Petal Cake

I have seen this decorating techinique several times in the past few months and just couldn't wait for an opportunity to try it out.  Mother's Day was the perfect day for it!

I think it is just soooooo pretty - and it's ridiculously simple. 

All you need is a piping bag with a open tip  - I used Wilton 199, which has little ridges around the edges.  You could certainly use just a plain open tip also and have smooth edges to your petals. 

Check out how easy this is.

Start with a layer cake, at least 2 layers high. 

Give it a light crumb coat of frosting - just a thin layer to cover the whole cake. I used just basic buttercream (2 sticks of softened butter, mixed with 4-1/2 cups powdered sugar, a dash of salt, 3-4 Tablespoons of milk or cream, 2 t. vanilla extract, and 1/4 t. almond extract).

Then you get to start piping. 

Pipe four (or more if your cake is higher) dots in a straight line.  Like so.

Okay, so my line was slightly crooked.  It didn't matter much. 

Then you take your offset spatula or a small spoon and just press into the dots, sliding the spatula away from the nice little edge you just made.  Continue piping and pressing the dots in lines all around the cake.

When you get back to where you started, you can't exactly smooth the last petals out, because you'll spoil the first petals.  So it's a little messy.  That's okay - if you put that side of the cake at the back, no-one will ever know.  And you might figure out a better way to make it pretty than I did.  This was my first try.

Then you do the top  - start at the outside edge and pipe the dots around in circles until you get to the middle and the cake is covered. 

Isn't that pretty? 

It made me smile just to look at it.


Linked to Trick or Treat Tuesday, Ultimate Recipe Swap: Birthday Cake Round-up

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Do you wanna know how to make your kids happy?

Tell them you're making cake for breakfast.

Works for me! 

This cake is just wonderful - it's sweet (but not too much so, although I think I'll reduce the sugar next time by a quarter cup just to reduce calories- we'll probably not even notice) and tender and chock full of blueberries (I always use frozen and they work out great) and I bet it would work just as well with raspberries or blackberries too.

I hate to admit it, but between my 4 (eating) kids and myself, we can pretty much put away this entire thing in one morning.  Yes, those are humongous servings.  I should probably supplement our breakfast with some other fruit or something else so we don't eat so much cake. 

Maybe next time. 

Ha. 
Recipe: adapted from Finding Joy in my Kitchen

1/4 cup (expeller pressed) coconut oil, melted OR use 3 T. softened butter
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1-2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 375°. 
Cream together oil and sugars.  Add applesauce, egg, yogurt, and vanilla and mix gently.
In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients, and slowly add into the creamed mixture.
Mix just until moistened.
Fold in blueberries.
Spread into a lightly greased 13x9" pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.  Test for doneness with a toothpick.
Serve warm.

Linked to Trick or Treat Tuesday

Family Update: April Edition

Miranda is such a big girl now.  She takes her baths in the ever beloved ducky tub now, no more infant tub over the kitchen sink.  Whew.  She absolutely loves splashing around, although she's certainly not a fan of water in her face. 

We're full force into soccer - this is Annika's and Marissa's first season - Corban's 4th.  Annika has scored a couple of goals in games already and is really gaining skills and confidence quickly. 

She is a really good goalie and takes great pride in her abilities. 

I haven't gotten any good shots of Corban and Marissa yet - hopefully I will soon!

We got to go strawberry picking on a gorgeous day  - we picked 25 lbs of berries. 

I made freezer jam, ice-cream, puree for 3 more batches of ice cream, a cake, spinach strawberry salad, and froze several bags whole for making smoothies and oatmeal.  And we ate a lot plain.

Yum!

This was Ellia when we got there.  Nice and clean. 

Yeah, I had my hands full trying to get her to actually put berries in her basket.  See the red stained fingers?  Not to mention the face.  And you can't see the trail of juice down her (thankfully already) red shirt.  That girl had some fun in the strawberry patch. 

Annika did a little better than Ellia, but she was very strawberry stained by the time we finished as well.

