Tiramisu Layered Cake

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First things first.

You have to make this cake. It's so delicious and light! Don't be overwhelmed by the lengthy directions. It was a very simple cake to make, though it looks professional when you are done!

Here's the original recipe.

And here is how I made it. I stand by my "improvements."

Ingredients for Cake Portion

(1) box of white cake mix (pick something that is moist)

(4) teaspoons of expresso powder (by the instant coffee in grocery store)

(1/4) cup of expresso

(2) tablespoons of Kahlua

Ingredients for Filling:

(1) 16 ounce of mascarpone cheese (don't make the cream cheese substitute - cough up the extra money to get the good stuff. It makes a difference, trust me)

(1) cup of powdered sugar

(4-5) tablespoons of Kahlua

Ingredients for Frosting:

(2) cups of heavy cream

(1/4) cup of powdered sugar

(2) tablespoons of Kahlua

Garnish:

(2) tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

(1) one ounce square of dark chocolate or milk...whatever you prefer

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flower (3) 9" pans.

2. Prepare cake mix according to package. Divide 2/3 of batter between 2 pans. Stir 2 tablespoons of expresso powder into both pans. Pour the last 1/3 into the final pan and leave as is.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes then turn onto wire rack and cool completely.

4. In a measuring cup, combine 1/4 cup of expresso and 2 tablespoons of Kahlua and set aside.

5. To make the filling: In a small bowl, using a mixer set on low, combine mascarpone cheese, cup of powdered sugar and 4-5 tablespoons of Kahlua; beat just until smooth. Cover with with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

6. To make the frosting: In a medium bowl, using a mixer set on medium-high speed, beat the cream, 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of Kahlua until stiff. Fold 1/2 of cream mixture into the filling that you are refrigerating.

Assembling the cake:

1. Place one of your coffee flavored cakes on the serving plate upside down. Using a thin skewer, poke holes in the the cake about 1" apart. Pour 1/3 of the expresso mixture over the cake.

2. Next, take the filling out of the refrigerator and spread half of it across the cake.

3. Now take the one plain cake and set it on top of the filling, upside down. Poke holes again in this layer and pour another third of the expresso over the cake. Spread with the remaining filling.

4. Put the final coffee flavored cake on top, right side up. Again, poke with holes and pour the rest of the expresso over the cake.

5. Now use your frosting to cover the sides and top of the cake. Be generous.

6. Lightly dust the top with cocoa powder and use a vegetable peeler to curl some pieces of chocolate and set on top.

7. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

You will not be sorry! Now print this out and make it!

bubble baths and peanuts

Bubble baths and shipping peanuts.

Is there anything better to play in?

B-days

March brought some fun birthdays our way, which meant delicious cakes and lots of new toys to find places for!

First up was Miss. Allyson's birthday - celebrated by our family with a meal and cake of her own pickin'. The cake: Tiramisu Layered Cake from allrecipes.com with a few minor adjustments that put it over the top!

I mean, look at those layers baby!

Next was David's 4th Birthday - celebrated on three occasions,that lucky dog! There was the morning of his birthday when four lit candles appeared on a chocolate donut for him to blow out at breakfast time.

Later that evening there was the dinner of his choice which turned out to be waffles at Bob Evans. Apparently, Bob Evans doesn't make waffles after 3pm and we did not learn this until we were sitting down with menus in hand. Though sad at first, David happily settled on chocolate chip pancakes.

Finally, there was the grand family party where kids ran all through the house and David got to open a mound of presents!

Here is Aunt Jeanne putting a cowboy outfit on our little wrangler.

similies

So on Thursdays after our Homeschool Co-Op day, I teach literature to Scott Dubell and my very own Stephen. Jayda weaseled into this picture because she loves to be near "Gotty".

Teach is actually too strong of a verb. I would say that I attempt to lead a discussion that highlights a portion of the book they are reading. Attempt is the key word. These boys love to talk. And talk. And talk.

Last week we discussed the author's usage of similies and how they helped us to better understand the description of something.

For fun and because I need to have something to show for our time together, we came up with a few of our own.

Here's what the boys came up with:

Stephen:

My iMac is as fast as a cheetah.

Scotty:

My compaq is as quick as a turtle.

My dad’s dell is as quick as a snail.

Stephen:

Scott’s socks smell as bad as pancake batter a day old.

Scotty:

The fog was as thick as Texas toast.

Stephen:

Jayda’s diaper was as wet as the Pacific Ocean.

The last was a very true statement. Very true.

I like Scott's use of sarcasm in his first similie. :-)

yeow!

Thanks to Pioneer Woman, I have spread my culinary wings and created some new delicious dinners for my family.

This was a huge hit and is now declared as the #1 Meal.

I must admit, it's pretty amazing. We've had it twice in a week's time and Matt literally moaned and hummed through every other bite.

Yummy Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp....here's her recipe.

I served it with whole grain rice with garlic and quinoa (which shockingly Matt ate) and a caesar salad. And of course there was bread. A whole loaf. A whole loaf that my family consumed like a swarm of locusts.

It was all that buttery goodness left in the pan that made the dipping irresistible.

My family was very happy. Very.

In case you were wondering, we DO feed dinner to David (3) and Jayda (2). Just not garlic shrimp. This was a big kids night!

abbie's debut

Last year our family rented a beautiful beach house in Litchfield Beach, which is just South of Myrtle Beach. We love the area and first learned of it through friends who vacation at nearby Pawley's Island.

Each year Dunes Realty runs a photography contest. I love taking pictures and decided to give it a shot. After all, monetary prizes were awarded that could be put toward our next year's rental.

When we got our new Dunes Realty vacation magazine in the mail, Stephen came running in, pages flying open, yelling, "Mom...Abbie's in here...Abbie's in here!"

I have to admit, it was pretty cool.

Before I share the photograph, let me tell you what I was going for. The marketing slogan for Litchfield beach is:

No neon. No noise. No nerve wracking traffic.

What we have is great.

What we don't have is even better.

I wanted to take a photograph that highlighted the stretch of unspoiled beach beside the dunes.

By the way, the prize was a whopping $25 and a Dunes Realty t-shirt. :-)

lights out

So what does a family of 6 plus one cat do when the power is out all day?

When there is no coffee.

When there is no TV.

When there is no internet.

When there is no working appliance.

When there is no light.

When there is no heat.

When there is no coffee. Did I mention that already?

Well. At first it was a challenge...our little household version of Survivor. Our conveniences were removed. We divided into two different tribes and I handed out bandanas. The scheming began.

Yeah, right. Actually, we all complained from time to time. And KC, our cat...she did what she does everyday: she slept.

When the sun went down and the house was pitch dark, the adventure began. So what did we do?

We had a candlelight pizza dinner.

Stephen filled up the dishwasher via flashlight.

Matt told tales of "Crazy Frank" and scared the children.

And we watched the great BGE workers dig a deep hole in our front yard, in search of the damaged cable.

The guys were great, explaining to Stephen and Abbie what they were doing and even showing us the severed cable when they found it. The one guy even gave my kids the "stay in school and learn lots of things so that you don't have to end up doing a back-breaking, dangerous job like this" speech. Bonus!

After scarfing down a few of Matt's precious donuts, the guys were on their way to their next job and we went to bed with heat.

And lights.

And TV.

And internet.