Strawberry Shortcake

Last week after getting a lot of gorgeous strawberries in the CSA share, I decided to try my hand at strawberry shortcake. As it happened, I had about four different recipes for shortcakes in four different cookbooks. Most were cornmeal-based, so I decided to go in that direction. I think they came out very well--an excellent dessert to showcase the fresh fruit!

Strawberry Shortcakes
-1 1/2 c. flour
-1/2 c. cornmeal
-3 T. sugar
-4 t. baking powder
-4 T. unsalted butter (cold)
-1 c. heavy cream

1. In a food processor, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, and baking powder. Pulse.
2. Add cubes of cold butter and pulse again until it resembles a course meal. Transfer to a mixing bowl, and add the cream. Combine with a fork until the dough comes together.
3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead gently. Form it into a rectangle 1 - 1 1/4 inches thick.
4. Either cut the dough into squares with a knife, or use a 2 or 3 inch biscuit cutter to make rounds. The final count will vary depending on size. Work quickly, as the butter will begin to soften with repeated handling.
5. Bake on a greased or lined baking sheet for 12-15 minutes at 425* until golden.

Whipped Cream
-1 c. heavy cream
-1 T. powdered sugar
-1 t. vanilla

1. With the whisk attachment of a mixer, whip the cream until soft peaks form.
2. Add in sugar and vanilla and continue to whisk until combined.

Macerated Strawberries
-2 c. fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
-1 1/2 T. raw sugar
-1 T. marsala

1. In a large bowl combine berries, sugar, and wine. Stir, and let stand for at least an hour before serving.
2. Assemble as desired! (I split some of the cakes--as shown--and others just served as a base for the berry mixture; delicious either way!)

Thawing Cupcakes

I made a very large batch of red velvet cupcakes a few months ago--some to share, and others to hoard. Rather than eating all of mine at once (believe me, I was tempted), I decided to try freezing them to make the joy last a little longer. I wrapped them in plastic wrap, and then stored them in an airtight container in the freezer. When I was ready for them again (during finals week...), I took them out, unwrapped them, and left them to thaw on the counter. Within less than an hour, they were perfect and fresh, and exactly what I needed to keep my spirits up during the studying!

Not Baking

I considered in an earlier post the possibility of adding in documentation of my attempts at cooking actual food (I do try to eat things that aren't cake sometimes). My need to compartmentalize has led me to start a spin-off blog for non-baking recipes.

If you're interested, you can check the new site out here--if you're only into the baked goods, these posts will continue as usual!

An Order!

This week I put together a cupcake order for a friend throwing a bridal shower. It ended up being four dozen cupcakes--Devil's food and yellow cakes with buttercream or dark chocolate frosting. I was given the wedding invitation as inspiration--it was covered in blue flowers, so I tinted some fondant and tried to make some to match.

Apart from making a lot of consecutive little messes in my kitchen (that by the end had merged into one big one), it was fun to try something on a larger scale! And now I'll be ready for next time! A few photos of the finished products:

LOST!

I realize that I have officially become the worst poster ever. I apologize for this, and fully intend to make up for it soon, assuming I survive the next 7 days. The spring semester has come to an end, and after a pretty tiring few weeks of finals, my classmates and I are now preparing for our first year comprehensive exams next week. Kind of a big deal. Fingers crossed...

I had been meaning to do another month's worth of posts when I uploaded my photos only to find that I had done very little baking that was post-worthy this month. I have, however, gotten pretty into cooking--expanding my repertoire to go beyond cake... Non-baking experiments might find their way to the internet soon, but for now, my latest project, inspired by LOST for the finale-viewing I attended on Sunday!

(Chocolate-espresso cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and black and white fondant "rocks"... Game on?)

Pizza!

A few weeks ago I decided to try making pizza dough. Despite all the baking I've been doing in my wonderful apartment kitchen over the last few months, breads haven't gotten much attention. I figured this might be a fun place to start. I used the recipe from my King Arthur Flour cookbook (it's marvelous)--used the white whole wheat flour again instead of plain white, and was very happy with the results. For toppings, I picked a sun dried tomato pesto, fresh fontina, asparagus, shallots, and prosciutto (di Parma!).

Pizza Dough
-1 3/4 c. warm water
-1 T. sugar
-1 package active dry yeast
-6 c. white whole wheat flour
-1/4 c. olive oil
-1 T. course salt

1. Dissolve the sugar and yeast in the warm water in a large mixing bowl. Wait several minutes for yeast to become active.
2. Add one cup of flour, olive oil, and salt. Combine. Add another 4 1/2 cups of flour and mix with a spoon until the dough comes together and pulls away from the side of the bowl.
3. Use the last 1/2 cup of flour to dust the kneading surface. Turn out dough, and knead until everything comes together. Allow the dough to rest while you grease the inside of a bowl, then continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic.
4. Put dough into greased bowl, cover, and allow it to rise until it has doubled in size (~1 hour).
5. Punch dough down, and knead out excess air. Cut dough as needed. [This recipe will make 2 thicker crust pizzas or 3 thinner crust pizzas.]
6. Roll out the dough to the desired size. If using a pan, oil it before arranging the pizza crust. Add toppings. Bake for 15-20 minutes (depending on the thickness of the crust) at 475* F.



(To keep the prosciutto from getting too crispy, add it to the pizza 2-3 minutes before the end of the baking time.)

St. Patrick's Day Dinner

This year for St. Patrick's day I made myself a "New England Boiled Dinner"--corned beef and cabbage, with some potatoes and carrots tossed in for good measure--and some Irish Soda Bread. So far I've only had baking posts, but I'm considering a foray into other foods, too (I like to pretend I can cook now and then). Chances are quite good that anything like that won't happen until summer, but I'm tossing in a not-baked photo at the end here, just to see how it looks!

Soda bread is probably the easiest bread in the universe to make. This is a recipe that I modified a little from a kids baking book that I was given when I was in middle school--it has withstood the (taste)test of time!

Irish Soda Bread
-1 1/2 c. white whole wheat flour (from King Arthur Flour)
-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
-2 t. baking soda
-2 t. baking powder
-1 t. salt
-3 T. sugar
-3 T. unsalted butter
-1 c. buttermilk

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Cut cold butter into the dry ingredients with knives or a pastry cutter.
2. Add buttermilk, mix until all ingredients are wet.
3. Turn mixture out onto floured surface and knead for about a minute, or until the dough holds together. Form it into a round loaf, and place on a parchment covered baking sheet.
4. Cut a cross into the top of the dough. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350* F.

The dough, pre-kneading. (Yes, those are my bags of King Arthur Flour in the background--a little free advertising for them; they're a VT company, and their products are wonderful!)


You can serve it in slices or wedges. Delicious either way!

Corned beef and cabbage, probably up to my grandmother's standards? And for anyone wondering, that's a Smithwick's in the background!