Back By (popular?) Demand!

Well hello beautifuls <3

Ew. It's seriously been forever. Whyyyyyy?.....

Here's why. I finished school (yay!). I started working (also yay!). I decided to apply to BYU (wha..?) and move to Utah. So now I'm a 20-something freshman working towards my B.Sc. with an alphabet of letters already attached to my name*.... What on EARTH Annie? For real.

In a nutshell. I love my job. It's so great. But I love learning a lot too... and I wasn't done. I want to SEE more. DO more. BE more!! It didn't make perfect sense when I was applying for school and studying for the ACT at the same time as studying for my graduate tests and two sets of boards exams  either.... and to be honest I'm still stumbling around in the dark a little bit!

Here's what I do know: I'm happy. I'm healthy. I'm learning. I'm starting fresh.

I'm happier than I have been since I can even remember. I feel so much like myself it's scary!

I'm running a lot now that ballet is (seriously) over. It's REALLY hard, and I still cry when I hear my old music. I know I would have loved just one more year... but really it would never be "time" for me to quit. I could dance until I literally fell apart. And even then I'd still try and pick up the pieces.

I'm so wrapped up in this new life and I got sick of just blogging about cake. As awesome as it is.... there's gotta be something else yo ;) AND THERE IS! There's so many wonderful and beautiful things in this life to share and to experience!

Don't worry. Cake will still come. There will always be cake. Speaking of which... want some? In about 5 minutes flat? I got your back.

*Cake in the Microwave*
Attempted by many, perfected by few. This cake is actually HEALTHY and is easily transformed into any variation of your favourite. I've been asked way too many times how I make this so here's the recipe!

2 TBSP Coconut Flour (if you use regular, I'd increase to about 3 TBSP)
1 TBSP Your favorite protein powder (optional, I like Cellucor!)
1 tsp baking powder
Dash of Salt
Sweetener to taste (sugar, splenda, stevia, coconut sugar... whatever you're into)
1 egg or 2 egg whites
Splash of vanilla
2-3 TBSP milk
1/2 TBSP applesauce
Add ins: chocolate chips, coconut shreds, crumbled oreos, canned pumpkin, streusel topping.. anything you're feelin.

Add everything together and whisk until smooth. Pour into a ramekin or mug sprayed with nonstick spray. Microwave for about 1:30-2 mins, just until done. Try not to overbake.

Pop your little beauty out and let it cool. I stick it in the freezer for super fast chilling. Then top it with whatever you like! Frosting, peanut butter, melted chocolate, greek yogurt, honey and butter.... Serious options people.

Here's some ideas to get you started...

 

Top Row: 1. Basic cake stuffed with nutella and topped with nutella sauce. 2. Peanut butter cake with chocolate chips, chocolate frosting and peanut butter swirl. 3. Cookies and Cream cake with peanut butter greek yogurt frosting and a crumbled oreo on top.
Bottom Row: 4. Funfetti cake with chocolate chips, chocolate frosting in the middle, and ice cream and a red velvet oreo on top. 5. Cinnamon streusel cake with honey and butter on top.

So there you have it. Healthy cake in a ramekin just for you in 5 minutes flat. Life is so sweet, right?

XOXO

Annie

*All those letters? Two sets of full ultrasound credentials. Kind of weird. Kind of awesome. #imanadult

Kat's Day Off

So this one time I had a day off. A WHOLE DAY OFF. And it was a Thursday!! When does that happen? I'll tell you when: Freakin Never.

Our beautiful little tree :)

So I got up and put on makeup. Be impressed. Then I cleaned a bit, and got in my car and WENT SOMEWHERE. Where? Safeway. Bought stuff. For treats.

But first, I set a record for the earliest set up of a Christmas Tree ever. November 8th, people!! And I don't even care. I'd been playing Christmas music for at LEAST two weeks by this point. Christmas: too good of a holiday to sell short. And in Canada... once Thanksgiving hits I say roll out the reindeer.

Anyway. Back to the important stuff. Baked goods.

