Happy 4th of July!!!

My fondest 4th of July memories include eating ice cream or a popsicle while waiting for the the annual parade on Grand Island, NY and growing up in San Francisco and shooting off fireworks at the elementary school playground down the street from my house. No matter what, fireworks of some sort are a MUST!

And if you know anything about San Francisco, you know that actually getting to see the fireworks is a feat in itself and is only allowed if the fog feels like being nice and decides to hold off for a little while.

These days, my child doesn't get that excited about fireworks and we would have to drive somewhere to see them where we live now, so we have had small 4th of July gatherings the past couple of years. The main event...sparklers and my Patriotic Red Velvet Cake!

This cake is PERFECT!!! I make it as a simple red velvet sheet cake, top it with a cream cheese frosting and decorate with strawberries and blueberries. It's super easy, super yummy and a definite crowd pleaser!

Happy 4th!!! Enjoy the day and remember to honor the reason we celebrate this day!

Patriotic Red Velvet Cake

It's that time again! Time for my decked out red velvet sheet cake! It's delicious if I do say so myself!!! I make this every year for the 4th of July. Here is this years cake, recipe below.

INGREDIENTS
Yields 12 servings

2 cups sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 ounces red food coloring
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe to follow
2 dozen Strawberries, halved
1 lb Blueberries

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Whisk the cocoa powder, cake flour, baking soda, and baking powder together, set bowl aside.
3. In a separate bowl, cream the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix well then add the dry mixture.
4. Mix until smooth then add the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and food coloring. Continue beating until well combined.
5. Pour batter into well greased sheet cake pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
6. Cool pan on wire rack. When completely cool, add the Cream Cheese Frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8oz package cream cheese
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 box confectioners' sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter together in a bowl. Add sugar and blend well. Spread on top of cooled cake. Add strawberries and blueberries in whatever pattern you like. Remember to thoroughly wash and dry your fruit before adding to cake.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

~ENJOY!~

Prankster Wankster

I loved telling jokes and doing pranks as a child but I can't really think of an ultimate prank that I pulled. I was an only child, raised by a single mother, which didn't leave me with a large audience to prank! What I do remember fondly is all of the cool prankster toys and gadgets that we had growing up in the 80's.



We had cigarette bubble gum, gum that tasted like dirt, can of farts, gum packs that would shock you, green slime, fake blood...the options were endless! I thankfully have never had the horror of biting into gum that tastes like dirt but I have definitely given out a few of those packs. I know, I'm naughty.

I think food pranks are the easiest to pull off because no one really expects to bite into something that looks normal and be knocked out by whatever ridiculousness is lurking inside. That's why I think I'll plan a nice little prank for the hubs. The guise? BACON! Bacon-themed items seem to be all the rage right now and just my luck, what did I come across?!?!?!? Bacon Frosting!!!

Just imagine his face when I present him with this beauty!

I'll have to tell you when I successfully pull this off. SHHHHH...don't tell him! Happy Pranking!!!

Pear Reisling Pound Cake

OK so I had this FABULOUS idea to do a Pear Reisling Pound Cake based off of a recipe I saw for poached pears and a cardamom whipped cream! It sounded simply divine and why would I not want to treat myself to such a treat?!?!? But why stop at just a yummy dessert? Why not throw said yummy dessert into a pound cake?!?!?! Even better!

The verdict...YUMMY!!! But in my most humble and honest opinion I do think my first draft was a bit too sweet and I need to rethink how I make it. For starters, I poached the pears in Reisling and 2 cups of sugar for about 30 minutes...or was it three cups? Maybe I shouldn't drink the Reisling as I'm baking. I then combined the cardamom whipped cream, pears with some of the Reisling liquid that had been reduced to a syrup and pureed them all together.

Are you licking your lips yet? I know I was!

What I neglected to consider was that all that sugary goodness from...well the sugar mainly (tee hee) and the wine would slightly carmelize the outside of the pound cake. So besides some sticking issues, despite my very well greased pan, the outside of the cake was slightly chewy and again, in my opinion, just a little too sweet. Ask my husband, who thinks its OK to put sugar on Frosted Flakes, and he'll say it was not too sweet.

So we will have to do another test cake! YAYYYY!!! I enjoy yummy mishaps and if sweet and chewy are my downfalls on this one, I'll take it for now!

Taste wise, the cake did have a very pleasant pear and cardamom taste and of course was SUPER moist! We just need to consider reducing the sugar. Next cake I think will be more pear-y and cardamom-y and I'll use the Riesling poaching liquid as the glaze!!! Oh yum, I can taste it already!!!

I'll be sure to post my the redo! Until then...KEEP YUMMY ALIVE!