March ramblings

Although it seems to be the last two days of March, I'm so glad my dad is back home. We have been bathed in sunshine these last few days which has also made me a bit happy due to this wonderful warm weather.

Here's a treat for you: Rose Water Glitter Cake!

Rose Water Infused Glitter Cake

Makes 1 9 inch cake

Ingredients:

cake:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) good quality unsalted butter, softened

1 ¾ cups plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

4 eggs, at room temperature

1 ½ cups buttermilk

3 tablespoon rose water, divided (you can substitute this for an orange oil or any other

flavored oils of your choice)

approx. 1cup simple syrup

basic buttercream frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

7 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

garnish:

1 cup fresh raspberries

lots of gold luster dust

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

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

3. In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes.

4. With the motor running add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

5. Add the dry mixture and milk to the butter mixture, alternating in thirds, until all of the dry ingredients and milk have been incorporated. Stir in 1 tablespoon of rose water.

6. Divide the batter between two greased and parchment lined 9 inch cake pans and bake for about 25 minutes or until the cakes are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of each round.

7. While the cakes bake, make the frosting: In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the butter. With the motor running, add the powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time until all of the sugar has been incorporated. Add the milk and vanilla into the mixture and beat until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

8. Allow the cakes to cool completely, about 45 minutes. Remove cakes from the pans and place in the refrigerator for about an hour.

9. Once the cakes have chilled, slice each in half so there are a total of four cake layers.

10. In a small bowl stir the remaining rose water into the simple syrup.

11. To assemble: Place a single cake round onto a cake turner (or clean surface) and brush the top with some of the rose water syrup. Add a thin layer of frosting over the syrup and top with another layer of cake.

12. Repeat step 11 until all of the layers have been used. Coat the cake in a thin layer of frosting to create a crumb coat and allow the cake to chill for 30 minutes.

13. Decorate cake with the remaining frosting and begin to dust cake with gold luster dust. (I find the easiest way to completely coat the cake in luster dust is to dab some onto a pastry brush, pull the bristles back with my fingers and flick it towards the cake)

14. Roll raspberries in luster dust until well coated and arrange on top of the cake. Serve.

::. spoonforkbacon

Home Lovin'

Now for this Nesquik chocolate crunch .. I mixed what I had, different kinda chocolates, 4 spoons of honey, a whole butter and 2 spoons of sugar, then melt with microwave. Pour the choco over the nesquik and the refrigerate till it hardens. Delicious !

uhh !!! ofcourse my cherry red nailpolish, couldnt resist this colour x*I love how this colour gives me confidence

I never thought my sis could ever cook or bake. She was the type of girl that keeps her foot out of the kitchen but suprisingly she turned out to be a better cook then me.
Those delicious moist, mouth watering cupcakes were unstoppably sensational.

In My Kitchen

Today`s Lunch: Barbecue in our garden

Real Chocolate Chips

This is a brilliant flavor combo - salty ridged potato chips gently dipped in milk chocolate. It's a little crunchy and wildly addictive.

So I figured it couldn't be too difficult to just make these at home - at first melting the chocolate the old fashioned way over a double boiler was what I envisioned.

Simply microwave the chocolate till it's soft and liquid and dip away, one chip at a time. Resist the temptation to thickly coat each chip ~ just one reasonable dip for 1 or 2 seconds will get the right flavor combo. Also, the chocolate really wants to adhere to anything it's come into contact with as it dries so be sure to let these set up on waxed paper or they will break when you remove them.

Of course purists will want to make their potato chips from scratch - the ridged style is really what makes this recipe work - that, and a very light cooking oil so as not to interfere with the chocolate flavor.

Something Delicious ...

We've been so good getting through Monday, we deserve a sweet treat!
Here's something perfect for the weather today.

Effortless Almond Coconut Ice Cream SandwichesIngredients (SERVES 6)

1/2 cup- icing sugar
1/4 cup- ground blanched almonds
4- egg whites
1/2 tsp- cream of tartar
2 tbsp- granulated sugar
2 cups- coconut ice cream

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 200F. In a bowl, combine icing sugar and almonds.
2. Using an electric mixer on low speed, beat egg whites until frothy, about 1 minute. Add cream of tartar, set mixer’s speed to high and beat until soft peaks form. Add sugar and beat on medium low until whites are glossy, about 1 minute. Gently fold icing sugar and almonds into egg whites.
3. On a large, parchment paper-lined sheet pan trace a 3-inch round cookie cutter 12 times. Spoon meringue inside each circle and smooth tops to 1/2-inch thickness.
4. Bake for 90 minutes. They should be firm and dry to the touch. Turn off oven and leave meringues inside with door ajar to cool for another hour.
5. Sandwich 1/3 cup ice cream between two meringues and serve.

