Saturday, June 26, 2010

Food of the Angels......


I love Angel Food Cake!! It is so light and spongy! It practically melts in your mouth. In my opinion, the only way it can be improved is when it is chocolate and served with raspberry mousse! Yum!!!!!! Well, today, I did just that! It was a sunshiny day. This light combination was perfect for this summer day! Here's the cake recipe and some pictures of the cake!

Chocolate Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3 (1 oz.) squares semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, grated
• 12 egg whites
• 1 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Process
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees (F). If it does not have a removable bottom, line a 9 or 10 inch tube pan with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, cocoa and 3/4 cup of the sugar. Set aside.
3. Grate the chocolate (my beloved microplane grater really came in handy for that) into a small bowl. Stir in 3 tbsp. of the flour mixture.
4. Using an electric mixer set at low speed, beat egg whites until foamy. Increase mixer speed to medium, stir in cream of tartar and salt, and continue to beat until egg whites form soft peaks. (The eggs should look soft and still fold over on themselves when you remove the beater.) Gradually mix in the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. (The eggs will have a sheen, and they won’t fold over anymore). Don’t overbeat! I don’t think this should take more than 5-10 minutes with a stand mixer. (I always had problems whipping egg whites with my hand mixer, so it might take longer if you’re using one of those. Just make sure to stop and test the thickness of the whites every few minutes.)
5. Gently stir in the vanilla and lemon juice.
6. Very gently fold the flour mixture into the beaten egg whites, then fold in the grated chocolate, stirring just until blended. (I had problems with it not being mixed well at the bottom of the bowl, so I found it helpful to transfer about half of the mixture to the pan and then finish folding the rest.)
7. Gently scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the surface of the batter and tap the pan lightly to remove any air bubbles. Bake in center of the preheated oven for 45-60 minutes, or until the surface springs back when touched.




Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Tee Time on Father's Day.....

As you all probably know, last Sunday was Father's Day. It was also the U.S. Open for all you non-golfers out there. My dad really enjoys golf. Well, about a week ago, a friend of mine had sent me a fun idea for a golf cake. So, on Father's Day, I decided to give it a whirl. This is how it turned out!



Saturday, June 19, 2010

Share Cupcakes!!!!



Sorry Loyal followers! It has been a few days since I posted!I have been thinking of you, if that is any consolation. Well, I have this recipe from a friend called Oatmeal Share Cake. It is delicious! I decided to try this cake in cupcake form. It consists of oatmeal spice cake, the top is smothered in a caramelized coconut and nut frosting, and the sides covered with cream cheese frosting. So Yummy. I made some adorable little teal royal icing flowers to top off these scrumptious sweets! Tell me what you think!

Oatmeal Cake

Ingredients:
•1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
•1 1/3 cups boiling water
•1/2 cup butter, soft
•1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
•1/2 cup granulated sugar
•2 eggs, beaten
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
•1 teaspoon baking powder
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Make Cake. Combine oats and boiling water, stirring to blend well. Let stand 20 minutes.
In a mixing bowl, cream butter; add sugars and beat at medium speed of electric mixer. Add eggs, vanilla, and cooled oatmeal mixture, beating until well blended.
Into a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add to creamed mixture, stirring until smooth.
Pour batter into a greased and floured 9-inch baking dish. Bake at 325° for 35 minutes.

While cake is baking, combine topping ingredients in a medium saucepan; mix well. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Spread over hot cake right out of the oven. Turn broiler on; return cake to oven to broil topping for about 4 to 5 minutes. Cool and serve. Serves 9.


Coconut walnut Topping:
•1/4whipping cream
•1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
•1/4 cup butter
•1 tsp vanilla
•1 cup flaked coconut
•1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip together. Enjoy!






Monday, June 14, 2010

You can't make omelettes without breaking eggs......

