Pink Velvet Cake Batter Balls... What?

My mom's birthday was on Wednesday and because I'm on a baking kick I knew I was going to make something especially for her. So, I asked myself, "What's mummy's favorite dessert. That's easy, red velvet." After searching pinterest far and wide, I decided I would combine some recipe ideas and make my own. Ah. Scary. But I was pretty happy with the unexpected results.

I decided to make red velvet cake balls. Not pops -- I'm too poor for lollipop sticks -- balls. It also gave me permission to say, "I really hope they love my balls" "can you hold my balls?," "how do my balls taste?" I'm 12.

Red Velvet Cake Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 cups all-purposed flour
1 tsp baking sode

2 tbs cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 ounce red food coloring (Not enough, hence, "pink velvet")

1 tsp vinegar

+ball extras
1 can of cream cheese frosting
1 package of chocolate bark

Preheat oven to 350°

In a medium size bowl, sift together dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, & salt).

In a larger bowl, cream together sugar, oil, buttermilk, and eggs. Once blended, slowly mix dry ingredients into larger bowl at 1/2 cup increments. Next, add vanilla and food coloring. 
Pour into desired greased pans. Bake for 25-35 minutes. Test with a toothpick to determine when it's done. Let cool on wire rack, completely. (That's where I misstepped. It was late and I was tired and it didn't cool entirely).

Next, make ze balls! First, crumble cake in a large bowl. Next, mix in 1 can of cream cheese frosting (I semi-homemade these balls) into the bowl - use your hands! Once done, start rolling your bowls. Use a small ice cream scope to measure your balls. All sizes of balls are welcome ;) Place on a cookie tray lined with wax paper. Let cool in a refrigerator for a few hours or speed things up in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

Now, melt the chocolate, in a microwave or a double broiler. Cover the balls! Then let cool.

Then, eat them for breakfast like me! Hey, I had to taste test them before my mom's party. They ended up tasting more like cake batter (because the cooked cake didn't cool entirely before I made them into balls), but, because I generally like batters and doughs and mixes more than the actual cooked product, I LOVE how they turned out. And the fam bam agreed. Grandma GJ had two :)

What balls to eat nice?

I just couldn't help myself

2 days until fall!

Sunday Funday!

I personally feel Sunday should be spent doing whateverthefuck you want. For me, that's a little nomming, a little sewing, and food network always in the background. Today I made dark chocolate croissants, a delish fruit smoothie, and worked with some fabric. Hope ya'll's Sunday was just as useless and just as amazing.

CROISSANT BREAKFAST

SMOOTHIE +SWEET MUG (COW? CAT?)

NEW FABRIC, NEW PROJECTS!

Baking Lately

I don't do anything unless it's cute - except, of course, most things I do. But, hey, I try really hard when I bake. I love yelling/squealing in my kitchen when I've produced something even semi-adorb. Here are two occasions that made me wail alone.

Vanilla Cinnamon, Not So Pink Baby Donuts

I'd link the recipe, but I can't seem to find it. They weren't as good (or as pretty) as my vegan batch, so I wouldn't recommend them to ya'll anyway. I just like taking pictures ;)

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Macarons

I made these bad boys last night for my brother's birthday. He loves choco+PB combos, so I had to. It was my first attempt at macarons and I think I did, okay? I didn't have the proper mixing equipment, so they didn't peak as well as I would have liked. Luckily, I received tips along the way from my good friend Hannah. She posts tons of recipes and great macaron tips on her blog Some Like it Frosted. When I attempt macarons again, I'm trying her rose recipe.

Not the prettiest macaron (brown and brown look like poop), they are sweet as a mofo. I used this recipe for the shell and this recipe for the filing. Let's hope broha likes.

I had one for breakfast ;)

Looking at them now, they don't really look the way they should. No worries though, practice makes.. yadiddy da

*** UPDATE
Brother bear and dad absolutely LOVED these. That's all I could have asked for.

Still looking for models

A few new bows in my shop. More to come I'm sure. I'm slowly learning that personal time is precious and I don't get as much of it anymore. Crafting has taken a back seat. I need to correct this.

BEST HOUSEWARMING GIFT, EVER!

My best friend, Jennifer, knows me better than anyone else. This is clearly evident from her (bed, bath, &) BEYOND amazing housewarming gift. Jeffrey and I recently moved into our little, Mountain View apartment and on the first day, when I was completely stressed from the move, Jenn brought over the only thing that could make everything better - a baby donut maker. Saying I was ecstatic is an understatement.

My first attempt at making the lil' nuts was vegan. Jeffrey and I decided to try a week of veganism, for a variety of reasons, but there was no stopping me on trying to make a vegan baked good. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a recipe that didn't include an egg substitute (I didn't find a good alternative at my local grocery store), sooo, I decided to use a vegan cupcake recipe -- cake donuts exist so I was like "whateva."

Here were the results. I added some purple food coloring to some of the batter (that turned brown) and made a soy milk/powdered sugar icing. Sprinks obviously.

I'm in love. They were so cute and delicious - I swear, that week turned me on to vegan sweets, so good! I'm making some real donuts tomorrow for a coworkers birthday, what recipe to try?

From Mountain View with love,
Jenny