Cake Day: Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting (AKA Pure Peanut Butter Decedance Cake)

This is the day the Lord made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

That, my dear Baker, is all the inspiration you need to bake a cake. The day you are living in, right here, right now, is made by the Lord. It is beautiful, extraordinary, special and blessed. Why? Because God made it. He brought the sun up. He kept the world rotating on its axis all night long so that this morning you could awaken to a new day designed by the hand of God.

Sometimes, some bakers, wait for a celebration to bake a cake. A birthday, an anniversary, a graduation... but a Monday? How about a day when you get horribly bad news, have an attack of MS or just don't have any plans or excitement on the day's agenda? Is there reason to bake a cake on those days?
I believe there is because I believe the Bible and I want to heed the words of 1 Thessalonians 5:16.  "Rejoice always..."
Rejoice.... that's the flour, the sugar, the baking powder and soda, and - in today's cake - the peanut butter. Rejoicing in every circumstance is at the heart of following Christ. It is at the heart of living filled with the Holy Spirit. Rejoicing is a command. It is not an option. It is not a directive given for certain people or certain situations. Rejoicing is forever, for always, for everyone and everything.
Even Mondays.
Even on days when everything goes wrong.
Even on days when the news is bad and the future looks bleak.
Even when we are tired, weak, worn out and sick.
Rejoice in everything.

If you are struggling today, finding it hard to rejoice, then I recommend baking a cake. Yes, a cake on Monday when no one is having a birthday and no one has any big accomplishment to celebrate. Just bake a cake anyways because what you and I are celebrating today is the magnificent God we serve.

I have personally deemed Monday to be "Cake Day" in my baking life. Some people have "Throwback Thursday" and bloggers have "Friday Favorites." Well, I have cake on Monday because there is no better way to start the week then by rejoicing in a new day and a new week made by the Lord.




Today's recipe is a family recipe but I don't think it's a secret, so I'm going to share it with you. If you love all things peanut butter than this cake will be right up your dessert alley!

Peanut Butter Cake
1 3/8 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2/3 cup milk (I used 2%)
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 and grease an 8x8 pan. 
Combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat on medium speed the peanut butter and butter until smooth. Add milk, flour mixture and egg. Mix until just combined. 
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until tester comes out clean (about 30 minutes).
Let cool before frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting
1/3 cup peanut butter
3 cups confectioners sugar
1/4-1/3 milk (depending on consistency)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat on medium-high speed peanut butter and sugar. Slowly add milk and vanilla until desired consistency is reached. Frost cake.
Eat.
Enjoy.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

The name of this post is "Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes" but really it should be called "An Unexpectedly Good Treat."
If you are like me then this combination of fruit, flour and chips all molded into one miniature cake sounds off-putting. Cupcakes should not contain bananas. Or chips for that matter. At least that's what I had always believed until I stumbled upon this recipe. In it I found an odd assortment of ingredients that I didn't believe could work well together in one paper lined muffin tin. But there it was, in black and white, topped with a chocolate cream cheese frosting. I found this recipe in my favorite cookbook, The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook that I keep referring to on this blog. I highly recommend it. Trust me, it's worth the splurge. Each recipe I've tried has been a success and these strange little cupcakes are no exception.
This unexpected recipe with unexpected ingredients actually produced an unexpectadly tasty result. The crumb of the cupcakes was just right thanks to the nontraditional method of preparing the batter with oil and whipped egg whites as opposed to good ol' butter. And the frosting made almost entirely of cream cheese was the perfect balance to the sweet banana of the light and airy cupcake below.
For reasons I can't explain, when baked at 350 degrees for twenty-two minutes, these strange bedfellows of ingredients came together to make perfectly round, perfectly moist cupcakes. I didn't see the success of these cupcakes coming but I am pleased to report that they were not at all an utter disaster - as I had expected.

