Three Years Old and a Treasure Chest Cake!

Henry's birthday is almost over, and for a three-year old who didn't get his afternoon nap, he's in remarkably agreeable shape!  He had a wonderful day, celebrated with friends, cousins, and grandparents.  Late this morning Henry came upstairs to "help" me put the finishing touches on his birthday cake while his father finished constructing his new sand box and his mother was getting ready for the party. 

Click on this link to see a slideshow of Henry's day, and the cake I loved making for him!

Royal Wedding and Cake!

Liza's Wedding Cake

I'm planning to go to bed in just a few minutes and wake up in time to catch the Wedding-of-the-Century, the Royal Wedding of Prince William to lovely Kate Middleton.  I'm setting my alarm for 4:00 a.m. and putting it across the room, so I have to get out of bed to turn it off.  While I watch the procession and wedding ceremonies, I'll be frosting a little birthday cake for later in the day, and I'll be wondering just what the Royal Wedding Cake will be.  I've read that it is the traditional English fruit cake with cream and a white frosting.  While those of us here in "the states" would likely not choose a fruit cake to celebrate a wedding, it is the cake of choice for weddings across the pond. 

Queen Victoria's Wedding Cake

Queen Victoria commissioned the first tiered wedding cake, initiating a tradition to be embraced all over the world, and which has taken on huge signficance for subsequent generations.  (History of the wedding cake, here.) The tiered cake, now, is an iconic symbol of the wedding, second only to the bride's wedding dress.  For one course leading up to my masters thesis, I wrote a paper comparing the symbolism of the the wedding dress and the wedding cake.  There are many correlations between the two which I personally find fascinating!

Katie's and Bill's Wedding Cake, October 2005

Despite the fact that I am divorced, I love weddings.  I especially love wedding cakes.  I made my daughter Katie's wedding cake for her marriage to Bill in 2005, and I look forward to making Tricia's when she and Jeff marry in Septemer of 2012.  When I think of my own simple wedding so many years ago, when Iwas only 20-years old, there was no tiered cake.  We were young and only had a small buffet at my parent's home, and ours was a sheet cake.  I think that's part of the reason why baking beautiful cakes for people is such an obsession for me.  I want to commemorate special days for special people. 

Carrie's Cupcake Wedding Cake

I can only image the pressure, at this moment, on the pastry chefs who are now assembling the most important cake of their lives.  Most likely, the press will focus on so many other aspects of the wedding, but the moments I'd love to witness will be when Will and Kate see their cake for the first time, when they cut the cake and share that first bite.  I hope it is something enchanting, one aspect of their wedding day that will bring happy memories back to them for many anniversaries to come.

Best wishes to Will and Kate!  May they enjoy health and happiness for the rest of their enchanted lives.



Wedding cake history: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/food/2009/07/the-strange-history-of-the-wedding-cake/

Photos:  mine, plus Queen Victoria's cake: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHaWP36k9jhPwqRn49YNNsDWHcttj1BlvQxoVJGn0RCG_s9Bf5SJ766XFowChHzkf-MtTaO2EH8_GbKh009jXtqjbn2U5c4Xhe-DI3wWMhhHZDDBW8mMbV4ZrLdH8JSLyN-SnkIxPuX4s/s1600/Queen+victoria.jpg

Easter Brunch and Crustless Quiche

Happy Easter!  This morning my daughter Katie is hosting a small Easter brunch for her family and the grandparents.  My contribution is a crustless quiche.  Because there is still much to do on this Easter Sunday, I'll share the recipe in photos.  I hope you all have a beautiful day!

CRUSTLESS QUICHE

red, yellow, orange peppers & vidalia onion

self-explanatory!

shrooms

broccoli (or "trees" to Henry)

So colorful!

4 slices bacon crumbled into the mix

Katie's eggs - from different chickens!

A dozen eggs to be mixed w/ 3 c. milk

Poured over veggies and 2 cups shredded cheese

Out of the oven

Barney Cake and Family Celebrations

This has been a busy baking weekend.  I made a bridal shower cake for a couple getting married this summer, and a Barney cake for a little guy whose birthday party is today.  The groom of the bridal couple is the son of a friend from the English Department where I used to work; the one-year-old is the grandson of a friend of mine. 

When Sue asked me if I'd make a Barney cake for her grandson Jake, I was happy to say yes, but I'd never made one before.  I was online late last night finding images of Barney, sketching them, and designing the cake.  After finishing the bridal shower cake after midnight (for an early morning delivery), I decided to go to bed so that my energy would be fresh in the morning to "tackle" Barney.  I got up at 6 a.m. and went straight to work.

Every time I have to design a cake I've never made before, I am grateful for those four years of art classes at Saratoga High, under the direction of Mario Izzo, the best art teacher I'd ever had.  I can't help but remember, as I mix colors for frosting, the many times my palette knife mixed different paints together to get just the right hue.  It's all very similar.  Mixing colors to decorate a cake brings me back to that classroom every time, and to the motivating words that Mr. Izzo blessed me with, "You are an artist."  While none of my cakes are Picasso-esque, just having his encouragement stored away in my brain, and in my heart, lets me know that I can do it, that I can design a cake and follow through and be pleased with the result. 

It's very gratifying to see friends lift the lids of cake boxes and realize the joy in their faces as they like what they see, that their vision of a cake has come to life.  I was driving home today and I thought about the tasks ahead of me (cleaning up my kitchen, getting ready for my own weekend baking and cooking).  Baking these cakes takes up a lot of my time and energy; sometimes it feels as though I have two jobs.  I wish I had more time to myself, but then I think of how what I did, what I created, added elements of happiness to not just one family's occasion today, but to two, and that makes it worth it.  Congratulations, Laura and Will, and happy first birthday, baby Jake!

