blogspot.com
2. http://www.lifewithahintoflime.blogspot.com/
3. http://mealsthatmatter.blogspot.com/
4. http://beautyinthebackbone.wordpress.com/

Well I knew I didn’t have 15, but I thought I had more than 4!! Regardless, do something nice for someone today. Be the reason a stranger smiles. And have a GREAT weekend!

“Vintage” Cupcake Stand

My old roommate got married a few months ago and of course I volunteered my baking services. This is old news. But when I visited her recently, she told me she had a surprise for me. I was perplexed, mainly because it wasn’t anywhere near my birthday. It turns out she wanted to give me something for all the baking I did for her wedding. Being the crafty gal she is, she tracked down three separate plates and two goblets to create a cupcake stand.

The plates she found were vintage looking floral plates and a scalloped-edged plate. Basically, I was kind of obsessed. I thought it was adorable. And I was slightly jealous that I had been unsuccessful in my hunt for cute plates to do the same thing. Regardless, I now have a super cute cupcake stand!

Seriously…I love the edges of the middle plate.

Texan Pralines

I was recently approached by a bride-to-be to do some pecan pralines for the hotel welcome bags. It’s a Texas wedding after all, and there’s a lot of family coming in from other states, and even other countries. I had never actually made pralines before but was more than happy to take on the project. My dad is actually from Seguin, the “pecan capitol of Texas”…yes, that is their claim to fame. They even have the “world’s largest pecan”, these people seriously love their pecans. My dad always brings me back pecans from there and then I wonder why I even BOTHER with store bought pecans..it’s just not the same.

Wow...world's largest pecan!! But not edible..sooo what's the point?

But anyways, I digress. Baking in general requires a certain amount of patience, but pralines…well if you jump the gun on these, you’re screwed. There’s a lot of waiting and stirring and then at the right moment, you have to act FAST. Which is why we will call my first batch a learning experience. The second batch however turned out  just right and just delicious.

I managed to dig out a praline recipe from Pape’s Pecan House, which is where we always get our pecans. I did some perusing of the site and was unable to find any recipes on there, so I’m glad I have their collection of pecan recipes from many years ago! Sorry I don’t have more pictures, but there’s no time for pictures when making these!

Texan Pralines

• 1 1/2 cup pecan halves (I actually chopped up pecans into slightly smaller pieces, personal preference)
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 Tbsp. margarine or butter
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Cook sugar, milk, and baking soda together until the syrup forms a soft ball when tested in cold water Remove from stove and add pecans, vanilla, and butter. Beat until the mixture begins to hold shape. Drop by spoon on to wax paper that has been sprinkled generously with salt.

Butter, sugar, and pecans...so simple yet so delicious!

Cake Pops

It seems the new sweet trend are cake pops. I mean it’s not hard to see why- they’re bite sized pieces of heaven. I get asked ALL the time how to make them and honestly…they’re probably one of the easiest things to make. Seriously- we’re talking 3 steps.

Lovely

1. Bake a cake.

2. Mix cake with frosting.

3. Dip in chocolate.

4. Devour. (Okay so it’s 4 steps)

BUT let’s break it down a bit further. What kind of cake are you supposed to bake? WHATEVER YOU WANT!! You can pick ANY cake/frosting combination for this. Some of my favorite combinations are red velvet/cream cheese frosting, wine cake/cream cheese frosting, and strawberry cake/strawberry frosting. You can be as creative as you want with this. So once you decide that, bake that cake. Then you crumble it up in a bowl (let me tell you, I did not like this part at first…I went to the trouble of baking a cake and now I have to mess it up?!) and mix it with frosting.

Perfect cake...that you're about to destroy

You can either stop here, grab a spoon, and go to town,  or choose to continue towards the final product. No judgement here if you decide to taste test the whole bowl. Should you choose to continue, refrigerate the cake/frosting mixture until it’s firm enough to roll into balls. Don’t jump the gun here- you will have a chocolate-y gooey cake mess on your hands should you roll too soon. Albeit a very tasty mess. You can also put it in the freezer to speed up the process.

You can use colored frosting to have a surprise center!

Roll all the cake mixture into whatever size you want onto wax paper, I use a cookie dough scoop so that they are all the same size. Melt the chocolate and then dip each ball into the chocolate. If you want to sprinkle them with nuts, sprinkles, or whatever topping you have- do it while the chocolate is still melted. If you want to decorate the cake pops with royal frosting, wait until the chocolate hardens. And you are done!

You can decorate cake pops to be whatever you want!

Happy little snowmen

Superbowl Cupcakes

Well it’s about that time of year again- Superbowl Sunday will be here before we know it! Even if you don’t particularly care for football, you know you’ll get roped into watching it with friends. And you’ll say you’re watching it “for the commercials”. But everyone knows football games=food! Chips, dips, beer, wings, cupcakes, what? Who WOULDN’T want Superbowl cupcakes?

Superbowl 2011 Cupcakes

Clearly those are from last year. Thankfully both teams had pretty easy logos to frost. The Patriots are making that a little bit more difficult for me this year- but I will figure it out somehow!! So regardless of who you’re cheering for- Giants, Patriots, Madonna and the halftime show, you can have spirit cupcakes!!

Pomegranate Relish

My fascination with pomegranates started back in 5th grade. I had a teacher who loved Greek mythology and I suppose I learned more about Greek mythology than the average 5th grader. Pomegranates were often mentioned in the stories (I mean…it is the “fruit of the gods”) and it always seemed like some exotic mythical fruit. Not something I could pick up at HEB. Luckily for me, it IS something I can find in the produce section and so that’s what I decided to get this week.

Tasty little gems

I know pomegranates are slightly intimidating…one of those fruits that you just kind of stare at and wonder, “How exactly do I cut this? What do I do?”. It’s actually pretty easy to get the seeds out (yes you eat the seeds). If you’re not sure how to do it- google “how to cut a pomegranate” and you can figure it out.

Nom nom nom

I find it easier to remove the seeds by separating the sections in a bowl of water- the juice is less likely to get all over you and your kitchen. So I removed the seeds, drained them, and then got ready to make some pomegranate relish. Honestly, I just saw the words “pomegranate” and “pistachio” and knew this was something I had to make. There’s actually no cooking/baking involved at all, but I still wore an apron so I figured that made it eligible for a post. Plus it’s delicious.

Between cutting the pomegranate and shelling the pistachios, this is definitely a labor of love. But it’s worth it. Just mix all the ingredients in a bowl, season with pepper and salt if you want, and that’s IT!!

Final product!

Pomegranate Relish

• 1 1/4 C pomegranate seeds
•  2/3 C unsalted shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 C fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
• 2 1/2 T olive oil
• 2 1/2 t fresh lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

One pomegranate provided roughly that amount of seeds, it doesn’t need to be exact. I also pulsed the pistachios in the food processor just because I wanted smaller pieces…yes I am a texture eater. I plan on eating this with chicken that has been seasoned with mint, oregano, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, and nutmeg. And if you’re not doing the whole30 like me, you can add some Greek yogurt for a little extra flare. Between this and the lamb and eggplant I plan on having later this week, I feel like some Turkish influence has found it’s way into my kitchen!