Team Bandana

In honor of Manny’s 3^rd Half Marathon this weekend in Miami I sent him a little Refuel and Replenish care package. Running 13.1 miles is amazing, exhilarating and a milestone anyone should be proud of completing. I ran the SF Half Marathon in July 2009 and loved to hate it or was it hated to love it!?! Regardless, those hills were killer, but I did it and I’ll probably do another one at some point.

Unlike me, Manny is on a roll. I’m really proud of his determination and new found passion. Getting up at 4:30am every Saturday morning is a miracle for anyone, especially for a guy that LOVES to sleep! And I think it’s important to support my friends in any passion they might have so I was happy to put something together and send it on its way.

Sending a care package with some yum-yums was my way of giving him a high five at the end of the race! HIGH FIVE MC! And after 13.1 miles everyone deserves a little bundt cake, especially you since I have no doubt you'll beat your last race time of 2 hours and 20 minutes. The Refuel and Replenish care package included my signature Kahlua Bundt Cake, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake, Milk Chocolate & PB Pretzel Bark, Kahlua Cookie Cake Bites and some yummy snacks from Trader Joes to enjoy during training.

For the Kahlua Cookie Cake Bites I used some of the Kahlua bundt batter to make flat “cookie cakes,” some of which I dipped in melted chocolate and covered in colored sugar sprinkles and others I decorated with icing – “Team Bandana,” “Go Manolo,” “RUN,” and “ING.” The icing didn’t travel as well as I had hoped, so I’m glad I snapped a photo before sending them off on their long 3000 miles journey.

And when making my signature Kahlua cake, I firmly believe in using top notch ingredients – Kahlua, obviously and then top shelf vodka like Belvedere really enhances the flavor. See pic below:

The chocolate bark was just another experiment, something worth testing again. I’ll have to wait and hear from MC on whether it’s a winner or not. And then to complete the package I made a run over to my local Trader Joes becuase they always have amazing trail mixes and snacks that are great to munch on during training. When you’re on the go, you need to pack little snack bags of healthy, but tasty snacks that also have some protein to keep you going. In this case, I found a good trail mix that had baby PB cups mixed in for a pop of flavor.

Here some pics of care package:

For anyone interested in hitting the pavement themselves, check out these sites for local races and running groups in your area:

Nationwide:

Active.com

  

Los Angeles Area:

LA Races

Results by Prime

Runners Image

A Sweet Relationship

My longest and dearest bestie, Jo, is also an avid baker! Our relationship turns extra sweet when we need the others honest opinion on a new recipe – the perfect relationship if you ask me. And when I had Jo and my cousin Katie over for dinner last night, I was happy to offer my opinion on her dessert.

Side note: Have I mentioned how much I love throwing a dinner party? Casual or fancy, small or large, it doesn’t matter. It’s always fun to cook, drink a little vino and chat with your girls (guys are invited every now and again, obviously)! Love it.

A few weekends ago Jo and I stumbled upon a terrific sale at Sur la Table in Pasadena. I LOVE that store, but everything is usually pretty pricey. But luckily they were having a huge post holiday sale and we indulged. We made a straight shot for the baking section to see what, if anything was on clearance. BINGO! Cupcake boxes and holders were half-priced! Ok, so a $6 set of cupcake gift boxes isn’t terrible at regular price, but it’s SO much better when you can get them for $2.99. Jo and I stocked up on matching boxes and holders. They are perfect to bring to a friend’s house, to give to someone at work, or as a gift!

Since I was cooking dinner, I had asked Jo to bring dessert; I knew she wouldn’t mind. Plus we had to try out the new cupcakes holders and boxes! And she knocked it out of the park! She tested a new recipe:

Chocolate Chip Banana Cupcakes with a Peanut Butter and Honey Frosting and Strawberry Jam piped into the center.

YES… you read that correctly! And if you’re mouth isn’t already watering, then you clearly need your taste buds checked. They were amazing!!! The cupcake was dense, almost like a banana loaf and the honey really balanced the frosting so the peanut butter wasn’t overwhelming. And then the delightful surprise of strawberry jam in the center was the cherry on top (so to speak). Jo and I made Katie take all the leftovers home because neither of us wanted to be responsible for eating them… or carry the guilt/extra pounds around.

Jo and I now have a new mission: GET ON CUPCAKE WARS

Here are a few pics of the final product (PS - aren't those boxes adorable!?!):

The Birthday Boy

Did someone say it’s their birthday? They did! Happy Birthday Benny! Ok, ok, so it was several months ago, but it’s still blog worthy, right?

I’m incredibly lucky to be surrounded by an amazing group of people who I consider more family than friends! You know the kind of people I’m talking about; the special people that you meet spend time with and instantly know you can be yourself around. Well, for those that don’t know me, I LUV me some guy time! I love football! I love hanging with the boys! And at home I have Jeff and Benny – my football, guy time dudes. In fact, they probably think of me as more of a dude half the time considering what we usually talk about. Anyways…

It was Benny’s birthday and Jeff had planned a low key intimate dinner party to celebrate. And by intimate dinner party, I mean beer, wine, a boob funnel and meat. So, naturally I offered to make the birthday cake. Frankly I can’t remember if there was a request for chocolate cake or if I had just decided that the occasion called for one, but that’s what I made. A perfectly chocolate, chocolate cake!

The recipe was actually quite detailed, but I followed it down to the last teaspoon and boy did it pay off! The cake was SO moist! And the chocolate frosting didn’t set it over the top; it actually complimented it really well! Benny’s a bit of a health nut so I might have lied to him and said I made it with less fattening ingredients than I actually did… oh well, Happy Birthday!

Here’s a pic of Benny’s Perfectly Chocolate, Chocolate Birthday Cake:

After making Benny’s cake I finally made the decision that the time had come in my baking frenzy to purchase the BEST THING EVER INVENTED, aka the KitchenAid Standing Mixer. And in red! Yes, red! Once I had that thing in my kitchen it’s as though the baking angels started singing “Hallelujah” from above. Really, I heard them.

Behold the BEST THING EVER INVENTED:

Themed Birthday Parties

I’m a sucker for a great birthday celebration – a party, balloons, cake, candles… ah, just thinking about it puts a smile on my face. But sometimes conflicts in the schedule arise and you have to miss a friend’s party. Boo. In this instance, I had to miss my friend Taryn’s party… and a white trash themed surprise party at that. Double boo. One my best friends, Taryn’s boyfriend, planned the whole party for her right down to her outfit. Brilliant! But he needed a little help with the cake. So, I figured a terrific way to still contribute to the party even though I couldn’t be there would be to bake the goodies for everyone to enjoy.

So, I decided to go along with the theme when planning what to bake. Jeff was expecting about 40 people at the party, so I decided cupcakes were a perfect solution. Taryn had one request though – she wanted a lemon cake with lemon icing. No problem! I would make a lemon cake for the birthday girl and then several dozen cupcakes for everyone else to enjoy. And what goes better with a white trash themed birthday party than pink velvet cupcakes, with hot pink frosting, tons of colored sugar crystals and pink leopard print cupcakes holders?!?... Nothing! Those were the winner!

So, I enlisted Jeff as my assistant because we had a lot of baking to do in a short period of time. The party was scheduled for that Saturday night so we planned to do the baking on Friday night. And since I wouldn’t have time to do anything the following morning it all needed to be started and completed in one night. My conflict with the party wasn’t just any average everyday conflict… I was going to the Emmy’s and had several prep appointments before the ceremony to help me get ready! 

That Friday night my kitchen immediately turned into a hot pink mess. Since I make everything from scratch I had ingredients from one end of the kitchen to the other and more bleeding into my dining room. Plus, I needed to time everything perfectly. I had to make the lemon pound cake (same recipe I used to make the lemon cupcakes I’ve blogged about before) first, let that cool and then work on the pink velvet cupcakes. And with only one stove and a few cupcake pans it was going to take a while.

Luckily everything turned out tasting pretty great. Jeff got right in there and helped out when I needed him. It’s actually pretty amusing to see a 6 foot plus guy holding a pink velvet cupcake with hot pink icing and adding sugar crystals to the top. LOL! After adding the sugar crystals, I made cupcake toppers with the theme in mind. I used stickers, toothpicks and ribbon to create them that I had found at Michaels in the scrapbooking section. After we finally completed everything, we packed all the cupcakes in a cake box that I had also purchased from Michael’s and set them aside. The lemon cake needed a little more love. The icing was a bit of a challenge. So, I decided to refrigerate it over night and then attempt to frost the cake the following morning despite my busy schedule. 

