Tiramisu Cake

I haven't posted in a while and I have been doing quite a bit of baking and realized that I have never posted my baking projects on my blog!  So to remedy that I am going to start with sharing a cake I made last night.

I want to precede this with the fact that I am in no way a professional baker - I am a beginner - so please take my advice and experience as tips from someone who is experimenting and making mistakes (I don't post my mistakes but I will write about what I've learned!)

I found a recipe online that looked yummy.  As I have never made tiramisu I thought I would give it a try - I've always loved the dessert.  This recipe creates the classic tiramisu taste using a box cake for the base (which I was hesitant about at first) but with the homemade filling and frosting and then soaking the cake in booze, it's hard to tell (if not impossible) that it came from a box (shhhh).  The cake required a lot of steps and is a bit labor intensive, but so worth the time because it's not hard.

I made the 4 cake layers the night before in my new 6"cake pans - preparing 2 at a time.  Follow the recipe on the box and separate the cake mix in half.  I made the first two layers with the plain white cake mix and cooked those first.  Then I added 3 packets of VIA instant coffee to the remaining batter and cooked the last 2 layers.  So I had 2 white cake layers and 2 coffee flavored cake layers.  If you don't want as many layers make 2 coffee layers and 1 plain layer for a 3 layer cake.

Ingredients:  (as adapted from Tiramisu Layer Cake on Allrecipes.com)
Cake:

• 1 package moist white cake mix
• 3 packets of VIA Starbucks instant coffee (but any instant coffee would work, use 3 or 4 tbsp)

Coffee Mixture:

• 1 cup coffee (I used 3 shots of espresso and water)
• 4 tbsp coffee liqueur (I used Kahlua)

Filling:

• 2 (8oz container) mascarpone cheese
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 4 tbsp coffee liqueur (I used Kahlua)

Frosting:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 2 tbsp coffee liqueur
• 2 packets VIA Starbucks instant coffee (again, any instant coffee will work)

Garnish:

• dark chocolate chips
• cocoa powder

I wrapped the 4 layers of cake in plastic separately and refrigerated them overnight.

The next evening I got to work.  I mixed together the ingredients for the coffee mixture and set aside.

To make the filling combine the mascarpone, 1 cup confectioners' sugar, and 4 tbsp of Kahlua in an electric mixer on low speed, beat just until smooth, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Next make the frosting.  Beat the cream, 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, and 2 tbsp Kahlua in an electric mixer on medium to high speed until stiff (this takes about 5-8 mins)

Now get the filling back out of the fridge and fold 1 cup of the frosting into the filling mixture to make it a bit lighter.

Now comes the assembly!!  Place first cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand (you can't move this cake once you start soaking it in coffee and booze - it's too mushy)  Using a think skewer or a fork, poke a bunch of holes in cake.  Pour one quarter of the coffee mixture over cake slowly (I just used a tablespoon and slowly drizzled onto cake).  Now spread with one third of the filling mixture and top with next cake layer; poke holes in cake again.  Pour another quarter of the coffee mixture over the second layer and spread with another one third of the filling mixture and top with third cake layer.  Repeat this process on all layers.  When you get to the top layer, poke holes in this cake too and pour remaining coffee mixture on top.

I returned the entire cake to the fridge and let it chill for a while so that it wouldn't be too mushy while I frosted it.  While waiting for cake to chill I made chocolate tree garnishes for around the perimeter of the cake.  These turned out super cute and were very easy to make.  Just heat up 1 cup of dark chocolate chips in a double boiler (or if you don't have one like me, just put about an inch of water in a small sauce pan and put a large glass bowl on top making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the glass bowl and boil the water - the steam will heat up the bottom of the bowl and melt the chocolate without burning it).  Stir the chocolate until completely melted.  Now transfer chocolate into a pastry bag with a small tip - make sure chocolate has cooled a little bit so it doesn't melt the pastry bag.  Lay out foil or parchment paper on a cookie sheet and proceed to "draw" the trees with chocolate.  You can make any doodle into a cute chocolate garnish!  I then popped the cookie sheet into the freezer so that the chocolate would harden.
And voila!  Little trees!

Now frost the cake!

