cookies, cakes & cakes & cakes

cookies for a 17 year old friend who broke her back on a trampoline

These are all a few of the other baking I worked on while the computer was inoperable! 

Gummy worms done girly style!

Turning 3 is fun!

This was time consuming but such fun results!

I used a piece of parchment paper wrapped around my finger and used a spoon to gently place the sprinkles. 

since I mentioned it

This is the cake that I made for my brother last year.  I wasn't as happy with it as I had hoped to be.  Definitely one of those moments where the image in my head didn't translate as well onto the cake board as I'd hoped, so I was disappointed in it.  Everyone else was happy with it though.  I used my airbrush to make the coloring and a paint brush for the spots.  I was almost done and spilled a little green color on the bottom of the "belly" which really pushed me over the edge of thinking I'd done a good job.  But I will say, this is a carved cake - a carved carrot cake.  Anyone who has ever tried to carve a cake that has shredded carrots and nuts in it must be as crazy as I am.  So in that aspect I thought it turned out really well. 

carrot cake

Last but not least of the muffin method was carrot cake.  I was eager to try this because it is a cake that I don't make very often but I have a recipe that I created of my own.  It is my brother's favorite cake and I made it for his birthday last year.  At that time I didn't have any recipe and after much research and a lot of ones that I didn't like I mish-matched recipes until I came up with what I liked.  I have had many compliments on it and I was curious to see how the recipe in the book compared.  It also worked great as a lure to bring my brother out to my house for the computer repairs that I needed :)

It was a great tip to add the shredded carrots to the dry ingredients before mixing them with the wet because it helps keep the carrots evenly mixed throughout the finished cake. 

While I did like the texture of this cake, I still feel the one I came up with is a bit better.  I use more spice (nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon vs. just cinnamon) and I use crushed pineapple as well as shredded carrots.  But like most cakes, I believe the frosting also makes or breaks it.  I don't use a standard cream cheese - I use one that blends mascarpone and whipping cream with the cream cheese and it is heavenly!

Whew! I'm finally able to post!

It is amazing how connected to a computer my life is!  Everything came to a screeching halt when my fan went out and I couldn't keep my computer on.  I ordered the parts and then had to have the entire laptop disassembled (and I mean every part of it) in order to replace it.  Thank God for my brother and YouTube in order to know how to do it all. 

And of course it all happened right before my youngest daughter's high school graduation!  After a whirlwind of activity and borrowing of computers, I'm finally feeling like I'm getting back on track.  Through it all I did keep baking, though.  I didn't want to get behind in following my plan to get through Alton Brown's book and I'm relieved to finally get the pictures up!

Banana bread was the next thing on the list and it seems like I can never get bananas to last around my house long enough to brown up for baking. Everyone loves them so much they get eaten as fast as I can buy them.  I had to hide a few in a brown paper bag in order to let them brown up and stay around a while. 

The results were well worth it! 

For Mother's Day at Ronald McDonald House

Is a chocolate chip cookie just a cookie?

According to "I'm just here for the food" chocolate chip cookies fall under the muffin method.  I don't think there has been a more anticipated week of baking in my kitchen from my family.  It is actually the humble chocolate chip cookie that began my baking journey.  Well, perhaps I should say it is my husband Craig's addiction to the chocolate chip cookie that made it all begin!  Several years ago I began having joint trouble and it continued to get worse until the fateful day that I could no longer stir the dough by hand.  I had made mention several times that a Kitchen Aid mixer would be a great help to me and as soon as the prospect of a life without those chocolate morsels came to be - a mixer showed up for me.  The story of why any kitchen appliance is not a great gift - even when it is wanted - can wait for another day :)

The Muffin Method in action

I did it!  I made real muffins!  Not cupcakes - but muffins; and I understand what the difference is!  I studied all the reasons that make all the ingredients do what they do in a recipe and then dived on in to the first baking section on "The Muffin Method".  It is so satisfying to "get it" and then see it take shape in reality.  In fact I was so enamoured by it all that I ended up making three different varieties just to see if it would really turn out right every time, and it did! 

The 2 things that I learned outside of the ingredients and the wet/dry method