1. This post from Kody Keplinger is a MUST READ. Must. And not just if you are a writer. This is a must read if you are a human being. Which I suspect you are. If you are not, please let me know, because I’m intrigued.

2. RECIPES!

Quite some time ago, I mentioned that I was trying a new sugar cookie and glace icing recipe to help me achieve pretty, pretty cookies without icky, icky royal icing. I love the recipe and have used it more times since then than I care to admit…but I forgot to share. So I will now.This is the only sugar cookie recipe you will ever need again. And the icing? Divine.

Make these sugar cookies.

Decorate them with this icing.

Yum!

People started asking for the recipe, so I promised I’d put it up on my blog. As you can see, that was on October 9th. Oops.

I don’t have much time, so instead of typing the recipe all out, I’m going to give you a little direction and a linky-loo party.

I used this cake recipe, because it’s my favorite.

Then I made this cookie dough recipe, because it’s egg-less, so it’s no biggie that it goes into these babies uncooked. Put a lot of flour in – you want the cookie dough pretty dry for this. Not so dry its going to crumble apart now, but you don’t want it sticky.

After your cupcakes are all baked and cooled, you want to scoop out little holes for the cookie dough. It helps if you use a sharp knife to carve a circle on the top of the cupcake before spooning out the rest (this recipe gives it a bit of a crust, so it crumbles if you just use a spoon). You can keep that little circle to close things back up if you want, but if you put any kind of icing on them, that’s not necessary.

Got your hole scooped out? Good. Now roll up a ball of cookie dough the right size for your hole and stick it down in there. Put the circle back on if you want (I did, but only because I’m anal like that).

You can use any kind of icing you want, but here’s what I did: take what cookie dough is left over at the end and add more milk to it. Stir, stir, stir. Now you have a much thinner version of the cookie dough (you will need to get a mixer out if you don’t want any lumps). Spread it on with a knife and ta-da! you have delicious, sinful cupcakes.

Now go enjoy!

I posted a picture on Twitter last night of a cake I made this weekend. I got a few people asking how I did it, so while I was hesitant to share (so y’all wouldn’t see how deceptively easy it actually is), but I decided to be nice, so here it is.

For this cake you can use any white or yellow cake recipe. Or a box mix, if you would rather. (If you are looking for a great white cake recipe, go ahead and try this one out.) Here’s the method:

• Split the batter into six equal portions (or as many parts as you want colors in your cake).
• Dye each bit of batter a different color. You can use any colors you want…I used red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple because I wanted a traditional rainbow.
• Pour the batter: start with one cup of each color. To make sure the two layers are even, put a cup of three colors in one layer, a cup of the three other colors in the other layer, then finish off with the rest of what’s left of each color*. Pour the colors directly on top of each other so they make concentric circles. No need to swirl or anything, the colors will make pretty swirls all on their own.
• Bake as normal and decorate as you will!

*For example, this is how I did it, so I could keep rainbow order: in pan #1, I poured a cup of red, then a cup of orange, then a cup of yellow all right on top of each other. In pan #2 I reversed the rainbow, so I poured a cup of purple, then a cup of blue, then a cup of green right on top of each other. Going back to pan #1, I poured the remainder of the green, blue, and purple batters on top. In pan #2 I poured the remainder of the yellow, orange, and red batters.

Easy-peasy!

Cake

• 5 1/2 cups flour
• 4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup milk (room temp.)
• 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 1 cup butter (room temp.)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease two 10″ bundt pans*
2. In large bowl, mix flour, spices, powder, and salt
3. In separate bowl, blend milk, pumpkin, and vanilla
4. In mixer, beat butter and oil; beat in sugar, then eggs, one at a time
5. Combine all ingredients and beat until smooth
6. Divide batter between pans, bake for 50-60 minutes
7. Cool in pans for 15 minutes, then on wire racks

Icing

• 16 oz cream cheese
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 9 cups powdered sugar

1. Beat cream cheese until smooth; mix in vanilla, gradually add powdered sugar

*This recipe fits two 10″ bundt pans really well to make the pumpkin shape, but you can bake it in any pans you want. Just be sure to check the cake often, as it takes much longer to bake in a bundt pan than in a regular round. The cake on the top uses two 9″ round pans, and there was enough batter left over for a one-layer 6″ round cake as well.

