Flowers for Mom

Did I ever tell you I once had my own personal chef?

My chef would often create dishes with the veritable ease and skill of an Iron Chef, but with few ingredients, and even fewer, fancy gadgets.

I shall refer to her as "Chef Mom," because that is who she was, and still is today.

Sadly though, once mom retired to the state of Florida (as required by law), the pampering stopped. But this is not where the story ends. In the next chapter, you'll see how mom's culinary influence gave me the confidence to return the favor.

So this Mother's Day, I'll be indulging her sweet tooth with a classic dessert, her favorite, Carrot Cake.

No roses on mom's cake — she prefers daisies.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2 ½ cups AP flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
1 pound carrots, peeled and finely shredded
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped walnuts, or pecans

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line 2, 9-inch pans with parchment paper, and grease lightly. Grease and flour a small (3 to 4-inch) ovenproof bowl.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, ground cloves and salt. Set aside.

Place eggs and both sugars in a mixer bowl with a wire whisk, and whip them on high, until light and airy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and slowly add the oil in a thin stream, until mixture is light in color and emulsified.

Stir in the carrots, walnuts and flour mixture, until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake about 40 minutes for the 9-inch pans, and about 20 for the small bowl cake. Cool cakes in their pans 15 minutes, then remove from pans and place on wire racks to cool completely, before frosting.


Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
Heavy cream

Using the paddle attachment on your mixer, whip the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until light. Stop mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add all the confectioner’s sugar and mix on low, until incorporated.
Add just enough heavy cream to create a medium consistency frosting.

You could replicate this simple cake for any Spring or Summer event. If you decide to, you're also going to need 1½ pounds of rolled fondant. I like Satin Ice, but homemade fondant will be just fine.

To decorate: Cover cakes with a thin layer of frosting. Allow frosting to set up. Tint a little of the fondant a mossy green, for the leaves.
Roll out fondant very thin, and cut out as many leaves as you like, to go around the bottom edge of the cake.

Roll out white fondant, and cut the daisy petals with a 3½-inch tear drop or oval-shaped cutter (Keep the fondant covered with plastic wrap while you work, to keep it from drying out).

To vein the petals, place each one onto a dry corn husk, cover with a piece of thin foam, or plastic wrap, and roll over it with an artist's brayer.
Add three thin layers of petals onto the cake, starting just above the leaves, and working your way up. Pinch the petals at the top edge before placing them on the cake.

Tint a small amount of fondant yellow. Roll it out, and cover the small round cake, neatly tucking the ends under. Place it on the flower, as shown. After the fondant has dried, you could brush it with gold petal dust.


So what're you still doing up at this ungodly hour!?

(I suppose you could say my bossy tendencies are yet another trait I inherited from dear ol' mom).

But seriously, go to bed. And don't forget to brush.

I'll be joining Foodie Friday.


Happy Mother's Day to my Foodie Brigade!

A Tuscan Birthday Fare

Thumper's birthday was  weeks ago, but I had to share with you this milestone.
Although, the boy turned 12,  he's almost taller than me. And no longer shops for clothes in the boy's department. Fact is,  he's been recently spotted  wearing "man pants."

So, I was not too surprised when my suggestions for his birthday cake— a Star Wars theme, or perhaps, a Little Big Planet's Sackboy cake—were crushed.

"Mom, I don't want  cake—that's for babies. What I really want is Spaghetti and Meatballs!"

Say what?!

Have I spent all these years frolicking-in-sugar-in-order-to-someday-provide-my-kid-with-a-homemade-birthday-cake-for nothing? (comes up for air).

"Listen, Mister Man Pants, you're getting a cake, whether you like it or not!"

 
Being that my little guy is all grown up now, I honored his birthday wish—somewhat.  I baked him an old favorite  amongst his  peers,  Spaghetti Cake.

The cake was chocolate  (use your favorite chocolate cake recipe, or try this or this one.)
I baked it in an oval-shaped pan. The cake was  crumb-coated with a pale yellow-tinted buttercream. Then, the spaghetti strands were  piped from a #5 pastry tip.

I considered making truffles for the meatballs, but didn't think they'd  look realistic enough. Besides,  most kids  love Rice Krispies Treats, right?  So making  meatballs, using chocolate and rice cereal was a no-brainer.
Cake was garnished with fresh chocolate mint—Amore. The "tomato sauce" was   raspberry sauce.

Incidentally, in case you were wondering,  the wine  was for me—not the child.

Speaking of wine.  What would a traditional Tuscan fare be, without grapes? Which, btw, also happens to be the boy's  favorite fruit.

Well, I could've handed the boy a bunch of grapes, and called it a day.  But I wouldn't have slept through the night, unless I took the  fruit  to another level.
Concord Grape Sorbet was the answer  (Btw, leaves and tendrils were all made of Marzipan).

This frozen treat tastes like the grape juice many of us enjoyed as kids. Remember how it tasted purple?
Oh, you'll need a spoon for this one—or not—if you're a kid at heart.

I froze Concord grapes from last fall  for the occasion. Can't find Concord grapes? Make the sorbet with Concord grape juice. Can't find Concord grape juice? Use grape-flavored water. Can't find water?
...I'm way ahead of you...

Ain't I a stinker?

I'm kidding, of course. I just  think you should try this, sometime.

 Chocolate Rice Krispies Meatballs

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 ounces  unsweetened chocolate
1 package (10 oz., about 40) large marshmallows, or, 4 cups miniature  marshmallows
 6 cups Kellog's Rice Krispies cereal

In large saucepan melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Stir often.  Add marshmallows and stir until marshmallows are completely melted. Remove from heat.

Add 6 cups of the rice cereal, stirring  until well coated. Allow mixture to cool  about 10 minutes,  or until  cool enough to handle.  Roll meatballs from the chocolate mixture, using a small, greased,  ice cream scoop. Place ‘meatballs’ on  parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, and set aside until completely set.

 Concord Grape Sorbet

1½ pounds Concord grapes

¼ cup water

Simple syrup (recipe follows)

1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice

 Prepare an ice bath, set aside. Wash and stem the grapes. Combine grapes  and water in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, until the liquid begins to bubble and grapes start releasing their juices, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat, and simmer until grapes begin to break apart, about 3 minutes more.

Pass mixture through a food mill, or fine sieve into a large bowl set in the ice bath; discard solids.

Stir frequently, until completely cool. Stir in the simple syrup and the lemon juice.

Transfer mixture to an ice-cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Place in an airtight container, and store in freezer until ready to serve, up to 2 weeks. Serves 10.

Simple Sorbet Syrup

Simple syrup can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, for at least 2 months.

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup water

In a medium saucepan combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil, over medium-high heat. Cook until sugar completely dissolves, about 8 to10 minutes. Allow to cool, and then, refrigerate until needed. Sorbet recipe, courtesy of Martha Stewart.

Raspberry Sauce

One 10 ounce bag  frozen raspberries

¼ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Chambord, optional

Bring raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice to a gentle boil. Simmer for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add Chambord.

Purée in a blender until smooth. Strain mixture through a fine sieve to remove seeds. Cool completely, and refrigerate until needed. This sauce also freezes well.
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And there you have it:

Thumper loves pasta.
Thumper loves meatballs.
Thumper loves Italian cuisine, in general.

So, what was my mercurial son's birthday dinner?

Chinese food.