In The Kitchen: Post The First

So this week was a rough week for various reasons, and I was to the end of my rope. I didn't think I could go any further and I was sad and indisposed. After much counseling I felt much better and came to this conclusion: when one is feeling sad, one must make cake. :)
So I did.

They have on TV this show called The All American Bake-Off, and after hearing "you need to watch it!" several (hundred) times, I figured that I should. The episode that I happened upon was all about cake. The contestants had to bake several different kinds of cake, which then got tasted by the judges and in turn were deemed "worthy" or "unworthy" according to several different things that all judges like picking on (taste, consistency, presentation...all that good stuff).
The last and most difficult one for the contestants was Chiffon Cake.
Now, although I had a slight recollection of hearing the name of this cake a long time ago, I knew almost nothing about it. I was horribly ashamed and at once was determined to learn all about this cake and, if I could, was inclined to make it (doing is the best way to learn, especially when making cake).

I found that Chiffon cake was a light, airy cake, with hundreds and hundreds of little tiny holes, making it very springy and spongy: in a word, like eating extremely delicious air.
Now, although the flavor of Chiffon cake varies greatly, the original version was intended to taste like pound cake, but with all the lovely lightness of  Angel Food cake.

And after seeing most of the competitors mess up this heavenly cake, I decided that I was going to make one, and that it was going to turn out better than the ones on the TV show (yes, I had a "challenge accepted" moment). ;)

I then set out to accomplish my endeavor.

The lightness of this cake comes from many, many egg-whites whipped into a frenzy and about as stiff as you can get them. Then you must fold them in the simple batter as gently as you can or they will turn into a wet sopping mess and you will never get your cake to rise....yeah, no pressure.

Luckily, I got them all folded in without too much trouble (the trick here is to use an EXTREMELY large bowl) and the batter was in the pan and into the oven before I could worry about any of it.
Well that wasn't too hard, was it?
The cake rose to amazing heights in the oven, and before I knew it, it was time to take it out.
Once out of the oven, the cake must be turned upside-down to cool (most Chiffon/Angel Food cake pans have three little tabs around the rim to rest on when you flip the pan over).
Now came the problem. I have this habit of being impatient with cakes and things, and once something is done being baked, the hardest thing is to wait for it to cool before you get to decorate it. Unfortunately, this particular cake takes AT LEAST an hour to cool before you can even think about taking it out of its pan. A whole hour. My life was over. I couldn't even fathom waiting that long for a cake....

Luckily, I had another cake that I was working on at the same time. This one was a gluten free carrot cake, and I was kind of excited, yet also worried about it.
You see, it was Father's Day and my dad's favorite cake of all time is none other than: carrot cake.
So I was kind of going out on a limb to try this recipe that I had never treid before. But I put my best foot forward and set to work.
The method for making gluten free cakes is pretty much the same as regular cakes (as far as I can tell, not having made many myself), and soon I had the batter ready and in its pans.

Then I made the big mistake. I tasted the batter. I don't believe I have ever tasted a cake batter that was so disgusting in my entire life. I was horrified! How was I supposed to give this to my dad, the king of carrot cake, for Father's day?
I just sighed and put them in the oven to see what would happen.
After some time I took them out of the oven and felt the top of one. It felt like most any cake would. I was surprised and was impatient to see what they would feel like once I turned them out of their pans, but I had to wait for them to cool. Luckily, they didn't take much time at all.

I turned them out and frosted them with some buttercream that I had ready, and then tasted a bit of the crumbs that had been left behind. It tasted just like regular carrot cake! The texture was almost the same and all the flavor was there. I don't have to tell you that I was most pleasantly surprised.

So, happy that one cake seemed to turn out fine, and it being all frosted and ready, I at once turned to my Chiffon cake and wanted to finish that as well. Only, it hadn't cooled long enough yet. I was very, VERY, upset. So I made my second mistake of the day: I took the cake out anyway.

It was perfect. All light and perfectly golden brown....I was a very happy girl.
I turned it onto a pretty cake dish, and spread some of the raspberry sauce that I had made earlier (just cook some fresh/frozen raspberries in a small pot with some sugar and lemon juice until reduced by half) over the top. I didn't like the look of it however, so I made a glaze with powered sugar and lemon juice and drizzled it over the top. It was perfect.

After dinner everyone tried the cakes and dad loved the carrot. He honestly couldn't tell that it was gluten free, and was most pleased to find out that it had no wheat flour in it.

My lovely Chiffon cake came next, and although he liked the flavors, my dad didn't particularly like the texture (don't ask me why, but he just doesn't like light, spongy textures when it comes to cakes/pastries).

I loved it. It was deliciously light and lusciously, yet subtly lemon. I was eating a cloud.
Only, I noticed that something was wrong. My cake looked lopsided. I was horrified!
As it turns out, there is a very good reason for cooling the cake for over an hour....the sides will collapse if it is even the slightest bit warm when taken out of the pan. Oops. :P

So my cake didn't turn out perfect, but it was pretty good for a first try, and over all I was very pleased. :)

Lemon Chiffon

 Yield 1- 10″

 Egg Yolks 6 Lg (108g)
 Vegetable Oil 4 fl oz (1/2c)
 Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice 6 fl oz (3/4c)
 Lemon Zest from 1 large lemon
 Lemon Extract 1 tsp
 Cake Flour 2c (260g)
 Sugar 1 1/4c (250g)
 Baking Powder 1 Tablespoon (15g)
 Salt 1/2tsp (3g)
 Egg Whites 6 Lg (180g)
 Sugar 1/4 c (50g)
Cream of Tartar 1/4tsp

Mix Method:

 Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

In the bowl of the Kitchen Aid mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the first 8 ingredients and blend well. About 1 minute on medium speed.
Transfer this batter to a large mixing bowl and clean the Kitchen Aid bowl well to be sure there are no traces of oil left in the bowl.
You will then use the whisk attachment to whip the egg whites and cream of tartar to foamy on medium speed.
Gradually increase the speed to high and slowly add the sugar to the meringue. Continue whipping to medium peaks.
In 3 additions, fold the meringue into the reserved batter in the large mixing bowl.

Pour the batter into your ungreased chiffon pan and baker for approximately 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

 

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake

Makes one 2-layer 8-inch round cake

Ingredients

3 cups (about 15 ounces) gluten free flour mix

1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

4 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups grated peeled carrots (about two large carrots)

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

For the cake: Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 350ºF. Generously butter two 8-inch round cake pans and set aside. Combine gluten-free flour mix, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

Add sugar, oil, and eggs to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or add to a large bowl and use a handheld electric mixer. Beat until smooth, about one minute. Add vanilla and beat for another minute. Slowly add the flour mixture and beat at medium-low speed for 1 minute. Fold in carrots, walnuts, and coconut with a spatula.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Transfer pans to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Use a small knife to cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Invert cake layers onto rack, peel off paper and allow to cool completely.

So now that you have heard my story and have learned of my mistakes, perhaps you will try one (or both) of these recipes at at home. :)

Happy baking!

The sweet flavors of summer....

Fruit is one of my greatest joys in summertime, and although they are very good plain, I love to bake with them! Baking with fruit is (for the most part) simple to do, and I love adding fruit to pound cakes, and bunt cakes, as well as pancakes and tarts. But one of the more tricky things to make with fruit is jam. And as I have a bad habit of changing recipes and substituting ingredients to make it the way I want, they don't always come out as I would like: especially with jam. So I guess I could be a good girl (as Nona says), and make the recipes the way I am supposed to and they will most always turn out perfect every time.....but where's the fun in that?!? I love to experiment with new ideas and flavors, and come up with many delicious ideas in the process.

So the other day I decided to make peach jam. We had ordered two big boxes of peaches from a friend, and although we were eating them as fast as we could, and I was baking with them in almost everything, we still had a whole box left and they were starting to go bad.

It took me well over two hours, but I finished the
whole box. And the total count for one, 25lb
box of  peaches was: 36 jars! I had never made so much
jam in my life. And the one thing that was cool, was
it was fun! (although I was really, REALLY sick of
peaches after that....) ;P

So having finished the peaches, I decided to try a new
recipe that I have had on my list for the longest time:
Pop Tarts.

So I set up my station and got to work. A friend had given me a recipe for peach jam with Earl Grey tea steeped in it. It sounded really good, so I decided to try it.....

I decided to use strawberry jam for the
filling, and they turned out really well!
(I'll try to post the recipe on here
sometime soon.)

 They turned out nice and flaky, with just the right amount of jam in them. (Similar to a regular pop tart, but with flavors that delight your taste buds, giving you the delusion that you have your very own personal pastry chef....)  ;)

And these are made with whole wheat--thus making them healthy for you too! :D

The peaches were done, and the pop tarts out of the oven, and I was just getting ready to clean up the kitchen when mom reminded me that we had three packages of grapes sitting in the fridge.....and you know what that meant.....

More jam! :)

This time, I didn't add enough pectin, and I had to empty the jars back into the pot and re-do it, but even though it frustrated me, I didn't give up: and now we have 50 jars of jam! That's all in one day, and it only took about four hours (which could seem like quite a long time, but put some of your favorite music on, and just loose yourself in the sweet flavors and aromas of fruit, and it will go by much faster than you would think!) You can add most any flavors that you like to jams, and its super easy to play around with them, so just have fun with it, and I wish you happy jamming! ;)


Simple Peach Jam:

10 cups fresh peaches (pitted and chopped)
4 cups sugar
2 tbs lemon juice
2 packages dry pectin (or- 6 or 7 tbs)

