Happy 4th from the ATL - this and that

Happy 4th from the ATL.  I finally made it to the outlets....and broke my first item in a store. Welcome to the Williams Sonoma outlet, Shelley.  Hopefully they will allow me back and hopefully Catherine will go back with me.  (It was a cake plate and I about died.)  I did leave there with a few items to make it up to them.

I have been wanting some of this vanilla since cooking with Lance and Julie.  I finally got some!  (Note: They get the paste and not the extract so they can get the vanilla specs.)

This is a cake tester.  How did I not know about this?  And how have I gone so long without one?  Catherine uses one and swears by it.  I figured with the amount of cakes I bake...

(cookies in the background to come in a later post...)

I have this next item in Catherine's bread machine as I type.  A woman who is a HUGE Williams Sonoma fan swears by their bread mixes.  She stopped us in the isle and gave us an "all-you-need-to-know-about-the-outlet" speech.  (Did I look overwhelmed?)

All you do is add a little oil and water to the bread mix.  Homemade bread in a few hours.  And it was only a few dollars (on super sale).  To me, worth a try.

More posts/recipe documentations to follow.  I am getting behind.  But wanted to say...

HAPPY 4th!

Lou's Petit Fours

Lou's Petit Fours...

Today's adventure...petit fours.  It was a challenge from Katharyn and one Julie and I eagerly accepted.   The recipe comes from a woman in Jackson, Mississippi named Lou.  These are Katharyn's favorite petit fours and we decided, with the amount of showers we throw, it could be a good recipe to master.  Although we didn't master it this first time, I feel like next time we will succeed.  

(Julie did this part before our arrival because the cake has to freeze.  You want to allow time for that.) Mix 1 box of white cake mix according to directions on box.  We used Duncan Hines.  Julie added a little almond flavoring and it took on the taste of a wedding cake so be sure to add 1/4 teaspoon of almond flavoring.  Bake 17 to 25 minutes at 350 in 10 1/2 x 15 1/2 jelly roll pan.  Cake should be done, but not brown on top.  (Baking time depends on your oven.) 

Remove the cake from oven to cooling rack.  Immediately cover cake with wax paper, pat lightly to adhere wax paper to top of cake.  

Let cake stand for 5 minutes and remove wax paper from cake to remove crumb crust.  Continue to cool cake on rack for 10 to 15 minutes.  Place new layer of wax paper on cake; lay cooling rack upside down on cake (over paper) and turn cake out of pan.  Very carefully brush crumbs from bottom of cake. 

Freeze cake until firm.

Henry channeling his innermost Lou...

Once frozen, frost cake with thin layer of buttercream icing.  Ours is entirely too thick....

While still frozen, trim 1/8" from cake with long serrated knife* and cut cake into 1 1/2" squares.  Frost with quick fondant, let dry 10 minutes and decorate.

*Rinse crumbs and frosting from knife between each cutting with hot water.

Lou's Buttercream Frosting

(for top of cake before trimming and cutting)

1 cup solid shortening

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon clear vanilla (to keep icing white)

1 teaspoon butter flavoring

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons of water

2 lb powdered sugar, sifted

In stand mixer, whip shortening and salt until ligh.  Combine flavoring and water in a measuring cup.  Add sugar and water mixture alternately to the shortening on low speed.  Beat well until mixed.

Lou's Quick Fondant Icing 

7/8 cup skim milk

3 tablespoon solid shortening

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon clear vanilla

1 teaspoon butter extract

2 lb powdered sugar, sifted

Combine skim milk, shortening and salt in double boiler.  Make certain water does not reach bottom of pan.  Heat until shortening mixture is melted.  

Pregnant Kat = cuteness.

Remove from heat.  With hand mixer, add vanilla, butter extract and sifted sugar to heated mixture in double broiler.

Place cooling rack over wax paper to catch drips.  Pick up one cake square on end of large angled spatula.  Hold over double broiler, pour 1/2 cup of icing over cake, making sure to cover all sides.  Rake excess icing off large spatula with a small angled spatula back into double broiler.  Ease petit four onto cooling rack.

