Southern Cake Girl

Hellooo

2011-01-08T16:26:00.000-06:00

Hello people who have probably stopped reading my blog since I'm awful and NEVER post anything. But a few life updates anyways...

1. I survived my first semester of medical school, I don't know how.... my brain and body hate me since I have stressed them to the max... but I made it. Thank. God.

2. I made the most delicious homemade Sweet Potato Pie for Christmas this year, and I will be posting the recipe for that soon, but here is a picture so you can be thinking about it in the meantime :)

It was fantastic!

3. My new years resolution: bake more and then blog about it... we'll see if it actually happens.

Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays!!

Happy Baking,
Sarah Helen

My crazy, happy, psychotic med school life

2010-11-14T13:11:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted on here in forever... which makes me sad because that means I haven't cooked in forever.

I made some pumpkin cupcakes a couple weeks back for some of my classmates (huge hit! yay!), and I will probably post the recipe around Thanksgiving, when I will have the most glorious five days off.

Aside from studying 24/7, I have finally found my "niche" in medical school. It took a lifetime of hard work, and two very trying years to get in... But after finishing our first module of med school and starting the second, I have to say I am the happiest I have even been in my life, which probably is mostly due to certain people in my class that make it easy to get out of bed at the awful hour of 6:30am and stay up studying until well after midnight.

My life is now summed up by many late nights of crazy 1st years blaring the Backstreet boys and dancing at 12:30am in Volker Hall (the med school building) to my now routine mental breakdown before every exam... but it's all worth it because one glorious day (about 10 years down the road) I will finally be able to setup a practice and do what I love, helping others.

Happy baking,
Sarah

PS. I have to admit I went against my own rule and broke the cardinal sin... I bought brownie mix in a box... which I intend to make at some point this week... I am ashamed, and next time, they will be homemade... I swear!!

Chocolate Tart

2010-09-09T21:52:00.000-05:00

Needless to say, med school is intense. My posts are going to be few and far between except for breaks... One thing I look forward to every week is our Thursday night "supper club". There is a group of 7 that rotates cooking for each other every week... it's a nice thing to look forward to once a week. For my week I made steak and blue cheese tacos and this amazing chocolate tart for dessert. I didn't take many pictures because I was crunched for time. I have to warn you, this tart takes a lot of time and patience! BUT, if you can get through it, the end result is sooo worth it!

I got this recipe from Tyler Florence, off of Food Network. Please, serve with some cool whip and a large glass of milk!

Ingredients for crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
3T sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold, and chopped into squares
1 large egg, seperated
2T ice water, plus more if needed

Directions for crust:
1. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in large mixing bowl. Add butter and mix with pastry cutter, until it resembles coarse crumbles.
2. Make a well in the middle of the pastry. Combine the egg yolk with the ice water, whisk to blend. Pour mixture into well and mix until it all comes together. Squeeze a small amount together, if it is still really crumbly, add more ice water.
3. Form dough into disk, and refrigerate for at least 30 mins.
4. Roll out dough into a 12 in circle, that is 1/4in thick. Carefully roll dough into tart pin. Press dough neatly into all edges and then shave off the excess crust. Place tart in refrigerator for 15 mins to let it relax.
5. Preheat oven to 350. Place tart on a cookie sheet. Layer the crust with aluminum foil and place pie weights (or I use uncooked red beans) on top of the crust. Bake for 30 mins.
6. Remove the aluminum foil and weights. Brush top of crust with a beaten egg white. Bake for 8 more mins or until lightly golden in color.

Ingredients for Tart:
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
10 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2T sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs at room temperature

Directions for Tart:
1. Heat the cream and milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it simmers slightly along the edges.
2. Remove from heat, add chocolate and stir until it is all melted.
3. Add sugar and salt and whisk until incorporated.
4. Beat eggs in a small bowl, add them to the chocolate mixture, and whisk until incorporated.
5. Pour filling into a cooled tart pan and bake at 325 for 20-25 mins (mine took more like 40mins). Stop baking when the filling is set and the top looks glossy. If there are any cracks or many bubbles on the surface, take out the tart.
6. Cool and serve with whip cream!!!

Happy Baking!!

Black Bottom Cupcakes

2010-07-24T14:07:00.000-05:00

Thought I would post a little something sweet for a nice weekend treat :) I made these cupcakes for my friend Libby's birthday a few weeks ago. If you like chocolate and cheesecake then you will LOVE these, because it's a mixture of both :) And add some cream cheese frosting... even though they are already pretty sweet, I just think it gives them a little something extra!

The recipe makes 12 cupcakes and is from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook! Some advice on these, even though there is cream cheese in the frosting don't refrigerate them... I think it takes away the moistness in the cake!

Ingredients:
Chocolate Cake Base:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 1 T sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1.5 tsp distilled white vinegar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup water

Cream Cheese filling:
4.5 oz cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2.3 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
For Chocolate Base:
1. Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, and baking soda in a large bowl and mix with a handheld mixer on slow speed until all dry ingredients are incorporated.

2. Put the oil, vinegar, vanilla, and water in a glass and whisk to combine. Slowly incorporate this into the dry ingredients, increasing the speed of the mixer as it thickens. Continue beating until just incorporated and spoon batter into cupcake pan.

The mixture will be very thick!

For Cheescake Filling:
1. Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, egg, vanilla, and salt. Beat on medium-slow speed until smooth and fluffy.

2. Stir in chocolate chips by hand until evenly dispersed (don't overmix!!!). Scoop 1 T of filling on to pf the cupcake batter in the cases.

3. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for ~20 mins.

4. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting!

Happy baking and have a great weekend!

I LOVE the beach!

2010-07-16T17:30:00.000-05:00

Wednesday my family and I drove down to Destin, Fl to relax and have a few days in the sun! The good news? There is absolutely no oil on the beach! I am told there hasn't been any yet this far down the coast, and hopefully it won't reach here as the beaches are beautiful!

Last night we drove to Grayton Beach to eat at The Red Bar... and let me tell you it is The most delicious place down here! I was planning on taking pictures to post up here, but we got seated fast, the food came out faster, and I was too hungry to stop and photograph lol... but if you're ever within a 30 mile radius, it's really worth the drive.

Tonight my aunt and uncle are driving over from Daphne to eat out... I will try to photograph tonights food, where a large plate of amazing swordfish is calling my name!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I will be moving into my new aparment in Birmingham on Sunday/Monday and then starting med school in one week (ahhh)... but I'm so excited to finally get started!

The Big Apple

2010-07-12T16:54:00.000-05:00

I thought I would share some of my pictures from my trip to NYC to see my friend Mallory... it was more like a sorority reunion, aka we had soo much fun!

Of course we had to celebrate me getting into medical school! We were at a pub on the Upper West Side.

Serendipity was soo good! Advice, arrive before it opens if you don't want to wait four hours! I have to try and make their frozen hot chocolates... they are HUGE!

Brooklyn Bridge!

Times Square!

View from central park!

We had so much fun while we were there, and it was great to see Mallory!!

I am leaving for the beach Wednesday. Hopefully there won't be any oil :(((

Oh my! Sweet apple pie!

2010-07-11T18:26:00.000-05:00

So I'm sorry for the almost month long break in blogging. Apperently when you get into medical school you can't just sit back and enjoy the few weeks of freedom, because there is a massive checklist of stuff you have to complete... in just two weeks! But I am finally done, and except for packing and moving back to Birmingham, my last 2 weeks of freedom should be nice and relaxing!!

For Father's day I made my Dad homemade apple pie, one of his all time favorite desserts! This recipe is from the amazing Martha Stewart from her cookbook, The Baking Handbook.

I have to say, it was definiately a hit that I will be making again and again, so you should try it out... and please, serve it was some good, cold vanilla ice cream... it just adds to the flavor!

Ingredients
3 T all purpose flour
2 frozen pie crusts, thawed
1 large egg yolk
1 T heavy cream
3 lbs assorted apples (Granny Smith, Fuji, Macoun, Courtland, etc.)
2 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
1 T unsalted, cold butter, cut into small pieces
extra sugar for sprinkling

Directions
1. On a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, roll out one disk of dough to a 12-inch round. Sweep off extra flour with a pastry brush. Fit the dough into a 9in glass pie dish, and press it to the sides. Allow 1/2 in to hang off the edge, all around. Chill for 30 mins, until the dough is firm.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and cream and set aside, this is the egg wash to be used later.

3. Peel and chop the apples.

4. In a large bowl, toss together the apples, lemon juice, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Arrange these in the chilled pie shell.

5. Dot all over with the cold, choppped butter.

4. Brush rim of pie shell with egg wash. Place the second piece of dough on top, and gently press over apples. Trim dough to a 1in overhang. Tuck dough under and crimp edge if desired.

5. Brush entire surface of pie with egg wash and sprinkle genrously with sugar. Cut three vents into top to allow steam to escape. Freeze until firm, about 30 mins.

6. Preheat oven to 400, with the rack in the lower third of the oven. Place pie on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 20 mins, or until the crust starts to turn golden brown. Reduce oven temp to 350 and continue baking, rotating the pan halfway through, for 40-50 mins or until the crust is a deep golden brown and the juices have thickened and are bubbling.

7. Transfer pie to wire rack and allow to cool completely. It can be stored at room temp for up to 2 days covered loosely in plastic wrap, but it is best when eaten the same day as cooked.

Happy Baking!

Life Updates!

2010-06-15T13:08:00.000-05:00

So a few life updates... I got back from NYC yesterday after a whirlwind day of flying that included flight cancellations, re-routing through DC, running in the airport, and 2 drives back and forth to Birmingham, but I'm home. Pictures to come later.

More importantly though, I got into med school!!! So I will begin school at UAB School of Medicine July 26th... there goes the next for years of my life... but sooo worth it! I already have a roomate and will finalize my apartment on Friday, so everything is finally coming together!

Our kitchen is almost done, so I will finally be able to bake... that is after the dishwasher is installed back in. After the look my Dad gave me when I told him I was going to bake before it was installed, I thought it better to wait.... because he does dishes in our house.

Well hopefully I will be able to post again soon!

Chicken Poppyseed Casserole

2010-06-02T21:43:00.000-05:00

So if you were born even remotely near the south, you have heard of/eaten chicken poppyseed casserole. When I came home from work today, I was fully expecting yet another set of take out menus placed on the kitchen table for me to pick from... and my body was silently preparing itself for the billion miles I would have to run to work off said takeout. BUT, I amazingly came home to find my Mom getting out the ingredients to make the one and only casserole I will eat... I swear I'm not a picky eater, I just reallyyy don't like casseroles for some reason... probably because I have been force fed them my entire life.

Anyways, this recipe is from my sister-in-law Kristin... The first time I put it in my mouth, something like this was said, "OMG this is like crack.... (big mouth full of food)... you just can't stop eating it". Then I began making it for friends. Again. And again. And again. Concensus?? Everyone agrees. Just try it. Love it. Die. Then try it again.

PS. We still don't have an oven, but we finally got a convection oven!!! YAY!! real food will be made again! And I can start posting recipes!!

