Birthday Boy (Cup)Cake #3

Since I didn't think two cakes were enough for my brand new husband on his birthday, I needed to whip up a third cake. Cupcakes!

After sending him to work with a Giant Cupcake Cake on his birthday and making the most decedent cake ever for the birthday dinner party, I made the yummiest mini cupcakes for the Saturday night birthday party with all our friends. (Said party may have involved piñatas. Like any nearly-30-year-old's party should.)

I made 100 mini cupcakes. There were 10 left at the end of the night. And those may have been eaten for breakfast the following day. Maybe. Definitely.

These cupcakes are the perfect mixture of salty and sweet. A sweet brown sugar cake that is delicious all on its own is topped with a buttery, not-so-sweet Italian buttercream frosting swirled with homemade caramel sauce. A sprinkle of rock sea salt and a caramel square make it pretty much impossible to only eat one. I have a whole guest list that will attest to this.

These salted caramel cupcakes are my go-to cupcake when I want to really impress someone. They are just so perfect.

Birthday Boy Cake #2

Mr. G had already gotten cake #1, which he took to work. Cake #2 was for the birthday dinner party we hosted for Mr. G's family.

This was quite the meal. I attempted to make almost everything from scratch. (First dinner for the new in-laws in our new place is kinda a big deal.) The lasagna had homemade sauce and homemade ricotta cheese (super easy and yummy!). The caesar salad had homemade dressing and croutons (eh on the dressing). I was going to attempt to make the noodles and bread from scratch, but decided that I should put the effort into the cake.

There is a New York style pizza place where we live that Mr. G is obsessed with. And they sell this devils food cake cheesecake. It goes something like this:

Layer of devils food cake
Layer of ganache
Whole cheesecake
Layer of ganache
Layer of devils food cake
Layer of ganache
Layer of devils food cake
Covered in ganache frosting
Topped with chocolate shavings

Need a picture:

Birthday Boy Cake #1

I'm not sure who enjoyed Mr. G's birthday more, him and all the people who got to eat three different types of cakes or me who got to make three varieties!

Mr. G's birthday fell on a Thursday this year so for his actual birthday I sent him to work with a Cupcake Cake in his favorite flavor: yellow cake with chocolate frosting. The cake was sweet, buttery, and moist. It paired perfectly with the almost mousse-like chocolate frosting. I may have even baked up some extra mini-cupcakes to take to my office. Said cupcakes may not have lasted long.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Apparently Valentine's Day isn't a real holiday, or at least not one Mr. G's school recognizes. So instead of celebrating our first married Valentine's Day with a fancy dinner or the like, I am at home taking care of the animals, catching up on the dvr, and doing some work while Mr. G sits through his Calculus class. Romantic, huh?

4-Cheese Mac n' Cheese

I have been talking about making homemade mac n’ cheese for awhile. There is something so comforting and yummy about mac n’ cheese that is made from scratch and then baked in the oven with a crispy breadcrumb topping.

After googling around a little bit looking for the right recipe none jumped out at me. Then I had the idea to use goat cheese! About a year ago, I went through a phase where I was using goat cheese a lot but I don’t  think I had even bought any in the past 6 months.

Goat cheese is pretty popular, so I thought I would be able to find a good one online. Not so much, they were all meh.

So I decided that I would just go to the store and pick some different cheeses and go from there. I left the store with: goat cheese, fontina, and sharp cheddar. I had asiago and parmesan at home. This was going to be good.

Superbowl: Car Bomb Trifle

One of my favorite cooking blogs is Smitten Kitchen. Not only do I really like reading her blog, it is also my first stop when looking for a good recipe for a baked good from scratch. About two years ago she made Car Bomb Cupcakes and since I am always a fan of adding alcohol to baked goods, I had to try it. Guinness cake, whiskey ganache filling, topped with Bailey’s Irish Cream frosting? How could that not be amazing?

The first time I found the recipe it was just in time for Superbowl so I whipped some up for the party we were going to. I don’t think there were any left by the end of the game. They were clearly a big hit then, and every time I made them again. I even modified it to make a gigantic cupcake cake since bigger is better.

Last year I made them for the Superbowl again. I wasn’t sure I wanted to make them again this year. I mean they are great, but I like to expand and try new things.

Salad Cookies

Oatmeal is good for you. Fruit is good for you. That means if cookies are made with oatmeal and (dried) fruit, they must be good for you! Obviously. One of my really good friends from college and I decided that oatmeal raisin cookies should really just be called salad cookies, since they are basically health food. 

For our wedding I made a bunch of cookies to put in goodie bags for our guests who came from out of town and stayed in the hotel. (Out of town bags for anyone familiar with that wedding planning term.) "Salad Cookies" were one of the type of cookies included. 

When I got a facebook message from my cousin the other day asking for the recipe for the cookies because her mother had been raving about the cookies when she got home from our wedding I was more than happy to oblige.