Banana Cupcakes with Vanilla Pastry Cream

Happy New Year!

I've had the most amazing 2010. I've traveled all over the country this year with trips to:
Raleigh, NC- New Years trip for 2010
New Orleans, LA- 30th Birthday Drunkfest
San Francisco, Monterrey, Big Sur and Wine Country: For Big Sur Marathon and Wine Tasting!
Utah- To pace a best friend in his first 50 mile race!
NYC- For 4th of July weekend!
North Carolina Mountains- For college friends 8th annual drinkfest!
Lexington, KY- Bourbon Chase Relay Race
Chicago, IL- Fun weekend trip with friend!
Playa Del Carmen, Mexico- Amazing Yoga Retreat!
Richmond and Charlottesville, VA- For NYE 2011.

Now, I’m one of those annoying shits that is “too cool” to do whatever everyone else does. Example A: I don’t have a facebook account. Example B: I don’t do New Years Resolutions until my birthday on February 1.


But incidentally… if I were to do New Years resolutions when everyone else does… one of my new years resolutions would be to stop being such an independent/individuality obsessed asshole.

I do have a fairly good argument against the whole idea of Resolutions anyway… I mean, why wait till some arbitrary day?? Jan 1 is just like Jan 4 or December 18. What the hell does it matter? When I wait till my birthday… it seems to mean a little more… like… with turning this XX age, I will become more mature in the following ways… (although, admittedly… some of my yearly resolutions are things that others surely think are LESS mature… like… date less! Drink more! Et al.).

Anyway… if I were to have new years resolutions (which, these aren't! I swear!) these would be them:

1. Drive less. Sure, I drive a lot less than the average person. I walk to work a lot, I walk to yoga when the weather's nice, etc… but… I have this annoying habit of driving to the grocery store 3-4 times a week. For whatever reason, I can’t buy 12 pounds of apples at one go, so I go every other day and buy enough to last me two days. THIS HAS TO STOP. So… my goal is cut this down to twice a week. ALSO… a new grocery store/health food store just opened up and the route there doesn’t require me to cross through any major intersections… so…

2. I’m going to buy a bike! Not a fancy lance Armstrong bike with shimano somethings and hydraulic something elses…. No, just a roam about town bike that I can ride to the grocery store and to the farmers markets this summer. And possibly the bar, or friends houses, etc.

3. Keep in touch with friends better.

4. Get up to date with the music scene. Seriously this is a big one… I used to be a music fanatic. And then I kinda fell off the wagon. Last week I made a new cd to listen to on itunes and I kid you not, half of the songs were like from 2008 or 2009. Ugh. I’m so behind!

5. Read more! I cancelled my cable subscription when college football season was over in the hopes of reading more. I really think that watching episode after episode of The Real Housewives of New York was hindering my ability to carry on a half-way intelligent conversation. A few years ago, I made a goal of reading 50 books for the year… and I got to around 30, which was still awesome. So, this year, I’m going to revive it. 50 books for 2011! (Now, I need to stock up mountaineering, sailing, and city history books!).

6. Set a new PR in the following distances: 5k, Half Marathon, and Marathon!

7. Drink less beer and less shots. It’s a problem when people know that you love tequila shots.

8. Get out of North America for 2011! Shouldn’t be a problem since I’m going to Scotland and Ireland with the family this spring… but… also trying to plan a trip to Israel for this year. Fingers crossed on that one. Jesus Trail or bust!!!! Or maybe I’ll just go to Peru.

9. Blog more often!

2010 was the best year of my life.. and I see no reason why anything has to change as we roll forward into 2011! And I'm hoping for all the best for your 2011s, as well!

And to start things off with a bang... here's a recipe that I made for my brother's birthday (back in June).
 
Banana Cupcakes with Vanilla Pastry Cream

from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

This recipe was super easy and the cupcakes turned out very moist! But... I have to say, pastry cream, as it turns out, isn't my favorite topping for a cupcake (a filling, perhaps). So, next time I make banana cupcakes, I will frost with a proper frosting... cream cheese, vanilla, chocolate... not too picky.
For the Cupcakes:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 4)
1/2 cup buttermilk

For the Vanilla Pastry Cream
3 cups half-and-half
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Make the pastry cream:

In a medium saucepan, bring the half-and-half to a simmer and keep warm. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt together until the mixture is pale, about one minute. Whisk half of the half-and-half into the egg yolk mixture, then pour the egg mixture back into the pot with the remaining half-and-half. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until thickened and boiling, about 6-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla. Strain the pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a container. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming.

Chill at least one hour, overnight is better.

Make the cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two 12-cup cupcake pans with paper liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a large bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and shortening together on medium speed until creamy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl, add the eggs, and beat until just combined. Scrape down the bowl again and add the bananas, beating until just combined. Turn the mixer to low. Add the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Remove the bowl from the mixer and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, giving the mixture a final stir to ensure it's combined.

Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Remove them from the pans and cool completely.

Assemble the cupcakes:

Place the vanilla pastry cream in a plastic disposable piping bag or a zip top gallon sized bag. Cut the end of the bag so that the opening is about a half inch in diameter. Pipe a dollop onto the cupcake (alternatively spoon a dollop onto the cupcake) and garnish with a dried banana slice.

Vanilla Cupcakes

A perfect weekend is...

Dinner and drinks with one of your favorite people, at your favorite restaurant and

then out for your favorite drink: Clapless Belle. Yum.

Shopping with your favorite shopping partner and actually finding some cute things at your favorite stores, followed by lunch at your favorite Indian restaurant.

 Completing your favorite household task: cleaning and organizing your closet.

Baking your favorite cupcake recipe and decorating them like little monkeys.

Putting on a bib for one of your favorite marathons and lining up at the start line.

Finishing a marathon with some of your favorite running partners

(and indulging in your favorite local brew afterwards).

