Triple Chocolate Stout Whoopie Pies

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Carrie Hoke

I love holidays…

I mean, seriously, who doesn’t?!

In order, my favorites are:

In first place, Halloween

Then, Thanksgiving

Christmas

St. Patrick’s Day

Flag Day (my birthday)

Easter

Valentine’s Day

And dead last, New Year’s Eve

Plus, any holiday where I get the day off from school makes the list too, President’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr.–even snow days are included.

I love holidays because they are normally full of family, tradition, and food…I am typically the one in the kitchen surrounded by the ones I love, cooking or baking a recipe that has been handed down for ages or at the very least, expected each holiday.

St. Patrick’s Day is no exception.

Every year, I ask the Hubster if we can go out to the local Irish pub for someone else’s homemade Irish fare and every year he says, but what about our traditional black and tan corn beef sandwiches…and my fried potatoes and turnips…and my Irish creme pound cake….

I can just see his lower lip quivering now. Just kidding.

So every year, while jamming out to Flogging Molly, I cave and make just the two of us, our Black and Tan corn beef sandwiches with fried potatoes and turnips, and my Irish creme pound cake for dessert.

This year, I am adding these adorable Triple Chocolate Stout Whoopie pies to the mix.

These whoopie pies are so rich and chocolatey and so easy to put together!

To start, I always make sure to cream my butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

I just happen to have a Whoopie Pie pan, but if you don’t, then just scoop a 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter onto your cookie sheet.

I even made a few pies in the shape of a shamrock using a cookie cutter.

They can be very fragile, so make sure you allow them to cool completely before assembling.

Triple Chocolate Stout Whoopie Pies

Recipe by Carrie

Ingredients

1 cup flour
2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup Guiness Extra Stout

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour the wells of your Whoopie Pie Pan or get out your cookie sheet and line it with parchment or a silapat.
In a bowl, whisk together the four, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
Combine your semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 1 minute and then stir. Continue to microwave for 30 second increments until completely melted; let cool.
Once cooled, add cocoa and cream and whisk together. It may seem a bit lumpy.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the brown sugar and butter on medium speed until combined; about 1 minute.
Add the vanilla and the eggs and beat until fluffy.
Reduce the speed to low and add your chocolate mixture. Mix until combined.
Add your flour mixture in 2 additions, alternating with the Guiness Extra Stout; beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
Beat until each addition is incorporated, stopping occasionally to scrape the sides of the bowl.
Fill each well or cookie sheet with 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cool cool completely before frosting.
Frost with your favorite marshmallow butter cream and roll in sugar crystals.

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Cotton Candy Cupcakes

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Carrie Hoke

Being the Science nerd that I am, I love Tom Lehrer. If you have never heard of him, and many people haven’t, he is a genius mathematician, scientist, and song writer. Every year, during our Chemistry unit, I challenge my students to memorize his now legendary song, “The Elements”, where he sings the names of most of the chemical elements to the tune of the”Major-General’s Song” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. If they can do it, then they win a cupcake. Last year, my students won these Pink Lemonade cupcakes. This year, they voted for these Cotton Candy cupcakes.

These cupcakes are super easy and will take you very little time to make. All you need is your favorite vanilla cupcake recipe or vanilla cake box mix, cotton candy flavoring oil (you can get it here), and fresh cotton candy. Use your flavoring oils very sparingly. A little goes a long way and you don’t want to over do it with your cupcakes. Honestly, they are very similar to the HP Honeydukes cupcakes I made awhile back, but I left out the cotton candy spinning sugar because I felt it didn’t need it. It give the cakes a more subtle taste and lighter feel.

Once I have everything mixed together for my cupcakes, then I add my cotton candy flavoring oil or I add it when I add my vanilla.

I also add a few drops to my favorite butter cream frosting too!

I break off little pieces of cotton candy right before I plan on serving the cupcakes. If you wait too long, then the cotton candy will melt into your frosting. It will make a very artsy swirl into your frosting, but it won’t look, or taste, as great.

**A big thanks to fan, Whitney, for sending me the adorable cupcake dome! It was the perfect way to showcase these cupcakes!

Flourless, Sugarless, Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Carrie Hoke

Peanut Butter and I have always had a very intimate relationship. It is with me every morning for breakfast. It makes time for me in my afternoon protein shakes. And it often finds its way into some of my very favorite desserts. Sometimes it even sneaks onto a spoon late into the night. My friend, Peanut Butter, also comes in a variety of delicious flavors: white chocolate, cinnamon raisin swirl, dark chocolate, and even maple. (Thanks to the ever so creative Peanut Butter & Co).

