Valentine's Day is nearly upon us...

...and life has been frantically looking for me, trying to keep me busy, trying to keep me from blogging, and trying to keep me from hanging out with you guys.
Quick, hide me!
Why not go after the likes of Gary Busey? Now, there's a character who should never be left unsupervised.

Speaking of being left unsupervised, I've been happily tasting some of the chocolate treats I've made for the upcoming, romantic event. It's okay. I eat chocolate strictly for the antioxidants. Doesn't everybody?




Uh-oh. I'm having a romantic interlude with Valentino and some tango theme music. Please hold.


Oh, how I would've loved to've shown him something in a size ME.
Let it be known, I'm happily married. But, it's Rudolph Valentino who comes to mind on V-day. He was so incredibly gorgeous, with his masculine, chiseled good looks that, given the opportunity, I would've boiled his boxers and headdress to make tea.

Okay, fantasy trip is coming in for a landing. Crash.

Anyway, so far, I’ve baked a cake, I’ve molded chocolates, and I've also made a batch of my favorite brownies.



And, I figured, if a little chocolate is good for me, then a lot of chocolate must be better, right? Okay. So I glazed these fudgy little bites with more chocolate.


Overkill? Nonsense! As Moliere once said, “We die only once, and for such a looooong time.”




Btw, fondant wings were attached to the back of the hearts with a dot of royal icing. Melted chocolate would also work, but it will take longer to set up.

For the topiary cake, I made the flower pot using my sour cream pound cake recipe, which were baked in 3 8-inch square pans, instead of a Bundt pan. The topiary heart was made by tinting half a recipe of Rice Krispies treats dark green, and shaping it into a heart while mixture was still warm. You can do this by hand, or you can pack the mixture into a small heart-shaped pan and pop it out the pan onto parchment paper, but, leave the heart uncovered while it cools.



I wanted the topiary to have the look of ivy, so instead of rice krispies, I used corn flakes.

But, for a mossy look, rice krispies would be ideal. And, while still warm, I pushed two wooden skewers through the bottom of the heart, to insert into the cake later.
This is also important, I used a bit less than half of the rice krispies treats mixture. This kept the heart from being too top heavy. So keep that in mind, if you try this.

The cake was covered in vanilla buttercream. The roses, leaves, butterfly and ribbons were all made of gum paste.

If you’re short on time, but still want to make something that will impress your sweet Valentine, get yourself a pretty candy mold and mold your own chocolates. This is quick, and if you can melt chocolate, infallible.
Gild the lily by dusting your molded chocolates with edible gold luster dust.



Don't you love that pink glass heart? It's a vintage little box by Fenton. So dainty and feminine, unlike me. Maybe that's why I love it.

Here are the recipes used for the cake, as well as the brownies.


Sour Cream Pound Cake

1 cup unsalted butter
3 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups cake flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
8 ounces sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325°F. Cream butter and sugar until light, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture and sour cream, alternately to creamed mixture (beginning and ending with flour mixture) Beat after each addition, Add vanilla extract. Pour in prepared Bundt pan*, and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

*I used 3 8-inch square pans, which were parchment paper lined.



Supernatural Brownies.

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon instant espresso (I used Medaglia D’oro)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional

One 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan, buttered and lined with buttered parchment.

1. Set a rack at the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350°F.

2. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and turn off heat. Combine butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set over pan of water. Stir occasionally until melted.

3. Whisk eggs together in a large bowl, then whisk in salt, sugars, instant espresso and vanilla. Stir in chocolate and butter mixture, then fold in flour. Add the chopped nuts last, if using.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, until top has formed a shiny crust and batter is moderately firm. Cool in pan on a rack. Wrap pan in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature overnight.

5. To cut brownies, unmold onto a cutting board, remove paper, and replace with another cutting board. Turn cake right side up. Cut brownies into 2-inch squares. Makes twenty-four brownies. Adapted from Nick Malgieri's Chocolate.

The brownie hearts were glazed with, what else, more chocolate. Oh, like you weren't thinking it.
It's a well-known fact that I can't function without chocolate. I'd rather share a needle with Amy Winehouse and bid adieu to this cruel world than live without chocolate. So, yeah, you could say I like the stuff.


As for the paper roses, well, most of you know, I was not blessed with a green thumb, so I've compensated over the years, by making my own roses from mediums such as gumpaste, marzipan, buttercream and even chocolate clay.

