Strawberry Cake!

It was my turn to bring in a cake for this month's birthdays at work (yes, we celebrate birthday's by the month, which stinks when you have 5 other people to share your birthday cake with... not that I'm bitter or anything...). We normally have a store-bought cake, but I was excited to finally be able to make a a whole cake without the danger of having  3/4 of a cake left over to eat by myself.

 I knew the birthday girl liked a strawberry and whipped cream cake that we normally get, so I re-created it with a few twists.  

Yummy!! It's a three-layer white cake frosted with some delicious, but not too sweet, vanilla buttercream. In between each layer are poached strawberries and buttercream.  I finished it off with some fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream!  

The cake was a hit, with only one piece left standing, and I might have been hired to make a cake for everyone at work's birthday! (or month).  Stay tuned!

Love, 

Becky

Cherries, Cherries, and more Cherries

I can never resist a sale.  It could be anything - from a great pair of shoes to a huge pack of toilet paper (at least I won't have to buy any for a while!).  This time, the lovely yellow sign at the Harris Teeter indicated that a huge bag of cherries was on sale.  Without particularly liking cherries, I ended up leaving the store with several pounds.  After literally eating three, I grew annoyed dealing with the pits, and there they sat in the fridge for a week.  

Before I wasted my (on sale) money, I decided to throw them in some goodies!  

First on the list: Cherry-Poppyseed Muffins

These were so good! I made them as mini's and regular size and brought them into work - they disappeared before I could snag a few of my own!  (I've put the recipe below.)

Next up: Mini Cherry Pies

These guys were super simple - I took some leftover instant pie dough from the Blueberry pie and put it in a regular sized muffin pan.  I added cherries that were mixed with some sugar, sealed the top, and baked at 350 for about 20 minutes. They made a perfect sized and super sweet dessert! 

Last, but definitely not the least: Cherry Garcia Ice Cream!

One of my favorite and most coveted cook books is the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Book with all their original recipes! I've never actually tried their Cherry Garcia Ice Cream because I always get sidetracked by the Peanut Butter Cup (best thing ever), so I decided to give it a whirl.  Undoubtedly, it came out great!

Recipe: Cherry-PoppySeed Muffins (adapted from Tyler Florence)

1/2 cup unsalted butter -melted & cooled

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup milk

2 large eggs - lightly beaten

1 tbsp poppy seeds

Zest of 1 orange (I used lemon)

1 cup dried cherries (I used fresh and cut them into quarters)

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a muffin tin with Pam. 

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour wet into the well and fold together.

Toss the cherries with flour and fold them into the batter.

Spoon batter into muffin tins, filling them two-thirds full. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.