Ingredients:
3-4 chicken breasts
8oz fat free sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup chicken broth
1.5 rolls of ritz crackers
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 T poppy seeds

Directions:
1. Place the raw chicken breasts in a pot filled with water. Bring water to a boil. Boil for 30 mins. Once cooled off slightly, shread the chicken breasts.

2. Preheat oven to 350. Mix together the sour cream, chicken soup, chicken broth, and chicken breast pieces. Set aside.

3. Crush the ritz crackers and pour them into a bowl. Pour the poppy seeds and melted butter over the crackers, mix together.

4. Spray an 8x8 pan with Pam. Layer half the cracker mixture on the bottom of the pan. Top with all the chicken mixture. Top with the other half of the cracker mixture.

5. Bake for 30 mins. You may have to cover the pan with aluminum foil if the crackers start to get too dark. Serve with brown rice (trust me on this one) and enjoy!!!

Sorry there are no pictures... my camera died... sad day.

Happy Baking!!

PS. Countdown to NYC, 8 days!!!

Update!

2010-05-30T11:22:00.000-05:00

So, our kitchen now has flooring, counters should come in this wednesday, and finally our oven will come in this week too!!! (Sooo excited, it's a double oven!!!) So I will finally be able to begin baking again... yayy!!!!

Until then, here are some links to some awesome, healthy foods, courtesy of Hungry Girl!

In the mood for an AWESOME California Pizza Kitchen pizza?? Well, try this on for size, it only has 340 calories, compared to the actual one with 1,136 calories!!!

Click here for the recipe!

And if you have a sweet tooth, try these guilt free cupcakes!!!! They have next to no calories. I am going to bake these next week to try them out and will give you the results! Gah I can't wait to have an oven again!!

Click here for the recipe!

On June 9th I leave for NYC for 5 days of fun and a reunion with all my college girls!! I can't wait to post about all the goodies I will eat and everything I will see, so stay tuned!!

Happy Baking!

The Destruction of our Kitchen...

2010-05-25T19:34:00.000-05:00

Question: Want to know what happens when you get a little ity bity leak underneath your dishwasher??

Answer: They have to not only take out your dishwasher, but also replace ALL the hardwood flooring in your house. Which also involves ripping out alllll the cabinets. Oh, and to top it all off my Mom decided to completely redo the entire kitchen... aka new appliances, granite countertops, strip wallpaper, paint walls.... the list goes on and on and on.

So, for the next two weeks (and the past week) the bottom floor of my house looks like a death trap war zone with random planks fitted into random places on the floor.

What does this all mean for my blog? Hiatus... again... no baking, nada... I may go insane, what will I do to relieve my stress?? Idk... If the blog posts get exceedingly crazy, I'm sorry. I will try to entertain you with my mundane annoying life in the meantime.

Mundane fact #1: I hurt my knee at work today, pain shooting up and down my leg... who do I work for you may ask?? Oh, that would be the knee specialist at The Orthopedic Center, who didn't seem to care, fml.

Making beautiful cupcakes!

2010-05-18T20:05:00.000-05:00

Many big cities, and a bunch of smaller towns, have bakeries that make the most beautifully decorated cupcakes. The worst part is that these cupcakes can cost anywhere between $3-6, each... and frankly, I think that is ridiculous when you can just decorate them yourselves.

I had to bake a bunch of cupcakes last week for people's birthdays, graduations, house warming gifts, etc. For the first time, I didn't want to decorate them by hand with a knife, I wanted them to look like they were bought in those same stores that charge an outrageous amount of money.

SO, I made a TON of strawberry cupcakes and decorated them with vanilla buttercream icing. The recipe for the cakes is found here. This recipe made about 36 cupcakes total (remember it is cake flour and not all purpose flour). The recipe for the buttercream can be found here.

One of the finished cupcakes!

To decorate the cupcakes you simply need the following: 1 icing decorating bag and the tip 2D made by Wilton, these can be found at Hobby Lobby or any cake decorating store (fyi, you do not need a coupler for this tip).

This is the 2D tip, it can also be used to make these flowers when decorating cakes!

These clear decorating bags can come in large packs, and are disposable or you can clean and reuse them like I do!

Now, like everything else when it comes to decorating, practice and a LOT of patience is necessary. After the cupcakes have cooled you can use your 2D tip, fill the bag with icing, and begin decorating!

1. Start with the tip pointing towards the outside of the cupcake. Slowly begin to swirl the bag around from the outside-in, using medium pressure. Make sure you decorate the uggliest cupcakes first, because if you're like me, they don't turn out looking very pretty!

These are sloppy... yucky... not swirled. But it's okay!! I kept going!

2. Keep practicing, and eventually they will look like these!

Just like the store ones :)

Happy Decorating!!

Chocolate Chip Pie

2010-05-14T11:49:00.000-05:00

Most families tend to have some sort of "secret family recipe" that they have always used. Well, this could be said to be ours, since it is made for almost every family gathering. The first time I made it for friends, I made it when I was living at the sorority house in college... needless to say it was devoured within 1 day (2 pies, 1 day, 4 girls, do the math). Saying it is a huge hit everytime I make it is an understatement.

So I guess the recipe will no longer be a secret, but I have to share it with yall, because I love my readers... few though they may be!

Ingredients: (makes 1 pie)
1 defrosted pie shell (9in, not deep dish)
defrosted fat free cool whip
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, melted butter, milk and vanilla extract. Stir well. After butter has cooled down some mix in the eggs (beaten already).

2. Add the chocolate chips and pour it into the pie crust.

And to show that everyone makes mistakes... I accidently bought the deep dish pie crust. Oh well!

3. Bake for 40-50mins, or until slightly browned on the top! Serve warm with cool whip, enjoy!!

Happy Baking!!! And I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding!

2010-05-11T20:36:00.001-05:00

So this past wek has been insane! I have finished school and moved back home (boo). Moving has been stressfull, to say the least, and my entire family is here visiting, so I have been super busy and not able to post, sorry!!

On Mother's day I made Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding from the cooking light cookbook!! So it's healthy... well healthier then normal. It's very easy to make and tastes sooo good! It is the perfect dessert to make for a dinner with friends or family because you can make it ahead of time and then place it in the oven when you're ready to eat!

The following recipe serves 2 ppl, so adjust the ingredients accordingly to the number of people you are serving.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup of 1/2 in cubed Hawaiian Sweet Bread (at publix it comes in rolls by the bakery)
2/3 cup milk (i use skim or 2%)
2 T sugar
1.5 T unsweetend cocoa
1 T kahlua
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped (not chips)
2 T fat free cool whip, defrosted

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet, bake for 5mins of until lightly toasted.

2. Combine milk and next 5 ingredients in a bowl, mix well with a whisk. Add bread and toss gently to coat. Chill for 30mins to 4 hours.

3. Preheat oven to 325. Divide half of the mixture between two 6-ounce ramekins coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with half of the chocolate.

4. Divide remaining mixture between the ramekins. Top with remaining chocolate.

5. Place ramekins in an baking pan with hot water added to a depth of 1in. Bake for 35 mins or until set. Serve warm with cool whip topping!

Happy Baking, and happy belated Mother's Day to all of you amazing Mom's out there! (especially mine)

Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies!

2010-04-28T07:44:00.000-05:00

So, I am gaining an addition to my sorority family today, and have no money to buy her a big monogrammed gift. So I am doing what I do best, bake. In this case, I am baking her a TON of warm, amazing chocolate chip cookies. And really, I think she will like them more than a Vera Bradley bag.... maybe.... oh well.

This recipe is from Alton Brown.. and the cookies have this cakey consistency. They just may be the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten.... And I have eaten a lot in my time, bonus? the batter is soooo good to snack on. And, lets be honest, who doesn't love to snack on cookie dough?!

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 and 1/4 cups bread flour (NOT all-purpose flour)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 and 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 T milk
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
2. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

3. Pour melted butter into a mixing bowl. Add sugars. Cream together the butter and sugar.

4. Add the egg, egg yolk, milk, and vanilla extract to the pan and mix together completely.

5. Slowly add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl and mix completely.

6. Add the chocolate chips. Chill the dough. Then spoon it out onto parchment lined baking sheets, and bake for ~14mins. Cool completely and store them in an airtight container.

I threw in some white chocolate chips too... because that's just how I felt in the moment... but still only added 2 cups of chocolate chips total.

Happy Baking!

Hiatus

2010-04-26T09:00:00.000-05:00

Sorry for not posting much lately, my life is slowly becoming more hectic... Last week I had an exam, this week I have an exam, and I am very, very, very sadly moving the following week... so life is, needless to say, crazy lately. BUT, this week I will be baking two cakes!!! One for a friend simply craving a good, homemade yellow cake with chocolate frosting. And the other for my Grandlil's 21st birthday (if you don't know what a grandlittle is, no worries... sorority thing)! But I am sooo excited about her birthday so she can finally come out with us instead of us trying to sneak her into bars, lol!

SO, sorry for the delay, but stay tuned later this week for more recipes...

PS. Olivia, I know you are out there, I know you are moving, text me an idea for your "apartment warming" present/cupcakes you have been asking me to bake for 2 weeks now, lol!

Hope everyone has a great week! Now, back to not procrastinating... I'm in the library... Sorry Mom...

Pancakes!!!

2010-04-21T10:23:00.000-05:00

Sunday mornings are my lazy mornings... I do nothing but sleep in, possibly go to church (though I still haven't found a good one in this city), lay out by the pool, oh! and bake random things :) This past Sunday, I decided I just wasn't really in the mood for my normal cereal/banana/coffee combo for breakfast, well except for the coffee... that's a necessity.

I decided to make pancakes from scratch instead!! Of course I turned to my favorite rancher, Pioneer Woman, for a good, hearty (fatty... shhhh!) recipe to satisfy my need for breakfast rebellion. I really think the reason I decided to bake was that I woke up at 8am... which NEVER happens on the weekend... and I was slightly delirious.

Since I am not a morning person... at all... and I was only half way through my first cup of coffee (emphasis on the first cup... I did say I woke up at 8am, right??) Well, I just didn't feel like walking down 3 flights of stairs and back up 3 flights of stairs to get my camera... SO, like the last post, I have no step by step pictures... but it's ok, I SWEAR this recipe is soo easy!!! You don't need the pictures... it's that good!!

So this is the picture from PW's website of the AMAZING pancakes!!

Ingredients:
3 cups plus 2 T cake flour (see below if you don't have any)
1/2 tsp salt
3 T baking powder
2 T sugar
2 cups milk
2 whole eggs
3 tsp vanilla
4 T butter

*This recipe makes enough to feed 6ppl, so you may want to half it or you will be standing over the stove for awhile*

Directions:
1. Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Mix together the milk, eggs, and vanilla in a seperate bowl.

3. Add wet ingredients slowly to dry ingredients, stirring very gently just until combined!

4. Melt the butter and add it to the batter, stirring gently to combine.

5. Cook on a greased skillet over medium-high heat. I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to spoon the perfect amount of batter onto the skillet!!

