wholewheat pumpkin spice yogurt bundt cake

Once upon a time, it occurred to me that I could easily make my own pumpkin puree. I've seen cubed pumpkin in the produce section since we got here, and was always whining that we didn't have canned pumpkin. Basically, pumpkin has been staring at me straight in the face and I've been without for the last two years because… Why? I don't know. Isn't that sad? Two years pumpkin-less and it could have been easily remedied like a looooong time ago. I'm a little slow. 

Since I had this marvelous pumpkin revelation, I threw a bunch of bags of pumpkin in the cart, boiled it, pureed it in the blender, and BOOM. Pumpkin puree in 20 minutes. I'm happy to have a tub of the stuff ALWAYS in the fridge for last minute situations. It's marvelous and I'd be lying if I said I didn't eat it out of a bowl, sprinkled with cinnamon and an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Oh, you guys, just stopittttt. 

Now that I have pumpkin at my disposal, you better believe I shall pumpkify all the things. I hope you don't mind I'm only a couple months late to the party. We'll have pumpkin recipes up the wazoo through Christmas, I can very much assure you. YAY! (???) Kay, so this cake? It's amazing. I always ALWAYS want sweets in the morning with my coffee {it's hereditary.}, which explains all the breakfast recipes on the blog. Since I'm always craving sweetness, I like having cake, cookies, bars, brownies, whatever available. But I want them to be healthy enough to eat for breakfast and not feel like crud later, know what I'm saying? Yah, you do. 

This cake is super dense, and dare I say it, moist from the large amount of pumpkin puree and plain yogurt. It's not overly sweet, but perfectly spiced and glorious. AND Healthy enough for breakfast! REJOICE. Although it is fantastic for breakfast, I have to say… It's weird eating a pumpkin cake at 7 am in the morning whilst sweating your buns off. It's kinda not right. Like when you're at the gym and about to lose your marbles with excitement because you think you hear rain banging against the roof. And then your friend is like "No, that's just sand." Africa lyfeeeeee. OOOH well, at least I have this cake. 

wholewheat pumpkin spice yogurt bundt cake 

2 c. pureed pumpkin

3/4 c. plain yogurt

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. dark brown sugar

1/4 c. pure maple syrup

3/4 c. quick cooking oats

1 1/2 c. wholewheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. mixed spice

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Butter and flour a bundt pan and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients until smooth. Add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool completely before flipping out onto a plate. 

ginger carrot cake energy bites

I think it's safe to say my family officially thinks I'm crazy for making healthy desserts. They eat them every once in awhile and occasionally approve of them, but they really do have a mad love for anything containing butter, sugar, and flour. I do too, but I really enjoy seeing what I can make healthy without having it taste super overly healthy. It's like a challenge and I do love me a good challenge. My blog roll is a good mix of "normal" baking blogs and healthy baking blogs. I'm all for balance! ;) While I was reading a post earlier, I said "OOOH this shake sounds so good. With cocoa and coffee and walnuts and banana." My mom goes "Soph… Do you ever read NORMAL food blogs?" Yeeeeeeeeeeeees. 

One of my brothers' favorite healthy treats I make are those brownie energy bites and the chocolate chip cookie dough energy bites. They'd probably eat a whole batch of those things if I didn't scream and jump on top of them if they eat more than one. Just kiddingggggg… Kinda. They really love their chocolate so it's easy for them to get behind the chocolate variations of my energy bites. Not sure they'll fall for veggies in these though so I think I'll have this batch to myself. {Yusssssss.}

Okay guys. So we're getting fancy smancy up in herrrrrrrrrr. Not only are we making our own energy bites, but we're filling 'em up with spices and veggies. I promise you it's not as weird as it sounds. Dudes and dudettes! These little energy bite thingy ma bobbers give you a little oomph before a workout, satisfy your sweet tooth without busting your pants button, and taste like CAKE. Life is good. 

I seriously can't quit these things. I have SO so so so so many variations I can't wait to try out. I'm making smaller batches lately so that they're gone quicker, thus enabling me to make more quicker. Mhmmmm. Also, ya know that banana "ice cream" that's basically taking over the interwebs these days? Yah, make that and crumble one of these on top. Dessert for breakfast! 'Cuz that's just how we dooooooo. OOH!! Pssssst. I made a energy bite page for your viewing pleasure. Check itttttttttttt. 

ginger carrot cake energy bites

1/4 c. coconut flakes

1/3 c. raw nuts 

2/3 c. oats

1/2 c. chopped dates, tightly packed

2 tbsp. pure maple syrup {or honey}

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

2 tbsp. milk

1/4 c. shredded carrot {about 1 carrot}

1/4 c. raisins

Place coconut flakes, nuts, and oats in a blender or food processor and pulse until a flour forms. Add dates, maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger, and milk. Blend until combined. Place dough in a large bowl and fold in shredded carrot and raisins. If the dough seems too wet, you may need to add a handful of coconut or oats until it becomes the texture of a cookie dough. Roll into balls; place in a plastic container and refrigerate. Makes about 7-8 large balls. 

banana carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

Sometimes {like errrytime} I sit down to write a post, I blank out completely and my post turns into a bunch of random, all over the place, blurbs of the weirdness that is my brain. I then twirl into thoughts of self-doubt. Like why the heck am I a blogger? I may have a freakish love affair with food, but I can't write for the love of all things holy. Isn't that what bloggers, uhh… Do? So here I am, yet again with a lack of words. Sometimes I think out beforehand what I'm going to write in a post, but the second my fingers hit the keys, "Phewwww." Those witty words leave me and I'm left with nothing. Right now is one of those times. I'm trying to think of things to TELL YOU. Still nothing. 

So I made cake. It calms me and makes me feel better inside. Gives me something to do with my hands. And later gives me something to do with my legs 'cuz cake is pretty much the reason I started running. It's no doubt, baking is my therapy. I go into the kitchen and I typically crank up my music, nearly blowing the speakers as I combine ingredients in a fruit bowl with a table fork. But when I made this cake, I decided I needed nothing but peace, quiet, and cake. Nothing to listen to. Just time to think about what I was doing, slowly adding flour to the batter, sprinkling in a dash or ten of cinnamon, and enjoying every swish of the whisk.

I'm really craving fall-ish, homey foods despite the 80 degree weather we've got going on in our neck of the woods. Carrot cake is considered homey right? I think it is. It's one of my ultimate comfort foods for me and brings back memories of when I was little, sitting in a corner booth at Baker's Square with my grandma, enjoying a slice of the fluffy cake and sweet, creamy frosting with the little piped carrot on top. Although I haven't tasted that cake in years, this one turned out kinda similar which surprised me but made me happy nonetheless. It's really dense, yet fluffy and I hate to say it, but I made it semi-healthy-ish. I used wholewheat flour, yogurt, and banana. But what it lacks in buttery, calorie-loaded richness, it makes up for with the frosting. YOU GUYS. I may or may not have eaten it with a spoon. The fact that it made a really large bowl of frosting, enough to have leftovers, didn't help the situation either. Knowing there's a little plastic container or this frosting in the fridge is a little bit frightening. But I guess if that's actually a problem, my life could be worse.

banana carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

cake:

1/2 c. mashed banana

1/3 c. shredded carrot

2 eggs

1/2 c. plain yogurt

1/4 c. granulated sugar

3/4 c. dark brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

frosting:

3/4 c. plain cream cheese

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 c. powdered sugar

1/4 c. milk

2 tbsp. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease a round cake pan; set aside. In a large bowl, combine banana, shredded carrot, eggs, and yogurt. Whisk in sugars and vanilla until thick and creamy. Add flour, cinnamon, and baking powder and stir until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown. While cake is cooling, prepare frosting, adding more milk or powdered sugar as needed. Once cake is completely cooled, spread frosting evenly on top. Store refrigerated in an airtight container or wrapped in tin foil. 

{raw} banana & toasted coconut brownie pie

I don't what came over me, but the last few weeks my health-freak-ism has freakishly increased. The result? I got it in my big 'ol noggin that I could totally go raw for a week. 'Cuz, ya know. I have serious discipline and stuff. I messaged my friend on Facebook who's in the States at the moment {yay for fellow Freaks!!} and said I wish she was here to do it with me because, uhh. My family would never even think of doing anything remotely close to a diet. They love their pasta and doughnuts and Doritos way too much for that. My friend said she'd do it with me even though she's approximately 8236 miles away. Hey, whatever works, works.

If you don't know what a raw diet is, it's pretty self-explanatory. You just eat foods that are raw! It's mostly fruit and veggies, but also beans, nuts, and whole grains. I'm really getting creative with the grains. JUST KIDDING. The only way I can think of to eat whole grains RAW is overnight oats. So yes, I'll be living on raw oats for the next how many days. HA.

We started on Monday and about 5 minutes into it, I decided I needed coffee and cookies. It was the only way I could do to get through a morning of studying without passing out on my bed. Not even joking. I couldn't study in my room because I was afraid I was going to just fall over into a lack-of-coffee-coma. Don't worry though, guys. You know that serious discipline I mentioned? Turns out. It actually exists. I've gone 3 days without coffee and I'm still breathing! If you're not surprised by that bold statement I just made than you obviously don't know that coffee is basically what keeps me alive on a day to day basis. Well coffee and insulin.

Just because I'm going raw for a week does not mean I'll just eat spinach all the live long day and forget about the sweets. Uhh no. Sophie never forgets about the sweets. EVER. I need dessert every. day. whether that be ice cream with chocolate, peanut butter sauce, caramel, peanuts, banana, cherries, pineapple, and butterscotch {for the days when I'm feeling rather piggish.}, a smoothie, or some sort of healthy concoction like this herr pie. 

Remember when I made that chocolate peanut butter banana pie? That stuff is seriously, like… UGH. It shouldn't be healthy. But thank heavens it is because I could eat half the thing in one sitting. I seriously could. Don't test me. {although if ya wanted toooo….} I shnazzied up that pie and made this pie. GUUUUUYYZZEEEZ. It's better. The filling pretty much totally tastes like brownie batter. Yah. Brownie batter. And the crust is like a chocolate truffle. And the top if like crunchy munchy coconutty greatness. Don't you love the way I describe things? Har harrrr.

 I strongly urge you to make this pie. It's what dreams are made of!!! There's a little bit of everything in there. Peanut butter, chocolate {loooots and looooots and loooooots of chocolate.}, coconut, and banana. Plus it's no bake and super quick and easy. The only hard part is waiting. Which if you're kinda running low in the area of patience like yours truly, you could make this at night, pop it in the freezer, and it's ready to be chowed down upon for breakfast! Mhmmmm. 

{raw} banana & toasted coconut brownie pie 

crust: 

1 c. chopped dates

1/4 c. honey

3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 c. quick cooking oats

Blend all ingredients in a blender until the mixture resembles a coarse crumb. Press into a greased pie dish; set aside. 

filling:

2 bananas

3 tbsp. honey

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 c. creamy peanut butter

2 tbsp. soymilk {or any kind of milk will work} 

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour into prepared crust. Top with sliced bananas and toasted coconut.

lemon raspberry yogurt cake with lemon honey glaze

First of all, thank you to everyone who commented on my last post. You people make me feel so supported and loved. It's insane, I only know about 10 out of 574 of you. Since you expressed so much concern and offered so much encouragement, I thought I'd let you know I've been feeling a lot better since last weekend's… uhh, meltdown of sorts. I'm working on contentment, and taking in the little things around me. Not looking to the next thing, but being in the moment and taking the time to appreciate the simple and beautiful, be it cute kids on their way to school, a perfectly ripe banana {I'm weird.}, my 120 pound dog sitting on me and thinking he's a poodle, 6 a.m. runs, my favorite song on the radio {which changes about weekly. But right now Stay by Rihanna.}, or a text message from my bestie. Also. Uhh, I finished 9th grade yesterday. YUP! I'm a sophomore now! Or as my dad called me a "sucky sophy". I feel so wonderful, so free. Seriously, I told my friend I feel like Superwoman. This year, I changed school curriculums and my word, to say it was challenging is an extreme understatement. It was more schoolwork than I have ever had in my life. But through lots of prayers, time, and cups of coffee, I finally conquered. To celebrate, last night I had friends over to watch a movie. I wanted something really funny because I felt like I hadn't laughed in awhile. Honestly, in a weird way, I kinda wanted to like… pee in my pants laughing so hard. AAAAAANYWAYS. We watched Grown Ups and ahhmahhgahh. I laughed. A lot. I didn't pee. But I did indeed laugh. I also managed to eat about half the bowl of popcorn and nearly choked at a couple points. "I wanna get chocolate wasted, daddy!" Also, the Canadian guy at the waterpark… I nearly died. 

So cake… I don't make cake often. It seems like we constantly have people over here, so it's no doubt someone will eat pretty much anything I make. It's just a little easier to give them cookies instead of having to dirty plates and forks for a slice of cake. The occasions that I actually make cake are few and far apart. Seriously, I don't even remember the last cake I made. But tonight, we're having our neighbors over for dinner {the first time we've ever done anything with them in the year and a half we've been here. Impressive.}, so I thought now would be as good a time as any to wow them with my mad skills. Just kiiiiiiiiding. This cake is oooogly mooogly, but dang, it tastes fantastic. I wanted to take a picture of a slice since the outside was so unappealing, but my mom freaked out and said it was bad manners to slice a cake before company comes… So there went that. This cake has a tender and moist {don'tkillmeiloveyou} crumb thanks to the yogurt in the batter. It's packed with the wonderful freshness of lemons and raspberries, which seriously… One of the best combos out there. I loved how the sugar and lemon zest are rubbed together. This process brings out the oils and flavor in the lemon and the sugar gets all pretty and fluffy. Also, the glaze… I may or may not have sipped it with a spoon… Have a happy weekend, my loves!

lemon raspberry yogurt cake with honey lemon glaze

cake//

1 c. butter, room temp

3 c. flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. lemon zest 

4 eggs

1 c. plain yogurt

1/4 c. lemon juice

2 c. raspberries

glaze// 

1/4 c. lemon juice

2 tbsp. honey

3 tbsp. milk

3 c. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease a bundt pan; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, using your fingertips, rub together the lemon zest and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the butter, eggs, lemon juice, and yogurt. Pour into dry ingredients and stir until smooth and combined. Fold in raspberries. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 60-70 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. While the cake is cooling, prepare the glaze. Once cake is cooled, flip onto a wire rack or cake plate. Top with glaze and extra lemon zest if desired. 

{skinny} chocolate peanut butter pie

One my bestest friends' birthdays was about a month or so ago, and at her party {with 2 friends. I feel so honored.}, along with a humungo chocolate laden cake, there was a cute little peanut butter pie. I opted for the pie because gosh dang it, I love my peanut butter! I took a bite, took a few more, and then seconds, and maaaaaaybe thirds. When she told me that it was healthy, the angels started singing. "How in the what is this healthy?", I thought to myself. Well apparently the crust was made from dates and the pie part was peanut butter and bananas.  Thank goodness it was healthy though, because that made up for the fact that I ate like a quarter of the pie by myself. No shame. 

Anyways, since that glorious day of discovery so long ago, I've been thinking about this pie. Non. Stop. Almost every day. ALMOST. As you can tell, my thoughts are mostly consumed of sprinkles and pretty pastries and brownies and healthy pies.  It's kinda weird. I seriously have no idea why I've waited so long to make this pie. It's SO quick and easy and you TOTALLY can't tell it's healthy, I promise! Pinky promise! If I never even found out that it was healthy, I'd still say it's the best peanut butter based dessert I've ever tasted. I'm not joshing here, people. 

I'd have to say, I think the healthy chocolate crust is my favorite part of the pie. It's made with dates, honey, cocoa powder, and cookie crumbs. I know that sounds rather unappetizing, but it results in a super chewy, chocolaty crust- the perfect base for… PEANUT BUTAAAAAAAAAH! The pie part is  SUPER easy. If you feel like leaving the crust off, I'm sure you could, and you could have this ready in just a couple minutes. The filling is made of pureed bernerners, honey, peanut butter, vanilla, and a little bit of powdered sugar. Pour that into the crust, plop it in the freezer, and wait for a few hours. I know. It sucks to wait. But if you don't freeze it, you'd be left with a gooey gloppy peanut buttery mess. Which aaaaaaaactually doesn't sound too shabby. 

Just be classy and freeze it.

This pie is GREAT to just make ahead and keep in the freezer for when you get those cravings for something sweet. It makes it easier to have something healthy on hand instead of caving in and eating a package of cookies or something NOT healthy. The best part is, you can eat like half the thing if you're feeling real crazy. Yah, be like me. 

{skinny} chocolate peanut butter

crust: 

1 c. dates

1 c. cookie crumbs/graham cracker crumbs

1/3 c. cocoa 

1/2 c. honey

filling: 

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 1/4 c. creamy peanut butter

2 tbsp. honey

3 tbsp. powdered sugar

To make the crust, combine the dates, cookie crumbs, cocoa, and honey in a food processor or blender. Press into a round pie dish and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the bananas, peanut butter, and honey. Add in the powdered sugar and stir until smooth. Pour into prepared crust. Refrigerate for 2+ hours or until firm. 

fudge brownie cupcakes with mocha ganache

I originally had plans to post a healthy recipe this week. But seriously, something containing dates and nuts can step aside. I knew the first time I bit into these cuppy cakes, sharing these with you was urgent, because once you stuff your face with these, you'll be thanking God for all things in life that are chocolate covered. Amen. 

I don't make cupcakes often because a) I feel like they involve too much time for just a subpar sweet. and b) I've never found a cupcake recipe that has wowed me. I'm usually just let down with a cake that's too dry, crumbly, and blah. 

I was watching Barefoot Contessa a couple weeks ago- well I actually watch it more like everyday- but this particular episode had me, I kid you not, dreaming chocolate filled dreams night after night. Ina made plain chocolate cupcakes with a chocolate ganache. They looked so simple, yet elegant and THAT is my kinda cake. She added instant coffee granules to the cake as well as the ganache to really bring out the chocolate flavor. 

I decided I didn't want any old chocolate cupcakes. I wanted something thick and fudgey, that you could really sink your teeth into. I turned to Sally's recipe for fudge brownie cupcakes and HOLY GOSH. Let me tell you, they did not disappoint. I'm really picky when it comes to cupcakes, and Sally's recipe totally changed my mind about dry crumbly cakes. {Thanks, Sally!}

Ok, so let's talk about the ganache. At first, it seemed way too liquidy. I followed all the directions, and proceeded to cover the cupcakes and refrigerate them. After awhile it firmed up and all was well in the world. I left out the coffee granules in the cake, but didn't hesitate to add it to the ganache. I found the ganache to actually have a pretty strong coffee flavor, hence the "mocha ganache". If you're not a huge fan, feel free to halve the amount of instant coffee for a more subtle flavor. 

These were some of my favorite cupcakes I have EVER eaten! Thank goodness they made only 8 cupcakes, because if there had been more, I'm pretty sure I would have gained 5 pounds over 2 days. Yay for friends and family who are as crazy about chocolate as I am!

 fudge brownie cupcakes with mocha ganache 
cupcakes adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction 

cupcakes

makes 9-12 cupcakes

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2  cup dark brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper cups.

