Milk Maid

It's all about the boobs once again in the Bean household. 

Nursing Jude was an amazing journey, one that I am still immensely proud of, but one that wasn't always simple. We had our early struggles, but finding Boobie Group was my saving grace. Those 12 ladies are my Jersey fam, and without them I would certainly not be where I am now. Nursing Eden has been smooth sailing so far, so I only popped into a group meeting once for the Valentine's Day party, and then only because my badass doula would be there. That woman is the BOMB. Anywho, I started off on the right foot nursing partly because I never had any supply issues this time around. One of the main reasons is that I knew how much extra water I had to drink, knew what foods to avoid and increase, and also (and best!) because I had Boobie Cookies. My friend Amy makes the. best. lactation cookies, and she brought a dozen over when we brought Eden home. One a day and I was good to go. Little lady is a satisfied babe. However. a cookie a day, no matter how much it supports milk production, is still a cookie a day. Full of butter, sugar, and chocolate, those bad boys weren't going to get me into skinny jeans any quicker.

I needed to find a substitute and fast. I stumbled upon a delicious looking oatmeal muffin recipe from Vintage Kids, Modern World, and got to baking. I wanted to add in the go to ingredients for milk production (brewer's yeast, flax seed, and fenugreek) and take it another step. I added carrots and walnuts for an an extra boost, used honey for sweetness and swapped in coconut oil for a healthier fat (visit Healthful Mama for explanations about this list!). The result is a hearty, healthy muffin that is lightly sweet and super effective for increasing your supply. With no guilt. Promise.



Carrot Cake Oatmeal Boobie Muffins (to promote healthy lactation)
Ingredients:
makes 1 dozen muffins

1 c. rolled oats
1 c. whole wheat flour
4 Tbls. flax seed meal
4 Tbls. Brewers yeast
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. coconut oil, melted
1 egg
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. shredded carrot (about two medium carrots)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 c. golden raisins
1/2 c. dried pineapple, chopped

Preparation:
Whisk flour and oats together in a medium bowl and pour buttermilk over. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease or line muffin tin. Add all ingredients except carrot, nuts, and raisins and blend until well combined. Fold in carrots, nuts, and raisins. Divide evenly among muffin tins and bake 12 -15 minutes or until just golden. Cool on a wire rack. Freeze any muffins you will not consume in a day or two!

Lucky Treats

Yikes. So you remember that cereal milk buttercream frosting I made for E's birthday cake? Well, as big as the cake was, I still had at least a full cup of sticky goodness left over after frosting it. You know how much I hate to waste things. I just couldn't throw it away, and while I'm not above putting frosting on... oh, maybe a waffle at breakfast, or even (gasp!) stirring a spoonful into a hot cup of coffee, enough was enough. It had to go. Of course, there was also an almost full box of Lucky Charms sitting waiting for someone to liberate it. See, as much as E loved them as a kid, after his birthday breakfast was over they went into the cabinet of shame next to the Oreos. I've been doing a 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge for Lent, and the kitchen pantry is one of the areas that needed unloading. Any half boxes of anything, any past expiration date cans, anything I bought thinking it would be useful (or worse, because it was on sale!) went out! I donated a bag to the food pantry at church and a bunch went straight into the trash. That big box of marshmallow ick? Into cookies. Where else? I used my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe for the base and went from there. And even if these cookies are the size of my hand, I just had to sandwich them together with a big shmear of cereal milk buttercream. And then I gave them all away. 

Lucky Charms Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup raw sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

2 cups Bob's Red Mill White Whole Wheat Flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp. vanilla extract 

2 cups Lucky Charms cereal

1 cup of Cereal Milk Buttercream

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy and pale. Add egg and almond extract and beat until just combined. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt and add to the mixer at low speed. Scrape the bowl and mix until just combined. Fold in cereal. Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool for five minutes on the sheet before transferring to wire racks. Smear cookies with a generous tablespoon (or two!) of buttercream and sandwich together.

Happy Birthday, Daddy-o!

E and I are now both officially in our mid thirties. I know. That isn't old. But just saying "mid thirties" feels older. Like maybe I should stop saying "totes" and give away all of my mini skirts.

Not like anyone who bakes and eats cake like this has any right to be wearing mini skirts anyway. This delicious monstrosity is a straight to the hips, thighs, and butt cheeks delight. It was that goooood.

