I have an idea. I know, it's probably going to stir up some controversy. But I'm just going to put it out there. Rather then spending all our time and money planning a first birthday party for a child that will more than likely not remember a thing about it, can we celebrate moms surviving their first year of motherhood? Because that sounds like the kind of party I am down for.  Even MORE kids running around everywhere? Making MORE of a mess that will need to be cleaned up? It couldn't be me. But being showered with gifts and appreciation for keeping a whole human being alive for 365 days? I love it. I need it. Because the truth is, when you're pregnant, everyone treats you like royalty. Have a seat. Are you hungry? Are you craving anything? Do you need a foot massage?  But after you deliver that baby and you have ONE well-check at 6 weeks, you are released into a world of unknowns. And you are alone. And the transition and mental shift of having autonomy to someone nee...

One of the most popular recipes on my site is this red velvet cake roll . Month after month, it comes up in my top three most visited pages. So, I thought to myself this week, why not try to whip up  another cake roll to break the internet? Cue this chocolate covered, strawberry cream filled cake roll. As a swiss roll fanatic myself, I was super excited for how this would turn out. I think I may have attempted a chocolate cake roll sometime in the past, but I wasn't successful and sort of swept the idea under the rug. This time around, I turned to Sally from Sally's Baking Addiction for her cake baking expertise and found this incredible chocolate cake base recipe for the roll. It is super decadent but fluffy at the same time and most importantly, it did not crack. As Sally says, it's super important NOT to overbake the cake because that is what will keep it from being as pliable in the rolling process. As for the inside of the roll, I prepared a whipped stra...

One thing I really struggled with after getting married is downsizing my meals and more importantly, downsizing my baked goods. Going from a family of 7+ to a family of 2 was a big change. Especially when you factor in the fact that my husband is not a big eater and doesn't have as big a sweet tooth as I had hoped. That, combined with the fact that he doesn't eat leftovers at all, really threw me for a loop. Hence, ALL the weight gain. There I was, in the first few years of my marriage, going for seconds and eating leftovers so I wouldn't feel so guilty about throwing out food. And let's not discuss desserts. At the very least, single me could give desserts out to the neighbors, all my mom's friends, my dad's coworkers, etc. But married me was stuck with 3 dozen chocolate chip cookies in the house just calling my name. So, as much as I didn't want to do all the complicated math and halve my recipes, I knew it had to happen. I even started measuri...

I don't know if it's the gloomy weather we've been having or something else, but I have totally been uninspired to bake lately. I usually draft up my recipe ideas for the blog at the start of each month and while I did have a few ideas for April, I just could not get myself into a baking mood. I think a lot of it actually has to do with the fact that my husband doesn't have that much of a sweet tooth and whenever I do bake something, it just sort of sits on the counter for forever until we throw it out. I am also finally learning how to exercise my self control so sweets do not tempt me as much anymore! This lemon pound cake was originally supposed to be lemon meringue pie macarons. Yeah, that took a turn. I haven't made macarons since December. DECEMBER. I've had them on my to-bake list each month since then and I've just been pushing them to the side. They still make me nervous and when I found myself rushing to get a recipe up for y'all, I stuck...

Even though it's supposed to be Fall right now, the weather in Ohio has been far from Fall-like. Aside from the trees changing colors, it really feels like Spring...even Summer on certain days. I am loving every second of it. So much so, that I decided to forego the Fall flavors for today's post and break out some lemons and blackberries. Also, today is Jocelyn, aka Grandbaby Cakes, virtual baby shower! And how else would I create a pretty pink glaze for these baby bundt cakes without some blackberries! Jocelyn is having a little girl and although, I have no kids of my own, I've had half a dozen nieces/nephews and the best advice I could share with Jocelyn would be to  sleep when the baby sleeps ! I know, so cliche. And so many people may scoff at this idea because, who will cook? Who will clean? How will anything else get done? Well, those things certainly won't get done if you're a walking zombie, so you must take care of yourself and get some sleep! It ...

Hi  there! Notice anything different about the blog today? Culinary Couture is now officially Confessions of a Confectionista! What do you guys think of the new name? The rebrand is only 50% underway since my redesign is not live yet, but I can't wait for you guys to see it! In  the meantime, do you SEE these ah-mer-zing pumpkin molten lava cakes? They are the epitome of Fall. The idea for these randomly came to me one night this week and I couldn't wait another second to test it out. Unfortunately, dulce de leche was harder to get my hands on than expected (boo Ohio!), but that's fine, because these were one hundred percent worth the wait! Literally, they were everything I expected them to be, plus so much more. Perfectly spiced, perfectly moist, and perfectly decadent. Just imagine taking a bite of a warm pumpkin pie and having it melt in your mouth. Need I say more?