I have this issue with being excessively indecisive when it comes to choosing something to bake. Literally, I riddled out what I wanted to spend Thursday making for at least 3 days. I finally narrowed it down to a cake and a batch of cookies. One of which would be a cinnamon/sugary thing... while the other had to contain molasses. My internal battle went a little something like this: Molasses Cake and Snickerdoodles! Done!.... well... I could do a Streusel Cake and Molasses Cookies!! But if I do molasses cookies I may as well do the gingerbread snowflakes.... Oh wait. No cookie cutters. Okay! Definitely Molasses Cake! But wait. I just had the Gingercake at Earls (to DIE for....) so is that what I really want? Where the heck do I buy candied ginger?? FINE. Streusel Cake. WHICH streusel cake? Too many recipes, and none of these look good. Martha Stewart, you saint. Ultimate Streusel Cake, done. Okay, Gingerbread Snowflakes! Frick, NO COOKIE CUTTERS. Plan B: Snickerdoodles. But wait, no! Too many cinnamony-sugary things!! Molasses. Cookies. Martha.

She saves me from myself.

I even got to christen the BOSCH my mommy sent up for me to use :) since the Kitchen-Aid moved to the States... it has been beyond my reach. And my poor handmixer is well, a handmixer. Great for frosting, not so great for cookie dough. While I am just grateful to have something to make cookies with... When I get my own standing mixer... It. Will. Be. Kitchen-Aid.

The Bosch is a little hard to deal with... I don't get how the attachments work. It doesn't have the capacity to press ravioli and make ice cream and do laundry.... and I have to scrape the outside of the bowl AND the inner tube pretty frequently. And it's just not as nice to look at. Eh, what am I crying about? She got the job done. Who cares if she's the unfortunate sister? I appreciate her toughing it out.

Had to make a well to fit all that yummy streusel :)

Anyway. This streusel cake? I wasn't expecting much. But to put it simply... TO DIE FOR. It uses coarse salt in the cake AND the streusel... so every once in a while you get a little extra salty bite (which I love)! There's no skimping on this filling, I really didn't think all of it would fit. The cake is dense, but not quite a pound cake. The crumb is soft and buttery. It's like a pecan cinnamon roll with cake instead of a yeasty bread! The powdered sugar milk glaze is much more complimentary than it initially sounds (but I know that batch of cream cheese icing would do JUST fine too... :) )

The cookies? Oh. Well. About them cookies. They were big, super soft, spicy, moist, and just delicious. And the recipe says a yield of 12? It's a lie. I made over 30. And they were huge.

Fill

Top with more batter.

USE ALL OF THE STREUSEL!

Bye Bye For Now!

Well Hello There Cake.

Aren't you looking dapper this evening?

 So my roommates came home to fresh baked Cookies AND Cake AND Christmas Music AND a Christmas Tree!

Voila!

So Thursday was AWESOME. Totally in my element. Felt great to bake and decorate and clean and just DO THINGS with no prior commitment. No homework. No studying. No place I had to be....


..... How many days till Christmas Holidays? Oh yeah. 24!!!

Hey, I remember you!!

*Blows off dust*

Holy. Has it ever been a while. I'm not exactly sure why I am posting today... maybe it has something to do with the fact that I'm SICK for the first time in a really long time. What's the best thing to do when you're sick?? Well, for me it's do all those little irritating things that you seriously DON'T want to do all the other days when you are perfectly healthy and fit to do so.

You know. Things like... Clean out and organize your bookmarks bar. Catch up on some reading. Recover the old blog you used to do.

I finished my semester last week.. and that was a quick and dirty one. 14 of the longest weeks of my life. I'll spare most of the gory details... but in a nutshell, brownies for dinner practically every night. 10 finals in two weeks. Brink of my sanity.

So this whole "free evenings and weekends" thing is something I've only heard whispers of on phone commercials. Foreign concept.

Since being back in Edmonton not much baking has transpired. My big project this summer was my sister's WEDDING CAKE.

My first endeavor with fondant.

I was a little intimidated. As I was shopping for my supplies, we were told that Michael's does cake decorating COURSES. I considered this possibility... but the schedule was heavy. Why would I sign myself up for cake boot camp on my very last summer vacation??... Oh right. I wouldn't. The saleswoman told me that I might be able to muddle through basic fondant without training... but no way with anything on a larger scale.....

... Are you seriously telling me I can't deal with glorified play dough? Whatever.

There were tears. I'm pretty sure I aged about a decade constructing this cake. I have had so many people ask me how long it took me. Honestly, I didn't time it. But a guestimate?.... about 12 hours.

The inside was The Gold Cake. Aka: That beautiful Martha Stewart cake made with dark brown sugar, coarse salt, and rum. Each layer is then soaked in homemade butterscotch and the whole thing is enrobed in brown butter cream cheese frosting. Then you cover the outsides in toasted pecans.