Another awesome picture from PW... thanks Ree!

See?? You don't need pictures, this is the easiest recipe everrr.

Oh almost forgot, if you do not have any cake flour, you can make it from all-purpose flour like I had to Sunday morning... because if I was to lazy to go get my camera, you know I was to lazy to go to Publix...

1 cup cake flour= 3/4 cup and 2 T all-purpose flour + 2 T corn starch... sift them together to get 1 cup!

Happy Baking!!

Pasta with Mushrooms

2010-04-19T10:16:00.000-05:00

So, this weekend I had some friends over for dinner on Saturday night. After a little thought, I decided to make this Mushroom Rigatoni Bake... its easy, only takes a hour, and is from the Cooking Light cookbook... aka its a healthy pasta... that seems like an oxymoron, oh well. It was fantastic though!!

Here's the thing though, I didn't take any pictures of it.... at all... You see, my friends were there, and I thought they would think I was reallyyy weird if I busted out my camera to take a picture of mushrooms in a pan... even though they all read my blog... oh well, one day I will not be camera shy!! When I make it again, I will post pictures. Just trust me when I say you should make it!

This is the picture of it from the cookbook!!

Ingredients:
8oz uncooked rigatoni, radiatore, or gigli pasta
2 tsp butter
1/4 cup shallots, sliced
12 oz mushrooms (cremini and shitaki)...I used the "gourmet mixed pack" at publix!
1 T chopped, fresh thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1.5 T dry sherry (I used cooking sherry)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups 1% reduced fat milk
1 cups (4 oz) grated Asiago cheese
Cooking Spray

Directions: (Makes 4 servings)
1. Preheat oven to 375. Then cook the pasta according the directions on the box, just until al dente. Set aside.

2. Melt butter in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots, saute 3 mins. Add mushrooms, thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic. Saute 8 mins. Add sherry, cook 1 min, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

3. Place flour in a dutch oven or a large pan over medium-high heat, and slowly add milk, whisking constantly. Bring mixture to a boil, cook 1 min or until it's thick after it begins boiling. Remove from heat, add half of the cheese (1/2 cup), stirring until melted. Add mushrooms and pasta to the cheese mixture. Tossing well to combine.

4. Spoon mixture into an 8in baking dish. Sprikle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese on top. Bake for 30mins. Then devour it in 15 mins like we did!!!

Happy Baking!!

Chicken Salad... the way I make it!

2010-04-15T14:56:00.000-05:00

If you are from the South, or your name is Sarah, you consider chicken salad to be its own level on the food pyramid. Seriously, name 5 people you know who hate it... I dare you! BUT, if you could only hear the stats from most restaurants, you may never buy it again... It's all in the sauce, these places LOAD up on the mayonaise, and they are NOT using the fat free mayo either..

Panera Bread: 680 cal, 26 g of FAT... why you ask? mayonaise...

Zoe's Kitchen: 365 cal, but 31 g of fat... aka 50% of daily fat intake... wayy too much!

Chick-fil-a: 500 cal, 20 g of fat, 95mg of cholesterol... that's a lot!

and the killer...
Arby's Pecan Chicken Salad: 870 cal, 44 g of fat... WTF!?

If these stats don't convince you, then you should try this recipe below... because not only is it low fat and easy to make, but it also tastes better than anything you will buy at the store!!

My Easy Chicken Salad Recipe:
Ingredients:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Celery
Grapes or Apples (or both)
Fat Free Mayonaise
Fat Free Sour Cream
Lemon Juice
Little bit of light brown sugar
Dill
Taragon
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)

Directions:
1. Place your chicken breasts into a large dutch oven, cover with large amount of water. Bring water to a boil. Once it's at a boil, continue to cook for ~30-40 mins. Remove from water and allow it to cool for a little bit.

2. Cut up the chicken with two forks, or your fingers, whatever floats your boat. Place in a large bowl. Throw in your celery and apples/grapes/both.

3. In a seperate bowl, make your sauce. I never use exact amounts, but use a 2-1 mixture of mayo to sour cream. Add 1 T lemon juice or vinegar, whichever you like better. Then throw in 1 T or so of brown sugar... this counteracts the acidity of the lemon juice.

4. Mix the sauce together. Taste it. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Add chopped dill and a couple sprinkles of tarragon... because fresh herbs just make everything taste better...

5. Pour this over your chicken. Mix it all together. Then, and this is the most important part, refrigerate this for at least an hour or so before eating it... this allows all the different flavors to gel together and just taste yummy.

6. Make yourself a sandwich (in which I use spinach and honey mustard) and eat up!!

Happy Baking!

Wrap ideas!

2010-04-14T10:25:00.000-05:00

So I am reallyyyy trying to lose these last 7 lbs that I swore to my personal trainer I would lose by December (just a little fyi... its April) so that when I come back to him in May we could work to lose the FINAL last 5 lbs.... so needless to say, I have some work to do. Therefore, Welcome Back strict/evil diet!! (jk, its not that evil... just strict).

So, part of my diet is seriously cutting back some carbs, keeping a food diary, limiting/cutting out my already limited alcohol intake (even though I enjoy pretending wine has 0 calories), and not snacking... serious problem with the last one. SO, when I went to the grocery store yesterday, I brought back all the stuff for my awesome wraps!

Get the La Tortilla Factory wraps, they specialize in low-cal, low-carb wraps!! On these wraps I put a spoonful or two or plain hummus, a large handful of spinach, a couple slices of tomato, and turkey or chicken. Its good to have a least 3oz of turkey or chicken (not ham, too fatty), so you can get enough protein in you to keep you full!! I eat this with a handful or cheddar rice cakes, an apple, or a small salad with low-cal dressing. AND a large glass of water.

Later today I am going to be making my homemade chicken salad, and giving you the god awful nutrition stats of store bought chicken salad to convince you to always make your own, so stay tuned!!

Happy Baking!

Early Birthday Love.

2010-04-11T20:01:00.000-05:00

So one of my best friends from college came home this weekend!! She took a break from her new life in the Big Apple (totally jealous by the way) and came back to see friends and family, it was a great weekend! Her birthday is at the end of April, so duh I wanted to celebrate it early so she could have cake with all of us.... so I baked an awesome chocolate cake with strawberry meringue buttercream frosting... so delicious.... just trust me.

The cake recipe I have already given before, so click here for it (for a 2 layer, 8in cake double the recipe).

The strawberry frosting has this really good, creamy texture that only Martha Stewart can achieve. I'm uncertain about a lot of things in this world.. but this frosting isn't one of them... try it on something chocolate (because everything is better with chocolate.... I think I've said that before...). And, of course, in honor of Mallory's birthday, drink it with some champagne, because that's what she does.

Ingredients:
1.25 cups sugar
4 egg whites
3 sticks (1.5 cups) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
12 oz strawberry jam, pureed in a food processor

Directions:
1. In the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a saucepan of simmering water, combine the sugar and egg whites. Cook, whisking continuously, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch.

2. Attach the bowl to the mixer with the whisk attachment, and beat on a high speed until it holds stiff, not dry, peaks. Continue beating until the mixer is fluffy and cooled (~6mins).

You can tell when the peaks form, it will look like this when you put your finger into it.

3. Switch to the paddle attachment. With the mixer on a medium-low speed, add the butter a couple tablespoons at a time, it must be at room temperature, and beat well after each addition. If the frosting seems to seperate after all the butter is added, mix on a medium-high speed for 3-5mins.

4. Add the vanilla. Beat on the lowest speed for a few mins to eliminate any air bubbles.

5. Stir in the strawberry jam with a rubber spatula until frosting is smooth.

Just puree the jam first...

Pour it over the frosting...

And mix it all together!! (I only used about 3/4 of the pureed jam)

Frost the middle layer of your cake!

Then frost the rest of it...

Add some chocolate covered strawberries... some candles... and sing Happy Birthday!!!

Oh, and don't forget the champagne...it's a celebration after all!!!

Happy Baking and Happy Early Birthday Mallory! Miss you a ton!

Carrot Cake

2010-04-07T10:44:00.000-05:00

So Saturday when I got to my parents house my Mom immediately asked me what I was baking the next day... Me, not having given it that much thought, had an interesting revelation, it went something like this in my head: Easter.... bunnies.... bunnies eat carrots.. ummm "Carrot Cake!" Mom: okay, sounds good... Thanks for the enthusiasm Mom... Well, at least my Dad freaks out everytime I bake a cake, Mom doesn't let him have sweets, you see... poor guy (sorry I outed you Mom).

But this carrot cake was SO GOOD, and yea, I know I say that about everything I bake. But, so far, everything I've made has been that good! This one is from PW and has an awesome cream cheese frosting on top! I'm kind of sad I left in such a hurry Monday morning, I left it all there... You see it was 85 outside that day, and I wanted to layout all day, and left the cake in Huntsville... super sad day...

Ingredients: (I am going to preface this by saying I halfed the recipe, the whole recipe makes a 9x13 sheet cake)
For cake (whole recipe):
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bakind soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups grated carrots

For frosting:
1 lb powdered sugar (~4 cups)
1 stick regular butter, softened
8oz cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup pecans, chopped finely

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Choose a pan and decide how much you want. For the full recipe, you can use a sheet cake or a bundt cake. I halved the recipe and used an 8x8 pyrex dish.

2. Start by grating 1 cup of carrots (2 cups for full recipe). Then set it aside.

Hold the carrot like so (after you chop the end off).

Then grate it up! Now, isn't that the prettiest orange you've ever seen???

3. Mix together the sugar, oil, and eggs in an electric mixer with the whisk attachment.

4. In another bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add to the sugar/egg mixture and mix it all together. Make sure you scrape down the sides.

5. Add the carrots to that mixture, and mix it all together!!

Ahh that color... that batter.. sooo good!

The carrots turn the color of the batter to a prettier color!

6. Bake at 350 for 25 mins (for sheet cake or smaller) or 50 mins (for bundt cake). Insert toothpick to make sure its cooked all the way through!! And please, before you clean out the bowl, lick it... I had to jerk the bowl away from my Mom because she was licking it so much...

Now make your frosting!!!!

These are the only ingredients you need!!

1. In an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and cream cheese.

2. Add the sugar and vanilla into the mixture, and mix all together, make sure you scrape down the sides.

3. Chop up the pecans, and add them to the mixture. Mix throughly.

4. Smooth over a cooled carrot cake, and serve!!

If you're like me, once you cut it up, you immediately need a little bite... I told my Dad that Mom did it... I swear im not 5...

HEAVEN... Easter heaven :)

Happy baking! And have a great week!

Random

2010-04-01T14:07:00.000-05:00

I need a baking hiatus for a few days... aka I will probably be baking in 3 days with my Mom on Easter, but three days is long enough, right? RIGHT??? Fine, I will just do more Body Pump! (what, swimsuit season!)

So random things I wanted to talk about, because I can.. it's my blog and I will write what I want to. So since it is finally lovely, 80 degree, beach weather, you all need some good beach/pool side reading! So I'm just going to list some good ones:

-He Just Not That In To You!- best. book. ever.- Hilarious, insightful, awesome, if you are female and not married, read it. NOW.

