Cake Face!!!

 

If any of you have been wondering why I've been MIA, it's because of this little darling's 1st birthday party. We hosted the party on Saturday and it consumed my life for the last couple of weeks. Do you remember the invite?

It was FABULOUS! (if I do say so myself) and I can't wait to share the pics taken by Carly with you.

Doesn't Quinne look like a little bulldog (in a cute, ladylike way) covered with homemade buttercream frosting? This was right before she hugged her cake (for real) and then smeared frosting in her eyes.

Be back tomorrow with a real post!

Photo taken by Carly Taylor Photography.

Mini Pies in a Mason Jar (The Cheater Method)

Photo by Carly Taylor

I've been wanting to make mini pies in a mason jar for quite a while. And once my Mom informed me that she read pies were the new cupcake, well I just had to jump on the bandwagon. Thanks Mom!

I started making these little guys at 10 o'clock the night before I hosted a recent baby shower. I had grand plans of making my Nana's pie crust recipe from scratch, with a top and a bottom crust but time was not in my favor and plan B was formed. So, I pulled out the frozen Trader Joe's ready made pie crusts (that I had bought in case of emergency) and mixed berries, set them to thawing and made 8 pies in about 15 minutes.

Here's my disclaimer: I am generally a "from scratch" type of baker so don't judge me on using store bought ingredients this time. These were insanely good and I'm a tough critic when it comes to pie crust. I've actually never used a store bought crust before and Trader Joe's did not disappoint, as usual.

Ingredients

4 1/2 cups mixed berries (fresh or frozen, I used cherries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 Tbsp. cornstarch

Zest from 2 lemons

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter plus more for brushing the tops of the pies

Sanding sugar (optional)

2 ready made pie crust, thawed according to package directions

8 wide mouth half pint mason jars (found here)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Place mixed berries, sugar, cornstarch and lemon zest in a bowl and stir gently until combined. Let sit for 15 minutes if you are using frozen berries.

3. Fill each of the mason jars about 3/4 of the way full with the mixed berries. Note: Skipping the bottom crust was a serious time saver. It might be even tastier with the crust but this was so easy and tasted great. 

4. Dot the tops of the berries with the butter. 

5. Place your thawed dough on a clean work surface and use the ring of the lid to create the perfect size top crust. 

6. Place the crust onto the mason jar and carefully push the center down a tiny bit and press the crust against the walls of the jar. This is kinda tricky to explain so see the picture below.

7. Use a fork to crimp the edges of the pie crust against the wall of the mason jar and use a knife to cut two slits in the center of the crust. 

 

8. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with sanding sugar. 

9. Place pies on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, rotating halfway through. If the tops start to brown too quickly, cover with foil for the remainder of the baking time.

 Photo by Carly Taylor

Here is the last sneak peak of the desert table from the baby shower. Can't wait to share the whole party with you later this week!!!

 Photo by Carly Taylor

Meyer Lemon Welcome Home Cake

In anticipation of Dada's return earlier this week, I decided to make him a special welcome home cake. I've made this Meyer Lemon cake before, but it requires a bit of effort and I've been waiting for a special occasion to warrant the work. For those of you who aren't sure what a Meyer Lemon is, it's a cross between a tangerine and a lemon.

This cake is DIVINE and is so worth the time put into it. Plus, it's by Martha so how could it not be absolute  perfection.

Here is the link to the recipe I used via Martha. I did make a few shortcuts in the process. I skipped making the lemon curd from scratch because Trader Joe's has an amazing ready made one. And I wish I had made more frosting, it didn't quite cover the sides perfectly.

Martha gives instructions for how to make this cake for a large event so here are the amounts that I made for this 9 inch round layer cake.  I made 1 recipe of the cake batter,  1 recipe lemon simple syrup, 1 recipe swiss meringue buttercream but wish I had doubled the recipe, cheated and bought the lemon curd, and I candied 3 Meyer Lemons.

Definitely make the candied Meyer Lemons, they were insanely delicious and absolutely beautiful. The whole cake took about 8 smallish Meyer Lemons, which are currently being sold at Costco in California.

I'll be back next week with a tutorial and free download on how to make your own welcome home mini pennant banner. And now, I'm off to make marshmallows for a baby shower for Marla, who is finally having a girl, yay!!!

Have a fabulous weekend! XO

Green Velvet Shamrock Whoopie Pies

Apparently, I am whoopie pie obsessed. You might just be seeing them around here for every holiday. Here's my latest take on the whoopie craze, the green velvet shamrock whoopie pie. These were a little trickier than my red velvet heart shaped whoopie pies, but equally delicous. Or could that be because I used the exact same recipe, why mess with a good thing, right? Keep reading for the recipe and how-to. Plus, you can download the green chevron paper for free at the bottom of the post. 

