Strawberry cake

Around the time that my daughter was born (almost 11 months ago, eek!), I started social networking with a lot of other expectant moms and new moms. The connections you can make via blogs, Twitter and Facebook are astounding, and I love the virtual community/sounding board/friendships I've had access to - these people are truly amazing.

One of my favorite new mamas (her absolutely adorable son was born a few short weeks ago) is an extremely crafty lady who Tweeted a few months ago about making her husband a strawberry cake. Elizabeth has an amazing sense of humor, is a great writer and is insanely creative and stylish. She and her husband have an amazingly sweet love story, and I relate to their May-December pairing. I've followed her pregnancy via her blog and Tweets, and I was instantly intrigued by her mentioning of the cake, as *my* husband is a big strawberry fan.

She e-mailed me the recipe, which looked easier and yummier than I had initially imagined. I worried only that I might not be able to find the strawberry nectar, but lo and behold, it was super easy to find in my grocery store - it came in a soda can-type container and came in many other flavors.

Having secured the necessary ingredietns, I vowed to make it soon. 

Soon came when I co-hosted a bridal shower for a friend (and Tim was promised the leftover cake). It was the perfect cake for the occasion, and it was absolutely delicious. It was simple, flavorful and moist - all winners in my book. And after Elizabeth pointed out the candy-like flavor, it totally jumped out at me, and I've started mixing all of the fruit-y flavored frostings that I buy with a vanilla or cream cheese frosting. This is a cake that isn't drastically complicated or crazy different, but it tastes great and has the amazing touches of the preserves and the strawberry nectar.

The recipe, from Elizabeth:

Use a boxed strawberry cake mix and add strawberry nectar in place of the called for water (like Jumex strawberry nectar - you can usually find it in the Hispanic section of the grocery store).

Instead of icing between the layers, use strawberry preserves.

To ice the outside, mix a container of strawberry icing with vanilla or cream cheese icing so it doesn't taste like candy. The vanilla seems to drown out the fake strawberry flavor in pre-made icings.

Then cut up fresh strawberries and arrange them on top.

Source: E Tells Tales

Lemonade Party Cake

I have promised myself that I must catch up on all of my blog posts (because I've been cooking and baking stuff that has been sitting at "Draft" status for months now) before I bake anything new - so I'm glad that I snuck in some yummy summer-y desserts before I made that vow :)

The photo I took of this delicious cake doesn't really do much - it looks like any regular cake with frosting. (Actually, the lightning and angle of that particular photo don't even make it look like a cake at all, which is why there is no photo with this post, haha.)

But the way it tastes? Amazing. It's crisp and tart and refreshing and so, so moist. It *is* any regular cake ... until you add the powdered sugar and lemonade concentrate mixture, when it becomes a sweet, moist dessert. It's easy and would be perfect for a summer picnic or party.

Ingredients:
1 package lemon cake mix
1 can (6 oz.) frozen lemonade concentrate - thawed
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tub soft Whipped Fluffy White Or Fluffy Lemon Ready To Spread Frosting
Yellow colored sugar -- if desired

Directions:
Bake cake as directed on package for 13x9 inch pan. Cool 15 minutes.

Mix lemonade concentrate and powdered sugar. Poke long-tined fork into top of warm cake every 1/2 inch, wiping fork occasionally to reduce sticking.

Drizzle lemonade mixture evenly over top of cake. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled. Spread frosting over top of cake. Sprinkle with sugar. Cover loosely and refrigerate any remaining cake.

Source: CDKitchen

Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

If there's a holiday, there is bound to be a potluck at my office.

The weekend before Christmas, we had a potluck, with my boss providing a delicious ham as our main dish. I wanted to try something new, and I wanted something that didn't scream "Christmas cookies!" like most other desserts around that time of year. I poked around on my old friend allrecipes.com, and I found a yummy pineapple upside down cake that received fantastic reviews. I needed to make this cake a few days before the potluck, too, so I was thankful that it was amazingly moist and easy to transport.

Ingredients
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple tidbits
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries (I used dried cranberries)
1/2 cup walnut halves
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions

1. Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Add water to juice to measure 1-1/4 cups; set aside.

2. Pour butter into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with brown sugar,cranberries and walnuts. Top with pineapple.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine dry cake mix, eggs, oil and reserved pineapple juice. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a large serving platter (top will have an uneven appearance).

