let them eat cake

A few days before we left on our European vacation, we celebrated Dave's 34th birthday! We celebrated early with his family with a barbecue and I brought the dessert - Whipped Cream Cake. It was a hit and so easy to make. My mom has been making it for years! The  next day we celebrated on his real birthday, just him and me. We went to dinner at Sidedoor and had our favorite $2 Pastrami Sliders and drinks. A birthday on a budget but still fun!

Here's the Whipped Cream Cake recipe from my mom's Joy of Baking cookbook with a few changes: 

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

*Sift 2 cups of cake flour before measuring

*Resift twice with 2 3/4 teaspoons double-acting baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon salt

*Whip until stiff 1 cup whipping cream

*Fold 1 1/3 cups powdered sugar into the cream and add 1/2 cup water and 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla gradually, stirring gently until smooth

*Whip 3 egg whites until stiff but not dry

*Combine the cream and the egg whites. Fold the sifted ingredients into the cream mixture, about 1/2 at a time. Bake in a bundt pan for 25-30 minutes.

*For the frosting, I just use the basic butter-cream frosting on the back of the powdered sugar bag. You'll have extra frosting which always great for dipping graham crackers in. Yum.

That's it, super simple and delish!

holiday baking

So I'm one of those girls that love to bake. There's nothing intimidating to me as far as baking goes - but ask me to cook something and it turns into a long, challenging process that isn't always enjoyable. Hence why I'm always posting easy dinners. With baking, however, I enjoy every little step. 

My mom even got me this card one year - it's exactly how I was as a child and still am today (meaning, i always add extra sugar and love sweets - don't worry, i can read)!

So, yesterday I baked Almond Roca Cookies and Pecan Puffs. Nothing is better than baking with the Christmas music on and rain pouring down. Although I don't mind baking intricate desserts, these are rather simple. Especially the Almond Roca Cookies.

~Almond Roca Cookies ~

Almond Roca Cookies**
*1 cup butter
*1/2 cup sugar
*1/2 cup brown sugar

Cream above ingredients thoroughly.

Add:
*1 beaten egg yolk
*1 tsp. vanilla
*2 cups cake flour

Mix well and spread on a cookie sheet about 1/4 inch thick. Bake 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees. Melt one 10 oz. milk chocolate bar (i always use Symphony Toffee & Almond) and spread on baked cookie while warm. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. Chill and cut into pieces.

**My mom got this recipe from another customer in the grocery store when I was a baby. My brother wanted to know what the lady was using that giant candy bar for! So - she sent my mom the recipe and it's been part of our Christmas collection ever since. **