Happy Saint Patty's Day!!!

Cake Recipe:

2 cups all purpose flour

1.5 tablespoons cocoa powder 

½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg, preferably room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk, preferably room temperature*

lots of green food coloring,I used 2 tubes (use the gel not the liquid)

Cream Cheese Filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

* I didn't happen to have buttermilk on hand so you can substitute by making your own with milk and vinegar. Add 1/2 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice to 1/2 cup milk, stir and let sit for 5 minutes before using.

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; preheat oven to 375F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.

2. In large mixing bowl or stand mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed for 30 seconds, until smooth. Add brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. With mixer at medium speed, add egg and beat until thoroughly combined, then beat in vanilla. Add about one-third of flour mixture followed by half of buttermilk mixture, mixing until incorporated after each addition (about 15 seconds). Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining buttermilk mixture. Scrape down sides of bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds. Add food coloring and continue mixing to incorporate color evenly. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter a couple times with rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour and coloring.

3. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a round tip and pipe your batter into the shamrocks. To make the shamrock, you will be piping the batter into 4 individual small hearts with the points touching. Can you see this in my pictures above? (If you need more guidance making the shamrocks, you could cut out a shamrock and trace it onto your parchment)

4. Bake 7 to 9 minutes, rotating halfway through, until tops are set. Cool cookies on cookie sheets. Make sure to watch them as they do cook pretty quickly.  

5. To make filling: In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy. 

6. To fill, dollop (or pipe) cream cheese filling on flat sides of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, flat sides down. Do your best to match up similar sized and shaped shamrocks, it just turns out better that way (plus, I'm type A so I have to do crazy things like that)

To store: Refrigerate in airtight container up to 4 days. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving. 

Cake recipe from Better Home and Gardens. Filling recipe from Paula Deen here (I cut the recipe in half).

 

Beware of little fingers sneaking into the batter, they lead to messy and sticky faces.

I love how she's looking at it me like, "What Mama? I didn't eat any cookie dough."

Paiges of Style- Green Chevron Paper

Heart Shaped Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

It's starting to look like Valentine's Day around here and what better way than these heart shaped red velvet whoopie pies to get your family feelin' the love. With these sitting around, it's tough to get my almost two year old to eat her breakfast but it's worth it when she takes a bite, sets it down, hugs my legs and says "Thank you, mama." I'll make these babies everyday for moments like that. Without further ado, here is the recipe.

Cake Recipe:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder 

½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg, preferably room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk, preferably room temperature*
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) red food coloring, use the gel not the liquid

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 sticks butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

* I didn't happen to have buttermilk on hand so you can substitute by making your own with milk and vinegar. Add 1/2 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice to 1/2 cup milk, stir and let sit for 5 minutes before using.

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; preheat oven to 375F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.

2. In large mixing bowl or stand mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed for 30 seconds, until smooth. Add brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. With mixer at medium speed, add egg and beat until thoroughly combined, then beat in vanilla. Add about one-third of flour mixture followed by half of buttermilk mixture, mixing until incorporated after each addition (about 15 seconds). Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining buttermilk mixture. Scrape down sides of bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter once or twice with rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour.

3. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe your batter into the hearts. (If you need more guidance making the heart shape, you could cut out hearts and trace onto your parchment but it's pretty easy to do without that) My hearts were about 1.5-2 inches tall and spaced about 2 inches apart. 

If piping these into a heart shape seems too tricky for you, Crate and Barrel has got you covered. They are currently selling this adorable heart shaped pan made just for whoopie pies.

4. Bake 7 to 9 minutes, rotating halfway through, until tops are set. Cool cookies on cookie sheets. Make sure to watch them as they do cook pretty quickly.

5. To make filling: In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy. 

6. To fill, dollop (or pipe) cream cheese filling on flat sides of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, flat sides down. Do your best to match up similar sized and shaped hearts, it just turns out better that way (plus, I'm type A so I have to do crazy things like that)

To store: Refrigerate in airtight container up to 4 days. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving. If you happen to be anything like us, these babies will not last for 4 days. 

 

 

I think presentation is half of the fun when making holiday desserts. I use cake stands whenever I can, I have a slight obsession with them. It took me about 1 minute to cut a piece of striped wrapping paper to line the cake stand and tie a coordinating piece of ribbon around the base. If that's too much work, make a tower with three of the whoopie ties and tie up with twine. Enjoy! 

Cake recipe originally from Better Homes and Gardens, December 2008 issue and cream cheese frosting by Paul Deen found here (I cut the frosting recipe in half and still had lots extra to dollop on just about anything I could get my hands on)