Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake

It has been quite a long break since I last wrote what we were eating and what I was baking.  Life seems to be incredibly busy and always moving forward.  We have traveled to NYC and Chicago to visit friends and family, made it through Thanksgiving, and are gearing up for Christmas!  It seems like there is never a break to breath!

This past weekend we had a beautiful reason to celebrate.  Joe's Men's ALTA tennis team won the championship a couple weeks ago!  This has been a long time coming since they have gotten so close so many times!  After an exciting finish, it was only appropriate to celebrate.  We had his team over to our place this past Friday night to celebrate the big victory.  No celebration is complete without a cake.  So, of course I gave Joe some options for cakes.  He managed to pick the most complicated one!  I was in a time crunch as well since I had traveled the end of last week, but it was all worth the stress!  So, be warned this isn't the quickest cake to make, but it is well worth it!  So, here we go!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake

Cake

2 cups plain flour
1 3/4 superfine sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs

1 cup + 2tsp buttermilk
1/2 cup + 1tsp vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup + 2tsp very hot coffee

Salted Caramel

1 1/2 cup super fine sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup + 3tbsp double cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp - 1 tbsp sea salt flakes

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

1 cup superfine sugar
4 large egg whites
1 cup + 1 tbsp softened unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

8 tbsp (or more to taste) salted caramel

Whipped Ganache

7 oz dark chocolate
3/4 cup + 1tbsp + 1tsp double cream

Note: I made superfine sugar by processing granulated sugar in a food processor for about a minute

Instructions

1. Bake the cake the day before you want to ice it. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4. Grease and line two 20cm/8in round tins.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarb of soda together into a large bowl, stir in the sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla extract, pour into the dry ingredients and beat well until smooth and combined. Add the hot coffee, a little at a time, until it is all combined, the mixture will be very liquid, don't panic! Divide the batter between the tins and place in the centre of the oven, check after 35 minutes - a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no wet batter. They could take up to an hour to bake though, mine took 55 minutes, just check every 5-10 minutes after the 35 minute mark.
3. Once baked, remove to a wire rack, still in their tins, and leave to cool completely. Once cold, wrap the cakes in their tins in clingfilm and place in the fridge overnight, or for at least an hour. It is far easier to slice a cold cake in half neatly.
4. Make the salted caramel: Place the sugar and water into a deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring to the boil and cook, swirling the pan, NOT stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the colour changes to amber. Remove from the heat and pour the cream - be careful as the caramel will bubble ferociously and rise up in the pan. When the bubbling stops, add the butter and whisk till combined, it may not be completely smooth at this point.
5. Return the pan to a medium heat and cook at a gentle simmer, whisking the whole time, for a couple of minutes until the caramel is smooth and free of lumps. Whisk in the salt, a little at a time, tasting as you go (CAREFULLY - the caramel is very hot!), until it's at the right level of saltiness for you. Make sure that the salt is actually fully combined, and not just sinking to the bottom, before adding more. Leave the caramel to cool completely, it can be made the day beforehand and stored in the fridge for up to a week.
6. To make the salted caramel swiss meringue buttercream, put the egg whites and sugar in an extremely clean heatproof bowl (use the bowl of your stand mixer if you have one). Place over a pan of simmering (not boiling) water (do not let the base of the bowl touch the water) and whisk with a hand whisk (not electric) until the sugar has dissolved completely and the mixture is warm to the touch, if you rub some of the mixture between your fingers it should be smooth and you shouldn’t be able to feel any graininess, this will take about five minutes. If you want to get technical about it the mix should reach 60°C/140°F on a thermometer.
7. Remove the bowl from the heat and attach it to your stand mixer with the whisk attachment or use an electric hand whisk, whisk the egg whites until it forms a thick, glossy, bright white meringue and is completely cool, the bottom of the bowl should feel cool to the touch, this will take about 10 minutes.
8. Once the meringue is cold, switch the mixer to a low speed and begin to add the butter, a tablespoon at a time, make sure that each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next; the meringue will deflate a little and may begin to look curdled, don’t panic! This is normal, just keep adding the butter gradually and whipping away and it will come back together. If, once all the butter has been added, your mixture is runny, the butter may have been too soft or the meringue still warm, just put the bowl in the fridge for 15 minutes or so then carry on whipping.
9. If, even after a decent amount of whipping, it still looks curdled, place about 4 tablespoons worth of the mixture in a small bowl and microwave for 10-15 seconds, it should become runny, pour this back into the bowl of buttercream, down the side of the bowl while whisking, continue to whisk for a few minutes and it should come back together. Once the buttercream is completely smooth and silky and all the butter has been incorporated, whisk in the vanilla extract and salted caramel.
10. Remove the cakes from the fridge and carefully, using a long, sharp serrated knife (like a bread knife) slice each one in half so you have four layers. Place one layer on a serving plate or cake stand and spread over just over a quarter of the buttercream, then drizzle over a tablespoon or two of the salted caramel (you can thin it with a little more cream or warm it VERY slightly until it becomes pourable if needed - I'm talking no more than 10 seconds in the microwave, do not let it become warm or it will melt the buttercream). Top with another layer of cake and repeat until you have three layers of buttercream; place the final layer of cake on top - use one of the bottom halves, upside-down, so that you have a flat top.
11. Spread the remaining scant quarter of buttercream thinly all over the cake, it does not need to be neat and you will be able to see cake through the buttercream but try to get it fairly smooth and cover the cake evenly; this is your crumb coat - it will stop cake crumbs from getting into your ganache. Place the cake in the fridge for at least fifteen minutes while you make the ganache.
12. To make the ganache, chop the chocolate and place in a heatproof bowl. Put the cream in a small pan and heat until just simmering, pour it over the chocolate, making sure that it is all covered; leave to stand for 5-10 minutes then stir until smooth. Leave the ganache until it has cooled to room temperature - it should have thickened but still be spoonable, like pudding (you can pop it in the fridge to speed this up). Whisk with an electric whisk until it has lightened in color and has the texture of thick whipped cream, do not over-whip or you will end up with chocolate butter...which sounds delicious but is not what we want here! Immediately spread the ganache all over the cake - work fairly quickly as it doesn't take long for it to start to set.
13. To finish, drizzle over the remaining salted caramel.

