Speaking of Birthday Cakes....

Aimee turned one in August which means its been almost an entire year and I haven't shared her first birthday cake (it also means that she is almost two which totally boggles my mind! Of course when I ask Jason if he can believe she is almost two, he quickly say "yes"....typical!). When trying to decide what to do for Aimee's first birthday, we decided to keep it small. Our house is not terribly spacious and I knew I wasn't really ready to rent space somewhere-- the latter just seemed way too overwhelming given everything else going on in our lives. So we ended up mostly with family and a few of Aimee's "friends" (aka babies/kids of similar age that she saw on a semi-regular basis). Even that number of people filled our house and was somewhat overwhelming for Aimee so I think anything else might have been too much. I tried to keep things simple in general, but of course I had to make Aimee's birthday cake.

We decided on a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting since we wanted Aimee to be able to try her birthday cake and we had not yet introduced her to chocolate (in fact we still haven't-- Jason's brother has a severe nut allergy and we've been holding off on letting her try any kind of nuts. Since most chocolate is manufactured in facilities that also process nuts, we have held off on chocolate too). I found a vanilla cake recipe from my fave Smitten Kitchen that seemed like a winner and ended up using a variation of a buttercream recipe from her website as well. I decided to make a two layer cake for the celebration (which was the day after Aimee's actual birthday) and a few cupcakes since I wanted Aimee (and Jason and I) to be able to celebrate on the day of her birthday as well. It worked out well as I was able to "test" the recipe by making the cupcakes on her birthday and then the full cake the day of the "party."

I am not very confident in my cake decorating skills so I wanted to to do something fun and festive but that was also really easy. I got a great idea from pinterest--- using rainbow sprinkles to top the cake AND identify the birthday girl's age. I have to say it turned out pretty great (thanks to Jason who did the sprinkling while I was busy getting a few other things done right before our family and friends arrived).

 All in all I was really happy with how Aimee's first birthday cake turned out. Aimee seemed to enjoy the cake too-- although she was much more interested in playing with it than eating it :)

Vanilla Birthday Cake with Buttercream Frosting
Adapted (barely) from Smitten Kitchen

Note: The recipe below makes one 9-inch layer cake (two layers) and 12 cupcakes. See Smitten Kitchen for the cake only amounts.

Ingredients
For the cake:
6 cups plus 3 TBL cake flour (not self-rising)
3 tsp baking powder
2 1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp table slat
3 sticks unsalted butter   
3 cups sugar
3 tsp vanilla
6 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups buttermilk

For the frosting (should make enough for the cake and the cupcakes):
4 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 TBL half-and-half or whole milk
1 TBL vanilla extract (note: next time I might use 1/2 TBL in order to have whiter frosting)

Rainbow sprinkles (optional)

Make the cake:
1.Preheat the oven to 350. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and line with circle of parchment paper (I like to buy mine precut from here), then butter parchment. Line a muffin tin with festive liners or butter them as well.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add vanilla. Then add eggs 1 at a time, beating well/scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, add in buttermilk until just combined (batter will look lumpy).
4. Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated (you don't want to overmix!)
5. Fill each muffin tin 3/4 of the way full. Spread remaining batter in the two cake pans. Rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. This will be 20-22 minutes for the cupcakes and 35-40 minutes for the cake pans. Cool on a rack 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of cake pan. Invert onto rack and discard parchment, cool completely (about 1 hour).

Make the frosting:
1. Whirl all the frosting ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
2. If the frosting gets too melty/soft while you are working with it, put in the fridge to let it firm up and then resume.

To make the decorations, simply cut out the number you 'd like from parchment paper (use the cake pan as a template so you know how big to make it). Place the number in the center of the cake. Pour sprinkles all over the top of the cake. Carefully remove the paper and voila!

Jason's Birthday Cake

Every year for Jason’s birthday I make him a tiramisu cake. Every.  Single.  Year. Don’t get me wrong, I love that cake—I made it a couple of different ways before finally settling on my favorite version. And back when I was cooking/baking new things on a regular basis, I had no problem making a tried and true favorite on an annual basis—especially since it was always what was requested. But now that my culinary adventures are fewer and farther between (and my free time is limited), I tend to want to try new and different things when it comes to special occasion treats. So this year, I convinced Jason to let me try something different for his birthday. Enter Ina Garten’s Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake. This is a recipe that I’ve been eyeing since receiving her cookbook How Easy Is that? as a gift way back in 2010 (what took me so long?!). It seemed like a good “replacement” for Jason’s usual tiramisu cake since it has a lot of the same flavors—chocolate and coffee—and the same type of decadent mascarpone/whipped cream/espresso frosting.  And true to the cookbook’s name, it was incredibly easy to make (only 30 minutes of actual prep time). Basically you layer chocolate chip cookies with the aforementioned mascarpone/whipped cream/espresso concoction and then let it sit overnight. The whipped cream mixture soaks into the cookies making them soft and cake like. It is an incredibly rich, creamy and delicious treat. And although it wasn’t THE tiramisu cake, I am pretty sure Jason enjoyed it this year.

Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake
Adapted ever so slightly from Ina Garten

Note: I’m including the recipe below pretty much verbatim as the only change I made was to use semi-sweet chocolate chips as a garnish instead of chocolate shavings. And I did that only because I could not find a chocolate bar sizable enough for decent shavings at either of the two grocery stores I went to.

Ingredients:
2 cups cold heavy cream
12 oz mascarpone cheese
½ cup sugar
¼ coffee liqueur
2 TBL unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 Approximately 3 dozen thin and crisp chocolate chip cookies (Ina’s recipe suggests Tate’s Bake Shop cookies which can be ordered online—I was going to use a chocolate chip cookie I had seen at whole foods when I happened to see the actual Tate’s cookies at The Fresh Market the weekend before Jason’s birthday—so I did actually use the brand she recommended but any thin and crisp cookie should work).
Semi-sweet chocolate—in bar (from which to make shavings) or chip form

1. Combine the heavy cream, mascarpone, sugar, coffee liqueur, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and vanilla. Mix on low speed to combine and then slowly raise the speed, until it forms firm peaks.

2. To assemble the cake, arrange chocolate chip cookies flat in an 8-inch springform pan*, covering the bottom as much as possible. (Break some cookies to fill in the spaces.) Spread a fifth of the mocha whipped cream evenly over the cookies. Place another layer of cookies on top, lying flat and touching, followed by another fifth of the cream. Continue layering cookies and cream until there are 5 layers of each, ending with a layer of cream. Smooth the top, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. (*My springform pan is 9 inches—I got 4 layers instead of 5 out of the cookies with a little of the cream mixture left over.)

Run a small sharp knife around the outside of the cake and remove the sides of the pan. Sprinkle the top with the chocolate chips or shavings, cut in wedges, and serve cold.

Summer Berry Birthday Cake

Jason’s parents came over last night to celebrate his mother’s 60th birthday.  I had, of course, volunteered to make a birthday cake and spent the previous weeks trying to come up with the perfect thing to mark the occasion. (One the things I enjoy most about cooking is that it allows me to create something—to take a recipe or idea and bring it to life—that I can then share with other people.  It’s seeing someone else take pleasure in something that I made that is really the most satisfying part of cooking for me. )

My original idea was to make a chiffon layer cake with fruit filling and vanilla frosting. In the past, Jason’s mother had mentioned how much she liked summer fruit and I thought this would be a nice, light seasonal treat.  I planned to use the chiffon cake recipe that I used for Jason’s Tiramisu cake (minus the espresso) but was on the hunt for a good vanilla frosting recipe.  Most of what I found was in the buttercream family which just seemed too heavy/sweet for the light summer dessert I had in mind. Cue Smitten Kitchen and her recipe for Strawberry Chiffon Shortcake. Rather than frosting the cake, she uses whipped cream as part of the filling and for the frosting. She also flavors the cake with lemon zest and the idea of summer berries +lemony cake + whipped cream fit with my vision perfectly.

As Jason’s mom blew out the candles she said she couldn’t remember the last time someone had made her a birthday cake.  Light, airy, and not overly sweet, it turned out to be the perfect gift.

Summer Berry Shortcake
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:
¼ cup vegetable oil
6 large eggs (or 5 extra large), separated
2 teaspoons plus 1 TBL vanilla
 1 medium lemon
6 TBL cold water
1 1/3 cups cake flour
1 ½ cups plus 1 TBL granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 container each of strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries (strawberries thinly sliced and raspberries cut in half)
2 cups heavy cream
6 TBL powdered sugar

Make the cake layers:
1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 3 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper (I used pre-cut 9 inch parchment rounds I bought at Sur La Table which were awesome!) and lightly spray with cooking spray.
2.In a large bowl combine flour, 1 ¼ cup sugar, baking powder and salt until well mixed.
3.In another bowl, beat the egg yolks, water, oil, zest from the entire lemon, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla until smooth. Stir into the flour mixture until smooth and well combined.
4.In another large bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks are formed. Add ¼ cup sugar and beat on high until the peaks are stiff but not too dry.
5.Use a rubber spatula to fold ¼ of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, then gently fold in the remaining whites just until the whites are no longer visible. You want to be very careful not to deflate the egg whites otherwise the cake will not be as light and airy.
6.Divide the batter as evenly as possible among the three cake pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. You may want to rotate the pans half way through to ensure they all cook evenly.
7.Cool cakes on a cooling rack for at least an hour. When completely cool, run a knife around the edges and flip out onto a plate.