Melt butter in the microwave in a large microwave safe bowl. Mix in the sugar until smooth and microwave for about 1 minute. Stir the mixture until smooth again. Whisk in the vanilla and eggs. In a separate bowl, mix together the salt, baking powder, cocoa powder, and flour. Slowly add to the wet ingredients and stir until completely combined.

Fill the muffin tins about 2/3 full. Bake in the prepared muffin tin for about 8-10 minutes (mine took a little under 9 minutes). Allow to cool completely before topping with mocha ganache.

mocha Ganache

1 c. milk chocolate chips {you could use semi-sweet or dark as well}
1/2 c. full cream
1 tsp. instant coffee granules

Combine in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 30 seconds stirring every 10 seconds until smooth.

chocolate chip cinnamon swirl coffee cake

Oh my lanta, you guys. MY THIIIIIIIIIIIIGHS! They hurt. I wish I could tell you my thighs hurt because I went on a kick-butt run this morning. Or because I did like a hundred lunges. But nope and nope. They're flipping SUNBURNT! Poor leggies of mine, so red and painful are ye.

I went on a little picnic with my friendlies earlier. This was a legit African-style picnic… We didn't go out to to a green grassy park, lay out a red and white checkered blanket, and munch on grapes and egg salad sandwiches. UHH no. At noon, we met at my house and walked to the grocery store to get food… About a mile or so. Then we walked AAAAAAAAAALL the way back over by my house and our fearless leader lead us into the bush. Like the. bush. In the middle of nowhere land. 

While we were walking, I was just wanting to cry. You guys! It's like 100 degrees minimum in the sun. Now, Namibia is not necessarily the most green and lush place on the planet. It's dry and sandy and hot. And the sand was burning the crap outa my feet. I'm not really the type for adventure-y stuff like this. I mean, I love adventures. I just find adventures more enjoyable when they take place in air conditioning. I'm sure I was super annoying. Just ask my friends… I'm sure they'd say yes.

I kept trudging along, whining about the heat and yelling to my friend, "WALLARD! {That's not his real name. His name is really hard to pronounce so let's just go with Wallard. Close enough.} Are you dragging us out here to DIE!? You know, there's cobras and pythons out here. {no joke.} And my feet are going to blister! Can we please just stop nooooooooooooooow! Pleeeeeeeeeeeease Wallard! PLEEEEEASE!" No response. He just kept walking while us girls are yelling at the top of our lungs for him to stop. After all, he was the one with the FOOD! 

Life words, people- never take a woman's food. Especially when there's fancy cheese involved. Just… Don't do it. 

Anyways, after like what seemed like an ETERNITY {in real life, it was like 15 minutes.}, we decided to set up camp by a dried up riverbed. We then preceded to eat apples, crackers, some daaaang good cheese, and peach iced tea. Yup, this is how we party it up in Africa, people. 

I thoooought we were sitting in the shade. Apparently we weren't. Why is that, when you think you're in the shade, but all the while you're obliviously burning yourself to a crisp? Lesson learned, when you go on a picnic in the middle of the bush… Wear sunscreen. 

What does this have to do with coffee cake? Hmm… Let me think. 

 Nothing. 

chocolate chip cinnamon swirl coffee cake 

{adapted from Smitten Kitchen}

cake: 

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 1/2 c. sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. plain yogurt

1 c. buttermilk

3 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 c. chocolate chips

cinnamon swirl:

1/2 c. sugar

3 tsp. cinnamon 

Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease a 9x13 pan. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs, vanilla, yogurt, and buttermilk. Combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix together the dry and wet ingredients until smooth. Pour 3/4 of the batter into greased pan. Evenly spread the cinnamon sugar on top, and swirl with the rest of the batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

buttermilk red velvet cake with chocolate fudge frosting

I made you a cake! Partly because I wanted to. Partly because I wanted to make my friends fat and happy. And partly because HOLYGOOOOSH, we reached 500 followers on GFC last weekend! That would be 500 people who actually READ this blog. 500 people who like food as much as me. 500 people that follow along on this baking journey of mine. 500 people who encourage me to keep on doing what I love to do. Thank you! I love you guys as much as a fat kid loves cake.

