Dazzling Cakes and a Crazy Story

Every year around this time, I have a bit of a dilemma.  Basically, everyone I see winks and says, "Hey, when are you getting some Pesach recipes up on your blog?" And that's when I try to extricate myself from the conversation. Reason being: my Pesach recipes start and end with brownies. And there's not much in between. And I am not embarrassed to share this little fact with you. Ahem. So I thought, a nice fair trade would be that while you are busy cleaning, I will dazzle you with some cakes I've been working on lately.

First up on Dazzling Cakes is this lovely number: 

First, a little background. Every once in a while you meet someone, and you say to yourself, "Wow, this person is really special." And sometimes, but not quite as often, you meet someone extraordinarily special. (Quick poll: Do you say extra-ordinary or ex-troar-dinary? Just wonderin') And that my friends, I am lucky to say, is Big D.'s boss. I know, you heard right. His BOSS. And I think you'll tend to agree with me after reading this story. Eh, you might even be banging down his door for an interview. So hang tight, and read on. (Sorry, I don't think they are hiring now but if you are in the market for a mortgage or refinancing, you better run over there quick, and tell them CantStopBaking sent you. You might even catch some of those amazing cookies I sent them this morning. So hurry, before they eat them all!) You know how when it's smack in the middle of the winter, everyone is coughing and sniffling, and either getting or getting over a cold or the flu? Yeah, so that's basically what Big D.'s office looked like at the end of January. Sadly, no amount of cake can cure midwinter blues...trust me-I've tried. So Big D.'s Boss, Mark, decided that this was ridiculous. We have to cure everyone of their sniffles! So he did what most people would do:
He booked flights for everyone to Florida. 

I kid you not. I could not make this stuff up if I tried. 
And that would be everyone and their spouses! 

So yep, February found Big D. and I en route to Tampa along with a group of the most awesome people on planet Earth. And I do not use that term lightly.

There is nothing a little surf and sunshine can't cure!

Go Magic!!

And that my friends is where the above cake came in. 

Because when CantStopBaking says a BIG FAT THANK YOU she kinda says it with a big fat cake! And awesome people get awesome cake.

So Mark, a gigantic-

Oh, and I was totally serious about the mortgage thing. 

A few lists and some muffins...

I had a revelation this morning, as I was telling someone I had just met about my blog. I'm sure you've all realized that I write the way that I talk.  Whatever pops into my head, gets typed into the post. When I imagine people reading my blog, I have an image in my head of an eager group of close friends who eagerly read every word. But in reality, I probably don't know most of you! Now, generally speaking- it's all cool. But, the problem arises when I start to moan and groan about whatever happens to be going on in my life right then. And whatever poor soul happens across CantStopBakingdom thinks that I have created a blog solely for the purpose of airing my grievances. Which is really very sad if you stop to think about it. Because you all know (and again, I'm speaking to that imaginary group of people...) how I generally like to find the humor in life and milk it for all it's worth. So on that somber note, I'd like to say Hi, everyone. It's me, CantStopBaking. I like to laugh and bake and complain. Not necessarily in that order. But it's a fact of life. And I approve this message.

And now on to the order of the day....

1) It's not Monday. Yes, I know this. Just saying.

2) Yes, I know Purim is, um, like NOW.

3) Yes, I am aware that I have not posted a single bingle thing for Purim.

4)I can continue this list all day if I really think about it.

Ok, so I mentioned that Purim is just about here. And I mentioned that I haven't posted anything Purimish per se. Soooo, in order to keep my loyal and true followers, I'll have to fix that, won't I?

First of all, there is no way in the world I can top last year's post. I love the humor in it,and I am ever so proud of the recipe. So first and foremost,

 here is a link to last year's awesomeness.

Now, for this year: I don't have anything earth shattering to share with you, but I do have a muffin recipe. Which in all fairness, you can use for Purim. How, you ask? I shall tell you:

1) You can make these today and freeze them for Purim morning breakfast. I think that delivering mishloach manos on an empty stomach is just one notch less dangerous than playing with a lighter next to a pool of gasoline. Um yeah, so don't ever do that. The gasoline thing or the mishloach manos thing. But really, don't ever do the gasoline thing.

2) You can make a really yummy mishloach manos with muffins and orange juice. Been there, done that.

3) You can just make them today and eat them, because they are really good, and you are feeling very overwhelmed, so the best thing to do when you are overwhelmed is to make muffins and then eat all of them.

What? Who, me? I never said anything about being overwhelmed.

My, my, feeling very listy today. I better just give you the recipe before I go and make another list.

Strawberry Crumb Muffins

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 3/4 cup flour

1 cup chopped strawberries (can use frozen,unsweetened)

Crumb

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 375°. Line 12 muffin tins with liners. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, milk and egg. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, sugars and cinnamon. Toss in strawberries and stir to coat with flour. Pour in milk mixture, and stir just until combined. Divide batter evenly between muffin cups. 

In a small bowl, mix sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter of margarine until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.

Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.

Hope everyone has a happy, happy week!

Little Dictators and Cinnamon Bun Cookies

I have come to accept the fact that the concept of  "time" does not exist for me anymore. No need for a watch or clock in my house, folks. You see, it really doesn't matter what the actual hour is. Nope, once I had kids, the concept of time disintegrated, along with my ........brain's ability to coherently finish a sentence. Oh, don't get me wrong. Time still exists- just not in the form of numbers on a clock. You see, there are these miniature humans, and they are like little dictators. Dictators of Time. No mercy, no compassion, no excuses. Little monkey is hungry? Time To Eat. Oh, you're in the middle of doing laundry. TOO BAD. Little monkey is crying. Time to Stop Cooking Dinner. Little monkey fell asleep....aaaaand go, go go go cook dinner!! While this paragraph  may sound rather choppy to you- can you imagine what it feels like to start, stop, start, stop while dancing to the tune of my Little Monkeys whims. Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can. So thats how life goes nowadays. Oh, the joys of Monkeyhood. So, this recipe is actually what inspired today's rambling. Its kind of a stop and go recipe, which coincidentally is perfect when you have a little monkey in the house: A recipe that is broken up into numerous 5 minute steps. So here we go:

Cinnamon Bun Cookies                                                                     found on CraftBakeSewCreate

Cookie:

1 cup butter or margarine

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla 

4 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

Filling: 

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3-4 tablespoons milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs and milk and vanilla. Mix in the flour and baking powder. Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours. Meanwhile, mix together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Remove dough from fridge. Divide in half. On a large piece of parchment paper or wax paper, roll the dough out into a 8.5''x15'' rectangle.  Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll the dough up on the long side. Roll it up using the wax paper, pushing it over with the was paper as you roll. The tighter the dough is rolled up the better. Repeat with the remaining dough. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350º. Remove the dough from the fridge. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces with a very sharp knife. (I actually used a tape measure to mark 1/2 inch increments. You'd be surprised how thin a 1/2 inch is. Its really worth it, because if the cookies are too thick, they don't bake as well.) Place at least 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Let cool for 2 minutes on the pan before transferring to cool completely. 

Mix the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla together until it reaches a pouring consistency. Drizzle over the cookies.

Have a great week!