the egg girl (an aquavit & rosemary cocktail) + scenes from our little married life

my first weekend as a married lady was a lot like sunday afternoons in the juilliard dorm when we were just too hungover to drum. it included a lot of buttered toast and a lot of oh, just one more office episode! not having a wedding to plan or a wedding dress to fit into has yielded things like many many cheesy pickles with our new volleyball team (we are called the cheesy pickles), three batches of vanilla cake, a loaf of bread baked by eggboy (!?!!?), and an impromptu adventure to the woods outside of duluth.  

our little trip came right after the wedding when our hangovers turned into colds and our last out of town guests had departed. we downloaded all of serial, packed our bathing suits, and set off for the cutest lodge we could find that had a sauna. there we stayed until 2015, when we decided that we had better explore downtown duluth. and oh, for cute! i wanted to put it in my pocket and bring it home. we watched boats go by and met a very funny moose. we ate bison pastrami and elk burgers and local string cheese, and then washed it all down with a lumbersexual at emily's amazing distillery. it was approximately zero degrees but it's ok i had my husband to keep me warm (*sorry* that was mushy overload). it was the perfect preview of our honeymoon next month, titled mr. and mrs. egg don't do anything for two weeks except eat schnitzel and look at alps.

upon our return, we cleaned and stressed out about serial and then segued into the aforementioned lazy lady weekend. life as a married person is actually kind of pretty much the same, just with less ikea dishes and more fancy things like a smeg toaster and vitamix blender. so what i'm really trying to say is, my first nine days as a married person were everything i wanted them to be.

ok! i made a cocktail about myself. we did that thing at our wedding where we had his and hers drinks except eggboy's was just glenlivet neat, so that's why there's no recipe for an eggboy. (side note: thoughts on the space between egg and girl? egggirl looks like it was a mistake and eggirl actually is a mistake so, um, never mind...) we tossed around so many ideas for what our drinks could be. his: chamomile tea, hers: a shot of vodka. his: lemon water, hers: cake batter. his: spinach, hers: hot dog water... 

rosemary obviously played a huge part in our wedding. we had a rosemary girl instead of a flower girl, the boutonnieres were made out of rosemary, and then, yes, this rosemary cocktail emerged as the one for me. we chose to have aquavit in it as a nod to eggboy's norwegian heritage, and we specifically chose vikre's aquavit because it comes from minnesota and the distillery is owned by emily, the lady behind five and spice and one of my most faaaavorite food52 columns, and her husband, joel. they are the coolest!!! i was able to personally thank them for my wedding hangover when we were in duluth, and holy smokes, they are treasure troves of knowledge when it comes to distilling. the caraway in their aquavit is super strong and wonderful, it made the perfect partner to all of the challah and prosciutto that i scarfed down at the start of the cocktail hour. and the rosemary syrup is one of the easiest things to make. 

the next time you're feeling blah because it's january, a.k.a. the monday of months, whip one of these up and you'll be good!

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the egg girl

makes 1

fill a glass with ice

add 1 ounce aquavit,

1/2 ounce rosemary syrup (see below),

and fill to the top with fizzy water.

garnish with a sprig of rosemary and a twist of orange peel

rosemary simple syrup

whisk together 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water, add 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, and simmer for 15 minutes.

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-yeh!

we're married!!!!!!!!!!

the big fat snow flakes that fell from the sky,

the cake with our smiling eggs, a marzipan heart, halva, and gold,

my new family, 

my old one,

the lace from stoopie's wedding dress tied to my bouquet with a bracelet from mia,

a crab brooch from china and a cuff from mum's mum as my something blue,

the sound of the fugue as we walked down the aisle through a sea of love and rosemary, to eggboy with his egg tears. 

john's perfect speech, the cell phone soundtrack to our vows, the smooches, the sprinkles, the shawls that kept my bridesmaids warm,

eating all of the challah and prosciutto for the buffer for all of the aquavit that fueled the chorus line, the conga line, the hora, and cyndi lauper sing along,

the perfectly timed dinner bell, the late night grilled cheese covered in tons and tons of ketchup, the later night papa john's soaked in garlic butter, the smiley faces and the dancing, the perfect cake, the perfect pies, the perfect soup, the big big hugs,

and my husband.

hehehe.

my husband.

