Happy Father's Day!

For Father's Day I made penne with garlic-lemon scallops and asparagus. The scallops were pan-seared, while the asparagus was roasted.

This was my first time cooking scallops and asparagus, although I've had them before. To learn how to pan-sear the scallops, I used this article: How To Make Pan-Seared Sea Scallops.

To learn how to roast the asparagus I used this article: How to Cook Asparagus

I used an easy recipe for the scallops, which can be found here.

The family loved it.

Moist Cake

I was recently given a tip by my teacher at school on how to get the most moist cake. 

Immediately after you take the cake (or cupcakes) out of the oven, you just pop them into the freezer for a few minutes. My teacher explained that while the outside cools, it will seal the heat and steam on the inside, leaving the cupcake more moist! I have tried this tip, and have to say it really works. 

Special thanks to that teacher!

Caramel Filled Chocolate Cookies

I baked cookies today, which I haven't in a while. I made caramel filled chocolate cookies. Although they weren't as pretty as the picture in the recipe that gave me the idea (from the blog obsessed with baking), they still tasted yummy.

I put the chocolate cookie batter on the cookie sheet and placed a piece of caramel filled chocolate in the middle. Afterward I completely covered the chocolate with more batter and put it in the oven.

In the baking process, the chocolate melted and the cookie got flat, so the caramel center was not very visible, although I could taste it. The actual chocolate cookie recipe was good as well.

Tiramisu Layer Cake

Today I made a Tiramisu Layer Cake. I was inspired again by my favorite Italian restaurant as well as by a cupcake recipe I tasted, made by my classmate.

I found the recipe online. It called for a white box cake mix, which saved a lot of time. I made three layers, but in the layer that I was going to put in the middle, I added a teaspoon of instant coffee.The filling and frosting were also very easy to make, using simple ingredients such as heavy cream, confectioners sugar and coffee liqueur.

This recipe was more complicated than I am used to, but it wasn't too hard. When it was finished, it didn't taste too sweet, which was a refreshing change for the summer weather. I sprinkled cocoa powder over the top and garnished the edges with raspberries, although the recipe called for chocolate shavings. I definitely recommend this recipe!

You'll find it here.