Teddy Bear Argyle Cake

This is the cake I made for my sister-in-law's baby shower, featured HERE.

The cake was my old standby - Martha's One Bowl Chocolate Cake/Cupcake recipe. It's the best. I made two 12 inch cakes, and put my classic swiss meringue buttercream icing in between and for the crumb layer. The cake is super moist and chocolately - dense, but not heavy. The buttercream complements it perfectly.

The bear was also made with the same cake batter. I've never used one of those molded 3D cake pans before but it was really easy.

For the fondant I made my homemade fondant from the usual recipe from the Food Network. I made two whole batches, and only used about one and a half. 

The argyle was just diamonds cut with a rotary cutter - after I had colored the fondant using gel food coloring. I probably should have measured them and pulled out my skills from high school geometry, but I just eyeballed it :)

Once the argyle was in place, I painted each diamond with pearl dust mixed with vodka. Not sure if you can see the shimmer...

For the "stitches" I just made a small batch of royal icing and piped it with a #2 round tip. I obviously didn't use a ruler!

The bear cake was piped in chocolate buttercream icing using a small star tip. The pads on his hands and feet were piped with royal icing, as were his eyes. His brown pupils are the underside of mini chocolate chips, and his nose is a regular chocolate chip.

Love the end result!

My sister-in-law, Alison, a cake and cupcake baker herself, really loved the cake - and of course it was delicious also!

Once the cake was cut, our young cousin, Holly, requested the bear for her plate. I think she liked it :)

She ate a pretty large portion of that bear all by herself!

The cupcakes to accompany the cake were vanilla buttercream cupcakes from Martha's Cupcake book.

Simply decorated with a swirl of chocolate buttercream (same as the bear) and a fondant cutout placed on top.

Another successful day of baking!

Basil Orange Chicken

Back to real time blogging, this was dinner last night. Basil Orange Chicken. I found the recipe in the May 2010 edition of Good Housekeeping magazine.

Basil Orange Chicken

Serves 4

1 large navel orange

2 lemons

1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (1 1/2 lbs)

1/2 tsp sugar

1 cup whole wheat couscous

8 oz stringless sugar snap peas

Grilled orange slices for garnish

1. From orange, grate 1 1/2 teaspoons peel and squeeze 4 tablespoons juice. From lemons, grate 1 1/2 teaspoons peel and squeeze 1/3 cup juice.

2. In medium bowl, combine 1 teaspoon of each peel and 1 tablespoon orange juice with half of basil, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.

3. With flat side of meat mallet, pound chicken breasts (placed between 2 sheets of plastic wrap) to an even 1/2 inch thickness. Add chicken to citrus mixture, turning to coat,  set aside.

4. In a small pitcher or bowl, combine sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and remaining citrus peels, citrus juices, basil and oil; set aside. (Can be made to this point up to 8 hours ahead. Cover chicken and citrus sauce and refrigerate.)

5. Preheat large ridged grill pan or prepare outdoor grill for direct grilling on medium-high.

6. Meanwhile, prepare couscous as label directs. In 4 qt saucepan filled with 1/2 inch water, place a vegetable steamer. Heat to boiling on high.

7. Add chicken to hot grill pan or place on hot grill grate, cook 4 minutes. Turn chicken over and cook 3 to 4 minutes longer until no longer pink in center. 

8. While chicken is cooking on second side, add snap peas to steamer; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until tender-crisp. Fluff couscous and spoon onto larger platter; top with chicken and snap peas. Drizzle sauce over all. Garnish with citrus slices.

Each serving: about 400 calories, 46g protein, 33g carbohydrates, 9g total fat (1g saturated), 6g fiber, 99mg cholesterol, 365mg sodium.

Chicken and orange slices on the grill pan - first side.

Chicken and orange slices on the second side.

Citrus sauce

Final product

Very delicious. We didn't marinate this for hours - just the time it took to put everything else together. I think the meat would have been a lot more orange-flavored had we let it sit for several hours.

Great meal though, and pretty quick to make. Looking forward to my leftovers today for lunch!

