Fruit Pizza Bar

I had to use my cell phone for this pic I left my actual camera at home!

Smores Brownies

Owl Cupcakes

Outdoor Week: Orange Cakes

I really enjoy campfire food. Tinfoil dinners are one of my favorite things about camping. I'm so excited to have a fire pit in our backyard this summer. Now I can have real smores (not microwaved) whenever I want. The kids and I are also going to make plenty of orange cakes.

What you need:
Yellow Cake Mix (and all the ingredients to make the cake.)
1 Medium-Large Orange for each person
Heavy Duty Tin Foil

• Cut and save the top off each orange. About a half inch from the top.

• Hollow out each orange with a spoon. This is kind of like cleaning out a pumpkin before you carve it. You won't be using the fruit in this recipe so eat it now, save it for later or throw it away.



I had a super cute helper!

• Make the cake mix following the instructions on the back.




She was so proud of herself for using the hand mixer. I hope she doesn't get any ideas!


• Fill each hollow orange "cup" about 3/4 full.

• Put the lid back on top and double wrap in tinfoil. (Write your name on the foil with a Sharpie.)
• Place directly in the campfire and let them cook. After 15-20 minutes check to see if the cake is done. You can rotate them once or twice to help them cook evenly.
• CAREFULLY, remove the cakes from the fire with tongs.



The orange cakes weren't being very photogenic, but the few that I didn't burn tasted great!

• Eat right out of the orange with a spoon, you don't need a plate or bowl!

The flavor of the orange naturally seeps into the cake. They are delicious.

Have you ever made these? What's your favorite flavor combination? Orange with chocolate cake? Orange with lemon cake? I bet if you found a large lemon you could do this with a lemon cake too! Maybe a grapefruit and white cake. The possibilities could be endless!

Decorative Food



Source



I recently heard about this awesome food stylist, Amy Atlas.  I have seen some of her work before but never had a name to put with the designs.  If you haven't seen her arrangements yet go check them out.  She is amazing.  I love the simplicity and beautiful colors that make up her designs.

For the past nine weeks our Young Women's group has been attending finishing school classes.  It was so fun!  We had guest speakers talk to the girls about topics ranging from communication to hair care.  We even had a four course dinner prepared for them, so the girls could learn proper etiquette

I think the Young Women really liked it.  For week ten we had a graduation night.  We had the girls get into groups and do a skit about what they learned during finishing school.  I think they really learned a lot.  Then we gave them a diploma for completing the course.

Throughout the weeks we used a fifties theme to pull it all together.  At the end of our graduation night we had a dessert buffet.  We thought it would be fun to use Amy Atlas' style to make the dessert table super cute.  It was really easy to come up with the design.  We just decided on the colors we wanted to use and came up with desserts that coordinated.  We decided to use red, blue, green, and yellow.  Then to kind of pull it all together we made a fruit pizza. Do you remember the post I did with my favorite lemon recipes?  Well I volunteered for yellow. 

I am definitely going to use this method in the future when I am planning an event.  I love how the colors of the food stand out on the white plates.  Ours didn't turn out as cute as Amy Atlas' but they still turned out pretty good in my opinion.

Mothers Week: German Chocolate Cake

Is your mom like mine? The woman loves chocolate. I agree. I think anything but chocolate cake is pretty much a waste. My husband was sent a trial to a new magazine this month (Cuisine at Home) and it has a recipe for the most delicious looking chocolate cake ever.

I want to take just a second and tell my mom that I love her! She's the best mom ever. She gets me. She gets my humor when most people don't. Love you mom!

I have to tell you a funny story. Growing up my mom didn't bake a ton of things from scratch. She made cookies, but that's about all I can remember. (Not to say she didn't make more, I just have a really bad memory.) My best friend since middle school has an amazing baker of a mother. Her mother makes awesome bread. I went to their house once and she was making a cake from scratch. In all seriousness I asked if you could make a cake without a box. I legitimately had no idea. I'm so grateful for all the positive influences of mothers I have in my life.

When I made a cake from scratch the first time it was not good. It took a lot of work and wasn't near as good as a cake mix. I put the idea of cake from scratch away for a while. That is, until I saw this recipe.

German Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake

What you need:
3 c All Purpose Flour
2 c Sugar
1/2 c Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 t Baking Soda
1 t Salt
2 c Hot Water
3/4 c Vegetable Oil
2 T Distilled White Vinegar
1 T Vanilla Extract

Now I took pictures along the way, but I was using my stainless mixing bowls and was kind of in a hurry so the pics didn't turn out that hot. This cake was really easy so you don't really need many pictures, just go for it!

• Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8 inch cake pans.
• In a bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
• In a separate bowl mix together the water, oil vinegar and vanilla.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry. (Remember what happened in science class when you mixed vinegar and baking soda? Yeah that happens a little.) Whisk until just combined. There will be a  few lumps.
• Divide batter between your two greased pans.
• Bake 35-40 minutes, just until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Cool the cakes in the pans on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Then flip them over on the rack to get the pan off. Leave the cake upside down. This helps flatten the domed cake.

I made this cake for my husband. It was his birthday. (Happy Birthday Babe! I love you!) His favorite cake is German Chocolate. I don't love the coconut frosting like he does. If I can just toot my own horn for a minute, I made the frosting this time and TOOT TOOT, it was awesome! I found the recipe here. I think I get put off by making things from scratch because it will take too much time or it might not taste as good as something store bought. This one was so easy, quick and turned out great.

German Chocolate Cake Frosting

What You'll Need:

1 c Evaporated Milk

1 c Sugar

3 Egg Yolk beaten with 1 t water

1/2 c Margarine

1 t Vanilla Extract

1 c Chopped Pecans

1 c Flaked Coconut

• In a large saucepan combine evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, margarine and vanilla.
• Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick.
• Remove from heat and stir in pecans and coconut.
• Spread on cake while still warm.

Be sure to tell the mothers in your life that you love them!