-I hope they serve beer in hell- This guy is the biggest ASS in the entire world. But he is hilarious. Read it, love it, read it in the car during a road trip to Tampa like I did, and then read the above book to make sure you NEVER EVER end up with someone like him... EVER.

-The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks- Actually has a bittersweet ending that won't make you want to jump off a cliff like all his other books do... Yes, I know Miley Cyrus is in the movie (and, while I am secretly obsessed with her), you need to read the book, then see the movie if you want to (ps, its good! Saw it yesterday)

-Chasing Harry Winston, by Laura Weisberg- She also wrote the devil wears prada, It's a story about 3 amazing New York women, who vow to be married in one year.. read it, its amazing, these three woman are empowering and insightful.

-Something Borrowed and the sequel Something Blue, by Emily Griffith- Two great books about two incredibly different best friends, who, through stealing each other's men, realizing they are both snobby bitches, etc, find themselves... Great pool/beach read, or just a great one to curl up with in a hot bubble bath.

Need more?? I could give you a hundred, I frequent Barnes-n-Noble more than is necessary... message me if you need anymore ideas!

Hope ya'll have a Happy Easter!

K, back to the pool to layout... I need a tan, I glow in the dark...literally...

Birmingham Boot Camp

2010-03-31T10:13:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I worked out and did Body Pump for the first time in *cringe* two weeks (I have many excuses, none of them very good). Today? I can't move... But at the same time it feels sooo good to be sore again! So I know we have talked about exercise and weight loss in the past, but it is almost swimsuit season, or if you live in Birmingham TODAY is swimsuit season, its 80 degrees outside people!!!

It is time to jumpstart your weightloss! My friend Brittany just started this program called Birmingham Boot Camp. You meet 3 days/week for 1 hour sessions, 20 sessions total. The program is a little costly at $200, but it works out to $14.95/session. After reading the stats, I want to do it also!!! But since I just bought a plane ticket to NYC, I don't have the money...

Average weight loss: 5-12 lbs. Average inches off MIDSECTION: 1-3!! Average body fat loss: 3-5%... that's a lot! People, I think it's time for boot camp.

This is a picture from their website!! The workouts are outside in the gorgeous weather!

So no more excuses, get out there and exercise!!

If you can't afford it, I have a bunch of Gold's Gym 10day passes.. come to body pump with me! I go 3 days a week!! And trust me, it's a ridiculous workout.

Happy Running!

Out of this world frosting!

2010-03-30T18:30:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I told yall all about the chocolate cupcakes, and today I am going to tell you all about the frosting... bc no good cupcake is complete without frosting, especially this one. For once I really wanted to try something different than just normal frosting, and let me just tell you, this frosting just adds a little something different to cake than normal buttercream decorator icing. That's because this one has a whipped cream consistency that is simply, for a lack of a better phrase, to dieeee for! Pioneer Woman found it on another site and decided to share it with everyone who ~~worships~~ reads her blog....

You must try this icing soon, and try it with something chocolate, because chocolate makes the world happier (its true, they did a study on it!). Just trust me on this one, k? Great!

Ingredients:
5 T flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temp (2 sticks)
1 cup granulated sugar

Directions:

In a saucepan, mix together the milk and flour.

Place over medium heat and continually stir until it thickens,

it will be very thick!!

Remove from heat and allow to cool completely!!

You can even place a bag of ice under it after its cooled for a few mins, to allow it to cool the rest of the way!

In an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, cream together the butter and sugar.

Once the flour mixture is cool, mix in the vanilla extract. Then pour this over the butter/sugar mixture.

Mix them together for ~5-10 secs, then STOP the mixer. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and give it a little whirl with a spoon. Then turn the mixer back on high for ~40 secs. This is important: DO NOT OVERMIX!!! If you do, the entire thing will come apart and you will have to start over :(... So once it reaches a whip cream consistency, stop mixing.

Makes enough to frost ~14 cupcakes, double recipe to frost an 8in cake. Serve over something chocolatey, and enjoy!

Also, add some sprinkles for fun!! Simply pour the sprinkles into a bowl, and swirl the cupcake in them until it's covered!

Pack them up, head to the party, and enjoy your own chocolate/frosting heaven :)

Happy Baking!

That's the best cupcake I've ever had!

2010-03-29T19:02:00.001-05:00

So yea, second time in a week I made a ton of cupcakes, but this time I had an excuse!! It was my friend's 23rd bday! The cupcake and frosting recipes are both from PW, and let me tell you, it is the absolute best cupcake I have ever made. Or eaten. Period, end of discussion. When I took my first bite into this cupcake, I immediately entered heaven, or at least my own personal version of heaven, what I like to call "cupcake/chocolate induced coma heaven"... or something like that. In honor of PW I'm givin ya the step-wise recipe (ps. its all written out again at the bottom if you don't enjoy scrolling).

First of all, I halved the actual recipe to make ~14 cupcakes. The original recipe is double this and makes the most amazing chocolate sheet cake ever (9x13). K, now that that's taken care of:

Start by melting 1 stick of regular butter (aka not unsalted).

While it's melting, boil 1/2 cup of water.

After the butter melts, add 2 heaping tablespoons of cocoa powder.

Mix thoroughly.

Add the boiling water to the pan and then allow it to bubble for about 30secs or so. Turn off the heat, and set it aside.

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and a pinch of salt.

Pour the hot cocoa mixture over the flour/sugar mixture and stir it a little to allow it to cool.

Pour 1/4 cup buttermilk into a measuring cup.

Add an egg and stir together.

Add 1/2 tsp vanilla to the mixture. Whisk it all together.

Pour the buttermilk mixture over the flour/chocolate mixture and

stir it all together.

Spoon into lined cupcake pan and bake for 20 mins on 350.

Allow to cool, and enjoy them thoroughly like I did :))

Tomorrow I will post the frosting recipe, so stay tuned!

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Melt 1 stick of regular butter in a pan. While the butter is melting, boil 1/2 cup of water.
2. Once the butter is melted, add 2 heaping tablespoons of cocoa powder, mix together. Stir in the boiling water and allow it to boil for ~30 seconds. Turn off the heat and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix together 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and a pinch of salt. Pour the hot chocolate mixture over it and stir it a little to cool the mixture down.
4. Pour 1/4 cup buttermilk into a measuring cup. Add an egg and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and mix it all together. Pour this over the flour/chocolate mixture and stir it all together.
5. Spoon into lined cupcake pan and bake for 20-25 mins.

Happy Baking, and enjoy the beautiful alabama weather we are supposed to have this week :))

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

2010-03-23T20:21:00.001-05:00

Stress. Sucks. So. Much. UAB med school, not cool for making me wait soooo long to find out whether I will get in our not.. Oh! and South Alabama, you had the audacity to MOVE the day you were supposed to tell us back by two weeks, so I'm mad at you too!

So what do I do when I am seriously stressed out?? If you answered anything other than bake, you don't know me. At all.

When I think of heaven, I think of fluffy vanilla cupcakes covered in amazing chocolate icing... that is what my heaven will have, oh it will also have sprinkles... and cherries... and my bulldog, bc we can cuddle and snore for eternity, not that I snore (thats the dog!).

I should be going to the gym, I should be studying for my test, I should be sleeping (bc right now I am falling asleep on my couch)... I should be doing a lot of things, but right now I say to hell with it ALL!! I want to bake my vanilla cupcakes with scrumptious chocolate frosting, and then curl up on my couch and watch New Moon... again... for the 50th time... don't judge me... so that is exactly what I am going to do. And it will relieve my stress and make me happy, hopefully.

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
3 T unsalted, room temp butter
1.5 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk
1 egg 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325. Put flour, sugar, butter, baking powder, and salt into your kitchenaid mixer with paddle attachment and mix on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency.

2. Add half the milk and mix just until incorporated.

3. In a seperate bowl, whisk together the egg, vanilla, and the rest of the milk. Add this to the flour mixer. Mix all together on a low speed until it is all incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix for a few more minutes or until the batter is smooth.

4. Bake for 20-25 mins, or until light (very light) golden and cake bounces back when you touch. Let the cupcakes cool on a rack in the pan for a few mins, then remove them from the pan and let them cool completely.

See how light they should be when they are done!

5. When cool spoon on chocolate or vanilla frosting, whatever is your fancy, add some sprinkles (they just make life more fun).

6. And enjoy!!

It did make me happier!

Happy Baking (and wish me luck, I find out very soon)!!

Black Heels to Tractor Wheels

2010-03-19T19:36:00.000-05:00

I am going to take a small baking break, just for a hot sec, k??? You with me? I am in need of a little romance, mostly because my love life is, well, non-existant haha. Well I know I have mentioned Pioneer Woman once or twice, but she is amazing... Her life is amazing... but, her love story is truly AMAZING!! The good news?? You can read all about it on her blog. This woman went from being an all-city, country club girl to being the wife of a rancher in the middle of nowhere when she was just 22 years old!!

If you are in for a night, well hell, a couple nights of sitting down with a glass of wine to read this amazing story, you won't be disappointed... I laughed, I cried, and I was amazed that a beautiful love story could actually be real... The BEST part??? It is going to be made into a MOVIE! And, the most amazing Reese Witherspoon just may play her :))) Pure happiness, with a happy ending, duh.

Click Here. Scroll to the bottom, the first entry is at the bottom of the page, and read your way up!

Black Heels to Tractor Wheels just may be the best romance yet...

PS. let me know if you loved it as much as me :) It made my week!

Happy Friday!

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

2010-03-18T19:25:00.001-05:00

I just want to take some time out of your day to talk about something muy importante... Buttermilk. Cheddar. Biscuits. Mmmmmm my mouth is already watering again. This recipe is from the most amazing, wish she was related to me, cook ever, Ina Garten (aka Barefoot Contessa). Ina always tries to make me fat, and I would totally let her if it wasn't swimsuit season... and if I didn't want to fit back into my Citizens jeans (what?? they're expensive!!).

Anyway, these are perfect for any occasion. Day after birthday breakfast. Road trip food to Tampa (filled with ham and more cheddar cheese, duh). Or for just anything you can imagine... Just try them, k?? (and before you do, make sure you read and prep allll the ingredients before any mixing... I messed up the first time I made this bc I didn't read it all first)

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1.5 tsp salt
12 T unsalted, COLD butter (1.5 sticks), diced
1/2 cup cold buttermilk, shaken
1 egg
1 cup grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1 egg beaten with 1 T water or milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425. Place flour, baking powder, and salt in an electric mixer with paddle attachment. With mixer on low, quickly add the cold, diced butter. Mix JUST UNTIL pea sized clumps form.

Make sure you really dice the butter!

So when you add the butter, these pea sized clumps will form.

2. Mix together the buttermilk and the egg and beat lightly with a fork. With mixer still on low, quickly add this to the flour/butter mixture once the pea sized clumps form.

3. In a small bowl mix the cheddar cheese (I used a little more than 1 cup) with a little flour, then add to the mixer and mix a little.

