Happy New Year!

This is the cake that Jana won from my drawing a few weeks ago! Happy New Year!

I barely had time to finish this and get out to door to deliver it...so please forgive my fondant mess on the counter if you can see it!

One.

One Boy, Two cakes.

My son turned one year old today. I made his cake, of course.

The bottom layer was a lemon white chocolate cake with white chocolate pudding in the middle and the top layer was french vanilla with chocolate pudding in the middle. The design of the cake was inspired by the decorations in my son's room. The walls in his room are light blue with one milk chocolate brown wall that has white (vinyl) birds flying across. I also used a print from a painting in his room from Creative Thursday. This artist is incredible and I adore her work!!!! She is creative and genuinely inspiring. The characters from the painting "Jackalope and Friends" are made of gum paste, sculpted by yours truly...I must say, I don't think I have ever sculpted a thing in my life! I was, however, pleased with how they turned out...I did learn a lot, however - which will be beneficial for gum paste figures in the future.

This is the baby cake that my son didn't actually eat, but only poked his finger into lots of times, licking off the icing. Weird kid, I know. I'll let him have a real piece tomorrow.

Dang, I love that kid.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas.

The white ones are mint Oreo...On one of my new plates I got for Christmas. I have a thoughtful spouse, who shops at Anthropologie for me.

I had a birthday cake that got cancelled, so I used my already baked cake to take to our Sunday dinner with family. The face is a little rushed, we were running late. But the concept is pretty fun. I just used a square cake and buttercream frosting.

It's a white chocolate cherry cake with white chocolate pudding in the middle. Stay tuned next week for more cakes...it's my baby's first birthday next week!

Soup - Broccoli Cheddar

I love broccoli cheese soup. As a matter of fact, it is one of the only ways that I will eat broccoli. I especially like this soup at Jason's Deli. They have the best!

That, actually, might be the downfall of this particular recipe. While it tasted fine, it was not all that and a bag of chips - like I had wanted it to be. I won't say where I got it (since I don't want to discredit the source), but I did get it online and that particular blogger had raved about how great this recipe was. I followed it to the t- but it was not great. I will have to try this soup again - perhaps making up my own recipe? I'll let you know what I find out.

On another note - I made peanut butter truffles again last week, but this time with my own recipe...they were pretty dang good and JC ate about half of them on his own before I finally told him to take them to work and share! They're not quite perfect yet, so I'll keep working on that.

In the mean time, here is the recipe for the soup:

Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 can chicken broth (about 1 3/4 cups of broth)
1 small onion, diced

1/3 c. flour
1/4 c. butter
Pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon)

2 c. milk (I used 1% with great results)
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (the sharper the better for flavor - I used sharp cheddar and hopefully next time will have extra sharp cheddar on hand)
1/2 c. shredded swiss cheese
steamed chopped broccoli (the amount of broccoli really boils down to preference - I wanted a lot of broccoli in my soup, so I chopped and steamed approximately 2 1/2 to 3 cups of broccoli florets)

Simmer chicken broth and chopped onion for 15-20 minutes in a covered small saucepan, until onions are soft. Heat milk in microwave for 1-2 minutes. In a separate medium-sized stockpot, melt butter then add flour and pepper. Cook together for a couple of minutes, then whisk in warmed milk. Stir and heat together on medium-high heat until soup starts to thicken. Next add chicken broth and continue to stir until well blended. Add cheeses and steamed broccoli. Serve immediately.

Makes approximately 4 servings (with two adults and three kids, we finished the pot of soup in one dinner serving it in bread bowls, so if you are serving more adults or serving the soup in regular bowls, I would consider doubling according to the number of people)

So here are some of the changes I suggest doing when making this particular recipe - first - I simmered my chopped onion (finely chopped!) in the chicken broth for about a half hour...then did become clear, but they remained a little too crisp for my liking.

Second - I normally like most cheeses, however, I didn't like the stronger taste of the swiss cheese in what was supposed to be broccoli cheddar....I say do a little less swiss and a little more cheddar in its place.

