Mmmm beer cake.

I love drinking alcohol, but weekend after weekend of beer pong and vodka shots can get old. So I got to thinking…how can I spice up my weekly binge drinking sesh?

I hit the web in search of some “unique,” “fun” alcohol ideas, and out of these keywords came the most glorious idea I have ever heard.

Cake-tails.

It seemed so simple. Why had I never thought of this before? Why drink my calories when I can kill two birds with one stone? Gobble down baked goods from the snack table while still getting my drink on?

Within minutes I had an entire list of cocktail inspired recipes and alcohol based desserts that I knew my friends would be all over. (No seriously, if they tackled my kitchen table I wouldn’t be surprised).

So here are some of my favorites. Try them out for your next girls’ night or bring it to the house party on Saturday. (If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, make 20 mini bunt cakes for a delicious Beer Pong game.) You will most definitely be everyone’s favorite guest. Let’s be real, who is going to say no to alcohol-and-dessert-in-one? That’s right, absolutely no one.

Plus, our favorite girly cocktails can continue to live on despite the fact that the cutest thing we can drink in a beer-soaked-frat-house is a jello shot – and even that’s a luxury.

Read More »

It is really easy to throw caution to the wind and dive headfirst into holiday dinners, cocktails and leftovers (a few hours later.) Unfortunately, it is not so easy to rid your body of the fat and calories the next day. So, instead of letting yourself go crazy for the holidays this year (“But my mom only makes this peanut buttery chocolatey heavenly dessert once a year!”), why not try a little moderation?

Don’t worry; you can still eat some of the chocolatey peanut butter thing.

1. Exercise: Whether it is Christmas dinner, or a plate full of latkes, you know you will be eating something out of the ordinary (and off the charts in terms of calories) this holday season. Prepare in advance by getting a workout in. Most gyms are open – even on Christmas day – so don’t use the holiday as an excuse to take a vacation from fitness. Unless you want everyone to buy you a size up in the clothes on your holiday wish list.

2. Eat Before You Go: Whenever I go to holiday meals I tend to starve myself all day to make room for the scrumptious treats that will be served. That is a good idea in theory, until I find myself taking second and third servings of very unhealthy foods (and feeling horribly guilty/angry at myself later). Don’t go to these meals hungry! Eat a little snack before you go to curb your hunger, that way you can have a little bit of the foods you love without going completely overboard. Read More »

Hi, my name is Lauren and I’m a cupcake-aholic.

My addiction has taken over my life. Sometimes, when I am driving home from anywhere, I suddenly find myself at the local bakery or grocery store, frosting all over my chin, and have no idea how I got there. There was even that one drunken night when I woke up with half a cupcake in my bed.

And I finished it.

I cannot walk past a cupcake shop without stopping in and trying a few, and I have been known to spend Saturday nights at home with a box of Dunkin Hines cupcake mix, my oven and a jar of icing.

I have been battling this addiction for years and it is tearing my life (and pants) apart. I am working to kick the habit, but I am not strong enough to do it cold turkey. I now consciously avoid streets that house any sort of mini cake delight and have in turn turned to the internet to feed (or not so much) my urges.

Yes, I am now a subscriber to cupcake porn. Read More »

When I was a little girl, I used to hear story after story about my grandma’s apple cake. Not apple pie, mind you–my grandma was from the Bronx, not frickin Kansas–but apple cake. Everyone was always carrying on about how delicious and how light it was, and my grandma would smile and throw her hands in the air and say, “Someday, maybe I’ll make it again.”

Well, she didn’t. I never got to taste this mythical culinary delight. However, I often wondered if my grandma, who was a bright and feisty little thing, if she was tricking them into remembering it more fondly than they would have if she’d kept making it.

I’ve never been able to track down my grandma’s recipe, but I was able to find something comparable–and I gotta tell you, for cake, it’s amazingly low-fat. It’s also amazingly delicious.

So, have at ye, apple cake lovers! Make my grandma proud! (Eat, eat, you’re all skin and bones!)

Not Quite My Grandma’s Apple Cake

(serves 10)

Stuff That Goes In It

2 1/2 cups of chopped, cored apples

2/3 cups of packed brown sugar

1 cup of flour

1 cup of whole wheat flour Read More »

[When CollegeCandy put out a request for a Secret Intern to write an Internship Diary, we got some truly cringe-inducing stories, but “Elisa’s” experience trumped all.

Currently, “Elisa” is interning for a big, flashy 5th Avenue designer. Sounds awesome, right? Well, read the third installment HERE, and then read on…]

I’M FINALLY FREE!!!

I wish I could say from the intern sh*t, but I was actually stuck in a tiny elevator with 6 people for 45 minutes.

Why? because we were all waiting for cake.

All for a freaking piece of cake on the day I was supposed to start my “diet.” I swear this place does not help me out one bit.

