Chocolate Almond Cake

My first rectangle cake. It was great. Moist, dark and rich, just like chocolate cake ought to be. Frosted with milk chocolate almond buttercream frosting and powdered with cocoa powder.

Husband is excited to have some cake!

Dark and delicious. That is some DAHMM good chocolate cake!

Oatmeal Raisin/Chocolate Chip cookies

 Today I have been home sick from work. Which is why you may notice that so many posts have the same publication date on them. I have to admit I've been very lazy recently about taking pictures of things I make, so many of the recent creations have gone undocumented. Like Lemon Squares, Zucchini cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, browned butter chocolate chip cookies, etc. However, these little cookies I made today.

A few days ago I was hit with the desire for chocolate chip cookies. But my husband loves oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. This morning I found a LOT of raisins in my pantry. I don't know how I have that many raisins...so I knew I needed to make cookies.

It took me a while to get out of bed, but I've been so bored all day that I needed to do something with my hands. I was under the dilemma of which to make: oatmeal chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin. How did I choose?


I didn't. I made both. I made the oatmeal cookie dough from my oatmeal raisin recipe, then divided it in half. In one bowl went raisins. In the other bowl went the chopped up remains of the rest of our chocolate Easter bunnies. They were big bunnies...

 The oatmeal raisin cookies turned out fine, but when 

I put the oatmeal chocolate chip in the oven, I got so preoccupied with this blog that I forgot about them. I only remembered them because my sister called me and asked what I was up to...

Sister, "You answered your phone?"

Me: "Yes I'm home sick from work today. I can't go very far because I can't leave the __________."

Sister, "What are you doing?"

Me: "Making cookies...oh no! They're burning!"

Please see the results of my first batch ....In the trash. 

Not to worry, I made more, which turned out much better. 

I even added coconut to make them chewy, because what's better than chocolate and coconut?

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

As good as a brownie, but easy to eat with your hands. Roll them in powdered sugar before baking to get the crackle effect.

Hot Chocolate Pudding

Pudding is one of my very favorite things. Especially hot chocolate pudding. I love the slippery, warm feeling of it in my mouth. I frequently make chocolate pudding just so I can eat it while it's still warm. I let my husband eat most of it after it has gone cold in the fridge. Although with whipped cream on top it is still delicious. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike cold pudding. I just prefer it warm.

Put in glass mugs, milk chocolate and white chocolate pudding with fresh whipped cream on top look as cozy as a hot cuppa after a day in the snow.

 For a reunion dinner, I took hot chocolate puddings. How did you keep it hot you may wonder. In this case I didn't. I let it chill in the fridge. I just made it look like hot chocolate.

Worms and Dirt

This Halloween, we attended a church Halloween party. Signups were going around and naturally I wanted to participate. When the signup came to me, all the slots for desserts were taken up. I was somewhat upset, but I didn't let that stop me from signing up anyways, even though I did not yet know what I was going to make. 

Bored one Saturday, I was going through pictures on facebook. A good friend of ours throws amazing Halloween parties. Each year it has been her goal to make her kids so sickened by the food at her gross out dinner that they refuse to eat. Looking at her pictures I have to admit there were some that I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole let alone my fork. At any rate, she gave me the idea to make something "gross out" for this party. 

Thus worms and dirt. Not the typical kind with oreos, pudding and gummy worms though. Remember I couldn't make a dessert. So I made a side dish/dip. I don't fully know how to classify the above item of food. Despite the disturbing image it made on the table next to the macaroni salad and cheese breads, I'm pleased to say that it was gone by the end of the night.

C is for Citrus Cake

Cakes are good for celebrating many things, not just birthdays. Like the friendship you share with someone who is moving far away. A dear friend of mine provided just such an occasion. She and I have shared many things together, trips to Amsterdam, jumping into a river in England, rooftop concerts, and even a job (although not at the same time). So when this friend got a job in Washington D.C. and had to move away, I wanted to show her my apprecation with a cake. Plus we were enjoying a nice picnic outside with many other friends before a concert. And who ever said that cake on a picnic was a bad idea? No one I know. Thus, I took one.

My friend is a lively and spicy personality. She is often the life of the party. So oranges seemed like a good inspiration. Sweet, succulent, and zesty. All things that I think of when I think of my friend. Wouldn't she laugh about the succulent, haha if only she knew. 

Can you see the orange zest?

Beautiful and orangey

Of course I had to use an orange buttercream frosting.

