Friday, March 6, 2015

Secret Subject Swap: Happy’s Back

Welcome to the March Secret Subject Swap. This month 14 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to today’s other Secret Subject Swap posts.

Secret Subject Swap | Bakinginatornado.com | #MyGraphics


My subject is: Are you Irish? Either way, you’re working outside and see a Leprechaun putting something in your bushes, you . . .
It was submitted by: Spatulas on Parade

. . . run.

The End.

Why do I say “run”? I mean most people would be thrilled, right Look for a pot of gold, right?

Well I have a bit of a different perspective when it comes to Leprechauns. That’s because last March in my Secret Subject Swap post, I told the story of how a mischievous leprechaun called Happy Go Lucky (Lucky, for short) Leprechaun stole Susie Storm’s Rainbow Cookies. Yes, I used the pseudonym Susie Storm but everyone knew it was me. And what did Happy and his band do with those cookies? They wore them. As pants. Susie was not amused (read the story HERE).

Lucky Leprechaun | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics

A week later I wrote about the trap Susie had set for Lucky. Long story short, when we last saw Susie she was running down the road pelting coins at Lucky (who was carrying her Dark Chocolate Chip Bread) while being chased herself by mental health workers carrying straightjackets (read the story HERE).

I thought . . . no, I’d hoped . . . we’d seen the last of Lucky, for Susie’s sake at least. So what did I think when I saw this prompt today? Not, “yippee, let’s search for a pot of gold”. Nope, more like “he’s baaaaack”. Or  “noooooo” (said in my Mr. Bill voice).

So imagine my Susie’s surprise when, a year later, she’s planting flowers and turns around just in time to catch a glimpse of  Happy hiding something in her bushes. The minute she sees him, Susie’s eye starts to twitch. It’s been a tough year for her, adjusting to having her food stolen not once but twice, the embarrassment of her cookies being worn as pants, the constant need to look over her shoulder for anyone who might think that she needs a nice long stay in a room with padded walls.

Lucky looks right at her, winks, and runs away.

With difficulty, Susie had managed to put most of it past her. She had lived to bake another day. And then, 12 months later the inevitable happened. March came once again and Happy was back.


“Go right into the house” she thought. “Stick with the plan, you know you wanted to make that Creme de Menthe Shamrock Cake” she told herself.

Creme de Menthe Shamrock Cake | www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #cake

Creme de Menthe Shamrock Cake

Creme de Menthe Shamrock Cake | www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #cake

Against her better judgment, Susie approached the bushes. She knew better, she really did, but she just had to see what it was Happy had hidden there.

She looked down and saw the little black pot. Is it possible? Could it be? Was Happy brazen enough to hide his gold at her house? Or was he maybe growing a conscience, trying to make amends for his actions last year?

In the pot wasn’t any gold, though. Just a piece of paper. Susie looked around, thought again about just walking away, but in the end she couldn’t help herself. She needed to know what was on that paper that Happy was hiding.

She unfolded the paper and saw her name at the top. So maybe he really did want to apologize. But what she saw next got her blood boiling all over again:

Secret Subject Swap: Lucky's Back | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics


If you shut your eyes I bet you too can see poor Susie's eye start to twitch. Better put a reservation in for that room with the padded walls. Susie may end up requiring another visit.

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:



Baking In A Tornado signature | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics
 

Creme de Menthe Shamrock Cake
                                                                        ©www.BakingInATornado.com
 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
1 ½ stick butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup creme de menthe
1/2 tsp mint extract 
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
 
Ingredients, frosting:
2 sticks butter, softened 
1 tsp mint extract
2 TBSP creme de menthe
4 cups powdered sugar
3 - 4 TBSP milk

green food coloring  
 
Directions:
*Grease and flour a 15 1/2 X 10 1/2 jellyroll pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, milk, creme de menthe and mint extract.
*Starting at your lowest speed beat in the flour, salt and baking powder just until incorporated, then increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes.
*Pour evenly into prepared pan.
*Bake for approximately 20 - 25 minutes or until the center springs back to the touch.
*Cool for an hour on the counter, then move to the fridge until cold.
*Alternating the small and large cookie cutters, cut 4 hearts out of the cake. Leave only one space for the stem, the other "leaves" should touch.
*Using a sharp knife, cut out a "stem" shape in the spot that you left for the stem. Remove all the cutouts to your serving dish and assemble to look like a shamrock. Place both the jellyroll pan and the serving dish in the fridge.
*Cream the butter with the mint extract and creme de menthe. Carefully blend in the powdered sugar. 1 TBSP at a time, add in as much of the milk as you need to bring the frosting to an easily spreadable consistency.
*Remove about 1/2 cup of the frosting into a small clean bowl and add green food coloring to use later to outline the shape.
*Spread the frosting onto both cakes using a knife to clean up the edges and define the shape. Pipe the darker green frosting around the edges of the shapes on both cakes.

