Tea Party & World Travel

I just so happen to have a wonderful group of friends that gets together once a month for themed dinner parties. As much as I'd like to dress up like a dinosaur or in a Princess Leia costume, this is more of a regional theme. Last month was Mexican (if you remember those deliciously light & tart margarita cupcakes I made), but this month was Asian. And the moment the e-mail went out that it was Asian themed, I just knew I would to finally re-use the matcha powder that has been sitting in my pantry for ages!

Lucky for me, that means a deliciously light and earthy cupcake. Which, if you didn't know, is code for "you better have one helluva frosting!" And lucky for me, my experiences with the Asian culture have left me with one major bit of knowledge: all sweets include coconut. Whether it be the flesh or the milk, it's used in almost every Asian dish that I love. So, I opted for a honey coconut frosting. And wow. Just...wow. The cupcakes were a huge hit at the dinner party, and since I ended up with so much left over frosting, I got to practice my rose piping on a plate. And the rest of it was a huge hit with my boyfriend and the spatula. No judgement, it really was that good!

This was the beautiful outcome of my rose piping practice. Not bad for a first timer.

And here we have the lovely cupcakes, all lined up and piped just right.

I couldn't resist the perfect opportunity to top each cupcake with a fortune cookie! After all, what better way to end a night than with talks of success, love, and life?

Oh, and did I mention I leave for Argentina TOMORROW?? I'm going with Belmont University's MBA program, and I couldn't be more thrilled. The trip is being led by the infamous Dr. Jeff Cornwall. I'm beyond excited to see Buenos Aires, eat gelato and alfajores, tour the VW plant, and pick the brain of one of the most talented entrepreneurs in Nashville. Not to mention, I've already found a few local bakeries nearby - like you had any doubts!

Lucky for my class, I baked these last week for our pre-trip meeting. Classic alfajores, light shortbread cookies filled with sweet and sticky dulce de leche. Mmmm, mm! See y'all in a week!

Makin' Moves & Salted Caramel Brownies

Why yes, fellow food-lovers, I am in fact making several things lately. Moves. That's one of them - lots and lots of moves. Salted caramel brownies is among the more delicious of what I've been making. But both will be discussed today as promised.

All jokes aside, I never joke about food. So, we'll start with that. I have been dying to make a chewy, chocolatey, omnom-screaming brownie. My brownies last week were good, but they were more intense due to the added coffee. I have thus added a few little tricks of my own in the form of beer and salted caramel. And while I hate to brag, this brownie kicked some serious taste buds! I was nervous that the caramel was going to harden and cause dentists all over Nashville to curse Littlest Love. But fortunately for me, I made a quick, super soft caramel that was to die for. And thus it was both ooey and gooey inside those brownies. We all know those are the basic brownie requirements.

Ohh, look at those soft squares of buttery caramel goodness...

I went to the store in search for Guinness (brilliant!), but I happened upon this Vanilla Java Porter by Atwater Brewery (support Detroit!) in the beer aisle, and well, Guinness took the back burner. This stuff is delicious! I couldn't let the rest of 6-pack go to waste, so it's cooling in my fridge for a post-work beverage.

It poured a beautiful, brown caramel color, and was a great addition to the dark cocoa powder.

And there you have it. Thick, chewy, caramel-y brownies!

Ohhh... Ahhh...

Oh, now you want to hear about all the moves I've been making? As if it doesn't get better than salted caramel and chocolate, I have some totally SWEET news! As of now, Littlest Love has become a real-live business.  I have formed an LLC and handled 99% of the business side of things, and am just working on creating contacts and new friends in the form of suppliers and wholesalers who want to buy my goods!

If you think that's not exciting enough, I am working on a survey that I plan to send out very soon that will request your honest opinions. The survey results will likely be the decision-maker in whether or not I offer an online-only Cookie of the Month Club! How many of you want fresh cookies from Littlest Love over-nighted to your doorstep?! Survey Monkey will tell all!

