A Cake for Baby McKenzie (and other shower guests)!

Yesterday one of my friends had a baby shower and guess who got to make the cake....me! So I have to admit that I was quite nervous about it despite being honored (that I was asked) and delighted. Heather had asked if I would make something to go along with the airplane theme she was planning. I decided on a simply design as I wasn't quite ready to tackle cake carving yet and I am so glad that I did.

I got to make little candy airplanes

That were put on the cake like so

And added some clouds

And finished off with my attempt at a pearl border. Actually, this was my first attempt at a lot of things...candy making, pearl piping, tiers, frosting on a turntable (which I obviously still need to work on...along with that whole squared off/leveling the top frosting trick.) I think one of my main problems with the frosting is that I was afraid that I would run out before I was finished.

The top tier is my Great Grandma's Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese filling, and the bottom is the Hershey's Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream filling. The Buttercream on the outside is the same recipe I made the Chocolate Cream filling from, just the original version. Transporting was a breeze, until I went to shut the car door once we got to the shower and the cake slid, hence the off centered placement on the tray. In all it was a great experience and has got me itching for more. I'll post the recipe for my Great Grandma's Carrot Cake later on.

Homemade Chocolate Cake

Yesterday was one of my co-workers last day at HCA. About a year ago, she received her Master's Degree in Social Work and is now off to bigger and better things. Okay, well maybe not "better" per se but I am little biased to our 10 kiddos up in the Residence. Anyway, we normally have good bye parties for both staff and kids when it is time for them to transition out of HCA complete with presents and a cake. I had been looking for an excuse to try out a recipe before next week's baby shower for a friend so I jumped at the opportunity and volunteered to make it myself.

Lucky for me, Jana was a fan of Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Frosting, which is just what I needed. I scoured the internet and my cookbooks to find a recipe. I finally settled on a recipe from Hershey's after reading all of the good reviews as well as noticing that some people use it for their tier cakes (which is my task for next week). Next it was to find a recipe for Chocolate Frosting. I ended up with using my America's Test Kitchen recipe for Quick and Rich Vanilla Frosting but used their suggested adaptations to make it into a Chocolate Frosting. While I followed the recipe step by step for the cake, I had to kind of improvise for the frosting which I can explain a little later.The resulting cake was delicious and very rich. Definitely a good match with a glass of milk.
I didn't get a really good picture of the cake once it was cut because I was at work. But you will notice that there is a white, oreo-like filling. Well, though others claimed it was good, I wasn't a huge fan. I could taste a hint of cream cheese and when you aren't a fan of cream cheese in the first place, I didn't absolutely love it. So with that said, I'm not going to post that recipe until I can perfect it a bit more.

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

recipe by Hershey's

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. 10 to 12 servings.


CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

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Alright, so about the frosting. I don't have an actual "recipe" for you of what I did because of a couple reasons. When you use their Dark Chocolate variation to their frosting, they have you substitute chocolate for cream, reduce the amount of sugar, etc. However, if you were making a three layer cake (as I was doing), they had you increase the cream, butter, and sugar. I tried my best to convert the variation with the increase but then at the end was just throwing this and that in (such as extra cocoa powder, powder sugar, and a touch of cream) to make it the taste and consistency I was looking for. The good thing about America's Test Kitchen is that even though they know that they have found the "best" recipe, they realize that their readers will put their own twist on it. So the easiest thing for me to do, is just give you the Vanilla Frosting recipe, the Dark Chocolate Variation, and well as their note about increasing the amount of frosting for 3 layer cakes and then let you do the rest ;o)

Quick and Rich Vanilla Frosting
by America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Makes: 3 cups
Start to Finish: 10 minutes

This makes enough frosting for a two layer 8 or 9 inch cake or a 9x13 inch sheet cake. For a three layer cake, increase the heavy cream to 3 Tablespoons, the butter to 3 sticks, and the confectioners' sugar to 3 cups. Be sure to use unsalted butter here or your frosting will taste salty.

• 2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch salt
• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Stir the cream, vanilla, and salt together in a small bowl until the salt dissolves. Beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium high speed until smooth, 30 to 60 seconds. Reduce the speed to medium low, slowly add the confectioners' sugar, and beat until smooth, 2 to 5 minutes. Beat in the cream mixture. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, 4 to 8 minutes.

