Wow, this has been an amazing process, & now it's time to relax! Coral has spent so long planning her & Ryan's beautiful day, & it sure paid off. Everything was lovely & perfect in the end!
I'll start out with the prep work that I was responsible for. Ryan & his awesome friend, Chris, built a photo booth from scratch! Coral asked me to make some silly props for it. It took a while to get the method down, so I started on the simplest pieces, the lips.
Here's the first batch, on our trippy green couch:
The felt wasn't stiff enough to hold up on it's own, so I ended up painting them with diluted wood glue & letting them dry. Then I hot glued them to sticks. Some shapes were easier to cut with scissors, while others (especially the glasses) were easier with the Exact-o knife. For the glasses, I actually painted entire sheets of felt with the watered down glue, then let it dry before cutting them out. I'm not exactly sure of the method the people who sell them on Etsy use, but you couldn't pay me to sell these things, ha ha!
I was also asked to cut a couple dozen burlap table runners. Good thing we have a big basement crafty area now! It's not easy to find 10 ft. of blank space for cutting fabric. :)
Ready to be delivered to Coral:
My biggest contribution to the wedding was in the form of baked goods. Coral wanted 125 or so cupcakes, half carrot cake w/orange cream cheese frosting, & half traditional butter cake w/chocolate frosting. She also wanted 150 lemon bars, but they only needed to be a square inch, so that wasn't too bad.
The recipe I used for the lemon bars is available here. I've used it before. I really like the texture of the bars & they aren't as "wet" as traditional ones, so they won't get weepy & soggy.
What got me was the last-minute cutting & frosting! I baked the lemon bars & carrot cupcakes the day before, & also prepped the frosting, but wanted to wait till the day of the wedding to bake the butter cupcakes. Rose Levy Beranbaum, goddess of baking, recommends serving them on the day you bake them, so I wanted them to be as fresh as possible.
Here's the first dozen, fresh from the oven.
The recipe I used was for Downy Yellow Butter Cake from the Cake Bible. I used 3 tablespoons of batter & baked them @ 350*F for about 28 minutes. Even though I'm a baker, I don't really love cake that much. I'd much rather have some chocolate or a cookie, but this recipe is so amazing. It's light & fluffy, with such a deliciously sweet buttery flavor. I'd even prefer it plain, or with some macerated fruit on top. Mmmmm...
Here's some of the frosted lovelies:
The carrot cake recipe was an original that I've tweaked over the years at work. I added raisins & walnuts to these, but coconut &/or pineapple would also work. Yes, the recipe is eggless! It's also great with soy milk in place of dairy, for a vegan version.
Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 1/8 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1/2 cup milk with 3/4 teaspoon lemon juice added (or buttermilk)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
Frosting:
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- zest of 1/2 an orange
Preheat the oven to 350*F. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper cups & set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon & ginger; set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, milk, vanilla, carrots, raisins & walnuts.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones & mix until combined. Scoop 3 tablespoons of batter into each paper cup. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
There will be enough extra for another cupcake or two, or a baby cake for the baker!
Cool completely, before frosting generously. To make the frosting, whip all the ingredients together. Try not to eat it by the spoonful!
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And here are some pictures of the payoff of so much hard work by so many incredible people! I would have taken more pictures, but I was helping to set up, then had to get bedecked in my bridesmaid attire.
First of all, here is the beautiful bride. Did I mention that she made her entire dress herself?! One of her sweet neighbors happens to be a retired professional seamstress & she was a godsend! Coral also sewed the two flower girls' dresses, & all the bridesmaids' dresses. There is nothing she can't do!
Coral & Smels:
Smels literally teared up at Coral's beauty! :')
Here's a shot from under the tent. Look at the beautiful place settings! And I spy my old frenemy, Mr. Burlap! See the little jars of light & dark honey that we got as wedding favors?
And now for the dessert table, which was breathtakingly beautiful, thanks to Coral's thoughtful planning. I was honored to have my baked goods be a part of something so stunning. One of her friends from work, who does some catering, baked chocolate chip cookies too!
