Week Ten: A Cake to Close the Year

If you've followed along for a few weeks or from the beginning (God bless you), you've watched me burn out on baking (pun intended). I've gone from giddy excitement to busy curiosity to near dread for baking, eating and writing about cake.

J asked me earlier this week "So, what will your last cake be?" I actually flung my head back and groaned out loud, not unlike our 18 month-old. And I had no answer. I'd done no pre-planning and no Pinterest research, much less cracking an actual cookbook.

However, January's Our State magazine (a wonderful periodical about all things North Carolina) included a peanut butter cake recipe. I haven't made a peanut butter cake yet, I had almost all the ingredients already, it required no fancy equipment or talents, and it could be made in a casserole dish without decoration. Sold.

But reading the recipe caption really sealed my choice and is what makes it the perfect way to end both this challenge and the year.

Photo courtesy of Our State magazine

Their beautiful photo is captioned "In grade school, recipe writer developer Lynn Wells always looked forward to peanut butter cake day in the cafeteria. Now, she shares her recipe (for School Days Peanut Butter Cake)." 

I had to do some research. I asked my parents if they remembered eating peanut butter cake at school. My mom was wide-eyed and excited, gushing over her school cakes; then crushed that I hadn't brought her a slice. I also remember hearing both of them talk about amazing cafeteria brownies. Then, because the universe's timing is hilarious, my friends' mother shared a similar recipe ("Lunch Lady Cookie Bars") on facebook and mentioned how much she loved eating this at school as a little girl.

This baffles me. I can't recall anything resembling dessert being served at school (beyond fruit cocktail or the "good" snacks which cost extra) and I was in school pre-Obama lunch rules (seriously, thanks Michelle Obama. I love you.). And I don't remember a single thing that stood out to me as homemade; it all seemed so processed and pre-packaged. 

The majority of my cafeteria memories from elementary school revolved around the tyrannical cafeteria manager, Mrs. Burns. 

Unfortunately, I never encountered her much again after 8th grade and don't know anything about her personal life. But as a kid, she was terrifying. The seemingly ancient lady frequently yelled at us waving a menacing wooden spoon, and gave every appearance of hating her job, and probably us, too.

She was always dressed professionally in crisp white scrubs, there were never major snafus in the lunch line, everyone had enough to eat, and her staff were excellent (good cop/bad cop?). Yet, she was a nightmare.

However, now I'm an adult and a mom and I kinda get it. In hindsight, she was probably approaching retirement age. Mrs. Burns' cafeteria ran like a well-oiled machine because she'd had a lot of practice. She knew what worked and what didn't. But she was probably OVER.IT.

I only have one child and even microwaving a crappy meal usually ends in yelling and/or tears from at least one person. I can't imagine spending a day catering to hundreds of loud, messy, and generally awful picky eaters.

And given what I know now about professional life, being a lunch lady probably provided her little perks. Like being a janitor or secretary, food service can be a really thankless career - especially when you're feeding seemingly ungrateful kids. Despite being one of the most regulated positions in a school, there is little respect from coworkers, the Board of Ed, or State Office of Human Resources (read: K-12 teachers are gods compared to other state employees).

She might have started her career happy, excited to see sweet babies grow up under her care. But by 1993, Mrs. Burns was probably tired, overworked, underpaid, and suffering from a non-stop tension headache following years of lunchroom chatter.

And we've all been there - in our jobs, our relationships, our parenting, or even in our hobbies. The things we loved, that we actually wanted to spend time doing, which we're good at, become burdensome, boring or exhausting. We end up spending more time dreading going to work or yelling at our kids than we do celebrating our accomplishments or making good memories. 

But here we are, approaching a new year where we can re-prioritize our life!

This challenge - to bake a cake every week for ten weeks - has allowed me to see how I need to better manage my time to improve my life. I'm the worst to take on too much and stress. I think I'm so busy, that I never have any time. And sometimes, it's tight. We go and go on the weekends, trying to cram as many chores, trips, and family activities into 2.5 days. Sometimes I push too hard and turn fun into obligation ("WE WILL DO XYZ. IT WILL BE MAGICAL AND WE WILL LOVE IT, DAMNIT.") 

Using Goodreads.com's annual Reading Challenge widget

But then I look back at this year. I've struggled a lot as a new mom to find my groove between getting things done and enjoying myself. But then I see that I did find the time for things that really mattered or made me the happiest. 

Somehow, I managed to bake 10 cakes during the busiest time of year and I wrote about each cake, too! Magically, I was able to read 25 books this year (my long-shot goal was to read 15)! We went to DC for a few days; we took two weeks of  Baby Swim Class; I threw J a great 30th birthday party, the list goes on and on. Because we made time for it; even when it wasn't easy to do so. 

So I encourage you, to take some time to reconnect with the sweetness of life - your kids, your interests, delicious homemade recipes - and savor it. 2018 is sure to have its hardships - every year does - but don't allow yourself to be bogged down in the mire. Seek the passion you had early in your career or marriage, remind yourself of your talents, and make your joy a priority. 

Hopefully, Mrs. Burns was able to find peace and relaxation after my tenure in K-8; but I beg you to not wait that long. 

P.S. Don't take this to mean I'll keep baking a cake every week. Screw that. We are officially out of butter and I quit. 

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I'M FINISHED! Hallelujah! I did it. 

