I'm Back!

Well hiya! I missed y'all! Last week was actually really nice though, I thoroughly enjoyed my time "unplugged". How was everyone else's week? I feel so out of the loop!

I did a lot of reading and finished The Husband's Secret and OMG SO SO GOOD. The epilogue. I won't give any spoilers but suffice it to say mind. blown.

This weekend was really nice as well. We go to our church's Thursday night service, so our Easter service was Thursday night instead of Sunday morning.

Then Friday at work was actually pretty nice because things were pretty slow and low-key. Adam dropped our fur babies off at the vet Friday morning so they could get caught up on all of their shots and check-ups and heartworm/flea meds and HOLY WOW it was a small fortune! Don't have three dogs unless you want to spend a buttload of money every time you go to the vet.

Then when we got home from dinner that evening we opened the garage door and heard a loud POP. This is not a good sound. Turns out one of the cables on the side of the door had slipped off the track and the door got stuck. Adam worked SO hard to get it fixed and he did fix it, he got the cables back on the track and retightened the springs, and he got it to go up and down a few times! But as he was finishing up and tightening one of the big springs in the middle it broke in half.

So now we have to pay to have someone fix it.

I guess when it rains it pours, huh?

On Saturday we had plans for Easter dinner at a friend's house, so I spent the morning baking and decorating a Carrot Cake to take.

Dinner was wonderful and we had a great time with our friends! 

Adam said he made this face because "The Easter Bunny Cometh" 

AMAZING Lemon Meringue Pie made by friends

All the yummy goodness

The inside of the cake! 

Our selfie

Sunday looked mostly like a whole lot of this: 

It is most definitely way past time for me to really get back on track with my eating plan, so I planned out my entire week, every meal including snacks. That seems to be the best way to keep me on track. So today is a fresh start, and I am so ready! 

How was your Easter weekend? 

Caramel Latte Cake

Y'all, this one is super easy. It's a modified cake mix but by the time you add the extra stuff you totally cannot tell it's a mix! It has a lovely dense, moist texture and it tastes AMAZING. Basically when you add the dulce de leche filling it tastes like a caramel frappuccino from Starbucks, plus buttercream. 

CARAMEL LATTE CAKE

3 cups yellow cake mix

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon instant espresso coffee granules

1/3 cup butter, melted

3 eggs

Filling:

1 can (13.4 oz) dulce de leche 

½ cup hot water

3 tablespoons instant espresso coffee granules 

1 tablespoon dark rum or 1 teaspoon rum extract plus 2 teaspoons water

Buttercream: (This is a double batch which should give you more than enough, but it never hurts to have extra!)

4 sticks REAL butter (none of that margarine or shortening stuff)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

8 cups powdered sugar

4-6 Tbsp milk, add more or less until spreadable consistency

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8 inch pans with shortening and flour, or one 9x13 pan. 

2. In large bowl, place cake mix. In 1-cup glass measuring cup, stir 1 cup warm water and 1 tablespoon espresso granules until granules are dissolved. Add espresso mixture, butter and eggs to cake mix. Beat with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds; scrape bowl. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes longer. Pour batter equally into pans, or all into one 9x13. 

3. For the three 8 inch pans, bake for approximately 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (they don't take long to bake because they are thin layers). For the 9x13 you may need slightly more baking time. Cool in pan on cooling rack about 15 minutes, then turn out of pans. 

4. Meanwhile, spoon dulce de leche into medium microwavable bowl. In small bowl, mix 1/2 cup hot water, 3 tablespoons espresso granules and the rum; stir into dulce de leche until smooth. Microwave uncovered on High 2 to 3 minutes, stirring after about 1 minute with whisk, until pourable. Set aside while cake cools. 

5. To make the buttercream: beat butter in mixer with vanilla and milk. Slowly add powdered sugar until fully incorporated, and then beat on low medium speed until smooth and fluffy. 

6. From here, if you did a 9x13, you can poke holes into the cake with a wooden spoon and pour the dulce de leche filling on top. 

If you did a layered cake, you will want to fill each layer with buttercream to keep the filling from seeping into the cake and then add the chilled dulce de leche filling on top of the buttercream, but not too much because it will ooze out of the sides! Then ice the cake with buttercream and drizzle dulce de leche filling on top.

Tips: 
* The filling is really liquid-y (technical term) since it actually is meant as a "poke cake" where you pour the filling all over the cake. I like it as a layer cake, so I just make sure the filling is as cold as possible when filling the cake, and then once you have it filled you'll want to do a thin coat of icing over the whole cake to seal it all in and let it chill in the fridge for a bit. Then add the other coats of icing until desired thickness. As long as you don't let it get too warm after that it should all stay together, but you probably want to store it in the fridge and pull it out about 30-45 minutes before serving (because cold cake = yuck).

* It also helps to do a "dam" of buttercream around the perimeter of each layer and just do the filling in the middle, so that when the pressure from the layer on top squishes the filling down, it has room to expand a little and the buttercream dam will hold it in better. This is true of any more loose cake filling, like preserves, lemon curd, ganache, etc. 

Enjoy! 

Friday Favorites

Ohh, Friday you are a sight for sore eyes. Welcome friend!

Favorite Video:
Another video this week, this one is old but I rediscovered it this week. It just doesn't get much better than Bad Lip Reading.

Favorite workout:
21 Day Fix Total Body Cardio

 Kicked my butt in a good way!

Favorite Food:
Duh. Pumpkin cake.

Favorite purchase:
I raided the Target dollar section (hey big spender!) and found the cutest little accessories for my desk at work!

Favorite Funnies:

These Ermahgerd things just never get old.

Of course, Tuna

Does anyone know the difference?



Linking up with Meet at the Barre, September Farm, and The Farmer's Wife today!

Pumpkin Cake with Maple Glaze

This past weekend I couldn't wait any longer and I finally broke out the pumpkin! I made our all time favorite pumpkin cake. Normally we make this as a layer cake with cream cheese frosting, but this time I made it as a bundt cake and drizzled it with maple glaze, SO GOOD!

Pumpkin Cake with Maple Glaze

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups pumpkin puree or cooked mashed pumpkin

Maple Glaze: 

• 2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 3-4 Tbsp. milk
• 2 1/2-3 Tbsp. maple syrup

Preparation:

For the cake: Combine sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl; mix well. Sift dry ingredients into a separate bowl; stir into oil mixture, beating well. Stir in pumpkin puree.

 

Pour batter into bundt pan. Bake at 350° for about 60 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto rack to cool completely. 

For the glaze: Mix sugar, maple syrup, and maple flavoring in a bowl with a whisk until smooth and drizzle over cooled cake. 

Serve with coffee or tea and enjoy! 

 

Link it up with us!