Sunsets and Suntans.
It's officially Summertime. There's always time when we're on Summertime. It's like a magical time zone where days are long and nights are cool. Where sunsets are made of cotton candy clouds and violet watercolour skies. Where the grass is green and the flowers greet you with a smile. Where the popsicles are always cold and the the sun is always hot.
The sun wakes up at 5am and doesn't go to sleep until 11pm. You can stay in bed til noon and still have enough time in the day to get everything done. People mow their lawns at 11pm and go grocery shopping at 7:30am.
Nap in the comfort of the warm sun. Let your ice cream melt. Roll down the windows and let the warm breeze get tangled in your hair. Get a sunglasses tan. Have dinner at 9pm. Track sand into the car. Get dirt under your nails. Who cares? We're on Summertime!
In the spirit of lazy Summer days I've made Cherry Almond White Chocolate Ice Cream. Pink and sweet just like a sunset.
Oh Happy Day!
Today is a two fold celebration. Hot Polka Dot turns one and yours truly turns twenty five!
A year ago today I decided it was time to explore this new passion of mine. I opened my recipe box as well as my heart and was met by a flood of wonderful people. A few of you have been around since the humble beginnings of my little pink food blog. You watched me struggle with custard, yell at bread and divulge some tried and true family recipes. Most of you are relatively new to my corner of the internet. Old friends and new friends, I appreciate you all more than I can express. I am so thankful for your lovely comments, sweet emails, and helpful suggestions. Starting this blog was one of the best decisions I have ever made and I am so excited to begin year two!
I thought long and hard about what type of cake to make for this happy occasion. Something that was indicative of my personality and also at home on Hot Polka Dot. As you well know I am in love with lemon. That much is obvious. You may not know that white chocolate is my favourite type of chocolate even though it doesn't have cocoa and isn't technically chocolate. Even stranger still is that I actually kind of hate buttercream and instead prefer cream cheese icing. So here we have it. Lemon White Chocolate Whisper Cake. A delightfully light white butter cake with a hint of white chocolate, filled with lemon curd and topped off with sinfully smooth vanilla cream cheese icing. And of course I couldn't forget the polka dots! That would be silly.
I decided not to be selfish and extend the celebration to all of you! You may not get a slice of this cake, but you do get a chance to win this lovely polka dot apron. It's got ruffles. It's got a pocket. It's got a bow. It's even got adjustable straps. What more could you ask for? A Hot Polka Dot Mom original made just for you! Many of you were admiring the pink and black one I was wearing in my video and now you can have one of your own! Just think, you could make this adorable polka dot cake while sporting your pretty polka dot apron!
Aaaand...
As if that wasn't enough, I'll also throw in a $25 Bake It Pretty gift certificate. You could buy lots of cool goodies like Black Polka Dot Paper Straws, Orange Creamsicle Baker's Twine and a Cakewich Silicone Baking Mold. And these Dashing Dot Baking Cups even match the apron! The cuteness is almost too much handle!
Blondies, Who Knew?

So there I was in my kitchen, my mouth hanging open in a frozen gasp and my eyes popping out of my head. It was one of those eureka moments. You know the one. Brownies not made of dark or milk chocolate but white chocolate. I'm clearly a genius.
Not.
Then I was left with the difficult task of naming my brain child. Whities was a bad choice for obvious reasons. Plus they wouldn't really be white. It's kind of difficult to bake white food. So beigies? No, that's just lame and rather hard to pronounce.
Naturally I couldn't get it out of my head. So I googled it like a good obsessive compulsive person and, to my great disappointment, I not only found a name for them but also found they already existed. Blondies. There's not much left in the world that someone hasn't already thought of. Silly me. I never would have thought of that.
Blueberries were on sale. I like blueberries. Blueberries and white chocolate go together nicely. So there you have it. Sometimes it's best you don't over think dessert.
Good For What Ails You.
I get the hiccups. Quite frequently. It's an annoyance. It's a curse.
Now let me be clear. We're not talking those aw-isn't-that-cute-she-squeeks-like-a-mouse kind of hiccups. We're talking feels-like-I've-been-kicked-in-the-throat-by-a-workhorse-gasping-for-breath-like-I'm-drowning kind of hiccups. These are grown up hiccups people.