But, check this out! I made Paper Roses (cue Marie Osmond's song).



I had a stack of sheet music I just couldn't part with, but I didn't know what to do with it either. Then, I remembered my mom showing me how to make crepe paper roses when I was a kid. And a new use for sheet music was born!
I'm so tickled with this new project. I also made roses using coffee filters (see white rose above). I could've tinted the petals, but, I sort of liked it plain.

These roses I give to you, my dear friends...



And may you all get poked by Cupid's arrow this Valentine's Day!
"I know I'm looking forward to getting poked." that's what she said.

Raise your hand...

...if you know Sweet Melissa. No. Not the Allman Brothers 60’s hit song. Quit sniffing the patchouli, you hippies.

I’m referring to the Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy. I’ve only had this book for about a month, and so far, I've tried one recipe. Please, hold off on the lynching for a moment. Like most foodies, I have far more cookbooks than I have time to read them. But, I intend to turn to this book often, with its simple and mouthwatering recipes.

Ok, back to my point, if I had one...

...Sweet Potato Bread was the first recipe I tried from said book. And may I add, a very delicious choice, as well. I made only one change, which I'll include below.



Oh, and I baked it in this...say ahlo to my leetle friend:




It promised to make better cakes, so I had to get it. Ain't it a beauty? I'm powerless over vintage cake pans. I don't know how well you can see it, but this model comes with a curious little trapdoor. It might've been put there so you could insert a knife to loosen cakes, or perhaps to act as a vent. I dunno. What do you guys think?

And you know, contrary to popular belief, these old pans are not at all the pain-in-the-ass-tronomical-sense-to-clean you might think they are. As long as you: grease and flour it; parchment paper it, or pan coat it.


Hmm, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it were me who went off on a tangent, again.


But seriously, this is a very moist and flavorful bread, and I found it tastes even better the next day. It also keeps well if wrapped in plastic wrap for 3 days. And it freezes well. Give it a try.


Sweet Potato Bread with Cinnamon-Rum-Orange-Glaze
Makes one Bundt pan

Bread:

Two 15-ounce cans sweet potatoes, drained *
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 large eggs
2 cups AP flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup pecans, coarsely chopped


Cinnamon Rum Orange Glaze:

¼ cup fresh orange juice
¼ cup rum
½ cup sugar
2 cinnamon sticks

Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven t0 350°F. Butter and flour a 10 cup Bundt pan.

In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer with the paddle attachment on low speed, mash the sweet potatoes until smooth. Add the sugar and oil and mix to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Add the flour mixture into the sweet potato mixture in three batches. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Do not over mix. Stir in the pecans.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Level the batter by lifting the pan a few inches and dropping it onto the counter a couple of times. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before inverting onto a rack for glazing.


For the glaze: Combine the orange juice, rum, sugar, and cinnamon sticks in a small nonreactive saucepan. Bring to a simmer over low heat and reduce by half. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly before glazing the bread.
Use a pastry brush to glaze the warm bread generously. Wait 10 minutes and glaze again.

* I used roasted sweet potatoes, instead of canned. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Bake (unpeeled) sweet potatoes for 1 hour, or until tender. Set aside until cool and comfortable enough to handle. Cut potatoes in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon.

I served this with Cranberry Sorbet , which came from Simply Recipes. Lacking white cranberry juice, I substituted freshly-squeezed orange juice, with great results. So, if you like cranberries, you'll enjoy this.



I garnished the plate with Candied Orange Peel, which I made using the entire fruit (the orange peel and its juice) to make the syrup. Use the juice, instead of water, for optimum flavor - swear to Gad. That's a little secret from me to you.

And, instead of candied orange strips, try using small cookie cutters, or, as I did, heart-shaped hors d' oeuvres cutters, for a little variety. But, cut them out before crystallizing.



Well, I'm off to treat myself to a dainty little sliver of this rich and delicious bread.

Did I just hear a "Pffft!"

Ok, so I'm a hypocritical liar. Why, I'm practically a member of Congress. And, I confess, I've had 23 dainty slivers, so far.

This meeting is adjourned.

Yuletide Greetings!

Are you guys ready to welcome jolly old Saint Nick with open arms for breaking into your house, raiding your cookie jar, and delivering every present on your list?

Yeah, me too. My heart is thumpin' with anticip . . . ation!