Little story about this kid:

A few days ago we were sitting at dinner.  It had been one of those "no make-up" kind of days.

Annika says: "Mom, can you put on some lipstick and make your eyes pretty?

Corban instantly jumped to my defense and exclaimed, "Mom's eyes are already pretty!"

Annika loudly retorted, "Not pretty enough."

Sigh.

There's nothing like the honesty of a 4 year old. 

Corban was a diligent and fast picker.  He ended up helping Ellia fill her basket too.

Miranda and Ellia playing ball - well, Ellia is actually trying to make sure Miranda's legs are open enough for the ball to roll to her.  Obviously it was pretty funny to Miranda. 

We took the side off Ellia's crib.

A necessary step to growing up and independence, but something I regret at least once a day. 

Let's just say she is thoroughly enjoying her freedom. 

And training her to stay in bed during naptime and bed time is a little bit of a challenge.

The upside?

She loves having her siblings sit on the edge of the bed to read to her. 

So precious!

Marissa and I got to go to a Mother/Daughter Tea for the K-2nd graders from Wed. night classes at church. 

It was absolutely gorgeous and we had a lovely time. 

 This was one of the tables - isn't that amazing?  I wish I had the gift of decorating. 

 Here are some of the mini-cupcakes I made for the tea - they were really cute and a big hit with the little girls and their moms. 

 The mild temperatures have the kids playing outside for hours every day - and sometimes they even talk me into having picnics out in the yard.  Ellia and Annika chose the wagon for their lunch spot.

Miranda is now a full-fledged participant in the outside play  - the swing keeps her very happy. 

So that's our April in a nutshell.  Looking forward to seeing what happens in May!

Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cheesecake

Wow, it's sure taken me awhile to get this up here.  Life has just been.....busy.  What can I say?

In fact, as I'm typing right now, there's a writhing, squirming 6-month old on my lap that would like to direct my attention elsewhere.  She's doing a pretty good job, actually. 

One day later....see, I told you she did a good job.  Another day of blogging neglect.  Another day of baby winning. 

So this was my birthday dessert!

Because my favorite flavor combination is chocolate and peanut butter, I dreamed up this creation. 

It starts with a dense fudgy brownie, followed with a delectable peanut butter frosting, then vanilla cheesecake studded with Reese's peanut butter cups, topped with a rich semi-sweet chocolate ganache and garnished with more peanut butter frosting. 

To say that it was rich is a bit of an understatement.

Not that I was deterred in my consumption of it in any way.  

I actually can't think of a dessert I've ever sampled that I thought was "too rich" to finish.  It's a gift, I know.  

So I really loved every single bite of this dessert.  And I'm seriously looking forward some more decadent indulgence whenever we take the chunk we saved out of the freezer.  Yes, we did show a little restraint.   

So obviously there are several steps to this dessert.  I made the brownies and cheesecake the day before, refrigerating the cheesecake wrapped in foil until I needed it.  The brownie was fine left covered at room temperature.  

The day we ate it, I made the frosting and ganache and assembled everything.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cheesecake:  Brownie from  Baker's Chocolate, Peanut butter frosting from Ina Garten 

Brownie Layer: 

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I used Baker's), chopped

3/4 cup butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla 

1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350°.

Line the bottom of a 9" spring form pan with parchment paper and gently grease it. (I place the bottom circle of the pan on the paper, trace around it, and then cut it out).

Heat the chocolate and butter together in the microwave or in a small saucepan on the stovetop until butter is melted. Stir together until chocolate is completely melted as well.  

Add sugar and stir.  Mixture will be grainy.  That's okay!

Add in eggs and vanilla and stir well.  Add flour and stir just until combined.  

Spread in the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out  nearly clean.  Please don't over bake!  Dry brownies aren't good.  

Allow to cool completely.  Remove from pan. 

Cheesecake Layer: 

3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla

15 miniature Reeses peanut butter cups (or generic equivalant), cut into sixths

Prepare the 9" spring form pan as you did for the brownies.  