Eating at your favorite restaurant AGAIN with some of your fellow marathoners

 and recounting the race with pizza and more beer.

Finishing the weekend with a cup of fro-yo with your favorite toppings: granola and coconut.

In my mind... a weekend doesn't get any better than this past weekend.



Vanilla Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from one I found somewhere online.

One recipe makes 27-31 cupcakes

I'm not a huge cupcake fan. But how can you not be a sucker for a moist, buttery cupcake? Which is how I found myself on a mission to find the perfect vanilla cupcake recipe... after tasting a delicious one at a bakery in Chicago.

To be honest, I hate the cupcakes at Nashville's local bakeries. Too dry, too big, too much frosting, too many whacked out flavors.

This is the kind of cupcake I like... plain and simple.

To decorate as monkeys for the Harpeth Hill Flying Monkey Marathon that I ran this weekend, I used chocolate frosting, nutter butter peanut butter snack cookies, a vanilla wafer with the top quarter cut off with a serated knife, and icing (white, black, and red). They look a lot like bears, but hopefully most people realized they were monkeys!

This cupcake recipe is awesome. My favorite, for sure.

1/4 cup softened unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

2 tsps vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups flour

2 1/4 tsps baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar and add eggs. Beat with an electric mixer until light in color and fluffy in texture. Gradually whisk in the oil, buttermilk, and extract and combine well.

Add your flour, baking powder, and salt and slowly stir to combine (add a little bit of the flour at a time to make the stirring easier).

Transfer to muffin pans that have been lined with paper muffin cups. Fill the cups up about 2/3 of the way up. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until springy in the center. Cool completely before frosting.

Especially Dark Chocolate Frosting

(from the back of the Special Dark Hershey's cocoa box)

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup Special Dark Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk (might need more)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to a spreading consistency. Add small amount of additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups of frosting.

New Orleans King Cake (The easy way)

I understand. Everyone's all wrapped up in thoughts of Valentines Day. But... don't get so wrapped up in Valentines Day that you forget what happens 2 days later. (After President's Day, that is. Jeez. Mardi Gras just can't catch a break this year. It's gotta compete with Valentines Day AND President's Day). Anyway, Fat Tuesday.

Awwww hells yes. Fat Tuesday is on Feb 16th this year. And since you'll be looking for something sweet and delicious to load up on before Lent starts the next day (I wonder how many people give up sugar/sweets/chocolate, etc for Lent?), I present you with the easiest King Cake Recipe ever. And delicious!

I actually made this King Cake for the Super Bowl. And it was declared very authentic despite the lazy woman method I employed to make it. Before we get into the recipe, let's talk a little about King Cakes.

For me, the single best thing about a King Cake is the plastic baby inside. I stopped at a cake decorating store here in town and found a package of 8 little naked plastic babies for $1.89. Awesome, right? When I got home and started to prepare the King Cake, I started thinking about whether or not these little naked plastic babies were 1. heatproof and 2. non-toxic. Now, to me... as much as I love the idea of biting into a piece of cake that is studded with a little naked plastic baby, the idea of that little naked baby melting and creating a pool of toxic chemicals that will eventually give me cancer one day was not something I was excited about.

In the end, I opted to prop the little naked plastic baby up on the top of the cake. Which, honestly... looked a little funny. But, also made me happy to look over and see the little baby hovering over the edge of the cake. Plus, this way.. the baby stayed nice and clean and fresh.

Top the cake off with some icing, some green, purple, and yellow colored sugars and some mini mardi gras beads and you've got yourself the perfect (and easy!) King Cake.

Laissez le Bon temp rouler!!

Easy Mini King Cake (for kids)

Found on Anna's Blog, Cookie Madness

So, basically you take a tube of canned biscuits, roll them out and together and then douse it with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon, and sugar. Roll into a tube and shape into a circle. Easy, right?

And it is easy, but my biscuits were not attaching to each other to make a complete piece of dough and once it started cooking, they kind of broke apart and formed huge gashes and crevices in the ring. At first, I freaked out, but I let it keep baking and in the end, it turned out just fine. Sure, it kinda ended up being 4 pieces shaped into a squareish circle, but once you slapped some icing and sugar on it, it looked fine. So, don't despair if your biscuits go a little rogue on you in the baking process. It'll all turn out.

Next year, I might make this in a Monkey Bread type of way, using a bundt pan. I think that would work great!

To see Anna's exact recipe, click on her blog link above. I'm giving the recipe the way I made it (just a few minor adjustments).

1 (16 oz) can of biscuits

1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt
Yellow, Purple, Green Sugars
1 plastic baby

Icing:
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
Milk or Heavy Cream

Preheat your oven to 325.

Lay the biscuits out 4x2 on a piece of parchment paper and press and roll them out to form one piece of dough. (I didnt use water, but I think some water might have helped the dough stick together better). With a pastry brush or a big spoon, spread the melted butter over the dough.

In a small bowl, mix your white and brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Then spread this mixture evenly over the buttered dough.

Roll the dough into a log and shape the log into a circle, careful to make sure the ends are pinched together well on a sheet pan that has been lined with a silpat or a piece of parchment paper.

Bake in the oven till the biscuits are puffed up and done (about 30 minutes or so).

Once cooled a little bit, mix your confectioners sugar with just enough milk to make an icing consistency. And spread over the top of the cake. Then add your decorative sugars.

Cranberry Scones

Call me many things... obsessive, selfish, crazy, alcoholic, self-obsessed even. Whatev. I'll admit it.. I'm a little bit of all those things. Am I working on correcting any of that about myself? Ehhh.. not really. It's all at healthy levels, I swear.  But the one thing for me, that I hope that I am NEVER described as... is uppity or snobby. That is the one thing in people that really drives me crazy. I mean, who am I to judge other people and think I'm better than them? Exactly.

