Pies .... ugly but consumed.

Turns out that high fructose corn syrup..... tastes great.  There is a reason someone invented it.  Wonder how they made pecan pies before it was around. I forgot to take a photo of the dark chocolate pie... it looked much like the one in the example, except my autumn leaves weren't so exquisite.  I definitely need a pie crust 101 lesson.  It's an art.

Pecan Pie = 536 calories per slice!

Pumpkin pie #1 

Saggy Granny Apple Pie (I didn't put enough apple filling in it so the top crust sank when it cooled)

Pumpking #2  I used a different pie crust recipe.

Oh crap... I have pie duty for Thanksgiving!

Going to a big shin-dig in Seattle for a bunch of family and friends.  I'm on pie duty.
One my suggest going to Costco and bringing 3 inexpensive large and tasty pies with no hassle.  I will bake on Tuesday night.  If all else fails Costco is still open on Wednesday.

Attempting

1) Apple - cranberry lattice topped pie
2) Chocolate creme pie
3) Key Lime pie
4) Cheesecake with cherry topping
........................................................2 regular crusts, 2 graham cracker crusts

cross your fingers..........

Submission to Sunset Magazine

This month Sunset challenged the recipe senders to come up with an easy recipe using red bell peppers, any type of sausage and broccoli.  Don't ask me why I decided to do this.  Too much time on my hands?  Hungry?  HOOT.        (Husband Out Of Town)

It's sort of a jambalaya.

apple pie

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Banana Cake .... she's back

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese & Whipped Cream Frosting

Found this recipe online... like I do most recipes.  This one from All-recipes.com called A number 1 Banana Cake.  I didn't have the buttermilk so I used regular milk with some white vinegar added to it.  For the frosting I had some made up whipped cream from the night before and I mixed 1 package of creme cheese with 3/4 c of brown sugar and 1 c of bakers sugar , then folded in the whipped cream.  I didn't measure very much, so I likely will never be able to repeat it.  But this one was a success.  

To celebrate.. today I bought a cake plate at Macy's.  It weighs a ton.  It's lead crystal and it's versatile too.  Use it as a cake plate, fruit bowl or chip and salsa dish. If only it fit into my refrigerator and I could lift it.

Sourdough bread

No longer counting the days.  Today I made sourdough bread from a recipe I found on youtube.  I originally found a recipe for sourdough starter .. also on youtube but it got forgotton and turned to a bubbly bowl of fuzz.  I tossed that and tried again and after day 3 I didn't like the result.  Then I found another recipe for a starter with more ingredients than flour and water.  And you didn't have to watch it grow and feed it.  Hence.. it is probably not officially sourdough.  This recipe called for some bread flour and yeast, warm water and sugar mixed and covered for 2 days..... I think it sped up the process.

Anyway.... here's how it turned out.

So far so good...it's rising

Looks and smells good...

Tastes great.  Not as "sour" as I would like, but delicious!  (hot w/butter)

Time for a new title to this blog ... or abandon ship

Ok, hubby says enough cakes.  They are already affecting our waist lines.  I have to agree.  I am also getting sick of eating cake.  Short term attention span.  There's a good title for my blog.  STAS is why my baking sucks actually.  STAS is why I am good at some things an not others.  

I did finally make some really good Chinese food last night thanks to cooking with Kai on You Tube.  I used his Beef Broccoli recipe and it really tasted like "chinese food" and not just beef and broccoli stir fried at home.  I always wondered what the secret was.  I didn''t have many of the proper ingredients in my stir fry, like:
Oyster Sauce
Corn Starch
Cooking Sherry
Sesame Oil ..... etc

My next quest is to perfect the hot and  sour soup to my liking.  That was so much easier than I imagined. Yum.

Day 8 Day 9 ....... no baking

Over the past two days all I have cooked is a fillet of salmon, which was fabulous.

RUB for Salmon for BBQ
 1/4 C of brown sugar
 kosher salt
ground pepper
 2 tsp paprika
 1 tsp ground cumin
2 tbls olive oil
******
2 cloves crushed garlic, then chopped
2 tbl olive oil
******
1 lemon

1. drizzle 2 tbl olive oil on fish meat side up, skin side down with crushed/chopped garlic
2. mix all ingredients on top into a paste, rub on salmon meat side up
3. put on bbq skin side down (spray with pam first)
4. flip for last 5 minutes fish side down (use a fish grilling tray so fish doesn't flake off into grill)

drizzle with lemon juice, serve

I served this with grilled red pepper and grilled asparagus as well, drizzled with olive oil.

