Ok- I LOVE BAKING!

Vegetables are a must on a diet.  I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.  ~Jim Davis

So, it's out there. I love to bake! Since getting my own place a couple of years ago I have become a baking fanatic. I think most people know me as the person you invite over who always brings a freshly baked pie or cupcakes, or the flight attendant (Yes, I'm a flight attendant!) who brings goodies for the crew.

I think I fell in love with baking about 3 years ago when I baked my first cake from scratch. (*However, I think it needs to be mentioned that not only did I grow up around baking, but I grew up around enough baking for an Army! My mom is a pastry chef, who's specialty is  cake decorating. As I'm sure you can imagine, I had no interest in baking growing up. And to add insult to injury for my poor mother I would ask for anything but cakes for my birthday- I always wanted pies or cheesecakes just because it was different.)

Getting back to my first homemade cake- I was making a cake by Paula Deen. It was to celebrate a friend who had recently quit their job.  :P

It was in one of my favorite cooking books by Paula called Paula Deen and friends: living it up, Southern style . The cake was called Bobby's Caramel Cake, and if you know anything about Paula the reciepe called for Lots of butter and Lots of sugar. Which, in all fairness is the key to any delishious dessert and heart failure. It was a a pound cake of three layers and you would poke holes through the cake and pour over a thick, light colored caramel that would go deep into the cake and get absorbed. You would repeat this for each of the three layers until you came to the last layer, over which you would coat it with a drizzle-y caramel frosting. Mmmmm delish! Since this cake was so big it stuck around my place well after my friend and I celebrated her farewell from her rubbish job. So ,I had plenty of dessert to serve to people who would just pop around my place for a cup of coffee for the next couple of days. It was a huge HIT!

This is a picture off Paula's website of what the cake should look like. I regret forgetting to take a picture  of mine.

If  your mouth is watering and your looking for the recipe, you can find it here. It's such an easy dessert to make, even if you don't have a ton of experience in the kitchen, or don't happen to have a mom who is a pastry chef. I'm a big fan of no nonsense recipes that are yummy. 

So, after the whole Caramel cake excitement I got the baking "bug". Things didn't seem to be as awful tasting as I remembered they were in home-ec class, and up until then that was my memory of "homemade" goodies that my hands had touched. We're talking, homemade vanilla cake that when you take a bite you get a mouthful of baking powder! Really Yummy stuff! Ha!

My next dessert became a little obsessive. Pies. I made pies for dessert, I made pies for company, I made pies to bring to other peoples houses when we were invited over for dinner. Pies, Pies, Pies! Apple, Apple Caramel, Cherry was a favorite for a long time, cherry cranberry, strawberry rhubarb. I think that what made me obsessed with baking pies was that they were simple. The recipes were easy, and when I made them... they didn't flop- which to me, was AMAZING! 

I remember the first pie I made was with apples I had picked myself, peeled, sliced up, tossed with lots of cinnamon-y goodness, and the crust was hand made as well. I was so proud I had to take a picture, and then post it on FaceBook! Here it is:

I was so proud of my first pie, but even more excited at how easy it was to make. Here's the recipe for  the crust if you want to try it yourself:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup water

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water until mixture forms a ball. Divide dough in half, and shape into balls. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
2. Roll out dough on a floured counter. Don't over work it. Use as directed in pie recipe.

Why I started this blog was essentially to add pictures of my desserts and to promote my business, but also to encourage novice bakers with easy and yummy recipes. So this blog will be a bit of both! On some posts you'll get to see what I've recently made for a customer, or it might be a blog post of a really easy dessert I want all of you to try!

I hope you visit again and if there's a recipe you'd like me to try and blog about, email me at madelinegifts@gmail.com

Now, go bake something yummy!