As such, I try to avoid all possibly snobby-inducing situations. What are snobby-inducing situations you ask? Well.. sipping tea whilst my pinky is thrust out. Wearing hats to weddings. Having a dinner party with 14 different forks set out at each place setting. You know.. those everyday occurances for snobs. I'm never above heating the water for my tea in the microwave or getting drunk at weddings by doing shots at the bar next door everytime a slow song comes on (with the toast always... "here's to never getting married!") or breaking out the stryofoam bowls and plastic spoons for my chili at a get together... That's how I roll, baby. Class-less all the way.

So, it's only natural that I generally stay away from the scone. For me, scones fall into the pretensive food category amongst the likes of caviar, escargot, and petit fours. They were foreign to me. Until Starbucks bursted onto the scene, I'd never heard of a scone, I don't think. But as soon as I did... I immediately imagined them being eaten at high tea with some crumpets or some shit. Soooo not up my alley. I'll take biscuits and sausage gravy, please.

Back in 2008, I took a trip to Oregon with my mom. We ended up staying one night in Newport, Oregon (only because I wanted to check out the Rogue Brewery while I was there... YUM!) at this really nice hotel right on the beach, the Elizabeth Street Inn. We were on the elevator at the hotel, just after we had checked in and some other ladies were telling us about how in the afternoon they have warm chocolate chip cookies in the lobby and then one lady remarked rather emphatically about the scones at the free breakfast in the morning. "Oh the scones!" she said. "The scones are delicious!"

Scones, huh? A delicious scone? I couldn't fathom why she was so enthusasiatic about something as plain and boring as a scone.

So, of course, the next morning... I had to try a scone. And I'll be DAMNED if she wasn't right. I had a lemon poppyseed one and it was crumbly and sweet and unlike anything I'd ever had before. I've been searching for the right recipe that would give me the same texture as that scone. Some scone recipes are basically just biscuits. But, this scone... this was more cookie like. Harder, crumblier, and sweet.

Serendiptiously last week, I received an email from C&H Sugar. The email said that they wanted me to make something from their website's recipes and blog about it and in exchange they'd send me a $20 giftcard to help me with the expenses. How cool is that?

I eagerly hopped onto their recipe website and perused their recipes, trying to decide what to make. This proved to be a difficult task. I mean... it's a sugar manufacturer's website... all the recipes are going to sound amazing (doh!). But as soon as I saw this recipe for Cranberry Scones, I knew I had to try it. They turned out delicious! Crunchy and crumbly on the outside with a tender crumb on the inside. Delicious as is, with a sprinkling of powdered sugar on top or with a smear of jam. Not pretentious at all. In fact... dare I say... homey, even?

Thanks C&H!

Cranberry Scones

recipe by C&H Sugar

This recipe is easy. Usually biscuit recipes intimidate me, but the ingredients came together easily and turned out wonderfully!

Remember, these aren't supposed to be super sweet. They have just the right amount of sweetness that lingers on the tongue and makes you want to go back for one more little bit. Which turns into another bite, etc.

I think these would be just as good with raisins and maybe a little cinnamon thrown in. I'm including the butter-vanilla glaze recipe which sounds delicious, but I opted out of.

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup C&H Pure Cane Granulated Sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup butter, sweet chilled

1 egg

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup cranberries, dried

1 tsp orange rind, finely grated (optional)

Butter vanilla glaze (optional, recipe below)

Preheat oven to 400F. In a large mixing bowl sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt. Using a pastry blender or the paddle on an electric mixer, cut in butter until mixture is the size of course crumbs. Add dried cranberries (and orange rind, if using) and toss to coat. Make a well in the center and set aside.

In a small bowl blend egg and buttermilk; add all at once to flour mixture. Mix until moistened. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and knead 10-12 times. Place dough onto a lined cookie sheet. Flatten dough into an 8" circle. Frequently dipping knife into flour, cut dough into 8 wedges. Separate wedges by 1". Bake 20-25 minutes. Place baked scones on a cooling rack. Let cool 5 minutes. Brush scones with glaze if desired.

Butter-Vanilla Glaze

1 1/2 cup C&H Pure Cane Powdered Sugar, sifted

2 tbsp butter, melted

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

Mix all glaze ingredients in small bowl.

Makes 8 scones.

Best Yellow Cake

There are few words in the English language that intimidate me, but in the baking world there are two: Yellow Cake. As soon as I hear the words yellow cake, I scoff. Not because I don't like yellow cake. In fact, I love yellow cake! But because yellow cake is my kryptonite.

I mean yellow cake, it seems simple, right? Yeah, I thought so, too. And then last summer, my brother Mike, chose a yellow cake with chocolate frosting as his Birthday cake. My first initial thought was to previous yellow/vanilla cakes I'd made in the past up to that point, Italian Cream Cake and Caramel Cake. Both delicious, but both made even more delicious by their fancypants icings. The "cake" wasn't the star in either of those recipes. I soldiered on and ended up presenting him with an awful cake for his birthday.

Since that day, I've stayed as far away as possible from the yellow cake.

Until a few weeks ago.

Here's the backstory. So, back in September I went to brunch with a couple friends. I may have partaken in a screwdriver (I mean, I am supposed to drink orange juice with my high blood pressure medicine) and the bartender might have mixed us up a couple of complimentary shots (and doh! It's rude to say no to complimentary shots. Everyone knows that!). By the time I left the restaurant, I was approaching the perfect buzz. But, it was only 2pm! Which meant one of two things: I could either walk home and go to bed and wake up with a wicked hangover at 7pm... OR I could call every friend I have in town and see if they wanted to meet up at a bar for a beer or two.

I think you know which option I chose.

So, I convinced (pretty easily, I gotta say) a friend to imbibe with me and we hit up a local brewery in town. I'm sucking down the Dos Perros and we're having a good time and one of his friends shows up to the brewery as well.

