Buttermilk Biscuits

Week 47

This week was Betsy's turn to host. She choose Buttermilk Biscuits. Recipe on page 29 of our book.

They may look a little deformed but don't let that deceive you. :)They were still good, with a crispy shell and a soft middle that fell apart. I am sure you wondering why the shape didn't turn out as planned by the book, or maybe your not because you don't own the book. Anyways...

It's been a really crazy week here trying to keep on top of things with any extra baby around. On Tuesday night I realized that my baking needed to get done. Cozy was being the great little helper she is, wanting to pour and stir all the ingredients. While cooking dinner, feeding the baby, and trying to keep everyone happy I miss read the amount of milk that was to be added. I added 1 1/2 cups instead on 1 1/4 cups.

As you can see kneading my dough wasn't working very well. What a mess! Oh, and by the way, that is homemade granola in the background. Added to my list of things that I was doing at the same time. 

It is the best granola ever! It's all my Mom made growing up. We ate it on top of yogurt.

I really couldn't throw away all those ingredients mixed together. Plus my husband had a taste of the dough and insisted I bake them anyway, so this was my solution. It worked really well other then my counter was a sticky mess.

Hot out of the oven with your choose of butter and jam or butter and honey. My kids have been eating them for every meal today. 

Click HERE for the recipe.

A Tip & A Question:

1. Always double check your ingredients.
2. N/A

Sweet Potato Pie

Week 46

This week it was Talesha. She choose Sweet Potato Pie. Recipe on page 380 of our book.

I am sad to say that this is a pass week for me. Being in-charge of Thanksgiving dinner took up all my baking/cooking energy. Although, I did bake three recipes from our book. Some were my husband's request. 

Lunch Box Brownies for the kids, Dutch Apple Pie, and Pumpkin Cheese Cake. All turned out wonderful! In fact the Dutch Apple Pie was the best apple pie I have ever had. It could easily be eaten with no ice cream or whip cream which are usually a must for fruit pie.

I hope to try the Sweet Potato Pie in the future. I heard from my neighbor's family that it was kinda like a pumpkin pie. :) If you are interested in giving this recipe a try click HERE.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

Week 45

This week it was Amanda's turn to host. She choose Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake. Recipe on page 311 of our book.

First, I have to apologize for my late post this week. I kinda forgot about baking this week. Don't ask me how, but I was planning on making the cheese cake for a party on Saturday night. On Tuesday realized that the cheese cake was due the next day so that idea bombed. I decided to serve it to my guests on Wednesday night which left no time to do my blog because we were up late playing games.

WE LOVE GAMES! :)

How could you not be excited about this recipe. Our baking book has done an absolutely amazing job putting together pumpkin baked recipes. Every one that we have made so far has been delicious, so the cheesecake should be just as good. That is if the baker (me) does things right.

Oh, yes, I did a great job! Did you know that when I was a kid any baking with pumpkin in it was not something I would ever bite into. Kids have so much to learn...as I did.:) The cheese cake was perfectly smooth and creamy with just the right amount of spices. The crust was yummy but became a bit soggy from the cheese cake. I am not sure how to avoid that but think it would taste better with a bit more crunch from the crust. Whip cream to top it all off! Just as you would do for a pie.

Can't say that I have ever heard of this technique before. It was a good idea to suck the moisture out of the pumpkin using paper towels and a cookie sheet. No one likes runny cheese cake. The only thing was the pumpkin had endless moisture. You can see this by my many layers of paper towels in the picture above.

As I was beating all the ingredients together a helper appeared the in kitchen.

Cheese Cake, Cheese Cake, Cheese Cake!!! 

&

Games!!!

Our guests really enjoyed it and I sent half of it to work with my husband hoping that his employees would enjoy it as much. Thanks Amanda for hosting. Please click HERE if your a cheese cake lover. If your not it is still worth it.

A Tip & A Question:

1. I think the book said them all.
2. How do you keep the graham cracker crust crunchy?

Red Velvet Layer Cake

Week 44

This weeks host was Janet. She choose Red Velvet Layer Cake. Recipe on page 291 of our book. I choose the cream cheese icing. Recipe on page 510 of our book.

I waited until Wednesday to bake my cake only because my husband had a meeting tonight and I thought it would be great to send the cake with him for everyone to eat. The only thing was I had to wait till he came home to eat a piece. :( 

As I was reading through the recipe it stumped me to find out that Red Velvet cake is nothing more then a mild chocolate cake with red food coloring. REALLY!!? Something so sophisticated as "Red Velvet" is just plain old food coloring. I can't lie it was a little disappointing. None the less I was still gonna bake it.

The recipe went fairly smoothly. When it came time to mix the food coloring in with the cocoa I used every last drop in the house. Didn't realize the recipe called for two tablespoons of food coloring. HOLY CRAP! Anyway it was half of the runny stuff and half of the pasty, in a tub, stuff. I was just shy of two tablespoons but didn't think that would make a difference. Although, I think the pasty food coloring made my mixture a little dry...

I ended up adding a touch of water to clean it out while adding it to the rest of the cake mixture. It ended up making no difference in taste or look after it was baked but...

it did give the batter a few lumps. I am assuming it was because my food coloring/cocoa paste was a bit to thick to combine smoothly into the cake batter.

The cake was cut and served tonight. Everybody loved it! My husband was barely able to keep a piece for me. Lucky me I just finished it. I enjoyed it more then expected. The cream cheese icing gave it a nice flavor and the cake itself was moist, fluffy, yet simple in taste.

If your interested in this elegant but not so elegant cake click HERE.

A Tip & A Question:

Easy cake decorating: take a small spoon and press into icing, turn spoon while lifting up.

1. Salad bowl spinner works well to cover your cake if a cake platter and lid or not available.
2.  Why do all the recipes want the eggs, etc. at room temperature before mixing together.