Chocolate Whiskey Cake Recipe (2 versions)

I will (shamefully) admit... I'm not a chocolate person. Chocolate cake? My least favorite type of cake.

Oh, and I'm not a whiskey person, either.




But this cake is in my top 3 cake recipes ever (fyi, number one being Betty Crocker Rainbow Chips, but that's another story).  It's just so moist and delicious. The flavor of the whiskey, rich chocolate cake, and the crunch of the semi-sweet chocolate chips all work together so nicely.  I think I love it so much because the cake has more of a dark, semi-sweet chocolate taste rather than a typical chocolate or milk chocolate-y taste. I really quite like dark chocolate.

So while I obviously like this cake, the real reason I make it is for my husband, Brad. He LOOOOVES it.

I started making this cake years ago, before we even got married. I think I remember finding the recipe in a magazine (not sure which one it was exactly).
Anyway, it's a winner. I used to make it every Christmas for the fam's get-together, but when we started hosting Christmas at our place and were already cooking so much and getting the house together, it sort of fell off the menu since it does take a bit of time to make from scratch.

The good news is that I actually found a version using store-bought cake mix and frosting which actually tastes JUST as good! I was skeptical, but I did try that version of the recipe out a while back and I could not tell the difference.  I did modify the recipe a bit. I replaced a few ingredients and nixed the pecans, because neither Brad nor I are fans, and I think it's perfect!

Anyway,  I still make this yummy treat for Brad for special occasions to surprise him. Most recently for Valentine's day! So since I got so many requests for the recipe on Instagram, here is my original version...


Chocolate Whiskey Cake (scratch version)


  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 3/4 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
  • 2/3 cup boiling water
  • 1/3 cup whiskey
  • 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3 cans (16 oz/ each) chocolate frosting  **you can make your own, but this is just as good and cuts a lot of time
  • more mini semi-sweet chocolate chips for garnish
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter 2 (9") round cake pans (or heart-shaped ones like I used if you're feeling fancy). Line pan bottoms with wax paper; butter and flour. Combine milk, eggs, and vanilla; reserve.
In a bowl combine next 6 ingredients. At low speed gradually beat in butter until coarse and sandy. Gradually beat in egg mixture. Increase speed to medium; beat 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Gradually beat in water then whiskey until combined. (Will make a thin batter.)
Divide batter between pans; sprinkle tops with measured chips. Bake 30-35 minutes, until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean (keep in mind, it may not come out completely clean because of the melted chocolate chips in the batter). Cool on racks 20 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on racks.
Place 1 cake layer on serving plate; spread with 1 cup frosting. *I like to sprinkle more chocolate chips over this middle layer of frosting. Top with remaining cake layer.  Spread tops and sides with remaining frosting.  Use remaining chocolate chips for garnish.



Not the simplest of recipes. But still worth it if you have the patience.

Usually, you can tell a huge difference between something made from scratch and something, well, not completely made from scratch. This version below using store-bought cake mixes is seriously just as good. After making both and comparing them (I had to make the scratch version one more time just to make sure I wasn't crazy), it is seriously the same. I'll probably make this "short-cut" version from here on out.

Chocolate Whiskey Cake (my short-cut version)



  • 1 box (around 16 oz.) Betty Crocker "Super Moist" Devils Food Cake mix
  • 1 cup buttermilk (I used low fat)
  • 2/3 cup canola oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/4 cup whiskey (I added just a splash more, and used the Jack Daniel's "Tennessee Honey")
  • 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 cans chocolate frosting
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour 2 (9") cake pans. Combine cake mix, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and whiskey with a mixer on low speed until combined. Increase speed to medium and beat another 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips. Divide batter between the pans and bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (keep in mind, it may not come out completely clean because of the melted chocolate chips).  Cool on racks in the pans for 5 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely on the racks.
Frost one layer of cake on a serving platter (I sprinkle more chocolate chips into the middle layer of frosting before putting on the top layer of cake), then add the top layer and frost completely. Sprinkle on more chocolate chips on top for decoration.




So that's my yuumy cake recipe!! I hope you guys love it if you make it! Let me know how it turns out!!


