When your mom's hobby is baking...

This is what your birthday party looks like.

I'm 100% proud of how my banana cake and chocolate cream cheese icing tasted. And I'm 95% proud of how the monkey cupcakes look. I'll admit, though, that I'm only about 60% happy with how the cake looks. Rolled fondant takes some getting used to. Plus, the cake was so ginormous and moist (if I do say so myself), that it started to fall apart before decorating, so some last-minute surgery was needed before decorating even began.

Anyhow, we had a wonderful 2nd birthday celebration for my darling Stella, and I have a new cake to add to my ever-expanding menu.

The Carefree Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake: My mom would say it's good for you, because it's packed with carrots and ginger.

Julie looking gorgeous at her birthday dinner.

Cutting the cake.

A little slice of heaven.


It seems that life has been a bit challenging for most everyone I know lately. Job problems. Relationship issues. Apartment/house catastrophes. NCAA brackets getting screwed up.

When my dear friend, Julie, asked me to bake her a deluxe, no-holds-barred, brimming with golden raisins and walnuts carrot cake, I almost said no. I'd been stressed out lately, and I didn't want to add to that.

Thankfully, I came to my senses, because not only was the cake so delicious that it melted my worries away for a while, but Julie's party was also lively and filled with warm, interesting people. It was a delicious evening all around.

And it was held at a 100% organic and green restaurant, Gustorganics. The food was scrumptious and thoughtful, and reminded me that I want to continue moving further in that direction for me and my family. And yes, that includes cakes.

Baking: A Stress Reliever or Stress Inducer?

Things have been stressful at the Bklyn Bakes abode lately. I'm not going to go into details, but it's been rough.

I had an order to fulfill amidst our problems, though, and I was hoping it would take my mind off of things. Well...that's now how it worked.

I baked the cakes -- chocolate -- and in my naivete decided to try a new icing -- a meringue icing from Martha Stewart.

Thank God I made the icing the night before (which was, I will say, delicious), because it fell apart the next morning. As in separated into pure liquid and grainy solids.

So, amidst all our other problems, I had to throw out 6 eggs worth of icing (eggs are expensive, you know) and start from scratch.

I was lucky that I had tons of butter and powdered sugar on hand, because I just whipped up my grandmother's fluffy vanilla frosting and decorated the cake in a flash.

I'm still working on my decorating, but I think this is a big improvement. And I'm proud that I pulled it off while in the midst of turmoil.

I'm still working on letting baking be my therapy. But too often, I mess up and make silly mistakes when I'm stressed out. Well, as they say, practice makes perfect.

Baking with a Toddler

Walking away from the scene of the crime.

A blurry shot of the floury butt.

She doesn't just wear it, she also eats it.

Finished Product: not bad under the circumstances.


The orders have slowed down for a bit over here at Bklyn Bakes, leaving me more time to try to train my toddler to love baking.

My grandmothers trained me from the time I could stand, constantly reminding me that I'd have trouble landing a man if I couldn't make a decent chocolate pie or Italian cream cake. Luckily for them, I liked it anyway, despite my feminist nature, and clung to their teaching even while disagreeing with their ideology.

I can't really tell if Stella likes to bake yet or not. She seems delighted by the messy part of it, as evidenced by the photo of her pants after she slid around in a mixture of flour, oats and wheat germ.

I have to come to terms with the fact that Stella may never have an affinity/obsession with baking like her mother. But at least the child will understand that making your own brownies and yellow cake is far too easy to resort to using, ahem, a mix.

For your enjoyment, here's an incredibly easy and healthy recipe for Irish Brown Bread, to be made with or without the aid of a toddler.

Irish Brown Bread

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cup buttermilk
2 T. honey

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix buttermilk and honey in a small bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry mixture, and mix gently until just combined. Turn onto a floured surface, knead a couple of times, and form into a circle. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Turn the temperature down to 400 degrees and bake an additional 15 minutes, or until the bread sounds hollow when you tap it. Let cool 20 minutes.

