Year after year, I am unable to see my sister on her birthday because it just happens to fall around the same time as finals (I swear, college has it out for me). Naturally, this upsets Sister Cookie as well, but I think that’s more because I’m not there to bake her anything than because she misses me. Well, lucky for her this year, I was able to be there in spirit by having Mother Cookie deliver a birthday cake to her when she went to visit this week.
My sister, being the indecisive creature that she is, had a painful time deciding what kind of cake she wanted. After a good amount of brainstorming that felt much like pulling teeth, I had a mouthwatering idea: Chunky Monkey Poke Cake.
Sister Cookie was right on board.
Like all Chunky Monkey-flavored treats, this cake showcases a trio of perfectly paired flavors: peanut butter, chocolate, and banana. What triple threat could be more tantalizing than that?
If you use the term “dulce de leche” with a non-foodie, they’ll probably think you’re exceptionally fancy and cultured. Look at you, using foreign words! But in all reality, dulce de leche is just a pretty name for thick caramel-like sauce. If you like caramel at all, there’s a good chance you will love the socks off of dulce de leche, caramel’s richer, more viscous cousin.
Every time I take my periodical trips to Wegmans, I make it a point stock up on jars of dulce de leche. You can make this stuff at home too, but I’m lazy, and the dulce de leche I buy is top-quality and tastes like a caramely dream. I keep a few on hand because it’s so wonderful to bake with (or eat with a spoon like the glutton I am). And when I found myself looking for a new frosting recipe idea, I couldn’t have been happier to see this sweet edible gold awaiting me in the pantry. Continue reading →
You’re never alone on Valentine’s Day if you have food. Who needs to go out to fancy shmancy restaurants and shell out a gazillion dollars on gifts when you can spend the day in your comfiest clothes, eating mounds of V-Day chocolates, and perhaps enjoying a special dinner of your favorite foods capped by sweet dessert? I’m sure it’s wonderful to have a sweetie to spend the day with, but I am totally alright having a love fest with my food.
In fact, I think it’s time that reveal that I’m in a relationship…with these Red Velvet Whoopie Pies filled with Strawberry Buttercream. They’re everything I look for in a dessert and more. With just one bite, I swooned. I tried to keep it together for the camera, but what you don’t see is me in between takes having an emotional affair with my whoopie pie.
The Red Velvet Whoopie Pies truly live up to their name; they’re rich and vibrant in and color and so moist, fluffy, and velvety in texture. They’ll melt in your mouth without an ounce of resistance.
Speaking of melt-in-your-mouth, let’s talk creamy, smooth Strawberry Buttercream Filling. That stuff is a whole new world compared to the artificial icing in a can from the store. It’s made with fresh strawberries, so it’s bursting with bright, refreshing flavor that perfectly compliments the subtle hint of cocoa in the red velvet. Talk about a match made in heaven.
Great, so Red Velvet and Strawberry Buttercream have found their soulmates, and I’m the awkward third wheel.
That’s okay; I can’t be upset when these whoopies are so delicious. Plus they’re quick, easy, and customizable: you can choose to make a couple big fat ones for the serious sweet tooth, or cut out little mini heart shaped ones for bite-sized heaven.
I know; you’re in love aren’t you?
A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:
There a few keys to achieving a perfectly thick, moist, and fluffy whoopie pie: First, don’t over-bake. I’ve found more success pulling things just before I actually think they’re done. Second, mix the batter as little as possible. Over-mixing causes cakes to fall flat or be dry.
A little fact: Some people think red velvet is just chocolate cake batter with red food dye. That ain’t red velvet! Red velvet has a little bit of cocoa powder, but it is NOT a chocolate cake. It’s a fluffy, velvety cake with a unique flavor and mild hints of cocoa.
You can make these bigger or smaller; totally up to you. You could also probably pipe the batter onto the baking sheets in heart shapes. I cut out the the mini ones from finished big whoopie pies with a small heart cookie cutter.
Parchment paper is a MUST when making whoopie pies. Otherwise, they’ll stick to the pan. Cooking spray is not a good bet either because it often makes the bottoms brown too much.
They sell 1-oz. bottles of red food dye in the baking aisle of your grocery store.
Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with Strawberry Buttercream
For the Strawberry Buttercream By The Smart Cookie Cook
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
6 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp. fresh strawberry puree, from about 3/4 cup fresh whole strawberries*
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. almond extract
pink or red food dye, optional
*To puree strawberries, slice off the very top with the leaves and puree in food processor until completely smooth.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt together. Sift onto a large piece of wax paper.
In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the butter, shortening and both sugars on medium speed until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and buttermilk and beat on low speed until combined. Batter will be curdled.
Combine the milk, baking soda, and vinegar in a small measuring bowl. With the mixer on low, add the milk mixture to the batter along with the flour mixture. Beat just until everything is combined. Add the vanilla and food dye and beat on low speed just until completely combined.
Using a small cookie or ice cream scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 1/2 inches of space between cookies. I made larger ones. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 10 minutes (start to check at 7 minutes), or until they are puffed and set. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the filling: In a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the powdered sugar into the butter, 1 cup at a time, until thoroughly combined. Start at low speed and then increase the speed so you don’t have a powdered sugar explosion. Beat in the strawberry puree, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Also add a few drops of food coloring if you’d like it brighter in color.
Spread a generous amount of frosting onto the flat bottom of a cooled cookie. Top with another cookie, flat side down, to make a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies. Store in airtight container.
Look familiar? I posted these Soft Pumpkin Cookies last year around this time. Their reincarnation today is due to how absolutely amazing they are. I didn’t have near as many followers when I first posted them, plus my photography skills were even worse than they are now. I figured it was necessary to give them a rebirth, a new chance for you all to experience one of my all-time favorite recipes.
You guys know that I live for the Fall food season, especially pumpkin. Out of my plethora of pumpkin recipes, I think this is the one I love most. It’s also my favorite cookie recipe. When fall rolls in on its chilly breeze, I most look forward to getting to make these Soft Pumpkin Cookies again. They taste like fall, if you could take all the colorful leaves shed by trees, the smell of sweet spices wafting from a warm oven, and the luminosity of a crackling fire and bake it into one treat. This is my fall.
There are many reasons to love these cookies. For one, they are down right delectable. They’ve got just the right amount of sweetness & pumpkin flavor, which is complimented by the warm fall spices spotted throughout. Secondly, GOOD LORD, these are so soft and moist! They’re almost verging on cake, but they still stay in that substantial cookie territory, much like a whoopie pie. They melt away in your mouth effortlessly.
As my co-worker said, “They make me wanna take small bites…You just want to savor it.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. I brought these cookies to school when I was still just a senior in high school, and no one could get enough. I brought them to the Clinton Farmer’s Market, and they disappeared in no time, leaving euphoric expressions on the faces of those who ate them. And just recently, I brought them to work. It was yet another hit.
And now, I’m sharing them with you so you can fall in love too. It just doesn’t get any better than these Soft Pumpkin Cookies…except maybe when you top them with a lusciously creamy and sweet Brown Sugar Frosting. Now that is the icing on the cake…or cookie in this case!
Best part? They’re plain old easy and simple. No complications here; just a basic recipe with amazing results. Oh sweet simplicity, you make my fall delicious.
A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:
If you don’t have a sweet tooth, you don’t have to frost these guys. They’re great on their own.
You have a lot of options for toppings. This Brown Sugar Frosting is my favorite, very complimentary of the cookies. But I also love a simple Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream, or if you’re looking to spice things up, try this Butterscotch Buttercream. You can even make a Brown Sugar Glaze by using just the brown sugar, 3 tbsp. of butter, the milk, and 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar. It sets up great!
Don’t overbake. You don’t want these browned, just set.
Want to really shake things up? Stuff these cookies with Candy Corn Golden Oreos! Get the recipe here.
These cookies freeze great in an airtight container.
You have to chill the dough, or these will be flat as a pancake.
Soft Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Sugar Frosting
Yield: about 30 cookies
Ingredients:
For the cookies Cookies adapted from Food.com
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Brown Sugar Frosting Frosting by The Smart Cookie Cook
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
5 – 6 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream butter and the sugars together until light and fluffy.
Blend in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour mixture on low-speed a little bit at a time. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour before continuing.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until puffed and set.
