Get Well Soon Dear Doggy

This weekend my family and I went to a dear friends house, her dog was ill and they were very sad. You see this dog is very well part of the family, he has been with them for over 14 years or so. His name is Lucky and he sure is "lucky" to be a part of that great family.

I wanted to give them some comfort and what better way than with cake, right? I molded a round cake in form of a doggy plate, covered it in white fondant, then decorated with dog paws made out of blue fondant (because our doggy friend is a boy) and finally got a batch of shortbread cookie dough and made some doggy biscuit (in form of a bone).

I had no bone shape cookie cutter so I molded them by hand, they look great and taste delicious. We don't have pets neither so there where no doggy treats in the house at the time and since it was an emergency I had to improvise, hope you all like the final result. My friends loved it and that made me happy.

Here it is: Doggy Plate with Treats Cake

What did we do with the rest of the cookie dough?

Well, see for yourself....

Cookies with a big size chocolate chips, they are as delicious as they look.

Mix cake and candy and you get?

This post is dedicated to all the chocolate and cake lovers outhere. I absolutely love chocolate and when I saw in Flickr a cake covered with Kit Kat I had to try to make one myself. It's a smaller version than the one I saw, but I bet it's as delicious as this one.

Strawberry cake with Chocolate Buttercream covered with Kit Kats and topped with .... guess what?.... Starbucks. Having a sugar rush... jajaja... I bet you are!

Front Side & Back Side

Coffee Glazed Doughnuts

Ok, I know that I haven't been around for a long time. But in my defence I've been going through Radio Therapy. Yeah! it's a lame excuse, but it's a true one too. Have baked some cookies and some cupcakes just for us in the house though.

But, attention my dear testers (a.k.a -family and friends) I have been researching some recipes to play around with, make some changes and add to my list of must haves. So, be alert to new flavors and a lot of eating. I'll be posting those recipes too.

I caught my eye on a recipe the other day watching Food Network. It's from Giada De Laurentiis, a great chef in my opinion.

Enjoy a:

Coffee Glazed Doughnuts

To make the doughnut dough:

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons lemon zest

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, water, sugar, and salt over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for 10 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and add the flour. Using a wooded spoon, quickly stir the mixture until all the flour is fully incorporated and forms a thick dough. Return the pan to the heat and stir continuously for 2 minutes.

Scrape the mixture into a stand mixture fitted with a paddle attachment. With the machine running on medium speed, add the eggs and egg yolk, 1 at a time until fully incorporated. Beat the mixture for 4 to 5 minutes until thick and glossy. Add the lemon zest and beat until smooth.

Refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes.

For the glaze:

1/4 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon coffee liqueur
2 teaspoons espresso powder
2 cups powdered sugar
Water, as needed

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream, coffee liqueur, and espresso powder until smooth. With a wooden spoon, gradually stir in the powdered sugar until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, stir in the water, 1/4 teaspoon at a time.

Now, it's time to fry them up:

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour in enough oil to fill the pan about a third of the way. Heat over medium heat.

Drop scoops (about 1 tablespoon) of the dough into the oil. Cook for 3 to 3 1/2 minutes, turning occasionally, until the doughnuts are golden and puffed. Drain on paper towels. Repeat until all of the dough has been used.

When the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, dip the top halves in the glaze.

Serve immediately and enjoy each and everyone of them, I bet you can't just have one.

Note: For another twist to this recipe you can change the glaze with any flavor you like or to keep the citrus flavor going you can try substituting the coffee with some lemon juice. I'm sure you'll come up with a great glaze of your own.