Danger Will Robinson, Danger!

uuUuuuUuuUUggGGGggghhHHhhhhhh...

The internet is a dangerous place. On the internet, you can find all kinds of dangerous information. How to grow hydroponic pot, how to make bombs, how to cheat at all kinds of things, probably how to print fake money, how to start a drug cartel, and all those other unsavory activities. But, or all the dangerous things you can learn how to do on the internet, the worst, most terrible, most dangerous is How to Make Microwave Chocolate Cake.

I found my recipe for online microwave chocolate cake at Dizzy Dee. And let me tell you, it is a terrible thing. It makes one big, giant, chocolaty slab of cake. Of course tonight I made a few modifications. Because I'm on this applesauce-in-my-baked-goods kick, I omitted the egg and oil and instead used lite cinnamon applesauce. I also added a small handful of chocolate chips. I also only cooked it for about 2:30-2:45 which results in a very moist, sometimes gooey cake. And of course, I topped it with some powdered sugar.

Now, I have a terrible tummy ache. Sooooo full. Chinese food for dinner + microwave chocolate cake = owie owie tummy.   :-(  If you are having a terrible chocolate cake craving, and are fearing for the lives of those around you unless you get some chocolate NOW, make this tasty, fast, quazi-homemade cake. But beware of the painful after effects. :-)

Leftover Easter Candy Bundt Cake

So, I'm jumping around a little bit in time, due to the backlog of entries I have to post. So I move on now to Leftover Easter Candy Bundt Cake. Which was originally known as Leftover Halloween Candy Vanilla Bundy Cake over on Noble Pig. But, its not Halloween. It Easter time, or Post-Easter time rather. So this is Leftover Easter Candy Bundt cake, and its FABULOUS.

As if I could improve on the deliciousness that is Easter Candy. But improve I did. Actually, I was on a mission to get rid of the small bit of Easter candy I acquired in one fell swoop. I'm trying to be healthy. Really, I'm being serious....You can stop laughing now.

Anywho, this was not only the first time I had baked candy into a cake, but also the first time I'd baked a bundt! Buuuund-T as they said in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I don't know why I haven't made a bundt before, it was thoroughly enjoyable, and very tasty. I see a beautiful future for my bundt pan and I.

Mmmm. Easter candy all chopped up and coated in flour.

Oh man. Seeing the pictures makes me want to make this cake again. The batter tasted just like chocolate chip cookie dough, but in more of a batter consistency. And full of chopped up candy, of course. SOOO GOOD!!

I see you orange M&M!

Boy, was this cake ever beautiful. Nice and golden brown. When I flipped it out, it was a little too brown, which didn't affect its taste, but I'll cook it a few minutes less next time.

GAH! Some of the candy chunks sunk and stuck to the pan and cause my cake to have craters :-( Not perfect looking, but still freakin delicious.

 

Leftover Easter Candy Bundt Cake

2 c. all purpose flour (plus some for tossing the candy in)

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 c. butter, room temp

1 c. granulated sugar

1 egg, room temp

2 egg whites, room temp

3/4 c. whole milk I used skim

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 c. Easter Candy, chopped  

I used Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, Twix, M&Ms and Snickers

1. Cream Butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and egg whites and mix until fully combined. Add the milk and vanilla extract, mix until fully combined
2. Add dry ingredients and mix until incorporated, but don't over mix. Fold in chopped candy.
3. Pour batter into a greased and floured bundt pan and bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.
4. Let the cake cool completely before removing it from the pan. ENJOY!
   

Kalamazoo Cake

Oh hello gel food coloring. What can I make with you today??

I love gel food coloring. I makes really really vibrant colors in batter and frostings. So, when I decided I wanted to make a cake celebrating my alma maters' recent NCAA success, I pulled out the gel food coloring. Orange, to be precise.

I used Hershey's chocolate cake recipe for the cake. Hello gorgeous. And I think it turned out rather well.

I also used Pioneer Woman's Best Frosting EVER recipe. I think I might have messed up somewhere, because it wasn't smooth or anything. But it tasted alright. I don't know if it was the best frosting I've ever tasted, but I didn't try it with the cake. The recipient of the cake said it was the best part, and really pulled the cake together.