Feline sweatshirt OOTD

In yesterday's video, you may have noticed my sweet little "Feline" sweatshirt. Thought I'd show you how I styled it...



Super easy and stylish way to stay warm, huh? I wore this out with Brad to do a bit of shopping and then out to dinner. I did bring some flats with me to shop around in since these shoes were fairly new and I didn't really know how they'd "shop". ;)
Then I put them back on for dinner.


This just shows how easy putting things together can be. A fun, easy sweatshirt, black "jeggings", an easy trench and some fun shoes. Boom. Instant outfit that looks put together, but not to fussy.

Just so you know, these shoes were very comfortable. You may remember me showing them in this haul video.  They were a really great purchase.



trench: H&M (no longer available- similar)
shoes: BCBG
sunglasses: Tom Ford





See you here tomorrow Loves!

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Jewel Blue Makeup Tutorial

Blue is my all-time favorite color. Blue eye shadow? Definitely not something I wear too often. 

Let's change that...


When I do bright colors, I definitely like to darken it up a bit and add a smokey element to keep the look sexy and smoldering. Not too bright or cartoon-ish.  So I LOVE this jewel, cobalt blue. Just proves that blue eyeshadow can totally be sexy and fun without looking like "too much".









products used...


Save 10% on the brushes used in this video (and your entire purchase)! Click here and enter code "TIFF10" at checkout!

Look for a NEW post tomorrow right here for all the OOTD details from the look worn in this video. See you then! Hope you all have a FABULOUS Monday!!!


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Basement table redo...

I hope you all had a very lovely Valentine's Day!

So last we spoke about the basement, I had found some great pieces for our bar area. A beautiful, counter-height table (that can double as an actual "bar" for seating) and a gorgeous leaner mirror.

The table is amazing... A gorgeous, trestle-style table with a thick, chunky, and beautiful natural top (definitely not touching the top with paint or anything else ever).
Oh, and the price was pretty perfect. The problem? The base was finished pretty awful. At first glance, it's not bad, but from the moment I got a closer look at it in the store, I knew if I got it I would be refinishing/painting it.
So I did.

Here's the before...


Not cute. I'm a big fan of the whole "Restoration Hardware-ish", lightly washed wood look, but this was not it.  This photo is of course, not reading true to color, but the base also read very blueish gray. Aside from the color, it was also just actually done very poorly. I love the whole "distressed" look on furniture, but there was a weird breakthrough of black showing beneath the blueish white and it was just plain weird.  It looked like someone had made a mistake.

For the basement, we like to keep things much darker and more industrial looking so I knew we wanted it to go dark.

So I put down a huge drop cloth underneath the table, sanded the heck out of the base to be painted, and then used some leftover paint from when I painted our French doors in the foyer black. It's just a latex-based paint in a formula with the primer built in (so it just applies a bit thicker I find), so I figured it would be fine for this part of the table since it's held up so nicely on the doors. I probably wouldn't use this on a table top, but for the base which isn't touched often, I feel like it will hold up really well.


Here she is! So much better I think!! We love how it goes so well with the other dark furniture in the room now. We have a few other little black accent pieces of furniture so it all pulled-together nicely.
I used Black Suede by Behr. It's a soft, almost brown-black.
Oh, and please ignore the dusty floors. haha ;) I had just removed the drop cloth, and I totally didn't notice all the sanding debris and dog hair that flew off of it apparently.

I used an angled brush to get all the little crevices and around the areas where it met the table top. For the rest, I used a medium-sized foam roller. I did two very light coats. It covered SO well. Probably because the paint adhered better because of the crazy sanding. But rather than giving it a "painted furniture" look, it sort of blended right into the wood, still allowing all the character of the wood to show through.



Yes, that is Christmas garland you see there...  I couldn't bring myself to remove it because I thought it looked sort of rustic with the pinecones and branches.  But in photos? Totally Christmas. Yeah, I probably need to get on removing that.


