Lamington Cake

 Lamington Cake for the other neighbours. Lucky neighbours. Sliced bar cake with chocolate frosting. The cake is a basic one...nothing spectacular. The frosting is cool. Made with a hint of coffee granules to give the chocolate flavour a boost, and the icing sugar is cut down to make it less sweet. It's the pan that is neato. Never had a cake pan like this. Kind of like a lamington bar/loaf  pan you'd find in english recipes. It is 10 1/2 inchesby 3 1/2 inches wide and 2 1/2 inches tall.

Great for french loaves or cakes, or even yeast coffee cakes. 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

 STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE..............good enough for company. I make it in foil pie pans so I can give it away at will. Difficult to do....kind of yummy.

 First...you must forage for rhubarb. This may take some time and the elusive rhubarb is usually hiding out. Take a good, stiff pair of garden shears along and you will be met with little resistance.

 Ahh, yes, the elusive, aforementioned rhubarb. It likes to hide under foliage. Be prepared to  put up a bit of a struggle in obtaining enough rhubarb for you pie. Rhubarb is great  chopped in chunks and frozen till a later date. You can make Rhubarb Relish with it as well.

 You will need: Pastry for 9 inch pie shll, 3 cups chopped rhubarb, 2 cups strawberries ( frozen or fresh), 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/3 cup flour.  

Roll out pastry, or use pastry shells, if time is tight. Fit to pan. Dump pien ingredients into bowl and mix together. Plop into open crust.

 Cover with second pie circle. Smother top with soft butter, or margarine, sprinkle with coarse sugr. Make sure oven is on at 450 degrees to start with. Bake at 45) degrees for 15 minutes, then decrease the oen temperature to 350 degrees and bake a further 30 minutes till the fruit is tender. Insert a knife into the depths and test first. Add some more time if more baking is needed.

Let cool, then give away to some nice people.....or you can keep it and see how long it lasts in the house. This pie is destined for the neighbours......they might just invite us over to share...

Cream Scones

 CREAM SCONES...............wonderful. Mum used to make these all the time with leftover cream. Makes for a lovely texture.

INGREDIENTS: 4 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 8 tsp baking powder, pinch salt, 2 eggs, 1 cup cream, 1 cup milk. Raw sugar for sprinkling on tops.

 Combine Dry ingredients. Combine Wet ingredients and mix together to make a soft dough. Do not over mix. Work quickly and deftly.

 Press ( do not roll) out to one inch thick and cut with cutter.

 Reserve the dregs of the wet igredient to brush on top.

 Brush tops with cream mixture and sprinkle with Raw Sugar.

Bake at 425 degrees for  about 18 minutes. Soooo good.

Veggie Pizza

 Love making homemade pizza. Fast, easy, can put whatever you want on it. had casual company on Saturday night, and thought it would be easier to just use the flat you can get in the bread aisle. Sometimes, I make my on dough, but Saturday I felt lazy.... Ate veggie pizza, salad a, chocolate cream angel food cake and watched Alfred Hitchcock's "the Birds"......

 I boil peaches and cream corn ( it's all the way up here from California....was really nice and sweet). Then I cut off the kernels in slices. Can be frozen this way or used on the pizza. This time I topped off the salad with the  structured yellow rows.

 Toppings for pizza: Angel hair cabbage, peppers, zucchini, mushrooms....no tomatoes this time....baby broccoli, parsley, chopped onions, and pasta sauce.

 Pile it up high.....

                                      Pile on the grated cheese, as much as you can manage.

425 oven till bubbly and burping........enjoy.

Chocolate Angel Food Cake

 This is so good from scratch. Really worth the eggs involved.  If you do not want to use up so many egg whites, the angel food cake mixes are wonderful. Just add 1/3 cup cocoa powder in the mix and voila, you have a chocolate angel food cake. Whatever way you choose, it will  be lovely.......

INGREDIENTS: 1 cup sifted cake flour, 3/4 cup icing sugar, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1 1/2 cups egg whites ( 12 egg whites at room temperature), pinch salt, 1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 almond flavouring, 1 cup sugar.

 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Clean angel food cake pan to make sure it is grease free. Do not spray. Mix all dry ingredients together in a clean bowl
2. Beat egg whites in a metal or glass bowl, till frothy. Add cream of tartar, vanilla and almond flavouring. Beat till soft peaks form. Peaks should be soft enough so they bend over slightly at the tips.
3. Sprinkle 1Tbsp of sugar at a time, over  egg whites, continuing to beat until stiff.
4. Sift about 1/4 dry ingredients over top. Using flat spatula fold into egg whites. Repeat till all the dry ingredients are combined . Do not stir....keep folding over and around egg whites.
5. Plop into angel food cake pan and bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes, till a tester  ( sharp knife) comes out clean.
6. Turn upside down on rack and leave to cool. The cake will  come away from the sides of the pan as it cools.
7. Cake is good like this, without anything else, but whip cream, or ice cream,and strawberries are really wonderful. Read on.....

 Slice cooled cake into three sections. Have ready sliced strawberries and real whipped cream. The fake stuff is yukky....only use real cream. Don't use the stuff in a can...it tends to be watery.

Layer cream and cake slices, pile on the cream, then add strawberries and chocolate shavings to decorate. I used piece of a Lindt bar that I had on hand. Use a paring knife to peel off shavings. Keep in fridge till ready to serve.  This is my ultimate favourite cake.

Eat Aforementioned Birthday Cake

 Now that you have the  Barbie Cake, you will have to eat it. This is usually done by takin g a large cake knife and plunging it into the depths of the cakey goodness.  It is usually a good idea  to have a spatula on hand to help raise the slice onto a waiting plate. Of course, some of your guests may want to dive in with just fingers.  Please dissuae them from doing so......can get a little messy.

 Ahhhhhh, and Ooooooh, should follow the first slice being cut. As you can see lifting the slice onto the plate is the right choice. Refrain from licking  buttercream from the handle.

Next, it is time to free Barbie from her prison. She will be most happy to sit by you and smile as you have you cake and eat it, too.

A cat of two might get in on the action. This one....at 13 years old, still likes to hide in boxes. She likes a taste of cake as well. But remember, just a little taste.

"La la al al al la la ..." ( That's Barbie singing after having her shower..she was covered in cake. Apparently, she is a food safe barbie.....says so, right on her tag)

Dale, Danielle, Sarah, Morgan, jumping for joy ( Barbie would jump too, but her legs don't bend)
                                                Happy 21st, Morgan!

21st Birthday Cake

 Decided on having a retro birthday this year for Morgan's 21st. NEve every got around to making her a barbie cake . Never got around to it this time. Saw one in the local Grocery Store bakery...all pink and flowers. Just thought it was the cutest thing.

 The bakery made it fresh at 6am, we picked it up at 9am.

 Happy 21st Morgan....never too old for a barbie cake. I little pricey, but was a treat.

Look at Barbie, she stands on her own two feet encased in cake. Yummmm

Beer and Cider Bread

 BEER BREAD or APPLE CIDER BREAD....Just could not decide  which to make, so made both to see what the differences would be.  Seems to be an extremely rustic bread, great flavor. The Cider Bread is a bit stronger in flavour than the Beer Bread. But, then again, I used Dealcoholized Beer  just to see wha would happen. It has a lovely, mild taste.  I guess if you serve the Cider Bread just ask your friends not to drive home...seems to have  bit of a punch in its dark, wholesome depths.

 INGREDIENTS for EACH batch ( use separate bowls) : 3 cups mixed whole wheat and white flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, pinch salt, 2 tbsp molasses, 1 can of Beer/apple cider ( 12 oz)( must be at room temperature).

 1. Mix flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt molasses. If doing the cider bread, mix the same ingredients in another bowl.

 2. Add Beer/Apple Cider to your bowl and watch it fizz away like crazy.

 3. Place in greased cake pan, plop in dough round.

 4. Cut dough round into sections.

5. Bake at 325 degrees for about 40-50 minutes till  it cooks away from the pan. In this photo you can see the different colours of the dfferent batches.  The Beer Bread is on the left and the Cider Bread is on the right.

Cheating Buns

Buns....Cheating Buns........left to rise in a warm place they are the best  still hot and soft from the oven.You can take your favourite white/whole wheat bread recipe and make buns. Or, you can cheat, if you feel so inclined. And what's wrong with a little cheating with bread dough, as long as it's done honestly.
     Pick up  frozen dough balls in the grocery freezer, place on an oven tray, thaw, bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. Easier than making pie. When in a pinch it works just as well. Be sure to brush the rising dough with melted butter and then brush the still warm/hot tops with melted butter when taken out of the oven. Keeps the crusts soft and gives the buns a nice taste. Other variations could be cheese on the rising dough then baked. Easy and versatile.
     It's been a long week....so decided that it would be faster to use the frozen dough. The dough balls can also be used to make Monkey Bread, linking all the balls together. I am not a big fan of Monkey bread...too sweet, too sticky...but it's an idea.  You can also link all the dough balls together in a cake pan to make a round, plain pull apart loaf.
     In the end, it's a great way to cheat.....as long as you remember to 'fess up to it!

Orange Bread

 ORANGE BREAD: Soft, with a hint of orange. Wonderful texture to the crumb.

METHOD
1. Combine 2 tsp sugar, 1/2 cup warm water, 2 14 tsp instant quick yeast
2. Into this mixture beat 2 large eggs, 1/3 cup sugar, pinch salt, 1/4 cup softened margarine or butter.

 3. Into this mixture add 2 tbsp grated orange rind, 1 cup warmed orange juice, and 2 1/2 cups flour.

 4. Beat all together to make a spongy dough.

 5. To the spongy dough add about 2 /4 cups flour till a soft dough forms. Should not be too wet or dry.
6. Let rise in a greased bowl till doubled in bulk.

 7. Divide dough into two, plop into prepared pans ( spray with veggie spray).
8. Bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes.
9. Melt 1 or 2 tbsp butter or margarine and brush over top of baked loaves.

10 Wonderful. Everyone will gobble it up. I froze the second loaf for later.

Smushy Smores

 I'm not that fond of smores, but they are easy to make for a potluck, or for fun. They are fast......probably the fastest sweet treat.

 Graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate.

 We used sections of Lindt chocolate. Very mild, very nice

 Put squares onto the graham crackers.

 Make top hats with marshmallows. Melt in 350 oven till softened.

Smoosh down with  another graham cracker. Top with more chocolate if you wish. A little sweet, but  great for teenagers.