In the meantime, I'll be baking more cookies and brownies this week!  And next weekend, I'll be baking cupcakes for a friend's birthday party. I'm still trying to conjure up a final peanut butter cupcake combination, so if you have any ideas, please share here in my comments, or find me on Facebook!

National Donut Day!

Oh happy day! It's National Donut Day today, and I began my celebration last night around 8pm with my first batch of donuts...EVER.  No no! Not my first batch to ingest.  I've eaten my fair share of donuts in my lifetime, so I'm sure I've reached "batches" by now.  I'm talking about my first ever attempt to MAKE donuts.  Another fun adventure in my quest to be the ultimate, all-knowing baker extraordinaire.

Lucky for me, I quickly learned that donuts can in fact be baked, not fried.  My wonderful boyfriend ran off to Bed Bath & Beyond to buy two mini donut pans while I began scouring my favorite food blogs for recipes for my first ever donut-making attempt. I went with a blueberry-lemon cake donut, and drizzled a lemon glaze all over.  And I mean ALL. OVER.  This was to ensure maximum caloric intake, which I think was only mildly successful.  Had I fried those bad boys up (truth be told, I thought about it!), maybe I'd be singing a different tune. But instead I went for enjoyable, not heart-stopping.

Lucky for me, I started with some beautiful raw materials.  The blueberries were fresh and sweet and the Meyer lemons were bright and smelled amazing!

I plated them to show you the great color - and so I could eat a few while I baked the donuts!

I halved the blueberries (so the juice would spread) and doubled up on the amount of them for some ultimate juicy blueberry flavor...

And had a lot of fun using my new donut pans!  I'm going to turn everything I bake into a donut shape now, just because I can!

Oh wow. Look at those juicy blueberries oozing sweetness all over the the cakey dough!

They sat in the pan for a while to cool and turn a perfect golden brown, which prepped them for the lemon glaze to be poured all over them. And I triple taste tested the lemon glaze to make sure I did it right. Tough job!

And there you have it folks! Gooey hands? Check. Happy mouth? Double check!

Oh - and below you can see one of the beautiful strawberry donuts I made as well! The recipe suggested to fill the donut pan half way, but I ended up filling the donut pan a little more for the batch of strawberry donuts to see if I could get them a little bigger.  In fact, I'd say I nearly filled it to the top.  This made them super fluffy and helped them take on a more donut-like shape, which I preferred.

Yum is right!  Did you do anything fun to celebrate National Donut Day? Hopefully each of you grabbed something deliciously wonderful from one of the many donut shops offering promotions for this patriotic and tasty holiday. And if not, it's not too late! You've still got a few hours left to channel your inner-glutton and grab a few glazed nom noms! 

Check back early next week for more baking attempts from me, and possibly some business news. 

Until then, do-nut worry & be happy!

Brain is Storming + Sun is Shining

I am still trying to talk myself into it being Tuesday. Anyone else having that problem?  Hopefully everyone had a fun-filled weekend - I know I did! I spent most of it outdoors soaking up the perfect 75+ degree weather, but I spent a good portion sampling the competition in the Nashville area. I mean, twist my arm with their chewy, salty peanut butter cookies, right?  After all, what's more American than peanut butter and a little healthy competition on a beautiful Memorial weekend?  I even got to spend a little time by the pool with a local baker.  He's very talented and impressive, and unbelievably humble. Just talking to him got me to thinking.  I don't have to know it all to jump in head first, right?  Into the market, not the pool. Stay with me, people!  

I have this very conflicting, layered fear of trying new skills in the kitchen that is somehow combined with feeling like I having to know how to bake EVERYTHING in order to be considered a respected baker. So you see my predicament.  In order to conquer this fear, I've given myself a goal to bake two items every week this summer that will teach me a new skill in the kitchen.  Also, I am signing myself up for two buttercream classes, so that I can make delicious - and beautiful! - treats for all.

