Happy Dessert Day!

Cardamom Buttermilk Cake with blackberry whipped cream...

Putting it all together:  


The cake is made with buttermilk, ground cardamom and ginger, orange juice (freshly squeezed), and some vanilla.  The texture is firm, but light tasting...sort of similar to pound cake.  The cake pan is lined with ground pecans mixed with sugar and some orange rind to give the cake a little crust.  

The filling is just some Cool Whip and blackberries gently folded together.     

It was the best way to celebrate National Dessert Day!

Gingerbread

I made some gingerbread over the weekend.  A big warm slice tasted great on a cool, fall night, topped of course, with my favorite whipped topping.  

I used an 8x8 pan since I didn't have a 9x9 sized one.  This seemed to work, but the pieces are very tall!  

Cinnamon & Yeast

My first attempt at cooking with active, dry yeast.   A loaf of cinnamon bread.  I can't believe it worked!  And it was so good!  The recipe said to tell if the loaf was done baking, to knock on the bottom of the pan...if there is a 'hollow sound' it should be done.  I had a hard time telling if what I was hearing was 'hollow'.  Especially since I had a hot loaf pan next to my face so I could listen closely...there must be a better way! 

 

Strawberry Shortcake

It seemed like the perfect compliment to our grilled veggie burgers last night.  I don't know if I've ever had real strawberry shortcake before.  Growing up, my mom would buy lady fingers or sponge cake dessert shells in the bakery at the grocery store, and we'd fill them with strawberries and top them off with Cool Whip.  The old-fashioned version was also a wonderful treat.  The recipe came from Cooking Light, and definitely one I'll add to the line up.  I like how the shortcake was sweet...I expected it to taste more like a biscuit and was pleasantly surprised.  Not the most beautiful presentation, but trust me, it was very good! 

I can make a decent whipped cream from scratch, but I prefer to use Cool Whip.  There is such a huge difference in terms of calories and fat, and personally, I prefer the taste of Cool Whip.  For me the only downside is appearance...cool whip just doesn't look as light and fluffy as the real thing. 

Sweet & Savory

This is the first cake I've made from scratch in a long time.  Friends
came to visit, including one with a birthday.  She likes white
cake with white frosting.  I'm pretty proud of what I came up with.
The icing was a fluffy light variety, but was kind of melty with the
cake.  Next time I'll try a more standard buttercream.  The flavor was
great...very light and airy. I'd like to try a fruit filling in
between layers...maybe peach?

 We also had some friends over Saturday night.  I baked a batch of vegetarian Samosas from a recipe I found in Cooking Light.  The took forever to make, but were sooooo yummy.  

Ginger Snap Remix

Just a quick recap of the ginger snaps.  The first batch (seen on the
left in picture below) was rolled in turbinado sugar.  The result was
a shiny, chewy ginger snap that was slightly lighter in color compared
to traditional ginger snaps.  The next batch (right) was rolled in
plain old granulated sugar and I baked them for an extra minute or so.
 Out came a more traditional molasses cookie.  Both batches were a hit
among friends.  I preferred the crispier, traditional variety, but a
lot of friends liked the softer, chewier rendition.

Marionberry Scones

My attempt to copy the Marionberry Scone from Great Harvest Bread Co.  

Great Harvest Scone:  

My Scones:  

The recipe comes from Food to Live By by Myra Goodman.  It is the first recipe I've made from the book & turned out pretty well.  I substituted blackberries for the raspberries in Myra's version.  We quickly gobbled some up for breakfast.  I'm stuffed now.  Great start to Saturday.  :)