Sweets and treats

I have had a week of treating myself to a lot of things…not really ideal for saving up for upcoming trips, or squeezing into new cute clothes when the treats are food, but hopefully this new week will be one of restraint!

Over the weekend was the wedding of 2 of my dear friends and they have me the honor of making their cupcakes so last week was busy with all the baking. I had a great week of consistent and hard workouts (I think because I was feeling good about myself I was feeling exciting about new wardrobe pieces to kick off summer with and motivate me further).

 

Styling up a summer strip with a fun new necklace. Saw a great picture on Pinterest of a blue and white stripe paired with an orange bubble necklace and was inspired to recreate! Here is my necklace

 

Had an awesome double workout on Wednesday — Crossfit at 5am, and outdoor Tabata after work (60 minutes sweating outside in the hot sun sure does work up a good calorie burn!)

 

So I didn’t pay for this treat, but I sure did take advantage of it…but I was in my new fave bakery (The Bakeshop in Clarendon) getting some cupcakes to take to a Stella and Dot trunk show I did — I dropped my business card in a “win a 1/2 dozen cupcakes” jar (I looooove dropping my cards in anywhere there is something free to win) and I just happened to get a call on Thursday telling me I’d won! Yay! So I swung by after work and picked them up. Sadly I was so so so super sweeted out from just being in the presence of the 100+ cupcakes I was making for my friend’s wedding that I really wasn’t interested in eating them, so I shared 🙂 I did eat the coconut one though and it was super super tasty!

 

 

I snapped this awesome pic of a sign at the shop next door. I love where their minds are at!

 

So I recently discovered the most delightful treats in the frozen dairy case….these people make an awesome gelato…now they put it on a stick and covered it in delicious chocolate. *angels singing*

 

Oooo! Friday was my first real exploration into colored jeans. These blue/green ones came in the mail Thursday afternoon from JCrew — how convenient that they also match the exact shade of my new nail polish color obsession

 

After work on Friday I swung by Buzz for a quick coffee and to kill 20 minutes before heading to my plans that would take the rest of the evening. I was dragging so coffee was a great call.

 

They had the outdoor fountains on that kids like to play in, so I caught a quick pic of this adorable little girl rocking out her bathing suit with cowboy boots

Begin wedding cupcake sequence:

 

 

 

 

 

{paleo} chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches

My sweet tooth could still not be ignored during the paleo challenge (by sweet tooth I mainly mean “intense desire for chocolate!”) so we experimented with several dessert recipes and these cookies were the best of all of them. And towards the end of the challenge we got a little creative and made them into ice cream cookie sandwiches. It was SUCH a good idea if I do say so myself!

For the cookies
Ingredients
-1 cup almond meal
-pinch of sea salt
-pinch of baking soda
-3 tbsp melted coconut oil (make sure you measure it in the melted form!)
-2 tbsp maple syrup (or honey)
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 tbsp almond or coconut milk
-1/2 cup chocolate chips (we used the dairy free kind that can easily be found at Whole Foods)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl combine all of the dry ingredients (except chocolate chips)
3. In a small bowl whisk together the wet ingredients
4. Add the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir until combined. Add in chocolate chips.
5. Drop in heaping tablespoonfuls on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool on wire rack.

For the ice cream sandwiches:
Add a scoop of coconut milk ice cream between 2 cookies. For extra razzle dazzle, roll the edges in mini chocolate chips. You won’t regret it! 🙂

b+l bakehouse

Been adding some posts to the b+l bakehouse blog — after getting a little press from the wedding last weekend I figured it was time to update a little and make spark some orders 🙂

http://blbakehouse.blogspot.com/

Wedding Dessert Buffet

Last night was the wedding of 2 great people — Kelly and Sang! They were both coworkers of mine a couple years ago and I am so happy that Kelly and I formed a great friendship during that time and in the time since. The wedding ceremony and reception were beautiful! And luckily a very nasty rainstorm managed to hold off until after the ceremony…well mostly.

I felt so honored to be asked to take charge of making a dessert bar — Kelly didn’t have too many specific requests except that she wanted lemon squares and she wanted to make sure there was something chocolate. I had a lot of fun trying to figure out what to make and how to set it all up.

Here’s what I decided to do:

–White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream
–Chocolate and Vanilla Macarons
–Marshmallow Pops
–Key Lime Cake Pop Truffles
–Espresso Brownies with Nutella Espresso Ganache
–Lemon Squares

I think everything was a big success! And I stressed over how many of each thing to make in order to be sure that 150 guests would have enough to eat, but not necessarily one of each thing. So I think by the time I packed up there were 5 marshmallow pops left. I think they were confusing looking to people because they didn’t go quick at first — I’m not sure if it was because people werent sure if they were supposed to take them?? But once a few people took them they went pretty quickly. I love how they look. They are one of my new favorite party treats because they look adorable and are so yummy (ya kinda forget how yummy marshmallows are!)!

Easter 2013

Well, this is a few weeks late but time has been flying! I really love Easter and the little traditions that have formed since moving to DC 6 1/2 years ago (wow, time REALLY flies!).

Tradition #1: Sunrise service at Arlington National Cemetery
I absolutely love this part of the day. Of Easter events in DC, this one is never overcrowded and unmanageable. It is peaceful and perfect. There is nothing quite as wonderful as celebrating eternal life surrounded by so many of our nation’s heroes. It always gives me chills.

Tradition #2: Trip to get coffee post sunrise service. This is a must!

Tradition #3: A mid-morning nap which also serves as a time to warm back up under the cozy covers because Easter sunrise service in DC is generally 30-40 degrees and leaves one in a little bit of a popsicle state. Brrr!

Tradition #4: A mad scurry to finish all of the baking and making for Easter dinner (see #5) and inevitably making a game time decision to add more to the menu.

Tradition #5: Easter dinner! We usually have a big group of friends over around 2 dinner. We start with appetizers while the ham is still baking and then transition to dinner at about 3. We usually make the ham, an appetizer, and one (or more…..) desserts, then everyone else brings a dish (and/or the traditional Easter dinner sangria in the case of one couple who always comes). It is such a great time to celebrate with our great friends who are like family to us.

Here are a bunch of pictures from the day! We made Biscoff Cream Eggs and the usual Martha Stewart carrot cake with orange ginger cream cheese frosting and candied carrots on top. Then a game time decision was made to run to the store an hour before our guests arrived to get the ingredients to make bacon jam. The ham we made was a bourbon brown sugar recipe. And our friends brought broccoli salad, potatoes, we had homemade flatbreads with butternut squash, blue cheese and candied walnuts on top, then rolls, caesar salad, green bean casserole, and sangria!

Treats for a cause!

My beautiful friend Aubrey has been participating in a Little Black Dress challenge for the month of February to raise money and awareness for human trafficking. She threw a fundraiser party and asked me to donate some baked goods to sell and auction off during the evening so here are the items I put together:

Fluffernutter Blondies, Energy Balls, Peanut Butter Dipped Oreos, and Nutella Cupcakes!

She’s about to pop! Baby Shower Dessert Bar

Last year I was about to be making macaron wedding favors for a friend and a year later I got asked to make desserts for her baby shower! So excited about these great blessings! I decided to make all things on pops! Oreo pops, marshmallow pops, cookie dough pops, cheesecake pops, and ritz-rolo pops. Such a fun way to celebrate the baby boy on the way!

Baby Shower Cake Pops

The weekend of the bachelorette party was also the weekend of another good friend’s baby shower and I was asked to make cake pops. I have to say, I officially have decided to never feel bad about refusing to make cake pops. They are so tough. I lost many a good pop to gravity during the time the chocolate was hardening. They are a nightmare and I don’t know how people are successful at them. But they quickly became upside pops and I was just fine with that. I think they looked great in the end, but I still can’t get over how defeating they are!

Holiday Oreo Pops

Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it has been a couple months since my last post! Time to dig deep in the photo library and post some of the things I’ve been busy making!!

I made these little Oreo pops for my coworkers as a holiday treat and then had enough left over to use them in my Christmas gift wrapping. I am still in love with how cute they turned out and was amazed by how seriously excited people were getting by something that was so simple to make! I love simple pleasures!

I used vanilla candy melt for these double stuff Oreos (easier to get the sticks into) and then crushed candy canes for garnish. Then I got baker’s twine from Sur la Table to finish them off!

Banana Nutella Pumpkin Bread

I know, I know, it’s a lot of words in the title and you’re thinking “hmm…could it really work?” The answer is yes! I think all the flavors are blended more into a uni-flavor when you eat the bread at room temperature. Just out of the oven, the banana flavor is strongest. I made these into mini bundts and they’re the perfect portion for a sweet and healthy treat. I traded out original recipe ingredients using egg whites, applesauce, and whole wheat flour instead to make it more nutritious and lower in calories. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup egg substitute

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

4 over ripe bananas – mashed

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

4 tablespoons Nutella – divided

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add sugar and applesauce to your mixing bowl. Mix together until light and creamy. Add: eggs, vanilla extract. Mix until well combined. Add mashed bananas and pumpkin puree. Mix until well combined. Stir in pumpkin pie spice.

2. Add flour, salt and baking soda to a bowl. Whisk together to combine.  Gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients. Mix until well combined. Batter will be thick.

3. Spray your mini bundts or loaf plans with cooking spray. Fill each 3/4 way full. Add 1/2 teaspoon Nutella to each. Using a toothpick, swirl Nutella through batter. Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes until bread passes the toothpick test.

Makes 30 mini bundts

Nutritional Info

Calories		86.8
Total Fat		0.9 g
	Saturated Fat	0.3 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.0 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.0 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		9.4 mg
Potassium		96.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate		17.8 g
	Dietary Fiber	1.5 g
	Sugars	11.0 g
Protein		1.9 g

Vitamin A	26.7 %
Vitamin B-12	1.3 %
Vitamin B-6	5.1 %
Vitamin C	3.0 %
Vitamin D	0.7 %
Vitamin E	0.9 %
Calcium	1.3 %
Copper	1.4 %
Folate	2.0 %
Iron	3.7 %