The Kitchen Is Closed for Awhile: We're Moving to Lake Arrowhead!

I just finished packing most of the kitchen, so the cupboards are bare and the mixer is out of commission...for awhile.

We move next week, after the Thanksgiving holiday.  I cannot wait to settle into our home and begin baking in my new kitchen. This one doesn't have granite countertops, but...

 it does have a breathtaking view of the lake!

It won't be long before our home will be filled with the delicious smells of fresh baked bread and homemade cookies. 

Then Baking Daze in LA will continue, although with a minor name change: Baking Daze in L(ake) A(rrowhead)!  Sweet!



Happy Brrrrthday Bruce: Getting Ready for Snow in Lake Arrowhead!

In just a few short weeks, we will be moving into our new home in Lake Arrowhead--just in time for snow.  I haven't lived through a real winter since moving from upstate New York to Southern California in 1976.  I am not exactly looking forward to it for I still remember well all the "delights" that come with the experience, and I am not talking about sleigh rides and snow angels.  My husband, however, who has not lived in snow as an adult, is thrilled beyond belief.  He just can't wait for the first snow storm.  In fact, he is worried  that all this talk of la nina--a cool and dry winter--will bring little snow this year.  I am hearing otherwise though from long time residents of the mountain town. Not to worry Bruce, you'll probably get more snow than you bargained for.

Though his birthday is Wednesday, November 10th, we celebrated with family this past weekend.  For his birthday cake, the theme was easy...sort of, for I also wanted to include fishing on the lake come warmer weather.  So I decided to divide his cake in half.  One side snow and one side fishing:

I used half of a cardboard cake board to divide the two and and created snow using confectioners sugar.  I found winter figurines and plastic trees for the snow side...

And a perfect cake decoration for the fishing side at Kake Kreations.  (Also added a cut out picture of a guitar to put beside him, for I'm sure his guitar will be as important as the fishing pole out on that boat!)

And thus the lake side...

Of course all of the birthday gifts matched the snow theme, getting Bruce ready for his winter wonderland... including an auto emergency snow shovel to keep in the car along with his chains. Let's hope Santa brings a snowblower this Christmas!      

Happy Birthday Bruce, I love you!

Happy 30th Birthday Dean: 10-10-10!

I can't believe that my son is now thirty years old.  How can that be? It seems like just yesterday I made him a Dodger cake for his first birthday.

Now twenty-nine years later, I'm at it again, making a sports-themed cake--only this time it's a sport and team of Dean's choosing.

He is a lover of ice hockey and a die-hard Mighty Ducks fan, which gave me my theme.  As for the type of cake, well, he's also a big fan of peanut butter and chocolate, so that took care of that.   My only problem was that the cake had to survive a drive down to San Diego where he lives, so buttercream was out of the question.  In the past, I've made chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes using chocolate ganache and a peanut butter confectioners sugar filling, and Dean loved them.  So I decided to use a variation on this recipe. 

First things first: the Ducks logo! I found it on-line and printed it out.  Next I traced the pieces on parchment paper and used them to cut out each on appropriate colored fondant.  Using black soft gel paste food color, I painted the details on the duck face mask.  Then I assembled the pieces using a touch of water so they would adhere and not slip.

                                  
I was so proud of my logo...until I found out at the "unveiling" that it was their old logo!  Hey, I knew that.  I just thought this one was more colorful?
                                    
Next I baked a basic chocolate cake in a 9x13 pan.  (All recipes to follow.)  After it cooled on the rack, I wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge over night.  Next day, I sliced it in half very carefully...

and placed a layer of chocolate ganache and then a layer of peanut butter filling in the middle of the two layers

                                     

 I iced the entire cake in chocolate ganache and decorated with the peanut butter filling using a piping bag.

 Last I placed my Ducks logo in the center

and set up the hockey decorator set (purchased at Kake Creations in Canoga Park).

The cake was very rich and sweet--almost like eating a slice of cheesecake. The smoothness of the chocolate ganache compensated for the peanut butter's thick texture.  But oh my, it was delicious.  This was so much fun to make--and Dean was most appreciative.

Happy Birthday Dean!  I love you!

