Handheld Rhubarb Pie

This is a recipe that my mom made often when I was a child. I just love the egg white topping-- it's the best part of the entire dessert!

Make crust:
2 ½ c. flour
1 c. Crisco
3 Tbsp sugar
½ tsp. salt
2 egg yolks (save egg whites for later in recipe)
2/3 cup milk

Combine flour, Crisco, sugar, and salt for crust with a pastry blender to the consistency of corn meal.

Beat 2 egg yolks and milk.



Add to flour mixture and mix well to form ball of pie crust. Divide into 2 parts. Roll out bottom crust on lightly floured waxed paper to size of jelly roll pan.

Place in jelly roll pan and peel off waxed paper. Let crust come up sides a bit so it will meet the top crust when it is placed over filling.

Filling:
Mix:
1 cup cornflake crumbs
2 tbsp flour
3 Tbsp sugar.

Sprinkle this mixture over bottom crust in jelly roll pan.

Combine:
5 cups cut up rhubarb (1” pieces approximately)
2 cups sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp flour

Spread the rhubarb mixture over the cornflake crumb mixture in the jelly roll pan. Dot with butter.

Roll out top crust on lightly floured waxed paper. Place on top of rhubarb filling and seal edges all around.



Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven to put meringue on.

While the handheld pie is baking, beat 2 egg whites until stiff. Spread on the hot baked crust. Return to oven for 5-10 minutes or until brown.

Summer Beachy Cupcakes

Look how cute these cupcakes are! Perfect for summer treats!

I made them by making basic cupcakes (any recipe will do, or even a (gasp!) box mix!). I then whipped up some basic butter cream frosting:

3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter (softened)
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 tbsp milk


Use blue food coloring to tint your frosting. I didn't stir mine thoroughly so that there would be some white caps in my "water".

Frost the cupcakes and then sprinkle half of the cupcake with crushed graham crackers to make a sandy beach. You can also use brown sugar, but you will have to eat them right away because the sugar will dissolve into your frosting water.

Decorate your beach with drink umbrellas, sour balls (for beach balls), Teddy Graham Bears and Life Saver candies as floaties.

Use your imagination!

Strawberry Pie

We went to a strawberry patch and picked the ripest strawberries I have ever seen!



When we came home, we just had to make a pie with all of our yummy, juicy treasures. I just used this basic recipe; it tasted good, although it was a tad runny. I don't know if I inherited my moms knack for making runny pies or if we cut into it too soon. It wasn't quite cooled all of the way, but we couldn't wait any longer!

Ingredients:



dough for 2 crusted pie
1 1/2 quarts hulled, chopped strawberries
1 cup sugar
4 heaping Tbsp cornstarch
pinch of salt

Roll out the bottom crust and line the pie pan with it. Combine berries, sugar, cornstarch and salt in a bowl and stir to combine. Pour into the bottom crust. Roll out the remaining crust, slice into strips and arrange in a lattice pattern. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or more until the filling is bubbly and crust is lightly browned.


I used my moms pie crust recipe and instead of making pie crust cookies with the scraps, I re-rolled them to make a mock lattice top.

Pie crust:



2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening
6-7 tbsp water

Using a pastry blender, cut 1/2 of the shortening into the flour and salt until it has the texture of cornmeal.

Cut remaining shortening in and blend until like large peas.



Add water, 1 tbsp at a time, until doughy.

Roll out on a lightly floured surface to be 1 inch bigger than the pie pan. Turn dough into pie pan and either bake at 475° for 8-12 minutes (until golden brown) for a pudding pie or fill with pie filling for a baked pie.

June Daring Bakers-- Bakewell Tart

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

The challenge was pretty simple; the pictures had my mouth watering; the actual baking day went smoothly. The only thing that made it turn sour? Sweetness. My cherry jam was too sweet! So sweet that when we stopped by my parents house to share the challenge results, my mom couldn't even eat her entire piece of Bakewell Tart…er…pudding. My husband found it too sweet, as well. My dad and I? Eh... we still ate it. No use in wasting a good baked treat!

I chose to go with cherry jam to make a cherry and almond combo. See now, even typing it out now is making my mouth water.... how I love cherries and almond together! I'll have to give it another go with a different jam recipe.

I had never made cherry jam before, so I Googled a recipe and found one that seemed harmless. However, it was made with liquid pectin and that should have been my first clue to stay away from it. I've never had luck with liquid pectin. My jam never set so I had to re-do it by adding a concoction of more sugar, pectin and lemon juice. It did eventually set, but by then it was too sweet.

Other than the jam not being the best choice, the rest of the recipe was a breeze and the frangipane was delicious once it was peeled off of the sweet jam! I could have eaten the entire layer by myself!

BUT! If anything good came of this, is that I got a new favorite kitchen gadget out of this challenge. A cherry pitter! If you do not have one, I highly recommend getting one. I got mine at Target for about $10- hours of fun for the whole family! Okay, maybe not hours, but my kids sure love using it (and so do I!)!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Makes one 9” tart
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes

Equipment needed: 9” tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin
One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
1 cup jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart


(I made little thumbprint cookies with the pie crust scraps!)

Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 1/4” thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.
When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

• You can use whichever jam you wish, but if you choose something with a lot of seeds, such as raspberry or blackberry, you should sieve them out.
• The jam quantity can be anywhere from 1/4 cup to 1cup, depending upon how “damp” and strongly flavoured your preserves are. I made it with the lesser quantity of home made strawberry jam, while Annemarie made it with the greater quantity of cherry jam; we both had fabulous results. If in doubt, just split the difference and spread 2/3cup on the crust.

Sweet shortcrust pastry



Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

8oz all purpose flour
1oz sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4oz unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 egg yolks
1/2tsp almond extract (optional)
1-2 Tbsp cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes


Frangipane



Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

4.5oz unsalted butter, softened
4.5oz icing sugar
3 eggs
½ tsp almond extract
4.5oz ground almonds
1oz all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Cherry Jam



Ingredients
1 quart sweet or sour cherries, chopped and pitted
6 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice (use only with sweet cherries)
2 pouches liquid pectin

Instructions
Combine cherries, sugar and lemon juice (if needed) in a large sauce pot. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Stir in liquid pectin. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam, if necessary.

Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Adjust two-piece caps.

Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Makes about 8 half-pints.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

This is what my dad will be getting for Father's Day. He specifically requested no gifts, just like my mom did for Mother's Day. However, I still gave a little jar of something to my mom, so he's going to get a little jar of something, as well! I went with BBQ sauce since he'd probably prefer that over what my mom received, hehe!

Originally, I had a recipe for Martha Stewart's BBQ sauce posted here. I'm replacing it-- I hadn't yet made/tasted it when I posted the recipe and I just got done making it and it's terrible! There is no way I could give it to anyone; my husband wouldn't even try it after just smelling it. So this replacement recipe was one that I've been planning on making but hadn't had the chance to do so. It's from my friend Marie, so at least a real person has tried it and liked it! (Not that Martha Stewart isn't a real person, hehe!)

The photo is still from Martha. I haven't had a chance to take a cute picture of mine, but I loved the idea of the tag and the brush attached to it!


Ingredients:

1/2 med onion, minced
1 tsp minced garlic
4 tbs butter
1/4 c honey
2 c brown sugar (this was seriously too much- I had to make a second batch without any sugar in it and combine the two just to tame it. So I'd go with 1 cup for one batch, and that's still sweet!)
2 c ketchup
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
cayenne powder (to your liking- I used about 1/4 a tsp)
1 chipotle canned pepper, in adobo sauce (whole)

In a large saucepan, saute the onion in the butter (on medium) until translucent, then stir in the honey.

Add the ketchup and brown sugar; stir until well Incorporated.