Get the cake and frosting out of the fridge and apply frosting to sides and top.  I garnished the top of the cake with cocoa powder sifted through a sieve over a paper cutout of a moon I had put on the top of the cake.  Remove the paper cutout to reveal design!  I also cut 5 little bats out of black scrapbook paper and hot glued them to the back of a few wooden skewers.

Everyone raved over this cake and I was quite proud of how pretty it turned out as well!  I can't wait to bake again.  

Happy Halloween!!

Too much cute!

This is the first time I've posted a video to my blog.  But I just wanted to show the cuteness I've been subjected to while my parents were away on their trip to Banff.

Please disregard my silly voice.  I reserve it for talking to doggies only - it definitely goes up an octave... ha!

Hand Carved Stamp Art - making an old bikini new again

Here's a little project I did to revamp an old bikini.  I am currently in love with anything chevron or tribal and handcrafted block-printed fabrics are to die for (but a tad pricey).  I am on a tight budget so no shopping for me!  I decided I would be creative today and try my hand at this block printing thing I've been seeing around the web.  Plus it will add a little something to a basic black bikini I have hanging around - and if it doesn't turn out then no biggie...

First off I raided my parents wine cork stash and picked two clean corks to carve up.

I drew a triangle and chevron pattern on each cork then took a utility knife and carved them out.  These patterns are super simple and not hard to carve at all - I find that simple looks best when making a stamp and the end result will depend on how you use the pattern in repeats or design.

I decided to forgo the chevron and stick with the triangle.  I measured where I wanted the stamps to be placed on the bikini and laid some tape down as guidelines.  I used a small paintbrush to apply paint to the stamp before printing.  Then stamp!

It looked pretty good as is, but the paint I used came out a little faint.  I don't know if it was because I was just using crafters acrylics or if it was inevitable with the black background.  So I decided to paint another layer over the stamped image.  This was easy and really made the gold stand out.

I measured and added a second layer of triangles (yet another Jinx photobomb).  I used Golden brand acrylics paint in Iridescent Gold.

It's hard to get a final result picture without blatantly showing my boobies but it is a bikini so here it is...

I am fairly happy with the results.  This is just a lay-out-in-the-sun bikini so the paint should last. The rows of triangles were less straight than I anticipated due to boobie curve (doh, should have realized this) but it looks pretty neat - and the bottoms that go with this bikini have gold hardware details at the hips so it looks like it was meant to go together.

I definitely want to make some more stamps and do up a scarf with this printing technique.  I will also research and invest in some fun fabric inks!

Projects in Progress

Helping Tom with some projects at The Folly.  Also just enjoying the sun.

Selecting boards and arranging before staining.

Other projects at home...

Trying to get some sewing projects done with a cat around is silly.  Oh Jinx, I was sitting there.

And this is my mending pile...

I put this pretty crop top together in a day - I'm almost too old for crop tops but this one is nicely tailored.  I am so in love with this watercolor fabric I could just die.  It's left over from the retro dress I made (you can see the pattern in the picture above this right next to Jinx).

I think it turned out pretty cute for something I whipped together without a pattern.  Styled with a full skirt here makes it more age appropriate, with almost a vintage vibe. (Silly mirror pics)

I am officially an Aunt!

Desmond arrives!  8lbs 8.8oz.  Thank you for making me an aunt and congratulations Abbey and Steve.

Sweet baby boy.  Love.

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Nursery Final Touches

Abbey and I spent the day together painting a few canvases to put up in Desmond's nursery.  I painted a small canvas with a black silhouette of the world and the blue elephant picture here.  The elephant painting was inspired from a print we had seen at IKEA.

Abbey did a great painting of the giraffe here (love the expression!) and the hippo was done by none other than Steve!  The bright red here is used throughout the room - it was the paint they chose to use on the IKEA dresser.

Deciding on a layout.

This is where those pom poms from the shower ended up.  The red dresser looks great.

I love the striped ceiling and the bright red accents!

I recovered an old glider Steve got from a friend in cute nursery fabric and made the D pillow.

Steve put up these simple bookshelves.  The perfect way to display books and toys!

The completed photo wall.  So cute!  (we're going to put handprints and footprints on the empty canvases)

Kitty loves the new rugs!  All ready for baby...