I wish I could say that this place is as exciting…what with today and the elevator fiasco, but I honestly don’t know how much more of this useless crap I can handle. Read More »

It was hot the other day. I mean, really hot. Like, 94 degrees hot. But, unfortunately, it takes more than an unseasonable heat wave to make my sweet tooth dissipate.

I had planned earlier in the day to bake cookies, but the thought of turning on the oven in the heat made me feel like I was going to melt on the spot. And then, suddenly, I had a dessert altering memory:

When I was a wee brownie in my second year of the Girl Scouts, I went on a camping trip. After roasting the requisite marshmallows, my girl scout leader whipped out a little surprise: we were going to make icebox cake.

The dopey bunch of us gathered around and put together this seeming mishmash and then, the next morning, we were munching on one of the most delicious desserts we’d ever had.

When I once again made icebox cake the other day, I was pleased to discover that the dessert is every bit as delicious as I remembered it–and every bit as easy. In fact, it’s easier–as Girl Scouts, we made it by leaving it outside overnight in the winter. Now you can use–gasp!–a refrigerator!

Here is the (very easy) recipe. Enjoy! Read More »

The quintessential dessert of summer is the strawberry shortcake, and for good reason. There’s even a licensed character named after the dessert, for crying out loud. So when you make one, you want to make it good—and no, that does not involve picking up a four-pack of preservative-loaded, Twinkie-like “shortcakes” from Walmart.

What, you’ve never made your own shortcake before? Then you, my friend, are seriously missing out. Allow me to be your guide for your first foray into the world of better-tasting shortcakes—once you’ve entered, you’ll never look back.

For two nice-sized shortcakes (a little bigger than those store-bought lumps), you need:

• 2/3 cup flour

• a generous sprinkle (about 1/8 tsp) salt

• ½ tsp baking powder

• 1 ½ tablespoons sugar Read More »

In this episode, the Lohans FINALLY get to Vegas! They didn’t fly there in a private jet though, which I’m gonna admit was a bit of a let down (I expected some major control issues and perhaps Dina’s debut as a pilot), and there was no liquor fueled dramz. While the episode was age appropriately absent of hard booze, it was heavy on the whine.

For some reason, Ali chooses to adopt an even more nasally tone for this 25 minute tribute to ungratefulness. She complains in this obnoxious tantrum pending voice about all of the trials life has delivered to her. Like the fact that she, her awesome brother and (arguably) cool mom have to live in a tricked out penthouse at the Palms while she records her album. I guess it gets pretty taxing when you’re attending all of these exhausting “Welcome to Vegas!” parties (with delicious looking cake) thrown just for you by the f*#king Maloufs.

Ugh, sorry about that. Anyways, Dina introduces Ali (who is wearing a gorgeous but way too mature minidress) to a bunch of important 30 something guys that she wants Ali to “get comfortable with.” Dina baby, they’re mentally undressing your 14 year old — not very comfort inducing, I would say. The men all flirt with Ali while she fidgets, present her the aforementioned cake (note to self, go buy something with chocolate as soon as I’m done writing) and begin an episode long tradition of complimenting Ali and promising her she’s the next big thing. Read More »

This past weekend I made hummingbird cake, and I still start to drool whenever I think about it. Oops… I better get a cloth for my keyboard.

Anyway, the cake disappeared almost immediately, and for once my final product actually came out looking exactly the same as the snazzy cookbook picture (yes!).

It’s a lot healthier than most other cakes out there, and it has a pleasant fruity and nutty flavor that I hadn’t tasted before. Basically, it was awesome. Want to make it? Read on.

Here’s what you’ll need to assemble:

• 2 bananas

• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons of crushed pineapple (I used fresh-cut pineapple, which I threw in the food processor for a few seconds, but canned is OK as well) Read More »

I have this distinct memory of being 6 years old and covertly trying to chew the hair of my Strawberry Shortcake doll. She smelled like chemically enhanced cupcakes, and I wanted to know if she tasted that way too.

She didn’t.

Even though she was devoid of sugary hair, I loved my Strawberry Shortcake, as well as the Saturday morning cartoon she starred in. All of her friends were named after cakes and pies, and that was awesome. Plus, all they ate seemed to be cake and pies. And S. Shortcake was covered in sparkles. Sparkles and cake. What else could a girl ask for?

Apparently, these days, girls ask for a lot more. According to the New York Times, toy companies are trying to update old 80’s brands for today’s kids who are way more media savvy than we ever were. Strawberry Shortcake no longer spends her days talking to her animals and making muffins. Now she has a cell phone. Oh, and all that cake and pie talk? Outlawed.

“…In keeping with contemporary nutritional concerns, the franchise will downplay the sugary dessert theme and move…“fruit-forward.”” Read More »