Delicious New Letterpressed Material!

I'm thrilled to share these lovely new printed pieces that we just received at the Lilly & Louise studio. I enlisted the help of John at Lumino Press to letterpress new Lilly & Louise business cards and note cards. The cards are printed on a slightly textured paper and I've paired them with craft paper envelopes. Even the business cards get mini envelopes! Here's to the experience!

Enjoy!

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Because Baking is Creative: Chocolate Bombs

Chocolate is always in season, right? These delicious little things are super rich and probably best enjoyed by a true chocolate lover...and with a glass of milk.

I first made them as standard sized cupcakes and it seemed like they weighed a pound each and took about 15 minutes to consume. I definitely think the mini-version works much better.

The real name of these cupcakes is "Granny Twichell's Secret Chocolate Cupcake Recipe" from the cookbook, Death By Chocolate, 1992. I'd like to thank Elizabeth for renaming them during a taste test : )



Cupcakes
10 oz. semisweet chocolate, broken into 1/2 oz. pieces
1 cup heavy cream
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, broken into 1/2 oz. pieces
5 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Icing
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces

1. Preheat oven to 325

2. Heat 1 inch of water in the bottom half of a double boiler over medium heat. Place 10 oz. semisweet chocolate, 1 cup heavy cream, and 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate in the top half of double boilder. Tightly cover the top with film wrap. Allow to heat for 8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir until smooth. Set aside until needed.

3. Place eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle. Beat on medium until slightly thickened, about 4 minutes. Add the melted chocolate mixture (may need to temper egg mixture), and beat on medium for 15-20 seconds more. Add the cake flour, baking soda, and chocolate chips, and beat on low for 10 seconds. Increase to medium and beat for an additional 10 seconds. Remove the bowl from mixer. Use rubber spatula to combine batter

4. Evenly divide the mixture into mini baking cups in muffin tin. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temp.

5. To prepare icing, heat 1/2 cup heavy cream in a saucepan over med-hi heat. Bring to a boil. Place 6 oz. semi sweet chocolate in stainless steel bowl. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand fo r5 minutes. Stir with a whisk until smooth.

6. One at a time, dip the top of each cupcake into the chocolate icing.

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'Tis the [Crazy] Season!

This is a visual of what the last couple of weeks have been like...but Peachy has things under control! Happy beginning-of-the-holiday-season!

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Fall in Santa Barbara

A dear friend and fellow designer paid a visit to the Lilly & Louise studio last weekend and she brought with her a hand-picked bouquet of these lovely Hydrangeas! Hand-picked from the front yard! These gem-like colors are so brilliant, I had to share. Thanks, Elizabeth!

Enjoy!

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When Life Gives You Lemons... Make Lemony Lemon Cupcakes

This week's lemon recipe is darn good (but so far I haven't met a lemon recipe I don't like). This is the second time I've made this and I think I'm perfecting it because it was better the second time around.



These cupcakes look oh-so-lovely in natural parchment paper as cupcake liners--thanks Martha. To do this, cut a sheet of natural parchment paper into about 4" squares and find a glass cup that is the same diameter of the holes in your cupcake tin. Place square of parchment paper over cupcake hole and press cup into hole. Sometimes the paper will hold the shape, but often it won't--it's okay. Repeat for each cupcake hole in pan then spray lightly with cooking spray. When batter is complete, spoon batter into parchment papers--it should weigh the paper down into the hole (if it hasn't kept it's shape). Try not to get batter on sides of papers. Bake, cool and ice as directed below.



Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing
(adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook 2003 lemon cake recipe)

Cupcakes
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup buttermilk (this is key!)
Lemon curd (store-bought or home made)

1. Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temp for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line cupcake tins with papers. In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with electric mixer on med to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, lemon peel, and lemon juice: beat until well combined. add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Pour into prepared papers.

3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pan for a few minutes then remove and place on wire rack to cool completely.

4. When cool top with thin spread of lemon curd, then pipe cream cheese icing on top (see below).

Lemon Cream Cheese Icing
Finely shred 1 teaspoon lemon peel, set aside. In a medium mixing bowl combine 6 ounces of cream cheese, softened; 1/2 cup butter, softened; and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Beat with electric mixer on low to med speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, beating well. Gradually beat in 2 1/2 to 2 1/4 cups additional sifted powdered sugar until icing reaches spreading consistency. Stir in lemon peel. Spoon icing into a large Ziploc freezer bag and snip off bottom of one corner. Pipe in a swirl on top of lemon curd covered cupcakes.

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Pretty Mail Starts with Pretty Addresses

Remember those Spanish style Save the Dates? I was excited when the bride asked me to hand-write the addresses. I think our quest for beautiful mail is complete! Here's a peek!

Check out some other L&L hand-written addressing options here.

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Save-The-Date, Spanish style

This couple will marry at the McNay Museum in San Antonio, so they wanted to highlight it's beautiful Spanish details with their Save-The-Date. I happened to have a lovely tile--beautiful with all its hand-painted irregularities and aged imperfections--so we explored a few ideas with it. In the final printed piece, the tile speaks for itself. The classic serif typeface and historical wood typeface paired with a cream textured paper enhance the look we hoped to achieve.







I was excited to receive photos from the bride-to-be of her assembly experience before she sent them off to her friends and family, see below. Thanks, Sarah!

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Because Baking is Creative: Mom's Pumpkin Cake

It's Friday! That means that you get your weekly dose of recipe goodness from Lilly & Louise! This week I'm sharing a recipe that my mom has been making--and become known for--for fall and winter holidays for the past few years. This is always a hit! But be sure to make it for a big group (like a holiday potluck) because it's rich and it's huge. I made it for a Halloween get-together last weekend and one [male] comment was "this dessert is legit!"

And...be warned. You MUST channel your inner Julia and embrace the amount of butter in this recipe.

Pumpkin Cake
You'll notice the ingredients put this dish in the category with Green Bean Casserole (i.e. canned pumpkin, cake mix, and cool whip), but just like Green Bean Casserole, it's totally satisfying!

4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 large can (or 1½ regular cans) pumpkin
1½ cups sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
12 oz. can evaporated milk
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 sticks butter

Grease a 9 x 13 pyrex dish and place wax paper in bottom.
Mix together first 7 ingredients (eggs through evaporated milk) until thoroughly
combined. Pour mixture into cake pan.
Spread box of cake mix over pumpkin mixture (do not mix in). Sprinkle nuts on top. Add butter ontop of nuts (slice to cover pan).
Bake at 350 for one hour. Let cool and flip over. Remove wax paper

Topping:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
¾ cup Cool Whip

Mix together by hand. Cover top of cake, when cool.
Refrigerate. Let stand 10-15 minutes at room temp before serving (should be served cold).

Thanks for letting me share, mom!

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