Homemade Dulce de Leche

If you look up the definition of Dulce de Leche, you will learn that it means Milk Candy.  It is a mixture of sugar and cream and is heated slowly until it caramelizes and creates a thick, spreadable sauce.   It is very popular in Latin America and is used as a spread or a topping for ice cream.

A topping for ice cream?  I'm there.  And now you are, too, aren't you?

My husband loves Dulce de Leche ice cream from Schwan's.  It's a must-have whenever the yellow truck stops at our house.  Sadly, it's not often enough; but now we can easily make our own!  And when I say easily, I really do mean easily!

Here is what you need:


1 can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 large pot of water

That's it!  Oh, I suppose you also need about 2 hours of your time... but that can easily be accessible if you have a computer and a Facebook account nearby. (I mean, after all, don't you need to check on your animals in Farmville or stalk any and all public photo albums of people you knew, but didn't really like, in high school?)

To make the Ducle de Leche, all you do is remove the label from the can of sweetened-condensed milk and place it into the large pot of water.  Make sure the water is at least 2 inches over the can.  I placed my can on it's side... I'm not sure why, it's just how I was feeling at that particular time.  You could rebel and place it standing up if you want.

Bring the water to a boil and once you reach this point, keep your eye on the can to be sure that the water level doesn't evaporate down and expose the can.  I'm not sure what could happen- perhaps a nuclear explosion or maybe some seepage- who knows?  Maybe even nothing... but all I know is that you must keep the can covered with water at all times, or else.

Let it simmer for 2 hours.  Then remove the can from the water and let it cool before you attempt to open it.  This time, I'm pretty sure there would be some pressure that would release if you didn't wait to open it.   Plus it'd be really, really hot.  Ouch.

That's all you have to do!  Somehow the sweetened milk magically turns into beautiful, delicious caramel, just by boiling the can for two hours!  No stirring; no candy thermometer; no anything (except a boost in self esteem after looking at the picture of the girl that stole your first boyfriend)!

Make (okay, buy) some vanilla ice cream and pour your beautiful spread over a big dish of it; add it to brownies; dip cookies into it; enjoy it straight from the spoon!    Go ahead and eat it while snooping at more photos...  while wishing all of the calories onto the little number that friended your ex while you were still dating!

Cake Pops

Do I just post my recipe and pretend not to notice the lack of blog posts here or do I explain that I've been MIA due to working nearly full-time (between two different school districts)? Hmmm.... you decide.

I will apologize for my lack of participation in my own blog. So many people I bump into comment on how much they miss my blog recipes and posts! That is so nice- I had no idea that people actually followed this and checked in regularly. I assumed that they just said that they did when they really didn't.

At least this awesome recipe will make up for lost time, right? Many of you foodies know who Bakerella is, as well as her Cake Pops. I have been dying to make them and finally had the perfect opportunity to try them out! My coworker, Angela, is getting married and I was asked to make the cake for her shower. The shower was hosted at a public restaurant, so instead of baking a big cumbersome cake or trying to transport 30 cupcakes (although I could achieve this easily with the cupcake carrier my mom gave me for Christmas! Love it!), I decided to try my hand at the Cake Pops.

Boy am I glad I did. They are as simple as this:

1. Make a cake.
2. Make a batch of frosting. Heck, buy a batch of frosting.
3. Crumble cake into a bowl.
4. Add frosting.
5. Mix thoroughly.
6. Roll dough into balls.
7. Stab balls with a stick.
8. Dunk in melted candy or chocolate.
9. Eat.

Any flavor cake and any flavor frosting will work. For the shower, I made one tray that contained Red Velvet cake mixed with Cream Cheese frosting and another tray that was just plain white cake with white frosting. (White cake, by the way, does not turn out crisp white like you would think it would. I forgot that the edges and top of white cake turns brown once it is baked, so the white wasn't a nice sharp white, but I'm probably the only one that noticed.).

Here are some pictures from the Cake Pops that I made:  (you can find Bakerella's instructions here.