Jude is pretty adorable (just look at the grin!), but he's also pretty darn sweet. When we started talking about E's birthday, he said he wanted to bake a cake.

"What kind?" I asked.

"Cereal and Milk Cake. With bananas!"

Hmm. Ok, kiddo. At least he didn't say, "with sardines."

I did a little thinking and decided we would bake a roasted banana layer cake and make some Momofuku cereal milk for the frosting. It still needed something extra to put it into special birthday terrotory though. The next morning Jude asked E what his favorite cereal was when he was a kid. Cocoa Pebbles and Lucky Charms. Ick. In our house growing up, Honey Nut Cheerios were a big treat.

Jude took his first trip down the sugary cereal aisle of the
grocery store that afternoon, and he was astounded.
He had no idea what anything was. I had to answer way too many questions about cartoon Tigers and Vampires for
one day. He was so excited about the Lucky Charms
marshmallows that he could hardly keep still in the cart.
That box we wrapped up for E's birthday breakfast, but the Cocoa Pebbles were the perfect last detail for the cake.
It was crunchy and crumbly on the outside and gooey and sweet inside. The best birthday cake ever, and it was all the boy's idea.

Roasted Banana Birthday Cake with Cereal Milk Buttercream


For the Cereal Milk (from Momofuku Milk Bar)
Ingredients:
2 3/4 c. cornflakes
33/4 c. cold milk
2 Tbls. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. kosher salt

Preparation: 
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Spread cornflakes on a parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer. Bake 15 minutes until toasted. Cool completely.
Pour cooled cornflakes into a large pitcher. Pour milk over and stir well. Allow to soak at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Strain through a fine seive, whisk in brown sugar and salt.

For the Buttercream:
1/4 cup cereal milk
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 c. vegetable shortening
1 lb. powdered sugar

Preparation:
In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening until fluffy. Add 1 cup of sugar and 2 Tbls. of cereal milk and beat again, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add another cup of sugar and 2 Tbls or cereal milk and beat. Continue these additions until the buttercream reaches the desired consistency, you may not use all of the milk or sugar! I like it a bit stiff, so I use almost all of it:)

For the Cake:
2 ripe bananas
2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 c. raw sugar
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. vegetable oil (or coconut oil)
Extra Cereal Milk
2-3 c.Cocoa Pebbles

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place whole bananas on a baking sheet and roast until blackened, 15-20 minutes. Peel and cool.

Reduce oven heat to 350. Grease two 9 inch round cake pans. Sift flour, salt, soda, and powder into a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add bananas, oil, extract, and beat until just combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating between additions. Add 1/3 flour mixture and mix until just combined, then mix in 1/2 buttermilk. Continue mixing and add next 1/3 of flour mixture, the rest of the buttermilk, then the rest of the flour mixture. Pour evenly into pans and bake 20-30 minutes or until golden. Tester should come out with crumbs stuck to it and cake should not be dry. Let cool 5 minutes in the pans and then turn onto a rack to cool completely.

Place each cooled cake layer onto a rimmed dish. Pour half of the remaining cereal milk over each cake layer and refrigerate for an hour.

To assemble, fold 1/2 cup of Cocoa Pebbles into 1/2 c. room temperature buttercream. Place one of the chilled cake layers onto a plate. Spread buttercream mixture over this layer and top with second layer. If the cake is too soft to lift, stick it in the freezer for half an hour before continuing! Spread a thin crumb coat of room temperature buttercream over the cake and return to the fridge for half an hour. Frost with remaining buttercream and cover sides with remaining Cocoa Pebbles.

Cookies for the Kiddos

I used to think Valentine's Day was great. My mom always gave me and my siblings little Russel Stover boxes of candy which we'd squirrel away and nibble for weeks. She'd bake a heart shaped cake and let us stuff our faves. As boyfriend-less teenager I used to host "Lonely Hearts Club" parties at my house for all my single friends. I thought it was really great when I actually had a boyfriend to spend it with, but honestly, Valentine's Day is so much more fun with a toddler. Pretty much everything is so much more fun than a toddler.

Except maybe Whole Foods. I still really like Whole Foods alone. 

