ambitious baking. blueberry ombre.

the most ambitious cake i ever made. 

ingredients:

2 boxes of vanilla cake mix

2 boxes of vanilla frosting

4 cups of blueberries 

eggs, water & oil (as directed on the box)

* i substitute apple sauce for oil

1. in a large bowl mix all of the ingredients together as directed on the box.

or make a cake from scratch if you have time for that. (i do not)

2. i ended up using four cups of blueberries in total - 

but simmered them on the stove in 3 different batches. 

I threw in some water & sugar cubes initially but it was probably unnecessary.

cook the berries on the stove until the you see a deep purple liquid.

3. slowly add the blueberries to the cake mix until you get your desired shade of blue.

pour into a round cake pan & bake. repeat the process for all layers adding more blueberries to each layer. cook time will increase for each batch. my top layer was very dense with blueberries.

full disclosure: 

this cake took like 4 hours to make because i was rotating cake pans (having only 2).

i was trying to have it done in time for an oscar party and probably could have cooked some layers for a little bit longer. it ended up falling over after i cut into it. but does not mean it was not AMAZING!

it was AMAZING. definitely needs some tweaking but it's a pretty simple concept.

red velvet. sweets & treats.

top: my version 

bottom: scratch recipe from smells like home.

I recently came across a photo (above) of some scrumptious looking red velvet brownies on pinterest... 

more specifically...

Red Velvet Brownies with White Chocolate Buttercream

recipe via smells like HOME.

They looked so delicious that I was inspired to make my own, 

except I searched for a recipe with a box mix base. 

I barely have time for baking right now, so fast & easy is pretty important!

The recipe I tested out can be found at Duncan Hines. 

Super easy... but not so much the brownie consistency I was expecting. 

Ingredients

1 Duncan Hines box of Red Velvet Cake mix

3/4 cup butter (melted) - that's a stick and a half!!!

1 egg

1/2 cup water

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Frosting

1 can of buttercream frosting (or whatever looks good)

Baking Instructions

-preheat oven to 325 degrees F

-mix egg, butter & water in a bowl. add box mix & 

stir until everything is combined, and lumps are gone.

-add chips into the mix & pour the mixture 

into a greased 9x13-inch baking pan

-bake for 40-45 minutes. let cool.

-frost them up & eat!

In my bakers opinion, this recipe was definitely good, for a 

rich, red velvet, chocolate cake recipe... 

but the consistency was certainly not a brownie-esque.

It was actually more crumbly & messy then I had anticipated. 

None-the-less, it was delicious! just not as I expected.

Next time I'll take the long route and go from scratch, 

or just follow the recipe on the box as-is and make a super simple. 

Thanksgiving Hungarian Stuffing.

Most Hungarian stuffing recipes aren't exactly precise 

with the amount of ingredients and neither is this one... 

But this should get it done.

Ingredients:

1 medium red onion

6 - 10 ribs of celery

1 stick of butter

1 cup of water

1 loaf of white bread

salt & pepper

bunches of parsley

lots of eggs (5-7)

Pre-heat oven to 350*

1: Chop up the celery & 1 medium onion, 

sauté with a stick of butter until the onions become translucent.  

(I usually use as much celery as they package together at the grocery store, without the leaves)

2: Add a cup of water to celery & onion to help it cool.

3: In a large separate bowl take the loaf of white bread and tear each piece into smallish pieces.  

They don't have to be super tiny.

4: Chop up the bunches of parsley. 

(again, I usually use the amount that comes packaged together at the grocery store)

5: Add parsley with celery and onion mixture to the bowl of bread pieces. 

6. I use about 5 eggs, but my grandma uses like 7.  

I guess it's up to you, but 5 seems to do the job.

Crack the eggs into a separate bowl & beat them together.

Pour the eggs into the bowl with the bread, parsley, celery & onion.

7. Add salt & pepper.  I usually just toss some in, but approximately 1 tsp. of salt

& 1/2 a tsp. of pepper.

8. Now mix everything together with your hands.

NOTE: This will get messy.

Mush it all together until all of the ingredients seem  to be evenly distributed. 

9.  Spread mixture evenly into an un-greased 8 1/2 by 11 baking pan.

OR put it in a bird. Depending on preference. 

10. Bake at 350* for 30 - 35 minutes. And you're done!

I paired my stuffing with...

an english muffin made from corn,  

with honey roasted turkey, 

Muenster cheese and 

apply cranberry chutney 

pressed in my panini maker.