<---- Yes, this was inside of....



                                       















This. ----->














Yeah, she was a big one.

Anyways. Since the trauma of the wedding cake.... I have done a few other little things.

 Dad's Birthday Cake!! Italian Cream Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. It was stupid good. Notice that awful icing job? This was the first thing I baked since the wedding cake. I still remember saying "I don't even care." over and over as I frosted this cake.

 Classic Red Velvet Birthday Cake!! One for Tera <3 and one for Megan <3

 Tiramisu. Apparently much too strong.

 Momma Carmen taught me to make pie crust :) 

We scratch made pecan, pumpkin, and coconut cream pies! The flakiest crust EVER. 

 Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes filled with Dulce de Leche, and frosted with Dulce de Leche Buttercream. Apparently quite sweet. o.O

Chris and Blair got married, so I made their wedding cake. 4 thick layers of dense chocolate cake filled with Nutella Buttercream. 

So that's a quick little summary of my most recent baking projects! I am happy to announce that... It is officially Christmas Time!!! Who am I kidding, I changed my alarm to Christmas music at least a week ago. Looking forward to MANY baking adventures this holiday season :)

Here's a little bucket list of the must-makes:

Cuban Lunches
Christmas Macarons
Holiday Colored Peanut Butter Rice Krispies with TONS of Callebaut
Ginger Snowflakes
Aged Almond Pecan Shortbread
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Sugar Cakes
Assorted Truffles
Super Secret Decandently Delicious Mystery Christmas Dinner Dessert!!

Also. I'm off for holidays from the 14th of December all the way to the 2nd of January!! I'm SERIOUS!! This means that this Kat (ha.) is heading back to the homeland at quittin time on the 14th. Car packed. Presents wrapped. Treats in tow. Christmas playlist playing. Hair and makeup done, with a cute seasonal outfit.

Speaking of trips home... I happen to be going tomorrow! I always forget at least one thing... and I'd love to have THIS be the time I break that habit and remember EVERYTHING I planned on bringing down. Good to be back! Happy Baking :)

Little Monsters.

Hello hello. It has been too long!

Short preface: Melissa left last weekend to go and help with my niece's birthday party in Calgary. I was at school when she headed out so I couldn't exactly go with her. Two days? Alone? In Edmonton?? Not OVERLY enticing... but I'll roll with it. So after class I took my 40 minute bus ride home and then followed that with a little power walk from the transit center to my apartment building. Up the elevator, unlocked the door.... and was greeted by no one :( Totally alone. Closed, deadbolted and chained the door shut.

What happened then?....

Absolutely nothing.




I had the bachelorette pad to myself. What should I do.... Study? Nah. Clean? Nah. Unpack? Nah.


... bake? OKAY!



Seriously. That was my thought process.... The thought of opening my Med Terminology Book on a Saturday just made me... sad. (Interestingly enough, it's Saturday again and guess what I have open right next to me? Ding ding, med terminology. Oh how it makes my heart hurt.)

I whipped out the Google Maps and found me a Bulk Barn... trotted off and made an adventure out of it. Stopped at Bulk Barn, Marks Work Wearhouse (I've been here a million times... I'm ready to torch that place. JUST LET ME HAVE MY SCRUBS IN ALL THE SAME COLOR AND SIZE!!), Safeway. I hauled all the crap up to the apartment and set to work on my scheme.

 And to all those people out there who say you won't actually DO any of the things you find on Pinterest... Suck on this:

Those be scratch made Blue Velvet Cupcakes with blue cream cheese frosting rolled in blue sweetened shredded coconut. Oh yeah, and scratch made chocolate chip cinnamon cookies.

I had the pleasure of eating like... SIX of the rejects. I think my oven is a bit hot.. a couple of the ones on the edges got a wee too crispy to serve. LUCKILY I had a bowl, a spoon, and ice cream to remedy that problemo. *Whew* Crisis: averted.

I took them to my ward Sunday Potluck... and they were pretty much devoured in seconds. Makes you feel good that other people appreciate the time you spent making something nice. And NO ONE commented I must have a lot of time on my hands... which was refreshing. Yeah, I actually DON'T... I just make time for nice things. F.Y.I.

Still trying to decide what next month will be... It'll have to be something downright awesome to stand up to these little guys. It is October... so something festive? Absolutely.

So the oven has been christened. I have officially baked. *dusts off hands*

C is for Cookie... and Cupcake. Hi ohhhh!

Reality is setting in...

I'm moving. In less than a month. To a faraway cold place. To be a big girl and grow up and get a real job. And there's no convection oven...

... hold me.

But seriously. HOLY CRAP!!! I'm leaving Lethbridge for realistically... probably 10 years. Sure the program is 28 months... but then what? Take my old room back in my parent's house? Not likely. So it's peace out Southern AB until I'm building my dream house out on an acreage.... *sigh*...

That's scary. It makes me feel like I need to cope... by eating desserts. Lots of dessert. Speaking of which... I did something bad. So bad infact.. it has to be good.

I remade that ultimate coconut cake.... with a few alterations. I soaked the layers not in simple syrup, but in coconut milk infused with simple syrup. I turned the cream cheese frosting into a coconut milk cream cheese glaze and I covered the outside with large flake unsweetened coconut instead of the fine shredded and sweetened variety. The result? Nothing short of a masterpiece.

I think we've found a competitor, nay, a MATCH for the Butterscotch Pecan Cake (which I call the Gold Cake... for good reason.)

I made it for my mom's friend's daughter's bridal shower.... yeah that was a lot of possessives in one sentence. We did the whole shebang. Mediterranean pie, special salad, stuffed mushrooms, home made parsley butter, and of course... Dessert. Carmen's Carrot Cake, Callebaut Dipped Strawberries and the Ultimate Coconut Cake. Here are some pictures of the event!

It was lovely... sorry the pictures are all from the kitchen perspective!! But that's kinda how you roll when your part of the food entourage. I wish I had some pictures of the prep the night before... me and Meliss were up until probably 2:30 getting everything ready!

The Kitchen was run by Melissa and Myself... with my Mom playing Hostess with the Mostest. The shower was beautiful, and everyone had a great time!! Especially us... we were left with all the leftovers to take care of afterwards. Oh dear. You know how that PLAGUES me.

All the Coconut Cake is nearly gone, and so is the Summer. Soon it will be off to school again. I can't believe that there are already back to school commercials on. Hopefully I can bake a few more things before I go... something tells me that in the thick of classes, I won't have much time to bake to the same level of extravagance I have been.

Happy Baking my Lovely Readers :)

Confessions of the Service Industry.

So. I got this summer job.... totally thought it would be my dream job! Scoop ice cream all day, bake brownies, roll cookie dough... No bat shiz crazy co-worker harassing me on a daily basis.... Low stress, chill, fun job.

Boy was I ever naiive. Seriously.

The amount of sheer grunt labor involved in that job is UNREAL. Do you know how much gummy bears weigh??? When they are all packed together like that?! They are dense little frickers. And believe you me... that lovely scent of baking waffle cones does NOT come without a price. I was on cones for some 4 hours one day (which actually isn't very long in the cone making world)... I swear I had heatstroke. My hands were swelling so much the gloves were getting tight.

How-some-ever, there are a lot of awesome things about this job. I learned how to work an ice cream machine and got paid to bake in the mornings. I learned how to make a LOT of things (like fresh baked waffle cones and ice cream cup cakes) and I learned that my dream house has to include a blast chiller, an ice cream maker, waffle irons, a walk in fridge, and one of those awesome mega deep sinks that have a scalding water laser for a faucet. Free ice cream is always a good thing too. My co-workers were wonderful. I miss you guys already :( And I had two awesome bosses.

Anyway. During my time there I made some observations... and I am here to share them with you in an easy to follow numbered list. Please note that these opinions are solely my own and I do not intend to impose them on anyone employed in said profession.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW WHEN GOING INTO AN ICE CREAM STORE.
(In no particular order..)

1. We don't like it when you ask us how much we love our job. Or when you tell us how easy our jobs must be. Yeah, tell that to my black and blue legs and my aching triceps.

2. Yes, this job makes my wrists hurt and yes, I do have muscles from scooping all the rock hard ice cream for 8 hours a day. In fact, I'm probably 2 years closer to crippling arthritis after hand packing this quart of peanut butter ice cream. Thanks.

3. When you want something "light" and ask for a milkshake, I secretly giggle to myself because I know what goes in those things and in what amount... Trust me. It ain't light. The same goes for the Green Tea Ice Cream. It's all made with the same base. You aren't saving calories... I promise.

