Okay....so we had minimal participation in the January theme. We went out on a limb and tried something unusual. But we did get two really awesome entries.

Poll #1523585 January theme contest
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 64

Which do you like best?

So, for February, we thought we'd go a little more traditional and see how that goes. Who's up for CHOCOLATE!?!?!?! If you already posted something chocolatey and delicious in February, you can go back and tag it for the contest.

Heart Cake.  A great way to show someone how much you love them!


I have also posted a tutorial on my baking blog.

Hi bakebakebake!

I've got some brown sugar (that's kind of hard, but I heard I can throw it in the microwave for a few seconds to make it soft again?) and some cinnamon whiskey. I have a party on saturday and want to soup up some box mix for some cupcakes. I'm thinking of putting the whiskey in the icing, but how can I incorporate the brown sugar in the mix?

Also, I've found some recipes for Linzer torte online, but I recall my friend's Linzer torte being chocolate crust with raspberry filling, and I'm not sure which recipes to trust, so which ones do you all use?

It's my boyfriend's birthday today so I spent last night and this morning making him a cake. I made marshmallow fondant last night. After I had made the whole batch he requested that it be chocolate flavored so I melted some chocolate and kneaded it in. I also pulverized some raspberries and mixed them with some sugar and cornstarch to make a very gelatinous filling for the cake. A little too much cornstarch, but it still tastes good.
I don't have pictures of the process but there are 3 pics of the finished product under the cut. I used a chocolate box mix (I hate to use box mix but I have midterms this week and I didn't have enough time for a scratch cake). I used some yogurt and a splash of amaretto in place of some of the water but you can still tell it's from a box. Oh well.

( Pictures and a list of lessons learned )

Even though it doesn't meet up to my perfectionist standards my boyfriend will still like it because, well, I'm his girlfriend and he's morally obligated to like it (isn't he??) and also because it is chocolate. He doesn't care at all what it looks like as long as it's made out of chocolate.

What better way to proclaim my love for the camp feel-good series? Why, to make Glee themed cupcakes of course!



( more )

Hello bakers,

I'm wondering if you could help me out here. My boyfriend -for some reason- wants us to go along with the Japanese tradition of the honmnei choco (sweetheart chocolate) this VDay. Basically the girl makes her loved one some chocolates, and a month later he gives her a gift of his own.

I am.. not very good in the kitchen. Which is where I need your assistance, if you don't mind XD.

I would like to try both melting plain chocolate into moulds and then putting some yummy filling (though I have no idea what) and making some cake balls.

I've poked around and found a post by layers_of_eli with some delicious looking ones so far, but I'd gladly collect a few more recipes before I go shopping for ingredients.

Any help would be much appreciated and may I just say, reading this comm always makes me SO hungry.

Hi, all! It's my first post (and first time to bake vegan!). :D

One of my roller derby teammates turned 30 this past weekend and hosted a "double quincinera bike ride" where she biked 30 miles and stopped at various other rollergirls' houses for tasty baked goods. She's vegan, so I made vegan versions of hostess cupcakes.






( Recipes and thoughts )

Hi everyone! I love this community and finally decided to post one of my creations as well..


I used cake-mixes both for the regular cake and the cheesecake layers (from 'Homemade' and 'Dr Oetker' respectively). Then I warmed and sieved some jam and spread it on top, decorating it with whipped cream and melted chocolate figures. It was very nice!
More at my blog [http://prinsesjeanouschka.wordpress.com]

To get over my Seasonal afflicted disorder, I took up baking over the winter, because like anyone, a cupcake, cookie, or a piece of chocolate cake would make you happy. So that's what I did.

My sister's birthday was in January, so I made 2 Dutch Apple pies, and a Chocolate flourless cake with chocolate ganache and toasted almonds.

Here is the Chocolate flourless Cake-

( Read more... )was going to post more pics, but I don't know how to do an LJ cut. :(

more pictures and such at my food blog HERE
it's definitely the best sheet cake i've ever made!

