It's Official

This weekend is a big one for pre-Paris preparation. (ooh, alliteration...see what I did there?) I am home in DC to get my VISA, which I got this morning! I was really impressed by the efficiency of the whole process, and now I am a ball of excitement because my VISA is in the works, and my ticket to Paris has been purchased. Things are starting to come together.

Reason enough to celebrate? Yes. With cupcakes? Yes.

Being back in a house with free (to me, anyways) groceries and heat has been AMAZING, as well as having the kitchen to myself while Mama Bear is at work--rather than sharing it with 7 other girls. The immediate result was Irish Car Bomb cupcakes: Guinness chocolate cuppies, w/ whiskey chocolate ganache filling, topped w/ Bailey's buttercream. Unfortunately, the cocoa allergy stops me from trying them, but they still make me happy :)

Recipe from: http://formalfringe.com/2011/03/11/irish-car-bomb-cupcakes/
I have no changes to make; it came out great for me!

See for yourself, mes amis.

When Life Gives You Coconut...

So I am desperately trying to avoid getting groceries before heading out of town for Thanksgiving, which means my diet has become increasingly bizarre. We are talking dry cereal and handfuls of oats, people. My roommate has become a fan of "tomato soup," which is really just her way of justifying eating marinara pasta sauce from a bowl.

Somehow, I woke up today and discovered that I had very little left to eat, but I found a bag of shredded coconut. Fast forward about 40 minutes and I am eating coconut cake. Had to happen.

Desserts don't last long in a house with 8 girls!

COCONUT CAKE

Note: Makes one 9-in. round

For the Cake:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened (1/2 C)

3/4 C sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1.5 C AP Flour

1/3 C Milk or cream

1/2 sweetened shredded coconut

For the Icing:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/3 C Crisco, or cream cheese if you prefer

3 C Confectioner's sugar (or more)

5-6 tbsp. milk or cream

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. coconut extract (optional)

1/2 C sweetened shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9-in. round cake pan. 
2. FOR THE CAKE: In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl with your spatula. Add vanilla.
3. Add the dry ingredients. The batter should be pretty thick and un-batterlike, so go ahead and add the milk until it is still thick, but more batter than cookie dough. Fold in the coconut with your spatula.
4. Pour/spread batter into 9-in. round, make sure it's pretty evenly distributed, and bake for 20 min, until golden and set. A knife should slide out clean.
5. FOR THE ICING: Cream butter and Crisco until creamy, then add the sugar in increments. This part can be a bit messy. Keep at it; the mixture may seem crumbly at first but the butter will eventually incorporate the sugar, I promise. 
6. Add extracts and milk to make it less thick. From here, add more sugar if  you like thicker frosting, and more milk if you think it needs thinning. 
7. Fold in sweetened shredded coconut with spatula. Make sure your icing is still spreadable!
8. Frost the cake once it has cooled completely, then dig in!

Mmm...icing...

Bon Appétit!

It is finally hitting me that in less than two months, I will be LIVING IN PARIS. It is a crazy idea, but my anxiety and excitement increase with each day that passes.

Here's the background info: I am a Junior at U of M, a Romance Languages and Literatures major studying French, Italian, and Spanish. I have always been obsessed with even just the idea of France, especially Paris, so I bit the bullet, did an obscene amount of paperwork, and committed to the Middlebury School in Paris for the coming semester. I'll be living with a French family and taking classes, exploring in my free time, and probably consuming too much butter and cheese. This blog is really just a public journal, and a good space for some bragging if the need should arise (given). Bon appétit!