Archive for the ‘sweet’ Category

s’more please

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

laurelhurst s'more

s'more

When my sister was in town the mister and I were able to have an impromptu ‘date night’. We decided to check out Laurelhurst Market.

The highlight of my evening was the deconstructed s’more: homemade tasty graham crackers, yummy rich chocolate and a big thick block of marshmallow perfectly toasted and served with a spear of rosemary which in my opinion added a lovely subtle flavor to this sweet treat. (Did I mention it is served with a shot of Maker’s Mark?) They call it Night at Lost Lake and for a few brief minutes, as I was covered in chocolate, I was camping under the stars. Well, gourmet camping.

None the less, I am in love. In fact I can’t stop thinking about it. It was that good, so scrumptiously sticky and romantic.

mushroom cupcakes

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

mushroom-cupcakes

I made mushroom cupcakes for the party.  Edible table decor!

For the cake I used Martha Stewart’s yellow buttermilk cupcake recipe, which I had used once before and they were amazing. I decided to make these the day before to save time and to be honest, they were a little dry. Ok, very dry. (Maybe my storage method wasn’t exactly airtight.) But they looked really cute! We just ate the tops. Anyway, any white or yellow cake would be fine. I used unbleached kraft cupcake liners as the mushroom base.

Something I learned from this project is how hard it is to achieve true red frosting.  I was about to give up on my pinky color when I realized if I dipped the cupcake in red sugar, pink was transformed to a lovely red! Yay! I piped on the white dots. Viola!

chocolate treasure chest

Friday, July 9th, 2010

verdun-1I was given a surprise gift.

What could it be?

It’s a box of Verdun chocolates, from right here in Portland.

I shook it. It rattled? But why?

I opened the ‘drawers’ to find colorful chocolates individually wrapped in jewel toned foils like precious gems amidst silver pearls.

A treasure chest!

verdun3

verdun7

verdun5I’m obsessed with these silver sugar balls. I love them. I love all of it. The packaging is amazing!  Definitely not the kind of chocolate that you bite into a piece and put the other half back in the box. A girl could really get carried away with all of this sweet booty.  Alas, my booty says to hold back and savor one piece at a time.

in search of a little red, white, & blue

Sunday, July 4th, 2010

4th of july cupcakes

cupcake

hot fudge frosting

Here it is, the good ol’ fourth of july. Ours is a little lacking in festivity this year so I went in search of a little red, white & blue.

I declared independence from my kitchen (it is independence day!) and headed to saint cupcake where I found what I needed.

My favorite is chocolate cake with hot fudge frosting. Suddenly the day has gotten better.

pretty please with a cherry on top

Sunday, June 13th, 2010

cherry on top of chocolate cupcake

A beautiful little cupcake I found today at Tivoli Bread & Baking.

deviled eggs? april fools!

Friday, March 26th, 2010

This faux deviled egg is made entirely of white chocolate with orange sugar sprinkled on in place of paprika.

I found them today at Enchante’

(formerly known as Milwaukie Popkorn & Candyland).

Love it!

sweet and green

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Baking under the influence of the shamrock.

This is what happens when you grow up in a festive household.

the (saint) valentine’s day (cupcake) massacre

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

Those five cupcakes didn’t stand a chance.

My valentine brought me home a box of cupcakes last night from Saint Cupcake.

They all looked so pretty in their pink packaging.

This was my first time sampling the confections from Saint Cupcake.

We had five different flavors to sample.

The problem with making and loving cake is that we approach the eating of a store/bakery bought cupcake, that has reviews of being the best ever, in a more critical fashion. Sure, we should just enjoy the lovely piped frosting and candy sprinkled sweetness but instead we put all five on a plate and slowly scrutinized every little bite.  Starting with the cream cheese frosting and really rolling it around on our tongues. It was creamy, not to sweet and the perfect consistency. Like the cupcake connoisseur (that we are in our own minds) we continued on to the cake. Stripped of their papers, prodded, and devoured we destroyed five cupcakes.

And the verdict?  The chocolate cake was moist and lovely but I didn’t love it with the frosting. As for the white cake? Not my favorite. Red Velvet wins. The cake was moist and dense and delightful with the cream cheese frosting. I have to go back to try more flavors as well as check out their mini sized cakes which look oh so cute.

warm chocolate raspberry pudding cake

Friday, February 12th, 2010

Nothin’ says lovin’ like somethin’ from the oven.

This is it.

My go to, bake to impress, recipe.

A secret weapon of sorts.

Could it be the warm chocolate raspberry frosting?

The moist, rich chocolate cake?

Or perhaps the ease of baking it all in one pan?

Sure, it may seem like you use a lot of dishes,

but those can be washed up in the quick 30 minute baking time.

In the end it will all be worth it.

Here’s the recipe.

Get baking. You won’t be disappointed.

Serve it with ice cream or whipped cream

or just plain.

Make it for your

family or friends

or your valentine.

Just make it

and be adored.

dharma cake.

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

dharma-cake“Dude, there’s cake.”

We’re ready.

Is it 8 o’clock yet?