Have you ever had a London Fog Latte? Basically it's hot brewed Earl Grey Tea with steamed milk. Earl Grey Tea is so perfect though because it's flavors are subtle but complex; you get notes of black tea, bergamont, lavender and even a little honey. That with the creamy, sweet warm milk... boy. You've got a treat. What's more? Turn it into a cake you say? okay! Let's make this London Fog Cake together...
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If you like coffee and salted caramel, you'll love this cake. The cake itself is a fluffy vanilla-coffee flavored cake that we literally pour freshly brewed coffee into. It's pretty stinking good. Then we'll layer it with homemade salted caramel sauce and Buttercream that we've whipped our salted caramel into. Elaborate? maybe. Worth it? very.
If it sounds complicated, don't worry. I've got step by step photos to help you along the way Let's make cake together... My friend Becca from Happily the Hicks and Becca Sue Photography is pregnant with a little girlie! I can't wait to meet her and squeeze her. Her older brother, James had the most adorable nursery, and I'm expecting the same for her. Her's will be peach themed. When Becca told me that I just knew I had to attempt a Peaches and Cream Cake! Thankfully it turned out ridiculously great on the first try! It's so peachy and tangy ang moist and creamy! It certainly lives up to it's name and you definitely need to try it!!! Let's make cake together...
Salted Caramel can be cooled and cut into bite sized little chews, poured over a cake or brownies while warm, or whipped into a frosting. I've done it all three ways (and even put it in coffee and poured it over popcorn!). Caramel has a stigma as being really difficult to make, and this can certainly be true, but I've found this to be the easiest and most fool-proof way to make it. Even if you don't have a candy thermometer. I hope these step by step photos make it easy for you so that you can whip out salted caramel at a moments notice... cause.. a lot of moments need salted caramel. Let's make caramel together...
Cream cheese frosting is a ridiculously simple but completely necessary go-to. It's so freaking good. I don't really know what else to say about it except.. let's make it...
These brownies are so freaking good I don't even know how to explain them. Like there's no way I can do them justice. They're thick, they're not really fudgy or cakey, they're somewhere in between. This technique I got from a Tasty video but I've changed up the recipe a bit. I used dark chocolate chips in the brownies and then topped them with Espresso Chips but you can use any combination of chocolate chips to suit your taste. Let's make brownies...
Do I really need to say much to get you on board here? They're squishy, sweet, pumpkin-y with warm fall spices. I mean, hot, freshly fried dough covered in a glaze... what's not to want? The only "problem" is that they taste best fresh. So there's you're excuse to throw self-control out the window. Let's make Pumpkin Doughnuts together...
Texans have some insane pride. I honestly don’t know why. Like, what’s so great about Texas? It’s hot, it’s definitely one of the least pretty states, it take FOREVER to get anywhere, and we get tornados. So really, someone tell me why Texas is so great. I’m a born and raised Texan but I still don’t get it. The more places I travel the more I don’t get it. Since I live in Texas that means it’s 100° in the Fall. Yay! So that means no campfires, no warm fall treats, no making S’MORES. I actually didn’t used to like s’mores. Or marshmallows. But I’ve turned a new leaf and the other day ALL I could think about was how much I wanted a s’more. More specifically I wanted the bite of graham cracker and chocolate. Cause that’s the best part. After crying over the fact that s’mores wouldn’t be a reality till late December or January... I found another way. I decided to take a Rice Krispie Treat and turn it into s’mores. I’m sure something like this already exists, but I’d never tasted one or tried to make one before. So I set out and did it. And they’re dangerous. Jeremy and I ate half the tray in one day. So then I took the rest to my parent’s house and they were gone in minutes. They’re SO good. These are definitely the solution when you don’t have the means to make s’mores. So let’s make s’mores bars together...
Squishy pumpkin cake layered with Cinnamon Cream Cheese and topped with Streusel. What’s not to love? This fall recipe is not what I’d call healthy, but there are way worse things to eat... I mean, at least it has pumpkin in it. This coffee cake is soft and perfectly spiced, great for a sweet breakfast or a coffee date with friends. Let’s make coffee cake together...
