Red Velvet Cake

Up until recently, I had never had the pleasure of eating red velvet cake. I tried this traditional southern cake for the first time when my moms crazy friend treated us to a spiffy/expensive restaurant in vegas.

Can I just say....this instantly became one of my favorite cakes the instant it entered my mouth. It is the richest, most moist, flavorful, creamy, (insert yummy adjective) that I have EVER had. I could not really pinpoint the flavor; usually its pretty easy...like "oh! this cake is strawberry! this cake is vanilla! This is a chocolate cake!" Not red velvet though...after I left vegas I only had a really lovely memory of this cake, but I honestly could not remember the flavor.

I went home and I thought about this cake for months and FINALLY I decided it was time for me to try making it (instead of dreaming about it). I was a bit reluctant at first because I could not remember specifically what it tasted like...and its pretty hard to replicate a traditional cake without knowledge of what it should taste like! ( i cant say hmm i think this needs more ___!)

For those of you that don't know, this cake, while it does not taste like a chocolate cake, is flavored with BOTH vanilla extract and cocoa powder!! I feel like I threw myself into making this cake with both eyes closed....but....it came out wonderful! Moist, rich, creamy....

Do not attempt to make this if you or anyone else in the family are trying to drop a few pounds...this cake is RICH. To make it the moist texture that it is, there is a LOT of oil involved and the creamy frosting is deeeelicious and made of cream cheese and butter and sugar.

If looking for a recipe, make sure the chef has a good history of great southern recipes :)

Tres Leches Cake ( Three Milk Cake)

When I went to New York this summer, I tried a TON of different food. One of the last restaurants I went to was a Cuban restaurant near my friends apartment in Union Square. I had never had Cuban food before and its deelish. I also had Tres Leches Cake for the very first time and…I am in love.

What drew me to the cake at first is simply the name of the cake. By now you should know I love milk, so I am naturally drawn to anything milk related. You can probably imagine my excitement when I saw THREE milk cake on the menu!

Tres Leches cake is basically a cake that is SOAKED through and through almost soggy with three types of milk. It is also adorned with whipped cream or a milky thick cream layer AND whipped cream and some type of fruit (usually mango).

I need to try and make the cake again so that it isnt so dense and its more spongy so that it will soak up even more of the milk. This was a cake a bit more complicated to make, but totally completely worth it!! It uses whole milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk (im salivating at the thought!). I also decided to skip the creamy layer over the cake because I didnt want the cake to be too sweet. I will definitely make this cake again soon, since my mom’s “stash” in the fridge is quickly running low!

Granny Smith Apple and Oatmeal Cookies for Pups!

Every time I bake my pup stares at me. His nose is like 20000000x better than mine, so he must be in heaven (or hell?) when he smells all the aromas floating around in the kitchen everyday.

So one day I decided to make something that he can smell AND eat! These doggy biscuits are super healthy, not bad tasting (for me), and super yummy (he gobbled them right up and ..stared for more!)

I used:
Organic whole wheat flour
Traditional Oatmeal
Granny Smith apples
Cinnamon
Ground Cloves
Tiny bit of vegetable oil
Honey

If only we could eat this healthy and be as happy as a pooch. Then we wouldnt have a stomach (pooch)!

Polkadot Cupcakes

I wanted to eat something good, and that would go great with a tall glass of milk, so I made these just-becuase-cupcakes.

I made these vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting and red polka dot sprinkles. The thing that makes these special is the strawberry and mascarpone cheese filling in the center. Now people that know me well know that I’m not the greatest fan of cheese, but mascarpone cheese is not really ‘cheesy’ at all. Its a very very light, creamy, milky, soft cheese spread. I think it tastes incredibly light and delicate and classy (like something you would have during afternoon tea or something)…definitely nothing CHEESY about it! :)

Cute pink heart cupcakes!

These cute pink heart cupcakes are flavored with Knotts Strawberry Jelly! Lovely for a tea party, valentines day, or baby shower

Chocolate Lava Cake

Chocolate Lava Cake

I served this lava cake as the dessert to a valentines day dinner. I think I was pretty lucky to get the lava flowing on my first attempt at this. The dessert was wonderfully warm, chocolatey, and delicious!

After a few times baking this, I have a few suggestions for those of you trying this for the first time:
1. Every oven is different, make sure you practice once before you serve it for an important occasion!
2. Make sure you record the EXACT time it took for your oven to produce the warmest flowy lava
3. Use the tooth-pick test
4. Most recipes call for semi-bitter chocolate because milk chocolate or even semi sweet chocolate is too sweet. Do not use milk chocolate but semi sweet chocolate was actually pretty perfect.
5. Some recipes say to use the 'warm-bath' method where you put the ramekins in water. I just threw those babies in the oven like I normally do with any cake.

happy baking!

Christmas Cookies 08

Christmas Cookies 08

Made everything from scratch. I cant wait for Christmas season again! I hope to add a little something different to my Christmas goodies every year, and I think I'll include some cupcakes this year :)

Melty buttery tea cakes in powered white sugar
Icebox cookies
Gingerbread Men
Green Christmas Sugar Cookie Trees dipped in White Chocolate
Improvised Rich Chocolate Snowflakes
Sugar Cookies with White Cookie Frosting and Minty Chocolate Kisses