This is my white cake crumbled in the bowl.  Just use your hands!  You don't even need equipment, although I wore gloves as I crumbled and blended the frosting in just because it's very messy and I think it's gross to serve cake that could have been under my fingernails to others.  But that's just me.

This is what the cake looks like after you've mixed in the frosting.  I thought I took a picture of the blob of frosting sitting in the crumbled cake, but apparently I didn't.  There wasn't anything spectacular looking about it; it just looked like a blob of frosting sitting on top of a cake crumbled into a bowl!

The cake balls are very easy to roll.  I did put the dough into the fridge to set up a little bit before rolling, but that's not necessary.  I noticed it gave the edges a smoother finish if the dough was a bit chilled.

After rolling the balls, I froze them to keep them fresh.  This works well for time management so that I could do the baking and rolling on one day and the actual dipping a different day.  It wouldn't be that bad to do it all in one day, but you have to allow time for the cake to cool completely before crumbling.

I dipped the lollipop sticks in some of the melted candy (I used the kind I get at my cake shop, but you can use Wilton Candy Melts or even chocolate or almond bark) and then inserted the stick into the cake ball.  I put them in the fridge so the candy could harden.   I also found that cold cake balls dip in the candy coating better, too.    (This is my Red Velvet batch!)

I don't have a picture of the actual dipping process because I was in a hurry while doing it and I had cake balls crumbling in the melted candy, which was causing me to panic.  However, I quickly learned that the trick is to dip cold cake balls.  I put the balls (with sticks) into the freezer for about half an hour and then went back to them for dipping.  It worked perfectly.  The room temperature cake balls were too soft and crumbled under the weight of the candy coating, so be sure to chill them.

After dipping (and tapping) each cake pop, place on a piece of wax paper and allow to set up.  I placed the finished pops into mini cupcake papers just because I thought it made them look more finished.  I also used a fork to drizzle some melted candy over the hardened cake pops, to add a little dimension and help cover up any flaws!

Didn't they turn out pretty? 

August Daring Bakers- Baked Alaska

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

I love browned butter.  I've come to realize, you either love it or hate it.  I sang it's praises to my friend Angela as we sipped tea while I was making the browned butter for this challenge.  I really built up how fabulous browned butter was to her.... so much so, that it was a disappointment when I made her taste it straight from the spoon after I successfully browned the butter instead of burning the butter.  She hated it. 

I never thought we had much in common anyway.

I've had browned butter on pasta with Mizithra cheese (welcome to heaven), as well as browned butter atop freshly steamed broccoli florets.  I've had browned butter in the frosting for the caramel cake we made for the November 2008 DB Challenge.  Now I've had brown butter pound cake!  Tasty-- and simple to make!  I didn't think it was sweet enough, but the ice cream and sweet meringue added the sweetness I was craving after tasting the pound cake alone.

I chose to make the Baked Alaska, however, I got it in just under the wire.  We've had an egg recall here in my area and I wasn't sure I'd get the challenge done before the deadline!  I luckily found eggs at a county store that either
A.)  Did not use the supplier that was affected by the recall.
B.)  Used the eggs from the supplier that was affected and didn't care.
C.)  Was so far in the sticks that they don't have electricity and don't know about the recall.

Either way, I"m happy to have a finished product in time!  Enjoy!

**Baked Alaska Recipe**

3 components needed:

*Brown  Butter Pound Cake
*Ice cream (homemade or purchased)
*Meringue





Brown Butter Pound Cake

19 tablespoons  unsalted (sweet) butter
2 cups  sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan.

2. Place the butter in a 10” (25cm) skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes.

3. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Beat the brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract.

5. Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined.

6. Scrape the batter into the greased and floured 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula and rap the pan on the counter. Bake until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

7. Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge and invert right-side-up onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Meringue
Ingredients:
8 large egg whites
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup  sugar

Directions:
Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt on high speed in an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in the sugar gradually in a slow stream until stiff peaks form.

Assembly Instructions

1. Line four 4” diameter tea cups with plastic wrap, so that plastic wrap covers all the sides and hangs over the edge. Fill to the top with ice cream. Cover the top with the overhanging plastic wrap and freeze for several hours, or until solid.

2. Level the top of the brown butter pound cake with a serrated knife or with a cake leveler. Cut out four 4”  diameter circles from the cake. Discard the scraps or use for another purpose.

3. Make the meringue (see above.)

4. Unwrap the ice cream “cups” and invert on top of a cake round. Trim any extra cake if necessary.

5. Pipe the meringue over the ice cream and cake, or smooth it over with a spatula, so that none of the ice cream or cake is exposed. Freeze for one hour or up to a day.

6. Burn the tips of the meringue with a cooking blow torch. Or, bake the meringue-topped Baked Alaskas on a rimmed baking sheet in a 500°F/260°C oven for 5 minutes until lightly golden. Serve immediately.

Why does mine look like a bunch of penguins trying to get out of something?

Washboard Cookies

These cookies are made from staples in your pantry, making them quick and easy.  I yielded 2 dozen cookies from this recipe.   I only had light brown sugar on hand so I turned it into dark brown sugar by adding 1 tbsp of molasses per 1 cup of light brown sugar and blending.  If you only have white granulated sugar, you can make it dark brown by adding 2 tbsp of molasses to 1 cup of granulated sugar and blending. 
 
Ingredients 

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour sugar

Directions 

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter, brown sugar and egg. Stir together baking soda, water and vanilla; add to creamed mixture. Add flour and mix well.
2. Shape into walnut-sized balls. Place on greased baking sheets; flatten with a fork that has been dipped in water. Sprinkle with sugar.
3. Bake at 325 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool on waxed paper.

July Daring Bakers- Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

Let me just start by saying that I heart Taste of Home. I am a subscriber to their magazine and am on their website at least twice a week, browsing recipes. Most of their recipes are right up my alley-- easy, inexpensive and tasty.

This month's challenge was no exception.

It was easy. Sunita made it more challenging for us by requiring us to make our Swiss cake roll instead of buying Little Debbie's and she also required us to make our own ice cream (2 flavors to boot!) as well as the hot fudge.

In a pinch, you could make this show-stopping cake by using store-bought ice cream and jarred hot fudge; but please don't skip out on making the Swiss cake roll. There is no comparison to homemade and it literally takes minutes to make. Little Debbie had to make hers from scratch at some point, too, you know.

Be sure to click over on the link for the Daring Bakers in the sidebar- that will bring you to the blogroll which will allow you to browse other Daring Bakers creations!

Follow the recipes included and you'll end up with a bombe that is da'bomb! (oh yes I did just say that.)

The Swiss rolls
Preparation time- 10 minutes
Baking time- 10-12 minutes
Rolling and cooling time- at least 30 minutes
Filling-5-8 minutes
Filling and rolling- 5-10 minutes

Ingredients

6 medium sized eggs
1 cup caster sugar + extra for rolling (I just used granulated)
6 tbsp of all purpose flour + 5 tbsp of natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted together
2 tbsp of boiling water
a little oil for brushing the pans

For the filling-
2 cups of whipping cream
1 vanilla pod, cut into small pieces of about ½ cm  or 1 tsp vanilla extract
5 tbsp of caster sugar (again, granulated)

Method-

1. Pre heat the oven at 400 deg F
2. Brush the baking pans ( 11 inches by 9 inches ) with a little oil and line with greaseproof baking paper. If you have just one pan, bake one cake and then let the pan cool completely before using it for the next cake.
3. In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat till very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds.
4. Add the flour mixture, in three batches and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the water.
5. Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans.
6. Place a pan in the centre of the pre heated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the centre is springy to the touch.
7. Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle a little caster sugar over it. Turn the cake on to the towel and peel away the baking paper. Trim any crisp edges.

8. Starting from one of the shorter sides, start to make a roll with the towel going inside. Cool the wrapped roll on a rack, seam side down.
9. Repeat the same for the next cake as well. Grind together the vanilla pieces and sugar in a food processer till nicely mixed together. If you are using vanilla extract, just grind the sugar on its own and then add the sugar and extract to the cream. 

