Adventures in Cake Decorating: Part 2

Alright, it's not pretty. But darn it this is my first try and you always remember your first! After an hour and a half of practicing piping skills my hand felt like it was gonna fall off and I really wanted to get home to see How I Met Your Mother. The chocolate buttercream was delicious and the cake was yellow cake with cherry preserve filling. The cake itself wasn't so good but hey, even bad cake is pretty good. It's kind of like pizza that way.

Adventures in Cake Decorating: Part 1

After five years of talking about it, my sister and I finally signed up for a cake decorating class at Michael's. Now, those of you who know me that I often jump into things head first whether I know what I'm doing or not. After learning how to ice a cake and make buttercream in the first class, sis and I decided that it certainly wouldn't be too much to create a fabulous fondant Tiffany Box cake for a co-worker's birthday. We spent all day slaving away in the kitchen to make a fabulous chocolate cake from scratch and then died inside when it fell apart coming out of the pan. After a quick trip to Kroger, our friend Betty Crocker helped us bake a super yummy devil's food cake. We filled it with cherry preserves and then covered it with chocolate buttercream to make the fondant stick.

I'm so darn proud of it. I can't help but go into the kitchen every few minutes to check it out and see if it really is as cute as I remember from the last time I checked. And yes, it is.

Super Easy Lemon Cake

What do you get when you mix yours truly, her best gay and a fun cake pan?  This delicious cake that is super easy to make and will have people worshipping the ground that you walk on.  

I used a sand castle cake pan from Williams Sonoma to create the beauty above.  I personally think that the brown sugar "sand" was a genius touch.  If you don't own a fancy schmancy cake pan then feel free to use a regular bundt pan.  Not as cute, but just as delicious.

Ingredients

1 box Lemon Cake Mix

1 can Cream Cheese Frosting

3/4 cup oil

4 eggs

1 cup water

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray.

2.  Mix together all of the ingredients.

3.  Spoon into the bundt pan.

4.  Bake for 1 hour.  Let the cake cool in the pan for 30 minutes before removing it.

To add a little pizzazz, I drizzle the cake with a lemon sugar sauce.  

Sugar Sauce:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

1.  Mix the two ingredients above in a small pan over medium heat.  

2.  Keep cooking until the sugar is completely dissolved.  

**Play around with the amount of lemon juice.  If you want it really tart, use more lemon juice.  If you want it really sweet, use less lemon juice. 

Neat Baking Tool - Amish Cake Tester

I picked up this Amish Cake Tester at a craft fair and I love it.  Keep it in the kitchen and then break off a piece of straw when you need to test your baking.  This thing sure beats rummaging through the cabinets in a desperate search of the random toothpick that may have magically appeared in your cabinet.  

Low Fat Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Don't let the low fat in the title throw you, this banana bread is yum.  The key to keeping it low fat is the use of apple sauce instead of oil.  The best part of this recipe is that it is totally guilt-free.  I bake this during when I am suppressing my inner heifer and eating like a good little girl.  I really hate those times but this banana bread makes it a little bit better.

You can make this recipe without the chocolate chips, but why would you?  I've expressed my feelings about people who don't like chocolate.  

Yield: 12 servings

**You can make this as a loaf or as muffins.  Either way, it'll be 12 servings.

Ingredients

4 very ripe bananas

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 egg

2 tbsp applesauce

4 tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips

1.   Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a loaf pan or muffin cups.  

2.  Mash bananas in a bowl.  Add all other ingredients & mix well.

3.  Pour into loaf pan or muffin tins.  Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

**You're really going to want to make sure to grease the muffin cups if you decide to make muffins.  If you don't, the muffin will stick to the cup and that would be sad.  If you make a loaf, let it cool completely before you remove it from the loaf pan or it will fall apart and that would be sad.

**I use the individual servings of applesauce.  They keep much longer than a jar of it and 1 serving equals about 2 tbsp.  I just throw the whole thing in there.

The Best Brownies Ever!!!

A sure-fire way to win hearts is to make these brownies.  I've heard them referred to as sinful and would call it an accurate description.  These brownies will have you forsaking your best diet intentions and stuffing your face like Kobayashi at a hot dog eating contest.  Just make them already.  You can thank me later.

Oh, and for those of you who don't like chocolate, you're not welcome here.  I don't like you anymore.

**I'll post a picture soon***

Yield: 36  (keep the portions pretty small, these things are RICH!)

Ingredients

1 cup butter     (and here begins the joy)

2 cups sugar    (keep talking)

2 tsp. vanilla

4 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweet cocoa

1/2 tsp. salt

8 oz. semisweet chocolate   (you know what mama likes)

Optional

1 cup chopped walnuts

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 13x9 inch pan.

2.  In a medium saucepan, over low heat, melt the butter.  Add sugar, vanilla & eggs.  Blend well.

3.  Lightly spoon flour into a measuring cup & level off.  Stir in the flour, cocoa & salt; mix well.  Add chocolate and nuts.

4.  Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until set.

**To check them for doneness, stick a toothpick in the middle and see if it comes out clean.  You will also need to push gently in the middle of the brownies.  If it feels gooey, give them some more time.  You'll want to do both steps, because even if the toothpick comes out clean, they may need some more time.