Layers of Deliciousness

For our Halloween potluck at work last week, I made a cake. It wasn't any ordinary cake, but instead, a 4-layered candy corn cake. If that doesn't sound like a lot of work on its own, add four different kinds of cake into the mix. So many different flavors packed into one little cake. It was a hit at work.

My inspiration came from Curly Girl Kitchen, where she created a soft pastel-colored cake that made me swoon. While my rendition didn't turn out exactly how Heather made hers, I am really quite pleased with my efforts. The feedback I received alone for constructing this sweet concoction was fabulous.

You may find the original recipe here, amongst many of her other fabulous recipes.

I opted to simplify the recipe a bit by omitting the vanilla buttercream frosting altogether, mainly because I was unable to find powdered meringue on such short notice. I found a chocolate buttercream frosting from my Betty Crocker cookbook, which did the trick and used this in between each layer, and obviously around the entire body f the cake.

I decided that since my trimmed cake didn't turn out so pretty, covering it in frosting would camouflage some of my imperfections. I also skipped on the ganache as my buttercream was so rich, no one would be able to eat more than just a bite.

The next time I make this cake, I will not let it bake as long (to prevent over-baking on the edges) and I'll add just a tad bit more food coloring to the orange and red cakes so that there is more contrast against the white cake for the orange, and so that the red cake doesn't appear pink.

The flavors and the moist texture were delicious, and the almond cake was my absolute favorite! A huge shout-out and thank you to Heather for coming up with this tasty treat.

Now I'm off to sip my leftover pumpkin spice latte and drift off to dreamland.

Nighty night!

Creating Pockets of Adventures

Blessed. This is the perfect word to describe my life. While not everything goes in the direction I hope, nor does it ever happen in the ways I plan, it's mine and I have joy. More often than not, I face obstacles and sometimes rather painful experiences that I find to be overwhelming at times. All the same, I conquer. I have faith in a few things: a higher power, that higher power within me, and in myself. Faith always carries me through and has brought me to where I am.
I think my life to be somewhat average in many ways. I am not poor, but I am not wealthy. I can usually obtain the things I want if I plan for them and budget in most instances. However, I wasn't always affluent enough to afford small luxuries, such as my beloved Starbucks habit or my car. These two things would have exceeded my budget by far if I were 23-years-old again.
Though, one thing that I am wealthy with is ambition. I've always been wealthy with ambition. If I want something, I find a way to m…

I Didn't Know What to Say

This world is full of both wonderful and heartbreaking circumstances that wear us down daily. As a nation, we are mourning another tragedy where violence has torn apart communities and families - and for what purpose? We just don't know.
I didn't write on this yesterday because I didn't know what to say. I've read that it's the deadliest mass shooting in American history. I don't know what's more sad to me: that this deplorable act is something that I feel numb towards given the increasing numbers of shootings and tragedies we are seeing nationally, or the act itself: where some random person unbeknownst to even his own family made a decision that forever altered the lives of millions of people.
The biggest encouragement and consolation I can try to provide is to continue to shine the light into the darkest corners of the world. Whether you emit joy and love, peace or kindness, these are a few ways to impact the world in a positive way that anybody can gi…

Compassion

Months ago, I filmed a video about compassion and empathy. When I downloaded it to my computer, I didn't have the time or the drive to edit and upload it... until today. I re-watched the full 11:37 video and realized that my message was very clear and that it applies just as much to today as it did when I originally filmed it in November.
Compassion. It's something that many people lack - not on purpose, but out of convenience. Out of carelessness. Without a thought. People aren't bad because of it, rather unaware and lacking mindfulness of who is around them and how they may be feeling.
I wanted to share this video as a reminder for people to view other people as humans - as people just like themselves. To have empathy and compassion because you just do not know what another person is going through.

Lovingly yours,
Em

Bellezza di Vita

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