Photo of a cake

Well I officially made fondant from scratch and made royal icing to decorate on it. I had this beautiful Eastery-Spring themed cake with tulips and easter eggs....Unfortunatley this is what it turned out like. You can officially stop following and looking at this pitiful food blog.

Pineapple Torte

Traditional French tortes are ridiculously involved and include entire poached pears or whole apricots in the middle with 3  or 4 different kinds of filling for each layer, and not a whole lot of actual cake. So I'm making this for my torte in class. I love pineapple!

INgredients.

3 eggs, separated

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 c. sugar, divided

1 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple

1 tsp. vanilla

2 1/2 c. cake flour (all purpose will work too)

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Fillling:

1 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

1/4 c. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. almond extract

2 TBS. slivered almonds (optional)

Cream butter and 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks. Drain the pineapple reserving 2/3 c. juice. In a bowl combine the the juice 3/4 c. pineapple and vanilla.( Set the remaining pineapple aside for filling. ) In bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with the pineapple mixture., beating well after each addition. In a small mixing bowl beat egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form, gradually add remaining sugar beating on high until stiff peaks form. Fold a fourth of whites into batter; fold in remaining whites. Spoon into two greased and floured 9" round pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 28-32 minutes or until cake springs back with lightly touched. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans. Let cool completely on wire racks. Once cakes are cooled down all the way make the filling. Beat the cream, sugar, and extract(I don't use the almond, I'm allergic, I will be using vanilla) Beat until stiff peaks form, fold in remaining pineapple. Split each cake into two horizontal layers. Spread about 3/4 cup of filling between each layer; spread remaining over the top and sprinkle with almonds.(again I don't use the almonds, I sucks being allergic to something so yummy) Keep refrigerated.

Blueberry Sour Cream Pound Cake

I love plain pound cake but this is fun.

Ingredients:

6 eggs, separated

1 c. butter, softened

3 c. sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

1 tsp. vanilla

3 c. flour

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 c. (8 ounces) sour cream

1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries(if using frozen keep in freezer do not let them thaw out)

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and almond extracts. Combine flour and baking soda; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beating well after each addition.  In a different mixing bowl with very clean beaters, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter with rubber spatula. Then fold in blueberries. Pour into greased tube pan and bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pan then remove and let cool on wire rack.

K-Rab Salad

This is so yummy, you can also use cooked shrimp too, but I just get the cheap imitation krab.

1 pkg. krab (or 1 lb. shrimp, fully cooked)

1/2 c. mayonnaise

1 green onion, sliced thin (optional)

1 celery rib, sliced

1/2 of lemon, juiced

1 Tablespoon milk

2 tsp. worcheshire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 head of chopped and washed lettuce

Mix the mayo, green onion, celery, milk, lemon juice, and worcheshire sauce together and then add a little salt and pepper. then chop up the krab and let sit a few hours or overnight. Then add the lettuce. Keep refrigerated.

Blackberry Apple Pie

I made this for my fruit pie, I love apple pie, but it can be a bit boring. Adding blackberries just adds a nice flavor to regular apple pie.

Ingredients:

5 sliced thin, and peeled tart apples

1 pint fresh blackberries

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

3/4 c. sugar

2 Tablespoons corn starch

2 Tablespoons butter, small cubes

1 egg

1 Tablespoon water

additional sugar

2 pie crusts, unbaked

While slicing and peeling apples, to prevent browning place in a bowl of water that has a little lemon juice in it(not the tablespoon that is needed for the recipe) Then line a pie tin with pie dough and prick bottom with fork all over, then drain your apples and make an even layer of sliced apples on bottom of pie. Then in large bowl add remaining apples, blackberries, and lemon juice and gently mix together. Combine sugar and cornstarch and gently toss with apples and blackberries. Spoon into unbaked pie shell. Dot with butter cubes all over. Then you can either make a lattice top with other pie dough or make entire crust over the top, just be sure to cut slits into top to let steam get out, and seal edges. LIne baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and place pie on it. Beat egg with water and brush over the top, you won't use it all.  Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes or until apples are tender and juice is bubbly. When you take it out sprinkle top with sugar. Let cool on wire rack at room temp.

Basic Pie Crust

This is just my basic pie crust. This makes a lot since when I usually make pies it's more than two at a time. You can cut this in half.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour(use this kind, any other kind will turn out different)

2 c. butter, cubed and cold

1/2 c. water, you may need more(I usually just get a large cup of ice water)

2 tsp. salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

Put flour, sugar, and salt in large bowl and mix together, then using a pastry cutter cut in the butter until it resembles coarse and mealy. Then start adding cold water and using your hands combine until it just holds together. Do not over mix or add too much water. Add the water slowly and little bits at a time. Then shape into ball or flattened disc wrap in plastic and put in fridge for at least 20 minutes. Then cut into fourths and roll out into your pie tins. If you are making a cream pie or a filling that doesn't go into the oven. Blind bake your crust. Poke the entire bottom of pie dough in the tin with a fork. Then using parchment paper or foil line the tin and then cover with dry beans until mostly full and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 to 20 mins. Then remove beans and paper the crust should almost be done, then put bake in the oven and bake until golden.

Buttermilk Banana Cake

This is a yummy way to get rid of old black bananas other than banana bread.

Ingredients:

3/4 c. butter, softened

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 c. mashed over ripe bananas (about 2)

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. cake flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. buttermilk

Filling:

1/2 c. sugar

2 Tblsp. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. half-and-half

2 Tblsp. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. chopped pecans

Frosting:

2 c. heavy chipping cream

1/4 c. powdered sugar

In large mixing bowl cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, beat for 2 minutes. Add bananas and vanilla, beat for another 2 minutes. Combine cake flour, baking powder, and soda, and salt. add to the creamed mixture alternately with the buttermilk. our into 2 greased and floured 9" round cake pans and bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. cool for ten minutes before removing from pan and letting cool completely on wire rack. 

For filling, combine the sugar, flour, and salt in a saucepan. Stir in half-and-half until smooth, and add butter. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 2 minutes. remove from heat stir in vanilla and pecans. Cool, and spread between cake layers.

For frosting, beat heaving whipping cream in a clean bowl until soft peaks form and gradually add powdered sugar beating until stiff peaks form. Spread over top and sides of the cake. Store in the refrigerator.