Friday Fun Food: Sugar Cookies!

Because Little Spanish Pinay is turning 2,  I taught myself to learn to do these cute sugar cookies decorated with Royal Icing!

I do not have the recipe and the how-to this time becaue there are tons of resources in the internet out there that will be more helpful - complete with videos.

We'll have a circus themed merienda birthday party! That's where the designs from these cookies are inspired from. The elephant? I have to let the royal icing to dry completely and then with an edible marker, I'll try to draw some eyes perhaps.  The number 2? Because she's turning two! The star is just because... she's our star :) The candy and the swirl... what fun would circus be without candies and lollipops!  And finally the one that is a bit unrecognizable above? It's a clown haha.  I'll be drawing the face once the icing is completely dry.

I've also created some monkeys in the end but they are still getting dried and did not get to be included in the photo.  I didn't have brown coloring before but when I was trying to make a blue out of green and red coloring? The result was brown.  I totally forgot my lessons about mixing colors when I was in high school. 

update:  Here are the final monkies! Far from looking professional but they all look cute :)

I'll leave you guys with this link.  She is my ultimate teacher for making these sugar cookies :-D Special thanks to my dear friend Dianne for doing the research for me... I'm gonna have to go as next in my list is to do cake pops!

ta-tah for now!

p.s.  Sorry, I am not able to visit my favorite blogs... yours truly is a bit busy (and cramming) for the birthday party tomorrow.  Wish me luck!

p.p.s If you haven't, join my Copy-Kids giveaway especially if you have a picky-eater or if you know someone who has ;)

Happy birthday, amor mio.

You're 37.  Am I allowed to say that?  Don't worry because I am pretty sure that what you'll get is all what?? you're 37? You look much younger! There's no doubt about that.

It's been 7 years and 6 months since the first time we've known each other but it seems like I've known you all my life.  Like you've been already a part of me ever since.  That is because you are my destined other half.  Thank you for finding me.  

Sometimes at night when sleep shies away from me after getting too tired the whole day, I would recall our early days together and marvel at what we have already built together.  And then I'd look at our wonderful treasure between us, with her legs wide open like a frog and arms stretched as if reaching for each one of us, I'd feel really, really lucky because life is so good because we are together and because we have formed a family.  

And what's even better that's making me smile just by wondering about it? Is that we'll have each other for a looong time.  You know forever? Longer than that.  Oh, you bet.  And I am pretty sure that by the time my hair's all white and my skin's already saggy all over, you'd still be hot all over me. Although maybe I'd be grumpier than I am now, you'd still undoubtedly hold my hands just every time you'd get the chance to - walking on the street, sitting by the sofa watching tv, seated in a restaurant waiting for the food to be served, in the car on a red light, on the cashier's line waiting for our turn, etc., etc., etc.

I know it'll always be you and me.  And now with Little Spanish Pinay.  And maybe another little one. Or perhaps another? LOL and then it'll be back to just you and me.  Because you and me? Forever.

he's goofing around when I took this photo but look at him, makes me wanna strip him down and procreate right about this minute. Oops, did I just say that out loud?

I love you, my love.

Drunken Cake

As hubby's birthday was getting near, I've been already thinking about the cake that I'd want to prepare - what design this time, what flavor, etc.  I'd like it to be different from the cake I did for my sis-in-law's birthday and I didn't feel like using fondant as I have even lesser spare time these days.  Fondant just require considerable amount of time although they are really very pleasing in the eye.   And the cake becomes really, really personal because the design will be unique.

But, this time, it just won't be fondant.  I was not in the mood for it.  So I searched around but couldn't find something that tickles my fancy.  But the irony of life is hard rock solid.  You'd normally won't find what you're looking for when you are actually looking for it and would accidentally stumble upon it when you're not looking for it.

That's what happened with this cake and I.  But it wasn't love at first sight.  Coz really, stout in a cake?  And then it was love at second look.  I found the recipe from this caprichosdecocinablog and was just convinced at how the blogger raved about the recipe.  Hubby loves dark beer.  Guinness in particular.  And this recipe calls for a Guinness as the star ingredient in it. So I thought, cake with guinness? Spells hubby's name in it.  

The verdict? We got a winner!  I've never blushed so much with compliments and raves with the other cakes I did compared to this one.  Even the coldest person I know expressed his ravings about THE cake.  So there's no way I'm not gonna share this to the world wide web.  TRY. THIS.  You can thank me later.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

250g cake flour (regular flour should be ok too)

75g of unsweetened chocolate powder

400g sugar (I used 350g)

2tsp sodium bicarbonate

250ml of stout beer (guinness for e.g.)