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.  Add the vanilla and stir.  

Pour the cheesecake into the prepared pan and then sprinkle the peanut butter cup pieces over the top.  Gently press some of them into the batter.  

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the center is just set.  

Allow to cool completely. Remove from pan and wrap in foil to refrigerate or freeze if making ahead.  

Peanut Butter Frosting:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

5 Tbs. unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work.  Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Ganache:

4 oz. good quality semi-sweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli)

1/2 cup heavy cream

Chop the chocolate finely.  Place in a bowl.

Heat the cream just until simmering (not quite to a boil yet) and pour over the chocolate. 

Allow to sit for a few minutes, then stir until the chocolate is melted.  

Cool to room temperature.  

To assemble:

Place the brownie on your serving dish/cake stand.  If you place a dab of frosting in the center of the stand before putting the brownie down, it will help it not slide around.  I forgot to do that and regretted it later. 

Top with a 1/2 inch layer of peanut butter frosting.  

Place the cheesecake on top.  If you notice there are edges of the brownie sticking out further than the cheesecake (mine did), feel free to carefully cut them off to make everything even.  (Hint: Dipping the trimmed brownie chunks in the leftover peanut butter frosting is a great idea.  Just sayin'.)

Pour the ganache over the top of the cheesecake, allowing some of it to drip over the edges if you desire.  

Put it in the fridge for a few minutes for the chocolate to harden a little.  

Put the rest of your peanut butter frosting in a decorating bag and pipe swirls on top of the cheesecake and around the edges if you desire.  

You could even garnish with additional peanut butter cups if you wanted to live on the wild side.  I decided to keep it simple.  Ha.  :)  

Linked to Trick or Treat Tuesday

                 Crazy Sweet Tuesday

And the winners are.....

Congratulations to the two winners of a $10 Amazon gift certificate! 

BecR 
Sue

Please email me at rebekahsfamilyfoodandfun (at) gmail (dot) com to send me your email addresses so I can send you the gift certificates!

Thanks to everyone for shouting out your birthday dessert ideas - I'll be sharing what I made soon. 

Birthdays are for Giveaways!!

Tomorrow is my Birthday.

Somehow, birthdays just aren't as exciting as they used to be........anyone else relate to that?

I decided to make it a little more fun and have a giveaway.  I was planning on announcing it several days ago and actually drawing the winners on my birthday. 

Except I forgot about it until today.

Must be my old age.
(ha. I'm only turning 34 and I refuse to think of that as old.) 

Obviously there isn't much time for people to enter before tomorrow.....so I've decided to
draw the winners on Monday, April 16th at noon.  They'll be announced soon after that.

Nothing like extending the birthday fun!

Oh, I guess you want to know what the prize is.

I'm keeping it simple:

I will give away TWO $10 Amazon gift certificates (to 2 different people) that you can use towards whatever you want.  How's that?

To Enter:  Leave a comment -  Telling me what you would choose for your Birthday Dessert.  ('Cause I've been deliberating mine for this year for awhile now and can't wait to make it!  It's a creation involving several recipes and it should be really over the top. )

If you don't eat dessert - just tell me your favorite birthday dessert as a kid. 

And if you didn't like dessert as a kid, I'm afraid we can't be friends. 

Just kidding.

Any sort of nice comment will do. 

One Entry per person. 

Good luck!!

Resurrection Sunday/Easter 2012

We managed to get our crew out the door to church for breakfast and the early service on Sunday - it was the earliest we've ever gone anywhere all dressed up like that!  I think we left the house at 7:45.

Yep.  Definitely a new record.

It helped that we didn't have to cook breakfast.

Anyways, we had left church by 10:20 and decided on the spur of the moment to swing by our house and pick up the camera and tripod and head over to a nearby park to take a few photos.

Amazingly, we only took three shots before deciding we had done well; and this was the first one!

Here are a few more of our kiddos running around.

Ellia and Marissa

Ellia

Corban

Annika

 Five little cuties!