Go Blue!
I made this cake for the last day of my blogging class! It is a lemon cake with lemon frosting, complete with a few blue sprinkles to make it truly Maize and Blue.
I used a Block M cake pan that I found at M Den in Ann Arbor. It is also available online here. The FANPAN site has cake molds for many different schools, so find one for your favorite team!
Back in action
Well, I never really stopped baking. I just stopped blogging about it.
The past few weeks have been very busy and exciting. I graduated from the University of Michigan, celebrated the holidays, took a trip to New York City, and have been spending time with friends and family in Des Moines, Iowa. I’m leaving for a trip to Europe at the end of this week and couldn’t be more excited!
I’m going to update Sugar Sleuth with the sweets I’ve baked these past few weeks and then take another brief hiatus while I’m on vacation. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!
Diet Coke Cake
I think I first heard about Diet Coke cake from a friend. It is, by far, the easiest dessert to make! It’s very moist and tastes just like normal cake. It’s also low-calorie if you make it with diet pop. I used Diet Cherry Coke for an interesting flavor! It was delicious and ready in about 30 minutes.
Diet Coke Cake (or Sprite/7up cake)
- 1 box regular cake mix, any flavor (no “pudding in the mix”)
- 1 can of pop (use Diet Coke for chocolate cake or a lemon-lime soda for white or yellow cake)
1) Preheat the oven to whatever temperature is indicated on the box.
2) Combine the cake mix with one can of pop and stir until blended. Leave out the butter/oil/eggs if the mix calls for it. Mix ONLY the cake mix and can of pop.
3) Bake for about 10 minutes less than the box calls for. Test with a fork to ensure that the cake is cooked in the center. Enjoy!
Stressed is “desserts” spelled backwards!
Photo from Chelevision
I think everyone at the University of Michigan is stressed right now. I find when I am stressed I am too lazy to cook and end up eating whatever I can find. Unfortunately Big Ten Burrito is right across the street from my apartment, making healthy choices even more difficult. I’ve found that soup is always a good choice (especially when the wind chill is below zero) and so is salad and fruit.
It’s great to have a sweet treat to keep morale high when studying, but don’t fall for the most common sugar traps: overly processed candy bars near the checkout at stores. They may look delicious when you’re overcaffeinated and got 4 hours of sleep the night before, but they will NOT make you feel better.
For me, the act of baking is a great stress reliever. I love to bake and doing something I enjoy automatically makes me feel better about upcoming exams. Maybe instead of giving in to your candy bar craving you could try and make a simple dessert. If you make something yourself, it is almost always more natural (who has a jar of trans fat in their kitchen cabinets?!) than a store bought Snickers bar.
Good luck studying (and baking) during finals season!
Cupcake pajamas!
I went home for Thanksgiving and my mom got me a gift: cupcake pajamas! Well, technically they are called “Midnight Snack PJs.” Adorable. Thanks, Mom!
When a Cake Goes Wrong
What is wrong with this picture?
From New York Times
How about this one?
I’ve been following Cake Wrecks, a blog that shows cake disasters. The cakes are hilarious! It goes to show that “professional” bakeries aren’t always so professional.
Thanks to my classmates Arthur and Sarah for the link!
Cookie dough = Love
Would you look at these? I am a die-hard cookie dough lover and these cupcakes speak to me. WOW!
Cupcakes Take the Cake blogged about these cookie dough cupcakes from Flour and Sun Bakery in Pleasantville, New York. Hmm I wonder if they deliver…
Baking, meet science
Check out this elaborate periodic table of cupcakes. Clever and nerdy, which is why I like them. I bet they are delicious too!
Thanks to Sarah for the link!
Pumpkin Pie
My grandmother makes the most delicious pumpkin pies every Thanksgiving. I love pumpkin pie and I’m kind of sad that I only eat it for a few days out of the year. This is assuming there are leftovers!
I offered to help make pumpkin pies for this year’s Thanksgiving. I figured pie-making would be extremely complicated but when I arrived to help, Granny told me how easy it was. The “secret” family recipe was really a variation of the recipe on the back of Libby’s canned pumpkin. Also, she had bought pie crusts because every time she tried to make crusts from scratch, they didn’t turn out very well. I was happy to help unroll the refrigerated crusts and begin!
Thankful for Desserts
I think I am still full from my Thanksgiving meal and that was 3 days ago! The entire meal was amazing, but I always save room for dessert. Here is the smorgasbord of desserts that my family had at Thanksgiving. My grandmother always makes many different treats. This year she made chocolate pie, banana cream pie, pumpkin pie*, angel food cake with strawberry frosting, and pumpkin bread. Everything (yes, I tried a little bite of everything!) was delicious.
What does your family usually eat for dessert on Thanksgiving? Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving treat? Does anyone out there seriously dislike pumpkin pie? Please discuss!
*Please notice the pumpkin pies that my grandmother taught me how to make–I will blog about my first pie-making experience very soon!
