Chocolate Bundt Cake

So I had to get another textbook for my baking classes. I'm taking bread baking this semester and my instructor is going to be using The Baker's Apprentice which I've heard is a really good resource for beginner bakers. So I went to my school's bookstore and they were selling it for $36. That's when I went to Amazon; they were selling it for $19. Then I went to Barnes and Noble; they were selling it for $19 as well, BUT if I spent $25 my shipping would be free. You know I couldn't pass up a deal like that!

I searched for a few minutes an hour (I admit, I have a hard time making decisions) and decided that my additional purchase would be the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook. It got pretty good reviews and I've seen a lot on foodgawker about their amazing frosting. I submitted my order and the books were in my possession the next week.

Vacation and Pecan Gooey Bars

(See the ice cream melting, that was less than 20 seconds outside)

It's been a little while since I posted last and that's because I spent last week on the amazing Island of Edisto. It's a tiny island about 45 minutes south of Charleston with only a Piggly Wiggly and one gas station. We've been going there for seven years now, usually in August. We had a gorgeous house that was literally a 1 minute walk to the beach, a walk we made two and three times a day! We had an amazing time, the only draw back-- it was possibly hotter than the surface of the sun!

Buttermilk Doughnuts

I have a confession. Sometimes I buy baking items that I don't really need.

"Hi, my name is Allie and I'm a shopaholic...when it comes to new baking do-hickeys."

I've bought petit four molds, multiple measuring cup sets, and every holiday cupcake liner under the sun, even if I don't celebrate that holiday! But my worst purchase was the baked doughnut pan. Yes, I gave into the hype of the baked doughnut. Sur La Table's baking section was plastered with baked doughnut pans, mixes, and recipe books. They all called to me and, like a fool, I succumbed to the pressure and bought not one, but TWO pans.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm kind of in love with Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter cups. So in love that at one time I had two HUGE packages of them in my pantry. SO in love that i was sneaking into the pantry and shoving multiple peanut butter cups in my mouth at one time. So deeply in love that I decided to use those cups to make cupcakes. I mean, chocolate cake + peanut butter cups + chocolate peanut butter frosting could equal nothing else but my biggest food fantasy.

Tangy Key Lime Bars

This recipe is going to involve some back story, so bear with me.

My dad is a bit of a collector. He collects yo-yo, old furniture, marbles, toy trains, coins, etc. Our basement is like a little museum to the mid 1900's. I mean, it's not bad enough for an A&E Hoarders intervention, but he does like his nic-nacs. So, when I showed an interest in baking he started collecting things for me. Jadite mixing bowls, metal chocolate molds, cake plates, and my most prized possession--an old recipe box that was full of 1950's recipes from what I can only assume wish was a lovely southern housewife.

Last summer, when he first brought home the recipe box, from an antique store that is becoming his second home, I shuffled through all the recipes looking for a good one to try out. There were recipes for pimento cheese, multiple casseroles, many a fruit and cheese pie (gotta love those semi-homemade pies), and a newspaper clipping for Tangy Lemon Squares. Now, last summer, I was addicted to key limes. I was introduced to the tart fruit by my grandma who made a key lime pie one evening. I didn't want to crush her spirit so I tried a piece and LOVED it. Consequently,  made it several times over the next couple weeks, to my mother's dismay.

So when I came upon the lemon square recipe I said to heck with the lemons and made it with key lime juice. It was a match made in heaven. The traditional shortbread crust with the tangy, gooey key lime middle and ever so crunching top was divine. Sprinkle a little powdered sugar on the top and you're in business.

Tangy Key Lime Bars

1 cup flour
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened

2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbsp key lime juice
1 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray an 8x8 pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper.

2. To make the crust, combine the flour confectioner's sugar and butter, until it's a uniform mixture. Press into the pan and bake for 15-20 minutes.

3. While the crust is baking, combine the eggs, sugar, key lime juice, flour, and baking powder. You a whisk to incorporate the ingredients.

4. Take the pan out of the oven and pour the lime mixture onto the warm crust. Bake at 305F for another 25 minutes or until no imprint remains on the bars when touched. Place on a cooling rack and then into the refrigerator. Once they are chilled, take the bars out of the pan (with the help of the parchment paper) and cut them into individual bars. Sprinkle with a little confectioner's sugar and enjoy!