The night continues... we switch venues and apparently at some point in the night, the friend of my friend starts talking about his birthday... to which I (allegedly) (in my happy, drunken state) slur ever so eloquently... "oooo a birthday! I'll plan your birthday! hiccup!" (to which I'm told a week later when my friend reminds me that I emphatically insisted on planning his birthday that night). Which, brings up a good point... who in their right mind believes a drunk chick??? I mean... what universe are we in?

Anyway, as a staunch believer in the Hemingway code of  "always do sober what you said you'd do drunk" (don't even ask about the other things I've had to do), I offer up to make this dude a cake as a surprise. (Incidentally, the guy is super nice, so I didn't mind).

What cake do you make when you have no idea what the recipient likes and you can't ask him cause it's a surprise? You make a yellow cake with chocolate icing, my friend.

So, my arch nemesis and I come face to face again in the kitchen. This time, I came equipped with what appeared to be a surefire bet... a recipe from Deb of Smitten Kitchen. A recipe that she in fact named as the BEST Yellow cake.

I entered into the recipe with extreme trepidation. I almost went out and bought a yellow cake mix as a back up. But, I instead decided to just go with it. And thank God I did, because this cake is THE BEST YELLOW CAKE ever! It's moist and flavorful! It's super easy to make! I was thrilled! Hell, it was so good, I felt like it was my birthday instead! And so, I say thank you... Thank You Hemingway, for making me make good on my drunken promises (when I probably normally wouldnt have) and thank you Deb, for sharing this great recipe! You've saved my ass and I'll no longer cringe when someone utters "yellow cake" to me again.

Best Birthday Cake

by: Deb of Smitten Kitchen

This cake comes together easily and is really moist and tasty. I went ahead and made the cake exactly as Deb has it on the website, the chocolate sour cream frosting and all, and I have to say, I was not a fan of the frosting at all. Next time, I'll stick with my regular chocolate buttercream favorite: Hershey's. (If you DO use the Hershey's frosting DOUBLE the recipe to frost this 2 layer cake).

Yield: 2 layer 9 inch cake or a single 9x13 inch single layer cake.

4 cups plus 2 tbsp cake flour (not self rising)

2 tsps baking powder

1 1/2 tsps baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 tsps vanilla

4 large eggs, at room temperature

2 cups buttermilk, well shaken

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour two 9 inch cake pans.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs one at at time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is incorporated.

Spread batter evenly in cake pan, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge of pan. Invert onto rack let cool completely (about an hour).

Hershey's Chocolate Buttercream

Like I said, double this recipe.

6 tbsps of butter, softened
2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup Hershey's Cocoa (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat butter in medium bowl. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk; beat to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in vanilla.

About 2 cups frosting.

Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Filling and Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Sure, being witty and intelligent are important attributes. It's also nice if you're kind-hearted and dependable. All good things. But you know what the number one most valuable personality trait or characteristic is? Go ahead... think about it... I'll entertain you with a story while you formulate your guess.

Earlier this week... my office had a new copier installed. This was one of the happiest days of my professional life. Seriously, if you've never had a shitty copier, then you have no idea how lucky you are. The next time you walk by the copier... give it a little love tap and a thank you. Because, the copier may seem to be the meek and unforgettable piece of office equipment... but, don't you test it, because it can and will go postal on your office at any given moment and render your entire office into a frustrating, unproductive hell-hole in which you think you will never see the light of day again.

So, yeah, I was pretty psyched about the new copier installation.

The IT dude that did the install was kinda cute. Not like Eric Bana/Mike Fisher smoking hot-cute. But, more like a Jim Halpert cute. Which... I'll take. So, anyway... he's in the office for awhile and I'm helping him figure out something about our network and I'm not even really paying attention to him. All I can think about is how freaking excited I am at the prospect of having a copier that might not give me nightmares and wake me up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. And then... at some point, I look at him and I think... "huh. This guy looks familiar." So, I stare for awhile.. trying to place him...

Is he a regular at my local bar? Ehhh... doesn't seem like it would be his scene.
Is he a friend of a friend of a friend? Possibly.

And as I'm staring at him and trying to place his face, I start thinking... "huh. this guy is pretty cute." And then he looked up at me and caught me staring at him with a studied look and I blurted out the next possibility...

"You look familiar... did you do our last copier install?"

And as soon as he smiled and said yes... I realized what a dumbass I am.

You see... our last copier install was like 2 years ago. Oh wait, actually, he corrected me... it was 2.5 years ago. So, the fact that I remembered him from 2 years ago (my bad, make that 2.5 years ago) is like male-speak for... "crazy-stalker-desperate bitch" type. (Which... let's be honest... suits me to a tee).

So, I tried to downplay it... Tried to engage him in copier talk and I really, ultimately just crashed and burned.

Which brings me to the initial question I posed... the most valuable characteristic or personality trait... is being able to flirt effectively.

The past couple of years, it's been brought to my attention that my flirting skills are quite shitty. Like... if someone else gets the ball rolling first, I can usually hop on for the ride and get a little flirty back. But, when I'm trying to initiate the flirting? HA! Forget about it. It turns into an awkward mess of mispronounced words, mumbling, and broken eye contact. It's not pretty, folks. Not pretty at all. And I'm sad to say that it's actually something I've been working on and yet... I'm still operating at the speed of a 45 year old virgin. I mean, at this point, I'm thinking she could probably out-flirt me. It's THAT BAD.

So, what's a girl to do? I've tried practicing. I've tried advice. I just can't get the hang of it and the more I think about it, the worse the flirting becomes.

If only I could let my oven do the flirting for me. You see, if, in the cute copier dude story above, I had had a piece of this cake lying around and instead of mumbling on about stack bypass trays and paper jams I just said, here... have a bite. I'm sure I could have sealed the deal. Because, really... how could you resist a girl holding a piece of cake? Until I can figure out a way to carry around various baked goodies without A. jacking up the lining of my purse and B. coming off as some crazy baker chick who carries around baked goodies that, rumor has it, is laced with a sedative so that she can drag you off to her condo and when you wake up you've got a paint brush in your hand and she's thanking you for "volunteering" to help her paint her kitchen. I think I'm going to have to continue to work on the flirting. Because, all I need is to become *that* girl as well. Dammit!