Banana Caramel Cake

I mentioned this cake in my Thanksgiving 2010 post I wrote just yesterday.

As cakes go, this was pretty simple. Although, there are a lot of components that all should be made in the same day. I made the cake the day before Thanksgiving and kept it in the fridge until two hours before serving and it was a hit. 

The recipe is from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, page 157. 

It's a really long recipe that I really don't want to type up, so you can find the recipe HERE.

Following the recipe you will also find the recipes for the Mascarpone Frosting and the homemade Caramel sauce. 

The frosting is as simple as turning on your mixer. The caramel takes a little more patience and attention, but it's certainly not brain surgery.

I felt like the recipe made a LOT of caramel sauce. I never like to use only part of an ingredient. After all, if Martha wanted less caramel on the cake, she would have told us to make less caramel sauce, no? So I poured the whole bowlful on top. A bit messy, but it looked like it would taste good.

I always like when my cakes end up looking like the photo in the book, and this one certainly did!

As I mentioned, I don't really like the bananas. But Jim and the rest of the banana lovers at Thanksgiving thoroughly enjoyed it. Highly recommended for your next party!

Thanksgiving 2010

Continuing the 2010 catch-up, today's post is a recap of Thanksgiving.

Only the second time I've ever hosted turkey day, but the first time for Jim's family. I was certainly a lot less stressed about it than I usually am for Christmas - mostly because I felt comfortable with cooking all of the the Thanksgiving "regulars" and wasn't planning on anything new or fancy like I usually plan on for Christmas.

We were having 11 for dinner, and another 7 for dessert, and I was determined to get everyone at one table.

We have a large and oddly laid out kitchen, so were able to bring in our large outdoor table inside, as well as a smaller table on the end to make one super long table. It worked out great! Even had a tablecloth long enough!

The Menu:

Roasted Turkey

Homemade stuffing (inside the bird)

Homemade stuffing with sausage and sage (outside the bird)

Three kinds of mashed potatoes: plain, sweet, and garlic smashed red

Cranberry relish

Green beans

Corn

Corn muffins

Desserts:

Apple Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Maple Cupcakes

Banana Caramel Cake

Cream Puffs

As usual I worked on the floral centerpieces myself also.

Didn't get a shot of the turkey but he was perfect. Crispy skin, and juicy inside.

The mashed potatoes were so easy! I made them all from scratch in the morning - 3 different batches - and then just kept them warm in my fancy crock pot trio.

Plain mashed, mashed sweet potatoes (just butter, salt and pepper), and then garlic smashed red potatoes.

Whipped up a quick batch of corn muffins in the morning - they were a hit!

I never liked corn muffins until I made these from Martha this year. Recipe found HERE.

Too busy eating to take photos of the rest of dinner...

Desserts were yummy as usual.

Apple Pie made by my mother-in-law the day before. Classic recipe from Martha's Baking Handbook.

Pumpkin Pie also from Martha's baking handbook. I tried to get fancy with a twisted rope crust, but it was entirely too big and fell into the shell a bit when I was blind baking it. This meant a little less room for pumpkin filling, but apparently it still tasted good.

My fancy and new dessert for the occasion was a banana caramel cake. I didn't try it because I really don't like bananas, but everyone else seemed to enjoy it.

I think I'll post about this recipe tomorrow...

Then I also made maple cupcakes. Mostly for my pregnant sister-in-law who had a few the last time I made them and fell in love. They really are delicious.

Our aunt brought cream puffs that were equally delicious. You can't have just one!

Our first Thanksgiving hosted as Mr. and Mrs. was a success! We even saw a little snow fall that afternoon...

Hello, 2011! But first, a look back on 2010...

I'm back! No real excuse for the hiatus, so I'm going to do a few posts of some older topics, and eventually get caught up to our current plans and projects of 2011. I finally have a snowy weekend of nothing planned to get organized and caught up on some much needed blogging.

So here's a look at a spice cake I made for Halloween... 

Looks tasty, right?

It's actually a cake made from a cupcake recipe from Martha's Cupcake Book. It's Mrs. Kostyra's Spiced Cupcake recipe. Only problem was that because it was a cupcake recipe, it obviously needed more time in the oven. So I kept checking it, and adding another 10 minutes. Checked it again; needed another 10 minutes. This went on for almost an hour, and apparently the last 10 minutes was about 9 minutes too long. 

This cake was so dry it was almost inedible. Unless you got a bite with some icing. That moistened it up a bit. But more often than not, taking a bite of this cake was like trying to eat 5 saltine crackers at once. Impossible.

Oh well, the flavors were great, so I'm sure the cupcakes are delicious. And my quick attempt at a spiderweb wasn't a total disaster (the spider is a little rough).

Overall though, it was a nice idea for a cold Halloween evening. One that I may try again this year, but keeping a better eye on the oven time.

Happy belated Halloween!

Greek Couscous with Chicken & Feta

I'm back on track with planning ahead, making menus, and cooking what I plan for dinner. Our hectic lives forced us to spend less time on dinner each night and I just hate that.

So I went to my trusty pile of recipes I've ripped from the pages of the countless magazines I am given, and found some great new recipes to try. 

This one was quick, easy, and absolutely delicious! I'll definitely be making this one again!

Greek Couscous with Chicken & Feta.

(courtesy of Family Circle - Sept 2010)

Makes: 6 servings

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 18 mins

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

3/4 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous

1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

6 oz green beans, trimmed and halved

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken breast (I just took all the meat from one cooked chicken)

3 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped

1/2 cup crumbled reduced-fat feta

1/3 up kalamata olives, halved (I omitted these because I hate olives)

2 tbsp lemon juice

1. Heat oil in a medium nonstick saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook garlic 30 seconds, then stir in onion, oregano and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook 4 minutes.

2. Stir in couscous and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken broth and 1 cup water to pot and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, for 12 minutes or until water is absorbed. Add green beans to pot for last 5 minutes of cooking.

3. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, chicken, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, feta, olives, and lemon juice and serve immediately.

Per serving:

280 calories

6g fat (2g saturated)

16g protein

42g carbohydrate

6g fiber

968mg sodium

19mg cholesterol 

I sprinkled a little extra feta on each dish to garnish. 

DELICIOUS! Light, easy, healthy, and quick to make. Try it tonight!

Patrick's 13th Birthday dinner

Jim's (and my) cousin Patrick is also his godson. He turned the big 1-3 this weekend, and we volunteered to host the family birthday dinner at our house on Sunday.

Didn't get any photos of the main course, but the spread was delicious:

Mozzarella and Prosciutto Chicken on the grill

Prosciutto wrapped beef on the grill

Steamed veggies

Baked potatoes

Cheesy garlic bread

Chicken tenders for the kids, or the kids at heart :)

Dessert was simple:

Chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream icing

Vanilla cupcake cones with chocolate icing and magic shell chocolate sauce

My sister-in-law got me a few great cookbooks for my birthday - one of which was this "200 Barbeque Recipes" book - so I thought I'd try some new recipes

Great stuff in there! There I found the recipe for the chicken, the beef, and the cheesy bread. All easy. All delicious. The book does not come with my husband though - griller extraordinaire!

For the chicken, it said thighs but I used breasts. Pound them until somewhat thin. Season with salt and pepper. With the smooth side of the breast down, place a basil leaf or two on the breast. Then add half (they said quarter) of a bocconcini ball. Roll up the chicken, and wrap in a slice of prosciutto. Skewer it to keep it together, and grill until cooked through.

For the beef, it called for two eye round roasts (about 1 1/2 lbs each). Then make a rub with olive oil, lemon zest, fresh chopped thyme, salt, and freshly ground pepper. Rub all over the two cuts of beef. Then wrap the beef in about 6 slices of prosciutto each, and secure with bakers twine. Roast on indirect heat for 25 minutes, then wrap in a double layer of foil and rest until cooked to perfection - about 20 more minutes.