As the evening approached, after a very eventful day, I sat on our couch, with an icepack on my swollen knee. I turned on a food network show. It happened to be a throw down with Bobby Flay. One of my very favorites! Today He was having a thrown down with omelets. It doesn't sound that exciting, but, as I sat there, watching as he skillfully fill the pillowy egg mixture with a slightly edgy Spanish cheese, perfectly golden red potatoes, and Piquillo peppers, my mouth began to water, and I could taste the savory goodness!! Well, I was determined to try my luck with the non-stick frying pan. After a quick trip up to the local grocery store, I was ready to make my own version of the omelets. My mom and sister helped me prepare all the condiments. We sauteed some mushrooms and onions, fried us some bacon and red potatoes, grated some Monterrey jack, and chopped some fresh tomatoes, chives, and avocados. We were ready to begin. Each person picked their own combination. It was a delightful, delicious, and delectable Dinner. A light egg mixture filled with proteins and fresh vegetables is the perfect dinner for a summery evening. I hope you try it!









Friday, June 11, 2010

Kitchen Classroom.......



Once again I had a very fun baking class today. Except today the girls were a little older and seemed to comprehend the techniques a little more easily. Our three step project was a little more complicated than our banana bread, the girls followed along nicely! We made Lemon Meringue Tarts. Yum!!!!!! Every girl should know how to make a tart. No matter what time of year, there is always a perfect fruit in season for a tart. Whether it be a french apple tart in the fall, or a strawberry covered cream cheese tart in the summer, If you know how to make a tart pastry crust, then just throw in what ever curd/ cream/custard(or even mousse) filling you can make, arrange some fresh fruit on top, and Wallah!! a perfectly gorgeous dessert! Well, back to my class. I get so carried away when dessert is mentioned!!! The girls did very well at following the directions and I loved having them over for the class. Here is the recipe we did and some pictures! Enjoy!

Marie’s Baking Class

Lemon Meringue Tarts

Sweet Pastry Crust
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
Sweet Pastry Crust: In a separate bowl, sift or whisk together the flour and salt. Place the butter in your mixer and beat until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten egg, beating just until incorporated. (Do not over mix or the butter will separate and lighten in color.) Add flour mixture all at once and mix just until it forms a ball. Press the dough into a 10-inch-round or 9-inch-square false-bottom tart pan, making sure that the finished edge is flat. Chill until firm. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. bake 10 mins with weights. Remove and bake for ten more minutes or until golden brown.

Lemon Curd:
• 4 lemons, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

For the lemon curd: Remove the zest of the lemons with a vegetable peeler or zester. Squeeze the lemons to make 1/2 cup of juice and set the juice aside. Add the sugar and mix for 2 to 3 minutes. In the bowl mix yolks, sugar, and zest till thickened. Then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined. Place the mixture over a 2-quart saucepan* one third filled with water and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 10 minutes (or until back of spoon is coated). The lemon curd will thicken at about 175 degrees F, or just below a simmer. Remove from the heat. Add butter. Mix till combined.
Meringue
• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• ½ tsp vanilla
Whip egg whites on high till foamy. Add tartar. Whip till soft peaks. Slowly add sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form.
*Double boiler






Thursday, June 10, 2010

Baking Classes.........

The summer has began and today was my first baking class. I really enjoyed it. Not only did the girls have a blast, but I also enjoyed my time with them immensely. When you're teaching eight year old girls to bake you have to go very slow and explain every step. I had a great time and I think we accomplished a lot! First, each girl made their own miny loaf of deliciously delectable banana bread. Then, as their bread was baking, we mixed up some scrumdillyumpeous peanut butter cookies for them to munch on. Altogether It went very well. Here is our recipe for banana bread!


Marie’s Baking Class
Banana Bread


Ingredients
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray one 9x5 inch loaf pan with non-stick spray coating.
2. Blend together the eggs, buttermilk, oil and bananas.
3. Sift together the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt. Add to banana mixture and stir in pecans. Mix well.
4. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.






Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Waste not.....Want not.....

If you've ever carved a cake, you'd probably understand there is always leftover cake, reduced to crumbs usually. One very good thing I learned while working down at the bakery was to never waste anything, if you can help it. Invent something new! You never know it might be the next chocolate chip cookie (that was the world's luckiest accident!)So back to leftover cake! About a week ago, I made a couple cakes for my niece's baby shower; I made a yellow and a red velvet. I ended up with about 3 cups of cake leftover, so I put it in a zip lock and threw it in the freezer for a rainy day. Today came along and it was a very rainy day. So I pulled out my frozen cake and commenced to conjior up something delicious. With bread you can bake a delicious bread pudding, so I decided to try a cake pudding. Along with the cake I added some milk and eggs to make a batter and then decided to take Rachelle's advice (thanks for the suggestion!) and I tossed in a bunch of chocolate chips and coconut. I then baked it at 350 degrees for about 30 mins. While it was baking I whipped up some fudge frosting and toasted some coconut for the topping. Wallah!!! Perfecta Mon do!! My new favorite dessert (and Dylan's)!! and surprisingly enough (because of the red velvet) It was Pink!!!!



My "rainy day" Bars



Dylan enjoying the beaters!




Chef Ronni helping me!!



my niece Zoe!!




Zoe's baby shower cakes!!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Let them eat birthday cake................


Hello. How are you today? Summer is almost here. Why does it always seem that there are more birthdays in the summer months then any other time of the year? I don't know but I sure do love birthdays! When I worked down at the bakery we called it wedding and party season, my favorite season out of the year. Well, it happened to be a friend of mines birthday this weekend, and she was having a party today. So her sister and I baked a cake for her. There is only one thing that takes the cake with baking, and that's doing it with a friend. Like so many other things, baking is always better with people. Therefore my friend Amy and I baked and decorated this white cake with very pink frosting (my favorite color!).


P.S. Go ahead and post any ideas of desserts you think I should try or recipes you have. I'd love to hear from you! Thanks Marie



Me piping the border.


Amy piping some royal icing flowers.










Sunday, June 6, 2010

Life Hands Me Lemons...... I Make Lemon Chiffon......




Today was definitely a baking day! The sun was shining and I felt like making something special! I looked through my fridge and found I had a lot of lemons! What to do ? Well, Everyone loves a light chiffon with rich lemon curd and lemon whip cream frosting, Right? so I searched and searched till I found the perfect recipe to try: Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake! Doesn't that sound delicious? Chiffon means having a light and fluffy texture. So I endeavored to make this zesty, cloud like cake! Let me know what you think.

TRIPLE LEMON CHIFFON CAKE
adapted from: SKY HIGH - IRRESISTIBLE TRIPLE LAYER CAKES by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne
makes a 9 inch triple layer cake


For the Cake
8 eggs, separated
1/4 cup walnut oil**
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon of lemon zest
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar
1 and 1/2 cups of sugar
1 ans 3/4 cups of cake flour*
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt

[*1 cup of cake flour is equal to 3/4 cup of AP flour plus 2 tablespoons of corn starch]
[**equal amount of either almond oil, hazelnut oil, or canola oil]

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line the bottoms of three 9-inch pans with parchment paper but do not butter or grease the pans.
In a med-large bowl whisk together the egg yolks, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and water.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar on medium speed until light and frothy. Slowly add 1/2 cup of sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks form.
Sift the flour, remaining sugar, baking soda , and salt into a large bowl. Whisk gently to combine.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the egg yolk mixture and mix to create
a smooth paste. Add one-fourth of the egg whites and fold in to lighten the batter. Fold in the remaining egg whites and divide the batter among the three pans.
Bake for about 16 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Transfer to wire racks to cool in the pans. Once cool run a knife around the cake to in order to un-mold the cakes. Carefully pull off the parchment paper from the bottoms of the cakes.
To assemble the cake, place one layer on a cake stand. Top with a heaping 1/4 cup of lemon curd and spread it evenly. Repeat with the remaining layers. Frost the top of the cake and the sides with the lemon cream frosting.


Rich Lemon Curd

3 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
grated zest of three lemons
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, at room temp.

Whisk together the whole eggs, yolks, sugar, lemon juice , and lemon zest together in a medium bowl. Transfer to a small non-reactive saucepan. Gently heat the mixture, whisking until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. make sure not to boil the mixture. Pour the mixture through a sieve into a heatproof bowl. Stir in the butter and cover the curd with plastic making sure the plastic touches the curd. This should prevent a skin from forming on the curd. Refrigerate until cold. Then remove 3 tablespoons of curd and set it aside for the icing.

Lemon Cream Frosting

1 and 1/2 cups of heavy cream
2 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoon of lemon curd

Whip the cream and sugar in a large chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold in the lemon curd, forming a stiff frosting.