The dough will be very sticky when you are done.

4. Dump dough on a well-floured surface. Knead the dough a few times.

Make a nice ball before you roll it out!

5. Roll dough out into a 10" x 5" rectangle, and cut into 8 pieces. Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush tops with the egg wash mixture. Bake for 20-25 mins. Serve hot!!

They should be about 3/4" thick uncooked

So when they are cooked, they are nice and plump!!!!

Ps. In case you were wondering, I didn't get to hug Big Papi at the Red Sox game, the security guard chased me down when I was on my way... but here is a picture of how close I got!

A little blurry, but, again, I was being chased haha... little blonde girl running from the police with camera in hand = funny mental image... Papi is #34 by the stairs (which I also went down and could almost touch Francona, the coach, but I was chased away... again). Anyways, it was a fun spring break!!

Happy Baking and have a great weekend!!!

Hiatus

2010-03-16T10:40:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the posting hiatus (which will continue for a few more days)... I am in Tampa on Spring Break!! This has been such a fun trip and I just may post some pictures of it next week. Tonight I am going to see a Red Sox spring training game, so naturally I am jumping up and down like a 6 year old at Christmas haha, def the highlight of the trip.. but only if Big Papi (aka David Ortiz) will give me a bear hug.. we shall see.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Hazelnut Chocolate Cupcakes

2010-03-11T18:11:00.000-06:00

Two words. Hazelnut. Chocolate. YUMMM!!!! This chocolate heaven cupcake is filled with hazelnut and chocolate sauce and covered with hazelnut icing... salivating yet?! I am!! Yesterday, well these last 8 months really, have been soo unbelievably stressful while waiting to see if I get into medical school this year. Since I find out sometime in the next two weeks, saying the stress is getting to me is beyond an understatement. SO, what do I do when I am stressed?? I bake, I bake, I bake until I am completely covered in flour, and my cute strawberry slippers are flat from me standing up so long. It's amazing I am not 1,000 lbs... seriously, thank you God for inventing BodyPump!! So if you are stressed this weekend, or if you, like me, just have a LOVE for anything and everything chocolate, bake these... you won't be disappointed. (Oh! guess where this recipe is from???... yep, Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook... a-m-a-z-i-n-g)

Picture from the book

Ingredients:
3/4 cup + 1T all-pupose flour
2.5 T unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
3 T unsalted butter at room temp
1/2 cup of milk (I always use skim)
1 egg
1/2 cup hazelnut and chocolate spread (aka nutella)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325. Put flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter in a mixer with paddle attachment (or handheld electric whisk). Beat at slow speed until all is incorporated and mixture appears sandy.

2. Slowly pour milk into the flour mixture, beat until all mixed. Add egg and beat well. Scrape down the sides and then mix again.

3. Spoon batter until 2/3 full in pre-lined cupcake pan (recipe makes exactly 12 cupcakes). Bake for 20 mins, or until center bouces back when touched and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for a few mins in the pan, then remove cupcakes and cool completely on drying rack.

4. When cupcakes are completely cool, hollow out a small section in the center of each cupcake and fill with a dollop of Nutella. I used a circular cookie cutter, pushed it down a few centimeters, then pulled it back up. Then used a knife to remove the section.

Removing a center. Cupcake on left already has filling.

Small area only removed!

Hazelnut and Chocolate Frosting:
1. Beat 2 cups sugar and 5T unsalted, room temp butter in a mixer with paddle attachment on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together.

2. Turn mixer to a slower speed, add 2 T milk. Once milk is incorporated, turn mixer on high and mix until it is light and fluffy (at least 5 mins). The longer you mix the lighter and fluffier it will be.

3. Stir in 1/3 cup Nutella spread by hand until evenly mixed into the frosting. Spoon onto the cupcakes only after they have completely cooled. Serve with 3 hazelnuts on each and enjoy!!!

Yummy, yummy cupcakes!!

Happy Baking!!!

Following and comments!

2010-03-10T19:04:00.000-06:00

So I have been asked by several people who are unfamiliar with the "blog world", how do I comment and how do I follow your blog??

I would LOVE it if everyone could follow my blog, seriously I get really excited when a new follower adds! (I know, I know I'm a dork...known it for years). But, because I am using the blogspot domain and do not have my own, they place stupid restrictions on who can follow. So, if you have a gmail, yahoo, twitter, aim, netlog, or a website you can become a follower. Simply look to the right, click follow, click whatever you have (gmail, etc) and sign in. Then you can follow my website!!!! Or you can be like my mother and make up an email simply to follow my website... what can I say, she's a pretty good Mom!

If you don't want to or can't follow, you can still comment on any post! At the bottom of this post, you will see a thing that says "0 comments", click on it! You will be taken to a new page. Look below the comment section, it says "Comment As", scroll down to "name/url" and type in your name or to "anonymous" and make an anonymous post!

I hope this helps! Please comment on any post or ask me questions!!! If there are any recipes you want me to try out or find for you, let me know!!

How to: Ice a cake!!

2010-03-09T11:08:00.000-06:00

Before I took the cake decorating class, I HATED icing cakes because I always got crumbs all in the mixture... ok, ok, I lied... I still hate icing cakes. I am a perfectionist when it comes to decorating cakes, and still hate it when there are crumbs in it. The way to really learn all the fundamentals of decorating is to take a class (which are offered all the time at Hobby Lobby and Michael's)... BUT if you don't have the time or the money to take a class (even though they are all ~$50 for a 4 week class), you can look at the following videos and it will help a lot!!!

My Tips:
1. You need to buy a turn table. I got my at Louise's Cakes-n-things in Hoover, Al, but like everything else they are sold at Hobby Lobby... yall getting it yet that I live in that store?! No? Well you don't read my blog enough then...

2. You need to buy the right kind of icing spatula. Most shows and videos show an off-set spatula (ie. it isn't straight), but for novice decorators, you need a straight one... again go to Hobby Lobby.

3. DON'T get frustrated!! It is hard to master perfectly icing a cake, and, like everything else in life, it takes A LOT of practice!!

Click here to see a step-by-step demonstration of how to ice a cake. There is also a video on the page to watch along with the instructions and pictures. This is from the Wilton site, which also gives tips on how to fill and use pastry bags etc.

Click here to see Cake Boss decorate a 3-layer cake. For this you need pastry bags though, and the proper tip. Spatula not needed.

Happy Baking!!!

Buttercream Icing recipe and Coloring tips!!

2010-03-08T10:16:00.001-06:00

SO I know that I have given you some good cake recipes, but its time to give you some icing recipes!!! I almost always use buttercream icing for cakes, it has a great consistency and tastes great. The buttercream recipe is from Wilton, and it is the recipe given in a Wilton Course 1 decorating class. But, first I'm going to give some decorating tips!!!
Color your icing!!! Coloring your icing allows you to ice your cake in a beautiful color if you don't know how to or don't want to decorate your cake! To color buttercream icing you CAN NOT use food coloring drops that you find at a grocery store, they make the icing wayyy to thin and can even give it a bad taste. You need to buy concentrated icing coloring, which you can get at a cake decorating store or Hobby Lobby.

They look like the bottles in the picture above. To color your icing, take a clean toothpick, place it in the color and stir it around to get a big dollop on the toothpick. Then place the toothpick in the icing and stir to get the coloring off, throw toothpick away. Mix the icing well, and set bowl aside. The color of the icing will darken in a few mins, then, if needed, add more coloring to achieve desired color.

Buttercream Icing recipe:

Ingredients:
1cup white vegetable shortening (crisco)
1 tsp colorless vanilla extract
2 T milk or water
1 lb pure cane confectioners' sugar
1 T Wilton meringue powder
A pinch of salt

Directions:
1. Cream shortening, flavoring, and water together in your Kitchen Aid mixer (a hand held mixer isn't good enough for this recipe). Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients and throughly mixed together. Blend a couple more mins, until creamy.

2. This makes a very, very stiff consistency icing. If you are using this batch to ice your cake, add a couple more tablespoons of water, one at a time, until it thins out some. If you are using this batch for decorating, it needs to be stiff, so just add ~2T more water to it.

Tips:
1. In order to get a white icing, and not an off colored yucky yellow one, you must use colorless vanilla extract which you can sometimes find at publix but is always at Hobby Lobby.
2. The confectioners sugar must be exactly accurate or this won't work. Publix sells 1 lb bags and 2 lb bags already pre-weighted, so use those.
3. I have never seen the meringue powder at a grocery store, you need to go to a cake supply store or Hobby Lobby to buy it.
4. This recipe makes ~3 cups of icing, which is enough to ice the cake. You will have to make a 2nd batch if you also want to decorate the cake.
5. A hand held mixer will not work for this recipe, it just isn't strong enough to make it correctly... sorry!

Chocolate Buttercream Icing:
1. To the buttercream recipe above, add 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa and add an additional 1-2 T water to recipe. Mix until well blended.

Tomorrow I will give instructions on how to ice a cake!!

Happy Baking!

Cookie project for kids!!!

2010-03-07T11:13:00.000-06:00

So yesterday morning I was in body pump doing lunges... I take that back, I was dying with shaking legs doing lunges. But since spring break is in a week I pushed myself to finish every single one.. After I was done (and walking awkwardly to my water bottle bc my legs were no longer functioning) the girl next to me told me she envied me... Immediately I looked behind me, surely she wasn't addressing me, right?!?! Well she was, she said she never finishes lunges, because when her legs start shaking, she stops... That comment pretty much made my week and made me want to finish all the sets. Today my entire body hurts and I look retarded walking since my hamstrings are tight, but I feel good about myself. Remember when I told you not to forget your New Year's resolutions, well today is the day to make sure you don't, its beautiful outside! So go for a walk, and make yourself feel better!!

Now, onto the better stuff... Cookie fun with kids!!!!

Last wednesday the girls I babysit and I made sugar cookies and decorated them for my good friends husband who is currently serving overseas in Afghanistan. This was sooo much fun and the girls LOVED it! This recipe is from Pioneer Woman... if you don't know who she is, you should visit her site, shes awesome! This is a great kid-friendly, fun to make recipe!! The sugar cookies taste great, and the kids literally get to paint them, yea I said it, paint them before they bake!! And then get to decorate them with icing!

Ingredients:

Cookies (makes ~36 cookies):
2/3 cup shortening (aka crisco)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp grate lemon or orange zest (I used lemon)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 whole egg
4 tsp milk
2 cups flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Egg Glaze:
1 egg yolk
1 tsp water
2-3 drops food coloring

Icing:
4 cups confectioners sugar (1 lb bag)
1/8 cup milk
1 egg white (optional)

Directions:
1. Cream shortening, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla throughly together. Add in egg and beat until light and fluffy. Add in the milk and mix.

2. Sift together the dry ingredients, then add it to the creamed mixture. Divide dough in half, slighlt flatten between two sheets of waxed paper, then refrigerate for 1 hour (or freeze for 20 mins).

3. Roll out dough on a well floured surface and then use cookie cutters to cut into desired shapes.

4. Mix together the egg yolk glazes and make all your desired colors.

5. Using a soft paint brush, let the kids decorate all the cookies (before baking)!!!

Making stars for Trey!!