4. Don't try too hard to coordinate your ice cream and make it "like an apple pie!" or something. You can't make it gross. Except peanut butter ice cream and pineapple. That's a new kind of sick.

5. When you don't let your kids get more than one mixin, you look like a psycho. Don't take your kid to get a marble slab if you're going to whine about prices. Take them to Dairy Queen where you will pay the same amount but will feel better in principle about buying cheap crap.

6. Use words. Instead of... "I waaaaant.... THAT kind in THAT cup." and pointing in your selection's general direction... say, "I would like a medium strawberry ice cream, please."Seriously. If you are old enough to go get an ice cream and tell the lady what you want, you are old enough to use words.

7. The world would be a better place if people would stop, look around, and read. Everything you need to know is listed on the HUGE board behind me or the hanging signs all around us.

8. Stop asking me for a single ice cream cupcake. For the last time.... They only come in boxes of six. Get over it and buy the box if you want your small turtle cup so freaking badly.

9. Please keep your bad attitude at home. You're in an ice cream parlor.... if you can't be happy there, your life is seriously going to suck.

10. If you are waiting in line for a really long time due to a rush hour.... have the decency to know what you want when we get to you. There's nothing worse than a line out the door and a posse of 5 or 6 girls holding up the line because they can't decide between white chocolate or cheesecake.

11. I dislike when you ask me for my opinion and then you pick the exact opposite... Really?

I have newfound respect for people who stay cheery for 8+ hours at a time. There's so much to be done ALL THE TIME... honestly and truly there's never time for a break in the ice cream business. So we seriously... SERIOUSLY love when happy people come in. There have been a few customers that just made my day either by their cheery attitude alone or something funny they said. Be kind to the people serving you... and say thank you. It's more appreciated than you know!

My vice. Black Walnut/ Cheesecake ice cream with Fudge Brownie, Oreo, and Butterfinger in a Butterfinger cone. Boo. Ya.

Ahoy!

Oh my long lost baking blog. How long it has been.

Things have been absolutely CRAZY lately... Peter Pan is in 8 days!! It's been quite a taxing few months; growing pains and learning curves and all those lovely things that are excessively uncomfortable but yield that important stuff.... what's that called? Oh right, "life experience". Bah.

Highs and lows have become a commonality in my life as of late. It's very exhausting.

Amidst all of this.. I made time to create a little masterpiece for one of my very best friends: my Mom. She's been with me every step of the way.

We recently took a little excursion to Edmonton so I could attend my DMS interview. It was a quick 6 hour drive followed by an epic tale of woe... being lost in Central Alberta is NOT our idea of adventure. We finally made it to our hotel and, after getting lost on Kingsway Ave about 8 different times, managed to find NAIT and a Moxies!

We got to go to the Kingsway Mall before my interview and go meet my MAC counter girls and had a lovely breakfast. Then... it was time. My mom sat outside and read a paperback the whole time. Meanwhile I was sprinting station to station, racking my brain for the best way to approach each mini interview. (For those who don't know, NAIT has switched from panel interviews to MMI, or multiple mini interviews. They present you with 8 different scenarios and you have 5 minutes to respond to each one. Most of these questions have absolutely nothing to do with the profession at all.)

On our drive home, time flew by. Of course we always made sure our Double Gulps were full of Diet Pepsi... and then I had a hankering for an Oreo Cheesecake Blizzard. Oh yum.

We spent the time reminiscing about places we used to live, people we used to know, outdated perspectives.... It always amazes me how many stories one person can have. My mom was so wonderfully supportive the entire time. As I reflected on how grateful I was... I recalled other times in my life where she has been there for me. I realized what a blessing it was to have parents who will take time to be there for you. What a treat it was to spend that time with my mom!

This past mother's day was an especially happy occasion. If anyone knows Carmen, you know she has a borderline unhealthy love of caramel.... and so I set off to find the most caramelly dessert I could. I ended up with caramel cakes with a solid caramel filling, caramel cream cheese frosting and fresh praline.

It was my first time making praline, as well as using a candy thermometer. It was quite an adventure.



The cake turned out beautifully... and judging by my mom's reaction she loved it too.

This reminds me.... my ACTUAL present for Mother's Day (and her card) are still up in my room. Sheesh.

Anyways. I just wanted to say thank you to my mom, Carmen. You are a wonderful blessing to me. My burdens are lighter because of you, and I wouldn't be who I am today without you. Cheers to you mom, you're the best.

*cracks a Diet Pepsi*