Crafty Like Lindy

2.28.2011

MmmmmCoca-Cola Cake

I went to a potluck dinner at a friends house on Sunday and wanted to bake. Since I am currently on a pretty strict diet that says no caffeine or chocolate I decided to share a recipe with everyone else that has a little bit of both!

This recipe was found on The Southern Plate and is oh so good! (yes I cheated and had a tiny taste)

You will need:

1 package plain white cake mix

4 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted

1 cup Coca-Cola

½ cup buttermilk (Or substitute 1/2 C whole milk with a T of lemon juice stirred in)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 ½ cups of marshmallows

Icing:

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter or margarine

4 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 Cup Coca-Cola

4 Cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1 Cup chopped pecans (I didn't use these as I don't like nuts in my baked goods)

I didn't plan very well and my camera battery died while making this cake so I didn't get step by step photos.....

But look I did get a good shot of the fabulous mixer I got for Christmas doing it's job!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a 13×9-inch baking pan with vegetable oil spray.

Set the pan aside.

Place the cake mix, cocoa powder, melted butter, cola, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides with a spatula.

Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes.

The batter should be well blended. Fold in the marshmallows.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Place the pan it the oven bake for 40 to 42 minutes

Remove from oven and prepare icing while cake is still hot

Put the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat.

As the butter melts, stir in the cocoa powder and cola.

Let the mixture come to just a boil, stirring constantly, and then remove it from the heat.

Stir in the confectioners’ sugar until the frosting is thick and smooth.

Now would be the time to fold in the pecans if you are using them.

Pour the frosting over the top of the cake and spread evenly if needed. Since I didn't use pecans mine spread and covered the cake all on it's own.

Here is the cake after it's been cut into....mmmmm it was tasty, worth a little cheat!

2.25.2011

Friday Fix-Jewelry Organizing

I like jewelery A LOT! I have a ton of it that I have purchased, made, or recieved in swaps. I had to find a way to organize it all so that things weren't tangled and I could easily see what I have.

So I hung a curtain rod on the wall in my bedroom and hung all my necklaces on it.

Underneath the rod is my bookshelf which has a jewelry box which holds bracelets and some of my earrings. Next to the jewelry box is an earring display that I made. If you look closely you can see it on the lower right hand corner of the picture below.

I am starting to run out of room on the rod. I don't know if this means I need to scale back on the jewelry or get another rod!

2.22.2011

Awards

Megan over at coffehouse awarded me with the Stylish Blogger Award!! Thank you so much Megan!!!! It's so nice to find another reader that I didn't even know about :) Did I mention that I am so jealous of your job???

I was given this award in January (so flattered to have gotten it twice!) that I am going to link back that post for you so you can learn a few things about me and see the blogs that I passed this on to.

1X1 Works of Art

Ahhh Inchies. They are a pretty low stress item to make but can also be rather daunting. All of a sudden that blank 1X1 inch canvas can seem huge! It can also be hard to translate an idea into such a small space.

I haven't made any inchies in such a long time and when an inchie swap came around I just couldn't resist. Besides I really needed to add to my collection so that I can finally get going on my inchie wall art.

I had two partners in the swap and decided to make set of four based on some of their likes. After some stalking I decided on

Trees...