Mix the peaches, sugar, and lemon juice together in a large heavy pot (cast iron works best, but just about any pot will do), and turn the burner on med./low. The mixture will seem a bit dry, but keep stirring and the natural juices of the peaches will come out. Higher the heat to a little over med. You can pretty much leave it alone (stirring occasionally), until it starts to boil. Meanwhile, sterilize your jars and lids (either put them through the "sanitize" setting of your dishwasher, or fill a large pot with water, set them in there, and heat the water to just about boiling.) After the mixture starts to boil, keep an eye on it, and continue to stir it occasionally. Once it starts to boil rapidly (like a rolling boil....where it boils even when you stir it), add the pectin and stir it in. Let it boil with the pectin for two min., stirring two or three times (just so it doesn't splatter or anything). While you are waiting, get a wide-mouthed cereal bowl and fill it with ice and a little water. Take a smaller bowl and put it on top (the ice should be touching the bottom of the top bowl). Once the two min is up, turn off the heat, and with a small spoon, take a bit of the soon-to-be peach jam and put it in the top bowl. Wait about a min, and then with your finger or another spoon, test it to see if it has jelled. If it doesn't jell, then put the heat back on med,/high, and wait for it to boil again. Once it gets back to a rolling boil, add one or two more tbs pectin (or 1/2 to a whole packet). If it DID jell, then fill your jars to about 1/4th inch to the top, and put the lids on. Once they all are full, place them upright in a water bath (a.k.a.= the pot of water that you sterilized your jars in) for 7 min. When they are done, take them out and stet them on a towel or wooden cutting board (cooling racks tend to be a bit wobbly) and let cool completely. Do NOT touch them until they are completely cool! By touching or moving them, you could mess up the seal (BTW, the lids on the jars will give a loud pop when they seal, so don't be alarmed--it is completely normal). Once they are cool, you can store them in your pantry for up to a year, and refrigerate after opening. Enjoy! :)

Cupcakes!

So I was looking online for cute jumbo muffin pan liners, and I found some, but the ones that were really cute were WAY to expensive! And that's when I found this post from a fellow blogger on how to make your own: http://domesticgoddessadventures.blogspot.com/

I thought that you all might like to see it too, so here it is!

(sorry it's kinda long.) :}

A while ago, my friend Lindsey sent me a link to a website featuring cupcake wrappers. They were so incredibly cute! I immediately wanted to buy some, but they were $12 for a dozen, plus additional for shipping! It was super expensive for what it was. And I wondered if I could just make some myself...


I had a bunch of scrap-booking paper and materials, so I brought them out and started to experiment! I had paper of all kinds, rhinestone stickers, double sided tape, and craft scissors that produce cute scalloped edges!



First, I carefully disassembled a cupcake liner, and then taped it down to a sheet of paper to create a pattern/cut-out. But unfortunately, this didn't actually work. The angle of the arch was off. You have to make the "rainbow" shape slightly wider. So I ended up starting over. As it turns out, it required lot of trial and error.. but I was finally able to trim the perfect "rainbow" shaped pattern that would give me a great cupcake wrapper!

Then, the fun began! I created a ton of different wrappers by tracing and cutting out the "rainbow" design on different patterned paper.

I stamped some...


...and others I embellished with rhinestones!


A few hours later, I had a whole stack of them!

I was super tired that day and didn't have the time/energy to bake a batch of cupcakes for the Cupcake Wrapper Photoshoot, so I ran out to Whole Foods to purchase some. Thus, the cupcakes you're about to see are not actually made by me. They're still super pretty and they were great models for my wrappers! Not to mention, they were super tasty, too! =)

Cherry blossom gift wrapping paper.


Cute poka dots with rhinestones.

More with rhinestones!


Pretty green ones with textured paper.


Plain green ones with flower & rhinestone embellishments.

Aren't they fantastic? They turned out better than I could have imagined! And all it took was some imagination and persistence!

Diy!

Here is something that I found on another blog: rebekagough.blogspot.com

This is how to get some really cool effects with your camera, and you basically just need paper and

scissors! I haven't tried it yet, but I thought that you would like to see it any way! :)

make something monday :: bokeh filter

For months I have been trying to figure out the secret to the heart shaped bokeh that artist like Irene Suchocki are so famous for. I love the look of it and figured it was some fancy photoshop trick or something hard. And then one evening recently I happened upon this little bokeh filter kit and was shocked and thrilled to learn that it is actually a filter you can put onto the front of your lens to create the beautiful, buttery heart shapes. I wasn't sure I wanted to purchase the full kit though and of course was left wondering if I could make one myself out of black card stock. The answer is YES! I whipped this one up this morning and was literally giddy with excitement that it actually works!!! Do you want to make one too? So easy this is what I did:

 

Basically all you need is black card stock, tape and some scissors. I have a few large circle punches and a heart shaped punch that I thought would make it easier. You really just need to trace your lens cap onto the black paper to get the right size for your camera and then right in the center of the black circle cut out your shape. In this case a heart but you could totally put a bird on it too :).

Then you're going to want to cut a long strip of black paper about 3/4" wide and long enough to go around the circumference of your lens. Mine was about 8" long.

I wrapped the long strip around my lens and secured it with scotch tape. I then layered my flat black circle with more tape and secured that to the ring.

I got it all good and tight..when I make another one I think I will try to scrounge up some black electrical tape from Mr. Goughs supplies but the scotch tape worked fine!

Now set your camera on a low aperture in manual focus and go outside in search of some lens flare. Play around with it - seriously I am so addicted.