Cakes, cookies and birthdays, oh my!

So it's been a while. At first there were no updates because there were no new recipes. Then it was because I was so busy making said recipes. And lately it's been because I just haven't felt like it.

All right, that out of the way, let's get down to the updates.

I've been experimenting with sugar cookie doughs, trying to find a recipe that I like that I could also sit down and pipe out awesome patterns with royal icing for a few hours. I still haven't found the perfect dough to my liking, but I did make some pretty good chocolate cookies for my best bud down in Evansville.


Lucky for me, her favorite flower is also the easiest to pipe.

I also made a couple of cakes. My awesome sister-in-law had her birthday last weekend, and of course it was Mother's Day. To me this meant it was the perfect opportunity to experiment with several cake decorating techniques using royal icing and fondant. For my second and third fondant cakes ever, I think I did pretty good. But seriously, I need to practice my piping for the letters.

I like how the flower motif turned out, but the letters look like the opening credits of The Simpsons.

My sister-in-law's favorite colors are purple and green, so I covered her cake with green fondant and actually brushed out the flowers with purple royal icing using a super clean paintbrush, then outlined it in white. The design is easy for a novice like me,  not requiring any sort of accuracy. Again, not too great at piping letters yet, but at least everything's spelled right! Not quite Cake Wrecks worthy, fortunately :)

The recipe I used for both cakes was based off of a simple yellow cake recipe I found on Wilton.com. I changed it up a bit, like I usually do. Here's my take on a simple yellow cake.

Coconut Brandy Cake (I would have used rum, but all I had was brandy. Try it, it works great!)

• 3 C sifted cake flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 C sugar
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 2/3 C butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 C coconut milk
• 1/4 C brandy
• 1/2 C milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease and flour the sides of two 8 inch cake pans, and cover the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
4. Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
5. Add eggs, vanilla, coconut milk, brandy and milk and mix thoroughly.
6. Mix in flour mixture until completely incorporated.
7. Spread batter evenly in prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 
8. Cool layers for 10 minutes in the pans, then remove from pans onto cooling racks to cool completely before decorating.

I filled the cake with dulce de leche, which I made using the following easy-as-pie recipe from Cupcake Project. (Seriously, give this a try!) I covered the outside with a simple buttercream before applying the fondant and all that fun stuff.

Now that the birthdays and holidays are over for the moment, I'll continue coming up with new and interesting cookie recipes. Maybe I'll slip in a new cake or cupcake recipe in there as well, as I find myself wanting to expand beyond cookies more and more. But my priority right now is the perfect sugar cookie recipe. Once I discover the secret, I MAY decide to share it with the masses. That is if you behave and complete all your chores.

Over and out!