Party Cake- a Daring Baker Challenge

This months DBC was hosted by Morven of Food Art and Random Thoughts. What a great choice! With all of the Dorie obsession going on, what a better way to get one more of the recipes in.

This cake recipe came together quickly and easily. My husband said that it reminded him of sponge cake and it was delicious. The next step was the buttercream. You are to cook egg whites with sugar, and then whip it, and then you add all of the butter. This made me a little nervous, but it came out great.

All in all, I loved this cake. I will definitely be making it again. Thanks Morven for choosing a great recipe! As always, go and check out the other Daring Bakers, there are over 600 members now!!

For the Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)

4 large egg whites

1 ½ cups sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream

1 cup sugar

4 large egg whites

3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing

2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable

About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut

Getting Ready

Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean

Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream

Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.Remove the bowl from the heat.Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake

Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.Spread it with one third of the preserves.Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top. Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top. The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine. The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

I have a "happy" in the mail!!

At the first of the year, Stephanie from Dispensing Happiness, put together Blogging by Mail. What you did was...filled a small package with some of your favorite things, being careful of price and size due to the high cost of everything now. You signed up, and Stephanie assigned you a person to send your package too. I sent mine to Alysa at Munchkin Mail, and Amrita from La Petite Boulangette.

I am glad that I found Amrita's blog. She is a very talented 16 year old girl, who has a wonderful life in front of her. I think that she is already on the culinary path!! Go and check her out!

First, from my package is a box of Gryphon Tea. I am a HUGE tea lover so this is perfect. I have heard of this tea, but I can't find it here.

Next, a package of clothes pins and a zebra stapler. Both of these are the cutest things that I have seen in a while. The other day, I had just told my husband how I would love to have a clothes line in the back yard, so the clothes pins are perfect..because I have none, and these will start me off. I am also always looking for something to hold my papers together, either for myself or papers to send back to school with my kids.

So, here is a great big THANK YOU to Amrita, if you were here I would hug you!! And a big Thanks to Stephanie as well for putting this together!

TWD- Caramel Flan

I have updated this at the bottom...

This weeks recipe was chosen by Steph at A Whisk and a Spoon. I have to admit that I have never made or even tasted Caramel Flan before, so I really didn't know what to expect. I like custard desserts, but I am not sure if I like this one or not. I didn't let it sit in the fridge for the full 4 hours, so I will try it again when it is completely cold.

Next weeks TWD recipe is chosen by the Lemon Tartlette herself, Leigh.

For the Caramel

1/3 cup sugar

3 tbsp water

squirt of fresh lemon juice

For the Flan

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

1-1/4 cups whole milk

3 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a roasting pan or a 9-x-13-inch baking pan with a double thickness of paper towels. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off the heat.

Put a metal 8-x-2-inch round cake pan-not a nonstick one-in the oven to heat while you prepare the caramel.

To Make the Caramel: Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice together in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Put the pan over medium-high heat and cook until the sugar becomes an amber-colored caramel, about 5 minutes-remove the pan from the heat at the first whiff of smoke.Remove the cake pan from the oven and, working with oven mitts, pour the caramel into the pan and immediately tilt the pan to spread the caramel evenly over the bottom; set the pan aside.

To Make the Flan: Bring the cream and milk just to a boil.Meanwhile, in a 2-quart glass measuring cup or in a bowl, whisk together the eggs, yolks and sugar. Whisk vigorously for a minute or two, and then stir in the vanilla. Still whisking, drizzle in about one quarter of the hot liquid-this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the hot cream and milk. Using a large spoon, skim off the bubbles and foam that you worked up.Put the caramel-lined cake pan in the roasting pan. Pour the custard into the cake pan and slide the setup into the oven. Very carefully pour enough hot water from the kettle into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. (Don't worry if this sets the cake pan afloat.) Bake the flan for about 35 minutes, or until the top puffs a bit and is golden here and there. A knife inserted into the center of the flan should come out clean.Remove the roasting pan from the oven, transfer the cake pan to a cooking rack and run a knife between the flan and the sides of the pan to loosen it.

