TWD Vanilla Cakes

No rum here, but we did have cakes! I used vanilla extract, no beans. Even so, this was great plain. I had some whipped cream and strawberries, but the cake went too fast to try them :)

Thanks to Wendy of Pink Stripes for this week's pick!

Raspberries and Currants

We moved in January, so we've been discovering a lot about the new yard. Like the 28 rhubarb plants. And six beautiful red currant bushes. I need to learn about pruning them, but even with some neglect, they're producing. I'd never been able to find currants til a farm stand last summer, and we loved them - out of hand, jelly, tarts, pies. I was thrilled to find we'd have our own!
















And most exciting for the kids were the raspberries bordering the garage and the self seeded plants randomly around the yard. We kept watching and kept watching, and I couldn't figure out why they weren't ripe - they were such a beautiful, rich red....and then one turned black :)















I'm reading of jams and jellies and thinking of freezing, but so far I've not been able to beat the kids to them! Hopefully I'll get a chance to make something to post about :)

TWD Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake

This TWD pick worked out perfectly for us! My son turned three last week and asked for chocolate cake and vanilla frosting and Thomas. I was thrilled that the cake would match the TWD schedule! (though I'll have to try the whole choc frosting/jam combo another time). It was a nice solid cake and it held up really well to the carving and fondant.

I used Wendy's Thomas tutorial for pics on shaping the cake which were really helpful. One thing I learned if I try this again was to purchase ready-made black and red fondant. For the black, I added cocoa powder that made it taste pretty good, though it got a little crumbly. Even with the tasty cocoa fondant, I think I'd prefer a trip to Michael's for some Wilton with a five and three year old along than have to knead black or red again. :)

I thought this cannibalistic-ish pic was just a little funny....















The picture looks a little rough, my husband kept sneaking off little slivers leaving a very appealing crust of fondant. But I wanted to make sure I got a quick picture before it was all gone! Thanks to Amy of Amy Ruth Bakes for this week's TWD pick!

TWD Tender Shortcakes

Again I got these done ahead of time and just didn't get the post up (I need to work on my schedule here). Anyway, I made the full batch, which made some huge shortcakes!

They ended up having to bake longer and got a little dark, but the family loved these anyway :)

Thanks to Cathy of the Tortefeasor for selecting this week's recipe!

TWD White Chocolate Brownies

After reading the comments, I skipped the meringue and just made a batch in an 8x8 pan. I also made a couple of substitutions - blackberries and lemon zest for the raspberries and orange and one less tb butter.

These were interesting, they stayed very soft and almost a little custardy and a little greasy. I think the lemon-blackberry needs a lighter cake. The brownie base is a fun idea, though, I'm looking forward to seeing what others did with it!

Thanks to Marthe of Culinary Delights for this week's pick!