Lion's Heart Bakery

The very first time!

2011-09-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

When I was in high school we had the option to go to vo-tech. I joined the Food Prep program in our vo-tech. I knew then I wanted to be a chef. Unfortunately, as the story goes, I ended vo-tech after my junior year because of pregnancy and joined the general education program at the high school. Anyway, Food Prep is where I learned a great many many skills that I still use to this day. I learned how to debone chicken breasts, (without a knife) as well as how to decorate cakes.

When I moved out of my mother's home at 18 I started my first (of several) home based baking business. I don't have pictures of many of the cakes I did, but I do have a few. I've always tried to make my children's' birthday cakes, with a rare exception here and there I succeeded.

Okay, I am going to give a warning, the early cakes were not that good. But at $8 a cake who's complaining?

This was done for Merissa's Baptism. Mind you, I was 17 here. God what awful hand writing!
I wasn't going to confess this, but I suppose I should. When I made this cake a few weeks after Merissa was born, I misspelled her name on the cake. That's really why her name is written so poorly. I
originally spelled it Merrisa. My brother asked me if that was spelled right. Oops! I should also point
out that the icing was the pre-made stuff in the decorating containers. There's a story behind that one too!

Obviously for a baby shower, unfortunately this may have been for my own,
I can't be certain. I don't think it was but you never know.

Well this is pretty self explanatory.

Someone ordered a Halloween cake.

and a Christmas cake

Someone ordered a cake for their son

Another order

Merissa's 3rd Birthday

Merissa's 4th Birthday

An order for people at work

Gentry's 1st Birthday (my oldest son)

Merissa's 5th Birthday

Tyler's 1st Birthday (my youngest son)

I don't have a picture handy of Avery's 1st birthday cake. I will find it and post it. Hopefully you can see the improvement of the cakes as the years go by. Character cakes were extremely popular in the mid 80's. The only real way to decorate them (at that time) was to use the star tip method.

I am in the process of developing film that has sat undeveloped for many years. If I come across more of my work I will certainly post them.

To give you an idea to how long ago the cakes were done, Merissa will be 29 in December. Gentry is 24, Tyler is 17 and Avery is 9.

I was going to say its embarrassing to post the pictures of stuff I've done so long ago, but I'm not really. I improved and still love doing it. Its interesting, thinking about this just now. I would tell those people that knew when they were younger what they wanted to be when they grew up that I envied them. I thought I never knew what I wanted to be. I became a nurse out of fear (thats another story) and while there are certain aspects of it that I enjoy, I don't like being a nurse as a whole. I never wanted to be a nurse. I knew that. I have believed for more than 20 years that God puts you on a path. If you make decisions that veer you from that path He will eventually put you back on that path. God put me on the path of chef/baker/cake decorator whatever you want to call it, when I was 13. I am 46 now. It has taken me 33 freaking years to get put back on that path. Either I'm slower than I realize or He's extremely busy! Seriously, this just proves that He won't forget to guide you, even if you forget.

Random Treats

2011-09-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

While we're finishing up packing and moving I thought I would share with you some of the various baked goods I've made in the recent past. Come back tomorrow and I'll show you some really old work!

Some of these pictures were taken with an old phone. Please excuse the poor quality of the photo.

Sunflower cupcakes! That's an Oreo in the center and an M&M as a lady bug!

Easter cake! Vegetables are made with Marzipan, dirt is cookie crumbs.

Spaghetti cupcakes. The icing is peanut butter icing, with Almond Rocher
candy as meatballs, and sugar free cherry jam as the 'sauce' giving you
a Chocolate Peanut Butter and Jelly cupcake!!!

Butterflies made with chocolate

I was trying the bug design

Some of these pictures were taken with an old phone. Please excuse the poor quality of the photo.

There are books out there with these creations. I was trying different kinds just to see how they would do. Its a lot of fun and very easy to do!! Try it!

Gingerbread house

2011-09-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

I know its not Christmas time yet, but I was organizing the pictures on my computer when I came across some pictures of food that I did a few years ago. I wanted Avery to see how a gingerbread house was made. We set out to do it. Winco, a discount grocery store in Washington, sells some candy in bulk - that's where we headed!!

I don't have pictures of making the gingerbread dough or how I cut out the pieces. Essentially you roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1/4" then place templates on top and cut them out with a knife, then bake. As opposed to cutting them out after they're baked.

Using Royal Icing as glue between the pieces

You just have to hold them together long enough for it to hold

This looks like a garage, maybe next time I'll do it that way.
I guess this is a colonial style house with a den or something.

Attaching the roof!

Damn pans are warped!

I used royal icing and candy, peanuts, pretzels and frosted mini-wheats for the
shingles on the roof. The frosted part makes it look like snow.

Avery enjoyed creating a house of candy!

The chimney

Can you see the 'wood pile'?

I think we were bombarded by M&Ms!

This was a fun project to do together. We had this out for a while, then throw it out! (After we ate the M&Ms!!)

Decorated cake

2011-09-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

My oldest daughter, Merissa, has a boyfriend named Nick. They've been together for 5 years or so and bought a house together. They also love this cartoon called "Invader Zim" (personally I have never watched this show) and one of the characters is named "Gir", as in Grrrrr. They named one of their dogs Gir (but I call it "bug-eyed rat!) So for Nick's birthday she asked me to make him a cake, she said she had asked this other person who works with fondant to make it but she felt she would rather have taste over appearance. Ummm, I suppose there's a compliment in there somewhere. Anyway, she wanted it to be a Gir cake of some sort.

Would you believe she wanted to come over that day to 'help' me? Puh-lease! I asked her, 'if you ordered a cake from a bakery would you go there to 'help' them?' Anyway, I looked at images online to see something I thought would be good to make. My youngest son, Tyler, gave me some pointers on what was characteristic Invader Zim images.

This was the image I used as a guide.

I also planned on using fondant and creating a 3D form of Gir.
This is melting the marshmallows for the marshmallow/rice krispie treats.

Avery sifting the flour for the cake.

I couldn't use regular cake pans because I wanted to cut the cake out in the
shape of the house, so I poured the batter into my cookie sheets.
I have learned I need cookie sheets specifically for cakes. They really
do warp! Thank goodness I planned on cutting the edges off anyway!!!