Day 7 - Anchors Away

BAKING WITH A THEME

These are two of my favorite people and they are both GURU's in the kitchen.  Both are genuinely fabulous cooks and COMMISSIONED BAKERS.  They made my wedding cakes below.  Such talent.

Here are the works in progress.  The airplane is a replica of our RV7 built by my husband. The plane is pound cake and the wings are rice crispy treats. It had working lights.

The coconut grooms cake, once available from cakesbyjoan of Santa Cruz, CA.  Sadly, Joan is  no longer making cakes for profit.  My BFF made this one on request!

As for today's concoction........... Something with a naval theme.  Today I become a Navy Mom.  My son is downtown at MEPS going through the enlistment process.  I'm waiting for the call to come down for his swearing in ceremony

...later that evening.   Didn't bake anything new.  I'm now a Navy Mom.  And by the way.... the Italian Creme Cake was delicious..... but sunken in the middle and a little messy.

  

Day 6 - Italian Cream Cake

Today was the first 90 degree day in Spokane of the year.  That may be sweltering to some, but to me it's happiness.  I can cruise in my convertible with the top down without putting my seat warmers on!

I waited until the hottest part of the afternoon to fire up the oven and figure out my next potential failure.  I started to read about fondant (ewwww) and baking at elevation (we're at 1900 feet) and the fear of yet another overly sweet - lob sided masterpiece was too much for me.  I glanced up at my cookbooks and noticed I had an overwhelming majority of Italian cook books.  One is autographed by my first Italian teacher who wrote it.  I didn't find a recipe in her book, but I did a search for Italian cakes and this one struck my YUMMY CHORD.

This is the point where things seem to go wrong.  Right now they are cooling on racks outside the pan while I whip up the icing.  They have been cooling for nearly 45 minutes.  Crossing my fingers.

This tower isn't leaning ..... it's SINKING.  Just as I suspected, a flawed cake, but I am learning along the way.  Like reading a recipe first.  This one, found on cooks.com called for "4x sugar" ... what the hell is that? Four times as much sugar?  Four times sweeter?  Apparently it's a grind.  Like espresso vs drip on coffee.  Well, I didn't have that.  I had regular old table sugar, raw sugar, bakers sugar (could this do?) and confectioners sugar or as we West Coasties know it as powdered sugar.  I read that powdered sugar is 10x.
Also this recipe called for a BOX of 4X sugar.  Hellooooooo could you be more non-specific on a measurement?  The frosting recipe called for 1/2 stick of butter, but never mentions it in the directions.  I folded it into the cream cheese.  It all called for "nuts" .. I guess that was up to me.  I used almonds.
Something tells me it will taste ok and I will never be able to repeat it!

Day 5 - Took a sabbatical

Since I had to finish day 4 this morning I have to come up with something for tonight.

Now that I have baked possibly 2 edible things I am starting to worry about consumption and calories.  This hobby could be detrimental to my well being.  Don't bother zooming in, it's 146 lbs.

Day 5 is a bust.  Never conjured up the energy to start a new project after finishing day 4's project below.

Am  I losing interest in just 5 days?  The only way this could get WORSE is if I switch from baking to SEWING (which I may need to if the scale goes up any more!)

Day 4 - Raspberry Laced Vanilla Cake

Undecided all day I selected the pretty picture on the cake flour box.  Again this required ingredients I didn't have so a trip to the store was necessary for raspberry syrup - Can we say "HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP"?  Oh well.

I measured to the exact letter of the recipe and the three 9" rounds look beautiful - with one minor detail.  They seem too thin to be able to slice in half.  This recipe calls for 6 layers alternating the raspberry filling and the vanilla icing.

I was able to slice these into halves and get the alternating layers iced and filled..

I thought I had it licked by the last layer...

... But apparently there is an ART to keeping the layers from sliding off each other.  Yes, they were fully cooled - overnight.  That's why the icing went on the layers so well.  Perhaps the icing was too warm?
The cakes were not 100% level.  I didn't feel I had enough cake to level the slightly rounded tops.

Also when using the pastry bag with frosting tip ... the icing didn't seem to hold the shape.  Perhaps it should have been colder.  Everything calls for room temp. Maybe frosting itself should be slightly chilled.

As you can see my dog Buddy is right there to lick up the drips and spills.

