Peach Pie with Mixed Berries
Jul 22, 2010 Peaches, Pies and Tarts, Strawberries
Ok, I’m excited.
Really, really excited.
The reason I’m excited is because this pie recipe, is MINE. I created it- and … it tasted fine! It fell apart, but I didn’t mind. I was just happy there weren’t any major disasters.
I decided to make my own recipe… TIME OUT: I want to say right now that creating a pie recipe isn’t necessarily rocket science…. just know that I’m aware of that. Now, where were we? … because I wanted a pie, but I didn’t want it to have a pie crust top, I wanted streusel instead. I also wanted to add mixed berries instead of just blueberries or just blackberries to the peaches, and I couldn’t find a recipe that did those things. I also didn’t want to make my own pie crust… so the dough boy and I teamed up on this.
I used a mixture of the peaches I got last weekend in Porter, which were both the Bellaire and the Red Haven variety. Now, the Red Haven peaches are not particularly sweet, so I added more sugar that I probably would have if I had been using really sweet peaches. Next month, if I make this, I’ll probably use only 1/4 cup sugar instead of 1/2 cup. Just use your best judgement. If you want a sweeter pie, use more sugar.
Look at all the delicious fruit inside.
Tags: Peach Pie, peach pie with berries, peach pie with mixed berries
Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake with Vanilla Glaze and Strawberries
Apr 19, 2010 Cakes, Strawberries
Yesterday I made the Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake with Vanilla Glaze and Strawberries from April’s Bon Appetit Magazine. It’s almost a week before I move out of my mauve countertop kitchen and I wanted to make another dessert that would sit against the odd colored background as I took pictures for your enjoyment. From now on, You’ll have a nice wood countertop background to look at behind the food I’ll be making. The mauve sure was fun while it lasted.
This cake was good, but I was surprised at how different it turned out than I expected. It seems that I’m not the only one who had this issue. The icing sort of absorbed into the cake, but the picture on Bon Appetit showed beautiful lines of icing sitting happily on top of the cake. It was sweeter than I expected, and the cake wasn’t dense or fluffy… it was sort of … maybe spongy? I usually love Bon Appetit desserts but this one turned out to be just ok. It was really fun drizzling the icing on though before it absorbed into the cake.
Good thing I captured that moment on camera.
I don’t like posting recipes on here that I wouldn’t make again, but I think it’s probably good to post the not-so-good along with the wonderful. If you’re in the mood for a wonderful cake and I let you down by posting this, here’s my favorite strawberry cake, or if you want something else wonderful here’s the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had. I wish I had either of those right now!
Under the circumstances, this is a really good back up.
Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake with Vanilla Glaze and Strawberries
Serves 10-12
Ingredients:
CAKE:
- Nonstick vegetable oil spray
- 1 teaspoon bourbon
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
GLAZE:
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 4 teaspoons (or more) whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
STRAWBERRIES:
- 1 1/2 pounds strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 3 tablespoons sugar
Directions
CAKE:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325°F. Butter and flour standard Bundt pan, then spray pan with nonstick spray. Pour bourbon into small bowl. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into bourbon; stir to blend well (reserve scraped vanilla bean for another use).Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs and egg yolk 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Beat in bourbon-vanilla mixture. Add flour mixture in 2 additions alternately with buttermilk in 1 addition, beating just until blended after each addition. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top evenly (batter will come only halfway up sides of pan).Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Invert cake onto rack and cool completely.
GLAZE:
Whisk powdered sugar, 4 teaspoons milk, and vanilla in small bowl to blend, adding more milk by 1/4 teaspoonfuls if glaze is too thick to drizzle.Place sheet of foil on work surface. Place cake (still on rack) atop foil. Using spoon, drizzle glaze over cake in zigzag pattern. Let cake stand at room temperature until glaze sets, about 15 minutes. DO AHEAD Cake can be made up to 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and let stand at room temperature.
STRAWBERRIES:
Toss strawberries and sugar in medium bowl. Let stand at room temperature until juices form, tossing occasionally, about 30 minutes. Cut cake into wedges and divide among plates. Spoon strawberries with juices alongside and serve.
Tags: Bon Appetit dessert, bundt cake, strawberry bundt cake, vanilla bean bundt cake
Pink Lady Cake and some decorating tips I learned
Sep 1, 2009 Cakes, Desserts, Strawberries, Tips and Tricks, Yummy
I am celebrating my new polka-dot site with a polka-dot cake. I have to admit, this wasn’t planned, but it worked out perfectly that the first post since the new design just so happens to be a polka-dotted food. A Pink Lady Cake…with red spots.
When I decided to make this cake I was determined to give my best effort at making it beautiful. I read all about cake decorating tips on Smitten Kitchen and I learned a lot of things that I never knew about making cakes look more professional. Now, I said I decided to make an effort… not that I succeeded. I will tell you though that I enjoyed making this cake more than I’ve ever enjoyed baking before. Maybe it was the fact that the cake is pink, or maybe it was that I paid more attention to what I was doing and didn’t just throw the ingredients together, but whatever it was it was fun. I think the pink thing actually had a lot to do with it.
Read more about Pink Lady Cake
Successful Party Dessert- Lemon and white chocolate mousse parfaits with strawberries
Aug 12, 2009 Desserts, Strawberries, White Chocolate
As Molly thought about what dessert she was going to serve at her party Friday night, she thought about all the different ingredients she had that might spark some creativity. She found whipping cream, a white chocolate bar, and a lemon. Flipping through her April issue of Bon Appetit she found a recipe for Lemon and White Chocolate Mousse Parfaits. “What a great idea!” She thought. “If only I some nice cups I could put this fancy dessert in.”
As she spun around in her kitchen she gasped when she saw the solution to her dilema, “Look at all these empty glasses!” She exclaimed. “Now I can make this wonderful dessert!”
Grilled Chicken Salad with Peaches and Strawberries
Aug 5, 2009 Healthy, Peaches, Salads, Strawberries
It’s not very often that when I ask Brian what he wants for dinner that he responds, “I think a salad sounds good.” Days like this are exciting, wonderful things when put my creative salad making-skills to the test to see what wonderful flavors I can pull together to compliment each other to make the perfect, crispy blend. I love salad, but I honestly don’t think Brian ever touched lettuce until we started dating, and it hasn’t been that many times since. But today, when I asked Brian what he wanted for dinner, he asked for a salad! **Heart Sings**
Tags: Peach salad, Salad, strawberry salad
