I Heart You

 Now that we're exactly week away from Valentine's Day, I thought it would be appropriate to share the cutest cakes ever. And the best part is - I got everything at Target so the whole shebang was super easy to put together. Target the best one-stop-shop for all things holiday. I love that the cake pans made the cakes so thick and the batter made them so moist! I'm all about baking from scratch, but sometimes it's nice to cut corners, don't you think? Bake up some of these little guys and give them to your guy, lady pals, parents, siblings, or random person on the street. They're sure to be a crowd pleaser!

The supplies, courtesy of Target, except for the tablecloth which I picked up at Party City last year, and the LOVE Sparklers which I bought from Lolli and Pops from yesterday's post):

 

The cake is a regular box cake mix, and the frosting is cream cheese blended up with some powdered sugar and a little almond milk to make it a little less thick. It's the perfect combination!

 

What's better than a champagne cocktail to go with the delicious chocolate cake? I paired my favorite Sofia champagne with a little grenadine to give it a red coloring, and dropped a raspberry into it for a little extra red. And it's delicious!

 

If you're not into the champagne & grenadine route, I also put together my favorite drink of them all: a French 75! If you're never had one, it's an absolute must. It's a mix of champagne, gin, lemon juice and simple syrup. I poured it into my favorite wine goblet that I purchased at the Madonna Inn.

 

And no Valentine's Day cocktail + desserts hour can be complete without a little cat fluff

Cake In A Jar

I've always loved the idea of eating cake straight out of a jar, so I knew I had to try to make it. This recipe is the same that I used in my recent Strawberry Milk Cake post, only this time I added blackberries instead of blueberries. I must say, for my first time I didn't do such a bad job! There is something pretty spectacular about being able to eat cake right out of a jar, being that it's an on-the-go snack or dessert. I definitely plan on making these again, in different flavors/fruit combos, and in smaller jars (such as the small one pictured on the bottom of this post). And the process is so simple! You bake a cake, punch out a circle with a circle cutter, lay it in the bottom of the jar, then spoon in a layer of frosting, then a small layer of fruit, then go back to the cake and repeat the process until you reach the top! Have you ever had cake in a jar? What is your favorite way to eat cake?

 

  

Strawberry Milk Cake

 I'm always looking for fun new ways to spiff up basic vanilla cake. I came across this recipe the other day for Strawberry Milk Cake, which sounded heavenly, and knew I had to try it. What makes it a strawberry cake is the use of strawberry milk instead of regular milk for the cake batter. The original recipe is pretty much spot-on, but for me personally, I had to adjust the temperature and baking time. I baked the cakes at 325 degrees, and let them bake for 22 minutes in a convection oven. If you are baking in a regular oven, I would say to stick to the 350 degrees/35 minute rule, but check on the cake five minutes early. I also added red holiday sprinkles to give it a festive touch, and fresh strawberries and blackberries on top for added freshness. The frosting was more of a whipped cream, as it didn't need powdered sugar. The result was lighter and not as sweet, in fact it was a bit tangy from the cream cheese. This is easily the best cake I have ever made, and next weekend I'm going to play around with the recipe so you may just see a similar cake post soon :)

 

[my boyfriend's nonna is amazing! just look at how much fun she was having while we were baking!]

 

Funfetti Cake

Nothing makes me happier than a cake with sprinkles baked into it. SusieCakes makes a pretty spectacular one, so I thought I'd try to make one, too (with ooey gooey frosting that looks like melted ice cream). I found this recipe and added green food coloring to make my frosting more of a mint color (like Susiecakes). If I did it all over again, I would have taken the cake out from the oven five minutes sooner, and I would have added less almond extract (I happen to not like the flavor so much). But all in all, it was yummy and the best part about it was all made from scratch. :)

 

Random

Homemade biscotti dipped into freshly brewed coffee:

Rainy day in the canyon: