An Easy Li'l Cake for Sunday!

This week was easy, it went by fast. The chickens are growing, the dogs ran themselves exhausted in the field this week. Our friends had a baby and he is beautiful. We had a mid-week stay in D.C. to see Feist. And today, we went out for breakfast and now we're planning our trip to Vermont this summer. So, for Sunday, I'll keep it easy. Make this cake--it is good!

Strawberry Meringue Mini Cake!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup AP flour
• 2 TB cornstarch
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 TB white vinegar
• 3 TB unsalted butter, softened
• 3 TB shortening
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg + 1 white

Directions:

1. Prepare your 6 inch cake pan with softened butter and parchment paper
2. Preheat oven to 350*F
3. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, corn starch, and salt
4. In a separate bowl or measuring cup, whisk together extracts, milk, and vinegar
5. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together fats and sugar until light and fluffy
6. Add egg and white with motor running--mixture may look a little curdled, but will come together with remaining ingredients
7. Now, take bowl out of stand mixer and, using a rubber spatula, alternate in thirds between your flour and your milk mixtures until your batter comes together
8. Pour into your cake pan, bake for 22-25 minutes or until slightly puffed and golden, pulling away from the pan a bit
9. Allow to cool completely before decorating

Directions for Decorating: Clean our your stand mixer bowl while cake is baking and cooling and beat on high two egg whites. When soft peaks form, slowly pour in 3 TB white sugar and continue beating until stiff, glossy peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag. When cake is completely cooled, pipe meringue onto cake top in any decoration you'd like. Toast with a kitchen torch, top with sliced strawberries and serve.

Frosted Farm Animal Crackers!

Circled big in my planner you can read "Chickens Today!" in large letters on May 9th. Since then, our schedules and upcoming vacations have revolved around their needs. We change the water four times a day and feed them just as often. Each morning I count them, twelve chicks curled in wood shavings and dirt, underneath the heat lamp. All accounted for, we haven't lost one yet.

My dad says this is a miracle. He says you always lose one or two. I believe in listening. I believe in fresh air and words of encouragement. I believe in not waking them up and letting them sleep, so I might walk back out in the morning an hour later so they aren't stressed. I believe in letting them be free, to not constrain them to a brooder, so we fenced in half a barn stall for them and they get a chance to run free. And at night, Nolan and I hold hands and walk down to the barn, cutting through the sodden grass from when the spring house overflows and the red, red glow of the heat lamp acts as a makeshift lighthouse when the rest of the world is pitch black.

It's hard to not get attached, to let my mind wander to their future and their happiness. We do the same thing with our dogs, we anthropomorphize their thoughts to fit our actions. We say they're happy so we don't feel so guilty, but how do we know? For the chickens, we keep them warm and safe. For the dogs, we hold them tight on the porch swing and think of them while we're out, picking up hamburgers or tennis balls along the way.

This is a life I couldn't have in California, the expansive life of opportunity, of homestead and hearth. Of empathy. Of nurturing. Of appreciating the fog over the hill and barn and the deer whose footprints break the soil after it rains. Every detail is here in our own world and I try to remember we're a part of it all now.

Farm Animal Crackers!

I thought of this idea a few weeks ago after agreeing to help one of Nolan's coworkers with a 4-H bake sale, so we bought these cookie cutters on Amazon and I started playing around with ideas. I loved the chicken one (of course, after seeing my little girls grow!), so thought it would be fun to just use those. I spoke with Molly when she was in Philly about this idea and she got me on a good path using powdered milk. And it worked so much better! Yas, Molly!  I also referenced Adrianna's recipe as well.

This recipe can be adapted to smaller shapes, but just be aware of baking time!

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup AP flour
• 1/4 cup powdered milk
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 TB unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F and prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment or a Silpat
2. Sift together flour, powdered milk, salt, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar
4. Scrape sides with a rubber spatula, add vanilla and egg whites and mix--it may look a bit lumpy, but that is okay
5. Create a well in your dry ingredients and add your sugar mixture, stir to combine
6. Finally, add milk to moisten dough
7. Roll out onto a floured work surface and knead for a few seconds until dough comes together
8. Roll out cookies to about a 1/4 inch thick and cut out your shapes. Place on baking sheets
9. Once you have cut out your shapes, place in freezer for 10 minutes to firm up (this will help with the shape being consistent when baking)
10. Remove from oven, poke a couple times with a tooth pick
11. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until edges are tanned and top is puffed slightly
12. Allow to cool before coating in white chocolate (directions below)

To Decorate: Melt or temper 20 ounces of white chocolate. When cookies are cooled, dip one in and coat both sides using two forks so as not to smudge the chocolate with your hands. Transfer to a cooling rack, decorate with some sprinkles, and allow to dry. Repeat with half of the cookies. With remaining cookies and chocolate, dye pink using a quality red food dye. Coat remaining cookies with same method. 

