life collection

I was in the kitchen most of the day. First I made sugar cookie dough. I used this recipe, but I added the juice of one lemon (I love tangy sugar cookies as it cuts down on the sweetness) and a pinch more flour to keep the dough firm and easy to roll. I am refrigerating the dough overnight and will roll them out tomorrow with Ronald. I have a ton of sprinkles, frosting and candies to decorate with so we'll have a good time.

After that I made a chocolate cake. I really am not great at making cakes from scratch. Usually they are too dry or not flavorful enough. So I just made a boxed chocolate-fudge cake mix. Then I made bourbon vanilla buttercream from scratch for the frosting. 

I have made this once before and it is so easy and delicious. I'm still having trouble getting the consistency right, I can't get it nice and fluffy, but either way it tastes amazing! It has just a hint of bourbon and isn't too sweet.

The recipe is from the above book. And here it is for you to try!:

Bourbon Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1/4 tsp. salt

2 and 1/4 cup confectioners sugar

2 tablespoons bourbon (I used Buffalo Trace, but Makers Mark is good too, whatever you like really!)

1/4 cup half-and-half

Beat butter until creamy. Add salt. Slowly add confectioners sugar and bourbon. Mix in half-and-half until fluffy. 

Keep refrigerated.

*In mine I added half a tablespoon of vanilla extract to give it a little more flavor. 

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I am the first to admit that I am not a cake decorator or an amazing baker. To be honest, I don't want to learn how to decorate cakes fancy, or bake everything perfectly. I just like making things that taste good and we enjoy. I rarely bake things from scratch, but hope to do that more this year. I also want to start making bread. I am kind of embarrassed to share the images of my cake above, because I know it is far from perfect, but I kind of like how quirky and homemade it looks. 

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Do you like baking? Have you made Christmas cookies or any other desserts for the holidays?

xx, C