Mad Men and Archer-Inspired Poundcake With Butterscotch

I like to make baked goods inspired by my favorite movies and TV shows. Conveniently the Archer finale airs tonight and Mad Men premieres on Sunday, so I made this a two-for-one special. On the surface these two shows have nothing in common (one is an acclaimed drama and the other is a hilarious, very adult* cartoon), but Don Draper and Sterling Archer both drink a lot of scotch.

This cake is a brown sugar poundcake with chopped pecans inside of it to add a little crunch. I sliced the cake into cubes and topped it with a butterscotch sauce actually made with scotch. The end result is incredibly delicious, and incredibly sweet. I had to follow it up with something salty. I'll definitely make both cake and sauce again though.

*Seriously, don't let kids watch it. It's rated MA for a reason.

King Cake

OMG I'm actually updating! I went AWOL for the last month because of reasons. Sorry.

I baked a King Cake yesterday in honor of Fat Tuesday. I don't pretend to be an expert on Mardi Gras (although I love the Jem episode: "Beware of zombies on Fat Tuesday!"), but I love a baking challenge. This particular cake is a yeast cake filled with raisins, pecans, and a cinnamon/brown sugar mixture. It was a relatively similar process to making cinnamon rolls, so I'll probably make some king rolls in a few days because it was delicious.

Traditionally a little plastic baby is placed inside the cake, but I didn't have one so I put a Lego man in it. Whatever works.

Mickey Mouse Cake Pop

On Day 4 we went to Hollywood Studios and I got this delightful Mickey Mouse shaped cake pop. The head was red velvet cake and the ears were made out of marshmallows. It was the perfect amount of cake for me.

Cake from Carlo's Bakery

When my aunt and cousin were in New York they picked up a cake from the Cake Boss. I don't watch the show (it's not my type of reality show; it doesn't feature any Kardashians or child pageants [I watch them so I can judge them]), but the cake was good. I would love to try some other flavors some day. The fudge in between the two layers was particularly delicious. I'm curious as to whether or not they have a dark chocolate variety.

Christmas Cake

I made this cake because I felt like making a Christmas-themed layer cake where every layer is a different flavor. The layers from bottom to top are red velvet, white, and pistachio. It is filled and topped with marshmallow buttercream. I generally don't make red velvet cake because I don't like adding that much food dye to a cake. Until I can find a natural red food dye around here, I won't be adding red velvet to my menu.

A Britney Spears Kransekake

Williams-Sonoma sent me a coupon a few weeks back, so I bought this Kransekake cookie cutter set because I needed new star cookie cutters. My kransekake not made with any particularly exciting ingredients, just sugar cookies and royal icing. This one was made as a test because I intend to make my gingerbread trees using these cookie cutters and wanted to get a feel for assembly and sizing. I'll probably try to make a real kransekake at some point. I do love a challenge.

I decorated it in honor of Britney Spears, whom I will love forever. I saw her in concert for the first time with my cousin Laura this summer; even though she is not the same performer as she was 10 years ago, the concert was still super fun and I'm so glad we got to go. My entertainment preferences definitely influence my baking, so expect to see more posts with baked goods inspired by particular things. I have a few ideas for some things coming in March and April, and can guarantee there will be something for the release of The Dark Knight Rises. My dogs are named after Batman characters, so that one was a given.