Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I know I'm well behind the red velvet craze, but I never quite saw the appeal. From what I understood, red velvet cake is a chocolate flavored cake that is colored red. (Yes, yes, I know that original red velvet cakes needed no food coloring.) But, since I'm a generally curious person, especially when it comes to things like cupcakes, I thought I would give them a shot.

Coconut Toffee Chew Bars

There are all sorts of bar cookies - ones filled with chocolate, fruit, jams, peanut butter - and they're all delicious. But these bar cookies? These are like candy. Completely addictive. Just try to have only one.

Quadruple Berry Pie

Quick! Make this now! Before berries disappear from the shelves, the weather turns cool, everybody starts wearing boots and you have to work out how to use your iphone/blackberry wearing gloves. Now that you've been sufficiently warned...you might have seen some triple berry pies out there. But triple is nothing to me. I see your triple berry pie, and I raise you one quadruple berry pie. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.

Pillow Cookies

MONTHS ago my friend Naomi and I got together to embark on a baking adventure. (And then I got delayed with fruit pies and birthdays - sorry!) And as with most adventures, there was laughter, tears, drama and heartbreak. OK, mostly just laughter. Naomi always makes me laugh. Sometimes unintentionally. There were also cookies! Specifically 'Pillow Cookies.' What are pillow cookies, you may ask? Well take a look.

My 8th Birthday

Finally, two days past my actual birthday, we have come to the end of the birthday posts - my 8th birthday. No, I didn't stop having birthdays after this, just stopped having homemade cakes. Ah, I remember clearly the Carvel Oreo ice cream cake at age 9.

Anywho..age 8:
Ice cream! I'm pretty sure it wasn't an ice cream cake, but that would have been awesome. And I like any cake that has my name on it.

Anyway let me just preface the following photo by saying that at my 8th birthday party, everyone in attendance had their hair and makeup done to sparkling perfection. So if I look like an 8 year old hooker, that's why.
And so concludes the birthdays of Amy's past. Tomorrow (hopefully, or at least this week) I'll be back to actual baking. With recipes! You don't want to miss it...

My 7th Birthday

Six weeks before my 7th birthday I moved to a whole new country. I started a new school, lived in a new house and had to make new friends.
When I was looking through old photo albums looking for some record of my 7th birthday, I came up empty. I asked my Mom, and her only response was "You probably didn't have one because you didn't have any friends." Thanks Mom.
But then I remembered, that I must have had a 7th birthday party. And I remember this because at my 7th birthday party, I didn't give an invitation to my friend Tali. I didn't invite Tali, because she used to make fun of my accent, and I didn't really like that. Well, she hasn't let me forget since (isn't it nice to have friends from when you were 7?), but I'm hoping that she'll forgive me soon. She's a pretty entertaining friend to have - she always keeps me regaled with great stories, like how her sister Hanna accidentally frosted a batch of cupcakes with frosting made from salmon cream cheese.
So anyway Tali - do you forgive me?
So, for those of you who come here just for the photos (I'm looking at you Alana), I don't want to leave you disappointed.

Here I am on grand moving day:
You can't tell, but I'm missing my two front teeth and growing out my bangs. Can you say awkward stage?
And a few days later we moved in here...
...and then many years later when the house looked like this...but that's clearly a whole other story.
So, back tomorrow with one last birthday post, albeit two days post-birthday, and then on to some actual baking once more!

My 6th Birthday

OK, so I missed the deadline for finishing these birthday posts (today), but I'm gonna keep going because they make me laugh. This year is about when I start to actually remember my birthday, so here's a story.
Every year I had a birthday party, and every year I knew that in the preceding days to said party, there was a cake somewhere in the house. And, I wanted to find that cake. I'd never managed to find one before this year. But, somehow, the day before my 6th birthday, I opened a cupboard door and spied this cake!
Of course, it so wasn't worth it, because then you miss that element of excitement of seeing it at the party. But then again, I was 6, so long-term thinking was not my strong suit.