Chocolate cake.  (Allrecipes.com)

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups AP flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 t baking soda

1 1/2 t baking powder

1 t salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 t vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

1.  Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour pan. (2 9 inch round or 1 9x13)

2.  In a stand mixer, mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, and salt. 

3.  Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla--mix for 3 minutes.  Boil water.

4.  Stir in boiling water to mixture by hand until well-combined.

5.  Pour into pan(s) and bake for 30-35 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

6.  Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to cool completely.

Chocolate ganache:

3 cups of Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips

2 cups heavy cream

1.  Place the choc. chips in a medium bowl

2.  In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer.

3.  Pour cream over the choc. chips and let sit 30 seconds.  Then whisk gently until all chocolate has melted.  The color will deepen into a nice, dark, creamy chocolate brown.

4.  Let it cool at room temperature for 15-20 minutes, then stir.

Peanut Butter filling:

2 cups creamy peanut butter

6 T butter

1 1/3 cups confectioners sugar

1.  In mixer, cream the peanut butter and butter until smooth.

2.  Slowly add the confectioners sugar; beat until light and fluffy.

If It's Raining, I'm Baking!

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain and immediately thought of blueberry streusel muffins and a hot cup of coffee and fresh baked bread with tomato basil soup.  But not just any bread.  I was craving some type of pretzel bread, braided, with lots of salt.  So I flipped through baking books and searched the internet until I found a recipe on allrecipes.com.  I tweaked it a bit to fit my plan. Then I got to work--or in my case to play!  Pretzel Bread and Blueberry Streusel Muffins coming up.

I began with the bread dough--mixed and kneaded--and then set it aside to rise. Both of these recipes are fairly easy to make.  In the hour it took for the dough to rise, I was able to make the muffin  mixture and streusel topping, bake them, and clean up my mess.  While they cooled, I formed and braided the dough and baked the bread.  Both were done during a rainy morning and were ready to enjoy that afternoon.  And the house smelled great!

Pretzel Bread
1.  Dissolve and let stand for 10 minutes:
               1 1/2 t active dry yeast
               3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
2.  In large bowl combine and mix well:
                yeast mixture
                1/2 t sugar
                1/4 t salt
                1 cup bread flour 
2.  Add 1 more cup of bread flour gradually.  Work the dough until a stiff dough is formed.
3.  Form a smooth ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled in size--about 1 hour.                                           

4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Lightly grease baking sheet or use parchment paper.

5.  Turn dough onto lightly floured surface.  Press and smooth dough into rectangle and divide into 4 pieces.
6.  Divide each of the four pieces into thirds.  Roll each of these into even lengths to braid.  This will make four loaves of braided pretzel bread.

(I pinch one end and braid; then pinch the other end and fold under.)

7. Place on baking sheet.  Brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle thoroughly with kosher salt.

8.  Bake 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

I've already posted this recipe.  Here's the link to my previous blog and the recipe:

http://bakingdazeinla.blogspot.com/2010/04/blueberry-streusel-muffins.html

It's one of my most requested items to bake!

Helpful hint.  If you don't have buttermilk, it's easy to make your own, which is what I did this morning.  Simply add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to 1 cup of milk.  Let it sit for 5- 10 minutes and you have "buttermilk."

I love these muffin parchment papers.  I got them at Surfas Restaurant Supply in Culver City.  Kake Kreations on Sherman Way in Canoga Park also has a great selection of similar items.

Muffins before the topping is sprinkled on.

Ready to eat!

Okay, so now that the baking is done, who feels like cooking? Certainly not me.  Thank God for Wolfgang Puck!  I particularly like his organic Classic Tomato Basil soup.

                                       

And it was delicious with my pretzel bread.  Just like I imagined this morning.

Dee-lightful Lunch and Dee-licious Dessert with my sister Dee!

Every year, my sister Dee and I take a short drive out to the quaint old town of Owego where we browse in the shops along Front Street and have lunch at the River Rose Cafe.  I love sitting on the patio beside the Susquehanna River.  Seems like every year the weather is perfect and this September day was no different. 

