Mir - Just About Baked

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The Best (Gluten-Free) Chocolate Birthday Cake

Summer is birthday season in my house. Birthdays pop up one after the other, and with them, a parade of cakes. As the resident cake baker, that makes me pretty busy.

I’m all about easy baking, but there’s no way to cheat a layer cake. Steps have to be followed. Still, making it as easy as possible is ideal, and this chocolate cake is three things: incredible, simple, and gluten-free.

If you’re a doubter, you need to try this. I served this cake at my daughter’s birthday party to a group of people who either openly or covertly believe that gluten-free baking is crap. This cake proved them all wrong.

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Salted Caramel Pecan Pastry Ring

July 7, 2015
Mir
Cakes, Dessert for Breakfast, Let Them Eat Cake, Pastry Cart
42 Comments

Breakfast is such a huge motivator in my life. I don’t let myself eat until after my workout. It’s good to have something to work toward!

Does that work for everyone? Nope. My friend is more of an evening exerciser. By that time, I am done and a half. Can barely move, except to lift the fork to my mouth to eat dessert. That’s my workout later in the day!

When you want a good breakfast treat that is homemade but easy, I recommend turning to refrigerated biscuits. Not to make biscuits with, silly. To make something far more fun. This salted caramel pecan pastry ring is delicious and perfect for the morning, not to mention pretty quick to put together. It takes the usual five minutes or so!

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Cinnamon Sugar Cookie Chips Coffee Cake

July 5, 2015
Mir
C is for COOKIE!, Cakes, Let Them Eat Cake
38 Comments

Breakfast is calling. It’s wondering why cookie chips took so long to get into coffee cake.

Cinnamon is one of those dark horses. I forget about it for weeks, sometimes months, at a time. And then without warning, I eat a dessert with cinnamon, and wham! I can’t stop.

When I tried Hannah Max cinnamon sugar cookie chips for the first time to decide how to bake with them, I had to slap my own hand to stop it from reaching back into the bag. The cinnamon sugar flavor is more addictive than I expected. It’s always fun when life runs contrary to expectation in a good way!

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Chocolate Cherry Chip Walnut Ice Cream

If I keep making ice cream at this rate, Ben and Jerry’s might go out of business. I mean, I usually buy so much more from them. I wonder if they miss me.

Nah, they’re too popular to miss me. And when I pass a scoop shop, I walk in. But at home, I’m too busy concocting fun ice cream flavors. This one is perfect for your summer celebrations because I think it’s totally original, plus it’s easy. Three base ingredients, everyone! It takes about two minutes to throw together.

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White Nectarine Upside-Down Cake

Gotta be honest with you: I don’t usually bake with fruit.

Have you noticed? Seriously, it’s not typically my bag. When you’re addicted to chocolate and peanut butter, fruit falls by the wayside. At least, it does in baked goods.

Now fruit on its own, raw, is a different animal entirely. And my number one favorite fruit of all time is the white nectarine. When perfectly ripe, it’s sweet and juicy and better than anything. I hate to do anything to them but eat them as they are. But every now and then, you get a less than amazing batch. Actually, more than that. So that’s when you bake them into cake!

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Patriotic Peanut M & M Cookie Cake

Sometimes I just need to bake cute, ya know?

Whenever I see a gorgeous woman, I might feel a twinge of envy. Okay, more than a twinge. But then I remember that being cute has a much longer shelf life than being pretty. Or at least, I hope it does.

Besides, people like cuteness everywhere. I saw a chocolate-covered Oreo shaped like a flower last week and I just had to have it. I mean, I always want a chocolate-covered Oreo, but when you put it into a flower chocolate mold that looks like a daisy, hot damn. That’s one adorable treat. So I figure I should bake cute whenever I can.

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Pecan Squares

Fill in the blank for me: “As American as _____________.”

Did you say “apple pie?” If you did, I salute you. That’s the expression. But I’m not here for apple pie today. I’m here to talk about an oft-neglected staple of American dessert cuisine: the pecan.

We never really think about something until it’s gone, which I learned with the pecan from my sister-in-law’s mother. She hails from Ecuador, and apparently, the pecan action there is rather lacking. She once told me that when she comes to the U.S., she gets her fill of pecans and chocolate chips. They’re not available everywhere. Remember that next time you turn down that slice of pecan pie!

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Black and White Cookie Chips Fudge

My house is quiet and dark. For several sweet hours a day, my kids are in camp while I get a chance to remember what life was like B.C. (before children) and inhale the sweet nectar of freedom.

Here’s the ultimate perk of being a teacher. For two unpaid months (yep, I inserted that word on purpose), I get a taste of what it’s like to be a stay at home mom. It’s great for these two months. I would not be able to do it year-round and maintain my sanity. Especially if there was no camp.

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Red, White and Blue Bars

Now that I’m on board with July 4th being around the corner, my kitchen has changed color. We’re looking very patriotic these days. I blame the sprinkles and M & Ms.

About two months ago, I spied patriotic M & Ms at Target. So I bought them, hid them from Kenny, and forgot about them. Until today. If you want a bar that’s as close as possible to white to set off the glory of these holiday-themed M & Ms, this white chocolate base is perfect. It has the consistency of a brownie but it’s made with white chocolate. Holy stars and stripes forever!

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German Chocolate Brownies

Aw yeah. I went there.

Full confession: until a few years ago, I turned my nose up at all coconut desserts. All of them. And then one day, the angels spoke to me and I ate an Almond Joy. Boy, did I feel like an idiot. It was delicious.

Since then, I’ve come to realize how much a heap of coconut on top of a dessert can change the game. And when that heap of coconut happens to be couched in easy, gooey German chocolate frosting, so much the better.