This picture was when I remembered I needed to take pictures of what I'm doing!!
This was four layers. I cut each of the sheet cakes in half, then layered them on
top with peanut butter icing in between each layer. Because you can't color
peanut butter icing properly I also made regular buttercream icing.
I crumb coated the cake before putting the final layer of icing on.
The pipes or whatever it is that's coming out either side of the house
were pieces of cake, then crumb iced and attached to the house with more buttercream.

This is Gir. Rice Krispie treats covered in fondant. The eyeballs
(which look like boobs to me) were small balls of the rice krispie treats, as
well as the arms. I used toothpicks to stick these pieces into the larger piece.
The arms are resting onto of the color bottles waiting for the icing
to dry. These were removed at my daughter's house.

Top view before it was finished.

At their home.

I didn't have cake boards the size that I needed. So I cut a couple pieces of cardboard and wrapped them in aluminum foil. If someone was purchasing the cake I would not have done it this way. But because she wasn't paying me anything, well....I can be cheap on some things.

I also didn't want to ruin the look of the cake by writing Happy Birthday Nick on top of it. So I chose to write it on the board. The miniature cupcakes are one of Gir's favorite treates (the character, not the dog). Merissa also told be that Gir liked Tacos, but by this time I didn't care. Mini-cupcakes were easier!!

I had fondant that I bought from a private business. It really was bad. Crumbled, stiff, difficult to work with. I had my husband run to JoAnn's and get me some fondant there - SOOOOO much better to work with. One day I'll make it myself and see how that works. For right now though, this was good enough.

Needless to say, they loved it. I believe they were impressed by the cake. I wonder, do you suppose she got taste AND LOOKS?

Happy Anniversary!

2011-09-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

Today is our 10th wedding anniversary!

This is our real wedding cake! Orange cake with cream cheese frosting!

After the ceremony!

Our 'wedding' was a week later.

We really did have a 'real' wedding cake!

We wanted to get married on the exact time of the Autumnal Equinox - 9/22 @ 7:05 p.m. However, a friend/co-worker of Jeff's was also getting married on the same day, in Pittsburgh. I lived in Eastern Pennsylvania at the time. So we decided to get married on the day we wanted, but have a ceremony a week later where his friends and co-workers could come and not force them to decide which one they wanted to go to.

Happy Anniversary! I love you!! I look forward to the next ten years!!

Bread?

2011-09-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

That's what my mother-in-law said when she saw that I made my own bread. Bread? Are you branching out? No. I like making bread, its just been a while. On my husband's birthday he wanted pulled pork sandwiches. I thought wouldn't it be nice if we ate them on homemade rolls? Plus a loaf of bread for those that don't like pulled pork sandwiches (me).

First I mix the yeast with water and sugar.

Then I add the flour....

....to make it sticky and pull away from the sides.

I tried my dough hook, but I really don't like it. In my opinion,
it doesn't do anything for the dough. Just spins it around and around!

Turn it out on a floured surface

knead it for a while....

and a while more.

You may be asking yourself, 'why is there a picture of a stool here?'
Good question.... The answer is, because I need height to knead the dough,
otherwise my shoulders hurt and I don't get enough leverage on the dough.
Funny thing is, now don't think this is morbid, but when I worked in the ER and
I would have to perform CPR I'd have to yell for a stool to get enough leverage
on the chest to compress deep enough! Height challenged!!

When you get a smooth ball - after about 15 minutes of kneading

place it in a lightly oiled bowl turning over to cover the ball with oil on both sides.

Wrap with plastic wrap

Cover with a towel and put some place away from drafts.

Rise until doubled! (or so)

Punch down

to release the air

turn out onto a floured surface again and knead some more.

depending on the size of your dough you will want to divide the dough in half.

I lightly rolled out the dough and cut out the circles for the buns.

With the remaining dough I created a small round loaf and a french loaf with the other half
of the dough. Placed them on a cookie sheet that was sprayed with Pam then lightly
coated with cornmeal. Covered lightly with plastic wrap, then covered with a towel - placed
away from any drafts.

After about 30-60 minutes, I removed the wrap, sliced the loaves...

then applied an egg wash to the loaves and the buns. The next step is my
secret, I sprinkle sea salt on them. Oh my is that good!!

Bake for the appropriate time. Heaven in the oven!!

I've also used the same recipe but instead of all bread flour I used half the amount in whole wheat flour, then exchanged the sugar for molasses - two tablespoons. Mmmmm good stuff. With butter melting on the fresh made bread! The smells.... Lordy lordy!! You all don't know what you're missing!!

You can also use a bread machine to do all the dirty work for you, then turn it out onto a floured surface, shape how you want, then let rise again, then bake!

Pistachio Cake

2011-09-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

I believe I've mentioned this before, but in my family I let the birthday person tell me what he/she wants for their birthday cake. My husband generally enjoys all the cakes I make. Although I recently found out he wasn't a fan of the chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. But not because the it didn't taste good, he doesn't care for peanut butter icing. Each year he tries to go with something completely different. This year, as you could guess from the title of the blog, he chose Pistachio Cake.

Let me back up. My oldest daughter got me a cupcake cookbook for my birthday. This is where he found the recipe for Pistachio cupcakes. I didn't care for the icing that it called for so I created my own sour cream icing. Didn't taste too bad.

All the dry ingredients, including cardamom - which is what is on top.

A nice bowl of shelled pistachios!

Chop the pistachios.

Mix into the batter

Pour into cake pans. I used the 8" cake pans

Bake for appropriate amount of time. This looks burnt or
over done but that is due to the color of the batter.

Turn out onto a cooling rack.

Now I just want to say, this is NOT my typical cake. Usually
I take the time to decorate it. This was the sour cream icing.
After several trial and errors I came up with a good icing.
BUT I DIDN'T WRITE IT DOWN!!

Added more of the pistachios on the outside to try to make it look....interesting?

Not bad. Jeff liked it. I believe my mother-in-law liked it as well.

I'm happy to make whatever cake you want, however, that doesn't mean I actually have to like the cake. There are things I would change about the cake. I'm not big on nuts in my baked goods. I don't put nuts in brownies, or cookies. There's just something about the texture that I really don't like. Although, if I make baked goods that I don't like, then I won't eat them!!!

Yet another update!

2011-09-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

I want to extend my gratitude to all of those that check back with my blog. I have not forgotten about you!!!

Here is the most current information. I have been busy working and packing and preparing. We are getting the moving truck on September 28th. We have allocated 3 days to load and clean the house. I'm hoping it doesn't take that long since we've been getting rid of a lot of stuff. Hopefully we can leave a day sooner.

We rented our house. We have a 3 year lease! It's a couple in their early 60's, she's actually 62 and is a nurse at the same hospital I do agency work for. They want the house for 3 years because she will retire then and then they'll move back to Omaha, NE.

We plan on being at my sister's house around October 5th. Then we leave Avery (my youngest daughter) with my sister and drive down to Huntsville, AL and put our stuff in storage. Then head back to my sisters, (it's a 3 - 3 1/2 hour drive) for the weekend. My niece's birthday is 10/10, my sister is having a birthday party for her. No, I'm not making a cake!!

We don't have a house yet, so we will be camping until we do. Which won't be too long. I do enjoy camping and I am hoping the weather will still be wonderful!! I will have my laptop with me so I can update you all on what's going on!! Until then I will try to leave you some blogs of what I've been doing, so check back often!!

Didn't forget!

2011-08-17T23:45:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to give you all a quick update to what is going on. I haven't posted in a while, I apologize for that. That doesn't mean I haven't been creating!! I've got goodies in store for you!

I've also been getting ready for a tremendous yard sale! We have been going through every room and getting rid of anything we can. If we haven't used it in a year and it's not sentimental - get rid of it! We plan on moving in the very near future and were having a difficult time figuring out where we want to move to. In the meantime we are packing and cleaning out. Now, we're not packing everything, just everything we don't need. All of our books are packed (with a few exceptions). I think last count we were at 34 boxes of books! That's worth the space in the truck. We've been selling stuff on Craig's list, and now we're having a 3 day yard sale, WITH a lemonade stand and baked goods. We make fresh squeezed lemonade, which I'll be documenting. Also I'll be making the candied lemon peels, why not make the most of it???

I will be back next week with more postings.

Oh, we are 99% sure we're moving to Alabama!! Everyone is so excited! Including AVERY!! YAY! She's excited because she'll get to visit her aunt more often (her words). STAY TUNED!!

Ice Cream Cake

2011-07-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

For my children's birthday I give them the choice for their cakes. My oldest always gets the chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. Both of my sons always choose the ice cream cake. My youngest daughter changes it up, but for the past two years it has been the ice cream cake. Other years its been chocolate and sometimes vanilla.

Well, this year for my son's birthday he chose the ice cream cake. It's a delicious cake - of course - and very easy to make. And, yes I will give you the recipe.

The ice cream cake actually doesn't contain cake. The crust is made out of Oreos, then layered with ice cream, then the chocolate sauce, then the whipped topping.

The recipe:
1 lb of Oreos
2/3 c butter, melted.
1/2 gallon of vanilla ice cream - softened
4 oz sweet German chocolate
1/2 c butter
2/3 c sugar
2/3 c evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 lg container of Cool Whip
Pecans (optional)

I should warn you - I never follow a recipe exactly. For instance - the original recipe doesn't actually call for a whole lb of Oreos. It actually calls for 24. But what fun is that? So if I increase the amount of Oreos, then by rights I should increase the butter that I'm going to pour over the Oreos. The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of butter at this step. But if you have more Oreos - then you need more butter.

I place the Oreos in a plastic bag before I crush them. These happen to be double stuffed Oreos. I actually didn't intend on getting those. And it is mandatory that you try one or two, or three, before crushing. I mean, you have to make sure they're fresh right?

After beating with a mallet.

Pour them in a 9x13" pan

Pour the melted butter over the Oreos, mixing well to ensure all the Oreos are wet with the butter. Here I actually had more butter than needed, because the Oreos were fewer in number due to the double stuffing. And possibly because there were just fewer in number as well!

When you have spread the Oreo/Butter mixture evenly place in a freezer to freeze.

Take your 4 oz of Sweet German's Chocolate - I use Baker's brand - place it in a sauce pan along with your butter.

Melt together. Then add the sugar, evaporated milk, vanilla and salt, stirring well to combine.

Bring the chocolate mixture to a boil, then reduce and continue to cook another 5-10 minutes, until thickened.

While the chocolate is cooling, remove the Oreo crust from the freezer, spread the softened ice cream evenly over the crust. You can use a spatula or your hands or both.

Usually I leave out the ice cream when I start crushing the Oreos. While the recipe calls for plain vanilla ice cream we use different kinds. My son want cookies n'cream ice cream this time. Sometimes we use 1/2 gallon of vanilla and 1/2 gallon of something else - then spread each 1/2 gallon on half the pan.

Place the ice cream/crust back in the freezer to re-freeze. The chocolate takes sometime to cool.

Once the chocolate is cool, remove the ice cream pan from the freezer and pour the chocolate mixture over the ice cream layer.

Spread evenly. If you don't I guarantee you there will be a fight in the house about who has more chocolate in their piece!! Return to freezer to re-freeze.

Once the chocolate has frozen (maybe 30 min) spread the cool whip on top. Return to freezer. At this point you're finished.

You can color the cool whip if you'd like for different effects.

This year my daughter wanted her cake to be a forest with wild animals. She would not allow me to decorate the cake with icing, but rather requested the toys.

Last year she wanted a dolphin theme so the cool whip was colored blue for the water. (Those are Zinnia cupcakes in the background!) Again, no decorating!!

MMmmm, the chocolate has this chocolate caramel taste and texture to it!

You can use regular icing to decorate with, it turns out fine. I've found the butter cream icing and the rest of this cake doesn't taste as well together as you might think. Which is why I don't decorate it. I suppose you could use a whipped icing. Maybe I'll try that next time. For me this is an easy out... I don't have to decorate the cake!!

I hope you all enjoy this cake as much as we do. I've been making this ice cream cake for 24 years. I bought the cookbook in Russellville, Arkansas. It was one of those books that were made for fundraisers. This one was compiled by the Board of Parish Fellowship of St. John's Lutheran Church. The woman who submitted the recipe was Caroline Grenwelge.

Vacation part 2

2011-07-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

Camping wasn't the end of our vacation. We came back on June 26th, put everything away, did the laundry, then prepared for our next trip. We are going to California!

Mt. Shasta - I think

We left on June 30th to spend July 4th with some friends of ours in Benicia, CA. We arrived July 1st . We spent Saturday, Sunday and Monday with the Howe family! Beautiful house and great pool. I did get sunburned, which doesn't happen. Mostly because we don't have sun in Washington.