Let cool on trays for 2 minutes then transfer to wire racks. Let cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the frosting. In a medium saucepan, melt 4 tbsp. of the butter, the brown sugar, and the milk. Whisk frequently and break up the sugar. Bring to a boil and let cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Remove from heat immediately and whisk in vanilla and salt. Let cool to room temperature.
Put the remaining butter in a large mixing bowl and cream on medium speed for 1 minute. Pour in the brown sugar mixture and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Beat on medium speed with a hand mixer until well-mixed. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and beat in the rest of the sugar, 1 cup at a time. If you want the icing thicker, add the full 6 cups.
Frost the cooled cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
One thing I love about food is its unparallelled ability to make me smile. Keep your alcohol and keep your drugs; I just want a towering slice of cake. Say the word “deep-fried,” and watch me turn into a gleeful five year-old. Offer me some french fries, and see me jump for joy. Give me chocolate, and I’ll be your best friend.
There’s no quicker path to happiness than food. Sure, drugs and alcohol might give you a sense of bliss, but that stuff is going to take some time to set in. Food, on the other hand, will slap a smile on your face in a millisecond.
Case and point: this Turtle Cake. His smile is infectious (and edible). Just about everyone loves turtles, and just about everyone loves cake, which makes this turtle treat a double threat. One of those things is bound to appeal to you. And if you happen to not like turtles and/or cake, then I don’t think you have a soul, and we probably shouldn’t be friends.
Cake shaped like a turtle is enough to make anyone grin, but I’ll give you one more reason: you can make this. Yes, you can. It doesn’t matter if you’re a pastry chef or a boxed mix baker; this impressive and adorable cake is easy and on your level. All you need to do is bake the body in an oven-proof bowl, bake the feet & head in cupcake tins, frost, and decorate! There’s no complicated carving or fancy techniques necessary. And if you’re frightened by fondant, never fear. Just use store-bought and roll it out; it’s that easy! But if you’re still shaking in your pants, check out my alternative options in the tips below.
If all else fails and this little turtle isn’t enough to make you smile, then perhaps you’ll get a kick out of my epic fail at the end of my video. Check it out!
A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:
Make sure you catch the video above! The visual makes it much easier to understand how to put this cake together.
You can use a boxed cake mix if you promise to make homemade frosting. Store-bought is disgusting in comparison.
Butter & flour the heck out of your pans to be sure your cake comes out clean.
Don’t try to take your cakes out of the pans before they’re entirely cool or they’ll break into a million pieces. Trust me; I learned the hard way…
Work with the fondant quickly so it doesn’t dry out.
Afraid of fondant? As I mentioned above, you have a couple of alternatives:
You can use blue sprinkles on the shell portion to contrast the green.
You can frost the feet & head green, then frost the shell with chocolate frosting.
You can use food gel to draw on the shell tiles.
Turtle Cake By The Smart Cookie Cook
Ingredients:
1 batch of your favorite cake batter, boxed mix or homemade (I used my Funfetti recipe)
1 batch Vanilla Buttercream, recipe follows
Green food dye
Red food gel
2 candy eyes OR white + black food gel OR 2 M&M’s (for the eyes)
Brown fondant, or alternative (see tips above)
Special equipment: toothpicks, 1 1.5-quart oven-proof bowl like Pyrex, cupcake tin, pizza cutter
Directions:
Butter & flour the 1.5-quart bowl and 5 cupcake tins (or use liners for the cupcake tins). Prepare cake batter according to recipe directions. Fill bowl 2/3 then distribute remaining batter between the 5 cupcake tins, adding a bit more batter to one tin (this will be the head). Bake the bowl for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (the top may overbrown before the center cooks. Don’t worry; you can carve this off). Bake the cupcakes for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool pans on wire racks. Once the cakes are completely cooled, run a knife around the edges of the pans and flip the cakes out. If either the cake or cupcakes have round, domed tops, carve them off so they have a flat surface to sit on.
While the cakes cool, make the frosting: Vanilla Buttercream
Ingredients:
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream
In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, cream the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar, a little at a time, mixing on low speed. Mix until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another minute. Add vanilla, almond extract, cream, and several drops of green food dye and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more. Add more cream or powdered sugar if necessary to reach desired consistency, and add more green if you would like a more vibrant color.
