Zach's Scooby Cake

Zacher recently celebrated his fifth birthday and I had the honor of making his cake. Lacy makes amazing cakes. In fact last year she made an adorable Curious George; but this year I was so happy that she asked me! He wanted something involving Scooby Doo and the vision I immediately came up with was Scooby looking at a traditional birthday cake. For the round cake I used this strawberry cake recipe with cream cheese icing and fondant decorations. After reading rave reviews of the recipe on several blogs, I hate to admit that I wasn't terribly impressed and wouldn't make it again. I found the texture a bit dry and the flavor unremarkable.

For the Scooby cake the first thing I did was model the basic shape of his head and neck out of Rice Krispie treats. I saw this technique on Cake Boss and figured if the pros are doing it that it might work for me. It took 2 batches of the standard Rice Krispie treat recipe. I used a tablespoon less butter than the recipe called for and added several additional cups of cereal to make a firm modeling material. I crushed up the cereal a bit as I added it to the melted marshmallows and butter and continue to crush the mixture as I mixed and modeled it in hopes of making the head as smooth as possible. Once I had the basic shape I wanted, I covered it in chocolate candy coating hoping that his would make the head more sturdy and stable. (I could invision the big nose starting to separate from the head.) I also shoved a dowel through the nose and one through the top of the head.

Rice Krispie head covered in chocolate:


For Scooby's body I baked my favorite chocolate cake (recipe at end of post) 3 times to make a total of 4 rectangular cakes and a couple of small square cakes. I stacked the 4 rectangles with a basic powdered sugar buttercream layered between and sculpted Scooby's body.


I frosted the body and head with chocolate butter cream before applying fondant. I used chocolate icing so that in case I had any tears in the fondant, they wouldn't be as noticeable with brown icing underneath.

At this point in the process my father-in-law came into the kitchen and I asked him to guess what shape of cake I was making to which he replied "hmmm...a turkey?". Kind of does look like one, don't ya think?


After all of this it was time for the real fun: covering him with fondant. I did his head separately and covered the seam between his head and neck with his collar. After I applied all of the fondant details and painted the eyes, nose, eyebrows and spots with diluted black gel food coloring, I thought I had achieved Scooby perfection...or at least as close as I was gonna get. When I woke the next morning (the day of the party), I was disappointed to see that Scooby's head had started to lean forward caused some cracking and sagging of the fondant underneath. He made the 2 hour drive to the party with a cup propped under his chin to support the weight of his head. Fortunately Zach didn't seem to notice or mind!

Birthday boy Zach with Mabry and Quin:


My Current Chocolate Cake

I have been using Rebecca Rather's Tuxedo Cake recipe for most chocolate cakes that I make because it is so easy, so good, and makes so much cake. The only modification I make is to add a bit more salt.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups water
1 cup canola oil
4 cups sugar
1 cup [high quality] unsweetened cocoa powder (I just use Hershey's)
4 cups flour
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt (I use 1 tsp.)
1 tbsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of three 9-inch or two 10-inch cake pans with parchment paper, grease with butter and dust with flour (or spray with Baker's Joy).
2. Combine butter, water, and canola oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together sugar, cocoa, and flour. When butter has melted, pour the butter mixture over the sugar mixture; whisk until smooth. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, then whisk in buttermilk. Whisk in baking soda, salt, and vanilla all at once. Transfer batter to prepared pans.
3. Stagger cake pans in the oven so that no layer is directly over another.
Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Layers may be done at different times; monitor carefully.
4. Remove cakes from oven, cool about 15 minutes before inverting on to baking racks. Cool the cakes completely, at least 2 hours, before frosting.

