Italian Cream Cake

For my roommate's (that would be Joy) dad's birthday, I made him an Italian Cream Cake, as per his request.

I've never actually tried Italian Cream Cake before, but I believe that I was missing out. It's quite the amazing cake.

Totally horrible for you, what with all the sugar and all, but there are walnuts (nuts are good for you, right?) and cream cheese (calcium? check!) and coconut (ummm, is coconut a fruit? Let's say that it is. Fruits are healthy) so it's not totally sinful.

What am I saying? It's so sinfully delicious. ;)

I suppose this is where the irony of being diabetic and a baker comes in.

I got the recipe on the Food Network's website, courtesy of Emril.

You should definitely consider making this yourself. Or building a time machine and going back in time so I can serve you a slice of the one I made. Because Lord knows I ate way too much of it myself. ;-)

The Royal Wedding

This morning I woke up before the crack of dawn, 4:00, to watch the pre-show of the royal wedding. I had to peel my eyelids back, but I made it to the living room in time to be a part of all the wedding festivities. The excitement was in the air with the rolls royce waiting just outside Kate's hotel, the anticipation of the arrival of guests, and finally of the royal family. I felt like I was there! I took a couple of pictures, only a hundred or so, of the TV to document what I saw today.

Kate looked absolutely gorgeous, and I was so impressed by how calm she seemed the entire time. I wonder if her stomach was in a knot. Can you imagine walking for four consecutive minutes with not only the world's royalty gazing upon you, but two billion people?! I admire her.

Westminster Abbey looked spectacular! Brings back fond memories of when I was there years ago for a college course. It looks exactly the same, and extraordinarily different -- it's incredible to think that I walked where William and Kate walked and saw the things they saw. Must make a pilgrimage.

I love yellow. I think I was a queen in a past life.

The ring finally went on! I thought he was going to have to leave it hanging before her knuckle for a minute there. Persistence gets the job done, though!

Mawwww....replay of the couple's first kiss...it was so quick I didn't have a chance to snap a picture when it actually happened! How great that they gave the people another kiss, too!

They make such a beautiful couple, and you can tell that they truly love each other. What an inspiring story! Who would have thought that your average girl would meet, date, and marry Prince William?

found it especially exciting to watch this special day. William is only a couple of years older than me, and I remember growing up with him (well, via pictures and television). I, like many other girls my age, had his picture on my wall and dreamed of marrying him one day.And Kate got to do it! How fabulous.

I celebrated along with the royals. Leftover strawberry champagne cake from Easter was the perfect cake to honor the couple, and man was it delicious! Notice my coffee mug...rather fitting, I thought. :)

Wishing the couple a lifetime of happiness and love!

Flashback Friday- Sweet and Sour Chicken and Update

It has been a wild three weeks for me and my family. I wanted to do a quick update. As I have mentioned previously, my sister got married this month, so I was out of town for a long time getting ready for that. After returning home for 3 days, I received a phone call that my grandfather, who I am very close to and just stayed with for 10 days, was admitted to the hospital with double pneumonia. After being admitted, he took a quick turn for the worse, and a few short hours after I arrived the next day, he passed away. After a couple trips back home and back to Nashville for the funeral, a minor car accident (not my fault by the way), and terrible storms yesterday I am ready to lead a boring life, that is until my sweet baby girl arrives. (Which by the way is in less than 7 weeks!)   I appreciate your patience as I didn't have quite as many posts last week and thank you to my sweet friend Nancy at Casual Cuisine that did a guest post for me this week, I'm hoping things get back to normal next week.

Now that I've shared sad news, I want to share very exciting news. If you don't follow me on facebook, you probably haven't heard my exciting news. A few weeks ago, I found out that This Mommy Cooks is listed on Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution page under "food bloggers." This is big and exciting news because there are only 14 blogs listed, and mine is one of them! How cool is that??? If you don't know who Jamie Oliver is, he is big time! He has cooking shows and a prime time show on ABC called Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. He is on a mission to get parents, schools, and just about everybody to eat healthier foods. I am honored to be listed on his site! If you haven't checked out his site, you should. I've begun watching his show on Tuesday nights and I am learning so much! I know you will too. And now that I've rambled enough here is my recipe for Flashback Friday.

This is one of my absolute favorite dishes I have on This Mommy Cooks. My family loves it and everyone who I know that has tried it has loved it as well. It is so delicious and paired with homemade fried rice makes this the perfect meal. Click here for the original recipe.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

This recipe is linked to It's a Keeper Thursday and Prairie Story.

