Pip's Plate

No, this cake is not actually made with Spam (that would just be too much fun, though). BUT! the cake does sort of look like Spam on the inside – all mottled and pink to replicate the mystery meat that Spam is.

I made this cake a year ago for Keldon’s surprise birthday. Since he’s from Hawaii and loves Spam, what better way to shower him with birthday surprises than a Spam cake?

Let’s not be too judgmental when taking my decorating skills into account here. It’s the idea that counts, right? Right. I had some major challenges with the frosting.

In any case, this was a basic white cake blended with some red food coloring (although not blended all they way to give it the distinctive Spam look) with white frosting blended with red, yellow, and blue food colorings.

At our last book club meeting for Petal Pushers (which I didn’t read after hearing is was just so-so), we had brunch at one of the women’s houses. I brought dessert this time. Again, it was another episode of “I have so much <blank> from my CSA…what can I make with it?”

I found some inspiration from epicurious.com for their Fig and Raspberry Galette recipe, but I didn’t want to make the crust (short on time and poor reviews) so I ran over to the store and purchased some frozen puff pastry.

I have to leave for book club in an hour. And I had just bought frozen puff pastry. I had no idea what I was doing, but I figured I make something work. Turns out…the how-to-thaw-frozen-puff-pastry on the back of the package works! WHY have I never tried this before? Essentially lay it out on the counter for 40 minutes.

I also didn’t want to make one giant galette, so instead I pulled out my Donna Hay cookbook (remembering seeing a galette recipe in there) and worked some magic into individual servings…

Fig and Raspberry Galette

serves: 12

time: 1 hour 30 min (includes puff pastry thawing time…exclude 40 minutes if it’s already thawed)

Ingredients

1 pound fresh ripe figs (about 10), sliced

4 T sugar, divided

3/4 cup fresh raspberries

1 large egg yolk beaten to blen with 1 t water (for glaze)

1 sheet puff pastry

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice figs and place in a bowl with 2T sugar. Toss together and let sit. Toss raspberries in another bowl with remaining 1 T sugar.

Roll out puff pastry to approximately 14 x 10 inches. Using a pizza cutter, cut into 12 even rectangles. Place on a jelly roll pan evenly spread out.

Put 4 slices of figs on each of the puff pastry pieces, leaving about 1/2 – 1 inch edge. Top with raspberries. Using a pastry brush (or your finger if you don’t have a pastry brush), brush the edges of the puff pastry. Sprinkle the remaining 1 T sugar on the edges.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the puff pastry is browned and the filling is bubbling.

ALTERNATIVE: I haven’t tried this, but I think soaking the raspberries in balsamic vinegar and honey instead of the sugar would give this some depth of flavor. Try soaking raspberries in 1 T balsamic vinegar and 1/2 T honey.

A friend of mine had a birthday last week and as part of my baking ventures this year, I decided to go conceptual again (after the wildly successful Spam cake). There’s a back story about he and his brother’s saying the word “bounty” in a low, deep voice that makes it too hard not to laugh.

Either way, I came up with what I thought to be a hilarious birthday cake concept: a pirate and his bounty of treasures! How perfect, right? And then! I come to find out that the special saying of the word “bounty” came out of Pirates of the Caribbean. Who knew? And how perfect!

I found a recipe on bettycrocker.com for Pirate’s Hidden Treasure cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter cups inside. YUM! But mostly I liked the decorating, so I used parts of that recipe. The actual cake and frosting recipe is a mix of 2 other recipes too. I’ve made the cupcakes and the frosting before, but I’ll include the recipes here just in case (since this recipe is a conglomeration of 3 recipes).

continue reading for the recipe

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This is another recipe from the menu for the Creative Retreat. It’s easily doubled, just put in a 9 x 13 pan.

Peach Brown Betty

recipe from Simple Suppers, Moosewood Collective

serves 6-8

4 cups sliced peaches

1/4 cup butter

1 large egg

1/2 cup milk or cream

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 loaf, or about 8 ounces, crusty bread, cut in 1/2-inch cubes (slightly stale Italian, French, cinnamon or challah are good choices)

Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly grease a two-quart baking dish. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add peaches and cook, stirring, until peaches are hot and beginning to give off juice. Remove from heat.

Beat egg in a large bowl, and then mix in milk, vanilla cinnamon and half of the brown sugar. Add the bread cubes and mix well. Stir in peaches with their juice and melted butter. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan and sprinkle with remaining sugar.

Bake uncovered about 20 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown. Note: A cup of fresh or frozen blueberries may be added with the peaches.

Mmmmm….this dessert always reminds me of summers in Minnesota. My mom always made this cake during the summers with rhubarb right from the yard. It was the only edible thing we really grew.

Serve this with fresh whipped cream. It’s delicious.

Rhubarb Cake

makes 9 x 13 cake pan

I finally found it-Meredith has written on a recipe card(go figure)that would be the last place to look!!

Bake 350-356 mins 9X13 pan

1 1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup oleo/margarine (I prefer Earth Harvest organic)

1 egg

1 t vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups all purpose flour

1 t baking soda

2 cups diced rhubarb (about 2 large stalks)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and oleo on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add egg and mix in. Add vanilla and buttermilk – mix together. (You can mix by hand too.)

Add flour and baking soda and mix until fully combined. Don’t overmix. Add rhubarb and mix into the batter by hand.

Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch cake pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake.

Outrageous is such a mediocre adjective to describe just how killer these brownies are! Several coworkers said they were the best brownies they’ve had in years. But seriously – how can you go wrong with 1 pound of butter and 2 pounds of chocolate!?