Cheesy bread was great. One small french loaf. Cut into about 20 slices, but not all the way through the bottom crust. Mix olive oil, crushed garlic and chopped fresh thyme and set aside. Then slice about 4oz of mozzarella thinly, and insert a slice in between each slice of bread. Then brush the entire olive oil mixture all over the bread. Wrap loosely in foil and grill on indirect heat for 5-10 mins until the cheese has melted.

For dessert...I used the old standby. Martha's One Bowl Chocolate Cake recipe. This time I used her chocolate version of the Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Why had I never tried this before?? It was TO DIE FOR! I guess I fell in love with the chocolate cake and original buttercream so long ago, that I never even considered making the chocolate buttercream. But Patrick likes chocolate cake so I thought I'd make it. YUM!

Just some large sprinkles around the edge and a quick royal icing to pipe. A little too runny, but oh well.

Martha's recipe recommends two 8" rounds when making this for a layer cake, but I think I am more comfortable with the 9" rounds. Makes for more manageable slices, and there is certainly enough buttercream to cover the larger cake. Even 10" would be fine.

For the cupcakes, this was a collaboration between my sister-in-law (check out her blog) and I. She made the cupcakes - but baked them right inside the ice cream cones. Yummy already, right? She used a light and airy vanilla recipe from Magnolia Bakery. Then she brought them over to my house, where we topped each one with real chocolate ice cream. We immediately doused them in magic shell chocolate sauce and sprinkles. YUM! Then we popped them in the freezer until ready to serve.

LESSON LEARNED: Make room in the freezer ahead of time AND put the cones in some kind of container that will keep them upright in the freezer. You can probably guess that we did not do the above steps - hence the "lesson learned". And that's why you can see choclately fingerprints all over the cones in the photos. Oh well. They were DELICIOUS!

Happy 13th Birthday, Patrick!

Father's Day Dinner - Dessert Recipes

As promised, here are the recipes from the three desserts I made on Sunday for Father's Day Dinner.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.

This recipe is straight from The Joy of Cooking - page 876. If you read it from the book there's a lot more explanation on how to bake covered fruit pies, etc - and variations of the pie. But I'll just list it the way I make it.

The crust I use is the same crust I always use. A pate brisee (deluxe butter flaky pastry dough) that I make in the food processor. Yep - you read that right - the food processor. All those years of trying to make the perfect pastry at the speed of light so as not to melt the butter with my warm hands...and all I had to do was stick it in the food processor?? It's so easy! Thank you Ina (Barefoot Contessa) - she taught me that trick a few years ago and I have never looked back. Simply put the flour, sugar and salt in the food processor. Add your chunked up cold butter, and pulse until you get those pea-sized pieces. Then add the shortening and pulse a tiny amount to work it in. Then drizzle in your cold water while pulsing, until it just starts to come together. The second it makes a ball inside the food processor - stop, and remove it. No kneading. Just divide the dough in two, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate until you are ready to use it. SO EASY.

Anyway, back to the recipe:

Make your pastry crust and after it has been refrigerated, roll one of the halves into a 13 inch round, fit it into a 9 inch pie dish, and trim the overhanging dough to 3/4 inch all around. Refrigerate. Roll the other half into a 12-inch round for the top crust and refrigerate it.

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Without peeling, cut into 1-inch lengths: 1 pound of rhubarb stalks.

Measure 2 1/2 cups and put into a bowl.

Hull, and halve lengthwise 2 1/2 cups strawberries and add to the bowl of chopped rhubarb.

Add 1 1/2 cups sugar, and 1/4 cups quick-cooking tapioca.

Add 1/4 tsp salt.

Let stand for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour into the bottom crust and dot with 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces. 

(I almost always forget the butter, and the pie turns out great - so I would call this step "optional") :)

Brush the overhanging edge of the bottom crust with cold water. Cover with the top crust, then seal the edge, trim, and crimp. Cut steam vents in the top. Lightly brush the top of the pie with milk or cream. Sprinkle with 2 tsp sugar. 

