MINI STRAWBERRY LAYER CAKE!

i always buy berries at the supermarket and then forget to eat them. this was the case with a carton of strawberries last week. every night before bed i would say to benny, “tomorrow morning, i am going to cut some strawberries and eat them with yogurt!” and every morning, we would eat eggs. why? i don’t know, maybe so i’d be left with enough strawberries to make us our very own cake. that’s what i did, after all. this cake was very moist and delicious. i paired it with a strawberry cream cheese frosting, although, i think that a whipped cream typed frosting may have been a better pair. try it out, let me know what you think!

MINI STRAWBERRY LAYER CAKE

• 6 strawberries, mulled
• 1/2 cup + 1 tbs flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup + 1tbs sugar
• 1/8 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3 tbs shortening

puree strawberries – put in small sauce pan with 1/8 cup water and simmer

preheat oven to 350

grease and flour two 4in pans

in a medium mixing bowl, cream together shortening and sugar

in another bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt

add flour mixture to shortening mixture and mix until it resembles sand

add eggs and vanilla and beat until well mixed

add milk and 1/4 cup of strawberry puree, beat until smooth

pour into pans

bake 20-25 minutes

allow to cool 10 mins in pan, invert onto wire rack and cool for about 30 mins.

STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

• 3 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/3 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbs strawberry puree (from cake)

combine all ingredients in a small bowl, beat until fluffy – about 5 mins.

cut the top off of one of the cakes to make flat, ice the top and build sides high to form a bowl. pour strawberry puree over frosting.

place other cake on top, frost the top and sides.

decorate with fresh strawberries.

ENJOY!

 

ITALIAN SPRINKLE COOKIES!

last tuesday, my friend allie and i got together to make some valentines day cookies. when she arrived she pulled out tons of sprinkles from her purse. the whole time she was here i was admiring some rainbow colored sugar sprinkles and being the sweetheart that she is, allie gave them to me when she left!

i was so happy to have them and wanted to use them immediately, so i began brainstorming some cookie ideas when i remembered about a cookie i loved when i was young! every year for christmas, my aunt anita would make these glazed cookies with little sprinkles on top and bring them over for christmas dinner. i always loved them. they seemed like a magical combo of cookie, cake and donut – HEAVEN!

yesterday, i went to the supermarket to grab some shortening and then got home and threw on my apron. here is what i came up with – they turned out great!

ITALIAN SPRINKLE COOKIES

• 2.5 cup flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbs and 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1.5 tsp almond extract
• 3/4 tsp lemon extract

GLAZE

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup warm milk
• 1/2 tsp almond
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

preheat oven to 350

beat eggs until frothy

in a large bowl, mix flour, sugar and baking powder

add shortenings, vanilla and almond extracts

add eggs

roll dough into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet

bake 13 minutes

in the meantime, combine all ingredients for glaze in a small bowl and mix on high speed

remove cookies from oven

dip 2-3 at a time in glaze and place on a wire rack with a slotted spoon

add sprinkles while still wet

allow time to cool and harden

ENJOY!

SMALL BATCH CHOCOLATE FROSTED CUPCAKES!

living walking distance from a supermarket seems as if it would be a fantastic thing but walking with bags of sugar and flour is awful. this being the case, last night i wanted to bake a little something for me and benny to enjoy while watching movies and found that i only had a little bit of flour, a little over 1/4 cup. feeling ambitious, i embarked upon making us a couple cupcakes and to my chagrin, they turned out great! next time, rather than making cupcakes, i will bake this as a 2 tier 4inch layer cake. MMMMMMMM!

SMALL BATCH VANILLA CAKE (yield 5 small cupcakes)

• 1/4 and 2 tbs flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 cup butter (softened)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp vanilla
• 1/8 cup milk

preheat oven to 400.

sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

add butter and mix until it looks combined.

add sugar and mix until it looks like sand.

add egg, vanilla and milk.

pour into lined cupcake tray.

bake 13-15 mins.

allow to fully cool before frosting.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/8 cup cocoa
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1tbs milk

mix butter, sugar and cocoa on medium speed.

add salt, vanilla and milk.

mix until fluffy.

 

CHEWY BUTTERSCOTCH OATMEAL COOKIES

i was cleaning out my pantry and discovered a HUGE container of oats. i’m not really one for oatmeal and same goes for oatmeal raisin cookies, so i had to do some brainstorming to come up with a way to use AND enjoy my oats. what i came up with is a chewy, sweet, melty, cookie that i find goes very well with coffee and also holds it’s chew for the long haul. that, my friends, is a winning cookie.

CHEWY BUTTERSCOTCH OATMEAL COOKIES

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 + 2tbs flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

preheat oven to 375.

combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a mixing bowl, set aside.

in a separate bowl, cream together butter, white sugar and brown sugar. add egg and vanilla. blend until smooth.

add dry ingredients to wet ingredients – beat until just mixed.

stir in oats and chips.

scoop out rounded tbs onto greased cookie sheet.

bake 9-12 minutes.

ENJOY