The good news? Is this cake will hopefully make you forget how god-awful you are at flirting and make you realize that a good slice of cake can make you feel better about almost anything. I made this cake a couple of months ago (eek! I know! I've been in a blogging slump lately, but I'm coming back, I promise) for my friend Ash's birthday. He had a party at his house and I of course baked a cake and brought it along.

The week prior to the party, I was hanging out with Ash and I sneakily asked him (while he was drunk) what kind of cake he likes... he said chocolate. Actually, he went off on some diatribe about weird cake flavors and frostings, but all I remembered the next day (well, of course, I was drunk, too) was chocolate.

The cake was a hit. People are always impressed when they find out that you made a layer cake, and then even more impressed when they find out that it's entirely homemade. And, while, I agree... boxed mixes have their place in the culinary world, when it's a friend or family member, someone you care about... take the extra effort and bake them a cake from scratch. It might not turn out as moist as a boxed mix, but it's definitely full of more love and the recipient will be touched that you went out of your way for them. Sure, it's messy and takes time, but it's worth it, because your friend/family member is worth it.

Chocolate Velvet Cake with Vanilla Filling and Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Adapted from recipes from: Southern Living and Hershey's

This cake is easy, moist, and delicious. Actually, it's almost too moist. I made a 2 layer cake and then attempted to slice the cakes in half to make a 4 layer cake. My layers came out in pieces, so I had try and smush everything back together. Not pretty. And it made for an equally ugly slice. So,I suggest you just leave it at 2 layers. The cake itself is light but flavorful. I love that it uses only brown sugar, which I think lends itself to a moister, richer flavored cake.

I wanted to lighten up the chocolate in the cake so I decided to whip up a basic vanilla filling to go between the layers instead of chocolate frosting. I think it worked. But feel free to fill the cake with whatever frosting you desire.

The outside of the cake I frosted with my all-time favorite chocolate icing. Hershey's One Bowl Chocolate Buttercream. Easy and delicious. It's like a bowl of chocolate bliss. I topped the cake off with a few chopped pecans and called it day.

Chocolate Velvet Cake

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 16 oz package of light brown sugar

3 eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 8 oz container of sour cream

1 cup hot water

2 tsps vanilla extract

<>Grease and flour 3 8 inch cake pans (I used 2 9 inch pans) and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt semisweet chocolate morsels in a microwave safe bowl at high for 30 second intervals until melted. Stir until smooth.

Beat butter and brown sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer, beating about 5 minutes or until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add melted chocolate, beating just until blended.

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to chocolate mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Gradually add 1 cup hot water in a slow, steady stream, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in vanilla. (Makes about 8 1/2 cups of batter).

Spoon cake batter evenly amongst greased pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes; remove from pans and let cool completely on wire rack.

Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup (maybe more) of milk (I used heavy cream)

2 to 2 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar

Splash of vanilla

pinch of salt

Mix butter with a hand mixer until smooth, slowly add in milk and sugar while mixing. Add more confectioners sugar or more milk to get the desired consistency. Finish with vanilla and salt.

Yield: Enough to fill 3 layers of a 9 inch cake.

Hershey's One Bowl Chocolate Buttercream

Ingredients

This is a half recipe. Since I used a different frosting for the filling, I only needed enough frosting for the outside of the cake. This recipe yields one cup. If using this recipe for your filling, I'd double recipe, at the least.

3 tablespoons of butter, softened

1 1/3 cup of confectioners sugar

1/4 cup Hershey's cocoa

1/4 cup of milk (I used cream), maybe more

1 tsp of vanilla

Beat butter in a medium bowl. Add confectioners sugar and cocoa alternately with the milk, beat to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in vanilla.

Root Beer Float Cake

The football game might just be the perfect American activity.

Thankfully, I was introduced to tailgating at a young age. My family had season tickets to Vanderbilt Football games when I was a kid. We would pack up our van with lots of food, head down to Nashville on Saturday afternoons and spend the day in the park across the street from the Stadium (oh yes, back in the 80's you could park in Centennial Park on gameday. Ahhh... the good ole days). I only have a vague recollection of those years, but what I do remember, is enjoying my family and enjoying the outdoors. I didn't know anything about football and could care less at the time, but there is something about that time of my childhood that I always wistfully reminisce about in the fall.

As I grew up... and went off to college (go cocks!), tailgating and football became more and more socially oriented. It was the one time on the weekends that you actually got up early, iced down a case of shitty beer, bought a ton of chips, cookies, etc and hung out with your surrogate family. Sometimes you'd toss around a football. You'd meet new people on the way to the porta-potty. And it grew into a love of the sport as well. Not just a love of the tailgate.

No where else in the world, have I ever felt the sense of community as I do in football tailgates. There's an electricity in the air. People are gathered together for common goals: To enjoy the company others, to eat delicious food and drink alcoholic beverages, and to come together in the support of a team that bonds you together (even with the opposing team. Oops. Except at LSU. Those bastards are not interested in being nice to the opposition until AFTER the game and they've kicked your ass).

So you can imagine my excitement when I was invited to a friends Vandy Tailgate a few weeks ago. It was the kickoff tailgate for the season. And if my mom taught me anything about tailgating... it's that you never show up empty-handed. (Plus bringing a baked good,greatly increases your chances at getting a shot at breaking into the cornhole inner sanctum and getting to play a game).

And if bringing a baked good isn't enough, go ahead and decorate it in your team's colors. Black and gold, baby. All the way. And dont worry about how it tastes. Even if it's not very good... and... even if, after schlepping it in a cake carrier for 2 miles it shows up at the tailgate a smeared mess, everyone will be too impressed and too drunk to notice. Bonus!

