And now for a baking interlude...

Much like I love to read, I also love to bake (although one of these is certainly more delicious than the other). Last year I started to get into cake and cupcake decorating, and even went all-out buying supplies (as I always do) at the Wilton Tent Sale in Woodridge last summer. Of course, whenever I actually work up the energy to bake and/or decorate something beautiful and delicious, the tools I need never happen to be where I am. If I'm at school, they're at home, and if I'm at home, they're at school. Such is my life, and such is the case with this tye-die cake.

My first day at my new internship, my coworkers were nice enough to take me out to lunch, so to repay the favor, I promised I would bake them something delicious and bring it in the next week. Looking through my pinboard, I discovered that almost everything I wanted to make either required tools I'd left at home or ingredients I didn't have on hand (and I was NOT willing to make another trip to the grocery store to source them). This cake looked like the most feasible one, considering I had new paintbrushes and plenty of different food coloring (or so I thought). 

[Image from: Bird on a Cake]

Beautiful, right? Also MUCH more time-consuming than I'd imagined! While I have plenty of different colors of gel food coloring, I didn't have any in tubes like Robin used, which made for an interesting (and slightly less colorful) final product. But my coworkers loved it! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the inside. :(

I'd also discovered this recipe on Pinterest for Strawberry Spread with Pie Chips

 

[Image from: foodie.com]

and thought it would be a great treat for my cousin's coming-home-from-the-marines party. It was a hit!

Like the cake, this was also fairly time-consuming to make, but oh so delicious! I'd recommend using a flat plan to grill the pie crust, as it would probably have made my life a whole lot easier.

Do you guys like to bake? If so, what's your favorite thing to make? Are you more interested in the taste or the look?