Do you miss it sometimes?

I suppose this is the reward for those who wake up when the alarm clock rings.

And we had this sky 2 morning later,

I had to share.

The recipe is fairly easy to make. 3 thin layers of cake (OK, you do need 3 pans!) and whipped cream between the layers, ganache on top and a few hours later…. ta-da.

This recipe on Bon Appetit site is 90% similar to the one I made from their cookbook “Desserts”.

Note: I made 1/2 the amount of the ganache. I think it’s enough.

Now waiting for the birthday boy to come home. Ciao for now.

An update: Sooooooooooo, we cut the cake, and had a taste. It’s your basic chocolate-vanilla cake which is OK and lots of people love it just so. I thought it tasted like a Black forest cake minus all the special flavor. In my opinion, to be worth repeating, the cake needs a splash of some liquer, or a layer of jam, or coffee… something to boost the flavor factor up.

There’s a weather forecast promising 10 days of sunny skies and temperatures in the 80 +/- degrees Fahrenheit, so all of you people who talk about the end of summer… just quit it, you hear me?

On the other hand, if you haven’t made any popsicles at home yet, go do it soon ‘cause in 2 days the kids are going back to school—yippee! (And, yes, I’ll be making and packing those 200 +/- lunchboxes * 2 kids, and waking up earlier in the mornings during the next school year—boo.)

I used some of the cream like the one in my Easy vanilla, banana, and cream birfday cake to make 6 popsicles.

What else can I say? You’re still here?

In short, it makes me a little angry. And somewhat frustrated, as a person, as a woman, and as a mother to a boy and a girl.

I was merely looking for a cookbook for my boy, you know, so he will have one of his own, a birthday gift. Any suggestions?

And this,

makes everything

so much

easier…

I love&hate frosting.

Yes, frosting is sweet, and some can even make it tasty. But after eating 1/2 a cupcake I feel the sugar rushing and gushing in my veins. And after eating 3/4 of a cupcake I feel a sugar intoxication going through my bones and my brains. (And I think about diabetes too…)

This is why I can never bring myself to make frosting at home! But, the other day, there was a birthday. And, a little girl asked for cupcakes. What was I to do?

I considered making a sour cream frosting. It sounded “healthier” and less fatty than cream cheese frosting, and hopefully, I thought, it’ll contain less sugar. See an example recipe for cream cheese frosting (for 24 cupcakes!):

• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 pound cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar

OMG, who eats like that and lives to tell? That’s 2.6 tablespoons of suagr for the frosting only on each cupcake + add the sugar in the cake… Wowza.

(People, I think I’m becoming a “health” fanatic by the second… also see: Orange yogurt cake and… too much SUGAR!)

As I Googled-Binged “sour cream frosting for cupcakes” I found recipes like:

• 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
• 8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
• 2 – 3 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

***

• 1 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar (add more until it reaches your preferred consistency)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 2 tablespoons sour cream

***

• 4 Tbsp butter, softened
  1/2 cup sour cream
  1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  1/2 tsp lemon juice
  1/4 tsp salt
  2-3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar

***

• 1/4 cup of butter, room temperature
  1/3 cup of sour cream
  2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
  1/8 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  pinch of salt

***

• 1/2 CUP (1 STICK) unsalted butter
• 3 CUPS powdered sugar
• 1 TEASPOON vanilla extract
• 3 TO 4 TABLESPOONS milk

***

OK, you got the picture. You can’t get away with using less then 2 – 2.5 cups of sugar for 12-24 cupcakes. (I really should try to make one with no more and 1/4 cup sugar and see what happens…. Sometimes in the future…)

I felt discouraged so I figured out let’s just drop off the whole frosting part. But what was I to do?

The solution? Real, homemade, freshly-whipped whipped cream! My favorite!

With a thin layer of red currant jelly (it tasted the best) on top of each chocolate cupcake + 2 tablespoons of vanilla flavored whipped cream (The whole batch of 1 cup heavy cream was made with only 1.5 tablespoons of sugar) + sprinkles + 1 marshmallow (Yeah, I know, marshmallow is not the healthiest choice, but… and… it’s only one) all the kids were very, very happy!

Sometimes I have to force myself to look the other way.

And not try to fix everything.

Micro-manage.

Be perfect.

…

OK, I think I better fix this now.