Cake –

I love birthdays. I love planning parties, all the food preparation, baking the cake, the decorating. Selecting just the right gift, I love it all. When my husband and I first had children, he just didn’t get why I needed to do all of these things. He tolerated it, but, just didn’t quite get it. The boys, of course, loved it when they were young, and now that they are older, I’m pretty sure, they still tolerate the fussing, because it makes me happy. When they were younger, I even took some cake decorating classes with my, then, bestie. She rocked it, I on the other hand did not. I was so disappointed. I really wanted to get good at decorating cakes. I had taught myself to make all sorts of chocolates, truffles, bon-bons, fudge, sponge candy, but I just could not figure out cakes. Eventually, my life took a different direction, we moved across the country, and I put all of that behind me, and turned to soap making for a hobby/business instead. Since we lived in Florida, things that melt easily, just didn’t seem like a practical hobby. Now that I am back in the northeast, I, once again, have a yen to tackle this cake decorating business, and have been working on improving. I signed up for Bluprint.com and have found the videos there to be comprehensive, very easily understood, and easy to follow along, at my own pace. I have learned more, from watching videos on bluprint, than I ever did in cake decorating class. Which brings me to Saturday. It happened to be my birthday, and my darling husband wanted to do something special for me. Apparently, my penchant for over the top birthdays has rubbed off on him over the years. He decided that he wanted to make me a cake, which he’s never done before, and cook an elaborate meal, which he has, also, never done before. So, we got up and went to the farmer’s market, the last one of the year, here. Immediately, my control freak tendencies appeared, and since this was his show, not mine, he sent me to Sephora, while he went shopping for the rest of the list. This man knows me. The easiest way to distract me is to say “go to Sephora and buy whatever you want.” So, I did.

I love Sephora. My favorite way to spend my birthday is pure self indulgence, with a bit of pampering. Getting a makeover, being taught all about the newest products available, and of course, picking up my Sephora birthday gift is absolutely perfect, in my opinion. If you are not yet a Beauty Insider, sign up! It is a little bit of guaranteed indulgence, on your birthday, every year! Who doesn’t want that? It is also, a tiny reminder, to look, at another oncoming year, as an opportunity to improve, grow, and embrace life. At least, that’s how I look at it. The ladies who work at our Sephora in our town, are so lovely. Each time you shop there, you come out of the experience, happier than when you went in. So, when I told the lovely ladies that I was turning 44, and wanted to learn how to tweak my look, update it, and improve my makeup application skills, they jumped right in to help.

I can never tell, exactly, what my skin tone is without help. Right now, it’s in transition from a year round Florida tan, back to my natural, white, white complexion, and I am just not adept at deciding what colors are flattering on me. This was the first problem that I brought to them. Well, if you haven’t been into Sephora to get a color match done, drop everything and go. This is the best my foundation has looked. Ever. Problem number, 2? I can’t stand to feel foundation on my skin. Solution? It Cosmetics CC Cream. I had, of course, heard all about it, but had yet to try it. It has a SPF of 50, and an added anti-aging serum. You seriously can’t even feel in on your skin. This was a total win, as far as I’m concerned.

Last, but not least, I was clueless, as to what eyeshadow colors are best for my coloring. Answer: blue eyes look great against gold, hence, The Urban Decay Naked Palette in Honey, is ideal for me. I haven’t used eyeshadow with sparkle for years, because when done poorly, it can make you look decades older. I didn’t want to purchase a palette with tons of sparkle, because I knew I wouldn’t use it. The lovely ladies, understood my position, and because there are five sparkly colors in this palette, showed me how to use them sparingly, with just a dab on the inside corner of the lid. It really makes the eyes pop, and I really did miss wearing a little bit of sparkle on the eyes. It makes makeup feel fun again. Here, is the final result of my sephora makeover. I’m struggling to get used to my skin looking so white, but I’m adjusting, and relearning how to apply makeup to suit it.

I had a great time, learning how to better apply my makeup, and learning what colors suit me best. Here’s a look at my total Sephora birthday haul: (Also known as, the price a husband will pay to get some peace. 😉

I bought the It Cosmetics CC Cream, The urban Decay Eyeshadow Palettte in Honey, and Bare Minerals Blush In Gen Nude. For my Beauty Insider birthday gift, I chose the Drunk Elephant Set, and used my BI points to nab the Versace Bright Crystal Sample, the Bare Minerals Patent Lip Lacquer, and Sugar Advanced Therapy Lip Treatment. Self-Birthday gifts don’t get much better than that.

After meeting up again, with Darling Hubs, we headed back home and I made myself scarce for a while, so he could work some kitchen magic with out my ~~nosing~~ input. This was not the easiest thing in the world for me. I struggle to share my kitchen with others. As I had earlier mentioned, I love to bake cakes. Knowing that he was baking, without me, was difficult, so I sort of, nagged him, into letting me decorate the cake a bit myself. I had just bought new Russian frosting tips, that I have barely had the chance to try out. That kept me occupied enough, prepping frosting and the like, that he could finish making dinner, alone. If you, like me, love decorating cakes, but, maybe, are not so stellar at it, yet, these frosting tips will make you feel fairly competent. I bought a set from Amazon, and truly love them. Of course, I have a very long way to go, in learning how to use them. When, I do master them, I will try to do a teaching post on them. In the meantime, you can find videos on YouTube, Bluprint, Craftsy, etc.

