Showing posts with label Cakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cakes. Show all posts

July 03, 2017

I Got Published as a Guest Blogger!

I submitted a review for a cookbook to the Clandestine Cake Club about a month ago and they accepted it and PAID ME!  My first paid article... how exciting!  

I cannot post it here but you can head over to their blog and have a read... leave comments... enjoy their website and the many other lovely posts they share.  

It is such a great blog!  I am thrilled and honored to be a very tiny part of what they share with the public.  They also have two cookbooks and you can find more from  them on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.

Cookbooks Lynn Hill has published...


on Amazon... not an affiliate link


also on Amazon... not an affiliate link

April 30, 2015

A New Month... a New Plan

Tomorrow I start the Whole30 plan.  I have decided to do the Autoimmune Protocol version for those who have Autoimmune issues (Lupus is one).  It is also Lupus Awareness Month so I will be sharing some stuff on that, too.

Goals for May...

1.  Restarting the 100 Days of Change challenge and the first 30 days will be Whole30 for eating.  I am restarting an exercise program, too.  Pilates, some walking, and light weight training.

2.  Choose four areas to clean and clear... one per week, and work through clearing and purging more stuff from the house.  There will be photos.

3.  Drink 64 to 80 ounces of water per day

4.  Read at least 50 pages in a book other than the Bible every single day.

5.  Continue with BIAY Bible reading plan on YouVersion.  I have a few days to catch up but I can do that tomorrow and Saturday and then be back on track.

6.  Whole30 requires detailed meal planning and shopping and I will be reserving one day per week to cook meals ahead of time.

7.  Blog at least 3 days per week.

8.  I just joined a few book reviewer sites and will be reading and reviewing more books each month.  I am very excited about this prospect!

9.  Get herb garden and tomato and pepper garden in order for the summer.  There will be photos here, too.

10.  Photograph something every day.... no particular themes just take more pictures and share them here, Instagram or FB.

Ten is plenty!

Do you have some goals for May?

What are you working on improving in your world this coming month?

Someone had a birthday yesterday 

(Dan turned 50) 

and we celebrated with Dr. Pepper Chocolate Cake.  Thought you might like to see it.  It was so rich and yummy.  It doesn't take a very big piece to overload your sweet sensors.

Cake and frosting made with Dr. Pepper in them

This cake took me about two hours start to finish and I refrigerated it to solidify all that frosting so it would not run.

Such a yummy cake!  We will be having this one again.



April 05, 2015

A Pinterest Win.... and more....

I often find that things I find on Pinterest are hit or miss when it comes to recipes but this particular cake recipe was a complete win and is going in my permanent file.  

Thanks to the Baker Upstairs for her magnificent Fresh Strawberry Cake.  

It was a lovely way to finish our Easter meal today.  

Here are my process photos...

The cake base for the cake uses a strawberry puree.  It is a very fresh flavor!  I love using natural ingredients and making cakes from "scratch"

Putting the layers together... 
you could cut the sections in half and have four layers if you like.  
I chose not to this time out.

My kitchen is hot this time of year because we have not turned the air on yet but I frosted in layers.  I gave it a crumb coat and then chilled it.  

I gave it a second coat of frosting and then smoothed it out.

This is what was left after lunch today...

and a little different angle

It was a huge hit and I followed the instructions to the letter from The Baker Upstairs' recipe.  It is going into our permanent rotation for holidays and birthdays.  It is the perfect strawberry season cake!

A few more pictures from today....











April 06, 2012

Broke fast a day early...

I know it is day 20 but I needed to let it go.  We have too many things this weekend where I am needing to bake and cook and eat with people from church and scouts so I have no regrets...  it was a very focused and productive time and I learned a great deal about things I need to change as I move forward, both physically and spiritually.  I went 19 full days and now the transition starts to a cleaner diet long term.  I am still tracking calories on SparkPeople.com.  Although it was not done for weight loss I did lose 6 pounds in the process and gained a greater understanding of things my body needs to be stronger and healthier.  I highly recommend SparkPeople for motivation and tools to help you watch what you put into your body.  I will be back with more juice recipes from the weekend on Monday.

In the meantime, I am working on this...

Hummingbird Cake from Martha at Dave Ramsey's site.  
I have made lots over the years and this is a nice one.

Also working on these from Joy of Baking (great site)...





June 06, 2011

On a mission

I have collected a variety of cookbooks over the years but the one thing I have not collected were books on cupcakes, making specialty frostings and books on decorating those little gems.  We, daughter, youngest and I,  made a trip to Barnes & Noble today to get a free cupcake for our littlest boy for his birthday (sign up for the kids club on BN and they will send you a free treat coupon for birthdays).  While we were there I browsed the magazines and cookbooks like I always do and found these little treasures...



Cannot wait to get baking and cooking with my new recipes to try!  :)

June 02, 2011

Cake for a big boy and a little boy...

I made a graduation cake last week for a young man who used to love Batman Beyond as a little boy.  His high school colors were blue and gold and then the family asked for the logo on top and were fine that it did not match the rest of the cake.  

 At the end of making the cake I had leftover frosting and fondant left.  I knew I had a birthday coming this week so I stashed everything in the refrigerator and pulled it out today to make the second cake.  It worked beautifully!!!

Here is the second cake... I lightened the blue a little and went to work.


 MY LITTLEST LOVED IT!!!

Saved money, used up my leftovers and everyone was happy!  :)

May 30, 2011

A typical week at work...


a request from a friend to do the graduation cake for their oldest son.... colors from the school plus a logo from Batman Beyond as a personal funny for the teen.  It was a huge hit!  :)


We have a Home Meal Replacement (HMR) personal chef service and this is one of the packaged meals.  Pork tenderloin with a a cherry sauce and veggies.

 Prepping for three more big events for the week... a birthday, a graduation and a wedding

 Graduation party for a teen who is a vegetarian so we did veggie hors d'oeuvres and this lovely lemon cake with a lemon curd filling... I did the inside cake and curd and Aida (my boss) did the mascarpone frosting and decorating.  I think she loves the creative stuff so I prep and she decorates a lot.  I love working with her!

 Here is a mango/cherry chutney I made for the event.  I do most of the cold sauces and some of the more classic items when I can.  I did a beurre blanc this week, too... it was yummy!!!

 Thai Lettuce Wraps on Endive

 a lovely sweet and sour sauce for dipping with the wontons

 Mini fruit tarts with pastry cream and an apricot glaze

 Potato and Pea Samosas with that chutney I made above

 The wontons and sauce

 Espresso Chocolate Diamonds with whipped cream and raspberries

 a birthday party setup for an 80th birthday - 50 guests.  We made everything except the cake on this one



Very busy week... in addition I did some gluten free items, too and got $100.00 in tips to boot!  I worked the graduation and the birthday but not the wedding.  The birthday and wedding were at the same time so I ran the birthday event.  I loved it so much!!!  It was a great week and now, to rest.

I have some family time this week and a birthday cake for my youngest to make.

March 15, 2011

First post of 2011

You would not believe the schedule I have kept since last we spoke!!!  I am on spring break with only four weeks of culinary school left and then graduation.  I am getting ready to make a Chocolate Guinness Cake for St. Patty's Day and I have LOTS to share with you guys.  I started all those soup posts and they are saved in my draft pile and I will finish and post those sometime.  I also ran into a snag with budget and have not been keeping up with the Dorie Greenspan recipes but will be back on that by May I hope.  It requires extra ingredients and we are on the Dave Ramsey budgeting plan and often don't have that little extra for the odd ingredients needed.  I will eventually but right now I need the spending discipline.  I tend to blow budget on food and books... it is who I am.

Here is a photo of the Guinness Cake I made last year... just in case you want some foodie photos to tide you over.  I have a slew of them from work I hope to start putting up for you on a regular basis and some cool school restaurant pics, too.  Just give me some time... thanks for being patient as I finish this phase of my life and move into the professional chef phase.  You guys are a bunch of good eggs!  :)



Ingredients for the cake:
1 cup Guinness
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups superfine sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Ingredients for the topping:
8 oz Philadelphia cream cheese
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
Preheat the over to 350 F, and butter and line a 9 inch springform pan.
Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter — in spoons or slices — and heat until the butter's melted, at which time you should whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the brown, buttery, beery pan and finally whisk in the flour and baking soda.
Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake.
When the cake's cold, sit it on a flat platter or cake stand and get on with the frosting. Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sift over the confectioner's sugar and then beat them both together. Or do this in a processor, putting the unsifted confectioners' sugar in first and blitz to remove lumps before adding the cheese.
Add the cream and beat again until it makes a spreadable consistency. Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint.
Makes about 12 slices
From Feast by Nigella Lawson. Photographs by James Merrell. Copyright 2004 Nigella Lawson. Photographs Copyright 2004 by James Merrell. Published by Hyperion. All Rights Reserved.

February 26, 2010

Starters...

