Solar baked blackberry cobbler

After being disappointed with my previous solar cooker, which didn't get hot enough for baking, I pounced when I found a good deal on a Sun Oven.  The Sun Oven is capable of temperatures up to 400F, allowing my baking addiction to live on through the summer months.  In theory, at least.

I did a few practice runs with meals with good results, so yesterday was going to be the big test for baking: a blackberry cobbler for the hubby.  I set the oven out to heat up, prepared my cobbler, placed it in the oven and... clouds.  It had been a bright, sunny day up until that point, so I was just sure it would be a good day for baking.  Alas, the clouds were here to stay, so the cobbler steamed along at about 250F. 

Pale and un-puffed shortcake crust

Since we're in drought conditions right now, I guess I should have tried to make those clouds rain by washing my car or hanging out some clothes. I did water the garden thoroughly beginning at 6:00 AM.  That really should have done it!

Ah well, the steamed blackberry cobbler wasn't exactly what I was trying to create, but it wasn't too bad.  I mean really, how bad could blackberry cobbler really be?

Revenge against August (aka, solar cooking)

I've been interested in solar cooking for a couple of years now. Originally I had planned to make a solar cooker - or rather, I had intended for Farm Boy to make me a solar cooker! - but since that never made it to the top of the project list, I broke down and bought one this summer.

The one I purchased is the SOS Sport, which essentially functions as a slow cooker, except no electricity is required and it doesn't heat up the kitchen. When reading about the various models, I had assumed that this one could reach the higher baking temperatures that the Global Sun Oven achieves if the reflectors were used. But the instructions recommended that you don't use the reflectors during the summer because the higher temperatures could melt the lexan lid. Because I am a baking addict, baking bread without suffering heat exhaustion indoors was one of my goals with the solar cooker. Unfortunately, my attempts at bread so far in the Sport have yielded nicely risen, tender bread with a soft, pasty crust. Seriously pasty, like my legs in January (okay fine, they are the same shade in August!). I prefer dense, crusty, artisan breads, so I will primarily use the Sport for what it excels at, slow cooking. I am saving my pennies to buy a Sun Oven, though, to fulfill my baking desires during the heat of the Texas summers. Plus, it feels a little like I'm sticking it to the electric company when I use the sun to cook my meals.

To date I have made two loaves of bread, two batches of purple hull peas, green chile stew, a whole chicken (lemon scented) over rice, chicken legs over rice, a crustless quiche, creamed corn, eggplant dip, roasted eggplant and roasted spaghetti squash. Everything has turned out very well, except for the less-than-stellar bread, which required a few minutes in the toaster oven to improve the crust. I might try the bread again, but put it in the oven earlier in the day to see if that will let it brown.


The quiche, cooking in the sun, at 250F. The clamps are my own special addition. The clips that come with the Sport are really tight and hard to use.

Fig and Cornmeal Cake with Buttermilk Glaze

My sister gave me a sack of fresh figs the other day and after eating some of them, I started wondering if they would be good in cake form. I imagined a dense, moist cake with a sticky glaze, slightly spicy but not as potent as a true spice cake. After looking through a few cookbooks and doing a few web searches, I ended up making up my own hodgepodge recipe, based on the Fig and Cornmeal Cake recipe in the book, Cake Keeper Cakes. Here is what I came up with:

Cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
scant 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh figs
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour a 9" round cake pan (I use Baker's Joy for this).

In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and mace. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until incorporated. Stir in the lemon zest and buttermilk. Add the flour mixture in three additions, stirring until just incorporated each time. Stir in the figs and pecans.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top of the batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for a few minutes, then remove from the pan and cool right side up on a wire rack until completely cool.

Just before serving, transfer the cake onto a cake plate and poke holes over the entire surface of the cake with a skewer or fork. Pour the buttermilk glaze over the cake and let soak in briefly. Slice and serve.

Buttermilk Glaze

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour over cake.

The results: It was quite nice! The buttermilk glaze really makes it, in my opinion. I'm also experimenting with mace, after learning that it was my grandfather's secret ingredient in many of his baked goods (he had a bakery). Spork's first bite yielded a garbled, "Ohmygod!" so I took that as a positive review, also. :)

My new addiction, Mexican White Rice

Normally I'm not a big rice eater, but I have become hooked on a recipe given by Patricia Jinich of Pati's Mexican Table on Paula Deen's show. I've made it several times now and someone always asks for the recipe. My version is slightly modified from the original, Mexican White Rice with Fried Plantains. I use butter in place of the oil and leave out the celery and plantains all together. I'm sure the fried plantains would be tasty, but they are hard to find here. Butter, of course, always trumps oil and honestly, I've never really seen the point of celery.