At this point, we were in the process of setting the cupcakes out at the last possible minute, since it was so hot out. The poor babies already had a long trip in the hot trunk of my (no air conditioning) car, so they were nervous to be displayed! We set 2 or 3 on each antique, floral saucer.
This sort of shows the left side of the table:
And this shows the right side:
I almost forgot to mention the cake! Coral wanted something tiny & rustic, so her & Ryan would have something to cut & shove into one another's face (lovingly, of course!). You can see the frosting was getting that glossy, I-want-to-melt-but-I-won't look to it. Thankfully, it held up for the whole evening! Whew!
Smels & Ethan show wear from too much good food & booze:
I'll end with a couple of photo booth pictures. Outside the booth, there was a table set up with a scrapbook, markers, glue sticks & scissors, so guests could leave a cute picture & note for the newlyweds.
Ethan & I:
Smels & I:
We love you, Coral & Ryan! Congratulations on your new life together!
Time for another birthday post. Ethan turned 26 years old today, & is working at his awesome, new job, which was the best birthday present he could have gotten! I'm whipping up a feast tonight, but might not take pictures, since the lighting will suck & the food is heavily brown, ha ha. However, I wanted to post a couple pictures of the cake I made, as well as some hors d'oeuvre I made for him.
Since dinner won't be served until 6:00, I wanted to surprise him once he gets home, w/a glass of Cabernet & some of these bad boys:
They're peppered Tofurky slices, spread with a thin layer of softened cream cheese, then rolled up. My grandma used to make these, with real turkey, sometimes rolling up a pickle spear or some cheddar. So addictive!
This is the cake I made. It's a quarter batch of this recipe, minus the filling. I just filled it with cream cheese frosting. It's a little baby cake!
It's always a hit; I used to make it at my last job & everyone who tried it was a fan. I've only made it as a layer cake, never as a tube cake, but I'm sure it's great no matter what. This time I used white whole wheat flour & brown sugar, so it's a LEETLE BIT more wholesome...
Eth, you're my bestest friend & I'm so thankful for all our dorky, good times!
P.S. Ruben says, "Happy birthday, Papa!"
Okay, so it's not actually her birthday till tomorrow, but we had to celebrate early, since she was heading up to Vancouver before the real day. She mentioned that she just received her Granny Mom's (grandma's) recipe for pound cake, so when I said that neither myself nor Ethan had ever had pound cake before, she was astounded! I asked her if she wanted me to bake her one for her birthday & she said "yeah"! The morning of the last full day that she stayed here, she went off to run errands & I got to work baking.
I was a little tentative about the recipe, because it mentioned "3 heaping cups" of flour, which is an estimate, not a measurement. The precise baking part of my brain was all **illogical! illogical!** I was nervous! How much should I heap?! I guess I did alright. It came out delicious---buttery w/a hint of vanilla.
Here's the recipe. If you're planning on making it, make sure that the butter, shortening, milk & eggs are at room temperature beforehand. Also, Granny Mom says you shouldn't even attempt this cake without a stand mixer. The world might end if you were to mix it by hand. Super important!Granny Mom's Pound Cake- 2 sticks butter (1 cup)
- 1/2 cup Crisco (I used Spectrum)
- 3 cups sugar
- 5 eggs
- 3 heaping cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 325*F. Grease a bundt or tube pan & set aside. Cream together the butter, shortening & sugar till fluffy.
Here's the Spectrum shortening I used in place of gross Crisco:
Add eggs, one at a time, stopping often to scrape down the bowl of the mixer. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt & baking powder. Add part of the flour, alternating with some of the milk & vanilla, mixing just until combined. Repeat until all the ingredients are added.
Pour into prepared pan & bake for 1 hour to 1 hour & 15 minutes. Apparently the usual toothpick test doesn't work well for this cake. To test for doneness, press your finger into the top of the cake---if it feels firm, it's done. If not, put it back into the oven for 3 more minutes, then check again.
Here's the baked cake, cracky & gorgeous:
Sage made me eat the first piece. I made a raspberry sauce to go with it.