A Tea Party with Nordic Ware

Rain.

Each day, for the last week, it has rained. The dogs have been restless when they're awake, but sleep most of the day away. Their muddy paws mark the base boards, the tiled kitchen, and, occasionally, the armchairs. We let them on the bed, we let them sleep at our feet. We give them what they want because we can't give them fresh air, warmth, the sun. 

We were busy this week. Photoshoots and cakes and flea market paintings. We ate lunch with Nolan's parents and bought curtains. We took a bath together and then fell asleep on the couch. I feed the chickens four times a day and called my dad to say they were growing. I remembered my uncle on Memorial Day. My brother asked me to be his son's godfather. I found five dollars in the washing machine.

Rain. Like a slow throb in the back of my eyes, I felt tired. Nolan sneezed in the sunlight and I took a puff from his cigarette with my coffee. My body shivering, my eyes still tired, we were up at six most mornings this week. And by three we were tired and by five we were exhausted. And so, this weekend, I wanted to make it special. Something to look forward to mid-day.

I brewed some tea, I baked some cakes. Nolan licked the spatula and squeezed the lemon over the still-warm bakes. We snacked, candles light and a window open, and warmed our hands on the china my mother gave us. A moment when beauty was small but worthwhile, like the steam that rises off the ground and the deer prints are still fresh in mud.

Mini-cakes!

The recipe I used was adapted from the previous madeleine recipe, here. You will, of course, need this beautiful bundt charm pan from Nordicware, which will (honestly) change your tea party game for LIFE.  What made me most nervous was greasing the pan, so I went with a little bit of melted shortening then a light dusting of flour and it was perfect. 

If you do NOT have a charm pan (which I suggest you get), you can use a muffin tin, but just add about 1/3 of the way up and add a 2 minutes to the baking time.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup AP flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 c sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 8 TB unsalted butter, melted
• 2 TB lemon zest
• Juice of one lemon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400*F
2. Prepare your pan
3. In a mixing bowl, sift together flour and baking powder
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla, and zest vigorously until foamy
5. Add egg mix to flour and stir
6. Finally, add melted butter and fold with a rubber spatula. 
7. Fill about 3/4 of the way up, using a spoon to control the amount better, and bake for 10 minutes or until golden and puffed
8. Immediately turn out and allow to cool. When still warm, squeeze lemon juice over your cakes
9. Enjoy with a warm cup of tea. Remaining cakes can be stored in an airtight container for 3 days (or frozen forever!)

A special thanks to Nordic Ware for sponsoring this post. Nordic Ware has been producing quality kitchenware products in their 70 years and are now one of America's most beloved and iconic brands. Today, Nordic Ware manufactures the vast majority of its products in America, at our Minneapolis headquarters, including cookware, bakeware, grillware, microwave, and kitchen gadgets and accessories.For more information or products, check out their website! I highly recommend buying the charm pan mentioned above, as it is just so cute! With its gold finish, its heavy cast aluminum and its 6 unique charm shapes, it will be a staple in your kitchen for years to come!

A New Take: White Chocolate and Lemon Cream Puffs

It's been a week or two! It feels like so much has happened and then nothing at all. It's rained the last two days, making it hard to get the dogs (or myself) motivated to do much more than want to stretch out on the couch and watch Netflix or a Disney movie. But I still have my chores, I still want to make this house feel alive when Nolan comes home after a 12 hour day. I still check the chickens (we haven't lost one yet!) and do the dishes and sometimes I forget and let the pans soak too long.

Last Wednesday, I went to Philadelphia to see Molly. She was speaking at an event and had the morning to spare; and I, conversely, wanted to see my best friend, Carissa, before she went off to eat afternoon tea in London.  We had a tea tasting with Alexis and then ate at Rooster Soup and Goldie! And I was a happy little clam dropping Molly off at the terminal and not being sick of her! And then it was a 5 hour drive home where I listened to LP and a very poorly narrated Wuthering Heights audiobook on Spotify.

