Posts filed under 'cakes'
Well, it must be officially summer. I’ve baked my first strawberry rhubarb pies of the season. This is an old photo, taken with an old camera phone a long time ago. I was just too tired to photograph some new ones last night, but you get the idea. Maybe next time I bake some them, I will take some better photos and replace this one.
Anyway, sometimes I just crave the rhubarb. It reminds me of my Aunt Fran and Grama Dee. They used to have it growing in their backyard in Detroit, and I remember having plenty of rhubarb desserts as a little girl. As I was strolling through the grocery store last night, I spotted these very fresh and perfect stalks of rhubarb, and knew what must be done. Especially when I saw some super sweet strawberries a little ways down the aisle. There’s nothing like a little late-night baking for me to conjure up memories of my childhood. I was just in the mood to spend a little time thinking of my Aunt and Grandma last night. So here’s to you girls! And here’s to summer! Hooray!
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Recipe from Julie Foxworthy
INGREDIENTS FOR CRUST (makes two crusts)
2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose white flour
1/4 teaspoon salt, any variety. (I prefer sea salt or kosher salt)
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 cup (16 tablespoons) very cold unsalted butter or shortening, cut into cubes. Just cut the stick once lengthwise, then four or five times across to make about ten chunks. You can also use half butter, half shortening if you like.
Approximately 8 tablespoons ice water. This water must be very cold: put some ice cubes in a bowl or measuring cup of water to keep it cold.
INGREDIENTS FOR PIE
2 - 2 1/2 cups diced fresh rhubarb
2 - 2 1/2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1 - 1 1/4 cup sugar (depending on sweetness of strawberries you can add a little less)
1/3 cup flour
cinnamon to taste
1 egg (for egg wash for top of pie crust)
RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS FOR CRUST:
I have used this recipe with much success, so I’m passing along to you. Of course I was lazy last night, and just used the refrigerated pillsbury pie crusts. 
RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILLING:
- Combine diced rhubarb, sliced strawberries, sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl until all the fruit is coated
- Pour mixture into unbaked pie shells
- Cover pies with 2nd layer of dough
- Seal edges around the pie, pinch with thumbs to make pretty pattern along the edges, or use a fork to seal
- Cut in some venting slices on the top of the pie
- Whisk egg in small bowl until slightly frothy, and brush on top of pie.
- Sprinkle top of pie with a little sugar
- Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Depending on your oven, if crusts become too dark, turn heat down to 375º halfway thru baking
Do not refrigerate fruit pies. Also, you have to let them completely cool before covering them with any kind of foil/plastic wrap, or else the top of the pies will become soggy.
Happy Summer, Enjoy!
September 16th, 2009
Happy Valentine’s Day!
The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.
This month’s challenge was super quick and easy. I kept things simple and just garnished the cake and ice cream with a strawberry, and melted caramel. This cake was DELICIOUS. I would highly recommend this is you are strapped for cash and time. With only three ingredients, it was inexpensive, but tasted ridiculously rich and decadent. YUM!!!
Enjoy the recipes below!
Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated
1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.
Dharm’s Ice Cream Recipe - Classic Vanilla Ice Cream
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Recipe comes from the Ice Cream Book by Joanna Farrow and Sara Lewis (tested modifications and notes in parentheses by Dharm)
Ingredients
1 Vanilla Pod (or substitute with vanilla extract)
300ml / ½ pint / 1 ¼ cups Semi Skimmed Milk – in the U.S. this is 2% fat (or use fresh full fat milk that is pasteurised and homogenised {as opposed to canned or powdered}). Dharm used whole milk.
4 large egg yolks
75g / 3oz / 6 tbsp caster sugar {superfine sugar can be achieved in a food processor or use regular granulated sugar}
5ml / 1 tsp corn flour {cornstarch}
300ml / ½ pint / 1 ¼ cups Double Cream (48% butter fat) {in the U.S. heavy cream is 37% fat)
{you can easily increase your cream’s fat content by heating 1/4 cup of heavy cream with 3 Tbs of butter until melted - cool to room temperature and add to the heavy cream as soon as whisk marks appear in the cream, in a slow steady stream, with the mixer on low speed. Raise speed and continue whipping the cream) or use heavy cream the difference will be in the creaminess of the ice cream.
1. Using a small knife slit the vanilla pod lengthways. Pour the milk into a heavy based saucepan, add the vanilla pod and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and leave for 15 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse
Lift the vanilla pod up. Holding it over the pan, scrape the black seeds out of the pod with a small knife so that they fall back into the milk. SET the vanilla pod aside and bring the milk back to the boil.
2. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and corn-flour in a bowl until the mixture is thick and foamy. 3. Gradually pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a gentle hear, stirring all the time
4. When the custard thickens and is smooth, pour it back into the bowl. Cool it then chill.
5. By Hand: Whip the cream until it has thickened but still falls from a spoon. Fold it into the custard and pour into a plastic tub or similar freeze-proof container. Freeze for 6 hours or until firm enough to scoop, beating it twice (during the freezing process – to get smoother ice cream or else the ice cream will be icy and coarse)
By Using and Ice Cream Maker: Stir the cream into the custard and churn the mixture until thick (follow instructions on your ice cream maker)
February 28th, 2009
Since I’ve pretty much been laid up for the last three weeks, I unfortunately didn’t have the energy to do any of my holiday baking that I love to do which has been a huge bummer for me.
But this morning, I finally felt well enough to try my hand at a recipe I spotted on tastespotting. It’s actually a recipe that is adapted by Fanny from a Nigella Lawson recipe.
I baked the cakes per Fanny’s recipe from the link above, with one change. Since we don’t have true double cream (the kind you find in the UK) here in the U.S. I did a little digging and found this recipe from Emily Luchetti at the Washington Post.
I made a batch of this, and substituted it for the double cream called for in the cake recipe. Well, I think it came out delicious! I had a ton of the fake double cream left over, so I decided to get a little creative.
The result is the tiny little cake above!
I cut the loaf cake in half (it’s not very high to begin with, but very dense) mmmmm! Then I cut out little circles with some bisquit cutters. I layered the chocolate cake with the cream, and then topped it with a dusting of cocoa powder, some melted bittersweet chocolate, and a pecan.
The perfect bite of chocolate cake, with a festive Christmas tree backdrop. It really doesn’t get more comforting than that.
Enjoy!
January 3rd, 2009
I love baking up cute things for my niece and nephew’s birthdays. This past weekend was no exception. My niece, Heather, and her brother, Christian, celebrated their 9 and 10th birthdays this past weekend. They LOVE dogs, so I decided that these super cute pupcakes (from the book “Hello Cupcake!”) were definitely in order.
My only thought, was that it would have made things a whole lot easier to actually use a real piping bag with real decorating tip. The instructions in the book call for Ziplocs for everything…but I found them really difficult to use. But at the end of the day, they still came out pretty cute.
In fact, my six year old nephew jack, was so impressed that he shyly asked if he could take “the whole box of puppies home”…I asked him what price he would pay…and after a full couple minutes of deep thought, he answered…”twenty dollars.” I told him a kiss on the cheek and a hug would be payment enough. He seemed happy with that.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTIAN AND HEATHER!!!
September 29th, 2008
Yesterday, my 3 nephews (kyle-14, nathan-11, and jack-6) and my dad, all had their birthday party in a beautiful park in Linden, MI.
The boys had put in a request for me to bake some special cakes for them. In particular Darth Maul (from Star Wars), and a “Dark Knight” themed cake from the new Batman movie.
So Friday, I took the day off of work and just spent the day bakin’ it up!
My fiance, Christopher, (a Star Wars illustrator), came in very handy when it came time to do the serious decorating. His skills with a paintbrush and an exacto knife were amazing.
Take a look for yourself! They were a HUGE hit with the boys, and everyone at the party. YAY.
Check out the whole set off pics on my flickr here.
August 17th, 2008
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