Spice Cupcakes

These are some Spice Cupcakes I made yesterday with a caramel frosting, topped off with some hazelnuts.

Mocha Cupcakes and Tres Leches Cake With Strawberries

Mocha Cupcakes with buttercream frosting









Tres Leches Cake with Strawberry Syrup

Hectic!

I have been extremely busy these past couple of weeks. And I apologize for desserting this place. There has been a lot going on my life right. One is finally done and over with. My ATA (Arts Technology Academy) Portfolio Review was today. It was very tiring. I was one of the leaders of the a group. I basically had to lead a group around to our designated student display area. The group would review their work and rate and give constructive criticism. I, obviously, didn't get the group that reviewed my work. But I didn't have to leave my group to go to my area and give a 3 minute speech and a quick overview of my work before they reviewed it. After I was done, I went straight back to my group. My goodness, some of these people were harsh. We did want your honest opinion but this isn't a professional art critique for Christ's sake! We are just high school students trying to develop a decent amount of skills! I had a quick chance to look at my sheet, and I was pretty happy. I guess they liked my work. The highest overall grade was a 4 and that's exactly what I got. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of my display area, but I will tomorrow. That is if it's still up! Poor Keith. His video got spat on. He was unlucky to have an old lady. His video had a lot of violence so there was no way it was going to go pass her!

Another reason why I have been gone was due to the amount of work that is getting piled up on us these last two weeks. Graduation is just around the corner, and all this last minute stuff is getting up to my neck. I have 2 projects to complete by next week and I'm not even 1/4 way done. Procrastination? Yes. I am also no longer working on the weekends. Amanda quit, so I got her night shift during the week. So my days go from school, home for about 3o mins, then work. Its kind of good in a way because I finally have my weekends to go out. There are so many things I wanted to do. And hang out with people I haven't kicked it with in a while. It should be good, and especially now that summer is just in two weeks. I can not wait until graduation!

A couple of days ago, my art teacher had to go into surgery. I had made her a get well soon card but it just wasn't coming out right. So instead I did what I did best. Baked! I baked her these sweet Mocha cupcakes. I will post pictures of those soon! And the recipe of course.

Mocha Twists

I'm pretty sure all of you coffee drinkers don't just drink coffee by itself. I mean, you have to have something with it, right? Wether it might be some toast, cake, or light cookies. Well in this cake, I have some cookies. With a twist.

They came out to be the perfect tool for dipping in coffee. Or, if you're not a coffee drinker, some milk! Doesn't matter. I also made a sweet cocoa glaze that for the cookies to be dipped in, and set as a glaze. It all goes with the flow. This recipe was pretty easy, and everyone seemed to like them. Unfortunatly, I didn't make enough, due to the cause that I ran out of sugar. Yes, isn't that a nightmare?! No sugar!! Thank goodness a supermarket is always nearby!

• 1 cup of butter, softened


• 2/3 sugar


• 3 tbps. unsweetened cocoa powder


• 1 tsp. instant coffee crystals


• 3/4 tsp. baking powder


• 1/4 tsp. salt


• 1 egg


• 1 tsp. vanilla


• 2 1/4 cups of AP flour


• 1 recipe of Cocoa Glaze (recipe in directions)

1. In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, cocoa powder, coffee crystals, baking powder, and salt; beat until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in as much flour as you can with mixer. Using wooden spoon, sitr in remaining flour. Divide dough in half; wrap. Freeze for about 40 mins or until easy to handle.

2. Preheat oven to 375F. Dicide each dough half into 24 pieces. On lightly floured surface, roll each dough piece in 6-inch ropes. Twist two ropes together; pinch end to seal. Place ropes 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake about 8 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes. Transefer to wire racks and cool.

3. Dip one end of each twist in Cocoa Glaze, allowing excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper until set.

Cocoa Glaze: In a bowl combine 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder, and enough milke (about 3 tbsp.) to make glaze consistency. Makes about 3/4 cup. Cookies make about 24 twists.

Lemon Cream Cake - take 2

I did end up baking this cake (again) for my friend's 20th birthday. I did not have any time to research and look up good cake recipes, so I just went ahead and went with what everyone told me about it. The people loved it, so I guess it was it.

I'm really lucky enough to have a lemon tree next door. I'm even luckier to have my grandparent's living next door. When I go to their house, my usual greeting would be something in the lines of, "Going to the back for some lemons. Ooooo, cookies! Hi grandma!". Don't you just love your grandparents? I seriously don't know what I would do with out them.

