cocoanut carrot cake with cinnamon frosting

20130409-IMG_3721madeyedlinblog.com

Ok, I thought I didn’t like carrot cake, UM, WRONG! This little missy loves carrot cake. We got some carrot cake cupcakes for my little brother’s birthday from Trader Joe’s. So I went on this carrot cake kick, yeah, yeah. It’s like I can’t eat anything without trying to make a better version at home. It’s a mental illness.

So here’s the jist. We have a spicy cinnamon cake with a superb moist crumb, and flakes of carrot and cocoanut though out. As if that wasn’t enough we have a buttercream that was taken to the next level with a couple teaspoons of cinnamon. And there you have it, your new best friend.

Do you ever have those mornings when you spend over a half hour looking for the attachment for your mixer when you really should be doing homework? Oh, funny you don’t? I do, well I did this morning anyway. Ah! School! Why do you have to be so time consuming? I just want to cook.

Alas, at this time I must juggle both cooking and {gurrr} school.

Oh, this is totally random. But if you’re interested, you can follow me on Instagram. I post a lot of behind the scene pictures, and other life stuff.

Continue reading

sticky toffee pudding & things i love

20130403-IMG_3674madeyedlinblog.com

 

If you’ve been reading the blog for a while you know about my infatuation with England. My 2 trips to there are testimony to that. Though my sister gets the honor of being stopped in airpots asking if she has any relation to Kate Middleton, I like to remind her that Kate is not a princess. She’s still just a Duchess. Though when Pippa (Kate’s little sister) released her book based on food and entertaining, I thought maybe we really are leading parreal lives with the Middletons. Oh how I wish that were true. Wouldn’t that mean I end up with Harry?

20130403-IMG_3682madeyedlinblog.com

 

 

That whole rant on the Royal Family is to say: sticky toffee pudding is a classic British dessert. I had it several times when I was in England, and the moist cake with a great carmen sauce is divine. This turned out pretty darn good if I do say so. Though I probably would have enjoyed it better with a view of Big Ben, or possibly tucked in a small cafe in Oxford.

Also, I have to admit, this recipe is tweaked from “Kate’s favorite sticky toffee pudding recipe

Here are a few of the things that give beauty to my everyday life:

20130403-Sticky Toffee IImadeyedlinblog.com

My avocado plant that I started from a seed nearly 3 years ago + some store bought flowers that got a wild makeover from a few roadside weeds.

20130403-IMG_3664madeyedlinblog.com

My littlest brother mid-nap.  (Some photos of him at 24 hours old)

20130403-Sticky Toffeemadeyedlinblog.com Some broken sunglasses from Paris that now grace my bookshelf (Ruhlman’s Twenty and Sprouted Kitchen shown) . Currently reading Les Miserables.

Some British & foodie links:

Loving the blog: a la mode

Another lovely photog blog

The Queen & Kate on the Tube in London

honey & jam, a wonderful food blog

Of course, Pippa Middleton’s book

A whole food and vegetarian blog, Cookie + Kate 

The Mayflower Pub is where I had my last British Sticky Toffee Pudding.

Love this blog name: The Crepes of Wrath (!)

A guide to dim sum

Continue reading

broccoli and blueberry slaw (mayo free)

20130401-IMG_3600madeyedlinblog.com

Have I ever told you how much I HATE mayo? Oh, I have? Well, sorry you will hear it again. I really do HATE it. Why does it smell like that? And do you even know what’s in it? I have even tried to make homemade a couple of times, but every time it breaks, and is ruined. So, apparently it hates me too. But I’m ok with that.

Anyway about this recipe…

Crisp broccoli and carrot is tossed with dried blueberries, giving it a wonderful sweet surprise. Dressed in a sweet-acidic dressing and topped with crunchy almond slices. This would be a perfect paper plate BBQ side dish.

Continue reading

blackberry cream puffs

20130401-IMG_3611madeyedlinblog.com

Eggy shells with sugary-crunchy top, filled with whipped cream what has been spiked with blackberry jam. Um, yes, you did just read that sentence right. I love putting a little kick of something unexpected in the ordinary. Just by looking you would think that those are just normal innocent cream puffed guys. But no! Those are infused with my mother’s homemade blackberry jam. Giving you a chic little number that is sure to impress.

20130401-IMG_3633madeyedlinblog.com

I remember making cream puffs with my grandma when I was little. Every time I make a choux now, I always think of that time in her kitchen: We had just added the flour to the hot milk, and the directions said to cook it until there was a film on the bottom of the pot, and that should take about 3 minutes. Well, ours had a film within a minute. My grandma, leaning over my shoulder and giving the mixture a good stir said, “well aren’t we just ahead of the class”. I don’t know why that one memory stuck in my head above all the other cooking adventures my grandma and I had. So if your choux dough is done before 3 minters, remember you are just ahead of the class.