-yeh! (hagen!)

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thank you to our amazing photographers, chantell and brett for these photos!!! more photos to come :)

marzipan moose mousse cake

tomorrow i will become mrs. egg. 

i am the happiest hippo in all of the land and i couldn't imagine a better christmukkah present.

i'm also the most caffeinated hippo because i have been wide awake at 3am almost every night this week with a mind as fast as a racehorse, scribbling to-do lists, writing my vows, stressing out about how i will pee when i'm wearing my dress.

but it's all so fun and amazing!!!! and i'm so excited to wake up tomorrow and frost my wedding cake with stoop, bake pies with mum, string together rosemary boutonnieres with my bridesmaids and bridesmen, gain a gaggle of new wonderful family members, do the hora with my homies, smooch my husband, say the word "husband" a thousand million times, and be showered in sprinkles as my dad plays mozart for the new mr. and mrs. 

ok, i'm gonna cry now.

i hope you are all having wonderful holidays filled with yummy food and lots of hugs! i will be back next week with a new ring and a new name! 

this marzipan moose mousse cake isn't our official wedding cake (that is yet to be decorated by stoop and me), but it's not an egg wedding without chocolate and marzipan! i was inspired by a moose cookie cutter that i found at ikea, and "moose mousse cake" is just so darn fun to say. hehe. so this little guy will be on our wedding dessert table, alongside the sprinkle cake and red velvet.

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this recipe makes one very very very large cake. it requires baking four 8-inch layers and then throwing one massive party so that people can help you finish it. such as a wedding. however, it does halve (and even quarter!) quite nicely, just get your measurement equivalents memorized. you might not be able to fit two entire ikea moose onto a smaller cake, but consider dala horses or teddy bears. the chocolate cake recipe is based on magnolia's, and it is the one i swear by. it's so super moist and rich and perfect, and it doesn't require an electric mixer. the jam i've used here was made by eggcousin elaine, and i like it because she doesn't use any sugar, so it balances out the sweet cake very nicely. 

marzipan moose mousse cake

makes one 4-layer 8-inch cake or two 2-layer 8-inch cakes

ingredients

cake:

4 1/4 c sugar

3 1/2 c all-purpose flour

1 3/4 c cocoa powder

1 tb baking powder

1 tb baking soda

1 tb kosher salt

4 large eggs

2 c coconut milk (whole milk or almond milk will also work)

1 c vegetable oil

2 tb vanilla extract

2 tsp almond extract

1 3/4 c boiling water 

mousse frosting:

4 c heavy whipping cream

1 c cocoa powder

1/2 c powdered sugar

1 tsp almond

filling and decorating:

about 9 tb raspberry jam

16 oz marzipan

crushed almonds

powdered sugar, pearl sugar, sprinkles, optional

clues

preheat oven to 350. grease and line four 8-inch round cake pans. 

in a very very large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. in a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, and extracts. add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and then whisk in the boiling water. the batter will be very thin. pour into the cake tins and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. begin checking for doneness at about 25 minutes. cool for 10 minutes in the tins and then turn onto a greased wire rack and let cool completely.

these can be baked up to a week in advance, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, and then frozen. 

to make the frosting, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks and then gradually add the cocoa and powdered sugar. add the almond extract and continue beating to stiff peaks. 

to assemble your cake, level your layers and then place one layer on a plate or cake board. spread with a thin layer of frosting. roll out your marzipan to 1/4-inch thick and cut out a circle that will fit on top of the cake. place it on top and then spread on about 3 tablespoons of jam. place your second layer of cake on top and then repeat this process twice more. cover the cake in frosting. using the remaining marzipan, cut out your moose, and if desired, knead a bit of gel food coloring into some and cut out hearts. stick them onto your cake. surround the bottom of the cake with crushed almonds, and dust the top with powdered sugar, pearl sugar, or sprinkles.

store in the fridge.

enjoy!