Place the shell cake on whatever surface you plan to serve it on. Frost the round shell cake, smoothing out the frosting evenly.
Roll out the fondant as thin as possible. Use the pizza cutter to cut out large rectangles, then round the corners. Place the rectangles around the shell, making sure they adhere to the frosting.
Use two toothpicks to attach the head cupcake to the front of the body. Then use two toothpicks per cupcake to attach the feet. Place them evenly around the radius of the shell cake. Frost the head and feet as cleanly as possible, using a small knife like a butter knife. If you like, use a slightly damp paper towel to clean up where you got frosting on the fondant.
Use remaining fondant to cut out toes for the feet. Use a knife or the pizza cutter to cut. They should be shaped like ovals with flat bottoms.
Attach two candy eyes to the front of the head cupcake, or use the white and black food gel to draw eyes on. Use the red food gel to draw on a mouth.
Serve or store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Plain cupcakes are sweet and innocent, but filled cupcakes are down-right sinful.
They’re decadent, indulgent, and just a bit naughty. But it’s the kind of naughty you like to have a taste of every now and then. No matter who you are, doing something bad feels good sometimes. These cupcakes will give you that rebellious thrill, followed up by a pleasureful sugar rush.
Even the sweetest cupcakes have a taste of sin.
Allow me to introduce you to these naughty yet nice Dulce de Leche-Filled Cupcakes. They look innocent enough, but when you bite in, you’ll find they’re hiding a delicious little secret: smooth, creamy dulce de leche tucked away inside like liquid gold waiting to be uncovered. Everyone loves surprises, and a filled cupcake is no exception. There’s nothing quite as elating as tearing into a cupcake to find it’s filled with a sweet surprise.
It’s like Christmas morning!
My favorite moist and tender chocolate cake recipe is the perfect cradle for the velvety dulce de leche. I’ve tried many chocolate cake recipes in my years, and this is by far the best I’ve had. I’ve never seen such a perfect texture, or such a beautiful crumb. And the flavor is so delicious, intensely chocolatey with just the right amount of sweetness. You will not find anything better.
We’ve got to make these cupcakes one step more sinful, and the best way to do that is with a fluffy mountain of frosting. I’ve got not one, but two options for you today, both of which are incredible. The first is my favorite Fudge Frosting: rich, decadent, and oh-so fudgy. If you’re a chocolate lover, this is the stuff for you. Secondly, I have a fluffy Dulce de Leche Frosting which compliments the filling. It’s sweet and creamy, so divine I could eat it with a spoon (and I did).
Both frostings are pure, unadulterated bliss. Choose whichever you like, or make both. The crowd favorite at the office was the dulce de leche, but I found both to be delectable paired with the cupcakes.
My boss declared these “the best cupcakes ever.” If that doesn’t entice you to try them, I don’t know what will. Don’t fear the filling. Doing so is super easy. Just check out my quick how-to video if you don’t believe me. You’ve got no excuse not to partake in these indulgent little devils. Go ahead, be bad for a little.
A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:
Check out my video to see how easy it is to stuff a cupcake.
Think of all the filling possibilities: chocolate mousse, whipped cream, peanut butter, raspberry jam, the list goes on and on!
To make the frosting pretty, pipe it on using a ziplock bag. You can check out my French Toast Cupcakes video to see how to make a ziplock piping bag.
The cupcakes are less messy to carve after refrigeration.
I cut the original recipe in half and got about 2 dozen cupcakes. Feel free to double it if you need a lot.
Dulce de Leche-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients:
Chocolate cake recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1 cups water
1/2 cup canola oil
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1/4 cup regular cocoa powder
2 cups flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. + 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 16-oz. jar of dulce de leche (or make your own)
1 batch Dulce de Leche Frosting, recipe follows
OR
1 batch Fudge Frosting, recipe follows
Directions:
Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Fill two cupcake tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook the butter, water, and oil until butter is melted. Remove from heat and set aside. In a separate bowl, stir together the sugar, cocoa powders, and flour. Whisk in the butter mixture until completely smooth. Then whisk in the eggs one at a time, followed by the buttermilk. Finally, whisk in the baking soda, salt, and vanilla.
Fill the cupcake tins 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a bit of crumb. Let cupcakes cool in tins for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile, make your frosting of choice (see recipes below).
