Category Archives: Cakes

Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Cake

I’m sitting at a coffee shop. BY MYSELF. My foot, however, is repetitively tapping the floor, because I just can’t shake the habit of constant movement: of rocking, of bouncing, of swinging my baby girl. I’m not going “back to work” in the traditional sense. I don’t have a 4o-hour-a-week job (And I likely won’t. Ever.) But that doesn’t mean I don’t work. I have photography and writing projects that allow me to help provide for our family. And in case you think this means I have it easy…these projects often result in me putting in 6o hours of work a week all while trying to take care of a 4-month old. It gets crazy hard.

And so we’re trying something new. My sweet cousin Laura is watching Lucy two mornings a week so I can steal away for six hours and work, uninterrupted, during the light of day.

But another thing I didn’t realize about motherhood was this: you never stop thinking about your baby, no matter if they’re with you or with someone you love.

And so here I am with images that need editing and with a chapter that needs writing and all I can think about is the way Lucy laughs. She laughs now, and its the best sound in the world.

We made this Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Cake together last weekend. She sat in her bouncer and watched me work. This is how it often goes: she works with me, it takes twice as long, and it’s exhausting but also wonderful to watch her soak up these creative processes that make up my job. This cake is the best of two desserts: gingerbread and chocolate cake. Moist, dense, and full of deep flavor, each slice is meant to be savored on a cold winter day with a hot cup of coffee or tea by your side. The white chocolate drizzle is optional (but totally delicious). I used organic cake mix and pudding mix (but you can use the regular stuff…much easier to find!)

Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Cake

1 box chocolate cake mix

1 box instant pudding mix

4 eggs

1 tablespoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 cup dark molasses

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup brewed coffee (or water)

1 cup mini chocolate chips

White Chocolate Drizzle

4 ounces white chocolate

4 teaspoons heavy cream

Coat a 10-cup bundt pan with baking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients except chocolate chips (yes, just mix them all together!). Beat for two minutes, or until smooth. Pour into prepared bundt pan and bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes or until cake pulls away slightly from pan and springs back when touched.

Allow to cool for fifteen minutes before inverting on a wire rack.

Once cake has fully cooled, make white chocolate drizzle. Melt white chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments, stirring well after each. Drizzle over completely cooled cake and enjoy!

Monet

Anecdotes and Apple Cores

Very Hungry Caterpillar

Never fear, I’m doing much better now. Thanks to everyone who read and responded to my overly emotional post on Monday. Your words were little rays of light, as always.

We’ve been busy around the homestead, prepping for Lucy’s first BIG trip. We’re flying to Houston on Saturday so we can introduce baby Lucy to the original Lucy, my sweet maternal grandmother. I’m partially excited, partially terrified. Right now, traveling with a newborn seems about as easy as giving birth.

So in light of our impending travels, I’m sharing this bright and fun birthday cake (in hopes that it will bolster my courage!). This was the first cake I’ve decorated since last fall, when I was in the middle of my first trimester. Decorating cakes while in the thick of morning sickness isn’t fun, but decorating cakes with a newborn is an entirely different type of challenge! This Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake was delivered to a birthday party on Sunday for two very lovely little girls. I hope they enjoyed it…and you know I’m already plotting and planning for Lucy’s first birthday fete!

In the past, I’ve used rather expensive food dyes to color my cakes, but with a tight budget and timeline this year, I was thrilled to find that McCormick food colors worked wonderfully! Not only was I able to find them easily at the grocery store, but I loved how I was able to emulate Eric Carle’s overlapping layers of color in the caterpillar’s body. I used this standard pack of colors, which allows for an impressive variety of shades if you’re willing to mix and experiment (and isn’t that the best part?).

I wish I could tell you an exact formulation for this colorful fondant caterpillar, but I had too much fun experimenting to keep track of how many drops of food color I used. What I can tell you is this: a little goes a long way and these colors work great for fondant and frosting.

Monet

Anecdotes and Apple Cores

Cornmeal Cake with Honey Apricot Frosting

My dear friend is having our family over for dinner on Saturday night, and she’s making what I’m sure will be a delectable feast. We chatted this morning, exchanging quick messages as I tried to keep Lucy content and she multi-tasked at work. Such is life with a newborn. I wish I had more time to dedicate to long letters and lengthy lunches. But instead, I try my best with the little time Lucy does allow, and I pray that my friends will continue to be gracious.

She told me she’s making a cornmeal cake for our dessert, and the mere thought of what was to come got me hankering to bake. I browsed online for inspiration and happily took out my pans and bowls a few hours later. While Lucy slept (she took a 2 1/2 hour nap today) I made this cake. The cake itself is moist and sweet. With a 1/2 cup of cornmeal, the batter has a rich golden hue and tastes faintly of your grandmother’s cornbread. The frosting is simple and came together in minutes. Butter, powdered sugar, dried apricots,honey, and my secret ingredient: sour cream. Sour cream gives the frosting a lovely consistency while also cutting back on some of the sweetness.