To Make Ahead: The frosting can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. Before using, let stand at room temperature to soften, then whisk briefly to re-fluff.
Dark Chocolate Variation: Substitute 8 ounces melted semisweet or bittersweet chocolate for the heavy cream and reduce the confectioners' sugar to 2 cups. Beat 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder into the butter and sugar mixture.

Black Bean and Chorizo soup

Back in October, I came across a recipe for Black Bean and Chorizo Soup over at For the Love of Cooking. I bookmarked it and have looked at it a couple of times since then but today I thought it would be the perfect day to make it. Brad and I had already planned on sledding around dinner time and I thought that a nice soup would be just the right touch to warm us up.

So what was the consensus? It was pretty good. Brad really liked it, he enjoyed the flavor of the chorizo with the heartiness of the beans. I liked it as well...I almost wish the chorizo was in larger chunks but that just isn't the nature of chorizo..or at least Mexican chorizo. Either way, it was good, and a nice change of pace as far as soups go.

Anyway, below I have reposted the recipe. Pam over at For the Love of Cooking had commented on the spiciness of the soup however Brad and I didn't really feel like this was an issue for us. At the same time though, we are also used to eating chorizo. The only thing I changed was omitting the olive oil. Chorizo is very greasy by itself so I didn't think it would need to extra oils. Other than that, I followed the recipe as is and was pleased.

Black Bean and Chorizo Soup
from For the Love of Cooking

Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil (again, I omitted this due to the fattiness of the chorizo)
  
• 6 oz chorizo pork
• 1 small sweet yellow onion, chopped
• 4-5 baby bell peppers, chopped (or 1 bell pepper)
  
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 tsp dried red hot pepper flakes
• 1 tsp dried cumin
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to tasted
• 4 cups of chicken broth
• 3 15 oz cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
• Cotija cheese- for garnish
• Fresh cilantro, chopped- for garnish
  
• Sour cream, optional

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Remove the chorizo from the casing and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the onion and bell pepper then continue to cook for 5-7 minutes; season with cumin, red pepper flakes, sea salt and pepper, to taste.
3. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 60 seconds.
4. Add broth and two cans of black beans then simmer, partially covered for 30 minutes. Mix some of the soup with an immersion blender.
5. Add the last can of beans and stir. Taste, re-season with spices if needed.
6. Top the soup with cotija cheese and fresh cilantro and/or sour cream. Enjoy.

Garlicky Shrimp (or Chicken) Pasta

You know when you go out to an Italian restaurant..and there is that one pasta dish with either chicken or shrimp with a white garlic butter sauce? If I don't get a pasta with marinara sauce, I will normally go for some sort of white garlic sauce and I am always very happy with my choice. However, with all of the successful "garlic chicken pastas" that I have had, I never really thought of making it at home past the restaurant doors.

In thinking about what to make for dinner tonight, I turned to a new cookbook that I recieved for Christmas called The Best of America's Test Kitchen 2010 (I know 2010 just started so I'm not quite sure why it's labeled that way). I knew I wanted to try something a little different and while flipping through the pages, I came across a recipe for Garlicky Shrimp Pasta. However, since we didn't have shrimp in the house (not a problem for me as I'm not a fan, but unfortunate for Brad), I decided to try it out with chicken and oh my goodness, I am so glad that I did!

I feel like this dish turned out exactly the way it would if it was ordered in a restaurant. Which really shouldn't surprise me. I mean, it's America's Test Kitchen right? ;o) Anyway, besides substituting the shrimp with chicken, I made a couple of other changes only because of lack of ingredients..mainly chicken broth for the white wine and clam juice and dried parsley instead of the fresh. But again, very good! Brad's only "complaints" (if you would even call it that) would be that it wasn't a very thick sauce..and because I used a lot of chicken broth, rather than the white wine and clam juice, he felt it could have been more flavorful. Even so, the next time I will tweak what I can but it is definitely worthy for a return appearance or even a special occasion dish. Happy Day!


Garlicky Shrimp (Or Chicken!) Pasta
Best of America's Test Kitchen 2010

Marinate the shrimp while you prepare the remaining ingredients

• 5 garlic cloves, minced (about 5 teaspoons)
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 pound large shrimp (21 to 25 per pound), peeled and deveined, each shrimp cut into 3 pieces)
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• salt
• 1 pound short tubular pasta such as mezze rigatoni, fusilli, or campanelle
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dry vermouth or white wine
• 3/4 cup clam juice (or you can use chicken broth as I did if using chicken instead of shrimp)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice plus 1 lemon, cut into wedges for serving
• Pepper

1. Toss 2 teaspoons of the minced garlic, shrimp, 1 Tablespoon of the oil, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Let the shrimp marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes.
2. Heat the smashed garlic cloves and remaining 2 Tablespoons oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is light golden brown, 4 to 7 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and use a slotted spoon to remove the garlic from the skillet; discard the garlic. Set the skillet aside.
   
3. Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Add 1 Tablespoon salt and the pasta. cook, stirring often, until just al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water, and transfer the pasta back to the Dutch oven.
   
4. Meanwhile, return the skillet with the oil to medium heat; add the shrimp with the marinade to the skillet in a single layer. Cook the shrimp, undisturbed, until the oil starts to bubble gently, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir the shrimp and continue to cook until almost cooked through, about 1 minute longer. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp to a medium bowl.
   
5. Add the remaining 3 teaspoons minced garlic and the red pepper flakes to the skillet and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute; stir in the vermouth and cook for 1 minute. Add the clam juice (or broth) and parsley; cook until the mixture starts to thicken, 1 to 2 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the butter and lemon juice. Add the shrimp and sauce to the pasta, adjusting the consistency with up to 1/4 cup reserved pasta cooking water. Season with pepper to taste. Serve, passing the lemon wedges separately.
   

Candied Sweet Potato Casserole with Toasted Marshmallow Topping

Ah, yes...I just love this time of year: family, friends, food, love, cozy blankets and fireplaces, and a large cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows. And it all starts with Thanksgiving.
This year we spent the holiday with Brad's family. We started the day bright and early with warm, goey monkey bread and the Chicago Holiday Parade on T.V. (Hi Scarlett!) And then, it was time to cook. My father in law did the majority of the cooking because, well..., he's just that good. :o)
I was lucky enough to be put in charge of the sweet potatoes and rolls. Brad absolutely loves sweet potatoes and I had made this recipe last year at my Mima's house and it appeared to go over very well. Why do I say "appeared"? Well that's because I don't particularly like sweet potatoes so I really do have to go off of what everyone says. So yes, if they said they loved it, I have to take them for their word.
Anyway, this year I had the same problem as last. While cooking the sweet potatoes on the stove top, some of the potato chunks cooked a lot faster than others. I think it's quite possible that I just didn't stire the pot often enough causing the ones of the bottom to cook much faster than the others. Or maybe it's just because I don't cut as even of chunks as I think I do ;o) Either way, I ended up "fishing out" pieces that were already done and placed them in the casserole dish while waiting for the rest to finish up. Other than that, this recipe really has nothing to it and creates a yummy dish.

Candied Sweet Potato Casserole with Toasted Marshmallow Topping
from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Serves: 10-12
Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

• 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 5 lbs sweet potatoes (7 medium), peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

• 4 cups mini marshmallows

1. Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the sweet potatoes, brown sugar, water, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring often, until the sweet potatoes are tender (a paring knife can be slipped into and out of the center with very little resistance), 45-60 minutes.

1. When the sweet potatoes are tender, remove the lid and bring the sauce to a rapid simmer over medium0high heat. Continue to simmer until the brown sugar mixture had reduced to a glaze, about 8 minutes.
2. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Pour the potato mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread the marshmallows over the potatoes. Bake until the marshmallows are crisp and golden, about 5 minutes.

Volleyball Tournaments and a Birthday.

My sister-in-law, Catie, attends Hope where she is on the volleyball team. This past weekend we were lucky enough to be able to travel up to MI with my in-laws to watch her team compete and eventually win the NCAA Division III Regional Championship! So now they are off to Ohio as one of the Elite 8 in hopes of becoming the next National Champions. Unfortunately, Brad and I won't be able to make it down there however we are planning on watching online. Let's Go Hope!

During the tournament, it was also Catie's birthday and I wanted to make her a birthday cake. I'm not sure where exactly I got the idea, but somewhere down the line I decided that I wanted to make her a Volleyball birthday cake since volleyball has been such a big part of her life, especially the last couple of years. I then discovered that Wilton makes a sports ball pan set and immediately set out to buy it. On Thursday, the day before her birthday, I baked two boxes of cake; one for the ball, and one for the rectangular base. Brad and I then debated whether to leave late that night when I got out of work for Michigan and finish the cake on Fri or wait until Fri morning to leave for MI and finish the cake here in Chicago Thurs night/Fri morning. We finally decided to leave Thursday night so that we didn't have to worry about me not finishing the cake in time before our 3 hour drive or risk us being late to her games.

