Star Wars Ewok Celebration Cake

 

One of our lovely friends Liz was having a Star Wars themed birthday party (YES!) and I was honored to get to make her a cake. I asked what scene she loved most in the movies and she replied the Ewoks, so I made an Ewok Celebration cake and it's just so darn adorable!

 

I love making cakes and figuring out how to bring something in my mind to life in icing and edibles, but sometimes you just don't have the time and that's how this cake came to be. I pulled images from the internet of an Ewok and AT-ST Walkers and then edited and drew them up in poses in Illustrator and had them laser cut out at work. I used sanding, films, coloring to make their look fit my fancy, and most importantly I remembered to add portion to stick in the cake so they'd stay standing. I'm in love with the little Ewok faces.

 

I've been saving the chocolate, matcha tea, and hazelnut chocolate pocky since we got it in Cincinnati from Jungle Jim's for about 6 months. I wanted to surround a cake with them so badly and this worked perfectly to create a foresty feeling for the Ewoks, plus her favorite color is green. I love the texture it adds and whimsy of it all.

 

Inside it's my favorite chai chocolate cake with a nutella frosting covered in almond buttercream, 3 layers tall.

Her party was fabulous and included a Dark n' Stormy-Trooper, games, decals and a drinking game to The Empire Strikes Back, such as drink when Luke whines (uh oh) It was lovely and fun to get to celebrate Liz with everyone!

Bittersweet Chocolate Tarts with Creme Fraiche

 

I came home in the mood to bake the other day and a lovely friend happened to come over and work as a fabulous assistant. Chatting and baking with a friend = lovely Monday.

Also lovely are these adorable tarts! They are very straight forward and you have to do a few things at the same time but with almost no risk of finding a way to screw them up! Plus they're adorable and delicious!

 

Bittersweet Chocolate Tarts with Creme Fraiche
adapted from this recipe


makes 1 9" tart or 10 3" tarts, or bunches of mini tarts in cupcake tins-adorable!

crust:
1 cup spelt flour (could use whole wheat but the spelt is a great flavor, and you can just buy a cup from grocery store bulk sections!)
1 2/3 cup flour
1 tbs sugar
3/4 tsp salt
12 tbs butter; cold
1/2 cup cold water
1 egg
2 tbs milk

1     mix flours, sugar, salt in a bowl
2     slice butter into tbs, then using pastry cutter or 2 knives cut butter into flour mixture
3     add 1/4 cup of water and using a spatula mix it in, you want the flour mixture moist
       but not soggy, just enough that it can come together in a dough- this makes for a flaky crust
4     if you need more water, you probably will need 2-3 tbs more, mix it in a tbs at a time
5     flour a surface or parchment paper and turn dough out onto it
6     gather the dough into a rectangle the width of you palm and then frissage the dough,
       frissage is using the heel of your hand the smear the dough across the surface,
       this pushes the butter into the dough
7     as you smear parts across gather the bits into a pile, once you have done all the dough
       gather it into a rectangle and frissage it again
8     separate the dough into two balls, place in bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least
       45 minutes-overnight
9     preheat the oven to 400 degrees F after when you're ready to pull the dough out again
10   pull out one dough ball and roll it so the dough is around 1/8" thick
11   for the mini tarts cut out a circle about a 4" circle and for the cupcake tarts I used
       my largest biscuit circle cutter which was about 2" and worked great
12   lightly spray olive oil spray onto cupcake or tart tins press the dough into desired
       tart tin and repeat with other ball of dough
13   place in fridge for 10-15 minutes
14   pierce the bottom of each tart a few times with the tines of a fork, lay a square of
       parchment paper in each tin and put in some pie weights or just coins to keep the
       dough from rising too much
15   bake tarts until light brown- 4" tarts 10-12 minutes, cupcake tarts 8-10 minutes
16   mix an egg and 2 tbs of milk in a small dish, remove tarts from oven and lightly brush
       each one with the mixture
17   place back in oven for 2-3 minutes
18   pull out and let cool while preparing filling

bittersweet chocolate filling:
1 cup heavy cream
9 oz bittersweet chocolate; finely chopped
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
crème fraiche, pink sea salt, cocoa nibs, edible flowers for topping

1    using a double broiler (or small saucepan filled with water and a pot in it)
      bring heavy cream to a simmer
2    remove from heat, whisk in chocolate, it should all be melted in and become a silky texture
3    whisk in egg and vanilla
4    spoon mixture into tart shells
5    bake for 7-10 minutes, until the chocolate mixture is set and doesn't
      jiggle much when you nudge it
6    remove from oven, let cool and then add on your desired toppings
the crème fraiche is a great choice because it gives a lot of depth and freshness to the flavors

Life Dream Fulfilled

I love love baking and cakes and a life dream of mine has been to make a cake for someone for an event. I've made my wedding cakes and birthday cakes but I've never made one for someone where I made a sketch out for them and delivered it and got to see their reaction.

