Tea Time ~ Strawberry ~ Ginger Roulade

This is the recipe from Tea Time Magazine Vol.9 - Issue 2
March/April 2012      p.34
Strawberry ~ Candied Ginger  Roulade

My first attempt at a roulade and it was fun. I highly recommend this recipe, however,
I did add more candied ginger by 2 teaspoonfuls and instead of mixing the candied ginger into the batter, (almost forgot to add them).
I sprinkled them over the batter in the pans before baking.
It makes two roulades so I sent one next door. Yummy!
Ours is almost gone.  I'll wager that theirs is too.
Darlene

2012 ~ Kentucky Derby ~ Party

                                                      Sugar Cookies with Fondant Silks

                                               Rose's Whipped Cream Cake with Fresh Strawberries

                                                         Brownies with Nuts and Espresso

Run for the Roses ~ Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake made in Nordic Ware's Sweet Heart Cake Pans

         Race Horse Sugar Cookies in Rolled Fondant ~ Rose's Whipped Cream Cake with Strawberries ~
         Brownies ~ Red Velvet Rose Sweet Heart cakes. Find this recipe in my last blog. 
         This years party goodies for the Neighbor's Kentucky Derby Party.

Kentucky Derby ~ Duncan Hines Red Velvet ~ Nordic Ware Sweet Heart Roses

Kentucky Derby Run for the Roses ~
Preheat Oven to 325 and spray the cake pans heavily with non stick spray.

In a mixing bowl add the red velvet cake mix and the instant chocolate pudding mix, stir together.
Add  3 extra large eggs, 1/4 cup of Hershey's syrup, 1 cup of water, 1/3 cup of corn oil.
Mix slowly to incorporate, then stir on medium for 2 minutes.
Take a two inch ice cream scoop, fill to level, release into one rose cavity, repeat. This batter will make up two Nordic Ware Sweet Heart Cake pans.
Place one pan on the middle rack and the other pan on the rack above, until a tooth pick comes out cleanly. Bake for 19-20 minutes. Do Not over bake.
Let sit for 5 minutes and invert onto cooling racks until cooled.
Any question?
Try these, they are easy and delicious. Great for the Kentucky Derby!
Darlene

Sugar Cookies and Mother's Day Tea Party

SUGAR COOKIE RECIPE ~  No spread

Items that you will need for a fun Mother's Day Tea Party
Sugar Cookie Recipe:
Preheat Oven to 350
Cream 1/3 Cup of soft unsalted butter with 1/2 Cup of Sugar until light and fluffy.
Add 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste and mix.
Add 1 room temperature extra large egg, mix well.
Add to mixture in thirds, 1 and 1/2 Cups sifted all purpose flour with 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder with a pinch of salt.
Mix gently ~ dough will be sticky, not firm.
Wrap the dough ball into cling and refrigerate for 1/2 hour.
You can use either flour or powdered sugar to flour your board. Don't be stingy, it takes a lot.
 I tried both and I much preferred the powdered sugar because the dough itself is not very sweet. Roll dough out to 1/4 of an inch.
Cut out your cookies and place on a parchment papered cookie sheet.
Bake 10 to 11 minutes depending on the size of the cookie cutter. Do not over bake ~ as the cookie should not have any brown edges. Let cool on parchment paper.
Icing:
If you choose to ice the cookies use 2 and 1/4 Cups of Powdered Sugar and 2 T. of Hot Water. Mix more or less powdered sugar until you get desired consistency.
The flower cookie cutter that we used had an opening so that the cookie sat inside of the tea cups.
Tips:
Use your best tablecloth and napkins.
That goes for the silverware and crystal glassware.
Have Fun!

Apricot Scones using Dassant Vanilla Scone Mix

I used dried apricots and chopped them into diced pieces, about 1 cup,  use more or less to your taste. Follow the scone mix instructions on the package. 

Please use top ingredients like the Horizon Heavy Whipping Cream and Land of Lakes unsalted butter.

 Place some extra sugar on the counter then flatting the scone mix to about 3/4 inch height.

Cut out your scones and place on a cookie sheet, lightly sprinkle left over sugar over the tops, then bake.

You can use all kinds of  dried fruits and cherries are one of my favorites.

These are terrific scones. I serve them at all of my teas. Enjoy!

Chocolate Valentine's Day Heart ~ Redux 2012

Nordic Ware Decorative Heart Cake ~

I used the recipe from the label. The picture has been lightened so that you can see the design on the cake.  It was soaked with a warm Coffee Liqueur Syrup after removing from the pan to cool. This cake tastes like a Chocolate Valentine's Cake should taste, heavenly! This tall, one layer, 10 inch cake feeds 10 to 12 people.
Happy Valentine's Day!

Tea with Bea

Vanilla Italian Butter Cream  ~  Tea with Bea
My Niece sent me the book ~ Tea with Bea ~ for Christmas.
I finally got around to trying the Italian Butter Cream. Which was so airy everyone said that it was the best vanilla butter cream that they ever had eaten. The cupcakes were vanilla flavored too, a double hit of vanilla bean paste.
I can't wait to try more of these fine recipes.
You will need a scale for weighing grams, new baking cookbooks are using grams or ounces to weigh the ingredients. A more accurate way to bake.
Thanks for reading

Gingerbread Cookies with Chopped Candied Ginger

Gingerbread Cookies with Chopped Candied Ginger ~ Betty Crocker Gingerbread Mix
These cookies are so easy to make. Make the Betty Crocker Gingerbread Mix according to the cookie directions. Roll round balls of dough in turbinado sugar and place on a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Flatten the dough and add small diced pieces of Candied Ginger to the tops of the cookies and press lightly to adhere to the cookie. Bake as recommended.  I have added candied ginger to the dough but the flavor gets lost.  Hope that you will give these a try.

