SOOOO my co-worker and friend, Ashley was having a birthday and I figured, why get her a store-bought cake when I could make one especially for her?  Her favorite cake is yellow with chocolate frosting, and fortunately, I stumbled across this.  Smitten Kitchen's "Best Birthday Cake".  I used her exact recipe, so I won't post it here, but it turned out amazing...especially the frosting, which wasn't too sweet but had an incredible flavor!  So anyway, the pictures below are just the process, but it turned out fabulous and I highly recommend this recipe!

Wow guys, I really can't wait to talk to you guys about this one...  I've had my first encounter with making macarons AND I have a fantastically sweet giveaway going on!  So a couple of months ago, I discovered this amazing website that sells all kinds of kitchen stuff (like pretty much anything you can think of!), called Big Kitchen.  You can find it by clicking here.  So I tweeted to them to see if maybe we could work out some kind of review/giveaway treat for the OinK readers and they agreed! (yay!)  I was given a few different options but when I saw the "Macaron making set" on the list, I was sold.  I've never tried making macarons before, frankly because everyone else who blogs about making macarons talks about how hard they can be and how the first time never goes well.  I will admit, these are not perfect.  There are definitely some improvements I could make and I will explain that below in the Verdict section.

But FIRST let me tell you about the items they sent me that one lucky OinK winner will WIN!  I got the silicone Macaron baking sheet and this phenomenal pastry bag set!  

The Macaron baking sheet is awesome.  I don't know about y'all but whenever I'm told how much to put of dough/batter/anything on a cookie sheet, I always put more than I'm supposed to and it can be very annoying.  With macarons it would not only be annoying, but would probably turn these little guys into total disasters.  This silicone sheet makes it so easy to know exactly how much of the macaron batter you need for each half of the shell and it has ridges so you really can't mess it up too bad!  Plus it makes clean up super easy!  I mean seriously, the only part of my macarons that could use help was the batter itself (I'm not sure I folded correctly or if I didn't sift the flour properly).  All human error basically, so if you already know how to make macaron batter you are golden!  Even if you don't, this silicone sheet at least makes it super easy to ensure you have the right shape and size for your perfect macarons! I truly loved it. 

Now...on to the pastry bag.  I'm obsessed. like incredibly obsessed. obsessed. okay I'll stop, but seriously it is AMAZING.  I wish all of you could win this.  I will never use my other pastry bags again.  I don't even know where to begin!  First off, they are silicone, which makes cleaning them pretty much the easiest thing ever.  It also comes with this darling little brush that helps you clean the thinnest part so it's easy to get all the icing/batter/whatever out!  Also, it comes with a stand.  A STAND! No more trying to wrap my pastry bag over the top of a glass to fill it.  This bag stands up so easily in the stand (thanks to the silicone I'm sure).  Also, it comes with multiple shapes/heads (6 to be exact) that easily attach and detach without couplers!  You don't need couplers anymore!  Seriously amazing.  Also, when it is standing up in the stand you don't have to worry about batter or icing dripping out as you are filling it because it comes with a little cap that you just easily take off before using.  Not only are there 6 tips but there are 3 bags (two 17.5 oz and one 8.8 oz) so you can use more than one at a time and there is a clasp for sealing the bag so icing/batter doesn't come out the top!  Seriously, whoever wins this is super lucky, and I wish you all the best of luck!  I'm so happy I have this little set because I plan to use the pastry bag set for everything (cakes, icing cookies, etc.) and will definitely be making many macarons this summer, both to perfect my technique, and because I think they make the perfect little dessert, especially in the summertime when you don't want something especially heavy.   

Here's what it looked like while making it and on the baking mat:

And out of the oven:

Definitely not perfect, but much better than what I was expecting!  I can't wait to make more and get better at this!  Without the baking sheet and the bag I probably would have pulled my hair out trying to do this! 

The Verdict:
I used this basic macaron recipe (although the macaron baking sheet comes with a raspberry macaron recipe that looks amazing but I didn't have raspberry preserves).  I filled half of the macarons with a basic buttercream and the other half with nutella (swoon).  They were both delicious but I'm leaning more towards nutella.  I really want to make more this summer and jazz them up with some fun fillings, like raspberry etc.  Any ideas y'all have would be great! Anyway, although they didn't turn out perfect, that was clearly human error and I think that these products are fabulous.  I think I either didn't fold the batter right or I just didn't sift the flour enough.  I'm not really sure, but I think that macarons are kind of a "practice makes perfect" kind of dessert and I plan to practice a LOT with this set.  So now that I've gabbed on for like a million years as to why I loved these products, you can actually find out how to enter!  Simply read the instructions below and post a comment to enter.  

How to Enter:
Required First Entry:  Go to Big Kitchen and pick out something you'd like!  It can be anything... a new knife, a food processor, anything! 

Extra entries (leave a comment for each!)
Like Big Kitchen on Facebook
Follow Big Kitchen on Twitter
Like Order in the Kitchen on Facebook
Follow Order in the Kitchen on Twitter
Tweet the following:  "I just entered a giveaway from @orderinthekitch to win a Macaron making set and you can too!  http://tinyurl.com/cwzqq9r "

Giveaway ends June 10th at 11:59 pm.  A winner will be chosen by a random number generator.  Duplicate comments will be deleted. Winner will have 48 hours to confirm or an alternate winner will be selected.  Please leave your real email address in order to be contacted!   While I did receive this product for free to review, the opinions and statements regarding the products are my own and I was not compensated for them.

Hey y'all... I'm doing the holiday thing early (or right on time, in blogger world).  I realize that I posted my 4th of July cake ON the 4th of July, and my holiday cookies on December 30th (oy vey) and that does not give readers enough time to make these holiday items for the actual holiday (unless they have a time machine...if you do, please let me know).  I wanted to make mini-cakes for St. Paddy's day that reminded me (and hopefully you too!) of little lucky pots of gold!  (I have recently been informed that it is actually St. PADDY's day and not St. Patty's day...learn something new every day huh?!)