The man to hold the world record for the longest case of hiccups is named Charles Osborne who had the hiccups for a full 69 years. That's right. I googled it. Experts estimate he hiccuped 430 million times in that time period. By my calculations that's approximately 17,300 hiccups per day and 12 hiccups per minute. I don't think I've ever had hiccups for longer than 69 minutes and a mere 10 minutes into it I was already about ready to rip my hair out.
I know all the remedies. Oh, you think you're so smart. You think you have one I've never heard of. You don't. I've swallowed spoonfuls of sugar with no results other than a mild sugar rush. I've rather awkwardly attempted a headstand which only ended in falling in a heap on the floor and bruising my knee. I've drank glass after glass of water upside down and backwards which only seemed to make it worse. I've had people scare the crap out of me repeatedly and the hiccups always return. And so on and so forth...
My problem is I have hiccup days. I hate those days. Most people get hiccups once, they cure them and they don't have to worry about it for the rest of the day. That would be nice. With me I seem to go days without getting the hiccups and then one day I get them several times. The hiccup fairy comes and goes as she pleases all the while driving me batty. It's like a cruel joke. I rejoice in curing one case of hiccups only to have to deal with yet another half and hour later. Even worse, the cure I used on the last case of hiccups doesn't ever seem to work on the next bout.
The only similarity between all those hiccup remedies is distraction. Of course if you drink a glass of water upside down you're going to be more concerned with spilling water all over yourself than the hiccups you're curing with it. If you eat a slice of lemon you're going to be too busy making that attractive puckered sour puss face to worry about your hiccups. If a certain someone throws out their arms and screams at you suddenly in their thundering baritone voice you're going to be trying so hard not to pee yourself you're not even going to remember you had hiccups.
I've heard you get hiccups from worrying about something. That might explain it. I get hiccups once and I spend the rest of the day worrying so much about them returning that they do. It's a catch 22. Curse you hiccups! Why must you plague me?
Now onto something less crazy and more tasty. These White Chocolate Apricot Mousse Lace Cups are the polar opposite of those cursed hiccups. Well sort of. They aren't annoying. They aren't embarrassing. They aren't downright uncalled for.
They are pretty. They are adorable. They are definitely delicious.
Perhaps they are the unsung cure for hiccups. Only time will tell.
Spring Shenanigans.
I'm sitting out here in the sunny backyard, my computer in my lap and my White Chocolate Strawberry Dessert in hand. Sounds dreamy doesn't it? Yes, yes it is. The birds are singing. The sky is blue. The grass is turning green. The breeze is lazy and refreshing. The temperature is perfectly mild. It makes me sleepy it's so relaxing. It also makes me consider planting my very own herb garden.
The three of us went to the park the other day. I can't tell you how good it feels to finally be able to walk around in jeans and a light sweater and not have to worry about getting frost bite. That might not sound warm enough for you, but that's my favourite weather. Spring is my favourite season by far. We just hung out on the swings and made a ruckus on the play structure then we got slushies. It was the best afternoon.
It's hard to believe that this time next week we might have snow on the ground. Mother Nature should just make up her mind already. Is it Winter or Spring?
I am so looking forward to fresh local strawberries, blueberries, cherries and peaches. That's my favourite time and those are my favourite fruits. For now it's imported strawberries for my Strawberry Curd.
Know What I Mean, Jelly Bean?
I'm in an honest sort of mood so I think it's about time I confessed a few things.
I have never used unsalted butter in any recipe though most of the recipes I've posted on here call for it. I'll tell you a little secret about butter. If the recipe calls for salt then you can just leave it out and use salted butter. You might have already known that but recently it was a little personal revelation of mine.
I am frightened of yeast. Don't get me wrong. It's not like I wake up in a cold sweat after a nightmare about being chased by rising bread dough. I've just never made bread and I'm a little intimidated by it. It's like one of those things you put off for so long you feel like you'll never get around to doing it.
I've never been so organized in the morning that I actually remember to take my butter or cream cheese out of the refrigerator to allow it to reach room temperature like it always needs to be for every recipe. Microwaves are wonderful things aren't they? Although mine seems to be angry with me for whatever reason. When I push the 4 it inputs a 3. Yeah, because that's what I really meant to push, microwave. Thanks.
Also, I used leftover frosting to top off these cute cupcakes. Don't hate me if I don't make everything from scratch every single time ok? Please? I made way too much icing for those Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes the other day and I just can't bring myself to throw out something as yummy as that White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. I hate waste but I love these Vanilla Jelly Bean Cupcakes. I think you will too.




















