Sometimes you just need to treat yourself. So contact me, The Treat Fairy, and just relax until I get there. Helping the Provo/Orem area to be just a bit sweeter.

treatfairylove@gmail.com

Thursday, June 16, 2011

D.A.H.M.M. Good Chocolate Cake

I'm sitting here writing this blog while eating a piece of cake. What could be more appropriate?

Over memorial day weekend I travelled to Rexburg Idaho for a family reunion on my fiance's family side. Everyone had warned me that there would be tons of people and I probably wouldn't survive. They were right. There were tons of people. Grandparents, their nine kids and their spouses (20 so far) and all their children (about 25 little rascals, only 4 of them older than 12). And myself. We all stayed in one house, and even journeyed to the cabin for a day. This cabin is not large. It's not small, but when you fit all those kids into one living room space and give them lots of sugar and a bunch of pillows, you are just asking for NOISE!!

But, I DID survive! My fiance and I survived mostly because we stayed in the kitchen most of the time. He helping me bake, and I having fun being on one side of the counter while everyone else stayed on the other side. We made delicious sugar cookies as an activity for the kids the next day (see other post).






And we made this cake. The name I came up with after Christmas break 2010. Dad. Alex. Haley. Mom. McKay. There are a few people in my family who don't really like cake. But they like this one. I thought naming it after them would be appropriate tribute.


I made this cake for the first time at home for my little sister's sixteenth birthday on the 30th. My dad loved it so much that I made it again on the 1st. Yes, the first cake was gone by then. I have made this chocolate behemoth 5 times since then, always taking it to some special event with friends. I love peoples' reactions when they see the color of the cake. And then again when they bite into it. And then their eyes roll back in their head, their knees quiver a bit and they say, "That is some "dang" good chocolate cake.

We made this cake to celebrate the 4 high school graduates. Look how happy they are! 
The inside. Yes. "The blacker the chocolate, the richer the taste."

I've always been picky when it comes to chocolate cake. They are either too dry, to bland or too sweet. This is none of those. This cake is perfect. And because of that. For now, this recipe is secret.

This is when I made it for my sister's Birthday. The second time that week I put an orange slice on top. Note: orange juice is acidic and will discolor the frosting.
This time I made it for the adults in the house to celebrate the 4 high school grads at the reunion.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Peanut Butter Cup Cake

 Tomorrow one of my oldest friends turns 22. To celebrate the big day, we are having a memorium of all her good times of being 21 tonight at a birthday celebration. Wanting to treat her to something special, I whipped up this little puppy. Let it be known that 8:30 am is a perfect time to bake cake becaues all your roommates wake up in a wonderful mood from the aroma of chocolate wafting through the apartment. Of course that mood dissipates as quickly as the smell when you open the window when they find out they don't get to eat it...oops. 

Peanut Butter and Chocolate are one of the more perfect food combinations. Peanut-butter fingers are one of my favorite treats. Last night as I thought about what kind of cake to make I decided to go with the typical college girls' cravings. PB and whatever: in this case, CHOCOLATE. 




The following may be unsuitable for some audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.


Layer # 1 Good enough to eat as is

But wait, why not put candy on top to make it pretty?

 Wanting to undermine the sweetness factor that something with the name "Peanut Butter Cup Cake" has, and not wanting to make it too rich, I used a chocolate sponge with sour cream. The chocolate frosting also has sour cream in it which gave it a nice tang, the light color is due to milk chocolate, which evens that tang out to just plain good. 

Oh yes, and then do it again! My mouth is watering just looking at it...

Let's take a closer look shall we? Peanut butter cups nestled into a peanut butter filling
 I have been in my kitchen all day, making this cake, applying for jobs, doing finances etc., all the time wearing my exercise clothes and trying to get up the motivation to exercise today. Sometimes convincing yourself is the most difficult step of any task.
Getting some perspective. How much exercise will it require to work off this one? Answer= none. All Treat Fairy treats are Calorie Free!*

My favorite way to frost: it makes you want to run your finger right across the icing for a taste. Don't worry. I resisted.

Okay, who wants a slice?
 A three layer cake was more than I was bargaining for this morning when I made this, but I think the end result is going to be supreme. Besides, three layers doesn't take any longer to bake than 2, it just takes an extra pan and the very last bit of your flour and sugar (I had to buy more this afternoon).
Don't forget the garnish. In total there are 12 Reese's cups in this cake.
The cake is moist and flavorful. The frosting and filling supreme. Thanks Jif Natural Peanut Butter. There are NO unnatural preservatives in this cake. I'm picky that way. You should be too: you deserve the best.

I left my friend with a good portion of the cake and saved a slice for myself and my dear roommates to sample. (They really were very upset when I showed them all these pictures and then said, as I showed them the last one, "It's in the fridge right now...". The thought that they were not going to get any was quite an unhappy one.

The lighting was bad for these next few shots so please forgive me, but, the cake looks amazing on the inside as well and I just HAD to show you. 


This cake succeeded in fulfulling the cravings of my dear roommate. She had been wanting no-bake cookies for three days. Same ingredients, and way better in my opinion.

Fiance and I shared this piece. What a beauty. The cake was moist, not too chocolately, and the peanut butter filling and cups on the top made it absolutely decadent. But definitely not too rich. A real winner. 

Strawberry Shortcakes

Do you remember that TV show from when you were a kid? Well if you weren't a girl, and you weren't born in the 80's (I just barely made it myself), the probably not. Well, this cartoon has made a reappearance to the toy scene for young girls. According to strawberrycentral.com Strawberry Shortcake is no longer infatuated with sweets and prefers talking to friends on her cellphone, wears less make up and would rather eat fruit than candy. This sounds like a case of the cookie gone Veggi-Monster.

Isn't it interesting the way media is in affecting a kid's future decisions? Here I am, 22 years old and I LOVE cookies. But I also love vegetables, thanks to my dietitian mom raising me to love them. So here's what I think. Turn off the TV and give the kid a ball and a stick and send them outside. Then bring them back indoors a few hours later and give them a huge dessert.

What does all this have to do with Treat Fairy? Well this weekend I had dinner with my fiance's extended family. I met 5 of his dad's siblings and all their kids. If that doesn't call for some serious treating I don't know what does.
So, in a pinch and wanting to make something delicious, that reminded me of summer and huge family gatherings I made STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE. It was a huge success, and even the kiddo's liked it.

The secret: douse those berries in sugar so they get nice and juicy. And whip the cream by hand, don't spray it out of a can. That extra touch makes all the difference.

Mmmmmmmmmm YUMMY!

Monday, May 9, 2011

The Beginning

There are times in life that necessitate the eating of delicious goodies. But sometimes those times do not actually allow you to make them yourself. 

That is where the Treat Fairy comes in. 

I came up with the idea for Treat Fairy as I served as a presidency member in my church women's group. (Aka the LDS Church Relief Society). I felt like there was something more I could do for the girls I lived by. So one night, I made about 150 sugar cookies, decorated them and delivered them with a tag that said, "treat fairy loves you!" Simple right? But I felt good about this Random Act of Kindness. 

For now, I'll just post pictures (and maybe recipes) each time I make something new. Eventually, the idea is that you order a goody: the sky is the limit really and I'll make it and deliver it within 24 hours. Parties, Church Activities, Girls' Nights In or, like I did, as anonymous gift: be creative. There is no limit to what the power of one's sugar cravings or my passion for baking can do.

My repetoire is growing every day. Some of my recipes will be posted on this site. But some just have to stay secrets. Pictures will of course be provided for everything.