Photo and recipe from here

Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte

As you all know, I love having people over for dinner.  It gives us a perfect excuse to cook and bake.  We had not had Joe's best friend and girlfriend over for dinner in a while so we were excited to fire up the green egg and make beer chicken and brats.  We have now had the green egg for a couple months and are obsessed.  I will have to get better at keeping track of the recipes we have done but we use it at least a couple times a week!  For the party, I wanted to make a desert.  Since there was a handful of people, I thought a cake would be perfect!  It is quick and easy to make and we absolutely loved eating it!  Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte

Ingredients

For the crust:
32 Oreo cookies, finely processed into crumbs
5 1/3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Small pinch of salt
For the crunch:
½ cup salted peanuts, finely chopped
½ cup mini chocolate chips
2 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. espresso powder
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
Dash of ground nutmeg
For the filling:
2 cups heavy cream
1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1½ cups creamy peanut butter (not natural)
2 tbsp. whole milk
¼ cup salted peanuts, finely chopped
For the topping:
½ cup heavy cream
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup  salted peanuts, finely chopped
1 cup chocolate chips, chopped

Directions

• To make the crust, preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and place it on a baking sheet. Combine the Oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt in a small bowl. Toss with a fork to moisten all of the crumbs. Press into a thin layer covering the bottom and sides of the springform pan. Freeze the crust for 10 minutes. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before filling.
• To make the crunch, in another small bowl combine ½ cup of the chopped peanuts, mini chocolate chips, sugar, espresso powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Toss with a fork to mix and set aside.
• To prepare the filling, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip 2 cups of the cream until it holds medium peaks. Beat in ¼ cup of confectioners’ sugar and whip until the cream holds medium-firm peaks. Scrape the cream into a separate bowl and refrigerate until needed.
• Wipe out (do not wash) the mixer bowl, replace the whisk with the paddle attachment, and beat the cream cheese with the remaining 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until the cream cheese is satiny smooth. Beat in the peanut butter, whole milk, and ¼ cup of the chopped peanuts until well combined.
• Using a large rubber spatula, gently stir in about 1/4 of the whipped cream just to lighten the mousse. Still working with the spatula, stir in the crunchy peanut mixture, then gingerly fold in the remaining whipped cream. Scrape the mousse into the crust, mounding and smoothing the top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight; cover with plastic wrap as soon as the mousse firms.
• To finish the torte, put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Leave the bowl over the water just until the chocolate softens and starts to melt, about 3 minutes; remove the bowl from the saucepan. Bring the ½ cup of cream to a full boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and, working with a rubber spatula, very gently stir together until the ganache is completely blended and smooth.
• Pour the ganache over the torte, smoothing with a metal icing spatula. Scatter the peanuts and chocolate chips over the top and chill to set the topping, at least 20 minutes. When the ganache is firm, remove the sides of the springform pan. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Original Recipe from here

Brasstown Valley

A couple weeks back my mother in law celebrated her 60th birthday!  Since 3 out of the 4 DiDias have birthdays at the end of March, we normally celebrate them together.  Since this was a big birthday for my mother in law, my father in law planned a weekend getaway.  We made the trip up to Brasstown Valley, GA the first weekend of April.  We left on Saturday after Joe finished tennis and started the day with a vineyard tour at Crane Creek Vinyards.  Although we have done plenty of tastings, we had never done a full tour!  It was absolutely amazing to see all the work that goes into making wine!  After that, we headed to the lodge where we were staying for the night.  We enjoyed some appetizers and drinks at the bar before doing dinner at the lodge.  Since it was Easter Weekend, there was a prime rib buffet for dinner that everyone else did, and I enjoyed an appetizer since I was still full.  After that, we watched some basketball by the first then headed to bed.  Sunday we woke up and enjoyed some donuts before heading out to church.  After church it was time for brunch!  The lodge had such an amazing Easter brunch!  We started with the fish, there was oysters, smoked salmon, ravioli, and mahi mahi.  Then we had some cheeses and meats.  We followed that with some lamb, waffles, and sausages.  There was so much good food, and then topped that with desert!  Needless to say we were stuffed!  After brunch we slowly headed back to Atlanta.  

For the occasion I made made an amazing cake!  We brought the cake for dinner on Saturday and it turned out amazing.  It isn't the fastest thing to make, but it was totally worth it!  Below is the recipe. 

Lemon Blueberry Meringue Cake

Ingredients

For the Baked Meringue Swirls/Discs:
• 3 egg whites 
• 3/4 cup sugar
• A drop soft gel paste color, yellow
For the Lemon Curd:
• 4 lemons (or 6 Meyer lemons)
• 2 whole eggs plus 4 egg yolks (set whites aside for buttercream)
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
For the Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
• 7 egg whites
• 1-1/2 cups  sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 cups unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup lemon curd
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Few drops of soft gel paste colour, yellow
For the Lemon Cake:
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 6 eggs, separated
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt, at room temperature
• baked meringue swirls, for decorating
• lemon drop candy, for decorating
• 2 cups blueberries