And some smiley faces for the other soldiers!!

6. Bake at 375 for 6 mins. Do not allow the top of cookies to brown. Cool cookies completely.

7. Mix together the icing with a hand held mixer. Place the icing in the ziploc bag, push the icing down to a corner of the bag, and cut off a small amount of the bottom corner of the bag.

8. Decorate and serve!!!

We had a great time and the girls asked me if we could do this every week... probably not going to happen, but next time we can make cupcakes, my fav as everyone knows!!

Happy Baking!!

Hungry Girl

2010-03-01T13:33:00.000-06:00

Have you been wondering how to make your absolute favorite recipes more low calorie??? Then you HAVE to go check out Hungry Girl. She can take anything, and I mean ANYTHING, you want to eat and give you a low-calorie awesome version of it to try at home. I subscribe to her (for free!!) and recieve daily emails with tips, suggestions, and recipes! What I really like about her, since I live alone, is that a lot of her recipes are for 1.

For example, I got an email this week for Mississippi Mud Pie (YUMM).. she reduced the calories from 615/serving to 233/serving... I seriously need to start channeling her mind in my daily life.... BUT the recipes are easy and you would never guess that all the stuff is low calorie!

This is her Mississippi Mud Pie.

One of her recipes is my go-to recipe for nights when I want to eat something good, but am wayyy to lazy to fix an entire meal... so basically 3-4 nights a week... don't judge me.

Tomato-Basil Chicken:
Prep: 5 mins
Bake time: 30-35 mins

1. Pre-heat oven to 350. Take a boneless, skinless chicken breast and cut off all the fat (I always use 1/2 chicken breast per person).
2. Place heavy duty aluminum foil in a pan (I use my 9in pie pan), spray top of foil with pam. Place chicken in center of pan and fold up the sides a little. Pour 1/2 can basil, oregano, and garlic (or Italian) diced tomatoes over top of chicken. Fold foil up (so it is closed on all sides).
3. Bake for 30-35 mins, or until center is no longer pink.
4. Serve with a large salad, and enjoy!!

Happy Baking!

I swear I'm back!

2010-02-27T10:58:00.003-06:00

I know, I know!! I have been the worst blogger the past two weeks, but I am finally back! lol... This past week I had two awesome extra roomies, and with them, class, and work I had NO time for anything else... but they were fun, they bought me coffee and breakfast (ps. the way to my heart is a strong cup of coffee right when I wake up, im not a happy/normal person without it, just ask my parents.)

Today I had an awesome lazy saturday that started off with baking lemon cupcakes!!! This recipe is also from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook... can you tell I'm in LOVE with it yet??? No? stay tuned...

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1.5 tsp baking bowder
2 T grated lemon zest (you will need ~4 lemons total for this recipe)
3 T unsalted butter at room temp
1/2 cup milk (I always use skim)
1 egg

Grating the lemons!!

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325
2. Put flour, sugar, baking soda, lemon zest, and butter in your KitchenAid mixer (and if you seriously haven't bought one yet, its time... but you can also use a hand held mixer, if you must). Beat on low speed until the mixture has a sandy consistency and everything is combined.

3. Gradually add milk, beat just until incorporated.
4. Add egg, beat just until incorporated, scrape down sides of bowl, then mix on high for a few minutes until batter is smooth. DO NOT overmix!!
5. Spoon into lined cupcake tin, 2/3 full for each. Bake 20-25 mins, or until cake bouces back when touched.
6. Cool in pan for a few mins, then take cupcakes out and cool them completely.

Lemon Frosting!!
1. Beat together 2 cups confectioners suger, 5 T unsalted room temp butter, 2 T grated lemon zest, and a couple drops of yellow food coloring on medium speed until mixture comes together.
2. Slowly add 2 T milk, mix until incorporated. Turn mixer onto high speed and continue beating until frosting is light and fluffy (tip: the longer you mix, the lighter and fluffier the frosting will be).

Best way to end a lazy Saturday... glass of wine, lemon cupcake, and a movie!

Happy Baking (and Happy Saturday!)

Party tips!

2010-02-22T21:44:00.000-06:00

So this weekend I made sooo many different things that I don't even know where to start when giving ya'll recipes!!! Since I am deaddd tired right now and need to look over muscles (booo) I will give you the rundown and post all recipes as the week goes on. Word to the wise, when you have a large party and decide that ALL the food absolutely has to be homemade... you need to plan out timewise how to cook it all, or you will end up in the shower/getting ready when everyone arrives like I did Friday night.

So for my party I made:
Spinach artichoke dip served with wheat thins
Chips and salsa
Veggie dessert pizza
Chocolate Chip cookies
Fruit dip with strawberries
Ranch dip with veggies
And, of course, Red Velvet Cupcakes!!!

For Saturday breakfast I made:
Buttermilk cheddar biscuits
Maple pancake muffins (which we decided to call Puffins)
Fruit dip and bananas
Coffee

We had soo much fun that night, and I got some great gifts! I will post all these recipes as the week goes on! I hope everyone had a great Monday!!

Red Velvet Cupcakes!

2010-02-18T21:50:00.000-06:00

I Love: cupcakes... I Hate: anatomy
I Love: to bake... I Hate: to study (may present a problem in med school)...

So guess what I am doing tonight?! Yes, baking red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing for my birthday/girl's night tomorrow! (and no, mother, I am not baking instead of studying, test is o-v-e-r!!) These could quite possibly be the best things I have EVER eaten... and thats saying something... I even had my taste-tester Olivia over, and she agrees!!!

Ingredients
4 T unsalted butter at room temp
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 T cocoa powder
2 T red food coloring
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup plus 2 T all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp distilled white vinegar

Directions!
1. Preheat oven to 325. Place butter and sugar in your Kitchen Aid mixer with paddle attachment and cream on medium until well blended and light and fluffy!

2. In a seperate bowl, mix together cocoa powder, red food coloring, and vanilla extract. Mix together until it forms a thick, dark paste.

3. Turn your mixer on high and slowly add the egg. Blend until mixed, then scrape down your bowl. On low speed add the cocoa mixture and mix until well blended. Scrape down the sides of your bowl.

4. With mixer on low, add half the buttermilk, mix well. Then add half the flour, mix well. Scrape down the sides. Repeat adding buttermilk and flour, until they are both all added. Mix well and scrape down the sides. Add salt, baking soda, and vinegar on low. Then turn mixer on high and mix for a couple more minutes.

5. Spoon batter into a 12 cupcake pan with cupcake liners. I used a cookie dough scoop, 2 scoops=2/3 full. Fill each two-thirds full. Bake 20-25 mins or until the cake bouces back when touched and toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for a few minutes, then cool on a rack. Ice when they are completely cooled.

Best. Cupcakes. Ever.

Happy Baking!!!

Cupcakes, cupcakes, CUPCAKES!

2010-02-18T08:34:00.001-06:00

Tonight after my annoying anatomy test, I FINALLY get to retreat back into my kitchen for hours (except during the men's figure skating routines.... gotta love the olympics!). I am making Red Velvet Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for my birthday party tomorrow. The recipe is from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, possibly the best cupcake book you could ever buy! (will post recipe/pictures later!)

Tonight I am also experimenting with something new, cupcake pops!! So if you have never heard of these, they are from Bakerella (another baking blog). I am going to make them as cute party favors for my party tomorrow night, sooo excited to try them out!

Picture from bakerella.com

I will post pics as I bake them... hopefully I won't crash and burn making them... Also, tomorrow I will be making all the rest of the food for my party. I just finished my grocery list (which, when written out, is absurdly long) and it includes, but is not limited to, 40 oz of cream cheese... yes I love me some cream cheese, but didn't plan this much... every single recipe I'm making just happens to require a pack or so (currently praying no one coming to my party reads this... I want them to eat the food). But I am excited, because next week I will have lots of awesome and suprisingly healthy (considering said cream cheese) recipes!!

Happy Baking!

Aging and Invitations

2010-02-16T11:22:00.001-06:00

When I was little, I used to think that people in college were SOO old! Now, I am out of college and turning 23 in three days... so according to my 8 year old self, I am officially old. Even though I know I'm not really old, nothing good EVER happens after the infamous 21st bday... I mean the next thing you know, you're 30... So I figure what better way to celebrate a birthday than with an awesome Girl's Night In, full of laugther, games, food, and, of course, lots of vino!!

First thing to do when you are planning any kind of party, you need to get out your inviations soon!! In a day where facebook/email/twitter are the ways of communication, it is very refreshing to get an invite in the mail that you can stick on your fridge! If you live in Birmingham, you need to go to Inflations and Invitations in Homewood (down the street from Soca). The owner, Sonia Davis, is a close family friend of mine, and she is GREAT at what she does! She does normal invitations and also does amazing custom wedding stationary. I would upload mine... but don't want my address displayed on the web, lol. But, I sent mine out a month ago for a party that is this Friday.

This is an example of one of Sonia's regular invitations from her website, so cute!

Well, I have to go to class, but am making some special treats tonight for party favors, and will post about them later!

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Raspberry Chocolate Purses

2010-02-14T09:31:00.000-06:00

So this week will be super busy for me, but I will try and post often, since I have a ton of recipes in mind. This friday is my birthday and I have an anatomy test on thursday (thanks, Dr. Hendon)...

SO, are you still looking for that perfect, easy, amazingly delicious dessert to serve to your valentine tonight?? Well, have I got something for you! I got this recipe from Southern Living a couple years ago, and it is my Mom and I's go-to recipe when we need a quick, amazing dessert for company.

Ingredients
2 Frozen Puff Pastry sheets (thawed)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Ghiardelli)
1 cup white chocolate chips (again, Ghiardelli)
10oz frozen raspberry bag (thawed)
2.5 cups powder sugar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350. Roll out puff pastry sheets so they are 12" by 12". Cut the pastrys into quarters.

2. Divide the white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate between the 8 sections. Pull up corners together, then pull up remaining sides. Pinch the middle together, so some puff pastry is sticking up like a purse.

3. At this point, you can refrigerate until your party begins! I always make it a couple of hours before the party, then stick it in the oven during dinner so I can serve it right out of the oven!! Bake for 20-25 mins, covering with aluminum foil for the last 10 mins, or until tops are brown and it looks cooked throughout!

4. Place thawed frozen raspberry package into a blender. Pour the 2.5 cups of powder sugar over the raspberrys, mix together with a spoon. Blend the two together, until raspberrys are broken up.

5. Using a wire, mesh sifter over a bowl, pour the raspberry mixture into the sifter. Using the back of a spoon, push the mixture through the sifter (this gets the seeds out). Refrigerate until just before you serve.

6. To serve, pour some raspberry mixture on the plate, top with purse, then sift some powder sugar on top to garnish, and serve!!

Plates with the raspberry sauce!

Finished purse with raspberry sauce!

