While waiting

While making Tres Leche Cake last week I got a little bored….

There are like a half dozen of these with even more rediculous faces as I was playing around with the camera settings and killing time.

I think I have adult onset ADD. Look what happens with 20 minutes to spare. I really should be spending my ‘extra’ time doing important things like folding that never ending pile of clothes heaped on my dresser. ha

BTW, Price got me this apron at David Squared, a cute local store, a while ago. It’s by Jessie Steele. Oh man so many cute aprons!!!!

 

St. Olaf’s Woman of the Year

Betty White is just awesome. I love her. I grew up watching her on the Golden Girls. When Bea Arthur died last April I watched a crazy marathon of the best Golden Girls episodes. Cheesecake please?

Betty White is fantastic because well she just is. She just did a great commerical for Snickers that aired last night during the Super Bowl. In general, the commerials were bland but this was great.

Rememberance

Remembrance
Remembrance is a golden chain
Death tries to break,
but all in vain.
To have, to love, and then to part
Is the greatest sorrow of one’s heart.
The years may wipe out many things
But some they wipe out never.
Like memories of those happy times
When we were all together.
~ Author Unknown

My Poppy died 2 years ago today.

The passing years don’t make it easier, just a bit duller.

I miss that when we would visit him he would always say “Aaaa you made it!” and typically pinch my cheek.

I miss that he always had hostess crumb cakes in the fridge for us. He said he did not like them but kept it for us. Magically there were never the same # left from the last visit.

I miss my Dad telling me the funny things he would say once he moved into my Dad’s place. He would accuse my dad of eatting his chocolates, but in reality he finished his and started to eat my Dad’s.

The pictures are from his 95th birthday party in 2005

 

Got Milk? Tres Leche Cake

 

Another staff meeting, another cake. I really love that I make cake for work things. It’s a good way to try new cakes, I try to make a new cake every meeting. A way to keep things fresh and new.

  

 

I have wanted to make Tres Leche Cake for a while. I’m not a dessert person but this really makes me have a sweet tooth. The custardy consistency and the frosting really get me hooked. I was always interested in the frosting because its taste reminded me of a marshmallow. Well I learned that it is just heavy cream vanilla extract, and A LOT of sugar, which explains the sugary sweet marshmallow taste.

 

   

I search for the perfect recipe had my blog hoping and diving into cook books. In the end I decided to go with the one on Foodnetwork.com by Alton Brown. I picked this one because the frosting had the most sugar in its frosting recipe (how dare someone else tell me that 2 tablespoons is enough?) and I met him!! I was using a bigger pan than the recipe called for. I decided to multiply the recipe by 1.5 for my 11x 14.5″ pan. There were a few things that I played around with like the quantities for the glaze, like I just used 1 can of evaporated milk, 2 cans of condensed milk, and 2 cups of heavy cream (instead of the half and half).

 

 I think it turned out pretty well. Next time I would poke a few more holes and add the milk mixture in 2 batches so it would soak in it bit at a time. I think pouring all the mixture in at once prevents it from soaking in properly. The mixture did not soak in consistently, it settled in the bottom and soaked up about 4/5 of the way up- which kinda defies gravity. Either the mixture was tasty and the frosting was addicting.

Tres Leche Cake

Vegetable oil

6 3/4 ounces cake flour, plus extra for pan

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

8 ounces sugar

5 whole eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the glaze:

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup half-and-half (or heavy cream)

For the topping:

2 cups heavy cream

8 ounces sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour a 13 by 9-inch metal pan and set aside.

Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Decrease the speed to low and with the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar over 1 minute. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl, if necessary. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix to thoroughly combine. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 batches and mix just until combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. This will appear to be a very small amount of batter. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake is lightly golden and reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees F.

Remove the cake pan to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Poke the top of the cake all over with a skewer or fork. Allow the cake to cool completely and then prepare the glaze.

 For the glaze:

Whisk together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and the half-and-half (or heavy cream). Once combined, pour the glaze over the cake. Refrigerate the cake overnight.

 Topping:

Place the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk together on low until stiff peaks are formed. Change to medium speed and whisk until thick. Spread the topping over the cake and allow to chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Holy Glitter Batman!

I have been feeling a little off lately. Just not myself which has translated into a scrapbooking slump for a few days. I also think that this contributed to the muffin mishap on Sunday (see earlier post), clearly I was not thinking properly, ha.

Well I finally told myself to shake it off and get back to being crafty. I have been thinking about this layout for a few days but have just been putting it off. It’s kinda simple but that was sorta all I could handle last night. I have had these Stickycut Letters from Stampin’ Up! for a long time. I decided that I would used them for this layout and use glitter to make a bold title.

I made a horrible mess on the floor, table, and my face. Price said he could see glitter all over my face… great, I hope I got every speck off in the shower this morning. Either way I love glitter and I have a feeling I’ll be using these Stickycut Letter a lot since they are made for glitter and beads, and I imagine sand would work too!