Baby Shower

Final shower cake

Its a strange feeling for me that my little sister is going to be a mama in a few short weeks.  I am pretty excited to meet the little guy though.  Now every time I am at the store, I wander through the baby section to see if there is anything that looks cute.  I think about my aunts and how involved they were and still are in my life and how I am looking forward to being part of his life.

Just getting started

Speaking of aunts, my aunt and I threw a baby shower for my sis this past weekend.  I made the cake for the event using bold colors because Em dislikes pastels and airplanes because that is how she is decorating her baby room.  This was my first tiered cake and my first time working with fondant.  I do not know what possess me to try new things with cake when I have twenty people coming over to see it , but I do.  I had originally planned to make a fondant bow on top of the cake, but that was not meant to be.  It collapsed on me overnight so I had to pull it off and do some quick repairs.

Pretty  bow that wasn't meant to be

Overall it worked out all right.  In the future I think that I need to make the cake from scratch to better support the top tier.  I used Funfetti box mix because that is my sister's favorite, but it was a little weak.  I used the recommendation from Rose Levy Beranbaum to use straws instead of dowels.  This system worked great.  The straws were easy to cut to length and supported the cake just fine.  Also, I already had them in my cabinet which is even better!

Some Fun Things

• A blog dedicated to crazy sandwiches...mmmm
• The chicken or the egg?
• A new meaning to food science
• Crafty meat

Fruit Salsa

I made this fruit salsa as a dish for my little sister's baby shower last weekend.  It was a light and refreshing; an interesting alternative to your typical fruit salad.  I chose it because it was easy and I had already abused myself by making the cake.  A dish made in the food processor was exactly what I needed.  It was a total hit.

Fruit Salsa adapted from Pampered Chef
4 Granny Smith Apples
4 kiwi
1 Orange
1 pint of Strawberries
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons apricot preserves

Take the apples for a spin in the food processor until they are chopped into small pieces but not applesauce.  Pour into a bowl.  Put the kiwi and strawberries into the food processor and pulse until they are in small pieces.  Pour on top of the apples.  Zest the orange on top of the apple, strawberry, kiwi mixture.  Juice the orange and put into a bowl.  Add the brown sugar and preserves.  Mix together and pour over the fruit mixture.  Stir to combine.  Serve with cinnamon chips, tiny sugar cookies, or just eat it right out of the bowl.

Wordless Wednesday

Busy Busy

Its been a busy couple of weeks.  Will post soon with July's Daring Baker's Challenge.

Wordless Wednesday

Walnut and Blue Cheese Sourdough

So a little while ago, I tried my hand at another batch of sourdough bread. Since I already had the barm, I was able to simply refresh it for a few days and then Saturday morning I was on my way. This bread has a starter that takes four hours to make. I again chose to spike the final dough with a tsp of yeast in order to have a simple 60-90 minute fermentation time. This time, however, I decided to try one of the variations that Peter Reinhart suggests and incorporate walnuts and blue cheese into the dough. The dough is very stiff to knead. I initially put it in my Kitchen Aid mixer and then after listening to it struggle, I pulled the dough out to knead by hand. It took a lot of kneading to become a smooth and elastic dough that passed the window pane test.

The final bread was fantastic. The blue cheese was a subtle overtone and the walnuts provided crunch as well as a crimson ribbon running through the bread. I did not know that the walnut oil turned the dough red until now. Because of the stronger flavor (both the sour flavor and the blue cheese) this bread makes a fantastic appetizer bread that pairs easily with wine. I also found some artichoke antipasto at Trader Joe's that is absolutely wonderful spread on the bread.