Saturday, July 23, 2011

An incredibly special little boy turns 2!

My little birthday boy!
Big Brother helping out!





My sweet youngest little boy Emmett, is turning 2!   I cannot believe he is already this old!  Emmett is my little sweetie pie! I love his smile, his laughter, his dancing,  his interest in books, in snuggling and playing with every toy we own.  He is 99% of the time a sweet little bundle of joy.  I just love him to pieces! Well, when I asked him what he wanted on his cake, he said Winnie the pooh. So the least I could do was to try to make him one. When we were in Disney world a few weeks ago, we went on the Winnie the Pooh ride and ever since he has been talking about Pooh.  This is the first cake of this size that I've ever made! I think it actually turned out great!  I just LOVE to bake! Hope you enjoy the pics!

A bread and a cupcake for a special gal!







It was my sweet friend Annie's birthday so i thought I'd whip her up some cupcakes to celebrate! It was a recipe for simple white cake and I decided to make my own buttercream. It was great celebrating her!  The cake was a little too much like pound cake but it was still yummy!  Right after her birthday Annie gave birth to a beautiful little boy named Caleb Benjamin.  What a miracle and a precious gift!   The zucchini bread was a little yummy gift to celebrate!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Birthday Time!




This time I made a yummy 3 layer strawberry cake with strawberry frosting.  We celebrated my sweet William's 4th birthday, plus Uncle Tony, Auntie April and Uncle Chuck. Special shout out to Sandy who let me use her pans and Anne-Margaret for letting me borrow a really sweet cake cook book.  This cake was super delicious....although I ate two pieces and felt like I was on a sugar high! Cheers to strawberries!

Recipe:
Cake: (solid veg shortening for greasing the pan & flower for dusting the pan) OR PAM w/flour for baking.  1 pkg (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix.  1 package strawberry gelatin (3 ounces).  4 tbls flour, 1 cup veg oil, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup whole milk, 4 large eggs 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries and juice

Frosting: 8 tbls (1 stick) of butter at room temp.  4 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries and juice.  1 cup halved fresh strawberries for garnish

Directions: Oven at 350 degrees, rack in the center.  spray or coat 3 9 inch cake pans and set aside.
2. Place the cake mix, strawberry gelatin, flour, oil, sugar, milk, eggs and strawberries and juice in a large mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute.  Stop the machine and scrape the sides. Increase to medium speed and beat for 2 minutes.   The strawberries should be blended well into the batter.  Divide the batter among the pans.  
3. Bake cakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger or just start to pull away from the sides. 33-35 minutes.  Remove from oven and place on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes. then invert onto a rack, then invert onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up. COOL COMPLETELY.

4. Meanwhile prepare the frosting.  Place the softened butter in a large mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, 20 seconds. Stop the machine and add 4 cups of powdered sugar and 1/2 cup of strawberries and juice. Blend on low speed until the frosting is creamy and spreadable. If its too thing add more sugar and if it is too thick add strawberries. 

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

My first recipe and the ones who ate it!


I finally got a kitchen aid mixer after 10 years of wanting one! My sweet MIL found it for me at a garage sale!!! AND it works beautifully!  So I was getting ready to use it and turned it on without the bowl being snug in the holder...Yep! it scared me and made me jump. All of the sudden we heard a huge noise, I quickly turned it off and locked the bowl into place!  Anyways, here is my first recipe and who I made it for!!

Memorial Day we decided to have our sweet neighbors Anne Margaret, Derek, Amelie, Alena and Grayson over to our house for dinner!  We chatted and ate BBQ, corn, and pasta salad and closed the evening with Mexican train dominoes.  Super fun game, especially if you have a 3 hour slot to fill it!

Here is what we ate for dessert :)
Blueberry-lemon Crumble Bars.
Recipe is below:
1/2 cup butter
1 pkg (2layer size yellow cake mix)
2 eggs, divided
2 tsp. zest and 3 Tbsp juice from 1 lemon, divided
2 pkg (8oz each) Neufchatel cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Directions: Heat oven to 350 degrees
Line 13x9 inch pain with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides. Microwave butter in large microwavable bowl on HIGH 1 to 1 1/2 min. or until melted. Add cake mix, 1 egg and 1 Tbsp. lemon juice; beat with mixer until well blended. Press 2/3 of the mixture onto bottom of pan (I would use more than 2/3...i still had enough left over to make cookies)

BEAT cream cheese and sugar with mixer until well blended. Add remaining egg, lemon juice and zest; mix well. Pour over crust; top with berries. Pinch small pieces of cake mix mixture between your fingers; press lightly into cream cheese layer.

BAKE 48 to 50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool completely and then refrigerate for an hr.