An attempt to roll a cake

Cake roll with berries

Made April 23/24, 2011

For Easter, I decided to be adventurous and attempt a cake roll. They always look so pretty in the stores. I found a decent recipe and took a chance. Unfortunately, I didn't completely succeed and my cake broke on one side. I also had quite a few issues along the way as well. :/ But you learn from mistakes and mishaps ... so when I attempt again, I hope it comes out better :)

Ingredients

Cake:

- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar

Filling/Frosting:
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup butter (softened)
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

- Line a greased 15in x 10in baking pan with wax paper and grease the paper; set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375 F
- In a large bowl, beat eggs on high speed for 3 minutes.
- Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture becomes thick and lemon colored.
- Beat in water and vanilla.
- Combine the flour, baking powder and salt & fold into egg mixture until no dry ingredients are seen.
- Spread batter into prepared pan.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.
- Cool for 5 minutes.
- Invert onto a kitchen towel dusted with powdered sugar & gently peel off the wax paper.
- Roll up cake in the towel jelly-roll style, starting with the short side.
- Cool completely on a wire rack.

- For the filling - combine the flour & milk in a small saucepan until smooth.
- Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes more.
- Transfer to a bowl; press wax paper onto surface of mixture.
- Cool completely.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in vanilla and salt.
- Gradually beat in milk mixture; beat for 5 minutes or until filling is light and fluffy.

- Unroll cake; spread filling over cake to within 1/2 in of edges.
- Roll up again, seam side should be face down.
- Refrigerate cake for 1 hour before serving.

Ready for serving

I seemed to have an issue with the towel and the rolling where parts of my cake stuck to the towel itself. So even though I thought I put a lot of powdered sugar on the towel, it didn't seem to help. Reading other cake roll recipes, they used wax paper or parchment paper instead; so I'll have to keep that in mind for the next time I try this. I also didn't like the taste of the filling as much; I feel like my flour and milk mixture didn't turn out like the book wanted. So I added in some puraied strawberries and the icing had more of a light flavor. Since my cake fell apart, I put the icing on top of my cake as well; you don't have to. It was just something that was a last minute thing for me. I also topped it with some strawberries for an added decorative touch :D

Even though the cake looked unappealing, the taste was there. So that's all that matters yes? :) Hope you guys had a lovely Easter!

(Recipe used: Taste of home)

Lemony surprise

Lemon Frosted Lemon Cake

Made: April 22, 2011

Ingredents:

Cake:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs (large)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Zest of 1 large lemon
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup lemon juice

Frosting:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Grease a 9in pan and then line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fully and pale in color (about 3 minutes)
- Add the eggs one at a time; mixing well after each egg.
- Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add dry ingredients to the batter along with the lemon juice.
- Mix only until incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the pan, smoothing with a spatual.
- Bake 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Place on a wire rack to cool.

Frosting:

- In a bowl, combine the sifted powdered sugar and lemon juice. You want the icing to be thicker than a glaze but still thing enough that it will just run over the sides of the cake.
- Adjust if needed.
- Pour the frosting over the top of the cake, allowing the icing to drip down the sides.
- Let the icing dry before covering and storing.

I didn't use parchment paper ... I didn't think it needed it. I also only cooked the cake for about 35 minutes as the sides were starting to brown. The middle was also clear when I stuck a knife in the middle. :) The icing I made still seemed too thin ... I wanted it to taste lemony and it just never got there for my liking ... so I'll have to play around with that part. :) Enjoy!

(Recipe used: Joy of baking)

Green Velvet Cake

Luck o' the Irish

Made March 18, 2011

Basically, same recipe as the Red Velvet, but with green food coloring. :) It didn't get as green as I would've liked after the baking process, but it was so bright in the mix, I didn't think it would affect it! :( But it still tasted delish! :)

Red Velvet Recipe

Cheesey soup and noodles

Mac & Cheese soup

Made: March 4, 2011

Ingredients:

- Salt
- 4 oz elbow macaroni (about 1 cup)
- Cooking spray
- Ground Pepper
- 1 carrot, cut into 1-in pieces
- 1 stalk celery, cut into 1-in pieces
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3 3/4 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 6 oz shredded cheddar cheese (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

- Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil.
- Add the macaroni and cook as the label directs; drain. Set aside.
- Mince the shallpots, carrot and celery in a food processor.
- Mist a saucepan with cooking spray, add the vegetables and cook over medium heat until softened (4-5 min)
- Add the flour and cook, stirring - 2 min.
- Gradually stir in the broth and bring to a boil; cook, stirring until thickened (6-7 min). Remove from heat.
- Add the milk, cheese and macaroni and stir until the cheeses melt.
- Season with pepper.

I used both macaroni and shells as the pasta and I used Monetary-Jack cheese in addition to add an extra taste to it. I also just used a mandolin on level 1 thickness (very thin) to dice up the veggies instead; it added a nice texture against the creamy cheese & soft pasta :) But good reviews all around - minus that it was missing something but we couldn't really figure out what. :/

(Recipe from Food Network)

All mixed up soups

"Kimmi's Chicken Tortilla Soup"

Made: January 17, 2011

I mixed up two recipes; so I'll post both and you can make it how you see fit :)

"Chicken Tortilla Soup"

Ingredients:

-  1 pound skinless chicken breasts
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
- 1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
- 1 can (10 oz) Old El Paso® mild enchilada sauce
- 1 can (4.5 oz) Old El Paso® chopped green chiles
- 1 3/4 cups Progresso® chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)
- 1 cup Green Giant® Valley Fresh Steamers™ Extra Sweet Niblets® frozen corn (from 12-oz bag), thawed
- 3 teaspoons dried minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 soft corn tortillas (5 to 6 inch), cut into 1-inch strips

Directions:

- Spray 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker with cooking spray.
- Place chicken in slow cooker.
- Add all remaining ingredients.
- Cover; cook on low heat setting 6 to 7 hours.
- Remove chicken; shred with 2 forks.
- Return to slow cooker; stir well to blend

 "Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup"

Ingredients:

- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs (1 1/4 lb)
- 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
- 3 (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 1/2 cups Green Giant® Niblets® frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
- 1 can (15 oz) chick peas or garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed
- 1 can (4.5 oz) Old El Paso® chopped green chiles
- 3/4 cup salsa verde
- 2 cans (14 oz each) chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
- 2 tomatoes, seeded, chopped
- Chopped fresh cilantro leaves, if desired

Directions:

- In 3- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix all ingredients except tomatoes and cilantro.
- Cover; cook on Low heat setting 5 to 7 hours or until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut
- Stir to break up chicken thighs.
- Stir in tomatoes before serving.
- Garnish with cilantro. 

"Kimmi's Chicken Tortilla Soup"

Ingredients:

- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup of chopped onion (I used a red onion since we still had one)
- 1 can (10oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
- 1 can (10oz) El Paso® mild enchilada sauce
- 1 3/4 cups of chicken brot
- 1 bag (8oz) frozen whole corn
- 1 can black beans; drained & rinsed
- 2 tablespoons salsa verde
- 1 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 large round soft tortilla cut into roughly 1 inch squares

Directions:

- Put everything into the slow cooker
- Use low heat for 5-7 hours (I cooked it roughly 6 hours)
- Mix throughout the cooking time
- Pull out chicken and shred with fork (I did this around hour 5)
- Top with strips of tortilla and cheese

:) I love this soup. It has awesome flavor, nice texture .. but it's not too overly spicy and hot, but does has some kick to it.