20130401-IMG_3630madeyedlinblog.com

Continue reading

swaddled pears with cream, maple, and walnuts

20130322-IMG_3444madeyedlinblog.com

Sometimes I have good ideas. Wrapping pears in pastry was one of my good ideas. It’s further proof that you really can wrap anything in pastry and turn it into one of those, “oh my, why is this so amazing?”, kind of dishes. I got the idea from this cafe, though what I actually ended up doing was far, far from the original idea. It’s basic, yet has a showy quality about it. Just a basic pastry wrapped around a half of a pear, baked until golden, then topped with the luscious combination of whipped cream and maple syrup, to add a crunch I tossed on some walnuts.

Oh how they got their name. I was making them, and my mom said, “Oh, I didn’t think you would be swaddling the pears. How cute.” Hence swaddled pears, I think it’s quite an appropriate name. (My mother is kind of a all things baby nerd)

Continue reading

chocolate & almond cake finished with whipped gnash

20130324-IMG_3487madeyedlinblog.com

I turned 19 on Saturday. And of course, I made my own cake, don’t be silly why wouldn’t I? The recipe if  from Julia, Child, Julia Child that is. My brother gave me Mastering the Art of French Cooking a couple of Christmas’ ago. Honestly, I hardly ever cook from it, but every time I use it I wonder why I go so long with out cracking the pages of this marvel of a book.

A life lesson on my 19th birthday: cook from Julia as often as possible.

I would say this is a closer relative to a torte then a cake. Think thick, creamy, cake with a layer of incredibly fluffy frosting that when it’s sliced though, it leaves a layer of chocolate smudge of your fork. I (of course) had a second slice for Sunday afternoon coffee, and it was just as good if not better the second day. The flavors had time to intertwine, and the texture turned to a pudding-cake cross.

20130324-IMG_3489madeyedlinblog.com

Continue reading

lemon cupcakes with orange frosting

madeyedlinblog.com (1 of 2)

Anyones else have leftover frosting from the Nutella and Orange Cookies? Yeah, me too. Actually I gave you the 1/2 batch to what I made for that recipe, hopefully you don’t have any leftover. But I did. And I wasn’t going to let that pretty pastel frosting to waste. And honestly, what goes better with orange then lemon? Um. Nothing. What’s better then lemon cake? Um. Nothing.

madeyedlinblog.com (1 of 1)

I didn’t realize that I had just done a lemon recipe until I had already made everything and shot it. But I’m sure you won’t mind, will you dear readers?

Also, Tartines lemon bar recipe from last March, and some photographs of lemons from last year.

Continue reading

poached eggs and mushrooms on toast

madeyedlinblog.com (1 of 1)

The last toast recipe, promise. But this is an actual legit recipe, and holy moly! It’s so good. Sometimes people (me) say that, but seriously, I’m not even lying, this is amazing. I am on this sautéed mushroom craze, I really don’t know what it is all about, but I am sautéing up a storm around here.

The only thing that’s a little tricky about this, is the timing. You have to poach eggs, sauté mushrooms, and toast bread. But once it’s all assembled, you will forget about the turmoil of juggling 3 pans on the stove.

-

Happy weekend everyone! And to my fellow students, good luck on finals! Here are a couple of things to inspire good food thoughts.

If you want to seriously poach an egg, Smitten Kitchen has great step-by-step directions. That’s how I learned, though my egg poaching skills could use some fine-tuning.

Call Me Cupcake, new blog crush! I nearly fainted at the beauty! I wish her cookbook was in English!

Love Design put together some beautiful recipe cards that you can fill out, then print.

Super into chia seeds. Any thoughts on this “super food”?

Going to be reading “The Sweet Life in Paris” for Spring Break!

For my birthday, my family and I are going to Ken’s Artisan Pizza. I am obsessed with his bakery downtown, but I have yet to go to the pizza shop. I got his book for Christmas, and have poured myself into it ever since.

click continue for recipe…

Continue reading

mini palmier

I first had a palmier (pronounced Palm-e-a, we asked in Paris) in Paris, on a “cafe hop” from Noter Dame to the Eiffel Tower. Last weekend, my sister and I went to La Provence in Portland for breakfast. We got a palmier and I was reminded of this devine pastry. Almost like a cookie, not flacky like a pastry. Last night I was recipe serching, and they turned out to be way easier then I would have guessed. So I tackled the project. All the recipes I found called for store-bought puff pastry, and I have a thing againts that. So I made a rough puff pasty, and honestly it’s easy, and so close to the purchased version.

madeyedlinblog.com (1 of 2)

Continue reading