Recipes Archives - Page 3 of 4

Bzzzz October 24th, 2007

Here it is October 24. The windows are open. I have to sleep with a fan because of the heat and humidity. I still have robust bunches of basil. I can’t EAT all the darned green peppers that are growing. And the tomatoes keep going and going and going.

Do you suppose this can possibly last through to November 1?

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It has been a strange, strange fall–and not just the weather. Many changes in many strange ways. I am thankful that I have had the time, finally, to slow down, take stock, reevaluate and just attend to the home fires–and my mental health–for a while.

Speaking of home fires…

If you’re in a baking frame of mind, try this Double Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Glaze.

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I first read about this cake a couple of days ago on Cream Puffs in Venice. Since we had just finished our Italian Creme Cake, this was like a sign from God that I should make this fabulous chocolate cake this morning.

I also made homemade bread using the whey from my hard cheese making efforts. The Cheese Queen was right. Substituting the whey for the water makes a fabulously flavorful difference in the bread.

Of course, based on the comments to my cheese making experiments, none of you will actually HAVE any whey to be baking with since no one else seems interested in making cheese–just in eating it. I suppose I must have some sort of recessive peasant gene that makes me want to do things like make cheese, raise chickens and weave.

Oh, and did I tell you my handyman, Walter, is installing a new outdoor clothes line for me? I can hardly WAIT to do laundry tomorrow! I’ll post photos!

(Perhaps these are signs of an impending breakdown?)

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Bzzzz October 18th, 2007

Thanks to the happy twist of fate that I finally have some breathing room on my work calendar I was able to spend most of yesterday preparing for Harry’s birthday dinner. It’s yet another step toward my slow lifestyle.

And, as my friend Martha would say, “It’s a good thing.”

For his birthday cake, I made one of our family favorites, Italian Cream Cake. I first found this recipe years ago in Bon Appetite magazine. Since then, the recipe has morphed somewhat, but it essentially remains the magazine’s version. I tried valiantly to find the original in the Bon Appetite repository that is now at one of my favorite website, Epicurious, but I suppose this recipe was published before the invention of the Internet. (Don’t laugh. It’s entirely possible that I have recipes from the Stone Age.)

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As an added bonus to being a superhero wife and all-around star party-maker for my hubbie, my house smells fabulous—better than those wanky candles you buy at the mall. And if you need to know what “wanky” is, visit Urban Dictionary where you can learn all sorts useful expressions such as “jackass o’clock” (time to be a jackass) or “e 40” (a Bay Area rapper).

This weekend, why not slow down and make a fabulous dessert—or how about make THIS fabulous dessert?

Italian Cream Cake

Ingredients:

¾ cup butter, softened

1 ¾ cups sugar

4 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ¾ cups cake flower

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup half and half

4 ounces flaked coconut

4 egg whites

1 recipe for cream cheese frosting (see below)

Additional coconut, as desired

Directions:

In a large mixer bowl beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks and vanilla and beat well. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. Gradually add this mixture to the egg/butter mixture, alternating with the half and half. Stir in coconut.

In a small mixer bowl, beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Stir in about a third of the whites into the cake batter. Then gently fold in the remaining whites.

Pour the batter evenly into three buttered and floured 8” cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick or knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Do not overcook!

Cool for 10 minutes and then turn onto wire racks to finish cooling. When cooled, place the first layer on a cake plate and frost with the cream cheese frosting. Sprinkle on coconut and add the second layer and repeat, finishing the frosting all around. Pat coconut onto the crème cheese frosting for a decorative finish.

Store any leftover cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 or 4 days (if it lasts that long).