And of course I had to use a messy frost, since it is so yummy looking. The candy toppers are chocolate covered orange jellies.

The lady herself. Zesty!

Picnic cake is better when it's citrus.

Woah there--that's pretty. Pretty Delish.

I love to spoil the people I love. So when my fiance had a birthday this summer, I wanted to do something very special for him.

Strawberry Cake with White Chocolate Frosting and chocolate hazelnut filling. All his favorite things in one cake. I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

First step, mix the butter, sugar and flower

Next step puree fresh strawberries.

Add them together

MIX

Smells like strawberry fields. Looks sort of like them too...

Bake

My fiance fell in love with this while he was on mission in Italy. I fell in love with him while on a trip in Italy.

The cake emerges! It was light and sweet and tastes like strawberries.

Add the chocolate hazelnut filling.

Slice fresh strawberries

Place in center of cake on top of filling

Admire. Try not to drool

Using white chocolate. Which isn't really chocolate at all, but it's my fiance's favorite...

Chop

Melt

Mix in the proper ingredients for a smooth and sweet frosting.

Add second layer of cake

Frost that cake.

 This cake was legendary. And a huge hit at his birthday party. In fact, there were so many people there (his extended family all came up so even the little cousins, mentioned previously were there). Not planning on so many people, I was surprised how far we were able to share this. However, I did manage to save him a nice big slice for later. Sorry family for the little slices, but Jared comes first.

Decorate. With sliced strawberries and melted chocolate. Proper dark chocolate. Sorry Jared, dark chocolate wins every time. 

 

Cookies and Creme Cake

Birthdays always call for extra special celebration. This time was no different. My roommate J was having a birthday. Not just any birthday, but her 22 birthday. It needed to be a large celebration. She is also a huge fan of Justin Beiber. So naturally I had to use Beiber colors to decorate this cake: purple and white. Since we had just watched the Bieber movie the night before, I was prepped and ready to make this cake. 

It was rather messy; crushing chocolate sandwich cookies all over your counter (even when they are in a plastic bag) is no clean feat. But something about crushed cookies, even though they resemble flower pot dirt, is tempting to nibble on. Maybe it's a strange sense of wanting to tempt fate: is it safe to eat, or is it going to taste like the outdoors?

In this case, it definitely tasted good. 

Stirring the oreos into the batter

Dalmatian cakes!! Would be great for a little kid party...

The nice yellow color of cake. See the speckles of oreo in the middle?

Here's where it got messy.

 I used a white frosting to go with this. Even though I hate using it, I had to use shortening to get that ultimate white color. I have to admit that this frosting was incredible--it tasted just like the inside of an oreo!

Lit with candles. So cheerful!

Did I mention I used chocolate frosting in the middle? It was a nice contrast to the vanilla cake. 

You might think that the crushed cookies would either be soggy or too crunchy to enjoy. On the contrary, once assimilated into the batter, they took on the same texture as batter so when they baked, there was no discernable difference in the texture of the cookie and the cake. Would I make this again? Do cookies like milk? The answer to both is yes. And so I'd have to say that this is milk's favorite CAKE.

Hey Sugar

I like sugar cookies without frosting. Especially big gooey ones. Although not the big huge ones like I adore, these cookies I developed a recipe for while living in London. It had been 3 years since I had been able to eat one of my favorite cookies--the Sugar Cookies from Potbelly's Sandwich Works.

In an attempt to recreate the flavor of that cookie--butter; and the texture--soft and chewy, voila! I love sugar cookies with big sprinkles of sugar on top. They look irresistable. Maybe it's something about me being a woman, and sparkly things.

Carrot Cake. Just because it's delicious.

Plenty of carrots make this cake extremely moist and dense.

Carrot Cake. Who doesn't like the cinnamon, nutmeg and chewy goodness that a carrot cake provides? Especially when accompanied by a thick cream cheese frosting. Not too sweet, just enough tang to couple the sweetness of this cake.

Carrot cake always reminds me of summer. This happens to be a particular favorite of mine--and my husband's and my grandpa's. In fact, this particular cake we made as a date whie we were still engaged. We went on a hike together and then came back to my apartment to have dessert. I've always been a huge advocate of just making desserts, since I prefer homemade ones to ones that I have had when out to eat. He had started to agree at this point in our relationship. (He agrees even more now, since I make desserts regularly.)

Since it was spring, and since he adores carrot cake, we landed on this one. I'm so happy we did.