By the way, Pati appears to be a really nice person in addition to being a mighty fine cook. I sent her a question about a recipe on her website and she answered me within a few minutes on a Sunday afternoon.

Mexican White Rice
modified from a recipe by Patricia Jinich

Ingredients:
2 Cups long-grained rice
3 Tablespoon(s) butter
1/2 Cup finely chopped white onion
4 Cups chicken broth
5 sprigs fresh cilantro
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1 Teaspoon kosher salt
2 whole serrano chiles

Directions:
Heat the butter in a large saucepan, add the rice and fry over high heat, stirring softly for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the onion and stir, from time to time, until the rice begins to change its color to milky white and it sounds and feels heavier, as if it were grains of sand, about 5 more minutes.

Add the chicken stock, cilantro, lime juice, salt and chiles to the rice. When the mixture starts to boil, cover the pot, reduce the heat to lowest setting and cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice is cooked through and the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes.

If the rice grains don't seem soft and cooked through, add a bit more chicken stock or water and let it cook for another 5 more minutes or so. Remove the pan from the heat and let it sit covered for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the cilantro and chile. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve.


Notes:

I like to tie the cilantro in a bundle using kitchen string. It gives a pleasant cilantro taste to the rice, but you can remove the wilted cilantro after the rice is cooked.

I've also found that if you slit the serranos lengthwise they impart more flavor into the rice.

Scotch eggs for breakfast

I've had a hankerin' for scotch eggs lately, so I fired up the deep fryer this morning and whipped up a batch. I used this recipe, leaving the flour out of the sausage mix and using panko bread crumbs for the golden brown and delicious crunchy outer coating. I made a dipping sauce by mixing marmalade and spicy brown mustard because using marmalade made it feel all breakfasty.

The recipe made 4 eggs, but both Spork and I decided that one each was plenty for brekkie. Now we have leftovers just perfect for a cold snack with beer.

Nom, nom, nom!

More adventures with deep frying

My parents are from North Dakota, so deep frying is not in my genetic makeup. My mom makes homemade donuts, but everything else was made in the oven, even French fries. I've worked really hard to overcome this deficit and I'm slowly getting better. My ultimate goal is to be able to make some awesome fried chicken. I've seen some improvement in that area, but nothing I've deemed picture-worthy.

These little gems, on the other hand, were pretty darned fab!


Yes, that's right. Those are deep fried mashed potatoes! Spork had seen some on a blog and casually mentioned them about 47 times. I made some mashed taters the other day and when he casually mentioned them once again, I took pity on him and gave it a whirl.

I rolled the leftover potatoes into small balls and placed them in the freezer for a while (I left them in longer than I intended - I was aiming for 'firm' an ended up with 'frozen solid'). I dipped each ball in beaten egg, then rolled it in panko bread crumbs. I set the fryer for 360F and fried until GBD. They were wonderful! A crunchy, golden shell (panko crumbs are great - how did I live without these?) filled with warm, creamy mashed potatoes. Mmmmmm!

Turkish bread

For some reason I've been on a real flatbread kick lately, so when I found this super-easy recipe, I had to try it.

Turkish bread

Ingredients:
2 Cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 Teaspoon salt
3/4 Cup plain yogurt

Directions:
Stir all the ingredients together, then knead until an elastic dough is formed. Place in a bowl, cover, and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Divide into 8 rounds and let rest briefly. On a floured surface, roll out to 1/8" thickness and dry fry in a cast iron skillet or cook on a grill, allowing both sides to develop some dark brown spots.

NOTES: If the dough is too sticky, add a little flour. If it is too dry, add a little more yogurt.

Results: Excellent! The bread actually keeps well, stored in plastic, for a couple of days. It's not quite as pliable the second day, but I think a little experimenting on reheating methods would fix that.

Pioneer Woman's Gazpacho with Mark Bittman's Spicy Broiled Shrimp

I discovered today that I cannot say gazpacho. I can make gazpacho. I can spell the word. I can "hear" it in my head. Alas, what comes out of my mouth is a different word all together. Perhaps my proficiency at industrial grade swearing has taken a toll on my pronunciation skills.

We have an abundance of tomatoes right now, so I decided it was time to try Pioneer Woman's Gazpacho (gaz-PAW-choe, gauze-paw-choe, gauze-paw-CHOE, gauze-pawch-OH... ARGH!) , since Spork had sent it to me asking why I'd never made it. In my defense, the recipe was only published a month ago - hardly a sign of slacking, in my opinion. Of course, being chastized hurts my little feelers and probably means I should bake something. Or buy some ice cream. Or both. Ice cream is Spork's Achilles' heel. It is my best weapon in the battle of the wills. (Did that sound evil?)

One of the suggestions in the PW recipe was to add a grilled shrimp to each bowl of gazpacho. That's 'a' as in one. One shrimp. Who eats one shrimp? That's just crazy talk, that is. I suppose I finally found a fault with the glorious and wonderful PW. I won't hold it against her though, because I went ahead and prepared two pounds of Mark Bittman's Spicy Grilled or Broiled Shrimp. Two pounds for two people. That's more like it! Normally I (or Spork) would grill it, but because of The Incident, the grill is temporarily out of commission. I went with the broiled version.

Results: Yum! I was worried that it would be too salty with the tomato juice, but it's very light and fresh tasting. I didn't have any celery, so I substituted 3 serrano chiles (What? Doesn't everyone substitute serranos for celery?). I also used some diced jalapenos in the reserved chopped veggies. With both of those chiles, there was a little bite to the soup, but nothing overpowering. I will definitely make it again.

The berries are becoming more cordial

Today was the first weekly shaking of the berry cordial. Spork and I pulled it out of the cabinet this afternoon and noted a few changes from last week: the vodka has become pinkish, the blackberries have turned red and the raspberries have turned white. The sugar at the bottom of the jar was almost completely dissolved, too. One shake down, seven more to go.

Before shaking

After shaking. Note the white raspberries.

We are harvesting more berries than we can eat right now, so Spork resorted to freezing some for future use. I broke with cobbler/pie tradition this week and baked a clafoutis (or flognarde, since it's made from berries). It is one of the best smelling things to have ever graced my oven. It was yummy, but I regretted not having some vanilla ice cream to go with it.

Crusty, oozy berry goodness

The garden is finally beginning to produce. It's been a strange spring - even the farmers' market produce is behind. I've only had one bird-pecked tomato so far, but lots of yellow wax beans, summer squash and eggplants.

Ichiban eggplant showing flea beetle damage on the leaves

My butterfly garden, while messy, is very bloomy. I can't get enough of the passionflowers, which I find to be almost hypnotic. I originally grew them only because they are larval host plants for gulf fritillary butterflies, but now I love their complex flowers.

Passiflora incarnata

Bee balm with one of the skipper butterflies

My sister, Terri, has two new puppies, Taz and Buckley. It's great for me because I get to play with puppies, but my shoes aren't destroyed in the process. The pups are 1/2 schnauzer and 1/2 catahoula. The rescue group Terri adopted them from told her these would be small dogs, but Buckley has the feet and legs of a Clydesdale. Mmmm-hmmmm. They are mighty cute, though.

Taz (front) and Buckley, with hand model

Birthday goodness

This year's birth celebration (I celebrate for a week, minimum) started out with a bang. Spork's uncle Joe, expert kayak builder and chess guru, had emailed that he was sending some sunflower cuttings so when I went to the post office and found the Key of Joy in the mail box, I was very excited. When the Key of Joy revealed a 5 pound package, I thought I might need to pick up another jar of rooting hormone on the drive home.

Helianthus debilis, aka beach sunflower

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the package contained a tiny bag of sunflower cuttings and a really cool piece of wooden inlay, which Spork later told me was called an intarsia.

Cutest birthday intarsia ever

I am so tickled by this! It was a complete surprise to me and I am so touched that he went to that much effort for me. Bonus points all around: 1) it was a surprise 2) it was a surprise that came in the mail 3) it was a birthday surprise that came in the mail and 4) it has a kitty on it! It's the best! I smile every time I look at it. :)

On the culinary front, Spork asked me what kind of cake I wanted and I requested a coconut cake with lemon curd filling. He donned his manly Triumph apron and made the entire thing from scratch, right down to the lemon curd! It was so good that I volunteered him to be the official cake baker from now on. For some reason, he didn't seem to relish that idea.

Spork's coconut cake (with lemon curd filling)

My girl Daisy helped me open my presents. Then moved on to shredding random papers.

