Patriotic Cake

Miss V loves Pinterest and we signed up to bring a dessert for our Church's July 4th picnic she started searching for the perfect thing to make.

She spotted this cake called Red, White and Blue Velvet.

For the cake:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring (she used Americolor Super Red)
2 tablespoons blue food coloring (she used Americolor Navy blue)
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 8" cake pans and line them with parchment.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large mixing bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides several times.

Divide the batter in half and gently fold the red food coloring into half, and the blue into the other half. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for about 30 - 32 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cakes with a toothpick to make sure they baked through. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until light and smooth.

I also made Miss V a batch of marshmallow fondant and colored half super red and the other half navy blue.  She rolled it and cut out stars in different sizes.

Miss V asked if I could frost it for her as she doesn't to do that.  After she decorated the cake with the fondant stars, foil picks that look like fireworks, and two little mini pinwheels, she had me pipe little stars at the bottom of the cake.

Miss V was very happy with the way her cake came out and I think she did a fantastic job!  I am very happy to say that her whole cake was eaten and we didn't have a crumb left over.

Watermelon Shark

Here is what I carved for a July 4th picnic.  I didn't really have any directions, just kind of followed a few pictures online.

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 4th 2012

I just realized that I didn't take a single picture from the Desserts and Fireworks that were of people!  ACK!  I guess my head is elsewhere right now.

So here are a few pictures I did take.

A Desserts and Fireworks staple....Chocolate Trifle!

 Miss V's famous Blueberry Tartlets

We ended up bringing another table since our neighbors all brought a couple of desserts too!

Hope everyone had a safe and importantly a YUMMY holiday!

Lowcountry Lemonade

For our "adult beverage" I found this pretty blue beverage on Pinterest.  It comes from Wedding Color.   I didn't measure just poured into my very nice beverage dispenser.

A couple of quarts of lemonade, good stuff please
Peach Schnapps
Blue Curacao

It was refreshing and not overly sweet or sour.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Can you guess where this recipe came from?  If you guess Pinterest you would be right!!  It is from Pixelated Crumb.  I pinned it months ago and knew that I really had to try this!!

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup creamy peanut butter, not the natural stuff
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips

For the glaze:
1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter not the natural stuff
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

For the Cake

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray 10-cup bundt pan generously with nonstick spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together peanut butter and butter. Add sugar and beat an additional 5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until well combined. Add dry ingredients a little at a time, beating just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Scrape batter into prepared bundt pan. Tap it a couple of times on the counter to shake out any hidden air pockets.

Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, or until a skewer, sharp knife, or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Check on the cake at 1 hour to make sure it's not browning too quickly on top. If it is, just place a piece of foil loosely over the top of the pan. Let the cake cool for 20 minutes, then flip it onto a rack or platter and let it cool completely.

For the glaze:

In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, milk, peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle glaze over the top of the cooled cake, letting it drizzle down the sides. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top.

I had really high expectations.  First I don't know why but the outside of the cake was very hard to cut through.  It is a really dense cake which is fine.  I did slice it before our guests arrived and the sliced did dry out a bit.  For the leftover pieces I microwaved for about 15 seconds to warm it a little and it tasted really yummy.

Oreo Poke Cake

Yes...here is another Pinterest Recipe.  The recipe comes from The Country Cook.

1 Box Chocolate Cake Mix
Ingredients needed to make cake (eggs, oil and water)
2 (4 oz.)packages of Instant Oreo pudding
4 cups milk
Crushed Oreo Cookies

Make cake mix according to directions and bake in a greased 9x13 pan.

About 2 minutes before cake is done, make the pudding.  Let pudding mixture sit for about 2 minutes. You want it to thicken a little so it isn't to runny but not fully thickened yet.

When cake is finished, while still warm, poke holes all over cake using a wooden spoon handle.

Pour and spread the pudding over the cake and tap it on the counter so that the pudding fills in the holes.

Let it rest for a few minutes on the counter and the put in the refrigerator to chill for a few hours. 
Right before serving sprinkle on the crushed Oreo cookies.

Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I wanted to shake up our July 4th menu a bit and I found a great recipe for Pulled Pork Sandwiches in Woman's World magazine.

Of course I didn't think it would be enough, so I doubled the recipe and luckily it fit in our crock pot. I am putting the original recipe here.

1 onion chopped, about 1 cup
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 lbs boneless pork butt shoulder roast
1 tbs dry fajita seasoning
2/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
3 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
12 hamburger buns split
2 cups prepared coleslaw

Place onion and garlic in the bottom of the crock pot. Top with pork; sprinkle with seasoning.

In a small bowl, whisk together, ketchup, brown sugar, cornstarch, vinegar and salt until smoother. Pour over pork.

Cover and cook on low for 12 hours.

Transfer pork to plate, reserving sauce in the crock pot; cool slightly. Using two forks shred pork into bite size piece; stir back into sauce.

Fill buns with pork mixture, dividing evenly; top with coleslaw.

