Angry Birds and Red Velvet Experiments

So for R's birthday he wanted nothing more than a little red velvet Angry Bird cake. So I took it as a chance to try out a new recipe. I have been searching for over a year now for a decent Red Velvet cake recipe and have yet to find one. It seems that no family guards much more than their great grandmother's secret recipe...so if any of you have one of those oh so secret recipes I would love for you to send it my way!

I found this recipe from http://www.carrottopmom.com/?p=290 which was a slight variation of this recipe http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/red-velvet-cupcakes-3/Detail.aspx and thought I would give it a try with a few slight variations of my own. The cake/cupcakes turned out well but had a bit too much of a chocolate flavor for a true red velvet and although they were moist straight of the oven they became a bit dry and crumbly even by the next morning. I think that substituting at least half the butter with oil may remedy this. So below is something I haven't done before. A suggestion of what I think the recipe should be (but haven't actually tried the altered version out yet myself).

Red Velvet cupcakes/cake

• 2 1/2 cups flour
  


• 1/4+ a little cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  
  


• 1 teaspoon baking soda
  


• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  


• 1/2 cup butter softened and 1/2 cup veg oil
  


• 2 1/4 cups sugar
  


• 4 eggs
  


• 1 cup sour cream
  


• 1/2 cup buttermilk (or milk with 2 teaspoons lemon juice)
  


• 1 ounce red food coloring
  


• 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract and 1 tsp ground vanilla beans (or 4 tsp extract)
  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all dry ingredients and set aside.
   


2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla. Beat batter until fluffy using a whisk attachment if possible. Spoon batter into Cupcake liners
   


3. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean . Gently remove from oven. Cool in pans on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8oz pkg cream cheese

3 tbls butter

1 tsp vanilla beans ground (or extract)

Powdered sugar (about 3 cups)

Mix butter and cream cheese until smooth

Add in powdered sugar until desired texture and flavor. If you like it more sweet add more, if you like it less sweet add less :)

GAME OVER!!!

Anything Quiche

...and here is that quiche I was talking about.

Ingredients:

Premade pie crust

6 large eggs (or 7 small)

3 tbls milk or cream

Salt and pepper

2 cloves garlic chopped fine

1 pkg shredded cheddar cheese (about 1 ½ c.)

1 pkg frozen chopped broccoli (or fresh that has been chopped and steamed)

4-8 strips cooked bacon – crumbled

½ chopped onion

1 c. chopped mushrooms

-Pre-bake pie crust for 5 min at 350

- Beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper, and garlic together

-Stir in remaining ingredients

-Pour into pie crusts. You will have remaining filling, either pour into a second crust or save for a yummy omelet

-Cover edges of crust loosely with aluminum foil

-Bake at 350 for about 25min or until toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.

Cheap Eats

So the theme for tonight was making more with less. I went to the store with the goal of getting all the food I needed for the next week for $30. I am very proud of myself for spending a total of $35.49 with 6 bags of groceries. So I decided to see what I could make with the following ingredients that were on sale or I already had in the fridge. I decided on a play of a childhood favorite, Hot dogs and Mac and cheese.

Quick Mac and Cheese Bake:

1 box Mac and cheese + ingredients listed

½ pkg ranch dressing mix

2 tbls mayonnaise

2 pieces of sliced bread

A bit of olive oil

Make according to the directions on the box. As soon as you start boiling your water, brush two pieces of sliced bread with olive oil and put in the oven or toaster oven on 250. Bake until crispy. After Mac and cheese is ready, mix in ½ pkg ranch dressing mix, 2 tbls mayonnaise, and ½ c. shredded cheese. Place in a shallow baking dish and crumble bread on top. Bake for about 10 min at 350 or until top is golden brown.

For the hotdogs, I did a quick search online and found this recipe.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Glorified-Hot-Dogs/Detail.aspx

Glorified Hot dogs:

Hot dogs

Sliced cheddar cheese

Dill pickle (sandwich stacker or whole)

1 slice bacon for each hotdog

French baguette

Salad dressing

Toothpicks

Cut hot dogs in half-length wise. Place strips of cheese and dill pickle between the two halves and wrap with bacon. Secure ends with toothpicks. Cook hotdogs in a skillet or on the grill until the bacon and hotdog are cooked through (about 3 min each side). To make them a little more fancy I also used a baguette instead of the hot dog buns and instead of mustard or ketchup I used the Greek vinaigrette dressing we had in the fridge. All in all it came out pretty well and I have more than enough left overs of the Mac and cheese for lunch tomorrow!

Cake Ball Craziness!

Last weekend turned in to cake ball craziness. I decided I wanted to try three new cake ball recipes to make a kind of Valentine's sample pack. I was hoping to try to sell them on etsy but realized I wasn't going to have time. The office got quite the treat instead.

Coconut cake bites

http://fatorfight.blogspot.com/2011/01/filling-1-cups-heavy-cream-cup.html

follow the recipe but bake the cake in one full 11x8 sheet pan, skip the syrup and make ½ the amount of icing.

Once the cake has cooled completely crumble it into a large mixing bowl taking out any crispy edges. Next mix in the icing and coconut filling mixture. This should form a moist dough. Place wax paper on a cookie sheet and begin rolling the dough into about 1 ½” balls. you can either put these in the fridge to chill for about 2 hrs or the freezer for about 15min.

Once the Balls are nice and chilled melt white candy melts, or white chocolate almond bark 30 seconds at a time. Dip each ball into the chocolate until coated and place on a sheet to harden. Because the balls are chilled the chocolate should set up fairly quickly

Chocolate Raspberry cake bites.

Follow the steps above but use the chocolate cake recipe attached and substitute the icing. For icing Boil down 1 pig fresh raspberries, 1 small jar raspberry preserves with a little bit of water. Cool and mix with ¼ can vanilla pre-made frosting. These were also dipped in milk chocolate

Strawberry Chocolate chip bites

For this I used a package of Duncan Hines Vanilla cake and substituted the water with1 ½ c. freshly pureed strawberries (frozen could also work) and added 1 extra egg. Follow the steps above but use ¾ can cream cheese icing and when you mix in the icing mix in about ¾ c. mini chocolate chips.

Coconut Cake

So for Christmas I got: new mixing bowls, an apron, new pot holders, 3 new spatulas, my grandmother's antique cake stand (with matching cover) and a real life stand mixer! I guess people do read this blog. So with M1 making a pretty new white dining room table and having my "new to me" white cake stand I thought a White Fluffy Coconut Cake would be the perfect recipe to start off the new year! I think it came out well, and I'm doing my best not to stalk the fridge for the leftovers.

Filling:
1 ¼ cups heavy cream
¾ cup granulated sugar
1/4 c. coconut milk
1 T cornstarch
1 T milk
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup shredded coconut

Frosting:
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
¼ c. unsalted butter, softened

confectioners’ sugar to taste
Remaining heavy cream

1/4 c. coconut milk

½ tsp. Vanilla extract

Syrup and Garnish:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
¼ tsp vanilla extract
½ cup shredded coconut.

Cake:

1 box Vanilla Cake mix: Make cake by following directions on box. Divide into thirds into three 9” round pans greased and floured. Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Prepare the filling:
Place the heavy cream, sugar, and coconut milk in a heavy saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer.

Stir the cornstarch and the milk together in a small bowl until there are no lumps.

Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the simmering cream until it’s smooth; cook, stirring, for 3 minutes longer.

Add the butter and shredded coconut and continue cooking, stirring, for 3 more minutes.

Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate until thickened, about 2 hours.

Bake Cake while filling is chilling

Prepare the syrup:
Place the sugar, water and vanilla in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

Boil for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally

Remove from heat and brush the top of each cake layer with the syrup using a pastry brush. (You don’t have to use all the syrup).

Prepare the icing:
Whip remaining Cream on high speed until stiff peaks form, place to the side.

Place the cream cheese and the butter in a bowl and beat with a mixer until creamy. Add the remaining icing ingredients; beat until smooth and soft. Turn off mixer and fold in whipped cream.

Assemble the cake:
Place one cake layer on a serving platter. Brush with Syrup.

Spread it with half of the filling and top with another layer of cake. Top with remaining filling and third layer of cake.

Ice the top and sides of the cake with the icing and then sprinkle the top with ½ cup shredded coconut.

Cut and enjoy!

This cake was from a recipe found on a random recipe. I originally followed their recipe for the cake portion but was sadly disappointed when the cake came out hard and flavorless. I immediately reached for a box of Duncan Hines I had hidden in the cupboard. I think that a boxed cake with homemade fillings and frosting can fool even the toughest of critics .