Source: allrecipes.com

Chocolate cake turned Calahan Trifle

Many apologies for our short absence! I've been making a lot new recipes, but I haven't had any time to blog them (apparently having a five-month-old and full-time job are a bit time consuming - who knew?!).

Happy new year! And now, back to the recipes :)

Ahhhh, baking disasters. I know you well. But this time, I was not going to let a little blip in my plans get me down.

Before I tell you my sad story, let me enter in to evidence Exhibit A:

It was supposed to be a nice, moist chocolate cake. Actually, the "Best Chocolate Cake EVER."

Alas, it became part of a trifle, aka Exhibit B:

I really think this is one of those mistakes that worked to my advantage. Let me back up. My husband's mother and one of his nephews, Cal, were coming to visit when our daughter was about four weeks old. Cal's birthday was coming up, so I told them I'd make a birthday cake for him. We never get to celebrate his birthday with him, so it was nice to give him his present and a cake a few days before.

I searched a few of my bookmarked recipe sites for a moist chocolate cake recipe, and I came across "THE BEST Chocolate Cake EVER." I decided I had to see if it lived up to its name, so I purchased the ingredients and went to town.

I had such high hopes for this cake, and in the end, they fell flat. The hopes and the cake. The cake ended up being undercooked and gooey in the very middle, which would have been tasty and great (albeit not safe to consume, really) except it kept sinking ... and sinking ...

Finally, I decided the chocolate cake idea had to be scrapped. I had made some Oreo buttercream frosting, but this cake was not going to hold up to being frosted. As I sadly considered letting all of that deliciousness (as well as time and money) go to waste, I started to think about why the cake had been a huge flop.

Unlike many recipes, this one specifically  mentioned NOT to use sugar-free or fat-free versions of the chocolate pudding mix. That was all I had on hand, so I purchased some of the full-sugar, full-fat variety when I was at the grocery store. But I failed to use it, grabbing one of the sugar-free ones I had instead. Sigh. I think this was one of my major problems.

The other problem? I was using a single layer cake pan - it is convenient (less greasing! less dishes!), and I usually don't bake round cakes, so I don't think I have two size-matching layer cake pans. I used this one, which usually takes a little bit longer to bake a boxed cake mix. I added some time to the usual cooking time of 50-55 minutes, and the edges were starting to get *too* crispy, and when I put a toothpick in the center of the cake, it seemed like it was cooked and/or I was hitting spots of melted chocolate chips. I don't think I poked down far enough, and I'm not sure this cake was ideal to be cooking in the single layer pan - there is a lot of stuff to cook through!

I saved the edges of the cake, which were thoroughly cooked. In the end, the only thing that I really lost was the middle of the cake, where it was clear the cake hadn't cooked through.

This cake truly was delicious, and I didn't want to be birthday dessert-less or let the cake go to waste. So I started to brainstorm.

I took the crumbled up chocolate cake, made some chocolate pudding, bought some whipped cream and mini-chocolate chips cookies, as well as the leftover Oreos from the Oreo buttercream I had planned on using to frost the cake, and I layered them. Simple. Sophisticated. Delicious. Disaster-saving.

If you end up making this cake, let me know how it goes!

THE BEST Chocolate Cake EVER :D

1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 package Jello instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips

Kevin and Amanda's directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a VERY large bowl (4 qt), mix together everything except chocolate chips. Batter will be thick. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into cake pan of choice (I normally use two 9-inch pie pans).

For cooking time, I use the cooking times on the back of the devil’s food cake box as a guide and usually add 10 mins to whatever it says.

Then I do the toothpick check, and if it’s not done, I check on it every 5 mins after that. :) It usually takes around 45 mins for two, 9-inch pie pans.

Source: KevinandAmanda.com

Rainbow Streusel Coffee Cake

What does one do when she has pregnancy cravings for M&Ms, a husband who has something personal against the bottom fourth of every cereal box he opens and the desire to bake something new?

Apparently, she makes Rainbow Streusel Coffee Cake.

I've never been one to crave chocolate. If you offer me vanilla ice cream and chocolate ice cream, I will take vanilla in an instant. If you offer me Skittles or offer me M&Ms, I will take Skittles in a heartbeat. But over the last few weeks of my pregnancy, M&Ms sounded realllllly good. And they were on sale a lot, and I had coupons when they were on sale, so I couldn't *not* buy them.

But once they are in the house, they are dangerous. So I try to find a way to get rid of most of them ASAP.

Enter my latest recipe search.