Marcel was wonderful and put it in the crock pot Friday night around 10ish.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*

I made this again for July 4th but I went all out and bought 17 pounds of pork butt.  I wanted to make sure that I would hopefully have left overs.  I used the above recipe but quadrupaled it.  I put it in the oven at 2 am and let it cook at 250 for about 11 hours and then turned the oven down to 225 to keep it warm.  About half an hour before the party, I pulled it and put it in the crock pot to keep warm and for easy serving.  I strained the liquid and skimmed off the fat and pour the sauce over the pork in the crock pot.

It again came out super yummy!  AND the best part, I have leftovers!!!!!

I use my own fajita seasoning.  I love making big batches of this and storing it in a Gladware containter.  I do use more than 1 tablespoon.  It was more like 1/2 cup per butt.  Miss V helped me by sprinkling it on so we didn't get an exact measurement.  I also did the rub on Sunday afternoon so that it would have time to get happy in the fridge.

This is what it looked like after cooking, it smelled wonderful!

I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of it after I pulled it.  If I can remember at dinner time I will take one.

Desserts & Fireworks

We had another fun filled Desserts & Fireworks party this July 4th. The rain finally stopped and were able to enjoy time spent with good friends, good food and good fireworks!

Lets see if I can remember everything that I made and will link the recipes below:

Chocolate Trifle
Tiramisu Cheesecake Bars
Victoria's Blueberry Tartlets
Victoria's favorite butter cookies
Cheese filled Shortbread Tarts
Grasshopper Fudge Cake
Raspberry Lemonade Cake
Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies
Double Chocolate Cookies
White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Lemon Bars
Outrageous Brownies
Disney Hollywood Studio/Brown Derby Grapefruit Cake
Red White and Blue Cupcakes

I think that is it?????

Barefoot Contessa's Outrageous Brownies

No dessert table would be complete without a plate of yummy brownies. I first saw these outrageous brownies on an episode of the Barefoot Contessa. Now let me tell you, they are a lot of work but ohhhhh sooooo worth it!!! Just make sure you follow the directions and use the best ingredients.

1 pound unsalted butter
1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra-large eggs
3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour a 12 x 18 x 1-inch baking sheet.

Melt together the butter, 1 pound of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. Pour into the baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake! Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into 20 large squares

Double Chocolate Cookies

I also made these yummy cookies for Desserts & Fireworks and again the recipe came from a Taste of Home magazine.

1-1/4 cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until set. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

I also made these cookies for Desserts & Fireworks. I found them in one of my Taste of Home magazines.

1 cup dried cherries, chopped
1/3 cup hot water
6 tablespoons shortening
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 teaspoons grated orange peel
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

In a small bowl, soak cherries in hot water for at least 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, cream the shortening, butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, orange peel and vanilla. Combine the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chip and cherries with liquid.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 1 minute before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: about 3-1/2 dozen.

Red, White and Blue Layered cupcakes

Of course being July 4th, we needed to have a Patriotic cupcakes. These are really simple. It is just a box of white cake mix. Make according to package directions and split the batter into 3 bowls. Color one with red gel food color, color another bowl with royal blue gel and leave one bowl white.

Add about 1 tbs of the blue batter to each muffin cup, followed by a layer of white then red.

It is really best if you use two boxes of cake mix if you want big puffy cupcakes.

These were frosted with Betty Crocker whipped vanilla frosting and then I let Victoria go crazy with the sprinkles.

We also found some cute and fun decorations from Wilton at Michaels.

Cute little red and blue pinwheels for the cupcakes.

And little foil pix.

Not the greatest, but I want to snap a quick picture before everyone came.

Disney Hollywood Studios Brown Derby Grapefruit Cake

One of the cakes that I made for Desserts & Fireworks was from Disney Hollywood Studio's Brown Derby. It is the Grapefruit Cake. A little bit of info from the the Disney Food Blog.

The heyday of the original Brown Derby restaurants was the golden age of Hollywood, when Mary Pickford, Clarke Gable, Spencer Tracy, and the young starlet, Lucille Ball, among others, frequented the lush booths in the hat-shaped buildings. Disney World’s Hollywood Brown Derby is fashioned after the Hollywood Brown Derby on Vine Street (there were three other Brown Derby restaurants as well), and bears an incredible resemblance inside and out. But what I find truly fascinating about the restaurant are the stories it’s keeping alive.

One of my favorites is about Louella Parsons, who worked for William Randolph Hearst and was considered one of the most powerful gossip columnists in Hollywood for many years (to the dismay of her colleague and rival, Hedda Hopper, who often held court on the opposite side of the Derby from Parsons).

One day, Parsons complained to Derby owner Robert Cobb that all of his desserts were too fattening and requested something healthier. Cobb quickly told the chef “to put grapefruit on something, because everyone knows it’s slimming.”

So the chef invented his Grapefruit Cake, a dessert with multiple layers of cream cheese frosting that are anything but slimming, and it’s gone down in the history books along with several other Derby-invented classic recipes.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs (separated)
3 tablespoons grapefruit juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350º F. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into mixing bowl. Make a well in center of dry ingredients.

Add water, oil, egg yolks, grapefruit juice, and lemon rind. Beat until smooth.