Easter Cake Balls

I only got a picture of the purple ones, but there were also pink, white, and chocolate "eggs"

I am a terrible blogger, and I did not take any picture of the cute cake balls that I made for Easter, except for one poorly lit picture taken with my camera phone. I apologize.



They were nowhere NEAR as cute as the Easter Egg cake pops that Bakerella made, and I have insane respect for her cake pop making skills. I had no idea how difficult it was to make egg-looking cake balls, until I actually tried it.



It's a lot harder than it looks. Plus, you gotta get all the sprinkles on there, and sometimes the balls fall off the sticks, and they all looked lumpy...



I made 150 of the pops, though, to give away to my friends and professors on campus. Strawberry, yellow, and chocolate cake, with white (it was also pink and purple) or milk chocolate. Needless to say, I definitely got some good practice in. And thankfully, they still tasted amazing!



Maybe one day my pops will be good enough to be featured on Bakerella's blog in the Pop Star section, but then again, maybe I should just stick with cupcakes and cakes?

Edit: I lied. I did find one more picture saved on my phone:

Don't judge. This was only my first attempt. :-P

Beef with Snow Peas

I had originally missed this recipe when Pioneer Woman posted it, but someone, I can't remember who, shared it with me on facebook as something they were having for dinner. I'm glad they did! I really liked this dish. My husband liked it, but he preferred teriyaki flavor to this more savory flavor. The flavor was a little strong for the boys, but they ate it, and I think they really liked the snow peas. I really love anything that involves "Chinese" food. The snow peas were excellent and crispy, so good! I had never cooked with them before, but they were easy and tasty. This is an easy week night meal so give it a try. Serve it over noodles or rice, I chose brown rice.

Beef with Snow Peas
from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
1-½ pound Flank Steak, fat trimmed sliced very thin against the grain (I used thin cut sirloin.)
½ cups Low Sodium Soy Sauce
3 Tablespoons Sherry Or Cooking Sherry (I used cooking sherry.)
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
1 Tablespoon Minced Fresh Ginger or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
8 ounces, weight Fresh Snow Peas, Ends Trimmed
5 whole Scallions, Cut Into Half-inch Pieces On The Diagonal
Salt As Needed (use Sparingly)
3 Tablespoons Peanut Or Olive Oil
Crushed Red Pepper, For Sprinkling
Rice, cooked according to package (I used brown rice.)

Directions:

In a bowl, mix together soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, cornstarch, and ginger. Add sliced meat to bowl and toss with hands. Set aside.

Heat oil in a heavy skillet (iron is best) or wok over high heat. Add snow peas and stir for 45 seconds. Remove to a separate plate. Set aside.

Allow pan to get very hot again. With tongs, add half the meat mixture, leaving most of the marinade still in the bowl. Add half the scallions. Spread out meat as you add it to pan, but do not stir for a good minute. (You want the meat to get as brown as possible in as short amount a time as possible.) Turn meat to the other side and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove to a clean plate.

Repeat with other half of meat, allowing pan to get very hot again first. After turning it, add the first plateful of meat, the rest of the marinade, and the snow peas. Stir over high heat for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Check seasonings and add salt only if it needs it. Mixture will thicken as it sits.

Serve immediately over rice. Sprinkle crushed red pepper over the top to give it some spice.

How to Make an Owl Cake Topper

Hello cake friends.  Here is my newest tutorial: How to make an owl cake topper.  Enjoy!

 

What you will need: 

• Powdered sugar for rolling out fondant (I use a shaker)


• Gel food colors


• rolling pin


• tylose powder


• circle cutters


• small flower cutter


• tip 12


• exacto knife


• fondant (purple, white, black, yellow)


• small paint brush


• lollipop stick


• vodka (not shown)


• styrofoam block (not shown)

First, push your lollipop stick into the styrofoam block.  Brush a little gum glue (tylose powder mixed with water) onto the stick.  Roll the purple fondant into a cone shape for the body and insert onto the lollipop stick.  Roll a smaller ball of fondant for the head and pinch the ends as shown.  Glue the head onto the body.

Dust your surface with powdered sugar and roll out more fondant (I used a lighter shade of purple) with a rolling pin.  Use circle cutters and exacto knife to create the face and stomach of the owl.  Glue to owl.

