Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Heineken Cake


I made this cake for my husband's aunt.  They're throwing a surprise party for her boyfriend, and he LOVES Heineken beer so I made a 3D Heineken can cake. Now, after making cakes for years I've learned that people love the look of fondant on cake but not necessarily the taste. You can make some really awesome sculpted cakes but it's basically like eating sugar play dough. Most people just peel the outer layer off and eat the cake inside (plus it's crazy expensive). With that in mind, I made the cake mostly out of buttercream with a few fondant accents, that way the cake is still delicious yet artful. Drink Up!!!


I stack a few cake layers and begin to dowel the cake.
This gives it internal support for the additional layers stacked on top


add a drum board the size of your cake and stack some more

there is one center dowel through the middle to stabilize the whole cake

now I crumb ice the cake and let it rest in the fridge, this will catch all those loose crumbs

now add the second layer of icing, I tinted it gray and then sprayed it
with edible silver spray (you can get it at your craft store)

I piped buttercream tab

added the fondant


now just ready for piping


I made extra cupcakes. The last time I made a sculpted cake people didn't
 want to mess it up by cutting into it so no one ate the cake.


Done!


Sunday, November 14, 2010

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Homemade Cream Cheese Icing


Right now all of my friends are pregnant! Well at least three of them, and if you know one thing about pregnant women, you know they have CRAVINGS!!! When my friend Nicole was pregnant she had to have my pumpkin cheesecake with maple pecan glaze. And who would blame her, it's amazing and you really only get it around this time of year. But now my friend Ciji is pregnant and a new pumpkin related craving has emerged. She is craving a pumpkin cupcake. She went to a local custom bakery and was told that for a specialty flavor she would have to order at least 2 dozen at around $2.50 a cupcake and they were not even going to let her taste it before she dropped the $60.00 to know if it was worth that amount change just to satisfy her craving. Lucky for her she has friend who loves to bake and can do it on a budget!!! Most people have a pumpkin bread or pumpkin muffin recipe, but the batter for breads/muffins is very dense and a very different texture from a light fluffy cake. Once again I scoured the web for a recipe, and I have to thank Betty Crocker because it's thier original recipe,  I just tweaked it a little, left a few ingredients out (and I just used the box mix brand I had on hand, sorry Betty). So here's an easy fix for your pumpkin craving even if you're not a baker.

Pumpkin Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumkin pie mix)
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup oil
4 eggs
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Directions
mix all ingredients in a mixer on medium speed for about 3 minutes. I use a med scoop to divide batter into cupcake pans, this gives you nice even cupcakes that bake evenly so you don't end up with one over flowing and one that is barely two bites. bake at 350 degree oven for 17-20 min. Top with cream cheese frosting recipe below.





see, equal batter makes nice and even cupcakes

Just a little extra sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice on top and you're done!
Enjoy Ciji, you're my girl!


Thursday, November 11, 2010

Cream of Potato Soup

 
For this house fall and winter mean homemade soup time. You name it, chili, chicken and dumplings, but most of all home made cream of potato soup. So I'm sharing with you my personal recipe passed down to me from my mother-in-law because it was my hubby's favorite growing up.  He likes his plain, but I jazz mine up like a loaded baked potato. Anyway you serve it, it's guaranteed to satisfy!
Ingredients
4 tbsp butter
2 stalks of celery chopped
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 medium white onion chopped fine
1 tsp give or take garlic salt
1 tsp onion powder
1-2 tsp dried parsley
8-10 medium red skinned potatoes cubed (I don't peel mine, I just call it "rustic style")
2 cups of milk (and a few tbsp of cream/half & half really makes it)
salt and pepper to taste, I use seasoning salt too.

Directions
saute celery and onions in butter until soft. add potatoes, fill the pot with just enough water to cover the potatoes. I don't drain any water so I don't loose all the delicious onion and celery flavor I just continue to season it. Add the garlic salt, onion powder, parsley, salt and pepper (don't forget that potatoes soak up a lot of salt so be generous with it), seasoning salt. bring to a boil until potatoes are fork tender 10-15 minutes. I smash a few potatoes against the side with a spoon, it helps to thicken and add texture to the soup.when the potatoes are soft enough, add the milk and cream. add more salt and pepper at this point if needed and stir over medium/low heat until thickened. (if your soup needs a bit of help you can mix a tbsp of corn starch with 1/4 cup of milk/half and half and stir into soup). top with cheese, sour cream, and bacon bits and scallions if you like or just eat it plain with grilled cheese sandwich, enjoy!


saute veggies

add garlic and spices

add potatoes and barely cover with water


I topped mine with fresh cracked pepper, cheese, sour cream, and bacon, Mmmmmm!

Grilled ham and cheese, with fresh tomato on sour dough bread

delish!!!!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Chunky Apple Cake with Butterscotch glaze


Addictive! That's one of many words I can use to describe this cake. I have TONS of cookbooks and magazines lying around, I pulled this one from A Taste of Home magazine and have been making the cake for about three years now with rave reviews. This year I went looking for the recipe and GASP, the magazine was no where to be found. So I franticly searched the website for apple cake recipes, and after sorting through what seemed like a million versions of apple cakes, I found the beloved recipe. I love it because my family always used to go apple picking every Fall. We would make everything from apple crisp to apple butter and still have apples left over, so it's just a feel good recipe for me. This cake starts with lots of tart apple chunks (so it's basically healthy right???) and a little bit of batter that expands around the apples as it bakes. It just smells like fall when it's in the oven! Then you pour the most delectable homemade butterscotch sauce over the top, GLORIOUS!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon Spice Islands®, All Natural, No Corn Syrup Added, Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 6 cups chopped peeled tart apples

  • BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE:
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter, cubed
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

  • In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well (batter will be stiff). Stir in apples until well combined.
  • Spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until top is lightly browned and springs back when lightly touched. Cool for 30 minutes before serving.
  • Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine brown sugar and butter. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted. Gradually add cream. Bring to a slow boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Serve with cake. Yield: 12-14 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 piece) equals 365 calories, 14 g fat (8 g saturated fat), 68 mg cholesterol, 244 mg sodium, 59 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 3 g protein.
Chunky Apple Cake published in Taste of Home August/September 2006, p27



Cream Butter and Sugar, then add eggs
add the flour mixture a little at a time


The batter is very stiff

a total of 6 cups of tart Granny Smith apples, Mmmmm!

see I told you mostly apples = healthy (never mind that it's covered in a sugary sauce)



I poke holes so the sauce can soak into the cake.
I do this instead of seving the sauce on the side like the recipe does, it's just easier


Monday, November 1, 2010

Popcorn Balls with Reese's Pieces!


Sometimes I just have to satisfy my sweet tooth. Maybe it's because I worked in a bakery for years, but there are times when I literally can't help myself. This is a super easy treat that will satisfy that salty/sweet craving, I adapted it from a Paula Dean recipe that I found in one of her Holiday magazines from a few years back but you can find it online (just click here ). They are popcorn balls with Reese's Pieces. It's basically a different spin on a crispy treat. I used extra movie theater butter popcprn instead of kettle corn, and Reese's Pieces as my candy.



Melt 4 tbsp butter and 1 pkg marshmallows 30 sec at a time for a total of 2 min 

microwave popcorn, and pick out unpopped kernels

spray spatula with non stick spray

Add popcorn, mix well and let stand 5min before adding candy (so it doesn't melt)



form into balls as big or as small as you like
(wet your hands in cold water first to prevent sticking)