Here's to the start of a new football season! Hope to see you out there.
Root Beer Float Cake
From the guys who wrote Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
However, I stole the recipe from Joy the Baker

Okay, so, here's the deal. You can't taste the root beer. Like, at all. Now, that could be because I used Mug Root Beer from a 2 liter bottle. But, if you're expecting a huge BANG from the root beer, look elsewhere.

Also, I thought the consistency of the cake was a little... off. It seemed kind of grainy, to me. Now, it's entirely possible that this is a baker's issue and not a recipe issue (as I'm not known for my awesome cake baking skills, sadly).

Overall, it's a good cake. But I wouldn't make it again. Maybe I overbaked mine. Maybe I have funky cake mojo. Either way, you should give the recipe a try for yourself... yours might just be a touchdown! (couldn't resist, sorry).

2 cups root beer (don’t use diet)
1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs

Preheat even to 325 degrees F. Spray the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray, or butter generously and dust with flour, knocking out the excess.

In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder and butter over medium heat until butter is melted. Add sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

In a small bowl whisk the eggs until just beaten. Then whisk into the cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture. The batter will be slightly lumpy. You can give it a quick whisk if you like, but don’t over beat the batter or it could cause the cake to be tough. Don’t worry, the batter is very loose.

Pour the batter into prepared pan and cook for 35-45 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking until a sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely then loosen edges with a butter knife and turn out onto a cake plate.

Chocolate Root Beer Frosting

2 ounces 60% cocoa, melted
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt (you may want to use less… maybe just 1/2 teaspoon)
1/4 cup root beer
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using an electric hand mixer, beat softened butter and cocoa powder. Once combined add the melted chocolate, salt, powdered sugar and root beer. Beat together until smooth. Spread on top of cooled cake. Slice and serve with vanilla ice cream.

TWD: Applesauce Spice Bars

Nothing says Fall like apples and cinnamon. Unfortunately, though, it's kind of disheartening to bite into one of these bars and think about football and sweaters and then step outside to the reality of Nashville's hottest month of the year, August, and all you can think about is deodorant and air conditioning.

Don't get me wrong, I love the summer months. I love going out on the lake, wearing cute tank tops and shorts. Who doesn't? But, the Fall? The Fall is WHERE IT IS AT. October is by far the most beautiful month here in Nashville (May is a close second). The leaves are changing, the air is crisp and dry. The sky is the most amazing shade of blue you've ever seen. I get to sleep in a little for my long runs, because it's not a bazillion degrees outside. And then there's football all day on Saturday and Sunday to keep me occupied. Sometimes that means you're camped out on the couch all weekend, sometimes you're camped out on a friend's couch or at the local bar all day watching games, and if you're really lucky... sometimes you're tailgating and then going to the game. It's bliss.

And you know what? These bars would be perfect for that tailgate. Spicy and sweet. They'd be perfect to nibble on while heckling the opposing team's fans who parked their big ass RV in such a way that disrupts your cornhole game.

Let the countdown to fall begin...

Applesauce Spice Bars
recipe by Dorie Greenspan.

Find the recipe at Something Sweet by Karen, our host for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie.

I would definitely double the spice in this recipe, I found them to be too subtle for my taste. Also, make sure you let the cake cool completely before you ice it and also make sure you cook the icing till its caramel-y in thickness. The next time I make the recipe, I'll also double the amount of icing. You can never have too much icing.

Fruit Cocktail Cake

Close your eyes. (Ummm... I just realized this whole exercise doesn't work if you close your eyes, so don't literally close your eyes)

Imagine a table. With a plate on it. And on that plate is a square of cake. The cake is thick with a moist crumb. There are specks of yellow, red, and white in it. Hinting at the peach, cherries, and pear that is inside the cake. Now imagine that cake with a glistening frosting that is loaded with sweet coconut.

Looks delicious in your head, right? (Well, unless I killed it for you with the coconut. You crazy coconut haters, you).

Well, now that you've got that mental image in your head... now I suppose I'll show you a picture of what my version of the cake looked like. But, brace yourself folks. It ain't purty.

See? Gross, blahness on a plate. But, hear me out. It's delicious and SUPER easy. It's a super moist cake... made with fruit cocktail from a can (and no fat added to the cake. Bonus!) And the icing on top is made of butter, evaporated milk and coconut. YUM.

Sometimes, you gotta look past an ugly exterior, to get to the goodness inside. A lesson we all need reminded of sometimes.

Fruit Cocktail Cake
from the kitchen of: My Aunt Peggy

This cake is moist and gooey. It's not a showstopper visually, but it's delicious. I even over-cooked the cake and it turned out a little rubbery, but it still tasted good! I made mine the day ahead to let the juices soak into the cake.

Ingredients
2 cups flour (I think they mean self-rising flour, which I didn't have. AP will work)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 regular size can (14 ozs or so?) Fruit Cocktail

Icing:
1 stick butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup evaporated milk
coconut (depends on how much coconut you want. Probably a medium sized bag worth)

Preheat oven for 350. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients for the cake. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out fairly clean. Start checking around 25-30 minutes. Take the cake out, but don't let it cool for too long before you put the icing on. You want the cake to still be warm when you put the icing on.

To make the icing: Cook the butter, sugar, and milk in a saucepan until they come to a boil, then turn down heat and add coconut.

Poke holes with a fork into the cooked cake and then spread the icing onto the cake while still warm.

Red Velvet Cake (err... Green Velvet Cupcakes)

So, I have a bit of a secret...

I was 25 years old before I had my first piece of Red Velvet Cake.

(I'll give you a moment to let that soak in).

That's right. I wasn't raised with red velvet cake (or grits!).

