Old Fashioned Cupcakes

My  mother-in-law made these for my birthday this year and OMG they are the best. The recipe is a whiskey soaked orange cupcake and orange buttercream. When a friend of mine's birthday rolled around, I decided to make them for her. I used this recipe.

fallen chocolate cake

I haven't blogged in so long - eeek! We're getting close to summer though, and I plan to start posting regularly again. Eric's mom and I made this cake for him for his 30th birthday. He requested a flourless chocolate cake and Bon Appetit had a great recipe that gets topped with a mascarpone whipped cream! (Not pictured, but delicious!). Recipe here.

More soon xoxo

Thanksgiving Treats

We ended up having a huge change of plans for Thanksgiving after discovering that Big Bend's campgrounds would be full before we could even leave town. Two of our good friends just moved to Austin the week before, so we decided to have a proper Thanksgiving here with them. I baked all day Wednesday - brandied pumpkin pie, blondies, and a chocolate mocha cake (with my attempt at sculpting a turkey out of caramel for on top!).

 I thought I was over pumpkin pie, but OMG it was so good. I used the New York Time's recipe for brandied pumpkin pie that recommended using pureed butternut squash. I still had a couple jars of butternut squash from grandma's gardens, so I was sold. It's amazing. I also had never made my own pie crust before (pathetic, I know, but this is the first pie I've ever made...I'm usually not a pie person.)

The pie came out of the oven looking beautiful and later I covered it with a piece of plastic wrap. The plastic wrap eventually sunk onto part of the pie and when I pulled it up, the perimeter of the sunken plastic left a weird ring on my pie. Boo!

We had a perfect few days off and now there's only a tiny bit of the semester left before I can keep baking and meet my sweet little nephew, Jacob!

Very Delicious Chocolate Cake

Rich, super-moist chocolate cake with mocha icing.

The cake recipe is from Bon Appetit magazine and icing recipe is from allrecipes.com.

* Ingredients: Cake

2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
4 teaspoons instant espresso powder dissolved in 3/4 cup hot water

* Preparation: Cake

Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 325°F. Generously butter two 9-inch cake pans with 2-inch-high sides; dust with flour, tapping out any excess. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper.

Sift 2 cups cake flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add brown sugar and beat until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions, beating just until blended after each addition. Gradually add hot espresso-water mixture, beating just until smooth.

Divide batter between pans; smooth tops. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on rack 15 minutes. Run small knife around sides of pans to loosen cakes. Invert cakes onto racks; lift pans off cakes and remove parchment. Place wire rack atop each cake; invert again so top side is up. Cool completely. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap each cake in plastic and store at room temperature.

[** I divided into three pans and this cut the baking time down to around 30 minutes, if I'm remembering right}

* Ingredients: Mocha Icing

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup strong, hot, brewed coffee
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup softened butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


* Directions: Icing

Combine coffee and cocoa in small bowl of electric mixer. Beat until blended. (I didn't use a mixer on that part.) Add sugar, butter or margarine, salt, and vanilla. Beat until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat icing until it has a spreading consistency.
Frost the cake, and sprinkle with chopped walnuts if desired.

I made double this recipe since I had the use the icing for the layers and such. (I had a little bit left over though.)



I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE this cake!

wedding cake.

My brother's wedding was amazing. Hands down the most fun and different wedding I've been to.
Two of Jamie's friends (who were bridesmaids) made the cake themselves and it turned out really cute: