Zebra Cake

It looks so innocent, just a plain white cake (don't judge, I know it's a really bad picture :) ).

Then you cut into the cake...

 My Sister In Law loves zebra stripes so for her last birthday I made her a zebra cake as a surprise. It took her a few minutes to realize that the cake had zebra stripes but once she realized, after some prodding, she was so excited.

I made the cake with my Gluten Free Yellow Cake recipe. (I am so embarrassed, I just realized that I have never posted this recipe)

HIGH ALTITUDE GLUTEN FREE YELLOW CAKE: 

3/4 cup butter, at room temp
4 eggs, at room temp
1 3/4 cup GF All Purpose flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
3/4 cup cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp xanthan gum (this is optional since the cornstarch is a binder)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 sup sour milk (I put about a tbsp lemon juice and then fill it the rest of the way with milk and then let it sit for at least 5 minutes, I usually get this ready with the butter and eggs so it come to room temp)
1/2 cup sour cream

Mix flour, baking powder, xanthan gum (if using), and salt. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time and mix well in between.

Add vanilla and sour cream, mix well.

Alternate between flour and milk about 1/3 at a time.

Bake at 325 for 30 - 40 minutes.

When you pull this out of the oven, put the pans on a cooling rack and leave them there to cool for about 1/2 an hour at least. Gluten free things have a much more delicate crumb than regular things and if you try to move it too much when it's hot, it will just fall apart. Gluten free things also tend to shrink when they cool. This cake shrinks ALOT! It is also a really dense cake (this might be why I never posted this recipe, I need to do some more tweaking to see if I can achieve a lighter texture like my GF Chocolate Cake)

To make the zebra stripes, I took half of the batter once it was mixed and moved it to another bowl. I added some black food coloring and cocoa powder. This made the black thicker than the white but it was manageable. I'm not sure how much cocoa powder I used, I just dumped some in to help the batter achieve a darker black without so much food coloring.

Once I had the two batters mixed, I alternated between white and black. I put about 2 tbsp of white batter in each pan and then about 2 tbsp of black batter in the center. 2 tbsp of white batter in the center, 2 tbsp of black batter in the center.... you get the point :). Every once in a while I tapped the pans on the counter to get the batter to level out. It took a while but it was so worth it.

You could do this design with any combination of colors, just separate the batter and then color it.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and I would love to know how your cakes turn out!!

Apple Pie

In the fall, Hubby got me a big box of apples.

Some of the apples were so small, they were so cute...

So what else can you do with a big box of apples...

APPLE PIE:

1 double pie crust

6 cups thinly sliced, peeled apples (I used a combination of these yellow ones and some miscellaneous red apples)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3/4 cup sugar (if your apples are really sweet or you don't want an overly sweet pie, you can reduce the sugar)

2 tablespoons flour

Cinnamon to taste

Ginger to taste, optional

Nutmeg to taste

Butter, optional

Preheat oven to 375.

Line your pie pan with the first half of your pie crust.

Sprinkle apples with lemon juice as soon as peeled and sliced. 

Note: I peeled my apples with a vegetable peeler, used an apple corer/slicer and then stuck them in the food processor with the slicer blade on.

Stir together the sugar, flour and spices, coat the apple slices with this mixture.

Pour apple mixture into pie crust, dot with butter if using, and cover with the second half of the pie crust.

Seal the edges of the pie crust as you wish, cut slits in the top crust. Optional, you can brush the top of the pie crust with milk and sprinkle with additional sugar.

Cover edge of pie with foil to prevent the crust from becoming too browned. Bake for 40 minutes, remove foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until filling is bubbly.

Cool on wire rack for at least 2 hours before serving.

To freeze:

Prepare pie up through cutting the slits on top, place in a ziploc bag and freeze.

To bake, preheat oven to 450, cover edges with foil, bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375, bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 55 minutes or until filling is bubbly. Cool on wire rack for at least 2 hours before serving. 

This is what I usually do. It's easier to make 3 or 4 pies at once and freeze 2 or 3 of them to pull out of the freezer and have a fresh, homemade dessert in no time.

However, you can also bake the pie and then freeze it. When you are ready, thaw the pie at room temperature before serving.

Pink Cheesecake

This was the only shot I got of this cheesecake before it disappeared. It was really good. We had some friends in town and her favorite color is pink so I tinted the cheesecake pink for her. She loved it!


CHEESECAKE SUPREME
Adapted from my Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook

Crust:
2 sleeves of graham crackers
1/4 cup butter
Pinch of cinnamon

Filling:
2 - 8oz pkg cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 - 16oz container sour cream
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
food coloring optional

Get out all your ingredients and let everything come up to room temperature for about 20-30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375.

Put graham crackers in the food processor (if you don't have a food processor, just put them in a ziploc baggie and beat them with a rolling pin). Process them until they are coarsely ground, 30-45 seconds.

Melt the butter in the microwave for a few seconds.

Mix the graham cracker crumbs, butter and cinnamon and press into the bottom and up the sides of your springform pan.

Line your pan with 2 layers of 18" heavy duty aluminum foil for the water bath.

Place your foil lined pan into a roasting pan and set aside.

Now move on to the batter, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the sour cream and combine thoroughly. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl and the beater each time you have to turn it off.

Then put the vanilla, flour and food coloring if using.

Slightly beat the eggs and stir them into the batter.

Pour the batter on top of the crust and spread to the edges.

You are ready to put the cheesecake in the oven, in the roasting pan.

After the cheesecake in the roasting pan is in the oven, fill the roasting pan with water to about half way up the side of the cheesecake.

Bake it at 375 for about 45 minutes or until the edges are set but the middle is slightly jiggly. Turn the oven off and let the cheesecake sit in its bath for 1 hour. Do not open the oven during this time. 

After 1 hour in the bath take the cheesecake out of the oven. Take it out of the roasting pan and put it on a rack to cool. After about half an hour I loosened the edges with a butter knife but left the side of the pan on. 

I then put the cheesecake, still in the pan into the refrigerator to cool over night.

To see the difference between baking a cheesecake regularly and baking it in a water bath, you can see my post here where I made the same cheesecake twice, the first time in a water bath and the second time I baked it regularly. Do the water bath, PLEASE.

Purple Roses

My Mother In Law bought me a purple rose bush a few years ago for my birthday since my favorite color is purple.

We got our first blooms of the year this week.

I love this rose bush!