Coconut Cake

Cake

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups self-rising flour
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Filling

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4 Tbsp milk
• 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Frosting

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar or 1 Tbsp white corn syrup
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 egg whites
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Cream butter until fluffy
2. Add sugar and continue to cream well for 6-8 minutes
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each
4. Add flour and milk, alternately, beginning and ending with flour
5. Add vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed
6. Bake in 3 prepared 9″ cake pans at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes
7. Cool in pans 5-10 minutes then invert onto cooling racks
8. Prepare filling: stir together sugar, sour cream, milk, and coconut
9. To fill: poke holes in the first layer; spread 1/3 of the filling over the cake, leaving a 1/2″ border around the edges; repeat with 2nd and 3rd layers
10. Frosting time! Place sugar, Cream of Tartar (or corn syrup), salt, water, and egg whites in top of a double boiler. Beat with a hand held electric mixer for one minute. Place pan over boiling water (make sure no water touches bottom of pan). Beat constantly on high speed for 7 minutes, then beat in vanilla.
11. Frost the sides of the cake first, then the top. This will be very messy, thus….
12. Gently cover the cake with shredded coconut (if you want pretty colors like mine, just put a little food dye in a bag with the coconut and squish everything around until it is colored -gel dyes work the best).
13. Cover loosely and refrigerate for 3 days before serving.

This is a messy, messy, goopy cake.  I always destroy my kitchen making it. But man is it worth it!

And random history lesson for the day: the frosting for this cake is called 7 minute icing or boiled icing. Coconut cake is a decidedly southern treat, and boiled icing is quite popular down south. Why? Well, it has a great flavor, for one, but what really seals the deal is that is doesn’t melt and run in the heat and humidity like a nice buttercream will.

And…we are done with my week of recipes! I will try to post fun recipes on a more consistent basis in the future.

I did finish making an Orange Crush Cake about 5 minutes ago, though, so I figured it would be a great recipe to share today.

Orange Crush Cake

• 1 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 3/4 cups sugar
• 5 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 1 bottle Orange Crush (12 oz)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp orange flavoring

 

 
Icing

• 1/4 cup butter
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• about 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp orange flavoring

Directions:

1. Cream together butter, shortening, and sugar
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly between each
3. Alternately add Orange Crush and flour; beat well
4. Add flavoring
5. Bake in a greased tube pan 1 hour and 10 minutes at 350 degrees
6. For icing, mix all ingredients and spread on cake (it won’t take a full 3 cups of powdered sugar – stop when it is the consistency you like)

Enjoy!

Today’s recipe is for Apple Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes. I made these last Friday, and they are divine! I have already had some requests for the recipe, so here it is: (I found the original recipe on the Paula Deen website and then modified it a bit for our tastes.)

Apple Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

Cinnamon Roll Ingredients:

• 2 cups milk
• 1 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 6 1/2 cups flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup butter, softened

Filling Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp cinnamon
• 3 cups finely chopped tart apples*

Apple Cider Glaze Ingredients:

• Just over 2 Tbsp apple cider
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Heat the milk in the microwave for about 1 minute (you can heat on the stovetop, if you would rather – get it up to about 110 degrees)
2. Add yeast and sugar; stir until dissolved
3. Add 2 cups of the flour and the salt and beat for 2 full minutes
4. Add butter and eggs and continue to beat until well combined
5. Add rest of the flour, half cup at a time; beat well after each addition
6. Knead dough on a floured surface for about five minutes
7. Cover dough with a kitchen towel and let rise for 40 minutes**
8. Roll dough out on counter in a rectangle shape – 1/4″ thick
9. Brush half the melted butter over the surface of the dough
10. Make the filling by combining sugars, apples, and cinnamon in bowl
11. Spread filling over dough, leaving about 1″ border all the way around
12. Roll into a log (long way) – tuck long edge over filling to start
13. Cut log into 24-30 pieces a place one inside each cupcake cup***
14. Cover cupcakes with towel and let them rise for another 40 minutes
15. Heat oven to 350. Brush remaining melted butter over cupcakes
16. Bake for about 20 minutes – until tops are golden brown
17. Make the glaze: mix cider and powdered sugar; drizzle over cupcakes
18. ENJOY!

*You can use 2 cups apple and 1 cup chopped nuts as well…

**Or, if you live in a house as cold as mine, let rise for eternity, or until the dough has doubled its size.

***These have to rise in the actual muffin tin (use liners). If you don’t have enough muffin tins for all of the slices, just put the rest of them on a cookie sheet and make regular cinnamon rolls out of them. If you try to let them rise in paper liners without the rigid pan, you will just end up with a mess.

These cupcakes might be the stickiest, goopiest, messiest ones I have ever made, but they are SO worth it!

So, there really isn’t a recipe to accompany the picture this month. But, the picture is fun, so all is good!

