Buttercream Frosting for the Win

Have you ever made frosting?  I'm embarrassed to say it, but I have been trying for years!  But now I know that I had been trying to make the wrong kind of frosting.  Since my mantra is Simple Is Best, I had shied away from any kind of frosting that seemed fussy, and in doing so, missed out on the most surprisingly simple yet wonderful tasting thing.

Buttercream.

My cousin slathered heavenly buttercream on our wedding cakes a year ago, and I thought there was no way to compete.  It was so decadent, I was convinced it was most likely the most complicated thing in the world.  Even when she told me the ingredients, I was not convinced.  

A year-ish later, I was commissioned to make a cake for my parents' 35th wedding anniversary.  I looked through my cook books and found a recipe for buttercream.  I saw the photo and thought "It's time".

Luckily I had just bought a giant bag of powdered sugar, because even though I halved the recipe, it still took four cups!

The recipe I ended up with is as follows:

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup softened butter

4 cups confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup of milk

First you beat the butter and sugar together.  All of the sugar.  And it goes everywhere, like it's snowing.  Aprons are handy if you happen to wear a lot of, oh let's say, navy blue.  Butter and confectioner's sugar don't cream together the same way butter and granulated sugar do- it's not grainy.  And it's not the same as butter and flour either- it doesn't clump.  It truly looks like it shouldn't work: it's still very powdery.  I had an urge to add more butter right away, but I thought better of it, and it's a good thing I did.

After you've combined the butter and sugar, add the vanilla and about 1/4 cup of milk.  See how it looks, and then add more milk if needed.  I urge you to start with 1/4 since the full recipe was 1/2, and go from there.  I ended up needing 1/3 cup.  

And like magic, you have frosting.  It's so very simple, and so. damn. good.  My husband is a frosting connoisseur, and he couldn't get enough.

 The cake is vanilla too, because yum.

This ended up being enough to frost an entire 9" round cake, including a thin layer between the two cake layers and a bit extra for licking:)  It would be tasty with fig jam (or any other kind of your choosing) in the middle as well.

And there you have it!  A perfectly simple, rustic, tasty vanilla cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.

I hope this inspires you to try that recipe you've always wanted to try.  You should.  It will be amazing.

 

Happy anniversary mom and dad!

Apple Spice Bundt Cake and Happy Anniversary!

We did it!  Will and I have been married a year as of Saturday, September 27.  We celebrated by going to Perkins Observatory on Friday and looking through their giant telescope.  We saw Mars, a ring nebula, a giant star cluster and Saturn.  Complete with rings.  It was insane!

We were invited to a brunch the following afternoon at Will's aunt and uncle's house, and while we were told not to bring anything, I'm not the best listener when it comes to bringin food:)

So I made an Apple Spice Bundt Cake from this recipe.

While the recipe says to bake for 70-90 minutes, my oven runs hot and I found it was in good shape at 60 minutes.  I also used some apples from my friend's tree instead of the Granny Smith it calls for: I imagine that the Granny Smith would provide a more tart cake.

And there you have it!  I don't have any after pictures because (a) I forgot to take one as it was finished and (b) it got eaten pretty quickly, which is always nice.

I put powdered sugar on my cake instead of caramel sauce and it looked very pretty.  The cake is moist and spicy with a bit of crunch from the pan.  I would definitely make it again and highly recommend it. 

Happy Anniversary Will!

 

The Bread of Wiesbaden

The other day I was wandering in Half Price Books, as we Fisher (Kenny's) are wont to do, lingering heavily in the cooking section.  I love a good food memoir, don't you?  There's something about the mix of lovingly crafted recipes and simply curated stories that speak to my heart.  Like a patchwork quilt of food and life.  I ended up bringing home Kitchen Confidential, a cookbook about lost American recipes and a knife technique book made by Sur la Table that also contains recipes.

But I digress.

 

While browsing, I discovered a French Baking book, and of course I dropped everything and picked that baby up.  The pages were full of yummy goodness, certainement, and though it was too expensive for me to buy, I enjoyed spending some time with it.  Nestled within the pages was a recipe for something called Wiesbaden Cookies.

What?!

My family is from this lovely town in Germany, but I had never heard of the cookies.  Oma was holding out on me on this one!  Or maybe they weren't that good.  Or maybe she didn't like them!  They certainly appeared easy enough- cinnamon, flour, sugar, lemon and a few other things that I'm sure I'm forgetting.  So I came home and looked for a recipe.  And looked.  And I could not find one!  

Le sigh. 

I thought it was hopeless until I came across something even better... it's true.  I discovered a traditional Christmas cookie called Wiesbader Brot.  The name translates to the Bread of Wiesbaden, and it is THE cookie of Wiesbaden.  Or so a few websites say.  Since the ingredients were roughly similar, I took it as fact that the cookie in the French Baking book was based off of the Wiesbader Brot.  I noticed a lack of lemon, but the cinnamon and copious amounts of sugar seemed too similar to be a coincidence.  Oh, and the name;)

They are time consuming in that they require a full 24 hours in the fridge, but the recipe, (which I found here), was super easy.  And here they are!

