I surprised K with a fancy cake that had absolutely no chocolate in it. I made it kind of on a whim. I was in the mood for a strawberry cake, and this cake basically tastes like strawberry shortcake. Besides wanting to enjoy the strawberries, I also wanted to try out some meringue powder I had bought. I ended up only using about 4 egg whites, and the rest of the egg whites in the buttercream came from the meringue powder.
The first recipe I made in my new kitchen was this one. We ate out the first evening because let’s face it…a day of moving does not make you want to cook. Just sleep. So, we had a nice quiet late dinner at a local restaurant. Then, in the morning, I wanted to make something special for breakfast and break in the kitchen. Well, why make something I’ve made before when I can try something new? It all went well until I finished taking pictures of the pancake in the skillet. Then, I went to grab the handle without a potholder. Sigh. So, first day, first recipe…a burn. I toughed it out even though it was quite painful. It’s part of the reason I don’t have more pictures of the completed pancake (searing pain will do that).
If you stopped by on Wednesday, you saw a recipe for strawberry sorbet, but you also had a teaser for this recipe. This was for the same friend. Basically, while I was grocery shopping I saw a really cool looking fruit. I went to check it out and discovered that it was a blood orange. I had never tried one before, but knew all of the bloggers go nutty for them, so I decided to buy a few and try them out. They were really small (probably because they were organic) but I was worried how they would be, so I decided to only buy 4. It popped into my head that I could turn them into a granita. In fact, I felt certain that David Lebovitz could help me out.
It has such a lovely color!
Blood Orange Juice
A friend was having a special (30th birthday) and I wanted to make him a special treat. He is a non-chocolate lover (I guess it takes all kinds in this world! haha), but loves fruit, so I wanted to make him some sorbet. After searching my blog, I realized I had never included my berry sorbet recipe! Shocker! I have strawberry lemonade, which is also good, but not straight sorbet (which I have made often). Like all of my frozen ice cream/sorbet recipes, it has a bit of alcohol to keep it softer, but not enough for you to really notice or be bothered. You can add a bit more, and I will sometimes use flavored alcohol to coordinate with the flavors of the dessert. (Coconut rum with mango sorbet, for example.)
If you’re wondering where the recipe is for the granita….wait for it. It’s coming!
If you are female, have female friends, or are married to a female, this is a cake you should learn to make. Apparently at work, a few of us are all in sync and magically I get a baking urge for chocolate at just the right time each month. They love it, and this cake was the perfect solution for all of us. I made some people very happy that day, which is always a great feeling. And, it was even impressive enough for a guest for dinner. Oh, and if you’re not a girl, it’s still pretty delicious. So, don’t worry…and try to be okay with using 6 eggs. It really is worth it.
Often, I will make a recipe and then think about what else I could do with it. Sometimes I already change recipes, but sometimes I hold out and make it as is first, then mix it up later. Most of these iterations I try to mention in my posts on here (partly so I remember weeks/months/years later), but sometimes I wait and make the variations later. Take the two recipes in the title. I made those recipes weeks before making them again recently. The oat cookies only appear recent because I saved recipes up from before we moved so that I would still have posts here (we definitely ate out a bit during the move and transition, and then there was a visit back home). When we came back from our brief vacation, I ended up wanting to make something simple, so the cookie dough had a couple twists (but nothing to warrant a new post). Then we were having a guest over for dinner (first time in the new place!) and I wanted to jazz up the meal I had planned (the spicy spaghetti). After making both, I was so pleased with them that I wanted to share them with you. Hopefully you will enjoy them as much as I did!
It was time to make my dad another monthly dessert, but I had only recently moved, so I needed it to be simple. This recipe allowed me to test out the new kitchen some more, so it was fun! I have made scones many times, and many varieties, but apparently I had only shared a couple on here (chocolate chip and cinnamon). This version is basically like the chocolate chip. You can use milk, cream, or buttermilk with this recipe and get good results, although each will be a bit different. I like buttermilk when I want a fluffier texture. The dough tends to be extra sticky, so when you pat it out, I recommend just making one disc and not two (although in the recipe I say you can do either).
