The Armadillo Cake

I've seen the movie Steel Magnolias about 10 times so when a friend asked me to make a bleeding armadillo grooms cake for her sister's wedding, I knew exactly what she was talking about. The prospect of making a shaped cake (a la cake boss) was a little nerve-wrecking because I've never made a 3-D shaped cake, never used fondant and it was for a wedding! Making it turned out to be a ton of fun and I'm pretty sure everyone loved it!


Day 1
I started out by making three separate batches of red velvet cake. Two batches were poured into football shaped pans, one was poured into a rectangular shaped pan. I used my favorite red velvet recipe from epicurious.com
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Red-Velvet-Cake-with-Raspberries-and-Blueberries-108256

Then I made a buttercream for the filling by hand whisking 6 egg whites and 3/4 cup of superfine sugar over a double boiler to make a meringue.

The meringue was added to the electric mixer and beat for 20 minutes, then the I added the butter; 2 sticks. I was able to refrigerate it and use it the next day for assembly.

Day 2
The cakes were cooled so I piled them and shaped then with a sharp serraded knife. I used the buttercream as the glue between the layers.

I used store bought fondant which I colored with brown, black and green food dyes to make a gray color. Three things I learned about fondant for the future:
1. don't roll it too thin
2. don't make any indentation unless you want it to be permanent
3. its really floppy

I assembled the beast and painted him with food dye. The cake was then delivered (with the help of my sis) and voila! my first shaped fondant covered cake!

Not Another Food Blog

I've never written a blog before, actually, I've never really followed a blog either. I was inspired to write this blog when I realized that I am perpetually writing down recipes for friends and relatives. This is easier than writing the same recipe 5x. Plus, I can share with a bigger audience. The premise of the blog: making good food. Sometimes that food is inspired by a recipe, sometimes by a meal in a restaurant and sometimes by traditional family recipes.

Reader be warned: I'm that kind of annoying type of cook who doesn't measure, time, or weigh. I throw things into my cooking by the handful or by the pinch and even when I say that I am following a recipe, I usually end up changing it so much that it would be unrecognizable by the original author. I also can't spell to save my life. With that,  I don't know how often I will write or about what but I guess I will start out with two random/recent delish achievements.

Zaytoon's Lentil Soup (vegan)

So easy and healthy...

1 onion, clove of garlic and carrot; chopped

1 tbsp EVOO

6 cups of Vegetable Broth

2 cups dry red lentils 

Sea Salt/ Pepper

Heat EVOO in a saucepan. Sautee onions, garlic and carrots for 2 min. Add veggie broth, bring to a boil. Lower heat and add lentils and salt (about 1tsp depending on how salty the broth is). Simmer on low heat until lentils fall apart (about 20 min). Use a hand blender to puree soup. Serve with a slice of lemon and a pinch of sumac (a reddish brown spice that can be found in specialty stores).

Carrot Cake Cup Cakes for Easter

These cupcakes got rave reviews. The marzipan vegetables were time consuming to make but worth it. The bunny with the bunny poop was Nick's idea.

Cupcakes

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 cups finely grated peeled carrots (about 1 pound)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (about 1/2 ounce)
• 1/2 cup raisins

Frosting

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Line cupcake pan with paper liners. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and vegetable oil in bowl until combined. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into sugar and oil mixture. Stir in carrots, chopped walnuts and raisins.

Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing equally. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and are golden brown, about 25 min. Cool in pans on racks 15 minutes. Turn out cupcakes onto racks and cool completely. 

For frosting:
Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth and creamy.
For Marzipan Vegetables

Knead one tube of Almond Paste and a cup of powdered sugar. Divide paste into balls, add food coloring, knead until one solid color. Have fun making shapes!

Modified from: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Triple-Layer-Carrot-Cake-with-Cream-Cheese-Frosting-799#ixzz1MZPWrBIx