Lovin' From the Oven

Jam Cake

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I have to share with all of you this coincidence that arose from my kitchen today. I did the norm–baked a cake, let it cool for a whole two seconds before I gave in to cutting it, and then made 16 even pieces. I pulled a piece out and then carefully placed it on my plate before going to grab my camera. When I came back, the slice shifted a bit because it wasn’t completely cooled and turned into this beauty. A heart! Just itching for a photoshoot!

I find a lot of things cute, but this is SUPER cute! Heart shaped desserts make them taste ten time better. I can attest to it.




Can you tell it’s not cooled yet? The jam’s oozing everywhere!

Life is beginning to take its toll on me. Too much work and not enough baking, in my opinion. This is why this little heart shaped piece of cake made me so happy! It’s a sign that I need to reevaluate my schedule and find the time to do what I love again. 🙂 Someone please tell me why I’m not in culinary school already? ::sigh:: A girl can dream.


This is my second recipe from Framed, and it turned out just as good as the first recipe. Her pictures are truly stunning and she has a lot of recipes that I want to try. The cake was very fluffy and light, perfectly accompanied by the jam. The cake didn’t have too much flavor, so don’t be afraid to use the whole cup of jam as listed in the recipe. Feel free to change up the jam flavors to whatever floats your boat. The crumble topping had the perfect texture and crumbled perfectly. Every dessert should have a crumb topping, don’t you think?

I did adjust this recipe quite a bit because I didn’t have milk on hand, but it still turned out great. I’m posting the original recipe with my changes in italics.
  • 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 3/4 cup milk (I substituted this for one serving of strawberry yogurt, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 1/3 cup of evaporated milk, and a splash of water)
  • 1/2 cup apricot jam (I used raspberry)
  • 1/2 cup cherry jam (I used strawberry)

Topping:

  • 1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (I used about 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts)

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter with pastry blender to make a fine crumbly mixture – or you can use a food processor.

2. Add egg and milk; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.

3. Spoon batter into a generously buttered 9-inch square pan. Spoon both jams over the batter, then swirl through the batter with a knife.

4. Mix topping ingredients until crumbly and sprinkle evenly over batter.

5. Bake at 400° for 25 to 30 minutes, until done. Cut into squares and serve while still warm



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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

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I’ve had such a fun week catching up with friends and staying busy. I’ve been eating out a ton, though.. which inspired me to start a new project. 🙂 Here it is, my new sister website: The Darling Foodie! There will be more for you guys to read and more food porn to look at! I must be crazy thinking that I can take up another project but I love blogging and my readers just too much!

Which reminds me, if you have anything you want me to try and haven’t told me yet, tell me in a comment here! My list of 100 things hasn’t even passed 10 yet. Haha.

Let’s break this down.. graham cracker chocolate chip crust, cheesecake, chocolate chip cookie dough, then drizzled with melted chocolate to top it all of? Can we say heaven?

This recipe has been floating around the food blogger world for a while now. I finally had the chance to make it since it’s been bookmarked for about a million years and I had all of the ingredients on hand. How convenient! Don’t be fooled by how long the recipe is… it’s really easy to put together and completely worth it! Everyone that tried it LOVED it… no exaggeration needed. Even people that don’t normally eat sweets enjoyed it. It’s the perfect blend of flavors, cheesecake is meant to be with cookie dough. The original recipe says it’s best served when warm, but I think that’s the worst advice to give! Serve them COLD! Maybe even straight from the freezer! It’s ten times better. Recipe from the Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook.


Crust

  • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 5 Tablespoons butter, melted
  • 2/3 cup miniature chocolate chips

Cookie Dough

  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Cheesecake Filling

  • 10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the crust:

  1. Preheat oven to 325°. Butter a 9″-square baking pan. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving enough to extend over the sides. Butter the parchment paper.
  2. To prepare the crust combine graham cracker crumbs and butter until crumbs are moistened. Stir in the mini-chocolate chips.
  3. Press crust mixture into bottom of pan and 1 inch up sides. Bake for 6 minutes. Set pan on wire rack to cool.

For the cookie dough:

  1. Next, prepare the cookie dough. Using an electric mixer, mix butter, brown sugar, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract at medium speed until smooth.
  2. Decrease mixer speed to low and add flour. Mix just until incorporated.
  3. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.

For the filling:

  1. To prepare the filling, using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar just until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract, beating just until blended.
  2. Pour batter into baked crust. Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls over the top of the filling.
  3. Bake about 30 minutes, or until set. Transfer to wire rack.
  4. To decorate with drizzled chocolate, place chocolate in a sandwich bag on a microwave safe dish and microwave in 30 second intervals moving the chocolate around between. Using scissors, cut the very tip off the sandwich bag. The smaller your cut, the smalled the drizzle.
  5. Using the edges of the parchment paper, remove bars from pan. Cut into bars and serve. These bars are served best straight from the refrigerator, after cooled.

Crumbs Cupcake Porn

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Just to let y’all know, I’m probably the worst dieter ever. Yup, I’m a complete failure and I have no shame in admitting it. I just can’t say no when someone offers me chocolate, kettle corn, or cupcakes! Granted, I went out of my way to get these babies because I’m only two days into my diet and I’m already having withdrawals. Whoops.

Just look at these lovelies in the box, how can anyone even resist? I coudn’t decide on just one flavor… so I bought four.

Here’s cotton candy…

and s’mores…

and dulce le leche…

and last but not least, black forest!




Nom nom nom.. The cotton candy didn’t taste much like cotton candy. It was just a vanilla cupcake with frosting that only slightly tasted like cotton candy when eaten alone, but it sure was the prettiest! My favorite was the dulce de leche, but I’m a sucker for caramel. I’ve always loved Crumbs cupcakes and prefer them over Sprinkles. I need to find some new cupcake spots to go to. Any suggestions?

Actually, while I’m asking.. I want to make a list of 100 things to bake, suggested by friends, family, and blog readers. If you have something that you love and want me to try, please let me know so that I can add it to my list! Of course, each and every recipe made will be posted on my blog and credited to who I got them from. So go ahead.. leave me all those recipes! Ready, set, GO! Thanks in advance! 🙂
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