Today I did! And honestly I'm just so proud. I love my cake my client loved it. It was tons and tons of work - about 20 hours. But I finally did it and I'm so grateful for that woman giving me a chance to do it.

I'm over the moon so here it is my monster cake!

12 eggs, 3/4 gallon milk, 6 lb powdered sugar, & 20 sticks of butter later :)

the only part of the cake that didn't go how I wanted was the balloon string, I'll nail it next time though

my little chocolate monsters

Cranberry ginger mini bundt cakes

I got mini bundt cake pans that I've been dying to use! They are adorable and at the store their cuteness pulled me in so now I've had them for awile and finally settled on a recipe that I deemed worthy of their christening.
I had intended them for our small group but the snow cancelled that but then instead we had chili with our neighbor and brought them up for dessert- turned out quite perfect. Plus then we handed off some of the leftover bundts to our neighbor who is always willing to take some baked goods off our hands :)

Cranberry ginger bundt cakes with lemon glaze:

(the picture had a chocolate glaze but that really didn't suit it so now it's lemon :)
bundt cake: (recipe from always with butter)

3 cups flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda (when making min bundt cakes you have to lessen the
             leavening agents a little so that they don't bubble over the tops)
1 tbs. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter; melted and cooled
1 cup molasses
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs
12 oz of dried cranberries

preheat oven to 350 degerees F

1   sift the flour, ginger, nutmeg, and salt
2   in another bowl beat the butter, molasses, brown sugar, buttermilk and eggs
3   gradually mix in the dry ingredients until incorporated and fold in the cranberries
4   bake for 15-20 minutes (time changes once your tins start to get hot) until a toothpick comes out clean
5   once they are cooled drizzle the glaze over them and enjoy!

glaze:  (you have to use the glaze the lemony-ness really makes this tastey)

juice of 1 lemon
powdered sugar

1   mix them together until they form a good glaze consistency, start with 1/2 cup of
     sugar and keep adding until it is thick enough to hold itself from running too much

Raspberry Lemon Scones, Stacked Enchiladas, Sausage Pepper Penne

 Raspberry Lemon Scones: I had extra jam/sauce from making my hub's mom's cakes and I didn't want to throw it out (it was mostly just delicious innocent raspberries) So I used it as filling for jam. I wanted to make it with oats though and lemon. I couldn't find 1 recipe I liked so I opened them all on my computer at once and took a guess at how I wanted it all together. They turned out super tasty! Josh took one for breakfast and came home asking if we could have them for dinner.
This is the first recipe I've figured out on my own and not mostly just tweaked someone elses and I'm super proud of it!!!

For Scones:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 oats-toast oats
zest of 2 small lemons
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp
1/2 cup butter
1/2-3/4 cup buttermilk
Raspberry Jam


For Glaze: Mix the 2 together :)
3 tbs. lemon juice
1 1/5 cups powdered sugar

preheat oven 375 degrees F


1    Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder in bowl
2    Put oats in sauce pan and toast for 3ish minutes- sounds weird but do it! It gives the scones a light
     nutty taste- yumm!- then remove from heat
4    Then grate in butter (you can also cut in the butter with 2 knives or use a pastry knife but I think
      grating it, while a little messier, actually mixes in more evenly and is faster)
5    Mix oats, lemon zest, and vanilla in with dry mixture
6    Then stir in buttermilk- Add only as much as needed to allow mixture to form a dough
7    Knead dough with hands and transfer HALF of it to a floured surface
8    Pat dough into about and 8 inch circle
9    Spoon Jam onto dough, I used about a 1/2-3/4 cup of jam
10  Flatten remaining dough a little in your hands, place on top of jam and flatten a little more
11  Cut into 8 triangles and place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet
12  Bake 10-15 min, or until toothpick comes out clean
13  Take off sheet and let cool, then drip on the lemon glaze

Stacked Enchiladas:
Super easy recipe and definitely worth it, makes 4
1 bag frozen roasted corn; thawed
1 bag frozen peppers; thawed
1/2 bag frozen spinach; thawed
1 can black beans; drained
2 tomatoes; chopped
1 jalapeno; chopped
cilantro
8 corn tortillas
1 1/2 tbs. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. pepper
shredded mozzarella
salsa
preheat oven to 350 degrees F

1   Put corn, peppers, spinach, and tomatoes and 1 tbs. chili powder in large pot and boil until water is
     evaporated- about 8-10 minutes
2   In a bowl mash beans, then add cilantro, remaining chili powder, salt and pepper
3   Place 4 tortillas on cookie sheet covered in parchment paper (less messy later)
4   Spread bean mixture over tortillas, then top with vegetable mixture and some shredded mozzarella
5   Cover each with another tortilla and then top it with more of the vegetable mixture and shredded
     mozzarella
6   Bake for about 15 minutes
7   Top each with a spoonful of salsa and garnish with cilantro

Josh and I reheated these 2 days later for dinner again and the reheated fantastic! Seriously recommend this one!!!

 Sausage Pepper Penne
3 peppers; chopped
4 Italian Sausages
2 cloves garlic; minced
1/2 red onion; chopped
4 basil leaves
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
penne pasta
salt and pepper

1   Put olive oil and balsamic vinegar with chopped basil leaves in sauce pan, let steep on low heat for
     10 minutes. Add some salt and pepper
2   Meanwhile cook sausage in another saucepan with garlic
3   Put peppers and onion in saucepan with basil oil, turn up to medium-high heat and cook through;
     6-8 minutes
4   Cook penne pasta
5   Place pasta in bowls and top with peppers onion and sausage

 Chocolate espresso cupcakes: I made these for work to sell for the MS Bike Ride. The recipe said it was for chocolate espresso cookies- I promise it wouldn't have. It would have made soup though. But luckily I added more flour- made it actually a consistency that could become solid and decided to make them cupcake brownies. They turned out yummy. It is the same recipe I used for the cake but with 1/2 cup more flour.

Peach Cupcakes & Apples to Apples

Josh and I went to a small group BBQ on Wednesday and it was such an answered prayer. We met a bunch of young married post college couples.

#1 they loved my cupcakes (which means I already liked them)
#2 I mentioned Josh and I liked to ride bikes and one girl (with gusto and excitement that I normally use for things that scares people) yelled WE RIDE BIKES TOO. (which I loved) So we even found active bike friends
#3 One of the girls said she was surprised Josh isn't awkward since he's an engineer- I gave him up and said that he was but that he also thought it was funny to be awkward just to watch people squirm. Then another guy said he liked to do that too and then proved it further along in the night.
#4 They all gave us their phone numbers without us asking, one girl even said if we do something fun to invite her and she'll come (so I'm taking that as she means she'll actually hang out with us :)
#5 We could laugh and joke with people that got us, made fun of us, and some live near the best gelato place that Josh and I bike to a lot so we can call them when we go and have friends.

So I didn't say what the list was - sorry- I think it was just me being so excited to have met some really great active our-aged people in Seattle and that was just some of the great parts of the night.
Josh and I have really been struggling with how we make friends here and how to make sure that we don't attack new people we meet with the sole intention of wanting them to like us so they'll be our friends. We've prayed about it a lot together and last night God just threw an amazing blessing at us. We're so so thankful. I know He can be subtle and wait but it is really nice sometimes when He just throws it at you. And I really hope that we stay conscious of that.
We were walking to our door and Josh started to talk and then stopped because someone passed us-  I asked what? He replied am going to exurte my excitement by dancing but I want him to pass first (funny hubs)
O and we were invited back!
So thank you for your prayers for us and I just wanted to share this because sometimes it feels hard and like you're pretty alone and we were starting to feel really down about finding a support system out here and how to connect without just wanting something but instead by sharing ourselves with others.
I apologize I know this is a little scattered but it follows how our thought process haha.

We're thinking of and missing you all. Happy 3 day weekend planning!

Josh teases me that this is turning into a food blog, 

but my peach cupcakes just made us friends 

(I'm joking!) 
 but seriously they were good- Peach Cupcake with brown sugar frosting recipe- didn't love her frosting with the cream cheese didn't suit them well enough. I'd make a regular brown sugar frosting next time. I like cupcakes where the icing just suites the cake not decides it wants to compete, but maybe that's just me.