010: swirly cake

so today is my roommate's birthday (happy birthday, rachel!!), and of course i had to make her some cake, and an awesome cake at that. so then i remembered that her sister-in-law made this crazy wicked cake that she was mooning over, and i decided to give it a try. so here it is. we like to call it rachel and the amazing technicolor clown cake. have fun!




equipment:
1 mixing bowl
twice as many bowls as colors of food coloring that you have
twice as many spoons as colors of food coloring that you have


ingredients:
white cake recipe (i used a boxed cake recipe for a 9x13" pan *NOTE: for better colors in your dye, use the egg white recipe instead of the whole egg recipe, as it eliminates the yellow from the yolk that might mess up your dye colors*)
white frosting recipe (i used a pre-made store-bought white frosting)
food coloring


steps:
1.) mix cake batter according to recipe. separate equal amounts into as many bowls as food coloring colors that you have (i had 4 colors, thus i quartered the batter into 4 bowls).

2.) mix different color into each bowl.

3.) spoon batters into cake pan. i know this sounds weird, but i promise that it will stay put and you won't have colors running into each other to make a non-chocolate brown cake (unless you mix them together yourself). be sure that the batters cover the surface of the cake pan at an even level. if not, add a color (either the same or different, which creates an awesome layering effect) over the top of the bottom layer. be sure to use all of the batter.

4.) bake according to recipe instructions. LET COOL COMPLETELY (this is important).

5.) if you're so inclined, do the same thing with your frosting as you did with your cake batter. i put the same color frosting as was the color of batter underneath just by mixing the frosting together with the food coloring and basically frosting by numbers using the colored cake surface as my guide. the colors thus went all the way through the slices.




time: according to recipe
difficulty: 1 (1 being easiest, 5 being hardest). not hard at all, just a touch tedious.
rating: fun!! (no star scale this week, as the recipe belongs to a major cake/baked goods manufacturer and came out of a box)
suggestions for variation: try writing something in the batter, or making other sweet designs and shapes rather than just random swirlings.


enjoy!
-kl

009: cranberry apple oatmeal cookies

how about something sweet? mmm cookies!! and all things considered, they are not terrible for you. prep time is about half an hour, and bake time is 10-12 minutes each sheet. yield is 30-36 cookies.




equipment:
medium and large mixing bowls
measuring cups and spoons
cookie sheets


ingredients:
1 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
3/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 c. applesauce (i used chunky applesauce with cinnamon in it)
2 T. canola oil
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1 and 1/3 c. dried oats (dry oatmeal)
3/4 c. dried cranberries (craisins)


steps:
1.) heat oven to 350 degrees. in medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

2.) in large bowl, mix applesauce, oil, brown sugar, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. add flour mixture to this and mix well.

3.) fold in oats and craisins until well blended.

4.) drop dough onto greased cookie sheets in teaspoon sized quantities. place them 2 inches apart on the sheet. bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

5.) let cool on sheet 2 minutes, then loosen and transfer to rack.


time: 30 minutes prep time, 10-12 minutes bake time
difficulty: 2 (1 being easiest, 5 being hardest)
rating: ♦♦♦♦◊ (4 stars out of 5)


enjoy!
-kl

008: jalepeño cheddar bread

yay more bread! prep time is about half an hour, and bake time is 45 minutes.




equipment:
medium and large mixing bowls
measuring cups and spoons
3 small loaf pans


ingredients:
2 and 1/2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1 and 1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1 c. cheddar cheese
1/2 c. cubed red onion
2 T. parsley
3/4 t. cilantro
1/2 t. crushed red pepper
1/2 t. black pepper
1/3 c. chopped jalepeñons (2)
2 T. olive oil
2 T. shortening
2 T. sugar
2 cloves minced garlic
2 beaten eggs
3/4 c. plain yogurt
3/4 c. milk


steps:
1.) preheat oven to 350 degrees. fold together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, onion, herbs and jalepeños (if you've never worked with jalepeños before, check out my tips for handling them).

2.) in separate bowl, whisk together oil, shortening, and sugar until smooth. add garlic, eggs, yogurt, and milk. blend until combined well.

3.) add wet ingredients to dry and pour into greased loaf pans.

4.) bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.


time: 30 minuets prep, 45 minutes bake
difficulty: 2 (1 being easiest, 5 being hardest)
rating: ♦♦♦♦◊ (4 out of 5 stars)

enjoy!
-kl

007: banana streusel muffins

basically, i love muffins, and i had some overripe bananas, so what did i decide to do? make banana muffins out of them :o) prep time was about half an hour, and bake time is about 25 minutes.




equipment:
medium and large bowls
measuring cups and spoons
muffin tin


ingredients:
2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
2 t. cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 c. sour cream
1/4 c. plain yogurt
1/4 c. applesauce
1/4 c. melted margarine
2 mashed bananas (about 1 and 1/2 c.)
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
2 T. margarine


steps:
1.) combine all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon) in a large mixing bowl.

2.) in separate (medium sized) bowl, mash bananas, then add other wet ingredients (beaten eggs, sour cream, yogurt, applesauce, and melted margarine).

3.) add wet ingredients to dry, and fill into greased muffin tin(s) about 3/4 full. yield will be somewhere between 12 and 18 muffins, depending on the size of the bananas.

4.) make streusel topping by creaming together 1/4 c. sugar, 1/2 t. cinnamon, and 2 T. margarine. sprinkle over top of the muffins.

5.) bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.


time: 30 minutes prep time, 25 minutes bake time
difficulty: 2 (1 being easiest, 5 being hardest)
rating: ♦♦♦♦1/2◊ (4.5 out of 5 stars)
suggestions for variation: mine came out pretty sticky. not sure how this can be avoided, but i would NOT recommend using paper liners. simply grease the bottom of the muffin tin.