Quick Post - Musical Cake

I made a cake for my church's end of the season choir party. I even got fancy (if you consider twizzlers fancy.)

I quickly snapped a couple of shots before it was devoured.

I had made the cakes in the morning, transported them via subway, and then I made the frosting at the party. It was delicious.

OK. Told you it would be quick. Enjoy the weekend!

Chocolate Cake (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

1 cup margarine
1 3/4 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Buttercream Frosting
1 stick softened butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter. Beat in the sugar and the vanilla. Pour in the milk. Frosting should be at a good texture, but feel free to add more milk to change the consistency of the frosting.

Bake well and prosper!

All Runners Are Crazy

Do you like my inspirational poster? Anyone can run a marathon...if they are crazy enough.

Well, I was crazy enough and ran the NYC Marathon on Sunday for the 2nd year in a row. It was still the most fun I've ever had in Brooklyn.

I was also crazy enough to try to recreate the colors of the ING NYC Marathon for cookie decorating. The colors are orange and blue.

I got the orange color well.

It even made a pretty mess on my counter.

My blue however... Well, I tried to make it more of a navy blue and it just turned black. Ah well. Halloween year round is nice... 

Cookie Bonbons (from I Am Baker)

Ingredients for Cookies

1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup powder sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 lemon zested as finely as possible
1/8 tsp salt
2 tablespoons milk
1 2/3 cup whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 325

In bowl combine butter and powder sugar on medium speed. Add almond extract, lemon zest, and salt. Combine. Add mix and reduce speed to low. Add milk. Slowly add flour and mix until dough comes together. (about 2 min)

Roll out dough into two logs, about 12 inches long. Then cut 12 one inch pieces from each log. Roll each piece into a dome. Place domes on prepared baking sheet spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake until firm, about 25 minutes.

Cookies Glaze
3 cups powder sugar
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
(optional) 1 tsp vanilla

In a bowl stir powder sugar, water, corn syrup, oil and extract(s). Stir until smooth.
After you have cooled bonbon cookies on wire rack that has been placed over a parchment lined baking sheet, pour half of the glaze mixture over the bonbons. Let sit at least 15 minutes, then pour remaining glaze.

Cookie Frosting (from I Am Baker)

•1 cup Confectioners Sugar (powder sugar)

•1 Tablespoon Milk
•1 drop Lemon Juice (fresh or processed)
•1 Tablespoon Light Corn Syrup

Combine powder sugar, corn syrup, and lemon juice in a bowl.

******This next step is important!******
If you need a thicker frosting, say for outlining your cookies, add LESS milk. Just a drop at a time.
If you have already outlined your cookies and need a to fill in or ’spill’ your cookies, you can add more milk (as much as you would need) to make your frosting very runny.
If you are using food coloring, be sure to use LESS milk. Most food colorings are liquid and can make your frosting more runny. If you are using a gel food coloring, your milk quantity can remain the same.
If you want to add different flavors, you can add drops of vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon, etc. to flavor your frosting.
If you want more SHINE, use more corn syrup and less milk.
This frosting will stay good for days in the fridge.

Erika's Extra: These are not super sweet cookies. They seem to be perfect for tea time.

PS Here's what I got for running 26.2 miles:

It's so shiny.

Aw. My medal and me.

Wait a second...maybe it's a foil wrapped around chocolate!

Mmmmm....medal.

Congratulations to everyone who ran the marathon. These cookies are for you!

Bake well and prosper!

Blog Birthday!

A year ago today I decided to not just bake, but capture my baking via a blog. (Oh, and to capture my messes as I baked). (First post: Well, here we are) Looking back, not a lot has changed.

I still make messes.

Flour is my number 1 nemesis with powdered sugar a close second.

I still get the mess all over my hands.

Mmmm...cake batter. Which reminds me...

I still eat cake batter/dough etc.

I still run, sing, and work at a hedge fund. I still live in the same apartment as a year ago. I'm still a total dork.

Things that have changed within the year:

I broke down and bought a fancy schmancy camera. (Post: I'm a Sell Out)

I somewhat learned how to use said fancy schmancy camera. (Still learning, really.)

I got a boyfriend! (Is got the right word? Caught, perhaps?) UPDATE: Threw him back into the sea.

I'm growing my hair out of my pixie cut.

I've added ads to my blog, although no one has seemed to notice.

I've discovered foodgawker.com and tastespotting.com which has opened up the wonderful world of food blogs and getting to meet (via online) the creators of scrumptious dishes.

I've had more than 10,000 visitors to my site (which might not be a lot for some blogs out there, but means the world to me. Speaking of which - did you know that New Zealanders have a mighty strong sweet tooth?)

So, overall, I've had a lovely year and decided to celebrate by baking a cake from scratch, which I can't remember ever doing. I also made some lavender buttercream frosting. Yum yum yum! Both turned out lovely and were a great way to celebrate.

Chocolate Cake (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

1 cup margarine

1 3/4 cups white sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups milk

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Erika's Extra: I added in Ghiradelli chocolate chips, because it was my blog's birthday and because I could.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

 

Lavender Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

1 stick softened butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 Tablespoon + of dried lavender buds.

Red Food Coloring

Blue Food Coloring

Directions:

In a pan, bring heat milk and lavender until boiling point. Let cool/infuse for 10+ minutes. Strain lavender from milk. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter. Beat in the sugar. Pour in 2 Tablespoons only of lavender milk. Frosting should be at a good texture, but feel free to add more milk to change the consistency and flavor of the frosting. Mix in 4 drops of each color of food coloring.

Bake well and prosper!