After many days of cake (in addition to Spork's cake, Becky provided a super-evil raspberry amaretto cake and my mom made a red velvet cake), I couldn't face the idea of cobbler-ing the enormous quantity of berries that had accumulated in the refrigerator. It was time, I decided, to try my recipe for blackberry cordial, slightly modified to mixed berry cordial (blackberries, raspberries and boysenberries).

Day 1 of the mixed berry cordial

For this recipe, you pour a cup of sugar into the bottom of a large jar. Top that with 4 cups of berries (washed and patted dry), then pour in 4 cups of vodka. Place in a dark cupboard for 8 weeks, shaking once a week. Strain through a sieve, then through a coffee filter. Store in glass bottles.

I've never made this before, so I overlooked the bit about 8 weeks of waiting and shaking. I'm sure it will be worth it, though.

Just for John: Blueberry Cheesecake Pie

I thought for sure that John would show up, fork in hand, on Saturday night when we cut into this ridiculously luscious pie. It's a graham cracker/pecan crust (made with a whole stick of butter!), topped with a layer of cream cheese whipped with sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice, topped with a layer of cooked blueberries. It was good last night, but even better for breakfast today.





See John, it was with authority when I wrote that Spork is only 99.99% evil. I am pure evil! ;-)

Cobblers, critters and rose rustling

The first cobbler of 2009 has been baked and consumed! It was made from the wild trailing blackberries, aka dewberries. The dewberries produce in the time between the strawberries and the "tame" blackberries. The upright (not trailing) wild blackberries are also producing, but they are... ummmm.... less than desirable. We have dubbed them vomitberries, if that gives you an idea of their flavor.

Dewberry cobbler

The "tame" blackberries are absolutely loaded with green berries, just beginning to turn pink. I use quotes around tame because for the most part they are huge plants covered with wicked thorns and they send up baby plants in every direction, 12+ feet away from the mother plants. Some of them are also sending out more blooms. I'm not sure if these will make berries, since they are so late, but you won't hear me complain if they do.

Chickasaw blackberry bloom

The raspberries are also covered in baby berries. The raspberries are interesting because they produce twice on each cane. Here in Texas they produce on the tips of the new canes in the fall, then again the following spring lower on the canes (the tip is dead by then). My understanding is that up north the canes don't produce in the fall on the first year, but instead produce twice in the second year - tips of the canes in the spring, followed by the lower branch berries in the fall. Either way we get two harvests of raspberries a year and that is a very good thing.

Baby raspberries

Once again we are sharing the stuga with a wide assortment of lizards, skinks, snakes and frogs. We have many green anoles, including this guy, who guards the water hose. He does not approve of my use of the hose, as evidenced by his liberal use of the stink-eye.

Green anole

This little guy was hiding in my compost container (aka, plastic Folgers coffee can) when I brought it in. When I set the container on the counter, he jumped out and it was an exciting few minutes while I battled Lucy and Daisy for his capture. Fortunately for the frog, I won the battle and he regained his freedom.

Green tree frog

I have been wanting to try rose rustling for a while, so I was happy when I noticed a rose growing from a mound of unkempt shrubs in front of an abandoned gas station. The rose had sent up large arching canes dripping with dark purplish/maroon flowers right through the center of the shrubs. I was so excited to find one I could rustle, that I planned for a week exactly when I would do it. Then when we got there, I chickened out at the last minute and Spork had to run over and do the clipping! He was very cool about it. I think he has a future in stealth crimes, as long as he doesn't have a plan that involves following whispered instructions.

Unknown purple/maroon rose "liberated" from the abandoned gas station

It is most likely Dr. Huey, which is commonly used as a root stock for grafted roses, but is also a pretty climbing rose in its own right. I won't know for sure until this one takes off (if the rooting is successful, that is).

Liberated rose in its fancy mouthwash bottle greenhouse

Finally, I received a surprise delivery of gardenia cuttings last night. Yay! I've been wanting to try gardenias and growing your own from cuttings or seeds is the most fun way. It's funny because the best part of gardening to me is fussing over the baby plants up to the point they really take off and grow on their own. Once they become part of the landscape, I'm pretty ho-hum on them and usually I have more babies in the queue or at least added to my list of plants to try.

Gardenia cuttings soon to be added to the nursery/plant ghetto

Real Sporks eat quiche. And they like it.

