the flag cake

The perfect cake for 4th of July, no other worded needed. 

Flag Cake

from The Barefoot Contessa

18 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups sugar

6 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup sour cream, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Icing: Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
from Allrecipes.com

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar (may substitue with 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour an 18 x 12 x 1 1/2 - inch sheet pan. 
2. Cream butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add eggs, 2 at a time, then add sour cream, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth
3. Stir together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture until just combined. Pour into prepared pan. Smooth top with spatula. Baking for 20-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature. 
4. Icing: For best results, chill bowl and beaters prior to beating whipping cream. In a small bowl, with electric mixer beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in whipped cream. Chill in refrigerator until use. 
5. Assembly: Spread three-fourths of the icing over the cooled sheet cake. Outline the flag on the top of the cake with a toothpick. Fill the upper left corner with blueberries. Put remaining icing in a pastry bag (or ziplock bag) fitted with a star tip. Alternate rows of raspberries and icing until flag is completed. Pipe stars in on the blueberries. 

Cookie Wednesday

Everyone can use a bit of a pick-me-up to get over the hump and sail into the weekend! I brought these big, soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies to work... It may need to become a routine thing now :). 

Some tips and tricks to the perfect chocolate chip cookie:

-Adding a teaspoon of cream of tartar provides that lovely cracked surface look on your cookie 

-Use an ice cream scoop to form similar sized cookies

-Most importantly, to get a soft, chewy cookie (rather than a hard, crumbly one), do not overbake! Bake until the edges are just browned and remove from oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool once cookies are just solid enough to remove from baking pan. 

Who Doesn't Love Strawberry Ice Cream?

We have a full house this summer, with two of my cousins visiting and staying with us. One of my cousins adores strawberry ice cream. I modified a raspberry ice cream recipe to create strawberry ice cream. There really is no comparison to the store-bought variety (as good as Tillamook ice cream is!). The fragrance of strawberries fills the air as you church your ice cream. And every bite is absolutely strawberry-y. None of the fake strawberry powder used here!

Strawberry Ice Cream 
modified from The Perfect Scoop

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups strawberry puree (about 2 lbs fresh strawberries)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

1. Warm whole milk and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Scrape continuously to prevent sugar from burning. 
2. In a separate bowl, beat together egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, stirring constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks into the saucepan. Cook mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula and scraping the bottom as you stir, until mixture thickens and coats spatula. 
3. Pour heavy cream into a large bowl and stir the custard into the heavy cream. Mix in the strawberry puree and lemon juice, then cool the bowl over an ice bath. Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator, then churn following the instructions of your ice cream maker. 

Homemade Green Tea Ice Cream

I tried my hand at ice cream making (again) this week for my mom's birthday. I've had my Cuisinart ice cream maker for almost a year now, but I had yet to produce really, really good ice cream that could rival the store-bought variety. The first few times, I was disappointed because my ice cream never quite firmed up and was more of a frozen yogurt consistency.

This time, I pulled out all the stops to achieve really good homemade ice cream (and justify my ice cream maker purchase)! I followed the Green Tea Ice Cream recipe from The Perfect Scoop, which is the most highly reviewed ice cream making book I could find. My freezer bowl was placed in the coldest corner of my freezer for months awaiting the day of its use - this is excessive, but I would highly recommend keeping your freezer bowl in your freezer at all times... because you never know when you may suddenly crave some ice cream! I chilled all of my ingredients, went out and bought whole milk rather than use the 2% variety I had on hand, and dished out for some real green tea powder (available at Uwajimaya). 

The result was stunningly, delicious ice cream than beats out Dreyers, Breyers, Tillamook, and even Haagen-Dazs! Rich, creamy, and full of green tea fragrance in every lick! 

