Apple Pie...Cake

Ok - so it's been a while since my last post.  It's been a wonderful and wacky and crazy busy time, adjusting to life as a mother and full-time lawyer.  So, while I still bake, sew and craft, what has fallen to the wayside is time to put together the blog posts to show the baked, sewn and crafted goods.

However, I had a small number of pre-made posts that I failed to upload and maybe, just maybe, if I start by posting these ones, I will be "hooked" once again (because Lord knows I have lots of stuff that I can post about if I make the time - like the motorcycle diaper cake I recently made for two friends who are expecting).

So, here goes ... Blogging attempt take 2 ... Action ...

My husband loves cake and I love making it, but I seldom have time to make a cake from scratch.  Even back when I was on maternity leave, I came to grips with the fact that boxed cake mixes are faster, still taste good and I'm okay with that.  It leaves more time for me to come up with fun combinations.  Recently I made an "apple pie cake", mostly because the hubby was having a cake hankering and the apple pie filling in the cupboard caught my eye when I was grabbing ingredients.

Ingredients

Golden Yellow cake mix (and additional water, oil and eggs according to package)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Can apple pie filling

Mix the cake mix according to the directions on the box and stir in cinnamon.  Bake according to directions.  Make either two 9 inch round cakes or, as I did, a 13x9 slab cake and cut it into two equal pieces.

Cinnamon Buttercream

3/4 cup butter, room temperature
3 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla

According to my husband, this is his favourite icing.  I have to admit, it is pretty good and is a great accompaniment to autumn flavours, such as apple, pumpkin, etc.

When the cake is cooled, create a border of icing around the edges of the bottom layer and fill the centre with 2/3 of the apple pie filling.  Place the second cake on top and ice as you normally would (crumb coat (if you're into that sort of thing), chill, finishing layer).

I topped this with a few apple slices from the filling.

I didn't take too many pictures but here are a couple shots of the final product.

Chicken Pot Pies and Pear Upside Down Cake

I have been on a pastry experiment kick as I had been trying out several pastry recipes in advance of Thanksgiving this weekend (I offered to make the pumpkin pie but haven't make pastry in years).  While my husband has been a very willing guinea pig, there is only so much pumpkin pie I can make.  So, I found a recipe for chicken pot pie and set about to make a batch of pie pastry using the traditional Tenderflake lard recipe (found here).  I had already done shortening and butter based crusts, but thought I should go back to my childhood and try the recipe that I first learned when baking pies for family holiday dinners (or watching anyways).

I followed most of the instructions for the pot pie, except I used pre-cooked chicken (cut into cubes) and used frozen peas and carrots rather than fresh carrots.  I also cut the amount of liquid to 3 cups of broth and 1 cup of milk.

This was too die for!  I don't know if I could go back to store bought pot pie!

[As an aside, for my pumpkin pies, I decided to use this pastry recipe.]

I also made a cake for the husband.  When we were grocery shopping, he asked if I could make a cake with pears, which he loves.  After some searching, I found a recipe at Kraft.  It called for cranberries, which I omitted in order to ensure that my husband would try the cake rather than run away (he is definitely not a fan).  I also used canned pears rather than fresh.  Otherwise, it was made according to the recipe.

To put it briefly, this has already been asked to be made again (like, he already went and bought the ingredients again).

Painted Pumpkins - Fall Edition

Oh I have so many posts to get around to.  I have been baking up a storm during my maternity leave and have tried a variety of recipes I found on (or as a result of) Pinterest.  But I will start with the painted pumpkins I did for the front porch.  I wanted something quick and simple to distract from the hideous excuse for my garden, which I have not attended to this year for rather obvious reasons.  Previously, I have made more than a dozen painted pumpkins for Hallowe'en.  This year, I decided to paint a few for fall decor.

I wasn't sure how much crafting or baking I would get done during maternity leave.  Honestly, I find it easier to bake or cook because it naturally fits into most days.  However, painted pumpkins take very little time and with the baby wrap I was able to have little E with me for most of it (being very careful not to get paint on him, of course).  (Apparently he was camera shy here.)

I wanted rough lines for a more rustic look.  I only used tape on one of the smaller pumpkins but otherwise this was all free-hand.  I used gold and dark red for a nice autumn feel.  Here is a shot of the pumpkins after they were dry.

Here are a couple shots out on the front porch.  The floral arrangement is something I threw together last year with faux flowers from the dollar store and Michaels.

I should probably also show a close up of our current centrepiece on the kitchen table.  I switched it up for fall and used two types of dry beans to fill three square/angular vases of differing heights and finished it off with candles and a little bit of twine on the two smaller vases.

 

My next post will be the first to get on the with business of updating on the baking (chocolate cake, apple cake, pear cake, pumpkin pie, pudding cookies) and cooking (Philly Chicken Cheese Sandwiches, Chicken Pot Pie) that I have been doing lately.

I think I'm addicted...