10. In a large bowl, add the cream and vanilla-sugar mixture and beat till very thick. Divide the cream mixture between the completely cooled cakes. Open the rolls and spread the cream mixture, making sure it does not go right to the edges (a border of ½ an inch should be fine). 

11. Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge till needed, seam side down.

Vanilla Ice Cream-

Preparation time-5 minutes+freezing

Ingredients-
2 and  1/2 cup whipping cream
1 vanilla bean, minced or 1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Method- 

1. Grind together the sugar and vanilla in a food processor. In a mixing bowl, add the cream and vanilla –sugar mixture and whisk lightly till everything is mixed together. If you are using the vanilla extract, grind the sugar on its own and then and the sugar along with the vanilla extract to the cream.
2. Pour into a freezer friendly container and freeze till firm around the edges. Remove from the freezer, beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely.

Hot fudge sauce- make this just after adding the layer of vanilla ice cream to the cake

Preparation time-2 minutes
Cooking time-2 minutes

Ingredients
1 cup caster/granulated sugar
3 tbsp natural unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 and 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method
In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and water

Place the pan over heat, and stir constantly, till it begins to thicken and is smooth (for about 2 minutes). Remove from heat and mix in the butter and vanilla. Keep aside to cool.

Chocolate Ice Cream-

Preparation time- 5 minutes + freezing

Ingredients

2 cups whipping cream
1 cup caster sugar
3 tbsp of natural unsweetened cocoa powder

Method-

1. Grind together the sugar and the cocoa powder in a food processor .
2. In a saucepan, add all the ingredients and whisk lightly.
3. Place the pan over heat and keep stirring till it begins to bubble around the edges.
4. Remove from heat and cool completely before transferring to a freezer friendly container till firm around the edges. If you are using an ice cream maker, churn the ice cream according to the manufacturer’s instruction, after the mixture has cooled completely.
5. Remove from the freezer, beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely.
   
    

Assembly-
1. Cut the Swiss rolls into 20 equal slices ( approximately 2 cms each ).

2. Cover the bottom and sides of the bowl in which you are going to set the dessert with cling film/plastic wrap

3. Arrange two slices at the bottom of the pan, with their seam sides facing each other. Arrange the Swiss roll slices up the bowl, with the seam sides facing away from the bottom, to cover the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till the slices are firm (at least 30 minutes).

4. Soften the vanilla ice cream. Take the bowl out of the freezer, remove the cling film cover and add the ice cream on top of the cake slices. Spread it out to cover the bottom and sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till firm ( at least 1 hour)

5. Add the fudge sauce over the vanilla ice cream, cover and freeze till firm. (at least an hour)

6. Soften the chocolate ice cream and spread it over the fudge sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4-5 hours till completely set .

7. Remove the plastic cover, and place the serving plate on top of the bowl. Turn it upside down and remove the bowl and the plastic lining. If the bowl does not come away easily, wipe the outsides of the bowl with a kitchen towel dampened with hot water. The bowl will come away easily.

8. Keep the cake out of the freezer for at least 10 minutes before slicing, depending on how hot your region is. Slice with a sharp knife, dipped in hot water.

Cream Cheese Bars

This is a recipe that was given to me by a neighbor. They are so easy to make but you would never guess that by the taste! I usually wouldn't even try a bar that was made with crescent rolls, however, I tried these and loved them even before knowing that there were crescent rolls in them!

Ingredients:

2 - Tubes Original Crescent Rolls
2 - 8 oz. Boxes Cream Cheese
1 Cup Sugar (divided)
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 tsp. Almond Extract
1 Egg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix cream cheese, vanilla, almond, 3/4 cup sugar and egg yolk. Beat with mixer until creamy. Spray 9x13 pan with nonstick spray. Spread 1 tube
crescent roll evenly over bottom of pan, sealing seams with fingers. Spread mixture evenly over crescent.