To recap: 

Week 1: Coconut Cream Poke Cake 

Week 2: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting 

Week 3: Orange Chiffon Cake with Candied Zest 

Week 4: Upside Down Banana Toffee Cake 

Week 5: Maple Bundt Cake 

Week 6: Little French Fudge Cakes 

Week 7: Tomato Soup Cake 

Week 8: Sufganiyot 

Week 9: Chocolate Yule Log 

Week 10: School Days Peanut Butter Cake from Our State 

I chose this week's recipe on a whim and praise the Lord it turned out to be incredibly easy and wonderfully delicious! I would highly recommend this recipe for any get together and especially for events where you're in a pinch for time and/or money, but need to feed a crowd quickly. This might become my go-to potluck/Church dinner cake. 

The technique is certainly easy and fast, but it is a bit bizarre. For the cake, you melt butter into a saucepan of water and boil. Then you add peanut butter, oil, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. I'm familiar with the wet into dry ingredient method, but I don't exactly understand the science of the boiling... but whatever, it's pure wizardry. It makes for a very wet, loose batter, but it cooks into a perfect, airy spongey cake. 

Only a few things are worth waking up early:
Cake and WNC sunrises top the list

In my very limited research (ahem just comparing this recipe to the similar 12 Recipes version), I've found a difference in including crunchy peanut butter or sticking only to creamy. I haven't tried creamy-only, but I LOVE the texture the few small peanut bits adds to the cake. I'd expected the crunchy to be used in the frosting, but it's great in the cake itself. 

The frosting also involves a bit of boiling, but it's a breeze to make. Pouring the hot frosting onto the warm cake allows a bit to seep in deeper into the sponge. But as it cools it hardens only a bit - not quite like those amazing fudge icings Southern grandmas can make in their sleep. It's silky and sweet (you could probably cut back on the powdered sugar by 1/2 - 1 c, actually) and is just the right thickness across the cake. 

And I love to be the bearer of wonderful news: this cake is even better the next day. We put ours in the fridge - again, more food science I don't understand: what desserts should/shouldn't go back in the ice box? - and it was terrific the next morning. The frosting got a little crispier and I swear the flavors deepened overnight. 

#NoFilter #Flawless #Awkward

Allegedly this makes 24 pieces of cake; they had to make it go far in a cafeteria (and not pump all the kiddos with sugar and butter midday). But you absolutely have my permission to cut it into 12 pieces...or 6... or sit down with the dish on your lap and a binge-worthy show (oh, these accidental puns). 

Seriously, file this one away, y'all. I think it's in my top three for this challenge. 

Here we are. At the end. My butter, sugar and AP flour stockpiles have been depleted and my energy is spent. I'm relieved and ready to relax for awhile. As this cake cooled, I put on my fleece onesie (stretchy clothes are a must for now), slippers and a carbonated clay face mask (copious amounts of butter = a desperate pore situation) to fully come off of my baking high. 

Thanks for sticking with me for the last ten weeks. I'm proud I got through it and glad you joined me. More to come in 2018! But not cake...or not much. 

Fat Kid Friday: Classic Yellow Cake

For our second installment of Fat Kid Friday, I'm bringing you the delicious, ridiculously tall and rich yellow cake I made for J's birthday.

J's family loves birthdays - they get together for EVERY family member's birthday and there's store bought cake and ice cream and chips every time. I have always been a cake person, but this new, almost monthly serving of birthday cake has increased my love of cakes. This year, I started asking J what kind of cake he wanted early on and while leafing through my "Martha's American Food" cookbook he pointed to a beautiful yellow four-layer cake with chocolate buttercream.

This cake was an undertaking - not because the recipe was hard but it was such an exquisite cake to live up to. And it was a whole hell of a lot butter. But - despite it being a messy, butter-filled endeavor - this cake tastes like childhood. It tastes like the cakes mom and grandma used to make. My grandma makes the best yellow cake with a thick fudge icing. I remember peeling off the fudge and either shoveling it down as fast as I could or saving it for the very last bite (this patience came with age). This cake is a close second to that with a creamy smooth frosting and a sweet, buttery (duh!) cake.

And this recipe makes more than enough icing. I saved some in the fridge and it's an exact replica of Ice Cube candies (if you've never tried one, hit up your local retro candy store, like Mast General Store).

I highly suggest you stocking up on butter and whipping this up for your next special occasion!

Fun Tip: LEGO minifigures make the perfect candle holders!
Just sit them on a little piece of tinfoil so they don't get icing in their legs. 

Yellow Layer Cake with Chocolate Icing

Cake Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for pans
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
1 1/2 c cake flour (not self rising, I used Swan's Down)
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 3/4 c sugar
4 large eggs
2 t pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 c milk

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 350. Butter two 8x2" cake pans, line bottoms with parchment. Butter parchment and dust with flour, tap out excess (TIP: if you're making a chocolate cake use cocoa powder to dust your pans).

Sift together flours, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour, beat until combined after each addition.

Divide the batter between the pans and smooth with a spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through until tops are tender and a toothpick comes out clean (this is a delicate cake that's easy to over-cook, watch them closely) - about 30 minutes. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges and flip onto rack. Let cool completely, top sides up.

Using a serrated knife or bakers garrote trip tops of the cake to make level. Split each cake horizontally to make four layers. Place bottom layer on a serving platter and spread with frosting. Place another cake layer on top, spread with frosting. Repeat twice. Spread a thin - crumb coat - on the entire cake, refrigerate until firm. Spread with a final layer of frosting. Refrigerate cake at least 1 hour until slicing. (Cake can be made up to 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate; let sit at room temperature before slicing and serving).

Icing Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 c plus 1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c plus 1 T boiling water (great use of the Keurig!)
1 lb plus 4 T (4 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c powdered sugar
pinch of salt

Method:

Heat chocolate in a double boiler, stirring occasionally until completely melted - about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, 25-30 minutes. Meanwhile combine cocoa and boiling water, stir until cocoa is dissolved.

With an electric mixer on med-high speed, beat butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Add melted chocolate, beat on low speed until combined - 1 or 2 minutes. Beat in cocoa mixture.

Fat Kid Friday: Pound (of butter) Cake

"I love you like a fat kid loves cake" - 50 Cent, "21 Questions" 

I'm (belatedly) starting a feature of decadent, rich and calorie-filled dishes for Fat Kid Friday. I try to offer a variety of healthy, quick-and-easy meals here but this feature will give you wonderful ways to treat yourselves with uber-delicious and sinfully satisfying dishes - a lot of these will be desserts since we both have big sweet tooths but I've got a few luxurious entrees.

Here's our first installment with a wonderful, traditional Southern pound cake recipe from Martha Stewart's "Martha's American Food" (a new cookbook favorite of mine).

The best recipes are on the dirty, sticky pages! 

According to my dad, one of the best things I've ever cooked was pound cake. I started making them using an ancient church cookbook (those are always the best!) and even got confident enough to start making my own twists on the classic recipes. Dad loved when I'd mix in Hershey's syrup to make a yummy, dense marbled cake.

When I got this new cookbook, I decided to try another traditional pound cake recipe and this one is certainly a winner. It's so traditional that it still sticks very closely to the "pound" recipe - calling for a pound of sugar, a pound of flour and of course, an entire POUND of butter and nine large eggs. This is certainly no recipe for those counting calories, trying to lower their cholesterol or avoid diabetes.

Pound cakes are incredibly versatile and come in many varieties. The old-school recipes are heavy on extracts - extra vanilla, lemon, orange or even the mythical "five flavor pound cake." I, myself, love plain, run-of-the mill pound cakes. Our local supermarket chain, Ingles, makes the best original version. It's dense and soft - like a heavy duty angel food cake - and is incredibly delicious warm and smeared with peanut butter. I grew up calling it choke butter cake because without a glass of milk, you literally struggle to swallow the sweet bites.

The basic version of this recipe is delicious and very lightly flavored. You can taste the subtle vanilla, but what stands out the most to me is the hint of salt. The tablespoon of coarse salt really adds a great contrasting flavor. Pound cake straddles the line between bread-y, almost muffin-like texture and that of cake-cake. This recipe is more on the bread-like side, with a good bite and mouth-feel. And yes, it is still delicious with peanut butter (or Nutella or Biscoff cookie butter). It is also the perfect base for macerated berries (with vanilla sugar!) or a warm sundae.

And the variations are just as good, if not better! So far, I've made it with fresh blue berries and a blackberry jam swirl (below) - and both are gone in a flash!

All of the recipies - original and variations - are incredibly easy. The hardest parts are waiting for the butter and eggs to get to room temperature and dividing the batter evenly - you could use a kitchen scale here, I suppose, but I just wing it (for better or worse).

Pour yourself a glass of milk and put on your stretchy pants to enjoy this wonderful Fat Kid Friday pound cake!

Pound Cake

Ingredients:

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened*
3 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 T coarse salt
2 c sugar
1 t pure vanilla extract
9 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten*

* It is CRITICAL that the butter and eggs be at room temperature, if not the batter will look curdled and will the cake will be far too dense and won't rise properly.

Method:

Preaheat oven to 325. Lightly butter two 5x9" loaf pans.

In a medium bowl, whisk together salt and flour.

With an electric mixer on high speed, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Cream them thoroughly for the best volume. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Reduce speed to medium and add vanilla.

Add the eggs in four batches, mixing thoroughly and scraping the bowl after each addition. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in four batches. Mix until just incorporated.

Divide batter between pans. Tap pans on the counter twice to distribute evenly. Bake until a toothpick entered into the center comes out clean - about 1 hour. Allow to rest on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edges of cakes, then turn out cakes onto racks to cool completely.

Variations:

Blueberry-Sour Cream -  Use 1/2 c sour cream in place of 1 stick of butter. Toss 2 c fresh blueberries w. 2 T flour (this keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the loaf); fold into finished batter. Before baking, sprinkle 2 T sanding sugar (I use demerara - raw- sugar) over each cake.

Jam - Fold 1 c jam into the finished batter.

Quarter-Cookout-Crisis

We both love sweets - especially ice cream and milkshakes - and we knew that Cookout coming to town would be a major hit! Last summer, Sonic tried some funky shakes (like peanut butter and bacon) that we reviewed but we knew their uniqueness would be short-lived when the Greensboro chain opened. And as we predicted, everyone's been blown away by their cheap prices, zippy service and delicious milkshakes.

I've heard so many people who have their favorite - the most popular fave in my crowd is the banana pudding shake - but I doubt everyone's trying a lot of them. I know that I can get stuck in a (delicious) rut where I find something I like and prefer to not try anything else, and J is certainly that way. He thinks he's really stepping outside the box when he changes up his peanut butter fudge shake to a Reese's cup order.

So looking at the mega list of shake options (too big for one screenshot), I was quite disappointed to realize that I'd tried less than a quarter of them!

Thus far, I've tried the banana pudding (due to excessive peer pressure), chocolate malt, mocha, pineapple, watermelon, peach cobbler, banana nut, banana fudge and sips of J's various, trusty peanut butter and chocolate combos. That leaves at least 20-odd shakes left to try! So by the last day of summer - exactly 26 weeks from now - I want to have tried all of them (except egg nog,I'll have to wait until Christmastime). I'm pretty sure I can handle the difficult undertaking of one milkshake a week for two seasons! 

I think I've got some good flavors in store for me. So far, in my limited shake research, I've only had one Cookout shake that didn't wow me. The peach cobbler one, was just... odd. Let me preface this by saying my one never-fail, signature dessert is scratch-made peach cobbler. I can throw one together in less than 15 minutes and it's delicious and beautiful. So to suck a deconstructed cobbler through a straw is nothing short of disorienting. The flavor was great, but having chunks of pie crust (the best part of a pie) in a shake is just weird. 

I'm a little leery of the chocolate chip mint shake - the only choco mint combo I've ever enjoyed is Andes mints, egg nog - which I think has the texture of mucus, and Hi-C - which is just weird; but I'm willing to bet they'll be delicious. I was terrified of the watermelon shake but it turned out to be a favorite!

 If you've never had it, be sure to get your tail to the nearest Cookout come July 1. Don't worry, it's not an artificially flavored watermelon shake because yes, that'd be disgusting and was what I was afraid of. Instead, like all their shakes (or so I like to think) there's some nutritional value because they use real fruit. Tiny chunks of watermelon are mixed into vanilla ice cream and it's the most fabulous flavor and texture. The watermelon pieces are so small and obviously so water-dense that the liquid within the cubes actually semi-freezes giving a great crunch and burst of sweet, cold watermelon juice. I look forward to watermelon milkshake season every year, but again, I am so blessed to be in love with a talented chef who's figured out how to duplicate the recipe. And yes, it was one of the many ways he wooed me, long ago. And I'm going to share the recipe with you here! 

But first, let me give you some extra suggestions for your milkshake fest:

• Give the chocolate malt a try - it's all the great flavor of Whoppers candy, without that horrible biting-on-styrofoam texture
• If it says "fudge" go for it, it's wonderful, thick hot fudge that goes with everything
• The pineapple shake is a winner - it's like a third of a sundae with finely crushed pineapple. A subtle flavor but with the signature sweet and tartness of a pineapple.
• It's not technically a milkshake but be sure to try the Cheerwine float. Cheerwine is a Southern-exclusive cherry soda which they pour over a soft-serve vanilla ice cream. It puts a Coke float to shame. 

I'll be sharing updates on my flavor-fest on our Facebook page. Follow us here!

Jordan's Cookout Fake-Out Watermelon Milkshake

Ingredients:

1 c milk

1 1/2 c frozen watermelon

1 1/2 t sugar

Method:

Beforehand, cut watermelon into manageable cubes (2"). Place on wax paper-lined baking sheet in freezer until just frozen firm. 

Mix all ingredients in blender. If wooing someone, garnish with a pretty watermelon chunk. 

Mardi Gras (or anytime) King Cake

I'm not Catholic, I've never been to Louisiana and I've certainly never "earned" any beads, but I love the season of Mardi Gras and Lent.

I've been observing Lent since I was 10 or 11 and the idea of self sacrifice for religious, and personal clarity has always resonated with me. I usually give up a few things that I love and I struggle to go without for 40 days and last year I started adding commitments - of things I don't do often enough. This year, I'm giving up french fries, all but one non-water drink a day and am going to "perform" an additional mile of exercise a day (on a bike, running, walking etc.). 

And before Lent starts on Ash Wednesday (March 5), I've been binging on my favorite sweet drinks and salty treats and obviously, not exercising regularly. But the best tradition before Lent begins is the big party of Fat Tuesday and its perfect dish - King Cake. 

Mardi Gras King Cake is a traditional dish in honor of the three wise men who visited Jesus as a baby and is eaten in celebration of the Lenten season. It's like a danish, cinnamon roll style dough, sometimes filled, but full of sweet cinnamon and buttery dough and covered with sweet icing or sugar in the colors of Mardi Gras - purple, gold and green (there are several variations in different cultures, like Mexican rosca de reyes which has more of a fruit cake flavor with sugared cherries and fruit pieces).  For Mardi Gras, a plastic baby (originally in honor Jesus) is poked through the underside of the cake and hidden inside. The person who received the piece with the trinket has to buy next year's cake or throw the next party. 

This recipe is a quick and easy version that, thankfully, doesn't involve actually making a yeast dough (I am terrified of using dry yeast) and is prepared in less than an hour. To me, the hardest part is the geometry of making a half-way decent circle shape and dying the icing and/or sugars just the right colors. 

Technically, this is a Fat Tuesday specialty but it is delicious year round and would make a wonderful dish for any breakfast, tea time (I assume people do that), bridal shower, holiday party or any time you're seeking a sweet, simple pastry. You can dye the icing/sugars to suit any color scheme or leave them plain white. 

Bon appetite and laissez les bons temps rouler! 

Mardi Gras-Style King Cake 

Ingredients:

4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 c. raisins - golden or purple

1/2 c pecan halves (optional; I suggest including unless you have an allergy)

2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls

1 1/2 c powdered sugar, sifted

3-4 tablespoons milk or half and half

1 tsp vanilla extract

Purple, green and yellow colored sugar or food coloring

Method:

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a baking sheet or pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Soak raisins in a cup of hot water for 15 minutes; drain and pat dry (this will make them beautifully plump and tender). 

Blend cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins in the bowl of a food processor. Add the pecan halves and pulse until the pecans are 1/4" pieces. 

Unroll crescent dough and separate into triangles. Position triangles next to each other with the points toward the center, overlapping the long sides about a 1/4" - this will form a large round. Where the pieces overlap pinch the seams together in the middle of the seam - leave the ends unsealed so you can fold them. 

Visual example thanks to About.Com

Spread the cream cheese filling around the ring covering the center sealed seam. 

Fold the short side of each triangle toward the center, just covering the filling. Pull the point end of the triangles to fully enclose the filling, tuck under the points and lightly press the seams. 

Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Let cool to room temperature. 

Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk or half-and-half (start with 2 T) and vanilla until smooth. This icing should be thick, so slowly add more liquid. Spoon the icing over the ring and allow it to drip over the sides. If you are using colored sugars sprinkle them in wide swaths across the cake. If using food coloring - separate your icings into three bowls and dye them accordingly and pour over individual sections of the cake. 

When it has cooled, you can push the plastic baby in through the bottom into a slice. Note: Some recipes suggest putting a dried bean into the cake, but this is small enough to choke on and hard enough to unexpectedly break a tooth - either do the big plastic token or skip it all together. 

Taste Test Thursday: Red Velvet Brownies

Last year at work, my coworkers and I shared a bonding experience called Taste Test Thursday where every other Thursday one of us would make a new recipe and bring it for everyone to share. All of the treats were delicious and so we've started our bi-monthly snack swap again.

I started us off today with red velvet brownies.

This recipe brings together three of my favorite things - brownies, red velvet and Valentines Day.

There are two camps of brownie aficionados and I am of the fudge-y (not cake-y) persuasion. These brownies are very fudgey and overflowing with chocolate flavor. The recipe was intended for an 8x8" but I made it in a 9x2x13" to make enough for my hungry co-workers. That made for a thin, gooey brownie that was super chocolatey; I want to try it again in the 8" square to make thicker, more dense brownies which I think will be delicious.

There are few things as Southern as red velvet cake. For those who aren't aware, red velvet is technically just chocolate cake, but normally there's added vinegar to add extra depth. But proving that we eat with our eyes before our taste buds, I seriously believe that a beautiful, deep red cake with creamy white icing would taste 10x better than a dull chocolate counterpart.

And yes, I am a Valentine freak. I love cheesy holidays and get such a kick out of going all out with pinks and reds and hearts and bows for February 14. I am lucky enough to have plenty of loved ones and to be loved (Amanda means "loveable, worthy of love") so of course I love a day meant to recognize the mushiest of emotions. I look forward to making cards, picking out sweet gifts and making V-day themed food - especially desserts. This dessert could be made for any occasion - without any food coloring or with any color you'd like. The red looked so beautiful against the chocolate swirl, but without looking tacky (although I do happen to like cheesy things).

This dish was a winner on all fronts - beautiful, delicious, and festive!

These brownies are also particularly easy to make - I actually had them in the oven in less than 10 minutes. And it's equally convenient because all of the ingredients are pantry staples. These brownies would be perfect for making in a pinch when your child volunteers you to bring snacks (and they can help!) or you have unexpected dinner guests.

Red Velvet Brownies

Ingredients:
1/2 c unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
1 large egg
1 c light brown sugar, packed
1 T vanilla extract
heaping 1/4 unsweetened cocoa powder
red food coloring (I used 3/4 of a vial of liquid dye)
3/4 c all purpose-flour
pinch of salt
1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted (if you'd like them to be sweeter and less rich, use milk chocolate)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8x8"  pan (see above about desired brownie thickness)with non-stick cooking spray.

In large microwave safe bowl, melt butter.

Slowly whisk in vanilla, sugar and egg until smooth. Let the butter cool slightly and temper the egg to prevent cooking. Note: this recipe does not require a mixer. I used my new KitchenAid on low because I'm still "getting to know it." The recipe is designed to be done by hand, if desired. 

Add the cocoa and whisk until smooth.

Add the food coloring - it takes a lot of dye to change the color of a chocolate batter. Be liberal with your dye. Stir until solid, desired color.

Gently stir in flour and salt, stirring only until combined. Do not overmix or you will have a chewy brownie.

Pour into prepared pan and smooth to be even.

In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips. Do 30 seconds at first, stir and continue in 10 second blitzes. Chocolate seizes up easily so watch carefully and stir thoroughly in between bursts of heating - the stirring will help spread out the heat.

Drizzle the chocolate over the red velvet batter. I did four long rows of chocolate and then when back horizontally (like a tic-tac-toe board). Then, drag a knife or toothpick through and swirl. Thinking of a tic-tac-toe board, I dragged/swirled where the corners did not meet; I dragged horizontally and then vertically.

Bake for 25-30 minutes for an 8x8" pan until a toothpick inserted in comes out clean. (For a larger pan - thinner brownie - bake for a shorter time; my 9x2x13 took around 15 minutes).

Allow to cool fully before slicing and serving. I sliced mine when cool, but chilled them  in the fridge overnight to allow the chocolate swirl to harden.

These are also freezer-friendly. You can store baked, sliced bars in the freezer for several months. I would put parchment paper between the bars so you can pull out a few at a time.

Super Bowl 48 Snack-o-rama

I can remember watching the Super Bowl with my parents - dad, mostly - and betting 25 cents since I was five years old. I was only be interested in my bet and the Oscar Meyer weinermobile commercials, but in addition to the commercials and coins, I now almost understand the game, can appreciate the adorableness of the Manning brothers and most importantly, enjoy and prepare delicious game day food with my family.

Tonight, we had a super flavorful spread with old favorites and new, luxurious recipes. As usual, our minds and eyes were bigger than our bellies and we didn't even bother to complete the full menu after the first quarter but it was all delicious.

Jordan and I each contributed a slider. Jordan made his Mamaw's meatballs and sandwiched them on garlic butter toasted sweet Kings Hawaiian rolls with colby cheese squares. These meatballs - which are made with a top-secret recipe that has not yet been declassified for the blog - are hearty but with a sweet, onion sauce.Unlike a traditional meatball sub made with marinara, these sliders are sweet and tender that just make you wanting more. He used to make these into giant, entree-sized meatballs that we'd eat with sides like mashed potatoes or carrots. But we've found they make the perfect sandwich and are incredibly freezer-friendly.