Jude thinks all holidays are fun, especially the food. We just had to host a party for his buddies from class. I am all for little treats for kiddos once in a while, but I'm not about to offer up a sugar coma as a party favor to all of the kids who come to our craft classes. Jude really wanted to decorate cookies with his friends, and he was googly eyed over t

he vast selection of candies and sprinkles in the grocery store (he has a thing for sprinkles, just like his mama). To assuage a bit of my guilt about the oncoming candy head rush, I made this healthier version of my favorite rolled sugar cookie recipe. It cuts the sugar, replaces white flour with whole wheat, and the cream cheese keeps it soft and buttery. The dough is really great for detailed cut cookies since it won't spread at all, but we stuck with simple hearts. I kept them small, and whipped up a bowl of cream cheese with a little homemade strawberry syrup for frosting. The bowls of sprinkles, pink candy corn, and conversation hearts were plenty of sugar without using real frosting! Of course, I used a little royal icing for the leftover cookies later, just because I can't resist that glossy look:)

• 
  
• Healthier Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies
• Ingredients:
• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup raw cane sugar (organic if you can!)
• 1/2 cup maple sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• Dash salt
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 egg
• 2-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour flour
• 
  
• Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter
  
  and cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium to high speed until fluffy. Beat in almond extract and egg. Add sugars, baking powder, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Beat mixture until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally.  Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Divide dough in half, press into discs, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 1 to 2 hours or until dough is easy to handle.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough at a time to a 1/8-inch thickness. Using 3-inch cookie cutters, cut out dough.  Place cookies on prepped cookie sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges just start to brown. Keep an eye on them as they cook very quickly! Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool before decorating.

Little Love Cakes

I'm getting into the Valentine's spirit a little early this year. Perhaps it's being cooped up in the house thanks to all of this snow, snuggling with my kiddos. Perhaps it's the hormones of a nursing mama with a cutie pie baby girl in her arms most of the day. Or perhaps it's the fact that a FULL MONTH of no sleep (damn you 4 month sleep regression. Damn you straight to hell!) has given me hallucinations that I have had to craft out of my system. Whatever it is, I am all good to go for the love fest. This little cupcake was my first attempt at baking a shape within a cake, and it was a bit of a miss. I need to cut the hearts smaller next time, but they are still cute! The recipe is a modified version of the French Yogurt Cake Jude and I bake together often. It's one of my faves, and the lemon addition makes it fresh and new. It also pairs perfectly with strawberry whipped cream frosting! This is the best little cake to make with your kiddos, since it is forgiving and they can do all the measuring themselves! Remember that a spoon in this recipe equals a teaspoon, and a scoop equals 6 ounces, or one little kid yogurt cup, which we conveniently have lying around often!

Little Lemon Love Cakes with Strawberry Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

Cake: 

3 scoops White whole wheat flour
2 scoops sugar
1 scoop plain, whole milk yogurt
1 scoop vegetable oil
1 spoon salt
3 spoons baking powder
1 spoon lemon extract
2 eggs

zest of one lemon

Frosting:

1 cup heavy cream

4 Tbls. strawberry syrup or jam

Preparation:

Grease a 9x9 round cake pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Allow your kiddo to do as much of the scooping and dumping as possible into a large bowl. Mix well with a hand mixer. Pour 1/3 of the batter into a small bowl and tint with beet powder or food coloring. Pour the pink batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely, then cut hearts using a small cookie cutter (or a knife and a template). Place each heart into a lined muffin tin, pour remaining batter over hearts. Bake until golden, about 12 minutes. 

Beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form, Fold in strawberry syrup. Pipe onto fully cooled cakes.

Hello Baby!

Yeah soooo... this is officially the longest blog break I've ever taken. But really? Can you blame me?

4 months old already and this little lady is just too much fun! I will get back to posting all the cooking and crafting (which we've been doing like crazy!), but I'm taking it slow. The boy is doing a bang up job as a big bro, and I'm super proud. We're soaking it all up, so in the meantime, here's a little photo catch-up to tide you over!

Awwww...

The Big Freezer Stock Up - Round 2

I mentioned that I have a chest freezer almost bursting in the basement. I'm pretty excited. Pear's arrival is sneaking closer and closer, and the Girl Scout in me needs to be prepared on all fronts. Food is obviously the most important thing to prep, since everything else (nursery decor, new clothes, sleep) is really just icing on the cake. Fun icing, but not really essential in the end. Food, though? Absolutely essential. 