Avery cleaning the pool - she hates bugs!

Salted caramel - made treats for the Howe family!!

On Tuesday we went to Santa Cruz so my husband can visit his old stomping ground at UCSC! We went to the boardwalk in Santa Cruz.

Jeff and Avery on the Pirate Boat!

Tyler on whatever this thing is called.

On Wednesday we left the Howe's and spent the day in San Francisco. My husband lived several years there so we went on a tour of where he used to live. Explored Chinatown and the Italian section of the city (which are next to each other).

A 'real' Italian Market

Outside of the Italian Market

Chinatown!

Nobb Hill

I have to confess, I was the one driving and while I was driving normal for most of the time it became rapidly apparent that that wouldn't work. People kept blowing their horns, not necessarily at me but at people in front of me. Okay! Time to switch hats from Seattle driving to East coast driving!! At one point my son said, "SLOW down mom!!" WHOOO HOOO!! I love it!! (I know, bad example!) BUT - the horn blowing stopped!

Golden Gate Bridge

We decided we would take the coastal highway home. We stayed the night in Santa Rosa and took route 1 north to 101. Spent the night in Garberville so we could do the Avenue of the Giants. Then spent the night in Crescent City. The next day was Oregon, finally arriving home on July 9th, I think.

The following pictures are a few of my favorite. I took 691 pictures of this trip. It is so hard to decide which one was my favorite. Sometimes I changed the settings on the camera and took multiples of the same shot to see how different they would be.

That's a chocolate mustache on Avery!

This tree is falling over, not sure what is holding it up!

Obviously we stopped along the way home. I have the travel book on fiber and fabrics so we were able to stop at a bunch of towns and shop at the yarn stores. Some good, some not so good. The kids did fabulous! Being able to travel like we did, stopping when we wanted, was an excellent way to go. I recommend anyone to travel route 1 then 101. I have to say that 101 in Oregon wasn't that exciting. The coast of California and Oregon are amazingly different. Personally I prefer the coast of California.

The Redwoods through the Avenue of the Giants are gorgeous! It took all day to do the 34 mile route. Its very difficult to not take pictures of every single tree!! That is another trip everyone should experience.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures! Between my husband and I we probably have over 1000 pictures of our trip!

Chocolate covered crackers!

2011-07-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

A former friend of mine provided me with this recipe 23 years ago. While we are no longer friends I do love this recipe. It was a surprise to me to see that a couple of women were selling this product and the public was in awe of it! I thought "WHAT! I've been making that for 23 years!!" Or something to that effect.

Its a simple recipe really. 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of butter, 1 tsp of vanilla. Bring to boil on stove until the color is starting to change (approximately 5 minutes). Pour over a tray of saltines - salt side up, spread evenly.

I tried using this pan - yeah, not a good idea.

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Immediately after you remove the pan from the oven sprinkle 12 oz of chocolate chips on candied crackers. Wait a minute or two before attempting to smooth the chocolate.

Cover the pan with the chocolate. Let the pan come to room temperature before placing in the refrigerator to cool. The one thing I don't like about this treat is that it's very ADDICTING!!! Thank GOD I'm smart enough to give this stuff away!!

This is a good dish to make as a treat when you have the ingredients and your budget is tight. Doesn't cost much to make.

Happy Birthday to my son!!

2011-07-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

Today is my youngest son's birthday. He turned 17 today.

While most people can't stand their teenagers my son is very tolerable! He likes spending time with us and we like spending time with him. He isn't mouthy, doesn't have an attitude - most of the time - and a genuine kind soul. I don't meet many of those type of people so I'm very lucky to have produced (for lack of a better word) one of them!

While his younger sister has an attitude with him - A LOT - they still love each other (although Avery won't admit that)

He can be quite goofy!

Being together!

Sincere!

Independent

Gentle

sometimes a jack ass - oh wait, that's not him

This is from 3 years ago!

While he actually wanted to see The Nutcracker.

All my children!

Love you Tyler! Happy Birthday!

His favorite cake is the ice cream cake!

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

2011-07-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

A while back I asked for suggestions of things to make. I received two so far. The first suggestion I received was from Joyce - my mother-in-law's friend. She stated the best dessert she ever had was on a cruise ship, which she loved so much she ordered it every night. She wondered if there was a way to bake it in a microwaveable container to take home and heat.

I search for the right recipe. With the internet you can look for recipes and on a lot of websites it also has people's reviews of those recipes. I found one called "Molten Chocolate Lava Cake" which also explained how to prepare it in the microwave.

Ingredients:
6 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate
6 oz butter
3 eggs
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
butter for greasing ramekins

Part of Joyce's request was to bake it and be able to warm it up in the microwave. What I found was that this cake takes so little time in the microwave it would be better to sell raw, have the person take it home and microwave it themselves. The major difference in molten cakes from regular ones is in the way its cooked, as you want the center to be liquid.

Melt chocolate in microwave or on stove in a double boiler.

Then add butter, melt and combine.

In separate bowl combine flour and cocoa.

cool picture.

Mix eggs and sugar until it starts to 'whiten', then add chocolate mixture.

Add flour mixture and mix to combine.

The recipe calls for 6 ramekins, but I don't have the type of ramekins you should use. Instead I had these (which I use for my french onion soup). Because these are larger I only made 4 servings.

I even weighed them to make sure they were equal.

Before baking them, which the recipe offers two ways, in the oven or in the microwave. We were having company over so I thought - perfect time to see how they would be if they were kept a while before microwaving. I wrapped them in plastic wrap and placed them in the refrigerator for several hours.

I unwrapped them, placed the first on in the microwave for 1 minute. The recipe stated 2 minutes but check after 1 minute. Because I read the reviews, one 'reviewer' stated they microwaved theirs for 45 seconds I decided to start at 1 minute.

Apparently, 1 minute was too much. It was cooked all the way through. I don't think its because my microwave may be too strong. I tried 45 seconds, then 5 seconds more as needed. It was hard to tell if it was baked or not, the appearance of the cake didn't really change.

But my friends and family enjoyed it.