Hershey's Chocolate Cherry Kisses with Chocolate Dipped Cherries ~ The Christmas Mice ~ 2011

The Christmas Hershey's Chocolate Cherry Mice  ~  2011
Tradition dictates that the Christmas Mice are done early in December. These photos show the steps to  making the mice. This year the eyes were done with white frosting and black gel, along with black gel on the nose.  They always evoke delight from the recipients.  Thanks for looking and Happy Holidays!

Rose's Heavenly Cakes ~ The Fruit Cake Wreath ~ 2011

Rose's Heavenly Cakes ~ Fruit Cake Wreath Holidays 2011
Well, it is that time again to bake your Fruit Cake in anticipation of the Holidays.
I made this today and will wrap it in rum drenched cheese cloth, plastic wrap and then foil, to bring out when the Fruit Cake mood strikes. Truly one of the best ones that I have eaten. I did make the ribbon with the candied pineapple again this year, my signature look for the Wreath Fruit Cake.
 Happy Holidays to all,
 Darlene

Libby Pumpkin Cake Mix ~ Pumpkin Patch for Thanksgiving

Make your own pumpkin patch with pumpkin molds and Libby Pumpkin cake mix. Or follow the recipe on the pumpkin cake molds. Decorate with colored buttercream to make up your tray of edible pumpkins.

Rose's Heavenly Cakes ~ Sicilian Pistachio Cake with Golden Neoclassic Buttercream

Rose's Heavenly Cakes ~ Sicilian Pistachio Cake ~ Ann's Birthday Cake ~ 11/11/11
My friend Ann celebrated her Birthday yesterday. This was the cake that I made for her. I doubled the recipe and used four seven inch cake pans, for the batter. Then I tripled the Golden Neoclassic Buttercream and had very little left after filling and decorating. The topping was made from cake crumbs, chopped pistachio nuts, and superfine sugar in the food processor.  This cake was dense from the amount of pistachio nuts used and weighed in at six pounds.  She was delighted.

RUM RAISIN TRUFFLES ~ REDUX~ RECIPE OF BRIGITTE BROWNEY ~ 2010

Brigitte Browney's Rum Raisin Truffles

These are the coated Rum Raisin Truffles done in milk chocolate and are the recipe of Brigitte Browney. (Google Barefoot Contessa Recipes Rum Raisin Truffles.)
Everyone loves these decadent truffles and they are the easiest recipe that I have found to make. You can coat them or not, up to you.  Give them a try, double the recipe and give as gifts.
Adults only, real rum addition. Enjoy!

Nordic Ware Acorn Cakelet Pan ~ Acorn Cakelets, Bourbon Glaze, and Turbinado Sugar

Acorn Cakelets with a Bourbon Glaze and topped with Turbinado Sugar.
The recipe is on the Nordic Ware Cover to the Acorn Cakelet Pan.  The glaze is Bourbon and Maple Syrup warmed together then applied over the baked cakelet. The Turbinado Sugar is applied while the glaze is still warm so that it will adhere to the tops. These are delicious and fun to make. They can be made as singles or doubled to look like a real acorn.  Enjoy!

Pignoli Cookies ~ Italian Almond Paste Cookies

Wonderful Italian Almond Paste Cookies. This recipe is from the December 2002 Gourmet Magazine.
You can Google the information under Pignoli Cookies. Easy to make, most of it is done in the food processor. Don't forget to use  parchment paper or your cookies will stick to the cookie sheet. I used a small ice cream scoop, not a pastry bag to form the cookies onto the baking sheet.
They are pricey to make but, so worth buying the 2 cans of almond paste for such a special cookie.

Cannele de Bordeaux ~ French Pastry with a crusty exterior and creme brulee like interior

A Speciality de Bordeaux, France ~ Cannele
Recipe courtesy Pascal Rigo, The American Boulangerie: French Pastries and Breads for the Home Kitchen , Bay/SOMA Publishing, 2003   ~   Food Network Recipe

Copper molds covered with a mixture of melted beeswax and butter give the Cannele their distintive crunchy crusts.  I didn't have enough copper molds so I buttered a Nordic Ware Fleur de Lis pan and poured in the remaining batter and baked that at 375 for 1 hour. The copper molds baked at 425 for 1 hour. Crunchy crusts and custard like interiors are magnificent. The batter did sit for 24 hours in the refrigerator instead of 12, my option, without any problems. I also added an additional 2 oz. of rum for taste. These are lovely rum flavored bites.
A very special French dessert indeed,  I can't wait to make them again.

BIRTHDAY ~ RED VELVET CAKE ~ BOBBY FLAY'S RECIPE

The Birthday Boy requested Red Cake. This is Bobby Flay's Red Velvet  Cake Recipe with Butter Cream Icing and it is delicious!

Very much like the original recipe that calls for buttermilk, I also used the buttermilk in the butter cream icing.  This cake is so tall you might want to make 1 and 1/2 times the icing recipe, especially if using the buttermilk. You can download this recipe from the Food Network Channel.    Enjoy!

Nordic Ware Cathedral Cake

Duncan Hines Spice Cake











I added an eight ounce can of crushed pineapple with a quarter cup of water instead of 1 and 1/4 cups of water. Walnuts were the only other addition not called for in the instructions. It baked up like a breeze and the crumb is delightful. Such a pretty cake pan.
No sticking and has sharp details, a great pan. This cake tastes better on the second day, so bake a day ahead. So Yummy!

Kentucky Derby Run for the Roses ~ Red Cake with Fondant Roses

Kentucky Derby Red Cake was made for the Neighbor's Kentucky Derby Party. Fondant red Roses were made by hand and the white fondant basket make with a mold. A fun project to make.