"Frozen" Movie Cake Pops & Birthday Party

My sister Leah is a phenomenal party planner.  From birthdays to baby showers, weddings, & engagements - she sets the bar high.  When it comes to her kids, she pulls out all the stops.  This year my sister threw a joint birthday party for my niece Kaydence & nephew Quincey since their birthdays are only a month apart and they are still young enough not to care if they have to share.   The theme was "Frozen" because that it is my niece's favorite movie and because it was held at her favorite frozen yogurt bar, Yo-Mama. Guests were encouraged to wear their favorite "Frozen" movie character costume.  Kaydence made such a pretty Elsa, and Quincey played a perfect Olaf the snowman!

 Since my sister asked me to make cake pops for the occasion and take photos at the party - I thought I'd share them with you.  If you are thinking of throwing a "Frozen" movie theme party - hopefully this gives you some inspiration! 

My parents are such wonderful grandparents and they went above & beyond by dressing up as "Olaf" & "Olga" (aka: Mrs. Olaf - a character made up by them).  Kaydence & Quincey were so thrilled when they saw them walk in - it was a great surprise!  My dad kept rehearsing the line "I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!" - so cute! :) 

I loved that at certain angles Quincey truly looked like Olaf when you couldn't see his face - haha! :)  It was a great day spent with family and friends.  And at the end of the day...a very tired little princess was sad to go home...

Blackberry Coffee Cake

Anytime we visit Ryan's parents, there is bound to be a lot of good food there.  Usually we eat enough in one weekend that we shouldn't need to eat for a week...but then they send us home with even more food and it doesn't stop. :) One of my favorite recipes that my mother-in-law makes for us is this blackberry coffee cake.  I was almost scared to try to make it myself because I didn't want to ruin it - she makes it so well! 

It feels a little bit like eating dessert for breakfast....which I'm completely okay with. But it does have fruit in it - so that makes it healthy, right?  The other great thing is that these blackberries were hand picked by my mother-in-law!  She picks a ton of berries in the summer and then packages them up and freezes them...and she is kind enough to share the wealth.  So, thank you to my mother-in-law for the berries and this recipe!

Blackberry Coffee Cake                      

Makes 2, 9-inch coffee cakes

Dough

1 pkg yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

1/2 c. warm water (105- 115 degrees)

1/2 c. lukewarm milk

1/3 c. sugar

1/3 c. butter softened

1 tsp salt

1 egg

3 1/2-4 c. bread flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. If using bread machine, add ingredients directly to bread pan in order listed and mix on “dough” setting.

If not using bread machine:  Stir dissolved yeast with milk, sugar, butter, salt, egg and 2 c. flour.  Mix in remaining flour.  Knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 min.  Place in greased bowl, turn greased side up.  Cover and let rise in warm place until double - about 1 1/2 hours.  Dough is ready when indentation remains when touched.  

While dough is rising, prepare the berry filling and cream cheese filling.  The berries should be mostly cooled before adding them in the cakes.   

When the dough is done rising, divide dough in 1/2 and roll each half into 15" circle.  Fold into 1/4's and place in two 9" greased round pans.  Point of dough should be in center of pan.  Unfold, press dough against sides, allowing edge of dough to hang over pan (approx. 2" or so)  Spread 1/2 of cream cheese mixture in each pan and top with berry mixture, Make cuts in dough, 1" apart around the outside edge of dough...to pan.   Twist opposite strips and meet in the middle and press together to seal.

Beat egg white until foamy and brush over dough.  Cover and let rise in warm place 45 minutes. Cover pans loosely with foil and bake at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes. If middle still seems doughy, bake for a few extra minutes, checking often.

Berry filling:

4 c. blackberries

1/2 c. sugar

3 Tbsp cornstarch

Directions: 

Mix cornstarch with sugar and then cook with berries until thick

Cream cheese filling:

8 oz cream cheese

1/4 c. sugar

3 Tbsp flour

1 egg yolk

Directions: 

Mix ingredients until smooth. 

Frosting:  

(makes enough for both coffee cakes – if only serving one and freezing the other, cut the frosting recipe in half and frost right before serving)

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

In medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and butter with spoon or electric mixer on low speed. Stir in vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the milk.

Gradually beat in just enough remaining milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time. If frosting becomes too thin, beat in a small amount of powdered sugar.

birthday {carrot cake}

Another year...another birthday...another excuse to make a cake. :)  My actual birthday was spent with family over the weekend.  We stayed at my sister's & my parents were able to join us as well.  It was great to see everyone!  We went to Strawberry Fest, had a bonfire every night, and went to my favorite place for brunch and bloody marys on my birthday.  

Here are some photos of my birthday brunch...

"The frenchie" at Trocadero... 

 My beautiful niece...

 ...and adorable nephew

 My parents <3

My gorgeous sister & niece...

me & the hubby (photo by my sister)  

 I had a party with my co-workers this week and I made this carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  I've been wanting to decorate a cake with roses for a long time and I finally had an occasion to do it. :)  I was happy with how it turned out and even happier that it was super easy!  You can follow this tutorial for ideas. I used the Wilton 2D tip for the roses and layered them all over the cake - mostly doing two swirls, sometimes smaller on the sides.  

I have used this recipe for cupcakes previously...but it works just as good for cake!  I did use a different recipe for frosting though, since I needed it to be a little stiffer consistency for the roses.  


Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp baking powder
Scant 3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves 
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground ginger
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1/3 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp dark corn syrup (or molasses)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp mayonnaise 
1 1/4 rounded cups packed coarsely grated carrots (about 3 to 4 medium) (Lightly squeeze excess juice out of the grated carrots and apple before measuring.)
1/4 cup packed coarsely grated apple (about 1/2 medium)
1/4 to 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 round 9-inch cake pans lightly with butter, then lightly flour and shake off excess (make sure flour covers the entire pan or cake can stick). Sift flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, spices, pepper, and salt together into a large bowl. Whisk to ensure they are combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the oil, melted butter, dark corn syrup, vanilla, eggs, and mayonnaise. Add the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir until almost combined. Stir the carrots, apple, and walnuts into the batter.

Divide the batter between the 2 cake pans. Bake until a toothpick or thin knife inserted in the center of a cake comes out mostly clean, about 20 minutes.  Let cakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Transfer them to wire racks and let cool completely before frosting.  

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese

4 oz. unsalted butter

4 oz. vegetable shortening

2 tsp. vanilla (I use 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste & 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract) 

4 cups powdered sugar

1-2 tsps. milk

Combine cream cheese, butter, and shortening, and vanilla and mix until creamy.  Slowly add powdered sugar.  Add milk as needed.  Frost cake as desired!