Monday, February 20, 2012

Unusual "PIPE" Cake

You will need
DOUGH:
*3.5 cups flour
*3 sticks of butter of margarine
*250-300 grams sour cream
*pinch of salt
*baking soda (just a pinch)
*cranberries or raisins or whole preserved sour cherries.
FROSTING:
*chocolate butter-cream
*plain butter-cream or any other frosting

LET'S GET STARTED

 Use butter at room temperature (soft) but don't melt it. Just mix all ingredients together. Boil water and let cranberries sit in hot water for about 15 min. Drain water. Divide your dough into even parts. Roll out strips, add cranberries in the middle and form a long "sausage" or little balls or short "sausages" to fill the inside. It doesn't really matter. Try to make your pieces not to thick or thing and with identical consistency.
Bake 480F until golden-brown. It should be done pretty soon. Let it cool completely. If you want your cake to have a few layers use smaller diameter baking pans for the same recipe. I strongly recommend to moisturizer your baked product by spraying with either sugar syrup or any juice. Let it get absorbed and soften the dough.

Layer baked pieces with chocolate butter-cream. Decorate with any frosting on top. I decorated the sides with crumbled dough leftovers. On top I sprinkled cocoa powder. Also I placed a few dark and white chocolate chips, raisins and nuts. 





THE END


  

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Pink Velvet Cake

                                                                   
                                                   

Valentine's day cooking and gift ideas


 
  

Scary Halloween Pumking Cake



I was inspired by I guess already a classic pumpkin carving idea
Here is my video instructions

 
  

Pheasant Head Purse

One day I was killing my time at Cabela's while my husband was looking at MEN STUFF. I ended up in a fly fishing section. They had a great variety of feathers.  Then I saw this guy...

 I needed to have it. That's how they look live...
 Don't ask we how I got this idea to decorate a purse with that head.....but I did. Sooo here is my video on HOW-TO make a Pheasant Head Purse



  

Pine Cone Cake

                                                                                                                                                                      
This recipe is for nuts lovers. :) Works as a wonderful winter holidays centerpiece and a great gift. In this video below I'll show you how using regular shaped baking pan you can create a pine cone shaped cake. You can definitely use any cake dough or frosting.
I added some greenery to make it more look realistic but it's up to you.




             Share your results!!!  
  

Sunday, February 12, 2012

THE WAY YOU WANT IT CUPCAKES


I LOVE oatmeal cookies, but after I bough silicon forms like these I just went crazy with my sweet combination.

I don't even necessary have any particular oatmeal cookie recipe. I just mix together main ingredients: oatmeal, butter, sugar, flour,baking powder,eggs. I've been baking so much I don't need a precise recipe now. This makes my treats taste unique every time. You can use any cookie recipe you like.

I like to fill them with all sorts of yummies: nuts, raisins, cranberries, chocolate chips, banana, peanut butter....
Then I mix cream cheese with a little bit of yogurt and sugar until it's smooth and pour it over the cupcake. 
Sometimes I add egg or melted chocolate or orange/ lemon zest, also instant drink powder for color and taste. Just use my imagination.

Bake 350F for 20-25 min
KitKat bars 'glue' together with warm chocolate. Let cool in a freezer



 These had cream cheese mixed with egg.
 banana, peanut butter, chocolate, cookie dough again...

 pieces of fruit indicate what's inside


White chocolate mixed with butter and with some cranberries and dark chocolate on top

 



  THE END
  

Monday, February 6, 2012

Pancake Rose Bouquet

You'll need:
*5 eggs
*200 grams sugar
*200 grams flour
*food coloring
*orange juice
*vase or any container
*skewers
* florists foam for flowers

INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350°F and coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Mix eggs, sugar,flour and food coloring ( optional) together and pour different size circles/pancakes with a ladle. They won't be perfectly round but that's OK. Remember that the bigger pancakes you make the bigger flowers you'll get. To make them look more realistic it's important to have different sizes.  This arrangement is the amount I got from the recipe.
Bake about 10-15 min or until golden brown. If you use food coloring then judge 'wellness' by the sides/rim.
When done it's important to keep your baking sheet inside the oven. You want your pancakes to stay hot as long as possible. You'll need to work fast so they don't burn ether having to sit  in a hot oven.  To make a flower all you do is roll petals together starting with the smallest working your way to the biggest. You may want to wear some gloves to protect your hands from heat, because that's what makes petals stick/glue together.

To keep my roses moist and to add some additional character to the taste I sprayed them with some orange juice and rubbed with a little bit of sweetened condensed milk.

Then decorate a vase. Put some foam inside. I skewered my flowers adding  blueberries to hide the tips and added some orange slices just to make my bouquet more rich looking.



  

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Cake "Bright Celebration"

Here is a cake I baked for Thanksgiving. It was my first time hosting family celebration with a lot of people. So I was not sure what kind of cake to bake to make everyone happy. That's why I decided to combine chocolate layer with cheesecake...can't miss with this combo :) Unfortunately I didn't make step-by-step pictures.
Chocolate layer recipe is buy "Martha Stewart's Cupcakes", Devil's Food Cupcakes

* 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
* 3/4 cup hot water
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
* 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
* 2 1/4 cups sugar
* 4 large eggs, room temperature
* 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1 cup sour cream, room temperature

Directions
NOTE: I used half of everything for this chocolate cake
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2. Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and beating until just combined after each.
3. Bake until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 30-40 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool; turn out cake onto rack and let cool completely. Cake can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.


4. To finish, cut cake into 2 in the middle. Spread  frosting between the layers and a thing layer on top. Refrigerate for 30min - 1 hour.


FROSTING

Any chocolate frosting will do.
I used 
*1 1/2 packs of cream cheese (room temperature)
* sugar to taste
*1/2 cup chocolate chips 

I always have my cream cheese at room temperature. It makes frosting smooth and even in textured.  I even warm it in a microwave for about 10-15 sec. 
Mix cream cheese and sugar until creamy and add melted chocolate chips. Mix well. 
My frosting on a picture turned out to be very soft because I decided to add a little bit of plane yogurt. Well, it didn't harden as much as I would like it, even after refrigerating. 
Make sure to have your chocolate cake be even on top before placing cheesecake there.



CHEESE CAKE
*3 (8-ounce) packages of cream cheese softened to room temperature
*3 eggs, room temperature
* 1 cup sugar
*1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
*1 Lemon (only zest)
* chocolate syrup in a bottle
*1 cup heavy cream room temperature

Here are some tips on how to bake a perfect cheesecake 
 NOTE: There is no crust!
NOTE: I used different size pans for my cakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake 45 min or until ready. I baked in a water bath. Wrap the bottom of a springform pan with two layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Set aside another oven-proof pan that this can sit into. You will use these as a water bath when cooking your cheesecake, so make sure the aluminum foil come up high enough to keep water out of your cheesecake.
Beat the cream cheese for a minimum of 3 minutes; add 1 cup sugar and beat this mixture until it is light and creamy. And heavy cream.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating at medium speed after each one is added. Increase the speed of the mixer to high and let this mix while you add lemon zest and vanilla to your cream mixture. Frequently scrape down the sides and the beaters so that the mixture is smooth.
Pour the mixture into the prepared spring form pan. 

Chocolate swirls

Make a lot of dots with chocolate syrup and swirl them with a toothpick  




 Pink round balls are made out of homemade fondant. To make them pink I just added some instant drink powder.  Decorated with fresh pineapple and blackberries on toothpicks.


  

HOW TO UPDATE YOUR OLD SHOES

 This is fast an easy!!!!
You will need:
*old shoes
*some fabric or recycled old clothes (I used an old skirt)
*scissors
*felt 
*hot glue
*wire
*beads.