*NOTE: All orders for Bklyn Bakes are fulfilled WITHOUT the messy help of a toddler.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Like me, my heart cake is not perfect (due mainly to unruly silicon cake molds), but I assure you, it is sweet and filling.

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day everyone, and don't forget to eat something decadent today!

Not Your Mama's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Stella gives our Exotic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies her seal of approval!


Yep, we've got cabin fever.

And what does cabin fever do to me? It makes me want to bake.

However, I really didn't feel like buying a whole bunch of ingredients, and I didn't feel like making anything too involved, so I gravitated to wholesome, delicious oatmeal raisin cookies.

But...I needed to switch it up a bit. I never really mess with my baking recipes, due to a crippling fear that I'm going to REALLY MESS THINGS UP. Which is easy to do with the alchemy of baking.

But I just had to give it a try. Less cinnamon, lots of cardamom, lots of fresh ginger, golden raisins instead of regular ones -- these changes just sounded like a good idea.

And, they were. Cinnamon raisin cookies, but with an exotic twist. Not the ones your mama made, but as you can tell from the pictures, delicious just the same.

Let me know if you'd like a batch.

The Chocolate Bowl

Decadent (and perfect for Valentine's Day) Chocolate Cherry Brownies

My friend Alex preparing to dig in.

Ah, now this is better than any half-time show I've ever seen!


A Chocolate Bowl - now that's something I'd watch, and not just for the commercials.

Our cousins/friends were throwing a Superbowl Party (from which we're already home -- at 8:20pm -- due to a certain cranky and sleepy toddler) and I figured I should bring something sweet.

As per their request, I made my chocolate cherry brownies, incredibly moist and filled with cream cheesy and cherry goodness. And yet, somehow, miraculously, not too rich.

As we were handing them out, though, I noticed that they'd be awfully sweet for Valentine's Day, what with the color scheme and all. I'm just saying...

This is another no-fail recipe from The Elmwood Inn, my bible of baked goods. Let me know if you want some!

Surprise surprise surprise!

The Amazing Holly Hobbie cake my Mamaw Miles made for me, back in the day.

Red Velvet "Ice Cream Cones"


This week's Bklyn Bakes order was a fun one! I got to bake a batch of red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing and deliver them from one friend to another. Completely a surprise!

Not only that, but I was asked to decorate. I found the adorable idea to make the cupcakes look like little soft-serve ice cream dishes from the Wilton Cake website, and it'll certainly be one of my favorites from now on.

By the way, I know about Wilton because my Mamaw Miles used to get their catalogues periodically and would also take me shopping at the one store in the 30 mile radius that sold their goods. I would pour over those catalogues the way my husband now drools over Fender guitar catalogues. And whenever I found a cake that I thought was incredible, like the elaborate Holly Hobby one, odds were good that was the cake that would show up at my next birthday party, courtesy Mamaw Miles.

And, yeah, I still do pour over Wilton goods. I just do it online now. I just have to make sure the drool doesn't fry the keyboard.

A Cake Recipe for People Who Hate to Bake

Mamaw Skaggs's Orange Juice Cake


So, not to blow your minds or anything, but I actually had TWO Mamaws growing up: Mamaw Miles, my mom's mom and Mamaw Skaggs, my dad's mom.

Both were amazing cooks. Mamaw Miles even worked in a restaurant for many years as the head chef, and Mamaw Skaggs had her own vegetable garden and fruit grove from which she made delectable seasonal dishes.

Yeah, I was a lucky kid, food-wise.

However, even though they were awesome cooks, neither of my mamaws was afraid to cut corners here and there. And why not? They lived in a time when women not only did all the cooking and cleaning, but also sewed many of the clothes and did all the child-rearing and might even have to hold down an outside-of-the-home job as well.

I'm lucky that, for me, baking is a choice. A passion. I do it not just because it yields delicious treats, but also because the process of measuring and mixing, pouring and folding relaxes me. I don't do it because it's the only way to get food on the table.

