Mother's Day Pretties

Yesterday was Mother's Day, and if you didn't know I have the coolest mom ever. And while I was stuck at work she came and visit me at the bakery I work at. I work at Scratch Baked Goods in Long Beach and I love it. It's fun being around pretty food all day, piping cupcakes, and decorating cookies. 

Aren't they beautiful! I love pretty food that tastes good too :) And side note! At my school we had a "Before I Die" wall and that's me writing on it, I think that's such a cool interactive idea and I'm happy I got to be a part of it. 

xoxo

Fluffer Nutter Cookies

Sometimes all you need is a cookie. Well, today was one of those days for me but I was feeling lazy so I wanted something easy that wouldn't require much cleaning up afterwards. So I thought about my flour less peanut butter cookies. Who doesn't love a 4 ingredient one bowl cookie? But I wanted a little more than the one note flavor of peanut butter, so naturally I thought "lets put marshmallow and chocolate on it!!!!". And that's what I did and that's how these babies were born.

mmmmmmmmmm… just look at it in all its glory.

Cookie Ingredients:

• 1 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

     Preheat oven to 350. Add everything to a mixer and blend it until incorporated, how easy is that!!! So easy. Then scoop cookies on to a cookie tray. You can roll the cookie dough balls in sugar to make them look pretty if you're feeling fancy, or be lazy like me and just plop it on the tray trying not to lick it off your fingers. Next, using a fork press the cookie down and leave nice marks on top of the cookie. Bake for 10-14 minutes. 

Marshmallow Fluff Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites
• 3/4 c sugar
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar (you may need more or less)

(you could just use store bought for the filling, but how cool is it to make your own?)

Topping (optional) :

• chocolate

Directions:

     Place the egg whites and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer and place the bowl over a double boiler. Whisk constantly until the egg white mixture becomes soft, thicker, frothy and white, about 4-5 mins.

Then take the bowl off the heat and beat with the whisk attachment on your mixer for about 10 minutes on medium speed until you get glossy soft peaks. Next add your powdered sugar until you get stiff peaks. 

     Assemble the cookies by placing a nice glob of marshmallow in between two yummy cookies. And garnish with as much chocolate as your heart desires.

Enjoy! xoxo

Easter Carrot Pound Cake with Cheese Cake Swirl

Happy Easter everyone! To me Easter is about gathering around with family and celebrating. Ham is never the focus for our meal though, we are unconventional that way, we like dessert! So Easter dessert is always something fun for me to make, and right now I'm really into rustic looking bare cakes with flowers. So I decided to use my new bunt cake mould and create a classic cake. 

Isn't it pretty? I love decorating cakes, but I like the simplicity of this bundt cake, and man was it tasty. Everyone kept coming up to tell me how much they loved it, and people were taking second slices to take home! That made me feel like one proud baker.

Okay so heres how to make it:

WARNING: This cake is not in any means "light" and you will crave more! Beware how much you shovel into your face & for the guilt you may feel after eating the whole thing!

Cake Ingredients:

• 3 cups all purpose flower 
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon 
• 8 oz soft cream cheese
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp pineapple juice (leftover from the can)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) melted butter
• 1 cup grated carrots (about 2 medium sized carrots)
• 1 cup crushed pineapple

Cheesecake Swirl Ingredients:

• 8oz soft cream cheese
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbs flour

Directions:

     Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a stand mixer on medium speed beat the cream cheese and sugar until incorporated and light and fluffy and there are no longer any sugar granules (approx. 2 mins). Then add the eggs one at a time and the vanilla and pineapple juice making sure the ingredients are well incorporated. Then slowly add the melted butter and beat for another 2 minutes making sure everything is very smooth and light. 

     

     Then turn the mixer off and add all of the dry ingredients at once (flour, baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon). Mix on low until the ingredients are just incorporated, be careful not to over mix. Next add the carrots and the drained crushed pineapple and mix with a rubber spatula, making sure to scrape the bottom and fully incorporate the goodness. 

     Now start the cheesecake filling, it's really simple. Just combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix. You can use a mixer, or be lazy like me and use a fork and elbow grease. 

     Pour the carrot cake batter into the pre greased bunt pan half way, then pour in all of your cheesecake filling. Next carefully pour the rest of the batter on top of the cheesecake filling being careful not to mix the cheesecake and the carrot cake. Bake the cake for about an hour and twenty minutes to an hour and forty five minutes, depending on your oven. Rotate your cake half way through and it's done when a tooth pick comes out clean. Let it cool and then devour, nom!

Enjoy! xoxo