Birthday Cake!

I absolutely love my birthday. I have no shame. It's the one day a year that everybody celebrates ME.

I also love making my own birthday cake. Over the years it's been a various assortment of yummy cakes...18th birthday, Pineapple Upside Down Cake; 19th birthday, Carrot Cake; 20th Gluten-Free Strawberry Shortcake; 21st Organic Caramel-Apple Stack Cake.... oh heavens. I do so love cake.

This year, I decided to have a bit more fun than usual... Martha Stewart and I are good friends, and I found a recipe for a Pastel Layer Cake with Swiss Meringue that just looked to die for. So I made it... and ate it with all of my friends and family. Maybe next year I'll make it for YOUR birthday! :)

                                                                        ANDIAMO...

The original cake from Martha Stewart Living, my inspiration.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans and parchment
• 6 1/2 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising), plus more for pans and parchment
• 3 tablespoons baking powder
• Salt
• 2 1/4 cups whole milk
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 10 large egg whites
• Gel-paste food coloring (nycake.com)
• Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter five 8-inch round cake pans, and line with parchment (you may need to bake in batches). Butter parchment, and dust with flour, tapping out excess. Sift flour, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt into a large bowl. Combine milk and vanilla. Beat butter with a mixer on medium speed until very smooth. With machine running, gradually add sugar, and beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Beat until just combined; do not overmix.
3. Beat egg whites in a clean mixer bowl on medium speed until stiff (but not dry) peaks form, about 3 minutes. Gently fold egg-white mixture into batter in 3 additions.
4. Divide batter among 5 bowls, and tint each with food coloring to create different pastel shades. Spread each into a prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely in pans on wire racks.

I chose happy, playful colors for my cake, but I think it'd be fun to do one with Christmas or Halloween colors!

1. Loosen edges of cake with a small metal spatula or paring knife; invert onto racks. Discard parchment. Reinvert cakes, top side up. Let cool completely.
2. Trim top of each cake to make surface even. Spread 1 cup buttercream onto top of 1 cake. Top with another cake. Repeat, spreading 1 cup buttercream between each layer. Frost cake with 1 1/2 cups buttercream. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Frost cake with 2 cups buttercream (see recipe for swiss meringue buttercream recipe below)

Trimming the cakes...

layering with buttercream...

and voila! a crazy looking, goopy mess that was OH SO YUMMY!

Let's eat!

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 10 large egg whites, room temperature
• Pinch of salt
• 8 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• Gel-paste food coloring (optional; nycake.com)

Directions

1. Heat sugar, egg whites, and salt in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pan of simmering water, whisking, until sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes.
2. Return bowl to mixer, and whisk, gradually increasing speed from low to medium-high, until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 10 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add butter, a few pieces at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in vanilla. Switch to a paddle attachment. Beat until air bubbles are gone, 2 to 3 minutes more.

Black Bean Enchiladas

I recently picked up a new Italian vocabulary word: "paciugo" [pah-choo-go]
A rough definition is "a messy concoction"...when cooking with friends, when creating recipes from scratch with fresh ingredients and having fun... then you are making a 'paciugo'. This is how I approach everything I create in the kitchen. Take a look at what you have, and then make something new out of it.


On this fine Labor Day, my husband and I took our time waking up, and by the time we were ready for breakfast, it was already lunch time! I opened up the fridge, assessed what we had (which was tortillas, various vegetables, and black beans which I cooked up from scratch a few days ago. Never underestimate dried beans- there is a greater variety of flavor and texture available with making your own beans, as opposed to the generic canned options.)


So here we go:

Black Bean Enchiladas


2 Cups Black Beans, drained
½ cup jalapenos, diced
½ green bell pepper, diced
½ onion, diced
2-4 garlic cloves, diced
½ tomato, diced
2-3 tbps hot sauce (today I used some Chipotle sauce I found in the fridge!)
1 tsp each of Cumin and Chili powder
Salt & Pepper to taste
6-8 corn tortillas


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Melt some butter in a saucepan, then add onions, bell pepper, and garlic. Saute these until edges are brown, and onions are transparent. Add in the spices and hot sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Allow these flavorings to cook in while you prepare the enchiladas.
3. Warm the tortillas in the microwave for about a minute. Corn tortillas tend to break if they are cold.
4. Fill each tortilla with black beans, and sprinkle a bit of the chopped jalapenos in each. Roll each tortilla tightly, and layer into pan. Because there were only two of us, I used a small bread (loaf) pan, and had two layers with 4 enchiladas in each layer.
5. Spread the onion/spice mixture on top of the enchiladas, and sprinkle your tomatoes on top.
6. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
7. After removing from oven, let sit for about five minutes to cool. Serve with sour cream, salsa, cilantro, and whatever else suits your fancy. :)

Jalapeno-Cheddar Bread

If you happened to stop by my house anytime during January-March, you would have most likely been offered a slice of my jalapeno-cheddar bread. A customer had requested it in December, and it was the first menu item of my short-lived home business, Melody Bakery. 

Doesn't it look delicious? :)

The tricky thing about this recipe is making sure you follow the directions exactly: something I have a lot of trouble with. 

• 1 1/2 tablespoons dry yeast

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 1 cup warm water

• 4 cups flour (more as needed)

• 2 large jalapeno peppers, coarsely chopped, and seeds removed (can use more jalapeno if desired)

• *I prefer to use pickled jalapenos, only because they tend to hold their flavor better. 4 tbsp of chopped pickled jalapenos should do the trick.

• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1 egg (room temperature, let egg sit in hot water for about 5-7 minutes to warm)

• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)

• 3/4 cup milk, warmed

• 2 1/2 cups cheddar cheese (chopped into about 1/2-inch cubes or a little larger if desired)

• *note on the cheddar cheese: my family really likes having bigger chunks of melted cheese in the bread. However, you can replace this with 2 1/2 cups of thickly grated cheese to get a more prominent cheese flavor throughout the entire loaf.

Place the flour, yeast and salt in the bowl of the food process. Pulse to mix. Add 1-1/3 cups of water and process until the dough comes together. If the dough doesn't form a ball, add a little of the extra water. Process for about 60 seconds, turn off machine and let dough rest for 5 minutes. Turn on the machine again and rotate the dough about 30 times under the cover, and then remove it to a lightly floured work surface. it should be fairly smooth and quite firm. Let the dough rest for 2 minutes and then knead roughly and vigorously. The final dough should not stick to your hands as you knead (although it will stick if you pinch and hold a piece); it should be smooth and elastic and, when you hold it up between your hands and stretch it down, it should hold together smoothly.

Preliminary rise - 40 to 60 minutes at around 75°F. Place the dough into a clean dry bowl, (do not grease the bowl), cover with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place free from drafts. (Note the French do not grease the bowl because they believe the dough needs a seat to push up from.) This first rise is sufficient when the dough has definitely started to rise and is about 1-1/2 times its original volume.

• Punch down dough and slice into two even pieces. Shape into two large balls, and place on greased cooking sheet. Cover with a clean tea towel and rise again for another 1 hour or more until doubled.

Brush tops with an egg white that has been mixed with 1 teaspoon cold water.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Immediately toss a number of ice cubes on to the bottom on the oven to create steam. Bake until bread is golden brown; this usually takes about 20 - 30 minutes.

Rainy Day Supper

Left school early today with a stomachache. Slept and read most of the afternoon (finished Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner), then decided I felt well enough to cook something. After rummaging through my mostly empty cupboards, I found a bag of lentils that I bought back in Arlington during the summer, along with a can of sweet potatoes which my sister gave me last weekend. Well then,

 Lentils and Sweet Potatoes it is.

I have never actually made Lentil soup on my own before, however my mom used to make it all the time. Heavy and warm, I think it's perfect for a rainy afternoon.

                                                                                     

1 lb. of Lentils

2 Large Potatoes

1 large  Onion

Several cloves of Garlic

1 large Carrot

1 Large Tomato

1 oz. of butter

1 tsp. Ground Cumin

1/2 tsp. Chili Powder

pepper and salt to taste.

• Chop the onion and garlic up roughly, and fry it in the butter until beginning to brown. Pick and wash the lentils, and set them over the fire with 2 quarts of water or vegetable stock, adding the fried onion and garlic.
• Peel, wash, and cut up the potatoes and carrots, and add all to the lentils. When they are nearly soft add the tomatoes (diced).
• When all the ingredients are quite tender rub them through a sieve, or mash with a potato masher. Return the soup to the saucepan, add pepper and salt, and more water if the soup is too thick. Add the seasonings to taste.

     ________________________________________________________________________________________

I had to search online for something to use the sweet potatoes in, and found a recipe for Philippean (sp?) 

Camote Bread.

I love any kind of potato, but especially sweet potatoes. Slather on some butter, and it's a meal all in itself. This bread turned out really nice- not too heavy, and a slightly sweet.

2    cups all-purpose flour

1    teaspoon salt

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup oil

1    tablespoon baking powder

1     egg, beaten

1    cup milk

1    cup loosely packed mashed sweet potato

• 
  
  Stir together flour, baking powder. sugar and salt.
• 
  
  Combine eggs, milk, oil, and mashed sweet potato.
• 
  
  Pour all at once over flour mixture and stir only until flour is moistened.
• 
  
  Pour into greased 4-1/2- by 8-1/2-inch loaf pan.
• 
  
  Bake at 375 degrees F for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until done.
• 
  
  Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan; cool completely before slicing.

Blueberry Scones

Awoke early this morning with an intense craving for blueberry scones. I haven't made them since I was 15 or 16, and remembering how calming it was to mix the dough, pat it out on flour, then cut and shape each individual scone had me jumping out of bed, throwing on a coat and my boots, and driving to the store for some blueberries. (I never had to buy blueberries during high school. My family happens to have a handy little blueberry patch next to the house.) The recipe I used was fairly simple- made a bit of mess when I tried to roll out the very sticky dough on the counter, and I didn't have any cake flour, so substituted rice flour. I also sprinkled raw sugar over the egg wash, which turned out very pretty. Cleaned up while the scones were in the oven, made a pot of coffee, and had myself a nice little breakfast. :)

P.S.

I've recently discovered how absolutely wonderful buttermilk is in any type of pasty dough. Although I will never be able to actually drink the stuff (SOUR!), it creates beautiful light crusts, and richer tasting pastries.

1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cake flour (not self-rising)
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
4 ounces (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup (½ pint) blueberries
½ cup buttermilk
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg lightly beaten for egg wash
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

2. Whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or rub in with your fingers, until the mixture has the texture of coarse meal. Stir in blueberries.

3. Whisk together buttermilk, 1 egg, and the vanilla. Drizzle over flour mixture, and stir lightly with a fork until dough comes together but a small amount of flour remains in the bowl.

4. Turn out dough onto a work surface, and gently knead dough once or twice just to incorporate flour. Pat dough into a 1-inch thick round. Cut into 12 wedges. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 22 minutes. Transfer scones to wire rack to cool. (Makes 12 scones).