Birthday and Update

Hi everyone. As most of you are aware, it's been over a year since I've done a full post. I know, I know: I've been really bad. My last year of high school has sort of needed my attention what with this little thing called college. Oh, yeah! College. Some of you might be wondering where I've decided to go and I'm proud to say that I've decided to attend the Rhode Island School of Design. It's a fantastic school and I'm a little nervous, but I'm really excited to start there in the fall. It's an extremely challenging school, so I have a feeling baking may have to take the backseat (again!) for a while, but I know that it's something I'll love to do for my entire life and it will come in and out of focus.
The post I'm putting up today is about my birthday I recently celebrated. My actual birthday fell on a Sunday this year. While I didn't celebrate on my actual birthday, I decided to host a Sunday brunch for all my girlfriends and go on a baking + decorating binge. A couple rooms of my house were decorated in entirely pink and gold (this was my color palette, duh!) as were the invitations and party favors. We used an instant camera to take pictures during the party, which was fun because everyone was dressed up nicely. As party favors, people got to take home two photos, along with some jelly beans.



I've mentioned this before, but not in detail, but i am obsessed with Martha Stewart. Everything from scone recipes to her not-so-secret cattyness. For my party, I basically scoured Martha Stewart.com for hours finding ideas, photo galleries, and how-tos. Some of you might recognize the tissue paper pompoms that you can buy online from her site. I made mine using a tutorial on marthastewart.com since I'm pretty crafty (see, art school) and hung them from the ceiling using thread, duct tape, and medical tape (to hide the duct tape).



The brunch was practically an ode to Martha. Almost every recipe was one I've adapted from her. Here was the menu:

Glazed Lemon Pound Cake
Spiced Banana Bread
Orange-Poppy Scones with Butter + Jam
Blueberry Coffee Cake
Bacon
Asparagus, Potato, Cheddar, & Leek Frittata
Doughnuts from Mighty O
Cranberry Sparklers
Sparkling Cider with Cara Cara Orange Punch
Pink Grapefruit Margaritas

The drinks above are links to the pages on Marthastewart.com where you can find the recipes.




Glazed Lemon Poundcake
Cake
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks unsalted butter; softened
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup plain yogurt
3 tablespoons lemon zest
2/3 cup lemon juice
5 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk together in a large bowl thoroughly, and set aside.In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until smooth.
In a medium bowl, stir together yogurt, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
Add the eggs to the butter and sugar one at a time, beating in between each addition.
With the mixer on a low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the yogurt mixture in 2 parts. Start and end with the flour mixture. Grease and flour a 9" bundt pan. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean and the top begins to brown slightly. Let cake cool for at least 2 hours before glazing.

Glaze
Juice from 1 lemon (not exact)
2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar

Mix using a fork until a paste forms and brush on the cooled cake.

Blueberry Coffee Cake
Cake
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sour cream
2 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan.

In the bowl of electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Add vanilla, and beat until combined. Add reserved flour mixture and the sour cream, and beat just until well combined. Fold in blueberries. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake until golden brown and cake tester comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Crumb topping
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold

In a medium bowl, combine cinnamon, salt, sugar, and flour. Cut in the butter using your pastry cutter until well combined. Put aside or refrigerate until use.

Orange-Poppy Scones
From Martha Stewart Everyday Food
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest
1/4 fresh squeezed orange juice
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
sanding sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With a pastry cutter, work butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. With a fork, stir in 1/2 cup buttermilk, orange zest and juice, egg yolk, and poppy seeds until just combined.

On a lightly floured, surface, turn out dough and knead several times. Form dough into a 7-inch square; cut into 9 squares, then cut each in half diagonally. Transfer dough triangles to two parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets. Brush tops with buttermilk; sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake until scones are pale golden, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool on wire racks. Serve with butter and jam.

Banana Bread

1 cup sugar
1 stick butter, softened
2 over-ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs, well beaten
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat sugar and butter together in a mixer. Add mashed bananas and eggs one at a time. Sift the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg together and whisk until well blended. Add to butter mixture and beat in mixture just until combined. Bake in a greased and floured loaf pan for 45-50 minutes.