Let me tell you, I am sooo happy that we decided to leave Thursday night because let me tell you, it took for-ev-er. I got up Fri morning around 8:30 to begin working and did so until around 3:00 I think. Yeah, crazy long, I know. The main culprit was that I kept running out of icing so I had to stop and make more and then at one point even had to leave to go to Meijer's to buy more butter. I also took a quick lunch break because by 1pm, I hadn't eaten anything that day but frosting and pieces of cake :op

Anyway, it didn't turn out exactly the way I had wanted (the ball ended up looking a bit bumpy rather than smooth- but hey, it's my first cake) however I still had a lot of fun making it and we all had fun eating as well (funfetti cake, homemade butter cream frosting, strawberry butter cream filling...I don't mean to toot my own horn but doesn't that just sound delicious?). But the best part?

Is that Catie LOVED it.

*cake pictures courtesy of my father-in-law

"Chivalry isn't dead yet"

So, did you hear about the time that Brad and I met Alton Brown? No? Well let me tell you ;o)

A couple weeks ago I got my weekly Border's e-mail and it said "Meet Alton Brown! Details Inside!" And sure enough, Mr. Brown was going to be at the Border's bookstore on Michigan Ave. signing autographs of his new book Good Eats: The Early Years (the first in a trilogy). I looked at my calendar and saw that I wasn't working (Yay!) though Brad and I had already scheduled our weekly get together with one of our good friends. So I called Jacob and asked if we could take a rain check because let's face it, meeting Alton Brown or any Food Network star is pretty much a once in a lifetime experience. Well needless to say, Jacob understood and now we were just counting down the days until we could meet the man that creates Good Eats. Okay, so maybe it was more like just me counting down ;o)

Anyway, Alton was supposed to give a little speech at 7pm and then start signing autographs shortly after. I thought, let's leave as soon as Brad gets home and we'll get there a little over an hour before it starts. So we get there, buy a couple books for him to sign and then head up to the third floor to get our "good seats". Hah, yeah, that's funny Jessica. You think you can get there an hour in advance and get good seats? Try right when Borders opened up that morning. Yes, you heard me right. By the time we got there, we were in the third group, with each group holding 100 people...and we couldn't see anything but a sea of eager foodies.


We were okay though. It was the experience of it all, plus we were guaranteed to at least see him when he autographed our book even if we couldn't hear him talk. So we waited...and waited....hey look! There he is walking up to the front! (It was more like his back and a bunch of Borders Employees and bodyguard)...and waited...and waited...oo! lines moving! oh, more waiting....Alright, we are finally up in the front portion. We can see him! More waiting...Oh, Um, Hi!

Suddenly there he was, Mr. Alton Brown him self right in front of me, pushing his way through the crowd, past me, and right to a little girl who was behind me in our zigzaging line. You see, he had caught wind that there were little kids waiting in line to see him, and it was already 10pm.
"Are your parental units here?"
Girl stares at him...she has no idea what "parental units" are
"We're right here!"
"Do you have a book for me to sign? It's late and there is no reason for you to be up past your bedtime"
And just like that, Alton signed her book, took some photos, then proceeded through the rest of the crowd signing all of the other people who had elementary children with them so the kids could go to bed "where they belong" at such a late hour".

After a while, he made his way back up to the front and eventually we had made our way to be next in line. And then it hit me. After all of that time waiting, Brad and I hadn't even thought of what we were going to say when we got to him. Brad then asks me, "Do you think he's going to introduce himself?" I say no, that it would be kind of funny since we all know who he is. Hey, it's our turn.

"Hi! I'm Alton"
"Hi, I'm Jessica" (shoot, I lost)
"Hi! I'm Alton"
"I'm Brad"

He began signing our books and I asked him if he was tired ("I'm built for endurance") and how jealous we were that he got to go to Seattle next ("Yeah, but it's not like I really get to see the city"). I also told him that he looked great- He has trimmed down a lot since his Feasting on Asphalt Show ("Thank you...*pause*...Thank you very much") I think I said a couple more really silly things but they escape me at this moment. Anyway, then it was time for our picture and I went to pick up our books for Brad and I too leave. "No, no, let him carry them...Chivalry isn't dead yet"
So that was our experience, though short, with AB...He's a great guy who knows how to make great food. If you get the chance, I would recommend picking up his Good Eats: The Early Years book if not for the recipes at least to read the interview he performed on his self. Funny Stuff.