fig honey cake + blogiversary + cookbook

 

today marks THREE years of hey modest marce! but it also marks my most exciting annoucement to date. i have been hinting at in on social over the last little while, but i am thrilled to officially share the news with you.. I'M WRITING A COOKBOOK!!!!!! insert ALL the emotions

well technically, i wrote a cookbook. i spent the last year baking up a storm & shooting so many amazing recipes. being able to tell people i was working on my first cookbook has seriously been a dream come true. the book will be released in the spring of 2019 with penguin canada! it is called bake the seasons & it is filled with both sweet + savoury recipes. cakes, pies, cookies, galettes, muffins, stratas & so much more!

it all started about a year ago when i recieved an e-mail from penguin canada. i met with the editor & director of cookbook publishing, then spent the next month working on my proposal. the team loved the proposal & next thing i knew i was signing my first book deal! i spent the next year recipe testing, styling & shooting each recipe. so much hard work has gone into this book! it has been so hard to keep it a secret from everyone while trying to keep up with the blog on a regular basis, but now the secret is out! we are currently in the design phase of the book (the big cover photo decision!!!!), so i will be sure to keep everyone updated from here onwards! no more secrets.

as for now, cheers to many more years of modest marce, my first cookbook & this fig honey cake! thank you to everyone for following along my baking journey over the last few years. literally none of this would have happened without you!

xo

ingredients

for the honey cake

  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cups raw sugar
  • 1/2 cup good quality honey
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 cup whole milk

  • for the honey buttercream*

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup good quality honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 6-8 fresh figs, halved

directions

for the honey cake

  • preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter, sugar & honey until fluffy.
  • add in the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla extract & oil. mix until combined.
  • in a separate bowl sift the flour, cinnamon, baking powder & salt. alternate between adding the flour mixture & the milk to the stand mixer. beat until smooth after each addition.
  • evenly divide batter amongst 3 greased & lined 6-inch round cake pans.
  • bake for 20 minutes or until the top bounces back to touch.

  • let cool while you prepare the frosting.

  • for the honey buttercream*

  • in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter, sugar, honey & vanilla until fluffy, about 8-10 minutes.

  • frost cake, top with fresh figs & drizzle with honey if desired.

modest farmhouse dining room

 

dining room reveal day is here!!! i wasn't sure if i was going to give the dining room its own blog post. what was i thinking? of course it should have its own post! for those of you who voted "hell yes" on my instagram poll, this one is for you.

it took me a little longer then i intended until the space was perfect enough to photograph, but now that i love every single piece in it, it is officially ready! the vibe i was going for here was modest x farmhouse x school house. i didn't want to create an overly formal space because the dining room is open to the kitchen. this space is both where we eat dinner every night, as well as where we host friends & family. so many memories will happen in this space for years to come.

the very first thing i picked out for the dining room was the school house electric chandelier. truth be told, i don't even know if i had the keys to the house before this was ordered. i just knew i wanted something funky, bold & brass in the dining room! while i put a lot of effort into all the light fixtures throughout the house, it is the dining room that must have a stand out chandelier. we have had it for over a year now & literally every single person who walks into our house points out how unique it is. it is the "tangled chandelier" from school house electric & i couldn't recommend this light fixture enough. you can pick the colour fixture, cords, light bulbs & length!

after adding the funky bold light fixture, i wanted to bring in a couple elements that complimented it. i am kind of obsessed with all things brass and black so the floor lamp & clock seemed like the perfect additions to the dining room. they also are what bring in that subtle "school house" vibe i was going for. the lamp is the "miles floor lamp" and the clock is the "kennedy clock", both from school house electric. while i was hesitant to put a floor lamp in a dining room, the lamp creates the perfect soft lighting at night. i also love how it looks in the corner that once seemed impossible to decorate.

now let's get to that dining room set! i had my heart set on something minimal with clean lines. the big sur table, bench & sideboard from crate & barrel was everything i wanted & more. there is even a matching wine rack! it is made from solid european white oak with a light smoke stain. it also comes in a dark & natural finish, but i felt the smoke stain went best with our space. for the chairs i wanted something with contrast so i went with the marlow ll dining chair in black. it is a modern take on a classic windsor back chair made with solid maple. i think the dining chairs are what really adds the modern farmhouse flair to the space. they remind me of our front porch spindle rocking chairs too! when designing each room in our house, i opted for timeless pieces. something that we will enjoy for many, many years.

last but not least, we did a small feature wall of wallpaper to act as the backdrop to the dining room. we had leftover from the living room & i did not want something so beautiful to go to waste! adding the touch of wallpaper gave the dining room the separation it needed from the kitchen. it is also the perfect backdrop to the sideboard, isn't it! the print is amime from farrow & ball & is still my favourite print to date. the wall colour is purbeck stone and the wood trim is wevet, both by farrow & ball!

for a full list of modest house dining room sources, check out the links below! xo

carrot matcha cupcakes

 

is it just me or is march flying by?! the end of winter is finally near (even though we some how still have snow..) & i cannot wait for all the fresh spring produce. aside from asparagus, spinach, garlic scapes and rhubarb (eek!), to me the early spring also signals easter! i don't think i can celebrate easter without a carrot based dessert, it is a staple at my family easter celebrations. while i usually whip up my classic carrot cake, this year i did something a little different... MATCHA!

i incorporated a hint of matcha into the base, minimized the spices & baked them into easy to grab cupcakes. these carrot matcha cupcakes are perfect to bring to any easter brunch or dinner! i stuck with a classic cream cheese frosting because cream cheese frosting goes with just about everything. to ensure the matcha flavour did not get lost with the other ingredients, i used aiya-america's cooking grade matcha powder as it is created to stand out even when mixed with other ingredients.

what are you most excited about for the spring?!

ingredients

for the cupcakes

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons matcha powder (aiya-america's cooking grade matcha)
  • 1 cup raw sugar
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup carrots, peeled & grated
  • 1 cup crushed pineapple, liquids drained

for the frosting

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 8oz full-fat cream cheese, cold

directions

for the cupcake

  • preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • in a large mixing bowl bowl sift together the flour, salt, baking soda & matcha powder.
  • in a separate large mixing bowl beat sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until light & fluffy.
  • fold in grated carrots & crushed pineapple.
  • add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until just combined (do not over mix).
  • divide evenly amongst 12 lined cupcake tins & bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown on top. let the cupcakes cool while you prepare the frosting.

for the frosting

  • beat butter, sugar and vanilla on high speed until light & fluffy, about 5 minutes.
  • add cream cheese one tablespoon at a time until it is JUST evenly combined, about 60 seconds.
  • transfer frosting to a piping bag and pipe cupcake using a star decorating tip.