Mmmm. It looks so chocolaty. I think my failure to try a piece of this cake is what cause my crazy chocolate cake cravings afterward. I may have made microwave chocolate cake in a mug, and ate that. (entry upcoming...)

Ta Da!!!! Black and orange chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. YUM!

What I like to bake

To prove that I don't spend all my time training for triathlons and eating granola and yogurt, I decided to post some photos of my historical baking exploits i.e. the only photos I have of my baking. Don't get too excited, theses are just camera phone pictures.

The above picture is of a pie I made. This past fall, I went to the apple orchard with some friends. I got WAY too excited, which is a typical problem of mine with apple orchards, and ended up with 14 lbs of apples. So I ate some, but baked most of them into 7 apple desserts. Good thing I have a swim team of boys to eat them. The above pie is a Paula Deen recipe, very delicious. My friend Fonzi told me it looked like a pie from a magazine, the proceeded to call me Grandma for the rest of the night.


This past December, I was having a rough time, life wise, and appointed myself chief in charge of the family Christmas cookies. The above is one of the resulting batches. They're cookie cutter sugar cookies, recipe from thejoyofbaking.com with royal icing I painted on, and some sprinkles here and there. Very delicious and festive.
This cake is an apple cake, I think from cookinglight.com, again part of the aftermath of the overenthusiastic apple orchard adventure.
This was my attempt at apple crostada, again after the infamous apple orchard visit. I learned the very important lesson that margarine is not as good as butter for pastry. Obvi. So this first attempt was a big fail. I eventually conquered it though! It was really tricky, so you have to really want some crostada.
Awwww. Red velvet heart cake!! I want to say this was the cake for my boyfriend's birthday this past year. Just regular red velvet cake in heart pans. They got stacked and frosted of course. I like to make really ridiculous cakes for my boyfriend's birthday, because he doesn't get nearly excited enough for birthdays. I FLIP OUT for my birthday. I love it. And I think everyone else should too. So, he gets crazy cakes. Which usually results in him sharing really large cakes with his dad, who LOVES cake.
Hahahahaha. Another really ridiculous boyfriend birthday cake. This had to have been like two years ago. It's six layers, three different flavors: chocolate, funfetti, and vanilla. I was really proud of this cake, even if it leaned a little. You had to make really tall, thin slices, or you ended up with WAY too much cake and frosting :-) And I did frost the outside, it just wasn't my best frost job so I didn't post it.
Aliens invade!!! These little cuties are alien cupcakes. I had a whole neon green invasion lined up on my counter. Chocolate cupcakes with a toothpick sticking up out of the middle, then you skewer on a giant marshmallow, and top it with a cake donut. The tricky part is the frosting. You gotta dip 'em in the green frosting. That's tricky because you have to get the perfect consistency so the frosting doesn't melt off, but it also doesn't suck the marshmallow and donut hole of the toothpick.
The first cheesecake I ever made!! Obviously before I learned about water baths. I also learned that you can't beat anything in nonstick pans, cause you'll chew up the pan (hey, I was in college, cooking supplies were limited). I bribed a friend of mine to read over my senior project and edit my footnotes with this cheesecake. He then hoarded it and guarded it with his life and did not share.
Sushi Rice Krispy treats!! This photo looks like shockingly good photography for me, but the sushi technique is all me. They were very tasty. I couldn't find green fruit roll ups, which saddened me, but they were delicious all the same.
Monkeys and Cookie Monsters!! These guys I made, along with the following rainbow cupcakes, for a bake sale recently at my grandparents church. The monkeys are vanilla cake with chocolate frosting and regular and mini (THEY MAKE MINI NILLA WAFERS!!!! YAY!!!!) Nilla Wafers. The cookie monsters are chocolate with blue frosting, marshmallows and half oreos.
I love these cupcakes. They turned out so beautiful. I'm a suck for brightly colored things. I made these using white cake from a box and gel food colors. The gel food coloring also colored Cookie Monster's fur. I ended up frosting some with chocolate jiffy and some with vanilla jiffy, then sprinkling them with rainbow dot sprinkles. The vanilla looked prettier, but I like my cupcakes and frostings to be different flavors. Not that I ate any of these...