Foolish Morsel

I had some blueberries that looked like they had about one more meal left in them before they completely shriveled up, so I made my boys pancakes this morning!  I used a recipe from Recipezaar, and although it only made 7 pancakes (I like to freeze some, I don’t always have time every morning to make them fresh), they were some of the yummiest I’ve had, and, I had, three…not like me at all…time to run another mile…The boys each had two, I didn’t even see them go!  I add the berries (washed and dried) about a minute into cooking, so a bit before the tops of the cakes get “dry” and the bubbles *pop*…

all photos ©andi butler

what the boys got…

what I got…just buttah…

yum!  you can’t see them well, but lots of holes…very light and fluffy!

no complaints…

I don’t even think they spoke much…

I just can’t bring myself to throw stuff away, especially when it’s chocolate!  I had some buttercream and whipped ganache leftover (see the post below) and decided some cuppies were in order!  Again, I used a recipe from the Whimsical Bakehouse, their chocolate cupcake recipe. It’s not too sweet, and paired wonderfully with the frosting and ganache filling (everyone knows, I just like to say the word, ganache)! I then grated a bit of chocolate for the top, just for some lil’ sprinkles…I was also able to try out the daisy cupcake pan that my little men gave me for Mother’s Day! Okay, I picked it up for them to give to me, but that’s okay, because when they’re older, I know they’ll come through on their own, especially when the resulting “thank you” is food!

all photos ©andi butler

Today I made a cake for one of Owen’s preschool teachers.  It’s her husband’s 50th birthday, and he is very into his Harley…I had everything so organized and coordinated, but a series of events lead me to have to make the chocolate decorations this morning (I’d made everything else last night, and usually make the chocolates the night before as well) so I spent all day making them and didn’t even have the time to make  everything I wanted to use!  It looks a bit bare to me, but what matters is the taste!  It’s outstanding, I have to say!  I used the Butter Chocolate Cake, Kaye’s Buttercream (adding 2-3 oz of semisweet chocolate for every cup of buttercream) and Chocolate Ganache filling (between the cake and the buttercream: eight sticks of butter!) from the Whimsical Bakehouse…I’ve made a few tasty things out of their book, and not been disappointed yet!!  The chocolate was a bit thick for me today, and got a bit squiggley when I used the disposable piping bags, and I don’t use tips for it, so I don’t know what happened (cold metal tips harden the chocolate on the way out).  But I do know, I’ve got to get cellophane!!  

all photos ©andi butler

oooh, chocolate buttercream and chocolate ganache!

ganache getting the whip…

my sous chef…

layer one…

yum!  i couldn’t trim the top one flat as it didn’t rise properly and I wouldn’t have had enough of a layer…grrr…

chocolate!

liam had put a finger in the cake…can you guess where?

owen and i had a good time with the “scraps”…oh m’gawd…chocolate buzz…i “buttered” the scraps of cake with a bit of buttercream…owen never eats the cake part usually, this time, there was nothing left!

I know this isn’t a cake, but pizza is technically baked, right?  My Owen, making pizza.  We used dough, cheese and sauce from Trader Joe’s…Love that place!  Poor Liam missed out on everything!  

I’ve been trying one hundred and seven different ways to comment on Bake and Destroy, but I can’t get in!  : ) So, I’ll comment here, the vegan cuppies look faboo, and I’m mega jealous of your new six quart kitchen aid! Still got my fiver, I hope to upgrade soon!  Know anyone with the Cuisinart 7 quart?  I’d like to know how they like it!

a : )

For my friend’s daughter’s Daisy Meeting…Yellow cake (packaged, yes, did I add a little sumpthin’ to make it my own?  shhh, yes!) with chocolate mousse filling, whipped cream cheese frosting, chocolate daisies…Boy the nonpareils make a mess!

a : )

For Mother’s Day!  Owen was very excited…Me too!   

My friend David painted this for me for my birthday, is there anything more adorable than Boris?  Love him!!  Thank you so much!!  Such beautiful art from my friends, the best gifts I could ever hope to receive, truly wonderful!

©david barneda

I love my cake!  Thank you so much, Willie, you’re a sweetie and a half!

©willie baronet

Today I made Red Velvet Cupcakes, and you’ll look at the snapshots and say “those aren’t really red.”  You’re right, they’re not, because I didn’t want to put red food coloring in the batter (anyone with boys should be able to tell you that food dyes aren’t the best thing for them), and I searched high and low for a recipe that used beets, as I’d heard that was the authentic way to do it, and found one here.  Let me just say, these minis taste outstanding!!  And because cream cheese frosting with pecans is a traditional way the large cake is served, that’s what I did with these minis, however, the cake got a bit lost with the frosting, it’s delicate and earthy, so next time I’ll use less…These are actually super yummy without frosting!  Oh, and the batter, there was a ton of it, definitely could make three nine inch cakes!!