Mother's Day - Doing what I like

Genesis 3:20 

"Adam named his wife Eve, 

because she would become the mother of all the living."

Riley had hinted to me that my daughters were planning something for me for Mother's Day, and that was nice to hear. I eventually found out that it was to be a lovely breakfast at Heidi and Annie's house. But I kept wondering what I was going to do about my mother. Because I've been sick I didn't want to do anything that included a bunch of my siblings. Well on Saturday my mother called to wish me happy Mother's Day, and I could tell that she would like me to do something, so I told her that because I'd been sick I really didn't want to go anywhere, but would she and Dad like to come over for dinner on Mother's Day. She very gladly accepted my invitation. I then called and invited Ken and Marilyn, because I knew they would like to see my parents. Soon afterwards Sarah and Zac called. They wanted to come over and go out for coffee and cards and then have dinner with us. I told them about Sunday dinner. They were coming for the breakfast at Heidi's, but they wouldn't be staying for dinner, as they needed to get prepared for something at school on Monday. So that made 10 for dinner - a nice number. I was still wondering what I would serve. I went to the basement to get something out of the refrigerator and there it was - a great big ham. I'd have to think later about what we would have with the ham. So for the time being we all went to Starbucks on 20th and played cards, and then, after a failed attempt to go to Nicholas' (a huge crowd was waiting outside to get in), we went to Cha Cha Cha for dinner. I had a cheese quesadilla and it was really yummy. Afterwards we all went back to our house and sat around and talked for a long time. At one point Corey came home in a panic because she couldn't find her wallet. In the end, after talking with her about all she did during the day, I think that it fell out of her purse and is now in the possession of a stranger. She was understandably distraught. She was going out with her co-workers to a place to see one co-worker who was in a band. She knew she would need ID, so she got her passport. I sure hope she eventually finds her wallet. I HATE losing my wallet!!!


Sunday morning I woke up early coughing really badly, so I got up. I hadn't been up long before I decided that what I would do was cook. I love cooking in a clean kitchen early in the morning. Once I made eleven desserts by one o'clock. Being busy nicely took my mind off my problem of excessive coughing.

The first thing I made was an orange flan. I didn't get enough on cinco de maio. I needed to have it done enough to be able to put it into the refrigerator before going to church, I got it into the oven by 7 o'clock. [On Monday I went to have the left-over flan for dessert and it turned out that my daughters had eaten it. So now I need to make some more.]

Next I made cockeyed cake, because my Mom is a vegan and that's a vegan cake. I decided to put the batter into two small bundt pans, with a view to giving my Mom one of the cakes to take home. Well in the end I forgot to give it to her. So before going to bed I wrapped it up and put it into the freezer. Odd thing is that on the next morning I found it sitting on the kitchen table. I got the cakes into the oven by about 7:30.

Then I decided to make an orange almond angel cake because I had 10 left-over egg whites from making the flan twice in one week. I found a recipe on a cooking blog in Malasia for an orange angel food cake. Being very fond of orange flavored desserts I went for it. the recipe very nicely gave measurements in grams, so I was able to make it fit exactly to what I had. Unfortunately the cake did not stay as high as when it went in. So in the end I made a orange brandy syrup to spoon over the cake. So even though it wasn't exactly an angel food cake it was tasty.

And finally, I got bread started. I did a 1.25 pound of flour dough. And then I charged upstairs to take a shower, having 28 minutes still left before the angel food cake came out of the oven. When I got back from taking the shower there was 19 minutes still left. While I was sitting waiting for the cake to come out Riley came and gave me a Mother's Day present - tickets to the Irvington Home Tour, which was a delightful surprise.

When the cake was done I again charged upstairs to get dressed for church. It was so nice that my whole family was at church, as Sarah and Zac came into town to join us. So that was Riley and I, Annie and Corey, Heidi and Christian and Emily, and Sarah and Zac.



After church Riley and I headed to the nice new nursery in our neighborhood, Garden Fever. I wanted to get a plant for each mother in the family that I would see today.

For Sarah, who isn't at all interest in flowers, I got an heirloom tomato plant - brandywine tomato.




Then for Heidi I found a a tray with mixed gourmet lettuce. She want s to lose weight, so lettuce seemed like a good idea.