Add the vinegar and seasonings and chipotle pepper.

Allow it come to a boil on med heat then turn down to low to simmer until it cooks down. Since there is a lot of sugar in this you will want to stir often while it is cooking down so that the sugars don't burn on the bottom of the pan.

The seasoning will develop and be more intense once it has cooked down. Cook for about 15 min; when it is done it is a beautiful rich brown/red color.

Blend to puree before pouring into jars. Store in refrigerator for 2 weeks.

Split Pea Soup

If you follow this blog, I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that I had some split peas on hand that needed to be used up. (No, not opened peas... just a bag or so extra!) This is my very basic split pea soup recipe that both my husband and I love.

Directions:

Rinse entire bag of peas and put into a pot with:
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
1 ham bone

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove ham bone; cut meat from bone and put the meat back into the broth.

Add:
1/2 cup chopped carrots (these need to be either diced or parboiled since mine always end up a tad too crunchy)
1/2 cup diced potatoes (do not need to be parboiled)
1/2 cup chopped onion
salt and pepper to taste

Simmer for another 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Candy Land Cake

I saw the instructions for this cake at the Taste of Home website. This cake was made for my friend's daughter.  Look at how cute it turned out! It can be made smaller by using 1 cake mix and a 9x13 pan.

Ingredients:

-2 packages (18-1/4 ounces each) cake mix of your choice
-Vanilla and chocolate frosting
-Green mist food color spray, optional
-Assorted decorations: Starburst candies, red Fruit Roll-Up, red coarse sugar, Dots, regular and miniature peanut butter cups, chocolate jimmies, large and small gumdrops, Dum Dum Pops, miniature candy canes, clear and blue rock candy, cake and waffle ice cream cones, multicolored sprinkles, green colored sugar, miniature marshmallows, round peppermints and conversation hearts



Directions:

Line two 13-in. x 9-in. baking pans with waxed paper and grease the paper. Prepare cake batter; pour into prepared pans. Bake according to package directions. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely; remove waxed paper.

Level tops of cakes; place side by side on a covered board. Frost top and sides of cake with vanilla frosting; mist with food color spray if desired.

With Candy Land game board as your guide, form a path using Starburst candies. With vanilla frosting, pipe "Happy Birthday" on candies. With chocolate frosting, make an arrow; pipe "Start" on the arrow with vanilla frosting.

For the Mountain/Gumdrop pass, use a red Fruit Roll-Up, red coarse sugar and Dots.

For forests, add peanut butter cups topped with piped chocolate frosting, chocolate jimmies, gumdrops, Dum Dum Pops, candy canes and rock candy.

For castle, pipe vanilla frosting into ice cream cones. Garnish with Dots and sprinkles.

Between the pathways, add green colored sugar, sprinkles, miniature marshmallows, peppermints and conversation hearts. Pipe additional frosting to fill in spaces; top with sprinkles.

Pipe vanilla frosting around base of cake; place peppermints around top edge of cake.

Yield: 30-40 servings. Editor's Note: This cake is best eaten the day it's prepared. Do not refrigerate.

Easy, Inexpensive Floral Centerpiece

Today my grandma turns 90. Wow... 90 years old. Imagine the things that she has seen; lived through; forgotten. Turning the fabulous age of 90 deserves a celebration, don't you think? My aunt organized a fantastic party for her and she asked me to make the centerpieces for the tables.

I had a few guidelines to follow-- the centerpieces needed to be small, inexpensive and they needed to coincide with the colors of the party invitation, which were a sage green and lavender.



I came up with very simple centerpieces that were extremely inexpensive. I found some cylinder vases at a dollar store and filled them with some dried split peas (99¢ per bag). I then inserted a single stemmed daisy-like lavender flower into the peas (I found an entire bunch that contained at least 30-35 flowers for only $4.99, from the floral department at Target). Each centerpiece cost about $2.70 to make.