250g butter

150g heavy cream

2 eggs

For the topping:

300g cream cheese

150g sugar confectioner

350g heavy cream

How to for the cake:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180ºC. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl: flour, powdered chocolate, sugar and sodium bicarbonate.

2. In a pot, heat the dark beer.  Don't let it boil.  Once the beer is hot enough, put the butter in chunks and stir slowly until beer and butter is thoroughly mixed.  The original recipe where I copied it from, has a different way for this step but I've seen other recipes and this one is easier and more convenient for me.  And it worked quite well :)

3.  Remove the butter and beer mix and put it in a mixing bowl.  Add the beaten egg and the heavy cream and mix.

4. Then slowly add the mixed dry ingredients.  The recipe didn't mention about using electric mixer so at the beginning, I just tried to mix it with my spatula but figured it might take me forever before getting a homogenous mixture so I ended up using the electric hand mixer.

5. Take the mixing bowl with your two hand, stand near the oven and ask your hubby or anyone from the house hold who knows how to operate a camera to take a picture of you and your raw masterpiece.

Ok, this step is optional.

6.  Put the batter in a molder. I used a 23cm round pan.

See the rich color?  Black beauty.

7.  Bake for 50 minutes.

8. After 50 mins, take it out from the oven and let it cool down before removing from the molder.  And then be happy and be very excited and admire your work!

The silly smile can be omitted.

How to for the topping:

1.  Using a wire whisk, mix the cream cheese and sugar confectioner until they are totally mixed and smooth.  Tip:  Use cream cheese in room temperature.

2. Whip the heavy cream and carefully mix this with the cream cheese and sugar confectioner.  Tip:  If you want a voluptuous topping,  do not completely mix whipped cream and the cream cheese mixture.  

left: whipped cream.  right: cream cheese mixed with sugar confectioner 

The blog where I copied this recipe from, has this cake with a majestic beautiful topping in it... all cloud-like and spongey.  At first, I thought I was able to achieve it but then later on,  the topping kind of settled down a bit.  I blame it on the room temperature so I immediately put the whole cake inside the refrigerator.  It kind of stopped it from flatting out.  Then again, I looked at other recipes and pictures of this cake and almost all of them has the toppings kind of flat and some look like a melted cheese on top of the cake.   So I was already happy with how mine turned out.

This was how it was at the beginning.

After a few minutes it turned out to this.  Still not bad.

Reminds me of a foamy dark beer in a glass.

photo source

 Seriously I didn't expect the cake to be THIS good.  Its darkness is magnificent.  It's thick and moist and has a certain tang that can make one just ask for more.  The topping completes the cake.  They're soulmates.  So perfect for each other.   Although the cake itself can stand out on its own.  If one is watching the calories, the cake is just the same majestically yummy on its own.  It got me hooked.  I know this black beauty will frequent our household from now on.

And it got me those you should-put-up-a-business comments.  Plus hubby was really happy about it.  It's love.  Wait till you see the other details I add to complete his birthday cake.  Tacky.  Corny.  But I tell you it's love :)

We celebrated hubby's birthday last Saturday although his birthday is still on Tuesday, August 30.  Weekend is the best day to celebrate birthdays, agree?  We were in the countryside near the mountains and it was perfect for barbecue as well.  We had a blast.  

see? isn't it obvious that the candles and the happy birthday card are DIY? 

They're like child's work ha. ha. 

A birthday cake wouldn't be complete without a candle and a happy birthday card, yes?


p.s.
The cake's original recipe is called chocolate guinness cake

Whoa, Friday! ... slow down, will ya?

Breath.  I need to breath!!!   Friday has just been crazy and from the moment my alarm went off,  I've been running around the house like a headless chicken! CRAZY.  Not to mention Little Spanish Pinay had a bit of a hard night - 3 times she woke up asking to be nursed.  Not only to be nursed while we are on the bed side by side but to be nursed AND be on top of me.  Such an addicted-to-mami-and-boobie little human being!

10 to 7am I was awaken by the alarm on my phone.  I dragged myself to my laptop and there it was restarting due to an automatic update.  Nothing to worry, I still have 10 minutes.  After the laptop has restarted, off it went for another automatic update and then restarted and then another update! Oh my good Lord, it restarted no less than 4 times.  I'm beginning to get stressed out.  30 minutes it took to finally finish with all the updates and be ready for me to log in. 