Then for my Mom I found a terrific sunflower called lemon sunflower. There were three lovely plants in the pot. The plant only gets to about 4 feet tall, which I think is a good thing, as sunflowers are a bit too tall, especially if you're short, as my Mom is.

I then went home and wrapped up the plants, putting bubble wrap around the pots, then white tissue paper, and then a nice big ribbon.



I was worried about getting to Heidi's house late for breakfast, but is was definitely not ready when we got there. I didn't realize it at the time, but Heidi was sick. That explains why she was so grumpy. I asked if I could help and she snapped at me. So I went and sat in the living room. While sitting there Emily came into the room bearing what was obviously another present for me - a new watering wand for the garden. My old one was squirting all over me. It was seemingly a present from Emily and Riley.

But when breakfast was finally ready it was quite delightful. We had bacon and sausages, pancakes, fried mushrooms and tomatoes, and strawberries and tea and orange juice. And when we were mostly done eating I asked Emily if she would go over and get a present for me. She went right over to the side table and brought all of them over to me. I'm so amazed of late at how well Emily understands what I am saying.

Heidi, Annie, and Corey gave me a cooking class in French Provencal cooking at Sur la Table. At this hands on event we will be cooking Pissaladière - Bouillabaisse Served with Rouille - Classic Bistro Roast Chicken with Ratatouille - Profiteroles with Honey Lavender Ice Cream. I'm really glad it's hands on, though they probably don't want to let everybody be hands on to everything. And then when done, we get to eat the food.

Sarah and Zac gave me two lovely embroidered hand towels to go with the new piece of furniture in the second floor bathroom. I think I will need a new towel rack. And then Riley gave me a third present, one that I had requested, a lovely knitting book called Little Knits.  I've been eying that book since September, and I've already put pictures of the sweaters in my iPhoto.  The book is a story book as well as a knitting book, which Emily loves.

After breakfast we headed home, knowing that I at least needed to get the ham in the oven. The menu for the Mother's Day Dinner was to be:

baked glazed ham
French bread and butter
roasted potatoes
fruity green salad
garlicky green beans

cockeyed cake
orange flan
orange almond angel food cake

After the ham was in the oven we went for coffee at a local Starbucks and did a puzzle or two. There was still stuff to be done, and I couldn't remember when I told people to come over, so we didn't linger too long. All in all, everything went very well. Corey surprised me by coming home and helping with the cooking. She was actually a very big help, which is usually not her way when it comes to cooking. She did the potatoes and the green beans and helped with the salad. One could almost say that she cooked the dinner.

When Ken and Marilyn showed up they asked how they could help, and I set them on the dining room. Marilyn tidied up all the toys and Ken helped me clear off the dining table, and then they set it. One funny thing was that Marilyn asked if she could do something fancy with the napkins, and I said "certainly". She laid them in the middle of the plates. My parents soon settled in the living room and Riley provided everyone with a drink. Heidi and her crew arrived quite late, but I suspect this was because she was sick.

It was a lovely dinner, and even the angel food cake was well received. My Mother seemed to enjoy herself very much, and was a bit disappointed when my Dad said that it was time to go home. Being 89 years old he doesn't want to be driving in the dark. Unfortunately Marilyn came down with a stomach ache. I found her sitting in the living room looking very miserable. After questioning her about her symptoms I told her that she could use to drink some French green clay. She consented, so I went a got a very small glass of water with a teaspoon of green clay in it and a spoon. Standing beside her I stirred it all up and told her to chug it. She did, and with in no time she felt a lot better.

“Enjoying the joys of others 

and suffering with them

 - these are the best guides for man”

Albert Einstein

Cinco de Maio

Colossians 2:16-17

 "Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, 

or with regard to a religious festival, 

a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 

These are a shadow of the things that were to come; 

the reality, however, is found in Christ."

This is an absolutely gorgeous day for cinco de maio. Blue sky, light breeze, and spring is in the air. Annie and Tiah and Corey are putting on a cinco de miao dinner tonight, and I told them that I would bring an orange flan. I have a fabulous recipe for this, but now I have to figure out where I wrote it.

Heidi showed up this morning with the kids and told me that she told Christian he could stay home today. A sick 11 year old is always a challenge. He's got a terrible cough, which he's had for at least two weeks. Emily also has the cough.