I personally like my broccoli to be really soft...I got one of those steamer bags in the frozen section...I don't think it got soft enough. It was convenient, but it might be better to put the broccoli in a food processor briefly, breaking up any bigger chunks that might hold their fresh crunch.

My last grievance was that it was kind of grainy...not sure that many other people would notice. My husband didn't, and neither did my baby...they both ate tons of it. I am not sure why it did this, but I am going to look into it. It might have been the flour, it might have been that I heated my cheese to hot? Not sure. Just watch out when you make it and beware that it has that tendency....

Otherwise, the flavor was pretty good and making it was SO easy! Really simple to make - and it was perfect for the freezing weather we're having here right now.

And the Winner is.....

For the cake: Jana!!!

For the truffles: Anjelee!!!

Thank you so much to everyone who participated! This was a lot of fun and I am sure we'll do it again...so stay posted!!!

Winners, please contact me with dates and details on what you would like your cake and truffle flavors to be: mallory.livingston@gmail.com.

Congratulations!!

Who Likes Cake? Giveaway!

It's the season for giving, so I've decided it's time to do my first giveaway! Here's what we're giving away....

• 6" round four layer cake, decorated as a Christmas gift in colors of your choice. Choose from the following available flavors for cake: French Vanilla, White Chocolate Cherry Chip, Chocolate Devil's food, Milk Chocolate, Butter Pecan, Red Velvet, Strawberry Cheesecake (flavored cake, not actually cheesecake). Cake will be filled with choice of Almond, Butter, Vanilla, or chocolate buttercream frosting. For Utah locals only.
• 1 batch of truffles - your choice between Oreo, Chocolate Chip Cookie, or Peanut Butter Cookie (for truffle details, please see previous truffle blog posts). For Out of Towners & Local Folks! If you live outside of Utah, truffles will be mailed to you.

Here's how to enter -

Leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite childhood Christmas gift and why it is your favorite. Simple enough, right?

All comments must be posted by THIS Wednesday, Dec 9 at midnight. The drawing will take place and results will be posted the following Day, Thursday Dec 10. Stay tuned to see if you're the winner!

You choose when you'd like the cake! Offer must be used by Jan. 15, 2010. Dates exclude Dec. 24-29. Will deliver to Utah and Salt Lake Valleys - if you win the cake and live outside of that, we may have to work something out :)

Truffle offer must also be used (or mailed) by Jan 15, 2010. Please allow time for shipping. Dates exclude Dec. 24-29.

Early Christmas Present

I made this cake yesterday for a church Christmas dinner. It is a white chocolate butter pecan cake, added white chocolate chips and a cinnamon cream cheese filling. It was quite delicious, if I do say so myself.

The ribbon is a little rushed, I, of course, waited until the last minute to finish it and was only five minutes late. Note to self: better time management.

Superman Luke

My nephew turned four yesterday. I made him a very special Superman cake...it wasn't perfect, and I am definitely my own biggest critic. But to see his face when he first walked in the room was totally worth it! I'm not sure he even knew that it was a cake; but he was definitely happy with it!

It was a vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream, covered in Superman-style fondant.

The foil WAS clean...It shifted a little on transport...I let JC drive and he decided to make a U turn....I'm just happy it made it!

Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving

Once again, I used one of Paula's recipes...love her....this is her Mystery Pecan Pie - it has a layer of cream cheese filling and BOY is it delicious.

Ingredients

Topping:

• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pie:

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 un-baked deep-dish (9-inch) pie shell
• 1 1/4 cups chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine all topping ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, salt, vanilla, and egg until combined. Pour into pie shell. Top with chopped pecans. Pour topping over pecans. Bake for 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I also made a traditional pecan pie...for this one, I used the same recipe that my Great-Grandma used. Her neighbor had a pecan tree that leaned over the fence into her yard. She would ask me to gather the pecans and then help her shell them. This is definitely one of my very favorite holiday desserts.