Thankfully, I've been eating food other than cake too. Mainly messy, delicious sandwiches. This one has Vegenaise, Tillamook pepper jack, veggie burger, tomato, avocado & pickles, on cracked wheat sourdough. YUM!
Today, when we took Noodle on a walk, I brought the camera along. He's so cute! We can only go on very short walks, because his hips hurt him, but he has so much fun sniffing around. :)
So, my birthday was on the 4th of July, & I have a lot of catching up to do! I hope everyone had a safe & happy 4th, if you even celebrate it. I probably wouldn't, if it weren't my birthday. :)
I ended up having a sleepover at my sister's house, since all of her housemates were gone for the weekend. It was fun, since I got to see my great friend, Jeremy! (My sister even took me to birthday breakfast at Blossoming Lotus, where Jeremy works!) As per usual, I made a crapload of food & packed too much, but whatever. Here is a delicious recipe, slightly adapted & simplified, that I got from the July/August issue of Vegetarian Times.
Corn-Quinoa Salad
*1 cup quinoa, rinsed & drained
*1 1/2 cups water
*1/2 teaspoon salt
*1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
*1 1/2 cups halved cherry or grape tomatoes
*1 cup diced cucumber
dressing:
*1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
*1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
*3 tablespoons maple syrup
*1 tablespoon grainy Dijon mustard
*1 teaspoon salt
*fresh pepper to taste
Bring the water, quinoa, & salt to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to low, cover, & simmer for 15-20 minutes, until water is absorbed. Set aside, covered, to rest. If using fresh corn, blanch it for 1 minute, then rinse & drain. If using frozen, just wait a bit. Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing. Use a large bowl, so you can add the tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, & quinoa. Stir everything together & chill until serving time.
*The original recipe calls for blanching the frozen corn as well, but I've tried it both ways, & it seemed unnecessary. It also calls for 1 cup of finely chopped red cabbage, but I didn't have any on hand.
I also made some "lazy sushi" fixins, but didn't take pictures---nori sheets, sushi rice, sliced cucumbers, avocado chunks, pickled ginger, & wasabi...it wasn't pretty, but it was tasty, except for the gross pickled ginger I got at Fubonn. Not sure why, but it was cut too thick, & had lots of stringyness, not to mention chemicals galore. I only bought it because I couldn't find any other brands the day I went, but it was tossed out after failing in so many ways. Blargh.
I made my own birthday cake because it's fun & I love to bake! Sadly, not many of the people I hang out with on my birthday like cake, so I made a half-batch of my favorite, summery cake, printed years ago from the O Magazine website (It's no longer available, apparently).
Here's my adapted, mini-version of it:
Butter Cake with Lemon Cream Frosting
Lemon Curd:
*3 large egg yolks
*1/2 cup sugar
*2 lemons, zested & juiced
*1/4 cup butter, cut into several pieces
Cake:
*1 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
*1 1/8 teaspoons baking powder
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*6 tablespoons butter, softened
*3/4 cup sugar
*1 1/2 large eggs (I know, it's weird to divide an egg in half)
*6 tablespoons milk
*1 teaspoon vanilla
Frosting:
*3/4 cup heavy cream
*1/4 cup of prepared lemon curd
Filling & Topping:
*1/3-1/2 cup strawberry or raspberry jam
*1/3 cup or so leftover lemon curd
*fresh raspberries & strawberries
Prepare the lemon curd first. Bring a medium pan, with an inch or two of water in it, to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, put a metal bowl on top & reduce the heat the medium-low. Combine the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, & zest in the metal bowl. Whisk over the simmering water, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture is thickened & pale yellow. Remove from heat & add the butter, in pieces, whisking till combined. Pour into a jar or small bowl & set aside to cool. There will be more than you need, but I'm sure you can figure out how to get rid of the rest! :)
Preheat the oven to 350*F. Butter & flour a round cake pan, either 8" or 9"; set aside. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, & salt; set aside. In a mixer, cream together the butter & sugar till fluffy. Add the eggs & beat till fluffy again.
