Magic.

Time for something I can do with my eyes closed... and requires no recipe. Sounds GOOD!

So you all know that feeling when you have a day off and it SHOULD make you more rested.... but it just doesn't?? Then the next day someone asks... "Hey! How are you feeling? Better??"

Nope. As a matter of fact I feel exactly the same as yesterday. And the day before.

This is when you know.... you're ready for holidays.

I am somewhat comforted by the fact that no matter what happens, when December 17th rolls around... it's all over. And there isn't one dang thing anyone can do to stop it. So I've just gotta tough out a little over two more weeks. I can totally do it.... I can abso-LUTELY do it. I can.... I ca-..... I.... I CAN'T DO IT!!!

Yes, I need a little encouragement here people. The fall semester, for whatever the reason, KILLS me every flippin year. I'm on my deathbed by the first snowfall. Don't ask, just comfort me :(

Here's a little something I like to whip up in about 30 minutes (this includes baking time, by the way.)

Step one: Melt some butter. Mix in Graham Cracker Crumbs. It should be moist enough to follow through with step two.
Step Two: Press in the bottom of a pan to make a cookie crust.

Step Three: Layer with whatever you like. I go shredded coconut, followed by milk chocolate chips, and chopped pecans. Don't be shy with your portions.

Step Four: Crack a can of Eagle Brand (sweetened condensed milk) and pour over the top. Throw it in the oven at tree-fiddy (350). Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the top layer is bubbly and golden.

At this point you have two options. You can wait for it to cool so you can cut it into beautiful squares, OR you can use a soup ladle and spoon it into a bowl for a hot delicious treat.

Be forewarned about the latter... unless you have an extreme sweet and chocolate tooth, I would suggest waiting for them to set. The chocolate is very melty and will spread through most of the other flavors. It can be a bit overwhelming. (Still delicious though... but hey, I've been known to DRINK Callebaut.)

We call these Magic Bars. You'll see why.

It's mostly because I hate all squares and bars with the fire of a thousand suns. I hate everything from the taste to the baking process and right down to their core philosophy.

But these.... these are wonderful. They're rich, chewy and dense, but have that coconut layer to cut the rich flavors nicely. And then there's the finish of the crunchy pecans. Oh and the chocolate. Did I mention the chocolate? MMMMM!

Give these a go if you are feeling a touch weary. The end is in sight, I promise! We will all make it till Christmas! Trust the Magic Bars. They will give you Power.

Ballet and Cake?! Perfect.

This one time, my best friend Tayler turned 19! And I baked her a cake. And brought it to ballet... and we had a surprise birthday for her!

But Annie, how DID you keep the cake nice and refrigerated whilst you were dancing? How you ask?? I live in Canada, eh! The great OUTDOORS is my refrigerator!

So for Tay's birthday I decided I would go for the tried and true ultimate girl indulgence. Chocolate... and ALOT of it. I started with three 8" by 2" rounds (which judging by this picture I could turn into a Micky Mouse cake.... inspiration??) of a very moist chocolate cake made with lots of sour cream and high quality cocoa powder.

First mix the cocoa with boiling water....

Make sure there are no lumps.

Don't freak out... the sour cream doesn't make the cake sour. It just makes it more dense and moist.

Then I did the most evil thing I could have possibly done.... Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing. That's right people..... CCCI. WHAMMY. You make this with Unsweetened Chocolate... which is a force to be reckoned with. I myself am a HUGE dark chocolate fan. I took a bite of this stuff once.. expecting something along the lines of bittersweet.... Well I got the bitter... but no sweet. This chocolate is SPECIFICALLY for baking. It is NOT for straight eating... even for a chocolate connoisseur such as myself.

Deadly.

You melt it and throw it into your cream cheese butter vanilla mixture... then add a TON of icing sugar. Whip it up, being sure to scrape the sides and the bottom as to make sure the chocolate is evenly distributed. You should end up with a thick, yet fluffy icing with a velvety smoov (say it out loud if you are confused) texture.

Cute little tip for presentation... lay a few strips of foil down on the serving plate as to not smear icing all over it and turn it into a huge mess. Woo.

You can prep the cake right on the portable caddy if you utilize the tin foil trickery. Magical. Slap the first layer down, ice it, then the next layer.

Rinse and repeat until all your layers are stacked... in my case, tres. Ice the sides with the frosting oozing out the sides in a thin layer called the crumb coat, then refrigerate for about an hour to let it set. Then use the rest of your icing to make a smoov (say it out loud again.. in case you forgot.) and creamy coating.

Beautiful.

So.... we threw it in the car and drove out to ballet. Cake? Check. Candles? Check. Matches? Check. Bowls and spoons? Check. Around Welling we realize..... eff. We forgot a knife. So of all people... we text the Birthday Girl herself. Bring a Knife. Don't ask, just bring it. And she did. And was none the wiser. What a dear.