Instructions

For the Baked Meringue Swirls/Discs:
1. Preheat oven to 200°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer and the whisk attachment with paper towel and lemon juice, to remove any trace of grease.
2. Add egg whites and sugar to the mixer bowl and fit onto the top of a medium saucepan filled with about 1-inch of simmering (not boiling) water. (Be sure the bottom of your bowl is not touching the water.) Whisk constantly but gently, until temperature reaches 140°F, or if you don’t have a candy thermometer, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot.
3. Dry the underside of the mixer bowl and transfer to your stand mixer. Whip using the whisk attachment until the meringue is thick and glossy and has reached the stiff peak stage.
4. While the meringue is whipping in the mixer, fit your decorating bag with a plain round pastry tip. Fold over a cuff at the top of the pastry bag and paint 3, equally-spaced, thin lines of yellow gel colour using your fine paint brush (you can use any paint brush, but it should only be one you designate for food) from the pastry tip up toward the cuff.
5. Fill the bag with your meringue (no more than 2/3 full) and pipe 1-1/2-inch swirls onto one of the lined baking sheets, spacing them about 1-inch apart. (These will be used to decorate top of cake). On the second baking sheet, pipe the remaining meringue into flat discs, about 2-inches in diameter, spacing them about 1" apart. (These will be used on top of the filling inside the assembled cake.)
6. Bake for 60 minutes, rotating the trays after 30 minutes. Lower the oven to 175°F and bake until dry, about 40 minutes more. Keep in an airtight container until needed.
For the Lemon Curd:
7. Wash lemons really well (with a bristled brush under cold water) and using a zester, remove all of the coloured portion of the peel from the fruit (not the white pith–it’s bitter!) into a bowl or onto a piece of wax paper. Rotate fruit as necessary to get as much of the zest off. Repeat until you have 2 teaspoons (30 ml) of the zest, and set aside.
8. Slice the lemons in half crosswise (I find room temperature citrus is best for juicing) using a sharp knife, and extract as much of the juice as you can using a citrus reamer, or I use a small, manual citrus juicer. (Just be sure to catch all of the juice in a bowl and to completely strain the seeds before using.) Repeat the juicing until you have 2/3 cup (160 ml) of the strained juice.
9. Get your double boiler ready by filling a saucepan with 1″ of water, then placing a metal bowl on top of the saucepan. You will need to ensure the bowl fits snugly into the top of the saucepan and that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water (important, or your eggs will cook). You can now remove the bowl and continue with making the curd.
10. Whisk the juice, whole eggs, egg yolks and sugar in the bowl until smooth. Add the butter cubes to the bowl, but don’t stir.
11. Heat the water in the saucepan over low heat until it simmers (not boils) and place the bowl atop the rim. Stirring gently, but constantly, using heatproof spatula or wooden spoon, cook until the curd has thickened and all of the butter has melted and is incorporated, about 10 minutes (this can vary). To test if the curd is thick enough, remove the spatula or spoon from the curd and check that it’s coated.
12. Strain the curd over a bowl using a fine-mesh sieve and then stir in the zest. Cover with plastic wrap pressed directly against the curd (to prevent a skin from forming) and chill for at least 3 hours (I like to chill it overnight). It also thickens up a bit more while chilling. Keep refrigerated.
For the Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
13. Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer with paper towel and lemon juice, to remove any trace of grease. Add egg whites, sugar and salt, and simmer over a pot of water (not boiling), whisking constantly but gently, until temperature reaches 160°F, or if you don't have a candy thermometer, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot.
14. With whisk attachment of mixer, begin to whip until the meringue is thick, glossy, and the bottom of the bowl feels neutral to the touch (this can take up to 10 minutes or so). *Don't begin adding butter until the bottom of the bowl feels neutral, and not warm.