So in honor of National Peanut Butter Day, I have come up with the perfect, guilt-free treat!It really kills three birds with one stone for me. First, I get to continue my relationship with Peanut Butter without feeling guilty the next day. Second, my dieting friends will love me because I brought in a treat that they can actually eat. And third, I finally have cookies to put into my new talking TARDIS cookie jar. It’s a win-win…win!

When you first combine the ingredients, the dough may seem a bit greasy.

Don’t worry. It is just the peanut butter and the lack of flour.

I used a small cookie scoop to form the cookie dough balls and then I used the Picture Perfect Cookie technique that my blogger friend, Jennifer over at Not Your Momma’s Cookie, brilliantly came up with. (By the way, it totally works!)

I also made a batch of my peanut butter cookies loaded with chocolate chips!

Let them cool completely before serving…Oh who am I kidding…I ate 3 or 4 right out of the oven.

Flourless, Sugarless, Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Recipe by Carrie

Ingredients

1 egg
1 cup Splenda or other sugar substitute
1 cup reduced fat peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Fleur de Sel
Optional: 1/4 cup chocolate chips or chopped peanuts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place parchment paper or silapat on a baking sheet and set sheet aside.
Using your stand mixer, blend all ingredients together until just combined.
Using a small cookie scoop, form your dough ball about 1 inch in diameter.
Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Let cookies cool completely.
Makes 1 1/2 dozen cookies.

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One Blogger’s Reflection

Posted on February 23, 2013 by Carrie Hoke

Over the past few weeks I have been revisiting a few of my older posts on BNP and it has got me thinking…

What have I learned since I started BNP 2 years ago?

This post has me evaluating my blogging adventures…

I laugh when I think back about how I thought it was just was easy as bake, blog, and repeat. While yes, that is the very basic outline to a blog, there is so much more to take into consideration:

1. Photography

2. Photoshop

3. Creative writing

4. Social media outlets

5. Getting your voice heard

6. Recipe pride

7. Consideration of others

8. Baking ability

9. Decoration

10. Background

None of which are in any order of importance. In fact, they must all work cohesively in order to be successful.

I may be strong in a few, but I am definitely still learning and publicly stumbling in many others. So that is essentially what the last two years have been:

A learning experience.

Things I have learned:

1. First and probably the most important lesson I have learned thus far is to be considerate of other bloggers.

When I first started, I faced blogging like I might teaching. In the teaching world, all ideas are up for grabs. Whatever activity, lesson, or center reaches the most student success, you go for it. You copy them because you like them. You see their potential. You are not claiming them as your own, but you are not always putting your own stamp on it so to speak. I used to just copy the entire recipe from a blog I admired, tag them, and recreate the recipe. I might have changed one or two things to give it a slightly different spin, but it was, for all intents and purposes, someone else’s recipe. Someone else’s hard work and dedication. As I now create my own recipes and write down my own experiences, I realize just how much pride I have in each post and how demoralizing it would be if someone claimed it as their own. So now in the blogging world, if I love something enough to put it on my blog, I send my viewers straight to the source.

2. Photography (and Photoshop for that matter) are learned skills.

Practice makes perfect and I must have several hundred of horrid, fuzzy pictures to prove it. When Mr. BNP first got me my Sony NEX-5N, my initial thought was, Ooooh Kaaaay, I have a smart camera that will do everything I need it to with just a click of a button. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The most important rule I have learned about photography is to shoot EVERYTHING in manual mode. When you do that, then you can adjust the aperture and shutter speed. Do not, I repeat, do not think that choosing the Intelligent mode will get you what you want out of your photos. Study your manual. Watch how to videos. Talk with others who have been there. And invest in a good photography light box. This one is mine. Adorama Photo Studio In-A-Box. Photos are important. Add as many great photos as you can to your post. Most people enjoy photos more than the actual post.

3. Writing is the hardest part.

I am a complete introvert. I am shy to new people and new experiences and will most likely stutter or stumble upon my words when first meeting you. Corner me and I am like a turtle crawling back into her shell. Now times that anxiety by ten when I have to write my personal experiences and share my own recipes to the world. Ok, so I know not the whole world. But it is out there for anyone to see. People who like me. People who don’t. People who have just found me. making their first impressions of me. It is intimidating and I am deathly afraid of failure. That being said, I am conquering my fear each week with a new post and that is saying something.

