I really need to learn how to frost

I really do need to learn how to frost.

I did it... (and yes, I cheated)

it's not even my birthdayyy

I have finally made a decent cake. It was delicious. Yes, my goal this year was to make a cake and be able to frost it in at least a presentable way. I was obsessed with Ombre Cakes because they just look so awesome, so hence that's what I made. And it came out pretty decent.

Yet, I cheated. Haha. I made the Chocolate cake from scratch, but I cheated on the Vanilla cake. Yes, I used a box mix. But at least it was an all natural box mix from Fresh & Easy. I did compare their mix with like Betty Crocker's, and they don't have any weird chemicals in their mix. Super. My goal was to get the hang of frosting the cake, plus I was suppressed on time, I had to make one of the cake layers from a box. 

6 hours in the kitchen = tired.

So for the chocolate cake, I used the recipe from Sprinkle Bakes' book and it came out excellent. The cake was super moist. It really tasted like Devil's Food Cake from a box without being from a box. Super impressed. I, of course, did some tweaked to the recipe, instead of using buttercream liquid, I used the powdered version and substituted the fluid with, wait for it, Chocolate Lovers Creme de Coco Wine. It came out divine.

The original recipe makes 2 9" round cakes, but I only made one, so the rest of the batter was divided in the cupcakes. And that even made 18 cupcakes... so pretty much I recipe of the cake makes 36 cupcakes. Dank! As for the Vanilla cake mix, I split the batter in half and colored one half with chocolate paste to create a mocha like color. 

As for frosting, since my friends who came over requested chocolate cake, I decided to make Whipped Chocolate Ganache, also from Sprinkle Bakes's book. It's soo rich, it's awesome

Another cheat that I did was I had some frostings left from the graduation cupcakes, I decided to use them for the chocolate cupcakes from the cake batter. It came out pretty darn good.

Whipped Cream Cheese, Strawberry Lambrusco Buttercream & Whipped Chocolate Ganache

Hard work paid off because both friends & my brother loved the cake. There's a lot of learning to do regarding frosting technique & how to move the cake from the turning stand to the cake stand (I damaged some parts of the cake haha), but other than that, the cake was delish.

On the other hand, my friends and I were talking over cake about New York City, and we did a secret handshake and devoted ourselves to live in NYC one day all together. Haha... We're crazy. Heather will be in NYC in July and begged to make a trip there with her. Gabz & I started dreaming and planning and got excited and decided to join too. Unfortunately my schedule didn't fit with Heather's trip, but we both booked an NYC trip (just like seconds ago) a couple of days after Heather goes back to Cali (SORRY MY LOVE!!!). I love that city so much, I wanna marry it. Kidding.

This is one spontaneous purchase/trip, but I'm so excited. I can't wait to explore New York again. Haha, 3 times the charm (this will be 3 years in a row!!)

My goal in NYC is to explore more, especially West Village, East Village, SoHo & Chelsea/Meatpacking District, and also Brooklyn (where we'll be staying). And try as much as possible foods from this list. Aaaaa, forget dieting. 

moonbeams & exciting bunny kisses,

Food Time: Blue Velvet Cake with Strawberry & Cream Cheese Frosting

So I got lucky and had a 4 day weekend for Memorial Weekend. Pretty rare but awesome. After recuperating and relaxing with my love, Rob, after he left on Monday, I decided to bake. And this time I challenged myself to make a cake. Man, it's pretty different that cupcake. The frosting part was pretty difficult to me. Mind you, the recipe calls for 2 9" round cake. The first cake became weird and failed :( So I was left with only 1 9" round cake... Hence, a short cake. And I wasn't patient enough for the cake to cool down completely (I should've just let it cool then put it in the fridge) and I frosted it. It's hard to frost a soft cake! Damn! Haha... You learn from the first right?

As for the recipe, I follow the exact way that Sprinkle Bakes did hers. For the cupcakes, it bakes for 25 - 30 min, but for the cake, I baked it for about 35 - 40 minutes. Use your own judgement. Since I did no adjustments, you can click here for the recipe.

As for me, I had left over strawberries waiting to rot (hah), I decided to slice them and layered them in the cake with the frosting. It became a Red, White & Blue Cake! Perfect timing for Memorial Day.

Excuse my frosting technique. This is my first time so hence the blue crumbs in the frosting, haha. I'm really more for the taste versus the look. But of course, presentation is a biggie. I SHALL LEARN!

Red, White & Blue!

Shortie

I really need to take cake decor classes!

My friend, Marilyn, stopped by because I told her I had cake. I gave her 1/2 of the cake! Haha... Since no one at home is a big cake fan, I might kill this cake myself. The cake is so moist, it got me giddy. I used that Baking Strip that my friend, Gloria, recommended... and it did work! My cake baked evenly without the dome too! I highly recommend that thing!

Well at least I crossed another thing on my 12 things List this year. Yay.

moonbeams & bunny kisses,

Food Time: Under 2 Minutes Nutella Chocolate Cake

FIRST THINGS FIRST: SORRY for the poor quality of the pictures. I was too excited to make this, I was like, "I don't care" when I was snip-snapping my iPhone to take the pictures.

Anyhoo... Are you one of those people who are too tired after work, BUT crave for something awesome as a reward without wracking your wallet? (I sound like a bad marketing person). Whatevs, but I was so happy when I stumbled upon this recipe online. The little baker in me wants to make something, but since I'm on-call for work, I can't make a full-on cupcake entry (imagine the disaster, mid-mixing, getting a call from work to come in!). So I browsed around (hello, Google) and found this amazing recipe. Great thing was that the ingredients are common in anyone's own kitchen, no need to get anything special.

Are you excited? I was excited. The awesome part was that the cake came out YUMMY. You can't complain eating a fresh "baked" cake out of a MICROWAVE. Yes, the mighty microwave. Gotta love the power of the micro. 

These are the perfect cake for us women when we're in the PMS time of the month. Craving for chocolate? Let's go. Get your whisk and bowl and mix this baby in 30 seconds, pop it in the microwave, and INDULGE. Trust me, I'm in that moment now and this made me & my nerves happy.

FYI: Serves 1-2. Awww yeaa... Portion control!

Warning: As mention by the source, this recipe calls for 1 egg. Yes, it gets cooked in a microwave, but maybe not long enough to fully cook the egg. The longer you cook the cake, the drier it gets. So make them at your own risk. Make sure you know the source of your eggs to prevent any salmonella exposure. Other than that, try it. 

This beats my PMS habit of eating a spoonful (or two) of Nutella cream. 

Under 2 Minutes Nutella Chocolate Cake

adapted from Bake to the Roots

You will need (and rejoice!):

• 1 tablespoon Nutella
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 heaping tablespoon flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• optional: you may add 1/8tsp of Cinnamon if you want that kick.

1. In a bowl, dump all the ingredients and whisk all the way until the batter is fully mix. Important!

2. Grab a ramekin (I used a medium size one; if you have small ones, grab 2. Please do share!), grease it and pour batter in to it. You can even use any ceramic coffee mug. Cute, huh?

3. Microwave ramekin(s) on 70% power for about 30 seconds. You will see the batter rise like lava (don't freak out!). If you think the batter is not fully cook yet, add 10 seconds more. As a reminder, the more you add seconds, the drier the cake will be. 

4. ENJOY. Dollop them with whipped cream, cream cheese, chocolate syrup, leftover frosting, ice cream (!!!) or anything. In my case, I had tapioca pudding, and I was like, "meh, that will do!"

Once again I'm sorry for the poor picture quality. Other than that, NO REGRETS. Hahaha.

moonbeams & bunny kisses,

Rima