With the amount of tiramisu recipes I have on here , a tiramisu cake was just waiting to happen. Unfortunately, now that it's happened, I have 3/4 of it staring me in the face every time I open my fridge. #sendhelp No regrets though. It's all for the sake of providing you guys with awesome desserts. And this right here folks, is a front runner. The recipe starts off with a doctored white cake mix. It's by far my favorite white cake recipe because it always produces moist, tender, and dense cakes, perfect for stacking. To add a tiramisu factor to the cake, I added instant coffee to the batter for two of the layers. You can add it to all three or just one. I wanted to make sure the coffee flavor really came through, so I also brushed the cake layers with brewed coffee after they were baked. For the filling, I whipped up a simple mascarpone cheese/confectioners sugar mixture. No need to over complicate things. Tiramisu is a simple and light dessert and we wan...

It's official. Cake rolls are the easiest, fanciest dessert to make. I mean, just take a look at this red velvet cake roll. Would you believe it took me less than an hour to put together and with very minimal effort? It's true. Cake rolls are literally just a matter of mixing, pouring, cooling and rolling. Sometimes, you may run into trouble with the rolling part, but as long as you don't over bake your roll, you'll be just fine. Over baking causes the cake to be dry, and that's why it will crack when you try to roll it up. This recipe uses buttermilk and vinegar, along with the cake flour, to ensure a tender and moist roll. Of course, you still want to make sure you keep an eye on it in the oven and take it out as soon as it springs back when lightly touched. At that point, you'll immediately invert it and roll it up in a towel. Always roll your cake when it's hot! Once it cools down completely, you'll unroll it to fill it with this delic...

You know how they say some things are like riding a bike? You just never forget how to do them? Well, let me just say that photography is NOT one of those things. Or at least it isn't for me. After two weeks of being out of the game, I felt like a total newbie photographing this post. So much so, that I had to stop, take a breather, and come back a day later. There is the possibility that I just need to get used to upgrading from a simple point and shoot camera to a complex DSLR. But either way, it's depressing. In better news, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter® recently reformulated their recipe to one that uses natural, non-GMO sourced ingedients and has 40% less calories and 70% less saturated fats than butter. Jackpot! I love me some butter so a spread that has a delicious buttery taste but doesn't have any artificial preservatives or ingredients I don't recognize is a winner in my book. Furthermore, a spread that makes a delicious snack cake ...

It has come to my attention recently that I am not at the weight or physique I want to be at and I think it's because my diet primarily consists of sugar, sugar, and more sugar. Thus, I am really starting to crack down on what I eat, as well as starting to put in work at the gym. Mostly cracking down on what I eat though because I am way better at baking than I am at working out. I made this paleo banana cake a few months ago for my friend who is better at both eating clean and working out than I am, but a last minute plan change led to her not even getting to taste it. So I did what any good friend would do and tasted it for her. Once, then twice, then four more times. And I got the same results every time. A moist, tender, flavorful cake that you wouldn't believe had absolutely no sugar.

Another month has come and gone and that means it's time for another episode of.... Mystery Dish ! Have you guys been tagging along? We've had a lot of great ingredients to work with, and this month was no different. Our host was Jen of Yummy Healthy Easy , and she chose: garbanzo beans, eggs, flaxseed, cilantro, potatoes, bread, quinoa, lime, popcorn, dark chocolate, ground turkey, and asparagus. But all my eyes saw was CHOCOLATE. When given the option, it's really hard for me to pick something else guys. I just can't do it. I am a die hard chocoholic. And they will never make me go to rehab. Can you guess what the second ingredient I picked was though? I'll give you a hint, it wasn't the eggs. Well, I did use eggs coincidentally, but that wasn't what I chose to work with. I chose....drumroll please....garbanzo beans! Yup. Did you know that when garbanzo beans are blended together with eggs, sugar, chocolate and a little baking powder, th...

How's THAT for a recipe title? I was going to add the word "whipped" before peanut butter frosting, because of how light and fluffy and dreamy it is, but I held myself back. I think you guys get the point. There is A LOT of good stuff going on in this cake. Originally, this was going to be a plain Jane banana cake with peanut butter frosting, as requested by one of my good friends. But I randomnly got the urge to transform it into something more, and I definitely do not regret that decision. Bananas, chocolate and peanut butter are already a well-known killer combination. But throw in browned butter, and be still my heart.