Gooey Butter Cake and Caramel Cake

In the newlywed chaos, two cakes have emerged since my last cake event. They were nothing as complicated as the 108 Oreo Cake or the infamous Cookie Dough Cake, but they were certainly delicious.

For winter finals: Paula Deen’s gooey butter cake with sliced strawberries on top.

For spring midterms: Caramel Cake from Our Best Bites, which I also added sliced strawberries to.

Of the two, the Caramel Cake was definitely the more delicious of the two. I’m finding that if you let yellow cake sit for a day before eating it, the flavors mingle in a wonderful way. Such was true with this cake, and the Cookie Dough Cake as well. And I wouldn’t recommend omitting the strawberries on top with the caramel cake. They’re a must-have, per usual.

These are both great cakes to make if you're looking for something awesome, but less time consuming than the 108 or the Cookie Dough.  Sadly, I didn't take pictures of either of these cakes. But here's a picture I'm quite fond of. 

I don't know what exactly it says about our relationship, but I'm pretty sure it says good things. 

Stowaway Magazine in Video!

Remember how I worked on Stowaway magazine? You've seen it in full color spreads, but now you can see it in moving pictures! Check out this video on us. Feel free to eat a tootsie roll for every time you find me in it.

This Cookie Dough Cake Is An Event

Perhaps you'll remember how I made Super a 108 Oreo Cake to celebrate his successful completion of midterms?

I knew I needed to top myself for finals, so I made what Brother Joseph said is "not really a cake, but an event." It combines all of my favorite things: cookies, cookie dough, chocolate chips, and good frosting. If you're wondering where the no-egg cookie dough goes, it constitutes the filling between the cake layers. And yes, it's as lovely as you'd hope it could be.

If you'd like to make your own, check out the tutorial from Tip Junkie. Her buttercream frosting recipe with the cake has become my new favorite. It's far superior to any other I've tried. Beyond that though, here are a few suggested changes to the tutorial though.

1) The cookie recipe she gives is not my fave. You could easily substitute whatever cookie recipe you love most, which I recommend. We did however use walnuts in the cookies, which were graciously grown and donated by Super's cousin. Super contributed to his own cake by cracking walnuts with his bare hands. Here he is modeling his red hands. The pictures don't really show the new texture of his palms, so you'll have to just trust me that this cake resulted in battle wounds.

2) I often skip out on the mini chips, but they really do work best in the cookie dough. Big chips tend to make my teeth hurt. So if you're like me—cheap with over-sugared teeth—spring for the minis.

3) This cake tastes much better once when given a few days to sit. So plan ahead and let the flavors percolate to perfection.

Flinging chips on the cake. YES.

This cake took at least 8 hours to make, but I think it was worth it. It probably wouldn't have taken as much time if it weren't for the fact that Super's house is too cold for butter to soften. I doubt you'll have this problem though.

You know you're an editor if

You know you're an editor if

1. you're already aware there shouldn't be a colon after if in the sentence above
2. you've already found an error or two in this post that Chicago wouldn't sanction
3. you didn't find all the errors and went straight to Chicago 6.121 to double-check
4. you see more possibilities in these cake pans than the average baker

This woman is an editor. She has schwa earrings.

5. you don't believe any of that crap about split infinitives or beginning a sentence with but
6. you wanted to cry joyfully when you first learned about old-style numbers
7. you could actually find a need for ten of these magnets
8. you support the return of the interrobang (well, not all editors do; but they should)
9. this video by College Humor speaks right to your soul

Also, you're an editor if you want there to be a number ten on this list. But alas, I have left you hanging like a dangling modifier.

On a related note, I hate it when there are typos and other errors on my blog. Should you find one, feel free to point it out to me. I'll be sad at my original failure. But I will correct it, and the world will stand greatly improved.

If you'd like a grammar question answered, ask away! I will write a post just for you.

There are so many other things that could go on this list. What would you add?

Blurring the lines: an essay on art and science

I once worked on the BYU Honors Program magazine, Insight. This last semester, I wrote for it instead of editing. Here's my reflection essay from the most recent issue. Use the reader below to open it. Use the slider to zoom in and drag the image around to read it.

Why finals are worth being apathetic over sometimes

A lovely non-engagement photo

For those of you who haven't been in college in a while—or ever—finals are the tests that you take at the end of every semester. The kicker comes for me that they happen about four days after classes have ended. By then, I have unattached myself from everything to do with school. During school, classes and I already have a love/hate relationship, making finals the—well, the final straw.

To top things off, I've been feeling rather sick lately. This of course means that studying is nigh unto impossible.

Well, nothing's impossible, but my mortal body thinks of studying as a side hobby that should be second to its well being.

I'm beginning to agree. When I crashed on the couch last night, Super was, well, super. He let me lay there and simply feel sick. How divine this feels compared to the thoughts I tell myself: Get up, Katie. You don't have time to be sick.

How wonderful it is to have someone wanting me well and who's willing to let me decide what I need at each moment, even when studying may seem like the obvious answer.

Sometimes it's not. I get this reminder every finals week. I'd even go so far as to call it the real final I take every semester.

"And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order."
-Mosiah 4:27

Photo credit: Elizabeth, our photographer friend.