4. Social media outlets and getting your voice heard go hand in hand.

There are so many social media outlets to get your blog noticed that it is hard to choose which one. I am a huge fan of 3 and am constantly updating them; Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I do have a Google+ account, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and many more, but I just can’t keep up. Even my Pottermore account is being left in the dust these days. Point is, I have learned that you have to put yourself out there. Introduce yourself. Share. Share. Oh yeah, and share some more.

5. Baking ability, decoration, and background

I have grown so much as a baker since beginning Bake No Prisoners. I attribute my growth to fellow bloggers, decorating classes, and trial and error. There is nothing I hate more than spending time and money on a recipe that turns out to be a total disaster, but those failures aid in future successes. They are necessary. I promise. You will succeed as long as you keep trying.

The background to your photos is almost as important as the baked goods itself. Invest in a few adorable cake stands, bottles, and background paper. Michael’s is perfect for this. T.J. Maxx and Homegoods are great sources too. If you like to order online, check my links page, under supplies.

Now this post isn’t just a long and drawn out blogger’s reflection, I also have an adorable, Girl Scout themed cake for you!

Another perk of being a teacher is that you have an excuse to buy an exuberant amount of Girl Scout cookies. Whether your favorite be Thin Mints, Samoa, or Tagalongs, you have to admit, those Girls Scouts really know how to make a good cookie.

They have a new flavor this year called the Mango Cremes cookie. According to the box, these cookies are “Vanilla and coconut cookies filled with a tangy mango flavored creme.” This sounded like the perfect opportunity to turn this cookie into a cake!

Now the Hubster is allergic to coconut flakes, so I used flavoring in the cake recipe, along with vanilla, but you could totally find a way to add coconut flakes to your cake or frosting.

I used this basic vanilla cake recipe for the base, but cut the vanilla in half and used coconut flavoring in its place. I really like this vanilla cake recipe because it produces a firm cake that is perfect to frost.

This Mango Coconut Buttercream makes this cake! It is thick and creamy and oh so tropical! When I slice a piece of this cake, I pretend I am in the Caribbean somewhere and away from all this cold, dreary weather! Enjoy!

Mango Coconut Buttercream Frosting

Recipe by Carrie

Ingredients

2 sticks softened butter
1 lb. confectioners' sugar
1 Tablespoon meringue powder
1 teaspoon coconut flavoring
4 teaspoons milk or heavy cream
5 teaspoons mango juice

Instructions

Cream butter, coconut flavoring, and milk. Add dry ingredients a little at a time. Mix on medium speed until creamy, about 5 minutes.

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Ribbon Cake Tutorial

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Carrie Hoke

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine’s Day last week! What did you guys do?

Did anyone have something special planned?

A trip, maybe?

Every year, the Hubster makes cheese fondue at home for me because I don’t like to go out to dinner too often, especially on holidays. He makes the best fondue you guys!! We dip apples, bread, and veg until our tummies are about to bust and then we find room for dessert.

This year, I thought I would try and spice things up with this neon pink and green, cotton candy ribbon cake. It is seven layers of cotton candy goodness, with neon pink ribbon frosting from top to bottom. First rule of thumb when decorating a ribbon cake is that this is totally easier than you think it is going to be. I want to take you guys through it, step-by-step, just to prove to you how simple this cake was to decorate.

First, take your favorite cake recipe and make 2 8 in. rounds. In this case, I made one electric pink and the other neon green. You can use the basic vanilla cake recipe I have posted before and just half the vanilla with your favorite flavoring. Or in my case, I used the cotton candy flavoring oil at Layer Cake Shop. Use any flavoring oil very sparingly, a few drops is perfect.

Once completely cool (I store mine in the refrigerator for an hour or so) level each cake and then slice each cake in thirds. You can use a cake leveler if you want, but for this cake, I just eyeballed it. You can tell my layers aren’t exactly perfect, but that’s ok with me. Frost in between each layer with your favorite buttercream, starting and ending with a pink layer.

Once you have layered and assembled your cake, crumb coat your cake and place back into the fridge for an hour or even overnight. Crumb coating makes it a lot easier to frost a cake because once refrigerated, you don’t have to worry about getting crumbs in your frosting. It also aids in keeping your frosting straight and level. I normally put mine in the fridge overnight because I just don’t have the time to bake, crumb coat, and frost a cake in an average day.

I took the last green layer and frosted it for the Hubster to snack on or bring to the office.

Sometimes our furry house elves get a little bite too!

Take your pastry bag and attach your coupler and tip 103 or any rose tip you have and place the bag into a tall glass. To give it more of a ribbon candy look, I dripped my electric pink food coloring down the sides of the bag before placing the frosting inside. That way, when I started to pipe the frosting, my ribbons would come out looking like this.

You want to make sure you are holding your pastry bag vertically against the side of the cake, starting at the bottom, and move in a horizontal 1 inch direction, back and forth. You want to try to keep your lines straight, but it is totally ok if you start to slant like me. You can make it up on the next line of ribbons. Remember, practice makes perfect.

See! They are much straighter now from this view. Go around the entire cake making 1 inch ribbons from bottom to top.

Finally, I used a star tip to pipe a small ring of stars around the top to hide any mistakes and to bring together the ribbons with the top of the cake.

I also added a pink royal icing flower in the middle I had made previously.

Neony and bright….just ready to be cut into and eaten!

We ended up splitting one piece between the two of us!

By the way, this is what the Hubster got me for Valentine’s Day! SQUUUUEEEEE!!!

Limited Release Disney Couture Ear Hats Kick off the 'Year of the Ear' at Disney Parks

*This is from Disney’s January 2013 Year of the Ear. They are introducing 5 new limited release Disney Couture Ear Hats each month.

Doctor Who Valentines That Will Melt Even the Doctor’s Two Hearts {Free Printable}

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Carrie Hoke

I love the fact that as a teacher, I get to participate in the yearly Valentine’s Day exchange of candy and cards. At the beginning of February, I take to the local card shops and try to find the best valentine that represents me and my favorite things. Last year it was totally Harry Potter all the way. I thought this year I might do something Hunger Games related, but lately I have been really into catching up on all of the old Doctor Who reruns. So last week I finally decided I wanted to pass out Doctor Who valentines to all the kiddos. When I couldn’t find any, I thought why not make them?!?

Here is my take on how the Doctor, Oods, Daleks, and the TARDIS would celebrate Valentine’s Day…if they could…

I am so excited on how my TARDIS came out. I only had to draw it once (unlike my Ood) but I think it turned out brilliant!

Here is my Ood…I changed his second brain into a heart for Valentine’s Day!

My Valentine Dalek has chosen to say INFATUATE instead of EXTERMINATE!

I have my bag packed in case the Doctor ever shows up with the TARDIS…

Feel free to save and print, fellow Doctor Who fans! If you plan to share or post online, please take a moment to give credit and attribution to the source of origin. To print, click on the link below and save or print “WhoValentines” on heavy bright white paper. Print at 100%, feel free to scale.

WhoValentines

Oh, and if you’re looking to find out how to write your name (and more) in Gallifreyan, then you MUST check out Sherman’s Planet. He’s created a guide on how to translate anything into the language of the Time Lord. Tricky? Yes….but totally worth it!

I am still working on my name, but I will share it once it is completed!

Warning: Valentine Fabulousity

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Carrie Hoke

I have got so much going on for you guys in this post that I might just explode with excitement!!

First off, let me tell you that I am not your average valentine.

I don’t like flowers.

I don’t do expensive jewelry.

I don’t even like to go out to dinner.

Weird? I know. But in our house, we like to make each other something to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

(Supposedly the hubster is secretly working on a glowing Doctor Who sign for me…SQUEEE!! What else could a girl possibly want?!)

So I have made you guys something fabulous to show how much you are loved!

Lovey Mantels

This year I noticed several blogs out there decorating their mantels for the day of L-O-V-E. Amanda Jane Brown was probably my favorite and she gave me a ton of ideas and inspiration for my own mantle. I plan to fill the red picture frame with a valentine print from the awesome Becky Higgins.

I adored Amanda’s idea of valentine M&M’s in mason jars and I added a junky striped straw to mine to give them a bit more whimsy.

I also love the mustache epidemic that is spreading across the nation. Anybody else? I especially love my hanging heart in the background with its little black handlebar mustache. I think it ties in nicely with the black feather boa that is draped across the mantle.

I used my apothecary jar to hold the leftover pink and white marshmallows I had after I topped my triple chocolate brownies with them.

For the wreath, I cut a heart out of Styrofoam and hot glued artificial carnations in various shades of red, pink, purple, and white. I also secured some pretty ribbon in the back, so I could hang it up.

This heart banner was so quick and simple to put together. I found the hearts, twine, and mini-clothes pins at my local craft store. For the background, I just ripped out pages from an old book, trimmed them up, and round the corners. Then I just glued the hearts in the center of the book page and hung them up.

Chocolate Covered Peep Hearts

You heard me right….I found heart shaped, vanilla Peeps, dipped them in milk chocolate, and sprinkled them with love.

From me. Just for you.

Don’t you LOVE my new Mickey coffee mug?!?!?! Ahhhhh… I die.

Triple Chocolate Marshmallow Brownies

Chocolate is the only tradition I keep when it comes to Valentine’s Day…and these brownies are diabolical…choco-magical if you will…and I am totally quoting someone who recently ate these when I say this.

Triple Chocolate Marshmallow Brownies

Recipe by Carrie

Ingredients

3 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 stick butter, softened, cut into quarters
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 in. pan with nonstick cooking spray and line with 2 sheets parchment paper perpendicular to one another. Push paper down into the corners, but allow it to hang over the sides.
2. In a double boiler, melt all chocolates and butter until smooth. Whisk in the cocoa until blended. Set aside to cool.
3. Combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in your free standing mixer for 30 seconds. Add the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until incorporated.
4. Add the flour in two batches until just blended.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepare pan and spread evenly into the corners.
6. Bake until slightly puffed and when a toothpick inserted comes out with a few sticky crumbs, about 35-40 minutes.
7. If adding marshmallows, take out at 30 minutes, add marshmallows, and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until marshmallows have puffed up.

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As a teacher, it is my academic duty to be totally up to date on all the latest toys, dolls, and video games(at least, that is what I tell myself when I am perusing the toy department)…..soooo my mini lalaloopsy doll just had to make an appearance on the blog.

Underwater Basket Weaving

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Carrie Hoke

It seems like it has been a lifetime since I have lived in Florida, but in reality, it has been a short 7 years. I don’t necessary miss living in Florida. I really only miss my family and Disney, but I am spending the weekend down here because my Mom had a procedure done and I wanted to be here for her during her recovery. It is an hour long drive from her home to the hospital, and as I drive each day, I get to pass by my entire childhood….

The Clearwater beaches where I spent many a day after school soaking up the Florida sun (it is also where Winter the dolphin is located and the famous Frenchy’s, with the best grouper sandwich…EVER. Period.)

My High School, one of the many places where I discovered my love for writing, as well as the realization at how geeky I really was….er…am.

My first home with the Hubster, a cozy little condo overlooking the water with all the comforts of civilization at our fingertips…not a cow in sight…

Posted signs for the Florida State Fair…oh, how I miss you fried everything…

And of course, Florida drivers….I can say that, because I am one of them. But when you gather them all in one place and then mandate the speed limit to 35mph, I go crazy…bat crap crazy….

I could go on….but I would rather show you what I have been working on this week…

I have been taking a class to hone in on those decorating skills that I seem to be lacking in the cake department.

This is my final project.

I made the button flowers out of neon fondant and gum paste.

All you do is combine a little larger than a golf ball size of gum paste with a quarter size ball of neon fondant until well blended. Dust your flower press with a combinations of cornstarch and confectioner’s sugar, roll out your fondant according to the directions, and press down. Hard. Really hard. You also have to use a little tool that sort of looks like a plastic pencil to slowly score the underside to get it out of the press, but it is fairly easy.

Frosting the basket weave took a little more time to master. Thus, the title of this post…Underwater Basket Weaving.

If you are part of my generation or earlier, you know what I am taking about. This idiom typically refers to a college elective one might take to improve their GPA. It is suppose to reference an easy course or one that would take little effort. That is not the case when it comes to basket weave frosting….although, once I got the hang of it, it went pretty quickly.

Pretty and tasty? Now that is a cake I can live with….

*Recipe Info: Easy Breezy Chocolate Cake

*Buttercream Icing

Happy 2nd Birthday, Bake No Prisoners!

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Carrie Hoke

This week marks the 2nd blogiversary of Bake No Prisoners!

And what better way to celebrate than with this beautiful Valentine Petal Cake and our new look!

To be honest, when Bake No Prisoners started, I really didn’t know what I was in for. At the time, I enjoyed cooking and baking for family and I loved to spend hours surfing the net for inspiring blogs and recipes. I had no real photography skills, nor did I know the first thing when it came to blogging. I just knew that I loved to bake and write…and so once I hit publish on that first post, life as I knew it was over.