Guess that makes me a fat kid. Ha. 

Moving on… I think as food bloggers, we do some pretty extreme things just to get a good picture of food. Like, really? And a lot of our friends and family suffer from our weirdness. God bless 'em. Someone comes walking in while I'm taking pictures of cookies… And then I scream "NO DON'T TOUCH THAT!", tilting said cookies just so. Not many people I know do that. Actually, no people I know do that.  

And if you're like me, you may or may not slice into a cake before your company arrives. It may seem kinda… rude maybe. But I NEED A PICTURE! Really though, I deserve it. After all, I made you people a pretty cake. A layered one at that! We're getting serious here. 

So, let's talk about this cake shall we? It didn't turn out super red… But, let's just call it a Burgandy {I'm pretty sure that's not how you spell it. But life goes on.} Velvet cake, mmkay? Cool. Thanks for agreeing. The buttermilk in this cake gives it a little kick in the pants, adding some extra flavor. Seriously perfection. 

The frosting… Umm whoa. It's pretty dang thick and fudgey. Literally FUUUUDGE. When you lick the spoon {don't deny it. I know you do.}, it'll make you want to close your eyes, go to your happy place, maybe do a little dance, and thank God for all things chocolatey and fudgey. Amen. 

I just had to take a bite of that fudgey frosting. And a little cake too. Maaaaybe just another bite. 

Fine, I'll be done. 

Just one more. 

Buttermilk Red Velvet Cake 

2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. milk {see note on buttermilk}
2 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
red food coloring {just add it drop by drop until you have the desired redness.}

Chocolate Fudge Frosting 

1/2 c. chocolate chips, melted
1/2 c. milk
4 3/4 c. powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

Note: For the buttermilk flavor, I just used vinegar and milk. However, if you're not using this option and want to use regular buttermilk, use 1 c. buttermilk.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans.In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs, milk, vinegar, and vanilla.In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients mix until completely combined. Add in the red food coloring. Pour into cake pans and then drop the pans on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. After about ten minutes, remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack. After the cakes were completely cooled, I wrapped them in plastic wrap and refrigerated them over tonight so they were ready to frost. When you're ready to frost the cakes, combine all the frosting ingredients until smooth. First, frost one layer of the cake with about half of the frosting. Place the other cake on top and repeat with more frosting. Frost the sides, if desired!

Pear Apple Crisp

One of my absolute FAVORITE desserts at home, was {and, well… IS.} apple crisp. Straight outa the oven topped off with some whipped cream and chopped nuts? Dang deliciousness right there. In an attempt to be healthy{ishhhh}, I used whole wheat flour in this recipe. And originally, it only had a third cup of butter in the whole thing. BUT in the middle of baking time, my mom took it out, asked how much butter was in there, and upon hearing my answer, shoved another good amount on top. One cup it is, then!

I can't say that was a bad idea though. Instead of being very "crisp" it turned out quite the opposite. Everything melted together nicely, creating a carmely, gooey, texture with some crunch from the oats and nuts. It also had some good flavor going on! With both pears and apples, and cinnamon and nutmeg, it literally tasted like heaven in a bowl. As soon as I took it out of the oven, I took a bite. went back for seconds. thirds. fourths. The rest is history. Yummy history at that! 

Pear Apple Crisp

2 pears 

3 apples 

{both peeled and thinly sliced}

1 1/4 c. flour {divided}

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. dark brown sugar

1/2 c. oats

1 c. butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a large bowl, toss the apples and pears with 1/2 c. flour, white sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Place in a glass pie dish and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, 3/4 c. flour, and oats. Pour mixture on top of the apple/pear layer. Bake on low heat for 40-50 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream and chopped nuts. 

Random question: Do you guys like your crisps warm or cold? 

Maybe I'm super weird {duhhh.}, but I like mine after it's been in the fridge for awhile. SO GOOD!