Here's a not-so-secret about law school, kiddos: law students (in general) will take literally any excuse to have a party and turn it into a party. For example: there are four (count 'em....FOUR) holiday parties in the next TWO weeks. Starting tonight. And, in accordance with finals, they go from the most civilized (tonight's) and slowly devolve to the least civilized (my money's on the one a week from Friday)and then come back to civilization (the one the night before I leave for home). Holiday parties in law school exist on a sort of bell-curve shaped continuum.
Unfortunately, everyone and his/her brother appears to have latched on like a leech to the idea of having an Ugly Christmas Sweater party. This is a problem for some people (AKA: me) who never experienced the phenomenon known as ugly christmas sweaters - read: either did not have a relative that felt the compulsion to make such abominations and crimes against fashion, or were just in a climate that basically never requires a sweater (e.g. Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, SoCal, Nevada, some parts of Texas). So, I'm banking on my innate ability to stress bake like a Tasmanian Devil (seriously, my kitchen looks like a flour bomb went off right now) to compensate for that.
Also, if you don't bake/cook with music on, your life is sad. Dancing around the kitchen alone for no earthly reason is one of the greatest feelings in the world.
White elephant gifts in these scenarios are also perplexing. Last year I had the trump card, but I also knew the rules. Costco sells toddler sized fleece blankets with hoods in the shape of various animals. That was my trump card last year. I don't know the rules for the party I'm about to go to, but I'm hoping that a children's coloring book and crayons is acceptable (just to put this in perspective, people at this party either have kids or are married, and are all over the age of 23 years old). I've been told of this rare breed of creature that has white elephant exchanges with REAL presents. Like ones that people would want. Instead of a Bieber CD. I have yet to encounter this rarest of creatures, and truly pray to Spongebob that I never do. Those creatures in their natural habitat sound terrifying.
Anyway, I'm gonna put up the recipes for what I'm making today, just in case there are any other stress bakers out there. (FYI: I made neither recipe up, and did modify both to fit vegan/strict vegetarian requirements)
Cinnamon-Apple Cake (originally adapted from Cooking Light Magazine)
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup stick margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 ounces block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened (about 3/4 cup)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups chopped peeled Rome apple (about 2 large)
Cooking spray
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, margarine, vanilla, and cream cheese at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until blended.
Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Combine 2 tablespoons cinnamon mixture and apple in a bowl, and stir apple mixture into batter. Pour batter into an 8-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture.
Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack, and cut using a serrated knife.
Note: You can also make this cake in a 9-inch square cake pan or a 9-inch springform pan; just reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes.
Lemon Bundt Cake (from Cook's Illustrated)
Ingredients
Cake
3 Tbsp grated lemon zest PLUS 3 Tbsp lemon juice
3 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 C buttermilk (I used coconut milk - yay veganism! - but....bacon....)
1 tsp vanilla extract (I'm not exact on most of these when I bake)
3 large eggs PLUS 1 large yolk
18 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened (as one would expect)
2 C sugar
Glaze
2-3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp buttermilk (again, mine is gonna be weird due to veganism)
2 C confectioners sugar (powdered sugar...basically sugar and cream of tartar whipped together)
Directions
1. Heat to 350ยบ and set rack in the middle. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick spray
2. Combine zest and juice, set aside for 10-15 min.
3. Combine dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
4. Combine lemon juice mixture, buttermilk, and vanilla in another bowl.
5. Whisk eggs and yolk together in another bowl and set aside.
6. Beat sugar and butter together until they are combined and light and fluffy looking.
7. Mix in eggs (do 1/2 at a time) and make sure it fully combines with sugar/butter.
8. Add dry and wet ingredients, alternating and fully combining between.
9. Scrape batter into pan, put in oven, cook 45-50 minutes (until brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean).
10. Mix glaze ingredients together, so that mixture is thick, but pourable. Allow cake to cook for 10 minutes before adding glaze. Allow cake to finish cooling (if any glaze remains, you may add more in an hour.)
Happy stress baking/party season, fellow law-nerds.
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