Hydrangea Cake

Well, vacation is officially over. To sum it up, I. Love. The. Beach.

I still have a few days of Spring Break to enjoy, but the beach trip I took with my mom has sadly come to an end.

On the bright side of things, that means there are SIX WEEKS of classes left. SIX! In the grand scheme of an entire school year, six weeks is practically nothing.

Sorry about the semi-hiatus I've taken from the blog. Between taking tests, writing papers, getting ready for spring break, and actually going on spring break, I haven't had a whole lot of free time. But...here I am!

The cake I have for you today my first attempt at a hydrangea cake. It's no where near perfect, and I know there is great room for improvement, but I thought I'd share it with you anyway. It's a great way to celebrate the beautiful spring (or more like summer) weather we've been having!

I got the idea from a picture I saw online, and it is really just the cutest idea for a cake. I'll definitely be working on my hydrangea petal making skills. Too bad I can't take classes on that in school. I find that 400 times more interesting than Natural Resource Conservation (otherwise known as my tree hugger class). Wouldn't you?

On a different note, I want to use this blog as a way to send out a special prayer request. One of my very best friends' boyfriend, who also happens to be my friend and one of my favorite people, was just diagnosed with a brain tumor. Right now, he needs PRAYERS. Please, please, please pray fervently for his healing and for strength for him and his loved ones.

"Rejoice always, PRAY CONTINUALLY, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Carrot Cake Cheesecake

I feel like I've been consumed by school all. day. And it's still not over. Actually, it won't be over until next Thursday.

That is so sad to think about.

I think professors get together and make a pact to give us as much school work as possible right before spring break. Midterms, tests, papers, etc. College overload!

BUT, I will be rewarded with a lovely trip to the beach next Friday. The countdown is on...8 days!

Anyway, I did all that complaining to say this-- I needed a short break from school work, so I thought I'd update the trusty blog.

I have a great recipe for all you carrot cake lovers. I also have a great recipe for all you cheesecake lovers. Oh, wait...it's the same recipe!

Before I get to that, I thought I'd share a verse that's been on my heart this week.

"Be JOYFUL in hope, PATIENT in affliction, FAITHFUL in prayer." 

Romans 12:12

Carrot Cake Cheesecake 

Carrot Cake Cheesecake 

Ingredients

For the cheesecake:

16 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

¾ cup sugar

2 ½ tsp. vanilla

1 tbsp. flour

3 eggs

For the carrot cake:

¾ cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ tsp. vanilla

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

8 oz. pureed carrot baby food 

8 ½ oz. pineapple tidbits, drained

½ cup sweetened coconut

1 cup toasted pecans, divided

For the cream cheese frosting:

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1-2 tbsp. milk, as needed

1 tsp. vanilla

Directions

For the cheesecake:

Beat cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar until smooth. Beat in flour and eggs (one at a time). Mix thoroughly. Set aside.

For the carrot cake:

Mix together dry ingredients- flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set aside. In another bowl, combine oil and sugar. Mix in eggs until blended. Add carrot baby food and vanilla, stirring until well combined. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix in pineapple, coconut, and ½ cup pecans.

To assemble:

In a 9 or 91/2 inch springform pan, spread 1 ½ cups carrot cake batter over bottom. Drop dollops of cream cheese mixture over carrot cake batter. Top with more dollops of carrot cake batter, do not swirl. Repeat if necessary to use up batters. You will need to finish with a layer of cream cheese mixture spread over the top (about a cup of the mixture). Again, do not marble.

Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 50 - 60 minutes until edges of cheesecake are slightly puffy and the center (about an inch-and-a-half in) slightly jiggles. Cheesecake will finish setting up as it cools. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate. When cheesecake has chilled completely, finish with frosting.

For the frosting:

Beat softened cream cheese and butter until well combined & smooth. Lower beater speed and add confectioner’s sugar, adding milk a tablespoon at a time until spreadable. Mix in vanilla.

Spread cream cheese frosting over chilled cheesecake and top with toasted pecans.

Breakfast of a Champion

Yes, it's Tuesday. Yes, I'm just now writing a blog post about my Saturday morning breakfast. Yes, it was an absolutely delicious breakfast.

The whole family was home on Saturday morning, so we made an event out of it and had a big, yummy brunch! 

On the menu was: apple coffee crumb cake with brown sugar glaze, baked cheese grits, turkey bacon, and fruit.

And the good news? I have TWO recipes for you! 

I found the crumb cake recipe on one of the absolute BEST blogs I read. 

The cheese grits were made at a wedding shower I went to a couple of weeks ago. So, because of my excessive love for cheese grits, I got the recipe and made it right away! 

Apple Coffee Crumb Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

Apple Coffee Crumb Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

Yield: 12-16 servings

Ingredients

Crumb Cake:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar


2 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups peeled, cored, and chopped apples

Crumble Topping:

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 

Brown Sugar Glaze:

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons water 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch glass baking dish and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after the addition of each. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients, alternating with the sour cream and vanilla. Fold in the apples. Pour into the prepared baking dish, spreading out to the edges. 

3. To make the topping, in a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter, and mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the cake and bake until golden brown and set, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes. 

4. To make the glaze, in a bowl, combine the sugar, vanilla, and water and mix until smooth. Drizzle the cake with the glaze and let harden slightly. Cut into squares and serve.