( Read more... )

I made these especially for my sweetie as an early valentines day sweet, and I was really happy with the outcome. These are perfect for the chocoholic in your life (or for yourself if you have a chocolate addiction like me.)

( Cut for recipe! )
More pictures of this recipe and others over at Pixie Cake

 

A vegan friend of mine recently challenged me to make a dessert for my blog, so I tried it. I didn’t want to cop out by saying grilled fruit with soy ice cream or coconut milk based pudding or something easy like that. I also didn’t want something that required a list of weird,  hard-to-find substitute ingredients.  I wanted to bake and have the treat just happen to be vegan. And here it is. It’s like a fig newton cookie or toaster strudel on crack. A chewy oatmeal crust with a thick and rich filling of dried figs and dates, sweetened with pure maple syrup. Topped with a super easy vanilla glaze, these are the perfect treat to follow dinner, or even start your day with a good cup of coffee. 

Tons more recipes and info at my blog, jonesing for...( Recipe and more pictures under the cut. )

I've been dreaming for weeks of making this BEAUTIFUL, GORGEOUS, DRAMATIC coconut cake from Zoe Bakes. This past Friday, I finally jumped in and got to work. Everything went swimmingly until I learned that I'm apparently unable to make a suitable meringue. Hence, I present to you . . . Ugly as Sin Coconut Cake!

Oh well. It tasted amazing. Moist, heavenly white cake flavored with coconut milk sandwiching rich coconut pastry cream. Absolutely wonderful! If you like coconut (and really, maybe even if you think you don't like coconut), make this cake. Good luck with your meringue :)



( recipe and photo )


To see PHOTO EVIDENCE that my version of this cake is ugly as sin, to read my hypotheses as to why my meringue didn't work, to enjoy more descriptions of how amazing the cake tasted, or to see where you can buy cookbooks to support Haiti relief, please head over to my baking blog, Willow Bird Baking!

x-posted to food_porn, bakebakebake, and cooking

So, with the overwhelming amount of replies I was all fired up to bake this weekend.
I had some set backs with ym equipment and it was over all a hilarious mess since my kitchen is oh-so-ill equipped.
( Pictures and story behind the cut )

Next up are the easy-peanut-butter-cookies, a friend requested I make them, so I shall try! =D
Now that the kitchen is slightly more organized the way I'd like it to be organized it might not take me two hours to find the things I need...

This is a long shot, but would any of you happen to have a great recipe for Erdbeerkuchen? My sweet German boyfriend remembers his late grandmother's Erdbeerkuchen fondly, but he doesn't know the recipe she used, and I'd like to bake something like that for him for Valentine's Day. This recipe looks promising, but he remembers the crust/cake having the dense texture of a "day-old cookie."

Thanks in advance !

So there I was with a bunch of overly ripe bananas sitting on the counter and absolutely nothing to do with them. I remember hearing that when your bananas are at that stage they're great for baking foods like banana bread and muffins. So, after doing a few searches for the perfect banana muffins with no luck, I took to my collection of cookbooks. Lo and behold, I (luckily) found Ina Garten's recipe for Banana Crunch Muffins.

Get recipe and more photos by clicking here.

Last time I posted it was my spaghetti and meatballs cake. For my son's 11th birthday party, I went with an Xbox 360 controller because he is completely addicted to the console. It was my first attempt with making my own fondant and using it. Be gentle. ;)



Full-sized pics behind the cut, more pics and how-I-did-it @ my (non-cooking) blog: http://digg.com/d31I0rd ( Read more... )

Dear bakebakebake,

I'm a huge cupcake fan. I bake them pretty often and have tried a bunch of icing recipes to no avail. I've tried Royal Icing, Cream Cheese Icing, Buttercream, and just about any kind of icing you can think of, but none have stuck as my go-to.

I'd like an icing that will pipe nicely and is on the thicker side. I will literally give anything a try!

Can you help a girl out?

Thanks in advance, guys. :)