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.