I was told it was very rich. However, microwaving them I had a difficult time creating the 'lava' effect. At the bottom of the ramekin there was some 'lava'. I would recommend a smaller portion size since this cake is very rich and a nice blob of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream!! I'll have to try this in the oven and see if it comes out differently. If you were going to bake this in an oven the temperature is 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Vacation part 1

2011-07-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know this is suppose to be a blog about my bakery. But don't bakers get to take vacations and brag about it?

Let's see.... where to begin? Well, we got back from Tennessee on June 19th, then my husband thought it would be a good idea to start the summer off with a camping trip. (oh joy.) We left on June 22nd to go camping near Waterville, WA. We were trying to look for a place that would be sunny but not too far of a drive. I love the coast but I love the sun more. The weather for the coast was to be in the 60's and either partly cloudy or with scattered rains. Okay - desert area it is!

Our campsite.

When we camp we have learned that we need two tents. One for the kids and one for us. Only because we end up bringing so much stuff, if we're all in one tent there's usually no place to put our stuff. This time we brought the two dogs. They were surprisingly great! The dog in the picture is Riggins!!

View from our campsite!

The campground was on Jameson Lake, which is about 50 miles northeast of Wenatchee, WA.

Fishing on Jameson Lake.

Supposedly great fishing.

Avery even went fishing - of course not with live bait! I'm not sure what she would have done had she caught anything!!

Doing the dishes!!

Riggins!

Fiona!

The true purpose behind this picture is for you to see the cars in the background. One major drawback on this camping trip was the fact that not many places had space availability for the entire time we wanted to be gone. This campground had space but put us smack dab in the middle of a family gathering. On Friday night the rest of the family of the campers across from us showed up. It was like camping in the ghetto! All the cars, the music, the commotion, kids hanging around the cars.... What was the point of leaving home?

Early morning torture!

I think this picture was taken on our second day. I say that because I'm still smiling! lol Seriously, we didn't take a shower the next day because believe it or not we forgot some things, we had to go into town. So I wore my husband's hat because I know - KNOW I had bad hair. It was for the protection of the other campers!

During the day the weather was nice. In the evening the wind picked up and at night it was extremely windy. It was unusual for the amount of wind that happened and it was very annoying. I didn't get much sleep the entire time I was there. By the time we left on the 26th I was exhausted! One time when I was making dinner the wind blew and blew our camp stove off the table with the potatoes I was cooking. Great.

Grand Coulee Damn

We did do some sightseeing. We experienced Waterville, not much there, then we went the opposite direction to Coulee City. Absolutely nothing there. When I say nothing, maybe I misspoke - we did find this:

Exactly! WHAT the heck is this?

Just cannot explain! *Shudders*

Hubby making the s'mores!

We had s'mores every night (I'm not a big s'more fan but I do love roasted marshmallows) but because of the wind we had to retreat into one of the tents to play any games. The kids were great, the dogs were great, too bad the weather at night was terrible. I was freezing. I slept with the sleeping bag OVER my head! Oh, just thinking about this again is going to bring back the nightmares!!!

Continuing.....

2011-07-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

Okay - soooo my sister helps keep me on track. I got a message from her today asking how the books are. Well.... I didn't read as much as I would have liked. Vacation was fun, what can I say? But I did learn some good stuff.
The "Home Baking for Profit" book is the one I started with. If I could give it a grade I would give it a C. The author is too into herself. There is a LOT about her and her self-worth according to her. She gives some good advice, the one I hadn't really considered was to make cookie dough, make their shapes (not necessarily cut out, could be spoon dropped or hand rolled type) then freeze. Now I know my sister will say..."I've been telling you that's what I do." But I will reply "Yes. But.... that's for your sugar cookie dough." Okay, I'm entitled to having brain farts! I'm sure anyone that knows me will tell you that I learn the hard way.
Anyway, some of the book doesn't pertain to me and some does. Then the last 3/4 of her book is recipes. I haven't tried any but they look promising. I don't know if I agree on some of her theories.

Here are some of her tips that are interesting:
For most often used ingredients leave a measuring cup or spoon in the ingredient container. (not sure I agree with this one. Sometimes the metal can react with the ingredients and alter the flavor. BUT if I was using it everyday that may make the difference in my opinion.)

If you're measuring a dry ingredient, simply tap the measure upside down after use or wipe with a cloth. These measures don't need washing after each use. Okay - THAT I can agree with.

To measure sticky ingredients, first pour a small amount of oil into the measure, then pour it out.

Make up dry mixes by pre-portioning ingredients and put them in labeled and dated plastic bags or containers.

Clean up as you go along.

To keep uniform sizes when cutting products, use a ruler or tape measure as a guide. (never really thought of that one!!)

This may be one of those books that would be good to get from the library, but don't waste your money on it. Unless you're looking for the recipes. When I try them, I'll let you know.

I haven't started the second book yet. Its on my list of reads for the summer.

Thank you sister for keeping me on track! I know that wasn't your intent but it was a good kick in the butt!!

One more thought on the Cottage Food Bill for Washington state - While it goes into affect on July 22nd, the rules still need to be written and committee still needs to be formed, and blah blah blah. Essentially it will be between 4 and 6 months before anyone can be licensed. Great. Back to the drawing board!!

Researching!

2011-06-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

Soon after we came back from the wedding in TN we left to go camping! The last day of school was Tuesday June 21st, we left on the 22nd. So I couldn't work on any projects, but in preparation for the absence from the kitchen I ordered a few business books, specifically geared toward home based food business.

While not all books are equal I suppose I need to take what I can and leave the rest.

These are the two books I will be taking with me on our next trip to California. We leave tomorrow (Thursday June 30th) and will be back in a week. Even though I'm away from home I will continue with the researching, reading and creating new ideas. Please, check back, leave more suggestions - so far I have two - I need more people!!!

The big question right now is; do I make something to take along???? I doubt it will get there safely, or at all.....

Harvey Wallbanger Cake

2011-06-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

I received two requests that I am working on. In the meantime I wanted to start this portion of the blog with one I received last year from one of my patients. This is in memory of him.

Colonel Will Holland's Harvey Wallbanger Cake

This gentleman knew how much I liked baking, and he loved eating. One day he asked me to make him a Harvey Wallbanger cake. I knew Harvey Wallbanger was a drink but didn't know the particulars to the drink. He said his wife used to make it all the time and he had the recipe and some ingredients. He also included his bundt pan for me to use!!

These are the items he gave me to make his cake!

This is the expiration date of the cake mix he provided!!!