These brownies are easy to make, and they’re excellent the next day.

This is adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa) on Food Network’s website. Wait a minute – did I just say I adapted a BAKING recipe? What is happening to me? I do believe this is the first baking recipe I’ve hacked/riffed/made my own. And it was successful!

Outrageous Brownies with Caramel

makes: jelly roll pan (12×17)

prep time: about 30 min

bake time: 30 min

1 pound butter

8 oz unsweetened chocolate (the better quality chocolate, the better the brownies)

2 bags 12 oz semisweet chocolate chips – divided (the better quality the chocolate, the better the brownies)

7 large eggs

3 T instant espresso powder

2 T real vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour – divided (1 cup for batter and 1/4 cup for chips)

1 T baking poweder

1 t kosher salt

10 oz caramel (I used vanilla flavored and it was excellent)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a jelly roll pan (12×17″) with butter. You can dust the pan with flour, but I don’t like how it makes the brownies white on the bottom so I use loose cocoa powder instead.

Melt together the 1 pound of butter, 8 oz of unsweetened chocolate, and one 12 oz bag of semisweet chocolate chips on top of a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, just boil about 3 inches of water in a sauce pan and place a glass or metal bowl (with the butter and chocolate) on top of the pan with boiling water. This will keep the chocolate from burning.

Once the butter and chocolate is melted, cool slightly. Stir together eggs, espresso, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate and cool to room temperature.

Stir together 1 cup of flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the remaining 12 oz bag of chocolate chips with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. Add to the chocolate batter and pour into the prepared pan.

Warm the caramel in a microwave for 20-30 seconds just so it’s soft and a little oozy. Pour evenly over the brownie mixture. Take a knife and “cut” the caramel into the brownies. Do this by cutting vertically and horizontally through the entire pan. It will create a nice swirl pattern that looks elegant once baked.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake! Cool thoroughly. You can refrigerate if you like, but just wrapping with plastic wrap is sufficient.

For some reason I’ve made chocolate cake and cupcakes 3 times in the last couple weeks. I know I said I would start baking more this year, but is this getting out of hand? I know several people who would adamantly disagree with that last statement.

I like chocolate just as much as the next person, but I love baking with chocolate. Stop the presses…I just said “I love baking…” is this really happening? Sweet.

I was vacationing up north (Two Harbors, MN) this past weekend and it just so happened that two of the friends with were celebrating birthdays. And what do they like? Cupcakes. Chocoloate cupcakes. Lots and lots of cupcakes.

My friend and I essentially made homemade Hostess cakes. Oh yeah they were good.

Pictured above are the Cream-Filled Devil’s Food Cake cupcakes for the birthday boys.

As for the cake that I made the following night…I felt like making chocolate cupcakes a couple weeks ago. And they turned out pretty good with the exception of my complete and utter lack to successfully make that buttercream frosting. Never fear, I found the one that I made 4 years ago (that’s right, 4 years ago) that worked!

When I remade this chocolate cake with the new frosting, I added chocolate ganache topping…oh yeah. I love chocolate ganache like a nervous tic I can’t get rid of.

A friend and coworker has changed jobs and his last day was yesterday so I baked him this chocolate cake. It was pretty darn good.

In fact, I should quote another friend:

“Your cake is sick… by that I mean phat…or dope…”

You get the idea.

So make this cake. It’s easy and it’s fun to get a lot of stuff like flour and cocoa all over the kitchen and yourself.

Recipes after the jump…

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I know it’s a little late to be writing about New Year’s resolutions, but it’s been on my mind for awhile now. A good friend of mine has a collaging party every year at the beginning of the new year. She calls it “Collage Your Intentions.” We take a bunch of magazines and put together a collage on poster board that visually indicates what our intentions are for the next year, for the future, for whenever. The date doesn’t have to be specific. Something might grab you in a way that you didn’t realize before.

A lot of my collage this year had to do with food, cooking, and my kitchen. I’ve got some ideas about revamping my kitchen in my apartment to make it something more communal and inviting. That’s gonna take some $$ but I’m getting there. (tax return anyone?)

But part of my collage was about baking. I don’t really like baking. It’s somewhat of a science and I just don’t get it. I love cooking because you can play around with the ingredients and, most importantly, fix it in the middle if it goes awry.

But baking? You have to be so precise. It’s chemistry. Granted, I was really into chemistry and science for 5 or 6 years but quickly changed to art and the humanities when I realized the bio lab was the last place I wanted to be. So now I’m collaging about baking?

Yep. This year I’m going to bake more. And I have been. (It’s time for a non-curry post, don’t you think?)

It all started Super Bowl Sunday. I decided I wanted to make a cake with buttercream frosting. The cake was a disaster – dense and more like cornbread than cake. The frosting? What a complete mess. I know I’ve successfully made buttercream frosting before but this was unlike anything I’d made. It was all curdled and gross. And the worst part? I had no idea how to fix it.

So the next day I made cupcakes. Mmmmm….chocolate cupcakes. And they were good! I got the recipe from epicurious.com Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream. They were really delicious. But the frosting? I messed it up again. It was a totally different recipe but I still couldn’t do it. I’ll try again another time.

I am able to make pie though. I made pie crust last night so I can make blueberry pie tonight to take over to a friend’s house for dinner. The Joy of Cooking is a life saver. Especially when it comes to describing how to make pastry. We’ll see how it goes tonight.

Wow. I just added my first “Baking” tag. I wonder where this will go…