JuBella.com – Get Your Creative Dose

Hi Guys! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Ours was pretty good. We finally got our downstairs painting completed..woo hoo!

Ok, on to other news. You know, it’s quite funny, we really do not celebrate most holidays traditionally, but I must say that the artist in me cannot help but to be attracted to holiday colors and packaging and décor. I mean really, how can one not have the slightest urge to make something sweet and heart shaped, or dye eggs even if you do not celebrate Easter, etc.? So, let us just say that we tend to bake around what I have affectionately coined as “Love Day”, as we do often, yet we use the ready available red white and pink and a dash of chocolate. I mean, if we baked and crafted with such colors and said I love you on any other day, does that make one less celebratory of the original holiday? Who knows, but what I do know is that I whipped up some pretty yummy red velvet cake pops this weekend! I was rather lazy and did not bake the cake from scratch..totally boxed it up this time around. I would love to make some carrot cake pops or maybe some chocolate ones dipped in ganache…yum! While dipping them some of them fell of the stick(tip: do not make them too big & make sure your chocolate is not too cool.)…but no worries..I just covered them in chocolate and decorated them to look like little chocolates. I also used a heart shaped cookie cutter and poured the melted candy chips over it to make make mini heart shaped cakes!

These little cake gems are so easy to make and can offer the creative imagination so many sweet ideas when it comes to decorating them. Above is a video that pretty much sums up the cake pop process. The first time that I ever heard of a cake pop was through Bakerella…Isn’t she amazing! Anyhow, I hope this video inspires you; and if you have kids then they are going to love them and you for making them, whether it’s “Love Day”/ “Valentines Day” or not! They would make the perfect little treat for a kids birthday party don’t you think?

I recently made this peach cobbler. I must say that it came out quite nicely. There are many different types of peach cobblers, and the one that I am most familiar with has more of a pie crust on the bottom and top. However, this is more of a dumpling, which I love! It gives it great texture and not overbearingly sweet…leaving that job to the peach filling.

Peach Cobbler

Peach Filling:
6 Fresh peaches, peeled and sliced into wedges
1 C. Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp, Salt
1 Tbsp. Butter
1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Allspice
1/2 tsp. Ground Ginger
1 tsp. Cornstarch (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bring all of the above to a boil in a sauce pan and then simmer on low for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Dumpling/Crust

3 C.Flour
1 C. Sugar
1 tsp. Double Acting Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 + 2/3 C. Milk (fyi: I used almond milk)
4 Tbsp. Butter

Directions: Combine your flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add 1/3 C. of milk and stir. Cut in butter and use your hands to incorporate butter in until well combined. It should have a sand like texture. Now stir in the remaining amount of milk.

Take half of your batter and spread it into the bottom of a non stick baking dish(spray with cooking spray if your dish is not non-stick).

Take the remaining batter and gradually add flour until a non-sticky ball forms. Roll out onto a floured surface and cut into strips.

Now spoon your peaches into the dish. Place your strips of dough on top of your peaches and bake for about 30-45 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Can we all take a moment of silence to give thanks to such pretty cupcakes that are carefully placed in pretty window vignettes and adorned with juicy colors like fuschia, orange, yellows, turquoise, and pinks. Oh my! If you are ever in Europe, near the Covent Garden Piazza, Fitzrovia London, or roaming Kingly Court off of Carnaby Street, then you must pop into the sweet shop of Candy Cakes! The decor is so lovely and the cupcakes, oh, why I have not had the pleasure of devouring one of these personally, I am more than positive that these sweet gems would be divine, and when you’re asked to create 300 cupcakes for Madonnas 5oth Birthday, then you know they must be tasty! Not only am I in love with their pretty cupcakes, but I think that their decor is great, especially the Covent Garden Piazza location with its jeweled greens, pinks, and whites, and the cute outside eating area!