Bake 2019 - March

 Oh March!  I blinked and you were gone.  Even though this month felt like it blazed on by I managed to do a lot of baking.  Baking is good for the heart and soul.  I just love it!

March is the month that I figured out pie crust.  I settled on a recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction as my favorite crust for flavor and flakiness.  It's got butter and shortening.  This is my second batch.  It was too dry so I made a quiche for us for dinner with it.  It was good but too dry and crumbly.  I made a note to add more water next time.

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Lemon Drizzle cake was next.  This was a fail.  The most epic of fails.  The recipe is from Cupcake Jemma on YouTube.  This was one of her bake alongs and if I wasn't off the socials I would have shared for a good laugh.  She calls for self raising flour.  I didn't have any and was adamant that I must make a lemon drizzle right then.  So I made my own by adding baking powder to flour.  Clearly, didn't work.  It didn't even taste right.  Matt and I sampled a slice and then I threw it away.  I've had baking fails and have always been able to salvage them by making a trifle or some cake pops.  This was really bad!  It looks like it's smiling at us, doesn't it? 

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I made Irish Soda Bread on St. Patrick's Day.  It was delicious with butter or butter and jam or dipped in soup.  Somehow this loaf didn't have enough leftovers to share with friends.

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I prepped for the Pi Day competition one day by making chocolate curls.  It is surprisingly easy!

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Here's the finished pie.  I used Sally's Buttery Flaky pie crust recipe and used almost all of the water called for.  It rolled like a dream.  I used the extra pie dough to make some pie dough stars.  The pie is French Silk from the classic Better Homes and Gardens cookbook with sweetened whipped cream.

I got first place in appearance!  Second place overall.  Not too shabby!

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Pickles celebrated her 8th birthday in March.  I made her a little dog friendly layer cake.  The icing is just peanut butter.   

She loved it!

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Here's the leftover french silk insides.  It was delicious!!  

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I needed one lime for a dish so I bought an entire bag.  This meant I just had to make lime squares.  Think lemon bars with lime juice instead.  Very good and springy.

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It was my turn to take snacks to small group.  I had some chips, veggies, dip, some lime bars, and needed one more sweet.  I had plans to make some cream puffs but didn't have time.  So I went to my go to THE brownies.  THE brownies are a brownie mix with a candy bar stuffed in the middle.  I usually use a symphony bar with or without toffee or almonds.  This time was with toffee and almonds.  I made these for a friend who had surgery and they told our group all about them.  I kind of had to make them when it was my turn for snack.  One of the kids took a bite and his eyes lit up.  He came back for seconds, so did his sister, and a couple adults.  But his reaction was priceless!

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My last bake of the month was a small batch of vanilla cupcakes.  I'm working on my piping skills so I piped some buttercream.  Then to guild the lily I decided to make them strawberry stuffed vanilla cupcakes with strawberry vanilla swirl buttercream.  The taste was good.  The piping was okay.  My swirled frosting wasn't very swirly.  Not all of them were terrible.  I didn't get a photo of the inside but I poked a hole and filled it with strawberry jam.  It was a good addition!