For the feet use a small flower cutter and trim as shown.  Also, form the wings and beak and attach to the owl using gum glue.

For the eyes roll out larger white circles, black circles using a tip 12 and small whites for eyes, and glue to owl using gum glue.

Mix gel food color with a little vodka.  Hand paint the design onto owls stomach.  If you mess up you can erase your mistakes with a Q-tip that has been dipped in vodka.



Our cutie little owl is finished!  I hope I have inspired you.

Easter Cake

Yay!  One of my favorite holiday cakes made the Sunday Sweets section of the Cake Wrecks blog.  How nice!  I hope everyone had a great Easter.



http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2011/04/sunday-sweets-happy-easter.html

40th Birthday Cake

This was made for a general contractor's 40th birthday celebration. I matched the tiling that is on the side of the cake to what is actually in my bathroom. The wood board is also made of sugar. I had a lot of fun with it!

Cooking.com's Wacky Cakes

I was so excited when cooking.com contacted me to be in their gallery of favorite wacky cakes.  It is such a fun collection of cakes that you have got to check them out! 



http://www.cooking.com/recipes-and-more/wacky-cake-photos.aspx

Angry Birds Cake

I love Angry Birds!! This cake was so much fun to make. 

Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes!

For Easter I made a decadent Strawberry Champagne cake, and I thought I would make the cake again, but in cupcake form. The secretary in my office was honored today for being spectacular (she really is), and I thought I would contribute to the celebration with these decadent cupcakes. Everyone loved them! Laurie, who doesn't usually like a fruit or berry treat, told me that these cupcakes are point worthy! She is on Weight Watchers (and looks phenomenal), so every point counts! That was most certainly an honor to hear. And, at the request of Matti, I shall now post the recipe I used. I hope you make these and enjoy them as much as I did! :)

Gorgeous Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes!

 Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

½ cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 ½ cups cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup champagne

¼ cup pureed strawberries

½ tsp vanilla extract

¾ cup chopped fresh strawberries

2 egg whites

Cream butter and sugar until light and smooth. Add the egg and mix until completely incorporated.

In a separate bowl combine and sift the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a dish combine the puree and champagne. Alternate adding the flour and strawberry mixtures to the butter mixture. Start and end with flour for a fluffy cake. Add the vanilla. Add the strawberries mixing until just incorporated. Fold in half the egg whites, then fold in the remainder.

I like to put the batter into a piping bag to fill the cupcake tins. Batter should reach just over ¾ of the tin.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter

1 package (2 pounds) powdered sugar

heaping 1/3 cup pureed strawberries

1 tsp vanilla

chocolate shavings for garnish

Cream the butter until light and fluffy. With continuous mixing, add a bit of the powdered sugar (add some of the strawberry puree if it gets too thick). Keep adding the sugar in small increments until completely blended with the butter. Add the remainder of the strawberry puree and the vanilla. If the frosting is still thick, add some champagne! Add chocolate shavings on top of the frosted cupcake for a decadent treat!

Ready for the office!

 These cupcakes were truly decadent. There are a lot of strawberries, but the flavor is mild. The chocolate garnish not only makes the final product pretty, but perfectly compliments the floral tones throughout the cupcake. 

Happy baking!

Veg Jalfrezi

Ingredients:

• Carrot 1
• Potato 1
• Beans 5
• Capsicum 1
• Dry chilly 3
• Sliced onion 2
• Grounded tomamo 1
• Coriander pdr 2 Tsp
• Chat masala 2 Tsp
• Coriander leaves
• Cumin seeds 
• Oil 2 Tbsp
• Salt

Fry the thinly sliced vegetables in oil and keep it aside. Heat oil in a kadai and add cumin seeds and dry chilly. Then add sliced onion and saute it. Next pour grounded tomato into this and cook till the raw smell goes. Put salt, coriander pdr and chat masala into the the onion. Saute it and put the fried vegetables. Mix it well. Remove it from fire and garnish it with coriander leaves.

Guest Post: Sweet Treat Tuesday-Pineapple-Coconut Gelato

My friend Nancy from Casual Cuisine is guest blogging today! Thank you so much for sharing a new recipe Nancy! Visit her site for yummy, healthy recipes!