Yay for pumpkin and yay for fall. I can't wait to not sweat every time I walk out of the door. Crisp air and warm baked good. Ah, I can smell it now! Oh, wait... it's these Pumpkin Bars I smell. These bars are so good. They're pumpkiny, spicy (in the good way), they're honestly rather healthy, they can super easily be Gluten Free, they're soft, warm and perfect with a cup of coffee and a book, or for a quick breakfast/snack when you're in hurry. You should make them. Let's make them together...
If you follow this blog then you know I love Becca from Happily The Hicks. Recently her son turned ONE and she asked me to make his cake! James loves blueberries so I took on the challenge of creating a blueberry cake. And this is how it turned out. My very favorite part is the color of the actual cake. It’s so cute. Not purple. But an adorable blue. And I didn’t need food coloring to achieve it. Just blueberries. James loved the cake. I covered it with vanilla butter cream so that it could be white, but Becca and I both agree that blueberry buttercream would be the way to go! So... let’s make cake together...
This is for those times when you want a totally homemade dessert but you don't want to take the time to make an entire apple pie... all that peeling and slicing and don't get me starter on the baking time. This dip is creamy and fluffy and full of all the flavors of an apple pie. It's easy to store and therefore easy to make ahead of time. Plus, serving it with hot fresh Pie Crust Bits make it to die for. Such a good dessert for entertaining! You can easily whip up the dip and have it in the fridge and you can prep your pie crust (rolled and cut up) and have it in the fridge just until your guests come, then pop them in the oven so you can serve them as they should be. The bonus is that your house will smell like fresh baked pie but it literally took a fraction of the effort. But I promise you this is every bit as decadent as apple pie. Let's make dip...
Remember when Nutella and Red Velvet were all the rage? Is that still a thing? I never really got on that train. I remember in elementary school my dad bought us Nutella and tried to give it to us on toast. I think we ate it, but I'm pretty sure we were reluctant. The only way I've eaten Nutella that was memorable was on a toasted Eggo waffle haha. Literally, it was so good. I just love Eggo waffles anyway, but the Nutella made it so much better. But this post isn't about waffles. It's about cookies. Obviously. I know there are some serious fans of red velvet and Nutella still out there so I made this for you. I wanted a cookie that was thick without being too cakey, and that had legitimate chocolate flavor. Also it needed to have as much Nutella as possible in the center. These cookies are soft and fluffy and are bursting with gooey Nutella. Let's make cookies together...
These are perfect for the person who doesn’t like their sweets too sweet. I looooove them. I even keep some in the fridge and eat them for breakfast! Yum.
Let’s make cookies together... What the heck is a Galette? Basically just a free form pie. It's really easy to make because it's meant to be rustic so it's okay if you're not good with shaping crust or filling pies. This buttery crust is easy to make in a blender or a bowl and the recipe for that can be found on this post. Another plus is that it's super fun to make them into little personal galettes. I'm picturing having friends over for dinner and serving them each a cutie little pie with a scoop of ice cream on top. So cute. So yum. Let's make peach pie...
This is a sad post because it's the last part in our Happily The Martinez Peaches Four Ways series. Be sure to check out her posts on how to use these tasty summer peaches we've got.
