Homemade Fluffy Butter Frosting on the Happy Cake for Mother's Day

Here is the second cake I made, this time for Mother's Day.

I used Duncan Hines Confetti Cake Mix to make the cake, and this time I decided to make the frosting myself.

Here are the cakes out of the oven.

Here is the frosting finished, which I added yellow food  coloring to in honor of Spring time. My boyfriend decided to call a Happy Cake.

The frosting recipe comes from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook and it is described as being light and airy.

Fluffy Butter Frosting
Enough frosting for an 8 or 9 inch cake.
4 tablespoons butter (I use unsalted)
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, divided
2 egg whites
Cream the butter, and add 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar.
Beat the egg whites in a mixer until foamy and thick. Add the 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Beat until stiff.
Blend together the two mixtures. If the frosting is too liquidity add more confectioners' sugar to make it easier to spread on the cake. The frosting hardens as it sits.

Note:
If you add your sugar to the egg whites too early, this is as stiff as your egg whites will get. This is not what you want.

When you are all done you get this?

And if you are lucky enough, your guests will eat practically all your cake.

Hope everyone had a great Mother's day!
So this is what I made for Mother's Day as part of our family celebration.
What did you make for Mother's Day?

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French Apple Pie

This is my Mother's recipe for French Apple Pie. My boyfriend loves it because he has a thing for Apple Crumb Pie. It is absolutely fabulous.

I found the recipe online after a little research. Other apple pie recipes popped up when I originally started my search. I had to go through that needle in that haystack. I am so happy I found it. Here is the link.


French Apple Pie
A recipe from a Food Club pie crust box. We love the crumb topping.
Yield: 8 Servings , Total Time: 1 hours, 50 minutes
1 each Ready to bake pie crust
1/2 cup Granulated sugar
1/4 cup Corn starch
1/2 teaspoon Ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
pinch Salt
6 cups Baking apples; cored, peeled, and thinly sliced (4-5 medium apples)
1 cup Flour
1/2 cup Brown sugar; firmly packed
1/2 cup Butter or margarine
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray pie plate with non-stick cooking spray. Spread the pie crust over the bottom of the pie plate. Mix sugar, starch, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt into bowl. Stir in sliced apples and let set for about 10 minutes while making topping. Stir to mix again. Spoon apple slices into pie crust.
To prepare crumb topping; mix together flour and brown sugar. Blend in butter or margarine until crumbly. Sprinkle crumb topping over pie. Bake pie on sheet pan for 1 hour 30 minutes. Refrigerate leftovers.

Here is my Christmas tree for the holiday season. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday!

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Have You Made a Snack Lately?

I don't know about you but I love popcorn - especially Kettle Corn.

Doesn't it look yummy! It comes fromAllrecipes.com.


Kettle Corn
By: SUE202
"Take a trip to the county fair with a bowl of old-fashioned Kettle Corn. Your family will never want plain popcorn again! If you use white sugar, it will taste like popcorn balls and if you use brown sugar, it will taste like caramel corn.
Prep Time: 5 Min
Cook Time: 15 Min
Ready In: 20 Min
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, stir in the sugar and popcorn. Cover, and shake the pot constantly to keep the sugar from burning. Once the popping has slowed to once every 2 to 3 seconds, remove the pot from the heat and continue to shake for a few minutes until the popping has stopped. Pour into a large bowl, and allow to cool, stirring occasionally to break up large clumps.
Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving  Calories: 209 | Total Fat: 11.9g | Cholesterol: 0mg

"Did you ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight? I always ask that of all my prey. I just like the sound of it.
The Joker
Batman 1989

Marmalade Morning Muffins and Cat Sitting

Here is my cousin's lovely cat George.  I am sorry to say that he passed last week.  My cousin was heartbroken and I loved spending time with the little guy. We snuggled and played. I whispered sweet nothings into his ear telling him he was such a good cat and that I loved him.  I miss him now that he is gone.

Today I made some muffins from the cookbook Muffins Galore by Catherine Atkinson.  
I made the Marmalade Morning Muffins which I found on page 60.
Here is a single muffin...

and here is the recipe...

Marmalade Morning Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose white flour
3/4 cup unrefined superfine sugar—-granulated sugar will work too
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons orange marmalade
3/4 cup unsweetened orange juice
1/2 cup sunflower margarine, melted
2 medium ripe pears, peeled, cored, and chopped

For the topping
1 tablespoon unsweetened orange juice
4 tablespoons orange marmalade

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or line the cups with paper muffin cups.

For the muffins, mix the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, marmalade, orange juice, melted margarine, and two-thirds of the chopped pears. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing briefly until just combined.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, dividing it evenly. Scatter with the remaining chopped pears, pressing the pieces gently into the batter. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until risen and golden. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Meanwhile, for the topping, genly heat the orange juice and marmalade together in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally until melted and combined. Spoon and brush over the tops of the warm muffins. Serve warm.

They look divine and they taste out of the world.

Whip up something new and have an appreciation for new experiences.

Cassandra

Cherry-Glazed Chicken

Last night I got into the kitchen to cook my next meal. I began interested in this recipe called Cherry-Glazed Chicken from the Cherry Marketing Institute. You see the finished product above. it tasted wonderful. I am not use to having chicken with cherries.

Here is the recipe.

Cherry-Glazed Chicken
Makes 6

1 broiler-fryer chicken, cut up (or 6 chicken breast halves)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste (used ¼ teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper)
1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 16-ounce can unsweetened tart cherries
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 granulated sugar
1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard

Rinse chicken; pat dry with paper towels. Pour milk into a shallow container. Combine flour, thyme, salt and pepper. Dip chicken first in milk, then in flour mixture; coat evenly. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chicken; brown on all sides. Put chicken in a 13x9x2 inch baking dish. Bake, covered with aluminum foil, in a preheated 350 degree oven 30 minutes. Meanwhile, drain cherries, reserving 1/2 cup juice. Combine cherry juice, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a small saucepan; mix well. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat. Add mustard; m ix well. Cook 5 minutes, o runtil sauce is slightly thickened. Stir in cherries. After chicken has cooked 30 minutes, remove from oven and uncover. Spoon hot cherry mixture over chicken. Bake, uncovered, 15 to 20 minutes, or until chicken is tender. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Info:
Nutrition Facts per serving: 493 cal., 26 g total fat (7 g sat. fat), 33 g carbo., 117 mg chol., 31 g pro., 1 g fiber, 231 mg sodium. Daily RDA values: 15% vit. A, 8% vit. C, 6% calcium, 20% iron.

Here is the ingredients I used.

Of course in my photo I forgot the flour. I used chicken breasts instead of a cut up whole broiler-fryer because of value. I also could have bought a whole broiler-fryer and cut it up because to my knowledge that is what Alton Brown would have done (along with other cooks and chefs I know of on television).

Here is the flour and milk mixture that I dipped the chicken in before I browned them.

Here is the chicken browning in the pan.
Note: When you brown in this fashion, you should not turn the chicken until the chicken is completely browned or you will take off the flour-milk mixture which is used as a sealant to keep in the juices.

Here in this chicken in the 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan which I am preparing to cover with foil and put in the 350F oven.

After this it is time to prepare the cherry juice and mustard mixture.

 What would the mixture be without the cherries.

 The only thing left to do is put the cherry mixture on top of the cherries and put it back in the oven. When it comes out of the oven it looks like this when it comes out of the oven.

 Then you have this lovely dish out of the oven. Anyone who hasn't tried chicken and cherries really should. I choose to have my chicken with rice and grilled zucchini from the frozen aisle of Trader Joe's.

A new recipe to whip up in the kitchen.



Cassandra