motley food: Drop The Mix: Pancakes From Scratch Are Surprisingly Easy 

motleyfood:

by Trish

Pancakes can be polarizing things. Some like them thin and crispy. Others, including myself, opt to put the emphasis on ‘cake’ and prefer them light and fluffy. Fluffy pancakes mean better absorption of maple syrup, and really isn’t a pancake just a big syrup sponge anyways?

While…

qualityrecipes:

Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
• 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
• 2 tablespoons milk

Makes: About 3 cups of icing.

Instructions:

1. In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.
2. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.
3. For thin (spreading) consistency icing, add 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk.
4. For Pure White Icing (stiff consistency), omit butter; substitute an additional 1/2 cup shortening for butter and add 1/2 teaspoon No-Color Butter Flavor. Add up to 4 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk to thin for icing cakes.

yummiesnstuff:

How to smooth fondant on a cake without a traditional cake smoother

breakfast-brunch-dessert:

Delicious Chocolate Cake
For the cake: 

• 3 cups (600 gr) sugar 
• scant 3 cups (425 gr) AP flour 
• 1 cup + 2 Tbspn (135 gr) Dutch-processed cocoa powder 
• 1 1/2 tspn salt 
• 2 1/4 tspn baking powder 
• 2 1/4 tspn baking soda 
• 3 eggs 
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil 
• 1 1/2 cup whole milk 
• 1 1/2 cup hot coffee

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease, flour, and line the bottoms of three 8” round cake pans. If desired, wrap the cake pans with bake-even strips. 
2. In a mixer bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix to combine. 
3. In a separate bowl, combine the beaten eggs, vegetable oil, and milk. Stir to mix. Then, with the mixer on low, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix on low until evenly distributed. 
4. Pour the hot coffee into the batter and mix on medium low until smooth. The batter will be soupy. 
5. Divide the batter between the cake pans. 
6. Bake for 35-45 minutes. When a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out cleanly, the cakes are done. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. 
7. Level the cakes (this is easier if they’ve sat in the freezer for at least one hour beforehand). 
8. Stack the cakes, spreading a layer of frosting in between each cake layer. Frost the outside of the cake—for a smoother finish, use a hot knife.

For the frosting:

• 1 3/4 cups (350 gr) sugar 
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 
• 7.5 oz (213 gr) unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped 
• 12 Tbspn unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 
• 1 1/2 tspn vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a saucepan, bring the sugar and heavy cream to a boil over medium heat. 
2. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the cream and sugar for six minutes. Be careful not to let the saucepan overflow. 
3. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate and butter until they have completely melted. 
4. Stir in the vanilla extract. 
5. Let the frosting cool completely, whisking every now and then during cooling. (You can do this step in the refrigerator to speed up the process) Once completely cool at room temperature, the frosting will be spreadable.

(via )

(via thecakebar)

gastrogirl:

cupcakes and remembering Ava.

breakfast-brunch-dessert:

Egg Salad Sandwiches

• 8 hard boiled eggs, peeled and cut in half 
• heaping 1/4 cup mayonnaise 
• heaping teaspoon whole grain mustard 
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped tarragon 
• 2 teaspoons chopped flat leaf parsley 
• 2 tablespoons finely diced shallots 
• 2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 
• salt and pepper to taste 
• bread

Directions

1. Making egg salad is super easy. Once the eggs are hard boiled and peeled, and the herbs and shallots are chopped, dump everything into a medium bowl. Use a fork to break up the egg whites and yolks and incorporate all of the ingredients. Add more mayonnaise if you’d like it more creamy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon onto good bread and enjoy. Store egg salad in the fridge for up to 4 days.

(via )

breakfast-brunch-dessert:

Neapolitan Pancakes

• 2 cups of pancake mix 
• 1 cup of milk 
• 1 egg 
• 1 vanilla bean 
• Strawberries, diced into small pieces 
• Milk chocolate chocolate chips

Directions

1. Combine the pancake mix, milk and egg together in a bowl. Slice the vanilla bean down the center then using the dull side of the knife, scrape all the seeds out of each side of the bean. Add the seeds to the pancake batter. 
2. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake onto a hot nonstick griddle or skillet. Top each pancake with pieces of the strawberry and chocolate chips. 
3. Cook 2 minutes or until the tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Carefully turn pancakes over; cook 2 more minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Served slathered in butter and topped with maple syrup.

(via )

smilingfork:

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Meringue Frosting

Difficulty: ★★★☆☆ (Moderate)

Yield: 34 Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs plus 1 large egg white, at room temperature
• 1 cup milk, at room temperature
• 2 cups finely chopped fresh strawberries 

Frosting

• 1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries (8 oz.), rinsed, hulled and coarsely chopped
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, at room temperature 

Directions:

1. To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.  Add the eggs and the egg white, one at a time, beating well after each addition and stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions alternately with the milk, mixing only until incorporated. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries with a rubber spatula. 
4. Fill each well of the cupcake pans about 3/4-full with the batter.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove the cupcake pans to a wire rack to cool for 5-10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pans to the rack to cool completely. 
5. To make the frosting: Puree the strawberries in your food processor until completely smooth.  Add the egg whites and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer (or any heatproof bowl)  and set it over a pan of simmering water.  Heat, whisking constantly, until the sugar has dissolved - you can test with your fingertips, if the mixture feels grainy, it’s not ready yet.
6. Attach the bowl to your stand mixer (or transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer if you used a separate bowl) fitted with the whisk attachment.  Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture has cooled to room temperature, about 10 minutes. (The bowl will be cool to the touch.) 
7. Reduce the mixer to medium-low speed and add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time.  Let each addition incorporate before adding the next.  (The frosting may look soupy or curdled once you add the butter - just keep beating and it will come together.)  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then add the strawberry puree to the bowl.  Beat until combined - the mixture will probably look curdled again when you add the strawberries, keep beating!)
8. Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes (I used a large star tip), and garnish with extra strawberries, if desired.

(via kitchenelves)