April, 2015 | Just About Baked

Key Lime White Chocolate Mousse

Who doesn’t love a holiday where the primary food groups are salsa and margaritas?

Nothing screams Cinco de Mayo more than lime. Or key lime. So I’m doing it up today with this mousse! As it turns out, key lime isn’t just about pie.

This past week has been all about prepping kids for the upcoming AP tests. If you have a teenager in an AP class, you know what I’m talking about. If you don’t, then you clearly don’t care. And that’s fine! I didn’t care either, once upon a time

Cinnamon Donuts with Chocolate Dipping Sauce

Years ago, I had cinnamon donuts dipped in a rich chocolate sauce for the first time ever. And it was a pretty significant moment. I’ve never forgotten the joy of discovering that dessert, and I’ve never stopped wanting to make it.

So here we are! In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I’ll be posting recipes through next Monday that are holiday-themed. And this hot chocolate is definitely not the kind you see here in American coffee chains. For one thing, it’s made of chocolate, not cocoa. And it’s wonderfully thick and decadent.

Black and White Birthday Cake

My youngest baby turned three the other day. And suddenly, time is just going at warp speed and I’m not sure if I can handle that.

You see, I’m one of those women who tries to beat everything. If someone tells me I’ll need to recover from something for 2 weeks, I love to prove them wrong and be up and running at the end of the first week. If someone looks at a piece of cake and says that it’s too rich to eat all at once, you can bet that my piece of cake is long gone. And though I know I’m aging and that time speeds up irrevocably, I keep fighting it. I know it’s futile, but it can’t be helped.

Butterscotch Cheesecake Bars

April 22, 2015
Mir
Bars n' Brownies, Cupcakes and Cheesecakes
30 Comments

How do you start your day?

Mine always begins with the biggest physical shock possible to my system. I stumble out of bed (no snooze, get right up), throw on my workout clothes, and immediately start moving. It’s always a little odd knowing, as I lie in bed for those last precious seconds, that within a few minutes I’ll be moving at top speed.

It sounds awful to almost everyone I know, but I love getting my body going before my mind. As I do my routine, my mind slowly wakes up and catches up with the rest of me. And there’s something really gratifying about getting all those muscles firing before most people are even awake.

Oatmeal Raisinette Cookies

The other day, my school was on lockdown.

Yep, that scary thing that happens when a dangerous criminal is on the loose and everyone locks doors, closes blinds, covers door windows with a black sheet of construction paper, and waits in the dark for the all-clear signal.

Peanut Butter Crumb Bars

April 17, 2015
Mir
Bars n' Brownies
28 Comments

So, confession time.

If I didn’t care at all about what people want to see me bake, I’d probably make nearly every recipe on this blog related to peanut butter somehow. It is my love, and I want to honor that. But, you know, it’s not all about me. I get that. So I’ve been trying to hold it down a little, until today.

Because, because, because. Ready? CRUMBS. On peanut butter bars!

Key Lime Pie Fudge

April 15, 2015
Mir
Candyland
20 Comments

Curse the day I realized that fudge could have crust.

Or bless the day? I’m not really sure. All I know is that I have become totally okay with adding crust to my fudge, and now life will never be the same. And this key lime pie fudge is off the chain!

I’m going to mix business with pleasure here for a minute and rant about standardized testing. May I? Please?

Cinnamon Donut Cake

April 12, 2015
Mir
Cakes, Dessert for Breakfast, Let Them Eat Cake
36 Comments

Once, I heard somebody compare donuts to one-night stands. You know, both seem like a good idea at the time, but when it’s all over…yep. You get it.

But then, whoever made that comparison obviously never had a baked donut. And they also never had a donut cake. No, that’s not a cake made of donuts.

Matza Toffee Crunch

I’m posting on a Thursday night, I know. It’s all Passover’s fault.

Have I mentioned that Passover is eight days long?

Yep. It started last Friday night and will end this Saturday night. I will be off all digital devices for the next couple of days in observance of the holiday, so I can’t wait to catch up with everyone Saturday night! I also can’t wait to eat sushi again on Saturday night. Back to normal food.

Passover Crumb Cake

April 8, 2015
Mir
Cakes, Let Them Eat Cake, Passover Edition!
20 Comments

If you read my blog with any regularity, you know I’m a crumb fiend. I love piling crumbs on everything, like this. Or this. Or this.

There’s no exception to that rule on Passover. In fact, while some people call it the holiday of matza, I call it the holiday of crumbs. If you’re wondering why, think about what matza does. It crumbles everywhere. On floors. In hair. Between tiles. Atop light fixtures.

And there I am, broom and dustpan at the ready, to clean it all up. Which is actually a huge step for me, because I am not good at keeping the house clean, much as I try.