We did the taste test of all taste tests yesterday. I made Red Velvet cupcakes twice, once with beets for the red color and once with the red dye. I used the same recipe both times, with the exception of the beets vs. the dye and I really wanted the beets to be better.

They weren’t. I had made red velvet cake with both items before but never at the same time, with the same recipe. The beets made the chocolate more brown but it was drier. The red food dye did what it was supposed to do. For both of the recipes I adapted the Red Velvet Cake recipe in The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.  So, much as I want to say that natural is better… I can’t. If you want red velvet cake, and you want it to be red and good..you are going to need to do the old fashioned thing and go with dye.

Read more

No, it isn’t raining. I am trying to get ready for Erin’s ( my daughter) baby shower. Decided to create a tea menu so I could blog it..You have to feel sorry for the families and friends fo food bloggers, they are constant guinea pigs! I swear to you my kids will grow up, leave home, and be sitting at a table with a full plate of food in front of them not eating it…They will be waiting for someone to take pictures before they eat!

Making the food for the shower was a family thing, for the most part. Matt, Ethan, and Shiloh were my assistant chefs, and the littler kids helped with the go-fer-ing. I had to smile listening to SHiloh and Matt talk as SHiloh was making truffles and Matt was doing dishes.  Matt said that the cool thing about being in our family is everything was catered…He looked around and said, “This is like a 1500.00 catering job mom!”

He is right. Matt and Shi will be serving at the shower. They will make sure that the tea is full, the coffee is hot, and the trays are filled. They will be answering questions intelligently and respectfully. Some day, if they ever apply for a job in a kitchen, or with a caterer that person would be wise to hire them.

Anyway, I have about a million posts to post, both here and Kettle and Cup..but it will have to wait until tonight. After the shower I am headed to Evil Shenanigan’s house to partake in a locavore feast. Have an awesome afternoon…You know I will. Oh and here is a preview pick of the cake….shhhhhh..Dont tell Erin.

I am pretty happy with how it came out.  The top tier is a streusal butter cake and the bottom tier is 4 layers of almond white cake, with alternating cherry buttercream and Mate green tea buttercream. I will get more pictures at the shower.

Did you see the front of the April family Circle?  Homemade junk food!  I decided that I am going to try the recipes one by one and let you know.  I started with the filled chocolate cupcakes.

I did make a few changes.  I did not like the flavor of the filling as written at all so I added a little cream cheese to give it richness and creaminess.  I used a bittersweet chocolate ganache without corn syrup.  And..I used Hershey’s Dark Cocoa for the cocoa in the recipe…And I added coffee for part of the buttermilk because I find that coffee makes chocolate taste more chocolatey. Read more

This is more of a frosting recipe than a cake recipe. To be perfectly honest I was in a hurry and used a yellow cake mix from the store. I realize that this is grounds for having my foodie insignia torn from my white chef’s coat but there you have it. I am guilty as charged.

Before you send me to the tar and feathering room, though, take a look at this recipe for the frosting. You can do it two ways, one is sweet and the other is less sweet but more creamy like traditional buttercream.

I made this frosting with an infusion of the Tazo Vanilla, Apricot and White Tea. It has a mild tea flavor, with delicate notes of apricot held together with faint nuances of vanilla. Erin loves tea so this seemed to be the perfect flavor for her cake. You could do an apricot filling for this but I think it would overpower the other flavors. The flavor does develop over the course of a couple of hours so make it at least two hours ahead of time or make the frosting the day before.

The Confectioner’s based frosting is best if you are going to be decorating the cake and the traditional buttercream is best if you want something less sweet and more European. Either way it is delicious.

For the Confectioner’s Frosting (sweet)

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approx. 1 lb.)
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 bags Vanilla Apricot and White tea

Bring the cream to a simmer. Add the teabags and set aside for at least 5 minutes, 10 is better.

Beat the butter until creamy. Add the vanilla.

Add the confectioners until you have a stiff frosting. You may need more.

Squeeze out the tea bags and strain the heavy cream to remove and stray leaves.

Add the cream to the frosting with the machine running. Whip until you get a soft, creamy consistency.

Frosts 3 layer cake

For Buttercream (creamy)

1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup boiling water
2 Vanilla Apricot White Tea tea bags
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place tea bags in boiling water and set aside.

Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in the tea, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside until you are ready to frost your cake. Refrigerate for longer storage.

Enough to frost 3 layers. You may need to double this for filling, depending on how thick you like it.

images:marye audet

I know..I know..I should have done this all ready.

I hope you have had the most awesome  Easter ever.  We had a picnic after church with tables and tables and tables of food.  I had made the Holy Cow cake but forgot to get the Butterfingers so I used pecans instead. This is the picture of the one I blogged last year.

After the picnic I came home and took a very long bath with a LUSH Chocolate bath fizzy, used my chocolate exfoliating bath gel, and  moisturized with my chocolate shea butter body cream.

Even though it was only 3 or so I got in my comfiest pajamas, slipped on my dad’s old cardigan that I wear when I am in need of comfort, flipped on the fireplace, and got into bed to do some writing.

Not a very exciting Easter but it is just exactly what I needed today I think.Resting, relaxing, and contemplating the amazing miracle that is Jesus Christ.

Have a wonderful rest of the day.

image;marye audet

Since Erin is still taking it easy and resting with the new baby, I have spent a lot of time at her house this week taking the other kids to school and picking them up.  I suppose I am telecommuting since I am working from her house.  Anyway, her birthday was March 26 and I wanted to make it a little special, even though we are doing the celebration when she is back on her feet.  After all, 27 is an important birthday.

Erin loves anime, cherry blossom scented body items, and has a real affinity for Japan…so I wanted to make something in that theme but also easy since I would be cooking at her house with limited resources.

I used a white cake mix as the base on this.  I wasn’t sure what she had and what she didn’t.  Use any white cake recipe that you like, or even a cake mix-no one is going to know.

The rose and cherry flavor of the cake was delicate and floral.  The house smelled amazing.  The green tea frosting was the perfect compliment to give this dish an exotic flair.  It was quick enough that I had everything done in less than an hour and a half, including smoked turkey, dried cranberry, and pecan tea sandwiches that I made for her.

Read more

I am so behind in posts it isn’t funny.  You would not believe the stack of images and recipes that I have sitting here, as well as the reviews, and other stuff. It is crazy!   I made this pomegranate layer cake with pomegranate curd and white tea buttercream the other day.  It was fantabulous.  Really an excellent combination of smooth, rich, tart, and sweet.

This cake doesn’t use milk.  I got the basic cake ingredients from an old World War II cookbook and adjusted for the flavors that I wanted.  I used my basic recipe for lemon curd and substituted pomegranate juice, and then I used the basic buttercream from Dorrie’s Perfect Party Cake we did in Daring Bakers last March.

Read more

I wanted to do something different for the kid’s Valentine’s Day party.  They absolutely love those conversation hearts…you know the ones? 100 percent sugar, right?

I thought I would color the cake with food coloring, maybe in a checkerboard of red and pink…but that didn’t seem quite right….And I also thought about doing a pink, purple, and red marble cake but that didn’t sound right either.

Read more

I like tea cakes.  They aren’t too sweet, they aren’t hard to make, and they aren’t impressive, they are just comfortable to have around.

Sort of like reading a book that does not challenge you in the least but satisfies you deep inside, you know?

Tea cakes.  A really good tea cake should look nice enough to put on a tea table but be plain enough that you can serve leftovers for breakfast next to some eggs and bacon.  Right?

This one will do it.

Read more

I have wanted to make this every since I saw it in the November/December issue of Food Network Magazine.  I loved the idea of it totally.

The thing is that when I copied their cake recipe it was not what I wanted.  It did not roll well, it broke and it was a weird texture. Didn’t like the chocolate flavor, or lack thereof, either.

Sorry, Food Network.

But other than that it was awesome.

Read more