The flower didn't require any floral foam or anything else to hold it up since the peas held it in place. If you need your flowers to last longer, you could insert each stem into one of those water reservoirs and then insert the entire thing into the peas.

I did use a smaller cylinder for half of the centerpieces, however. The dollar store only had 6 and I needed 12... and even after going to three other stores without any luck in finding any, I had to settle for some shorter cylinders. I was worried about how they would look, but I must say, I think I ended up liking them better than the tall ones!



May we all "Believe, Dream and Imagine" a prosperous and enriched life for ourselves as Grandma Addie has had over her 90 years (and then some!).

May Daring Bakers-- Apple Strudel

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

I loved this month's challenge! I not only loved making it (it truly was a breeze), but I loved eating it, too! I can't figure out why I loved it-- I don't even like apples! But I couldn't not try the finished product. What a surprise! I skipped the raisins and the rum since I also don't like raisins (seriously, have you ever met anyone pickier?). The texture was amazing. The pastry was amazing. The sweetness mixed with the tartness of the Granny Smith apples was amazing. The golden color was amazing. The entire thing was amazing!

I didn't have a single problem with this recipe. I loved the ease of the dough (mine sat for longer than 90 minutes... I got sidetracked!) and I improvised by using a sheet instead of a table cloth. I didn't use Gloria (aka, my Kitchen Aid mixer) and instead just kneaded by hand. It was a simple dough to knead; no tired muscles! I was amazed at how thin that dough was able to go without tearing. I loved the surprise of the toasted breadcrumbs in the strudel. I'm not sure what their purpose was, but it added a nice texture with the flaky pastry. (LOVED the pastry-- I can hardly wait to make it again!). I didn't shape mine into a horseshoe shape because that reminded me of a Kielbasa or Ring Bologna or something! So I went with a plain old, boring loaf shape.

I'll have to try another flavor next time. Rhubarb? Cherry? Strawberry? Cinnamon? The only thing missing was some yummy whipped cream or vanilla ice cream to go along with the strudel. Or even a piece of cheddar cheese! (Is my family the only family that grew up eating a big chunk of cheese on their apple pie? It is quite weird, now that I think about it...)

Here is the fabulous recipe:

Preparation time:

Total: 2 hours 15 minutes – 3 hours 30 minutes
15-20 min to make dough
30-90 min to let dough rest/to prepare the filling
20-30 min to roll out and stretch dough
10 min to fill and roll dough
30 min to bake
30 min to cool

Apple Strudel

from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers



Ingredients:

2 tablespoons golden rum
3 tablespoons raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs
strudel dough (recipe below)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2 pounds tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)

Directions:

1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.



Strudel dough

from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers



Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

Directions:

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.

Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.

Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches. Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.

Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet wide and 3 feet long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Be sure to check out The Daring Bakers Blogroll to see creations by other members!

Jello Melons

I'm not sure what to call these... Jello Melons? Jellons? Mellos? Whatever you decide, they still will be a refreshing summer treat! All you have to do is halve a melon, scoop out the seeds and fill the empty cavity with Jello. Refrigerate as directed on the Jello box to set. You will be left with a clean cut when you slice your melons!

I mixed up strawberry Jello and filled these honeydew melons. Both of my kiddos loved it! I'm sure you could come up with a fantastic flavor combination.

Edible Fruit Centerpiece

My friend, Janean, recently made an edible centerpiece like this one, so I decided to make one for Mother's Day. It's very similar to the Fruit Kabobs, but these have a cute flower made by using a cookie cutter and a melon baller.

I usually stuff my kabob sticks into a halved head of cabbage that is tucked inside of a serving bowl or container of some type, but this time I thought I would try using a halved melon (since I already had the melon for the kabobs). I don't recommend trying that! It was stinky! Raw cabbage doesn't have an odor after it's been halved, like the melon does. I ended up taking the melon dome out and using some lemons I had on hand as my kabob holder. Next time, I'll stick with the cabbage!