Thoroughly wipe shortening on the bundt pan, paying attention to the creases.

Flour the inside

Getting that center part was difficult

Mix the cake as directed

Yes, I used a cake mix, a yellow cake mix. Then added the orange juice et al.

Pour into prepared pan

Bake

Turn out on cooling rack

Pour glaze over the cake.

Now, you need to understand I am NOT a drinker. I'll have beer - and do not like many types of beer - Tequila I can do, but no other hard liquors. The cake part was good, the glaze....not so good. I did not give this cake to him for two reasons, 1.) I was sure the Galliano was bad, and 2.) he was in the hospital. I spoke with him about what I thought and he insisted Galliano does not go bad.

Okay, you asked for it. I made it for him. He invited 'the ladies' over (did I mention he was 89?) and had a 'tea party'. He LOVED it and so did the ladies. I did not like this cake. I think the Galliano made the icing too strong and taste really bad. I made a modified version of this for my husband's birthday. No alcohol, and the glaze I made with cranberry honey as the liquid.

Recipe:

Ingredients

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
5 fluid ounces Galliano liqueur
2 fluid ounces vodka
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour one 10 inch tube pan.
Combine cake mix and pudding mix in a large bowl. Blend in eggs, vegetable oil, 4 ounces Galliano, 1 ounce vodka, and 4 ounces orange juice. Mix batter until smooth and thick and pour into prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes then remove and place on cooling rack. Spoon glaze over cake while it is still warm.
To Make Glaze: Combine the remaining 1 ounce Galliano, 1 ounce vodka, and 1ounce orange juice with the confectioner's sugar and blend until smooth. Spoon glaze over warm cake.

To my friend Colonel Holland. You brought so much to my life in the short time I knew you. I know I told you this before but you reminded me of what my father would have been like. I love you!!

I'm BACK!

2011-06-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

Whew! What an adventure! My sister is very organized and loves to keep lists, but there's one very important part of keeping a list and having help - SHARE THE LIST!!!

The wedding was beautiful! But there was more to it than just the wedding. My sister prepared for everything. When I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING!

I arrived on Tuesday evening. We went to eat and then back to the house. That was THE rest period for the trip!!

Wednesday, we got more stuff together, Avery swam twice. Of course she had to wear BOTH bathing suits!

We had dinner with the Groom's cousin (Best Man). It's a fading memory that's for sure.

Finished the guests baskets.

These are the scones my sister made for the guest baskets. She also made jam to put in there as well!

Thursday - guests baskets delivered to hotels, the rest of the groomsmen came to town from New Hampshire - took them to dinner. This is a place called "5 Guys". Good hamburgers and fries!! Boxes and boxes of peanuts to eat while you wait for your food!. In the picture is Patrick - the groom - on the right and Josh - best man and his cousin - on the left. Would you believe Josh lives about 10 miles from me?

Friday - Bridal Luncheon. Bridesmaids received their gifts.

Delicious food. Salad on left and a chicken stuffed with cheese, mashed potatoes and I don't remember what else.

Yarrick (I don't know if that's spelled correctly) our server!!

All of us!

Next up was manicures and pedicures. This is my daughter Avery. She went with the girls - without me.

Avery on the left, my niece Molly on the right.

This was the time set aside for the parents of the bride and the bride and groom to exchange wedding gifts.

Prepare for the rehearsal dinner.

Shanna and Patrick making mean faces at each other. Okay - that's not really helping here.

Josh on the right cleaning up the garage and driveway!

The center pieces for the rehearsal dinner.

On the left are the hot dog baskets. My sister finally confided that she bought them because she really wanted them and used the wedding as an excuse to buy them!!
On the right are the Chinese lanterns that needs to be hung!

Decorating the tent for rehearsal dinner.

On the left is my brother and sister.

On the right is my sister-in-law (brother's wife) and my sister's best friend.

Before people started to arrive!

Rehearsal!

Patrick holding his niece (flower girl) standing next to the bride's dad!

My daughter Avery on the left.

Patrick

Bride and her father!

Shanna and Patrick

Rehearsal Dinner!!

My sister-in-law made all the desserts except the cupcakes. No, I didn't make the cupcakes.

I did make the orange and lemon peels!

This Kayla, although she kept saying her name was Dahlia or something. No one could understand her except her mom. This is Patrick's niece - flower girl. She was SOOO cute.

This 'happy' couple is my brother and his wife. I can say this because they won't look at my blog. Doesn't this picture describe their relationship? Oh, let me tell you....sometimes people just need to agree that not every match is made in Heaven. This one is near the top of that list! All evening long and the whole reception this was their position. I really like my sister-in-law, not my brother.

Practice for the bow ties!!

My sister and Josh!

My daughter Avery and niece Molly catching fire flies!!

Thank you Molly for helping Avery with that!

Saturday - hair, make-up (3 hours later) pouring down rain!

Nadine (although her husband and everyone else pronounces it - Naaayy Deeean) she is also the mother of the ring bearer.

On the right is Lauren.

Molly on the left and Katey on the right.

Get them to the church - late, driving every one's cars so they don't get wet, getting dressed,

I love this picture of Shanna! She saw me taking the picture and didn't duck in the bathroom! Instead she made the face - joking around!! She's a character alright!!

My sister helping the bride get dressed!

Her husband helping the groom to get dressed!! lol

My daughter.

My niece Molly.

I love this dress! The details are beautiful!

The groom! Isn't he a cutie?

Finally - the wedding.

The worst part about all of this - I can't remember everything we did. But we did a LOT! It doesn't really seem like a lot when I write it out like this but let me tell you....it was busy. It rained two days when we were there. Saturday and Thursday I think. Maybe Wednesday. However, the rain stopped during the wedding so when they left the church it was mostly dried up outside!!

We had a wonderful time. Avery had some difficulties walking down the aisle and she was freaking out not wanting to be in the wedding because of it. Something happened from the rehearsal to the wedding that she agreed, stood in front of the front pew instead of walking down the aisle so she could just step up to her position. Then she returned to the front pew instead of walking down the aisle. She did a fantastic job despite being scared out of her wits!

