SMiLes by Meg

Category: Cake

Sara Lee Coconut Cake

Tuesday is my mom’s birthday, and despite the fact that her daughter would like nothing more than to make her a coconut cake, she will only accept Sara Lee Coconut Cake from the grocery store. And by Sara Lee, she actually means Pepperidge Farm, but you only would know that if you’ve spent 15 minutes frantically combing through the freezer section stressing out that you couldn’t find it. Sometimes, there really is no replacement for your childhood favorite.   Love you, Mom! Enjoy! 

Angel Food Cake

I’m running out of weekends baking at the first location of SMiLes by Meg. There are six more weeks of school, and of those, there are only three weekends where I’ll actually be at my apartment. In fact, there are all sorts of “lasts” going on over the course of the next couple of weeks, which is both exciting and a little sad (but mostly exciting).

Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake

“Pride keeps you warm on Easter.” That’s what my mom said to me as we speed-walked to church this morning in the bitterly cold wind wearing pretty dresses meant for much warmer weather. Being back in Massachusetts for the holiday, it really does seem like winter will never end. There actually is still snow on the ground. And I’m not just talking the snow piles in parking lots at the mall. In my parents’ backyard, there is snow.

German Chocolate Trifle

I think I figured out how trifle was invented. We’ve all been there. You promise to make a cake for some event. You decide to wait until the day of said event because you obviously don’t want to bring stale cake somewhere. You follow the directions for making the batter to a T. And then you get cocky.

Pumpkin Roll

“You haven’t made anything pretty in awhile. You should make something pretty.” That was my mom’s input this weekend when we were discussing what I should bake.  So while she was puzzling over kitchen appliances with different salesmen, I spent some time on Pinterest looking for a pretty fall dessert. There were all sorts of cool shaped cookies, but I’ve done sugar cookies before, and snickerdoodles don’t lend themselves to much more than a circle. Then I found a pumpkin roll, and I was intrigued.

Brown Sugar Glazed Coffee Cake

This weekend, I had the pleasure of hosting the lovely Molly Hayes for plenty of beach time and country music.  And since we went to college together, we decided to recreate a treat from a favorite bakery in New Haven: Claire’s.  Thanks to Marj, I have the Claire’s cookbook, and the cookbook has my absolute favorite cake from the store: Lithuanian Coffee Cake.

Lemonade Layer Cake

Yesterday I had the most perfect first day of summer you can dream up.  I started the day with a nice long run, did some chores around my apartment, and then biked to a farmer’s market where I met a friend (Hi, Ashley!) to shop for some local produce and eat food truck tacos.  After that, we wandered around my town’s stores before heading over to our school to watch one of her students compete in a skateboarding competition.  When I got home, I roasted up my vegetables for a delicious dinner.  All in all, exactly what I wanted to …

Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream

This weekend, I was fortunate enough to be able to go back home to Massachusetts to celebrate my grandmother’s eightieth birthday party with a large group of our family.  I was even more fortunate to be asked to make the cake.  You see, a couple summers ago I took a Wilton cake decorating class with my mom.  We learned how to make all sorts of things and were definitely the superior mother-daughter team in the class.  As part of that class, I made a whole bunch of royal icing flowers just to practice, and stored them away in tupperware (they …

Chocolate Trifle

Now, the recipe I’m sharing today is one I wasn’t totally sure should leave the family recipe box.  It is a Christmas favorite, and I only make it on Christmas every year.  In fact, one year my mom tried to make a Thanksgiving version, but it was so unnatural that we couldn’t do it again. This is a Christmas dessert.  And it only works with chocolate.  No exceptions.