Bake the pie for 30 mins. Slip a baking sheet beneath it, reduce the oven temp to 350 degrees, and back until thick juices bubble through the vents, 25 to 35 minutes more. Let cool completely on a rack before serving. This pie is best eaten the day it is baked, but can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 day.

**I recommend serving with vanilla bean ice cream**

Shoo-fly Pie.

Strange way this recipe came about. The ladies in my family have a few recipes in our arsenal that use Lyle's Golden Syrup. If you've never heard of it - it's English. Kind of like corn syrup but incredibly sweet - I'm not really sure how to describe it. Anyway, it's somewhat hard to find, and when I do find it, I stockpile it for use in recipes whose appearances are rationed. Anyway, a few years ago when my parents first started looking to move to South Carolina, my mom found this:

King Syrup. Thinking that it might be a great and amazingly cheap alternative to our imported Lyles, we gave it a try in a favorite recipe. WRONG. Totally not the same - not even close. Then of course, we had to find something to use it in (it apparently only comes in 1qt bottles).

**I thought King syrup was only available in South Carolina, but when we moved to our house in the Philly 'burbs, I found it in a local Giant. So take a look in your grocery store - they may carry it.**

Enter,the internet! I googled "recipes with king syrup" and found this shoo-fly pie recipe. Amazingly simple and utterly delicious. I adjusted the cooking time on it, because I prefer my shoo-fly pie to be a little more solid in the center than not - but you can adjust your cooking time accordingly if you prefer your pie a different way.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 heaping tbsp shortening

1 cup King syrup

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup boiling water

1 beaten egg

Dough for single pie shell.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix flour, brown sugar, and shortening into crumbs. Split the crumb mixture in half. Set one half aside for later.

Pour the King syrup into the other half of the crumb mixture. Mix the baking soda in the boiling water. When this fizzes, pour on top of the king syrup/crumb mixture. (If the baking soda/water doesn't fizz, either the water wasn't hot enough or your baking soda is bad.) Add 1 beaten egg. Mix with a fork.

Pour in unbaked pie shell, and top with the remaining half of the crumb mix.

Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Without opening the oven door, turn the oven down to 350 degrees. Bake an additional 30 - 40 minutes.

Old Fashioned Berry Layer Cake

This one is Martha's. From the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook, page 154. Also on the front cover :)

You can assemble this showstopping dessert up to eight hours ahead of serving; leave off the last layer of cream and fruit, and refrigerate along with the partially assembled cake. Just before serving, top the cake with the remaining cream and berries, and garnish with the mint leaves. If you can't find beautiful small strawberries, halve or quarter larger ones.

Unsalted butter, for pans

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

6 large whole eggs, plus 4 large egg yolks, all at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 quart (4 cups) heavy cream

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (optional)

1 pint small strawberries, hulled

1/2 pint blackberries

1/2 pint raspberries

1/2 pint golden raspberries

1/2 pint blueberries

Fresh mint leaves, for garnish (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9 by 2 inch round cake pans, set aside.

In a large bowl sift together flour and cornstarch, set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment combine the whole eggs, egg yolks, granulated sugar, salt and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat on high speed until thick and pale (it should hold a ribbon like trail on the surface when the whisk is raised), about 5 minutes; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add flour mixture to the egg mixture. With mixer on low speed, beat until just combined. Add oil in a steady stream, mixing until just combined. Remove bowl from mixer. Using the whisk, fold mixture several times.

Divide the batter between pans, and smooth with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the cakes are springy to the touch and a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Immediately invert cakes onto a wire rack. Then re-invert cakes and let them cool completely with the top sides up.

In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attached combine cream, confectioners' sugar and remaining teaspoon vanilla extract. Scrape in the vanilla seeds, if using. Starting on low speed and gradually increasing to medium-high, whip until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.

Using a serrated knife, trim the tops of the cakes to make level. Slice each cake in half horizontally into two layers. Place one of the bottom layers on a serving plate. Spread a quarter of the whipped cream over the layer; arrange a quarter of the mixed berries on top. Repeat with remaining cake layers, cream and berries. Garnish top with mint leaves, if using. Serve immediately; slice with a serrated knife.