My sister did a wonderful job organizing the wedding. She worked on this for a year and while her nerves were frayed she did an amazing job. She gave her daughter and son-in-law the best wedding experience that anyone could wish for. Patrick is a truly sweet man, not to mention good looking and well built, but he loves and adores Shanna and her family. As we all have a plate full of problems so does Patrick with his family, in particular his mother. For the second time in Patrick's life she walked out on him at the rehearsal. But this time he was welcomed warmly by my family. My wish for Patrick is that he never again has the feeling of need for his mother and can finally be free of all those feelings to be accepted by her. Patrick - my sister and her husband, her son love and cherish you. Not because you married into the family but because of who you are as a person. I'm proud you call me Aunt Louise.

OH and I forgot - here are some pictures from the photo booth that my sister had at the reception!! (as I sit here blubbering...)

Molly and Avery on the left.

Avery on the right.

The rest of the pictures are either Avery alone or with me!

Suggestions!

2011-06-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Well we got here safely and Avery is having fun meeting my family. She has never met anyone on my side of the family. This will definitely be a bit overwhelming for her. She is a Junior Bridesmaid.

While we are having fun and preparing for the wedding I have a project for you.

I've been thinking - I want my blog to stand out from all the others out there. I've read a lot of blogs lately and none have done what you want. I want your suggestions on what to bake. I'll research it, bake it and blog about it. And I'll have people taste the final product. (yes dear, you will be a taster!!) But not just my husband and family. I want your ideas to come to life.

So.... while I'm gone I want you to think about different desserts you have had a relationship with. Those that when you think of a place you remember the dessert, or a memory that included that one special treat that you would love to have again. Or even an idea that you've had or just thought of.

You can email me privately or put it as a comment. My email is LionsHeartBakery@gmail.com.

I will take you on the journey of making the product. Who knows, maybe I'll even mail you a sampling of the product or have you come over to taste it yourself!!

Please, let your imaginations run wild!! I'll be back on Monday June 20th.

My sister will be posting her wedding preparations on her own blog if you are interested in her journey (for the past year) after the wedding. Her blog is http://accomplishedwoman.blogspot.com/. I will include pictures when I come back!!

Baking Pantry

2011-06-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

I am leaving today, actually by the time this blog posts I will be on a plane to Tennessee for my niece's wedding. She is getting married on Saturday June 18th.

This is Shanna and Patrick.

So today I am sharing with you my baking pantry. Really, its just a closet.

Unfortunately, that is not all of the stuff I have for baking. I have another closet around the corner. The point here is that while it looks disorganized, it isn't.

I had so many cookie cutters that I just had them in bags stored places. Too many places actually. I couldn't tell what I had and what I didn't have. So an idea hit me. I needed something to organize the cookie cutters, not use up a lot of space, functional, versatile and cheap.

The back of the pantry door was just wasted space. So I made this.

It runs the entire length of the door. The top I sewed ribbons on which hold multiple cookie cutters, then I created pockets to hold more cutters. The top portion of this holds my Christmas cookie cutters. Then the lower rows holds, animals, flowers, Easter, Halloween, landmarks and Princess cutters. The very top has four ribbons in a row that hold my silicone sheets.

My pantry holds my Kitchen Aid, sugars and grains, (minus the 50 lb bag of flour, confectioner's sugar and granulated sugar that are in separate containers around the corner), the next shelf holds the chocolates, milks, extracts, peanut butter filling, salt, etc... The next row holds the decorating sugars and extra cookie cutters that I actually ran out of space on my organizer, baking chocolate. Then I have a bread maker and my cake decorating supplies.

Well it may not look that organized but I know where everything is. I can't wait to be able to put this where I can see everything someday!!

Candied Orange Peels

2011-06-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

I can't think of which show I saw these on to save my life! They were talking to this woman who makes them in her Bed & Breakfast I think, or was it her cafe'? I have no idea. But I remember thinking, as I always do, I can do that! Yes. Yes I can. I did.

During that show I remember her saying that she soaks them over night, and she does it twice. Well, when it came time to make these I couldn't remember what she did twice and what she did overnight. I looked up recipes for Candied Orange Peels but couldn't find any that said to soak in the sugar syrup overnight or to boil them twice in the sugar syrup. So. I did both!!

First, you take the peels off the citrus fruit. Orange, Lemon, Lime, even Grapefruit. I did Orange, obviously and I wanted to try Lemons.

The way I did it I quartered the fruit, then with my thumb I got underneath the fruit, inbetween the peel and the fruit. When I have a chunk of the fruit free I pulled it off the peel.

Next I sliced the peels.

Placing them in a bowl.

You must blanche the peels several times to get the bitterness out. I did that twice for the oranges and three times for the lemons.

Next you will place them in a sugar syrup.

Cooking until tender and transparent - approximately 40 minutes. This is where I actually made the sugar syrup then left them in the pot overnight. In the morning I boiled them until done.

After they were finished in the sugar syrup - I learned from the last time not to take them out too early because they will dry too fast to roll in the sugar.

Instead of transferring the orange peels to a rack I wanted to see what happens when I transfer them immediately into a bowl of sugar. Toss to coat with sugar.

Transfer to a rack to dry.

They look like french fries.

Melt the dark chocolate and put in a container that will be deep enough to coat half a peel.

Then start dipping!

My mother-in-law came over for dinner and was helping me dip some peels!!

Its the only way to get the action picture!!

Transfer to parchment paper to dry. I tried drying on a rack but the chocolate gets stuck to the rack and it makes it hard to get the peels off the rack in one piece.

I'm taking extras to my sister, took some in to my hair salon and we ate some! I keep forgetting to take pictures of the final product!!!

Yum!! My mother-in-law went with me to Seattle to go to the Chef Shop where I get my salt and cocoa. There was a bag of....Candied Orange Peels from France. Well there was more than just one bag but you get the idea. Anyway I asked how much they were. For 7 ounces it was $11.99. Hmmm maybe I should develop a french accent? Oui?

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2011-06-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

This potluck picnic we went to on Tuesday evening I made the Salted Caramel Brownies and Red Velvet Cupcakes. I don't know if I mentioned that these people, for the most part, have already had my Salted Caramel Cupcakes so I wanted them to try something else. So much to choose from.

My husband loves my Red Velvet Cupcakes, and I've been told that I make the best Red Velvet Cupcakes ever! So why not?

What is Red Velvet cake exactly? I once thought it was chocolate cake with red food coloring. Other people think it is a yellow cake with red food coloring. Actually, it is a specific recipe that calls for a hint of cocoa, an acid - like vinegar - that reacts with buttermilk. This reaction caused the red pigments in the cocoa to be more pronounced which gave it the red coloring. Now that we have dutch processed cocoa we still want the red color so we add it artificially.

