Sex and the City + Cupcakes= The Happy Baker by Erin Bolger

        My last Amazon haul included The Happy Baker: A Girl's Guide to Emotional Baking by Erin Bolger.  Erin is a Canadian make-up artist turned foodie. Throughout the book she alternates between funny stories about her dating life, and yummy baking recipes.  Erin does not discriminate when it comes to baked goods.  Her recipes include bars, cakes, cupcakes, bakes, and even biscotti! I enjoy the recipes with simple direction, and less than ten ingredients.  I feel like it will be a good quick guide when I need to whip something together with only items already in my pantry.  The stories in The Happy Baker are cute, but not  racy.  (I am sorry, but i think Chelsea Handler has ruined me for tales of female misadventures.)  Five stars are given for some of the recipe names.

Here are my favorites:

1. My Mom Didn't Like You Anyway, Cupcake
2. I Forgot to Mention I Was married, Blueberry Cheesecake
3. Tall, Dark and Caramel Cookies

      Last night I tested the recipe "Maybe It's Destiny Dream Bars" from page 98.   The result was tasty with a nice crumbly brownie.  However, I think I may have put too much condensed milk on top because it sank straight to the bottom of the pan and caramelized a little too much.  Here are a few pics.

*My grandmother would've been so proud with the condensed milk, peanut butter, and chocolate chip topping*

*Yummy destiny bar*

A Year in Baking

        Earlier today I realized that my HTC Hero had a digital scrapbook of my baking throughout this year.  Here, I am sharing it with you...

*Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting for Tabitha's Birthday*

*Strawberry Duck Cupcakes for Linda's Birthday*

*Chocolate Chip and Espresso Muffins*

*Southern Soda Bread*

*Dia de Los Muertos Bread for our Day of the Dead Party*

*White Chocolate Cupcakes with toasted coconut on top to bring in the New Year*

       Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Cake Balls~ Attempt #2

            After Christmas, I used a gift card for Books A Million to order a few things on my wish list.  The book Cake Balls by the baking blogger Bakerella was top of that list.  These cute little balls are candy like in there sweetness.  I made an attempt at them a few weeks ago and failed miserably.  It appears that I am a failure at melting chocolate.  (A similar disaster happened when I tried to do skull chocolate molds for our Halloween party this past October.)  Tonight I tried Almond Bark instead of the melting chocolate sold at baking and craft stores.  Fortunately, the Almond Bark turned out to be more resilient.  

Here is my second attempt step by step:

  

*Some of the basics in making cake balls*

      

*I prepared the cake as the box directed.*

*Crumbled the cake, and added three thirds a cup of frosting to it.*

*Shaped the balls, and put them in the freezer for fifteen minutes*

*After the balls firmed up, I melted the Almond Bark and dipped the balls*  

    Next time I do cake balls I will get a squeeze bottle to dispense the decorative chocolate (the pink stuff up above).  Maybe if I practice more, I can get a little more consistency from each treat to another.  I will keep you posted!