Cake. Inspired.

I whipped up a super easy and cute Moana cake for one of my oldest and dearest friends ever. (Yes, once again I forgot to take proper pictures of the cake so all I had was a snap shot while it was in the truck.  When will I learn?)

Spice Cake with Pumpkin and Chocolate Chips *Cake Mix Hack*  Another super easy yet super yummy cake mix hack.  With this recipe I made giant Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes.... to die for.  For real. You will need: 1 box spice cake mix 1 can pumpkin (15 oz) 1 egg chocolate chips Place all ingredients except chocolate chips in a bowl and mix until combined. Fold in desired amount of chocolate chips. Cook according to box directions.    You will not believe the flavor and moist texture of these cupcakes.  Devine.  Seriously.  Devine.

This style unicorn cake has made its rounds, more than once HOWEVER when the cutest little soon to be 6 year old sends her Auntie a picture of her dream cake...  Yeah, you do it and enjoy every second of it. When it was finally time to pick up the cake, Livy's gorgeous big eyes lit up and she couldn't stop smiling.  Absolutely melted my heart, in that moment she could have asked for the world and I'd bend over backwards to give it to her💖 Happy birthday little Livy! (yes, I forgot to take proper pictures)

Brown Butter, Spice & Mandarin Orange Cake *Easy cake mix hack*  1 box spice cake (any brand) 2 small cans mandarin orange segments (10.5 oz each) 1/2 stick butter 3 eggs Open both cans of oranges and pour into a small sauce pan, place over medium heat.  Bring to a low boil and allow to reduce down to 1 cup. Place butter in small fry pan and place over medium heat until browned.   Once brown, remove from heat and pour out of pan into small container to cool. When oranges and butter have cooled, combine all ingredients in a large bowl and blend until smooth.  I have a little 'chop-it-up' bowl thing that I use to chop up orange segments before heating but this step is optional  If you are using a dark pan to brown the butter you can check it by dropping a few drops onto a paper plate or light colored surface.  Its important to remember to remove it from the heat AND the pan immediately after r...

Pepper Jelly 2 C. finely chopped red bell pepper 1 C. finely chopped green bell pepper 1/4 C. finely chopped jalapeno 1 C. apple cider vinegar 1 box pectin (1.75 ounce) 5 c. white sugar Sterilize 6 canning jars (8oz), lids and rings.  Add water to large pot and place over high heat. Fill a small sauce pan with water and place over high heat, bring to a full rolling boil.  (This is for the lids.  I like to boil the lids for about one minute before placing them on the jars) After chopping all peppers dump them into a large sauce pan and place over high heat.  Add apple cider vinegar and pectin, stir well and bring to a full boil.  Quickly add sugar to pepper mix and stir.  Bring mix back to a full boil and let it boil for ONE minute.  Remove from heat and fill jars to about 1/2" from top.  After all jars are filled, use a wet paper towel to clean the rim of the jars (they have to be clean or they wont seal...

Uhm, yum.... This cupcake is made with an altered white cake mix and its pretty darn amazing. Cupcakes 1 box white or yellow cake mix 1 1/2 tea freshly grated nutmeg 3 large eggs 1/3 oil 3/4  C milk  + 2 tbls milk 3/4 C light sour cream 1 tsp vanilla paste Simply mix all ingredients until just blended.  Be careful not to mix too much, this can cause the cupcakes to rise a little weird and create little bubbles around the edges.  Not pretty   Fill cupcake liners approximately 2/3 full and bake at 350 for around 12 minutes.  Check cupcakes with skewer, adjust time as needed. Maple Cream Cheese Buttercream 3/4 C soft butter 1/4 C cream cheese 1 1/2 tbl whipping cream 4-5 C powdered sugar 1 scant tsp maple flavor 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg Whip all ingredients together until well combined.  You will probably need to adjust the amount of cream ...

I confess, I think out of the box and color out of the lines and that habit spills over into cooking as well.  I LOVE experimenting with different flavors and blending spices outside of the norm.  I came across this spice breakdown online and it has inspired me more than once. Keep this link close, its addicting and you will be using it.  A lot.     http://adventuresinspice.com/ (it looks like this)