Here's some pictures of how it turned out!


Saturday, June 5, 2010

Snickerdoodles....YUM......


Don't you love the smell of fresh cookies when you wake up in the morning? Snicker doodles are the best, in my opinion, because of the cinnamon! Well, this Saturday, a few friends and I had a little clean-up party and barbecue. So I made snicker doodles. There is nothing like the perfect snicker doodle, made that very morning! Snicker doodles are traditionally a German cookie. They consist of a sugar cookie rolled in cinnamon sugar, and, if baked perfectly, come out slightly crunchy on the outside and very chewy and soft in the middle. Is your mouth watering yet? Well, here is my recipe and a picture of my batch. Enjoy



Snicker doodles

From Marie's Kitchen

1 cube butter(softened)

1 cup gran. sugar

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour



cinnamon and sugar (for rolling)



Preheat oven to 375 degrees. cream butter and sugar together. add tartar and soda. mix together. add egg and vanilla. mix together. add flour and salt. mix till combined. should be soft and hold together well. roll in 1 inch balls and then roll in cinnamon sugar. place on cookie sheet. Bake for about 10-12 min. (till the edges start to fall but the center is puffy.) slam the tray on the top of the oven and let sit there for about 5 mins. Perfect, they're done!! Enjoy!






Friday, June 4, 2010

To Begin with..........


Have you ever sat in a small town cafe, sipping your caramel latte, munching on a hot apple turnover, watching out the front window as people run strategically through the pouring rain? Or have you walked through a field, with your special someone, on a scorching hot summer's day, licking a delicious blackberry ice cream cone? Maybe you've just immersed your culinary senses in a Thanksgiving adventure, ending on a giant piece of homemade pumpkin pie, smothered in fresh whipped cream? Through every dessert I prepare, I hope to send you on a resplendent journey! Follow me as I overtake my dream: As I work to open my own bakeshop!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Food of the Angels......

Posted by Marie 0 comments

I love Angel Food Cake!! It is so light and spongy! It practically melts in your mouth. In my opinion, the only way it can be improved is when it is chocolate and served with raspberry mousse! Yum!!!!!! Well, today, I did just that! It was a sunshiny day. This light combination was perfect for this summer day! Here's the cake recipe and some pictures of the cake!

Chocolate Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3 (1 oz.) squares semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, grated
• 12 egg whites
• 1 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Process
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees (F). If it does not have a removable bottom, line a 9 or 10 inch tube pan with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, cocoa and 3/4 cup of the sugar. Set aside.
3. Grate the chocolate (my beloved microplane grater really came in handy for that) into a small bowl. Stir in 3 tbsp. of the flour mixture.
4. Using an electric mixer set at low speed, beat egg whites until foamy. Increase mixer speed to medium, stir in cream of tartar and salt, and continue to beat until egg whites form soft peaks. (The eggs should look soft and still fold over on themselves when you remove the beater.) Gradually mix in the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. (The eggs will have a sheen, and they won’t fold over anymore). Don’t overbeat! I don’t think this should take more than 5-10 minutes with a stand mixer. (I always had problems whipping egg whites with my hand mixer, so it might take longer if you’re using one of those. Just make sure to stop and test the thickness of the whites every few minutes.)
5. Gently stir in the vanilla and lemon juice.
6. Very gently fold the flour mixture into the beaten egg whites, then fold in the grated chocolate, stirring just until blended. (I had problems with it not being mixed well at the bottom of the bowl, so I found it helpful to transfer about half of the mixture to the pan and then finish folding the rest.)
7. Gently scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the surface of the batter and tap the pan lightly to remove any air bubbles. Bake in center of the preheated oven for 45-60 minutes, or until the surface springs back when touched.




Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Tee Time on Father's Day.....

Posted by Marie 1 comments
As you all probably know, last Sunday was Father's Day. It was also the U.S. Open for all you non-golfers out there. My dad really enjoys golf. Well, about a week ago, a friend of mine had sent me a fun idea for a golf cake. So, on Father's Day, I decided to give it a whirl. This is how it turned out!



Saturday, June 19, 2010

Share Cupcakes!!!!

