Creamy Horseradish Sauce

Okay, if you have never seen real horseradish root, let's just say it's rather... ummm...phallic... and this is one of the "nicer" specimens.  Some of them are downright nasty-looking.  

Anyway...  My husband asked me to buy some horseradish root to make some real, homemade horseradish sauce.  Unfortunately, the first recipe he picked out was not meant to be made with raw horseradish, but with a prepared sauce.  Once I told him that, he picked out a second recipe.  This one was little more than pureed horseradish root with a touch of salt, sugar, and vinegar.  It was not spreadable by any means, and was fairly disgusting.  The horseradish smell was overpowering!  My eyes watered and my nose ran if I stood too close to the food processor!

 

Since that recipe obviously wasn't what my husband wanted either, we found another recipe.  This one added a cup of heavy cream, more vinegar, half of a pureed turnip, and assorted spices. 

The sauce was creamier, but the turnip and cream cut down the sharp, hot taste of the horseradish and made it too mild.  He likes it HOT!  I added more pureed horseradish to the mix, but he said it still was not hot enough and refused to eat it. {{sigh}}

I wasn't going to let it go to waste, as I had invested a minimum of two hours on this project, when I had been looking forward to a relaxing evening.  I ladled the sauce into recycled jars and labeled them.  (Okay, not beautiful labels, but maybe when I actually hook up and figure out my Cricut Expression, I can do better.)

I cleaned up the approximately 647 kitchen utensils and counters that had been used (or splattered on) in the preparation of the now unwanted horseradish sauce.  Finally, I posted a note on Facebook offering the horseradish sauce to friends.  Thankfully, three of my friends were brave and adventurous souls who took me up on the offer of free "horsey" sauce.  I am happy to announce that all three have gotten back to me and said they really liked it.  One even said, "That homemade horseradish was so good that my mom and I have been eating it with spoons!!!!" (emphasis hers - Thanks, Lisa!)   

So at this point, three out of three guinea pigs prefer my homemade horseradish sauce over no horseradish sauce at all! 

Steven King's "IT" Birthday Cake

A friend of mine asked me to make his son's birthday cake. He didn't have anything particular in mind, only that it reflect something having to do with one or more of Steven King's books. The first (and really, only) thing I could think of was Tim Curry's version of Pennywise, the clown from the television mini-series, "IT" (1990). That was one scary clown!

Now before anyone complains that this is more "cakewreck" than anything else, let me just say that: 1) this was the first time I have ever sculpted candy clay; and 2) I was injured in a traffic accident a few days before, and was working basically one-handed.  Also, I'm just an amateur, and I don't claim to be a world-class decorator, although I wish I was.  (I wasn't in a sling at the time I made the cake, but my left arm was pretty useless.)       ...and yes, I realize my shirt and camera match my shower curtain... sheer coincidence...

Anyway, here is the cake.  The angle isn't the best to show the clown, as it gives the appearance of having an elongated chin and you can't really see the creases in the face, etc.  The cake is not exactly as I had envisioned, but I think it turned out pretty well, all things considered.    This is a Red Velvet cake with Pure Buttercream Frosting "grass", a fondant "sidewalk", a candy clay "Pennywise" clown, fondant clown fingers, and giant jawbreaker "balloons".  I used a Sugar Craft gun to make Pennywise's hair, and used clay tools to sculpt the face and teeth, which were implanted in the mouth.  A Wilton Icing Writer pen was used to give the appearance of sidewalk chalk.  I had intended to dust the writing with different colored luster dust, but my friend came to pick up the cake before I could do that.  He liked it "as is", so I left it alone.  

The feedback was positive and I understand my friend's son was very happy with the cake.  They said he wanted to freeze the clown and keep it forever, and he talked about the cake for several days.  That's the ultimate compliment!

Guest Post - Matt from Tiepedia on "The Tie Cake"

In honor of having reached over 1,000 hits to the blog (which were admittedly, probably mostly me), I have a guest blogger today!  Meet Matt from "Tiepedia", http://www.tiepedia.com:

I read his blog and enjoyed it.  He graciously allowed me to borrow his post in honor of Fathers' Day.  Please read it for yourself and drop by Matt's blog when you get a chance.  He would appreciate it.  Thanks again, Matt!

Not Your Ordinary Father's Day Ties

It may surprise some of you to hear what I am about to say, but it must be said. Not all guys want a tie on Father's Day. GASP! I know, I know, it sounds crazy... and I certainly am not one of those guys, but apparently it's true.

Listen to what Joseph Hurtado has to say, "there are only two types of men: those who hate ties, and those who grudgingly accept them as part of the job."

Blasphemy as far as I am concerned, but if you're Mrs. Hurtado you may want to think twice about getting Joseph a tie for Father's Day. How about baking him a delicious necktie cake instead? I don't think many men could resist that. Here are some sweet examples for you to consider! (Congrats to the cake artists who created these!)




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About The Author: Matt’s longest streak of consecutively wearing a tie is 2 years and 5 days! (Don't worry they were different ties) He loves life, his family, his heaven, and his sports (golf, basketball and college football).

"Caja China" Pig Roast

DISCLAIMER/WARNING:  THIS POST CONTAINS PHOTOS OF A WHOLE PIG BEING ROASTED.  IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH, YOU SHOULD PROBABLY STOP READING NOW!

My husband decided that he wanted to roast a whole pig.  I don't know why.  He ordered the special "Caja China" - or Cuban roasting box - online.  Then he ordered a "suckling" pig from a local butcher shop.  For some reason, I thought a "suckling" pig would be about 15 pounds and 24 inches long, like the piglets I had seen on farms when I was young.  This bad boy was 53 pounds and about 4 feet long!  He barely fit into the box. 

The pig was already dressed (i.e. gutted and castrated) when we bought it from the butcher.  We had to press it between the grates and hook them together to flatten out the pig.  I believe this had something to do with ensuring that it cooked at an even rate.

Then the pig was placed inside the box and a pan-like top was put on, followed by a grate.  Charcoal was added on top.  We started getting everything ready around 4:30 pm and the cooking actually began at approximately 5:00 pm. 

 

(We started out in the back yard, but had to move to the front of the house because of the wind.) 

We had to scrape off the ash about once an hour, and rake the remaining coals and fresh charcoal to make sure it was spread out evenly.  We had to add approximately 10 pounds of charcoal every hour.  (We used Kingsford.)

Slits had to be cut into the skin to prevent it from busting open toward the end of the cooking process. 

Approximately 1:00 am:  After about 8 hours, the pig turned out very crispy and "fall-off-the-bone" tender.                                     

               The obligatory "apple" shot. 

EEEEEEEEK!  This is the stuff of nightmares!!

Bananas Foster Redux

I used the same Bananas Foster cupcake recipe to make these star cupcakes for the graduation party of my niece and two nephews.  (Congratulations to Jordan on her Bachelor of Arts from Oklahoma Baptist University, Drew on his diploma from Choctaw High School, and Garrett on his Masters Degree from Texas State University!)  The star shape fit in nicely with the star theme of the party.

I used the Wilton silicone star cupcake pan for these and was not at all pleased with it.  I found that I had to experiment with the baking time and ultimately had to increase the cooking time by about half (34 minutes, instead of 24), plus I could only cook six cupcakes at a time.  To make 45 cupcakes, it took me almost half the night.  They were cute, but just not worth the effort for me.  I will be giving this pan to my niece, who loves stars of all kinds. 

What Flavor is a Princess?

So, I was shopping in a local store a few weeks ago browsing the cake supplies when I stumbled across this...      I was a bit puzzled by the name, as really nowhere did it specifically state what the flavor was.  Eventually I found some very small print that implied it was a sweet, buttery flavor.  Weird.  

I do have to admit that this product inspired numerous semi-obscene comments from my co-workers, though.  We are a warped bunch.

Napoleon Complex?

I have loved Napoleons ever since I was first introduced to them in the mid-1980s.  The first Napoleon I ever had was strawberry.  The thin, flaky layers of the puff pastry were chewy and crisp around the edges; the vanilla-flavored, pudding-like filling was rich; the strawberries were ripe and juicy; and the whipped cream topping was just the right texture and sweetness.  There was even a slight dusting of powdered sugar on top.  It was heavenly and I was hooked.

I had never attempted to make a Napoleon before now.  Oh, I had thought about it, but I thought they would be difficult to make because they seemed like such perfection, and everyone knows perfection is never easy.  I would get a little anxious just thinking about making them, hence the title of this article.  :)  However, Napoleons are really quite simple to make. ...Simple, if you aren't making your own puff pastry.  If you are making your own puff pastry, I bow before your obviously superior culinary skills!  I have never even seen a recipe for puff pastry (not that I've looked).

I have to admit that I didn't follow a traditional recipe for Napoleons, though.  I read a few recipes on blogs here and there, as well as the one on the side of the puff pastry box, before deciding to come up with my own version.  I wanted a slightly more complex flavor for the filling than what I read in the recipes.

I whipped up two pints of heavy cream, slowly adding about 1/4 c. sugar after it had reached the soft peak stage.  I continued to whip the cream until waves of cream stood out like an angry ocean.  I reserved approximately 2 cups of whipped cream.  I folded about 1 1/2 cups of the buttercream frosting I had left over from the Bananas Foster cupcakes into the remaining whipped cream.  (If you have been reading my blog, you may recall that was basic buttercream mixed with caramel dessert topping and butterscotch ice cream topping.)  Next, I added two Jell-O Single Serving Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix Sticks.  After it was thoroughly blended, I refrigerated the mixture overnight. 

I cut up a quart of strawberries and covered them with sugar.  These were also placed in the refrigerator overnight.  I chilled a tub of T. Marzetti's Glaze for Strawberries, as well as another quart of berries.

I took two sheets of Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry and cut each sheet into twelve squares.  The squares were placed in muffin tins and baked according to the package directions.  This gave each square a slight curve on the sides to better hold the fillings.  After they had cooled, I split each pastry square in half and placed the bottoms in metallic baking liners.  A dollop of the vanilla cream mixture was spooned in, followed by 1 teaspoon of strawberry glaze and about 1 teaspoon of cut strawberries.  The top pastry squares were added and a dollop of whipped cream was placed in the middle.  Two strawberry slices garnished the whipped cream.  The Napoleons were then placed in the refrigerator to chill overnight.

I pulled one out after a few hours to see what it was like.  The puff pastry was a little chewy, as I have often found it to be when you don't consume it immediately.  Of course, this might also have something to do with the fact that it was refrigerated or that the liquids in the fillings were being absorbed by the pastry.  I liked the flavor blends of the caramel-butterscotch-laced vanilla cream, the strawberries, and the whipped cream.  I also think the cupcake-sized portions were just the right amount, although I could have used a bit more whipped cream.  I am hoping my co-workers enjoy these.  I guess I will find out tomorrow.