Here is the recipe for the  

Chocolate Cake

 

that was made for the Rustic Party. 

It was yummy!
Very moist

Chocolaty

Creamy frosting

 Amy used Duncan Donuts brand coffee in this cake.

The Best Chocolate Cake

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons King Arthur Flour Black Cocoa, optional
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup strong black coffee (I used Green Mountain Coffee’s Vermont Country Blend)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa(s), baking soda, baking powder. Mix on low until dry ingredients are thoroughly combined. Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for about two minutes; the batter will be thin. Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
4. Frost as desired. I used a simple and delicious Chocolate Buttercream Frosting from Savory Sweet Life. One batch was perfect for this layered chocolate cake.

Notes:

- The Black Cocoa from King Arthur Flour is optional - it simply provides a great depth of flavor and color to the chocolate cake.
- This cake also pairs beautifully with a simple chocolate ganache.

Recipe adapted from Hershey's Black Magic Cake

Rustic Party

Ugh...where have we been???
Busy planning and doing parties I guess!  

Today we will show you the  

Rustic themed party 

we did just this past Sunday night. 

The party was for a very deserving lady which made it so much fun to put together!  

We were told she loves natural, rustic things.  

We chose the colors of browns, beige, greens to use in the decor.  Twigs, rocks, split peas and glass were all part of this party. :)

Amy chose a menu of 

Artichoke and Roasted Garlic Dip 

served with pretzel chips and flatbread sticks

Sweet & Spicy Nuts

Pumpkin Biscotti

Chocolate Cake

Coffee 

served with four options of homemade creamers

Vanilla 

Hazelnut

Cinnamon Strudel

and Caramel 

 

The ladies loved the creamers 

and I think most of them tried each flavor!  

Here are the pics we have to share with you.  

Recipes will may follow on a later post.

 This was the word banner I was making here.  

We decided not to hang it from the ceiling since it was really high, 

so this is what it ended up to be.

 

 We did not know what the guest of honor's home looked like so we hoped it 

would all come together and it was perfect!  

The home was beautiful and I knew the moment we walked in the door and saw a tray of 

lit candles sitting in rocks that it was all good! 

Up next...we do have pictures from the 

Olivia party we did in October. 

Stay tuned. :)

Word banner

This is cool!

 

 Found this garland on Pinterst and it's blogged here.

For a party that we are currently working on I {Lisa} thought it would be neat to do this sort of garland with 

words that describe the lucky gal 

the party is for. 

So I have cut 4" letters making many good words 

{she's a really good person} 

and attached them {with tape} to a string. 

It's kind of hard make sure that it is going to look ok all in a pile, 

but to unravel the entire thing just to check it out seems a bit unnecessary. 

It will just have to go up on the ceiling and hope it is good! :) 

this word is "beautiful"

 "loved"

 and all the rest of the good words.  :) 

 

Can't hardly wait till Party Day to see what this really looks like!

Sugar Sheets?

We found something new at Hobby Lobby today.  

Sugar Sheets by Wilton. 

I {Lisa} was so excited 

{not really sure why} 

about these fancy things I had to snap a couple pics 

{again, not really sure why}.

Here are a bunch of the punches you will want to get to cut fun shapes out of the sheets.  

Wilton thinks of everything!

We haven't done cakes...well wait a minute,

Amy did a minature cake for the Birthday girl at our last party, 

so ya, 

 we have done cakes. 

We're thinking that these sweet sugar sheets could easily be used on cupcakes or cookies or other sweet treats too.  

No sense putting a limit on their potential.  :) 

Did we buy any Sugar Sheets today? 

Nope not today.

But we will...eventually, 

and then we will come back here and give a sweet report. 

But if you have an experience with a Sugar Sheet before we do, 

we kinda expect a report from you. :)  

Here is a review from another blogger.

She bought and used the alphabet.

Recycled into a pumpkin

 Are these just the coolest pumpkins you've ever seen?  

Too darn cute if you ask us!  

So...here's the big question: 

What are they made out of?  

If you guess correctly you win................um, nothing! :)

sorry 

But it is fun to try to get the answer now, isn't it? 

You give up??  

Ok, fine. 

Go here:  

http://hummadeedledee.blogspot.com/2011/10/glass-slipper-nah-glass-pumpkins.html

It's your answer.  

And if you are looking for us.....

we'll be at the Thrift store, 

searching for this mystery item to make some 

fab pumpkins just like this! 

Chandelier {Love}

 Oh how beautiful!!  

First of all, chandeliers are just the sweetest thing. 

{in Lisa's opinion}

Well this one is just cool. 

Hmmm..pretty sure we need a reason to make this! :)

  It's pretty.  It's decorative.  It's simple and Christmas IS coming!

 

 

 

  

We don't just have a bunch of red unused light bulbs laying around, 

but hey...who knows what you can find at the Thrift store. 

Sweet Pumpkins

Well we can't make everything Martha makes, 

{We'll leave that for our friend, Jen}

but these made on our list of "can do's". 

They were SO easy to make. 

Martha's tutorial {here} said to use crepe paper, 

which we did not have, 

well orange anyway, 

but we had these fun napkins we had purchased at IKEA a few years ago.  

We love how even though we have no idea at the time what we wanted something for, it is perfect for a project. :) 

Guess it's a good reason to just stock up on whatever might be needed!  

We are having a hayride this weekend and these sweet filled pumpkins will be handed out at the end of the evening. 

And yes, there IS candy inside. :) 

 

Wouldn't these make great favors at your Thanksgiving table?