Let the flan cool to room temperature on the rack, then loosely cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.When ready to serve, once more, run a knife between the flan and the pan. Choose a rimmed serving platter, place the platter over the cake pan, quickly flip the platter and pan over and remove the cake pan-the flan will shimmy out and the caramel sauce will coat the custard.

Yield: 6 to 8 Servings

I have tried this again this afternoon, after it has been in the fridge all night and all day today...I still don't think that I like it. I will probably not make this again. But, I am glad that I had the chance to try it. Or, I would have never known.

An Easter Tea

Risa over at The Par Tea Planner is hosting a first day of Spring Tea. I absolutely love nothing more than to get some girls together for tea. But, the first day of Spring this year is on the 20th and on a Thursday, and during the week is just hard for me to put things together, so this tea took place this past Saturday. I had a couple of girlfriends over and we had a wonderful time of conversation and just really enjoying girlie time with no interruptions.


I had wanted to take tons of pictures of my set table, but, halfway through and my batteries died and there were no more in the house..so, I had to recreate a few of the pictures.


So here is what was the menu:
Hot Orange Spice Tea, complete with sugar cubes and
Hot chocolate, with marshmallows (I had these left over from my CH entry, and they were still fresh!)

Iced Tea

Cucumber and Cream Cheese Sandwiches
Egg Salad Sandwiches

Buttermilk Scones with mock devonshire cream and lemon curd


Pound cake finger sandwiches
Individual Cheesecakes with chocolate sauce and strawberries
Chocolate covered strawberries
Individual Creme Brulees in egg shells

To finish off:
Peppermint patties
Ducks filled with pecans and caramel

Here are some pictures, and the recipes will follow:

Here are the buttermilk scones and pound cake finger sandwiches:

Buttermilk Scones from A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman

4 Cups all-purpose flour

1/2 Cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 Cups unsalted butter, cut into chunks or shredded and frozen

1 large egg

1 1/4 Cups buttermilk

Finishing Touches:

Milk or melted butter, for brushing

Sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Stack two baking sheets together and line top sheet with parchment paper. Arrange oven rack to upper third position.

Ina food processor bowl, add flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda and blend briefly. Add butter and pulse to make a coarse, grainy mixture. Turn out into a large bowl. Make a well in center; add egg and most of buttermilk and stir lightly with a fork to blend. Add remaining buttermilk if needed to make a soft shaggy dough.

Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured work surface and knead 8-10 times until mixture is just barely roll able. Pat or roll out to 1-inch thickness and cut into 3-inch wedges with a cookie cutter. To do this, cut a 4-inch circle and then cut it in half. This will give you nice wedges. Place wedges on prepared baking sheets. Brush tops with milk or melted butter and dust with sugar.

Bake until golden, about 12-15 minutes.

Pound Cake Finger Sandwiches:

Slice your favorite pound cake, such as this one

melted semi sweet chocolate

8 oz cream cheese, room temp

1/4 cup strawberry preserves

Slice pound cake to the thickness that you want, coat one side with chocolate. Let the chocolate cool so that it hardens.

Mix the cream cheese and preserves together and spread between 2 slices of pound cake, so that it is sandwiched. I then cut it into 3 pieces.

Next, creme brulees in egg shells:

I borrowed this recipe from Tartlette, so go check her out to get this recipe. The hardest part of this was trying to crack the egg so that you only broke the top off. But, other than that, it was fairly easy.


Here are the Chocolate dipped strawberries and mini cheesecakes:



Here are the little ducks and peppermint patties:


Bunny Napkins:


The Beverage Table:

And finally, these were the parting gifts:

These little purses were filled with peanut butter and caramel.

Wow, this was a long post...Hopefully, I didn't leave anything out. :)

Happy Easter!

Mississippi Mud Cupcakes

This months theme for Cupcake Hero is marshmallow. You could use marshmallows or marshmallow fluff, either in the batter, topping, or icing. This cake is my son, Blake's, favorite cake. He asks for this cake for his birthday. My one favorite thing to make is marshmallows. I make them for every occasion that I can. There is just something about sticking the white fluff in the fridge overnight, and then when you go to cut them, that they really did turn into marshmallows that makes me giddy!