I connected to vpn quickly crossing my fingers that no database alerts have already come in my email.  Alerts does not happen too often so I was trying to be positive.  Then again seems like today is not my day.  There they were 2 database space alerts, each were sent 3 times!  Drat.  My clients would think that I didn't start on time and thus, the space alerts were not attended to at once.  ::Ok. Let's not worry just yet, Spanish Pinay... you can very well explain this and you have a valid reason::

Before I even fix the database space alerts, I got a page.  Production failure.  I am beginning to get really tensed.  But I tried to keep my cool as hard as I can coz this is production environment and I just can't go wrong.   I nervously looked at Little Spanish Pinay while she sleeps soundly. I quickly uttered a prayer.  Please, please don't wake up just yet.  So I dealt with the production failure while discussing things with the client.  I swear, I hate that Murphy's law exists.  This Murphy guy invented this thing and now it hunts many people ever so often!  And today, the index finger of this vicious law is pointing angrily at me.  While talking to the user, there goes the call of nature louder than the siren of an ambulance in a quiet street.  My heart was already pounding and I was breathing heavily.  Of all the time that this kind of emergency would hit me, WHY NOW.   I twisted and I twitched like an earthworm caught between a naughty boy's fingers.  I may have even let out some *noisy air* in the room.  Too much detail? Oops.

Mind over matter, mind over matter.  Between my bead-like sweat and pounding heart,  things weren't bad at all as I was able to resolve the production failure ::and I would add to that - gracefully:: so I was like YEAH, BRING IT ON! 

But I shouldn't have dared fate that way.

More work came in though minor, they still needed time and attention.  Looks like my lunch time will even be taken by these tasks. AND I am supposed to bake a cake!

My loving mother-in-law requested the last minute for me to bake a cake for my sister-in-law as she will be celebrating her birthday tomorrow.  Without batting an eye I said yes.  She asked me if it will be a big deal and I said not at all.  I'm such a show-off like that sometimes.  It kind of thrilled me too because that means they liked the fondant cake I did for LSP's first birthday.  Now, everything's coming right back at me like a boomerang.  I don't have much time to do this and I'm getting stressed at work and man alive, I still need to prepare LUNCH!  Hubby was working at home today and he needs to eat.  LSP needs to eat.  The only one who doesn't need to eat is me because with all the knots forming inside my tummy, there's no room for food anymore.

4:55pm right now and I am taking a breather.  THANK YOU blog!  Thank you for being my outlet and thank you for letting me rant and thank you for listening.  I don't know how I did it but all my tasks for work is done (except for my timesheet which I can do much later), we ATE lunch and I have a beautiful cake for sister-in-law!

Sister in law loves owls.  She has a collection of owl figurines so that inspired me for the cake decoration.

Some additional detail.  The name was especially requested by my mother-in-law and I just printed the Feliz Cumpleaños (happy birthday) card.  This is not a total fondant cake as I just don't have more time to roll a big fondant and cover this cake with it.  So I just made a chocolate ganache to cover the cake. 

So that's my Friday so far.  I so badly need a mint tea and a nap afterwards.  But no, my kitchen is a total wreck so I'm just gonna hang out a bit with LSP and then send her to nap.  Plus I still need to prepare our things for the weekend.  We'll be bumming out on my in-law's house .  It's gonna be beach, baby! That is, IF the sun will not shy away as what it has been doing all these summer period!  

And that call of nature earlier this morning? It hasn't called me back since the last time I hung up on it.  Ack I feel so bloated!  The aftermath of Murphy's law.  Ugh, I so hate Murphy!  Am I grossing out anyone? Shoulda put a warning at the beginning of the post? Yeah, too late for that now.

A Special and Intimate Celebration

The celebration day has finally came and it has been wonderful.  Relatives and real close friends came to share this special day for Little Spanish Pinay and for hubby and I.   Tala was really happy and I knew she felt really special with all the attention and festive mood around.

The little details that I have prepared over the weeks prior to the celebration day were all woth it of the time and effort.  Most especially the fondant cake that I've forced myself to learn to do, inspite of not having prior experience to baking. 

I like that people loved it and some even asked for the recipe.  Really, really big thanks to my friend Jane for giving me the recipe and attending to my questions :)  and of course to a very special friend of mine Sandra who helped me with the cake decoration.  She's an angel.  An evil one, but an angel nonetheless ;-)

What I love the most about the celebration was that once again, we are able to gather Manuel's family (now my family as well) and just share a special day with them.  Another plus is that we get to see really close friends from across the miles. 

Here are some more special pictures from the celebration

LSP asleep

Can't wait to devour the cake

There she goes enjoying her cake - no holds bar

The whole gang!

And of course the partners in crime.