Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Chocolate Irish Whiskey Cake Magic

Chocolate Irish Whiskey Cake ~ What's not to love?!!

I spotted this beauty on the cover of fine Cooking magazine's Dec/Jan 2013 edition and fell for its simple elegance and, for me, a true layer-cake novice, the challenge! Also, I needed a "wow factor" cake for a dinner party celebrating the first quarter birthdays of a special group friends and my dear hubby.

Usually settling for the ubiquitous Bundt cake (because baking a layer cake in the desert at high altitude has always meant disaster for me!) I was determined this time to succeed!


Weighing dry ingredients equals success!
Flour here is excessively dry which really alters the dry/wet ratio of a cake. I was gifted a wonderful new tool this Christmas (thank you Sean and Meg!) and was excited to put it into action! Weighing the dry ingredients sounds cumbersome and time consuming but it was NOT and the difference in my results well worth the extra step. I can highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale. Mine is an Oxo, love it!


This method resulted in a cake that was moist with a great crumb. The frosting, a perfect combination
of brown sugar, whipped cream, espresso, and Jameson's whiskey (yes! like Irish coffee!) was light, flavorful and a stunning finish to our birthday celebration.


 I sliced off the cake tops slightly to stabilize the layers and the cake was well-behaved all evening ;)


 Six candles, one for each of us!



White and semi-sweet chocolate curls were the perfect finish, adding just enough sweetness to this sophisticated, not-to-sweet coffee, mocha beauty....and hey, three layers? no sweat!!


Irish Whiskey Cake ~ find the recipe at finecooking.com Here













 Great friends, Great food, Great wine, lots of laughter and a Beautiful cake = Magic!

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Happy B-day to the Original Aquarian Conspiracy...



Happy Birthday to My Amazing Husband!
The Love of My Life....Here's to Many More, My Dearest! 
 

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Italy Copeland-Style 2013

We began taking art students to Europe in 1994 and we loved it so much we set out to create a way to continue to travel and share our many years of painting and travel experience with others. In 2004 we launched Sketchbook Tours Painting Retreats. Nearly ten years later, we still experience our Italian watercolor retreat as the perfect balance of travel, art, relaxation and Italian culture.
Our Italian Watercolor Retreat for 2013 is in the works! Below, are some of our favorite moments from our July 2012 retreat. Ready to create your own Italian memories? Check out our website at Sketchbooktours.com and give us a shout to let us know you are interested. We would LOVE to show you our Italy!
Ciao! Victoria and Michael Copeland













































































































Ah Umbria! Join us in 2013!

























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