Strawberry Cupcakes

Back in April, we had the opportunity to participate in a Little Pink Houses of Hope retreat in Carolina Beach, NC.  Are you familiar with Little Pink?  No?  You should be!  They are a fantastic organization that supports people and their families who have experienced breast cancer.  We spent a week at the beach with other families and a group of wonderful volunteers.  It was a carefree time after going through a marathon of treatments and appointments.  Little Pink thought of everything--from activities, to meals, to beach towels, to pictures.  Weeks later, my son is still talking about the people he met, about playing in the sand, and about how he went on a stand up paddle board with Daddy.  We were able to focus on connecting--as a family and with other people whose lives now share the common thread of breast cancer--instead of on the act of getting through the day.
Pin It

Sour Cream Medivnyk (Ukrainian Honey Cake)

 

Thank you for all of the nice things you said after my last post!  I have been meaning to share this with you since the beginning of the year, but things kind of got in the way.  Back in January, we attended the most highly-anticipated party of the post-party season:  The Third Annual Ukrainian Christmas/Pierogi night.  One of the things that makes this party perfect is that it is all about eating (and drinking and having fun). 
Pin It

Chocolate Caramel Cake

I should be finishing tidying up the house right now because we have friends coming for the weekend in just an hour or so, but I wanted to share this recipe with you.  After all, I’m sure one of you needs to bake a cake this weekend and still hasn’t found the perfect recipe.  If so, look no further than this little blog post, especially if you are a sweet frosting kind of person! 
Pin It

Chocolate Cinnamon Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

Yesterday, I had a completely new experience: a random guy biked past me and told me I could draft off his bike.  Perhaps I was going pathetically slow, or maybe he was just being nice.  I’m going to go with nice because in my mind I’m practically velodrome material.  If you’ve ever drafted off of someone, you already know that it makes the ride significantly easier.  I ended up going faster than I’ve probably ever gone on that stretch of the trail with what felt like minimal effort.  It was exhilarating.  If I knew who that guy was, I would say thanks by giving him a piece of this cake.
Pin It

Carrot Cake

I was digging through my recipe box last week looking for something to make when I came across my grandmother's carrot cake recipe.  Several years ago I went to my grandparent's house and went through their recipe boxes and typed up the ones that were most interesting to me.  Before I went, I put together a spreadsheet of all of  the recipes I could think of that I wanted to type up and created a template so that each recipe would look the same.  I came away with about 60 recipes, most of which were not on my original list.  It was a fun weekend - they showed me how to make a few things, and then we relaxed together in the living room, my grandfather in his reclining chair, my grandmother in her spot on the couch, and me sprawled out on the flowered chair near the front door with the recipe boxes on the little wooden bench to my right and my computer perched on my lap.

Pin It

Limpa Pound Cake

Each week, I spend 270 minutes, give or take a few, lost in my thoughts on my way to and from work.  Don't get me wrong - I am paying attention to what is going on around me - but there really isn't much else to do but watch, listen, signal, pedal, shift, break, and think when you're riding a bike, especially if 80 percent of your ride is on a trail.  On my way to work, chances are that I spend at least a few minutes thinking about what I'm going to do that day; on the way home, my thoughts often stray to baking. 
Pin It

Roasted Chocolate Banana Cake

There's not too much to say about this cake except that if you like bananas and you like chocolate then you should try this out.  I had never thought much about roasting bananas beyond a campfire banana boat (i.e., bananas slit open stuffed with chocolate chips and marshmallows, wrapped up in foil, and dropped in a campfire) until Scott mentioned how America's Test Kitchen had a recent episode about banana pudding made with roasted bananas.  I've been making this cake for a number of years, and it seemed like the perfect candidate for a roasted banana intervention.  It only took one try, and I'm completely hooked...
Pin It

Blueberry Squares

I made these twice last week.  The first time was on Thursday.  I hadn't baked anything since the browned butter bites I made in late September, and I was feeling a bit rusty. 
Pin It

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Cake

I recently made us late for a camping trip so that I could make this recipe.  Luckily everyone was understanding when we rolled into the campsite past dusk with cookie cake that was still slightly warm.

Pin It

Anniversary Cake

You just might be wondering what Anniversary Cake is.  Well, it is a lovely concoction of springy cake, almond-sweetened whipped cream, and fresh strawberries.  If you came over right now, I would have a piece waiting to split with you.  
Pin It

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

I made this cake twice in one week recently.  No, I didn’t make one cake for Scott to eat and one cake for me to eat.  That would have been a bit too indulgent, even for us.
Pin It

Luscious Lemon Loaf Cake

A few weeks ago we were heading over to a friend's house and wanted to bring something other than cookies for dessert.  I was focused on making something lemon because we had just bought two bags of lemons at the store.  Why two bags?  I'm not sure.
Pin It

Angel Food Cake with Fruit and Whipped Cream

This cake always reminds of one of the jokes that my brother used to tell as a kid.  It goes something like this:

Question:  Why are cooks so mean?
Answer:  Because they beat the eggs and whip the cream.

Pin It

Chocolate Ginger Cake

Way back in January I promised to share a chocolate ginger cake recipe with you.  At the time, I wanted to make a cake using some of the ginger simple syrup that I had made.  I was aiming for a cake that was spicy, flavorful, and moist.  I made a few different versions using the ginger simple syrup, but the cakes wouldn't turn out the way I wanted them to be.  They were dry, crumbly, and uninspired.  Eventually, I decided that using the simple syrup in the cake wasn't the way to go, and I put the recipe idea on hold. 

Pin It