15. Switch over to paddle attachment and, with mixer on low speed, add butter cubes, one at a time, until incorporated. Increase mixer speed to medium and whip until it has reached a silky smooth texture (if curdles, keep mixing and it will come back to smooth). *If mixture is too runny, refrigerate for about 15 minutes and continue mixing with paddle attachment until it comes together. Add lemon curd and vanilla, continuing to beat on medium speed until well combined. Add yellow soft gel paste colour until desired shade of yellow is achieved.
For the Lemon Cake:
16. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease, line with parchment and flour three round 8-inch pans. I use Parchment Paper Circles for ease. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and 1 cup (200 g) of the sugar on medium high speed until very pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
17. Lower mixer speed to medium low and add the egg yolks, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. Add lemon juice, vanilla, lemon extract and lemon zest and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. With mixer running, add dry ingredients. Add yogurt, scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is well incorporated. Coat blueberries with flour then add blueberries to cake mix.  Mix until they are Incorporated.
18. In another grease-free bowl, (or if you're lucky enough to have another mixer bowl) whip egg whites and remaining cup of sugar until they reach stiff peak stage. Fold meringue into batter until just combined, and divide batter evenly among the three prepared pans. Use a digital kitchen scale to weigh pans to ensure even layers, if possible (425 g of batter for each layer).
19. Bake first two layers 2" apart in center of oven on top of a baking sheet until a cake tester comes clean when inserted into the center, about 25 minutes. Be careful to not over-bake -- check cake at 20 minutes, but not before, and once you feel it’s almost ready, set the timer for 2 minute intervals. Repeat with final cake layer. Let cool on racks for 10 minutes before loosening the sides with a small metal spatula, and invert onto greased wire racks. Gently turn cakes back up, so the tops are up and cool completely.
20. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days, refrigerator for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 2 months. Best enjoyed day 1 or 2.
Assembly of the Lemon Delight Layer Cake:
21. Trim any doming or top crust and side crust from cake layers using a very sharp serrated knife (I use the Mac Bread Knife for all of my cake trimming, splitting, etc.).
22. Use a cake turntable for filling, frosting and decorating, if a possible. Place a small dollop of frosting in the center of a cake plate or 8″ round thin foil-covered cake board, and place the bottom cake layer on top, trimmed side up (face up).
23. Pipe a dam (a rim around the top perimeter of the cake layer) of lemon curd buttercream around the cake layer using a large round Pastry Tip fitted inside a Decorating Bag. Then pipe another smaller circle of buttercream a few inches toward the center. Spoon lemon curd into the open spaces and spread evenly with a small offset palette knife, taking care to keep the curd within the dam (otherwise it will ooze out of the sides of the cake). Gently place cover the filling with a layer of the flat baked meringue discs, breaking them into smaller pieces if necessary to cover most of the layer.
24. Repeat with second cake layer and more buttercream, lemon curd and meringue discs. Place final cake layer, trimmed side down. Look straight down from above cake and be sure the layers are all lined up, shifting gently if necessary. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
25. Remove from fridge and put a generous scoop of buttercream on top, spreading evenly with a small offset palette knife and working your way down the sides until you have a thin layer of frosting over the entire cake (crumb-coat). Chill until set, another 30 minutes.
26. Remove from refrigerator and covering the cake in another layer of buttercream, but this time using a thicker layer of buttercream and creating a smooth finish.
27. For the top of the cake, using your decorating bag fitted with the large round tip , 2/3 full with buttercream, pipe 8 small swirls, evenly spaced. Top each swirl with a baked meringue swirls, and fill the spaces in between with lemon drop candy. Gently spoon a layer of lemon curd on top of the cake, using a toothpick to pull the curd to the inside edges of the candy and swirls.
28. Store finished cake covered in refrigerator (due to the lemon curd filling), but serve at room temperature (you can remove from refrigerator several hours ahead of serving).

