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Friday, June 3, 2011

Chocolate Chip Chiffon Cake


I have requested a Chocolate Chip Chiffon Cake for my birthday for the last two years. It is light-er like an Angel Food Cake but has some chocolate sprinkles and frosting. It is great any time of the year, but I must be honest, this cake needs a commitment. The recipe is in my Mom’s old Betty Croker cookbook. There are specific steps and it is imperative that you follow the directions. If you do and allow some time, you will achieve success!
First, you must separate the egg yolks from the whites. You can use an egg separator, or you can use the egg shell to separate the egg from the yolk. No matter the method, there is a risk that the yolk will get into the whites, so always do this over two separate bowls and place the yolk and white into their respective larger bowls after each separation.
Basically, you crack the egg as evenly as possible and move the yolk from one side of the cracked egg to the other, letting the whites drop into a bowl. Once you have removed as much of the white from the yolk, place the yolk in a separate bowl and repeat until you've separated all of the eggs.



Beat the egg yolks in a mixer until they are thick and lemon colored.

Add the rest of the ingredients except the egg whites and cream of tarter. Mix until smooth.
In a different bowl (preferably a glass or metal bowl, not a plastic bowl), beat egg whites and cream of tartar until very stiff peaks form.


You can tell there are not stiff peaks in the picture above.


But keep beating, and see the peaks here?
Gradually pour the egg yolk mixture over beaten whites, gently folding just until blended.

Gently fold in 3 oz. of sweet chocolate, shaved (hint: we use chocolate sprinkles – it is much faster and easier!).
Pour into an UNGREASED tub pan (10x4 inches.)



It is important that you bake this until it is brown on top and springs back when touched. If it is not fully cooked it will fall out of the pan!
Turn the pan upside down. (My mom uses a small bottle from her refrigerator like a soy sauce bottle). Let cool.
Once cool, run your knife along the outside of the pan and around the center tube.


Flip out onto a cake plate and run your knife across the pan to remove the pan from the cake.


See how well the cake comes out. There is only a small bit of cake left in the pan which is a great treat for the baker J
Top with the glaze and enjoy!!!
Chocolate Chip Chiffon Cake
2 c. flour                                                                              
1 ¾ c. sugar
3 t. baking powder                                                         
1 t. salt
½ c. oil                                                                                  
7 egg yolks
¾ c. cold water                                                 
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. egg whites
½ t. cream of tartar                                                        
Beat egg yolks alone until thick and lemon colored.  Add rest of ingredients except egg whites &  cream of tartar.  Mix until smooth.  Measure egg whites & cream of tartar into large metal or glass bowl.  Beat until whites form very stiff peaks.  Gradually pour egg yolk mixture over beaten whites, gently folding JUST until blended.  Gently fold in 3 oz. of sweet chocolate that has been shaved (or use 1 – 2 bottles of chocolate sprinkles) into the batter.  Pour into UNGREASED tube pan 10 X 4 inches.  Bake about 75 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly with finger.  Invert tube pan on funnel; let hang until cake is completely cool. 
Frost with Chocolate Glaze:
Melt 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate & 3 T. butter over low heat.  Remove from heat; stir in 1 c. powder sugar & ¾ t. vanilla.  Mix in about 2 T. HOT water, 1 t. at a time, until glaze is of proper consistency.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Freshly Squeezed Lemonade


Last weekend I made some Lemonade with my Mom. She makes great lemonade and this time she found lemons that were HUGE so we only needed about 5 lemons to make almost 2 gallons of lemonade!

While you can use an expensive contraption, my Mom gets all of the juice and pulp out of the lemons using this orange tool that takes up a lot less space.


I rolled the lemons between the palm of my hand and the counter to help them juice. Then, I cut them in half and placed it on the orange juicer in the picture above. Then, you work the lemons around the juicer to get all of the juice and pulp out of the lemon. See that the lemon looks hallow and all of the juice in the bowl?

Once all of the lemons were juiced we added 1 c. of lemon juice and water to fill the container. Then, we added sugar to taste. Start with 1 c. sugar in 2 gallons of liquid and add more as necessary until you reach the desired consistency.

The lemonade is great on its own, but my Dad also makes the best Margaritas out of it! You can look for that recipe in a different post. :)

Rhubarb

I got som Rhubarb from my Mom and Dad's Rhubarb plants. They have a generous amount of rhubarb, so all of us get our fill! Rhubarb is a vegetable and grows in hills.

You pick it by bending down and pulling the vegetable out of the ground at the base of the plant. It comes free easily. You can see that it is the size of celery and has leafy greans on the top. The leafy greans can be discarded.

Once the tops are removed, soak the rhubarb in a sink of cold water. Run your hands along the vegetable and remove any dirt or slimy reside that is natural on Rhubarb.
You can see that I am wearing kitchen gloves as a large amount of Rhubarb can stain your fingers.


You will want to remove the tags at the base of the vegetable. You can see them above on the right side of the photo.


Also, remove any bruise or brown spots by cutting that piece out.


Once cleaned and drained, I cut the rhubarb into small pieces and store it in the refridgerator for at least one week.

You can also freeze it. I freeze the rhubarb in 4 c. increments as that is the common amount used in recipes.

One of my family's favorite way to eat rhubarb is to place the sliced pieces in a microwave safe bowl. We microwave the rhubarb until it is smooth like rhubarb and then add sugar to taste. It's a great treat!