But what I like about this cake the most was how elegant it looked upon completion. With Lucy, I’m in need of cakes that present beautifully without a lot of time or fuss. All this cake required was a good serrated knife and a few hefty globs of frosting. I put her in one of my vintage cake stands and called it a day.

Cornmeal Cake with Honey Apricot Frosting

1/2 cup stone ground corn meal

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease two 6-inch cake pans and line with parchment paper. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Divide batter between two prepared cake pans. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until cake is a rich golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove cakes from oven and allow to cool ten minutes before removing from pan. Allow the cakes to COMPLETELY cool on a wire rack before cutting or frosting.

To make frosting, cream together butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add in sour cream and honey. Cream until well combined. Fold in dried apricots.

To assemble cake: cut each cooled cake in half. Place one half on serving plate. Cover with a generous coat of frosting. Repeat with two more layers and cover the final layer with a hefty dose of frosting on top. (You will have on extra layer…you can snack on it now or later). Enjoy!

Monet

Anecdotes and Apple Cores

Lemon Rosemary Pound Cake AND Stitch and Saw Giveaway!

Seven years ago this October, I fell in love with my husband. It was a cool fall, one that promised snow plows and winter coats to come. In many ways, our dating relationship was effortless. We fell in love quickly and never looked back.

Together, we traveled to Spain and Portugal, Paris and London. We got married in a tiny church in Manitou Springs. We lost a father, a sister, and a nephew together. We ate breakfast tacos in Austin, bagels in New York, and lobsters in Maine. We learned to love each others families as our own. We ran through the rain together. We swam in the ocean together. And then we had our bright baby girl this June. Our greatest adventure for sure.

But perhaps, most importantly, we learned how to celebrate the others’ unique talents. Ryan pushed me to pursue my MFA in Creative Writing, and he helped me deliver wedding cake after wedding cake in Austin. He encourages me in small and big ways every day. So it is with much pleasure that I share some of my husband’s beautiful jewelry and offer the opportunity for one of my readers to win a pendant of their own.

Ryan has entered American Made, a contest that “spotlights the maker, supports the local, and celebrates the handmade.” Starting today, you can vote for Stitch and Saw in the Craft Section of American Made. Winners are determined entirely by popular vote…every click counts! Not only does this give Ryan the opportunity to win 10,000 dollars as well as a feature in Martha Stewart, but it also offers nation-wide exposure. We’re both excited for what this contest might bring.

In Ryan’s own words:

Vanilla Buttercream

I’m 40 weeks + 2 days. Wildfires have filled our normally clean Colorado air with smoke. Walking is far less enjoyable when a) you feel like your stomach is about to burst and b) you can’t escape the smell of thousands of acres burning. Sleeping is also far less enjoyable when a) your house is a balmy 80 degrees due to no AC and the inability to open windows (smoke) and b) you’re 40 weeks + 2 days pregnant.

If it seems like I’m complaining here, you’re right.

But it doesn’t take me long to go back to early fall. To the weeks and the months that we waited and tried and hoped that somehow my body would “fix” itself and we would be able to conceive. It doesn’t take me long to remember that day in the fertility clinic, where we first saw our baby girl, a small blob on a grey screen. We had walked in that morning expecting to hear how much money it would cost to go through treatment…the likelihood of treatment working…and the toll treatment might take on my body. This would be the second fertility clinic we tried that year, and so we had a fairly good idea of what our initial appointment would look like. But instead, we walked out that morning with the secret knowledge that something miraculous had already started inside of me. It was and will always be the most perfect October day.

And so even though I’m sore and tired and grouchy this morning, I’m also thankful that each day holds the promise of a miracle.

I made these cakes during the earliest weeks of my pregnancy, days before I knew how much my life would change. I made wedding cakes in Austin and my vanilla buttercream won most if not all of my clients. Forever rid of powdered sugar, my kitchen whipped up batches of this rich and creamy french buttercream. It’s a recipe that every serious baker needs to try (but i warn you…once you do…you’ll never go back).

Vanilla Buttercream

6 egg yolks

1/2 cup corn syrup (this is NOT high-fructose, so don’t be alarmed)

3/4 cup sugar

4 sticks butter, cut into small pieces and chilled

2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon of salt

Whip the egg yolks in a large bowl with an electric mixer of medium-high speed until slightly thickened and pale yellow, 4 to 6 minutes.

Meanwhile (and really, this has to be done concurrently for the recipe to work), bring the sugar and the corn syrup to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Then, while the sugar mixture is still hot, turn the mixer to low and slowly pour the the warm sugar syrup into the whipped egg yolks without hitting the sides of the bowl or the beaters (this is the hardest part…don’t worry if it isn’t perfect). Increase the mixer to high and whip the mixture until light and fluffy and the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (8-10 minutes).

Reduce the mixer to medium-low and add the vanilla extract and salt. Gradually add the butter, one piece at a time, until completely incorporated. Increase the mixer to medium-high and whip until the buttercream is smooth and silky, about two minutes. Use immediately or store. The buttercream can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 3 days. Let the buttercream stand at room temperature for 1-2 hours before rewhipping.