When making the flowers, all you have to do is thinly slice the pineapple (you don't even have to cut the outer skin away) and use a cookie cutter to slice your flower shape. Use a melon baller to make the inside of the flower and skew them both on the same skewer.

The other fruits were just wedged and skewed. One thing I did do was to skew grapes underneath all of the fruits. They seem to grab the wooden skewer and hold the heavier fruits up. They also hide the look of a bunch of sticks coming out of the centerpiece.

Poppy Seed Cake

Now here is an interesting recipe. My good friend Angela was on a quest to make her husband's favorite cake for his birthday. It's one of those family recipes that not many other people have heard of-- so of course my interest was peeked when she mentioned it. She has only attempted to make this cake on one other occasion; years ago when she was 20 years old and newly married (remember that honeymoon period where you'll do anything to please your spouse?). Unfortunately, the cake did not turn out for her and her husband wouldn't even eat it (I guess he never entered that honeymoon period).

We decided to bake the cake together during one of our traditional "Friday Teas". I was surprised by the results. I'm not a fan of poppy seeds at all, but once I got beyond the texture issue of the seeds in a cake, it was pretty good. The "filling" layer was wonderful and I actually even liked the frosting, even though I usually do anything I can to avoid baking with vegetable shortening.

Cake Ingredients:

1/2 cup Poppy seeds (we only used 1/4 cup and it was plenty!)
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
5 egg whites

Cake Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° and grease and flour a 9x13 cake pan

1. Mix poppy seeds and buttermilk in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Cream sugar and shortening together. Add poppy seed mixture.

3. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and salt; mix well.

4. Fold in the egg whites (this part confused me because the recipe does not say to beat the egg whites, so I'm not sure why they need to be folded in. We even called the original recipe owner and she said they do not need to be beaten. I may make this again and beat the egg whites before hand and see what happens).

5. Bake cake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick cake tester is clean.

Filling and Topping:

This filling could be used between layers if you use cake rounds, but since we used a 9x13, it was between the cake and frosting. It was quite a combination to be mixed with the frosting so if you make a layered cake, I would suggest doubling the filling so that you still can have some under the frosting as well.

5 egg yolks
1/2 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp cornstarch

1. In a saucepan, combine all ingredients and mix until well blended.

2. Boil, on medium-low, until it thickens to be like brownie batter.

3. Set aside and cool completely.


Frosting:

1 cup milk
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 vegetable shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. With a whisk, combine milk and flour in a saucepan.

2. Heat over a low flame until thick, like a paste.

3. Set aside and cool completely.

4. Cream together sugar, shortening, butter and vanilla.

5. Add to cooled flour mixture and whip until spreadable consistency.


Assembling the cake:

1. Be sure both the filling and the frosting are completely cooled before assembling the cake.

2. Spread the cooled filling over the top of the cake. (if you made a layered cake, hopefully you made enough to spread between the layers and on top of the cake.)

3. Let the filling layer set up a bit before frosting. I put it in the refrigerator for about an hour before frosting.

4. Top with the frosting.

5. Chill the cake before serving and store in refrigerator.

Homemade Citrus Hand Scrub

What a perfect handmade gift for any woman. I made up a few of these jars to give to the children's teachers for Teacher Appreciation week. Very simple to make and now my kitchen smells fresh! I'd love to try this with orange or lime zest.

Olive oil moisturizes, lemon freshens and is especially good for removing onion and garlic odors from the skin, the sugar/salt combo exfoliates dry skin and renews the appearance of your hands. Salt can be drying, so you wouldn't want to make the scrub entirely of salt, but add a bit for some coarser pieces. If you'd rather, simply replace the amount designated for the salt with additional sugar.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c sugar
1/3 c kosher salt
zest of 1 extra large lemon
1 c olive oil
1/4 tsp pure lemon extract

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. If you would like a slightly stronger fragrance, add a tad more extract. Spoon into a pretty jar, tighten the lid. Wipe any spills or drips from the outside of the jar. Alternatively, you can use orange or lime zest for a different fresh citrus smell. For an extra touch, tie a pretty bow around the jar if you plan to gift this scrub. This makes enough for a 1 pint canning jar.