I love wings and in recent months have had an insatiable hunger for bleu cheese and my buffalo'd chicken panini was a great take on the bar classic of wings and dressing. This was a quick dish that would be great for any game day or weeknight dinner and could be made with leftover chicken (a single $5 rotisserie chicken can provide a number of meal options if you plan your week carefully). Also, you can take this dish to several levels of diy. Originally, I would buy a refrigerated bread dough (like Pillsbury's French crusty loaf), cut it into eight chunks and roll them into flat rectangles, I would then grill them on my Cuisinart grill/griddle which results in a great, crusty, crunchy panini. However, to save time and to tone down the spiciness of the buffalo sauce, I opted for Kings Hawaiian mini sub rolls. This sandwich brings the best flavors of buffalo wings but it a whole lot less messy - and you don't have to eat a dozen to be satisfied. Recipe below!

Dad made crowd pleasing mini pigs in a blanket - no Southern party is complete without lil' smokies or crescent dough - and improvised turkey and Italian cheese pinwheels (more crescent dough); a delicious layered salad - another timeless Southern potluck dish (recipe below)- and for a healthy respite, some crudite and a creamy riff on guacamole. 

He also surprised us with a decadent lobster mac 'n' cheese. We're all mac lovers and none of us frequently eats lobster (we are six to nine hours from an ocean) so this was a real treat. Dad said it best, by saying "it's no longer macaroni and cheese." It was undeniably delicious but didn't resemble the childhood favorite, but was do deeply infused with crustacean it had become a new dish entirely. We've enjoyed it and checked it off of our food bucket lists. 

Lobstah Mac in the small dish; Mom demanded her own crustacean-free dish, too

And Jordan finished off our smorgasbord with his super easy and even more delicious dessert that I simply call " Oreo fluff." Fluff is a layered whipped cream and chocolate wafer cookie dessert with only 3-4 ingredients but tastes as good as any homemade cake or pie. This is a great dish to have your kids help with, to make in bulk for potlucks or in ramekins for individual servings. Every time we take it to church, our fellow parishioners all but lick the bowl! Recipe below!

Maybe next year we'll try the Mario Batali strategy - making two themed dishes per team and alternating them during each quarter, then he serves a dessert he prepared based upon his guess of which team would win. This spaces out the snacks and adds a little more order to the food fest - but then again, it's not a Super Bowl party without copious quantities of classic "unaffiliated" tailgating food. Whatever the plan - we'll report to you here at Endlessly Delicious Life.

Preliminary conclusion (11:34 left in the 4th quarter): Check out the trio of recipes below - and I promise that they're more dynamic than tonight's game. Well, actually, they are runaway successes too. Obviously, I put my quarter on Seattle.

Buffalo'd Chicken Panini

Ingredients: 

2 c cooked shredded chicken (I boiled mine in salted water for 45 minutes)
1/2 c mild to medium buffalo sauce (add melted butter as needed to tone down, I added around 2 T)
4 buns or rolls (or grilled dough method from above)
1/4 small red onion, sliced
1/3 c bleu cheese crumbles

Method:

Heat buffalo sauce (and butter, if added) on low until hot. Stir in chicken, heat until hot.

Spoon chicken mixture onto buns, layer red onions and sprinkle with cheese.

Press on a hot grill until heated through and cheese is melted. Serve with extra ranch or bleu cheese dressing if desired.

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"Seven" Layer Salad - (technically, the toppings - cheeses/bacon - count as one item)

Ingredients*: *in "layer" quantities - they depend upon your bowl size

shredded iceberg lettuce
peeled, sliced cucumber
thinly sliced sweet onion (ex: Vidalia)
chopped boiled ham (or ham lunchmeat)
frozen baby peas
mayonnaise
grated Parmesan cheese
crumbled bacon
shredded cheddar cheese

Method:

Simple - layer the items (lettuce first) in your dish. Use a clear, deep bowl for a beautiful presentation.

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Oreo Fluff

Ingredients:

1 - 1 1/2 packs of chocolate wafer cookies (you can use double stuff, vanilla or chocolate cream), crumbled
32 oz. whipped cream, thawed
approx. 1/2 c milk
chocolate syrup (optional)

Method:

Cove the bottom of your dish with a layer of crumbled cookies - the thicker your cookie layer the more cake-like consistency you'll have. Carefully pour just enough milk on the cookies to dampen them slightly. For chocolate lovers - add a drizzle of chocolate syrup on top. Next, layer whipped cream. Repeat to finish with cookie crumbles on top. Chill at least a few hours. The longer you leave it in the fridge the softer it becomes - it just gets better!

Cookie Swap Part 2: Four-ingredient gluten-free peanut butter cookies

Getting ready for tomorrow's cookie swap at my Grandma's I've been making last week's linzer cookies and my mom's standby peanut butter cookies and fudge sandwiches.

If you're in a pinch for time and don't want to spend a lot of money on dried fruits, chips and oats try this four-ingredient recipe. It's quick, easy, and gluten-free. I have two family members with celiac disease (gluten intolerance) and this recipe is great for them without sacrificing any flavor.

Like most peanut butter cookies, these are dry not gooey and with the optional fudge filling make for a great sandwich. And of course, who doesn't love the classic combo of peanut butter and chocolate? From my unprofessional research into the vast universe of pre-made icings, most canned frostings are also gluten-free.

I hope you enjoy this recipe for your own cookie swaps or other special occasions - I actually made these in lieu of a cake for Jordan's birthday two years ago, and yes, I do think they played a special part in our love story. Take that, engagement chicken.