Posted by Marie 3 comments


Sorry Loyal followers! It has been a few days since I posted!I have been thinking of you, if that is any consolation. Well, I have this recipe from a friend called Oatmeal Share Cake. It is delicious! I decided to try this cake in cupcake form. It consists of oatmeal spice cake, the top is smothered in a caramelized coconut and nut frosting, and the sides covered with cream cheese frosting. So Yummy. I made some adorable little teal royal icing flowers to top off these scrumptious sweets! Tell me what you think!

Oatmeal Cake

Ingredients:
•1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
•1 1/3 cups boiling water
•1/2 cup butter, soft
•1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
•1/2 cup granulated sugar
•2 eggs, beaten
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
•1 teaspoon baking powder
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Make Cake. Combine oats and boiling water, stirring to blend well. Let stand 20 minutes.
In a mixing bowl, cream butter; add sugars and beat at medium speed of electric mixer. Add eggs, vanilla, and cooled oatmeal mixture, beating until well blended.
Into a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add to creamed mixture, stirring until smooth.
Pour batter into a greased and floured 9-inch baking dish. Bake at 325° for 35 minutes.

While cake is baking, combine topping ingredients in a medium saucepan; mix well. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Spread over hot cake right out of the oven. Turn broiler on; return cake to oven to broil topping for about 4 to 5 minutes. Cool and serve. Serves 9.


Coconut walnut Topping:
•1/4whipping cream
•1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
•1/4 cup butter
•1 tsp vanilla
•1 cup flaked coconut
•1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip together. Enjoy!






Monday, June 14, 2010

You can't make omelettes without breaking eggs......

Posted by Marie 1 comments
As the evening approached, after a very eventful day, I sat on our couch, with an icepack on my swollen knee. I turned on a food network show. It happened to be a throw down with Bobby Flay. One of my very favorites! Today He was having a thrown down with omelets. It doesn't sound that exciting, but, as I sat there, watching as he skillfully fill the pillowy egg mixture with a slightly edgy Spanish cheese, perfectly golden red potatoes, and Piquillo peppers, my mouth began to water, and I could taste the savory goodness!! Well, I was determined to try my luck with the non-stick frying pan. After a quick trip up to the local grocery store, I was ready to make my own version of the omelets. My mom and sister helped me prepare all the condiments. We sauteed some mushrooms and onions, fried us some bacon and red potatoes, grated some Monterrey jack, and chopped some fresh tomatoes, chives, and avocados. We were ready to begin. Each person picked their own combination. It was a delightful, delicious, and delectable Dinner. A light egg mixture filled with proteins and fresh vegetables is the perfect dinner for a summery evening. I hope you try it!









Friday, June 11, 2010

Kitchen Classroom.......

Posted by Marie 1 comments


Once again I had a very fun baking class today. Except today the girls were a little older and seemed to comprehend the techniques a little more easily. Our three step project was a little more complicated than our banana bread, the girls followed along nicely! We made Lemon Meringue Tarts. Yum!!!!!! Every girl should know how to make a tart. No matter what time of year, there is always a perfect fruit in season for a tart. Whether it be a french apple tart in the fall, or a strawberry covered cream cheese tart in the summer, If you know how to make a tart pastry crust, then just throw in what ever curd/ cream/custard(or even mousse) filling you can make, arrange some fresh fruit on top, and Wallah!! a perfectly gorgeous dessert! Well, back to my class. I get so carried away when dessert is mentioned!!! The girls did very well at following the directions and I loved having them over for the class. Here is the recipe we did and some pictures! Enjoy!

Marie’s Baking Class

Lemon Meringue Tarts

Sweet Pastry Crust
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
Sweet Pastry Crust: In a separate bowl, sift or whisk together the flour and salt. Place the butter in your mixer and beat until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten egg, beating just until incorporated. (Do not over mix or the butter will separate and lighten in color.) Add flour mixture all at once and mix just until it forms a ball. Press the dough into a 10-inch-round or 9-inch-square false-bottom tart pan, making sure that the finished edge is flat. Chill until firm. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. bake 10 mins with weights. Remove and bake for ten more minutes or until golden brown.