Combine milk with vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add half of the dry ingredients, stirring till mostly incorporated, then add half the milk/vanilla, stirring till combined. Repeat, stirring just enough, but not too much. Pour cake batter into the prepared cake pan & bake till a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (mine took about 25 minutes, but it depends on your pan size & oven).
Cool about 5 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a cake rack to cool completely. I put mine in the window sill & the smell was intoxicating!
Once the cake has cooled, slice it in half. Place the bottom half on a pretty cake plate, then spread the jam evenly across the bottom, before topping with the top layer. Spread about 1/3 cup of lemon curd on the top layer, if you desire; I did & it was tasty!
Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. Fold in the 1/4 cup of lemon curd, then spread onto cake. Garnish with fresh fruit, or leave it simple. Refrigerate until close to serving time. Since it's a butter cake, it should be served at room temperature, or it may appear dry. The whipped cream is quite stable, due to the eggs in the lemon curd. I had my cake sitting out for a few hours & it was fine.
After being spoiled by everyone, I had another event to attend---my friend Scott is moving back to New Jersey, so there was a shindig at Ara & Drew's house yesterday. I ran around town all morning, hitting up the Joann's sale with Coral, & buying some cutesy fabric, a couple sewing patterns, & a pack of blank cards (for stamping with these cute stamps from Mom!).
A future apron, once I can get past my fear of the sewing machine:
After Jo-Ann's crazy-sale-o-rama, I ran to Limbo (highly recommended for inexpensive, amazing produce---usually local/organic!!!) & Trader Joe's for some more party food fixin's & beer. Once home, I made a batch of pineapple salsa, which is always unique & tasty, but I forgot to take a picture. :(
But!...the main reason for shopping was to buy some lemons, raspberries, & Earth Balance, so I could make this cake for Scott, who's a vegan.
The recipe is adapted from How it All Vegan!, & I used it to bake a kinda-similar cake to my birthday one. No vegan lemon curd though, since I began baking this thing two hours before the bbq started. Whew!
Lemon Cake & Frosting
*1 1/2 cups flour
*2 teaspoons baking powder
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*3/4 cup sugar
*3/4 cup vegan milk
*2 teaspoons lemon extract
*zest of one lemon
*1/4 cup oil
*1 egg replacer (I use Ener-G)
Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease & flour an 8" or 9" cake pan & set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Beat in the dry ingredients, until just combined. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a cake rack to cool completely.
I sliced mine in half, similar to the birthday cake, then spread homemade strawberry jam on the bottom layer.
Prepare the frosting by beating together:
*1/4 cup margarine, softened
*2 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
*2 tablespoons vegan milk
*1 teaspoon lemon extract
I was in a hurry, so I just went "rustic" on the cake's ass, by spreading the frosting over the top & letting it run down the sides, before placing raspberries & lemon slices on the top.
It was devoured by the people at the bbq before I could take shots of the inside. Scott was so thankful that I baked it for him. I'll miss you, Scott!!
Here are some random recent pictures...
$3 goes far at Limbo:
A hunk of fancy gianduja from Smels! Help me figure out what to do with it, before I eat it all!
A lovely sun hat from my sister.
The Grand Central cookbook, which I've been drooling over for months, also from Smels (she even got me wooden Portland Farmer's Market coins, so I can buy fresh ingredients for the G.C. recipes!!!!).
Ethan is taking me camping a.s.a.p. & got me a bouquet of sunflowers & a cheesy, singing, Twilight card, as sort of an inside joke. :)
The cute, vintage apron that Coral made me! She's amazingly crafty & sweet! And her boyfriend, Ryan, even fixed my car's leaky trunk (He also fixed my Gran's sewing machine a month ago. I feel so fortunate to have so many great people in my life!)
Gorgeous pink poppies that my sister & I saw in Northeast.
Has anyone else gotten one of these in the mail?! This came awhile back, but it was sort of funny. I thought someone had it sent to me as a joke, since I just turned 31, ha ha. Oy.
Sorry for the ginormosity of this one. Ruben thanks you for your time...snore!
