Let the Celebrations Begin

The beginning of the upcoming holiday season starts early for my family, and that would be my mom's birthday. I always like to get really creative when it comes to her cake because of all the years she made mine (and those were brilliant). Last year I made her a spice cake with 7-minute frosting and poached mini pears.

This year I wanted something to make her a cake that wasn't like that, so I chose a chocolate layer cake with strawberry icing.

From The Little Big Book of Pooh by Monique Peterson, that was given to my mom by one of my brothers as a birthday gift last year, is a simple recipe for a cake that is the epitome of a birthday cake. Made in the way of a white cake with the addition of melted chocolate, the cake is moist, flavorful, and not too sweet. The icing is a traditional buttercream tinted pink, so I figured I might as well add strawberry extract.

It really becomes a Winnie the Pooh cake with on top of this cake stand!

Mom really enjoyed this cake, and she thought the pink icing made it pretty. It does look like a merry cake, which really is the point of all things Pooh Bear! (Actually, this is the cake everyone made for Eeyore's party, which is why it looks so cheery.)

Care for some cake?

Fall Treats ~ pumpkin pasties

Part one of what will be a few more posts on fall-themed baking treats (and I mean that -- it's not like I'm asking how you are when I really couldn't care less, heck, I might as well not ask at all, but I sincerely promise two more fall baking posts). I usually make pumpkin muffins, but I've done that so many times in the past that it's become blase. Besides these, I will make the pumpkin scones I've always wanted to try, plus two more that I won't talk about now that have nothing to do with pumpkin.

I've made Pumpkin Pasties before as a treat to snack on while reading the final Harry Potter book. What I particularly enjoy about these is that it's an individual pumpkin pie with a higher proportion of crust to filling than a traditional slice, while not having to commit to a full slice or looking moronic by asking for a slice 3/16th of an inch thick. (That was a totally random number that I've never asked someone to do.)

The filling is doubly spicy since I doubled the amounts, and it's just sweet enough to satisfy your sweet tooth.

The filling was pretty orange considering I doubled the spices, but something happened when I left it out overnight (covered-like with a piece of plastic wrap) and it no longer had a vibrant color. I can't remember how it looked the last time I made it, though I did refrigerate it.

For the crust I used Martha Stewart's recipe for Perfect Pate Brisee, and it really is perfect, more so because I wasn't afraid of adding too much liquid and the rolling of the dough was a roll of the pin. I did use Smart Balance Butter Blend instead of all butter, mainly out of curiosity and partly because I vary between all-butter and butter-shortening crusts. Unlike a buttery spread, this contains less water. It's like Smart Balances non-hydrogenated shortening they had but discontinued, combined with butter in stick form at a higher price than the shortening.

This may be a little more time consuming than a traditional pie, but it's more fun and is worth the tiny bit of extra effort it takes.

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I'll get the complaints, mainly that the crust was saltier than normally. I'm thinking it might have been due to the butter blend sticks since I typically use unsalted butter, so I should have decreased the salt in the recipe by half.
Secondly, the filling wasn't orange-hued, rendering those not suitable to the photo process and not as nice for presentation.
Third, I should have refrigerated the filled and crimped turnovers for at least half an hour because the pretty crusts lost their shape.

For the praise, the crust was very flaky and tasted great despite the saltiness (which wasn't too bad). I think of these as the foodie's answer to McDonald's pumpkin pie, seeing as both are similar in that it's more turnover than actual pie, and it can travel really well.

What to do with any leftover filling? I've forgotten all about mine and it's in the fridge somewhere, but some ideas are stirring it into a bowl of oatmeal, using it to make pumpkin shakes, or topping with toasted pecans and whipped cream and eating it as a crustless dessert.

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Pumpkin Pasties
Recipe from Britta.com

Makes about 3 dozen miniature pasties.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs, slightly beaten


• 3/4 cup sugar


• 1 1 lb. can pumpkin

(or 2 cups fresh, roasted in the oven then pressed
through a strainer)

• 1/2 tsp. salt


• 1 tsp. cinnamon


• 1/2 tsp. ginger


• 1/2 tsp. allspice


• 1/4 tsp. cloves


• I added a few gratings of fresh nutmeg


• 1 2/3 cups evap. milk (1 can)


• 9 oz pie crust pastry (enough for two single standard pie crusts)


• 1 egg, beaten (for brushing turnovers)


• Extra sugar for sprinkling

Directions

1. Combine filling ingredients and whisk until combined. Bake the pie filling only (no crust) in a large, lightly greased, casserole dish in hot oven (425°) for 15 minutes. Keep oven door closed and reduce temp to moderate (350°) and continue baking for 40-45 minutes or until table knife inserted in center of dish comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.


2. Make or purchase pie crust pastry. Roll thin and cut into circles approx 4" in diameter. Put a spoonful of the cool pumpkin mixture towards one side of the center of the circle. Fold over the crust into a half-circle and firmly crimp the edges closed. Slice three small slits in the top for venting, place on a greased cookie sheet, brush with egg and sprinkle with sugar, and bake only until crust is a light golden-brown. (For this stage, I increased the oven temperature to 400°.) Great served at room-temperature, then you don't have to worry about your guests possibly burning their mouths from the steaming hot pumpkin inside!

Lazy Daisy Cake

What happens when a food blogger suddenly stops blogging? Do they stop eating, too? I can only answer for myself, and it's not necessarily that nothing blog-worth came out of the kitchen, but rather that sometimes I just want to eat without having a photo shoot of my plate. Of course, I kept putting off an 'I'm leaving for a bit' note because I never intended not to blog, I just sort of kept procrastinating and then I began to knit.
Yes, that's right, I replaced kitchen utensils and ingredients with knitting needles and yarn. I've made four shrugs, one short-sleeve sweater shrug, and a few other things. I've cheated, for which I owe you all an apologizing. It gets worse, I've been perusing knitting blogs. (But I did not start one... I just joined an online knitting community.)

Anyway, I felt that a 'Lazy Daisy Cake' was the most appropriate post to make for my return, and I promise you that if I realize I might be spiraling down a path of laziness (this makes the second time I've done this), I'll let you know. That I'm lazy.

What is a lazy daisy cake? It's a hot milk sponge cake with a broiled coconut caramel frosting. Really quick, really simple. If you don't like coconut, replace it with chopped, sliced, or slivered nuts.

While I like the cake, the sweetness of the frosting being mellowed by the rather plain cake, the cake part isn't anything of note, being rather dry and flavorless (it's not the lack of sweetness I take issue with). I've realized that it's more a platform for the topping, but imagine a unity of a moist cake with a flavor that is great on its own, but blends flavors with the topping. I was asked to take on this challenge, and I haven't made much headway, though I had an inspiration a minute ago when I started thinking about this cake again. With that being said, I won't be posting a recipe yet. Just Google the name if you want to make it and you'll find a recipe for the regular version.

Readers, fellow foodie friends, what's you favorite treat to make when you are lazy, tired, the kitchen is messy, but you want something more than graham crackers with peanut butter or chips and salsa? (Stay home and eat all the freakin' chips, Kip!)