This week also meant some free shit, thanks to Alex, who gave me a hand-me-down Nespresso. Nolan already bought a 70-count sampler and we are slowly going through them already. Very European in this little farm house in Ligonier.

My dad came out to meet the chickens and then we went to a diner. He got a cheeseburger, I got oatmeal. I promise to shoot the chickens soon so everyone can meet them (especially our favorite, whom we named Kelly)--they already have feathers and our blonde one is turning white. It reminds me of when Elsa was a baby and her stomach was spotted and now she is a 50-lb lazy teenage dog who doesn't get out of bed until 10. Then grow up so fast.

Today, I'm going to the Chamber of Commerce in an hour to talk about volunteering in the community and maybe picking up some extra work for baking. Stay tuned, but for now--cream puffs!

I have said before that I am not the best piping person (I've only done it three times I can remember) and I was a little nervous to make these. But, like most things with baking, it's the nerves that make it so satisfying when it's complete. I adapted a Martha Stewart recipe that I was referred to and think they're pretty cute for a first time. Plus, the white chocolate hides the problem areas.

Oh, and of course they're topped with sprinkles for a little nod to my pal, Molly!

White Chocolate and Lemon Cream Puffs

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 8 TB unsalted butter, cubed
• 2 TB white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, mix together water, butter, sugar, and salt and heat on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon
2. When it begins to boil, immediately remove from heat and stir in the flour, and stir vigorously
3. Return to heat and continue stirring for a minute or until a dough forms and pulls away from the saucepan sides
4. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with a paddle attachment for about three minutes or until it begins to cool
5. Mix in each egg, one at a time, and your vanilla and continue mixing for a minute or so until a sticky, but solid, dough forms
6. Transfer to a piping bag

Preparation and Decoration: Preheat oven to 375*F. On 2 parchment or Silpat-covered sheets, pipe our your circles, about 2 inches in diameter. Tap the tops with a wetted finger to flatten slightly. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until puffed and golden. Once done, allow to cool on a rack, poking each with a tooth pick to vent any steam.

When cooled, use a clean piping bag and small tip, fill bag with a jar of lemon curd (or homemade!) and break the bottom of each and pipe in your curd. 

Next, melt 16 oz of white chocolate in a double broiler (or even a microwave) and dip each in. Sprinkle with a bit of sprinkle and allow to cool.

They can be stored for up to 3 days in the fridge!

Brown Rice Pudding

We came from German stock, from Britain and France. My family has been in America for a long, long time but still my mother held onto the Pennsylvania Dutch heritage of her mother's family. My mother, with her easy-to-tan skin and her copper-lined face, declared her family history, passed down, passed down, passed down from people I have never met. Her mother, who died in 1981, lives on in the stories I can coax out of my own mother every now and then.

When the timing is right.

When there's nothing to talk about on the phone.

When we find old photographs wedged in a Bible.

We didn't grow up comfortable, but we grew up satisfied in what we could do. My mother, a coupon collector and tectonic force in our house, was able to work the night shift and still have time to make dinner. My mother, who made boxed soup and stayed home with us when we were sick. My mother, who I associate with the smell of fresh sheets and open windows and the burning embers of a dying candle. 

My mother, who has invited us down to their house in North Carolina every time I talk to her this week.

And while I am not able to go, not able to see her as much as I'd like, there are pieces of her I still hold close.  Like pouring milk and sugar over leftover rice. A recipe my mother says is from her ancestors, but I do not know this for sure. A mix of economical forces and the vestigial remains of immigrants' milchreis is probably more like it. But it has always been a favorite of mine, and for which I turned into a proper pudding below.

Almond and Cherry Brown Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3-5 sage leaves
• 1 1/2 cup brown rice, cooked by factory directions
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 TB butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/3 cup dried cherries
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds

Directions:

1. First, infuse your milk mixture by combining cream, milk, brown sugar, and sage leaves in a small sauce pan
2. Heat on medium-high until bubbles form on the rim of the milk
3. Cover, remove from heat, and allow to steep while you prepare your rice
4. Prepare your rice according to instructions on your bag
5. When rice is done, remove sage leaves from small sauce pan and transfer milk mixture over your rice
6. Simmer on a low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes covered, then 10 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally)
7. In a small bowl, vigorously stir a bit of your rice mixture into your yolks, tempering them
8. Add the yolks and butter, simmer for about 5-10 minutes. It should be very thick by now
9. Add remaining ingredients, take off heat, and enjoy! It can store for up to 5 days in the fridge