Follow-up: Cake Flour

Earlier this year, I attempted to bake a cake from scratch (see post here). As you may remember, Mr. W and I encountered quite the conundrum. There was no cake flour to be found at Publix. We ended up substituting AP flour for the cake flour and the cake came out fine. But we still search every grocery store we walk into for the mysterious Cake Flour.

Well, after months of grocery store trips and shelf audits in the baking and flour aisle, we finally came across Cake Flour! Who would have thought that this would be such a hard item to come by? And of course since it was there, I had to pick up a box to keep in the pantry for the next time I get the urge to bake a cake.

Mr. W's birthday cupcake

My husband has a love for peanut butter and chocolate. While ordinarily, he is not a "sweet tooth" person, he does find enjoyment in certain desserts and treats. For his birthday, I decided to make a peanut butter cupcake.

Ingredients
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen

FOR THE CUPCAKES
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup natural, creamy peanut butter
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

FOR THE FROSTING
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, plus more for decorating
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

Directions
--Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 3 standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

--Make the cupcakes: Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed
to low. Mix in peanut butter. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Add flour
mixture; mix until combined. Mix in sour cream.

--Spoon scant 3 tablespoons batter into each muffin cup. Bake until pale golden and a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 13 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; let cool completely.

--Make the frosting: Put cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and butter into the clean bowl of a mixer fitted with the clean paddle attachment; mix on medium- high speed until pale and fluffy. Stir in peanut butter with a rubber spatula.

--Spread 1 1/2 tablespoons frosting onto each cupcake. Refrigerate until frosting is firm, about 10 minutes. Using tines of a fork dipped in confectioners' sugar, score each top in a crosshatch pattern. Cupcakes can be refrigerated in single layers in airtight containers up to 2 days.

I made the cupcakes accordingly and left out the frosting. Mr. W and I are not huge fans of frosting so if I generally will leave the cupcake naked when baking for us. The cupcakes were dense and moist and yummy! The natural peanut butter is very important and the taste comes through in the cupcake. Without the frosting, the cupcakes will last up to a week stored in an airtight container.

Peanut Butter cupcakes fresh out of the oven

Turkey Meatloaf with a side of fun

Meatloaf is an American staple. The Ws like turkey meatloaf and it often makes the meal planning calendar. However, in an effort to try a new twist, I found this recipe from Martha Stewart Kids. I thought it would be 1) a really fun way to try the same old staple and 2) an easier way to store leftovers. Here is the recipe:

Serves 6

3/4 cup ketchup
2 pounds ground turkey
1 cup chopped onion (1 medium onion)
2 slices sandwich bread, torn into small pieces
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 chopped dill pickle, (1 medium pickle)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 garlic cloves , minced
2 teaspoons dry mustard powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix 1/2 cup ketchup with the remaining ingredients until well combined. Divide mixture among 6 cups of a 12-cup (4 ounce) muffin tin, spacing them evenly and gently compressing and mounding the tops. Brush tops with remaining 1/4 cup ketchup.

Transfer tin to oven; bake until inside temperature registers 170 degrees on an instant read thermometer, about 45 minutes.

Remove from oven; let rest 5 minutes before removing from tin. Serve hot.

I ended up using extra ketchup because I really like to coat the top of the meatloaf. The meatloaf was awesome though! And one meatloaf cupcake was plenty. We served it with some mashed potatoes and it was heavenly.

Here are the cupcakes about to go into the oven

Served with a side of steaming hot mashed potatoes

Tis the Season for Spring Cleaning

While I try to keep clutter and chaos to a minimum in the house, I do still look forward to Spring Cleaning. I love swapping out my boots for my sandals and putting away sweaters to make room for flowy skirts and tank tops. I also use this opportunity to take an inventory of what needs to be replenished, thrown away, donated, etc.

I came across this list in Blueprint magazine on 100 Reasons to get rid of something. Some of the my favorite reasons are:

• People burn 55 minutes a day looking for things.
• 80 percent of what we own we never use.
• Donate Cell phones: Care.org Send a phone to the field staff of a poverty-fighting mission.
• dressforsuccess.org Give interview and work clothing to disadvantaged women.
• Booksforafrica.org Give everything from storybooks to encyclopedias.
• Nikereuseashoe.com Recycled footwear materials become sports and playground surfaces.
• Around 23 percent of people pay late fees on bills they cannot find.
• Trade in an old iPod and receive a 10 percent discount on a new one.
• Search for phone numbers online instead of storing bulky Yellow and White Pages volumes.

I hope this list inspires you to do a little spring cleaning and hopefully you can take some weight off your daily to-do or even your home.

Cake: Round Two

So after baking a cake from scratch, I started to wonder. Is homemade cake better than store bought cake? It took me about 4-5 hours to bake a cake and make the frosting, then assemble and frost the cake. If I purchased a box cake and ready-made frosting, it would probably take 1-2 hours at the very most. But does saving time come at the cost of taste? In terms of frosting, I think there is no comparison. Homemade frosting cannot be beat. And this is the opinion from a woman who loves the cake more than the frosting.

So, I had an idea. Bake a store bought cake, but put the emphasis and time on the frosting. I purchased a box of Duncan Hines cake that was yellow cake, with chocolate swirled in (basically a marble loaf cake).

Cake pans buttered, floured and then mix is ready to bake

While the cakes cooled, I made the dark chocolate frosting that I posted earlier. I modified the recipe slightly. Rather than 1 pound of semi-sweet chocolate, I mixed 1/2 pound of semi-sweet with 1/2 pound of milk chocolate. And this time, I let it cool completely before incorporating into the mixer.

Bottom layer has been leveled and is ready to frost (note the parchment paper around the cake for easy clean-up after frosting)

The dark chocolate frosting version 2.0 (looks much thicker, right?)

The two layers together on the cake stand with the middle frosting layer applied

The finished cake!

The cake was very moist and light. The frosting was spot on the 2nd time. I preferred the taste of semi-sweet and milk chocolate blended together. It made the frosting a little lighter in color and richer in taste. The verdict is: you can pull off store bought cake mix as your own as long as you top it with a special homemade frosting :)

Icing on the cake

I posted about the cake I made, but never posted about the chocolate frosting that accompanied the cake. I was in a little bit of a rush to make the frosting, so it did not come out well. It tasted great and eventually thickened. But, I rushed the chocolate process and did not allow the melted chocolate to completely cool. Fatal mistake that will never be made again!

Dark Chocolate Frosting (from Martha Stewart Baking Handbook)

--1 lb. semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped

--6 tbsp. dutch process cocoa powder

--6 tbsp. boiling water

--3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

--1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

--pinch of salt

Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water. Melt chocolate, stirring occasionally, until chocolate has melted completely. Set bowl on countertop and let chocolate cool to room temperature, about 25 - 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine cocoa powder and boiling water, stirring until cocoa is dissolved.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy (3-4 minutes). Add melted chocolate, beating on low speed until combined. Beat in cocoa mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.

Dark Chocolate Frosting ready to frost the cake

To frost a cake, I used Martha's "Good Thing" to assist. Take 4 pieces of parchment paper and make a "square" around the cake on the cake stand. When frosting the cake, any residual frosting will come off on the parchment paper. After you are finished frosting the cake, you pull away the parchment paper and your cake stand is clean and your left with a perfectly frosted cake.

The first layer of the cake waiting for the middle frosting layer

After the cake was finished, I took a picture of the two-layered cake. It's not my best work. But, for the first time baking a cake, I think I did pretty well. It still tasted very good. But as you can tell in the picture, the frosting is a bit more liquid than intended. The cooling of the chocolate is vital for this recipe. Lesson learned!

Weeknight Picnic: Chicken and Potato Salad

Weeknights are always tough. With a husband who is only home M, W, F for dinner, it's sometimes difficult to coordinate a meal. I am always looking for quick meals for the weeknights. I saw these two recipes and decided to give it a go.

Everyday Food Honey-Soy Glazed Chicken

I didn't feel like measuring the ingredients, so I just combined the two until it was a good consistency. And by two, I mean Honey and Soy Sauce. I left out the water by mistake, but it still tasted wonderful. I pulled out some chicken from the freezer the day before and used it (a couple of breasts and thighs). While the chicken baked in the oven, I made the recipe below.

Everyday Food Warm Potato-Veggie Salad

Again, I didn't really measure anything :) Just combined the ingredients at the end to taste. I used Idaho potatoes and a can of green beans (drained). When combining everything at the end, I just used a spoon to slightly mash the potatoes and blend all the ingredients. No need to break out the masher, the potatoes are very soft and still warm.

This salad was delicious. The whole meal was! The kitchen smelled so good from dinner, that I put everything on plates and served immediately and forgot to take pictures. There was some salad leftover for me to eat for lunch the next day. I reheated it in the microwave and it was still as delicious as the night before!