Pink Lemonade Cake

In our house, the Birthday Boy or Birthday Girl gets to choose their cake.  This year, someone in our house is celebrating a birthday that ends in an '0' and they aren't all that happy about it.  So, when said Birthday Boy didn't choose a cake, I let Madeleine pick.  She chose a Pink Lemonade Cake from Cook's Country.

It was pretty easy to make and sugaring the lemon slices was not as messy as I had imagined (she actually did them).  Probably not the cake the Birthday Boy was envisioning, but that's what you get when you don't make up your mind!

Pink Lemonade Cake

Cake:

5 large eggs, separated

1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 teaspoons grated lemon zest plus 2 tablespoons juice (2 lemons)

Red food coloring

Frosting
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool
2 cups (8 ounces) confectioners' sugar
8 ounces cream cheese, softened, cut into 8 pieces
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Red food coloring
 

Pink Sugared Lemon Slices:
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large lemon, halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
3 tablespoons pink decorating sugar

Cake: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Using stand mixer fitted with whisk, whip egg whites and cream of tartar on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high and whip whites to soft, billowy mounds, about 1 minute. Gradually add 2 tablespoons sugar and whip until glossy, stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes.

Combine flour, remaining sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Whisk egg yolks, water, oil, lemon zest and juice, and 5 to 7 drops food coloring together in medium bowl until smooth. Whisk yolk mixture into flour mixture until smooth. Whisk one-third of whipped egg whites into batter, then gently fold in remaining whites in 2 additions until well combined. Pour mixture into ungreased 16-cup tube pan. Bake until skewer inserted in center comes out clean and cracks in cake appear dry, 55 to 65 minutes. Invert pan onto wire rack and let cake cool completely in pan, about 3 hours.

Frosting: Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter and confectioners' sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add cream cheese one piece at a time until no lumps remain. Add lemon juice, vanilla, and 3 to 4 drops food coloring, and mix until incorporated.

Lemon Slices: Combine water and granulated sugar in small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly until sugar dissolves. Add lemon slices and bring to simmer. Remove from heat and allow syrup and lemon slices to cool completely, about 1 hour. Transfer lemon slices to wire rack to drain, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle both sides of lemon slices with decorating sugar.

Unmold cake onto plate and frost top and sides in even layer. Decorate along bottom edge with sugared lemon slices and serve.

First Day of School

Oh my, second grade.  Where does the time go?  Next year the little guy gets to ride the bus with his sister.  I wonder how many years I can get away with first day of school pictures at the front door ... I am aiming for all 12!

Getting so big

Clown

Blueberry Bran Muffins

I have a kid who loves bran muffin.  Weird?  Perhaps, but I am not going to judge his food choices, particularly when they lean towards healthy. 

At some point in time, I had picked up a box of All Bran in an effort to eat healthier.  When I decided that chomping on a bowl of sticks in the morning really wasn't all that satisfying, I searched the web looking for recipes to use up the rest of the box.

I found this recipe over on allrecipes.com. and modified it slightly.  The little guy loves blueberries, so I swapped out the originally called for raisins with blueberries, either fresh or frozen.  I added a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter, and at times have subbed in either pumpkin pie or apple pie spice.  Instead of 12 muffins, I make 9, filling the cups up to the brim.  Everyone knows muffin tops are the best part of the muffin!

Blueberry Bran Muffins

1 1/2 cups All-Bran® Cereal
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 whole egg
2/3 cup brown sugar
1  teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup flour
1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

Mix together wheat bran and buttermilk; let stand for 10 minutes.

Beat together oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and add to buttermilk/bran mixture. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into buttermilk mixture, until just blended. Fold in blueberries and spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Taco Casserole

There are times when a recipe looks good on paper (or on the screen) but turns out to be a huge disappointment (disaster, failure, mistake, fiasco ... which ever you prefer).  Sometimes unfortunately, one who goes on a new recipe spree may end up with 2 or even 3 of these mishaps in a row.  You know your family is about to rebel when they look like this at the supper table:

So when we have had one too many dinner failures I turn to a surefire hit - Taco Casserole.  It has all the elements of a taco dinner in a casserole dish.

Sometime I get fancy schmancy and mix up my own taco seasoning and make homemade refried beans.  Other nights, like last night, opening cans and packages is the way to go.  I originally spied this recipe in an old Taste of Home magazine and then found it again on food.com.  I have found that you need to use thicker salsa (and I drain it) or else the dish can get watery.  We initially tried the method of placing the chips on the bottom of the casserole dish only to find that we didn't much care for the soggy chips reheated.  The kids like to use tortilla chips to scoop it up.

 

Taco Casserole

Taste of Home magazine

 

1 pound ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
1 (15 ounce) can refried beans
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups salsa
2 green onions, chopped
1 small can sliced black olives
1 tomato, chopped
Tortilla chips or corn chips

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray a square casserole dish with cooking spray.

 

Brown ground beef and drain. Add taco seasoning and cook according to package directions, adding proper amount of water (I use the juice from the salsa I drained).

Warm the refried beans on stove until hot, pull off the heat and add 1 cup cheese and the drained salsa salsa. Stir until combined.  Spread beans in a square casserole dish
 

Sprinkle the beef over the beans.  Top with the remaining cheese, green onions and black olives. Bake about 15 minutes, until the cheese is sufficiently melted and the casserole starts to bubble.  Add the tomatoes on the top and let sit for 5 minutes to set.