Original site:

http://www.newitalianrecipes.com/coconut-cake.html

Christmas gifts 2010

This year I decided to make presents. It started because of my tight budget but also because I enjoy doing it. This year I made a couple things. For my dad’s side of the family I made ornaments and garlands out of an old book my dad’s grandmother had given me years ago. The binding was broken and I thought it would be fun to share. I started by buying a circle cutter (about $15 and can be found in the scrap booking isle of your local Wal-Mart) and cutting 3” circles. I also mutilated one of my antrhopologie catalogs to give it a bit of color. I love their ads and use of color and patterns so I thought it was a good choice. After you have a stack of circles cut group them into stacks of about 4-6 circles each. Then begin to sew a strip together skipping about 2” in-between each. To make ornaments just sew one stack together. I think these came out well and slipped nicely into a card.

With the cards I included a stack of my homemade photo cards showcasing my trip to the UK this September… post to follow soon. I hope to start selling these on Etsy.

Also inside the cards was a cd with a .pdf of a book I put together of all the recipes I tried this year, with lessons learned for each. I will start posting them one at a time after the New Year, so keep checking back for updates.

On the baking front I made the white chocolate macadamia tart from thanksgiving, the spiced cake balls and homemade peppermint patties, see below

Peppermint Patties:

Ingredients

3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract

4 cups confectioners' sugar

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

2 teaspoons shortening

Directions

-In a large mixing bowl, combine condensed milk and peppermint extract.

-Beat in enough confectioners' sugar, a little at a time, to form a stiff dough that is no longer sticky.

-Form into 1 inch balls, then place on waxed paper and flatten with fingers to form patties. Let patties dry at room temperature two hours, turning once. Or put in freezer for about 15 min

-In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate with shortening, stirring often. (This also works in the microwave stirring every 30 sec.)

-Remove from heat. Dip patties, one at a time, into chocolate by laying them on the tines of a fork and lowering the fork into the liquid. Let cool on waxed paper until set. (Make sure to use fresh wax paper so you don’t get the excess sugar mixture stuck to the outside of the chocolates)

original recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peppermint-Patties/Detail.aspx

Chocolate Hazelnut Pinwheels.

These cookies are super easy and fun to make and eat. I’m not sure I would recommend making them in large quantities though. I made these as my contribution to the office cookie exchange and it took almost 6 hours to finish all 6 dozen (including two trips to the store and a few lost batches to our temperamental oven). But for 2 or so dozen these are great!

Because of the large quantities and time restraints I did kind of cheat and use the Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix. I think they still came out just fine, but keep in mind that even though it says you will get 3 dozen out of one bag of mix you will only get about half that because of the size of these cookies. If you are using mix follow the directions on the bag then skip down to the 3rd step. Also feel free to substitute another sugar cookie recipe if you have a favorite.


Chocolate Hazelnut Pinwheels

1 3/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon(s) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
1/2 cup(s) sugar
6 tablespoon(s) butter or margarine, softened
1 large egg
1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
1/4 cup(s) prepared chocolate-hazelnut spread (Nutella)

Directions:

-On a sheet of waxed paper, stir flour, baking powder, and salt. In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat sugar with butter until creamy. At low speed, beat in egg and vanilla until mixed. -Gradually beat in flour mixture just until combined.

-Divide dough in half; shape each half into a disk. Wrap each disk with plastic wrap and refrigerate about 1 hour or until firm enough to roll. (Or, place dough in freezer 30 minutes.)

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. On floured surface with floured rolling pin, roll 1 disk of dough into 10-inch by 7 1/2-inch rectangle. With pastry wheel or knife, cut rectangle lengthwise into 4 strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 3 squares. (I just rolled out the dough on my fondant matt and cut it into 3” x 3” squares) Place squares, 1 inch apart, on ungreased large cookie sheet. With knife, make 1 1/2-inch cut from each corner toward center (do not cut all the way to center). Spoon 1/2 teaspoon (or a little more if you would like) chocolate-hazelnut spread in center of each square. Fold every other tip in to center to form pinwheel. Repeat with remaining squares.

-Bake cookies 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. WATCH CAREFULLY THE ENDS WILL BURN EASILY! Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.

-Repeat with remaining dough. Store cookies in tightly covered container up to 2 weeks.

Link to original recipe
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/chocolate-hazelnut-pinwheels-1241

Thanksgiving Recipes 2010

Thanksgiving 2010.

This is the first time I have tried to crate a full thanksgiving dinner by myself. I have watched my mother and grandmother for many years and glad to say I think it turned out well. This year’s menu included

Turkey

Gravy

Mashed potatoes

Stuffing / dressing

Green bean casserole

Sweet potato casserole

Cranberry sauce

Pumpkin pie

White Chocolate Macadamia Cranberry Tart

Some of these recipes are tried and true while others I tried for the first time.

