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my dear friend doreen took some lovely and fun shots of me for promo stuff at work.  i was supposed to look all sporty and active. 

she’s kind of awesome. you should check her out.

i look like i'm ready to run...but i'm faking. it was mad snowy that day!

next:
continuing to whittle down my list of recipes to blog

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake!

this one also comes from Smitten Kitchen, what can i say, i go on kicks…

this cake was a blast to make!  caleb, the 11-year-old next door, helped me get this one started.  we had an interesting discussion about how yeast makes bread rise.

(his original comment: “YOU PUT STUFF THAT’S ALIVE IN THIS CAKE!?!?!?!”)

it takes about 3 hours for the dough to rise though, so caleb had to leave before it was done, but we did serve it as snack at Bible Club on tuesday so we all got to enjoy the sweet fruits of his labor.

for the cake you will need…

3 Tbs of milk at room temperature

1 packet of active dry yeast (i used hodgeson’s mill especially for whole grains)

6 Tbs butter at room temperature

3 Tbs sugar

1 tsp salt

1 egg

1 3/4 cups of whole wheat pastry flour

mix the milk with 2 Tbs warm water and whisk the yeast in until dissolved.  in a seperate bowl, cream butter, sugar, and salt.  beat in the egg. mix in milk mixture and flour, scraping the sides of the bowl constantly.

stretch dough into a 9×13 pan (i used glass). cover and let rise in a warm place for 2.5-3 hours.

for the gooey-ness you will need…

1/4 cup of light blue agave nectar

2 1/2 tsp. vanilla

12 Tbs (yep, 12) of butter at room temperature

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup whole wheat flour

whisk agave and vanilla together. cream butter, sugar and salt together and add agave mix.  beat in the egg and then stir in flour.  plop dollops over the raised dough and use a spatula to lightly spread the goo over the whole cake.

bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

in.sane.

too bad butter isn’t a superfood…i would never die.