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Friday, April 12, 2013

Roasted Potatoes With Vegetable

4 large potatoes
1 medium size red bell pepper
1 medium zucchini
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp all purpose seasoning
1/2 cup oil

1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees. In a large roasting (or baking) pan mix cubed potatoes, cubed bell pepper, cubed zucchini, garlic, and garlic salt.
2. Add salt, table spoon of all purpose seasoning and oil. Add pepper to taste. Mix well.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. For better and crispier look, turn on broil for the last 5 minutes.

*Comes out tasting delicious with a nice smell of vegetables, perfect meal for the spring.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Mrs. Billet's White Cake with Merry Berry Filling and White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting




White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

1 (4-oz) white chocolate bar, broken into pieces
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup butter, softened
1 (2-lb) package powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Microwave chocolate and 1/3 cup heavy cream at Medium (50% power) 1 to 1.5 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30 second intervals. Let cool to room temperature (30 minutes).
*Since i do not know how to program the microwave for 50% power, i microwaved mine at full power at 15 second intervals. Total 45 seconds. 
2. Beat butter at medium speed until creamy; gradually add powdered sugar and 1/4 cup heavy cream, 1 tbsp. at a time, beating at low speed until blended after each addition.
*I thought i was seeing it wrong when it said 2 pounds of sugar but it was correct. That way the frosting becoming a bit hard and does not leak off the cake. Also, i did not do it by 1 tbsp. at a time, i dumped a decent batch of sugar each time. 
3. Beat in salt and chocolate mixture until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.
*This comes out tasting as if made in some fancy bakery. The only thing is i would cut everything in half because i had plenty of frosting left over. 
*The frosting comes out white so i covered the cake with it but i wanted the decorations on top to be a different color so they would not blend in. You can either add food coloring to the remaining frosting or what i did was add raspberry jelly and mix it in with a mixer. 

Merry Berry Filling (continuation for Mrs. Billet's cake)

1 cup fresh cranberries (frozen or dried will work as well)
1 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp. water
2 tbsp. cornstartch
1 tbsp. cold water
1 cup chopped fresh stawberries
2 tbsp. butter

1. Cook first 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes or until cranberries start to pop. Stir often.
2. Whisk together cornstarch and 1 tbsp. cold water until smooth; add to cranberry mixture. Cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute.
3. Stir in strawberries and butter until butter is melted.
4. Cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes). Cover and chill for 6 hours.

Mrs. Billett's White Cake (layers only)

Parchment paper
1 cup milk
1and1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 cups cake flour
1tbsp baking powder
5 egg whites

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 (8-inch) round or square cake pans; line bottom with parchment paper, and grease and flour it (the paper).
*While the butter is thawing in a separate container complete steps 2 and 3. You can also heat butter in the microwave for 30 seconds at full heat to speed the process.
2. Stir together milk and vanilla.
3. Stir together flour and baking powder.
4. Beat butter at medium speed with a mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
5. Alternately, starting and ending with flour mixture and milk mixture add to butter mixture. Beat until blended after each addition.
6. Beat egg whites at a medium speed until stiff peaks form; gently fold into batter. Pour batter into prepared pans.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 23 minutes or until wooden stick comes out clean. Let cool.
*It is good to have 2 or 3 baking pans because you can bake all the layers at the same time. I used only one and when i was putting in the parchment paper the second and third time it did not come out very straight so my layers were a bit crooked. Also, having 3 baking pans helps have even amount of dough in each.