Archive for March, 2013





Yogurt In A Jam

Tuesday, March 19th, 2013







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The Birthday Jam



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I am finding that as I get older, I’m just not as thrilled at surprises and moments of crisis as I used to be. Somehow, a knock on the door or a ringing doorbell no longer yields the excitement of unexpected company or the anticipation of ♪♪ “thumthin’ for me” ♪♪ (as little Winthrop sings in The Music Man). No, my reaction these days is, “Oh crud!!! My hair isn’t combed and I don’t have on makeup” or “Is the bathroom clean?” or “I wonder if they’ll notice these are my pajamas?!” I always keep plenty of food in the house and so one would think that I would have something cooking at all times in anticipation of an extra mouth. Alas, because of the Hashimoto’s Disease, the doctor has put me on a diet and so food is for all of you out there in blog land and a distant, painful memory for me. Mr. Fix-It has stoically accepted the change and keeps a stash of Snickers Bars, somewhere, for his snack emergencies.


I’m thinkin’ I may take you through my new adventure in counting calories so that if you want to jump on board we can do it together, virtually…but that’s up to you all. Let me know if you are game for some menus. Until then, I still like cooking for everybody else and so I am still creating wild and crazy recipes that I can watch others consume, with my tongue hanging to the table and hands handcuffed to my sides. It is with that caveat that I present to you my most recent moment of culinary insanity forced by the phone call that Mr. Rock Star (#1 Son) was bringing his girlfriend to our house to meet us for the first time and would be there in a couple of hours. Mr. Fix-It’s birthday had been that week and they were also coming to eat birthday cake with him. However, I had not made a birthday cake since we were both getting over the flu and nobody in the free world had indicated any desire to be around us or to help him celebrate his birthday.


So, it was with consternation that I noted the time and assessed my limited choices for some kind of dessert that would qualify for a birthday cake. A fully decorated, large cake was out, in my book. No time and I did not want leftovers of anything that I had to chide, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” A blueberry cobbler just wasn’t birthday and I had this craving for something that was nagging in the back of my mind which I could not identify. As I stared at my pantry shelves, my eyes fell on a stack of white cake mixes left over from my daughter’s wedding cake. Her wedding was in 2008. That was only four and a half years ago. The cake mix might be ok. And if I really dressed it up, nobody would know the difference. And if I didn’t like Mr. Rock Star’s girlfriend we could just claim bad cake if she mysteriously disappeared. And I could do cupcakes with a quick butter/cream cheese icing which could be frozen for Mr. Fix-It’s sweet tooth and which could be handed out to the rest of the family at a later date. The pros of using a box of white cake mix from 2008 definitely outweighed the cons. I just had to decide what I could add to make unique, adult cupcakes.


Now, I know that one is NEVER supposed to try a new recipe on a first-time guest, much less a recipe that has no recipe. But I was desperate and getting more so with the passing of minutes. I had to quickly come up with an idea and all of a sudden, that nagging craving in my brain had a name….Jam Cake!! I hadn’t had a Jam Cake in years and just the thought of that moist, luscious and nutty cake with butter cream cheese icing made me lick my chops. Somehow, I was going to create Jam Cake cupcakes using the white cake mix. The mix called for 2 tbsp. of oil, 1 1/3 cup of water and three egg whites. I tossed the directions and here is what I did:


Yogurt Jam Cake Cupcakes



Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter
3 large eggs
1 cup live culture yogurt
1 tsp soda
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup of your favorite berry jam (I used strawberry)
1 cup chopped pecans
1 Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe white cake mix
Lemon Curd from Recipe (Best if made ahead of time and chilled)
Icing:
1-8oz pkg cream cheese
1 stick of butter
(cream together)
Beat in 1 lb box of powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla


Printable Recipe



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Cream the butter with a mixer and add eggs. Beat until smooth.


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Add spices and blend well


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Add jam and continue to beat


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Add yogurt. Cream together with other ingredients


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Add box of cake mix and beat well until smooth. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into cupcake papers that are supported in muffin tins or pour into a greased and floured 9 x 13 sheet cake pan. Bake at 350º for 20 – 25 minutes or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.


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While the cupcakes are warm, using a scoop or apple corer, core out a hole in the middle of each cupcake


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Fill each hole with lemon curd that has been made from the linked recipe. Place in the refrigerator or a cool, dry place. Make Butter Cream Cheese Icing


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Pipe icing onto cooled cupcakes and serve.


Mr. Rock Star absolutely loved the cupcakes and was licking the paper as he hinted that he would highly consider taking some home with him. Mr. Fix-It was happy that cupcakes were going into the freezer for his later enjoyment and we both liked Mr. Rock Star’s girlfriend. And nobody died! Your cake mixes don’t have to be 4 1/2 years old if you would like to try this recipe. And if you don’t have a cake mix, substitute 3 cups of flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp vanilla.



Happy Experimenting!



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for the Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ Company





Ordering Notice

Saturday, March 9th, 2013







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Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™

Orders


Just a note:I apologize if you have not been able to place an order for our Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ online this past week. There was a glitch in the ordering process for some reason, but it has been fixed. Phone orders are always welcome if you ever have problems with the website.


Also, just a heads up: We will be closed March 18 – 23 for Spring Break. You can still place orders online, and they will be shipped when we reopen. And I’ll still be blogging!



Happy Ordering!



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Yogurt: The Answer To Everything!

Tuesday, March 5th, 2013







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Self-Huggin’ Good!



Anybody remember Precious Pup? He’d eat something and then wrap his arms around himself, let out an “mmmmmm” and float up up into the air in gastronomical bliss. Well, let me tell you: That was Mr. Fix-It the other day as he munched on my accidental biscuits. I say ‘accidental’ because I had to improvise on my usual biscuit recipe in the hopes that I would still come out with the semblance of those southern treats.


Mr. Fix-It was in the mood for biscuits and I, always wanting to please my man, dashed to the kitchen to whip out a batch of my own recipe. I had posted that recipe here a number of years ago, with step-by-step photos, but I’ll let you in on the secret of what I did differently. It all started with the absence of buttermilk.


Now, everybody knows that the enterprising cook can substitute a cup of milk that has been poured over a tbsp of vinegar and then warmed to room temperature, for a cup of buttermilk. And that makes pretty good “buttermilk” biscuits – but I didn’t want “pretty good”. I wanted “big grin, lip smackin’, darn great” buttermilk biscuits. As you know, I’ve been on a yogurt kick and have been throwing the stuff into anything for which I can safely find an excuse. I decided that biscuits might be my next great experiment. I was right. Oh my gosh. Those were absolutely the best, most awesome, pastrymagical (my own word) things you ever put in your mouth. With homemade grape jelly or apple butter – they were proverbially ‘to die for’. So here you go. See what you think. I use my homemade yogurt, but if you use ‘store bought’n’ I recommend StoneyField plain if you can get it.


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Really Awesome Organic Yogurt



Yogurt Biscuits



Ingredients:


2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
6 tablespoons shortening
1 cup plain yogurt
2-3 Tbsp milk


Printable Recipe



Directions:
Preheat oven to 450º. Add all dry ingredients together and cut shortening in with a pastry cutter/blender, two butter knives or a fork until the mixture resembles crumbs. Add yogurt and stir until totally incorporated. Add enough of the milk to form a soft, sticky dough. Place onto floured Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ and drop lightly and pick up a number of times to form a soft ball. Roll out to 1 inch thick circle and cut biscuits. On a baking sheet, pour either olive oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil or peanut oil to lightly coat the surface. Place biscuits side-by-side, not quite touching, putting the tops into the oil and then turning to place biscuits with oily tops up. Bake for 13-15 minutes until golden brown. Brush tops with melted butter and serve hot.


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Happy Baking!



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MB
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