Lemon Curd:
• 4 lemons, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

For the lemon curd: Remove the zest of the lemons with a vegetable peeler or zester. Squeeze the lemons to make 1/2 cup of juice and set the juice aside. Add the sugar and mix for 2 to 3 minutes. In the bowl mix yolks, sugar, and zest till thickened. Then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined. Place the mixture over a 2-quart saucepan* one third filled with water and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 10 minutes (or until back of spoon is coated). The lemon curd will thicken at about 175 degrees F, or just below a simmer. Remove from the heat. Add butter. Mix till combined.
Meringue
• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• ½ tsp vanilla
Whip egg whites on high till foamy. Add tartar. Whip till soft peaks. Slowly add sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form.
*Double boiler






Thursday, June 10, 2010

Baking Classes.........

Posted by Marie 2 comments
The summer has began and today was my first baking class. I really enjoyed it. Not only did the girls have a blast, but I also enjoyed my time with them immensely. When you're teaching eight year old girls to bake you have to go very slow and explain every step. I had a great time and I think we accomplished a lot! First, each girl made their own miny loaf of deliciously delectable banana bread. Then, as their bread was baking, we mixed up some scrumdillyumpeous peanut butter cookies for them to munch on. Altogether It went very well. Here is our recipe for banana bread!


Marie’s Baking Class
Banana Bread


Ingredients
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray one 9x5 inch loaf pan with non-stick spray coating.
2. Blend together the eggs, buttermilk, oil and bananas.
3. Sift together the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt. Add to banana mixture and stir in pecans. Mix well.
4. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.






Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Waste not.....Want not.....

Posted by Marie 1 comments
If you've ever carved a cake, you'd probably understand there is always leftover cake, reduced to crumbs usually. One very good thing I learned while working down at the bakery was to never waste anything, if you can help it. Invent something new! You never know it might be the next chocolate chip cookie (that was the world's luckiest accident!)So back to leftover cake! About a week ago, I made a couple cakes for my niece's baby shower; I made a yellow and a red velvet. I ended up with about 3 cups of cake leftover, so I put it in a zip lock and threw it in the freezer for a rainy day. Today came along and it was a very rainy day. So I pulled out my frozen cake and commenced to conjior up something delicious. With bread you can bake a delicious bread pudding, so I decided to try a cake pudding. Along with the cake I added some milk and eggs to make a batter and then decided to take Rachelle's advice (thanks for the suggestion!) and I tossed in a bunch of chocolate chips and coconut. I then baked it at 350 degrees for about 30 mins. While it was baking I whipped up some fudge frosting and toasted some coconut for the topping. Wallah!!! Perfecta Mon do!! My new favorite dessert (and Dylan's)!! and surprisingly enough (because of the red velvet) It was Pink!!!!



My "rainy day" Bars



Dylan enjoying the beaters!




Chef Ronni helping me!!



my niece Zoe!!




Zoe's baby shower cakes!!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Let them eat birthday cake................

Posted by Marie 2 comments

Hello. How are you today? Summer is almost here. Why does it always seem that there are more birthdays in the summer months then any other time of the year? I don't know but I sure do love birthdays! When I worked down at the bakery we called it wedding and party season, my favorite season out of the year. Well, it happened to be a friend of mines birthday this weekend, and she was having a party today. So her sister and I baked a cake for her. There is only one thing that takes the cake with baking, and that's doing it with a friend. Like so many other things, baking is always better with people. Therefore my friend Amy and I baked and decorated this white cake with very pink frosting (my favorite color!).


P.S. Go ahead and post any ideas of desserts you think I should try or recipes you have. I'd love to hear from you! Thanks Marie



Me piping the border.


Amy piping some royal icing flowers.










Sunday, June 6, 2010

Life Hands Me Lemons...... I Make Lemon Chiffon......

Posted by Marie 4 comments



Today was definitely a baking day! The sun was shining and I felt like making something special! I looked through my fridge and found I had a lot of lemons! What to do ? Well, Everyone loves a light chiffon with rich lemon curd and lemon whip cream frosting, Right? so I searched and searched till I found the perfect recipe to try: Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake! Doesn't that sound delicious? Chiffon means having a light and fluffy texture. So I endeavored to make this zesty, cloud like cake! Let me know what you think.