So cute.

Love this girl!!

Oh gosh. Tay has a knife. 

She was so excited! It was precious. And definitely was a ton of fun. The girls loved the cake. Big thanks to Miss Melissa who let me organize this little partay for everyone... hopefully the extra icing I brought you compensated for the half hour we spent having cake.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Miss Tayler!! We love you lots and here's to many more!!

OooOoooOO.....OOOooOOOOoooo...

Too little too late?.... I know.

So.... crap. I really wanted to get this blog in before October ended... but certain circumstances took priority and... well here we are on November the 8th. Miniature fail by me.

As I pondered what to make for a Halloween-y goodie, it became apparent to me that most things we consume on Halloween are either store bought (chocolate bars, candy corn) or don't look that cute unless they are mixed with a variety of treats (like a display of cookies AND bars AND candy apples). And yes, I probably should have buckled down and made eleventeen types of dessert... but sheesh there are only so many hours in a day and at the present time I have but one oven and four burners.

I WAS going to make this great 32 layer cake with dark chocolate glaze and candied hazelnut spears.... but I woke up that day with Baker's Block. Couldn't bring myself to do it. So.... I opted for making 32 petit fours. In the shape of ghosts. I know, I know. Don't judge.

So. Petit fours. It's cake, downsized into beautiful little cubes you can pop like... poppable things? Chicken... grapes... bubble gum? Up my alley much? Most petit fours are covered in fondant or a colored candy coating.... They are very intimidating. Go on, google them... AFTER you finish reading this of course.

For my first experiment with these cakelets I figured imperfections in ghosts would give personality and artistic flair.... at least that's what I'm banking on.

The best cake for petit fours is a dense sponge or sheet cake. The recipe called for a 12 x 17 x 1 pan...

(rummages through baking sheets) where the HELL am I gunna get a.... Oh. I found one! Killer.

Grease it flour it parchment it grease it again flour it again. Irritating.

You would think sheet cake would be super simple... and it is, but you do have to be super careful to get a proper texture. No overmixing, no overincorporating... or your hooped.

Martha says... "That is NOT an exact measurement!!!" I FIXED IT MARTHA I SWEAR!!

Pour the sugar in a CONTINUOUS stream... I can almost hear Martha in my head... "Now you want a steady flow of sugar in your-.. I said steady. STEADY."

To complete my nightmare of ruining the batter, I have to fold in egg whites. I'm always deathly afraid I'm folding improperly or I am overmixing.

First thing with egg whites is to separate them from the yolks... Obviously. They look rather impressive in a bowl.

See? Impressive.

Afterward, take a handy dandy hand mixer and beat the crap out of them until they go white. I have had the unfortunate experience of mistaking this for whipped cream once... trust me, egg white out of a spoon even less pleasant than it sounds.

The recipe called for a soft beat, so basically beat them till they make peaks, but then collapse. No stiff peaks. Are we starting to see how picky they are getting?? Flip.

They should look something like this.

The batter, as per normal, was delicious. Into the oven it goes.

It came out like this, so I must not have screwed it up that bad.

Next was to cut out little round cakes. I didn't have a round metal cookie cutter, so I substituted with the best I had. A plastic, scalloped edge cutter. Joy. This complicated things, and most likely affected my presentation negatively. I'll add basic cookie cutters to my shopping list.

First one! A little lopsided... maybe you always screw up the first one? Or is that pancakes.. or children?

Looking good!

There was ALOT of cake scraps, so I took it upon myself to be my own personal garberator... garborator... garbarator...... okay I give how do you spell garb.... garbage disposal. There we go. What I mean is... I pretty much mowed down on cake the whole time. And listened to Friends in the background. The one where Ross teaches Rachel and Phoebe about Unagi.

The recipe called for a thick sugar icing... but I said screw it I'm busting out the Philly. Everything is better with cream cheese icing. So I piped little ghosty heads (which in retrospect could have been ALOT taller)....

.... and then covered them with a powdered sugar and butter glaze.

Afterwards, semisweet baker's chocolate made little faces.

Before....

After!

They're so cute I might die.

I took the opportunity to get some of them out of the house by giving them away with most delicious peanut butter rice krispies. For all those who don't know... peanut butter rice krispies are one of the very few cheap desserts I will eat. And not just eat... dominate.

 I had to make them all face eachother or the chocolate would get smeared on the cellophane. It also kind of makes them look like they are huddling together. How cute, yet morbid. Perfect for Halloween?

Aww... they are scared :(

This is how they looked all done.

They were definitely delicious, definitely addicting, definitely make them again. With more icing. Mmmmm. They weren't that difficult either... just be precise with your measurements and don't overmix. And have a proper cookie cutter on hand.

Happy (belated) Halloween my sweet readers!