THE TURKEY

Starting with the Turkey. I was a bit skeptical about this recipe because it does have a unique blend of flavors. But after following it I will be using it for many years to come. The turkey came out so juicy!

First off a big thank you to a friend for suggesting the following! And who doesn’t love Alton Brown!

Here is a link to the original

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey (we decided to go smaller with a 10lb bird)

For the brine:

1 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 gallon vegetable stock

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries (I was unable to find allspice berries so I opted for ground allspice)

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger (I was super excited that this recipe called for candied ginger because a friend had given me some a few months before and I finally had a chance to use it… of course when you actually need something is when you cant find it so I substituted the rest of the ginger preserves I had from the carrot cake cupcakes)

1 gallon heavily iced water (because the bird was frozen we skipped the ice and stored it in the cold garage overnight)

For the aromatics:

1 red apple, sliced

1/2 onion, sliced

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup water

4 sprigs rosemary

6 leaves sage

Canola oil

Directions

2 to 3 days before roasting:

Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F. (this of course was not long enough so we ended up giving our bird a cold bath. Not to say I recommend this but desperate times call for desperate measures!)

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:

Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. (Or any suitable storage container) Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining. We ended up adding about another gallon of water for the bird to be completely covered.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. I also covered the breast with foil to avoid over browning and cooked to 65 because I was nervous to serve undercooked meat to the new mom. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

SWEET POTATOE CASSEROLE

First off, a link to the original recipe, but I will say that I did change it up a good bit

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Yummy-Sweet-Potato-Casserole/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

4 cups sweet potato, cubed

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or

3 tbls cinnamon

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup chopped pecans- roasted, buttered, salted

Directions

-Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Put sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with water to cover. Cook over medium high heat until tender; drain and mash.

-In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, salt, butter, cinnamon, milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish.

-In a large saucepan over med-high heat. Roast pecans until they become fragrant but be careful not to burn. After pecans are fully roasted add 2 tbls butter and mix until well coated. Salt well and set aside to cool completely.

-In medium bowl, mix the sugar and flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse. Stir in the pecans. Sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potato mixture.

-Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until the topping is lightly brown.

STUFFING / DRESSING

This was purely and experiment but I feel it came out pretty well.

Ingredients:

2 boxes Stove Top Stuffing mix

2 Boxes Jiffy Corn muffin mix

4 cups chicken broth

½ onion chopped

½ c. chopped celery

½ c. chopped baby carrots

3 tbls your favorite poultry seasoning

-Bring broth to a boil.

-Add veggies and seasoning and simmer for about 5 min

-In a large bowl mix dry ingredients and add in broth

-Mix well and transfer to baking dish

-Bake at 350 for 30min or until top is golden

-Bring chicken broth to a boil.

GRANDMAS PUMPKIN PIE

This recipe is one that I have been making for years. It is the only pumpkin pie I will eat, and use almost any excuse to make it.

Although you can use can pumpkin fresh really does make a difference

Cut pumpkin into pieces bake at 350 for 1 hr or about 1 cup canned pumpkin (plus a little)

1-cup sugar (some brown)

1-cup evaporated milk (Minot)

1/8 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp nutmeg

+ Some pumpkin spice if you want

1 tsp Cinnamon

2 eggs

-Mix all spices with sugar, add to pumpkin, add milk, beat in eggs, and pour in crust (I like to use the refrigerated roll out crust by Pillsbury. You will find it in a box near the cookie dough in the store)

450 for 10 min then 325 for 20-30 min, done when knife comes out clean

And last but not least, this came out very well and was super easy to make

WHITE CHOCOLATE CRANBERRY TART

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/white-chocolate-cranberry-tart-recipe.htm

INGREDIENTS

1	Refrigerated pie crust
1	Cup sugar
2	Eggs
1/4	Cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
2	Teaspoons vanilla
1/2	Cup all-purpose flour
6	Squares (1 ounce each) white chocolate, chopped
1/2	Cup chopped macadamia nuts, lightly toasted*
1/2	Cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

*Toast chopped macadamia nuts in hot skillet over medium heat about 3 minutes or until fragrant.

PREPARATION:

-Preheat oven to 350°F. Place pie crust in 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom or pie pan. (Refrigerate or freeze other crust for another use.)

-Combine sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla in large bowl; mix well. Stir in flour until well blended. Add white chocolate, nuts and cranberries.

-Pour filling into unbaked crust. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until top of tart is crusty and deep golden brown, and knife inserted into center comes out clean.

-Cool completely on wire rack.

Enjoy!