Just Crumbs...

     Happy Birthday!  It has been one year  since I published my first blog post so we had a party. Not because it was a milestone for Just Crumbs... but for other reasons. The party was a success. There was a lot of food and lots of cupcakes. Lets just say catering for 300+  people with minimal help (a BIG THANK-YOU to my Mom and Nona N) is an ENORMOUS amount of work.
     "Summer Blueberry Pie" was the first post on the site. We were just reminiscing about that pie at the party. I am getting the urge to make it again real soon. I recommend that you check out the post and make it sometime in your near future.


     Back to the party. Our menu consisted of Sloppy Joes, Pit Style BBQ Chicken, Spicy Molasses Baked  Beans,  Mrs. Ellis' Pasta Salad (no Mrs. Ellis didn't make it, but I always think of her when I make pasta salad), Layered Taco Dip, Vegetable/Relish Tray with Creamy Garlic Paprika Ranch Dip, and Pizza. All were good, but lets move on to the dessert...Red Velvet Cupcakes with Marshmallow Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting.


     These cupcakes are a bright vivid red and so beautiful. The taste is soft and tangy with a essence of chocolate floating the background. I am personally a big fan of these cupcakes, and have been since I was little. The red cake with white frosting stands out in big way, not to mention the taste.  Try these for yourself and let me know what you think.  





Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. In a small bowl mix cocoa powder, Nestle Quik, and red food coloring together. Add to the butter and sugar. Mix until combined. Add in the vanilla. In a large bowl sift together salt and flour. Alternate adding flour mix and buttermilk to the butter and sugar mixture. In another small bowl mix together baking soda and vinegar (it will fizz) and fold into the batter.
Scoop into foil lined muffin tins and bake for 15 minutes. Bake until toothpick comes out clean. Cool and frost.

     Last weekend was my Mom's birthday. My philosophy is that everyone needs cake on their birthday. So I made her a cake, a special cake. Just for my MOM! If you read my last post about Raspberry Jam, if not you can read it here, I explained that I had a recipe in the works to use with this Jam. This is the recipe! I wanted it to be a surprise for my mom. The thought process on what kind and how was weeks in the making. The tries were tedious, but well worth it, even getting up at 5am on Saturday morning to remake the cake that I made the night before because I didn't think that it had the right texture; but worth it. She is a special lady and deserves the best, so if getting up at 5am to remake cakes then by golly I was going to do it. I did it, and it was SPECTACULAR!


     The cake was a layer cake flavored with decadent white chocolate, filled with semi tart raspberry jam, and frosted with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting. The flavors all complemented each other nicely. And was it delicious. Think white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. The frosting for the cake is not overly sweet it balances with the cake and does not overpower the other flavors. It is very complementary. The filling is a nice surprise. You have a sweet cake and then the fruity tart filling that floods your flavor senses. My mouth is watering, even though I have eaten this cake all week and should be sick of it by now. I am not, it is that good. Remind you that I had cakes one and two to eat too, PLUS the pieces that my mother MADE ME take home of her cake, so I should be full of cake and thinking or typing about it should make me cringe. I say: BRING ON MORE CAKE!




Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter at low speed until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla. At low speed, alternately beat in the dry ingredients and the milk in 2 additions. Add the melted white chocolate and beat just until incorporated. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pans and smooth the surfaces.
Bake the cakes in the center of the oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then invert them onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Chill.
Slice each cake in half and spread the raspberry jam on three of the cake halves, stacking one on top of the other as you go. Chill cake again. Once the cake is fully assembled, you will want to keep refrigerated. Let cake slices warm up to room temperature for best taste. Store cake in the refrigerator after slicing.




5 c. fresh or frozen red raspberries
4 c. white sugar
1 lemon, juiced
1 box pectin

In a large saucepan add sugar, berries, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and cook until sugar and berries have dissolved, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Add pectin. Boil for 15 minutes and remove from heat. You may add to hot sterilized jars and seal at this point, or cool slightly and transfer to containers to freeze or store in the refrigerator.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA CRUMBS...!!!