PERFECT Basic Yellow cake

 Matt made the perfect yellow cake today after church. He made it into two desserts- yellow cake with chocolate icing and Peach Rhubarb upside down cake. That was dinner! Yum!!! It was perfect on a chilly, Alaskan summer day.

Basic Yellow Cake

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (do not sift the flour)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
Vegetable oil
1 stick butter (not margarine), softened
1-tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350°
Cut wax paper to fit the bottom of (3) 9 x 1 1/2-inch round pans. Spray the pans with cooking spray, place the wax paper in the pans and spray the paper.
In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, mixing well.
Measure the 1-1/4 cups of milk in a 2 cup measuring cup….then add enough vegetable oil to bring the liquid up to 1-1/3 cups.
Add the milk/vegetable oil mixture, butter and vanilla to the flour mixture and beat with an electric mixer on medium to medium-high speed for 2 minutes, scraping sides of bowl as needed.
Add the eggs and continue beating an additional 2 minutes. Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted near center of cake comes out clean, or until cake springs back when touched lightly in the center.Cool cakes on wire racks for 15 minutes; remove from pans and cool completely.Frost as desired.

And if you want here is the chocolate icing recipe:

Cooked Chocolate Frosting

Mix together in a large microwave save bowl:
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cornstarch; packed
7 tablespoons cocoa
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 teaspoon salt

Stir in with a wire wisk :
1-1/2 cups boiling water

Cook in microwave on high at 1 minute intervals stirring well after each with the wire whisk. As mixture begins to thicken cook at 30 second interval until the mixture is very thick.

Then stir in 6 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of vanilla; stirring until the butter is melted; cool to frosting consistency and frost cake.

If you prefer to cook it on the stove just stir the boiling water into the dry ingredients and cook over medium heat stirring constantly until thick and bubbly; remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/15071/easy-scratch-basic-yellow-cake

Flavor Explosion Sandwich

I don't know what else to call this one. It was really different. Every bite tasted like something else. I worried about the fruit in it but it really went well with everything else!

Flavor Explosion Sandwich
Brie and Havarti cheeses
Cucumber ranch
Cucumber, thin slices
Pecans, chopped
lettuce
strawberries, sliced
raspberries
Your choice of bread

Just layer it all and enjoy!

A Valentines Tart

Last year we decided that we would make special desserts for each other for Valentines day in place of flowers or chocolate or going out. This year we decided that Matt would make dinner and I would do dessert- because we are both really good at those things.
Well, Matt is still in the kitchen cooking- he has been most of the day, but my tart is done and I just had to share it here!


Valentines Fruit Tart

Custard:

• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a heavy saucepan, stir together the milk and 1/4 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and egg. Stir together the remaining sugar and cornstarch; then stir them into the egg until smooth. When the milk comes to a boil, drizzle it into the bowl in a thin stream while mixing so that you do not cook the eggs. Return the mixture to the saucepan, and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly so the eggs don' t curdle or scorch on the bottom.
3. When the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla, mixing until the butter is completely blended in. Pour into a heat-proof container and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled before using.

SWEET TART DOUGH

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (4 1/2 ounces) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 large egg yolk

To make the dough: Put the flour, confectioners’ sugar and salt in the workbowl of a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is cut in coarsely – you’ll have pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and pea-size pieces and that’s just fine. Stir the egg, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses – about 10 seconds each – until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Just before your reaches this clumpy stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change – heads up. Turn the dough out onto a work surface.

Very lightly and sparingly – make that very, very lightly and sparingly – knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

Press the dough into a tart pan.

To bake the crust: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil tightly against the crust. Bake the crust 25 minutes, then carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon. Bake for another 3 to 5 minutes, then transfer the crust to a cooling rack; keep it in its pan.

When crust and custard are completely cooled spoon the custard into the crust and then top with fruit.

Yogurt dip w/ fruit

Blog surfing yesterday I found a recipe for fruit dip that sounded amazing. The lady talked about how it was true heaven and I knew I had to try it. For the life of me I can't remember where I got the recipe from because when I say I was blog surfing I was literally all over the place. So here is the recipe and it is really good. I tried it with strawberries and a banana, but would love to try it with blueberries.
Disclaimer: In no way, shape, or form is this meant to be a healthy recipe. Be aware that consumption may cause roadblocks to your healthy living habits!

Yogurt Dip for fruit
1 1/4 C heavy cream
1 1/2 C plain yogurt
1/2 C brown sugar

Whisk together the cream and yogurt until smooth. Sprinkle the brown sugar on top and DO NOT stir. Cover and place in the fridge for about an hour, allowing the brown sugar to soak into the cream mixture. Once it is done it will look really gross, like it is clumpy, don't freak! Just stir until smooth again and serve with your choice of fruit! It is super yummy!