Kitchen Tip #2 -- How Bake a Great Cake

I am not an expert at making cakes or decorating them. This time of year is the only time that I make cakes, one for each of my kids' birthday. My hubby isn't a big fan of cake, so I don't make them other than for birthdays.

I have struggled in the past getting the cake out of the pan, so I can frost it. My kids have had some interesting looking birthday cakes because of my inability to grease the pan well. However, a year or two ago one of my friends taught a class (for Enrichment at church) on cake decorating. She gave us all great cake baking and decorating tips. I wanted to share my favorite cake tip with you.

Here is the secret of how to get the cake out of the pan without any sticking or breaking:
1. Generously grease the inside of the pan with vegetable shortening (make sure to get in all the crevices and cracks). Then flour the pan.
2. Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes (exactly!). If the cake cools too long the shortening hardens and glues the cake to the pan. If it doesn't cool enough the cake will break.
3. Place paper towels over the wire rack, place covered rack on top of the cake, invert the cake and the rack. Pull the pan free.

If you follow these three steps your cake will slip like magic away from the pan. It amazes me every time I bake a cake.

Now if only I were better at decorating the cake.... My friend did give us some decorating tips, but I'm not enough of a perfectionist to make a perfect looking cake. Luckily my kids aren't picky!

Here's a picture of my little girl's birthday cake from last week, complete with missing frosting (that's what happens when you leave a cake unattended for an hour to teach piano lessons). I fixed it later, but never took a picture of it. Don't pay attention to the frosting, just look at how nice and even the cake looks (no cracks or breaks!).

One Hour Rolls

These rolls are amazing! I've been making these rolls since 2001 when I was a newlywed and my sister-in-law shared the recipe with me. The rolls are light, fluffy, easy to make and they only take one hour! And delicious too! I've made these rolls more times than I can count, so I've perfected the art of making them. Here are some step-by-step instructions with pictures for you. Here's what you'll need. I buy pretty much all of the ingredients in this recipe at Sam's club, thus the huge containers. You need warm water, yeast, oil, sugar, salt, egg and flour. In the mixer bowl, add warm water (not hot), oil, sugar and yeast. Mix together. After ten or fifteen minutes the yeast mixture should be puffed up like this. Time to add the salt and beaten egg. Then mix in the flour. (I've used a mixture of half wheat and half white flour successfully.) Keep adding flour until the dough is manageable. It will be a little sticky, b

Havreflarn (Swedish Oat Crisp Cookies)

We had some teenagers over for a Swedish themed dinner last night. They were participating in a "missionary for a day" activity. They were paired up into companionships, like the official missionaries for our church and were assigned to a family for dinner. They ate with us and then taught us a lesson about Heavenly Father's plan for us. My husband served a mission in Sweden. He lived there for two years and loved it. Swedish meatballs are a staple at our house. (They're super easy to make and my pickiest eater's favorite!). When we visit IKEA we usually stock up on the cream gravy packets and jars of Lingonberries. We were out of lingonberry, but after a few phone calls, I found some at one of our local grocery stores. We ate meatballs, gravy, lingonberry, mashed potatoes (I ran out of time, other wise I would have steamed little red potatoes from our garden) and green beans (though my husband doesn't remember eating them in Sweden

The Best French Bread I've Ever Made

This is the best french bread I've ever made. I got this recipe from my friend, Nikki, who gave us some of this bread as a thank you for my hubby helping them move a piano. I remember it being delicious and we gobbled it up fast. I was intimidated for some reason by the recipe and waited a few years before I made it. We needed some bread for to make some turkey, provolone, avocado sandwiches, so I made some of this bread and it was perfect! We sliced one loaf like they do at Subway. Then later I made normal shaped sandwiches with the rest of the bread. Delicious... light and fluffy and yummy! Update 2/22/12: This is still my favorite bread after making it for a year! It turns out perfect every time and it's gone in a flash! printable recipe French Bread recipe from my friend, Nikki Yield: 2 loaves Ingredients 2 c. warm water 1 pkg (or 1 heaping Tbsp.) yeast 1/4 c. granulated sugar 1 T. olive oil

What is on your menu this week?

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