Red Velvet Strawberry "Short"cake

I recently saw a pin for Red Velvet Strawberry Shortcake, which looked divine! My MIL asked me to make dessert for Easter so I had this cake in mind.  The original blog used boxed cake mixes for bother the red velvet and the white cakes, along with store bought whipped cream.

Here's what I did:

I used my favorite red velvet recipe from Tide and Thyme.  I used this recipe to make two 8" round cakes.
Then I used my favorite yellow cake from King Author, Golden Vanilla Cake. The recipe says to divide batter for three 8" round pans, but I only have two.  I decided I would just go for it!

I let the red velvet layer cool for ten minutes before taking them out of the pan and then starting over with the white cake. For each cake, I greased the pan.  Next, I layed parchment paper down and then greased that. Ten minutes cooling usually seems to be the right amount of time for me.

I let all four cakes completely cool while I was at church.  Then I came back and went to work slicing strawberries and making homemade whipped cream.


My Whipped Cream Recipe:
3 1/2 C. Heavy Cream
4 1/2 Tbl. Sugar
3 tsp. pure vanilla extract

I whipped the cream using my stand mixer on high for several minutes, then added in the sugar and vanilla.  It was quite tasty- if I do say so myself!

I layered the cake and placed whipped cream and strawberries in between each layer. I put "Short"cake in quotes because as you can see...it wasn't very short!

I did have some issues transporting the cake. Next time, I think I would halve each cake recipe so the cake would be more reasonable in size.  I would also put more whipped cream inside of each layer.

Homemade Peanut Butter Eggs

I am a HUGE Reese's fan.  That being said, I tend to not like homemade peanut butter eggs.  So why did I decide to make some, you ask? Well, it was due to a major oops the other weekend when I was baking cupcakes to enter into a cupcake contest...leave it to me to mess up my own frosting!

I was finishing a crazy busy weekend that included finishing our bathroom, running a 5k, taking a cake pop class, visiting my sister in VA, among many other things.  I was EXHAUSTED, but I needed to get this baking done.  I had set out two sticks of butter for my frosting.  Then when I went ot make it, I thought that I was silly for setting out two sticks of butter when I only needed one cup- remember, I was EXHAUSTED. So I am whipping my frosting and it was so thick. I added a little more heavy cream and then concluded it was just too cold.  I filled my icing bag and attempted to pipe it. It was never going to happen.  I decided I would start all over.

It was at that moment that I realized I was an idiot and I had pulled out two sticks of butter earlier because I needed one cup of butter, not one stick.

So, I redid my frosting and they turned out great!

I froze my failed frosting because it was DELICIOUS and didn't want to waste it.  I've been nibbling on it all week.  Today I let it defrost.

When the filling was still cold, I molded it into egg shapes. Then I refridgerated the filling so it would be firm when I dipped the eggs.

I melted chocolate in my mini croc-pot. I dipped the eggs and pulled them out with my fondue sticks.

The eggs that got a little messed up, I sprinkled some spring timey sprinkles on top.  Halfway through, the eggs were a little soft, so I put the eggs back in the fridge for a few minutes before I finished dipping them.

Here are my finished eggs:

My Salted Peanut Butter Filling (created by default):

Salted Peanut Butter Frosting:

Ingredients: 4 C. powdered sugar, 1/2 C. softened, salted butter, 1 C. creamy peanut butter, 5 Tbl. heavy cream

1. Beat the softened butter in the mixer, until it becomes almost whipped. 

2. Add 1 C. of the sugar at a time, until well blended.

3. Add in the peanut butter and beat on high for about 5minutes.

4. Beat in the heavy cream.

5. Refridgerate the filling for about 30 minutes, until well-chilled.

6. Form the filling into egg shaped.

7. Refridgerate for about 15 more minutes.

8. While it is chilling, melt milk (or dark) chocolate.

9. Dip one egg at a time.

10. Decorate with sprinkles or other.

11. Enjoy!

Cake Pops!

Today was my second attempt on cake pops and I was only decorating today.  I've been busy creating/ testing recipes for a local cupcake contest, that I haven't had the change to try anything new that I will share... yet!

Around Christmas, I bought a mold for Christmas shaped cake pops- a Christmas tree, a stocking, a snowman, and a  present.  I follow "The Best Cake Pop Recipe."  On the Diva's Can Cook blog, she writes how she can't tell the difference between boxed cake mix and store bought frosting.  So I figured, what the heck! I took the easy approach and used store bought.  Let's just say you can DEFINITELY tell that I used store bought.  The cake pops were still tasty, but could have been even better.

Also, I had issues using the Christmas mold.  For one, the cake stuck to the mold.  Then there's the issues that a mold with 5 spots and the freezing time made for a sloooooooow process.

Today I took a cake pop decorating class at a local craft shop.  The instructor prepared the cake pops and we decorated.  The cake pops were all Easter themed and she talked about cake pop making in general.

Here are mine (and yes, I know the bunny is creep):

For my next cake pop experiment, I am going to try using the cake pop pan and baking the pops into the circles.  I'll be sure to post how that goes!

Now for my side rant- I am a cupcake snob. I have very high expectations for my cupcakes.  As I said in my last post I always go for Chocolate and Peanut Butter, they are the Perfect Pair.

Today I visited my sister in northern Virginia.  We tried cupcakes at the Reston Town Center and I was disappointed.  It was a good cupcake, but I didn't even finish it!!!  That's a sure sign it could have been better. 

My husband's comment about his carrot cake is that there was way too much nutmeg and they were not as moist as mine.

Here's my picky opinion: for a chocolate and peanut butter cupcake it was not enough peanut buttery.  The buckeye on top looked pretty, but took away from the taste of the cupcake.  The icing was too sweet.  My biggest issue- the filling was the same exact frosting that was too sweet and not peanut buttery enough on top. 

(My apologies for the blurry cell phone pick!)



On a different note, my mom is off to Philadelphia next week and will be picking up the best cupcake that I have ever eaten from Philly Cupcake.

...I am already drooling, just thinking about it!