Peanut Butter (Fudge Sandwich) Cookies

Ingredients:

1 c peanut butter 

1 c granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 container chocolate icing of your choice (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix peanut butter, sugar, egg and vanilla with a hand mixer. Scoop dough into tiny balls and place on a cookie sheet. Use a fork dipped into sugar to press an x into each cookie. Bake for 8 minutes. The cookies will seem underdone, but as long as the edges are lightly golden brown, they're done. They'll seem very soft, but will cool to the perfect texture. 

After they've cooled spread approximately 1 T icing between two cookies. If you're really trying to impress - swap the icing for only the best spreadable condiment ever, Nutella!

Note: These are great served at room temperature, but even better eaten from the fridge or after a few hours in the freezer. 

Taste-Test Success: Magda's Cakes!

We are winding down to the last month of wedding planning for our upcoming nuptials on January 19th and today we took care of one of the most exciting parts - the cake, or cupcakes, rather!

Nothing can top my excitement over getting to marry my best friend, and I'll admit that picking out my wedding dress was one of those princess moments that girls look forward to, but making arrangements for our wedding cake was a close third.

We spent hours scouring the web for the perfect topper, which is so much harder than it looked thanks to gems like these all over Etsy. Thankfully, picking out our wedding cake and guests' cupcakes was so much easier - and delicious!

From the get-go we've wanted to do a locally-sourced wedding with catering from a wonderful restaurant in Bryson City, we've bought our table decorations from the Friends of the Library and hometown bookstore, City Lights and we've decided to order our sweets from Cherokee baker, Magda's Cakes.

Today we tried four varieties of cupcakes from Magda's and will be using three of them on our big day!

First, for my Reese's fiend - a chocolate cake with a peanut crunch topping. IWe'll be adding a ganache layer and using this for our personal wedding cake, in addition to cupcakes.

Next, we tried a Southern classic, hummingbird cake, with a hybrid cream cheese mascarpone icing. The mascarpone doubled the creaminess of the traditional cream cheese frosting and was perfectly decadent against the spice and sweetness of the cake. These beauties will be at our wedding.

Then a strawberry cake with another unique frosting that's a signature meringue/buttercream. This has a unique texture that's fluffy and subtly sweet and wonderfully creamy without the grit that can sometimes occur with powdered sugar. We love this cake and the freshness from the strawberry puree but are opting for a simple white/almond cake option for our "vanilla" guests.

And finally, what I think was the most surprisingly delicious cake with lemon curd, traditional buttercream and blueberries. The cake had the intense flavor of a lemon poppy seed muffin, without the fake, over-the-top taste (and aftertaste) that some lemon desserts can have. And the sweet, thick frosting countered the bitterness of the berries. I instantly loved this cake and was shocked I did - I hate those brash lemon sweets and conversely normally only like those blueberry lumps found in muffin mix. I think these will be a great choice for our more adventurous guests.

Having chosen this wonderful, scrumptious spread for our wedding I am feeling such a great sense of relief and a wonderful urge to eat our four remaining samples! 

"Family ate beans, I made Ramen" - My Cultural Connection to Cornbread

I read several blogs and visit online news sites regularly, but for my foodie fix I go to NPR's The Salt. This food portion of NPR's website collects all the food-related content from regular on-air shows like Morning Edition  and All Things Considered and also features like my favorite weekly post "Sandwich Monday."

Yesterday, at work, I made a Salt-heavy playlist including the "Found Recipes" series and random stories about the "dairy cliff," prohibition, high school lunches and this gem, which is a food-themed edition of The Race Card Project (listen here).

The Race Card Project asks participants to write six words that explain or are integral to their racial identity. They've showcased a variety of people whose experiences cover a vast spectrum of emotions and experiences. All of their short sentences are charged with emotion and give listeners (and readers) a visceral experience (such as "Black babies cost less to adopt." Whoa.)

This episode features a card by Melanie Vanderlipe Remil with the words "I ate pasta, family ate rice." Remil explained that as a child, she shunned her Filipino roots and refused to eat rice with every meal like her family. She recalled her mother rushing home from work to prepare dinner, but always making her a box of Pasta Roni. Her parents are immigrants and they wanted their children to fit in with American culture as much as the kids themselves did - so her mom went along with making multiple sides. But when she went to college, Remil took a Filipino American Contemporary Issues course and realized how valuable her culture was and how much she appreciated her family, it's traditions and food.

So, to preserve her history, she asked her grandmother to teach her how to cook traditional Filipino food. She's taking on the role of family food historian by teaching younger generations how to make traditional holiday dishes, and reminding them that our closest ties to our cultures are our foods (research shows that these are the cultural links that we are most likely to maintain).

My racial identity isn't tied to a menu, nor do I have any knowledge of what it's like to be a first generation American, but I certainly relate to Remil. My family has deep Southern roots and that food is a huge part of my identity.

Our area's regional cuisine consists of very simple and inexpensive food that will keep you full and can be made in such portions to feed a huge family or feed a few for several meals for next-to-nothing. The menu harkens back to when these mountains were much more impenetrable and you had to make do with that you had before traveling to town for only staples like flour, sugar and lard; the rest of your ingredients came from your own backyard.

As a child, I loathed many such foods. My parents loved to have soup beans (pinto beans cooked down with pork) and cornbread and a glass of milk with cornbread crumbled up inside. I had no desire to eat chicken livers or liver mush sandwiches (exactly what it sounds like) and wild game was out of the question. My mother has always been true to roots so, unlike Remil's mother, there were rarely alternatives made ahead - so this is how I learned to make Ramen.