32 comments:

  1. OMG!!! That cake!!!!!! You are a baking wizard!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!!!!!
    Gosh, I wish I could make something like that!!!! WOW!!!!!

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    Replies
    1. I can't even tell you how fast both of those cakes disappeared.

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  2. What a cheeky Leprechaun, making demands of you like that!! There had better be a pot of gold for you as payment!

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    1. You'd think so, wouldn't you? But that Lucky, he likes to taunt Susie.

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  3. Hahaha! Poor Susie! Too cute!
    Um... this cake... I need it in my belly... Now. Totally appropriate breakfast, right?! Mine will remain a rectangle, but this is getting made.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I have it on good authority that it will taste every bit as yummy as a rectangle!

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  4. HOLY MOLY...that flipping cake...how is that possible???? MAGIC???? I would have destroyed it a million ways.

    Oh that Lucky, what a naughty leprechaun he is...hope you get lots of gold

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    Replies
    1. With the heart shaped cookie cutters the cake was actually really easy. And believe me, most of what I imagine does not come out as I'd hoped.

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  5. Poor Susie and dang that Lucky! It doesn't quite seem lucky when he's around.

    And that cake is too cute!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, Susie's luckier when Lucky isn't around. Now that's almost as much of a mouthful as that cake!

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  6. My eye is twitching... Lucky's lucky it wasn't me. ;)

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I think Lucky would have found his match with you.

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  7. Bwaaahahahaha!
    Face it, Karen! When it's not the furry animal I won't mention by name, it's the leprechauns who stalk you.
    And you've got to admit, they've got good taste. I mean, look at them recipes you keep posting!
    I'll be back to pick up my piece :-)

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    Replies
    1. HA, stalked by grumpy cats and leprechauns, it's quite a life.

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  8. If Susie is making that cake, I want a slice because it looks and sounds delicious!

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  9. Give a leprechaun rope and he thinks he's a bloody cowboy. I won't mention now the drunken leprechaun I got tattooed on my arm when I was 18, just in case you decide it needs to go to......

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  10. See, we as bloggers/closet fiction authors just HAVE to bring back characters that we love. I love Happy or Lucky or green scamp as I like to call him. Cute story and it made me smile. LOVE the cake and I'm sure he did too. ;)

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    Replies
    1. I do get it, seems like Lucky was just begging to make his presence known again this year with this prompt!

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  11. Fun story - and the cake is very creative! I wonder what will happen if Susie don't fill Lucky's order?

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    Replies
    1. I think Lucky will take whatever Susie makes for her family like he's done in the past. But I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.

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  12. That cake could surely replace the Shamrock Shakes I've vowed to give up :) Love both the jelly roll cut-out AND the cake. I bet Suzie's family didn't leave anything for that dang Leprechaun. You need a trap in the bushes for next March.
    Look at you and your story continuity! <3

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    Replies
    1. I think that cake needs to be eaten along with a Shamrock Shake. Just sayin'.

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  13. Poor little Susie. . . but I might have to take Lucky's side here. It all sounds so yummy!! Thanks for the recipe, it looks delish.

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    Replies
    1. Well, I suppose when you look at it that way Lucky does have a point.

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  14. Great story. I feel sorry for Susie, I hope she will be okay. If I were I don't know if I would bake anything for Lucky, maybe if she ignores him he won't come back.

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  15. Ooohhh, I saw your post on Google+ and thought YAY, a new St. Patrick's Day story! Wait a minute! Happy go Lucky with his rainbow cookie pants? I know that guy!!
    I'm in full fledged GREEN mood. Did a lot of crafting and decorating today. Now to wait till C is asleep, and the pranks can be staged!

    ReplyDelete

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