Super Epic Rainbow Cake

First spotted this cake on Whisk Kid - of course I bookmarked it and knew that this, this was going to be Bear's birthday cake. How could it not be? It's unbelievable!

Tinting the cake batter was no big thing, once I did a bit of research and decided to shell out $16.00 for a box of fancy Wilton food coloring gel. That stuff is incredible. The colors, as you can see, were intense and true - although the picture makes the red and orange look similar, in reality they were obviously different.

In my opinion, the most difficult and labor intensive part of this whole thing was the buttercream icing. She's a fickle bitch. I went with a recipe I've never tried before - but it's Bon Appétit, it'll work, right? Remind me (again, please) that trying out a new recipe on something that has to be seen by other people is never a good idea.

While I was beating the egg whites and sugar for the second batch (with a hand mixer - I really, really need a stand mixer!!!), my other hand was stirring the sugar syrup on the stove. The thing about sugar is that when it starts to caramelize, it happens fast. I did take the pan off the heat before the browning started - but as I was pouring it (in a slow, steady stream so as not to cook the egg whites), the residual heat from the pan nearly caramelized the sugar! In layman's terms: almost caramelized sugar syrup = golden sugar syrup = pinkish buttercream.

Awesome.

Because I'm frugal cheap, I refused to throw it out. Into the fridge it went. And onto the third batch of buttercream. Please keep in mind that each batch of buttercream calls for 5 egg whites and a cup of butter, plus sugar (negligible - I bake, sugar is always on hand). My patience was running out just as fast as the supplies!

I figured I had this recipe whipped by now, and sure enough, the third batch turned out beautifully - silky smooth, and it melted on the tongue. I'd run out of butter and eggs so I decided I'd layer as much of the cake as I could and finish the rest the next day.

One more batch of buttercream the next morning (yeah, I've got that recipe wrapped around my little finger now), and I came to a brilliant conclusion for the pink buttercream: crumb coat!! It wouldn't be noticeable to anyone but me, and that would leave more of the bright white perfect buttercream to frost the rest of the cake with.

When I forced myself to quit fussing with the icing, laid down my spatula and called it good - I was sort of shocked at the sheer size of the finished cake. Sure, the six cake layers are quite thin - but pile icing in between each one of them, frost the top and sides of the cake and goodness gracious you've got yourself, well, an Epic Rainbow Cake.

It went over well at the party though. I was so nervous cutting into it - my hands were shaking. But when I slid that first slice out and saw that hey! It worked! And everyone gasped and oohed and aahed...I was happy. Bear loved the icing.

My warnings?

Go ahead, make the cake. It's a showstopper, for sure. However - don't make it for a small gathering. Because of all of that gloriously rich icing, even the thinnest of slices may not get finished. It's a terribly filling cake - I have a quarter of it in the freezer yet.

The buttercream recipe I used isn't terribly sweet, which in my opinion is a good thing when you're using this much of it.

Super Epic Rainbow Cake
Whisk Kid
Makes one (gigantic) 9 inch six layered cake

1 cup butter, room temperature
2 1/3 cups sugar
5 egg whites, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk, warmed to room temperature
red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple food coloring

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease your 9 inch cake pans (I have 2 commercial pans, I just kept washing, re greasing and re lining) and line with parchment on the bottoms.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs whites a little at a time. Add vanilla and mix till blended. Alternating between wet and dry, add the milk and flour mixture.

Divide the batter amongst 6 bowls - Kaitlin suggested doing this by weight, but I just used a 1 cup measuring cup to start and as the batter decreased, I used a 1/4 cup measure till all the batter was gone. Whisk a fair amount of each food color into each bowl, pour into your prepared pans and bake for approximately 15 minutes each.

Let the baked cakes cool in the pan for a few minutes, then finish cooling on a rack.

Basic Vanilla Buttercream
Bon Appétit

5 large egg whites
1 2/3 cups sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup water
1 pound unsalted butter, diced, room temperature

Note - it is indescribably important to have each and every one of your ingredients at room temperature or your buttercream will fail. That's pretty much guaranteed. Trust me.

Combine egg whites and 1/3 cup of sugar in a large bowl using a mixer. Add vanilla.

Combine remaining 1 1/3 cups sugar and 1/3 cup water in a medium saucepan; stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and syrup is bubbling.

Meanwhile, beat egg white mixture on medium speed until very soft peaks form.

Increase mixer speed to high and slowly pour hot syrup down the side of the bowl into egg white mixture in a slow, steady stream. Beat until this meringue forms stiff peaks. Allow meringue to cool in the bowl until lukewarm. Do not beat to cool.

