Baking with Love...always makes it better!

First let me just say a HUGE sorry for not being consistent with posting. I have many excuses for not writing, sickness, tiredness, laziness, and many more...
I have missed posting, but apparently not enough to actually write these past 3 weeks.=)  Instead of trying to remember all the details from the previous baking endeavors, I will only write about one and then in the end include all the recipes from what I have been trying.
I am quite careful to not write too personal things in this public blog, even though in person I am very personal and deep, I choose to refrain here. However, I want to share a little about a friend of mine that I work with...

Rose and I doing some of her training

Some of you may be wondering why the heck am I writing about a friend, when I am supposed to be writing about cakes for goodness sake?! Well my little friend actually had a birthday in which I baked for. Let me introduce my friend, her name is Rose and she is (as of Monday) four years old. I met Rose when she was about two and a half. Rose was born with a brain handicap and requires some special training (called Pattening) to help stimulate her brain and body to work together. Without exposing too much of my little friend, I will just say that I have really enjoyed my learning experience with her training, as well as, getting to know Rose. When her mom asked me to make a "big" cake for her fourth birthday, I was honored, because I knew this cake would be made with love from my heart. I mean I really love to bake anyhow, but when it's for a special friend, there is a connection that goes beyond just baking a regular cake. First step was to think of what kind of cake to make, I did not want to make a cake that I hadn't made before. Call me crazy...but that's how I role, I love trying new things and sharing them with new people and old friends. So I came up with a simple idea of making a delicious white cake (which I have made before...oh well), slicing it in half, filling the middle with strawberry jam and cream, putting the two pieces together and covering the whole thing with whipped cream and strawberries. In my head it tasted and looked great! Second step was to buy the ingredients, third step was to bake it, fourth step was to slice it, fill it and put it back together and the final step was the cream cover and sliced strawberries. I confess I totally had my husband help me to slice this big cake and then assemble it back together. In those moments, I am not the most calm person, I am usually stressed that the cake will fall apart and then I get irritated at my poor love who is just there to help me. Anyway...that aside...the cake did turn out just as lovely as I imagined and I attribute that to baking with love. I was so proud to deliver this special cake to my little friend and I was really excited to try it. My first bite made my mouth long for more and more...it was heavenly. I think my friend Rose also enjoyed her birthday cake, as well as the other guests that were present.

Rose and her mom Toryn at her b-day party!

At this moment my kitchen is filled with smells of lemon and almond flavors. I am currently baking a Lemon Pound Cake, found on thepioneerwoman.com. I hope it tastes as good as it smells. This recipe is super easy and doesn't take too much time to whip up. If you enjoy lemony things, I would suggest you give this one a shot.

Below are pictures from Rose's birthday cake and recipes of some super yummy goodies.

Until my next post (hopefully not more than a week away), enjoy your spring!

Barefoot and Baking in the kitchen

Ingredients for the cake












Whipping the eggs until they are like meringue












Should have soft peaks

Light and fluffy eggs and sugar

Adding sour cream

Adding flour

Adding the meringue mixture

Cake batter ready to be baked

Whipped cream for the middle filling

Strawberries (yes I used frozen...as the season for
strawberries is not here yet)

Cake sliced in two...product of the hubby!

More of the sliced cake, it's a bit uneven, but it worked

Strawberry jam and whipped cream mixed for the
inside filling

Becomes silky smooth and tastes incredible...
hard not to eat it by the spoon fill.

Spread on the bottom sheet of cake

















Both sheets now put together and the white blob
in the middle is some extra cream. Cover a little hole.

Covering the top with cream.

All covered

Strawberries atop

Being creative!












These strawberries stayed on the side, thanks to
a tip my hubby gave, to dry off the defrosted berries.
When you defrost strawberries, they are really hard
to work with, but drying them each off and each
sliver really worked. In the end, I suggest fresh
strawberries!

Presented at the birthday party. To give it a real
spring feeling I placed thimble weed (hardly looks
like a weed) around.

Recipe for Heavenly Cake:

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups sifted cake flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 C Strawberries

Directions

1. Measure sifted flour, baking powder, and salt; sift together three times.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add 1/2 cup sugar gradually, and continue beating only until meringue will hold up in soft peaks.
3. Cream butter or margarine. Gradually add remaining 1 cup sugar, and cream together until light and fluffy. Add sifted ingredients alternately with milk a small amount at a time, beating after each addition until smooth. Mix in flavorings. Add meringue, and beat thoroughly into batter. Spread 1/2 batter in a 15 x 10 x 1 inch pan then spread cut strawberries on top and then pour rest of batter.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 35 minutes. Cool cake in pan 10 minutes, then remove from pan and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. This cake may also be baked in two 9 inch round pans for 30 to 35 minutes, or in three 8 inch round pans for 25 to 30 minutes.

Recipe for Lemon Pound Cake:

Ingredients

• 2 sticks Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
• ½ cups Butter Flavored Crisco
• 3 cups White Sugar
• 5 whole Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Almond Extract
• 2 Tablespoons Lemon Extract
• 2 Tablespoons Lemon Zest
• 3 cups All Purpose Flour, Sifted
• 1 cup Skim Milk ( I substituted sour cream instead, because I don't like to use milk, I think it's too dry)

Preparation Instructions

Use a stand mixer for this batter!!
Prepare a bundt pan by greasing it with a bit of shortening and sprinkling in a bit of flour. Cover all the surfaces with a very fine layer of flour – shake out excess. DO NOT PREHEAT THE OVEN!
1. Cream together the butter, Crisco and sugar until fluffy.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated.
3. Add extracts and zest.
4. Into the creamed mixture, alternately add the flour and milk, ending with the flour (I do three flour additions and two milk).
Spoon the batter into the pan, distributing it evenly. Once all the batter is in the pan lift the pan and drop it on the counter once to remove the air bubbles. Place the pan on an oven rack in the center of your oven. Turn the oven on to 275 degrees F and let the cake bake for 90 minutes. When you pull it out make sure to let it rest for 10 minutes before inverting it onto a cooling rack. You can choose to glaze the cake, but I love the crispy crust without a glaze!


Recipe for Sticky chocolate brownie muffins with fudge and coconut:
Okay just a quick side note....this is seriously one of the best things I have ever tasted and baked. It deserves it's own post, but I made it over 3 weeks ago and so I can't remember all the things from that endeavor. I do remember that it was amazing and rich (so rich, my hubby and I couldn't eat our whole muffin in one sitting and it sat in the fridge for several days being nibbled on by us.) Absolutely a winner! Try it and serve it to friends, I promise you will woo and win them over with this delectable goodness. 

Ingredients for muffins:

3/4C butter/margarine (softened)
4 eggs
2C sugar
1C flour
1C shaved coconut
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 pinch of salt
1/3C cocoa powder

Fudge sauce:

1/3C chopped chocolate pieces
1/8C butter/margarine
2 tbsp. light syrup
1/4C whipping cream

Blend together the eggs and sugar, do not over beat it. Mix in butte. Blend together the dry ingredients and mix together with other mixture. Fill muffin forms with batter. I used a big muffin form so this recipe only made 6, but it can also make 12. Bake 8-10 minutes (not more). In a saucepan, bring to boil, butter syrup and cream, remove from the stove and stir in the chocolate pieces. Drizzle sauce over muffins before serving, muffins should be cooled a little, so that the sauce can stay on top when you serve it. Adding some strawberries slices makes the whole experience even better! Enjoy.