With Sprinkles on Top

Peeps.

Love or hate ’em they are a sure sign Spring is on its way. At work, we spend a lot of time away from windows and sometimes it just feels like the seasons change right under your nose. I whipped these up last night as a reminder of better weather ahead- boxed mix and canned frosting. I did dress them up a bit by filling them with raspberry jam and putting in a splash of princess cake bakery emulsion (you know it- that indescribable but ubiquitous flavor of grocery store bakery sugar cookies). It is amazing how something as small as piped on frosting is enough to make things more special. Sure, these may err on the side of cheesey, but these little guys sure seemed to put everyone in a little better mood, whether or not they eat the peep in the end.

I made this cake to celebrate my  sister-in-law’s (insert mystery number here) birthday this past weekend. She had requested an almond cake with white frosting and raspberry filling and this is what I came up with. The flowers are made out of gumpaste and dusted with luster dust, though I feel like none of it seemed to adhere to the flowers very well. I put silver dragees in the centers to dress it up a bit, but I really wished I has spent more time smoothing the top…oh well. I guess I know what the experts mean now when the tell you to decorate with a plan. The original pound cake recipe is from Paula Deen (found here), but I tweaked the flavoring a bit. In truth, I don’t think it was well suited for a layer cake because it seemed a little dry.

Almond Sour Cream Pound Cake
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1 c. butter

3 c. sugar

1 c. sour cream

3 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

6 eggs

1/4 tsp. orange extract

1/2 tsp. butter flavoring

1 tsp. almond extract

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Directions

• Preheat oven to 325 ^oF. Grease and flour pan.

• Cream butter and sugar, then add sour cream. Sift dry ingredients together. Add to butter mixture alternately with eggs. Add extracts and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Pour into prepared pan.
• Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes in tube pan or 45 minutes divided between 6″X6″ and 8″x8″ pans for layer cake. Cool cake in pan for about 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack. Torte and frost cake when completely cooled.

Since Easter is right around the corner, I decided to make little Easter egg cupcakes. The mix and frosting are store-bought (don’t worry, I’ve got TWO from-scratch recipes coming up later this week). The grass effect was achieved using tip 233 from Wilton. Next time I am going to use a stiffer frosting though — probably homemade buttercream — so that the grass blades stand up, instead of looking kind of like grass spaghetti. The green color was produced with the AmeriColor neon food coloring and the eggs are Cadbury Mini Eggs (which are my favorite candy of ALL TIME).

Baking does not always go as planned. You have great, cute ideas in your head and when you try to execute them, you fail. I wanted to make candy melt-coated rice krispie treats in the shape of bunnies and eggs. The eggs turned out okay, but the bunnies were a creepy disaster. I tried to add some Peeps to the mix to at least make them photograph better, but no. The point I’m trying to make with this post is this: don’t be afraid to fail when you cook or bake. It’s part of the learning process and part of the fun (the creepy bunnies make me laugh, really). And even people that bake A LOT make mistakes and screw up!

To be honest, I love doughnuts but would never make them at home. The thought of all that boiling oil is a little intimidating for me. While I work on my deep frying confidence, these little guys will have to do in the meantime. This recipe is based on the Easter Doughnut Cookie recipe from the King Arthur Flour collection. While the texture is a little dry for my taste, as I am usually a gooey-chewy person, I have to admit they go great with coffee and are too cute to boot!

Doughnut Cookies
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2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

3 Tbsp. butter, melted

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

3/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1 c. powdered sugar

2 1/2 c. flour

Decorations

2 squares chocolate almond bark, melted

assorted sprinkles

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 ^oF. Prepare cookie sheets by lightly spraying them with cooking spray. Beat the first 5 ingredients together until well mixed. Sift in the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until smooth. If dough seems too dry, stream in a small amount of vegetable oil and knead in until pliable.
• Pinch off 2-tsp. balls of dough (~1 small cookie scoop) and role into a rope about 4 inches long and 1/2 inch thick. Coil rope into a small ring and place on cookie sheet.
• Bake for 16-18 minutes until edges turn slightly brown. Let cookies cool on sheets for about 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack til completely cool.
• To decorate, dip tops in melted chocolate almond bark and adorn with sprinkles.