memorial day backyard bbq inspiration

[image via Blondie and Brownie]

Did you think I was going to show you a picture of sticky goey ribs? Of course not. I found this amazing red-white-and-blue cake in the Blondie and Brownie archives, where we often turn to for food inspiration. Those gals eat it all. All! I don't know how they do it. Anyway, here is their spectacular holiday cake. Are you game to make it for this weekend? I kinda am. There's a how-to video on their blog and full directions. Or you can just riff on the photo and concoct your own.

Stars and Stripes Forever Cake

2 ½ cups cake flour
4 tablespoons powdered buttermilk
3 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup water
1 ounce red food coloring
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

Cream Cheese Frosting and Berry Topping

2 cups cream cheese (2 eight oz packages), softened
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 pint blueberries
3 bright red choice strawberries of approximately the same size and color

carpe cake-um!

[image via Blondie and Brownie]

I don't know about you, but during the 3:00 sugar hour, I like to browse what the gals who eat everything and anything sweet (and finish every last bite) are eating. Yes, I am talking about Blondie and Brownie. I think I finally tracked down a pic of these two happy food bloggers -- you know, to see if they are what they eat... And you know what? They're not! They are perfectly thin and trim. Is this un-PC to say? Well, they do defy normal metabolism, so color me fascinated.

And so concludes today's food for thought. In the form of a cute marshmallow-y smiley-faced cupcake. Oh, just one more thing if you happened to read their accompanying blog post that goes with the cupcake. Are you guys so over food trucks in NYC? I kinda am. There are just too many of them these days.



*Carpe cake-um, the title of this post, is a genius phrase coined by Blondie and Brownie. Yes they are masters of the dessert world.

3:00 sugar

Green Tea Matcha Cupcakes
From the post, Farewell Amai, We Hardly Knew Ye*
[image from Blondie and Brownie]

Right about now, the sugar jones is kicking in. It must be 3:00. And quite frankly, we at Dollhouse are curious about what food escapades Blondie and Brownie have been up to lately. Let's take a peek, shall we?

Oh Blondie and Brownie. The visions of sugar plums you plant in our heads. How could we not become addicted to reading your blog?




*Incidentally, Amai, I knew yee, and am sad to see you go. I loved the green tea matcha shake especially when you finally agreed to make it for me with skim milk and much less sugar. It was so chalky and delicious. I guess that explains my dream last night. I dreamt that we went to a Japanese bakery and bought green tea-frosted chocolate cakes. They were pricey at $30 each, so we opted to buy just one. But we got a free hunk of cake to taste and it was delicious. Then we were shown another fabulous cake. It was a cake hidden inside another cake. The inner cake was coated in a thin layer of vanilla frosting and slivvered almonds. The outer cake was vanilla sponge. The two cakes were separated by a small space so one did not disturb the other. How strange. I invented a new cake design in my dream!