Lazy Sunday

This pic was not staged. They really do like one another, sometimes. Maybe Max was just cold. After the click of the camera, Sydney promptly jumped off the couch.

Halloween 08

Marshmallow Bones with Hot Chocolate

Creeptasktic Halloween treat. The cremated ashes and bones of your good friend Coco. Frighteningly delicious!

Marshmallow Bones from Martha Stewart

Makes about 20 bones

• 3/4 cup cold water
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 ounce unflavored gelatin (1 tablespoon)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. Line 2 baking sheets with waxed paper. Combine 1/2 cup cold water and the vanilla in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over top, and let stand until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Bring granulated sugar, corn syrup, and remaining 1/4 cup cold water to a boil in a small saucepan. Cook, washing down sides of saucepan with a wet pastry brush, until mixture registers 234 degrees to 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat.
3. Whisk gelatin mixture with a mixer on high speed for 30 seconds. With the machine running, carefully pour hot sugar mixture down the side of bowl in a slow, steady stream. Whisk mixture until very fluffy and almost stiff, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip.
4. To form the bones: In a continuous motion, pipe a small figure 8, then a straight 5-inch line, then another small figure 8. Repeat. Let bones stand, uncovered, for 10 to 12 hours in a cool, dry place.
5. Generously sift confectioners' sugar over bones. Gently use a knife to scrape bones off the wax paper. Turn the bones to evenly coat. Shake off excess. (The marshmallow bones will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.)

Happy Halloween!

Halloween cake for my FINAL cake class!

Wilton Cake Decorating Course 3, Class 4

The Course 3 final cake challenge was to make a tiered cake with either dowels or those tacky plastic pillars. I chose to stack my cake and enlisted my husband to assist in the assembly. I used 6 inch cakes and 8 inch cakes. I torted the cakes creating 8 layers total, which provided significant height. The height to width ratio is very important if you want the cake to be visually appealing. Also, when stacking with pillars or decorating with cascades of flowers, a 3-4 inch cake width difference is suggested. I went with a simple elegant cake with minimal details so the 2 inch difference was appropriate.

The cake is Dorie's Perfect Part Cake recipe (posted previously with the peach cake) amended using orange zest and orange juice to flavor the cake and icing. The filling was a mixture of strawberry jam and fresh strawberries. I used very little swiss buttercream this time around and used whole milk instead of buttermilk for the cake batter. Whole milk creates a denser cake, whereas the buttermilk really encourages the angel food like consistency. The cake was very moist and did not need any added frosting once the fondant was removed.

This was a tough but enjoyable project and I am entirely pleased with the results. I feel confident in my cake making skills and am warming to the idea of making wedding and other special occasion cakes some day. Total time spent making the cake was about 9 hours. The majority of that time was spent baking the cakes and making the icings from scratch. Not included is the time it takes to make fondant roses. I estimate I make about 8 an hour. I made 21 total.

I affectionately call this cake, my Lauren Conrad cake. Although I loath LC, my freestyle buttercream accents remind me of the monogram cakes that Martha Stewart helped make so popular a few years back. The roses were made using tinted fondant, which I then painted with a mixture of vodka and yellow sparkle dust. Entirely edible, although not recommended :)

Antipasto Salad

My new favorite salad of the moment is this Antipasto salad I created after reading through dozens of recipes online. I needed to bring a salad to work that pared well with pizza. Big hit at work and at home. This is not a cheap salad as jarred artichokes, deli salami and deli provolone cost about $5 each. It ends up being about $25-30, but it yields plenty for dinner and lunch leftovers the next day. Still cheaper than eating out.

Antipasto Salad
makes 4-5 servings

1/2 head red lettuce
1/2 head butter lettuce
1 can black (or green) whole, pitted olives
1 small box of yellow cherry tomatoes
1 small jar of artichoke hearts cut in half (in oil tastes better)
1/2 cup deli sliced peperoncini from jar (or to taste)
5 slices of provolone cut into pieces (deli sliced provolone is best)
1 package of deli sliced salami cut into pieces
Italian dressing to taste

Monkey Bread

Yum. Monkey Bread. Great comfort food for those Sunday-morning-tomorrow-is-Monday blues.

Working Woman's Monkey Bread

4 cans of 8 buttermilk refrigerated biscuits (I only used 2 cans!)
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 cup pecans, chopped

On low heat mix butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts together until sugar is dissolved. Spray Monkey Bread Baking Mold with non-stick cooking spray. Quarter biscuits and dip in sugar mixture until well coated. Place biscuits in pan and pour remaining sugar mixture over biscuits. Place in a COLD OVEN and turn to 350° F. Bake 45 minutes. After removing from oven carefully release edges and center with a knife. Invert onto a serving platter and serve warm.