-yeh!

citrus confetti cake

even though i had my little wedding cake flop and then chopped off the better part of my left index finger while leveling a cake yesterday, i have been spending these last few days leading up to christmas and the wedding the best way i know how: by baking and decorating cakes. usually when i want to make a cake, i wait until there's a birthday or other party approaching so that there will actually be people to eat the cake, but this week there's christmas and hanukkah and the wedding and a bunch of family and friends in town, so i have a zillion million reasons to make cake and it is a dream come true. 

the cherry on top was that eggboy surprised me with a little tv for the kitchen and cable!!!!! we even get a canadian channel, and it had ice dancing on it yesterday, which i watched while eating a big quesadilla covered in ketchup. cake decorating, ice dancing, cheese, ooh (!) and finally a thin sheet of snow on the ground, it's like the universe *knows* me. 

this citrus confetti cake is going to be my gift at the egg family's white elephant christmas gift exchange! i'm so excited. it comes from april carter's new book, decorated, which has pretty much been my bible all week. i think i've flipped through its pretty pages hundreds of times by now, and it took me forever to decide which cake to make first. i was really tempted by her gingerbread cake with whiskey caramel and apple, parsnip, and rosemary cake, but then when i remembered that citrus can be wintery too (i always forget that), i knew that this would be the one. it even comes with a how-to for homemade confetti sprinkles!! 

i made a half batch of april's recipe out of fear that we wouldn't have enough room to store all of the cakes that i'm making. it's a shame that the kitties are so curious because otherwise we could just put all of these desserts outside in our big farm-sized deep freeze. but it's ok, i've been wanting to use my new mini green cake stand anyway (thanks, egg mama!). the cake halved perfectly. i baked it in two 6" tins instead of two 8" tins, and then the only other thing i did differently was that i used marzipan instead of fondant for the sprinkles because i seem to always have a small chunk of leftover marzipan in my fridge waiting to be used. the cake is delicious-- a nice sturdy crumb, and that curd!! i could have eaten it all with a spoon. i'm so excited to try all of the other cakes in this stunning book! yay, april!! 

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citrus confetti cake

slightly adapted from april carter's decorated

makes 1 large 8-inch cake

ingredients

cake:

450 g (1 lb) unsalted butter

620 g (1 lb 6 oz/ 2 3/4 c) sugar

8 medium eggs

620 g (1 lb 6 oz/5 c) flour

5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

250 ml (9 fl oz) whole milk

grated zest of 4 unwaxed oranges

grated zest of 4 unwaxed lemons

buttercream:

400 g (14 oz) unsalted butter, softened

10 medium egg whites

450 g (1 lb/scant 2 c) sugar

2 tsp vanilla

curd:

5 medium egg yolks

170 g (6 oz/ 3/4 c) sugar

grated zest and juice of 1 pink grapefruit

1 tb lemon juice

110 g (3 1/2 oz) unsalted butter, cubed

to decorate:

colored fondant cut out with a piping tip and set to dry on parchment for a few hours or overnight

clues

preheat oven to 335f (170c/gas 3). grease two 8-inch round, deep cake tins, line the bottoms with parchment, and set aside. 

use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes until fluffy. add the eggs one at a time. sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. incorporate half of it into the butter mixture, add the milk, and then add the remaining flour mixture and zests. pour into cake tins and bake for 70-75 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

cool for 10 minutes in the tins and then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. 

to make the buttercream, gently heat the egg whites and sugar over a double boiler, whisking constantly, until the sugar has dissolved completely. remove from heat and beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, about 10 minutes. add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time. it may look curdled, but keep beating and it will come back together. beat in the vanilla.

to make the curd, gently heat the egg yolks, sugar, zest, and juices over a double boiler, whisking constantly. whisk in the butter one cube at a time, until all of the butter has been incorporated and the mixture has thickened (about 10 minutes). strain into a shallow container and cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. chill until needed.

level the cakes and then cut each in half so that you have four layers. fix the first layer to a cake board with a small amount of buttercream. fill a piping bag with buttercream and then pip a line around the edge of the first layer (this will stop your curd from escaping). fill with 2-3 tablespoons of curd and then gently press the second layer on top. repeat with the second and third layers and then finish with your top layer. cover the cake with a thin layer of buttercream and then chill for 30 minutes or until firm. cover the cake with a thicker layer of buttercream, pipe on a border or two, and then sprinkle with confetti sprinkles. enjoy!

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-yeh!