I am so blessed to have a crew of incredible mamas who are doing a Meal Train for us in the first weeks after Pear's birth, but after that, I still don't want to have to cook. My hope is to go a full month without having to make anything more complicated than a sandwich. To that end, I have been stockpiling, batch cooking, and freezing like mad. The last few freezer parties I had were great fun, and the lists and recipes for those are wonderful (and can be found here), but this time it was easier to just do the prep on my own. I stretched it out over a few weeks and just cooked when I had time, or when Jude took a really long nap. I also added some breakfasts to the usual dinner freezer prep, because nothing is worse than a hangry nursing mama with a newbie to deal with. 

Since I didn't actually plan a party, I don't have a full shopping list or printable labels for you at the moment. I may get around to it, I may not. Depends on this girl and her time table:) In the meantime, here is a grand list of recipes for all of the things I have stocked up for the next month! Hopefully you can find a little inspiration here to get you stocking up for September and the dreaded beginning of school!

Breakfast:

Chocolate Chip Pancakes - Made with Martha's Best Buttermilk recipe and a few chips tossed in!

Strawberry Banana Muffins - This recipe is great, and freezes well. I did substitute whole wheat flour for white, so I increase the yogurt by 1/2 a cup.

Wild Goose Inn Muffins

Steel Cut Oats with Dried Fruit and Nuts

Lunch/Dinner:

Oven Baked Fajitas - I froze these in large aluminum pans with the plastic tops. Double wrap the pan with foil, add a package of shredded cheese and a package of fajitas on top with your note for baking info, and pop the plastic top over it all. That way your full meal is ready to go when you pull it from the freezer. No hunting for ingredients!

Enchiladas - No you don't need to make your own sauce, but it is worth it if you have time!

Beef Chili - I really like this Emeril recipe. It has chocolate and beer in it. No brainer!

Meat Lovers Lasagna - I make it different every time, but here's a good recipe for it!

Honey Dijon Curried Chicken - This is a new one for me, so I don't have a review yet. I added a sliced onion and peppers to each pan with the chicken, and plan to serve it over rice. it sounds delish, so here's hoping since I prepped three pans full!

Fish Cakes with Corn and Cilantro - I made these a few weeks ago and Jude loved them! I add a handful of finely chopped cilantro and some cayenne to the mix and they froze up beautifully!

French Fried Onion Chicken Fingers - I changed this recipe up a lot as well, but the onion in the breading is key! Dip and bread your fingers, line them on a baking sheet ad freeze. Once they are frozen solid, toss them in a big ziploc bag for safekeeping and you can pull out a few at a time to bake!

BBQ Pulled Pork - I did a huge pork shoulder in the crock pot, served up half for dinner and froze the rest. This makes great fare for sandwiches, pizza, nachos, anything! It may not be a full meal in one pan, but it is still a good time saver! I love this recipe from Slow Cooker Revolution. Hands down the best slow cooker cook book ever, by the way!

Peach Pie FTW!

We have about 3 weeks until the arrival of Baby Pear, and this house is in full nesting swing. The nursery is almost completed, the freezer is almost fully stocked with meals, and we have just enough time to squeeze in some more family summer fun before she arrives. Today's adventure was the Peach Festival at our favorite summer market: Ramsey Farmer's Market.

Of course, because I'm a maniac, I decided this morning to bake a peach pie for the contest they were hosting. I've never made a peach pie before, Actually, I've never made a pie before! My grandmother makes the world's best pies, so I have never felt the need to bake my own. But there I was, a huge bag of peaches on the kitchen counter and a few hours to fill before market opening, so a pie I made. I used the crust recipe my mom swears by, and modified my peach cobbler filling a bit (since I am out of bourbon, the shame!). Of course, my peaches felt a touch under-ripe to me, so I blanched them a bit longer than usual and ended up freaking out that I had overcooked them. Then Jude started climbing on me, I spilled a bunch of cream on the floor, we had a matchbox car emergency, and in the end, the pie came out of the oven at 11:45, 15 minutes before I had to enter it in the contest. I didn't have high hopes, though it did look pretty! I had to carry the hot as lava pie plate at a full preggo clip through the crammed market, but thankfully the judges were all late. I was all nervous to see one of the judges was Produce Pete, so I assumed he'd be a tough judge and figured, whatever, at least I'll have pie to stuff in my face later. To my surprise, about half an hour later they announced the winner and it was me! Sweet! Apparently the winners from a bunch of markets have to compete in a regional contest for a big prize, but that takes place in September, a few weeks after Miss Pear's due date. Methinks I will have to pass, but you never know. If preggo hormones inspired me to bake today, nursing hormones may inspire me to do it again!