So that's it for now! I'm so happy with how it turned out. Like I mentioned in my last post about this area, I'm on the lookout for some industrial style stools for it still. Not in a hurry... When I see them, I'll know. :)
We're SO loving how the whole basement is coming together. We still have so much more of it to work on. This whole bar/ living area and the media room is coming together really well so far. The largest room down here is still totally empty though. We're thinking of making it into a game room eventually, who knows.  We even have a little unfinished "workout" room that we're wanting to fix up a bit soon, but it's fine for now. SO much to do down here and so much more to share. I'll continue to update you guys in these decor posts!  Oh and if you want to see more about the basement, you can check out some older posts (here,  here, and here) to get a better idea.

Have a wonderful weekend!! See you Monday!

MAC A Fantasy of Flowers Collection

This is 1 of 3 MAC Collection posts up today. Click below to visit the other 2!
MAC Viva Glam Rihanna
MAC Prep + Prime CC

MAC has released a huge, very Spring-worthy collection consisting of beautiful pastels, and vivid pops of color, alike.  This collection consists of 6 lipsticks, 6 Cremesheen Glass, 4 Mineralize Eye Shadows, 4 Pigments, 2 Fluidlines, Haute and Naughty Lash mascara, 2 Mineralize Skinfinish, 2 Mineralize Blush, 4 Nail Lacquers, and 3 Brushes.





MAC Fantasy of Flowers
Available online and in stores now
through April 3, 2014
limited


*Keep in mind, I do not have the entire collection... These are just the shades MAC was kind enough to share with us!


Lipstick, $15.



left: Naked Bud (neutral sheer nude - lustre)
right: Heavenly Hybrid (mid-tone berry - lustre)

Cremesheen Glass, $20

above: Galaxy Rose
below: Nectarsweet

Cremesheen Glass on left, Lipsticks on right

These lip colors are right up my alley. While there are other beautiful ones in the collection, I think these are ones I'd really wear.  The nude shades are obviously beautiful (and, hello... Nectarsweet is the most gorgeous Cremesheen Glass I've ever owned), but my biggest surprise was how beautifully wearable the Heavenly Hybrid is. It looks like it would be dark and fairly intense, but the lustre formula makes for a shiny and more sheer application.

Mineralize Skinfinish, $30.

Stereo Rose


Mineralize Blush, $25.

Petal Power


Stereo Rose on left, Petal Power on right

Stereo Rose MSF is one of those re-promoted colors from previous collection that is talked about often.  I totally get the hype. It's beautiful. While it's a bit too frosted for me to use completely on it's own as a cheek color, I see myself using this lightly over other blushes to give it a nice glowing finish.

The Petal Power blush is SUPER pigmented and gorgeously bright. It reminds me of NARS Orgasm, but brighter with a bit more frost.  This color will look crazy-good on darker skin tones.

Mineralize Eye Shadow, $21.


Great Beyond (deep blue violet, dusky plum, icy white lilac, soft mauve violet - frost)




In the Meadow (ice shimmering white, dirty olive green, golden mint green, pale yellow - frost)


While you all know I've never been a huge fan of the Mineralize Eye Shadows, I have to say that these swatched beautifully. I also love a good group of purple shadows. Great Beyond is honestly the best Mineralize shadow I've ever had. Can't wait to use it more!

Pigment, $21.


Chartreuse Bouquet (shimmering acid green)

swatched wet on left, dry on right

 If you love bright colors, you should definitely check out the pigments in this collection! Crazy beautiful colors, also including a bright yellow, bright violet-purple, and a gorgeous lavender-pink.

Hope this helps those of you that wanted a few more details about these before you purchase! They're available online now and in stores.

Don't miss the other two MAC collections posted here today, linked at the top of the post!



SHOP THIS POST!



post contains affiliate links
products provided by MAC Cosmetics with absolutely no agreements or obligations to feature or review

MAC Viva Glam Rihanna

This is 1 of 3 MAC Collection posts up today. Click below to visit the other 2!
MAC A Fantasy of Flowers
MAC Prep + Prime CC


MAC Viva Glam Rihanna
Available online and in stores now
through July 2014

I've got to be totally honest with you... I expected Rihanna's Viva Glam shade to be "just another nice red".

I typically always like the Viva Glam shades (my favorite being Viva Glam V), for many reasons, but mostly because it's such a great cause. Every cent of the selling price of these products goes toward men, women, and children living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
I'm really not even that much of a red lip person, but this red is beautiful and unique. A gorgeous, frosted, "ruby-slipper" red.