But I too had an awakenening in college. I moved to the Triad area of NC where the barbeque was completely different, you're more likely to get corn pone than cakes of corn bread, and our college's cafeteria menu was designed by Sysco Foods - which has little to do with local ingredients or flavors. Although this wasn't a drastic change, I realized I missed home cooking and the food that only comes from my family.

I was going to school with hipsters and new-age hippies who thought pressure canning and gardening were new, trendy hobbies from the green movement. They'd never raised pigs and canned their own pork tenderloin, or grown their own green beans, or seen how molasses is made. But those are things I have done or know - they're part of my identity as a Southern woman. And so, like Remil, I'm trying to maintain my culture and my family's traditions to food. I've shared many of our family recipes and food traditions with Jordan already and they're dishes I know we'll continue to enjoy as a family.

There are traditional dishes I've always loved - like fried chicken, cube steak and gravy and biscuits - but have never made, and there are foods that I've come to appreciate and want to learn how to make "just like momma (and daddy and grandma and mamaw) used to make" - like cornbread. And learning these recipes is a major goal of mine.

Recently, I conquered my first cake of corn bread and from it made my very own cornbread salad (a staple of Southern potlucks). My grandma always says that cornbread sticking to the pan "is enough to make a preacher cuss"- and she'd know, she married one - and that alone made me fearful that this would not be easy. Furthermore, both of my parents make cornbread without a recipe and without actually measuring anything. They randomly pour unknown quantities of ingredients in a bowl, give it a quick stir and throw it in an ancient cast iron pan to bake for an indeterminate amount of time. My brain doesn't work like that and I actually called both of them and they "made up" a recipe for me to use to make my first cakes - and they turned out to be beautiful and delicious!

Here are a few quick cornbread tips I'd like to share with you:

• Traditional Southern cornbread is not sweet. This is a Northern invention (read: bastardization). Sweet cornbread (a la Jiffy mix or Boston Market) can be delicious, but I don't find it to be nearly as versatile as corn meal-, not sugar-flavored cornbread.
• Make sure you use a well-seasoned cast iron pan. These are like gold in the South and every girl has one in her hope chest. Also, do not scrub or use dish soap on cast iron - gently wipe it out with a wet cloth - they don't call it seasoning for nothing!
• My dad is of the school that you don't need to pre-heat your pan or melt lard into it. The cool pan with vegetable oil worked just fine.
• And when you flip it out and it doesn't stick, take a second to run your hand across that smooth underside - it's such a satisfying feeling of achievement!

Finally, here are the recipes for both the cornbread base and salad.

Traditional Cornbread

Ingredients:

2 c cornmeal (I used white)
3/4 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp (plus a smidge) white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 c milk (water will work in a pinch, too)


Method:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a bowl, mix together ingredients. Pour 2-3 Tbs. vegetable oil into cast iron skillet (this recipe will make one "standard" sized cake, I made one medium and one small); swirl to coat bottom. Pour mixture into pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool for a few minutes and run a knife around the edge before flipping out onto plate.



Cornbread Salad

Ingredients:

1 cake cornbread, cooled
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 tomato, de-seeded and diced
1 small bottle Italian salad dressing
1 can corn, drained
2 c. shredded cheddar (or any flavor) cheese

Method:

Crumble the cornbread into a large bowl. Crumble it as thoroughly as you'd like; I enjoy mine fairly finely crumbled with a few "chunks."  Pour 1/3 of the cornbread into another bowl. Drizzle 1/3 of the dressing over the cornbread (start out with less, to get desired texture - I like mine to just be damp throughout). Layer vegetables and cheese on top. Repeat.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least three hours. The longer you let it set, the deeper the flavors will become. This is a great make-ahead dish and can be served for days on end. Also, it is very customizable - you could use ranch dressing; add cucumbers, pimentos or black-eyed peas; or make it with Mexican cornbread etc.



                  

The Spread

Our Thanksgiving trifecta went off without a hitch yesterday - we were able to see our families and ate very well, two things which we are very grateful for every day.

I shared some of the Thanksgiving recipes we'd be preparing and I promised to include results! So here they are. All of our dishes turned out to be delicious and affordable. And we all know that even our most natural, signature dishes can be come nightmarish when paired with the stress of the holidays, but we had our schedule mapped out so well that prep was a breeze and we weren't frantic and aggravated - which is a blessing within itself. Take a look at our beautiful dishes and you can refer back to the recipes here.

My dad signed on to make the dressing, smoked turkey and desserts. He'd asked us what we wanted for dessert and we just let him choose. He made two delicious pies - one a total surprise for me!  One was a salted chocolate bourbon pecan pie. The filling was incredibly rich with sweetness and only the slightest hint of bourbon or saltiness. It was delicious but far too sweet for me and mom, dad and Jordan are going to "take care" of this pie; I'll just pick off the pecans. But then he surprised me by using the remainder of his pie crust recipe to make me an all-meringue pie! I love meringue, especially when it's "this high" on top of a good custard, but I usually peel the meringue off to eat the custard and save the fluffy goodness for last. This pie was heavenly! Sweet and airy with a very simple crust that highlighted the meringue's flavor that much more. I will not be sharing this pie. Try me.

Jordan's Mock Apple Pie - No one believed that it was made out of Ritz crackers!

 All of the veggies we made for dinner with my parents
- clockwise from left: roasted cauliflower, glazed carrots and twice-baked sweet potatoes

Smoky roasted cauliflower with paprika, garlic and parsley

Twice-baked red and white sweet potatoes stuffed with pecans and apples

Beautiful, rustic and insanely rich pie courtesy of my dad.

Mine!