Sweet And Crumby

Baking, a Love Story


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Black Cocoa Perfection and Evil Awesomeness {Chocolate Malted Cupcakes with Whipped Chocolate Malted Frosting}

Few things are perfect but these things come to mind:

Black Cocoa Powder which was used in these dark, dark, moist and chocolatey malted cupcakes.
Calorie FREE chocolate malted cupcakes which these are NOT…one can certainly dream can’t she?
And my daughter’s smile when opening her fifteenth birthday present which was a first edition copy of her favorite book with author’s signature.

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My words are few today because life is going at its usual lightning speed right now. So what’s new? But life is good and birthdays are super good. And watching your daughter open presents and having your husband make her dreams come true are all beautiful things. He was the mastermind behind finding a signed first edition of Night Circus and surprising her with it yesterday morning. Continue Reading →


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Sunny Side Up Orange Layer Cake

Are you a glass half full or glass half empty kind of person? I have to admit that I, like Darth Vader, naturally swing to the darker side, BUT knowing my sinister ways, I try very hard to make a conscious decision to look at the bright side.

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A Tunnel of Fudge Cake Happy Birthday Toast to My Dad

I was sixteen and running late for my first date with a boy whom I really liked and I made the cataclysmic mistake of telling my dad to “entertain” him for a few minutes. After I sprayed my last bit of Aqua Net onto my two inch high bangs, glossed over my lips and slipped on my “pumps”, I walked into our family room to find my dad, six foot three inches tall, and my date tap dancing on our wood floors while my dad whistled and sang, “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy.”

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Fourth of July Round-Up

Cuz I have been in the lazy groove of summer and living life large a little too much lately, I don’t have a new post for the Fourth of July holiday but I do have some tried and true faves and I also have seen some pretty snazzy stuff around the blogosphere. So enjoy…and have a wonderful, tasty and SAFE Fourth. BTW…all the gorgeous photos you see below are stolen from the blogs mentioned and linked to in this post.

How about starting the day with my Red Velvet Pancakes and cream cheese dipping sauce (that’s breakfast code for frosting). These would surely wake up the family and begin the celebration on the right foot.

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60 Comments

The Girl Who Cried Wolf {Chocolate Kahlua Cake Drizzled with Kahlua Ganache and Kahlua Icing}

I am she…the one who cried wolf. The one who has said at least ten times or so here on S&C that this is the BEST something or other EVER! But what if it is? Will you believe me this time? Have I whittled away your trust? I sure hope not because the only loser in this equation is YOU if that is so.

Let’s reconsider that last statement. I am NOT calling all of my readers losers. Well, I don’t think so anyhow. I am actually just saying that if I have blown your trust to smithereens, although it may be my fault entirely, if you don’t believe me this time, you will be so, so sorry because this IS the BEST chocolate cake I have ever made (I am fairly certain). Continue Reading →


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Frosting as Superglue and a Chocolate Malted S’mores Birthday Cake

Like my cake, this post is a bit of a mess. Sometimes I just don’t think linearly. I know, the rich and chocolatey S’mores cake looks just fine, even delicious, BUT it definitely had a rough start. The crazy baker who had gotten up at 5:00am to frost it was still a bit sleepy. She had not had her coffee and she was doing dangerous stunts with the serrated knife and muttering to herself while burning her finger tips on the freshly broiled marshmallows. It may have been the morning of the birthday party. This idiotic baker may not have planned ahead quite as well as she thought.

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46 Comments

Luscious Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Curd Filling and Lemon Butter Cream Frosting

If you have been dreaming of soft, pillowy clouds and bright beautiful lemons dancing on them, then this IS the cake for you. Maybe you are not strange and you don’t dream of lemons dancing on clouds…but that’s OK…we can still be friends. Just make this cake.

I have never in my life taken a bite of a softer cake. I almost felt like a little halo was surrounding this cake because I imagine that if angels eat cakes, they would eat this.

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33 Comments

Flash Back to the Eighties Inside-Out Ding Dong Cake

Just for the record, I think this dark, devilish and creamy cake is what you might imagine a Ding Dong would be if you were in heaven; if it were actually made for YOU by Dorie Greenspan and if it were made with Chuao Chocolate and served to you within hours of it coming out of the oven.  That is how my family enjoyed this crazy, amazingly soft, chocolaty, cream-filled and frosted cake (minus the Dorie Greenspan part—ah well).

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Not for Sissies Spiced Molten Chocolate Cakes

Inhale. I am giving you permission unlike Bill Clinton’s little foray. You’re not running for president are you? Let’s hope not. Use some imagination…c’mon…I know you can. Close your eyes, picture standing in my kitchen. Please step over the Golden Retriever. Chances are, she is lying at your feet, or more likely has her nose in your crotch. Try to ignore that…it’s difficult, but please try for this little exercise.

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28 Comments

Aunt Bette’s Dangerous German Chocolate Cake

Aunt Bette is my husband’s aunt, and as far as my dad is concerned, her German Chocolate cake is the best dowry any dad could ask for.  It is actually airy and spongy, with the best ooey, gooey coconut and pecan topping.  If that’s not enough, it also has a luxurious chocolate butter cream frosting on the sides just to send it over the top.

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