Lemon Yogurt Muffins on a Happy, Happy Day

Today, my daughter Tricia and her boyfriend Jeff became an engaged couple. It's wonderful news, and I finally heard about it after Tricia repeatedly tried to reach me on my cell phone which was still on my night stand after I went to work without it today(!).  So, the news was a little bit delayed but very welcome, nonetheless!  It was a very romantic proposal, in beautiful Yaddo in Saratoga Springs.  Tricia tells me Jeff got down and one knee and when she realized what was happening, she couldn't believe it.  She hadn't had any idea!  So now they are engaged, and are both elated.  Jeff is a great addition to our family. He and Tricia have a happy, fun-loving, and joyful relationship.  I've spent half the night sharing the good news -- by phone, by email, and by facebook -- this is indeed good news, all the way around.

Tonight, in my happiness, I am baking lemon yogurt muffins.  I've adapted my basic muffin recipe with the addition of granulated lemon peel (purchased at Fresh Market) and the substitution of vanilla yogurt for sour cream.  They're just coming out of the oven  now, and they smell great!

Tonight, muffins, and at a date to be determined in 2012, my daughter's wedding cake.  Love it.


LEMON YOGURT MUFFINS
makes 2 dozen
Prepare muffin tins with liners or by spraying with vegetable spray

1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 tablespoons granulated lemon peel (or the zest of one lemon)
2 cups vanilla yogurt
3.5 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Cream butter with sugar for 3 minutes.  Add vanilla extract and lemon peel.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add vanilla yogurt and mix well.

Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, all together.  Mix  on lowest speed until well combined.  Don't worry, you can mix this beyond just being moist.  Make sure all the dry ingredients are well incorporated, stopping to scrape the bowl once or twice.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes.  Cool for 20 minutes and remove to wire rack to cool completely.  Sift confectioners sugar over top.

Pineapple Muffins

Pineapple Muffins from
allrecipes.com

Today lovely Tina asked me for a recipe for pineapple muffins.  I've known Tina since the day she was born.  Her parents have been friends of mine since the beginning of time, and I watched Tina, her brother Bobby, and sister Teresa grow up.  Our children spent much of their childhood together, and there are priceless memories of that time.  Along the way, busy lives got in the way but we've reconnected and it is as if no time has passed (I love that). 

Tina's son Jackson (2 years old) is unable to digest milk or milk products which is very challenging.  I found a recipe for pineapple muffins from allrecipes.com and adapted it so it would be safe for Jackson.  Water replaces milk, and canola oil replaces butter.  In baking world, canola oil works well as a butter substitute in muffins and cakes.  The moisture from the reserved pineapple juice and water more than make up for the milk, and the crowning of pineapple and a cinnamon struesel combine to make this a moist and delicious muffin.  The original recipe, linked here, rates very highly on allrecipes.com.  Jackson will be the judge, though.  I can't wait to hear how he liked them.


PINEAPPLE MUFFINS
(milk and butter-free)

375 degrees F

2 cups AP flour
1/2 c. gran sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 8oz can crushed pineapple
1 egg, beaten
3/4 c. water
1/4 c. canola oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour muffin pans, or line with paper liners.

In a large bowl, stir together 2 cups flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. Drain pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup juice. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the reserved juice, egg, water, and 1/4 cup canola oil. Mix just until blended.

In a separate bowl, stir together the cinnamon, brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/4 cup canola oil to make the topping.

Spoon batter into muffin cups, then spoon crushed pineapple over the batter and sprinkle with the cinnamon topping.

Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the crown of the muffin comes out clean.
 
Original recipe and photo:  http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/delicious-pineapple-muffins/Detail.aspx

A Little Elfin' Magic and a Great Cheesecake!

This week I made a cheesecake for my friend Katie's mom's birthday.  Katie and I work together and she was trying to decide what kind of birthday cake she'd bring for her mother's celebration.  Her father said, "Your mother likes yellow cake with lemon filling, whipped cream frosting, and lots of walnuts on the side."  Katie said to her father, "No, that's YOUR favorite cake!"  Her mother loves cheesecake, and Katie asked if I would make one, with just a touch of lemon.  I was happy to make it.  I love making cheesecakes.  They are cool and creamy happiness in a graham cracker crust!  Don't be intimidated by the thought of making your own cheesecake; it's really a very simple process.  The important thing to remember is to have all your ingredients at room temperature, so that everything mixes to a silky smoothness.

I have a favorite recipe (linked here) and it is found on the back of the Keebler Graham Cracker Crumb box.  It's a New York-style cheesecake:  deep, sweet, and creamy.  The crust is delicious on its own, but when paired with the cream cheese filling, the whole thing is perfect.   I made a few minor changes to the recipe:  I added finely grated peel from one lemon.  Additionally, I place a cake pan full of hot water on the rack below, just to add moisture to the oven which helps to minimize cracking, and then when it was done I turned off the oven and propped the door open an inch and left it there for an hour to allow slow cooling, which is also supposed to help minimize cracking.  You can customize this recipe to  your own preferences with different flavorings.  Part of the batter can be flavored with cocoa or canned pumpkin and spices.  You can fold frozen berries (they don't smoosh) or broken Oreos into the batter.  You can use different crumbs for the crust (crushed chocolate wafer cookies).  The basic formula can be the foundation for limitless combinations.  Try this recipe.  You'll love it!

Here are photos of Katie's cheesecake, start to finish.

Using a small measuring cup to press crumbs...

Two el-bees of cream cheese!

The finished product!

Photos: my own.