Heads Up

Just letting the blogging world know I will be in San Salvador, Bahamas starting tomorrow for spring break. Ok technically tomorrow is Nassau and Saturday is San Salvador, but you get the idea. I'm going on a trip with my Oceanography class and staying at a research center. I will have very little Internet access, so just think no news = good news. Although I am super excited, I am very terrified. This will be my first time snorkeling, and I am a water phobe. It is very mild because I am still going to force myself into the water. I am also very excited to eat a conch salad. My plane should arrive back in the States late March 7.

Hope everyone has a nice week. I'll try not to get too burnt. Or drown.

Also, a small reminder that you still have a few days left to win KitchenAid appliances. I already won a hand mixer, value of about $60. That's the price on foodnetwork.com, at least.

I Need Your Opinions!

I am planning a trip to Washington, D.C. in March and Nashville and Memphis, TN in May. I need help from those who either live there or have been there to suggest places to eat. I'm looking at no more than $10-$15 per dish. I also welcome coffee shops and places to snack. Also, recommendations on places to see in Nashville and Memphis in general is much appreciated. I think we are stopping in Louisville, KY on the way home. I have been to Washington, D.C. once before, and the reason why I'm going back is the group I'm going with is touring The White House. The Nashville/Memphis trip is a graduation gift. I wasn't supposed to find out so early haha

I Won! And You Can Too!

I'm proud to say I won a KitchenAid hand mixer from Bake Space yesterday! Although I don't need it now, it's one less thing to buy when I graduate, get a real job, and find an apartment. I already have a microwave from my dorm years.

You still have time to win appliances yourself! All you need to do is create an account, upload recipes and/or invite friends, and you are automatically entered for the day's drawing. The drawing is random, so it doesn't matter if you have 1 or 100 raffle tickets. I think I only had three (could have been six).

My username is carlamoose, so come find me on Bake Space!

Who Needs Pie When You Can Have Cupcakes

Because the frosting on Dorie's cake used four egg whites, that means I had four egg yolks leftover. Egg yolks are generally used in custards and puddings. My original plan was to make Boston Cream Sponge Cakes with my heart pans, but I wanted to use my heart cupcake liners. I've been wanting to buy a cupcake decorating kit, so I gave in and went to Joann Fabrics. Every week, their flyer offers a 40% off coupon on anything regular price, so I got Wilton's 12-piece set for about $5. Apparently it makes a nice pillow too.




I was nervous because I never used a piping kit before and knew I would mess it up somehow. I just don't have decorating skills. But no worries! I think this kit is fool-proof because even I made beautiful cupcakes.




I cut the batter in half and got five cupcakes. I was hoping for six, but I didn't want to make five semi-nice ones and one really flat one. To insert the custard, I cut a hole out of each one and spooned it in. The batter is really sticky though, so it was hard to cut. I might use a regular yellow cake recipe next time. I sprinkled the leftover crumbs on top. Instead of the icing the recipe called for, I used a chocolate buttercream. Using my wonderful math skills, I made enough without any leftover. Actually, I wish it would have made slightly more because I was having trouble piping towards the end.

Boston Cream Cupcakes




For the recipe, use this one. Depending on how many cupcakes you want, you may need to cut it in half. You can also use your favorite yellow cake recipe.

For five cupcakes' worth of frosting, use these proportions:

3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp milk

Beat sugar, cocoa, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Add milk. If it's too thick, add another Tbsp of milk.

Tuesdays With Dorie - Devil's Food White-Out Cake

I dedicate this post to my best friend because this was her birthday cake (CHEESE!) and because we almost pee-ed our pants assembling this. You see, I had no problem executing the recipe. Some bakers said their cake didn't rise that much. Mine did. Others had trouble with the frosting and had to start over. Perfect the first time (although it did take 20-30 minutes for the syrup to reach 242F). But when it comes to decorating, well, I just suck.



What happened was I baked the cakes a few hours before going over the birthday girl's house. Instead of removing them from the pans to cool, I just let them cool in the pans. Wrong. The chocolate chips, which sank to the bottom, cooled and stuck to the plate, so each layer had a nice hole. So we went for two layers instead of three.




I didn't eat much of the cake because I was stuffed from dinner and ice cream. From the few bites I did have, the cake was fudgey and yummy. I wasn't crazy about the frosting, which I think someone said was Italian meringue. I just felt it had too much vanilla in it. When I asked around, everyone enjoyed the frosting, so maybe it was just me.

Thanks to Stephanie of Confessions of a City Eater for picking this week's recipe. You can find the recipe on page 247 of Baking: From My Home To Yours or on Stephanie's blog.

Join Me On Bakespace and Win Prizes!

How would you like to win some fabulous KitchenAid appliances? Bakespace is sponsoring a month-long event. Each day, an appliance is raffled away, ranging from food processors and blenders to crock pots and mixers. A winner is drawn at random, and you are entered each time you upload a recipe or invite a friend that day. At the end of the month, the person with the most invite points and recipe points will win a stand mixer. How cool is that? All you have to do is join Bakespace via my invite button (please?). If you are already a member, go upload recipes and invite your friends. My username is carlamoose, so invite me as your friend.

Tuesdays With Dorie - World Peace Cookies

Tidbit 1 - Never eat cottage cheese and drink coffee together. Just don't do it.

Tidbit 2 - Never underestimate Pittsburgh.


Murray enjoying the Superbowl


Tidbit 3 - Never pass up the opportunity to bake Dorie's World Peace Cookies. Despite the name, I never expected this recipe to be that great. I just expected another chocolate cookie. Wrong. These are chocolate melt-in-your-mouth shortbread-like cookies. Amazing.




I don't know why, but cookies are always the hardest thing for me to bake. I can never get them the correct shape. Sometimes they stick to the cookie sheet, throwing me into a rage. Several bakers suggested that I buy parchment paper. However, when I was in Wal Mart, I found 2 silcone mats on clearance for $7. Based on my online shopping, I knew that was a great price. I would probably spend $7 in parchment paper anyway. Plus I was helping the environment. I must say if you don't have silcone mats, go to the store right now. You will save so much frustration. Plus mine has a ruler and little circles for cookie placement. Isn't that awesome or what?



One problem I did have with this recipe is the dough crumbled a little too much. I think I might not have mixed the dry ingredients as much as I should have, but I was afraid of overmixing. I did manage to form the dough into blobs, so it wasn't a total loss.

World Peace Cookies




Thank you Jessica of Cookbook Habit for picking this recipe! I don't think I would have picked it on my own. You can find the recipe on page 138 in Baking: From My Home To Yours or on Jessica's blog