...to making painted pumpkins.  I couldn't help myself, I saw a couple more designs I wanted to paint, so I bought two more faux pumpkins to paint and spent a couple hours this afternoon painting more pumpkins.  At this point, my husband just shakes his head, but secretly, I know he loves them too.

For materials and tools, you can look at two prior posts describing what I prefer to use ("I take my pumpkins painted, not carved" and "Hallowe'en - My favourite crafting time of year").

Of course I made another black and white one with a "scary" face (e.g., more traditional jack-o-lantern, sans the carving of course).  I broke with my usual design esthetic (black and white) and made a green one that is a little bit Frankenstein inspired.

Black and White:

(The picture on my ipod was the inspiration, I found it by Googling "halloween scary face design".)


Frankenkin:

Both:

I think I need help - but they're so fun to make...  I'll be sure to put up a picture of the whole collection together on the front porch for Hallowe'en.

I take my pumpkins painted, not carved

As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, last year I was on a Hallowe'en crafting roll and tried painting pumpkins for the first time.  I thought they turned out great and while I painted enough for a small army, I've already broken the brushes out for a few more this year.  I don't have the steadiest hand when it comes to painting but I think I still do a decent job.

This year, I did a few "scary" designs and a couple pretty designs.  All you need are funkins, crafting paint and paint brushes/sponges.  If you want to make "vases", you will also need silk flowers and your glue gun.

The starting point:

For the two vases, I actually used gourds and cut the tops off.

Base coats:

Scary no. 1:

I have a bit of a Tim Burton thing going on with a lot of my Hallowe'en decor.  Love his movies (Dark Shadows was fantastic)!



Scary no. 2:

I wasn't happy with the mummy until I dirtied it up with the grey.


Scary no. 3:

Not sure what this is supposed to be but I tried something different.  The lines make me think the Yankees, which is the stuff of nightmares.

Here's all three together:

You may have noticed the flowers behind the trio, those are for the vases.

Pretty no. 1 (sans flowers):

Pretty no. 2:

I give thanks for chocolate cake

Thanksgiving is going to be a low key affair this year, with dinner being at my in-laws.  I offered to make dessert and decided upon a simple chocolate cake.  As there will only be five of us at dinner, I decided to make a six inch layer cake, with whipped milk chocolate frosting.  For some flair, I decided to add texture with the icing with a Wilton icing comb.

Always do a crumb coat...always!

Make sure the icing is thick enough that you won't leave bare spots when you take the comb to the cake.

Comb the top first, followed by the sides, but make sure you don't go too deep and leave bare spots.

You can work to make it smoother, but since its for a Thanksgiving dinner, I went with a more rustic look.

Because I baked 9 inch cakes, I had plenty of left over cake and decided to also make a few cake pops.  There are a tonne of websites and videos where you can get directions on how to make cake pops.  They are soooooo easy!!!  It is literally as simple as adding frosting to cake crumbs, shaping the mix into pops, adding sticks (or not), popping it into the freezer for a little while, and finishing it off with a coating of chocolate (or candy).

I decided to leave a couple without pop sticks because I made them a little on the larger size.

Any ways, Happy Thanksgiving!

Yarn and Felt Wreath

I started making this wreath earlier this year, but only finished putting together the felt flowers.  Last year I made a dozen wreaths for friends and family, including two yarn and felt wreaths.  By the time I got ready to make this one, I got really busy with work and haven't touched it since.  With this weekend being a holiday, I have a little extra time to craft and decided to finish this one.

These are very easy to make but are time consuming, particularly wrapping the wreath.  For this design, I used the following materials:

- straw wreath (from Michael's)
- red and burgundy felt
- faux crystal sprigs
- white and red ribbon
- white yarn
- pearl head pins
- glue gun

As mentioned above, I had already created the felt flowers, so I can't show pictures of that process.  They are easy: just cut felt circles of different sizes.  For the roses, cut the circles in a spiral pattern and start rolling them together from the outside in and use the glue gun to glue the bottom to keep them together.  I wrapped a couple around the crystal sprigs.  For a different look, cut a rectangle of felt about 20 cm long, fold it in half and roll it up. Then cut the roll up, until you have a good number of pieces (as you can see below).

Here's a picture of the flowers I made for this wreath:

For the wreath itself, I start by looping some ribbon to create the loop that will ultimately hold the wreath.  Then, just wrap the entire wreath in the yarn (this takes a while, I think it took about two hours).

I decided to add some extra detail to this wreath by creating an argyle look with red ribbon.

Finally, the felt flowers are glued on in the preferred arrangement.  For extra stability, I placed a pearl head pin down the centre of each flower.

On another note, this week my hubby and I also finally got our next tattoos.  Rather than add a separate post, I figured I'd post it here.  As I'm both a lawyer and a Libra, I've wanted this design for years, but just hadn't gotten around to getting it done.  The hubby was getting a new piece on his arm and I was waiting, so I figured I could make better use of my time by getting the scales of justice done.  The artist added the Libra sign at the top.  

I love it!!!