When I got up the following day and checked on the frosting it had hardened quite a bit in the refrigerator. It was made of confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest…etc, etc. So, I defrosted it just a bit because I knew it would soften up as I frosted the cake. Once I had the cake frosted I put the whole thing in the refrigerator to harden. Since the cake was a thicker and more resilient pound cake, it worked.

According to Jeff and Taryn the cake and cupcakes were a big hit at the party! Everyone seemed to love that the theme was reflected in them! Yay! And Taryn loved her lemon cake! I’m still bummed I couldn’t be there, especially after seeing the photos; they are priceless!

Here’s a pic of the cupcakes. I apparently forgot to snap one of the finished cake.

A Reese's Inspired Care Package

Not that I need a reason to bake or test new recipes that I may come across... BUT, when someone ASKS to be an official Ummoyer Bakeshop Taste Tester, why would I deprive them of such a fun and potentially/hopefully tasty job? I wouldn't!

I decided to act fast and find a few recipes online that involved peanut butter and chocolate; the combination of PB and chocolate is one of my taste tester’s favorite things. When I found the two recipes I wanted to test I headed straight for the store to grab all the ingredients. Of course after picking the recipes and then buying all the ingredients, I wondered if they were the best choices based on climate. I was worried because the items had to travel all the way to Miami. Would they melt? Well, at this point, I had to take the chance... I already had everything to make them and the occasion for which to send them, so I was under a deadline. I love sending care packages... just a little something to tell someone they're speacial and loved.

Overall I think the bars and bark turned out pretty well, but my taste tester will be the official word. But, the next time I make the PB and Chocolate Brownie Bars I'll definitely use a different baking pan. I used a small square glass pan, but should have used a larger pan to allow the bars to spread out more. The bars were a little larger and thicker than I would have liked. The smaller pan made it a little more difficult to cook the peanut butter portion of the brownie bar all the way through.

The PB and Chocolate Bark with Roasted Almonds bark however turned out to be one of the easiest things I've ever made. In fact, I think that bark might be a new signature baked good/candy of mine. There are SO many things that you can add to it, especially for different holidays. I think the bark could look really nice in a box and be a great gift option. Next up - Chocolate Butterscoth Bark and then a Salted Chocolate Carmel Bark. Those sound amazing already!

After everything was cooled and packaged up, I sent the Reese’s inspired care package off to Miami to meet up with the official taste tester. And thank goodness for Mother Nature because the packaged arrived with everything in tact! Nothing melted! YAY!

Official Ummoyer Bakeshop Taste Tester Review:

"The PB Brownie is Spectacular!! 5 STARS!!"
"The PB Bark gets 5 ++ STARS!!"

Ah, shucks! Thanks.

Here are a few pics of the final product:

It's A New Year, A New Blog Post And A Whole New Attitude!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Ok, ok... so it's definitely a new year and a new blog post, but "Ummoyer's Bakeshop" still has the same fun loving attitude from 2010 maybe just with a little renewed hope! =)

The holidays are my favorite time of year, hands down. But... this year took a little different turn. I lost my grandfather just before the Christmas holiday which was really tough for me, my family and his many friends. He was an incredible man and someone that will never be far from my heart and mind! Love you Pops!

But, as we all do, we must move on! The holidays came and went, but most importantly I got to spend them with my friends and family and that is all anyone can ask for. After spending Christmas in California with family, I headed to Miami to spend NYE with friends.

Ahhh... and it was a much needed break! I am SO blessed to have such an amazing group of friends and loved ones around me and it was important that I started off the new year celebrating the good times surrounded by love and warmth (literally and figuratively). Miami is always a breath of fresh air... and who can beat 65 degrees at 11:30pm in the dead of winter? No one! Exactly! So, I ate, drank, relaxed and caught up with friends. I'm wishing I was still basking in the Miami air right now!

For NYE, we had a little gathering of close friends which is EXACTLY how I love to ring in the New Year, especially as I get older. So, per usual... I baked! I made chocolate peppermint brownies and mini Kahlua cakes. Both seemed to be quite a hit!

Anyone else bake for the holidays? I usually love to make baked goodies to bring to the office during the holidays for my co-workers, but with the circumstances of the season, I didn't get the chance to this time around. So, maybe I’ll whip something special up for Valentine's Day in February!

Wishing you all (whoever and wherever you might be) a very happy and healthy new year!!!

xoxoxo

Emmy Party Meets Lemon Cupcake

A little Hollywood Glamour with a sophisticated Lemon Cupcake is a perfect combo in my book... or in this case, my blog.