Prize Winning Brown Sugar Peach Pie
Ingredients:

Crust:
3 cups AP flour
2 Tbls granulated sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
2 sticks plus 2 Tbls. chilled butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 Tbls white vinegar
1/2 cup ice water (you likely won't need it all)

Filling:
8 cups peaches, peeled and sliced
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbls. cornstarch

Topping:
2 Tbls heavy cream
raw sugar


Preparation:
In the bowl of your food processor, pulse flour, salt and sugar to combine. Add chilled butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Add vinegar and 8 Tbls. of the ice water and pulse until just combined. If the dough is too dry, add more ice water by the teaspoon and pulse quickly until the dough begins to come together. This happens fast and you don't want to add too much water or overwork the dough, so be careful! Turn dough out onto your work surface and gently shape into a mound. Cut the mound into two pieces, press each into a disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for at least an hour.

Prepare the peach filling. In a large bowl, toss peaches with brown sugar, nutmeg, vanilla, and cornstarch. Set aside.

Once the dough is fully chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove one disc of dough and roll out on a floured surface. Place dough into a pie plate, fill the shell with foil and pie weights or dried beans and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and beans/weights and allow to cool.

Using a slotted spoon, spoon peaches into bottom crust. Discard excess juices. Remove second disc of dough from the refrigerator and roll onto a floured surface. Cut into 1/2 inch strips. The quick cheat way to make the lattice top is to simply layer 6 stripes across the pie horizontally, about 1/2 inch apart, then lay the other strips on top of them going vertically. If you'd like it to be fancy and official, you can weave them ala Martha. Press your strips gently to adhere to the bottom crust and trim any overhang. Brush lattice top with heavy cream and sprinkle with raw sugar. Place in the oven for 30 minutes. If your pie is beginning to bubble over, slide a cookie sheet underneath to catch any drips! Cover loosely with foil if the crust is beginning to over brown and bake another 20 minutes until filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown.

He wouldn't stop chewing for a second, not even to smile. I guess it was good!

So yeah, guess what?

30 weeks seems like long enough to post our official announcement... The Bean family is expecting another little sprout in September! 

To celebrate this big event, I'm hosting a little contest!

Jude immediately gave his baby sister a nickname, one that is sure to stick. If you can guess it, you will be entered to win a full set of personalized plantable note cards! Just type your guess into the comments below and I will announce a winner next Wednesday, July 2nd! You get an extra entry if you like my page and "Share" this post on Facebook, just leave a second comment saying you did so.

Hint: It's a fruity name;) And no fair entering if you already know the answer, friends!

The "It's Not Really a Cookie, But Almost" Bar

The boy and I are completely obsessed with Larabars. It all began back when I was first pregnant with Jude and I was looking for a snack that was good on the go and packed a protein punch. I discovered the Cherry Pie Larabars and was done for. It wasn't until I began making baby food for him that I realized I could make my own, and later whipped up the Baby Truffles version for his little fingers. Time went by, I got lazy, I forgot about Larabars. Then I got knocked up again and realized it is a pretty good time to start looking closely at what I'm putting in my mouth. 

Since Larabars are almost never on sale and the jumbo packs on Amazon don't have all the yummy flavors in them, I have had to go back to making my own. And you know what? I like them so much more! They take literally minutes to make, and you can use absolutely any combo of dried fruits and nuts. Jude still loves the PB&J and Pina Colada flavors, but now Oatmeal Cookie is my favorite. It's sweet, but not too sweet, and gives us both enough energy to make it through a full morning of art class, playtime, and Morrisey-esque meltdown drama (because toddlers). Keep them in the fridge for up to two weeks, but they likely won't last that long!

Oatmeal Cookie Fruit and Nut Bars

makes 8 bars

Ingredients:

10 oz. walnuts

10 oz. raisins

1 cup quick cooking oats

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preparation:

Pour raisins into a shallow bowl. Pour enough boiling water into the bowl to just cover the raisins. Set aside for 10 minutes to re-hydrate. Line a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with a full sheet of wax paper. Drain the raisins and squeeze out any excess water (you want them plump and moist, but not drowning).