While delivering these unique cupcakes to my dessert loving loved ones the lesson of the unexpected cupcake dawned on me...
There are sets of life circumstances that I often assume will be bad. I expect sickness, heartache, loneliness and trials to produce negativity in my life. I look at my life's road blocks and detours as things to just get through and survive.
But sometimes all of those circumstances can produce something unexpectedly good.
Joseph is a prime example of horrid circumstances working together for his ultimate good. He was sold into slavery and thrown in prison even though he had done nothing wrong. Most would say that his situation was rotten and unjust. Yet, God has something glorious in mind for Joseph. He took those undesirable circumstances and did something unexpectedly amazing with them and with Joseph.
God used Joseph to prepare Egypt for a coming famine. Through Joseph's interpretation of dreams, God was able to sustain the people of Egypt through years without a harvest. Even Joseph's brothers were spared thanks to the storehouse of food Joseph had set aside.
When Joseph's brothers came to Egypt in search of food they must have been shocked to find their brother, who they sold into slavery years ago, second in command and overseer of the lands of Egypt. Unexpected? You bet!
But Joseph said to his brothers, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis 50:20).
God took a life that looked as good as dead and did something totally unexpected with it, He used it to save an entire nation. Joseph had been a slave and an inmate, not exactly the pedigree for second in command over a country. But that's how God works, He takes the unexpected and uses it to glorify His name and further His Kingdom.
That's exactly what He did with Joseph and that's exactly what He can still do today in the unexpected circumstances of my life and yours.
Multiple Sclerosis has thrown me a curve ball with the word, "unexpected" written all over it. But I believe in the ability and will of God to do extraordinary things with the unexpected. He can use my MS to bring praise to His name and further His Gospel. I don't know precisely how He plans to do that with my unexpected life just yet but I trust that the plan He has for me is being worked out even now, in the trials and difficulties of my illness.
Unexpected, yes. But good? Most certainly, yes. Even the most unlikely of life's ingredients can come together to make something beautiful. Just like Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes.

Romans 15:13 Ministry: Week #2

I looked up the word joy in the dictionary and found a terrible definition. According to Webster's it is a "feeling of great happiness."
This definition left me feeling joyless so I decided to go back to the root of the word, before the days of Webster, and find what joy is really all about.
Sure enough, there it was, the true meaning of joy: rejoice. It comes from the Latin "gaudere" which means "rejoice." The French turned that into "joie" and the English turned that into joy.
Irma Rombauer turned that into the "Joy of Cooking" but more on that in a minute.

Let's just stick to the simple word joy for just a moment.
There are two ways to look at joy. One, you can look at joy as a thing that happens to you. Or you can look at joy as something you make happen. If you simply look in the library dictionary for guidance on joy you will be hard pressed to have it in abundance in your own life because the joy that is taught by Webster's isn't the kind of joy you can choose, it is the kind of joy that just "happens" to you.
But that isn't true joy.
True joy is rejoicing and rejoicing is a choice. No one has rejoicing happen to them. Rejoicing is a verb. Rejoicing is a decision. Rejoicing is a definitive action taken by a person.
And so is joy.
Joy isn't just a feeling of elation because of good circumstances. That would make joy a response, not a decision. But joy is so much more than a conditional response. It is an unconditional action taken by someone who makes a conscious decision.

That brings us to cooking and baking and the joy in those actions. Just ask Irma, there is joy in cooking. Even in the midst of the Great Depression, on the heels of her husbands suicide, Irma found joy in the kitchen and in the formulating and preparing of a meal. She wrote a cookbook on the subject matter, titled it "JOY of Cooking" and 75 years later it is the best selling cookbook of all time.
She found joy in the kitchen because she decided to cook not because it just happened to her. The joy was a product of a decision to go and grab it off the shelf, mix it in a bowl and bake it in an oven. Her joy was roasted, sauteed and broiled along with her meats and potatoes. Her joy wasn't born out of a happiness of life circumstances but out of a decision to make joy happen.

That joy is available to everyone whether or not they choose to cook or bake or order carry out. Joy is as easy to attain as making a decision. If you find decision making hard then I suppose joy is hard to capture and sustain. But if you can make up your mind to be joyful, to live in a state of rejoicing, the joy will flow abundantly without need for a particular mood or "happiness" to overtake you.

And if you do decide to express your joy in the kitchen then I encourage you to share that joy with others through the blessing of your baking and cooking bounty. When joy is shared it is multiplied. I do believe Irma would have agreed that the more joy - the more cooking, the more baking, the more sharing - the better.



For a treat worthy of sharing I suggest these Glazed Pumpkin Muffins (recipe below). My recipe is adapted from AllRecipes. I read countless pumpkin muffin recipes before tweaking this one to make it the perfect muffin recipe (in my humble opinion). I shared these muffins with the women's Bible study I have started to bake for as an outreach of my Romans 15:13 Ministry. These muffins along with thumbprint cookies (recipe can be found recipe here) were my treats of the week. They were a hit with my tasters and a joy to bake!

Pumpkin Muffins
1 cup pumpkin (canned "or" fresh) 
2 eggs, slightly beaten 
1/2 cup water 
1/2 cup veg. oil 
1 3/4 cups flour 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar  
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1/4 teaspoon baking powder 
1 teaspoon cinnamon 
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger 
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1.  Preheat oven to 350 and spray 16 muffin tins with cooking spray. 
2. Blend pumpkin, eggs, water and oil in large bowl.
3. Stir together all dry ingredients and then pour and mix into wet.
4. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full and bake for about 25 or until a toothpick comes out clean.
   