To fill the cupcakes: Angle a thin serrated knife and carve a cone-shaped piece from the center of each completely cooled cupcake, making sure not to cut through to the bottom and leaving a 1/2-inch radius around the sides. Your cut-out should be circular at the top and narrow at the bottom like a cone. As long as you tilt the knife while carving the circle of out the top, you’ll get your cone. You can dig out more with a spoon if you need, but do not scrape away the bottom or edges.
Fill the hole with a spoonful of ducle de leche. Cut off the narrow tip of the cone and place it back on top of the hole. Frost each cupcake once filled. You may do so with a knife or pastry bag. To make a ziplock pastry bag: Fill bag with frosting & work the frosting to the bottom of one corner. Twist off the top like you’re cutting off its circulation and cut off the corner of the bag, making the hole bigger or smaller based on how thick you want the piping to be. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes. Store in air-tight containers. If it is warm, store in the fridge and let come to room temperature before eating.
Fudge Frosting Adapted from Epicurious
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup half and half or cream
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Combine butter, 3/4 cup sugar, and the half and half in a large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture simmers. Remove from heat. Add both chocolates; whisk until smooth. Whisk in vanilla. Pour chocolate mixture into large bowl. Sift in powdered sugar; whisk to blend. Press plastic onto surface of frosting. Chill just until firm enough to spread, stirring occasionally, about 1 1/2 hours. Don’t over chill, or you won’t be able to spread it!
Dulce de Leche ButtercreamFrosting Adapted from Food Network
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream
1/4 cup dulce de leche (you should have enough left from the 16-oz. jar to fill the cupcakes)
In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, cream butter until fluffy. Add the sugar a little at a time, mixing on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
Add vanilla, dulce de leche, and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream or powdered sugar if necessary to reach desired consistency.
It’s Friday, and I’ve had one heck of a week. I won’t go into the details, but let’s just say it was rough, and I wasn’t in the greatest of moods most days. Friday, however, signals the end of the turmoil, and brings hope that perhaps next week will be better. For now, I intend to end my week with a bang, and to celebrate having gotten through it.
How do I celebrate any occasion? With cake of course! And we’re going to break out what’s possibly the most festive cake of all: Funfetti Cake!
I’m sure you’ve seen the boxed versions of this cake, but did you know how easy it is to make at home? All you do is add sprinkles to the cake batter. They melt while baking, leaving only their pretty colors behind. It’s magic! So we can skip the mediocricy of a boxed cake mix and add colorful splendor to an amazing homemade yellow cake. Be your own Betty Crocker! Or Dough Boy, if you prefer.
Besides being speckled with every color of the rainbow, this cake is so moist and delicious, with a tender crumb. It is my go-to yellow cake recipe because I can always count on it come out with the perfect texture. And don’t even get me started on that heavenly Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. It’s like a fluffy, creamy cloud of sugary-sweet divinity. It’s so light yet luscious, melting at the touch of your tongue. If the cake itself weren’t so delicious, I could easily eat the frosting alone.
Whether it’s your birthday, a party, a milestone, or just Friday, the colors and whimsy of this Funfetti Cake are sure to brighten any festivity. Kids and adults alike will adore seeing the rainbow speckles when you slice through what they thought was just a plain vanilla cake.
It doesn’t matter what age you are; funfetti is the bomb. Grab yourself a honkin’ slice and celebrate life.
A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:
You can add yellow food dye to the cake batter to make it look more, well, yellow.
Don’t overbake, or you’ll dry the cake out.
This frosting freezes well, FYI.
Use the parchment paper to line your cake pans! Why would you ever choose to stress yourself out over removing the cake from the pan when using parchment paper ensures that they’ll come out cleanly and perfectly?
4 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, well-shaken
3/4 cup rainbow sprinkles, plus more for garnish
For the Frosting: Frosting recipe adapted from Food Network
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 8×8-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment paper. Note: do not skip the parchment paper, or your cake won’t come out clean.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated. Stir in the sprinkles just until evenly distributed.
Distribute batter evenly between the cake pans. Bake just until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of each cake comes out clean, 30 to 45 minutes. Don’t overbake, or you’ll have dry cakes. Cool completely before removing from pans.