My friend's birthday was coming up, and being the incredibly creative person she is, she made it an Iron Chef Brunch. Meaning all the guests had to contribute an item -- either savory, sweet, or alcoholic beverage -- and it had to contain either oranges or artichokes.

Well, the minute I heard oranges I thought of Mamaw Skaggs's Orange Juice Cake. Tangy and sweet, so moist it doesn't want to come off your plate, it was one of my childhood favorites.

But imagine my horror when my mom started to give me the recipe and the first words out of her mouth were, "one package of yellow cake mix."

I don't do doctored cake mixes. I make everything from scratch. I would have to find a way to do the same for this cake.

But, try though I might, I couldn't find a from-scratch recipe for this, and I'm still too skiddish to try to come up with my own. And by this point, I was craving it like a pregnant woman craves salt and vinegar potato chips.

So, I got over my snobbery and made a doctored cake mix cake. And, of course, it was scrumptious. I wouldn't feel right making this and charging money for it. But for anyone who hates to bake, this is the recipe for you. It's totally easy and comes out gorgeous, every time.

And Mamaw Skaggs, I salute you!

*****
Mamaw Skaggs's Orange Juice Cake


Ingredients

* 1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
* 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
* 4 eggs
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1 cup cold water
* 1/2 cup butter
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 3/4 cup orange juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a large bundt pan.
2. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, water, oil, and eggs together. Mix with an
electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour batter into bundt pan.
3. Bake for 30 minutes, or until knife inserted in cake comes out clean.
4. Combine the butter, sugar, and orange juice in a saucepan. Boil this mixture for
about 2 minutes. While still warm, poke holes in the top of the cake with a fork.
Pour orange juice mixture over cake. When the cake is saturated place it on a plate,
and dust top with confectioners' sugar.

Creme de Menthe Brownies

One of my fondest college memories is of getting all dolled up and going to The Elmwood Inn, an historic home (used as a hospital during the Civil War) turned fancy and delicious tea house. For a prix-fixe of around $25 (considered so pricey in central Kentucky), my friends and I were served all the amazing in-house brews we could want (prepared so properly the Brits would be impressed) plus a multi-course afternoon tea including scones, tea sandwiches, pastries, and some sort of seasonal dessert, like a refreshing watermelon sorbet or a decadent pumpkin cake.

It was difficult to remember to be a lady, though, when presented with so many incredibly scrumptious choices. Usually I didn't talk until the meal was over, other than borderline-inappropriate moans of pleasure.

Sadly, no tragically, the Elmwood Inn shut its doors as a teahouse a few years ago. Its owners, Bruce and Shelley Richardson, wanted to devote their time to traveling the great tea houses of the world, publishing cookbooks and tour guides, and giving book talks to tea and pastry fanatics such as myself. I'm happy for them that their dream is working out, but there will always be a huge hole in my heart shaped like Elmwood Inn Teahouse.

Thankfully, my mom purchased two of their cookbooks for me, and these have become my bibles for baked goods. Their recipes are surprising, sophisticated and no-fail.

Possibly my favorite recipe is for Creme de Menthe Brownies, layers of fudgey brownie topped with a layer of creme de menthe icing and then another layer of bitter chocolate. RI-DI-CU-LOUS.

I made these for my friend's Laura's birthday party, but they'd be perfect for your next brunch or cocktail party, wouldn't you think?

Oh, and if you want to purchase your own cookbooks, find out more about Bruce and Shelley Richardson, or buy their delicious teas (I highly recommend the Mayor's Cup), please visit their website. And if you're ever in Perryville, visit the historic house (which still stands) and pour one out for me. Tea, that is.

Bake vs. No-Bake

Red velvet sheet cake


Mamaw's No-Bake Cookies -- chocolate, peanut butter, oatmeal madness!


I promised myself I wouldn't get too wordy on this blog, but I have to tell you a story.