All day long I looked for the book I'd written the flan recipe in, but to no avail. And I couldn't find any recipe on the Internet that sounded like mine. So finally I decided to come up with something of my own. I wrote that recipe down about 25 years ago. So I packed the kids in the car and we went to the store and got eggs, half and half, and an orange.

Orange Flan

5 egg yolks
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
3 cups half and half
some orange zest

1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbls water

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Get a 1 1/2 quart tart dish and a metal baking pan that the dish will fit into.
Put the milk and orange zest into a pan and place over medium low heat.
Put the egg yolks, eggs, 3/4 cup sugar, and the almond extract into a large bowl and whip thoroughly.

Put 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons water into a sauce pan and heat up slowly. Don't stir with a spoon, but you can gently swirl the pan as needed. Keep a keen eye on this sugar. You want it to turn brown, but to not burn. There is a fine degree of difference between the two. As soon as the sugar turns a medium brown, pour into the dish and carefully swirl it around to coat the bottom and sides of the dish. This will become hard very fast.

While wisking, pour the hot milk mixture into the egg and sugar mixture. Stir to blend thoroughly. Then pour this mixture into another bowl through a strainer. And finally, set the dish into the pan you're going to use for the water bath, and pour the mixture into the dish. Place the dish and pan into the oven, then carefully add hot water up to at least halfway up the sides. Bake for about 45 to 55 minutes. I forgot to time it, so I can only approximate.

Chill thoroughly. Then turn out onto a plate by putting the plate on top and quickly flipping it over.

Everyone loved this flan.  It really did turn out well.

At the Cinco de Maio party the girls had made lots of food, but to my great dismay I started to come down with the kids cold and I couldn't taste anything.  This was Mexican food for goodness sake.  But for the most part it was all tasteless to me.  So I had two strawberry margaritas and a slice of flan.  Annie said that I was welcome to come over tomorrow and had some of the left-overs if my sense of taste came back.

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, 

but most of them pick themselves up 

and hurry off as if nothing ever happened." 

Winston Churchill

Daring Baker Project #7 Cheesecake Pops

Joshua 24:15 

"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, 

then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, 

whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, 

or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. 

But as for me and my household, 

we will serve the LORD."

This was my first Daring Baker project in which I felt disadvantaged. First off, I don't really like cheesecake. Secondly, I've never made a cheesecake. Lastly if it weren't for the challenge I would never make a dessert with 5 packages of cream cheese in it. But I've read many a blog in which the person was not at there best. People who don't like lemon for instance. Or people who are completely intimidated by yeast. Or those who have to make the item several times to get it right, like a cake. And anyway, a challenge is at its best if one is really stretched.



Well rounding up the ingredients wasn't too hard. I got the cream cheese for $2/pound. But rounding up the hardware was definitely more challenging. I absolutely couldn't come up with a 10 inch non-springform cake pan. And I have a very large collection of cake pans in the basement, but the best I could come up with was a 10 inch springform pan. I brought it up and put water in it. It leaked. Sur la Table didn't even have one. So I decided to go with area. The area of a 10 inch circle is 78.57, and the square root of that is 8.86. I decided that that was close enough to 9, and I had a great 9 inch pan with 2 inch sides. Then of course I realized I needed to get that pan into another one, and then that into my small Lacanche oven. Luckily, in my search for the 10 inch pan I had spotted a wonderful baking pan that I bought in Hong Kong at the Sincere Department Store to fit into my very small oven while holding a turkey. (The turkey always hung over the edge, but cooked wonderfully in my Kenwood oven). Everything fit! :)



So there I was starting to cook this cake at 10 o'clock on Saturday night, and I realized I only had extra large eggs. A large egg weighs 2 ounces, and an extra large egg weighs 2.25 ounces. So I decided that I would use 5 of my eggs and 1 egg yolk. After that was settled I decided to put parchment paper into my baking pan since the cake was going to be all scooped up in the end. It fit perfectly. And at that the whole cake was a breeze to make. And it filled the pan perfectly. But it did take 55 minutes to cook. At least that's when I decided to stop cooking it. I don't know how to tell when a cheese cake is done.



