Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound...

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's SUPERCAKE!

I give you my very first attempt at cake decorating! I beg of you, dear reader, please forgive the crappy photos. I blame bad lighting and a shaky post-decorating-cramped hand.

I had Wilton Level 1 class 2 last night and it was a blast. We learned how to pipe stars, lines, some wavy borders and writing. I need to practice my writing more, but I really liked it. Of course, the writing was very easy when you're tracing a print, so we'll see how it goes free-handed. I didn't get to finish everything in class, so I rushed home to finish the cake before Alex got home. He loved it and I'm pretty dang proud of it. However, I did learn a few things:

1) Red icing SUCKS to make. It took me about 3 days to finally get the shade I wanted

2) Must. Wear. Glasses.

3) Red icing stains. Everything.

Here are some photos from class. If you've been thinking about taking the class, you totally should! I use my coupons for everything, so I don't pay full price on any of the supplies. My plan is to go through all 4 levels, all the way up to Gumpaste and Fondant...we'll see how that goes!

Writing Practice


Stars, lines and wavy borders

Supercake takes shape...


The woman across from me did this great palm tree. Isn't it cute?

TWD: Brioche Strawberry Almond Tart

This week's delectable recipe was chosen by Denise of Chez Us. It's not something I ever would have picked because the word "Brioche" scared me. It seemed intimidating! I've never made bread before and I knew that yeast can be fickle. However, I'm so glad that I made this. It's a sweet and slightly buttery brioche dough, topped with fresh fruit, jam and nuts, baked to a golden brown and juicy perfection. The original recipe calls for plums with plum jam, but I didn't want to buy a new jar of jam, especially since I had 2 half-full ones laying around in the fridge. So, hence the strawberry tart. It was either that or Welch's Grape Brioche Tart, which doesn't nearly as sophistocated.

The brioche took a little babying, but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It was a lot of punching down and dealing with sticky dough fingers, but the smell was amazing. I sliced up ripe strawberries and layered my Smuckers, berries and then sugared nuts onto the dough. If you do make this, be sure to tent (cover loosely with foil) after about 15 minutes, since it browns very easily. I had a little sticky jam oooze-age out the bottom of my tart pan (floopage, according to some friends) so it was a good decision to place everything on the baking sheet.

This is definitely a breakfast treat, rather than a dessert. The brioche puffs up and makes it a bready dish, so I would make it again for a brunch. It's also best served the day it's made, since the brioche got stale pretty quickly. That didn't stop us from eating it though. We're pretty open minded like that...taking one for the team. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it.

Breakfast. It's what's for dinner

Is there really anything better than breakfast for dinner? Alex and I make eggs all the time, but last night I was in the mood for something a little more fun. I found a new food blog and have been perusing all the yummy looking recipes. As soon as I saw the whole wheat pancakes, I knew I had to try them. I haven't had pancakes in soooooo long. My favorites are the IHOP Harvest Grain and Nut pancakes, but I also love the Pumpkin ones from Original House of Pancakes. Mmmmm....pancakes....

This original recipe makes 8 pancakes, normal sized (not ginormous IHOP size) and I didn't think that would be enough for us. How did I know this? Well, my bottomless pit highest freaking metabolism ever husband absolutely lives for IHOP All You Can Eat Pancake night. Seriously. His record is 10 pancakes, and remember, these are HUGE. Back in my eat-whatever-I-wanted days, I could get through 2...maybe 2 1/2 if I was really hungry. He and his friends plan a get together for this all you can eat extravaganza and shovel in as many pancakes as inhumanely possible. He's so proud of his 10. This is how I knew I should double the recipe.

And okay, so my pancakes aren't as pretty as the ones on Gina's blog post, but they were delicious! I threw in some blueberries, which made them even better, and tried to do raspberries. I have since learned that raspberries in pancakes is a bad bad idea. They burn and stick to the pan, spilling juice everwhere.

When you make these, please remember that your batter is supposed to be lumpy. Trust me, that's just how pancake batter works. Alton Brown says so. The lumps will cook out, and if you overmix your batter, trying to get rid of the lumps, you'll get tough pancakes and then nobody will want to eat them. The whole wheat flour makes them hearty and filling, but they aren't heavy. We topped ours with FF Cool Whip and sugar-free syrup, but you could also top them with jam or butter.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup 1% milk
3 large egg whites
2 tsp oil
1 TBS sugar or honey
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
butter flavor cooking spray (I just used regular)

Instructions:

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix well with a spoon until there are no more dry spots. Don't over-mix! It will be lumpy and THAT'S OKAY!

Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Spray oil to lightly coat and pour 1/4 cup of pancake batter. When the pancake starts to bubble, you may add your fruit if you wish. When the bubbles settle and the edges begin to set, flip the pancakes. Once they are golden brown, remove and keep warm in the oven (on low). Repeat with the remainder of the batter.

Top with fruit, preserves, honey, or your favorite sugar-free syrup. (extra points)

Makes 8 pancakes

3.5 points per 2 pancake serving

I did WHAT?!?

Uh oh...what have I gotten myself into? I just signed up to join the Daring Bakers and I'm kinda scared. These bakers make things like homemade streudel, spinach lasagna noodles...and YULE LOGS! What would this nice Jewish girl do with a Yule Log? I don't know, but I think that's the point of this membership. To challenge myself as a beginning baker and learn new skills and techniques. I was intimidated when I started TWD and it's been a total blast. So, I'm jumping into the mixing bowl with both feet. Hopefully, I'll be accepted as a member and will start next month!