I got an Amish Bread starter a little over a month ago and have been really making some yummy stuff. My kitchen counter has "experiments" on it. LOL  I have two Amish starters and a sourdough starter going right now.  I started my sourdough with just water, flour and honey to make a "wild yeast" starter.  The idea behind this is that yeast from your kitchen environment gets incorporated into the starter over time.  I figured this would work since I bake bread a lot in my kitchen and I was right.  After about 3 weeks I have a great starter going now and made bread yesterday with some of it.  I stir it every day and about once a week I take some out and "feed" it some new "food"... I add a cup of flour and a cup of fresh water to feed it.  There is a site that I love to visit that has a page of starter information.  It is called TexasCooking.com and the page is Using Starters with Sourdough and Amish Friendship Bread.  The sourdough starter is actually part of the base of the Amish bread starter.

Here is my starter crockery... see the little yeasty bubbles?  That makes me SO HAPPY!!!  LOL 


My beautiful start... the first loaf from the starter.



Just so you know I don't always have perfect food I thought I would share my Sourdough Turkey with you!  LOL  It started well but went a bit nuts in the oven.

For the record... it tasted FANTASTIC!  :)

I have also been doing Amish Bread and here are a few of our favorites...



This one is made with banana cream pudding and chocolate chips.

I have also made one with vanilla pudding and pistachio pudding.  I think pistachio is my favorite so far...


 

  

The  next one I want to try is a chocolate chocolate chip.  I will get to in 8 more days!  :)

You can find more information and lots of variations here.

December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve...




We are having a church gathering tonight and this is my contribution. I made the Sticky Gingerbread recipe from the Nigella Christmas Cookbook. It is FANTASTIC!!! Here are my results with it....

















This is the US measurements version...


Sticky Gingerbread
Adapted from Nigella Christmas
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons of butter
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
3/4 cup molasses
2/3 cup packed soft dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated ginger
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 2 tablespoons warm water
1 cup whole milk
2 eggs, beaten to mix
2 cups all-purpose flour
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a roasting pan or ovenproof dish (approx. 12 x 8 x 2-inches) with aluminum foil or parchment paper (if using foil, grease it too).
In a saucepan, melt the butter over a lowish heat along with the sugar, syrup, molasses, fresh and ground gingers, cinnamon and cloves.
Take off the heat, and add the milk, eggs and dissolved baking soda in its water.
Measure the flour into a bowl and pour in the liquid ingredients, beating until well mixed. It will be a very liquid batter, so don’t worry. This is part of what makes it sticky later.
Pour it into the prepared pan and bake for 45–60 minutes until risen and firm on top. Try not to overcook, as it is nicer a little stickier, and anyway will carry on cooking as it cools.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the gingerbread cool in the pan before cutting into 20 squares, or however you wish to slice it.
Optional: Combine 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar with 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and one tablespoon of water. Then spread over the top of the cold slab of gingerbread. You can also add a light dusting of confectioners’ sugar.

This is SO YUM!!!  It is the second recipe I made from her book.  The first one was the Christmas Granola...




Also a TOTAL winner!!!

Ingredients:
8oz/225g rolled oats (not instant)
2oz/60g sunflower seeds
2oz/60g white sesame seeds
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ cup runny honey
¼ cup light brown sugar
2oz/60g whole natural almonds (did not use)
2oz/60g blanched almonds (I substituted pecans because that is what I had)
½ tsp Maldon salt or pinch of table salt
1 tbsp sunflower, rapeseed or grapeseed oil (I used canola oil here)
5oz/150g (2-2 ½ cups) dried cranberries

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 330°F/170°C.

2. Line a large shallow baking sheet (with rim) with aluminum foil

3. Mix everything except the cranberries in a large bowl. Easiest to use two spatulas to blend the sticky mixture.

4. Place the mixture on the prepared pan and spread evenly. Turn with a spatula half-way through the baking process. As Nigella says “the object is to get the granola evenly golden without toasting too much”.

5. Let it cool completely (remove the foil from the hot baking sheet) before tossing with cranberries.

Store in an airtight container.

August 01, 2009

Catching up a bit...

Back in June I got to do a few things that I thought you might like to enjoy...

I made a birthday cake for a 5 year old (my youngest)


I baked the most beautiful dinner rolls you can imagine! This was for the NYLT Boy Scout camp - I served as Quartermaster for this for the week.



I also made a scrummy little bread pudding...



We also enjoyed a banana split night for the boys... with their traditional scout cracker barrel



The Spread! :)