Abigail's Baby Shower!

Ok, so here comes a long post!  I have been long anticipating the day of Abbey's baby shower.  My sister-in-law Dorothy and I were the hosts, and it really was the first party I completely put together myself (ok, Dorothy helped a lot with the cooking, set-up, and clean-up)  But the decorations, a majority of the menu, and the party planning was done exclusively by moi.  And, as you can well guess, I reveled in the opportunity to create!

My brother Tom and his wife Dorothy offered their beautiful home (even in the midst of a huge ongoing remodel - see my awesome brother's blog HERE) up for the party location.  Thank goodness for their large rooms because it was perfect.  I made a few craft paper buntings and hung them up later to be given to Abbey for nursery room decor.  I simply cut out a bunch of triangles and glued them onto a long string of twine.  I also used the twine to hang the blue tissue paper tassels onto the buffet.

Safari animals (bought at Michael's), some cute leaf ribbon, candles in mason jars, and a few treasures from the sea - all in a rustic box left over from T and D's wedding (made of "Folly-Wood" of course) - and boo-yeah you've got a centerpiece!

No party is complete without tissue paper pom poms!  I added some rain drops because it's a shower, and believe it or not it was not raining in Washington today.
I simply cut a bunch of tear drop shapes out of various blue craft papers (again a lot of left overs from wedding crafts were used - I keep too much) then I ran them through my sewing machine letting about an inch or two of thread run between each rain drop.
Super easy and the result was stunning.

More pom poms, more bunting, and the punch table is set up.

Food!  

Fruit kabobs, yogurt parfait, and onsie shaped sugar cookies (don't forget little blue hershey's "it's a boy" kisses).  Surrounded by the latest ultrasound picture and cute snap shots of the soon to be parents - aww.

Blue ducky punch and D for Desmond!

Donut holes, ham, and homemade quiches!  Yum.  This was my first attempt at making quiches from scratch - including homemade crust.  All three turned out and they were delish!

Plus my fun tissue paper tassels.  
Found an easy DIY from THE KNOTTY BRIDE on guess where?  Pinterest!

Food was eaten and enjoyed and then we moved on to presents...

Here's the diaper cake I made as an additional gift for Abbey.

Yay, presents!  This was a co-ed baby shower and it was fun to see Steve there along with the other guys that had the guts to attend (I thought it made the whole party so much more fun!)

The adorable couple.

After stuffing ourselves with food it was only natural to head outside and enjoy the rare May sunshine here in Washington and play a few rounds of bocce ball.

What a fun day.  Here I am with Abbey enjoying blue punch in a mason jar wearing my fabulous "shower" dress...  Cheers!

Decorating a Nursery while waiting on Baby McCabe!

So my brother and his girlfriend moved up to Tacoma, Washington from Mesa, Arizona in January this year.  Moving to Washington in January is gutsy!  My brother's girlfriend is expecting their first child - the first baby of the McCabe clan.  So, of course, I spent way too many hours on Pinterest looking for inspiration to help them decorate a little nursery in their rental home.  Suffice to say, I absolutely loved this project.  We decided to focus on a very muted pallet for the wall colors (we will need to pain them white when they move out) and jazz it up with punchy accent colors on the wall hanging and accessories!

Oh which colors to choose!  I love me some paint samples!  We decided on the two middle colors.

Striped ceiling awesomeness!  My brother and I made lines with a chalk line tool and then put up painters tape.

Painting a ceiling kinda sucks.  Bad posture Laura!  Owwie my back...
Got some grey wall paint going on as well.  It's hard to tell here but the ceiling stripes are a very pale blue.

Looking pretty good - still need to edge everything out.

Starting to look sharp!  The ceiling looked awesome when the tape was removed.  This took three days to complete including the day or so it took to decide on colors.

A New Year

So, the very first day of the year 2013 and I do something I've never done before, whale watching.  Is this a foretelling of a year full of new experiences?  Here's to hoping...

What a gorgeous New Years Day.

On the water ready to look for some whales.

Saw some sea lions.

There it is!  Can you see it?  Nope, took picture too late...  As expected.  

I did see a few whales surface, even saw some tail fins.  It was awesome and breathtaking.  I hope 2013 is a good one...