Guess I need to continue until I get it right. Shall I name this the leaning tower of raspberry cake?

~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~








Earlier today.........................................


I haven't decided what to bake yet tonight.  This morning however my pantry looked a bit overloaded with Mexican food so I whipped up some delicious "huevos rancheros".  It's been about 21 years since I took out the tortilla press and whipped up a batch of homemade "salsa ranchero".   Despite my knowledge of the health hazards of LARD ... I challenge anyone to say that refried beans taste better without them.

As for tonight.  I don't know.  My son is coming over for BBQ hamburgers, potato salad and watermelon tonight.  Is there an apple pie in the future?  Am I breaking my vows if I bake a pie instead of a cake?  Aren't truely good pies more difficult than cakes?

Day 3 - Lemon Chiffon Cake

After two days of wasted ingredients and frustration I decided to try something a little easier. I read somewhere to start simple. Try mastering a box recipe. I just couldn't bring myself to buy one.... oh faux pas

But I found what appeared to be a simple recipe on Cooks.com for a Lemon Chiffon Cake.
Hubby made the suggestion. I like lemons. Why not?

I have to say that on this level my baking didn't suck. I do need to learn how to properly use a TUBE PAN. I got all my ingredients ready before reading that I needed a tube pan. I pondered using a substitute pan, but so far that hasn't paid off. I didn't read up on cooling and removing the cake from the pan and a little stuck to the bottom plate. Also during the expansion of the cake the top cracked open. I didn't consider this a disaster, but I wonder if it was meant to be perfectly shaped and golden brown with no crevasses.

Off to the store for new pan. $14.95 from my local grocer and voila.

This was a very easy cake to make and my new mixer did things to egg whites I didn't know were possible.

Hip hip hooray, a minor success.

Day 2 - Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

I found a recipe in the All-American Baking book. My hubby walks by and proclaims "I'm not going to like it. The frosting is too sweet". I tried to explain that most all frosting have loads of sugar.

Nevertheless I found a lower sugared recipe for the frosting on the web. It had just 2 C of sugar with 2 packages of creme cheese and 1 tsp of vanilla and 2 sticks of butter.

Being the improviser I substituted 2 things on this recipe.

1. The pans: I used 2 8" rounds instead of an 8.5" x 11" x 2 baking pan
   
2. It called for Sunflower Oil. I used Canola.
3. I got impatient and iced it without cooling it properly. I wish I had a picture of it. The top layer nearly slid off the bottom layer.

Day 1 - Devils Food 3 layer cake

The title of this blog says it all: MY BAKING SUCKS

I am starting this blog to document and admit my mistakes.

Feel free to help me on the road to redemption.


I'm no gourmet chef.

Nor am I trying to be the new "Cake Boss".

I have recently been homebound temporarily due to a major surgery. I'm starting to feel better and have a little energy for home basics like cooking.

I seem to have no problem putting a meal together for 2-6 people. I'm kind of Rachel Ray - like in that I wag measurements and improvise a lot. I can do a few basic things that fall under the category of baking.

• I can make a delicious quiche (if I buy ready-made dough)
• I can often find a complete dinner out of ingredients I find in the very same refrigerator and pantry that my husband might open first and saying "there is nothing to eat here".
• I can make a banana bread or a boxed coffee cake, lemon bars, brownies

Last year we remodeled our kitchen with a big 36" DCS dual heat range/oven. You can put a commercial sized cookie sheet in there. Three of them if you wanted to.

This year we got married and my Sister in Law baked an amazing themed wedding cake for us. My best friend baked us a beautiful 2 tier coconut grooms cake in my kitchen. When she asked for the mixer, I brought out my hand held $19.95 Hamilton Beech mixer. She said "Are you kidding?". Being the baker she is - it was a bit time consuming, but she managed with my inadequate tools.

So I headed out to Costco for the razzle-dazzle Kitchenaid Stand Mixer. Now, finally I have the tools to be a baker.

"A MIXER DOES NOT A BAKER MAKE"

On the advice of my friend I started with the recipe on the side of the cake flour box for Devils Food 3 layer cake with chocolate icing.

Disaster - I tweaked the recipe and added some "aged" - another term for RANCID Cointreau.

The cake was not bad if you don't count the 2nd layer for having a sink hole and the three layers for having grid marks. The icing made our teeth fall out and then our bodies pass out from the tainted smell of liqueur gone bad.

I have vowed to make a cake a day until I have mastered BASIC CAKE MAKING!