Isn't She Lovely?

Ah, isn't this a beauty? Every year for my sisters' birthday I make her a special strawberry cake. I usually make her a strawberry layer cake topped off with a strawberry flower using this recipe. But this year I wanted to make something a little different, just as pretty and much simpler.

To hull the strawberries, I used a new gadget from Chef'n called the Stem Gem. You push in the green stem, which pushes the prongs out. Then you insert it into the stem of the strawberry and let go of the button. The gadget holds the stem tight, then you twist it and pull it out. It was pretty effective at removing the hull and nothing more.

You see, in a matter of 10 days there are 3 birthdays in my family and I usually make all the cakes. I'm happy to do it, but I get tired of making batches of frosting. So this year, my father in law got a banana pudding cake, my sister received this strawberry shortcake and my mother in law got a pretty glazed Bundt. That recipe will come a little later, but for now here's a little strawberry goodness.

This recipe comes from Sky High: Irresistable Triple Layer Cakes from Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne. I've many many cakes from this book and they've all been delicious. I remembered The Food Librarian made this cake so I visited her blog to read her notes on it. The original recipe called for Rose Water and vanilla to macerate the berries in. I just wanted to use sugar and Mary agreed that was a good idea. I also wanted to bake the cake in 2 larger pans rather than 3 6-inch pans and it just so happens that Mary made it again and did the same thing recently. Good minds think alike, I guess :-)

This cake was light and fresh. It was creamy and dreamy. The berries were bursting with sweetness and as Mary says, "it's like eating a cloud of summer". My sister and the rest of my family really liked this cake. My mom liked it so much she had 2 big honkin' pieces. (Sorry mom, I ratted you out!) Mr. H was hesitant because it didn't have chocolate, but later that night he said he thought it was good. The only thing that would make it better was if it were chocolate cake instead of vanilla and chocolate mousse instead of whipped cream! Guess you can't please them all.

Strawberry Shortcake adapted from Sky High Cakes

Cake:

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• ¾ cup vanilla sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ cups cake flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup (160ml) buttermilk

Fresh strawberry filling:

• 2 pints strawberries, small if possible
• ½ cup vanilla sugar

Whipped cream:

• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Garnish:

• a few whole strawberries, sliced in half if desired

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease the bottoms and sides of 2 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each with a round of parchment or baking paper and grease the paper.

For the cake:

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well after each addition. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the batter, alternating with the buttermilk, in 2 or 3 additions. Beat well. Divide the batter among the prepared pans.

Bake the cake layers for 18-23 minutes or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans for 10 minutes then invert onto wire racks, carefully peel off the paper and allow to cool completely.

For the filling:

Wash and hull the berries and cut them into thin slices. Place in a bowl and add the sugar. Stir to coat them well, cover the bowl, and let the berries macerate at room temperature until they exude their juices, about 1 hour.

For the cream:

In a large chilled bowl, with chilled beaters, whip the cream with the sugar until stiff – there will be about 3 cups.

Assembling the cake:

Place one cake layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or serving plate. Top with half of the fresh strawberry filling, spooning it over the entire layer and making sure any juices go onto the cake layer and not the plate, if possible. Top this layer with half of the whipped cream, spreading it evenly over the berries. Repeat with the second cake layer, using up the remaining berries and whipped cream. Garnish with whole berries if desired.

For best flavor, cover the dessert with a cake dome or loose plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2 hours before slicing. Serve with the remaining strawberry filling on the side.

Serves 8-10

Who knew donkeys liked strawberries?

New Stuff And A Sale!

Just wanted you to know about a few kitchen gadgets out in the market right now.

First up is the new Self Scraping BeaterBlade Attachment for your stand mixer. How cool is that? It has flexible silicone scrapers on the beater so you don't have to stop midway between mixing up a batch of gooey batter and scrape down the sides. Genius!

According to the Sur La Table website the BeaterBlade fits a KitchenAid, Cuisinart or a Viking stand mixer in 5, 6 and 7 quart sizes. Again, genius!

Prices start at $24.95 and they can also be found on Amazon.com

Also this weekend when I was at Barnes and Noble with a friend having coffee, I saw that they had Mario Batali kitchen stuff at 50% off!!! They had wooden spoons, silicone basting brushes, a salt cellar, kitchen towels, stove top espresso makers, sets of espresso cups, insulated lunch bags and a few other things at half off the original price. I got a nice wooden spoon for only $3.56 including tax when it was originally $7.

If you have a B&N near you with a cafe it's worth checking out even if all you get is a latte! Here's is a printable coupon for an extra 10% off :-) And, yes they work. I use them all the time.

Spice Girl

Several months ago I came across a spice storage set. Most of them are designed to sit on the counter and look pretty. But I keep my spices in a cupboard to the left of the stove. I want them organized and within reach. I want them all to be accessible.

When we first moved into our house and I was organizing our kitchen, I went to the garage and grabbed a couple bricks. I washed them then covered them in foil. I then placed them in the back of the cabinet and placed my spices on them. It worked fairly well, but it only elevated one row of spices, as if they were on a stage. The rest of them were mingling in a crowd and every time I wanted oregano, I had to pick up about half a dozen red capped bottles til I found the one I was looking for.