The food is wonderful, of course: soups, salads, a selection of panini sandwiches, as well as specialty sandwiches and wraps.  I got the Ferry Boat Veggie Wrap which was made with their homemade sun-dried tomato hummus and dill dressing.  I ate the whole thing.  Dee loved her Oakley Corners turkey panini that included a surprisingly delicious combination of fresh strawberries and jam, spinach, red onions and swiss cheese on ciabatta bread.

                                  

Fortunately, it was on our way out that we noticed the pumpkin cookies with cream cheese icing!  Dangerously yummy-looking, but we just walked on by because waiting for us at home was a fabulous Peanut Butter Pie that Dee made for me.  (I'll definitely try making the cookies myself once I get home in a few days--that and the pie too!)

Later that afternoon settled in at Dee's, we made coffee and finally cut into her pie. It was even better than I expected.  Dee-licious and easy to make.

It didn't take long for it to disappear!

Dee's Peanut Butter Pie

Courtesy of Food  Network:

Sandra Lee/ Kim Howard recipe

with Dee's special Heath Toffee Bits touch

Ingredients

Filling:

1.  1/2 cup peanut butter

2.  1 cup powdered sugar

3.  1/4 cup milk (low fat okay)

4.  1 tsp vanilla

5.  1 (8 ounce)  cream cheese (low fat okay)

---1 (8 ounce) tub whipped topping (lite)

---1 cookie pie crust (ie. Oreo)

---Chocolate ice cream topping (ie. Magic Shell)

---Heath English Toffee Bits

Directions

In large bowl, combine all filling ingredients. Blend with stand or hand mixer.  Gently fold in whipped topping.  Pour into prepared crust and freeze for 2 hours.  Once frozen, drizzle with chocolate ice cream topping and sprinkle Heath bits; then refreeze for 20 minutes.

Thaw slightly (10 minutes) before serving and cut into thin slices because this is a rich pie.

Apple Pie, Cider and Doughnuts: It Must Be Fall!

What better way to welcome in Fall than a trip to the Cider Mill in Endicott, New York.

While visiting my dad and sister in my hometown of  Binghamton, New York, I took a trip to the Cider Mill.  It certainly must be that time of year because there were two parking attendants guiding cars in and out of their busy lot. Outside were bins of several varieties of apples plus other seasonal fruits and vegetables, including a selection of pumpkins for Halloween--already! 

Inside was an educational experience on the process of making cider, doughnuts, and apple pie. While sampling freshly made cider, we watched as the apples were pressed, filtered, and bottled.  The cider was surprisingly light and subtly sweet--delicious.

Depending on the time of day, you can also watch them make candied apples, pies and doughnuts. We missed this part but made up for it by purchasing as many of the products as we could afford.

We bought apple jelly and raspberry preserves, a couple of gallons of cider, an apple pie and a dozen doughnuts. 

                              

We had considered going apple picking and then making an apple pie, but hey, I'm on vacation!

Check it out:   http://www.cidermillendicott.com/     

Happy Birthday Chuck: This One was Fun!

Another family birthday!  This one was for my brother-in-law Chuck Tade and  I knew immediately how I wanted to decorate his cake.  So I flipped through my Country Kitchen SweetArt catalog and found the perfect little themed-set.

Yep, Chuck is a hunter...and I'm a vegetarian!  So this time I made sure that the deer would outsmart the  hunter and get away.  All in good fun, and Chuck was a good sport about it, as I knew he would be. 

Again no fondant lovers at this party, so another white cake with Italian Meringue Buttercream icing.  No fancy decorating techniques either, just mail order decorations and cute candles.  But the cake was good as Cake Crumbs recipe cakes always are--moist and light.  I am and always will be indebted to John amd Susan Rota for all they taught me about baking and cake decorating.  I hope one day to continue on to more advanced-level classes. 

For now I'm having fun baking for family and friends and they seem to be enjoying it as well:

Chuck enjoyed his and Jessica (his daughter) had a second piece and took some home as well! 

Let's see...who's next?  Oh my, can it be true? My son Dean is going to be 30 in October!!!!!  Hmmm, if not another Dodger cake, then what should be the theme?  Hockey...the Ducks?  Stay tuned....