The overall goal is to have a well-developed menu and a beautiful array of desserts to offer everyone by September 2013.  That's right!  September 2013, you should **fingers crossed!** be able to buy something wonderful from Littlest Love. 'Merica!

So, in honor of the American dream, and the people who defend it, I bring you three somewhat patriotic sweets: homemade carrot cake, Sweeteeth "Sea is for Caramel" chocolate bar, and homemade shortbread cookies.  Okay, well at least this carrot cake is WAY patriotic! I mean, it's got red, white & blue carrots!  And while it was a little dense and too moist for my taste, it went over pretty well with friends.  Not bad for my first attempt at carrot cake, or cake in general!

The cream cheese frosting was creamy + tangy + delicious! I'll be attempting carrot cake again soon, but next time I'm thinking layered. I mean, it allows for more of that frosting!

Next up was the best chocolate I have ever set on my tongue - by Sweeteeth.  I had no hand in it (other than the one that was moving the chocolate from the wrapper to my mouth). Which is probably best, since I know how temperamental chocolate is and I have yet to gather my patience to attempt that feat.  But this bar was sweet, smooth dark chocolate that encased a buttery, rich caramel filling.  And the bar was crusted with thick, flaky fleur de sel.  AND I got to enjoy it with a glass of red wine on a picnic at a local vineyard with my love.  Talk about perfection!

Seriously. Yum...

And lastly but not leastly (spell check ignored because it sounds kitschy), homemade shortbread cookies.  This was my first ever attempt with a recipe that I came up with on the fly.  And you know what?  I love it!  Talk about a home run on this one.  The cookies were lightly sweetened, buttery and had a perfect crumb.

I made little and big stars, depending on whether people were feeling a little indulgent, or a lot indulgent.  I don't judge - I'm an equal opportunity baker and taste tester!

And below you can see the fun Vine video I posted!  Follow me on Twitter and Vine @lyndicakes to see more happy, baked goodness!

shortbread stars. #baking #cookieaddict #littlestlove vine.co/v/bVxwtjH5Zbb
— Lyndi Michele (@lyndicakes) May 27, 2013

Southern Charm + FUN news!

It's been a while since my last post, but that's because I've been a very busy bee.  More on that to come. That's right, you must read the entire blog to hear the wonderful news! But it's worth it, because I present to you <drum roll please!> last weekend's Steeplechase sweetness! Steeplechase is a lot like the Kentucky Derby, in that people wear big hats while "over-serving" themselves and I think it also involves horses.  I can't be sure, because the stories I've heard mostly involve alcohol, mud and rain, but I'll take people's word for it.  In any case, Steeplechase has no known traditions that I could deconstruct into delicious treats - after all, nobody wants to eat mud.  So instead, I stole Kentucky Derby traditions.  If you said mint juleps and red roses, you'd be correct!

Let's start with my personal favorite - the mint julep brownie.

Yes, you heard me! Gooey, chocolatey, minty, and boozy, this brownie was infused with a heaping dose of Tennessee charm. And by that, I mean the ever glorious Jack Daniel's whiskey.  And I suppose it doesn't hurt that I decided to swirl in a heavy dose of creamy, minty cheesecake into the batter.

Yes, I've combined two favorites:

And made the brownies super thick by putting them in a 9x9 pan! Talk about deep dish desserts!

Next on the list of derby delights is the ever-glorious red velvet cupcake.  I went for a deep red color, and swirled a rich, tangy cream cheese frosting on top.

 It was pretty glorious...

But enough about the sweets! You want to hear the gossip! The news!  The FUN news!  You got it.  After a long, hard day at work, I toured a beautiful commercial kitchen space. And it was the real deal, with a very bright and helpful staff that plans to help me every step of the way. This could be it folks!  This could be the start of a beautiful working friendship!  Littlest Love could be in business as early as June, so be on the lookout for a real deal website and a possible Littlest Love siting somewhere in Nashville, TN!