Wow, it has been quite a while since I have written anything! Life has been so chaotic for the past several months, and I hope to do an update post soon, but for now I just want to share about an amazing weekend that I had with my family. I was so thankful to be able to go back to Pennsylvania for an event-filled few days. In addition to seeing my parents, brother, and his girlfriend, my twin sister and her family were able be there for the weekend as well! On Saturday, we went to church and then enjoyed the afternoon out on the lake. It was so relaxing being on the water, and we discovered a rope swing that the men enjoyed, rather precariously! That night, Cam and I went to our very informal 10 year high school reunion. It was a small group, but we still had fun hanging out and spending time with our best friend from high school, BriAnna, and her husband. My dad wanted to take a picture of us before we left to commemorate the ten years that had gone by, and I am so glad that he did!
My dad couldn’t resist the thrill of the rope swing!
Elle loved being on the boat and in the water!
Sunday was another full day. In the morning, we went to Oliver’s baptism service at BriAnna’s family church. It was so special to be there with other friends and family and see him be dedicated and welcomed into the church. That afternoon we attended his 1st birthday party where he had a BLAST with his cake, I think he enjoyed smashing it even more than eating it!
Oliver’s baptism outfit was precious!
Monday was filled with even more family time! My aunt, uncles, and all of my cousins on my mother’s side of the family came to Pennsylvania for a mini reunion. I have incredibly fun memories of getting together with my cousins as we grew up, and now, as we are all building our own families, it is just the best getting to watch all of the little ones play together. Altogether, we had nine children present, with seven who were under the age of four, including two new babies! It was wonderful being able to watch them interact with each other, both at the house and later at the pool. I am extremely grateful to have had that time at home with so many loved ones and am looking forward to the next time that we’ll all be together!
The whole group! ( minus Bren who’d left for work)
Autumn and Eleanor are only about two weeks apart in age!
The cousins and their children! From one month old up to a teenager.
I love a good theme party, so when my husband suggested that we have a Hawaiian Luau party for his 31st birthday I was incredibly excited. Immediately, I began to brainstorm what kind of foods we would serve as the food is always my favorite part of any party. Carlos jokingly suggested that we roast a pig on a spit, much to my horror, but he ultimately decided on pulled pork sandwiches (with pork purchased at the store) and various sides. For an appetizer, we made bacon wrapped jalapeños stuffed with cream cheese, both a regular version and a vegetarian version. Accompanying the pulled pork sandwiches was a spaghetti salad as well as chips and salsa. For the vegetarians in the group, we used the Gardein sweet and sour porkless bites. I had never had this kind of sandwich before and I was amazed at how well the pork bites, coleslaw, and King’s Hawaiian rolls complemented each other. I loved it so much that we made it again for dinner last night!
These are delicious and found at many grocery chains as well as on Amazon
For dessert, I wanted to do a cake that was on theme, however, Carlos also wanted a special birthday cake. I decided to make two cakes as we anticipated having around 20 people, and we still ended up having mountains of cake left over! The on theme cake that I made was a Hawaiian Wedding Cake. This recipe came from one of the ladies who goes to my parent’s church. It is simple to make and turned out well, however I will adjust a few aspects of the recipe next time that I make it.
I followed the recipe, however I did find one direction confusing. Where it says “Blend cream cheese with pudding and gradually add milk,” I didn’t know whether it meant to blend the cream cheese with fully prepared pudding or to mix it with the pudding powder. My mother believed that it meant to mix it with the pudding powder, so that is what I did. It tasted fine, but wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked. In the future, I will mix the pudding powder with the milk first and then blend in the cream cheese. It is also important to make sure that the cream cheese is softened to at least room temperature. Another variation to the recipe that I will try in the future is to make it like a poke cake. This would allow the pudding and pineapple mixture to seep into the cake and have the flavors be better incorporated, rather than just having a cake layer and a toppings layer. Overall, the cake was quite tasty and I was very glad that I’d made it.
The second cake that I made was a Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting from scratch. I found the recipe on the Life, Love, and Sugarblog and followed the cake recipe to a T. The cake batter itself was so delicious that I literally said “Screw, salmonella!” and licked several spatulas clean. The cakes came out evenly and while they cooled I moved onto the frosting.