Pumpkin Chiffon

The holidays are here and if you are a Hummel (or married to one) that means it's time for pumpkin chiffon. This recipe has graced the family Thanksgiving and often Christmas table since I got the recipe from my dear childhood best friend Julie. I must have been in elementary school when I tried it at her house and asked for the recipe which is from the 1982 Southern Living cookbook. I figure it could be modernized and fancied up a bit with real whipped cream and a homemade pastry cream instead of Cool Whip and instant pudding...but why mess with a good thing. It's pure holiday comfort food perfection just as it is written. Thank you Julie (and to your mom, Barbara) for sharing a recipe that has become a family tradition!:)

Pumpkin Chiffon

1¾ cup	Graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup	Sugar
½ cup	Butter or margarine; melted (Lacy insists that margarine not butter must be used for that true 1982 comfort food flavor)
8 oz	Package cream cheese; softened
2	Eggs; beaten
¾ cup	Sugar
2	(3-3/4 oz) packages vanilla instant pudding mix
¾ cup	Sugar
2 cups	Pumpkin; cooked and mashed (or 1 can of pumpkin)
1 dash	Ground cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice to taste)
8 oz	Carton frozen whipped topping; thawed & divided
½ cup	Pecans; toasted and chopped

Combine first 3 ingredients; press into a 13" x 9" x 2" baking dish. Set aside. Combine cream cheese, eggs, and 3/4 cup sugar; beat until fluffy. Spread over crust. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes; set aside to cool. Combine pudding mix and milk; beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer. Add pumpkin and cinnamon; mix well. Stir in 1 cup whipped topping. Spread pudding mixture over cream cheese layer. Spread remaining whipped topping over pudding layer. Sprinkle top with pecans. Store in refrigerator. Yield: about 15 servings. From Jacqueline Dorn of South Carolina in October, 1982 "Southern Living"

The Best Banana Bread

Nothing fancy... just very moist, delicious banana bread. It was important to me to blog about this recipe because I went through a lot of mediocre banana bread recipes before I found it and Justin and Mabry both love it. I previously used a recipe that I thought was quite good; but Justin remembered making a wonderful banana bread with his dad that included sour cream. I finally found a recipe that lived up to the bread in Justin's memory on a recipe message board. The person who posted it said that one of his coworkers brought it into work regularly and that the office referred to it as "crack" bread. Whenever I want to bake some I just google "crack banana bread". I figure that posting it here will be a safer way to ensure that Mabry and I can always bake it!

The Best Banana Bread (aka Crack Bread)

1/4 lb (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 C unbleached all-purpose flour (I usually use half wheat flour and through in a few T of ground flax to make it a bit healthier)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 C mashed very ripe bananas (I fill a glass measuring cup a bit above the 1 cup line)
1/2 C sour cream (this is the "crack")
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C chopped toasted walnuts or pecans
about 1/4 t cinnamon or allspice (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9x5x3 loaf pan or several smaller pans.
With electric mixer, cream butter and sugar til light and fluffy. Add eggs,
beating well. Sift dry ingredients together and combine with butter mixture.
Blend well. Add bananas, sour cream "crack" & vanilla. Stir well. Stir in
the nuts and pour into the prepared pan.

Bake 1 hour, until cake tester comes out clean. Turn out onto rack to cool.

Mabry enjoying the green tea we used as a prop.

Justin's Cookies

Okay, so obviously this post is not about a cake. I've been thinking for awhile that I wanted to start blogging about other things that I make; but have been reluctant to do so for a few reasons. Mainly because I read A LOT of food blogs and feel intimidated by all of the amazing ones out there with incredible photos and witty writing. Then I thought: who actually looks at my blog anyway? Maybe Lacy and Rachel and occasionally my mom. I thought this would be a fun way to share recipes with Lacy and Rachel and maybe get some grammar tips from my mom. For myself, I would like to use this as a way to keep track of some of the things I make as I often lose track of recipes.

I also have been feeling a bit nostalgic and emotional lately about Mabry growing up. This has been brought on by the reality of her starting school in less than a year and my regret about the end of my uninterrupted days with her. I really want to catalogue some of my tried and true recipes for her. I was thinking how neat it would be to have a recipe blog of things my mom or grandmother made. I realize I could just keep a recipe file; but I want to do something more personal. When I look through someones cookbooks, I love to read notes that they make in the margin. That is what I hope to accomplish. Recipes, especially the ones I consider my tried and true favorites, with my notes from the margin. Of course, I'll continue to post cake pics.