I wish I had taken photos of the truly, wonderful, whole wheat pasta dish, that hubs made for me. Scallops, simmering in lemon, butter garlic sauce. It was absolutely delicious. We’ve been married for 23 years, and I had no idea, that he could cook like that. I was truly impressed. But, best of all, was this cake.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cake. So delicious.

He made a white chocolate cake, with raspberry filling. I am considering recruiting him to fill all of my cake pans, because my cakes never come out this level. I put the flowers on top, but never had such an easy time with it, because the cake was just so level. Not to mention delectable. He knows that I am trying to watch my cholesterol, so he used avocado plant butter in place of oil, and duck egg whites, in place of the whole eggs, and it made the most amazing fluffy white cake. White chocolate raspberry is my favorite flavor combination, in just about any pastry. This was just the most exquisite cake. Added to this, he kept the coffee flowing, and did all of the clean up. I just didn’t know what to do with myself. No cooking or cleaning, for an entire day. After dinner, and cake, with the kids, we went out for a couple of drinks and a very low key, relaxing evening. All in all, a perfect day. What I cherish the most, is how much thought and effort Hubs put into this day, for me. Being that we are parents of four, we rarely have time to focus, completely on each other, for more than an hour or so at a time. As they get older, of course, this lessens, but for now, we take what we can get. And appreciate every minute.

How about you? Do you, also, love birthdays? Have you ever had someone do something special for you, unexpectedly? How do you show your appreciation, when someone does something so thoughtful for you? Let us know in the comments.

Welcome back to Geeky Grub! This month, we’re celebrating the release of Banjo and Kazooie as part of Challenger Pack 3 for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate!

The series of Smash Bros. has a long history of bringing some of the biggest icons in gaming together to duke it out and Banjo-Kazooie are no exception to this. Banjo and Kazooie are legends in their own right; they are some of only a few ‘Mario’ series characters that belong to a rival company and therefore makes them unique in that regard. Their series was originally a Nintendo-exclusive franchise and then went on to Xbox platforms from then on.

Banjo-Kazooie is a platforming game known best for the titular characters collecting three things: Jigsaw Pieces to access new game worlds, Musical Notes to open doors and Honeycombs for restoring health. We chose to make a Greek-style honey cake in the shape of a honeycomb and complete with honey pooled in the middle. Sound like Honey Bear heaven? Then here’s what you’ll need:

Honey, about half a cup
All-Purpose Flour, 3 cups
Eggs, 6
Granulated Sugar, 2 cups
Baking Powder, 2 teaspoons
Butter, 1 whole stick
Warm Milk, 1 cup
Baking Soda, half a teaspoon
Freshly-Squeezed Lemon Juice, 1 tablespoon
Confectioner’s Sugar, 1 cup
White chocolate candy melts, one bag or 12 ounces
Heavy whipping cream, 4 oz

Preheat your oven to 350′ degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium-sized bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add your flour to the butter cream and mix by hand until it is mealy and sticky. Add the eggs one at a time mixing between each addition. Combine baking soda and the lemon juice into your new mixture and mix thoroughly. Finally, add together your baking powder and milk in a separate bowl, adding it to the batter gradually until all mixed well. Place this in a square or rectangular pan. (Hexagonal if you can find it is ideal for this. We could not find one ourselves so we had to fold ours over, fill it with frosting and cut it to shape. We have a template for this right below.)

Be sure to cut along the black lines. Make a half-inch indentation where the slightly blurred line is, about an inch inward from the outer border.

(Because we used a long rectangular pan, we cut our cake in half and made it a layer cake. If you chose instead to use a square or hexagonal cake pan, you can skip this next paragraph.)

Next, we will make the filling that goes between layers. Combine 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar, 3 tbsp. of milk and 2 tbsp. of honey in a bowl and mix until it is stiff, but not set hard. Once your cake has finished baking, let it cool, then frost first layer, set second layer on top and secure in place with a few tall toothpicks .

From here, you’ll need to cut the cake into shape using the template above. Use a large, sharp knives this cake is pretty thick. We used the scraps from the cutting of the cake to create the borders so we could fill the cake basin with even more honey.

Finally, we’re going to create a white chocolate ganache to frost the top. Take your white candy melts and heat them for about 30-45 seconds in microwave, until just melty, but not completely melted. Combine this with your 4 oz. of heavy cream and let cool for about 20 minutes or until a firmer frosting like consistency has formed. Add some Wilton’s Buttercup Yellow and Wilton’s Copper Icing Color until it is a warm honey color, then begin to frost your cake, applying ganache in a thin layer, you can used a tiny bit of warm water to smooth ganache, but too much will ruin it so using it very sparingly. From here, let the cake set after being frosted for about 20 minutes. This is so the ganache will stiffen up a bit and not soak up the honey you will pour into the small basin in the middle of the cake.

“Mmm, I’m sticky, tasty honey energy!” -Honeycomb

This cake isn’t only good for celebrating a specific bear and bird’s introduction into the ultimate crossover game; it can be used for birthdays, gaming parties, or just an afternoon surprise for the kiddos . This Greek Honey Cake, plain makes for a great after-school snack as well, but if you follow this recipe exactly it has the added bonus of being themed after the most iconic bear and bird in gaming.

What do you think of the cake? Are you willing to give it a try? Are you or your kiddos excited for Banjo-Kazooie in Smash Ultimate? Most importantly, do you have any geeky food suggestions for us to give a whirl? Leave us your thoughts down below and be sure to drop your pictures down there too!

Tag: Cake

A Perfect Day.

Honeycomb Cake