Ice Cream Maker: http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-30BC-Indulgence-2-Quart-Automatic/dp/B0006ONQOC

Ice Cream Making Book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Perfect-Scoop-Granitas-Accompaniments/dp/158008219X/ref=pd_sim_k_3/185-0027444-8215476

Green Tea Ice Cream (from The Perfect Scoop)

makes about 1 quart

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 cups heavy cream
4 teaspoons matcha (green tea powder)
6 large egg yolks

Directions:

1. Warm milk, sugar, and salt in medium saucepan. Pour cream into a bowl and whisk in green tea powder, set mesh strainer on top. 
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg yolks. Slowly pour warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg mixture back into sauce pan. Stir mixture over medium heat with heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until mixture thickens and coats the spatula. 
3. Pour custard through strainer and stir into cream, whisk vigorously until custard is frothy to dissolve green tea powder. Stir until cool over an ice bath.
4. Chill mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I made these beauties for Ann's bridal shower earlier this month. The cupcakes were an absolute hit! I'm not exaggerating - even those who usually shy away from cupcakes asked for a second helping! I made an assortment of cupcakes from scratch - red velvet, lemon, and cherry almond.

The most versatile and crowd favorite (if pressed to choose) would probably be the red velvet cupcake. This red velvet cupcake is an extremely moist cupcake; I pored over the 700+ reviews on this Allrecipes recipe and incorporated the most common recommendations. Then I made a whipped cream cheese frosting, piped it on top with a fancy frosting tip, and topped with sprinkles! Please don't cut corners and buy the canned frosting... I promise that the attached frosting recipe is easy and tastes much, much better!


Red Velvet Cupcakes (modified from Allrecipes.com)
makes 30 cupcakes

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 ounce red food coloring
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Set aside. 
2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, buttermilk, vinegar, food color, and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture until just blended. Do not overbeat! Spoon batter into 30 paper-lined muffin tins, filling each cup about 2/3 full. 
3. Bake for 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely, then frost with desired frosting. 

Tip: If you're like me, you don't want to go out and buy buttermilk just for this recipe. Make your own! Place 1 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice in a measuring cup, then add milk until the 1/2 cup mark. Let it thicken at room temperature for about 10 minutes prior to using.


Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting (from Allrecipes.com)

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar (may substitue with 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. For best results, chill bowl and beaters prior to beating whipping cream. In a small bowl, with electric mixer beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside. (Test for stiff peaks: stop mixer, lift beaters out of the cream, and peaks should keep their shape or stand pertly.)
2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in whipped cream. Chill in refrigerator until use. 

Tip: If frosting is too soft or runny, may try adding a packet of unflavored gelatin to stiffen the frosting. 

Three Cup Chicken

Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken (San Bei Ji) 

About 2 pounds chicken wings, separated at wing and tip joints
1 ginger root, sliced
1/3 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup cooking wine
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce (or use 1/4 cup soy sauce and 1/4 cup water)
3 to 4 chunks of rock sugar (or use 3 to 4 tablespoons of brown sugar)
About 1 1/2 cup basil leaves, rinsed

Directions:

1. Heat sesame oil in a large cooking pan. Once hot, saute sliced ginger until aromatic. Add in chicken pieces and cook until slightly browned on all sides. 
2. Add cooking wine, soy sauce, and rock sugar to pan, then cook on medium heat with pan covered for about 20 to 30 minutes. Gently turn chicken pieces over every 10 minutes. Taste sauce at this point, and add more soy sauce, sugar, or water based on taste. 
3. Add basil leaves to chicken, and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve. 

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

These cookies are absolutely delish! Soft, melt-in-your-mouth cookie base with an added punch with the addition of a peanut butter cup in the middle. I couldn't resist... this morning I had to have one for breakfast!


Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
40 mini peanut butter cups

Directions:

1. To unwrap peanut butter cups in the least messy way possible: freeze the peanut butter cups prior to unwrapping. Then, keep the unwrapped peanut butter cups in the freezer or fridge until just about to use them. 
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 
3. Combine butter, white sugar, peanut butter, and brown sugar in a large bowl. Beat in egg, vanilla extract, and milk. Then add in flour, salt, and baking soda, and mix well. (Optional: Refrigerating the dough makes the dough easier to shape during the next step.) 
4. Shape into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased baking sheets or mini muffin tins. 
5. Bake for about 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie. Cool and serve.