Cake

Sweetened Condensed Milk Pound Cake

We’ve all noticed the latest feature Instagram rolled out with. In case you missed it, I’m talking about Stories. Stories make the Instagram experience more personable — for better or for worse. You can follow your favorite bloggers (or friends) and hear their voices, follow them around the world and experience a day in the life of … whoever.

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Pistachio Skillet Cake

Pistachio Skillet Cake

Every so often I get so distracted by everything else going on in my life, that I completely slack off and procrastinate posting on the blog… and for that I’m sorry! That’s not to say I haven’t been busy cooking/baking and working on numerous DIY projects. I just haven’t had the discipline to sit down and write about them.

If you want to keep up, please follow the blog on Instagram I promise I post all my experiments on there. (more…)

Pistachio Cake with Rosewater Buttercream Frosting

Pistachio Cake

Summer is birthday season. At least that’s the way it’s played out in our household. From April through the end of August, we knock out all the major birthdays and some. As much as I love to experiment with cakes and coming up with these extravgant decorating ideas, the follow-through doesn’t always live up to my expectations. Something about me frosting cakes just doesn’t add up. I was going for the Naked Cake look — that is, only frosting the top and layers in between. Well, you can see what really happened with that experiment. (more…)

DIY Birthday Box

DIY Birthday Box

If I love you, you’ll know it. I will have cooked for you, or crafted for your or both. One of my closest friends, and former coworker, moved abroad last year to start Grad School and join her fiancé in Paris. When she was still here in DC, she practically held my hand through two of the craziest years of my life, even when she had a million other things going on in her own life. And for that, I don’t think I can ever really thank her enough.

When she left to pursue her dreams, I was torn. Of course I wanted the best for her, I wanted her to become successful and stay happy, but I was also selfish. I didn’t want my close friend to leave because that would mean I wouldn’t be able to see her whenever I wanted, or go on our crazy adventures. So I sent her off with a Paris Survival Kit, complete with a Learn French on Your Commute CD pack, a photo of the two of us, some wine accessories and a really-long letter explaining what everything meant and why she needed them. (more…)

Hareeseh [Semolina Cake]

Hareeseh

You know that moment of excitement and apprehension when you’ve tried to bake something and you go to share it with your grandmother, certain she’s going to be so proud of your work? Well, that happened about three years ago when I first tried to make Hareeseh. I was so excited to bring her a sample of my baking that I could even envision her smiling and telling me what a great job I did. (more…)