You know that whole thing about pregnant women and ice cream cravings? Well, I must be here to prove that it's true, because I'm just about to have another baby and in the past  two weeks, I've made several batches of the stuff! I just cannot get enough fruity, frothy desserts lately, and this is the most recent recipe I've tried. When I came across the recipe, I immediately knew I had to try it because it just sounded so good and refreshing, not to mention extremely easy to make. I'm not normally a huge fan of coconut on its own, but I do love it when added to other tropical flavors, so the coconut milk base in this recipe is, in my opinion, a wonderful compliment to the pineapple. This dessert is just so tasty yet not too rich or heavy, and the texture could probably be described as in between a sorbet and sherbet. My family just loves this recipe, so when I talked to Amber about guest posting today, my mind went immediately to this one as a great dessert to share with you all. And with warm weather finally here and summer just around the corner, it is a great one to try out.

One other reason that I thought it would be fun to try this recipe is because growing up, I always loved getting the famous Dole Whips at Disney World's Magic Kingdom. I've searched for a good recipe to compare it to, but have never had any luck (mostly because the whip is actually a prepackaged concoction that you have to order rather than simple ingredients...as you can tell, I've done some research ;)!). So when I saw this recipe, I had that delicious Dole Whip in the back of my mind in hopes that it might taste similar. Well, I thought it did, and without even saying anything to him about it, my husband said it kind of reminds him of a Dole Whip. I started laughing and told him that is what I thought, too! So, if you like Dole Whips, you will most likely love this recipe. And if you've never had one but love a good refreshing, fruity dessert, this one will not disappoint! 

I recently made a strawberry gelato that we can't get enough of as well-I've made several batches of it and everyone who has tried it has loved it, so I highly recommend it, especially with strawberries being in season. For that and other recipes, feel free to visit my cooking blog, Casual Cuisine. I love trying new fun, practical, family friendly recipes and sharing them!

Pineapple-Coconut Gelato

Slightly adapted from this recipe from Cooking Light, found on Myrecipes.com

I N G R E D I E N T S :
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 (15 1/4-ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
1 cup coconut milk (I bought reduced fat coconut milk in a can, which can be found in the asian food section of the grocery store.)


D I R E C T I O N S :
Combine sugar and water in a large saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Remove from heat; cool completely.

Combine the pineapple and milk in a large bowl; stir in sugar syrup (I actually blended it together in a blender for a smoother texture, but either way would probably be fine).

Pour mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer, and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Spoon gelato into a freezer-safe container; cover and freeze 1 hour or until firm.

• 
  

Red Fish Curry... (Wishing you all a very Happy Easter...!!)

Ingredients:

• Kingfish (Seer fish) 1/2 kg
• Crushed garlic 6 pods
• Crushed ginger 1 piece
• Splitted chilly 2
• Grounded onion 1
• Grounded tomato 2
• Chilly pdr 2 T bsp
• Tamarind juice 1 Tbsp
• Fenugreek pdr 1/2 Tsp
• Cumin pdr 1/2 Tsp
• Mustard seeds 1 Tsp
• Curry leaves few
• Shallots 100 g
• Water 1 cup
• Oil 4 Tbsp
• Salt

Heat oil in a chatti or kadai and splutter mustard seeds. Saute the curry leaves and shallots. Add crushed ginger and garlic into this and roast it. Then add grounded onion and cook well. When oil starts to separate, pour grounded tomato and cook it till the raw smell goes. Reduce the heat and add the chilly pdr and roast it well. Add water, salt and fish pieces into this and cook it. After that add tamarind juice and splitted chilly. Slowly mix it. When it starts boiling, add roasted cumin and fenugreek pdrs into it and remove it from heat

[Recipe Courtesy: Vanitha Pachakam]

It's a hoot!

Whoooo loves first birthday celebrations?  I do, that's who!  And my favorite part is making the little smash cake for the guest of honor.  There's just something about a mini treat that gets me every time.  Take this one, for example:

The theme of this party was owls, and the birthday boy's mom asked me to re-create an owl cake I made several months ago.  Her favorite part of that cake was the sugar caterpillar, so I used that as the inspiration for this little stump smash cake.  Here's what it looked like all together:

Birthday Train No. 4

Attention, ladies and gentlemen!  Now arriving at the station: the Birthday Cake Express bound for Austin's 4th Birthday Celebration with stops at Ice Cream Gulch and Blow-out-the-Candles Valley.  All aboard!  Tickets, please...

We are now passing through Rice Krispie Tunnel.  Just a few more minutes and we'll be arriving at our final destination.  Happy Birthday, Austin!