Make the filling:
1.While the cakes are cooling, combine ¾ of the berries in a large bowl with 1 TBL sugar and juice from the lemon. Cover and let sit at room temperature. Reserve remaining berries for garnish.
2.Right before you are ready to assemble, beat the heavy cream, powdered sugar and 1 TBL vanilla in a clean mixing bowl until it holds stiff peaks.

Assemble the cake:
Place first cake layer on a cake stand or plate. Top with ½ of the macerated berries. Then spread 1/3 of the whipped cream on top of the cakes, being careful not to go over the edge of the cake. Place next layer on top of that and gently press down. Repeat the process. When you place the final cake layer on top, carefully spread the remaining whipped cream. Top with reserved (non-macerated) berries. I choose to pile them in the center of the cake but you could also arrange them in a pattern if you’d like.  Serve immediately or refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

Ties that Bind

Navigating relationships with the in-laws can be a challenge for any newlywed. Juggling two sets of traditions, expectations, and desires to spend time with you on nationally recognized holidays while trying to build your own traditions (as a family of two) and not hurting anyone’s feelings in the process can be stressful (to say the least). I can’t imagine what it will be like once kids are factored into this little equation!

Jason and I are fortunate that both sets of parents live relatively close by (within easy driving distance). The proximity allows us to spend time with them outside of the usual holiday gatherings on a fairly regular basis.  Still, the newness of our familial ties can be felt; at almost 8 months in we are still trying to figure out how these interactions are supposed to work.  I sometimes worry that my mother-in-law, for example, still feels the need to entertain me and/or treat me like a guest when we are at their home rather than treating me like just another member of the family.  So I was really happy that she asked me to make a key lime pie for Jason’s father’s birthday this weekend.

Back in March, Jason’s dad mentioned that he liked key lime pie but that Jason’s mother never made one. So I told him I’d be happy to make one for him sometime. Fast forward to a month or so ago when Jason’s mother asked him if I’d be interested in making a pie for his birthday. The answer, of course, was yes!

Key lime pie is pretty easy to make and I’ve made them before. But in the weeks since confirming that I would, in fact, make the birthday pie, I started to freak out. What if it didn’t turn out well? What if my recipe (clipped from the local newspaper when I was in high school) wasn’t really that good? WHAT IF MY CRAPPY PIE RUINS HIS WHOLE BIRTHDAY?!?

My initial plan was to make trial run pie sometime before the main event to make sure that my pie still passed muster. That plan crashed and burned when I realized 1) I was going to be gone practically the whole month of April; 2) my book club (where I was originally going to test my pie out) decided to meet at a local restaurant this month given everyone’s busy schedules which nixed the need for my bringing a dessert; and 3) given my efforts to eat better/lose weight, baking a whole pie just for Jason and I was not a very good idea.

Instead, I decided to do a little recipe research, to make sure my original recipe was, in fact, in line with all the other recipes out there for key lime pie (it was).  And then I just reminded myself that I am a pretty good cook and that, even if the pie fails miserably, it is the thought that counts. 

Oh and if all else fails, I can always buy a pie and pass it off as my own.

NOW,  I feel better.

My rustic looking crust

It doesn't quite meet my Type A standards but I guess it will do.

Key Lime Pie
Adapted from a recipe I cut out of The Daily Press sometime in the late 1990s

Ingredients:
1 sleeve of graham crackers
¼ cup sugar
6 TBL of butter, melted
½ cup fresh lime juice (preferably key limes if you can find them)
1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks
Whipped cream (optional)

1.Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350. Place graham crackers into food processor and pulse until you have fine crumbs (Note: I was being lazy last night and did not feel like getting out my food processor so I crushed the crackers by hand-- the results were a very rustic looking crust. I am now kicking myself for not using the food processor!) Mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter and sugar. Pat into pie plate. Bake until golden brown about 8-9 minutes. Allow to cool completely on wire rack.
2. Once pie shell has cooled, mix together the sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, and egg yolks until well-combined. If you want, you can add a little lime zest too. Pour into pie shell and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Cool on counter or wire rack and then chill for 6 hours or overnight.
3.If you want to, you can make some whipped cream to top the pie (or simply to serve with it). Since I was making this to take somewhere, I opted to decorate the top of the pie with the whipped cream which meant that I needed to stabilize it (otherwise it would have deflated and separated before it came time to serve—eww). To make whipped cream that won't separate (I hope), start by placing 1 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin in 1 TBL of water in a small bowl. Microwave for 10 seconds or so until gelatin has melted. Place 1 cup heavy cream in a cold bowl (I like to stick it in the freezer for awhile beforehand). Add in gelatin and whip until combined. Add 2 TBL powdered sugar and ½ teaspoon of vanilla and whip until you have stiff peaks. Top pie as you would like. Refrigerate until ready to serve.


PS On an unrelated note, I added a gadget (on the bottom right of the page) that displays my "followers" (sounds so cult-ish, doesn't it??). I'd love to know who you all are so please consider making it official :)