The perfect office treat...Baked Chocolate Donuts with Sprinkles

Okay its donut time...It has just been way too long.  Plus a co-worker came into town last week for a work "retreat" and said he wanted chocolate donuts, and I thought...I can totally make that happen. What is better than homemade chocolate donuts...well homemade chocolate donuts made with sprinkles.  And even though these donuts caused me to get up at 5:15 am before going to work...the smile on Michael's face totally made it worth it.  These donuts are fluffy and chocolaty and the sprinkles add great crunch.  Plus, they have the flavor of the chocolate donuts you probably grew up eating as a kid, but these you got to bake.  If sprinkles aren't your thing, than toast up some coconut and sprinkle that on top. Either way, give these a try because they are absolutely delicious!  Enjoy!

Chocolate Chips? Oreos? How about both in a cake....Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookie Cake

Sometimes you just need to be creative...like when a co-worker for his birthday asks for chocolate chips or Oreos.  I immediately nix the "or" and go for "and" instead.  Like do I do a chocolate chip and Oreo layer cake with both actually in the cake.  Or do I try this as some sort of whoopie situation.  Somehow while thinking about it over the weekend I went back to adding both in one cake kind of like I did with putting an entire key lime pie in a cake here. 

So here is the layout...

And yes those are little drawings for the chocolate chip cookies and Oreos on top.  This cake ultimately came out exactly like I wanted it to.  The cookie layer stayed soft and not too crispy; the cake was light and fluffy.  The Oreo cream filling added the right amount and essence of Oreo for this cake.  The cake is then topped with a vanilla bean buttercream frosting...but only on top, because lets be real, this cake does not need frosting all over it. This cake is seriously delicious, it is a little sweet, but a great birthday cake for someone who likes Oreos or chocolate chips...definitely if they like both.  Enjoy!

Ready for the weekend...Maple Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Muffins

I am ready for the weekend...even though I have to say this week did seem to actually fly by. Last weekend though there were muffins among other fun things.  Let's see there have been a few firsts in the past week.  1. I finally completed my first hot yoga class which admittedly was my first yoga class in a studio.  2.  Saw my first professional soccer game  3.  I finally saw The Star-Spangled Banner last Monday with my brother and sister-in-law.  4. I gave my first tour monuments tour with Charles for my brother.  Let's just say it an action packed weekend, which makes me even more excited about this one.  Happy Friday!

Okay, so you might be thinking how on earth or why did I make muffins with blueberries, white chocolate chips and maple?!?! Well my brother and sister-in-law make their pancakes sometimes with blueberries and white chocolate chips.  Thus, my goal was to turn their pancakes into a muffins and it was definitely a success.  These were light seriously simply delicious. The blueberries burst a little while baking and the white chocolate chips and maple give these muffins great flavor.  Trust me when I say, these muffins are definitely worth a try.  Enjoy!

Chelsea vs. Roma

Summer Blueberry Strawberry Pie

We all have our role models in life.  Sometimes they are people we don't even know but admire aka Joy the Baker who has been able to pursue her dreams, accepts her faults, and lives life for all that it can be. Sometimes they are people we see almost daily like our best friends and a few co-workers that have "been there", who we have worked with a while and are easy to talk with.  There are also the people that make us think outside of the box we tend to live in, even if we would never dream of going as far outside of the box as they go.  The girl who writes The Dalston Years is basically my complete opposite and will not apologize for who she is, which is kind of amazing.  She takes life on face-first and is completely ready to live and take on any adventure that comes her way, which I can totally respect.  

Each of these types of people mold us a little, just like everyone we meet in life, and especially those that we spend time with, and get close to, even if only for a little while.  I am thinking about this as I am trying live life just a little bit more in my own way.  Let's be real here though, I am never going to be the girl who goes out and parties every weekend, but I can make an effort to make more plans.  To cross more things off of my "bucket list," which is now more of a list of things to do before I am 30, now that I am only a few years away.  Like volunteer more and be involved, finally go bungee jumping, learn to bake challenging things and basically try to remember to bake them as long as they are supposed to be baked.

A Tipsy Plum Shortcake Birthday Cake

Hi from Dallas!  First off why am I in Dallas? I of course head to Texas right when it is finally cool in DC but 104 here.  Oh well such is life and work.  Really though, in all seriousness no complaints...I get to stay at a nice hotel, get out of DC for a few days, and I have to say my hotel contact here is amazing!  Which is super helpful when FedEx loses one of the two boxes you have shipped to Dallas filled meeting supplies.  I am super glad that there is an office depot so close!  

On a more fun note though, this past weekend was amazing and I would not have asked for a more fun 27th birthday.  Plus, I got to make Kathryn's birthday cake since she was in town, and her birthday is the day after mine.  Her request was "how about something with plums?"...my response "I can do that."  So what we have here is a classic final cake topped with honey bourbon whipped cream then a layer of fresh plums drizzled with honey.  This is my tipsy plum shortcake.  Enjoy!

A few Pics from the weekend:

Sometimes your birthdays need to start like this...a nice run in the rain to start the year off right.

"Disgustingly Rich" Almond Brownies

Okay Holy Cow...I turn 27 this week!  I am not really sure where the last year of my life has gone.  But I have to say I am so excited for my 27th year.  Okay I know this is going to sound completely weird, but since I was a little kid I always thought, for some strange reason, that being 27 was going to be great, like that good things would happen when I was 27.  Maybe my kid self thought that 27 was when you really became and adult?  I don't about this, some days I feel like an adult and some days I don't.  I do know that in my 27th year I will be making a step toward this by getting married, and having all of the changes that this entails.

Plus, I am going to try to keep pushing myself this coming year. ..maybe another marathon?  This past weekend though was the bike ride from Philadelphia to Atlantic City.  It was a great ride and we had perfect weather!  What way to better reward myself than having a brownie and then sending the rest to Rachel since she was the 20th recipe giveaway winner.

These brownies came out just as I remembered when I ate them as a kid.  They are rich, soft and chewy!  Basically delicious!  Enjoy!