I didn't take many pictures of the final product or baking process because I had friends over, and, for some reason, people think its weird when I take 1,000 pictures of a dessert lol. Oh, and I got these gorgeous paper plates at Hobby Lobby, on sale (my two favorite words in the english language).

But I hope everyone has a Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy Baking!

Happy Snow Day!!

2010-02-12T15:37:00.001-06:00

I still can't believe we are having Snow Day in Birmingham!! Normally when the idiot weather ppl say there will be snow, it is a nice sunny day, but NOT TODAY!

This is the view from the balcony of my apartment, anyone want to go make snow angels?!?

So in true Southern Cake Girl fashion, I spent my snow day finishing Sonia's birthday cake!!! I decorated with Vanilla Buttercream icing and all my tips/bags/icing spatulas and icing coloring are all Wilton brand!

The finished cake!!

Closeup of the flowers!

I absolutely LOVE my cake stand! It is from Urban Outfitters (thanks Julia!!!), they seriously have some of the cutest home decorations! A plus is that it wasn't very expensive.

Well I hope everyone has a good weekend!! Stay warm!

Happy Baking!

Dishes....

2010-02-10T21:25:00.001-06:00

I think that the only downside to baking is ALLLL the dishes you have to do... I have an unreasonable amount right now since I not only decided to bake a cake and decorate it last night... but I also decided to have friends over for dinner tonight (and you know I went all out with soup, meal, and dessert (will post recipes soon)). SO, I will not be posting pictures of the cake for a little while because it isn't done yet.. As the dishwasher is running for the um-tenth time tonight and I am falling asleep in a chocolate/wine induced coma, all I can only think about are the BILLION dishes I will have for next week (my birthday party!) and hoping someone will help me with them... sometimes living alone sucks...

The upside: my apartment smells like sugar heaven... no air plug thingys needed to make my apartment smell awesome tonight :))

You know what's also an upside?? When my sister-in-law updates their website with oh so cute pictures of my niece and nephew... here is one of my nephew max, 4 months old... him and hope are the true loves of my life, who needs boys when you have him????

Until tomorrow, when I will hopefully FINISH this cake for Sonia's birthday party Friday night!

Devil's Food Cake with Mint Ganache filling :))

2010-02-09T19:23:00.004-06:00

Today I spent an exorbitant amount of money on random "cake things". If you need good, cheap cake supplies, Hobby Lobby is the place to go. I bought tips, cardboard rounds, a decorating book, icing coloring, etc. for my new projects in the coming weeks... my supplies were becoming unreasonably bare. Also, I bought 2 new cookbooks from Barnes & Noble!!! Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook and The Hummingbird Bakery cookbook (which has the MOST AWESOME recipes in it... can you tell I'm excited??). Anyways, the cake I am making for Sonia's birthday is from the Martha Stewart cookbook... when it comes to baking, Martha is NEVER wrong. So I am making a devil's food cake, with mint chocolate ganache filling, and vanilla buttercream icing.

I am currently decorating the cake for Sonia's birthday, and will post pictures of the final product later today!

Ingredients
3 sticks unsalter butter (1.5 cups) room temp, plus more for pans
3/4 cup cocoa powder (I use Hershey's), sifted
3/4 cup hot water
3/4 cup sour cream
3 cups flour (not self-rising), sifted
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 large eggs
1 T vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350. Prep your 2 8x2 or 9x2 cake pans by buttering bottom, layering with a circular piece of parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper, dust with some cocoa powder (not part of the 3/4 cup) and tap out the excess.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water. Whisk in the sour cream. Set aside to cool. In another medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda; set aside.

3. With your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3-4mins in stand mixer and longer with a hand held. Add eggs one at a time, making sure to mix well between eggs. Beat in vanilla. Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl often to ensure it's all mixed.

4. With the mixer on low, add flour mixture in two parts, alternating with the cocoa mixture and beginning and ending with the flour (ie. 1/2 flour, then all cocoa, then other 1/2 flour). Beat just until combined, scraping sides of bowl.

5. Divide batter between the two pans, if using 8x2 pans you will have a little extra left over. Smooth with a spatula and cook for 40-50mins, or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Remember that the two racks in the oven cook at different speeds. After cooking, transfer pans to cooling rack and cool in pans 15mins. Then invert cake onto a plate, remove parchment paper, and re-invert back onto the cooling rack. Let cool completely, with the top sides up!

Mint Chocolate Ganache Filling:
Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream
1 lb semi-sweet chocolate (I used Ghiardelli)
1/8 cup light corn syrup
3/4 tsp pure peppermint extract
1/8 tsp salt

Directions
1. Pour cream into a saucepan and bring it to a full boil on medium-high heat on the stove, then turn off heat. Add chocolate then swirl to completely cover the cream. Whisk together. Add the corn syrup, peppermint extract, and salt and whisk. Transfer to a clean stand mixer bowl. Let it cool completely (about 45 mins), stirring frequently.

Assemble your cake!!!
1. Level your cake tops by inserting a long, sharp knife into the cake, then slowly turn to level the cake tops (these sides will form the middle portion of the cake). Place the bottom half layer onto your cardboard base (which should be wider than your cake, I use 10" ones).

This is a stepwise picture of how to level a cake!

2. Attach the bowl with cooled mint ganache to mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until ganache holds soft peaks, about 5-7 mins. Spread the bottom 1/2 with 1-1.5 cups of the whipped ganache. Top with the other layer. Refrigerate for 30 mins, or until ganache has just begun to set. I had some ganache left over, which can be stored in an airtight container for a week in the refrigerator, make sure you re-whip before using.

When layering a cake, make sure you place the bottom layer on your cardboard with the doilie attached (put some corn syrup between the two so they will stick together).

Top with any icing you wish. I love buttercream icing so much that I topped with vanilla buttercream icing, and decorated with vanilla buttercream icing.

Happy Baking!! and HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONIA!!

Help!

2010-02-09T09:59:00.001-06:00

I still can't figure out what kind of cake I am going to bake tonight... this is my problem, I am the MOST indecisive person EVERRR. You would think that since I am so excited to actually bake that I wouldn't care, but I do, I want her 21st bday cake to be something she will remember. So she said she likes chocolate, mint, and strawberry.... I think I am going to make a Devil's food cake.. Any suggestions???? PLEASE!

A new project!!

2010-02-08T12:48:00.001-06:00

For the last couple of weeks I have been praying and pining for an excuse to make and decorate another cake.. I don't know why, but getting in the kitchen and trying out all sorts of new cake and icing recipes and playing around with the decorations... its just well, cake bliss. So, I FINALLY have an excuse to make another awesome cake this week, my friend Sonia is turning 21 on Weds... One important thing when you are making a cake is to plan ahead!! A cake needs to be made at LEAST 2 days in advance so you have time to bake, re-bake if you f*** up, and decorate the way you really want to. For a decorating novice, it will take a ~~little~~ lot of trial and error to get your cake just right!!

Take this cake I made for my Dad's 60th birthday (big deal bday, right?!). Well, my mom was in Utah visiting my brother, so I drove to Huntsville to cook dinner for my dad and bake him (and decorate) a cake! I was still in my cake decorating class at that point, so I was still realllyyy bad at decorating. I made him this awesome made-from-scratch mac and cheese, YUMM!!! And then (around 7pm, yikes!) started to make the cake. I made the strawberry cake with vanilla buttercream icing (see old post for recipe), which is not an easy cake to make. Around 10pm the cake was FINALLY cooled enough for icing... At this point I was tired, Dad was hungry, Allison was spacing out watching me have a semi-mental breakdown because I couldn't get the icing to turn purple... so I did a really shitty job... BUT, I learned a very important lesson... bake a cake two days ahead so said mental breakdown will not occur again..

I mean, just look at this cake... it makes me want to cry. The icing is a yucky blue, supposed to be purple, the writing sucks, I can't even make a circle of shells... *sigh* BUT, I got my really bad decorating experience out of the way early, and it goes to show that practice and time can really improve your skills!

I plan on starting the cake tonight (once I decide what kind to make) and will post with pictures soon!

Happy Baking!

Sugar cookies!

2010-02-05T17:12:00.007-06:00

So my brother and his family live at Hill Air Force base just north of Salt Lake City. There are soo many things that I love about coming out here. First, the snow! Growing up in the south, we freak out even when there are only flurries... I come to Hill and there is 3ft of snow on the ground (also, Park City is only 20mins away!) But the BEST thing about Utah is that my sister-in-law and I share an insane sweet tooth. We make something new almost every single night (with the help of my adorable 2 year old niece of course). So, when I arrived wednesday night, I was pleased to see she was making sugar cookies!! These cookies are so good, I think it is because of the secret ingredients that bring out all the flavor.

Ingredients:
2 cups butter (room temp!)
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup milk (I always use skim)
7 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
And the secret flavor ingredients:
1/2 tsp lemon extract flavor
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 T honey

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, then the milk. Scrape sides of the bowl.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and mix just until mixed together. The dough will be soft and sticky.
4. Place dough on a well floured pastry cloth or workspace. Knead the dough until it is workable and has flour all over the top.
5. Roll it out to 3/8 in thick. Cut into desired shapes. We did hearts since it is so close to Valentine's Day, but you can do any shape you want!!
6. Bake for 10-12 mins or until edges barely start to change colors

Makes about 4 dozen!!

My little helper!!

Some of the finished cookies!

HAPPY BAKING AND HAPPY FRIDAY!

Stock your kitchen!!

2010-02-02T11:36:00.002-06:00

Before you can really begin baking cakes, cupcakes, etc. you need to stock your kitchen with the right tools and ingredients!! These are just some of the things I have in my apartment (all from either target or bed bath and beyond).

I highly recommend getting sugar and flour holders (make sure they are airtight). This makes it soo much easier when you are baking to quickly grab whatever you need ingredient wise.

I would recommend getting more than one set of measuring cups and spoons. When you are making cakes, you often have to add wet and dry ingredients, and you don't want to have to clean all your measuring cups in between mixing cake and icing. These are KitchenAid brand measuring cups and spoons from Target for only $3-4 each! Great deal!

You need a TON of mixing bowls also! I got all these from Target. Also, as you can see, I have two of everything: 2 whisks, 2 icing spreaders, 2 spatulas, and 2 basters. This way you don't have to do dishes in between recipes!

I also have a ton of bakeware... A necesity is at least 2 cake pans (mine are 8") and 2 pie pans. Also, I have three stackable drying racks so I can quickly cool multiple recipes.

I also have learned that tupperware is a necessity. I feel like I'm a mother when I stand in the tupperware aisle at Target (for like 30mins haha), BUT it comes in handy!! In addition, I recommend getting at least 4-5 cutting boards (so you can cut veggies and chicken without washing).

And last, but not least, casserole/pyrex dishes! For someone who lives alone, I have an exorbitant amount, and you probably don't need this many. But, as an avid baker they most def come in handy (and most of them come with tops for easy travel!)

Stay tuned for more great recipes later this week!

Happy Baking!!

Recipe of the Week!!

2010-01-31T18:41:00.000-06:00

HOT FUDGE SUNDAY CUCAKES!!