This recipe normally makes a 9x13 inch cake, and you leave it in the pan, so you can pour the icing on while it is warm...I had a little trouble with that on these cupcakes. So, I waited until they cooled before I iced them.

Mississippi Mud Cupcakes:

1 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup cocoa

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 all-purpose flour

Dash of salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups chopped pecan

4 cups miniature marshmallows**

**Again, I made marshmallows and cut them into 1/2 inch squares

Chocolate Frosting:

1 (16oz.) package powdered sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup cocoa

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

Combine butter and coca in a medium saucepan. cook over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat; transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and eggs; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Add flour, salt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Stir in pecans. Spoon batter into greased 9x13 inch pan, or a cupcake pan lined with cupcake liners.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes for the cake, or about 15 minutes for cupcakes. Remove from oven and sprinkle marshmallows over hot cake, or top cupcake with marshmallows. If making the cake, immediately spread frosting over marshmallows. If making cupcakes, I would let the cupcakes and marshmallows cool before frosting.

This recipe made 2 dozen cupcakes.

To make the chocolate frosting:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; beat at medium speed until smooth, adding an additional tablespoon of milk if frosting is too stiff.

Makes 2 cups.

My day has been made!

Laurie from Quirky Cupcake awarded me with this award today. She completely made my day. Thanks Laurie for reading! After a day like today, battling these little demons (not my kids..) called the chicken pox. I am shocked that people do read my little baking blog, and I am thankful for the friends that I have made!

So, now, I am to pass this along to 10 people....Ley, Marye, Megan, Natalie, Amy, Jaime, Dorit, Erin, Caitlin, and Clara. Please pass this award on to 10 people who make your day!

We have been blessed with the chicken Pox!!!

My daughter came home from school yesterday covered in the chicken pox...now, I had them when I was in the 4th grade..a long time ago. This morning, she got up and has more on her face, legs, and on the bottom of her feet!!

Do any of you reading this, if there are any, know any little tricks to get these to go away faster? I would love to hear them if you do!

TWD-Snickery Squares

So, today is Tuesday, and if you have been visiting me for the last few weeks, you know that I am posting about this weeks edition of Tuesdays with Dorie. This weeks recipe was chosen by Erin of Dinner and Dessert. I am so glad that she chose this recipe, because it had been calling my name for the last few weeks.


This bar is really sinful! You have a shortbread crust, layered with dulce de leche (store bought or homemade) mixed with candied peanuts. And then layered with a chocolate glaze. Dulce de leche is not something that you can find just anywhere here, so I opted to make my own. I have made it before when I made millionaire shortbread tartletts. It is easy, it just takes a while to for it to cook.


I have to confess, that I skipped the part of the recipe where it said to make this in n 8x8 square pan, because, I just naturally reached for my 9x13 pan. With that said, and as you can see in the picture, mine are flat...not tall. But really, that is fine with me, because you can only eat a small bite of this dessert.


As always, go and check out the TWD chicks, we now have over 50 members and grow bigger each week!

Snickery Squares

For the Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
2 TBSP powdered sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten

For the Filling:
½ cup sugar
3 TBSP water
1 ½ cups salted peanuts
About 1 ½ cups store-bought dulce de leche

For the Topping:
7 ounces bittersweet, coarsely chopped
½ stick unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, at room temperature

Getting Ready:
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 8 inch square pan and put it on a baking sheet.

To Make the Crust:
Toss the flour, sugar, powdered sugar and salt into a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Toss in the pieces of cold butter and pulse about 12 times, until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Pour the yolk over the ingredients and pulse until the dough forms clumps and curds-stop before the dough comes together in a ball.Turn the dough into the buttered pan and gently press it evenly across the bottom of the pan. Prick the dough with a fork and slide the sheet into the oven.Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes, or until it takes on just a little color around the edges. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature before filling.

To Make the Filling:
Have a parchment or silicone mat-lined baking sheet at the ready, as well as a long-handled wooden spoon and a medium heavy bottomed saucepan.Put the sugar and water in the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Keeping the heat fairly high, continue to cook the sugar, without stirring, until it just starts to color. Toss the peanuts and immediately start stirring. Keep stirring, to coat the peanuts with sugar. Within a few minutes, they will be covered with sugar and turn white—keep stirring until the sugar turns back into caramel. When the peanuts are coated with a nice deep amber caramel, remove the pan from the heat and turn the nuts out onto the baking sheet., using the wooden spoon to spread them out as best you can. Cool the nuts to room temperature.When they are cool enough to handle, separate the nuts or break them into small pieces. Divide the nuts in half. Keep half of the nuts whole or in biggish pieces for the filling, and finely chop the other half for the topping.Spread the dulce de leche over the shortbread base and sprinkle over the whole candied nuts.

To Make the Topping:
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Remove chocolate from the heat and gently stir in the butter, stirring until it is fully blended into the chocolate.Pour the chocolate over the dulce de leche, smoothing it with a long metal icing spatula, then sprinkle over the rest of the peanuts. Slide the pan into the fridge to set the topping, about 20 minutes; if you’d like to serve the squares cold, keep them refrigerated for at least 3 hours before cutting.
Cut into 16 bars.

Tangerine Bars

Laurie from Quirky Cupcake received a box of blood oranges from Joy the Baker in the mail last week as a gift...so, Laurie made blood orange bars. She adapted the recipe from her go to lemon bar recipe, instead of lemons using the blood oranges. Now, living in Tennessee...you can NEVER find blood oranges. So, in the conversations of how good those blood orange bars must taste..the question was raised if regular oranges would work for this. I would suppose so. But then, the Lemon Tartlett suggested tangerines. I love tangerines...I hate that they have seeds, so I normally don't eat them. I had a bag of tangerines just sitting in the fridge, wondering what would become of their fate. I can tell you what happened to them, they were looked at, squished, juiced to their deaths. It is a bittersweet thing actually...more sweet than bitter!

I liked this recipe a lot. I love the crust with the gooey center...delicious! I will probably keep this recipe on hand and substitute any citrus fruit that I may have. Thanks for sharing Laurie!

Tangerine Bars

Crust:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
a pinch of salt

Toss all the ingredients into your stand mixer or food processor. Mix until combined and crumbly. Press lightly into 9 x 13-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes and cool slightly.

Filling:
4 beaten eggs
2/3 cup tangerine juice
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 C flour stirred together
Optional powdered sugar for dusting.

In the bowl of your standing mixer, blend the eggs and sugar together until smooth. Add the tangerine juice and again blend until smooth. Add the flour, mix on low-medium until incorporated. Pour the filling into the warm crust. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until the center of the bars no longer jiggles.
Cool to room temperature, or refrigerate if you like your citrus bars chilled. Gently dust with powdered sugar when about to serve.

It's a giveaway!!

My friend Megan over at Megan's cookin is having a contest to win this very cute basket! Want a chance to win it? Just hop on over and let her know that I sent ya!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

This morning I woke up hungry, and the usual bowl of cereal was just not doing it for me today. So, I decided to make these muffins. They are quick to put together and bake, so within 30 minutes, you can have hot chocolate chip muffins. Now, Abby (my daughter) does not like sweet stuff at all for breakfast...pancakes, pop tarts, Krispy Kreme doughnuts...notta....so, no surprise that she didn't like these. My boys on the other hand, LOVED them. I think that they both eat 3 a piece.

These will definitely be made again in my house. This recipe also will make 2 dozen.

Chocolate Chip Muffins:
3 1/2 all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 Cups granulated sugar
10 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 Cup milk
1 Cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 Cups chocolate chips, I used semi-sweet
3/4 Cup coarsely chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts (optional)

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin tin.

In a large bowl, soft together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, butter, milk, sour cream, eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla, until well combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and fold gently with a rubber spatula just until the dry ingredients are mostly moistened; the batter will be lumpy, and there should still be quite a few streaks of dry flour. Fold in the chocolate chips, and the nuts, if using, just until combined. don't over mix; the batter will still be lumpy.

Fill muffin cups about 3/4 of the way up to the top and bake for 20-25 minutes.