The Daring Kitchen posts every month, but the recipes are kept on double secret probation until everyone posts. So you won't get any sneak peeks from me! You will, I'm sure, hear ridiculous stories about me spilling things all over myself and crying over fallen cakes :-)

Kitchen messes galore...here I come!

Lemon Chicken with Broccoli

Keeping kosher means that our grocery budget is a little higher than the average DINK couple (dual income no kids) because kosher meat tends to be really expensive. So when I found chicken cutlets on sale for $3.99 lb at the butcher, I stuffed our freezer full of them. Normally, boneless and skinless chicken breasts range from $5-$8 lb, depending on where you shop, so $3.99 is an absolute steal. In fact, I wish I had bought more!

I found this recipe hidden away in my Favorites file on my WW account, and I had forgotten I saved it months ago. It was pretty quick to throw together, although I had to add some cornstarch at the end in order to get the sauce to thicken. I just don't think the flour was enough on its own. The lemon flavor should be pretty pronounced, which I like, but silly me forgot to buy a lemon. I was convinced I had one leftover from my Perfect Party Cake, but someone must have used it during the party. Instead of lemon zest, I had to use my lemon extract because the juice itself wasn't strong enough. The extract gave it a good lemon taste, but not as fresh as zest. Next time!

Ingredients:
2 TBS all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp table salt, divided
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
12 oz uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
2 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided (I used veggie broth)
2 tsp minced garlic
2 1/2 cups broccoli, small florets
2 tsp lemon zest, or more to taste
2 TBS parsley, fresh, chopped
1 TBS fresh lemon juice

Instructions:

On a plate, combine 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and pepper; add chicken and turn to coat.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, turning as needed, until lightly browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes; remove to a plate.

Put 1 cup of broth and garlic in same skillet; bring to a boil over high heat, scrapping up browned bits from bottom of pan with a wooden spoon. Add broccoli; cover and cook 1 minute.

In a small cup, stir together remaining 1/2 cup of broth, 1/2 tablespoon of flour and 1/4 teaspoon of salt; add to skillet and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cover and cook until broccoli is crisp-tender and sauce is slightly thickened, about 1 1/2 minutes. Stir in chicken and lemon zest; heat through.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in parsley and lemon juice; toss to coat. Yields about 1 cup per serving (3 points).

Steinerpalooza 2009

What a weekend! Alex and I threw a party this past Friday and I think I'm still recovering. We invited friends and family over to go tubing in Gunpowder Falls and then to hang out at our house for a BBQ. It was so much fun that we've decided to make it an annual event. Next time, we're making t-shirts! River tubing is pretty awesome. You float down the river, in your big inner tube, with a few cold beers trailing next to you. We had a grand ol' time, splashing around and enjoying the great weather.

I didn't go kitchen-crazy because there were a lot of people who offered to bring food. We grilled up burgers, dogs and hot sausages, all from the local Kosher butcher. I made Bourbon Baked Beans and my favorite White Bean Dip, and then for dessert, we grilled peaches and pineapple. I also tried a new recipe for Sauvingon Fruit Splash - it was a hit!

Overall, we had about 30 people with a never-ending supply of beer and food. I was a little to busy to get pictures of everything, but I managed to sneak in a few. Our friend, Will, took some amazing pictures with his ultra-fancy Nikon camera. I was very jealous.

Alex and his friend, Dan, grilling

Burgers...waiting to feed the masses!

This is what happens when you give our friends beer and BBQ tools

Grilled pineapple - amazing!

How to store beer when you have at least 20 6-packs and no cooler...

Dorie's Perfectly Patriotic Party Cake

So it's a few days late, but I did it! Dorie's Perfect Party Cake, all dressed up for the 4th of July. I was intimidated by this recipe when I first bought the Baking book, but after spending some time with TWD and learning lots of new techniques, I thought I could make this work. I followed the recipe exactly (with the exception of the coconut topping) knowing that if I was successful with my first attempt, I would play around with future editions of the Perfect Party Cake. And perfect it was! The cake was chosen by Carol from Mix Mix, Stir Stir. She's got a great blog and I love looking at her creative kitchen inventions!

My cake didn't rise exactly as promised, so instead of trying to level 4 miniscule layers, I just left the two original intact and went from there. Other bakers had trouble with their cake rising, too, so I was expecting it to happen. However, the buttercream (Swiss Meringue Buttercream, to be exact) scared me. I had tried to make SMBC before and it ended up as a gross, buttery, lumpy mess. I now know that I didn't beat it enough, and from now on, I need to use the stand-mixer instead of my hand mixer. This time, it came together beautifully - all white, fluffy and smooth. The SMBC is light and silky, with just a hint of tartness from the lemon juice. Some TWD'er thought it was too buttery, but I didn't think so. The only time I noticed the butter was the day after, when the cake had been sitting out all night. It really is best served the day it's made. All light and lemony, with raspberry filling and slightly tart buttercream. So good!

I will definitely make this cake again for special occasions. It's not as complicated as I first thought, but it does take some time to make it really nice. And pretty soon, my cake decorating skills will be up to the challenge! Tonight it my first night of my Wilton Cake Decorating Class!! I'm so excited, and so is Alex because he knows that July will be full of cake. Lucky guy.