These cupcakes are so easy and sooo amazing, plus they look really cute too! I got these from The Hummingbird Bakery cookbook, which is a posh little bakery in London.

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powed
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
3 T unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup milk (I always use skim)
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place dry ingredients in stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or in bowl if using hand held mixer). Mix in butter. Add 1/2 of the milk slowly and beat just until incorporated.
In a seperate bowl whisk together the remaining milk, egg, and vanilla extract. Pour into the flour mixture and continue beating until just incorporated, do not overmix!!
Spoon batter into paper lined muffin tins (makes 12 cupcakes). Bake 20-25 mins or until golden brown on top. Let cupcakes cool on a drying rack out of the tin.

"Hot Fudge" topping:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy cream

Place chocolate chips into a bowl. Heat heavy cream on stove until it simmers. Pour evenly over the chocolate chips and let it stand 1 min, then stir until it is all mixed. If it appears to thin, keep stirring and it will thicken. Dip tops of cucakes into topping and swirl to cover the tops.
Garnish with whip cream, almond shavings, and a cherry!

Happy Baking!!

I like to cook, but I don't know how?

2010-01-28T13:14:00.000-06:00

Do you love to cook, but you really don't know how?! Well the first thing you need to do is find the perfect cookbook! My first cookbook was Cooking Light Complete Cookbook.

It is $37 at Barnes n Noble, or only $23 on amazon.com. This is the perfect beginners cookbook, because it is not just a cookbook! It comes with information on what cookware to buy, what veggies are in season when, how to perform different techniques (ie. braising, roasting, marinating, etc), and how to plan for a party (complete with menus)!!! It is conventiently seperated into 14 tabbed sections so you can easily search for that perfect appetizer or chicken dish fast! Also, it comes with nutrition values for every meal, multiple pictures, and how long it takes to make. I could ramble on and on about this cookbook, but I won't... Just buy it and you won't be sorry!

If you know of any other great cookbooks, let me know! I'm trying to find another good one, but, being the indecisive person I am, I take forever to decide what to buy!

Happy Baking!

I'm a morning person?!

2010-01-28T12:10:00.000-06:00

I took the most AMAZING workout class this morning at Gold's Gym called BodyPump. Now, ask anyone and they will tell you I am NOT a morning person. When home, my parents know not to talk to me in the morning until I have had at least one cup of coffee. BUT, today I decided to get up a go lift weights.. possibly to work off the scones I have been eating since tuesday... possibly I have just gone crazy... but it was AWESOME. The music was upbeat, all the people in the class were nice, but the best part was the instructor. She would scream and push you and I have no doubt that i will start losing weight faster than ever before. I may just become a morning person afterall... maybe.. Mom, don't get your hopes up!

Body Pump Class Above

So, today I want to write about excercise and continue on yesterdays New Year, New You. IF you want to lose weight you have to work out... a lot. Anna (aka god) told me to get 4-5 days cardio/week (30-45min sessions) and 2-3 days strength training (ie weights, like my new fav BodyPump class). But lets be realistic here... by the time you are done with work/school/whatever you are tired! But the more you start working out, the easier it gets, I PROMISE!

So start slow, maybe 2 days a week and 1 day of weight lifting. If you can afford a gym membership, get one. But find a gym that is 1) close to your home and 2) a fit for YOU. For me, Gold's Gym is perfect. They have a cardio movie theater, tvs on ALL the machines. And they yell at you in classes, which i respond to. If you can't afford a gym, research online to find running trails and parks in your area! Grab an ipod and some tennis shoes and hit the pavement! If you need tips on how to do strength training at home without buying weights, leave a comment and I will help you!

One piece of advice- if you decide to do morning weight lifting (like before work) and you like to have a big breakfast, eat it at least one hour before working out, if you don't I swear you may vomit. If you don't like a big breakfat, grab an energy bar... but you MUST eat something or you will fade... fast.

So, for this weekend your new goal is to find a gym, find a workout program, and commit to it!

Happy Running!

I can have my cake and eat it too?

2010-01-27T11:13:00.002-06:00

Every New Year, hundreds of thousands of people make a resolution to lose weight with the thought "New Year, New You". A poll done by Emax Health showed that over 78% of people will NOT meet their goals. Well Southern Cake Girl thinks that is just ridiculous.

When trying to lose weight, there are certain things you need to know before you can begin. First off, fad diets go out of style for a reason... anyone know someone doing the Atkins diet these days???? Me either. When I started losing weight, I went to a nutritionist, best money spent. period. She started off telling me about portion control and how to count calories efficiently... If you are trying to lose weight, this is the way to go. Many gyms have nutritionists on staff that offer services at VERY cheap prices. If you are in Huntsville, the Wellness Center offers them to members and non-members at prices like $12/ 30mins... good deal, right? In Birmingham, The Fitness Center, Gold's Gym, and Anytime Fitness in Hoover offer nutrition counseling.

Now, DO NOT be one of those people who try to lose weight and fail, because you can do it! I am going to give nutrition advice on my blog often. I have learned all about nutrition, and if I wasn't going to be a doctor, this is probably what I would do. First piece of advice, find what you can't live without! When I first went to see Anna (my nutritionist aka God), I told her that there is NO way I would ever be able to stick to a diet without being able to eat chocolate every single day... Her response, "No Problem!". Anna introduced me to the best stuff ever invented, Skinny Cow Ice Cream! All the ice cream bars are less than 150 calories, and let me tell you, they don't taste diet! My diet: ice cream sandwiches... take that fad diets! SO, find that one thing, that one vice you can't live without and don't take it out of your diet! If you need help finding a low cal version of your vice, make a comment and I will help you!

More advice to come soon!

Happy... baking seems inappropriate here, so... Happy weight loss!

Scones and Stupidity

2010-01-26T22:16:00.001-06:00

Ask any of my friends and they will tell you that stupid decisions are something I am good at. Stupid boys, Stupid gossip, Stupid roommates... you get the picture. After gaining weight last year, I have slowly been losing it (down 13 pounds, yayy!)... However, it seems that I have decided to halt that apparent weight loss. Stupidity now resides on Tuesday nights, for I have decided to make Tuesdays, "Try it Tuesday". Every Tuesday I will try a new recipe, and share my successes and inevitable failures with you. SO, all my friends out there for the love of god PLEASE come to my apartment on wednesdays and take away all the sweets I have made so I can LOSE this weight!

Week #1: Maple Oatmeal Scones... YUMMMM!!!

This is a recipe I got off Barefoot Contessa (aka Ina Garten). I LOVE everything she makes on that show, so if you haven't seen it, you should! The prep is only 10 minutes (total time 35mins). It is the perfect recipe for a brunch party or just breakfast on the weekend with the family!

Ingredients:
3.5 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup quick cook oatmeal oats
2 T baking powder (note: T=tablespoon, tsp=teaspoon)
2T granulated sugar
2 tsp salt
1 lb (4 sticks) unsalted butter (cold and cut up into SMALL pieces)
1/2 cup cold buttermilk
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
4 extra large eggs, beaten
Egg Wash: 1 egg, 1 T water or cream mixed

Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 400
2.) Attach paddle to your KitchenAid mixer. In bowl combine the flours, oatmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. On the lowest speed, slowly add the butter pieces. Mix until small peas form throughout the mix.
3.) Combine the buttermilk, eggs, and maple syrup. Add to the mix, and mix just until blended. Dough will be sticky.
4.) Place dough on a WELL floured surface. Roll out the dough to 3/4-1 inch thick. Cut out scones with a cookie cutter or into whatever shape you want. Place scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
5.) Brush tops of dough with the egg wash. Bake for 20-25 mins, until tops are crisp and insides are done.

Make Glaze by combining 1.25 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 cup maple syrup, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. After the scones have cooled for 5mins, drizzle glaze on the scones and serve! For extra garnish, place oats on top of glaze!

My finished product! SOO good!

Happy Baking!!!

Strawberry Blisss

2010-01-25T10:21:00.001-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!! Not a monday person?? Well for southern cake girl, monday is funday (as they used to call it in my elementary school gym class). On monday's I will post a new cake recipe to try out and help you through the work week! This week I'm starting with my FAV cake!

Do you love strawberry ice cream as much as my Dad does?! Well then you will LOVE this strawberry cake recipe. It is the most amazing strawberry cake EVER (which is why I call it Strawberry bliss).

Strawberry Bliss
Ingredients!
2 cups white sugar
1 3oz package of strawberry flavored gelatin
1 cup butter softend (ie at ROOM TEMP)
4 eggs (also at room temp!)
2 3/4 cups of sifted cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup 2% milk (also at room temp!)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup strawberry puree from frozen, sweetened strawberries

Directions!!
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease (with butter) and flour 2 8inch round cake pans (you can use 9inch cake pans if needed).
2. Cream butter and sugar in your KitchenAid mixer until very creamy. Add strawberry flavored gelatin, and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs ONE at a time (make sure you mix well after each). In a seperate small bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Add flour mixture and milk to batter, alternating by beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and strawberry puree.
3. Divide the batter between the two pans.
4. Bake 25-30 mins, or until small knife inserted into center comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool in their pans for 10-15mins. Then remove and cool COMPLETELY on cooling racks before icing the cake.

Tips for this cake!
1. When I say ingredients need to be at room temp, I mean they need to be at room temp, especially the butter. It's very hard to cream cold butter.
2. This cake is veryyy moist. It is really hard to ice this cake without getting a TON of crumbs in your icing, especially if you are a cake decorating novice. So make sure it has cooled off completely before attempting.
3. Since this cake is very moist, you can make it into three layers (ie pour into 3 8inch pans) to make it easier to handle.
4. If you are using a stand mixer (like KitchenAid), make sure you scrape down the sides of the bowl often during the mixing process.

Happy baking!!

Welcome to Southern Cake Girl!

2010-01-24T21:10:00.000-06:00

Setting up a new blog can become quite a task!! I am so excited to be sharing my love for baking with others. Please comment on my posts and help share ideas and great recipes!!

So far my decorating/baking is more limited because of class/work etc. BUT, I am determined to master cake decorating! For all those cake enthusiasts out there, you are probably obsessed with shows such as Amazing Wedding Cakes (my personal fav) and Cake Boss. These shows have become my inspiration for decorating! After many flopped recipes and icing catastrophes, however, I decided a tip of the week is absolutely essential for the novice baker!

Tip #1: You MUST own a good mixer... I am not talking about hand held ones. My first icing catastrophe occured when I used a hand held mixer.. trust me folks, it just doesn't work. Your icing will not be fluffy like it should be. And, more importantly, it won't be mixed thoroughly. Trust me no one wants to bite into a cake and eat a chunk of butter. SO, I highly recommend the KitchenAid mixer. I know, I know, it is REALLY expensive... but soo worth it! I found a great deal at hhgregg.com, and it came with a year long subscription to Food and Wine Magazine, but Amazon.com normally has good deals also. If you do not want a KitchenAid, the older Sunbeams are good (aka ones from the 50s etc). I have heard the new Sunbeams are awful!

That's it for the tip of the week! Pictures of my baking adventures to come soon!

Happy Baking!