Today, we're talking Popsicles. Which are rather underrated. Well, at least I underrated them. They're so stupidly fun to make cause there's almost nothing to it. Especially when we're thinking about fruit. There are endless options for mixing and matching or just keeping it simple. When I think Popsicle I think creamy and fruity. So that's what we're after. A blend of creamy peaches and strawberries. But layering them makes them all the more fun! I know it's a bit different than my typical rich and decadent desserts, but when it's hot and you're poolside, you don't want rich and decadent; you want light, fresh, flavorful and cold. So let's make popsicles together... I'm honestly amazed. I've tried a couple different kinds of Gluten Free flour before and all of them were pretty obviously GF. Like, the dough would be way stiffer than normal or just not work at all. I've heard a lot of good things about Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 GF Flour before, so I decided to give it a go. And I'm SO pleased with how these cookies came out. I'm not GF, but I have a couple friends who are, so it's nice to be able to bake things for them too. Because, let’s be real. I think baking is my love language. Anytime something happens to someone I think, "oh, what should I make them?" This flour is a 1 to 1 substitution for all-purpose flour. Which is great cause you don't even have to think about it. You can just naturally sub it into any recipe. While I haven't tried it in all my recipes, in theory you could make any of my recipes GF just by subbing this in. So now you're no longer limited. So, if you're not GF, you can still make these cookies, just use all-purpose flour instead! These cookies are soft, buttery, and FULL of sprinkles! I obviously chose to use red, white, and blue since the 4th is just around the corner but how fun is it that you can customize the sprinkles to match whatever it is you're celebrating (I'm thinking sports teams, school colors, princess colors...)
So, Let's make cookies together... As you may have noticed, I've recently dabbled in cake baking and decorating. I've gotta say, it's way more fun than I anticipated. Of course as any beginner in anything knows, you learn from your mistakes. so I've learned a few tips and tricks as I've gone and I thought I'd share them with you. These things are guaranteed to help you better decorate a cake! Probably even better than I do. Let's decorate a cake together...
These are dope. This is my favorite drink (chai tea latte with espresso) in cookie form. Little bit of coffee. Little bit of spice. A lot of yum. So soft, so chewy. YUM yum YUM. Okay, let's make Dirty Chai cookies together.
The real story is that I made these for Preslee because she absolutely loves Reese's and really just peanut butter in general. But after I made them she wouldn't even try them. But that's probably because she's 2 and doesn't know what's good (also she was sick so that's probably the real reason... poor girl) I still love her though and these cookies are still lovely even if she won't acknowledge them. They're chocolatey, chewy and gooey and fulllll of peanut-buttery goodness. Let's make some Peanut Butter Bomb cookies together...
Oh, these cookies are RICH. They are so insanely chocolatey, addictively chewy, and they have a nice little crunch from the cookie crumbles in the white chocolate chunks. If you're a chocolate fan, these are your cookies. Let’s make some chunky chocolate cookies together...
These cookies are chewy, soft, crisp on the edges, and full of warm yummy spices. If you've ever had a Chai tea latte then you can understand the flavor profile I was aiming for here. They taste almost like a snickerdoodle but with a bit more depth/complexity. They are SO good. When I was making these I accidentally put one more egg than I meant to... but I actually think they turned out better this way. I think that's what made them spread so much. If I were Alton Brown I'd know for sure, but I do know that these are yum and you should make them. Let's make Vanilla Chai Cookies together...
Yum. Lemon curd. Great for pie, great for yogurt, great for adding to frosting, great for filling doughnuts... I’m not sure what it’s not good for. I LOVE it. I wanna just eat it by the spoonfull. Tart and sweet and sooo lemony. Let’s make lemon curd together.
I came up with this idea sort of on a whim hoping to make a fun and creative cake flavor for my friend's wedding. It wasn't THE wedding cake, though, it was one of SIX cakes at the wedding. The second it cooled down I sliced off the top to taste it and I was SO happy. I really could have eaten the whole cake, plain, straight from the oven. Then my lovely friend Becca from Happily the Hicks asked me to collaborate with her with Lavender as the theme. Thankfully I’d just made this cake and had planned to top it with Honey Lavender Buttercream. Basically the stars aligned. Becca and I (aka #happilythemartinez) have made pure spring bliss and put it here and here to share with you. Obviously if you hate Earl Grey tea then this probably isn't the cake for you. But if you're looking to make a fun easy cake that will make you feel so fancy for saying you made it, then here we go. Let's make Earl Grey Cake together...
This frosting is creamy, floral and sweet. It goes perfectly with Earl Grey Cake (or I'm imagining a coffee flavored cake). Plus anything honey and lavender makes me think of my friend, Brooke; and anything that makes me think of her can't be a bad thing. So, let's make honey lavender buttercream together...
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