I've made the Peanut Butter M&M Bars several times. And I've made cookies with M&Ms mixed in. But I wanted to try something different, so I went to the M&Ms Web site and found some interesting and delicious ideas.

But did I mention I also wanted to bake with ingredients I had in the house? So a lot of those recipes were immediately eliminated from consideration.

When I found this streusel cake, I was a little thrown off by the idea of granola. Then I realized that my husband, who NEVER finishes a box of cereal (it is a pet peeve of mine, as I usually end up eating the end of all of his cereals in an effort to not waste the food), had some granola in the cupboard. And I figured I'd put it to good use in this recipe. It really doesn't overwhelm the cake, either - the streusel is buttery, chocolate-y and sweet, and the cake is dense and moist.

Ingredients

1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cups M&M’S® MINIS® Milk Chocolate Candies
1 cup granola cereal
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch square cake pan.

In large bowl cream 1/3 cup butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs and vanilla. In medium bowl combine 2 cups flour and baking powder; blend into creamed mixture. Do not over-mix. Spread batter into prepared pan.

In separate bowl combine granola, remaining 1/4 cup flour, brown sugar and remaining 3 tablespoons melted butter, to create streusel. Add M&M’S® MINIS® Milk Chocolate Candies and toss mix.

Sprinkle streusel evenly over batter.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until golden and firm to the touch. Cool completely before removing side of pan. Store in tightly covered container.

Source: M&Ms Web site

Carrot Cake

One of my earliest pregnancy cravings was carrot cake. My husband and I bought some at the grocery store, and it was heavenly. But the more I thought about it, the more I decided I needed to make carrot cake for myself sometime. I searched for a good recipe, and the week after my birthday, I decided to make a cake as a belated celebration.

If only it had been that easy.

I have a small food processor and thought I'd be able to cut the carrots up and then shred them with the food processor. Alas, I was wrong. So my husband bravely volunteered to shred them by hand, a process that ended up taking about three hours despite my insistence that I could just go to the grocery store and buy shredded carrot bits. Luckily, he was preoccupied by a baseball game as he shredded. And shredded. And shredded. (And frequently questioned the need for "two cups," which was the amount I said I probably could get by with ... and I told him I'd just split the recipe and make half a cake.)

Fast forward to when the shredding was over and I started to make the cake. And forgot that I was going to half the recipe. Oopsie. But I really thought the carrot flavor would come through, even if I didn't have a properly amount of shredded carrots, and even if they were hand-shredded to an extra-fine consistency. So I made the full recipe.

And it all worked out.

I decided to make a 9x13 version instead of a pretty, round cake, because after the whole carrot shredding ordeal, I really didn't have the patience to daintily frost two 9-inch layers.

The cake was moist and delicious, and the frosting was A-MAZ-ING. Did it have any trademark carrot shreds? No. But it *did* have my husband's hard work in it. And what *I* really thought it was missing was raisins. If I ever make this cake again (and I think I'd like to try it again - in cupcake form, maybe), I will most certainly be adding raisins.


Simple Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Cooks Illustrated

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp table salt
1 lb. medium carrots (6 to 7 carrots), peeled
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar (10 1/2 ounces)
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
4 large eggs
1 1/2 c. vegetable oil , safflower oil, or canola oil

8 oz cream cheese, softened but still cool
5 Tbsp unsalted butter softened, but still cool
1 Tbsp sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. confectioners' sugar (4 1/2 ounces)

Directions (with food processor):
- Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray 13 by 9-inch baking pan with nonstick baking spray with flour(or I used 2 9-inch pans).
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in large bowl; set aside.
- In food processor fitted with large shredding disk, shred carrots (you should have about 3 cups); transfer carrots to bowl and set aside.
- Wipe out food processor work bowl and fit with metal blade.
- Process granulated and brown sugars and eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds.
- With machine running, add oil through feed tube in steady stream.
- Process until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 seconds longer.


- Scrape mixture into medium bowl.
- Stir in carrots and dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain.


- Pour into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time.
- Cool cake to room temperature in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours.


- When cake is cool, process cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla in clean food processor workbowl until combined, about 10 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed.
- Add confectioners' sugar and process until smooth, about 10 seconds.
- Run paring knife around edge of cake to loosen from pan.
- Invert cake onto wire rack, then invert again onto serving platter.
- Using icing spatula, spread frosting evenly over surface of cake. Cut into squares and serve. (Cover leftovers and refrigerate for up to 3 days.)