A few months back one my besties hosted a Emmy Viewing Party at her place. At friend and family gathering, I'm typically the person that brings dessert; shocker, I know. A few days prior to this Emmy Viewing Party Extravaganza I had made a Three Layer Lemon Pound Cake with lemon curd center filling and a whipped lemon icing. So, I thought there might be a way to recreate that recipe into cupcakes. I think cakes can be a little overwhelming to bring to a small party sometimes, but I find cupcakes to be fun, easy and generally more welcoming.

When I made the cake version a few days prior, it was my first time making pound cake from scratch. A pound cake is more of a dense and heavy cake... one that can easily be molded or soak up large amounts of liquor, like in a rum cake. I'm sure pound cake is good for other things too, but who really cares. I stopped looking after I learned it was good for soaking up liquor even though there's not liquor in this particular cake.

After I made the cake batter I needed to pick the appropriate cupcake holder. I had just enough 'pink leopard print' ones leftover from the cupcakes I made for a friend's surprise bday party (I'll blog about those later), so I used those. Plus, I figured the pink would be a nice contrast to the yellow cake, yellow lemon curd and white frosting.

Side Note: I think I have finally mastered the perfect amount of cake batter to cupcake tin. But that's not to say there aren't a few 'reject' cupcakes in every batch. I'm a perfectionist in every way and baking is no exception. I want each cupcake to be perfectly rounded, fluffy and raised.

Once the cupcakes were in the oven, I started on the lemon curd. When making lemon curd be sure to follow the recipe very closely. There are only a few steps, but they're crucial. Tip - Stir it constantly; don't stop until it's done. After the lemon curd is thick and delicious, put it in a bowl, cover it and drop it into the refrigerator for about 4 hours. It need to cool and thicken. Once the Lemon Curd was safely in the refrigerator, I took the cupcakes out of the oven and let them cool. While the cupcakes cooled and the lemon curd rested in the refrigerator, it was time for a little culinary break; sometimes in the form of a beer or a glass of wine. #dontjudge

Next up: Lemon Icing. Tip - Buy more lemons that you think you could possibly use, trust me. Squeezing fresh lemon juice for use in the cake batter, the lemon curd and the lemon icing is exhausting I tell you. When I made the cake version a few days back, I had a hard time figuring out how to thicken the icing without compromising the flavor and recipe. So, after several batches I stuck into the refrigerator for a few hours. After is hardens, take it out and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 - 45 minutes. It should soften just enough to get into a pastry bag. This worked perfectly for the cupcakes.

While you're 'softening' the icing at room temperature, you can start making the center holes in each cupcake. Carving out a small, but deep hole helps fill the cupcake center more evenly and it's easier to get the lemon curd in there. Once you've done that, fill the lemon curd that has been cooling in the refrigerator into a pastry bag. Then, start piping it into the cupcake centers. For some cupcakes, you'll want to stop filling it just as it gets to the top, but for these, I wanted a layer of the lemon curd on the top of the cupcake to show through and below the lemon icing. So I piped it into the center, then continued in a circular motion to cover the top of the cupcake. Continue that until you've finished all of the cupcakes.

Once you're done filling and topping the cupcakes with lemon curd, you'll want to scoop the lemon icing into a separate pastry bag. Again, it should be just soft enough to scoop into the pastry bag, but not runny. The heat from your hands on the pastry bag will soften it up more as you pipe it onto the cupcake. To get a perfect dome on the cupcake, you need the frosting to be slightly firm. So you'll want to do this as quickly as you can because the icing can soften quickly from your body heat. Once you've finished, top each cupcake off with a single raspberry. It adds a little hint of color and flavor.

To keep the icing from melting, I put the finished cupcakes into the refrigerator. For this occasion, I left them in the refrigerator until I headed over to my friend's place for the Emmy Viewing Party Extravaganza. When I got there, everyone thought they were so pretty! I'll take pretty! But the real test comes when people taste them. Anything can look pretty, but not everything tastes good.

But, these seemed to be a success on both accounts! I think the key to balancing the flavors for this cupcake was the pound cake. It grounded the flavor and allowed for the lemon curd and icing to stand out without being too sweet.

The cupcake was a perfect little golden statue in it's own right... ok, ok, that is a little much! =)

Here is the final product: