How to Make Your Dispatch Partner Happy

The work schedule change that I mentioned yesterday also means that my dispatch partners have changed a bit and as such, I no longer work double-shifts on Mondays with Jeff who has become more than a dispatch partner as he's also become a friend.  Feeling somewhat bad for "abandoning" him on Mondays (and Thursdays) I decided that the least I could do was bring in a cake on Monday afternoon when I strolled into dispatch at 3:00 p.m. joining a partner who had already put in 8 tough hours.  It's the least I could do, right?

Besides, lying in bed and enjoying not getting up at 5:30 had given me plenty of time to think about what kind of cake to bake.  I'm afraid I've kind of gotten a reputation at work for using alcohol in my cakes (which can be either a good or a bad thing depending on how you want to look at it!) so I knew I wanted to use something from the liquor cabinet but what to use, what to use?  Peach Brandy?  Nah ... Amaretto?  Nah ... Midori? Nah ... Though I think those all may have a future in upcoming baking experiments, I decided that I'd go with Creme de Cacao for Monday's cake.  I initially debated using a chocolate fudge cake mix with the liquor but then decided that perhaps I'd use a white cake mix instead and see what else I had in the cupboard to go along with it.  A little more thinking and I ended up with:

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cake 

Cake:
1 box white cake mix (preferably the type with pudding already added)
1/2 cup oil
1/2 milk
1/2 cup Creme de Cacao
4 eggs
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped Macadamia nuts

Glaze:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup Creme de Cacao

Directions for cake:
Grease and flour a 10-cup bundt pan and then sprinkle the 1/2 cup chopped Macadamia nuts on the bottom of the pan.
Mix all ingredients except the white chocolate chips together in a large bowl beating for about two minutes on medium speed
Put the white chocolate chips in a small plastic bag and shake up with about 1/2 tablespoon of flour to coat the chips so that they won't sink to the bottom of the cake
Pour over the Macadamia nuts in the pan and then bake at 325 degrees for 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the pan while you prepare the glaze.

Directions for glaze:
After the cake is removed from the oven and while it cools in the pan, melt together the sugar, butter, and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil.  Let the mixture boil for 5 minutes while stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and slowly add the 1/2 cup of Creme de Cacao stirring thoroughly.
Remove the cake from the bundt pan and then after wiping the pan out with a paper towel, put half of the glaze mixture in the bottom of the pan.  After poking holes around the top and the side of the cake with a large fork, return the cake to the pan being sure to line up the cake up so that it sits properly in the pan.
Poke holes around the bottom of the cake (which is now the top in the pan) and pour the rest of the glaze carefully over the cake being sure not to pour any through the hole in the middle.
Allow the cake to cool and sit in the pan soaking up the glaze for as long as you like before inverting the cake onto a serving platter.

If this recipe sounds a lot like the one I posted on Saturday for the Coconut Rum Cake that's probably because it's not that much different with the exception of the ingredients being changed up a little bit.  I figured that one came out so well it had to be a good starting point for future cakes and why mess with success?  I've got future plans to try a Butterscotch Schnapps Cake using this same basic recipe and maybe even a Midori Cake though I'm going to have to give that one some more thought.  I figure if the folks at work don't mind being guinea pigs then I don't mind experimenting.  After all, Betty Crocker started out somehow, right??

Monday Musings

Due to a new schedule change at work my days off have altered slightly and I'm now back to working a double-shift on Sundays, evenings on Monday, and another double on Tuesdays. I know a lot of folks say that they couldn't work 16-hour shifts but the way I look at it, I'm already there so what the hey?! Plus it gives me four full days a week off which is not a bad deal at all when you get right down to it.  On Wednesdays when everyone is still looking at their weekend being two days off, I've already started mine!  As for being back to working Sundays, I really don't mind them in the least as if you had to pick an "easy" day when it comes to 911, Sundays are usually it.  Besides, maybe there will be a resurrection of "Chick Flick Sundays" and I can catch up on all those movies I haven't had a chance to see since abandoning Sunday shifts!

I took Jamie out to a Chinese buffet on Saturday for a late lunch/early dinner as we had some errands to run and she'd been craving sushi (something all three of my kids love but for which I've never acquired a taste).  After eating we were given our customary end-of-meal fortune cookie and mine read "Remember three months from this date!  Your lucky star is shing."  Well, let's see, Saturday was June 11th so that means three months away is September 11th - a day that no one ever forgets anymore.  I'll have to try to remember to look back over the three months that passes between then and then and see if, in fact, there was a lucky star shining.

Oh, speaking of Saturday, that was the day I baked the Coconut Rum Cake for Rob's birthday that I had missed, remember?  I was going to bring the cake into work with me today but after sending Rob a picture on Facebook last night, he requested I bring it in then instead. I guess I can't say that I blame him as it did look good ...

Being the nice person that I am I did as requested and stuck around for a slice myself. Not to brag but it was good - really, really good!  That recipe is most definitely a keeper!  However, having taken the cake in last night meant that was going to be no cake tonight and I like sharing any new recipes with my dispatch partner Jeff, I decided to spend some of my new-found Monday morning time off today to bake another cake to take in with me this evening. If it turns out half as well as the Coconut Rum Cake did I'll share the recipe with you tomorrow. I've got an idea for another cake, too, but I think that one's going to have to wait a bit as otherwise my co-workers are going to accuse me of trying to make them fat if I bring cakes in constantly!

Yesterday I had the chance to spend some time with extended family at a birthday party for my Aunt Eleanor. She'll be 75 tomorrow which somehow just doesn't seem at all possible. I mean, look at her - does she look 75 to you?? She sure doesn't to me!

Speaking of birthdays, my Mom and Amanda will be celebrating their shared birthdays this coming Saturday when Amanda will be turning 19 and my Mom won't!  If you want to do the math, though, my Mom is her sister Eleanor's oldest sister by just a touch under two years - that should give you a pretty good hint!

Anyhow, back to the party ... naturally I took my camera along for the day and somehow I  managed to get talked into posing for a picture - something that I very rarely will agree to being that I am much more comfortable behind the lens than in front of it but I guess it's nice to occasionally be in the picture, too. The picture below is my Mom, my "baby" brother John and his wife Ann and Jamie and I. I guess you could say that it was my Mom with her baby and me with mine. Amanda was down in New Jersey visiting friends for the day so she wasn't there to be included nor was the rest of my my particular branch of the family tree; it's very, very rare that we all get together anymore.

Ah well, I guess that about wraps it up for today's ramblings; it was actually kind of nice to do a post about just this that and the other thing for a change. Maybe I'll have to make this a regular Monday thing, hmmmm ...!

But Why Is The Rum Gone?

Having inadvertently missed baking a cake last week for an AASI co-worker's birthday (sorry, Rob!), I needed to amend that faux pas this week and decided that a rum cake might be just the way to rectify the oversight. While gathering up the ingredients I noticed that my rum supply was running a bit low (ut-oh!) but it appeared that I had just enough dark rum and just enough coconut rum to whip up something slightly different - a Coconut Rum Cake!

As you can see from the picture to the left, I'm definitely going to have to make a trip to the package store and restock my Bacardi stash soon if I'm going to be baking any future rum cakes. Unfortunately a trip to Puerto Rico for restock is out of the question for the time being though I did tell Barb that I wouldn't be totally adverse to trying another cruise one of these days - perhaps I was too hasty in judging the other one as something I'd never want to do again.

Anyhow, for those of you might want to try this cake yourself, I present to you the recipe for Coconut Rum Cake.  Enjoy!

Cake:
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup coconut
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant coconut cream pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup cocunut rum

Glaze:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark rum

Directions:
To make the cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts and coconut evenly over the bottom of the pan.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in the eggs, milk, 1/2 oil, and coconut rum. Blend well. Pour batter over chopped nuts and coconut in the pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let sit for 10 minutes in the pan then turn out onto serving plate.

To make the glaze: In a small saucepan, combine butter, water and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue to boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the rum. It might steam so pour the rum slowly into the hot mixture.

Some recipes call for you to turn the cake out of the pan, poke holes with a large fork around the top and sides, and then either slowly pour or brush the glaze over the top and sides until it's all absorbed. Personally I like the variation of turning the cake out of the pan, poking the holes in it, and then pouring half of the glaze into the bottom of the bundt pan and returning the cake to the pan where it will then soak up the glaze. While it's back in the pan, poke holes in bottom of the cake (which is the top at this point) and then pour the rest of the glaze over the cake being careful not to pour any through the hole in the middle of the pan!

Let it sit for an hour or two or longer if you'd like as it's not going to hurt it and then when you're ready to serve it (or preserve it as rum cakes are best eaten once they've had a chance to age), turn it out onto a serving plate.

This particular cake will be going into work with me on Monday evening and by then it should be good and tasty - or at least I sure hope so - and at that point hopefully Rob will forgive me for having missed his birthday in the first place! If not, I'm bringing the cake back home and enjoying it myself!

Putting the Cupcakes Aside for a Bit, Today It's Cake - For Adults!

Remember how last week I said that I had been on a cupcake kick lately and I had made Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with a Bailey's Irish Cream frosting?  I took the ones that I had made to work and they were a definite hit whilst being dubbed "Car Bomb Cupcakes" - something that made perfect sense! - but then my partner Jeff said to me, "You know what would be really good, too?  A Jack Daniels Cake!"

Hmmm, I think I had some Jack Daniels in the cupboard left over from last year's Dispatch Christmas Get-Together ... Yep, I sure did so after a quick trip to the grocery store for butterscotch pudding mix and Heath Toffee pieces I followed the recipe I had found on-line and created this ...

Now being that I've not cut into it yet and won't until later today, I'm not exactly positive how it tastes but I can tell you that it smelled delicious while baking and the tiny tastes of glaze I had were most excellent so I've got my fingers crossed that it came out halfway decent. I'll let you know what Jeff thinks later!

If you'd like to try your hand at baking one yourself, the recipe is quite easy and comes courtesy of Food.com but I'll post it here for you so you don't have to click over to the site and take your eyes off of that delicious looking picture!  Oh, and I didn't use anywhere near the amount of confectionary sugar that the reciped called for with the glaze as that seemed like a bit much but, that said, if I had followed the directions perhaps my glaze would have been glazier.  Ah well, live and learn, right?

Jack Daniels Bundt Cake

For the cake:

• 1 (18 ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 1 (3 1/2 ounce) package butterscotch pudding mix
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup Jack Daniels Whiskey
• 1 (12 ounce) package almond toffee bits

For the glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon Jack Daniels Whiskey

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix and instant pudding, then add oil, water, 1/2 cup Jack Daniels and the eggs.
2. Mix until smooth, about 4 minutes.
3. Pour into a well greased bundt pan; tap the pan on a solid surface several times to remove any trapped air bubbles.
4. Pour 1/2 of the toffee chips evenly over what would be the bottom of the cake.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.
6. Cool 15 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack and cool cake completely.

Glaze:

1. Add together the powdered sugar, melted butter, and 1 tablespoon Jack Daniels and mix until smooth. You will definitely have to add more Jack here, as it will be too thick to drizzle over the edges and the glaze should just about run to the bottom of the cake before setting up (add a tablespoon or two, a little at a time to make it work).
2. After drizzling, pour the remaining toffee bits over the wet frosting.

Easy peasy, right? One word of caution, though, I had a bit of trouble with it overflowing the pan while baking so you might want to put a piece of foil underneath just in case and save yourself the trouble of having to clean the oven afterward!  Now then, let's just hope it tastes as good as it looks!

Kanye & I Agree!

Recently I was lucky enough to be a winner in the "I want to eat birthday cake with Lois" contest and after a day's delay (due to no one being home to sign for it from UPS) my luscious Lemon Yogurt Friendship Cake arrived on Tuesday much to my tastebuds' delight!

If you've never tried one of these incredibly moist and delicious cakes you have no idea what you're missing but should you like to find out for yourself then just head over to Fleur de Lis Catering and order one custom-made just for you. Trust me, you'll be glad you did!

Thank you, Lois, for the fantastic treat; thank you, Mags, for baking one heckuva scrumptious cake; and thank you, Amanda, for help with the graphic!

Let Them Eat Cake at Their New Home

Taking another short break from the moving stuff (which is really becoming a bit of a redundant refrain I'm sure but no one will be happier to stop saying it/hearing it than I!) to do a quick blog post and send a big thank you and virtual hug to Lois for her friendship, thoughtfulness, and excellent taste in baked goods!

When I went up to the old place the other day to pile more of the 9-years worth of accumulated stuff into the car, there was a Priority Mail box waiting on the front porch that apparently the mailman had just dropped off. Looking at the familiar return address from Boston, I wondered what it could possibly be that Mags had sent me? I had ordered chocolate chip cookies from her Fleur de Lis Etsy shop earlier but those had already arrived and been eaten (and they were delicious I might add!) so I knew that couldn't be it which left me without a clue. I didn't want to open the box while in the middle of the morning's moving activities so I decided that the mystery could wait and added the box to the stuff in the car with plans to open it once I got back over to the new apartment.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I finally opened the box to find a delicious cake and a note inside saying "To Linda and Amanda - Welcome to your new home - A gift from Lois". Of course I had to take a picture before cutting into the cake - much to Amanda's chagrin though you would think she would be used to the whole picture-taking before eating blog-related stuff. Obviously I have been away from the Blogosphere too long if the kid can't remember the simpler rules of Blog Etiquette!

Now, nothing for nothing but I am apparently a complete and total dope when it comes to anything of an alcoholic nature as even though the cake was completely and totally delicious, it didn't even dawn on me that it was a rum cake until Amanda got her piece and said "this tastes like rum". Huh? "You're 16 - how do you know what rum tastes like?" "I tried some when I was in Puerto Rico at Christmas and we were visiting the Bacardi factory. Besides, can't you tell just from the smell?" Er ... no ... Of course, once she pointed it out, I was then able to tell that there was definitely some rum in the cake but I was more impressed with the pecans and the moistness of the cake and Lois' thoughtfulness in ordering it for us. I've never had a "Welcome to Your New Home" cake before but I think it's something I could definitely get used to! Not that I'm planning on moving again anytime soon once I get through the pain-in-the-everything that this move has been, though, even if there were another cake involved!

I really wish I could have all of you over for a slice and a cup of coffee (and to put you to work with some of the remaining stuff I have to do!) but alas, the cake is almost gone already and I've got to schlep over to the old house to load up the car yet again before heading into work this afternoon so I won't be here to put the coffee on. Darn! You'll be happy to know that I am making progress, though, and that the piles of boxes from the other day's pictures are not as high or intimidating or out of control. I'm getting there - slowly!

Hopefully things will return to what passes for normal soon and I'll be as green with happiness as Evra - or something like that! ... Hmm, speaking of happiness, I think I'll grab a piece of cake before heading out the door ... thank you again, Lois!

If There's a Birthday - There's a Cake!

Amanda wanted a colorful cake for her birthday - I think this fit the bill, don't you?

The Birthday "Queen" seems pleased!
Happy Birthday again, kiddo, and best wishes for a fantastic year!

“Birthdays are nature's way of telling us to eat more cake.”

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We have had three birthdays in the Dispatch/Scheduling Department at work in the past week - which just goes to prove that September babies rule! - including my dispatch partner Jen, myself, and Renee who is the Employee Scheduling Coordinator. Hopefully that's it for a little while as my diet has totally flown out the window from all of the cake we've had on hand!

Speaking of cakes, I actually made that lovely beauty pictured above for Renee's birthday yesterday and I was quite proud of myself as it's been awhile since I've made a cake and I think it came out quite well if I do say so myself! Especially considering I made it in between reading and writing blog posts!

Renee likes anything chocolate - strawberries dipped in chocolate, chocolate-covered nuts, chocolate ice cream, hot chocolate, etc. - and even though I knew that one of the ladies in the Finance Department where Renee used to work before she came downstairs was making her a cheesecake, I wanted to make her a chocolate cake because when it's your birthday you should have whatever your favorites are, right?

With that in mind I decided to bake a chocolate fudge cake with a chocolate cream cheese filling and chocolate Dream Whip frosting. I had never done a chocolate cream cheese filling but it turned out to be quite easy (8 ounces softened cream cheese blended with 1-1/4 cups milk and then one 4-ounce package of instant chocolate pudding mix whipped in; refrigerate for 10 minutes; spread between layers). I even managed to expertly split my layers with sewing thread so that I had filling between three of them - I think Mags might have been proud of me! The frosting I made was a variation on one of my Dad's favorites which simply required a package of Dream Whip, milk, and sugar-free chocolate fudge pudding mix. Of course you have to keep the cake refrigerated because of the nature of the frosting but I suspect the cream cheese filling needs to be also.

Turns out the cake was quite delicious, not overly sweet but definitely chocolaty, and Renee was thrilled with it. It's nice to know that I still have some domestic abilities even though I don't use them too often these days! Now I'm thinking what might be real tasty is a lemon cake, lemon cream cheese filling, and a lemon Dream Whip frosting ... what do you think Miss Bee, how does that sound??

A Birthday Surprise

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Aren't those the prettiest flowers you ever did see? I got them for my birthday yesterday along with a home-baked red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. I'd have a picture of that posted, too, but my stupid cell phone won't give it up! The stupid thing also won't give up the picture of the lovely woman who drove an hour to come deliver those wonderful birthday gifts to me at work - Miss Maggie Moo!

It was so very nice to see her again and I was just so honored that she would not only bake a cake for me - which in and of itself is fantastic because she just graduated culinary school and let me tell you the girl can bake! - but that she took the time to drive all the way to Norwich to deliver it to me! Granted, Connecticut is not a huge State but it's still almost a 2-hour round-trip drive for her to have come down (except somehow she got home in 30 minutes so she must have made the jump to light-speed!). What a birthday present!

I'm sure she was beyond impressed with my place of employment and dispatching prowess - not! I wasn't really dispatching yesterday anyway, I was the back-up while Jen was doing the primary dispatching duties. I got to model my lovely uniform, too! Still, at least now when I say that I'm at work, Mags has a visual to go along with it which includes a lovely view of downtown Norwich - such as it is!

Thank you so much, Mags, for taking the time out of your day to make my birthday so special not just with the gift of the cake and the flowers but, more importantly, the gift of your company! The hug was the best part!

Oh, and Miss Bee, the cake was good - it was really, really good!! I still have some left if you'd like to stop by!

For My Guests ...

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Where ever are my manners? If such wonderful people as Claire and Tisha and Mo and Sandee are sending people over on the 20th anniversary of my 29th birthday then I figure I should at least offer my visitors some cake! I mean, what if Miss Bee comes by and I don't have any cake to offer her? She would probably chalk it up to my being a Yankee and not knowing the sociabilities of Southern hospitality but I would really hate to disappoint her and let her think that we here in the Northeast are totally uncivilized.

So while I'm trying to decide whether to just stand there or jump you guys have some cake and talk amongst yourselves. If you want some, the milk is in the fridge and feel free to put the kettle on for tea, I've got some lovely flavored ones in that nice wooden tea box on the counter. Thanks for stopping by!