Our ‘lil baker

Oh how happy Katie has been these two days. She is so delighted to get time in the kitchen and some adult attention also.

Aunt Sherry (my mom’s sister) has been so good to skype with her at least several times a month for a baking night. They gather the recipe, do the grocery shopping, make anything necessary ahead of time, and then together over skype, they put it all together.

This week, they made Uncle Bart’s mom’s recipe…his favorite and hers. Her birthday was July 4th and this was often her chosen birthday cake. Mom Marilyn was a good, Catholic woman who loved to cook. Aunt Sherry & her would go through recipes and talk for hours about cooking & food. Kindred spirits those two women!

The poke cakes are so much fun. I love how Aunt Sherry deviates from recipes and was able to pass along her recent secret…add a half package of Jello to your cake batter. What a beautiful color, right?! I have to be honest though. I think adding the Jello to the batter gave it a better taste than adding the prepared jello in the holes. Oh so yummy and moist!!

I’m not one for icing so this was a perfect recipe. I love Cool Whip in the summertime, and who doesn’t love fresh strawberries?!

Thanks Aunt Sherry for passing along this little Price family treasure. What a yummy cake. I think we’ll be making it again!! You can find the recipe HERE if you are interested.

Katie has been able to fulfill one of her dreams and take a cake decorating class. She’s enrolled in the Level 1 Wilton Cake Decorating class under the direction of a lovely lady. She’s been so gracious and supportive of Katie’s dream. I do hope Katie is able to continue on through the other levels with her as well.

The icing for tonight’s class proved a little tricky, but the cake turned out cute anyway. She was dying to use the grass tip, and hair seemed like the perfect opportunity. I love how she striped the sides also. What beautiful colors and a fun design too.

Her teacher shared THIS recipe. Katie added a raspberry extract instead of vanilla. Boy the batter sure tasted good. We are anxious to cut into the cake tomorrow for a little taste.

We love our sweet little baker and look forward to watching her talents develop more and more.