My goal is to find a way to make them look prettier, but they taste like a cinnamon teddy graham.  Which, if you are a child of the '80's like me, is pretty much perfect.

Do you have any family recipes for a traditional cookie?  Or any family favorites?  Usually when I bake cookies, I use my mother-in-law's recipe, because she makes the best cookies.  Period.  But I'm excited to make this cookie my own Best Cookie and start making it for our family Christmas Eve celebrations every year.  

Genießen!

A Sense of Community

This Sunday, New Beginnings Animal Shelter is hosting a Bake Sale at Sam's Club in Reynoldsburg, and I am happily providing some goodies to sell!  Last week I also baked some treats: Gluten-free Brownies, Vegan Pumpkin Coconut Cake and my signature Blueberry Rosemary Muffins in mini form.  The Cake sold so well, that I'll be doing another batch this week.  I'll also be making Blueberry Cake and Edge-of-your-cup Sugar Cookies.

My kitchen in full bake sale swing

The Sugar Cookies are cutout stars that have an opening on one leg so you can put it on your cup.  I got the cookie cutter at World Market.  I made them today and I would say the best tip I can provide is to make sure when you roll out the dough, that you leave it on the thicker side.  Due to the delicate nature of this cutter, you don't want it too thin or your cookie will break.  Sad.

So this idea of community bake sales brings me to a story my sister was telling me the other day about a woman in her neighborhood who passed away.  My sister lives in an area that is extremely environmentally conscious- they even have a Freecycle page that you can become a member of.  (If you haven't heard of Freecycle, its pretty much exactly what it sounds like.  You can post things you no longer need and people will come get them.)  The woman's name was Elizabeth Marsh.  A neighbor of hers posted on Freecycle that her belongings were on the curb and that anyone was welcome to come and pick up whatever they would like.  A storm was brewing, and people ran out there pretty quickly to save what they could, my sister included.  When she got there, she found old notebooks and music, furniture and an organ, among other things.  My sister took the notebooks and a table, since that was all she could fit in her car.  She was sad to see that no one had come for the organ, and probably wouldn't before the rain hit.  When she got home, she found that the notebooks contained old meeting minutes.  She jumped online and saw that other people who had gone by Elizabeth's home had picked up old photo albums and were posting pictures of her online.  From the notebooks, music and albums, the people started to piece together her life.

What struck me about this was the fact that even though these people didn't know Elizabeth, they felt the need to preserve her legacy.  It is a striking example of a community coming together to prove that one person's life mattered, and by that token, each person's life matters.  You matter.

So make something tasty to share with those you love.  Here's the Pumpkin Coconut Cake recipe, if you want to give it a try.

Pumpkin Coconut Cake

Preheat oven to 350 F

Whisk together 1 cup canned pumpkin puree, 1 cup  packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup canola oil and 1/2 cup canned coconut milk or soy milk.  Mix in 1 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp salt.  Stir until blended, then add 1/3 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes.  Scrape batter into a 9x9 square baker for a thinner cake, or a 4 1/2 x 8 1/2 loaf pan for a thicker bread.  Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.   

~ This recipe also doubles nicely so you can use a whole can of pumpkin puree.  
~ Swap out the coconut for dark chocolate chips for a richer dessert.


If you would like to stop by the New Beginnings Animal Shelter this Sunday, the sale runs from 10am-6pm at Sam's Club in Reynoldsburg.

Embracing Imperfection

" You gotta be you..." -Julia, Books & Bridges

This past year has been so momentous for Will and I.  We got married last September, bought a house in February, and have weathered animal illnesses and home improvement projects.  We have grown so much.

Something I've thought a lot about over the years is what it means to you.  I don't know about you, but I've spent a lot of energy over the years aiming for a perfect version of myself.  Only recently have I started to wonder if the perfect version of me is the imperfect version.  The one with messy hair and flour under her nails.  The one who's skin is thin.  The one who loves cookies more than a rigorous diet, and who would like to be in the kitchen, right now, making you said cookies.  

I fought my kitchen self for a long time.  My kitchen self was not an independent woman, I thought.  But I am.  I am independent enough to say that I like to bake and cook, and to me that is more freeing than telling myself that to be a liberated, 21st century gal, I should not spend my time making something as transient as a meal.  I enjoy feeding others, and I love to eat!  Making a meal no longer feels like a waste: it feels like creating a memory, especially when you can share that memory with others.  

And if life is truly a journey, it's best to have some good snacks to take on the trip:) 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the Kenny household! The air is warm and windy tonight with a smattering of rain and the smell of damp leaves. Dusk has come and gone, candles are lit and the carved pumpkin is glowing. We'll gobbling up some candy soon and snuggling our familiars. Hope your Halloween is dandy! 

Photo from The Skull and Pumpkin. 

We're Married

And it's awesome:)

All photos by Melissa Pauquette Photography.