Oh, and that deep, soft-to-the-touch, satin-y red packaging. Love.

And that lipglass is just the most beautiful red gloss I've ever seen.

lipstick on left, lipglass on right


So what do you guys think?? Will you be picking these up??

Don't miss the other two MAC collections posted here today, linked at the top of the post!

SHOP THIS POST!






post contains affiliate links
products provided by MAC Cosmetics with absolutely no agreements or obligations to feature or review

MAC Prep+Prime CC Colour Correct Collection

This is 1 of 3 MAC Collection posts up today. Click below to visit the other 2!
MAC Fantasy of Flowers
MAC Viva Glam Rihanna

MAC has once again expanded their permanent Prep+Prime line to include three new products in 4 enhancing and perfecting shades.  While I just recently got my hands on these and haven't tried them long-term enough to warrant a good review, these are just "first impressions" and photos of the collection itself. I'll let you guys know how the products work out in the coming weeks! Look for that info in my upcoming "Recent Haul Reviews" video. 


MAC Prep+Prime CC Colour Correct 
Available in stores and online (here) now
Permanent line



Prep + Prime Powders (available loose and pressed)
These powders "apply transparently, smoothing away the appearance of lines and imperfections."
both $24.


Adjust (peachy beige), Neutralize (yellow), Illuminate (lavender), Recharge (apricot)
(all photos coordinate)




These two formulas swatch almost exactly the same, color-wise. Both are very smooth. The main difference is obviously just the formula and which you prefer, loose or pressed. I personally prefer pressed.


Prep+Prime CC Colour Correcting SPF30
"A creamy, tinted primer that evens skin tone in a multi-tasking formula."
$30.




*Notice, I only swatched 3 of these. MAC sent me two of the same shade, so I don't have the "Recharge" shade.
These are very pigmented and apply very smooth. I've only tried the Illuminate shade so far (as a primer, under foundation), and while I didn't notice any night and day incredible "illuminating" difference, I did notice that it acted as a great non-greasy primer, and my skin did look healthy and glowing throughout the day.
I'll try the other two I have and let you all know how they work out soon in that video I mentioned.


Hope this helps those of you that wanted a few more details about these before you purchase! They're available online now and in stores.

Don't miss the other two MAC collections posted here today, linked at the top of the post!

SHOP THIS POST!



post contains affiliate links
products provided by MAC Cosmetics with absolutely no agreements or obligations to feature or review

Classic and Romantic V-Day Outfit...

Ugh, this Atlanta weather... While it looks like we're going to be iced-in the next few days, I thought I'd look back on an outfit from this past weekend when the weather was super nice. Hard to believe it's been so back and forth lately.

Anyway, I wore this outfit over the weekend when Brad and I went out for our 6th wedding anniversary. I'm totally dubbing it a V-Day look as well because Brad and I have a bit of a tradition for Valentine's Day... We do nothing. Well, I should say, we go nowhere. We stay home and have a quiet and romantic dinner consisting of various take out or we cook a favorite meal. We basically hate crowds and there's just no reason I'd ever want to get mixed up in all that.  Big rule though... We NEVER combine the two. That can be easy to do since they're so close together for us, but since we keep V-Day more romantic and low-key at home, it's a nice separation since we always head out to our favorite nice restaurant for our anniversary. 
Anyway, my point is that I won't be getting all dressed-up for V-Day since we're staying home, so this is it. haha

So whether you're going out on a date with your significant other on V-Day, or you're just heading out for a fun night with the gals, here's a little idea of what I wore...



Simple, classic, and comfortable... With some fun shoes of course.





These are actually really comfortable (surprisingly). The open-toe and a bit of a platform make them really easy to walk in (well, relatively... for heels of this height at least).

Of course, keeping with the whole V-Day/Anniversary/Love theme, I added some "love" of my own to the look.





details:
shoes: Valentino
pants: 7 For All Mankind (similar)
top: Club Monaco (similar)
"love" bracelet: Anthropologie (similar)
bag: Louis Vuitton


I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week and Valentine's Day!


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