Happy Birthday Nick!

Today is Nick's 85th birthday.  I baked a bundt cake for him and put a simple glaze on it.  If you've been reading my blog for very long, you'll remember that bundt cakes and I have a love/hate relationship.  I love bundt cakes, they hate to leave the pan.  Their reluctance to leave their pan has resulted in mayhem like this:

which necessitated last minute creativeness like this Trifle:

It was truly yummy, but I don't need a repeat.  That NONSTICK pan was oiled and floured and still - disaster resulted.  All because bundt cakes like to stay in the pan.  I had to devise a way to form a crust that would  s-l-i-d-e  out of the pan.  And patience.  I need to let it cool down.

So here's my Super Duper Bundt Pan Solution:  equal parts all purpose flour and vegetable oil.  Just stir them together and paint the inside of your bundt pan with a pastry brush.  (Be sure to smell the pastry brush to avoid the garlic bread pastry brush).  Add your batter, bake until done.  ALLOW TO COOL at least 40 minutes on a rack before unpanning. The caps are for my benefit.  I'm sure you'll be patient and let it cool without needing such a stern reminder. 

Let it cool to room temperature on a wire rack, then make the glaze:

Cake Glaze
2 cups confectioner's/powdered/10X sugar
2 Tablespoons white corn syrup (clear Karo)
2 Tablespoons hot tap water
1/2 teaspoon your choice extract (almond, lemon, orange, vanilla, mint)

Place sugar, syrup and water in a large microwaveable bowl.  Stir to moisten.  It will be clumpy. Microwave 30 seconds on high.  Stir and scrape down the bowl.  Microwave 15 seconds on high, stir.  Repeat until it becomes smooth and pourable, about the consistency of pancake batter.  Don't let it boil.  Stir in the extract.  If you're using lemon or orange extract, adding 1/2 teaspoon lemon or orange rind (or both!) is very good, but I wouldn't use it with other extracts.
Place the cake, still on the cooling rack, over a plate to catch drips and spoon the glaze over the cake, spreading it with the back of the spoon to cover as much or as little as you like.  Let it set up at least 15 minutes before moving to your serving plate.

This glaze sets up with a shiny, dry finish.  The underneath stays soft; almost fudgy in consistency.



Nick and Anna. Two of my very favorite people.

Birthday Weekend

Happy Birthday to me!  My hubs was out playing a double header in softball, so I slept in and made myself french toast (with these recipes Angel Bread, Basic Pancake Syrup) for my birthday breakfast with a yummy fruit salad alongside.  Beautiful fresh blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and nectarines were all on sale at Jewel.  I spent about the same for them as I would for the same volume of canned fruit.

After softball, we had lunch with Walt's parents, Anna & Nick.  Meatballs, gravy, mashed potatoes and coleslaw, followed by Angel Food cake filled with sliced strawberries and whipped cream.  She really knows how to feed me :).  Later, we did a little shopping at the outlet mall where I bought myself a few birthday gifts (blouses and kitchen gadgets).

Walt treated me to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Bonefish Grill where I had a Lemon Drop Martini (ok, I had two), Bang-Bang Shrimp, Filet Mignon, and Heirloom Tomatoes with feta and balsamic vinagrette.  Walt had Caeser Salad, Tilapia with Pan Asian Sauce and Garlic Mashed Potatoes.  Walt told them it was my birthday, and we shared a Creme Brulee with a birthday candle.

After church Sunday, we had brunch at Colonial and later went to Jeanie and Mike's where we enjoyed appys, pizza and a birthday cake shaped like a huge cupcake. 

To top it all off, today Walt made lunch (salad with lettuce from our garden), then surprised me with Limoncello (on my wish list) AND dinner on the grill.  I helped prepare the food - he cooked it all.  Those peppers in the pan are the first harvest from our garden.  We got the Yukon gold potatoes at Tom's Farm, our local farmstand. You can't see it, but they're crispy brown on the bottom.

As you can see, I was spoiled all weekend long!  I LIKE it!