With that said, this first recipe for Justin's Cookies is close to my heart. Justin isn't a big sweets person; but he does make a few exceptions...namely cream cheese pound cake (I'll post this soon) and until recently, chocolate chip cookies. I think he still likes chocolate chip cookies; but since I discovered this recipe about a year ago, it is the only cookie he requests.

I found the recipe here; but have included my modifications below:


Justin's Cookies (or Coconut Almond Toffee Cookies)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 t vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups plus a scant 1/4 cup all purpose flour
rounded 1/2 t salt
1/4 t soda
1 10 oz bag of Heath toffee bits
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/3 cups blanched slivered almonds, toasted

Cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add the vanilla, eggs, soda, and salt and mix until combined. Stir in the flour. Then add the remaining dry ingredients. Chill the dough. Bake at 375 for approximately 15 minutes, until edges are browned but centers are still doughy.

Mabry and I had a fun cookie photo shoot:

Mabry dancing after the shoot.

Fall fun with fondant!

This was so much fun! This is a little fall-themed cake I made for Drake's fall festival. The pumpkins, leaves, and flowers were molded fondant which I painted with food coloring. I wanted the cake to appeal to the masses so I decided to make it chocolate. I didn't have the buttermilk which my standby chocolate cake calls for; so I just made the "Perfect Chocolate Cake" and icing recipes on the back of the Hershey's cocoa container. I was so glad I did! I hadn't made the cake since I was a little girl. The flavor brought back memories. It tasted like the kind of chocolate cake a grandma would make. Nothing fancy, just plain sweet cocoa goodness! In fact Justin said he thought it was the recipe his grandmother made. I don't think I'll throw out my other chocolate cake recipes; but I'll definitely make this one again!

Happy Birthday to Diane!

We love the Grammar girls! We were so happy to have Diane at the lake for her birthday. Knowing that she loves chocolate, I made her a cake that featured chocolate in several of its yummy forms...chocolate cheesecake with an Oreo crust, chocolate ganache, chocolate mousse, and chocolate cake. The creation was covered in ganache and decorated with a bit of fondant.

Mabry is 5!!!

I can hardly believe my sweet girl turned 5 last month! Where has the time gone? She was stuck on the idea of a "little pets" cake this year. We looked at several little pets cakes on line and she liked the ones with actual toys on them. I don't know, maybe it was all a plot to get some new little pets. Anyway, aside from a cake with new little pets that was chocolate and vanilla, she left the rest of the design to my artistic discretion! So, I went with her favorite colors, pink and purple. She approved!

Butterflies!

Mabry and I had so much fun making butterfly cupcakes to take to Laura on her birthday. I made a butterfly wing template that we placed under parchment, then piped dark chocolate around the border, and filled with purple candy coating melts. Mabry was a great helper!

Drake's Ironman Cake

For the last couple of years I have gotten to make Drake's cake for the annual 4th of July boys' birthday extravaganza. Last year it was a speed racer car and this year he requested Ironman. After figuring out who Ironman is (a Marvel superhero), my first thought was to do a sculpted cake that looked like him. In the end I scrapped that plan for something simpler but that the birthday boy still loved. I simply covered two round tiers in red fondant and placed chocolate bars cut to look like buildings around them. I used royal icing to pipe windows and placed a toy Ironman action figure on top. There was an LED light at the base of the action figure so that at night Ironman glowed!

Just as last year, Drake once again did not want to cut his cake. Rather he took it home with him. So glad he liked it that much! I heard that he kept the speed racer car for a week after his party last year! Luckily I made a HUGE cheesecake for the adult birthday boys! (Not the best picture)


On a side note to myself and any other bakers the 3 Cities of Spain Cheesecake recipe from Epicurious is the best! No water baths or starting the oven at 500 then reducing temp required. This time I tripled the recipe and baked it in a 12X12X3 pan. It baked for about twice the time the recipe specified; but still had no cracks and a perfect texture!

Happy 7th Drake, happy 20th Alex, and happy 4oth Tom! I love you and can't wait to make your cakes next year!!!