   

Maple Cream Cheese Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
3-4 TB heavy cream
1 TSP vanilla extract
1/2 cup cream cheese
1 TB maple syrup

Whisk sugar, heavy cream and vanilla together until blended. On low to medium speed add cream cheese and syrup (amount may vary depending on personal taste). If the glaze is too thick add some more heavy cream. Blend until the desired consistency is reached. Drizzle on cooled muffins.

Do-Si-Do's

Good news, only 106 days till Girl Scout Cookie season.
But you probably already knew that. Don't you keep a "countdown till cookie season" marked on your calendar right next to the dog grooming appointments and dentist visits? We are talking about cookies here! And not just any cookies. Girl Scout Cookies. The creme-de-la-creme of the boxed cookie. Thin mints. Samoas. Tagalongs. Do-Si-Do's. Not Shortbreads... they are kind of the ugly duckling of the Girl Scout Cookie line-up. But ask any cookie lover and they'll tell you that the rest are certainly countdown worthy.
By this time in the year you have probably been out of these prized little treats for quite some time. (That is unless you have a box of thin mints frozen in your freezer. And of course there is no shame in that.) If you are a cookie lover and a Girl Scout Cookie hoarder then the simple act of just recalling the names of these famous little cookies probably has your mouth watering.
Well, dear cookie lover, don't fear, you do not have to wait 106 days to have your Girl Scout Cookie sweet tooth satisfied. You can bake up your own, homemade, from scratch cookie that will knock the jade green vest off every little girl in your local troop. With your own hand crafted freshly baked cookies you could start a revolution, bringing Do-Si-Do's to the cookie jar all year round. Who needs a countdown when you have a kitchen? Who needs a box when you could bake instead?
Get rid of that countdown. Scratch of the next 106 days of waiting off your calendar. The cookies are here...today! All you have to do is bake them.
You can get started by checking out this recipe for homemade Do-Si-Do's. You will never long for another box of mass produced peanut butter and oat sandwich cookies again.

Happy Monday: Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Have you ever woken up to a day that feels, how shall I put it, blah? The weather is overcast. The days agenda for what lies ahead is the same old, same old. Your hair is flat and make up just isn't doing the trick to perk up your looks or your mood.
This isn't necessary a case of depression or even a day in the dumps. What you might be experiencing is what we Americans like to call "Monday."
You might think that the case of the Mondays only happens to those who wake up to the sound of an alarm and must trudge off to work after a blissful weekend away from the desk. But let me tell you, the Mondays happen to workers and non-workers alike. There is something inherent in the day itself that seems to foist a stale, lackluster mood onto us all.
Maybe it goes back to the childhood, grade school years - at least that's where I place my blame for lack of Monday enthusiasm. I never liked Mondays growing up. I loved Saturday and Sunday best of all. Let's just say I wasn't school's number one fan. I was, and still am, a home body. I left my house each morning and immediately started the hourly countdown till the final bell rang that would release me from the confines of the prison, I mean, school I attended. Needless to say graduation was one of the greatest days of my twenty four years thus far.
So you see this is why I blame my dislike for school on my dislike for Mondays. Somewhere out there on Monday there is a kid just like me wishing it were still the weekend, wishing they could just stay home and not go to the institutional setting of a classroom with a blackboard, stern teacher and cruel students. Somewhere there is a kid who just wants to stay home with Mom, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch instead of standing in a cafeteria line picking through a blob of mystery meat. Somewhere there is a child who is sitting in class, embarrassed to raise their hand and ask a question for fear of mockery and snickers from fellow classmates. I get that kid. And I get why they don't ever want Monday to come.
Today I'm baking for that kid. I'm baking them a cake because on Monday, after a day spent back at an uncomfortable desk in a room flooded with harsh fluorescent lights and the stinging smell of disinfectant, there is nothing better than a cake sitting on the kitchen counter, freshly frosted and waiting to be enjoyed.
I can't bake a cake for every child who suffers from the case of the Mondays but I can bake a cake for the kids in my life who got up this morning and were met with the sight of school uniforms and lunch boxes. I pray that their day wasn't one of endless torture as they watched the clock, but I couldn't blame them if it felt tedious and never ending as they sat in the confines of a school that feels like a world away from home.
This cake is a cake to celebrate that even Mondays spent in school give way to Tuesdays. The dismissal bell always rings. The bus always takes you back home. And a pair of play clothes is always waiting in the drawer.
And, as hard as it is to believe in elementary school, Mondays are a day made by the Lord. They are beautiful in His sight no matter how dreaded they may feel to you and I. Monday can be just as blessed and beautiful as Saturday and Sunday if we choose to look at the glory of God in our mopey Monday. 
So here's a cake to kick off the week! May yours be one of immeasurable goodness and bountiful blessings! Happy Monday.

For your own Happy Monday cookie cake creation visit Sally's Baking Addiction for this chocolate chip cookie cake. (Hand written message was my own personal touch.)

