Tag Archives: baking

Toast Tuesday: the cake

10 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by in baking, Toast Tuesday

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I just celebrated another year on the planet with a food feast. I love being the host. It gives me such great satisfaction to prepare a meal that feeds not only the belly, but the soul. It feeds my soul to get in the kitchen, play around, and to pour my heart into something that my friends and family will savor.

I spend hours reading about food and cocktails and recipes. I spend days planning menus. I spend a ridiculous amount of money and energy so that everything is just right. It all brings me such intense pleasure.  I listen to a podcast called the Good Life Project & there was a recent episode where he talked about the act of creating art is when he is most spiritually connected. Getting in the kitchen, and creating something from scratch, is that way for me.

In my endeavor to do something new this week, I baked a cake from scratch.  One girlfriend was stunned when I told her I had never made a cake from scratch.  I’ve opened a box and made modifications, but never flour, water and tadah… you  have a cake.

As I sit here pondering this post, I am recalling a brief foray into the cup-cake, but I really wanted to make a cake-cake.  My coworker was going on and on about this whipcream pound cake she makes at the holidays.  It sounded amazing and simple, so I decided to give it a go.

I creamed my butter and sugar in my fancy kitchenaid, added eggs, sifted flour, and added my personal touch of lemon zest.  I first realized something wasn’t quite right when I poured my beautiful fluffy batter into the bundt pan when I got to the bottom of the mixing bowl and there was batter not mixed up.  That part stayed in the bowl.

Next thing that wasn’t quite right was the burnt top that looked like a volcano in Hawaii blew.  The final nail in the coffin was that 1/4 of my cake stayed in the pan.  My taste testers agreed, good flavor, good texture, but clearly something wasn’t right.

I divided my recipe by three and made a small test batch.  Closer, much closer.  The third and final run, I made a last small variation and came up with a good flavor and beautiful crumb.  In my test, I had used mini bundt pans and stuck with those in the final version.

Since the final cake that was served was a mini cake, I feel like I need to tackle the cake challenge again.  Conversley, the rest of the dinner was pretty freakin’ awesome, if I must say so.  Made the family red gravy (pasta sauce) and fresh baked bread.  First time in sveral years I’ve had a really good playtime in the kitchen.  Breaking a shoulder will do that.

One question that I have for my baker friends is kitchenaid versus handheld mixer.  I got better incorporation of ingredients with the handheld than I did with the kitchen aid.  Is this normal of a kitchenaid?  I was really disappointed in that.

I’m really enjoying being back in the cooking groove!

looking back at bliss

10 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by in Blogging University

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I leave for work when it’s dark.  When I get home it’s almost dark.  Tonight it is raining so hard, we are all concerned about getting washed away.  So, going out to take pictures is not high on my priority list.

What does my bliss look like?! I really had to give this some thought.  I really had no idea until I started going back through my photo files and realized my bliss is creativity and making things.  Making drinks, making dinner, making a cake, making whipped cream, making people laugh, or making something in the community.

These photos are a stroll down the memory lane of my blog.  I giggle and smile thinking back on each one of these.  I hope you do too.

whipped cream-y goodness
Experiment.
double happiness
painting a mural
noodle bowl
thyme cocktail
hey you!
roasted asparagus
the perfect martini
a ray of scones
leaning tower of cheese
focaccia
Enjoy time with friends.
tomato soup love
the leon salad
another perfect martini
a tiki-tacular good time!
muffin magic
heavenly scones
cinnamon swirl coffee cake
marinating
fresh herbs make the difference
isn’t she lovely
just the right size
Laugh at yourself.
fresh pasta
a life raft
israeli couscous salad
drink up
my beloved pizza
good girl time

 

Do tell, what does your bliss look like?

Where has time gone?

26 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by in Portland, work

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While I have been working non-stop the last few months, I have managed to find time to have some fun, bake a few yummies, drink a few (several) cocktails, and eat some fabulous grub.  I’ve been making notes and have the starts for several blog posts.

I have taken a few days off work to… well, work.  Rebuilding Together is upon us once again and it is a project I love being involved with.  So while it is “work”, it’s rewarding and fun.  Having a few days off from the work-that-pays has given me the mental and creative recharge I needed after the hellish spring work had brought forth.

As I mentioned, I have been making notes and always taking pictures.  Here’s a tiny preview of some upcoming posts.  Until next time, and I PROMISE, my  next post will be coming soon.

Lemony Lemon Ginger Scones

18 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in baking

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Baking for a Cause: The Trilogy…

If it hadn’t been decided earlier (which I am sure it had) Lula’s Kitchen will never be a breakfast joint.  A) I’m not a huge fan of eating breakfast and B) I don’t like making breakfast.  And these past few weeks of baking for my big day of Rebuilding Together has confirmed, I don’t think I’m a fan of scones.  I’ve tried several recipes, some of which aren’t even worth a mention I was so disappointed.

Then I had the girls over for snacks and mimosas on Sunday and Megan summed it up best.  Scones are crispy pucks of dough.  I think that’s why I want such big flavors.  Because otherwise I’m eating the grown-up equivalent of kindergarten paste.  Boring and bad.  I’ll pass, thank you very much.

I did come up with a variation of Lemon Ginger Scone that is worth a word or two.  The girls seemed to approve, so I’ll share this little ditty.  I started with King Arthur’s Guaranteed Scone recipe.  It calls for 1-2 cups of add-ins so I added 1 cup of my candied lemon peel, which I diced nice and tiny.  I also added 1 cup of tiny candied ginger pieces.  I told you, I’m after BIG flavors.

I liked them best right out of the oven.  The instructions called for placing the scones in the freezer for 30 minutes before baking for a better rise.  I did half that way and half the batch right into the oven.  I had NO difference what so ever.  It may be that I started with frozen butter that I grated with my cheese grater instead of their cold butter cut in with a kitchenaid (which I don’t have).

With this recipe, I finally got moderately even shaped scones.  I patted my dough into a circle and cut pie wedges.  I also made my scones slightly smaller than all the recipes called for.  Most are just too big.

So, if you are looking for a good scone recipe, I’d say give this one a shot.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.  Especially if you like a bite that bites back!

Pass over the scones

16 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in baking, recipes

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One of my favorite things about Passover is the charoset.  and truth be told, my charoset is the only reason I get invited to the Seders I do. 😉   I will admit, my charoset rocks!  I live off of it for a week.  It’s so easy to make, every year I think, why don’t I make this more often?

With my Baking for a Cause series, I thought about the flavors I love so much during Passover.  That, and I always buy too many apples.  I came up with the Cinnamon Apple Scone.

1/2 cup sugar
2 C. flour
2 t. (teaspoon) baking powder
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
4 T (tablespoons) frozen butter, grated
1-2 red del grated, about a cup
1 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
dusting of flour for kneading

Glaze:
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
7T water
2t cinnamon

1. Preheat 425. Combine sugar, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat egg in small bowl, and add buttermilk. Beat until well blended. Add egg mixture to flour mixture, stir until soft dough forms.

2. Turn out dough onto well floured surface, knead 10 times. Roll out dough into 9 x 6 rectangle with lightly floured rolling pin. Cut dough into 6 (3″) squares with lightly floured knife. Cut each square diagonally in half, making 12 triangles. Place triangles 2″ apart on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake 12-15 minuntes or until golden brown and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

3. I took the icing technique and recipe(ish) from King Arthur.  Pour some of icing onto a parchment (I used my silpat) and plce the scone in the icing, swirling around to cover the bottom.  Then pour remaining icing over the top and use a baking brush to cover the scones with icing.

Enjoy!

Life gave me lemons so I made candied lemon peels

13 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by in baking

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I make no bones about working 2 jobs and going 90mph through life.  As the saying goes, a rolling stone gathers no moss, but I figure that also holds true to germs and cooties as well.  I stay healthy by getting 8 winks a night, a good diet, and lots of walking.

Well, the cosmos tried to throw me under a bus this week by tearing a muscle in my leg.  I am naturally a very brisk walker and I was just handed a speeding ticket.  This week I’m getting lapped by old ladies with walkers.

Doctor said no crutches needed, just go slow and take it easy, but this sucks.  It took me the full cycle of the cross walk to cross the street.  I don’t even have a good story to tell.  I wasn’t dancing naked on a bar or even skipping through a field of daisies.  I stepped off a ladder.  I’m glad I have a sense of humor about life.

I can’t walk, but I can still stand in the kitchen and make something yummy.  One of the things I’ve been finding as I’ve been experimenting with scone and muffin recipes is the flavors aren’t very strong.  As a cook, I can look at a recipe and know I need to add more, but deciphering that in a baking recipe is taking me a bit of learning.

I’ve tried a lemon ginger scone a few times with not much success.  But I think I’m almost there.  In my next attempt I’m adding both candied ginger and candied lemon peel.  I want to know I’m eating lemon and ginger.

Again I sought google’s vast offering of recipes and found many, but the one that struck my eye was another local gal, Luna Cafe.  Sounded like she had experimented and read the same recipes I had found, so why reinvent the wheel.  I chose well.

While the recipe seems a bit step-heavy (blanch 3 times?!), it was well worth it. The result is a bright lemon flavor with no bitterness.   The one thing I did differently from her is that I used a vegetable peeler to remove the peel and I got very little pith.

We go through a lot of lemons at the still and I’ll be making a more concerted effort to save the peels because this will now be a staple in my kitchen.  Stay tuned for my Lemon Ginger Scones.

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little miss muffin

04 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in baking, breakfast

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We surround ourselves with people who compliment us.  Of course we aren’t going to hang out with someone who constantly tells us how fat we are or how bad we look.  The other compliment.  Their skills and traits are a good balance for our skills.

I am the cook.  I am not the baker.  I have friends who bake.  I don’t like to measure.  Cooking is throwing a bit of this and bit of that into a pot and whammo- you’ve got gold!

I work with a great organization called Rebuilding Together that does home repair for low income elderly and disabled.  There are things going on throughout the year, but on the last Saturday of April every year there are roughly 50 houses being worked on.  that is 50 houses just in Portland alone.  This is going on across the country.

Each year, I solicit coffee and pastry donations from Starbucks.  This year, I decided I’m going to make pastries.  This is a huge endeavor for one unskilled as myself.  I figure if I bake 1 or 2 different muffin or scones a week for the next 3 weeks, then I’ll be set.  Throw them in the freezer and pull them out the day before.  (dirty little secret- that’s what your local bakery does for starbuck’s, so why can’t I?)

Tonight after doing a few chores and having a cocktail, I made Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins.  Thanks to google and the blogosphere I had a few good places to start.  I follow a lot of foodie folks and thanks to Annie’s Eats, I’m off to a good start.

I mostly followed the recipe.  Really no variations or strays I feel worth mentioning. I figured since I don’t want to kill my volunteers, I wouldn’t experiment too much.  I don’t want to brag, but I don’t think I messed this one up too badly.  We’ll see what the troops have to say on the big day.

what are you reading?

16 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by in books

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I’ve mentioned before how much I love my library. Multnomah County Library even has an app. How cool is that?! I meet some hot guy in a bar and we get to talking about Tolstoy and Gorey and I can just add books to my reserve list right there. (we won’t discuss the rudeness of me pulling out my phone in front of this guy.) In reality what happens is when I wake up at my usual 2am with my mind racing, I can roll over, grab my phone, add a book to the list and (hopefully) go back to sleep.

Most of what I get from the library are “how-to” books. how to cook, craft, build a barn…

With the new year upon us and a resolve to eat better, this month’s library selection reflects that.

Peter Reinhart’s American Pie is a journey to the perfect pizza. He continues his quest on his blog.

Cooking Light Soups and Stews is a great collection of easy soups that I ultimately take for lunches.

Another Peter Reinhart about artisan breads, the topic he is best known for. In this book he makes it a bit more approachable for the home baker.

Madhur Jaffrey Foolproof Indian Cooking. I enjoy all of her books. She has such a comfortable way to her writing that gives you the confidence to try anything.

Another Cooking Light, this one about baking. I’m always playing around to see what works. Bread is usually a waste of space, but if I can make it healthier then I may be more apt to give up those calories.

What’s on your bed-side table or to-read shelf?

Coe cookies

05 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by in baking

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There was a time when I baked only for one. I had no trust in my baking skills and I knew this one would never complain. Sure enough every time I pulled out flour and a cookie sheet I would have company in the kitchen. Boy times have changed.

I am now regularly baking bread, muffins or pizza dough. I still have company in the kitchen, but very quickly my assistant gets bored and leaves me. There are still plenty of days I bake for my lovely friend, my dog, Coe (like Zoe).

Today’s baking was all for her. Peanut butter banana carob chip cookies!

2 cups flour
1/4 cup(ish) peanut putter
1 very ripe banana, smashed thoroughly
1/4-1/2 cup carob chips
enough water to make a medium stiff dough. add and stir until you get about the consistency of oatmeal cookies.

drop by the teaspoon or smaller onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes or until lightly golden.

Now, here’s what a mean mommy I really am 😉 and how crazy smart she is.

cupcake-palooza

15 Thursday Sep 2011

Posted by in baking, cupcake

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Last year I was talking to my mother about the greatness of the internet.  Her response was there’s nothing out there worth reading.  When I showed her the felted wool hats I had made (that’s for another post) she asked where did I learn to do that.  I with immense glee said THE INTERNET.

Oh, sure there is plenty of crap out there, but if you know how to read, you can suss out the good stuff.  That my dear friends is what I have done today.

Today was my first time baking cupcakes from scratch.  Not scary at all.  A hint of worry that lasted mere seconds- gone in a flash.  The result was sweet cakey goodness.  Exactly what I was hoping for- a light, delicate crumb.

I found this gem of a recipe at 52 Cupcakes.  Evidently, whomever Billy is, had been on Martha Stewart and this is his recipe.  Thank you to Billy, Martha, 52 Cupcakes and everyone who tested this recipe before me so I could have the sweet success that I had today.

The vanilla buttercream icing is a touch sweet for me.  I only iced half the batch.  I made mini’s so I ended up with about 60 cupcakes.  Tomorrow I’m going to ice the remainder with a chocolate ganache.  I think that will be a nicer balance.

I never thought I’d say this, but I prefer savory.  This past year I have proven that I can bake.  While I always thought I couldn’t bake, it’s that I hate to measure.  I feel more creative with cooking than with baking.  I still heartily say bread is a waste of space, though that being said, I do enjoy baking bread.  a riddle wrapped in a mystery wrapped in an enigma…

enough of the deep thoughts for one evening.  Cupcake success.  Check.

Update:  I finished the other half of the batch off with a dark chocolate butter cream.  I think the chocolate has a much better balance of sweetness with the delicate cake.