If you don't have a food processor, here are the stand mixer directions:
- Shred carrots using large holes of box grater (you should have about 3 cups); transfer carrots to bowl and set aside.
- In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or in large bowl and using hand-held mixer), beat granulated and brown sugars and eggs on medium-high until thoroughly combined, about 45 seconds.
- Reduce speed to medium; with mixer running, add oil in slow, steady stream, being careful to pour oil against inside of bowl (if oil begins to splatter, reduce speed to low until oil is incorporated, then resume adding oil).
- Increase speed to high and mix until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 45 seconds to 1 minute longer.
- Turn off mixer and stir in carrots and dry ingredients by hand until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time.
- Cool cake to room temperature in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours.
- When cake is cool, mix cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla at medium high speed in clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment (or in large bowl using handheld mixer) until well combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed.
- Add confectioners’ sugar and mix until very fluffy, about 1 minute.

Source: Good Things Catered

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake/Bars

If you've been a regular follower of the blog, you might think that Meg and I are part-monkey. We seem to always have bananas, and routinely, we have bananas that are past their prime.

A few months ago, I had a surplus of bananas and a desire to bake, so I hunted down some recipes on allrecipes.com. (FYI, I love the feature where you can input desired ingredients and the site generates recipes with those specifications!)

This "cake" was easily transitioned in to bars. It was moist and a great combination of fruit flavor and sweet chocolate chips.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed bananas
1 egg
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

2. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, combine bananas, egg, melted butter and milk.

4. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture until blended. Be careful not to over mix.


5. Stir in chocolate chips.

6. Pour batter into 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. (It will have some melted chocolate, but no crumbs.)

Source: allrecipes.com

On my anniversary... I am craving cake

Sunday marks mine and Mike's one year wedding anniversary. I cannot believe how fast the year has gone by.

Thinking back on the wedding now, a few things really stand out to me.

The feeling of having all so many of our family and friends in one place at one time. How a near-monsoon could have wrecked everything but instead cooled the temperature down to a comfortable level (this was uncharacteristically lucky for me).

And the cake.

Yes, the cake.

First of all, it was pretty. See?


And second of all, it was the best cake I've ever had. (Thank you, Piece of Cake.)

We got a fairly small one, but even so, it was much too big for our tiny guest list. So, instead of traditional favors, I sent everyone home with boxed up cake. I dreamed of going back to our suite at the Arizona Grand that night, cracking open a bottle of champagne and digging into some of that cake.

Imagine my dismay when we finished lugging the gifts and bags up to our room and I realized we had forgotten to grab a piece for ourselves.

Thankfully, my mom stashed away a few extra pieces, and she passed them along to us the next morning.


Ok, it doesn't look as pretty there, but man did it taste good. Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Chocolate and bavarian cream. Bananas Foster. Drool, drool, drool.

And, of course, Mike's Penn State football groom's cake, which was a simple vanilla cake with chocolate fondant (Thank you, AZ Cakes).


Mike even managed to snag the piece with the Penn State logo, which of course, he ate:

I seriously considered ordering an anniversary cake from Piece of Cake because one year later, I am having some major cravings. But alas, the pictures and memories will have to suffice this year.

Happy anniversary, hubbers.

Award-winning cakes

My friend and former college dorm suitemate Claudia sent me an e-mail full of photos a few weeks ago. She's decorated cakes and baked creations before, but I was in awe of these baked goods, which she entered in the Canfield County Fair (the largest county fair in Ohio). She won one first prize and two third prizes.

3rd place: I was baffled by this one and had no idea how she made the grilled cheese sandwiches look so much like grilled cheese. Apparently she sliced a pound cake, buttered it and actually fried it just like you would a real grilled cheese sandwich. The cheese is orange frosting. I just want to eat it. Now.


1st place: The complexity of this cake impresses me. Knowing how hard it can be to make a tiered cake and how long it can take to color so many different segments - whether you use fondant or buttercream - makes me think Claudia spent a good deal of time on this one.


3rd place: I have to wonder if the inspiration for this cake might not be one of our other college suitemates, Kristine, who is eight months pregnant :)


I'm so proud of Claud and her awards! And really, really hungry for cake.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake

I took one of my favorite cookbooks home with me last month so my little brother, Doug, and I could make one of the recipes from it.

I gave it to Doug on our way home from my grandmother's, and he spent a good 15-20 minutes looking at the recipes. His top choice? Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake. The boy is clearly not his sister's brother when it comes to his love of chocolate - I would pick vanilla any day of the week but most of his interest was in the chocolatey confections.