Once lukewarm, start beating meringue on medium speed. Gradually add butter, a few tablespoons at a time, beating constantly till each addition is absorbed before adding next. Continue beating until buttercream is smooth.

If buttercream looks 'broken' or curdled, you can try placing the bowl of buttercream over medium heat on a stove burner and whisk for 5-10 seconds to warm slightly, then remove from heat and whisk vigorously or beat again on medium speed. Repeat this process until buttercream becomes smooth. Keep in mind, this may not work and it might not be salvageable.

You will be able to tell when the buttercream is starting to come together by listening to your mixer - all of a sudden it will start to sound as though it is working harder, and then the buttercream will come together quickly.
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Roasted Garlic Pizza

I had originally un-published this post as part of the purge but after repeated emails asking where the post went, I decided to re publish.

Ever since I tried kickpleat's pizza dough recipe, we've had different pizzas probably once a week. Our favorite, however, is the roasted garlic. It's incredibly simple, very tasty, and deliciously inexpensive. You probably have all of the ingredients in your kitchen right now.

Try it - and please, let me know what you think!! Also, go thank kickpleat for the amazingly easy and fabulous pizza dough recipe...I have, a number of times, and I think she thinks I'm some sort of weird stalker. But it's that good!!

The Easiest Pizza Dough In The World
everybody loves sandwiches

1 packet yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
cornmeal

Preheat oven to 400F. In a large bowl, combine the yeast and warm water and stir until the yeast dissolves. Add the flour, salt, honey and olive oil; stir to combine using first a wooden spoon then your hands. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle baking sheet with cornmeal and press dough into it to your desired thickness. Top with your toppings and bake for approximately half an hour or until crust is golden, toppings are heated through and cheese is bubbly.

Roasted Garlic Pizza

1 recipe Easiest Pizza Dough In The World
1 head garlic
olive oil
salt & pepper
shredded mozzarella cheese
oregano

Preheat oven to 400F.

Keeping head of garlic whole, peel away loose papery exterior. Cut just the top off the whole head of garlic and discard. Place garlic on aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Take up ends of foil to form a package around the garlic and roast in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.

Once garlic is cool enough to handle, unwrap from foil and place on cutting board (not wood, preferably). Using the non cutting edge of a knife, start at the un cut end of the garlic and press and squeeze the softened garlic from the head. Trim any tough tops and using the same knife, smear each clove against the board. The cloves will easily become a paste - roasting the garlic sweetens and softens it beautifully.

Gather up the garlic paste and using a spatula, spread over the pizza dough. Top with shredded mozzarella and oregano. Bake according to pizza dough instructions above. Let cool just slightly before slicing and serving.
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How To Make A Lattice Top Crust

Lattice topped pies look far more difficult to make than they are. I was making peach pies for a client today and I thought I'd demonstrate how easy it really is to weave a lattice top pie crust.

When halving your chilled pie dough, you can typically make one half a bit smaller than the other because lattice tops require less dough. Roll it out just as you would the bottom crust, ensuring that it's diameter is such that your strips will be long enough to cover the pie, with a bit of overhang.

1. Use a pizza cutter or if you have one, a pastry or fondant wheel, to cut strips of dough however wide or narrow you'd like your strips to be - keep in mind they will shrink back somewhat when baking. Start with laying down the center vertical strip and work outwards from there.

2. Fold back every other strip (in this case, strips number 2 and 4), and lay a strip horizontally across the center.


3. Unfold the strips and then fold back the strips you skipped in Step 2 (in this case, strips number 1, 3 and 5). Lay another strip horizontally. If your pie is quite large, repeat Steps 2 and 3, then proceed to the other half of the pie.



4. Unfold the remaining strips and trim any excess. Using your thumbs, press the ends into the crust.


The pie is now ready to bake or freeze for future baking - easy, right?
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Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Matt's Mom gifted us a bit of rhubarb from her garden and, after baking a strawberry rhubarb pie, we decided to try kickpleat's recipe for the best strawberry rhubarb crumble ever. I made three small dishes of it and gave away two - it didn't take us long to polish off the third!

I think the mark of a really good strawberry rhubarb recipe is one that isn't too sweet from the strawberries, or too tart from the rhubarb. There has to be a happy medium. This recipe is pretty dang close. You'll notice olive oil in the ingredients - I've never thought to include olive oil in a sweet recipe, but to be honest, didn't even notice it! Jeannette called for walnuts in her adaptation; I chose to use oats.

strawberry rhubarb crumble
everybody loves sandwiches adapted from smitten kitchen

4 stalks rhubarb, diced
3 cups strawberries, quartered
juice of one small lemon
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch nutmeg

topping:
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
zest of one lemon
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup oatmeal

Preheat oven to 375F. Add the rhubarb and strawberries to a casserole pan, tossing with the sugar, cornstarch and nutmeg. Squeeze in lemon juice and stir to combine. Set aside.

