Bake Lust Saturday

I've not seen so many lust-worthy cakes this week. Until last night...

I'm not sure if I've ever seen a prettier pink and girly cake. First spotted on Style me Pretty but I was excited to find out that it's baker is in Charlotte no less! It's WOW Factor Cakes and there are many pretty ones on their site.

A much simpler but nonetheless delicious looking chocolate cake. I'm going to have to ice my next chocolate cake like this. And I love the rustic cake stand. This is from Seven Spoons, a new blog discovery. Also, glad to find out I'm not the only one in love with Beatty's Chocolate Cake.

Today I saw the produce stand down the street selling fresh strawberries. That only means that it's almost time to make some homemade strawberry jam. And when that happens I'm going to use these adorable labels from eatdrinkchic.

And, how perfect is this?!?

Bake Lust

I've been woken up way too early this morning by my neighbor's grandson throwing his baseball up against the bottom of my bedroom wall. The chances of you making it pro, very slim. The chances of me turning into a third grade teacher on a Saturday morning, almost guaranteed.

But because I was forced to get up early I was organizing photos in iPhoto and looking at blogs and dragging more photos to iPhoto and it was at that moment I came to the realization that I have baking lust. Really bad. I see cute cakes, cupcakes, cookies, tarts, etc. and save the photos for future reference.

Why not save them on here for future reference and share their greatness?

So maybe this will be a new Saturday morning tradition. Not that I hope to be woken up by third graders ever again.

1st Bake Lust List:

Wallpaper Inspired Cookies by Miette Cakes

Love this simple bannered wedding cake. No clue where I found it...

Mondrian inspired cake...amazing.

Also,

Joy the Baker wrote this adorable post about How to Impress a Boy with Baking. So true! Remember this?

Rice Krispie Eggs

Another spring break creation. I wanted to make something cute for Easter lunch but had very little planning/baking time. For the past few months I've been a little obsessed with rice krispie treats. I can't remember making them as a kid (I remember them as being really messy) and don't think I ever made them on my own until college...in my dorm's kitchen no less.

There were a lot of cute baking ideas on my blog reader but when I saw this post and had all the inspiration I needed.

In the end I made a few varieties: white chocolate, semisweet chocolate, chocolate and coconut, and colored sugar. I was most excited by the chocolate and coconut. It was like a gourmet rice krispie treat. Too bad my dad and cousin quickly ate those two up! The white chocolate was pretty amazing though.

Happy 100- Lemon Madeleines

I've been holding out posting forever. One reason (besides never uploading photos) is because I was at 99 posts and I wanted to do something above and beyond fancy for my 100th. But...that never happened.

However, I've had this madeleine pan for over a year. I found it while walking around the antique store down the street and believe I paid $2 for it. So what has it been doing the last year? It's been hanging on the wall in my kitchen. Several people have commented on it then asked, "Wait, is that some kind of baking thing?" Yes, but I just haven't used it yet.

So finally over spring break, or maybe the week before I can't even remember, I made madeleines.

Lemon Madeleines

~Adapted from Martha Stewart

3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) melted, plus more for pans

1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted (not self rising)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

3 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

2 teaspoons lemon zest

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons)

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter madeleine pan; set aside. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl; set aside.

2. Put eggs, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and juice in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and thickened, about 5 minutes. Mix in butter. Using a spatula, fold flour mixture into egg mixture. Let rest 30 minutes. (I think I forgot that last step!)

3. Pour batter into buttered pans, filling the molds 3/4 full. Bake cookies, rotating pans halfway through until edges are crisp and golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Let cookies cool slightly in pans on wire racks. Invert, and unmold. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 1 day. (Umm...sorry Martha I think they can stick around at least 2 or 3 and be fine)

The cookies were sort of like a lighter pound cake. The lemon was just right. I never got around to the powdered sugar step but I'm sure that would be a nice touch.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream

As you will soon see, these cupcakes had a Valentine's theme. Too bad they are just now getting proper blog recognition! Anyhow, for my first carrot cake attempt I really liked this recipe. And the dulce de leche buttercream...amazing.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Adapted from Martha Stewart via Joy the Baker

Makes about 28 cupcakes (a lot!)

• 4 cups peeled and finely grated carrots
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped, pod reserved for another use (or 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract)
• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, well drained
• 1 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with paper liners. In a bowl, whisk together carrots, eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, vanilla seeds, and coconut, pineapple and nuts if desired. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Stir flour mixture into carrot mixture until well combined.
2. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until testers inserted into centers come out clean, 23 to 28 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks, 10 minutes. Turn out cupcakes onto wire racks, and let cool completely. Unfrosted cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen for up to 2 months in airtight containers.
3. Frost cupcakes with dulce de leche or cream cheese frosting.

Dulce de Leche Buttercream

• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
• 3 Tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup prepared dulce de leche

Cream together softened butter and powdered sugar on low using an electric mixer. Add cream and vanilla and beat on medium speed until smooth and no lumps appear. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the prepared dulce de leche and beat to incorporate. Frost cooled cupcakes using a knife or a pastry bag and tip.

Rainbow Birthday Cake

My cousins Allison and Amy have birthdays 2 days apart. They asked me to make their cake. Amy wanted chocolate cake, Allison wanted vanilla. They did agree on light blue frosting.

So I kept it simple.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

but only on the outside!

I used Magnolia's Birthday Cake recipe with Cream Cheese Icing.

And it was reallllly good.

I'm way behind on my baking posts.

In the mean time, here is a lovely cake topper!

@ togetherforever on Etsy