Baked Cheese Grits 

Baked Cheese Grits

Ingredients 

6 cups water 

1 ½ cups grits (cooked on the stove) 

½ stick real butter 

3 cups sharp cheese 

3 eggs 

salt & pepper

Directions

Boil water – gradually stir in grits. Cook covered on low-med for 5-7 minutes until thick. Add butter and cheese. Temper the eggs by adding a small amount of hot grits a little at a time to the eggs. Then add remaining grits mixture and salt and pepper. Bake @ 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Add more butter and cheese to the top before baking.

Peanut Buttery Goodness

Agave. Ever been there? You should say yes. If you can't say yes, you should go ASAP so you can say yes after that.

My family went to Agave last night, and it was seriously so delicious. I can't remember the last time I was so full and my appetite completely satisfied. I got the Red Pepper Salmon Filet. Straight from the Agave menu, it was a "pan seared fresh Chilean salmon with sauteed julienne zucchini, squash, and carrots, served over a roasted red pepper sauce with grilled asparagus."

I promise Agave's not paying me to advertise :) We are friends with one of the owners, but that's not the reason for my praise, either. It truly deserves the honor. Anyway, here's my salmon...

Now for the dessert. Not the Agave dessert...just my homemade dessert for the week.

I've probably mentioned this in a post before, but peanut butter is one of my absolute FAVORITE foods. One of my addictions. One of my guilty pleasures (yes, it's a guilty pleasure when you find a way to eat it with every meal). I love it in any form on anything. And don't even get me started on peanut butter desserts. In a nutshell, I. Love. Peanut Butter.

So if you can't tell, the dessert for today involves peanut butter. They are (drumroll please) Reeses Peanut Butter Cupcakes. The drizzle of the top of them is hot fudge. And though a Reeses cup obviously would have made more sense on top, I didn't have Reeses cups, so a mini Hershey's sufficed.

Reeses Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Reeses Peanut Butter Cupcakes 

Makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcakes

1 1/8 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder 

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon heavy cream

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 tablespoon sour cream

1/4 cup homemade fudge sauce (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk egg and sugar until smooth and no lumps remain. Add milk, cream, butter, and vanilla, and mix until combined. Stir in sour cream. Sift dry ingredients together and add to wet mixture. Mix until batter is smooth, then swirl in fudge sauce. Line a muffin tin with liners and using a 1/4 cup measure, add batter to each cup. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool before frosting. 

Peanut Butter Buttercream

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup peanut butter

3-4 cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 tablespoons of milk

pinch of salt 

Cream butter and peanut butter together in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add powdered sugar with mixer on low speed and gradually add milk and vanilla extract. Mix until frosting is smooth. If too thick, add more milk; if too thin, add more sugar. Frost cupcakes as desired. 

Dark Chocolate Fudge Sauce

1 cup sugar

1 cup dark cocoa powder

2 tablespoons flour

pinch of salt

1 cup boiling water or milk

1 tablespoon of butter

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Combine sugar, cocoa, salt, and flour in a bowl or pot over a double boiler. Bring water or milk to a boil. Gradually add hot liquid to sugar mixture. Stir constantly until mixture thickens. 

Once it has reached the desired thickness, remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Drizzle over cupcakes and store the rest of the sauce in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. 

Snelling Sessions

I'm sitting in Snelling (one of our dining halls) right now with a few precious friends from my small group. I'm on my computer because I'm supposed to be getting some homework done before my next class, but instead, I'm scrolling through Pinterest and my Google Reader blog list. And, obviously, writing a blog post.

I just added a recipe to my word document recipe list. The list is now 105 pages long. 105 pages. One. Hundered. And. Five. One. Zero. Five. That's a lot of recipes. I just wish I could bake all day every day. That's the only way I'll ever get through these recipes. But that's not exactly possible, so I suppose I'll just do what I can!

Anyway, I have a seriously good recipe for you today. I made this last Saturday morning. I expected it to be good, but it was even better than I expected. Though I sometimes find baked oatmeal to be dry and unappetizing, this one was anything but. It was moist, flavorful, and super filling. So here ya go!

Baked Oatmeal with Strawberries, Bananas, and Chocolate

Baked Oatmeal with Strawberries, Bananas, and Chocolate

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

1 teaspoon Chinese five spice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup walnut pieces, chopped

1 cup sliced strawberries

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 cups milk

1 large egg

3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ripe banana, peeled, 1/2-inch slices

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F and generously spray the inside of a 10-1/2 by 7 inch baking dish with cooking spray and place on a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sugar, baking powder, orange zest, Chinese five spice, salt, half the walnuts, half the strawberries and half the chocolate. (Save the other half of strawberries, walnuts and chocolate for the top of the oatmeal).

In another large bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, butter and vanilla extract.

Add the oat mixture to prepared baking dish. Arrange the remaining strawberries, walnuts and chocolate on top. Add the banana slices to the top then pour the milk mixture over everything. Gently shimmy/shake the baking dish to help the milk mixture go throughout the oats.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is nicely golden brown and the milk mixture has set. For an extra      tasty top, sprinkle a tablespoon or so of extra brown sugar on top then place back in the oven under the broiler and broil for 20-30 seconds. Serve warm with an extra sprinkle of sugar or drizzle of maple syrup.