Picture it: 2021.
I had been blogging for about six months. I was enjoying it, but I was feeling constrained by my self-imposed limitations. At the time, I was working my way (slowly–ever so slowly) through Ina Garten’s recipes. Then, I had an idea that rekindled by interest in blogging and baking. This idea led to the main focus of the blog for the following 18 months.
Continue reading “Improving My Magnolia Bakery Chocolate Cake”
Ever since I posted my review of the Magnolia Bakery’s Hummingbird Cake back in the beginning of August, the post has been receiving a lot of traction. One thing has become clear to me: You want the recipe.
Continue reading “What You’ve All Been Waiting For…”
My father’s birthday was over the weekend. I made the cake, as usual. This year, he wanted the chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. So, I made the MB cake and this time I used the called-for chocolate buttercream frosting recipe. And much like the cake, it’s stellar! The use of melted chocolate chips was a nice change from cocoa powder and it showed! Much better chocolate flavor in the frosting.
This frosting also spread much easier than the other buttercreams I’ve made. I think this cake combined with this frosting is the only chocolate combination I’ll ever need.
Long time readers of this blog will know that I am lucky enough to have off on Fridays. While this is great for practical reasons like doctor’s appointments and getting my car’s oil changed, it also allows me enough time to actually do something I enjoy: bake. This past Friday, I was still riding the apple wave that started the weekend before when I went apple picking with some friends.
I knew I wanted to work with apples this week, but I also wanted to make something different. I was tired of just making cookies or brownies. It seems that I had been making a lot of those lately. Then I remembered that there was a “harvest-themed” recipe in the Magnolia Bakery cookbook. After looking it up, I knew that this was the recipe I had to make this week.
There were a few reasons why this recipe spoke to me this week.
Continue reading “Magnolia Bakery 12 – Harvest Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Meringue Buttercream”
My father’s birthday was last Saturday. For me this date had a little more meaning this year than in previous years since it is the day I coincide with the end of the “before times” prior to COVID-19 changing our lives.
So, as a way for me to stay distracted, I offered to bake his birthday cake. He gladly accepted the offer. So, I turned to a book that I have fallen in love with ever since I purchased it last Fall. It is The Magnolia Bakery Handbook: A Complete Guide for the Home Baker. This is a MUST BUY for anyone who enjoys baking, even in a casual sense. The recipes are flawless and so easy to follow. You will honestly feel like you are a master baker every time you try one of these recipes!
Continue reading “Fridays Are For Cakes (Magnolia Bakery Recipe #1)”This recipe is NOT from Ina Garten, but I wanted to show off what I made because I was really pleased with myself and how it turned out! If interested, this recipe came from Sally’s Baking Addiction. The photos are mine, however. (Hers are much, much better!)
Snickerdoodle Cake is my new love! Three layers of cake with snickerdoodle pieces spread throughout, amazing cinnamon buttercream frosting, and just all around happy dancing!
Since this is not an Ina recipe, I will NOT be going into detail about the baking process. But…I do recommend you try this cake for yourself. It was so worth the effort!