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar separately, until whites are stiff but not dry.

Gradually fold egg whites into the cake batter, folding gently with a rubber spatula until just blended. Do not stir the mixture.

Pour into an ungreased 10-inch cake pan. Bake at 350º degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly touched with a finger. Invert pan on cake rack until cool. Run spatula around edge of cake. Carefully remove from pan. With a serrated knife, gently cut layer in half.

Grapefruit Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

2 six-ounce packages of cream cheese
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
3/4 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
6 to 8 drops yellow food coloring
1 one-pound can grapefruit sections (well-drained), reserving 2 tablespoons of juice OR 3 fresh grapefruits, peeled, sectioned, and drained, reserving 2 tablespoons of juice.

Method:

Let cream cheese soften at room temperature. Beat cheese until fluffy.

Add lemon juice and rind.

Gradually blend in sugar. Beat until well blended. Add food coloring.

Add reserved grapefruit and blend into frosting.

Divide the frosting evenly into two bowls. Roughly chop 2/3 of the grapefruit sections and add them to half the frosting. Spread this mixture on the bottom half of cake. Top with several grapefruit sections. Cover with second layer of cake. Frost top and sides. Garnish with remaining grapefruit sections.

As much as I love this cake, I did have some issues with it. First I had to borrow a 10 inch cake pan which is when I am glad I have friends that bake too. Second I really was second guessing myself when it said ungreased pan.....Next time I will listen to my gut and just spray the bottom of the cake pan. Next issue with the size of the pan. It was a bit of a pain to slice it to make two layers. If I make this again, I will certainly make it in a smaller pan like an 8 or 9 inch round.

Barefoot Contessa's Lemon Bars

One of the other goodies I made for the Desserts & Fireworks party was the Barefoot Contessa's Lemon Bars. I was a bit nervous about this because the only other one I tried was from a box and they were awful! I could NOT get them out of the pan.

Ingredients

For the crust:
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:
6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Anyway, these turned out fantastic!!!! Fresh and lemony and came right out of the pan.

White Chocolate Chip Macadmia Cookies

I also made Marcel's favorite cookies for our Dessets & Fireworks party.

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white chocolate chips
6 ounces macadamia nuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two baking sheets

Cream together the butter, sugars, and salt. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth and light.

Stir the flour and baking soda together in another bowl. Add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and beat until combined.

Add the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. Place rounded mounds of dough about the size of walnuts on the prepared pans. Bake for ten minutes or until the edges of the cookies just begin to brown. Remove them to a wire rack to cool. Makes about four dozen cookies.

Cheese filled Shortbread Tarts

I made these Cheese Filled Shortbread Tarts again this year and actually got picture of them!

This year the store had plenty of fresh berries to pick from so I did put strawberries, blueberries and raspberries on them. The original recipe makes a ton of filling but not enough tarts. You could also use the filling in premade phylo cups.

Tiered Serving Platter

A while ago I spotted this little project on Jamie Cooks It Up! and knew I wanted to try it for July 4th.

You can find the full directions on Jamie Cooks It Up!

Mine looks a bit crooked, because I didn't wait long enough to put each on. Next time I will wait a bit longer.

Blueberry Tartlets

Ok so I didn't make these today. These are actually made by Miss V last July 4th. She first made these way back in Spring of 2007 when she attended Kindercooks class at Young Chefs Academy. Since then she makes them every year for July 4th.

In my haste to organize my scrapbook room, I accidentally tossed a box that I thought was trash. What was in the bottom were literally HUNDREDS of her old recipes. I felt sick for days after realizing it.

When I started getting a mental list of dessert for July 4th I went right to her binder and the recipe was gone. I felt awful!

I recently saw the YCA in Brandon on a Tampa News channel and the staff and kids looked like they genuinely were have a great time. So I emailed the Brandon location and a day later the Chef Amy emailed me back a nice reply and included the recipe!!! I am so grateful for her help. I just wish some how I could get all the recipes back. ::sigh::

Anyway....here is Miss V's favorite dessert to make for July 4th.

Equipment
Measuring cups and spoons
Large bowl
Citrus reamer
Wooden spoon
Standard muffin tin
4 in. biscuit cutter
Small microwave bowl

Ingredients
Pie:
½ cup sugar
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
Dash salt
2 ½ cups frozen blueberries*
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 pie crusts

Topping:
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
¾ cups flour
1/3 cup butter, melted

1. Thaw blueberries for about 10 minutes in a bowl. Sprinkle with about 1 Tbsp. of flour and toss to coat.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

3. Mix together sugar, cornstarch, salt, blueberries, and lemon juice.

4. Cut pie crusts into 12 4 in. circles. Fit each circle into the muffin tin.

5. Spoon blueberries into each crust.

6. Make the topping by combining the sugar, flour, and butter. Spread evenly over blueberry filling.

7. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Makes 12 servings.

*If using fresh blueberries, omit Step #1.

Eat in any diner in New England during the summer and you are likely to find blueberry pie on the menu. The annual state of Maine Wild Blueberry Festival is held during the last week of August in Union, Maine.