Ok…I am being a bit dramatic, but if you look at the big picture from my end, you can see how much I have grown as a baker, a blogger, a photographer, and foodie friend.

I never really started baking until I got married. I come from a long line of amazing women who are self taught bakers and chefs, but I never took the time to hone in on their skills until my early 20′s. My grandmother was known for her apple pies and perfect, flaky crust, for which my Mom says I have surpassed her skills. My Mom is required, not asked, to make several different types of Christmas cookies each year to satisfy the lot of us and it usually takes her weeks to complete this daunting task. And yes, Mom, we are all eternally grateful. And then there’s me. I had a lot of catching up to do and this blog helps me reach my never ending goals.

As a child, instead of baking, I loved to write. I wrote all the time. Short stories. Poems. Fictional alien narratives that won me awards. I envisioned myself as an author or a journalist of some kind. But as time went on, my passion to write succumbed to my passion for teaching. I have this keen ability to relate to children. Maybe it is because I am still a child at heart, but I like the shows they like (hence my current obsession with Dance Academy), I like the same music, and I am quite the fan of video games. I also have a deep love affair with learning. And I love to pass on that need to learn to my students. This blog allows me to do both….write and learn. I learn new things with every post about Word Press or blogging techniques. I have also learned that posts are not just about the recipes…You have to give a little of yourself to your posts, and readers alike.

Last year for my birthday, we all went out to the best restaurant in town. It was great. I ordered the duck. My husband brought the annual cookie cake…double stuffed. The whole family was there. My favorite part? My in-laws had purchased me a photo box for my food photography. This changed my photos indefinitely. This meant that they took my blog seriously. Even more…the following month, the hubster bought me my own Sony NEX-5N. Over the past year, I have grown as a photographer. I now know the lighting needed for a certain photo or what background would enhance the picture. I still have a lot to learn, but I am getting better each day. Now if I could only master Photoshop….UGH!

This last part of my post is most important.

Friends.

Throughout this process I have had so much support from my old friends, positive feedback from my new friends, and am encouraged and excited about the friends to come. I cannot tell you how happy it makes me when someone likes my Facebook page, or follows me on Twitter. And I get super duper pumped up when you leave a comment. It can be pretty scary when you put your ideas, thoughts, and feelings out there for everyone to see, but you make me feel inspired to do it. Thank you to all my friends, old and new, and friends yet to come.

Happy 2nd Blogiversary, Bake No Prisoners! Now have a slice of the bloody cake!

Recipe info: Basic Vanilla Cake

*I substituted half the vanilla extract for almond extract

Amazing tutorial on the Petal cake decorating technique can be found here: The Hungry Housewife

Red Velvet Espresso Brownies

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Carrie Hoke

Whenever the forecast calls for a little bit of snow in the Piedmont region of North Carolina everything stops…

People race to the grocery store to stand in a ridiculously long line for milk and bread. The gas stations are lined with cars waiting to fill up their tanks. The local schools call for a snow day. And all the busyness just stops until the snow melts away.

That is exactly what happened today. I had hoped and prayed the night before for a snow day. Not because I didn’t want to go to school and teach, but because it had been about 2 years since the last snow day. And I love my snow days. I have this tradition when it comes to snow days. First, I sleep in. I mean really sleep in… Let the sun wake you up and not feel guilty about it sleep in. Second, I stay in my pajamas all day. I mean why wouldn’t you. There is no where to go…not with my mountain of a driveway anyway. Third, I bake. I try to bake something chocolatey, warm, and gooey that would be perfect for a snowy day. And I think I these brownies are perfect.

Red Velvet Espresso Brownies

Ingredients

5 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into quarters
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon espresso powder
1 1/2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 tablespoon vinegar
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and adjust your oven rack to the middle position. Spray an 8-inch glass or metal square pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line pan with foil or parchment paper.
In a double boiler, melt the semisweet and unsweetened chocolates and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Set aside to cool.
In a small bowl, combine cocoa powder, red food coloring, and vinegar until it makes a thick paste.
In your stand mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt until combined. Whisk the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, then add the cocoa paste. Once blended, add in the flour a little at a time until just combined.
Pour mixture into the prepared pan, spread into the corners, and level with a spatula. Bake for 35-40 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs. Cool on a wire rack or eat warm on a snowy day.

Notes

Recipe by Carrie, inspired by No. 2 Pencil's recipe found on TatertotsandJello

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