Barry & Linzy: San Clemente, CA 6.12.10

Cake Pops & Cake Truffles

 

Who can deny chocolate? Well I know there are some crazy people out there who can...(not crazy in the offensive way of course)...but who would want to? Especially when it comes to chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, and a chocolate candy coating. Three chocolates that are undeniably divine together!

Sandwich Smores

Hope you all had a lovely 4th of July. I know we sure did, I got the weekend off and was able to do tons of baking, yay! You know that always makes me happy! My sister had a little BBQ on Saturday evening so of course you know I offered to bring something of the sweet variety, big surprise right! I wanted something that would go with the theme of hamburgers and hot dogs and what better than smores sandwich cookies?!? Just in case you are having a difficult time picturing, think moist & chewy graham cracker cookies sandwich'd around billowy marshmallow filling all drizzled with oh so yummy chocolate! What could be better for a summer BBQ!

Birthday Wishes!

I made some very special cookies for my very special father for his 60th birthday, yay! Just thinking about these yummy-yum-yum cookies has my taste-buds salivating! Now, my dad is a true sweet tooth, one of the originals I'm convinced! I wonder where I got mine from?!? My dad LOVES chocolate chip cookies! I remember making them with my mom when I was very young. She had this huge aluminum bowl that we would make them in, usually at least doubling the recipe. I always loved "sampling"  along the way. The best part of cookie dough to "sample" is by far the butter combined with the sugars, what could be better (this part is my mom's favorite as well). My other favorite memory about my dad growing up was his "hidden M&M's." Whenever my dad needed to run errands on a weekend he would ask one of us kids to come help. He then would always need to stop at 7-11 to pick up a weekend paper, while inside 7-11 he would get a pack of plain M&Ms and hide them inside the paper to give to us as a treat for coming with him. This was the best! I always wondered if they would be in there, and without fail, they always were! Aren't parents wonderful! I always think to myself, how the heck did they do it?!? Thanks dad & mom for giving me such a wonderful childhood with "sweet memories!"

Wedding Day...Happy Day!

Welcome back! Oh my, I have had the most wonderful 2 weeks known to my 29 years of existence! Although this is a baking blog, I am going to blog about our wonderful wedding, and yes, there was baking involved, so its not all about wedding bliss! As I have been saying for the last year, we got married on June 12 and it was truly without a doubt, the best day of my life! I wasn't sure what people were talking about when they said their wedding day was the best day of their life, it seemed like a lot of stress and work, but now, having experienced it, I can agree, simply magical! It was as if I woke up Saturday morning and all of the worries I had the day before were just gone and all I could think about was getting all dolled up to walk down the aisle to my hubby in shining armour, or shining suit I should say.

Summer Is Here!

Alright you all, this will likely be my last post before the wedding, only 10 days left and then I will return with a new last name, and lots more time to bake (in all hopes). I just wanted to quickly post some pics that I did for a 2 year old birthday gift. Beach Balls and Starfish, so cute right! Well here they are, not too much else to say about them. I will be busy baking our wedding cake next week, getting married on Saturday, and honeymooning thereafter so I will be back the end of the month! Happy baking, happier eating!

Crumb of the Month (May)...Good Ole Peanut Butter Cookies

What goes best with peanut butter??? Always a debate in my opinion. So clearly peanut butter and chocolate is ALWAYS a favorite, but what about peanut butter and coffee? Ok so maybe I should clarify, I am not talking about putting coffee flavoring in a peanut butter flavored treat, but rather warm rich coffee served in tandem with your freshly baked peanut butter cookies...I know what you are thinking...NOTHING BETTER! It truly is one of the most delectable flavor combos that exists in modern flavors, well at least in my opinion that is!

