Kraft Magazine's Rainbow Layer Cake Review

My mom makes a dessert for my dads monthly board meeting.  She sometimes will phone me for ideas; yesterday over lunch we got discussing it.  I had asked if she could watch Aubrey and immediately we agreed that I would make the dessert when I came and got Aubrey.  Nice trade for us both!  

Now for what to make? After what; thirty years of making a monthly dessert I can see how she sometimes looses inspiration.  I noticed her kraft magazine on the counter and asked if she had looked at it.  She right away said she was thinking how nice it would be to make the dessert on the cover.  So I agreed to send Aubrey with the 4 round pans needed and my trusty offset spatula.  

I wasn't getting to her house until 2:30ish so she decided to make the cakes with Aubrey and I would assembly and decorate when I got there.

Grandma had both kiddies and still managed to get the cakes done and give them both haircuts!!!!

She made an extra cake mix and made cupcakes for the kids...they were a hit!

I followed the recipe closely however I did use two wooden scewers to keep the cake in place.  It was as if I was making a very tall tower.  You should know, this dessert needed to feed 12; but as I reread the recipe this says it serves 24...it definitly would it was massive!!!!!  This would be perfect for an Easter feast!

This was our final product.  The recipe was very easy to follow and I feel it turned out very comparable.

We decided some toasted coconut would pair well with the fruit flavours and the very light fresh tasting icing.  The sourcream added such a nice flavour.  I think if I made this again I would attempt to use real whipped cream instead of kool whip but that would be my only modification.

And now for the reveal:

I sent the cake with my dad and my one request was that as he served it he take a picture for me.  

Well I just received a text from his associate with these photos attached and a "thank you!"

I'm going to suggest this for Easter dinner; one dessert that feeds 24 people...sign me up!

The countdown is on....

I find myself 36 weeks pregnant and excitedly anticipating the arrival of our boy! As I prepare to have two children; I am overwhelmed but feeling completely blessed. We have tried to thoughtfully plan special moments with Aubrey as we approach this change in our family dynamic. 

Thanks to my soon to be sister in law, Aubrey has been humming, singing, and dancing everything "frozen"....I have been asked several times if I want to build a snowman and I've been told to "let it go".  Now I find myself softly singing the words even when I'm alone in the car.  Maybe you can relate.

Well after a few weeks of only YouTube videos we surprised Aubrey with a family afternoon. After a yummy breakfast out as a family and my solo grocery shop it was time for the surprise.  We should of gotten a photo of her reaction; priceless!

After the movie it was time to think about dinner.  We decided quiche would be quick and easy.  Dough from the freezer, sautéed sausage, mushroom, green onion and a mixture of spinach and baby kale.  I decided it would be a good use of my time to make our soup for the week at the same time.  I sautéed everything for the quiche in a pan and sweat my onions and celery in my Dutch oven.  I added farmer sausage then a mixture of spinach and baby kale.  Once this was soft I added 1litre of chicken stock, 4 cups of water, 1 pack of onion soup mix and two cans of drained/rinsed beans.

I topped the sausage mixture with cheese before I poured the egg filling on top.

I used my regular quiche egg filling; 8 eggs to 3/4 cup Greek yogurt.

Before I knew it both recipes were done. Multitasking at its finest! 

Now time for dinner! Leftovers make breakfast for tomorrow all ready to heat up and the soup will our weeks worth of go-to lunches.  

What a great family day full of delicious food, special memories and tons of singing!!!

Flour-less brownies; deception at its finest!

This afternoon Aubrey and I were enjoying some quiet time together while we snuggled on the couch watching a "making show" as Aubrey calls it; also known as a "cooking show".  Ina, (oh ya we're on a first name basis with tv chefs) was making a flour-less chocolate cake.  Aubrey thought the cake looked delicious and she very much wanted to head right upstairs and get "making". 

I gave my sisters a Cosby/Appetizer night shout-out; when they agreed I thought doing a flour-less dessert would be perfect for my Gluten-free sister.  Ina's recipe was much too rich for my blood; so I took to the web to find something on the healthier side.

I found this recipe on skinnytaste.com:

I got all of my ingredients out on the counter.  When I looked over in the living room Aubrey showed me that she has set up of all her dollies to watch our "making show".  Like can she be any cuter?

 

I asked Aubrey what we should do first? "Wash our hands mom" was her quick reply.

Aubrey rinsed the black beans and then added them to the food processor; well most of them.  She couldn't resist, "I love beans mom, can I have some please?"

We added the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and just let it blitz.

I decided to do a white and dark chocolate combo to add some pizazz. 

To the batter we added half of the chocolate and saved half for the topping.

We set the oven to 350 and lined a 8X8 pan with parchment and sprayed it with PAM cooking spray.

 

"Is it time yet?"

After they were completely cooled I cut them and lightly dusted them with icing sugar to serve. I then put them in the fridge since I love a nice COLD brownie!

My sister Janalyn loved them; it was on her second one that she asked "so what is exactly is in here?".  I have a really bad poker face;  "beans?" she questioned when I didn't respond "don't tell me they are beans in here?" .  After the shock had worn off regarding the bean discovery we all agreed that you couldn't tell that they were beans in them and they were VERY tasty.  My Cheffy husband couldn't even tell, his only remark was that they were very moist.  I will definitely make these again.  This will be a great low calorie, high protein dessert to have in my repertoire; which I will need in the months ahead!

Coffee cake

Last night while Jeff and I were enjoying a cup of tea he requested some coffee cake.  I wish i had had the energy to run upstairs and make it for him but I couldn't find it in me. This afternoon Aubrey and I decided to make something for dad as a surprise. On the menu;  "banana coffee cake"!

I found this recipe online:

We used our kitchen aid; using the paddle attachment we creamed the butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and yogurt instead of the sour cream.

What better way to start off baking than to turn up the tunes and sing a little!

The mixture looked kind of curdled but that completely smoothed out once we added the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl Aubrey mixed the cinnamon, sugar and instead of nuts we added mini chips. 

We put half the batter on the bottom of the greased pan and then added the filling and then the remainder of the batter on top.

After 32 minutes at 350F it was perfect.  We let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then inverted it onto a plate and let it cool completely.

I had some left over icing from the baby shower cupcakes I made earlier today.  I didn't want to put blue icing on the coffee cake so I thought I'd add a tablespoon of cocoa to it.

This turned the icing a bit grey but nothing shaved chocolate can't fix!!!! 

The coffee cake is in the refrigerator waiting for Jeff!  He'll love it; it was definitly made with lots of love!