Anyway, I'll keep doing these birthday posts even though it will be past my birthday, so come back tomorrow for age 7: no cake, but a story! I might find some pics to go along with it. See ya then!

My 5th Birthday

This is awesome. I would not turn down a cake like this next week. Hint hint.
And check it out - age 5 and I'm allowed to hold a knife! So advanced.
I'll be offline Thursday and Friday for the Jewish holiday - it might be quiet time and I might have some timed posts go up - only time will tell! Check it to see. More birthday posts on the way!

My 4th Birthday

Finally, I turn 4 and get a respectable cake. Hello merry go round! Love the painstakingly-created paper top. And the ribbons. And the fact that this photo was taken on the floor because it was the only clean surface. (I have this information from a reliable source).
Well, I have no photo of me on my 4th birthday, because somebody wasn't too camera-happy that day. But here is me a week earlier, on my first day of school.
I think I should try pigtails again....

My 3rd Birthday

Don't adjust your screens. What you're seeing is correct: that is a Store. Bought. Cake. Complete with plastic decorations.
I supposed it had something to do with that strange fellow next to me having just arrived a month before. Still, I'm sure I cried myself to sleep that night.
You know what makes this even more hilarious? Check back on my second birthday for a minute. Yup, I'm wearing the same dress. What a poor neglected child I was. Or come back tomorrow and see what an awesome 4th birthday cake I had.

My 2nd Birthday

Here, we are, birthday number two, I - just a small innocent child. And what does my mother do? SHE MAKES THE SAME CAKE!
That's right, this one has an awful similarity to my first birthday, does it not? Scroll down. Scroll back up. Nod in agreement. Well, at least this one has my name on it.
Well, I still seemed to appreciate the m&m balloons. So much that I had to pry them off the cake.
Although perhaps I just had to get to them because of that troublesome-looking fellow next to me. I have a feeling he may have had his eye on my m&ms. Well, he's been bugging me ever since.

Tomorrow: my third birthday! THE WORST OF ALL. And then it gets much better.

My First Birthday

As promised, today is the beginning of a trip down memory lane. Starting with, of course, my very first birthday. And where else to start but the cake?

The storebought teddy bear? C'mon Mom I know you can do better. Really I do - and you'll see soon. But I do appreciate the m&m balloons.
Really I did. Just try and pry that cake out of my hand.
And on Sunday...birthday number 2! Check back in - and see the horror that unfolds. Trust me.

Apple Galette

As I mentioned yesterday, the Jewish high holidays are coming up and apples - a signature food for the holiday - are everywhere! And here they are for you again today in this pretty and sweet apple galette.

Rosh HaShanah Desserts

A week from today, at sundown, is the Jewish holiday of Rosh HaShanah. Marking the new year, Rosh HaShanah is one of the most important days in the Jewish calendar. And, like all Jewish holidays, it's marked with a celebration of food! There are some weird food customs, such as eating/having on the table the head of a fish/sheep (we prefer to dissect jelly fish). Pomegranates are popular, as their seeds are said to correspond to the number of commandments. There are also several foods that are good omens for the new year based on their names, like carrots, gourds, leeks, beets, dates and - fenugreek. What? Yeah I don't know either. And there is the seminal classic - apples and honey - to guarantee a sweet new year.

Well, only a few of those ingredients interest me. So, here are some suggestions for the upcoming holidays:

1 - Apple Pie

2 - Carrot Muffins
3 - Honey Cake

4 - Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Meringue

5 - Alsatian Apple Tart

6 - Apple Cinnamon Bundt Cake
And I'm not done yet! Check in later this week for a sweet apple galette, and a delicious chocolate babke. I know I'm going to be eating for three days straight - are you? PLUS - I have a birthday coming up soon, and some interesting childhood photos to share. Stick around - it's going to be a fun week!