Happy 4th of July

This is one of the first years we aren't hosting a 4th of July BBQ and I must say it's been quite a relaxing day! We are headed to a friends house to BBQ later today and I always have to whip up something to bring. I picked up fresh blueberries, strawberries and rhubarb at the store last night and concocted this cake with the inspiration of Martha Stewart.

I used Martha's Strawberry Cream Cake recipe but instead of just plain strawberries to layer the cake with, I made a strawberry-rhubarb compote between the layers. Garnished it with fresh blueberries. Hopefully it won't be a pain to transport to the BBQ tonight... Happy 4th of July!The cake is made in 3 parts: the cake, the whipped cream and the compote. This recipe makes 2 8 inch layer cakes, if you want a 3 layer like mine, make and additional half of the cake recipe. Once the cakes and compote are cool you can layer away. I did have to torte the tops of the cakes to make them flat before layering. Compote and whipped cream can be made the day before. What I love about this cake is that rustic, simple look. Enjoy!


Strawberry-Rhubarb Cream Cake
Adapted from Martha Stewart

Cake Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1/2 tsp orange extract
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract
  
• 1/2 cup whole milk

Cake Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter bottoms of 2 8-inch round cake pans, and line with parchment paper. Butter and flour paper and sides. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

2. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla bean, orange and lemon extract. With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture in 3 parts and milk in 2, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. Spread batter in prepared pans. (I like to use an ice cream scoop to divide the batter evenly between the pans. All you have to do is count how many scoops you do in each pan ;-)
   

3. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 18 - 20 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes; invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.
   

Whipped Cream Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (from a 1/4-ounce envelope)
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (optional)
  

Cream Directions:

1. Place 2 tablespoons cold water in a small saucepan, and sprinkle with gelatin; let soften 5 minutes. Place saucepan over very low heat, and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat; let cool.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat cream and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a large bowl until very soft peaks form. Continue to beat, and gradually add gelatin mixture; beat until soft peaks form. Add vanilla bean paste and mix for a few more seconds.
   

Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote
From Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

• 10 ounces (2 cups) fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and chopped
• 1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 10 ounces trimmed rhubarb, cut into 1/4-inch pieces (about 2 3/4 cups or 2 large stalks)
• 2 tablespoons water

Directions:

1. Stir strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and lemon juice in a small nonreactive pan; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes. Remove strawberries with slotted spoon; place in a bowl and let cool. Set aside pan with strawberry liquid.
2. Meanwhile, in another small pan over medium-low heat, combine rhubarb, remaining 1/3 cup sugar, and the water. Simmer gently, stirring often, until sugar is dissolved and rhubarb is almost tender, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer rhubarb to bowl with strawberries. Add strawberry liquid to pan.
3. Raise heat to medium and simmer until thickened and reduced to 1/2 cup, about 10 minutes. Let cool. Stir into strawberry-rhubarb mixture.

strawberry shortcake

Whipped up some easy strawberry shortcakes the other day for dessert. Still waiting for the strawberries to come in to season (definitely had to sugar them up a bit), but the cake part was super easy and tasted so good! Especially when served right out of the oven ;-) I added a touch of lemon zest to the biscuits and vanilla bean to the homemade whipped cream. The following recipe that I used is from Baking Bites. I cut it in half so I'd have just enough and not many leftovers.


Strawberry Buttermilk Shortcakes
Recipe adapted from Baking Bites
Makes just about 5 servings (depending on how big or small you prepare the biscuits)

1 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
3 1/2 tbls butter, chilled and cut into pieces
3/8 cup buttermilk (that's half of 3/4 cup ;-)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract Fresh lemon zest (about a half lemon)
Fresh, ripe strawberries
Homemade whipped cream

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

3. Rub in butter with your finger tips until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (or pulse a few times in a food processor).

4. Stir in buttermilk, vanilla extract and lemon zest until the dough comes together. Add an additional tablespoon of buttermilk if the dough is slightly dry.

5. Drop by 1/4 cups (use a measuring cup) onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Or, I gently spread out the dough to around a 1/2 inch thickness and cut out the short cakes with a heart shaped cookie cutter (or use a small biscuit cutter). I got about 10 heart shaped biscuits with the size cutter I used.

6. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden.

I like to serve them immediately out of the oven. Slice in half, put in fresh strawberries, homemade whipped cream, and enjoy ;-) I'm definitely ready for summer and strawberry season! ~Cara Lee

Strawberry Rhubarb Cupcakes

When I want to DEstress, I love to bake. Today was just the day for that. I happen to buy some rhubarb on a whim yesterday. I've never actually had rhubarb by itself before, but I had some strawberry rhubarb jam while on a recent trip I took. It looks like a purple kind of celery and tastes really tart when it's raw. Do people actually eat it raw?
I googled around for some inspiration as to how to cook this stuff and what to do with it. I came across the blog The Dutch Baker's Daughter, and found her recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Cupcakes (which was actually a runner up in a Betty Crocker baking contest :-). I followed all her directions but the only thing I changed was the frosting. I'm on this swiss meringue kick lately, so I did a strawberry rhubarb version :) Btw - I could not stop licking the spoon when I was cooking down the strawberries and rhubarb together!

They were really yummy. Very moist and not too sweet at all - which the BF liked, I could use a little more sweetness but that's just me ;-) I like the combo more than just plain strawberry cupcakes, the rhubarb gives it a little more umph. I think it's a perfect treat for the end of summer going into autumn season.

Friday Cupcakes

Every other Friday or so I make cupcakes to bring into work. My co-workers are like my guniea pigs and so far they have liked every cupcakes I've brought in (unless they've been lying to me ;-) I brought a few different kinds into work this week.

First I made chocolate cupcakes with strawberry swiss meringue frosting and a nutella center. So yummmmmmy! I'm really liking the swiss meringue frosting lately and so does the BF :) I kinda got the idea because I love strawberry and nutella crepes! Next time I gotta put banana in there somewhere too.
My second creation is something I have been wanting to make for awhile now. Meat cupcakes! A co-worker of mine doesn't like sweets so I thought it would be perfect. I first heard about a meat cake on one of those wedding shows and it was for a grooms cake. I scaled it down a bit and made them cupcake size.Simply take your favorite meat loaf recipe and portion it into a cupcake pan. Top it with mash potatoes (I piped the potatoes on to make them look more like "frosting"). Then I used bacon, cheese, and chives for the "sprinkles". OH and I can't forget, I did a little ketchup in the center! I gotta have ketchup with my meatloaf. You could do gravy if you want. I put the meat cupcakes in the liner after they had cooled and I dabbed off the grease.

You can also go all out and do a bacon liner if you want!

Grad school has started up for the fall so I'm gonna be crazy busy between that and work. I'll squeeze some bake time in there somewhere :) Big order for next weekend! Have a good one ~Cara Lee

Fishing Cake

Finally got to present my dad with his retirement cake yesterday. He was so impressed he did not even cut it! It was a fishing scene since he loves to fish (typical retiree eh??) Haha... I also decorated the table with a fishing net, those fishing bob things, and gummi worms (I wanted to get fake fishing worm lures he could use but apparently they contain lead so it's a good thing I read the packaging!)I used my cupcake tower and put the cake on top. The cake was a 6 inch round and a 4 inch round tiered cake. I decided I like working on a smaller scale cakes now. It was so much easier to stack and deal with. I got all the fondant decor finished during the week, covered the cake the night before and then decorated it in the morning. It was the least stressful cake I've done so far :)

Cupcake Flavors:

Strawberry Margarita - strawberry cupcake with hints of lemon and lime zest. Then topped with strawberry cream cheese frosting with hints of tequila, lemon and lime zest.
Key Lime Pie - (one of my dad's fave deserts so I put it in cupcake form) graham cracker cupcale with key lime curd in the middle. Topped with a cream cheese frosting with hints of lime zest. Garnished with a little toasted coconut.
Chocolate Stout - a chocolate stout cupcake made with a home brewed stout. Topped with Bailey's Irish Cream frosting.
I stuck a few homemade toppers I made on some of the cupcakes too - can you guess where he retired from? lol... Well I'm glad everyone enjoyed and I received so many wonderful compliments (when I left only 3 cupcakes were left). It was a definite success!

Congrats Dad!