There. I've said it. Hopefully the South will forgive me and still accept me (who am I kidding, of course it will... the South forgives... we may not forget, but by golly, but we sure as hell forgive).

Even with two grandmothers, a mother, and about 3-4 aunts who all had/have mad cooking and baking skills... there was never a red velvet cake in sight. I can't even remember if I ever heard of it as a kid. But now, it's all the rage. Bobby Flay is throwing peeps down in NYC and everyone and their brothers are running out to their local bakeries for a red velvet cupcake. Sheesh. You'd think it was like crack or something.

Never one to shy away from cake and cream cheese frosting, I decided to not only try red velvet cake for the first time, but to also make it myself. And who better to strip me of my red velvet cake virginity than...

Martha Stewart.

That's right. Who better to teach me how to make the supposedly quintessential southern dessert than a Yankee from New Jersey?

I used her recipe (after seeing her make it on her Living show) and made a gigantic red velvet cake for Christmas one year. It sat proudly on display on my grandmother's antique buffet amongst all the Christmas Dessert Regulars... Pecan Pie, Coconut Cake , Claire (Chocolate Eclair), and various other pies, cookies and pastries. I distinctly remember that besides my mom and dad (who, by blood are required to taste all things I make for family gatherings, all the while I hover over them awaiting their reaction with bated breath), only my uncle Jim had a piece. And actually he had two and cut off a hunk to save for later. So, I've come to the realization that my uncle Jim is the only true southerner in my family. (He probably even eats grits when none of us are looking). The rest of us are just hillbillies.

That was the first and last time I'd had red velvet cake. I mean, sure it was delicious. Utterly delicious (we'll get to that later), but it was kind of like... okay, been there done that, let's move on.

Enter: St. Patrick's Day Party.

Swap out the red food coloring for green and BAM. Instant St. Patricks Day Party. These are now going to be a regular at the Annual St. Patrick's Day Party. (I've always felt like Southerners and the Irish are kindred spirits, anyway... but that's a post for a whole other blog).

Red Velvet Cake

Recipe from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (2002).

For the longest time, I just assumed red velvet cake was a yellow cake with red food coloring in it. But, it's so much more than that. It's incredibly light and moist. Melt-in-your-mouth moist, in fact. And it's got a little whang from the buttermilk and the vinegar that is mimicked in the traditional cream cheese frosting.

I've recently found out that some people say that traditional red velvet cake actually has a tablespoon or so of cocoa powder in it. This recipe does not. Maybe it's cause Martha is a Yankee or maybe it's cause she's a genius. You'll never know unless you try it.

Prep Time: 30 Minutes

Inactive Prep Time: 1 minute

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 1 (9-inch) Layer Cake

Ingredients:

cooking spray, for pans

2 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup whole buttermilk

2 1/2 tbsps red food coloring (yes, that says tablespoons)

Cream cheese frosting, recipe follows

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 3 (9 by 2 inch) round cake pans with cooking spray, and line with waxed paper. Set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour and baking soda. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla. With an electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix on low speed just until the flour has been incorporated. Slowly add buttermilk. Add food coloring and beat to combine.

Divide batter between pans; each pan will be about half full. Tap pans on counter to remove bubbles. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Remove the pans to a rack to cool for 5 minutes. Invert pans onto wire racks sprayed with vegetable oil to cool cake completely, or quick chill in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.

To assemble, place 1 layer, top-side down, on a cake stand. Using an offset spatula, spread with 1/4 inch of frosting. Repeat with remaining layers. To frost the top and sides of the cake, work from the center toward and over the edge, making sure to evenly coat. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 pound confectioners sugar, sifted
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Place cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl. With a handheld electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar, pecans and vanilla. Beat, on low speed to combine. If too soft, chill until slightly stiff, about 10 minutes, before using.

Yield: 6 cups.

TWD: Devil's Food White Out Cake

I love to make cakes. There is something about the different parts and the assembly that I just really enjoy. Particularly since you can usually do the different parts of the recipe on different days. The thing about cakes though... it's hard for me to justify making them unless there's a special occasion. I live alone... work in a small office... so, it's kind of hard to find ways to get rid of large, beautiful cakes.

So, I was thrilled when I recently acquired some mini springform pans! I don't know their exact size (err... don't remember), but I think they are 4.5 inch round and they are perfect for halving cake recipes! This was my first time using them and what a great cake to christen them with!

This week's Tuesday's with Dorie selection was chosen by Stephanie of Confessions of a City Eater and she chose the cover photo recipe: Devil's Food White Out Cake.

It's a rich, chocolate cake with layers of a homemade marshmallow-y frosting. I was excited about the frosting, because since it's an meringue type of frosting... it has WAY less the calories than a buttercream would have. So, I allowed myself to taste more than just a forkful. More like... 3-4 forkfuls. And then after I photographed it... I had to put it in the trash. So sad... but, I just can't trust myself to come home from work to a cake in the fridge (even if it is a mini cake!).

I was also excited that the decorating technique was easy for someone who sucks at decorating. It's just extra cake crumbled and pressed into the frosting! It looks cool and allows for lots of lee-way with those of us who struggle in the decorating department.

I immediately thought of a Ho-Ho when I tasted this cake. That's exactly what it tastes like to me, except... it's better, because there is WAY more marshmallow-y cream (and we all know that's the best part of a Ho Ho) in this cake than there is your standard Ho-Ho.

A fun cake, tasty cake.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cupcakes and Chocolate Buttercream

One of my baking goals for the year is to be learn the patience and skills of cake decorating. I'm not sure what my issue is, but I just cannot, for the life of me decorate a cake or cupcake. They always look like I've mauled the cupcake instead of decorated it.