One day, when I was around 3 or 4, Mom asked if I wanted to make cookies. The answer to that question was always yes, not just because I loved cooking with my mom, but also because I loved eating cookies. In abundance.

When I asked her what type of cookies we were making, she said, "no-bake cookies."

"No bake?" I asked, the wheels in my mind already beginning to stir.

"Yep," she said, "you don't have to bake them. And they're ready really fast."

Oh, the angels were singing, the sun was shining, the world had just become a more gorgeous place. Cookies that required no baking and were ready in moments? Sign me up.

Then I saw my mom start to mix some sugar, cocoa, butter, and milk -- in a saucepan on the stove top.

And that's when my Irish temper just got the better of me.

"MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! YOU SAID NO-BAKE! NO-BAKE! WHY ARE YOU TURNING ON THE OVEN?"

"Randi, I'm not baking them, but I have to melt the butter with the chocolate and the sug-"

"YOU SAID NO BAKE! NO BAKE! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!"

I couldn't believe she could betray me like this. I expected her to put a few items in a bowl, wave her magic wand, and present me with a plate of delicious cookies. I had no idea MELTING was involved.

Well, long story somewhat shorter, the cookies were ready in all of ten minutes and were delicious, even if I did have to endure some chastising for my inappropriate temper tantrum.

And let me tell you, Mamaw's No-Bake Cookies are delectable and worth it, even if you do have to turn on the oven.

*****

In other news, I made a red velvet cake (my super-specialty) for a baby shower recently. I was incredibly bummed about the writing and the decorations, but practice is only going to make it better. Good thing this cake is so scrumptious you don't want to look at it for long!

First Order: German Chocolate Cake

The finished product!

A mobile upload of Julie and her friend in the process of indulging.

A yummy slice!

Here's a confession: I don't like German chocolate cake. So when my first order from my dear friend Julie happened to be a German chocolate cake, I almost panicked. Not only would I be attempting a new cake, I'd be baking that cake for one of the best chefs I know. The pressure was high.

But I took some deep breaths and gave it try. And I soon found that a German chocolate cake is much like any other cake I bake, so I had a blast.

Oh, and I added it to the menu! It's a bit pricier due to the coconut and pecans, but let me just say, I think it's worth it.

Welcome to Bklyn Bakes!

Welcome to Bklyn Bakes! I'm Randi, your hostess and baker! I've been baking since I could stand, and I was trained by the master chef herself, my mamaw (that's grandmother for those of you who grew up above the Mason Dixon Line). I figured it was time to spread the love around this big city!

Here's our current menu. I'm open to meeting your various baking needs, though, so feel free to email me at randiskaggs@gmail.com and tell me what you're thinking!

BKLYN BAKES MENU

Available as Round Layer Cakes, Rectangular Sheet Cakes or Cupcakes:
Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Icing .. $30
Yellow Cake with Buttercream or Chocolate Icing .. $30
Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Icing .. $35
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing .. $35

Sold by the Batch:
Chocolate Cherry Bars .. $25
Creme de Menthe Brownies (contain alcohol) .. $30
Standard Brownies or Blondies .. $20
Snow Bars (White chocolate bars with raspberry filling) .. $20
Cookies (chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter) .. $20
Mamaw's No-Bake Cookies (piles of delicious chocolate, peanut butter and oatmeal) .. $15

Coffee Cakes and Breads:
Banana Bread (with or without chocolate chips and nuts) .. $20 for 2 loaves
Zucchini Bread .. $20 for 2 loaves
Pumpkin Cake (with or without chocolate chips) .. $25
Rum Cake .. $35
Bailey's Irish Cream Cake .. $35

*** All our goods can be made with whole grain flour, if you prefer. Want an organic treat? Just add $10 onto the cost of the item!

Custom Bakes
I'd be happy to speak to you if you have a different baked good in mind. I'm polishing my skills as a decorator and love trying to mimic the work of the Ace of Cakes guys, to the best of my ability.

I promise I'll post some pictures of my work soon!