Apple Crisp

A theory is formulating in my mind and it goes something like this...There are two types of marrying men in this world. One wants to be a husband who dotes on a wife and one who wants an independent, self-sufficient wife.
The first type of man wants to be a protector. He finds fulfillment in being the man of the house. For this type of man having his wife do the "manly" work reduces his own role as husband. It is his belief that as a man he is to do the heavy lifting. He wouldn't have his wife mow the lawn, change fire detector alarms or move a couch around the living room when she felt like switching up the furniture arrangement. He, as the man, wants to be the strong and mighty warrior for his wife. He wants to care for her needs and treat her like a prized jewel, a delicate flower, a princess.
The second type of husband wants his wife to be her own warrior. If she wants the couch moved he wants her to be the one to move it. If the lawn needs mowed he is more inclined to remind her of its scraggly blades of grass than to break out the mower himself. On a Sunday afternoon he is more likely to be found on the golf course than doing any odd job around the house. He has his life, hobbies and duties and he believes his wife should have her own, too.

I know what kind of husband I want. And, more importantly, I know the kind of wife I want to be.
I want to be the kind of wife who creates a comfortable, loving home for her husband. I want to be the wife who supports her husband when he takes a step out in faith. I want to brighten his day with little surprises and remind him how much he is loved and cherished. I want to praise his efforts to fix broken appliances and doors - even when the craftsmanship is lacking in professionalism and precision. And I know that I want to be the kind of wife that has an apple crisp baking in the oven when her husband gets home from work.

So today I'm practicing being the wife I want to become by baking an apple crisp. There isn't an exact science when it comes to a fruit crisp. You can fumble around for measurements, be out of a particular ingredient or over mix the sugar and flour and still end up with a delicious result. For guidance in completing my crisp I sought out the AllRecipes authority and stumbled upon Apple Crisp II. Over 3,000 reviews and four and a half stars don't fail me now!

Just a few notes about the recipe. I used McIntosh apples and baked it in two separate dishes that equaled about a 9x13. Instead of water I used apple cider. More flavor = better dessert. In the topping I decreased the brown sugar, added a bit of cinnamon and upped the oats while decreasing the flour.
The verdict? It was a hit. I will definitely be adding this recipe to my arsenal of treats to bake for a future hubby!

A whoopie pie of a disaster

To bake or not to bake, that is the question.
Somehow I don't think Shakespeare faced this dilemma.

My baking escapades have continued and every day I have tackled another recipe and another set of ingredients. Some days the result has been divine. Other days it has been disastrous.
Like today.

I had another inedible creation, this time of whoopie pie proportions. I attempted to make pumpkin whoopie pies with a cream cheese filling. Instead I got round disc shaped sponges with pointy peeks  where soft pillows of dough were meant to form. I didn't even get to the cream cheese filling before I knew that these cookies were at utter failure and definitely not worthy of being served to anyone.
This is the second time in a week that my baking has turned into mush and has had to be disposed of instead of eaten up. This massive waste of ingredients being sent down my garbage disposal has me questioning my future in the kitchen. Should I be baking at all? Baking isn't cheap. The ingredients needed are plentiful - and pricey. I am spending much of my time in an apron with a bowl and mixer in hand when maybe I should be spending time doing something entirely different.
Should I be focusing on some job or career or some future that could include a pay check? Am I frittering away time when I really should be growing up and being more "adult-ish"? (Mature terminology, don't you think?)
I'm beginning to think this whole baking thing has been nothing more than an escape from the reality of having to grow up and make something of my life. And then, on the other hand, I am constantly aware of my physical condition and the limitations it places on me. How can I get on with life outside of the walls of my house when my physical ailments so often sideline me from being out and about and fully "productive" by the standards of society?
I'm at a crossroads and the disastrous whoopie pie situation pushed me right over the edge into complete meltdown.

I've wondered so many times throughout my four years of this physical trial, "how will God ever use me in this condition?" Then I hit on baking and thought that was how He would use me. But how will He use me if what I bake ends up in the sink? Was all that, "God can use me in the kitchen!" talk just a bunch of wishful thinking? Maybe it was just a distraction to get my mind off of the fact that while my fellow twenty-four year olds are off getting married, having careers and socializing I am stuck at home with a digestive system that I can't rely on and a body that is constantly on the fritz!
Maybe it is just time to face the facts of the matter: I'm a twenty four year old with no prospects of a future. I'm a twenty four year old still living at home in my childhood bedroom with no friends, no job and no career path. I don't have a marketable skill or a valued trade. I don't have a social circle or even a social semi-circle. I'm certainly not a baker and sadly, not a writer, either.
I'm just a girl on the fritz.... who maybe shouldn't be baking.