Make the frosting: In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
Add vanilla, almond extract, and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream or powdered sugar if necessary to reach desired consistency.
People possess very mixed opinions about Valentine’s Day. Generally, they tend to support on of the following opinions:
“Oh my god, I love Valentine’s Day! My boyfriend/girlfriend and I are so IN LOVE. I want everyone to know! Let’s eat chocolate and have an expensive dinner!” These people live for V-Day. Cupid got them bad. They can commonly be spotted adorning festive red and pink attire and jamming out to love songs.
“I hate Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day sucks. All you love birds make me sick. I’m going to go listen to depressing music and think about how much Valentine’s Day sucks.” The passionate hatred of Valentine’s Day associated with these people is usually attributed to a recently broken heart or a non-existent love life. I think everyone dips their feet into these waters at some point or another.
“Valentine’s Day is just a card store conspiracy. They just want to make us go buy cards and chocolate. It’s purely for the economy. You should show your love every day, not just because the calendar tells you to.” These people make a few good points, and they may be right, but it’s often times a bitter heart fueling these words rather than unbiased logic. Unless, of course, if you’re a man. Many men fall under this category. Not because they’re bitter, but because a holiday full of lovey-dovey pink and purpleness seems completely absurd in their opinion.
Which one are you? I ten to hover somewhere between 1 and 2. It’s hard not to feel a little bit of resentment towards a day that highlights one’s single status, but at the same time, I think it’s great to have a day that honors love. True, you should express your love every day, not just because of a holiday, but couldn’t the same be said for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day? I think having a special day allotted to such relationships is pure fun. Even if you lack a “lover” to spend Valentine’s Day with, surely you have someone you love to celebrate. Whether it be a friend, a sibling, your parents, or even your dog, show that special someone you care about them.
It just so happens that I have the perfect way to do so. Nothing says “I love you” quite like these Soft Sweetheart Sugar Cookies. Their heart shape is a universal sign of affection, plus pretty pink frosting and colorful sprinkles add to the overall festiveness. If you could bake love into cookie form, these would be it. Not only are their romantic aesthetics appropriate for Valentine’s Day, but baking them from scratch will show your loved one(s) you care more than any store-bought gift could.
Winter has finally fallen upon my home in CNY. I’m quite used to harsh winters here, but this year, it has taken Old-Man Winter a bit longer than usual to bestow his frozen wrath upon us. Well, the snow has finally hit us and the cold has settled in. At last, it feels like winter. Weather like this always brings to mind thoughts of frozen tundras, igloos, Antarctica, and the penguins who live in Antarctica. I decided I needed to recreate this wintery fantasy in an edible form, and so this Igloo Penguin Cake was born.
I love cake. I love penguins. Is there anything better than having them both in one place? This cake is absolutely adorable, almost too cute to eat. I say “almost” because the cake itself is too good to not eat. I could’ve used a boxed mix to make life a bit easier, but I am a scratch-baker, so I went for homemade. This Best Yellow Cake recipe is absolutely perfect. I never intended on stumbling upon the ideal yellow cake when I set out to build this igloo; I was merely looking for a base to build upon. However, what I found was an incredibly moist, fluffy, and delicious cake. The texture is perfect; the flavor is ideal. I will never bake another vanilla cake again.
Naturally, I employed my favorite Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream to cover this edible igloo. It’s smooth, easily spreadable, and undeniably delicious. I think it is truly the best frosting I’ve ever tried. So, between the delicious cake and the luscious buttercream, this winter wonderland confection is not only impressive to look at; it is heaven to eat as well.
This little Igloo Cake is the epitome of winter. It depicts an enchanted snow-covered scene on a chilly winter’s day, but the cute little penguins don’t seem to mind the cold at all. Although time-consuming to make, it’s not actually as difficult as it seems. The results are well-worth the time you put into this sweet, whimsical igloo.
Let’s establish something: I would not post a simple vanilla frosting recipe without an accompanying cookie or cake if it wasn’t something special. Typically I’d give you Sugar Cookies + Vanilla Buttercream or Banana Split Cake + Strawberry Buttercream. So what’s the occasion? Well, my little cookies, I have here for you my go-to Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream. I’ve tried others before, but this is by far my favorite. It is simple, and it is perfect.