Cover mixture with second tube of crescent rolls, again spreading evenly & sealing seems. Beat egg white with fork until frothy, spread evenly over top. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup sugar on top layer.

Bake 20 minutes.

Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.

May Daring Bakers-- Piece Montée (Croquembouche)

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

I failed miserably at this challenge. I'm not sure how-- the recipe itself seemed rather straight forward and simple; without any special ingredients or components. I'm not sure exactly where I went wrong, but I do know that my Pate a Choux never rose into rounded shapes. They were flat and spread out. I could tell as I was incorporating the eggs that my batter was too runny. I followed the directions exactly, but could tell as I tried to pipe it onto the parchment paper that it was never going to turn out.

Because my Pate a Choux made discs instead of nice balls, I wasn't really able to mount my piece and give it any height. So instead, I just attempted to fill them with the vanilla cream and frosted them with some chocolate ganache and had some cream puffs instead of the classic cone-shaped piece montée.

While they may not be pretty (and definitely not wedding cake-worthy), they tasted scrumptious!

The only way I was going to get any height out of my dessert was by stacking it into a glass!


If you'd like to see what the results of this challenge really were supposed to look like, check out the Daring Bakers Blogroll. If you'd like to see more of my failed attempt at this challenge, read on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ingredients:
For the Vanilla Crème Patissiere (Half Batch)

1 cup whole milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 Tbsp sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla

Directions:
Dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.

Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.

Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.

Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.

Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.

Ingredients:
For the Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)

3/4 cup water
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.

Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.

Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny.

As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.



It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.

This is where I noticed mine to be too loose: I wonder if I should have only used 3 eggs?

Piping:
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.

Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.

As you can see, I did not need to do this. Mine were way to runny. (Um... apparently one of my children were playing with my camera and not only set it so the time stamp shows up, but set the time stamp incorrectly! Aack!)




Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).

Baking:
Bake the choux at 425◦F until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 350◦F and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.

Can be stored in a airtight box overnight.

Filling:
When you are ready to assemble your piece montée, using a plain pastry tip, pierce the bottom of each choux. Fill the choux with pastry cream using either the same tip or a star tip, and place on a paper-lined sheet. Choux can be refrigerated briefly at this point while you make your glaze.

I used a little metal piping tool I have to fill the pastry. Some of them were so flat, they couldn't be filled so I had to just use two of them to sandwich the vanilla cream!



Use one of the following to top your choux and assemble your piece montée:

Chocolate Glaze:
1 part heavy whipping cream
3 parts finely chopped chocolate (use the finest quality you can afford as the taste will be quite pronounced; I recommend semi-sweet)

Combine and melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Stir at regular intervals to avoid burning. Use the best quality chocolate you can afford. Use immediately.

Since mine was not able to be stacked like a classic piece montée, I just glazed mine with chocolate and called it a day.



Voila!


Here is the inside of one of the puffs I was able to fill:



Hard Caramel Glaze:
1 cup (225 g.) sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand.

Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke. Begin to stir sugar. Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color.

Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.

Assembly of your Piece Montée:

You may want to lay out your unfilled, unglazed choux in a practice design to get a feel for how to assemble the final dessert. For example, if making a conical shape, trace a circle (no bigger than 8 inches) on a piece of parchment to use as a pattern. Then take some of the larger choux and assemble them in the circle for the bottom layer. Practice seeing which pieces fit together best.

Once you are ready to assemble your piece montée, dip the top of each choux in your glaze (careful it may be still hot!), and start assembling on your cake board/plate/sheet.

Continue dipping and adding choux in levels using the glaze to hold them together as you build up. (You may want to use toothpicks to hold them in place – see video #4 below).

When you have finished the design of your piece montée, you may drizzle with remaining glaze or use ribbons, sugar cookie cut-outs, almonds, flowers, etc. to decorate. Have fun and enjoy! Bon appétit!

Rhubarb Sauce

One last rhubarb recipe! I finially finished up the stash of rhubarb my mom shared with me-- she gave me enough to make 2 loaves of bread, 2 pies and one batch of rhubarb sauce! That's a lot of rhubarb (and believe it or not, I could eat more!)!