Should frosting become too thick: add 1 teaspoon of hot milk and stir.  Never return to heat.  If still too thick, continue adding 1 teaspoon of hot milk, stirring until you get the right consistency.

Hints:

-Layer buttercream on the top VERY lightly or you will end up with too thick icing.

-Skim milk is necessary.  Ours never hardened and we think this is due to our 2% substitution.

-We ran out of icing.  You need to thin out the icing.  Thin = better.

Baked Alaska

BAKED ALASKA

We're baaack!

For several reasons, it was a "no-brainer" when Julie suggested we attempt a Baked Alaska.  What is Baked Alaska?  I had to look it up myself.  Thank you Wikkipedia.


Baked Alaska: a dessert made of ice cream placed in a pie dish lined with slices of sponge cake and topped with meringue. The entire dessert is then placed in an extremely hot oven for just long enough to firm the meringue. The meringue is an effective insulator, and the short cooking time prevents the heat from getting through to the ice cream.


We had to create a few shortcuts and found a perfect recipe to allow us to do this is one sitting.  In our shortcut recipe you can make individual Baked Alaskas which is easily done using flat cookies.  This allows you to make and bake however many you need.


Julie just so happened to have her WONDERFUL chocolate chip cookies at her house.  (However, there is a recipe associated with the recipe above that looks absolutely wonderful.)  

Savannah watched on as usual. (The more things change, the more they stay the same!)

We scooped coffee ice cream onto the cookies and placed them in the freezer for 30 minutes to solidify.

We have another guest appearance.  Actually, it is less of a guest appearance and more of an addition.  For the first time...presenting HENRY!

Henry's Dad has recently graduated from law school and is the proud owner of an iPad which makes our recipe referral much easier.

For the meringue you will need plenty of eggs.  It called for 4 egg whites.  It made PLENTY of meringue for 4 cookies.  

Beat until stiff, gradually adding 1/2 cup of sugar. (They will become shiny...)

Put meringue into a piping bag with a wide tip of your choice and pipe around the frozen ice cream.  You need to eliminate any holes or you will find yourself with an ice cream volcano.  

We piped it around the bottom as well to keep the ice cream sealed in the meringue.

Place in the freezer again for at least 15 minutes and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Somebody seems excited!

Bake for 5 minutes...which we found to be the perfect time.

Serve and enjoy immediately.  It really was wonderful...and a fun, easy project.  Like Julie pointed out, it could be great to create with kids.  Henry might have been a little young to enjoy it.  One day...

Hope everyone has a good Memorial Day!
 (Ironically this day last year I was at the beach with Henry's parents....little did we know what the year would bring...)


Last but not least:
THANK YOU to our soldiers who continue to put their lives on the line for our country and for those who have lost their lives in doing so.  

Katharyn's Baby Shower Cake

Consider this a picture post. The icing job above is not my best work. I transported many items to work for the shower, and, in the process, wasn't careful with the cake. Also, next time I will be sure to have extra icing to line the bottom.  You live and learn.  And I live and blog to remember these things.  :)

I tried a new recipe - an Ina Garten recipe, Beatty's Chocolate Cake.  With 1,062 reviews and 5 stars on the Food Network site, how can one go wrong?! 

I followed the recipe exactly except I omitted the egg yolk in the icing. (I was not about to feed a pregnant woman raw egg.  It can certainly be omitted.)  Coffee is the secret ingredient and, like in the reviews, even people who don't like coffee raved about the cake.  Super moist.  SUPER rich.

This is my cake topper.  I can thank google images for the inspiration.  The miniature clothespins are easy to find at Michaels.  I sketched out the basic designs myself.

Of course you will recognize the "Mother Daughter Tea" punch.  Katharyn's favorite.

 

My lovely coworker/co-hostesses surrounding the mom-to-be....

On a side note:  I often say how blessed and lucky I am.  It is true.  This week made me realize how everything can change in a matter of minutes and how quickly it all can be taken away.  Thanks to all my friends and family who checked on me and I ask you continue to keep the storm victims in your thoughts and prayers.  My heart goes out to those suffering and mourning the lost of loved ones.  No words on a blog can possibly describe how I feel....