Birthday Cake

Last week was my sister Kimberly's birthday and we marked the occasion with a soiree at her Brooklyn apartment. Since I'm all about testing my culinary skills, I offered to make the dessert and opened the door to what Kim might think up. Luckily, she's a girl after my own heart and likes things simple (in other words, no Irish Car Bomb cuppy cakes or Mint Julep Brownies, please and thank you). While I'm typically of the chocolate cake-vanilla buttercream persuasion, Kimberly requested a basic yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Sounds easy enough, right?

Since my wonderful mother is something of a domestic goddess (and a super chef to boot) I consulted her for a recipe recommendation. The suggestion? Old-school Betty Crocker as "the only one I would trust," (that's a direct quote). When I saw the recipe for Betty Crocker's New Starlight Cake, I literally said the words, "Could this BE any easier?" And oh how I spoke to soon. 

I'm not sure if it was my new oven, the recipe, or some lackluster baking skills, but my first cake turned out like this when I tried to get it out of the pan. Burnt and broken. Not exactly the moist and fluffy confection that I envisioned. If it wasn't quite so bad, I would have tried the whole glue-the-cake-back-together-with-icing-no-one-will-notice-the-chocolate-river-down-the-middle trick. But alas, the cake was literally in two pieces and I just couldn't bring myself to try and salvage it. So on the morning of the party, I gave it another go. This time, I shortened the baking time considerably, greased that pan like it was nobody's business, and voila...a scrumptious yellow cake worthy of a certain someone's 24th birthday. It was a bit drier that I had hoped, but once slathered with super chocolatey frosting, this cake turned into one that I would definitely make again. Let's get down to the details...

New Starlight Cake
*Adapted from Betty Crocker
2 C all purpose flour
1 1/2 C sugar
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 C vegetable shortening (like Crisco)
1 C milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour one 13x9" pan or two round layer pans (Note: You really need to get on this like never before. I had a lot of trouble getting my cake out of my pan and I was using a new non-stick pan loaded with de-sticking ingredients. Just when you think you've buttered and floured enough...do it some more). Measure all ingredients into a mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer, but I will assume that a hand mixer will work just as well). Blend 1/2 minute on low speed, scraping the bowl as it goes. Beat 3 minutes on high speed, still scraping bowl as necessary. Pour the mixture into your pan (or pans).

Now here's the tricky part. The recipe says bake 40-45 minutes for a 13x9" pan, and 30 to 35 for round layer pans. When I baked my 13x9" cake for the first time, I let it go for 40 minutes and ended up with the aforementioned debacle. On the second try, I went with 30 minutes. At this mark, the toothpick came out clean, so I went with it. In my not-so-expert opinion, I'd say regardless of which size cake you make, do a thorough check at 30 minutes (or earlier for the round pans). Just sayin'. Once finished, cool completely and ice with chocolate frosting.

"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting
*Adapted from Hershey's Unsweetened Cocoa can back
1 stick unsalted butter
2/3 C unsweetened cocoa (obviously I went with Hershey's)
3 C confectioners' sugar
1/3 C milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Melt the butter. Add to a stand mixer (or a mixing bowl with a hand mixer) and stir in the cocoa. With the mixer on medium speed, alternately add the confectioners' sugar and milk. Beat until smooth, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure it mixes evenly. If it's too thick, add a bit more milk. Stir in the vanilla extract.

So there you have it. One basic, yet mouthwatering birthday cake. Oh, and you'll notice the Happy Birthday Kim and ribbon trim, courtesy of yours truly and my sister Christine. Not bad for a can of pink frosting with a ribbon tip, huh? Anyhow, what kind of birthday cake is your favorite?

It's a First

I confess. It's been a week since my last blog post. It's been a crazy month here at the Humiston house. In fact, I have some pretty exciting news to share. After renting our quaint little one bedroom apartment in Jersey City for the last two years, Shaun and I took the plunge and purchased our very first home (!). Still carrying a bit of urbanniteness around with us, we decided that the apartment/condo route was the way to go. After extensive searching in Hoboken and Jersey City, we finally settled on a loft in the JC. Our new home is brand spankin' new, complete with higher-than-your-average-ceiling ceilings, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a terrace to boot - all of which is a major upgrade from our old one bedroom with dingy floors and appliances circa 1985 (though the place was in a luxury building, it seemingly hadn't been properly cared for until Shaun and I came along and gave it some serious TLC to make it a happy home for us over the last two years). So needless to say, it's been a mad dash to the finish line in terms of making our decision, doing the deal and uprooting all of our posessions (you'd be truly shocked to see how much 'stuff' can accumulate in a small 1 bedroom apt) which hasn't left much time for concocting delicious dinners and delectable sweets.

Of course one of my favorite parts of our new home is the brandy-new kitchen, in which I'm just dying to get cookin'. That is, once all of my favorite appliances are unpacked and in their happy new homes. Oh, and I should also mention that I'm simply over the moon about our new terrace. In fact, we refer to it as the terrace as we are still pinching ourselves over the fact that we are living in an urban environment yet have a huge outdoor space of our very own. And since we can't stop singing its praises, we made our very first  purchase for our new place and more specifically, the terrace.

Since Shaun and I are all about the food, we purchased a sweet little grill for our new terrace. It's an item that we pined over for two years in our last home and even went so far as to eat cheeseburgers and hot dogs beyond the appropriate level of consumption at each and every barbecue to which we were invited just to get our proper fill of the grill. So after a Memorial Day party in Hoboken on Sunday, we drove on over to Home Depot and picked up a Weber charcoal grill, some charcoal and an extra fire extinguisher (to keep on hand for safety). We figured that while the terrace is quite spacious, it is super close to our loft and therefore we didn't exactly feel safe having a tank of butane within a few feet our our living room and bedroom. So we went the charcoal route, which not only eliminates the gas issue, but we prefer the cooking method to gas grilling. And it smells oh-so-good. There she is, sitting pretty on the terrace along with some flowers that my mom gifted to us right after our move. Doesn't it already look like the makings of a sweet outdoor area?

And since I like to keep things food related, here's a peak at the inaugral dinner that Shaun grilled up for us. I really just have one word for it...yummm. So that's the beginning story of our new home and our first food purchase for the new place - a charcoal grill that's the perfect way to kick off the summer in the brand new joint. But what I really want to know is, how do you get your grill on? Do you go gas or go charcoal? Can you notice a difference?

Roasted Pears with Sweet Ricotta Cream

Last week, on the heels of my Fresh Direct over-order, I was itching for something sweet. Typically, fruit just doesn't cut it in my list of desirable desserts. Occasionally I'll dabble in some berry ridden whipped cream and that's how I got the idea for some brown sugar basted pears. Yup, you read that right. Sweet pears roasted and basted with a brown sugar sauce. And while whipped cream from a can is always a staple in my fridge (though my love for it has dwindled since I discovered homemade mint whipped cream), I wanted some sort of thick cream for these sweet delights but also something that was not completely terrible for me. So I turned to ricotta, a versatile and delicious Italian cheese that's used in everything from lasagna and mixed into spaghetti to sweetened and dolloped over fruit. Though this dish isn't exactly the pinnacle of health, it's lighter than my favorite cupcakes and fulfills any sweet tooth...oh and gives a healthy dose of fruit to boot.

Roasted Pears
*Adapted heavily from Bon Appetit, circa 2007
2 Anjou pears
1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel pears, cut them in half lengthwise and remove the cores. In a mixing bowl, coat the pear halves with lemon juice and vanilla. In an ovenproof skillet (stainless steel, no rubber handles), heat the butter until melted. Add brown sugar and mix into the butter. Place the pears cut side down into the skillet, pouring remaining lemon juice mixture over the top. Cook in the skillet until the sugar dissolves and the mixture bubbles, spreading some of the mixture over the top of the pears. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the pears and soft, about 15 minutes. Top with sweet ricotta cream.

Sweet Ricotta Cream
1 C part-skim ricotta
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a food processor or blender, combine the ricotta, honey and vanilla. Process until smooth, about 1 minute. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours so the cream can thicken. Serve over roasted pears.

So there you have it...a semi-healthy dessert that's quick and easy without sacrificing an ounce of sweet flavor. But what I want to know is, what is your thought on fruit as dessert? Do you have favorite way to sweeten the deal?