This is another childhood favorite. I know people use rhubarb sauce as a topping to ice cream or to accompany some tasty muffins, but I like it straight from a spoon!

I added a wee bit more sugar since the rhubarb I was using was more green/tart than red/sweet. I also added a few drops of red food coloring to give it a pinker hue. I also added in a smidgen of vanilla at the end, too.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cups thinly sliced rhubarb
1/2 cup white sugar

Directions
In large skillet, melt butter over high heat. Stir in rhubarb and sugar and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Look how cute my little crab bowl is that I got in Florida in March!

Rhubarb Pie

Another rhubarb recipe! I've never made a rhubarb pie. I had no idea it was so easy! I think the crust took longer than the actual pie filling. My crust was a little too thick, so I'll have to make sure I roll it thinner next time tomorrow when I make another pie to give to our neighbors.

I used my mom's pie crust recipe-- never buy frozen when making homemade is so easy and so much more tasty!



Pie crust:
(okay, as I'm typing this, I now see why my crust was so thick! This recipe is for a 2-crust pie, such as rhubarb pie. I thought it was for a one crust, so I made a double batch! Ooops! Don't make that mistake-- just roll thinner with this recipe)

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

Using a pastry blender, cut half of the shortening into flour and salt until it's like meal. Put the remaining shortening into the mixture and blend until it resembles large peas.

Add 1 tablespoon of water at a time, until doughy.

Divide dough into two mounds.

Roll out 1 inch bigger than pan.
(If you are making a pie that requires a pre-baked crust, bake at 475° for 8-10 minutes.)
* Be sure to save your pie crust scraps so you can brush on some egg white and then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake until just golden for some tasty pie-crust cookies!

Rhubarb Pie

Ingredients
4 cups chopped rhubarb
1 1/3 cups white sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

Directions
Preheat oven to 450°.

Combine sugar and flour. Sprinkle 1/4 of it over pastry in pie plate. Heap rhubarb over this mixture. Sprinkle with remaining sugar and flour. Dot with small pieces of butter. Cover with top crust and pinch edges to seal.

Brush top of pie crust with a lightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with sugar.

Place pie on lowest rack in oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° F and continue baking for 40 to 45 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Rhubarb Bread

Tis the season for one of the yummiest........ ??? things ???.......... (is rhubarb considered a fruit or a vegetable? We are split 50/50 in my house as to what it is) in the world. Rhubarb. I can't harvest mine until next year since it was planted last Spring, but my mom was kind enough to share the rhubarb she inherited with me! I can hardly wait until mine is ready; my kids can have the same memories I have of eating stalks of rhubarb straight from the garden.... dipping the end in a bowlful of white sugar and sucking off the sweetness before biting into the tart stalk (it must be a vegetable.... if it were a fruit, it wouldn't need sugar, now would it?)!

I made this bread today- I didn't have any nuts on hand, but it was delicious despite that fact! Also, 40 minutes wasn't nearly long enough for baking. Mine took closer to a full hour, but I checked it every few minutes starting at 40 minutes.

Ingredients

1 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.

In a small bowl, stir together milk, lemon juice and vanilla; let stand for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, oil and egg. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda, stir into sugar mixture alternately with the milk mixture just until combined. Fold in rhubarb and nuts.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. Sprinkle this mixture over the unbaked loaves.

Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.

Peeps Sunflower Cake

This bright and cheery cake is so easy, that anyone could make it! In fact, my 7 year old helped me with mine and I didn't even have to go all control-freak on him and redo his areas!

Ingredients:
1 two-layer baked and frosted cake (recipe for chocolate cake below)
17-20 yellow Peeps chicks
chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate chips as well as mini chips for the center)

Directions:
Prepare and bake cake.

1. Level and frost cake when it has completely cooled.

2. Without separating Peeps and curving slightly to fit, arrange chicks around edge of cake for sunflower petals.

3. For sunflower seeds, arrange chocolate chips in center of cake.



**"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake recipe:**

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
"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING(recipe follows)

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. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.


"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.