Moving & Shaking

Baking in the summer can somewhat be miserable. Living in a tiny apartment in the city has its perks, but it also has its cons. For example, turning on an oven to 350 degrees when it’s 90 degrees outside falls short of ideal. Needless to say, Gilly’s in the summer is nowhere as extreme compared to the cooler months. Aside from the heatwaves that come and go, there’s also been a giant adjustment.

I moved!

I moved into a new apartment with a bigger oven (finally) and a larger kitchen. My soul is so excited. However, while moving is exciting and a chance at a fresh start, it’s exhausting. As much as I love to sift, mix and pour, I need to focus on unpacking, breaking down and hanging things from my walls. It’s been an extensive week of moving, and my poor little website has suffered the consequences.

But, yesterday I found some time. 75% of boxes are all unpacked, 50% of all photos have been hung, but 100% of bake-ware has been stored and cleaned. Thus, I had an opportunity. Yesterday also happened to be my friend Paty’s birthday. When I asked what she wanted for a treat she exclaimed cake bites. However, since rolling and dipping cake bites can be tedious, I found a simple solution.

I love making cake bites, I really do, but they can take up to 5 hours. Sometimes that seems way too long for something my mouth is going to devour in fifty seconds. So instead of taking the traditional route, I chose to modify the cake bites into cake bite bars. I enjoyed them immensely.

The recipe is standard of any other cake bite recipe. Bake a cake, cool cake, crumble cake, add frosting and roll into balls, dip in chocolate. However, when the time came to roll, I simply pressed the batter into a 9x9 pan and froze for 30 minutes. Then I tempered chocolate and let set for an hour. After that, I can into little squares. The process took more than half of the time of the traditional bites. If you’re looking for an easy cake bite option, this is it.

Overall, moving has had its ups and downs. I’m so excited to break in this new oven and experiment with some new treats. My new neighborhood is filled with German and Italian influence which I feel will serve as an inspiration. As for now though, it’s time to get unpacked!