Add raisins, walnuts, oats, cinnamon and vanilla to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until combined and a ball begins to form. If the mixture looks wet and very sticky, add a bit more oats and pulse again. Turn the mixture out into one end of  the prepared pan. Fold the wax paper up and over the mixture and press it down into the ends and corners of one half of the pan, until you have a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Slice into bars and refrigerate up to two weeks wrapped in wax paper.

Sweet Indulgences

I made the mistake of making a Tres Leches Cake for a belated Cinco de Mayo celebration dinner with some hot mama friends. It was really only a mistake because the cake was so incredibly delicious that everyone wanted to take pieces home to their husbands, and there wasn't enough for me to eat for breakfast the next day. I should have made two. 

Tres Leches Cake is one of the simplest and most delicious little sweet things on Earth. If you haven't ever made it, I highly recommend you do so immediately. I really like the recipe from Pioneer Woman, which you can find here. The problem with any recipe for Tres Leches Cake is that you always end up with extra sweet cream. Sometimes a lot of extra sweet cream. And what would any sane person do with extra sweet cream? Why, make ice cream of course. Luckily, I not only had plenty of extra sweet cream, I also had extra cake. 

Some would argue there is no such thing as extra cake. I just happened to have baked a ton of vanilla layer cake for a cake pop order, and a full layer was wrapped and waiting for its destiny to unfold. Its destiny was to be crumbled by my adept little fingers into a bowl of frosty sweet cream, along with a swirl of dulce de leche, and a cherry on top. Good Heavens.

Tres Leches Cake Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 can evaporated milk

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Enough heavy cream to equal 2 2/3 cups liquid

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup vanilla cake, crumbled

1 can sweetened condensed milk for cooking or 1 can dulce de leche

In a large liquid measuring cup (at least 3 cups), whisk evaporated milk and one can sweetened condensed milk until well combined. Add vanilla and enough heavy cream to make 2 2/3 cup liquid. Stir to combine and set aside in the refrigerator.

Skip this step if using prepared dulce de leche! To make your own dulce de leche, peel the label from the second can of sweetened condensed milk. Using a can opener, pop two small holes at opposite sides of the top of the can (as if you were going to pour it out). Place the can holes up in a small pot and fill with water so that about one inch of the can is above the water line. Heat over medium high heat until simmering. Keep the water at a low simmer for three hours, checking to be sure the water is at or about one inch from the top of the can the entire time. You may need to add water occasionally. After about three hours, your dulce de leche will be soft set, perfect for this ice cream. Remove the can with a pair of tongs at set it aside to cool. Once cool, open the can, pour it into a bowl and whisk to combine.

When you are all set up to make the ice cream, remove the cream mixture from the refrigerator. Process according to your ice cream makers instructions. For the Kitchen Aid mixer attachment, that means turning the speed to the lowest setting, pouring in the cream, and mixing for 20-25 minutes. Once your ice cream is soft set, Remove the bowl and gently fold in both cake crumbles and dulce de leche. You want to see swirls in the ice cream, you do not want it fully incorporated. Alternately, you can spoon 1/3 of the ice cream into a freezer safe container, top with a sprinkle of cake crumbs and 1/3 dulce de leche, repeating layers. That's just up to you! Store in the freezer for at least an hour before serving to allow the ice cream to set up completely. You'll want to eat this up within a week, as homemade ice cream tends to crystallize a touch if left too long, but I don't think that will be a problem for you. It certainly wasn't for me!

A Sprinkle and a Strawberry Cream Cake

My next door neighbor and awesome friend K is expecting her baby girl any second now. Another friend and I put together a little baby sprinkle for her to celebrate and to make sure her little lady is fully adorned in pinky-pink goodness. She has a little boy already, so the dudes outnumber her, but not for long. Any baby shower or sprinkle is really just an excuse to sit around and gossip, but remember, a party without cake is just a meeting. This cake is a stunner if I do say so myself, and not just because it is pretty. This was the first time I actually decorated a cake with roses, and though it is a bit sloppy, I love the way it turned out! I underestimated how much frosting I would need, so you'll notice that the top layer has two shades of roses. I had to whip up a last minute extra batch and it didn't have time to set up before I needed to finish decorating! As pretty as this cake ended up looking, it is really the flavor that matters! I love strawberry cream cake, but I was worried about it becoming soggy since I had to put it together the night before. I decided to try using stabilized whipped cream as the filling and hoped for the best. It was perfect! It kept the cake moist, but prevented the fresh berries from making it wet. The combination of the light cake and the fresh berries and cream is so perfect for a shower, and the frosting is delicious (albeit a bit on the "whoa there" side for my personal taste. Those roses make for a LOT of frosting on each slice.). 