I've never understood why "real" men wouldn't eat quiche. You take what is basically an unsweetened custard, add some fillings, cheese and herbs, then bake it in a pie crust. What could possibly be bad about that?

My asparagus bed is finally mature enough to harvest a small amount, but I wasn't sure what to do with just a little asparagus. This morning I happened to see this recipe being made on Today and thought I'd give it a whirl. The original recipe called for a pound of asparagus, which I didn't have, so I filled in with spinach and herbs (parsley and thyme) from the garden (along with a leek from the garden - brag brag).

Results: Yum! I will definitely be saving this recipe.

This was my first experience with fresh-from-the-garden asparagus. It's a lot lighter and fresher tasting than what I've bought, almost like snow peas. And even though the stalks I picked were about 2 feet tall, they were very crisp and tender. I like growing my own! I'm looking forward to trying more asparagus dishes in the future.

When good bread goes bad...

Tell 'em it's 'focaccia'.

I got cocky and thought I could make a double batch of sourdough. That means mixing it by hand because my mixer bowl isn't large enough to handle 7+ cups of bread dough. I did something wrong (so very wrong) and ended up with a large, ever-expanding glob of really wet dough. I tried to form 2 loaves, but ended up with one mutant monster by the time it "rose". I use the quotes because while it expanded on the sides, it actually became shorter in height, much like the women in my family do as we age. Ah well, while it wouldn't win any awards for presentation, it did taste very good.

The sourdough starter has finally done my bidding

A while back I sent for a sourdough starter and started experimenting with making bread leavened exclusively with the starter (no added yeast). The first two loaves tasted fine, but both of them burst along the lower edge.

Nice side:

From Food

Split side:

From Food

I asked some expert bakers for advice and the consensus was that, with this particular recipe*, most of the rising happened in the oven and the outer crust dried out before the inside of the loaf had fully expanded. The suggested solution was to add a pan of hot water to the lower shelf in the oven and to cut fairly deep slits in the top of the loaf right before baking.

Because of poor planning, I had to refrigerate the partially-risen loaf overnight, which is actually good for flavor and texture. In case you need some baking trivia, that is what creates the dark, pebbly texture on the crusts of many artisan breads.

Results: It worked!

This time, along with the heavenly aroma of baking bread, I actually had a pretty loaf of bread. It's also awesome tasting - a tough, chewy, crackly crust with a moist, almost buttery interior. My only regret is that Spork and I made a significant dent in it the very first day. Next time I will make enough for two loaves.


Mmmmmm!

From Food

* My variances from the original recipe: I only needed about 2.5 cups of flour - 3 makes a very stiff dough with my starter. I omitted the oil/margarine and just added enough water to make a slightly sticky dough. I also baked it longer, about 55 minutes total.

Woohoo! Surprise package!

I know this will forever ruin my carefully manicured cool image <*shut it, Spork*>, but I love getting packages in the mail. If I get one that I know is coming, life is good. If I get an unexpected package, life becomes almost unbearably great. So imagine my utter joy when I went to the post office to pick up a package that I knew was coming (because I ordered it) and got a bonus package to boot! I ripped into that bad boy so hard that the padding from the enviro-friendly envelope flew out and stuck all over my dark blue shirt. It was worth it, though, because the package contained a new cookbook!

The book was Swedish Cakes and Cookies by Melody Favish, sent to me by Swedish friend, Christina.



I've bugged Christina for Swedish recipes from time to time, so she's well aware of my cookbook habit (addiction just seems like such a harsh word).

The book is filled with pictures and recipes for all sorts of delightful cookies, little pastries, cakes and sweet breads. I've already picked my first experiment, a braided sweet bread made with cottage cheese and orange zest, drizzled with a powdered sugar glaze. Yum!

I think I have finally done it

This is it, cinnamon roll nirvana! Tender, rich, gooey and dripping with frosting. I even managed to get all of the ingredients in this time. Yes, the salt, the raisins and the nuts. It's practically a cooking miracle.

I usually bake my cinnamon rolls on a cookie sheet, but I opted to use a 12" round pan this time and I liked it better. The inner rolls stayed soft, so less crust. Yes, this was definitely a winning batch. I took them to share with my parents, but Spork wouldn't let the leftovers to come home with us. It seemed so wrong to just abandon them like that.

Oh man, look at that! I want another one now!

I'm working on writing up the recipe, since a lot of it exists only in my head. I now have a lot more respect for cookbook writers - it's hard getting every detail written out.