TRIPLE LEMON CHIFFON CAKE
adapted from: SKY HIGH - IRRESISTIBLE TRIPLE LAYER CAKES by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne
makes a 9 inch triple layer cake


For the Cake
8 eggs, separated
1/4 cup walnut oil**
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon of lemon zest
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar
1 and 1/2 cups of sugar
1 ans 3/4 cups of cake flour*
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt

[*1 cup of cake flour is equal to 3/4 cup of AP flour plus 2 tablespoons of corn starch]
[**equal amount of either almond oil, hazelnut oil, or canola oil]

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line the bottoms of three 9-inch pans with parchment paper but do not butter or grease the pans.
In a med-large bowl whisk together the egg yolks, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and water.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar on medium speed until light and frothy. Slowly add 1/2 cup of sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks form.
Sift the flour, remaining sugar, baking soda , and salt into a large bowl. Whisk gently to combine.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the egg yolk mixture and mix to create
a smooth paste. Add one-fourth of the egg whites and fold in to lighten the batter. Fold in the remaining egg whites and divide the batter among the three pans.
Bake for about 16 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Transfer to wire racks to cool in the pans. Once cool run a knife around the cake to in order to un-mold the cakes. Carefully pull off the parchment paper from the bottoms of the cakes.
To assemble the cake, place one layer on a cake stand. Top with a heaping 1/4 cup of lemon curd and spread it evenly. Repeat with the remaining layers. Frost the top of the cake and the sides with the lemon cream frosting.


Rich Lemon Curd

3 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
grated zest of three lemons
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, at room temp.

Whisk together the whole eggs, yolks, sugar, lemon juice , and lemon zest together in a medium bowl. Transfer to a small non-reactive saucepan. Gently heat the mixture, whisking until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. make sure not to boil the mixture. Pour the mixture through a sieve into a heatproof bowl. Stir in the butter and cover the curd with plastic making sure the plastic touches the curd. This should prevent a skin from forming on the curd. Refrigerate until cold. Then remove 3 tablespoons of curd and set it aside for the icing.

Lemon Cream Frosting

1 and 1/2 cups of heavy cream
2 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoon of lemon curd

Whip the cream and sugar in a large chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold in the lemon curd, forming a stiff frosting.

Here's some pictures of how it turned out!


Saturday, June 5, 2010

Snickerdoodles....YUM......

Posted by Marie 2 comments

Don't you love the smell of fresh cookies when you wake up in the morning? Snicker doodles are the best, in my opinion, because of the cinnamon! Well, this Saturday, a few friends and I had a little clean-up party and barbecue. So I made snicker doodles. There is nothing like the perfect snicker doodle, made that very morning! Snicker doodles are traditionally a German cookie. They consist of a sugar cookie rolled in cinnamon sugar, and, if baked perfectly, come out slightly crunchy on the outside and very chewy and soft in the middle. Is your mouth watering yet? Well, here is my recipe and a picture of my batch. Enjoy



Snicker doodles

From Marie's Kitchen

1 cube butter(softened)

1 cup gran. sugar

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour



cinnamon and sugar (for rolling)



Preheat oven to 375 degrees. cream butter and sugar together. add tartar and soda. mix together. add egg and vanilla. mix together. add flour and salt. mix till combined. should be soft and hold together well. roll in 1 inch balls and then roll in cinnamon sugar. place on cookie sheet. Bake for about 10-12 min. (till the edges start to fall but the center is puffy.) slam the tray on the top of the oven and let sit there for about 5 mins. Perfect, they're done!! Enjoy!






Friday, June 4, 2010

To Begin with..........

Posted by Marie 0 comments

Have you ever sat in a small town cafe, sipping your caramel latte, munching on a hot apple turnover, watching out the front window as people run strategically through the pouring rain? Or have you walked through a field, with your special someone, on a scorching hot summer's day, licking a delicious blackberry ice cream cone? Maybe you've just immersed your culinary senses in a Thanksgiving adventure, ending on a giant piece of homemade pumpkin pie, smothered in fresh whipped cream? Through every dessert I prepare, I hope to send you on a resplendent journey! Follow me as I overtake my dream: As I work to open my own bakeshop!