I've been baking goodies all month long, in the hopes that my relentless kissing-up will get me back on Santa's Short, but Nice List , and I've got a few more days to go.

Jeepers. I'm almost willing to bet my little scheme will guarantee a nice present under the tree with my name on it. However, if said plan fails, we're all going out the old fashioned way, guns a blazin'!

Of course, I'm kidding. You don't really think I'd heckle the dude in the red suit, and certainly not three short days before Christmas. Besides, I know I can count on my friends' awesome power of intercession, to bail me out. Be you the friends who will vouch for me? Well, be ya?


In the meantime, I'm hoping this will help clear my name...



Everything you see pictured above is gingerbread. I know it's late to post the instructions for this colossal cookie, but it's actually pretty basic, achieved with mostly straight cuts for the rustic sign, ribbons and bow.
The pine boughs and pine cones were rolled into 2½" long sticks, and the pine cones were rolled into slightly-elongated oval shapes. They were all baked, and cooled completely before piping the needles and petals with royal icing, using #4 tip for needles, and #102 for petals.

I used white royal icing for all the "greenery" and once they were completely set, they were airbrushed in the appropriate colors. You could also paint them, following the instructions here.
Once fully dried, the pine cones were lightly dusted with gold petal dust to give them some depth.

The bow consisted of two pieces, each about 4½" long. Each piece was wrapped around (greased and floured) cannoli tubes, and baked. Allowed to cool at least 15 minutes before sliding off the molds.

Here's the recipe for the gingerbread I use. This is an old recipe, which is pretty tasty and also pretty strong, and it's the only one I use for gingerbread houses and even the choo-choo train on the right. I've also used it for making Christmas tree decorations. You hear that Santa baby? I be good.



Gingerbread


1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 cup molasses
1 teaspoon salt
4½ cups AP flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon baking soda


Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar, molasses and salt, and stir until sugar is dissolved. Set mixture aside to cool.
Sift dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in cooled molasses mixture and blend well. Dough will be stiff. Knead lightly until it just comes together.
Press dough into a thick flat disc. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll  out dough onto a lightly-floured surface to a ¼" thickness. Bake gingerbread on parchment paper lined cookie sheet for 12 to 15 minutes. Cool cookies for several minutes, or until they're firm enough to lift. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.


Peace and Joy to you, my friends.

Unleash your Inner Jimi Hendrix...

...or Eddie Van Halen...Jimmy Page...Carlos Santana...Thumper?
The crowd roars! Thumper it is.
Without further ado, I give you our newest Guitar Hero: Thumper!



Between Thumper and his sister they have a total of 6 (not all pictured) guitars in their possession.



Oddly enough, that's not what our rocker dude has been favoring lately. Granted, his ability to play an actual guitar is still in the embryonic stages. But, the dexterity in his fingers hovering over the --made in China-- stringless guitar makes this groupie squeal with utter delight. So much so, I baked him a cake.
Motherly? You bet. But, my offerings featured dark chocolate cake, chocolate flames, and a guitar facsimile made entirely of sugar, which he was encouraged to break into smithereens, after his concert performance.



The design was very simple, because the chocolate flames set up quickly, and the cake was simply iced in buttercream. Since the cake was covered with chocolate flames, it did not need to be iced perfectly smooth. Get thee behind me Martha!

Not to mention I only had one day to make this cake. Yes, desperate times call for desperate deeds...done dirt cheap. Any AC/DC fans out there?

You could forgo the buttercream, and use rolled fondant for the cake and royal icing for the flames. I chose buttercream because my dear husband has this silly notion that fondant and royal icing should be relegated to minor household repairs.
I tend to disagree. Besides, I have a feeling that someday, he'll learn to like fondant, and all it's gonna take is a gentle thwack of my cast iron pan upside his mangy little head.

In any event, the cake consisted of 4 layers, 2 - 8" layers, and 2 - 7" layers, all torted. I wanted a bit of a ledge, if you will, to support the massive wall of chocolate flames made to wrap around the cake.
For the flames, I melted 1½ pounds of white chocolate, and tinted it with a small amount of yellow paste food coloring. Using a dessert spoon I picked up a small blob of chocolate and dropped it onto parchment paper. I then used the tip of the spoon to quickly drag the melted chocolate to an irregular point.