Wish suggests making them a little chewier so they don't fall apart when you eat them

Enjoy !{recipe: wish.ca}

Savoury Chicken Tart

I made this chicken tart the other night for dinner. Let me explain what I did. I took a recipe that I found on Deborah's Blog... Taste and Tell... and I wrecked it. Well that might be a little harsh, what I did was make is LESS good. So if you want to make this the correct, yummy way - go see her blog. If you'd like to stay here and let me lead you astray.... read on.

This recipe just looked so yummy delicious to me, I couldn't help but want to try it. I decided to use diced chicken breast instead of sausages and skim milk instead of cream to lighten it up. That was silly, you can't lighten anything up when it's stuffed inside puffed pastry! It's sort of like putting a dollop of fat free cool whip on a huge slab of Pecan Pie... you might as well just pile on the REAL whip cream and enjoy it by that point!

The recipe also called for fresh tomatoes and fresh basil. I didn't have any, so I used canned tomatoes and dried basil (gasp).

OK so now I was done destroying a perfectly good recipe, I went on to make it. Well the recipe said to roll the puff pastry out into at 13" circle. The puff pastry I had in the freezer was already a 10" square, so I had a lot of fun trying to get into a circle. I folded in the corners and ended up with a 13" stop sign.

Then I was too lazy to blind bake the crust with my pie beads. So I just poked some holes in the crust and threw it in the oven as is. Well after 10 minutes I had a huge stop sign shaped pillow. I scratched my head for a few minutes trying to figure out where the heck I would put my filling. I ended up just mashing down the middle of the tart, I am using the word "tart" very loosely. Then I piled my filing in the centre.

When I was all done, I decided it was all still too fattening anyway, so while Mario and kids ate it, I had a plain chicken breast and a spinach salad. Despite my best attempts to destroy this dinner, they loved it!


recipe:
1 package (8oz) refrigerated puff pastry
1 lb diced cooked chicken breast
1 cup canned diced tomatoes
1 tsp dried basil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Mozzarella cheese, grated
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Roll puff pastry on a floured surface into a circle that is 13" in diametre. Press dough into tart pan and fill with dried beans or pie beads. Bake 8-10 minutes at 425F.

2. Meanwhile, mix together the chicken, tomatoes, garlic, basil, cheeses, eggs, and milk. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Pour into baked "tart" shell and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350F and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes until egg mixture is set.

4. Cool 5-10 minutes before slicing.

Almond Caramel Clusters

Yesterday was one of those lazy Sundays, and I was in a compulsive, "I have to bake something fattening, so I can torture myself by not eating any" sort of moods. They really appealed to me.

So, I whipped up a batch of Caramel Almond Clusters and they were easy to make. I scaled the recipe slightly because I had enough mini-muffin tins to make 36 of them. I had a little extra chocolate left, so to use it up (without eating it all with a spoon) I just threw some almonds and dried cranberries into it, spread it on a plate and chilled it. Then I broke it into pieces.

Normally, when I make something "bad" like this, I bring it to my grandmas house, but one of these days, I'm going to get fired for trying to sabotage everyone's health.





makes 36 caramels
recipe:
1 cup toasted slivered almonds
36 Kraft caramels
10 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1/4 cup whipping cream

1. Spray mini-muffin tins with cooking spray.

2. Divide almonds between the muffin tins (about a tsp each).

3. Using a pair of sharp, clean scissors, snip each caramel square into four little squares (for easier melting). Place 4 little squares (1 caramel) in each muffin tin on top of the almonds.

4. Bake at 350F for 8 minutes until the caramel starts to melt.

5. Place in fridge to cool for several minutes. Remove caramels from muffin tins. You might have to use the edge of a knife to help pop them out.

6. In a double boiler over simmering water, melt chocolate. Whisk in the cream.

7. Dip each caramel into chocolate until coated. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet and chill until set (about 30 minutes). Store in airtight containter.