I adhered a label to the jar that read:

~Homemade Citrus Hand Scrub~
Rub mixture into your
hands and let stand
1-2 minutes. Rinse with
cool water and
pat dry.

Gift Bags Made From Envelopes

I may never buy a little gift bag again- what a perfect idea for when you are in a pinch and don't have time to run to the store (and don't have any small gift bags in your recycled stash!). These are so easy to make and you can use white envelopes, colored envelopes, even USED envelopes (just reseal with glue). Any sized envelope will do; the bigger the envelope, the bigger the gift bag. You can decorate the envelope with stamps or markers or just leave it plain and use a pretty bow for the pizazz. These would make great May Day baskets! Just stick some flowers or treats inside and secretly hang on the door handle of a friend.

What you need:

An envelope
Scissors (decorative or plain)
Double sided tape
Ribbon and a paper punch(optional)

What you do:

1. Seal the envelope.



2. Cut off one end of the envelope. I also used a paper punch to punch some decorative holes into the top of one.




3. Fold one side in toward the center (maybe about an inch or slightly less). Do the same with the other side, then fold the bottom up by the same amount, making creases in the paper.



4. Put the bag over one hand. Use your other hand to shape a flat bottom for your bag, pushing the bottom center crease downward, causing the side folds to buckle out. Crease the corners of the bottom into triangles.




5. Use a bit of double-sided tape to stick the corner triangle flaps to the bottom of the bag.

6. Reverse the folds along the sides of the bag to give it shape.

7. If you like, punch holes and thread ribbon through for a handle. If you choose not to add a handle, it will still look cute just standing open! Or you can fold it down and staple it closed.

April Daring Bakers-- Cheesecake

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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I joined The Daring Bakers one year ago this month and the first challenge I did was Cheesecake Pops. What other way is there to celebrate my one-year DB Anniversary than with Cheesecake again? One can never have too much cheesecake. It's simply one of my favorite things to eat.

The challenge this month gave us a lot of freedom to be creative. The recipe was given, but we were allowed to use any toppings, flavorings, liqueurs, sauces, etc. that we preferred.

I'm not one to go crazy with unique flavors and I'm not one to accessorize my food with over the top creations. I couldn't decide if I wanted to make blueberry or chocolate cheesecake... so I decided to make both.

Instead of making two full size cheesecakes (not that they wouldn't have been eaten!), I decided to make Cheesecakelets. I halved the Daring Baker recipe for the plain blueberry cheesecake, so that I could adapt the remaining ingredients for the chocolate cheesecake. I modified a recipe that I received from a dear friend and adapted it a bit to bake along with the plain cheesecake recipe.

The Daring Baker cheesecake recipe was delicious. I almost skipped the lemon juice, since I really do not like citrus flavors, but I went ahead and added it and couldn't even taste it. My cheesecakelets did not crack, which is a bonus when baking cheesecake! My chocolate cheesecakelets did crack, which I'm assuming is user error, not the recipe. I modified the recipe I had-- one that I've made on several occasions and it's never cracked. But I baked it at a different temperature, for a different amount of time, in a different sized pan and in a water bath-- all things that I think contributed to the cracking. But a few cracks here and there never affect the taste!



What follows are the full recipes for the Daring Baker challenge, the blueberry topping and the chocolate cheesecake.



Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake:

Crust:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick melted
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cheesecake:

3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

**Cheesecakelets - put in muffin tins, ramekins, or custard cups. Try baking 20-35 minutes, or until still a little jiggly, and cool as before.

Blueberry Topping:

1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon butter


In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and
water. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook 3 to 4
minutes. Mix in the remaining 1 cup blueberries. Reduce heat,
and simmer 10 minutes, until the blueberries burst.



