From the Fourth

A couple of months ago my mom and I shared a piece of tres leches cake from the Haute Enchilada in Moss Landing.  It was my first tres leches experience and I was impressed.  So was my mom.  In May, she tried her hand at baking her own tres leches cake--following Martha Stewart's recipe.  The cake received rave reviews. 

Martha's cake is topped with whipped cream and seasonal fruit (like fresh berries) and it immediately came to mind when I started thinking about Fourth of July fare.  In the spirit of red, white and blue desserts, I picked out strawberries, blueberries and blackberries and arranged my berry toppings in the likeness of an American flag.  The cake was definitely tasty but it was a little on the dense side (and incredibly rich!).  Good thing I ran the Firecracker 10k on Fourth of July morning!

Below are a few photos from this year's Fourth:

C & Cake

Red, White and Blueberries

Fourth of July Spirit: Pre-Race and Post Cake Baking (photos from C's phone)               

This year we celebrated Independence Day by running a (hilly) 10k, dressing patriotically, baking and decorating a flag cake, grilling with friends and venturing down to Seabright beach to catch some of the (unauthorized) fireworks which are set off along the water.  I missed celebrating the Fourth on Whidbey Island but I couldn't really complain . . . Food, friends and fireworks--it was a pretty good day!  I hope everyone else had a Happy Fourth! 

Sweet Valentine's

Yesterday evening we had friends over to decorate Valentine's cookies--hearts and lips and other sweet nothings.  This is an activity I've picked up from one of my best friends.  Every Christmas and Valentine's Day her family bakes a crazy amount of sugar (and at Christmas, gingerbread) cookies to give out to neighbors, family and friends.  In high school, I remember sitting around their kitchen table and talking while painting plaid shirts on gingerbread men or etching lacy borders around hearts.  Each cookie was hand decorated . . . and some of them turned out a bit messy . . . But the decorating was always fun and the cookies turned out delicious (regardless of our icing talents). 

Since college, I've taken to baking the occasional batch of sugar cookies solely for the pleasure of decorating them.  Below are some photos from my latest cookie baking and decorating adventure.  I made a batch and a half of these cookies.  It was kind of a lot of cookies.  Fortunately, we had several friends to help us decorate them.

The dough.

Cookies and conversation

School Pride.

Hearts and Dragons?

Sugar Cookies in Technicolor.

Made from: sugar, butter, food coloring and love.

The color photos were taken this morning (from a selection of cookies left at our place).  I'm told most of the cookies have already been eaten . . . I hope everyone has a super sweet Valentine's Day!

xo.
Ally