It was then 20 to 12. I didn't have time to sit around and let it cool down. I wanted to go to bed. But luckily the parchment stood up higher than the pan, so I rested a tea towel over the parchment, like a tent, and went to bed. It gets plenty cold in my house at night. Then this morning I got up early and put it in the refrigerator. Then before leaving for church I took the cheesecake out of the pan and decided I'd cut it into 48 pieces. I could not figure out how to easily cut it into 40 pieces. That's 6 x 8 versus 5 x 8. Not a bit difference. I made about 7 balls, and decided that it needed to be more chilled. Put the balls in the freezer and the rest in the cold part of the refrigerator.



For some reason Riley decided to make blueberry muffins. The last time he did that was the last time I did my Daring Baker project. I hope we don't have a pattern here. The muffins were done with just enough time to be acceptably late, but not enough time to eat them. We invited our family over for breakfast after church. I decided to make bacon. My daughter Annie had told me that she had a friend or somebody who told her that the way she cooks bacon was to boil it first, and then put it into the oven. So I decided to try that. So I don't know what kind of bacon her friend uses, but that turned out the most disgusting bacon imaginable. It was almost completely tasteless. So we all ate blueberry muffins and juice and coffee.



I had taken the cheesecake out of the refrigerator and put it into the freezer because Sarah and Zac were not staying too long and I wanted them to taste my cheesecake lollies. Then I asked if anyone wanted to go for a walk. Riley and I and Sarah and Zac headed out. I had underestimated how slow a pregnant woman can walk. First we walked a half mile to see the pig in his garden, then we walked a half mile in another direction to go have lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Then we s l o w l y walked home, which was a mile. While sitting in the living room, chatting with daughter number 3 (Corey), I suddenly remembered the cheesecake in the freezer. and that I wanted to finish up so Sarah and Zac could have some.




The cheesecake still didn't feel frozen enough. I put it into the refrigerator and got the eight I had made from the freezer and started melting the chocolate. I did get them made, but it really stresses me. I really admire those cooks who managed to make all kinds of really cute cheesecake lollies. I don't know where they get the patients and calm to do it. I got my 7 made and put them in the freezer while we made tea and coffee to go with them. They stuck to the plate, but Zac managed to dislodge them for me.



We all decided that they were messy to eat and VERY rich. Zac was the only one who ate two of them. One was really all I could manage. Did I mention that I don't like cheesecake? We all pondered what I should do with the remaining 41 balls worth. Sarah suggested that I use it as a filling for a cake. Not a bad idea. I thought maybe a carrot cake. People are always crazy about carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. My mother loves it, so the only time I ever make it is for an occasion for my mother. Or here's another idea - I could make cupcakes and put a dob of the cheesecake in the middle of the batter. It could be chocolate, or carrot, or banana. I like that one.



Later on our friends Ken and Marilyn came over to watch baseball, play scrabble, eat supper, and of course to taste this month's Daring Baker project. I gave them the two remaining cheesecake lollie pops. We all thought that the rest of the cheesecake would be nice if it was just plain, with a big dollop of whipped cream flavored with orange brandy and a bit of the chocolate flavored with brandy. I put some brandy into the remaining chocolate and it seized up. Then, at Ken's suggestion, I add some butter. This was tasty, but the chocolate was still more like a truffle. So I got out small plates, put a square of cheesecake on each one, put on a big dollop of whipped cream, and spooned on a nice dab of chocolate. It was really quite tasty.

"You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."

C. S. Lewis

Lunch with Gramma and Grampa

Ephesians 6:1-3 

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 

"Honor your father and mother"

—which is the first commandment with a promise—

 "that it may go well with you

 and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."

My Mom called me the other day saying she hadn't heard from me for a while. Well I'll admit I hadn't seen her since Easter. But that's not that long ago. Really, she was trying to clean out a storage closet. So I said I would take the stuff and give to Goodwill what I didn't want. Interestingly enough she didn't want her stuff to go to Goodwill. So I said I would come out for lunch with Emily.

So today I called and said we be there for lunch. I decided that I would make a banana cake to bring out to my Dad, because my Mom is a vegan and she doesn't cook anymore anyway. I chose a cake from Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking: From My Home to Yours" that was recently used by the Daring Bakers. She called it a classic banana cake. I modified it just a bit, and only made half the recipe. The cake was supposed to be in a 10-12 cup bundt pan. I put it into two 5 1/2 inch by 2 1/2 inch cake pans. They work a perfect match for the amount of batter. The cake rose right to the top of the pan.