We made this cake a few nights after Doug's first try at Cakies. This time, I let him do almost all of the legwork, although the cake mix we used called for egg whites, and after I explained to him what that entailed, he quickly decided I should handle the eggs on this one.

Ingredients:
Cake:
1 white cake mix
ingredients called for on back of box
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (we used creamy)
1 cup chocolate chips

Frosting:
1 can (16 oz.) white frosting
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

Directions:


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make cake batter as directed on back of box. Mix in peanut butter with electric mixer. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter in to a greased 9x13-inch pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow cake to cool completely.


Mix frosting and peanut butter together. Spread over top of cooled cake. Sprinkle with nuts if desired. (Note: We topped the cake with some extra chocolate chips instead of nuts.)

Source: 101 More Things To Do With A Cake Mix by Stephanie Ashcraft

Another baby shower cake

A few weeks ago one of my husband's coworkers asked me to make a cake for another coworker, Erica, who is expecting a little baby girl any minute now. I agreed because I heart baking. Kelly told me the shower's theme would be either polka dots, daisies or birds/nesting. I had several ideas for the first two themes and one rather lackluster idea for the birds/nesting theme.

Alas, birds/nesting won. The color of the shower, Kelly told me, was Tiffany Blue (I had several moments of enjoyment while trying to explain to Tim, my husband, what Tiffany Blue is exactly). I started brainstorming and finally came up with the idea to have a two-tiered cake (my first tiered adventure!) and frost it with Tiffany Blue (or as close as I could get) buttercream. To bring in the birds/nesting theme, I used a rather poor hodge-podge Haystack recipe to make a nest. I molded the nest by keeping in a regular ceramic bowl, and when the morning of the shower arrived, I put the nest on top of the cake and placed Jordan Almond "eggs" inside.


For my first tiered cake, I think it turned out pretty well (mostly meaning "Hey, it didn't collapse!"). Everyone at the shower seemed to like it, and while it was not my best work, I was happy with the challenges it presented.

Buggin' out with baby shower cakes

In addition to my Lemon Week duties, I spent last week preparing for an important event: a baby shower for my friend, Kate, and her husband, Mike. Kate and Mike (shown above, with the gift of hot pink baby crocs) work with me, but I met Kate through our craft group a few months ago. Kate and Mike are expecting twin girls in August, so fellow craft grouper Lisa and I co-hosted a shower for them. And you know showers involve food, so I was eager to bake for the joyous occasion.

Early in the planning, Lisa and I (that's us below, as the shower was wrapping up) tried to decide on a shower theme. We thought about the extremely girlish possibilities. We considered the twin theme ideas. But then we started tossing around a theme of "cute bugs." In the end, the cute bug theme wasn't a huge part of the shower, but it gave us a starting point, and Kate loved it. (It must be noted that Kate - you know, the one expecting two little GIRLS - is not a huge fan of pink. So we've been quite careful to not over-pink her, but it's kinda hard when there are baby princesses on the way!) Cute bugs such as butterflies, ladybugs and dragonflies were mentioned. We decided to echo the nursery colors (light, light pink and sage green) with the shower decorations. (We later minimized the decorations as the shower was in a pavilion right off the water and it. was. windy.)

After the theme was decided, we discussed shower cakes. Knowing my background and love of cake decorating, I was appointed Cake Master. Lisa was my supreme guidance giver, as I sent her ideas I found on the internet. (Let me tell you: "Cute" bugs can be downright SCARY looking.) Then I narrowed it down to two ladybug cake options. The one was emerged victorious was a Wilton cake pan, which I bought at Michael's with one of their nifty 40% coupons. Score! I also bought Wilton Icing Colors in green and pink. No, we didn't go with the traditional ladybug hues. From my cake decorating experience, black is never REALLY black. I tried to make a manatee for my husband's birthday cake two years ago and it looked purple. Purple manatees? Not cool. And that had even started as a grayish black, so I was terrified about what a darker black would look like. And Wilton sells a "no-bitter red" color because the regular red coloring has a bitter taste. (From what I've heard, the no-bitter is just less-bitter.) Lisa and I were in agreement that we wanted no bitter icing at this party. The pink I ended up with was brighter than I had hoped, but the green/pink message was clear.

Cute bugs? Check. Shower colors for the cute bugs? Check. And as our guest list grew, we decided it was best to have TWO cakes - twin bugs! - for the shower.