So the cake was faster process coming in the second time. Mostly due to the fact that I had all the ingredients ready from my previous try. I still ended up baking it a day before (Friday), which was just me trying to be cautious. On Saturday, right after work, I went straight to the fridge to see if my cake was still there. I had gotten a note card and written in with big red letters, "DO NOT EAT", and tapped it on the container. You never know with my brothers around the kitchen. They don't care who's it is, or what it is. If they're hungry, they'll eat it. Fortunately, my cake was still in the spot where I had left it before. I took it out and sprinkled it with a little powdered sugar for a nice decoration.

I left to my friend's house a couple of minutes after. I couldn't stay long (had some visitors at my place), so I just had time to give her the cake, a hug, and a little chat. I haven't had the chance to ask her if she liked it or not. She better have though. The recipe is in the previous entry.

Going to the great Hometown Buffet with Eunice on Thursday. I can not wait!

In my head you're all brand new, I guess you're really all the same.

People watching. It's something I do without even noticing. It's a very interesting thing to do. I find myself getting to know who these people really are without speaking one word to them. Just by their movements, the way they look, they way the speak, the way move about. It may seem creepy to some, but its really not. Its not like you're following every minute of someone's life, just a couple of seconds. It's always a great way to relax. Release yourself from your own life problems. You see this man walking briskly down the street, and you can make up a whole life story for the guy. I now just wonder what people think about me..


I've been having these rapid mood swings. I don't even get them when I'm expecting my period, so its weird. With any little thing someone says to me, I get all butt hurt. I won't say anything, but I will dwell on all day when I'm by myself. I wake up the next morning and think so differently. I would feel stupid for feeling that way I did the day before. All I ask from some of you, is to be nice to me a few days. You never know when I will let everything out of these days, and I know it won't be pretty!

I saw "the" boy today. I was walking with a friend and he just jumps in front of me and "scares" me. It was too cute. I just don't know what to do. I feel like I should go for it. You know? I mean, what do I got to loose? We only live once!

I've also been thinking alot about my image lately. I'm 5'7" and wheigh 147 pounds. I feel like a monster. I've been on a diet before, and lost tons of weight. But now, more than ever, I feel huge. I'm never satisfied with myself. I've begun to plan out a diet. I want to at least loose 10 more pounds by July. I want to be in the 130s. Let's see how that goes with me.

Now about the cake. The Lemon Cream Cake that I was doing. Everyone loved it. Everyone loved except me. You are worst critic, you know. I don't know. I'm a perfectionist when comes to creating something. There was something about the cake that bothered me. No one else seemed to complain, so I guess that was good. Sorry, no pictures! But here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

6 egg yolks

3/4 cup water

1 tablespoon lemon zest

6 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup white sugar

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 1/2 cups lemon pie filling

8 slices lemon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and 1/2 cup sugar. Add oil,egg yolks, water and lemon rind. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

In a small bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until peaks form. Gradually add 3/4 cup sugar, and beat until very stiff and shiny peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then quickly fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain. Turn batter into ungreased 10 inch tube pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Invert cake and cool completely in pan. When cool, loosen edges and shake pan to remove cake. To Make Filling: Beat cream to stiff peaks. Fold in lemon filling. Chill until stiff. To Assemble Cake: Slice cake horizontally into 3 equal layers. Fill layers with 1/3 cup of filling. Spread remaining filling on top layer. Decorate with lemon slices.

I didn't have cake flour. Maybe that was it! Yeah, that was it.

An update on Baby Jo

Life has been pretty okay, so far. Summer is just inches away. I can not wait.

Everything isn't necessarily going smoothly, but its not going too bad. I think I might have a new "crush". I don't know. I said I was going to be done with those and just settle for the real thing. But I can't help it. My heart flips every time he says hi. He seems like a real sweet guy. He didn't get to go to the movies with my friend and I the other day (but gave us a ride, none the less), so I missed my chance into really getting to know him. I don't know, we'll see how that goes with him.

And by the way, Spider-Man 3 wasn't as horrible as everyone tends to say. At least in my opinion. It wasn't amazing either, so I'll put it that way. I have been a huge comic books/Spider-Man fan for years, and this movie may not have been the best, but it also wasn't the worst. I would probably recommend you to catch a matinee if you get the chance.

I had the chance to go to Olive Garden a couple of days ago. I'm killer for Italian food, and Olive Garden is one of my favorite spots. But let me tell you, dessert was the best. Its always the best part of me, at least. I ordered their Lemon Cream Cake and it was just orgasmic. I just loved it. When I got home, I was curious to see if I could find their recipe. And voila, I did! I jumped in joy. Liana's birthday is on Mother's Day, so this is where my cake comes in. I decided to bake two, as a matter of fact. One for my mom (Mother's Day of course) and one for Liana. I am currently on a test run, so one is in the oven as we speak. Cross your fingers!