Banana Tea Cakes

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 Tbls rum or whiskey
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt or buttermilk
1 egg
7 ounces flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
grated nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup dried fruit (I used sultanas, currents, and cherries)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and paper two 5 1/5 inch x 2 inch cake pans.
Combine the flour, soda, salt, and nutmeg.
Cream the butter and sugar.
Mash the bananas, stir in the egg, sour cream or plain yogurt or buttermilk, and extracts and alcohol.
Add bananas mixture to butter and sugar and stir well.
Stir in the flour mixture.
Stir in the nuts and dried fruit.
Pour into the pans and bake until done, this was maybe 50 minutes.

I was in a hurry to get out to my parents place so I didn't take a picture. And when I got back home only 2/3 of the second cake was remaining.



As soon as I could handle the cakes I removed them from the pans to cool a bit. Then I located a cooky tin the right size, put tin foil in the tin and then the cake. I collected all I needed, like diaper, wipes, baba, baby (doll), book, and Emily, and headed out. We made a quick stop at Starbucks drive thru, and headed out of town. The coffee at the retirement home my parents live at is not really acceptable. It was 12:10 when we arrived, not bad really, but my parents eat lunch at a little past eleven. We all headed straight down to lunch and I felt like we were a parade and everyone was watching and waving and grinning. It was all about Emily. She didn't really seem to notice all this attention, which is good. It was a bit unnerving seeing all the old men who wanted to touch her. My parents were very nice about the fact that I took a bunch of food, cut it up into little pieces, and set it all in a large bowl that I found on the table. Apparently the bowl is used for garbage, so maybe my Dad was worried the waiter might take Emily's food. Emily was a very good girl. I was very proud of her.

After our lunch, we were again a parade as we walked out of the dining hall. It really seemed like Emily was the height of the day for many people in the retirement home. We continued to be an attraction as we worked our way to the area where they have an art gallery, which my mother seems to have something to do with. She used to be a docent at the Portland Art Museum. The new exhibit for the month was sports. Every month of so they change the exhibits, which are provided by the people in the community, and this month's was sports. Last months was vintage clothing, and I would have really liked to see that one, but my mother doesn't realize that I'm interested in vintage clothing, so she never told me about it. But the sports exhibit was interesting, especially pictures of the old people when they were young doing pretty amazing things. I think that people need to remember that old people were young once. There were two pairs of boots from my Dad's shoe factory with pictures of the owners wearing them in a sports related activity. I have a pair of Danner Boots that my Dad made specially for me because I wanted the top of my boot to be a little higher than normal and I wanted a little more padding at the top of the boot. I've owned these boots for at least 40 years. Three of my daughters have also worn these boots at one time or another. My Dad made very good boots.

"For myself I am an optimist - 

it does not seem to be much use being anything else." 

Sir Winston Churchill, 1954

Easter Sunday and The Perfect Party Cake

Matthew 28:5-7 

 The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, Who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.' Now I have told you."

This year Easter plans got off to a slow start. My youngest daughter was to be going to Central Oregon with her husband to visit his family, and our good friends the Yeatons, who often get together with us on Easter, were going somewhere else, and I was having a hard time pinning down the other daughters. Then on a day early in the week before Easter my mother calls and says that she wanted to have a family Easter get-together at the retirement home where she lives on the week after Easter. Somehow that just didn't seem like a good idea to me so I found myself saying why don't we have the event at my house on Easter. She thought that was a great idea. Perhaps that is what she was fishing for all along. Now the group I'm talking about is the same that came on Thanksgiving, and that was over 40 people. But this was late notice, and I was figuring we wouldn't have that many people. I suggested to Mom that she do the inviting, and that it would be pot-luck. We decided that she would bring the greens for a salad, and how much she brought depended on how many came. She had wanted to bring a Chinese chicken salad made with lettuce, but I knew I would be serving ham and scalloped potatoes and that did not seem like a good combination. And besides, at my house we make Chinese Chicken Salad with cabbage.