I originally made these cupcakes for the Vanderbilt tailgate of the Music City Bowl. I made all mini-ones (having just gotten a mini cupcake baking pan for Christmas) and had delusions of grandeur of decorating them with pretty little V's and U's, etc. In my head, they looked really cute and perfect... but in reality, they turned out pretty ugly. I topped the cupcakes with my favorite dark chocolate buttercream (to fit with the 'dores black color scheme) and then used a store bought tube of yellow icing to decorate with. EVEN store bought icing with a built in tip couldn't save me. Ugh. I suck.

Luckily, I had to schlep these cupcakes all over downtown Nashville and to two tailgates, etc... and they were pretty jacked up by the time they finally arrived at their finally resting place. So, I was able to blame the fact that I was carrying the cupcakes, a full bottle of baileys, two tailgating chairs, and a cup of coffee... "They were really pretty, until they got all jumbled up" Riiiiigggghhhtttt. No one was believing me, but luckily, enough beer had flowed that no one cared what they looked like.

Sadly for you (because it would be hilarious) I don't have any pictures of the decorated cupcakes. But... I do have pictures of some of the full sized cupcakes I made from the leftover batter, so that I could post the recipe.

This was the first time I'd made this cake recipe and it's a keeper. It's moist and light, and full of chocolate flavor. I always love cakes made with oil instead of butter. They turn out way better for me.

Also... a side note, Elyse from Elyse's Confectionary Creations gave my blog an award this week. And since I'm too lazy and rebellious to follow the actual rules for the award, I'm just giving her a shout out, cause her blog has some very tasty treats on there that you should check out! Thanks Elyse!

Sour Cream-Chocolate Cake

I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen, and that recipe has peanut butter frosting and a chocolate peanut butter glaze (how amazing does that sound?). But I skipped all that and just used the cake recipe with the buttercream recipe that follows. This cake is a breeze to make, but be sure to heed Deb's advice before frosting and stick the cake or cupcakes in the freezer before you frost them. The recipe is so moist and tender that the crumb just falls completely apart when you try to frost.

Deb cites this recipe from being from Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes (a book I definitely need to buy).

Makes an 8-inch triple layer cake that serves 12-16.

2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey Special Dark, as always)
2 tsps baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup neutral vegetable oil, such as canola, soybean, or vegetable blend
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups water
2 tbsp distilled white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of three 8-inch round cakepans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine well. Add the oil and sour cream and whisk to blend. Gradually beat in the water. Blend in the vinegar and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs and beat until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and be sure batter is well mixed. Divide among three prepared cake pans.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Let cool in the pans for about 20 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, carefully peeling off the paper liners, and let cool completely. (Deb Note: These cakes are very, very soft. I found them a lot easier to work with after firming them up in the freezer for 30 minutes. They'll defrost quickly once assembled. You'll be glad you did this, trust me). YES. TRUST HER.

Hershey's One Bowl Buttercream Frosting

About 2 cups of frosting. (If you're making a 3 tiered cake... my guess is you'll want to double or triple this frosting recipe. If you wind up with too much, you can always freeze it. That's what I always do with leftovers and it works really well!).

6 tbsp of butter, softened
2 2/3 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa (again, I used special dark)
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat Butter in medium bowl. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk; beat to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in vanilla.

Chocolate Guinness Cake with Baileys Frosting

Friday I was able to surprise my friend April with a birthday cake! I went down to Memphis to spend friday night with her and her husband to celebrate her birthday!

Now, April and I... we are like two peas in a pod. All the things I love... she loves.

Running? Yes
Beer? Yes
Wine? Yes
Bowling? Yes
Tailgating? Yes
Chocolate? Yes
Beer? Yes, again
Being silly? Yes
Taking silly photos? Yes
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia? Yes
Pizza? Yes
Chocolate? YES!

So, even though I wasn't able to ask her what her preference for her Birthday Dessert was... I kind of had a good idea of what I wanted to make her. And it included two of the things in that list.

Chocolate and Beer, of course! Awhile back, I had made mini cake of this recipe and I remembered that April had left a comment on that post about how good the cake looked. So, I decided to make the full cake version.

Thanks for being such a great friend, April. Happy Birthday and I hope that you enjoyed your cake!!

Last Year for April's Birthday? German Chocolate Pie

Chocolate Guinness Cake with Bailey's Frosting

Original recipe here. Recipe with my changes listed below.

This cake is very moist and easy. The only change I would make next time... is to eliminate the salt. The beer has enough salt on it's own. I would also make 1.5x the frosting. I felt like there was enough when I was icing the cake, but when I was actually eating it, I would have liked a little more.

Ingredients

Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt (eliminate if using Guinness)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup Guinness Beer

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Bailey's Chocolate Frosting:
6 ounces good semisweet chocolate (recommended: Callebaut)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon Baileys Irish Creme

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip!

Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

TWD: Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes

Now, here's a Tuesdays with Dorie recipe that I can get behind. Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Glaze chosen by Clara of I heart food 4 thought. Clara suggested that we might all decorate these cupcakes for halloween! Which is a GREAT idea. But... I had an even better idea...
With their rich, dark color, they were perfect for a Gamecock Tailgate! Check. It. Out. Our sweet ass tailgate set-up for the South Carolina vs. Ole Miss game (wayyy back on Oct. 4th). My intention was to decorate these cupcakes with South Carolina themed decorations... but, I didn't have the time. (It's probably for the best though... my decorating skills SUCK).

Instead of the glaze that Dorie had in the book, I used some leftover Dark Chocolate Frosting that I had in the freezer to decorate with.

These cupcakes are great! I find it very hard to mess up Chocolate cake recipes (don't even talk to me about any kind of vanilla or butter cake recipe... they ALWAYS jack up for me). They are flavorful and tender... moist and delicious!

Check out Clara's blog for the recipe!

Here is the recipe that I used for the frosting:

Especially Dark Chocolate Frosting
(from the back of the Special Dark Hershey's cocoa box)

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup Special Dark Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk (might need more)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to a spreading consistency. Add small amount of additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups of frosting.