Strawberries with Ginger Shortcake

Strawberries with Ginger Shortcake


Ingredients:

• 4 cups fresh strawberries
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 cups all purpose flour; sifted
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter; chilled
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 large egg white

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Cut the berries in quarters and put in a medium sauce pan with sugar and lemon juice.  Cook the berries over medium-low heat until tender. (About 7 min) Remove from heat and set aside.
• Combine flour, baking powder, ginger & salt in a food processor and pulse 3 times. 
• Add the butter pieces and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.
• Place mixture in a large mixing bowl and add milk.
• Stir with a wooden spoon until just moist.
• Press dough into a 7 in circle and cut into wedges.
• Brush the wedges with the egg white and bake for 15-20 min or until golden brown.
• To serve, slice a wedge in half and sandwich warm berries in between the sliced wedge.  Top with fresh whipped cream and enjoy! 

This is a very tasty treat to go along with our seasonal change where the sun is showing it's face more.  My boyfriend has pointed out that the shortcake biscuit is great on it's own with his morning coffee!  Happy eating! 

Twice Baked Potatoes

These yummy piles of starch, cheese and bacon I brought to a family function.  The entire 9x13 dish was gobbled so I assume they were enjoyed.  I tried to make them semi healthy by replacing the cream (heavy, sour or whatever one uses typically in potato) with plain yogurt.  To boost the flavor I added some red onion and a hint of horseradish and the result was somewhere in the middle of  "indulgent side dish" and "it's not terrible for you".

Twice Baked Potato

Ingredients:

• 7-10 small to medium baking potatoes
• 1/2 bacon; cooked and chopped
• 1/4 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese; shredded
• 1/2 of a medium red onion; chopped
• 1 6oz container of plain yogurt
• 1-2 tablespoons horseradish (to your taste level)
• 2 table spoons olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Scrub your potatoes with a vegetable brush.  Slice each potato in half along the length and place face down on a large baking sheet.  Poke each potato 2 or 3 times with a fork and drizzle them with the olive oil.  Coat the skins in salt & pepper to taste.
• Bake the potatoes 45 -55 min and then remove from oven and allow to cool enough to handle.
• Scoop out the potatoes from their skins and place in a medium mixing bowl. (Leave just enough potato on the skin to keep the skin sturdy.)
• Mix the horseradish into the cup of yogurt until well blended and then mix the horseradish yogurt into the potato bowl.  Fold in the red onion.  Salt & pepper the potatoes to taste.
• Scoop the potato mixture back into their skins and cover the tops with the sharp cheddar and bacon.
• An hour before you want them served preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake them for 45 min or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned. (I know the ones in my picture aren't browned at all but I had to remove them a little early so I could finish baking them off at the actual party!)

Spinach and Roasted Tomato Quiche

After rolling around in butter and sugar for the majority of last week making the cake I decided I wanted to make savory food with healthy bright colors.







Spinach & Roasted Tomato Quiche
Ingredients:

• 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes; roasted
• 1 10oz. package frozen spinach (or equivalent fresh spinach balanced)
• 1-2 cloves of garlic; pressed
• 1/4 cup feta crumbles
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
• 6 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 recipe for a 9inch pie crust or puff pastry

Directions:

• To roast the tomatoes; preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Slice 1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes in half. Combine 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and 1 pint tomato into a mixing bowl and toss together. Spread tomatoes out on a shallow baking sheet and cook on top rack for 15-20 min until caramelized.  
• When the tomatoes are done remove them from the oven and allow them to cool.  Reduce the oven temp to 375 degrees F.
• In a large mixing bowl mix together the eggs, heavy cream, salt & pepper until foamy using a hand mixer on low speed. Set aside
• Mix the prepared spinach, roasted tomatoes, feta and garlic into the bottom of a prepared pie dish with  your crust of choice.  
• Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and top with shredded mozzarella cheese.
• Bake for 35-45 min or until the egg is set in the middle. 

The Pretty Princess Cake Part 2

The birthday cake was a huge success!  The little girl was very excited and all the adults were very impressed which made it well worth the 15+ hours it took to get everything just right!


For the structure of the cake I used the Wilton Castle Set.

The bottom tier is a 10 inch a coconut cake with a whipped coconut custard filling and a vanilla buttercream  frosting. I added some coconut rum to the frosting recipe to marry the flavor with the cake. The top tier is a kid friendly sprinkle cake with a chocolate buttercream frosting filling and a vanilla buttercream frosting on the outside.  Not only was the castle itself a hit but the cake wasn't so bad either.  Not a single piece was wasted and there were plenty of to-go plates to go around.  


For more photos of the cake and party view the album on the Facebook fan site!

  

Chocolate Whipped Buttercream Frosting

A very simple and quick buttercream frosting with chocolate.  This recipe goes very well with this kid friendly white cake.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened coca powder
• 1 cup butter; softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:

• On low speed beat the sugar, coca and butter together until well blended and then increase the speed to high and continue to beat for 3 min.
• Add the vanilla extract and cream and beat on high for an additional 3-5 min.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

This is a sweet, airy and easy buttercream frosting that is great on almost any cake!

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

• 3 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter; softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream; very cold

Directions:

• On low speed beat the confectioner's sugar and butter in a medium mixing bowl.
• Increase speed to high and beat for about 3 min.
• Add the vanilla and the cream and beat for an additional 3-5 min.  

Fun(doesn't have to come in a box)fetti cake

This is a cake I created using a traditional white cake recipe and the only thing I added were colored sprinkles to give it the fun colors kids love without the box.  I used this for my boyfriend's niece's 6th birthday cake, and I'm sure this cake will see repeat performances in future cake required gatherings.

  Funtime Sprinkle Cake:
This recipe fills 2 (9-inch) X 1.5 inch cake pans*






Ingredients: 

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter; softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 1/4 cups cake flour**
• 1tbsp + 1tsp baking powder
• 6 large egg whites (room temperature)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-2 small jars of favorite sprinkles

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large mixing bowl (this will be the batter bowl), beat butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy
• Stir together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.
• In a separate mixing bowl combine the egg whites, milk and vanilla extract.
• Beat in about 1/3 of the flour mixture into the batter bowl and then add 1/2 the milk mixture and beat until blended.
• Beat in another 1/3 of the flour mixture until blended then add the remaining milk mixture.
• Once blended add the remaining flour mixture and beat for 2 min scraping the bowl and beater often.
• Pour the batter into prepared  pans and smooth the tops.  
• Bake 25-30 min or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Cool pan in rack for 5 min, then turn out onto a rack.

The cake pictured is filled with a chocolate buttercream frosting and frosted with a vanilla buttercream frosting.  Frost and fill the cake with your preferred frosting of choice.  Since the cake itself is so versatile you can play with many different frosting flavors.

*If you are looking to fill different cake pans I use this chart as a guide to the amount of batter different pans need to fill out. allrecipes

**You can use all-purpose flour in place of cake flour and I personally use this link Joy of Baking to help me with conversions.  The leavening agents in this recipe are calculated with cake flour in mind; if you decide to use all-purpose flour I would recommend only using 2 tsp baking powder.

Princess Cake: Part 1

My boyfriend's mother asked me to make a cake for the birthday of the one and only grandchild who turned 6 this week. She purchased the Wilton Castle Cake set and asked if I would attempt to recreate the image on the box. This is the biggest baking challenge I've taken on and my fingers are crossed that it looks good.

The cake it self will be 2 tiered, the bottom cake will be a coconut cake and the top cake a traditional white cake filled with sprinkles. (a homemade take on certain box brand) The kit comes with some towers, windows and doors to make the cake look like a castle.

Tonight after work I spent several hours after work making 300 forget-me-nots out of fondant icing, they came out very much like snowflakes as in no one is the same. (this was not intentional)

The recipe I used to make my fondant is bits and pieces of recipes I've read online through various recipe hosting sites. I prefer the texture to this recipe the best so far but I'm so new to this I'm sure I'll adjust it even further.

Fondant

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp unflavored gelatin (or one envelope pre-packaged)
• ¼ cup cold water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (or extract of choice for flavor)
• ½ cup of light (clear) corn syrup
• 1 tbsp glycerin
• 2 lbs confectioners’ sugar
• cornstarch for dusting and rolling

Directions:

• Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water in a small bowl and let it rest for 2 min to soften.

• Place the bowl in a microwave for 30 seconds on high to dissolve the gelatin.

• Add the extract, corn syrup and glycerin and stir until the mixture is smooth and clear. If the mixture is not turning smooth and clear, microwave it for an additional 15-20 seconds and stir again.

• Sift 1 ½ lbs of the sugar into a large bowl and make a hole in the center. Pour the liquid mixture into the hole and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes sticky. (or do the entire process in a mixer with a dough hook and mix until mixture is sticky)

• Knead in as much of the remaining sugar as the mass will take. Knead the fondant to until it is a smooth and easy to work with.

• To store wrap fondant tightly in plastic wrap and store in an air tight container of some kind. It will store for a week safely (and probably longer). If it dries out, microwave for 15-20 seconds and it will be workable once again.

• I use cornstarch to cover my work surface to prevent the fondant from sticking. I find this easier than just using extra sugar, it keeps the fondant much easier to work.

To color:

Use a toothpick and add dots of color to the fondant and knead the color until it is smooth and even. Add color until it is the desired shade.

Pepper Jack Mac

The base of this recipe is from a traditional macaroni and cheese. To add some heat and contemporary flavor profiles I used a combination of pepper jack cheese and sharp white cheddar, replacing the standard cheddar the recipe called for. Play with your own cheese profiles to see what tasty, gooey goodness you can create!

Enjoy!

Pepper Jack Mac

Ingredients:

• 1 lb rotini pasta
• 1/3 cup of butter
• 1/3 cup of flour
• 5 cups of whole milk
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• pinch of nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste
• ¾ lb pepper jack cheese; shredded
• ¼ lb of sharp white cheddar cheese; shredded
• crushed Fritos

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cook pasta in a large pot with salted boiling water. Cook for 3-4 min max and drain and set aside. (you want the pasta super al dente so it doesn't over cook while its being baked)
• In a Dutch oven melt the butter over medium low heat then whisk in the flour stirring constantly for 1min making a paste, a.k.a. Roux.
• Pour in 1 cup of milk and mix until completely combined. Continue adding the milk ½-1 cup at a time until all 5 cups are blended.
• Season the milk mixture with garlic gloves (minced), nutmeg, salt and pepper and drop the bay leaves in. Increase heat slightly and bring to a simmer for about 20 min.
• Once the milk mixture is slightly thickened, remove bay leaves and melt in the cheese one handful at a time.
• Mix in all the pasta and stir until fully combined.
• Pour mixture into 9x13x2in casserole dish and cover with crushed Frito topping.
• Bake for 35-45 min until golden brown and bubbling.