So the week before the shower, I mapped out my game plan. I baked the yellow cake one night after work. I started icing it the next morning as I baked the chocolate cake and made some cookies. (The cookies, by the way, might be involved in our next theme week, so you'll just have to wait for that recipe. By the way, go vote for our next theme week! Upper right side of the blog.) The next morning, I worked on decorating the chocolate cake. That night (Friday night), I came home and made another batch of cookies and finished up the cakes.

Whew!

I used familiar recipes for the actual cake (yellow sans cookie dough and chocolate sans oreo). I used the Wilton buttercream recipe but substituted vanilla for the butter flavor.

For a while, the cakes looked like fuzzy watermelons. But in the end, I think they came out well, and I was glad to have a hand-made part in Kate and Mike's shower. The cakes were cute, but no where near as cute as Kate with her "Mom to be" button on. Or as cute as Mike holding up booties that were the size of his ears. Or as cute as all of the PINK clothes and blankets those little girls got.

Oreo cupcakes with Oreo buttercream

Full disclosure: I am not a big cupcake person. I am realllly not a big chocolate person. Give me vanilla any day, but chocolate is usually not something I crave/request/desire.

This being said, I have no idea how I arrived at wanting so desperately to make the Oreo cupcakes I've seen on Heather's blog.

Tim went to a Guitar Hero party this weekend, so I volunteered (OK, demanded that I be allowed) to make something. A girl has got to blog, after all.

So I used the recipe that Heather found/adapted and had great success. I even purchased a teeny-tiny food chopper for the Oreos. (This was the highlight of my week.) The only issue I had was that I made 24 cupcakes, like Heather did, but I had a little bit of batter left over and put it in a pie pan. But the cupcakes still overflowed. I think I could easily have made 30 cupcakes and still had batter left over. Next time I make these I will not fill the cupcake tins so full, and I will make more of them. I think I also need a new decorating tip for the frosting, but that was a minor detail for this time around. Half of the cupcakes were delivered to Tim's party and half went to my coworkers.

I'm not going to kid you. The Oreo buttercream? DE-LIC-IOUS. I didn't have any vanilla, though (I ran out the day before, I swear!), so I used 1/2 teaspoon of Wilton butter flavoring and 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract.

A good tip from Heather that I didn't see until after I made my cupcakes: Cut your Oreos in half to garnish the cupcakes FIRST. Some will crack or break and not split in to perfect halves, so you can use the cracked/broken ones to grind up for your cake batter and buttercream instead of wasting them. (I found it handy to pop 'em in my mouth if they were broken, but I think Heather's approach is better for my waistline.)

I'm also going to use the cake recipe for a baby shower I'm co-hosting early next month. (I'm doing a chocolate cake and a vanilla cake, and I have some leads on some mighty promising vanilla cakes.) And I'm making another recipe from Heather's blog for the craft party I'm hosting next weekend. Get. Excited. And that's just what I have PLANNED, not including spontaneous baking that might appear in the blog!

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

(Source: Hersheys.com)

Ingredients:
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
- 8-10 Oreo cookies, crushed or put through food processor (optional) - Heather's addition

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans (For cupcakes or other pan sizes, see variations listed below.)


2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, Oreo crumbs and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes. (Note from Heather: I filled my muffin cups about 3/4 full to get bigger cupcakes, so I only got 24 out of the recipe.)

Oreo Buttercream

Ingredients:
- 1 cup shortening or butter (I use shortening so it doesn't have to be refrigerated)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp. water
- 1 lb. confectioner's sugar (if you don't have a scale, it's approximately 4 cups)
- 1 tbsp. meringue powder
- 12-14 Oreos, finely crushed in food processor

Directions:
1. In bowl of stand mixer, cream shortening, vanilla, and water.

2. Add confectioner's sugar, meringue powder, and crushed Oreos. Mix until well combined.


3. At this point, your frosting will be very thick. To top cupcakes, it's better to have medium to thin consistency icing, so you'll have to add more water. I probably added another 2-3 tbsp. to get the desired consistency, but you'll want to add the water little by little to make sure you don't add too much. When it's the right consistency, it should be pretty easy to stir by hand (think about whether you'd be able to easily squeeze it out of a piping bag). If you accidentally make it too thin (runny), add more confectioner's sugar.

Once cupcakes were completely cool, use a piping bag to add a decorative swirl on top of each one. Then push one half of an Oreo cookie into the frosting for garnish.