Leah's Cake

This baby shower cake was the mom-to-be's favorite, Italian cream with cream cheese icing. I encircled the tiers in rolled wafer cookies and used fresh pink roses on top. The sage green ribbon and rose paisley fabric were inspired by the nursery decor.

Crissy's Baby Shower Cake

This cake was made to match the plates and napkins that were used at the baby shower. The cake was a light yellow butter cake with lemon curd, buttercream and raspberry fillings. It was covered in buttercream and then fondant.

Princess Mabry's Cake

This is the cake I made for my daughter's last birthday. The princess dictated that the castle vanilla in flavor and pink and purple in color. I used American buttercream on the cake and fondant for the details.

Simone's 21st!

I made this cake for my niece's 21st birthday dinner at a Japanese restaurant. I thought the cake should be Asian inspired to match the setting and reflect her heritage. I found a beautiful red silk fabric with gold cherry trees to cover the cake board and used a stencil of the symbol for luck to make a white and dark chocolate medallion. The cake was covered in dark chocolate ganache and the ribbon was made of white chocolate rubbed with gold luster dust. The inside of the cake was a combination of some of her favorite flavors. The base layer was a cheesecake with chocolate cookie crust. The cheese cake was topped with chocolate ganache with fresh raspberries, then a layer of chocolate cake, a layer of raspberry mousse, and another layer of chocolate cake.

Croucquembouche Inspired Groom's Cake

When I meet with a bride or in some cases bride and groom, I love to find out as much as possible about them. I take those unique details and try to translate them into a cake. In this case the bride and groom had no specific ideas about the groom's cake. The only thing they were certain about was no chocolate. In questioning the bride, I learned that the her fiance was of French heritage and this was something of importance to his family. I suggested that his cake be inspired by the traditional French wedding cake, the croucquembouche.

The cake tiers were moist almond cake layered with dark cherry preserves and Amaretto French buttercream with bits of crushed almond nougatine. The tiers were covered in Amarretto French buttercream and encirled with rolled wafer cookies. Each tier was topped with cream puffs which I filled with vanilla pastry cream and dipped in caramelized sugar. I made a miniature croucquembouche topper and placed white chocolate fleur d'lis on the topper and cake. The monogram was made of white and dark chocolate.

Melody's Cake

A sweet cake for a sweet bride. Five tiers covered in fondant and decorated with royal icing dots, ribbon, the couples monogram in royal icing, and Gerber daisies. The cake was coconut with alternating fillings of passion fruit curd and coconut cream.

Vanessa's Cake

This bridal shower cake was Italian cream with cream cheese icing. It was encased in rolled wafer cookies and topped with fresh roses that I covered in edible gold luster dust. I selected ribbon and fabric in the brides colors. I loved the way the scroll pattern of the fabric I found to cover the cake board echoed the "V" monogram. The monogram was done in dark chocolate on white chocolate rubbed with luster dust.

Laura's Traditional Wedding Cake

Laura requested a very traditional white cake with fresh flowers in oranges and yellows. The cake was a light yellow butter cake with lemon curd and American buttercream fillings. It was frosted in American buttercream with vine piping. Such a fun contrast to the whimsical groom's cake!

Dad's Roadster Cake

This cake was a surprise wedding gift for a my dad who had just restored a 1932 Ford roadster. From a photograph of the car, I was able to use fondant to recreate the hot pink pearl paint color, tan leather interior, and tires. The cake was dark chocolate with toasted coconut/pecan filling and chocolate frosting. I found the steering wheel, rims, and checkered flag stickers at an RC hobby shop and working LED headlights at Target.

Rachel's Cake

This bridal shower cake included six layers of moist coconut cake. It was filled with alternating fillings of an Amaretto mascarpone cream with chopped toasted almonds and an apricot filling. The cake was covered in Amaretto mascarpone cream and surrounded with rolled wafer cookies. The monogram was stenciled in dark chocolate on a white chocolate base.

Lacy's Rustic Summer Wedding Cake

Each tier was comprised of four layers of moist white cake with alternating fillings of lemon/orange curd and fresh berries folded into Italian meringue buttercream. The outside of the cake was iced in Italian meringue buttercream.