Thrifty Days

Yesterday, I did a little retail therapy. We are just turning the corner on a long stretch of rainy days that have seemed to go on forever. I contemplated driving an hour and a half to find sunshine yesterday morning. I was that desperate. But, instead, ended up driving to the thrift store to find some goodies to bring home. Seemed a little more logical even though I was longing for that sunshine!

I love thrift stores. There is something about the hunt for those goodies that draws me in. I love stepping into the store without any knowledge of what I am going to walk out with. A cake plate, a funky pair of shoes, and other odds and ends.

Throughout the years, I have contributed to my collection of handmade pottery that just calls out to me from the shelves. Rescued many needlepoints and cross-stitch pieces that someone took hours upon hours to create and, yet, I find it stuffed amongst the frames at the store. Even my favorite coffee mugs and small plates have all come from the thrift store.

Yesterday was a great day in the world of treasure hunting. It seemed the stars aligned to reveal all the goodies I would be walking out with. Along with finding my daughter's Easter dress (score on the price!):

And my son's handsome sweater vest, tie, and shirt (can't wait to see him in it!):

I found these amazing treasures that made me giddy with delight:

These babies were only $5.00 each and normally go for $20-$30 so imagine my happiness when I realized what good condition they were in. Into the cart those babies went! Of course, you know what this meant. Cake time!

I had just the recipe in mind; a Dulce de Leche coffee cake from the book Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman. When I got home, I rounded up all my ingredients and started baking away. Here is the end result:

Add a little drizzle to that cake and I can see it hanging out in the front window of the future bakery. Sigh... The best part of the cake? The inside:

I call this shot the "come-hither and have a bite" shot. I love how you can see the butter glistening off of the crumbs. Oh butter, how we love you in our house!

Now, if I have you wanting a slice of this cake, you are in luck. I decided to post the recipe because it is a must for us coffee-lovers. Enjoy and have fun savoring this sweet bite!

Dulce de Leche Coffee Cake (adapted from the book cake keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped walnuts (I used pecans. All good!)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 T. ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cups dulce de leche (available in most grocery stores)
3 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 T. vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray and dust with flour.

For the Streusel

1. Combine nuts, chocolate chips, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Mix in the dulce de leche and stir until combined. Set aside.

For the Cake

1. Combine the eggs, sour cream, and vanilla in a bowl and beat lightly. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

2. Place butter in mixing bowl and beat slightly to soften. Add sugar 1/2 cup at a time, taking care to thoroughly cream after each addition. (I set a timer for 1 minute each time I add a 1/2 cup of sugar. Takes time but worth it to get it nice and fluffy!)

3. With your mixer on medium-speed, pour 1/3 of the egg mixture into the bowl. Mix until just combined. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Continue alternating between the egg mixture and flour until all is incorporated. Beat for 1 minute on medium-high.

4. Add 1/3 of the batter to the prepared pan. Dot a 1/3 of the dulce de leche mixture over the batter. Repeat two more times.

5. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes then flip out onto a wire rack. When ready, transfer to your serving plate, slice, pour your coffee, and devour!

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Check back later this week because I have a cupcake creation just waiting to be made. It involves these guys:

Hmmmm...wonder what it could be?!?

Hellooooo Babycakes!

Babycakes, you are so beautiful!

This weekend I fell in love with a new cake recipe. A cake that smelled delicious while I was mixing the ingredients together, while it was baking in the oven, and while I was eating a piece. This cake recipe came from the book, "All Cakes Considered" by Melissa Gray. I have been working my way through this book each weekend. I bake for a group at my church and have affectionately named this job my butter fund. Each weekend I chose a recipe from the book and, since the author had included many baking tips along with the recipes, perfect my baking techniques while baking a new treasure to share.

The author created this book as a result of baking every Monday for her co-workers. Throughout the year, she researched recipes, baked cakes, and even re-baked recipes to perfect them. So, readers get the benefit of well-developed recipes that result in many oohs and aahs when done.

This weekend I chose a cake called Coffee Spice Cake. This cake is a mix between gingerbread and a mocha cake. The cake itself has cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in it while the frosting is pure chocolate fudge delight. Bonus? Both have strong coffee added to them to add an extra delicious element. So good!

As I was mixing the ingredients together on Saturday, the smells took me back to Christmas morning with the gingerbread ingredients. Then to my morning cup of coffee with the addition of the coffee. Then to Christmas again. Then to morning coffee. And so on, and so on. What a great experience!

When I was mixing and baking it all together, I realized that this is a recipe I had to share because it was truly delicious and one to have in the recipe book. So here we go. Take some time, make this cake, and enjoy it with your cup of coffee. It will be a wonderful moment!

Coffee Spice Cake (from the book All Cakes Considered by Melissa Gray)

3/4 cup cold strong coffee
3/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
3 large eggs
2 1/2 cups cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (Omit this if you are doing the chocolate frosting)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. Brew your coffee nice and strong. Cool.

2. Center a rack and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 12-cup bundt pan or 10-inch tube pan. (Grease the pan then dust with flour, tapping out the extra)

3. Cream the shortening with the mixer on medium speed, and add the brown sugar gradually. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high speed and beat until fluffy, roughly 3 minutes.

Added note: My mixer, named Ramone by my hubby, gets a true workout when making these cakes because you spend a lot of time creaming the shortening and sugar together. Take your sweet time here so that it truly is fluffy.

If you haven't met Ramone yet, here he is!

4. Shift the mixer to low speed. Add the molasses, then the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. In a separate bowl, dry whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices together.

6. Add a third of the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, beat, then add 1/4 cup of the coffee and beat on medium until well blended. Repeat 2 more times. (Here's where I was having the flashbacks to Christmas morning vs. my morning cup of coffee!)

7. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until the cake tests done. (Your house will smell divine at this time!)

8. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes in the pan, unmold onto a cake rack, and cool completely.

Waiting for the chocolate drizzle.

Chocolate Drizzle (Yes, a must!)

2- 1 oz. squares unsweetened chocolate

1 1/2 cups sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons cold strong coffee

1. In the top of a double boiler (or improvised one), melt the unsweetened chocolate over water at a medium boil until smooth.

2. Add the sweetened condensed milk. Stir until fully incorporated, and continue stirring for about 5 minutes, until the mixture has thickened. Then add the coffee.

3. Remove from the heat and stir occasionally until it's time to drizzle over the cooled cake. 

4. Use a teaspoon or a soup spoon and (here is my favorite quote of the book!) let your inner Jackson Pollock take over to the extent that your inner Martha Stewart doesn't freak out about the kitchen mess. (Love this author!)

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did and let me know what you think. Did it become your favorite too?

The Core of It All

I went back to pilates this week after a much longer break than anticipated. Halfway through the hour long class, I remembered what it meant to have a stitch through ones entire body. I think even my forehead had a stitch in it! I kept telling myself that it is good for my core (aka: my stomach), good for my core, good for my core...over and over again.

I managed to survive the class with a little bit of grace and a little bit of style, not much to be honest. Style and grace do not come easy when your feet are perched on an exercise ball, your on your back, and creating a bridge with your body. I know, even reading it now, I am confused as to what Sally the instructor had intended for us to do! An even bigger issue during the class was, when the going got tough, I got a case of the giggles. I've been known to laugh during a long run at the insanity of what I was doing, so this was not something new. A little embarrassing, but not new.

But, like I said, it is good for my core. Once you go past a certain mileage in running, your little imbalances in your body become magnified. You realize that your right side might be stronger so your left side kind of flails out beside you as you merrily run down the street. Not a big deal if one is running 3 miles but take that imbalance out for a 20 miler and you have yourself some issues. The next day you might not be walking too straight or with ease.

My focus this year has been to bring strength to my core, strength to the center that holds me together. It hasn't been easy. I think the cupcakes have something do with the subtracting of all the good I do for my core in a pilates class, but I could be wrong. (Probably not!) I mean, how could you resist this:

This one has a cookie dough filling in it...yum!

Going back to pilates this week had me thinking about the core of life, not just in the running world. Things in my life that center me and ground me. Things such as; my family (hands-down number one!), a good laugh with a friend who understands, a dose of sunshine (finally!), knowing you have a great church community to be a part of, a good cup of coffee in the morning, and, of course, for me finding the perfect vanilla cake recipe to create with. The possibilities are endless with that recipe...

So, I think I will keep up with that pilates class even though it humbles me more than my long runs do. Keep up with taking care of the things in my life that create my center and that ground me. It's all good now that sunshine is here in the Northwest! Finally!