Btw, roughly calculating the height of the assembled cake before making the flames --like I did-- is strictly prohibited. Please, carefully measure your torted and stacked tiers to determine the size needed for the flames on your cake. Keep in mind that at least half the flames should extend a bit beyond the height of your cake.

Once the chocolate flames were firm, I lightly airbrushed their edges in red. Don't worry if you don't have an airbrush. Brushing the flames with petal dust in the appropriate color will give you the same effect.



The pattern for the guitar was drawn freehand onto poster board, and cut out with an x-acto knife. The pattern was then placed onto thinly rolled pastillage (pastillage is a sugar based, modeling medium that dries faster and stronger than gum paste) and cut out. Once dried, the guitar was also airbrushed.

Again, if you don't own an airbrush, simply paint the guitar with paste (or powder) food coloring combined with clear alcohol, such as Gin, Vodka or Everclear. Lemon and Almond Extracts also work very well.

Because Thumper does not appreciate biting into a piece of chalky pastillage, the letters were cut out of green Tootsie Rolls, using mini-alphabet cookie cutters. Incidentally, you could use any malleable candy available in your area, such as Edo Candy Dough or Starburst candies.




The following chocolate cake is the birthday boy's favorite*

Chocolate Sour Cream Cake

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 cups granulated sugar
1½ cups cake flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup hot strong brewed coffee**
½ cup sour cream
½ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 - 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler, over simmering water. Or melt in the microwave, checking and stirring often, until almost melted. Remove and set aside, the residual heat will melt the chocolate completely by the time you're ready to use it.

Sift the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt together into a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the hot coffee, sour cream and vegetable oil until blended.
With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the coffee mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until blended. Stop to scrape down the bowl several times while mixing.
Add the lightly beaten eggs, one at a time, and mix on medium-low speed until smooth, 10-15 seconds. Scrape the bowl each time. Add the melted chocolate and mix until combined.

Divide the batter evenly between prepared pans and place them on the center rack of the oven.
Bake until a tester comes out dry, 35 to 38 minutes. Cool the layers in the pan for about 15 minutes, remove from the pans and cool completely on a rack before icing the cake.
Yields: 12 to 16 servings. Adapted from Rosy's Bakery All-Butter, Fresh Cream, Sugar-Packed Baking Book.

* I prepared two separate batches for the birthday cake.
** I used instant espresso, Medaglia D' Oro.




Well, looks like visiting hours are over. Crank up your ovens, my friends.

Hey gang, it's awards time.

I've been busy battling Old Man Winter, and guess who's about to raise a white flag.
It's been snowing since Sunday afternoon. It is now Monday, and I'm ready for Spring.
This is what awaited me as I stepped out in the front porch this morning. Incidentally, that is not a picture of my cat. I stole it from one of my favorite sites, I can has cheezburger?



Oh, merciful Heaven, how much more of this fluffy, white stuff must a mere mortal endure!?

I'd like to take a moment (while I freeze my assets off waiting for Spring) to thank dear Jain from Once in a Blue Moon Iris for honoring me with the Brillante Weblog Premio 2008.



Thank you Jain! Please, check out Jain's lovely blog.
And now, allow me the honor to pass along this award to the following bloggers:


The Village Voice, whose creative blog is filled with her artistic photography, wonderful travels, equally wonderful recipes and inspiring quotes. If we lived next door to each other, I'd be the Kramer (Seinfeld's intrusive neighbor) in her life. Please, visit her amazing blog.

Just the Right Size. Kathy has a penchant for good food, good wine and good humor...better than ice cream [G].

Food Box, here you'll find beautiful pictures of wonderful food and travels. Pure eye candy.

Y - Why ask Y? Because she's a baker extraordinaire. Check out her yummy blog.

Cooking my Life Maureen is a delightful writer, her blog covers everything from her cooking and travels, to her crafts. She carries a big (glue) gun, and she knows how to use it.

Happy Loves Strawberry If you like cookies, cakes and a myriad of treats with a nod to healthier ingredients because you want to make your momma happy, then Indigo's blog is for you.

Artsy Foodie. Alexa's site focuses on healthy fare. A look at her pictures and recipes prove that healthy can also mean delicious, in the right hands.


Here are the rules for the recipients:

1. The award may be displayed on a winner’s blog.
2. Add a link to the person you received the award from.
3. Nominate up to seven other blogs.
4. Add their links to your blog.
5. Add a message to each person that you have passed the award on in the comments section of their blog.