Notes

*You can make the baked meringues up to a few weeks in advance, keeping them in an airtight container at room temperature.

**You can make the lemon curd up to a month ahead, keeping it in an airtight container in freezer.

***You can make the Swiss meringue buttercream up to a month ahead, storing it in an airtight container in freezer, bringing to room temperature on counter the night before needed. 

Photo and original recipe from here

Cookie Dough Brownie Cake

I love making cakes, but there aren't too many occasions when you get to make one!  Joe's father's birthday was is a perfect time to make a wonderful cake since we always go up to the cabins to enjoy his birthday weekend.  This time around, Joe picked the cake, so of course it is going to have chocolate incorporated in it!  The cake turned out beautiful and was actually quite simple to make!  I forgot to take a good picture of it so you will see the picture from the page where I got the recipe!  Enjoy!

Cookie Dough Brownie Cake

Ingredients

Brownie Cake:

• 1 and ½ cups vegetable oil
• 3 cups sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 eggs
• 1 and ½ cups flour
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Cookie Dough Filling:

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
• 3 and ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 3 Tablespoons milk
• 2 and ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Ganache Frosting:

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (or use chocolate chips)
• ½ cup heavy whipping cream
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Extra chocolate chips, for garnish

Directions

Brownies:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees (F).
2. Prepare three 8-inch round baking pans with cooking spray and parchment.
3. In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil. Stir with a large wooden spoon until completely combined.
4. Add eggs one at a time, stirring and incorporating each completely before adding another.
5. Add vanilla, stir to combine.
6. In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder.) Whisk to combine.
7. Add dry ingredients a little bit at a time, stirring until just absorbed each time. I added mine in 3 batches. Do not over-mix, just stir until dry ingredients are fully incorporated.
8. Pour batter evenly into three prepared pans.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with wet crumbs.
10. Cool completely, then remove from pans and set aside.
11. Prepare filling.

Cookie Dough Filling:

1. In a large bowl (I used my stand mixer) beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add confectioners' sugar, and beat to combine.
3. Add flour and sugar, beat until combined.
4. Add milk and vanilla, beat until light and fully.

Ganache Frosting:

1. In a medium glass bowl, heat heavy cream in the microwave until steaming hot but not boiling, about 45 seconds. (Microwaves vary, so just watch yours carefully.)
2. Remove hot cream from microwave, and pour chocolate chips into the cream.
3. Allow to sit for 30 seconds, then slowly stir with a rubber spatula until cream and chocolate fully combine, and chocolate melts completely.
4. Stir in corn syrup and vanilla, and again stir until completely combined. Set aside while you assemble the cake.

Assembly:

1. Place one layer of brownie cake on your serving platter. Spoon about 1 cup of frosting over the top of the cooled cake, and spread just to the edge of the cake.
2. Place another layer on top of the first. Press down slightly to secure.
3. Spoon another 1 cup of frosting over the top of the layer, and spread just to the edges of the cake.
4. Spoon remaining frosting into a piping bag with a star tip for decorating.
5. Place top layer of cake over the frosting. Press down slightly to secure.
6. Place cake in refrigerator for 10 minutes.
7. Remove chilled cake from refrigerator. Slowly pour about ½ cup of ganache over the top of the cake, and using an offset spatula, slowly spread it to the sides of the cake, just barely pushing it over the edge. Add more ganache until you reach your desired coverage.
8. Place cake back in refrigerator for 20 minutes to allow ganache to firm up.
9. Pipe decorations around cake, sprinkle with chocolate chips and drizzle with leftover ganache.
10. Enjoy!

Winter Wonderland...

It has been quite some time since I wrote a blog post, and in the past week I have had quite a few people comment that I am slacking on my blogging.  I must say, they are very right about that!  The past couple weeks have been eventful, calm, and hectic all at the same time.

The past couple weekends have been calmer than normal, but seemed to fly by.  As most of you know, Joe is very into ALTA and plays men's league every season.  This year, he joined a mixed league, which I had been going to watch.  After a couple matches, somehow I got talked into signing up for the team because they were low on girls and didn't want to scratch lines.  After signing up, I started getting worried since I had no knowledge about tennis.  I didn't know how to keep score, where to stand, etc, but I was willing to take on the challenge.  A couple of weekends ago, I played my first match which got cut short.  Three weekends ago, I got to play another match and actually played a full one!   I had the lovely opportunity to play with a friend from college, Chris, which made me a bit more comfortable.  He had hit with me a couple times and helped me learn the basic skills of tennis.  We got off to a fun start, learning where to stand and how to work with each other, and ended up winning the first set in a tie breaker!  The next set we ended up winning by far, so I can officially say I played and won a full match (with a whole lot of help from Chris!).

