I saw this cake last year on Barbara Bakes and I pinned it immediately.  I have pinned quite a few cakes, but I knew I would make this one.  Ella loves ice cream cakes so I decided to give it a try for her birthday this month.  I had my heart set on a mint ice cream filling, but I wasn’t sure how many of the kids loved mint as much as I do.  So I bought the Oreo Mint Birthday Cake and Regular Birthday Cake ice cream.  I spread half on one side and half on the other and it worked out perfectly!

This is a great cake and it is very impressive. Okay, so we served this to a house full of 3rd graders, but at least I was impressed:-) The kids loved it though. One little girl said “I never knew that you could make your own ice cream cake!” So cute.

We had a great time at Ella’s party. We took 7 girls roller skating and then we came home and had lunch, cake and presents.  I wanted to take the girls somewhere, but I always feel like the cake/food/presents part of a birthday party are always really rushed through so I decided to do the food part at our house.  I think I will do that from now on.  The party was longer than the typical two hours, but now that the girls are a little bit older that is much easier to bear.

The weather was beautiful for early December and the girls were able to play outside after cake and presents. I was so happy for Ella because she often laments how we can never have her birthday party outside since it is in December.  Yippee!

This would be a great dessert for Christmas, too. Especially with the mint ice cream – yum!

Chocolate Ice Cream Cake Roll

 

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Cuisine: Dessert

Ingredients

• Cake:
• ½ cup cake flour
• ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 5 large eggs
• ¾ cup white sugar, divided
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• Filling:
• 1 container (1½ quarts) ice cream, softened
• Glaze:
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 6 ounce semisweet chocolate, chopped
• ¼ cup corn syrup
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• Optional Topping:
• 1 cup Crushed regular or mint flavored Oreo’s or Jo-Jo’s

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 375º. Spray a 15½ x 10½ x 1-inch jelly-roll pan with cooking spray and line with parchment or wax paper. Spray paper with additional spray.
2. Whisk together cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
3. Separate egg whites and yolks into 2 large bowls.
4. Beat whites on medium-high speed until foamy. Gradually beat in ½ cup of the sugar. Continue to beat on high speed just until stiff (but not dry) peaks form.
5. Beat yolks with the remaining ¼-cup sugar and extracts until thickened, about 3 minutes. On low speed, beat in flour mixture until blended. Stir in ¼ of beaten egg whites into mixture. Fold in remaining whites. Spread in prepared pan.
6. Bake 12 – 14 minutes or until top springs back when gently pressed. Let cool 2 minutes on a wire rack.
7. Dust a tea towel with confectioners’ sugar. Loosen edges of the cake from the pan with a knife and carefully invert cake onto towel. Lift pan and gently peel off parchment. Starting from the short end, roll up cake in towel; place seam side down on wire rack; cool completely.
8. Filling: While cake is cooling put ice cream on the counter to soften. When ice cream is softened, unroll cooled cake and spread evenly with ice cream. Roll up cake. Wrap tightly in parchment, then in foil and freeze, seam side down, overnight until firm.
9. Glaze: In a small saucepan, heat cream, chocolate, and corn syrup over low heat until chocolate is melted and glaze is shiny and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla; cool to room temperature.
10. Unwrap cake; trim ends. Place cake on a wire rack over a tray or waxed paper. Pour glaze along top of cake roll, spreading with a spatula to cover sides. Optionally you can sprinkle crushed oreos over the glaze and drizzle some of the remaining glaze over top. Freeze cake uncovered until glaze is firm.
11. I served mine the next day so I wrapped the frozen cake in plastic wrap and then covered with aluminum foil.

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3.1.09

I was going to start this blog post saying that I am back from a little break, but really that isn’t the case.

Writing this blog is my break.  The only bad thing about that is that I sit at home on my computer ALL day for my work and in June I decided that I was just on the computer waaaayyyyy too much.  My work got a little (no a lot) extra busy over the summer and so did the kids.   Don’t get me wrong, there was a gym break, cleaning, taking care of kids and a bit fun in there, but I was on the computer A LOT.  I think you get the picture and I am very sure I am not alone here.  I just needed a break and some time to figure out how to fit this little blog into my life without becoming too attached to this laptop.  Yes, I stopped a bit cold turkey, but this is a food blog, after all:-).

I still don’t know if I have the answers, but I decided I missed writing, taking pictures and talking about food and family on this blog.  So I am going to start back up and post as often as I can without feeling like I can’t get away from my computer.  I also determined that its ok to take a break every once in a while.  Just like kids take a break from school, I can take a break from things, too.  I really don’t want to get too dramatic about this so I will just say – I’MMMM BACKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!

Lots of stuff happened over the summer, too.  Jim and I built a fence in our backyard (I will do a post on that, later.)  My brother Tim  (famous for his French Martini which is one of my most viewed posts), left for Afghanistan.  Please keep him and his wife and daughters in your prayers.  We visited New York for two weeks with a little stop in MD and PA.  I got a little promotion at work (which is part of why I got a bit busier.)  The girls started playing tennis (which I am thrilled about since I love tennis.)  We went to the pool 6,876 times,  Jim started a great new job which keeps him really busy and some days makes me feel like a single mom (god bless you single moms an dads, by the way.)  I made these apple squares and I really think you should try them, too.

This is what these squares remind me of.   Apple Snickerdoodle Blondies.   If that doesn’t convince you to try them I’ve got nothing.  I have made them twice and they disappear quick, but they are also super simple to make.  The second time I doubled the recipe and I still don’t think they lasted any longer than when I made them in the smaller square pan??  I also used half white whole wheat flour the second time and I think that made them even better.

BTW – thank you to those of you who encouraged me to come back and blog a little.  I didn’t necessarily expect or want anyone to think too much about my break from this little hobby, but thank you nonetheless.

Enjoy!

Source: Allrecipes.com

Apple Bars

 

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Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup chopped apple
• ½ cup finely chopped walnuts
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×9 inch pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together melted butter, brown sugar, and ½ cup of white sugar until smooth. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Finally, fold in the apples and walnuts. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. In a cup or small bowl, stir together the remaining cinnamon and sugar; sprinkle over the top of the bars (I went light on this topping because I think these bars are plenty sweet already.)
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in preheated oven (If you are doubling this recipe you may need 30-35 minutes, just keep an eye on it.) Top of the bars should be lightly browned. Cool and cut into squares.

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2.2.8

I will absolutely be making this one more time as I know my mom will love this.  She likes strawberry and rhubarb and this was such a yummy treat.  She is coming to visit on Monday for two weeks while the girls are tracked out from school so we are all very excited!

I wanted to show you some pictures from our trip over Easter to Maryland.  We got to visit Jim’s Aunt Caroline’s house which was such a treat.  The girls just adore her and she has a beautiful property just between DC and Annapolis.  Aunt Caroline recently acquired some emu and turkeys and we had a chance to not only see them but we actually got to go inside their cage.  I have never been around emu and they are so sweet.  The female makes a noise that sounds like a faint drum beat.  I think that means she is happy – kind of like a cat purring.

This is Eva and Eli.  Eva is just a bit smaller than Eli.  From looking at this picture I’m not sure which is which but when you are up close you can definitely tell that Eva is a bit smaller.

Taylor and Ella posing in front of them.  At first it was a bit intimidating being in their cage, but they were very used to being around people and extremely friendly.  Towards the end of our visit they even came up right behind us.  They were really interested in grandpa!

These are the Tom’s.  The hen was sitting in the hen-house and the males were very protective of her and did NOT like us being in the cage with her.  They made a noise that I thought sounded like spitting and they fluffed up their feathers to show their displeasure with us.  Turkeys have raptors on their feet so they could actually do a bit of damage if they got their hands on you.  They didn’t come very close to us and Aunt Caroline had her walking stick with her in case they got too close.  They were beautiful and the colors on the head was vibrant.

After visiting the emu and turkey we went on a little walk around the rest of her property.  Along the way we saw these baby sparrow.  I had to snap a quick picture as we didn’t want to upset the mama bird too much.

This was an old car that was left on the property when they bought it.  Jim walked around the back and discovered that it was an old Volkswagen.  I thought the front made a cool picture.

An old tractor tire near her shed.  I thought this also made for an interesting picture.

The girls talking with Aunt Caroline near the stream.  We stayed here for a good ten minutes and the girls were very interested in the concrete tube.  I think that Aunt Caroline was explaining how it got there.

This is her peacock.  He doesn’t have a name, but he was just gorgeous and quite shy.  He made a little noise while we were there and it was fun to hear him while we were on the property.  We have a farm near our house that has peacocks and occasionally although we never hear them I know some people in closer neighborhoods hear them quite often.

Aunt Caroline showing the girls her pond.  I am sure that the girls were looking for fish or other creatures but not sure what they saw if anything.

Taylor pointing at something in the pond.  I just liked this picture.

So that was our day at Aunt Caroline’s.  It was a beautiful spring day and we all had a great time.

Enjoy this wonderful spring treat while you can.  Fresh strawberries won’t be around forever so while you can still get them you should absolutely try this tart.  Oh yes, and we can’t forget the rhubarb – it gives the strawberries a wonderful slightly tart flavor.  I actually might make the strawberry rhubarb mixture by itself it was so good!

Enjoy!

Source: Food Network Kitchens

Strawberry Rhubarb Tart

 

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Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 (8-ounce) sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 2 cups strawberries, stemmed
• 1 cup sliced rhubarb
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon fruit jelly (strawberry, apricot, currant jelly will work well here)
• 1 tablespoon very hot water
• Confectioners’ sugar
• Whipped Cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Roll puff pastry into a rectangle that is about ⅛” thick. Cut a slice that is ¾ wide from each of the long ends. Cut the rest of the pastry into a rectangle that is about 13X5 inches. Place pastry on your baking sheet. Wet one of the long sides of the pasty with a brush and gently place the strip down this side. Press gently and then repeat this on the other side. Brush the tops of the strips with milk and then pierce the center dough with a fork all over. Very lightly take a pastry wheel and score the inside of the long strips about halfway through. Line the inside of the dough with aluminum foil and weight down with pie weights or beans. Bake until set for about 15 minutes and then remove foil and bake for 15 minutes more. The pastry should be lightly browned at this point.
3. Trim the broad tops of off all the strawberries and place the tops in a small pan. Add to the tops your rhubarb, vanilla and sugar. Cook mixture over medium heat until it turns almost jam like – about 15 minutes. Add butter and once it is melted, place mixture in a food processor and blend until smooth.
4. Spread cooked mixture over the baked pastry. Place the reserved strawberry bottoms in a shingled pattern over the strawberry rhubarb mixture.
5. For the glaze, combine the jelly with the hot water and stir until smooth. Use a pastry brush to glaze the strawberries. sprinkle tart with confectioners sugar and serve with whipped cream.
6. Enjoy!

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2.2.6