After the cake was out of the oven I had the brilliant idea of crushing some mints and mixing them in the batter. So, if you decide to try this cake, consider doing that. I am sure it would be awesome, I just had my stroke of genius too late to try it out.

The frosting is just a basic buttercream (1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup Crisco, 4 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, a splash of milk), and the decorations are pretty self explanatory. There are also some crushed mints with the frosting in between the layers. That seemed to add just the right amount of zing to the cake.

All in all, it turned out great. Or, at least the people at our event thought it did-for the second month in a row, I had no leftovers to bring home.

I have been excited about my Halloween cake for well over a month now. So, I will be brief: this cake is awesome. I mean, not to toot my own horn or anything, but it pretty much rocks.

BRAZILIAN CAKE*

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs

Mix** together dry ingredients. Add oil and eggs. Mix** slightly and add 1 3/4 CUPS BOILING WATER. Mix** well. Bake in two 9-inch pans at 375 degrees until done (check with a toothpick–ovens are all so different).

DELIGHTFUL CHOCOLATE FROSTING

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 4-5 cups powdered sugar
• 8-10 tablespoons cocoa
• 4-5 tablespoons milk

Cream sugar and butter. Mix in cocoa. Add milk and mix until smooth.

The white frosting is just your basic, every day white frosting. I don’t have a recipe for it. I needed to get it done quick, and didn’t want to wait to soften more butter, so it consists of a little Crisco, some butter flavoring, vanilla, powdered sugar, and milk. I just added stuff and mixed it until it was a good consistency and flavor. Frosting is not rocket science!

The bats are just sugar cookies, with some black dye (really, the dough was much darker before baking) added to the dough. I didn’t have bat cookie cutters, so I cut the little guys out with a butter knife.

Overall, this cake was quick and easy. But still super cute and tasty!

*I got this recipe from a friend when he was living in Brazil. It is my fail-safe cake. Whenever I have a decorating idea, but don’t have a specific cake flavor in mind, I use this one. I love it that much.

**Mix this cake by HAND. Part of what makes it so good is its texture–a texture that is lost when an electric mixer is used.

Our recipe this month comes courtesy of Mary DeMuth. When she shared it on her Twitter account last month, I immediately knew I would have to try it out. I was not disappointed; this cake is awesome. It was the hit of the party. Thanks, Mary, for another great recipe to add to my collection.

TWITTER CAKE

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups flour

Mix all ingredients in order listed. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar on greased bundt pan. Add half of the batter. Top with 1 cup chocolate chips and more cinnamon-sugar. Add rest of the batter. Top with more cinnamon-sugar.

Bake at 350 for 55 minutes.

SOUR CREAM GLAZE

• sour cream
• vanilla
• powdered sugar

Heat sour cream (a large dollop) in a small saucepan, over medium-low heat, until fluid. Add teaspoon of vanilla. Stir in powdered sugar (oh, about a cup or so to start–add more as you go) until desired consistency is reached. I do this part by taste; when it tastes how you want it, you are done! If you want more glaze, add more sour cream and powdered sugar.

Let glaze cool a bit to thicken before drizzling it over cake. Before you drizzle, place the cake over a cookie sheet–this will get messy otherwise.

This is a really simple, quick cake to make. I recommend it for any occasion that calls for a cake in a jiffy.

In my church, the first Sunday of (almost) every month is fast Sunday. For two meals (or ideally 24 hours-if you remember the day before…), we fast. Each month, my old ward has a “Break Fast” potluck in the afternoon. Bubba and I still go, even though the ward is technically for the young NON-married kiddos. Really, the Bishop is one of my best friends, and who can turn down free food?

My favorite part about break fast is that it gives me an opportunity every month to try out a new recipe. So, without further ado, here is the recipe of the month:

turned out okay for such a quick decorating job...

SUPER AWESOME WHITE CAKE

• 2 1/4 cup cake flour
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoon white vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup buttermilk (add the vanilla to this)

• 5 egg whites
• 1/3 cup sugar

Cream shortening and butter. Mix all dry ingredients together and add to creamed butter/shortening. Add the buttermilk (with vanilla) and mix until smooth.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they turn white; add the sugar and beat until meringue-like.

Fold meringue into batter until evenly mixed.

Bake at 350 until a toothpick comes out clean (ovens are all too different to be timed).

BEST EVER BUTTERCREAM

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon white vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 8 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons meringue powder

Cream together shortening, butter, vanilla, butter flavoring, almond extract, and milk until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar and meringue powder. If it’s too stiff, add more milk; if it’s too thin, add powdered sugar until you reach a comfortable consistency.