Gretchen's Chocolate Cheesecake:



3 packages cream cheese
1 1/4 c. sugar
1 c. sour cream
2 t vanilla extract
1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa
2 tablespoons flour
3 eggs

Prepare crumb crust (recipe below). Heat oven to 450*. Beat cream cheese and sugar until blended. Add sour cream and vanilla - beat until blended. Beat in cocoa and flour. Add eggs, one at a time, beat until just blended. Pour into crust.

Bake 10 minutes. Reduce oven to 250, continue baking for 40 minutes. Remove from oven to wire rack. Cool completely before removing from pan. Loosen cake with knife before removing side. Drizzle with chocolate. Refrigerate 4 to 6 hours. Store covered in refrigerator.

CRUST
Combine 1 cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs (put one of the little packages into a ziploc bag, and roll with a rolling pin until all crumbled) with 1/4 cup melted butter. Press into bottom of 9 inch springform pan.

DRIZZLE
Place 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 2 teaspoons shortening into small microwaveable bowl. Microwave 30 seconds. If necessary, microwave an additional 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, just until chips are melted. Pour into baggie, and snip the tip of the baggie off with scissors and squeeze drizzle back and forth over top of cake.

Cinnamon Sour Cream Streusel Loaf

I love breads. I could easily make a loaf of just about any kind of bread and eat the entire thing by myself. This recipe is no exception. (Jeff-- fair warning... the topping of this bread is a close second to the topping of the Banana Crumb Muffins!)

Ingredients:




1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Beat butter at medium speed of an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add 1 cup sugar, beating well. Add egg, beating until blended.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to batter mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended. Stir in vanilla.

Combine pecans and remaining three ingredients. Pour half of batter into a greased and floured 8×4 inch pan (or 3 mini loaf pans); (make sure to spread batter into an even layer before sprinkling on the streusel)sprinkle with half of pecan mixture. Pour remaining batter into pan; top with remaining pecan mixture, pressing down lightly.

Bake at 350 for one hour for 8×4 pans, approximately 35-40 minutes for mini loaves, or until toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes, remove from pan, cool completely.

If streusel gets too dark, tent pan with foil. (I tented mine when there was about 15 minutes remaining). I also only baked mine 55 minutes total.

Wine Charms

• 
  Don't buy wine charms at the store when you can make your own! I've made these for myself and I've also made "sets" for people and given them as gifts. There are so many different varieties as to what your charms will look like. You can mix and match colors, you can do solids, you can stick with a consistent "filler" color and then just throw in a repeating colored bead to make a "set". You can make them specific to any occasion you'd like!
  
  What you need:
  
  

• Any variety of beads; seed beads, glass beads, acrylic beads, etc.
  
• Wire- the higher the gauge, the thinner the wire. You want a gauge that will bend and hold it's shape, but something that is also pliable. I think I used about 20 gauge.
  
• Needle nosed pliers
  
  What you do:
  
  Cut your wire to be the length you want. I cut mine to be about 10 inches.
  
  Use the pliers to fold over the end of one side of the wire.
  
  Slide your beads onto the wire in any order you want.
  
  Leave about 1/2 inch of unbeaded wire at the end. Use the pliers to fold that end over, securing all of the beads.
  
  

Be sure to not secure the beads too tightly or it won't wrap nicely around the stem of the wine glass. You need to leave a little "give" for the beads to bend without popping off an end. Also, be sure the folded ends of the wire do not have any sharp edges exposed.

Wrap around the stem of a glass as a way to identify whose glass is whose. Remove from stem before washing glasses.

Tissue Box Easter Basket

Cut away the top of an empty square tissue box. For each band of color, cut a 2-inch-wide strip of colored paper. To make fringe, clip edge of one side of each strip. Glue strips to box. For handle, glue ends of a chenille stem to opposite sides of the box's interior

Easter Ideas

Don't forget these ideas from last year!



Easter Carrots



Easter Bag