Unbakeable Truths

May 3rd, really? That was the last time that I wrote something on my sad little blog. I have not forgotten, I just have had not a second to write. I have baked, sadly not as much as I would like, but some. I wonder...can a DIY bride have DIY overload? Yes, I concur, after having removed the labels off of 200 water bottles and placed new, embossed white labels, I must say it can happen. There are just so many things I want to do for our wedding, but I am thinking, maybe being a party planner in my next life would be a better idea than trying to do all of these things for our own wedding. I only wish I could have more time to do them all, again I ask, "why can't I quit my job in order to do things I love to do?" Well soon enough we will be on our way into marital bliss and I will get back to baking and blogging about all things baking. But as for now, I figure I will just fill in what I have been into as of late.
We have exactly 3 weeks and 6 days until the knot will be tied, and I truly cannot wait. I told Barry this morning on our way into Michaels (for likely the 37th time) to gather up some final DIY supplies, that thinking about our wedding makes me feel just like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning. It carries that same majestic feeling at age 29 that waking up to a Christmas tree and stocking filled with gifts brought me at the age of 5. We have prepared so much for our special day and I truly cannot wait to put it all together (I pray it all comes together) and share it with those we love. So besides the ribbons and napkins, water bottles and favors, what have I been doing?!? Well naturally it contains a little flour and sugar and a ton ton ton of butter, and it is all wrapped up in a little name called a wedding cake. Last weekend I had my one and only full-size practice wedding cake, and now that I have cleared my counter tops free of crumbs, I can take a minute to blog about it.
It was an all day adventure as I baked and decorated all in a 24 hr period. I have made a lot of cakes in my day, but there is something behemoth about a wedding cake. To fill my pans, I needed 7 recipes worth of my cake recipe! Can I just tell you I could make the recipe in my sleep later that night. As for the frosting...15 cups of Swiss meringue buttercream, divine goodness that I nearly cleared our local Ralph's butter supply for. The end result...pure heaven...a perfect blend of buttery cake and sweet frosting that could easily put even the worst case of insomnia to sleep. Three tiers of delicious wedding cake that I think is quite possibly the heaviest cake I have ever encountered, easily 50 pounds, and it is only three tiers! Can you imagine how much the traditional 7-tier wedding cake must weigh? Frightening! Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures. It was a labor intensive day and the amount of butter that was on my hands at all times made it nearly impossible to grab my camera without totally ruining it. So, I guess you will just have to wait and see the final product on June 12th!
Well dearies, I have place cards calling my name, so I best be off. Stay tuned for some sort of goodness this month. I have some cute cookies coming up at the end of the month that will be picture perfect in all hopes. I wish you all a wonderful upcoming week and I hope that you have been having happy baking and happier eating in my absence! xo!

Crumb Of The Month (April)...Carrot Cream Cheese Sandwich Cookies

Ok ladies and gents, I have decided to do a little something new around the blog to highlight my favorite or loved one's favorite sweet treat of the month. This will be the first posting, and I must say, this cookie won the competition pretty easily! My friend who ordered the banjo cookies, ordered some sandwich cookies as well, and so I got to get a little creative with my recipes and I made these to-die-for carrot sandwich cookies! I think you may possibly need to drop what you are doing and get in the kitchen to start making them-yum, yum, yum!
The thing about SANDWICH cookies is that they are the perfect combination of moist dough and creamy frosting, they are likely the best combination of the two. Cupcakes and cake cannot hold a candle to sandwich cookies in my opinion, so give these a try!

Here is the recipe: this recipe will make approximately 12-15 sandwich cookies

Cookies:
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup finely grated carrots
1/2 cup toasted pecans
Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With electric mixer, combine sugars and butter; beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until well combined.
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger; stir to combine. Gradually add flour to butter mixture; mix on a low speed until just blended. Mix in carrots & pecans. Chill dough in refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour.
3. Using a 1/2-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Transfer to oven, and bake until browned and crisped, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. 
4. For Frosting, cream together cream cheese and butter, mix in vanilla until combined. Add in powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.
5. Match up 2 cookies of equal size, slather on your desired amount of frosting and SANDWICH together!  

Well, as always...happy baking, happier eating!