Hooked on queso

In my pre-Spork days, I didn't care for queso. I know, I know! What was wrong with me? I have no reasonable explanation to offer. I just didn't like it. I didn't eat fries or potato chips back then, either. Fortunately, Spork helped me to see the light. Unfortunately, I seem to be making up for all those lost calories now by regularly indulging in all my newfound favorite foods.

We had a light frost yesterday morning, causing my pepper plants to shrivel up and die, so it was time to use up the last of the peppers. My entire veggie drawer is now full of poblanos, New Mexican chiles, sweet Italian peppers, pimientos and a new variety I tried this year, Holy Mole. I couldn't fit the 4 pounds or so of jalapenos and serranos in, so I'll be drying them and making chile powder.



However, I decided to use my windfall to indulge in my newfound love of queso and make this recipe from Homesick Texan. I've made it before, so I took the liberty of adding a little breakfast sausage (how could that possibly be bad?) and I used salsa instead of the tomatoes and cilantro. Spork thinks my cavalier attitude towards recipe directions is reckless, but I'm not afraid!


Results: Yum! It was totally worth every single calorie. But now I need to go sleep off my cheese coma.

Thanksgiving just got a little more kick

Woot! I have had an official request to bring Red Rooster to Thanksgiving this year. Red Rooster is much better than the casserole I was asked to bring. The last time I brought it, I ended up with a giant metal palm tree bird feeder.

Here's the recipe, in case anyone else needs to brighten up their holiday:

Red Rooster

Ingredients:
3 Quart(s) cranberry juice cocktail
12 Ounce(s) thawed frozen orange juice concentrate
4 Cup(s) vodka

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients and freeze in a large plastic container for several hours, or until slushy. (It won't be frozen solid.)

Stir and scoop the mixture into punch cups or wine glasses.

Notes: I usually use rum instead of vodka, generally a combo of gold rum and vanilla rum. All I have right now is 151, so I'll be buying some new supplies. I don't want Thanksgiving to be that exciting.

Coconut cake #1

I've been trying to bake something every Saturday in an effort to:

1. improve my baking skills
2. NOT bake (and eat) something on the remaining days of the week

My informal rule is to bake on Saturday and share with others, if possible. Whatever is remaining on Sunday night gets a free ride to the trash can.

I took a cake decorating class last year and while I thought it was fun, I don't actually like decorator frosting, which is composed of shortening, powdered sugar, flavoring and food coloring. I just don't like the taste or texture the shortening gives it. You can make a similar frosting with butter, which tastes a lot better, but it melts too easily to pipe well. Especially for a slow-poke decorating newbie like me. Soooo, my current goal is to be able to make very tasty and (hopefully) pretty cakes with real frosting. From scratch, that is, since I'm not too fond of the mixes I've tried, either.

Sometimes it's hard being so picky having such refined tastes.

I am a coconut fiend, so I decided to start with a coconut cake. I used a basic cake recipe from my 1947 Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book (which I guiltily admit that I bought for my mom as a gift and then ended up keeping). I used half vanilla and half coconut extract for flavoring and since it is apparently assumed that I add booze to everything, I went ahead and boozed this one up. I made a simple syrup from water, sugar and coconut rum and brushed it lightly over both (baked and cooled) layers of the cake before I frosted it. It's what Julia Child would do. Julia is my hero, even if she did get stuck in a chimney once, which is a pretty idiotic thing to do. But I nearly died on a treadmill, so who am I to judge? Stupid margaritas.

I frosted the cake with "Fluffy White Frosting" from the same cookbook, which is just a version of boiled or seven minute frosting. I used coconut extract in the frosting, but I think vanilla would have been a better choice. I then coated the whole thing in toasted coconut. Oh, and I also added some toasted coconut between the layers when I frosted it.

Taste results: I have to say, it was pretty darned good! The cake is very tender and slightly coconut-flavored (I was worried I might have overdone it between the extract and the coconut rum). The frosting is, as the name implies, fluffy and white, but is mild enough to let the coconut shine. Some of these egg-white frostings turn sticky on humid days, but this one remained, well, fluffy and white even a day later. My one complaint is that the cake recipe was intended for 2-8"x2" round cake pans and I have 9" cake pans, so the layers are a little thin. It seems to me that a trip to the restaurant supply store could fix that problem right up!

Finally, here she be, my little coconut cake.