I see myself making this one again and again!

Strawberry Cream Ombre Layer Cake

Cake:

3 cups Jiffy Baking mix

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs at room temperature

4 Tbls. vegetable oil

1 1/3 cups milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Frosting:

2 cups vegetable shortening

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 lbs. powdered sugar

1/4 - 1/2 cup milk

Filling:

1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. gelatin 

4 tsp. very cold water

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8 inch cake pans (I also add a parchment paper circle to the bottoms, just in case!)

For cake: 

Sift together dry ingredients. Whisk together wet ingredients. Beat wet into dry until just combined and pour into prepared pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until top is just golden. Drape a clean kitchen towel over cakes and alow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Tip cakes out onto a rack to cool completely, then slice each into two layers. (Not feeling too confident in your cake layer cutting skills? Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nipmRVMfXWg)

For frosting:

Beat shortening and butter until fluffy. Add vanilla and 1 cup sugar and beat until combined. Continue beating and adding 1 cup sugar, alternating with a drizzle of milk, until desired sweetness and consistency is reached. (*Note: I usually find that I don't need all of the sugar!) If you want to create an ombre cake, you'll want to divide this frosting into three equal parts. Tint each one with natural dye (like beet juice) or food coloring, making each batch just a shade darker than the one before.

For filling: 

Whisk water and gelatin in a small pan until combined and let sit until thickened. Place pan on the stove top over medium heat and stir, cooking until dissolved. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat cream until slightly thick. Continue beating and add vanilla. Gradually add sugar and then gelatin, beating until peaks form. 

To assemble/decorate:

Smear about a tsp. of frosting on your plate or cake circle and top it with a layer of cake. That's your glue:)

Cover the cake with a layer of whipped cream, then a layer of berries, and top with whipped cream.

Place a cake layer on top and repeat, ending with the last cake layer. If you'll be doing ombre rosettes or any other fancy decorating, you'll want to do a crumb coat. Just a quick skim coat around the entire cake to cover it and prevent any crumbs from getting into your final beautiful product! Pop the cake into the fridge to set for about an hour, but as long as overnight if you cover it in an airtight container. To create those lovely ombre roses, this video is a nice little tutorial! http://iambaker.net/patriotic-rose-cake-video-tutorial/
You'll see that I used my ombre dyed frostings for my crumb coat, too. See how sloppy it really is? No big deal! Once this is chilled all of the brumbs will stay put and your little roses can stand out. It was way easier than I thought it would be, but I know my next cake will look even better!

Sprin-ter?

It snowed last night.

I know, it was only a dusting here, while some of you got actual inches of accumulation, so I shouldn't complain. But come on. I left Michigan for several reasons, one of the biggest being that I hate the winter. And here it is mid April, and there is frigging snow falling. My body is so confused by this weather that I have springtime allergy sneezes and a wintery cough at the same time. It's sprin-ter. If the weather doesn't perk up soon I'm buying a UV light.

I don't know what to cook. Monday we spent outside in tee shirts, lunching at a park picnic table with fruit, baguettes and fresh cheese. Tuesday was so dark and rainy I made a creamy risotto to warm things up. Today, I baked muffins just to have the oven on and mixed in some strawberries so I can pretend they are in season and it's actually summer. Cold makes me grumpy and lazy, so I didn't feel like pulling out my canisters to mix the usual batter. I had some pancake mix, so I figured that was worth a try. A baking mix is a baking mix is a baking mix, right?

These actually came out incredibly well. They were moist and soft in the center, with a good, lightly crusty muffin top (because there is still such a thing as a good muffin top). They are a little nutty and not too sweet, as well as being incredibly versatile. Mix in any fruit or nut you like, and they would easily be as delicious. The boy ate two for breakfast after he helped me mix them up, which took all of 5 minutes. Win win.