Two weeks ago I was supposed to travel to Seattle, but Atlanta weather had a different plan.  As most people know, Atlanta got hit by the snowpocalypse.  I was incredibly lucky to be working from home Tuesday, so I did not have to do much on my end.  Joe got the flip side of the experience.  He had left around noon to go to Birmingham, and 6 hours later, made it ALL the way to Six Flags.  After finally getting to an exit with his boss, they turned around.  Although they made it back to midtown fairly quickly (relatively speaking) Joe still wanted to make it to our house.  He hit the road, and got stuck about a mile away for an hour.  After continuing to stand still, he finally put the car in park and made it home, just before 11!  What a trip to make it to Six Flags and back!  I canceled my trip to Seattle (the flight only went out 12 hours late!) so we were safe and sound at home the following day.

The SNOW has started :)

Never seen a Dog love snow more than her...you can't get her to come inside!

We enjoyed the warm weather the following weekend, and I attended my first boot camp class since i had gone regularly in Chicago with a friend or mine.  I must say, my body HURT the next day and I am pretty sure I haven't been that sore since Christmas training in college.  We will see if I make it back :)

At the end of the week we had Nicole and Kristina over for dinner and knocked out some wedding planning.  They are both friends of Joe's from high school and are both very talented.  Kristina is quite the crafty girl so we asked if she was willing to make our centerpieces and flowers for the wedding to keep our costs down.  She is so creative and I cannot wait to see what the final product looks like!  Nicole went to pastry school and was recently working in Europe.  We are so lucky that she is back for a couple months, and she is so kind to make our cake for us.  We have picked absolutely amazing flavors and a beautiful design so I can't wait to see what the final product looks like.  We are so blessed to have so many amazingly talented people in our lives so that we can not only keep the cost of our wedding down, but we can truly have a unique look to our wedding.  It is all coming together so quick! We even sent the invitations out a week ago!

This past week Joe hit the road Monday to go to Birmingham (second attempt) and I had a slumber party!  Kellie Ann and I had a wonderful night on Monday, watching the Bachelor, sipping wine, and eating home made ice cream (who cares about the wedding diet!).  It was so nice having her around in the evenings because I hate having the whole big house to myself!  Sometimes you just need a little girl time, and we definitely had a blast enjoying each others company.

Wednesday I headed to Seattle (second attempt!) and made it!  After calls on Wednesday, I headed downtown to grab some dinner (early because I can't switch time zones well) and was pleasantly surprised to find a parade going on!  I didn't stay long (it was freezing and I was not dressed appropriately) but it was so cool to see at least a portion of it!  The week flew by and before I knew it I was headed back to Atlanta!

Seahawks Stadium after they won the Super Bowl this past Weekend!

Perks of waking up at 4...you see the sun rise :)  View from my hotel!

This weekend was a busy weekend filled with SCUBA class!  To get certified, you have to do an online class which Joe and I had completed, pool dives, and 4 open water dives.  This weekend we did our pool dives to learn the general skills.  I forgot how dry your skin gets after being in a pool for 5 hours!  We had so much fun learning to dive, float, sink, etc.  I must brag and say I lapped Joe on our 200 yd. swim (he kept up with me for a 100 of it then died!) so I guess I still have some swimming skill :)  I also felt quite accomplished when I could still climb the rope they had tied from the roof into the pool.  This is not a SCUBA skill you need, but at Divers Supply in Marietta where we were doing our class, they also do some fire fighter training so it was fun to see if I could still do it.  After two full days of pool skills, we are confident to head to Florida in a couple weeks to do our 4 open water dives and complete our certification!  I am now worn out, and ready for bed.

This week I get to work from home before hitting the road for another two weeks.  BUT before I hit the road, it is BACHELORETTE WEEKEND!!!!  I cannot wait to have all of my wonderful friends in town (some will be dearly missed) to celebrate with me. And now, off to shower number two so that I can stop smelling like chlorine sometime soon :)