Mom called back a couple days later and said that the only family member available to come was cousin Jennifer and her fiancé Haig, as well as my Mom and Dad. That is interesting, because they weren't there at Thanksgiving. She also said that she couldn't get an answer out of my brother George - no surprise there. I just figured he wouldn't show. That made a perfect number for dinner - 10 at the table plus Emily at the corner in her highchair. I felt good about how things were working out. And also, that meant that the Daring Baker cake would be just the right size for dessert. If 40 people were coming I would be in trouble.

Easter Sunday Menu

green salad with orange salad dressing
French bread
fruit salad (brought by Jennifer) with yogurt dressing

baked glazed ham
scalloped potatoes
steamed asparagus with butter and garlic

the perfect party cake

I had much earlier purchased the m&m candies for the Easter hunt, but I decided that I didn't have the energy this year, and Christian hasn't really seemed to have gotten into the spirit of the whole thing anyway. When I was a kid we all loved the hunt, but there was eventually 8 of us in on the hunt, and that makes for a lot more excitement. But at the last minute I came up with a terrific solution. I got a lovely large basket from the basement (there's amazing amount a things in my basement) and I put some tissue paper in the bottom, topped with a linen napkin, and then poured in all the candy, putting some of the candy into about a dozen little plastic eggs. Then I topped it off with a very cute little bunny I found on the third floor and a great big bow on the top of the handle, punctuated with some silk violets, also just found laying about. Then I put the basket on the "lion" in the front hall. People could just take what they wanted and it turned out to be a very well received idea.

The entry from the front hall to the living room is about 11 feet wide and on either side, jutting into the space, are two 30 inch high things we call "the lions" because they remind us of majestic entries in Hong Kong, where we once lived. There used to be a pillar on each "lion", but they were removed way before our time. I have a tendency to give everything a name of some kind. That way people know what I'm talking about. One of them can be seen here in this picture of my grandson Christian.

On Easter morning the first cooking I did was to get the bread started before we went to church, and Riley made blueberry muffins. Afterwards family members gathered at our house to get the dinner and the house ready. Emily and I started right in on the cake as the bread was not quite ready for its second rising. I wasn't going to make the butter cream until after dinner, but the layers needed to be made. Emily thought that the lemon was delightful, and she was quite pleased to able to help get the pans ready. We actually did two sets of pans because I missed the part in the directions that called for 2 inch pans, which luckily I did have down in the basement.



Mid making the cake the bread was ready to be punched down and ready for its second rise. Again Emily was a very willing helper. I absolutely love people with enthusiasm and Emily gets an A+ for enthusiasm.I'm so glad that she likes to cook. Between the two of us we got the bread dough all punched down, rested a bit, and the smushed for the second rise. Emily was so delighted with the dough that she put her face right to the dough and took a bite.


Right about this time daughter number two started in on her scalloped potatoes. This is Annie, and she also loves to cook. I think daughter number three helped her somewhat. This is Corey, and she's not quite as fond of cooking, but she's good at it when she decides to cook. And also at about this same time the Yeatons arrived unexpectedly. They brought us a cute little bag filled with Easter goodies. Right away they began to help. Ken set the table and Marilyn did the washing up. It's so nice to have good friends. While we were all working we all had tea. After about an hour Ken and Marilyn left, as they were having dinner out of town.

Shortly after the Yeatons left my parents arrived, and then Jennifer and Haige arrived and it really began to feel like a party. More tea was made, but Riley gave a Scotch to my dad. I've never seen my Dad drink tea. The girls all enjoyed getting to know Haise, who is talkative but pleasant and enthusiastic about things. By 2:30 the bread was done and we all sat down for the first course of salads and bread. The bread was a huge success, and most of it was gone before the main course.

Just as we were finishing the salad and Emily was being taken upstairs for a nap my brother George showed up with his two boys, Taku and Tatsu. We quickly made room for them at the end of the table. More salad was made and the bread was passed around again. I was glad they came, and I think they had a nice time. George later helped me with the photographs of the cake. We were still all sitting at the table talking by 5 o'clock. I still hadn't put the cake together, but Jennifer and Haige had to leave, as they were having guests at their house.


