Friday, October 12, 2012

Ice Cream Cake

Makes 1 8" Round Cake

What You Will Need
  • 1 Box Cake mix any flavor, and the ingredients needed to make it *Note: This cake will be frozen, so a cake made from scratch is kind of a waste of time.*
  • 48oz (1.5QT) Ice cream any flavor
  • 1-2 containers icing
  • 2 8" Round Cake pans. *Note: I'm sure you can use square pans or larger rectangle pans, but you may need more then 1 box of cake, and more ice cream and icing, you will need to use your best judgement*
  • Any decorating supplies you may want for your cake
  • You will need enough time to work on this in intervals. I baked the cakes and set the ice cream a day before I assembled it, then iced the cake off and on for 3 hours.

Follow the directions on your box cake mix. Separate the batter into the 2 pans evenly.

For this cake I used strawberry cake, though the cake was for a boy. For those who do not know, strawberry cake is pink. What I did before putting the cake batter in the cake pans was separate the batter into 2 bowls, added blue food coloring to one bowl of batter, and green food coloring to the other bowl. After mixing them in and getting the colors I wanted, I then added the batter into the cake pans and baked according to the box.


*Note: To make the cakes level without having to trim any of it, take an old rag, cut it into strips, lightly damp the rags, and wrap them around the cake pan. This helps the cake cook evenly(instead of the sides and tops first.)*

Once cakes are baked, and cooled, remove them from the pans. At this point, if you didn't use the damp rags to level out the cakes (or forgot like I did), then trim the top of your cakes to level them out. You can use a knife or a cake leveler to do this.

Wrap the cakes in foil or plastic wrap and place them in the freezer.

Set your ice cream out on the counter for about 30mins to soften, or put in in the microwave for 30 secs -1 min 30 secs and soften it that way. You want it soft enough to scoop and spread, but you don't want soup.

Wash your cake pan, place a large layer of plastic wrap horizontally over the pan, gently press down allowing the plastic wrap to take the shape of the pan. Repeat with a vertical layer of plastic wrap.


Scoop ice cream into the same cake pan that was used for your cake layers. Spread the ice cream around in the cake pan (using an icing spatula) until it is smooth and level. Fold the layers of plastic wrap over top of ice cream layer, place pan in freezer to set for several hours. I let my ice cream set over night. The longer the better.
 
Once the ice cream is frozen you can start to assemble your cake. Make sure to return the cake to the freezer whenever it needs it. You will notice the ice cream to start to soften. Leave it in the freezer for 15-20 mins to re freeze.

Take a layer of cake and place it on the platter, turntable, or tub aware that you plan on using. I added a small dab of icing on the plate before putting the first layer down to help hold it in place.

Add a thin layer of icing to the top of the cake.

Take your ice cream layer, unwrap it, and add it on top of the bottom cake layer.

Take your last cake later, add a thin layer of icing to the bottom of this later.

Add the top layer of cake on top of the ice cream, making sure the icing layer is against the ice cream.

Trim the sides if needed to make the cake level.

Next add a thin layer of icing to the cake on the sides and the top. This is your crumb layer.

Finnish icing your cake and decorating it as you like. Again, just make sure to put the cake in the freezer as needed. If it gets hard to tell, then put it in the freezer about every 10 mins.

This is the final project of my cake. I had to ice and decorate fast, had to be to dinner at my mother in laws, so its not the best decorating job I have done.
 
 





Saturday, October 6, 2012

Scrumptious Banana Bread

Makes 1 Loaf

What You Need:
  • 1 3/4 Cups Flour
  • 1 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 3/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • 2/3 Cups Sugar
  • 1/3 Cups Shortening
  • 2 Eggs
  • 2-3 Bananas
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Mix all ingredients into a bowl. Your hands are the best tool in this case, so don't be afraid to get a little messy.

The mixture should have the consistency of a cake mix. Small chunks of banana are ok to leave, it doesn't need to be completely smooth.

Add the mixture to the loaf pan. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to even out the mixture and to get rid of any air bubbles.

 
 
At this point you can either stick the bread in the oven, or you can add a little something extra on top. Ideas:
  • Walnuts
  • Brown Sugar
  • Cinnamon
  • Pumpkin or Apple Pie Spice
For this banana bread I used Pumpkin Pie Spice

 
 
Bake for 55 mins. The Bread should raise, might crack some on top, and should be golden brown. You can try sticking a tooth pick in the middle, though you may hit a banana chunk in which case the toothpick will not come out clean. My suggestion...try it more then once.


Once done, cool it for 10-15 mins before taking it out of the pan.

To remove from the pan, run a butter knife along the edges of the pan. Place a place on top on the bread, and flip the pan over on top of the plate. Tap the bottom of the loaf pan with the butter knife, and remove the pan. Turn your bread right side up, and you may slice into pieces and serve.





My dad likes to eat his with butter. My husband likes his plain. I like mine with vanilla ice cream...yummy!!




Stuffed Crust BBQ Chicken and Bacon Pizza


Makes 1 12" Pizza

What you need:
  • Pizza Dough-store bought or homemade
  • 5-6 Cheese Sticks-smoked mozzarella is my favorite
  • BBQ Sauce-as much as you like
  • 1 Cup of Shredded Cheddar and Mozzarella Cheese mixed together
  • 1 Chicken Breast Cubed and Cooked (cube first, season with salt and pepper. Pan fry the cubes in olive oil until cooked and golden brown)
  • 2-3 Slices of Bacon cooked and cut into small pieces
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, minced-optional
Seasonings:
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic powder
  • Onion Powder
  • Italian Seasoning

Follow the directions on the pizza dough package to prepare the dough and oven.

     Roll the dough out over the pizza pan. There should be at least 1 inch of dough hanging off the sides of the pan.
     Form a circle along the edge of the pan with the cheese sticks, you may have to break them apart.
     Fold the dough that's hanging off of the pan over the cheese sticks and press it down with your finger tips to seal it. This is now your stuffed crust.
     Spread the BBQ sauce across the pizza dough.
     Use a spoon to spread the minced garlic into the sauce
     Leaving a decent sized pinch to the side, add the shredded cheese on top of the sauce and garlic
     Now add your chicken and bacon on top of the cheese
     Sprinkle the toppings with the rest of the shredded cheese(this will help hold the toppings to the pizza)
     Season to taste (the seasonings I used are mentioned above)
     Bake according to the directions on the pizza dough package, or until the cheese is melted, dough is cooked through, and the crust is golden brown.

Once cooked you can drizzle with more BBQ sauce if desired.

ENJOY!