Saturday, June 30, 2012

Lemon & White Chocolate


Summer calls for sweet treats of all kinds, and these lemony white chocolate bars certainly suit this season of warm and sticky! A riff on a traditional brownie recipe, these bars are an excellent dessert to share with your family and friends that can't (or even more sadly, just don't) eat chocolate.

Lemon & White Chocolate Bars

¾ butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons lemon extract
1 ¾ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ cups white chocolate chips

Melt butter, remove from heat. Add sugar, eggs, vanilla, and lemon extract. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, stir until well blended and smooth. Stir in white chocolate chips. Spread in a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool and serve.




Monday, June 25, 2012

Aqua and White

Treasury challenge of the week - featuring the CAST team shops, WatercolorsNMore and SewFaithful. The sparkling aqua and turquoise shades of their items were the inspiration for our summery collection.



This week we had the pleasure of being included in a variety of treasuries - bright, rustic, rich, and cottage.







Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Joy Cottage...

The treasury today is part of a CAST Team challenge - featuring Elegant Quirk and Vintage Niki.


And a few other treasuries... These are not ones that we made, but that we were included in. Enjoy!




Monday, June 18, 2012

Luscious lime...




Shown here with our white trivet, these sweet vanilla cupcakes with a swirl of lime frosting are a refreshing dessert for a warm summer day. The soft green tint from the lime zest is the perfect color to complement a party scheme, while being free from artificial food coloring.












Vanilla Cupcakes:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and whip again.

In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 18 minutes or just until set and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, pipe on frosting. (We used Wilton’s 1M tip.) Sprinkle with white sugar for a sparkling finish.



Lime Buttercream Icing:

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup shortening

6 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk

5-6 teaspoons lime juice

Zest of 5 limes

Cream butter and shortening with electric mixer. Add lime zest and juice. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all the sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at high speed until light and fluffy. Keep icing covered with damp cloth until you’re ready to decorate. For best results, keep icing in refrigerator when you’re not using it.

Makes about 3 cups of frosting.


Friday, June 15, 2012

Celebrating a birthday!

Yesterday was the U.S. Army's 237th birthday - time for a black and gold treasury, right?



We've also had the pleasure of discovering our items in these splendid treasuries:




Thursday, June 7, 2012

All things bright and beautiful...

Vivid pink was today's treasury muse. Paired with black and white, it makes for a bold retro palette!


"Things aren’t always what they seem
You’re only seeing part of me
There’s more than you could ever know
Behind the scenes
I’m incomplete and I’m undone
But I suppose like everyone
There’s so much more that’s going on
Behind the scenes."
- from the song "Behind the Scenes" by Francesa Battistelli



And for some more color play, check out these sky blue, teal, and coral collections that we were thrilled to be a part of: