What I Made: June 18, 2012

You know what today is?  It's VEGAN DAY!  All dishes came from "Vegan Diner" by Julie Hasson.  I'm about at the end of what I want to make in this book, so if anyone has any suggestions for a vegan cookbook, please let me know.  I want recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Back to the cooking...

I was supposed to make breakfast, but didn't get up early enough to do so.  Not feeling quite myself this week.  No matter, this dish is called Blueberry Loaf Cake and worked well for a late afternoon snack and dessert.

© You Want Me to Cook?
Blueberry Loaf Cake

Frosted Banana Bars

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – April 24, 2011

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Frosted Banana Bars recipe originally published by Cooking.com via e-mail – April 16, 2012.

My husband LOVES sweets, but he would probably kill someone for anything with cream cheese frosting on it.  I LOVE banana bread and happen to enjoy a schmear of cream cheese of it with my coffee in the morning.  When I found this recipe I knew it was going to be a big hit.

© You Want Me to Cook?
Frosted Banana Bars

This picture doesn’t really convey the soft cake with the fluffy frosting.  All I can do is try to explain it… the cake is firm enough to allow your fork to pass through it like butter without crumbling apart.  The frosting?  Well it is the perfect combination of creamy, tart and sweet.  I honestly could have eaten it alone.

Cake Decorating Basics – Class #2

So I’m going to confess that I didn’t practice what I learned in Class #1 at home.  Not because I didn’t want to.  It’s just that time got away from me.  Before I knew it, I needed to go grocery shopping and bake for the next class.  I solemnly swear that I will at least try to practice what I learned this week.

Of course, I’ve gained a couple of pounds (and so has the husband) already, so the prospect of baking more cakes kind of scares me.

However, we did have homework that had to be completed.  I had to:

• Bake a cake & 6 cupcakes
• Make 2 batches of frosting – one medium consistency and one thin consistency
• Make/Purchase a cake filling

For the cake and cupcakes, I made a Lemon Layer Cake which included a Lemon Curd.  I documented that process here if you're interested in my tasty cake.  The icing was a Wilton Buttercream recipe.  Here's the recipe to make a STIFF consistency frosting.

Ingredients:

© You Want Me to Cook?
Wilton Buttercream Frosting -
equipment & ingredients

1 cup Solid White Vegetable Shortening

1 teaspoon Wilton Vanilla Flavor

7-8 teaspoons Milk or Water

1 pound Pure Cane Confectioners’ Sugar

1 tablespoon Wilton Meringue Powder

Wilton Vanilla Flavor - Wilton’s Vanilla is colorless so it won’t change the color of your icing.

Milk or Water - I used whipping cream to give my frosting an even creamier and fattening taste

Wilton Meringue Powder - Wilton’s Meringue Powder is made of eggs.  You can omit this if you have food allergies to consider.

Lemon Layer Cake

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – March 13, 2012

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Cream Frosting recipe originally published in Gourmet - January 2001.

One of the things about the cake decorating class that I was anticipating was getting to bake a lot.  We don’t keep too many sweets around here because my husband is like Cookie Monster… before he got all healthy and stuff.

Seriously, what is so bad about occasionally indulging in cookies?  It isn’t like I am overweight because Cookie Monster told me to eat sweets.  Also, I think most kids realize that he doesn’t eat most of the cookies anyway because he’s shoving them in so fast, they crumble and fall out.  At least I noticed that and wondered why he didn’t just slow down so he didn’t have to cram so many into his mouth.

Okay, Sesame Street rant over…

So I have a ton of cake recipes that I’ve never made because they are layer cakes and I have issues making layer cakes.  They never fit together nicely for me and I couldn’t frost them to save my life.  Now that is all over and done with since I’ve been taught how!  Yippee!!!!!

I’ve been sitting on this recipe for over 10 years.  It was time.

© You Want Me to Cook?
Lemon Layer Cake

It is light and fluffy with a lovely layer of lemon curd between the layers.  Don’t worry… I’m going to write a separate post regarding my second class and my first attempt at frosting and decorating a cake.  Just enjoy the splendor that is my yummy cake right now.

Yummy Chocolate Cake

Recipe modified by Gretchen Wilson – February 3, 2011 and finished on February 5, 2011

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Recipe originally published in Taste of Home daily e-zine on Thursday, September 11, 2008

Taste of Home has “field editors” which are basically people like me who write recipes, send them in, and then get paid a small amount for their submissions.  I guess they can also claim they’re “published” but that’s neither here nor there.  When you read their e-zines or magazine, usually the chef will write a little blurb, either about who likes it, why they came up with it, how it is a family tradition, etc…  So this recipe’s blurb was about how the baker and her husband are trying to eat lighter but still wanted sweet treats to enjoy now and again.  That’s sounds like me, so I decided it was time to give this one a try.

My finished product: © You Want Me to Cook?

Picture published with recipe: © Taste of Home

I made my cake in a different size pan (I’ll explain in detail later) so not only is it a little thicker, the frosting is also thicker.  I didn’t use chocolate curls because (a) I didn’t have the equipment to make them and (b) I didn’t feel like making them.