In a small bowl combine all the topping ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, stir everything until clumps form. Use your hands to scatter the topping evenly over the fruit.

Bake for 45 minutes until the topping is golden and the fruit have created a bubbly sauce. Cool slightly and serve with ice cream.

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Daring Bakers April '09 - Café au Lait Cheesecake

I love being a part of the Daring Bakers. Every month presents a new challenge to test my sanity ability. This month? Cheesecake. Haven't made cheesecake before...but why not offer to bring this month's project to a family gathering! What is wrong with me?!?

It's not a quick dessert, mind you - and it has to be refrigerated overnight before you can serve it so do plan ahead. It does freeze well if you happen to have leftovers as I did (wrapped in a several layers of plastic wrap or wax paper and then sealed in a freezer bag).

This is an incredibly, incredibly rich cheesecake. Slice thinly! The full recipe will serve at minimum, twelve to fourteen people - at minimum. We brought it along as dessert for two Easter dinners, shared some with friends and still had a good-sized portion leftover for our freezer. In addition, I had two cups of filling set aside that I couldn't fit into my crust!

I made the café au lait version and we thought it was delicious - even my mother in law, who shies away from any coffee, tried and enjoyed it.

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake

crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla

cheesecake:
24 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon vanilla or 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 tablespoon liqueur (optional, choose what will work well with your cheesecake)

***cafe au lait cheesecake with caramel: take 1/4 cup of the heavy cream and heat until very hot. Add 1-2 tablespoons instant espresso or instant coffee; stir to dissolve. Add this to the remainder of cream and use as directed below. Garnish cheesecake with caramel sauce***

Preheat oven to 350F. Set a large pot of water on to boil.

Mix all crust ingredients and press into the base of a large, deep springform pan. If so desired, press crust up the sides of the pan as well. Set aside.

Combine room temperature cream cheese and sugar using a mixer and cream till smooth. Add eggs one at a time and waiting till each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. Scrape bowl as needed. Add the cream, vanilla, lemon juice and liquer (if using). Blend till very smooth.

Pour batter into the prepared crust and tap gently several times to bring any air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a large roasting pan or other pan larger than the springform pan and pour the boiling water around the cake pan halfway up the sides. Ensure your cheesecake pan is airtight - wrap it in several layers of foil if necessary. Test prior to filling with crust and batter if unsure.

Bake cheesecake 45-55 minutes or until nearly done. The cake will hold together but have some 'wiggle' in the center. It should not be completely firm yet! Gently close the oven door, turn off the oven and allow the cake to cool in the oven for 1 hour. This will allow the cake to finish baking and the slow cooling will prevent cracking.

After 1 hour, carefully remove the cake from the oven and lift out of the water bath. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack, then cover and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to serve, cut into slices and garnish as desired.

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

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Sauteed Onions & Chicken with Spinach Fettucine

Matt and I, as part of a concentrated effort to drop a few pounds before an upcoming vacation, made this for dinner last week and goodness gracious. It was unbelievably good - and good for us.

The breast of chicken, although just gently seasoned, serves as the perfect vehicle for the onions, which caramelize to candy-like proportions. Plate on top of spinach fettucine and trust me - eating healthy has never been tastier.

Sauteed Chicken With Caramelized Onions
ChangeOne by Reader's Digest
Serves 4

1 1/2 lbs medium onions
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 4 to 5 ounces each)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 tsp olive oil
2 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 tsp fresh rosemary
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Cut onions into 6 wedges each. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.

Coat skillet with cooking spray. Add 2 tsp olive oil and heat over medium high heat for about 30 seconds. Add chicken and saute until browned, about 3 minutes on each side; transfer to plate.

Reduce heat to medium and add remaining oil. Saute onions, 1 tbsp sugar and remaining salt and pepper until onions turn golden brown and caramelize, about 8 minutes. Stir frequently, breaking onions apart as they cook. Add broth and boil until it evaporates, about 2 minutes.

Stir in rosemary, thyme and remaining sugar. Return chicken to skillet and sprinkle with vinegar. Cook uncovered until juices of chicken run clear, about 4 minutes.

Divide into 4 portions. One serving equals one chicken breast half topped with about 1/2 cup onions and served over 2/3 cup spinach fettucine.
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