But as soon as they left I started in on the butter-cream. First I got a cake plate out, put a doily on it, and cut the layers in half. I chose rhubarb-cherry jam for the filling, as daughter number three did not like the idea of raspberry. Then I put on a pan of water, put the egg whites and sugar in my mixing bowl and set it over the pan of steaming water and stir until the mixture was warm to the touch and the sugar looked disolved. This is always the scary part. Then I wupped up the egg whites until they were cool, and tossed in the very soft butter, one cube at a time, and mixed very well. The butter-cream went together very nicely, and in no time I had the cake ready for the coconut. I'd never coconut all over a cake before. It's a bit of a pain, or should I say it takes a pains taking effort. I should have decorated the cake more, but it was definitely time for dessert, so I went with a cake that looked as much like the picture in Dorie's book as I could manage.

The cake was very well received by everyone, and when all was done there was less than a quarter of the cake still left.


Well I'm just leaving for Seattle for the Opening Day of Mariner's Baseball, and I will finish this blog later.



Now I'm back. We had a great time in Seattle, but it sure is colder up there than it is down here! The Mariners won the opening game of the season, but it took J J Putz longer than usual to close the top of the ninth, and the next day they lost when a Ranger got a home-run off of him. This is VERY unusual. Turns out he has an injury, and now he's on the DL for fifteen days. I sure hope he gets all better. He's my favorite player, though I'm fond of most of the Mariners.


My Critique of the Perfect Party Cake

Well like I said, the cake was very well received. I suspect that I might have been the only one who wasn't so fond of it. But for me the problem was that I put the coconut on it at my husband's request and it made the cake too sweet for me. I think that coconut would be better on a seven minute frosting, or white mountain frosting, but not butter cream. But this was not the cake's problem, but mine.

The cake was very easy to make. The only hitch was when I didn't think it was cooked enough because it was soooo pale. But it's a white cake, and white is pale.  I didn't think the layers rose enough and I would like to try this cake with whipping up the whites separately and folding them in.  I'm a really big fan of cakes that use no artificial leavening.  

The butter cream came together very easily. Maybe the reason it seemed easy was because I have already made butter cream for the December Daring Baker event. Nothing like having a little experience.

But I had to serve the cake immediately after assembling it, and I think it would have greatly benefitted from being chilled a couple of hours. I like my butter cream to be hard.

I didn't use the lemon essence because I didn't have any and I don't like a phony lemon taste. But I think I would have liked the cake to taste more lemony.

I'm not a fancy cake decorator and when I began to look at what other Daring Bakers did to decorate their cakes I was absolutely blown away. They got so creative, while I just followed the recipe. My husband thought that my chocolate ganache would have been a great filling. How about it one used the chocolate filling with the flavoring as orange, and maybe some brandy added somewhere. And I liked the idea of topping the cake with toasted almonds. And what if one used candied toasted almonds.

Great cake really. I must try it again sometime, with variations of course.



The Perfect Party Cake

for the cake


2 ½ cups cake flour
 ( or 10 ounces all-purpose flour, sifted)
1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (you can add some lemon juice)

4 large egg whites

1 ½ cups sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature





for the butter-cream


1 cup sugar

4 large egg whites

3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract



for finishing

anything you like to put between the layers of the cake, like jam or curd or berries


Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease two 9 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or wax paper and lightly grease the parchment.



To Make the Cake


Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.


Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. 
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.


Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. 

Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. 

Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. 

Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. 


Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
.

Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.

Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).



To Make the Butter-cream


Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. 
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.


Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.


Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.

During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.


On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. 
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.



To Assemble the Cake


Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.

Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
Spread it with one third of the preserves. Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the butter-cream.


Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).


Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top. 
Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.



Serving


The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. [I (Molly) think it is better if it is in the refrigerator for a couple hours]

Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.



Storing


The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.



Playing Around


Since lemon is such a friendly flavour, feel free to make changes in the preserves: other red preserves – cherry or strawberry – look especially nice, but you can even use plum or blueberry jam.



Fresh Berry Cake
If you will be serving the cake the day it is made, cover each layer of buttercream with fresh berries – use whole raspberries, sliced or halved strawberries or whole blackberries, and match the preserves to the fruit. You can replace the coconut on top of the cake with a crown of berries, or use both coconut and berries. You can also replace the buttercream between the layers with fairly firmly whipped sweetened cream and then either frost the cake with buttercream (the contrast between the lighter whipped cream and the firmer buttercream is nice) or finish it with more whipped cream. If you use whipped cream, you’ll have to store the cake the in the refrigerator – let it sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.



"Imagination is more important than knowledge." 

Albert Einstein