Strawberry Pancake Muffins
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups pancake mix (I love Hodgson Mills Buckwheat Mix)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup strawberries, hulled and chopped
raw sugar (optional)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper liners.
In a large mixing bowl, mix dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk wet ingredients together and then fold into dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in strawberries. Scoop batter into lined muffin tins leaving 1/4 inch space from the top. Top with a sprinkling of raw sugar if desired. Bake 15 minutes or until tops are golden.

Three

Again this year I am blown away by the fact that my kid had a birthday. Is that going to happen every year? I just don't know how it is possible that we have a three year old, despite the obvious passing of time. Another year closer to pre-K, and school buses, and bike riding and all of those big boy things that will future cement the fact that our Bean is not even close to being a baby. It should be obvious since he is huge and talks like he's twelve, but it's like I'm the last person to figure it out.

This year's birthday celebration was art themed, since we spend a good chunk of our time getting crafty, and he loves it! I also figured that since most of Jude's buddies have come to our craft workshops at least once, it would be an easy way to corral them all into something organized and almost noise/motion less for at least ten minutes. With 30 people in the house and gloomy weather all day, that was a necessity.

We did a little bit of prep every day the week before the party and Jude helped with a lot of it. That way it kept him happy and busy during the day and kept me from getting overwhelmed by last minute stuff! One nice thing about his being a big boy is that he is actually incredibly helpful! So now you can get ready for the barrage of party photos and details... or just skip it:)

We spent an afternoon splatter painting with watercolors, and the big sheets became the base for the invitations. They are based on the idea of a gallery opening notice, so I kept the texts and design very simple. I wanted it to be bold, but didn't want to obscure the spatter paints. We stuck with primary colors so that became the color scheme for everything else! If you'd like to order invites, please visit the shop!

I covered all of the kitchen art with art of our own to make a little family gallery wall. The hearts and truck drawing (yes, those are trucks spraying out a fire!) are Jude's, the peach is mine, and the scene in the window is E's. He's actually very artisitic (just don't tell him I told you).

Kitchen decor was really simple, just primary colored streamers and balloons, a paint brush banner wrapped around the light fixture, and inexpensive table cloths. I spread some kraft paper on the table for people to draw on, and the paint dripped mason jars were another kid craft project. Again, if you'd like to order a banner, you can visit the shop!

Food is obviously the most important part of any party, and we stuck with brunch items since it was early! Bagels and different spreads, a big fruit salad, danish in primary colors, mini strata cups (which were in the oven at the time I took this photo), "creative juices," a paint dripped cake, and parfait push pops.

The cake was a version of my mom's lemon layer cake, but only one layer was lemon. I added a layer of cherry filling and a layer of blueberry filling to follow the primary color theme.

It was gooood. This is all that's left, so I may be having it with coffee later!

I didn't have a lot of decorating to do in the craft room, either, since it is basically decorated all the time with giant tissue pom poms and banners, plus our big art display board. I hung some balloons and drew up a little faux gallery wall background on kraft paper during a "Call the Midwives" marathon one afternoon, and that was it.

The kids worked on monogram canvases, which was super fun, and they came out so cute! I used green painters tape to make it easier to pull off, and it was kind of a PIA honestly. Most of Jude's buddies have curvy initials, so cutting and lining up all of the pieces of tape for 13 canvases took me forever. It was the most time consuming thing of the whole party! In the end it was worth it, since it kept them busy and they all had a ready to hang work of art to take home in the end!

We spent another afternoon making playdough favors, which Jude loves. We used my favorite playdough recipe (which I will post later since I have a few tips to add to the original!) and colored it red, yellow, and blue. I added a little color blending chart (similar to the ones that are on the parfait stand) and stamped tags from the scrap paper leftover from cutting the invitations.

Don't know why I don't have a clear shot of these, so use your imagination!

I stenciled a shirt for Jude to wear with a Basquiat crown, since he's one of my favorite artists, and this is the only photo I have of it somehow! It's probably just as appropriate for my child to wear Basquiat as it is for him to wear his Old Dirty Bastard shirt, so I'm cool with it. Only one of the parents knew what is was anyway, so we didn't have to delve into how fitting it is to use my toddler to pay homage to one of the 27 club members.

And the obligatory blowing-out-the-candle shot. He didn't even spit on the cake! 

But he didn't eat it either. He still prefers bagels.

*If you like this post, please take a moment to head over to the party post on Project Junior

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