I finally convinced myself that I could have a spice rack. You see, I have a hard time spending money on myself. I may want many things but I feel selfish when I buy stuff for myself. I'll have to work on that :-) Anyway, after a long day and a few curse words at my spice cabinet, I went to the computer logged on to Walmart.com and ordered the spice rack of my dreams.

I originally found the Spice Stack on Target's website then again on Amazon.com. But, I'm a bargain shopper and I have to find the best deal. I think Amazon had a lower price, but then you add in shipping costs and it's no longer a good deal. Then I found it at Walmart for a dollar more, but you can do the "Site to Store" purchasing and pay tax, but no shipping charges. So that's what I did. And I love it!

Tagco Spice Stack Before:

See my foil covered bricks?

After:

It takes up just as much room as my spices did before, so it's not space saving, but it's spice organizing. I have sweet spices, sprinkles and sparkly sugar on the top rack, herbs on the second rack and salts and and spices on the bottom rack.

See this and more on my Favorite Things list.

In My Stocking

For Christmas, I got a few kitchen goodies in my stocking and I thought I'd share.

I got a funnel set from OXO that has a strainer in it. You see, I have always convinced myself that I don't need a funnel that they're a waste of money. Then when I need one I have to go out to the garage and steal one of my husband's paper funnels. Then I tell myself that I am going to get one. I go to the store, I put it in the basket, then before checkout, I take the funnel out of my basket once again convincing myself I don't need one and they're a waste of money. It's a vicious cycle. So my honey got me some.

I also got an OXO Y-shaped peeler. I have a regular vegetable peeler, but I've read that the Y-shaped ones are easier to use for peeling things such as squash and thin skinned fruits. I haven't used it yet, but I'm sure I'll like it. I have a regular OXO peeler and it works really well.

I got 2 packages of Crate & Barrel holiday cupcake liners. They're so cute. They're red and green polka dots and stripes. I can use them for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Cinco de Mayo and Christmas! I'm so excited to start making cupcakes.

Well this wasn't in my stocking...I got a beautiful footed cake dome from Crate & Barrel. I don't have anywhere to store it, but it is so pretty. My husband's birthday is next month, so his cake will probably be the first one in it. I'm sure he planned that. I just love it!

What fun stuff did you get in your stocking, or under the tree?

Loaded

Here's my happy little corn zipper hanging out in the corn!

I love making cornbread and chili during the cooler months. The problem is, it doesn't get very cold here until late November. I still make this even when it's warm outside, but it's so much nicer to curl up on the couch with a mug of chili than it is to be sweating and eating chili. Don't you think?

I was surfing the web a few months ago and spotted this recipe. It looked really hearty and filling. And I thought it would be a nice accompaniment to my chili. I generally prefer to bake Jiffy cornbread muffins with a little added sugar for sweetness. I LOVE sweet cornbread and this brand is consistently good and it is so inexpensive (like 40 cents). I've tried different mixes and they don't usually compare to Jiffy. I have also made homemade cornbread and it's not as good either.

This cornbread had a nice texture to it. It was very similar to my favorite brand, but with all the added goodness of cheese, fresh sweet corn, bacon, and green chiles. These were not as spicy as I anticipated though. And I think they needed a little something extra- maybe more salt, more pepper, more garlic, a sharper cheese??? They were very good and did not over shadow the main course. I may make these again and tweak the ingredients. Ooh, sausage crumbles would be good in these!

Spicy Cornbread Muffins adapted from What We're Eating

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups corn meal
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Add-ins:

• kernels from 2 ears of fresh corn
• 1 small can chopped green chiles, drained
• 4 thick slices of bacon, cooked crispy then chopped
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 oz sharp cheddar, shredded

Wet Ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter or spray 2 12-cup muffin tins or line with muffin liners and set aside.

Add all of the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.

In a separate bowl, add the milk, buttermilk oil and eggs. Whisk ingredients together, making sure the egg yolks are broken up and well combined. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir til just combined. Place all of the add-ins into the batter. Stir batter until just combined. Do not overmix or you'll end up with tough muffins.

Pour the cornbread batter into the prepared muffin tins. Fill each muffin tin nearly to the top with batter. The muffins won’t rise too much while baking. Bake on the top rack in the oven for about 20 minutes or until just baked through. Insert a toothpick into the center of one of the muffins, if it comes out clean (without crumbs), they're done.

Allow muffins to cool in pan for at least 10 minutes before removing. Serve warm with butter or at room temp.

NOTE: This cornbread can also be baked in a cast-iron skillet or glass baking dish. Make sure to adjust the cooking time to about 30-35 minutes and test with a toothpick if using one of these alternate baking methods. I made 12 muffins and one pan of cornbread. The muffins baked for 20 minutes and the glass dish of cornbread for 30 minutes.

These weren't as spicy as I expected, perhaps it's because I didn't use the Serrano chiles the recipe suggested. They were still good, but mild. For a spicier version, follow the original recipe. The only things I changed were: I didn't add cilantro (because I don't like it- ick!) and I added a small can of green chopped chiles instead of roasted Serrano chiles.

Use any leftovers in my favorite Cornbread Stuffing.