I was excited to make a peanut butter buttercream frosting for the first time, and it did not disappoint! The recipe called for 9 cups of confectioner’s sugar, however I only used about 7 cups and I used both additional milk and water to get it to the consistency that I wanted. This lightened the flavor and thickness of the frosting, yet it still packed major peanut butter flavor. Copious amounts of leftover frosting were eaten by myself, my husband, and a few of his friends. I’m still working on my technique when it comes to frosting and decorating. I seem to learn new tips and tricks every time that I hope to implement on my next baking endeavors. I know that cutting off the rounded tops of the cakes will give a more neat and uniform look, but in the past when I’ve attempted this I’ve cut them unevenly, so I didn’t want to risk it this time. Any tips on how to do this well would be greatly appreciated! I loved using the peanut butter chips to decorate and the piping helped to dress up the cake as well. I didn’t end up making the ganache as it was already quite late once I finished the cake, but I would like to try it in the future. My husband loved the cake, which is really all that matters, but I was also happy with how it turned out. It is not as moist, in my opinion, as other cakes that I have made, but the explosion of peanut butter in each bite alongside the creamy frosting definitely makes this a recipe worth repeating!
The Hawaiian Luau Birthday was a tremendous success, filled with laughter, food, and family. I am beyond thankful that I get to celebrate these special occasions with Carlos for the rest of our lives, and that he has family so close by to share in them with us.
A few weeks ago, I found out that my brother-in-law would be in town to celebrate his birthday with family and friends. I immediately began to think about what kind of cake I could make for the celebration. Baking a cake from scratch is such an exciting and rewarding experience for me. I very much enjoy watching a myriad of ingredients turn into batter, and then into cake, and ending with a frosted masterpiece. I was doubly excited because making the cake gave me a chance to use my new rotating cake stand and bench scraper, wedding presents from my mother. I love trying out new recipes, although it can be slightly nerve-wracking when serving them to others after a first attempt, and I found this recipe for a Strawberry Lemonade Cake in the Tasty app. Overall, the process was simple and straightforward. I would definitely make this cake in the future, it met with rave reviews and was almost entirely gone by the end of the night! Making and dividing the batter into pans was a smooth process, the only note that I would make is that if you don’t have three of the same kind of pan the cakes may come out of the oven in varying colors. I had two darker pans, and the cakes in those pans were more browned than the cake made in the lighter pan. All cakes were properly baked and there wasn’t a difference in taste, simply in appearance. This isn’t an issue unless you plan on having a more naked style cake.
The middle cake was less browned, but all three were well baked.
The frosting is made using whipping cream, which I typically prefer as it is lighter and not as sickly sweet as buttercream frosting can often be. It took a few minutes longer than usual for the heavy whipping cream to whip, but once it did I added the strawberry preserves and it was delicious. For anyone not used to using whipping cream, be careful not to over-whip or it could turn into butter rather than frosting! The light strawberry frosting was the perfect complement to the lemon cake and was quite easy to spread. I intend to use this frosting recipe for future cakes, but will try using different kinds of preserves. A chocolate cake with an orange frosting sounds like an excellent experiment! I let the cake have a slightly naked feel, but still used generous amounts of frosting on the top and sides. The layers of strawberries and frosting between each cake also made each bite super flavorful and moist.
The frosting is generous on top and between each layer, with a slightly naked feel around the sides.
I’m still learning how to frost and decorate cakes, but I loved using the bench scraper and rotating cake stand. They were so helpful in keeping the frosting in even amounts around the sides. I had originally intended to decorate the top of the cake with sliced strawberries, but when it came time to blow out the candles it seemed unnecessary. If you do choose to do so, be careful not to decorate the top of the cake with the sliced strawberries in advance. If you do, the strawberry slices will leak juice all down the sides of the cake. The strawberries between each layer of cake will not do this as the frosting on the sides holds it in. I had so much fun making and frosting this cake. It is light, delicious, and tastes like a summer picnic!
Simple and delicious! Sliced strawberries and lemon peel could be used to make a more elaborately decorated cake.
Brianne Elizabeth 