I use an ice cream scoop to measure the batter and place in the cupcake holders. I love it!!

After baking I remove from the cupcake pans and place on a cooling rack to await their cream cheese icing!

I no longer make cream cheese icing like I used to. My husband couldn't taste the cream cheese as well so he had me add more cream cheese to the icing. My thought was to thicken the icing by adding more powered sugar. He thought it was too sweet and hid the cream cheese flavor. So now when I make this I usually ask him to taste it, however today I was by myself. (A truly glorious time!!!) With his critiquing in mind I prepared this cream cheese icing and did not wait for him to come home before applying it to the cupcakes.

Its hard to take pictures and try to make the food look appealing. So you can see the texture or the thickness of the icing. Thick enough to stay, but not thick enough to hold a design.

I place the icing in a large pastry bag. Because I can't put a design on the cupcakes with this icing I don't bother with a tip.

I put a little swirl on the cupcakes.

I'm not sure what happened that caused me to swirl the icing around with my finger (clean of course) but I decided to do that to all of them. They look cute!! Then I sprinkled them with a very pale blue sugar sprinkle (in the first picture).

So we get to this barbecue and head to the table holding the food, when I see another serving platter of....Red Velvet Cupcakes!! OMG!!! So, what was I to do? I placed mine down next to them, with my brownies in between, and walked away. Would you believe my son came to the table with one of HERS? The horror. I told him, "go ahead, eat it! You're walking home." He had no idea he took one of the other ones. Well, let's just say that I had a taste, he tasted it, my husband tasted it and my daughter tasted it.....and there was still a quarter of it left that no one ate! Now THAT's a sign of a bad cupcake!!

Everyone loved the cupcakes and brownies. Many people asked my husband if 'those' (pointing to mine) were he wife's cupcakes. At least the word is getting out that my cupcakes are indeed delicious!!

Sifters!

2011-06-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

Even though I've been baking for more than 30 years it continually amazes me how much I learn.

Who would think sifters were that big a deal? Do you remember these?

Imagine sifting a large amount of flour with this. I remember using one of these for one cake, my hand would get tired real quick!

When I went to go looking for a sifter I knew NOT to get one of these!! But they were everywhere!!

I looked many places to find a sifter that I would like, but there really aren't that many kinds. I found this one.

Yes, its dirty. However, the screw on 3 cup holder, while I nice idea, is really impractical. The only way to get flour level would be to tap the edge of this cup - thus causing you to undo everything you just did. I don't use that part. I also don't use the screw on fine screen either. I love this sifter. It's quick, easy and cranks very nicely. Only one problem - it doesn't hold that much flour. I have not found one larger in this type of sifter. This one cost me approximately $15. No bad.

My big problem with this one is - what do I do after I've sifted the flour and now I want to sift the confectioner's sugar? These are hard to dry. Solution - get another sifter. I got this one - same principal as the red one. Has a crank, its larger, has the screen, what more do I need? And it cost less than $11. Unfortunately, you get what you pay for. That is so true here. I don't like this sifter. The crank is stiff and odd as this may sound it is not as quick as the other. I don't know why and I can't explain it.

You may be asking yourself "why is she sifting the confectioner's sugar?" Because there are lumps in the sugar most of the time. Sifting eliminates those lumps, therefore cutting in half the time it takes me to mix the icing.

When I decorate - whether it's cookies or cakes - whether it's royal icing or buttercream icing - nothing ticks me off more than when a clump of sugar gets caught in the decorating tip that blocks the icing or causes it to blob out of the bag!!

Until I find a better sifter these are what I have right now. I'm gonna look online right now! I'll keep you posted!

Sweet and Salty Brownies

2011-06-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

I think that's their 'official' name. I prefer Salted Caramel Brownies. We belong to "Border's Bucks" where you get discounts, coupons, etc... at Borders. My husband and I both love books so this works out great. Unfortunately he is of the mindset that because you have a coupon you must use it. Anyway, he had a great coupon (50% off) and was letting me use it. Nice of him, wasn't it? So I went looking for what I want to use it for. My opinion is, a book to read I can get from the library, a cook book or a knitting book or some other resourceful book of that nature I should buy. I looked and looked. I found too many that I wanted. I told my husband some of the books I wanted and unbeknownst to me he made a memo of this information for later use. Christmas time came around and guess what I got? This great book.

While looking through this book I decided I must make the Sweet and Salty Brownies. However because I already make my own caramel for the cupcakes I decided to use that caramel instead of making the caramel from their recipe. Now, I've made brownies before, but the box mix always tastes soooo good. Brownies are my husband's favorite treat! (Among many) This is the first made from scratch brownies that tasted better than the box.

My husband continually states that these brownies are the best that he has ever had. Coming from him I take that as a huge compliment. We have a picnic to go to and while I know everyone loves my Salted Caramel Cupcakes I wanted to bring something else as well. I made these (as well as Red Velvet Cupcakes which will be posted at another time).

First you melt dark chocolate with butter. Because I hate the clean up part, I put the chocolate and butter in the metal mixing bowl instead of another pot, over a pot of boiling water.

As the chocolate and butter are melting, in a separate bowl place flour, salt and cocoa, whisk together. If I haven't told you before I'll state it now, quality ingredients are essential. I bought this cocoa - dutch processed - Italian - delicious from a store in Seattle called Chef Shop, the same store that I buy the salt from. They also have a website called ChefShop.com, shocking I know. This cocoa really does add something wonderful to all my chocolate products!

After the chocolate and butter are melted together:

You are to whisk in white granulated sugar and brown sugar.
The picture below is after the sugars and after 3 eggs.

Next you whisk in two more eggs and the vanilla.

The final step is to fold in the dry ingredients, careful not to over mix.

Your baking pan is to be a 9x13 glass pan, butter the sides and bottom, lining the bottom with parchment paper. I highly recommend following this step! Just trust me on that one.

Spread half the brownie mixture in the pan, then spread the caramel sauce on - not allowing the caramel to touch the sides of the pan.

Pour/spread remaining brownie mix on top of the caramel sauce.

Bake

Voila - goodness in a square! You will LOVE these! I highly recommend buying this book, if not for this recipe, plus so many more that are fabulous. I just can't provide it here.