Treats for my sweet!

This is a strawberry marshmallow.



This is a strawberry marshmallow on crack.



This made my valentine happy!


Yes, I know this is not cake. And that's ok! Really, it is. And if you really need a disclaimer then I will say that on all those cake-offs people use rice krispy treats to mold things. So, maybe it will be in my future one day? So, yeah... take that!

Hope you all had a very happy valentine's day!

CrumpyCookies

So, my husband laid the smackdown and insisted on cookies tonight! We watched some of our favorite little friends so their parents could go on a Valentine's date. I thought it would be fun to make and decorate cookies with the kiddos. We had a great time and I was so impressed with how creative they were. It's amazing what you can do with a little icing, sprinkles, food coloring, and red hots! We did a little cookie toast when they all completed their first cookies!



I used the "Best Ever Butter Cookies" recipe. Watch out CrumpyCakes... make some room for CrumpyCookies!

Oh. My. Gosh. Cake!

I decided to try the chocolate cake on the back of the Swans Down Cake Flour box. OH. MY. GOSH.

It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. I made it in my petite loaf pan just for a little variety. At the last minute I decided to give the chocolate buttercream icing recipe that they suggested a try as well. Success! Finally. The consistency was spot on. It was a little heavy on the sweet side, but when I paired it with the cake it worked really good. I would post the recipes but, I can't find them online... and I guess I'm inept at copying it from the box? sorry.



I'll confess I usually don't eat much of what I make, but I couldn't stop. It was sooooo good I decided to rename it "Oh. My. Gosh. Cake!"

Sweet Wise

So, I have to confess I didn't bake anything this weekend. I was sick and then my sweet little baby got sick. Needless to say the last thing on my mind was baking. I hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive me. I was feeling a little guilty for not posting anything and then it hit me, I have something VERY blogworthy!

Thanks to my friends at groupon.com I will be taking my first cake class soon! I am so very excited. Today's deal was a cake class at Sweet Wise. What in the world is Sweet Wise? A magical place in Nashville I never even knew existed! It's like culinary school for weekend cake-ers like me. I can barely contain my excitement.

I can't wait to share all I learn!!! I know it will ROCK. And maybe my treats won't be so homely once I get sweet wise!

Cinderella Cake

True story. When I was about 9 years old I was at my friend Amber's house. She wanted to go out to the trampoline and play "Cinderella." You know the drill... when your friend suggests the game, they always get to be the main character. It's an unspoken kid code. So you can only imagine the surprise my little heart felt when she assigned me the role of Cinderella! I bounced with all my might, singing my heart out in true princess fashion... AND THEN- she started beating me with a broom and yelling at me to clean the floors. She had clearly assumed the role of the evil stepmother. I had no other logical option at that point but to run for my life! With Amber close on my heals, I rushed inside and began blurting out the ordeal to our mothers. Before I could finish she stood opposite of me and began screaming, "NO I DIDN'T!" simultaneously pulling out a fistful of her fiery red hair. If the broom didn't scare me, that did. She was fierce! Somehow, we muddled through that grade school incident as friends and into much middle school mischief.

Tonight as I tried to think of what to make I was afraid it might be the impossible task. I still haven't made it to the store to stock up on baking supplies. I'm even running low on margarine. So what could I possibly pull together that would be blogworthy? Google hasn't failed me yet. Cinderella Cake

I donned my new apron and got to work. I substituted applesauce for oil after reading this article about using it as a healthy baking option. Seemd to work just fine. The whole process was so simple and mess free. I have to admit I was a little disappointed to walk away without a smudge!

Although the toothpick came out clean, I wish I would have cooked it about 3 minutes longer. The inside was a little more spongy than I prefer. Could've been the applesauce! I tried the coachman's icing they suggested and it worked pretty well. I would give this a C+. Not bad for throwing together some straggling ingredients but not a must for my next party either!

I feel really proud that I was able to make something work. So, I give myself an A for effort. Here's to childhood memories, using what you got, and Cinderella!



I'm guessing the pumpkin reference inspired the title "Cinderella Cake."

Vertically Challenged Cake

I've said that really good cake makes people say, "That is the devil." Consider this oxymoron- you can't really say angel food cake is the devil. Not to stir up too much controversy, but I just don't like angel food cake. Quote me. Seriously, what is so great about it? It's a fluffy, tasteless waste of cake. I guess in all fairness I've only tasted the store bought kinds. Maybe a homemade one would be good. Or maybe other home bakers feel the way I do? Maybe I'm way off and really missing out. Maybe.

Well, now to the point. I cringe when I see strawberry shortcake served w/ angel food cake. Maybe it's because my mom always bought Sarah Lee pound cake. I'm not partial though, I love the kind served on sweet biscuits too. One of my favorites is at Steak and Shake! My friend Jereme would refer to that as "dirty"(meaning- not of a high quality). But it really is good if you haven't ever tried it!

I had plenty of poundcake left over from yesterday. Knowing I had friends at my house who don't mind being guinea pigs every now and then; I stopped on my way home for some strawberries. I sliced, sugared, mixed and served atop a layer of whipped cream. It doesn't get much easier than that.

Emily's piece looked scrumptious-



I COMPLETELY considered it a compliment when Chloe licked her plate! I have to say it is really gratifying when people like what I make. Hip hip hooray for strawberry shortcake. Although these days, to be more politically correct I'm guessing we should be calling it something like Strawberry "Vertically Challenged Cake."

Heart Pounding

The snow came in this weekend and the grocery shelves were bare. We were fortunate enough to get the basics before complete chaos erupted! However, I didn't think ahead to stock up on baking supplies. *GASP* When Sunday rolled around I was completely out of... BUTTER! How can you make cake without butter? I looked over my ingredients on hand. Use what you got, right? I had margarine, but isn't that "frowned" upon in baking? Googley-google... and what did I find but, A Margarine Cake Recipe! The only thing I was missing was lemon juice. I figured it would still work. I "thirded" the recipe and made it in a loaf pan. Success! Yummy pound cake.

Normally I wouldn't frost a pound cake, but I really wanted to give the confectioners sugar recipe another shot. This time I completely omitted the milk. Much better! It was still a bit more runny than I'd like after adding the vanilla, but quite tasty! I used margarine instead of butter so that might have been a contributing factor. I WILL CONQUER A BUTTER CREAM ICING RECIPE! Just you wait.

I must have had cabin fever because I got a last minute, crazy idea to make mini heart shaped cakes. I used a cookie cutter then iced and sprinkled each one. A little rough around the edges but kind of cute anyway. Here's a little peak:



*Big Cheesy Finish* These sweet little things are "heart pounding" good. Get it? Heart shaped pound cakes... Heart pounding!