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Friday, November 30, 2012

Feature Fridays: November 2012 Favorites

The end of November is here. Thanksgiving has came and Christmas is on the way. Festive lights are on every corner that you turn and TV is filled with holiday movies.

My November favorites are a mix of items that represent what I have loved during the month and some new times that I am really excited to use and love already.

Johnny Cupcakes T-Shirt

My first favorite is a shirt that I got this week from Johnny Cupcakes. This company is known for their limited editon unique t-shirts in the bakery and cake decorating world. I chose this particular t-shirt because it is a play on snoopy. I love how the cupcake is on the belly and how bakery is written across the house. The t-shirt was too cute not to buy and it is a part of their Black Friday collection.

Holiday Nordicware Spatulas

I purchased these Nordic Ware spatulas from Target. These spatulas are sturdy with a strong handle. The spatula itself is also strong. I love the prints on these spatulas. The two large spatulas are great for baking and scraping down a kitchen aid stand mixer. The mini spatula is great for getting things out of the bottom of jars.

Cupcake Ducktape

This cupcake Ducktape is colorful and of course I love that cupcakes are on it. I am going to use this as a border on the shelves when I make my own wooden nail polish rack. It will add an extra special touch to the nail polish rack.

Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin Candle

I love candles. They are always burning in at least one room in my apartment. Yankee Candle and Bath & Body Works sell some of my favorite candles. The sweet cinnamon pumpkin candle from Bath & Body Works is one of my favorite fall scents. Besides the candle, I also love the body spray and lotion. The candle has a nice pumpkin smell with a cinnamon and nutmeg smell. My favorite two baking smells are cinnamon and nutmeg so this candle is perfect to me.

Cupcake Key Holder

This cupcake key holder is cute and it is perfect to hold a key that you use the most. I will be using it for my vehicle. I also love the colors of pink and purple. These can be found at your local bookstore.

I hope that you have enjoyed my November favorites and that you have a blessed weekend. What were some of your favorites this month?

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, November 26, 2012

Turkey Pot Pie with Honey and Cheese Biscuits

When I think of the word comfort I think of a pot pie, but even better I think of the word biscuit. They are rich and fluffy and can warm anyone's heart. (Speaking of warm if you look closely in the picture above you can see the steam coming off of the biscuit topping). Comfort is what I need right now, especially since my husband and I are moving into our new apartment this week. It is going to get chaotic Wednesday, which is the big move in day. Until then I'll do what I do best which is make delicious food to calm my nerves. This turkey pot pie recipe is my own, but the biscuits were adapted from the whole wheat honey and goat cheese drop biscuits from the Joy the Baker Cookbook.

Turkey Pot Pie:

1. I took the stock that I saved from the Thankgiving turkey and added celery, mushrooms and peeled carrots to it. (I love all of the pretty colors and textures that vegetables can add to a dish and I am a mushroom fanatic.) I then shredded the rest of the Thankgiving turkey and added it to the mixture.

2. Place ingredients in a pie dish and set aside.

 

Now comes the fun part. I love making homemade biscuits and the feeling of the dough between my fingers. It reminds me of when I was in the kitchen as a little girl with my Grandma. These biscuits are light and fluffy with a sweet taste to them with the addition of honey and a little sugar. I topped the pot pie with these biscuits, but you can certainly make them separate. They taste good topped with a warm melted butter and honey mixture.

Honey and Cheese Biscuits:

Adapted from whole wheat honey and goat cheese drop biscuits from the Joy the Baker Cookbook

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter (cold and cubed)

4 tablespoons Kraft Italian Five Cheese (shredded)

1 cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons honey

 

Honey and Cheese Biscuit Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Whisk until all ingredients are combined.

2. Add cubed butter and shredded cheese to the flour mixture. Be sure to incorporate the butter into the flour mixture with your hands or with a dough blender. After incorporating all ingredients it should resemble coarse meal like the photo above.

Mix the honey and buttermilk together in a measuring cup. (I just love the picture of the honey above. Don't you?) Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and mix well.

Bringing the pot pie and biscuits together:

1. Top pot pie ingredients with biscuit mixture.

2. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until pot pie ingredients are sizzling and biscuit topper is golden brown like the picture above. Pot pie tastes the best when eaten right away. Refrigerate any uneaten portions.

While the pot pie was cooking I got to eat some leftover carrots with blue cheese dressing. A healthy snack for all of the work that goes into making a pot pie!!! I hope that you enjoy this comfort food recipe. If you try the biscuits separate or combine them with the pot pie recipe let me know how you like them by commenting below or emailing me at savorthebaking@hotmail.com. Have a blessed week.

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

 

 

Friday, November 23, 2012

Feature Fridays: 2012 Gift Giving Guide - Bakers and Cake Decorators

Thanksgiving is over and it is now time to find meaningful gifts for your loved ones and friends for the next big holiday, Christmas. Besides its religious meaning of Jesus being born, it is also a time to spend with those that mean the most to us.

For the baker and cake decorator in your life I have a gift giving guide. I have also listed where you can find some of these items either in stores or online. I recommend all of these gifts and use every one of them so they are quality. I hope that the receiver will enjoy these items just as much as I have.

 

2012 Gift Giving Guide:Bakers and Cake Decorators


1. Tip Set

A tip set is essential to any baker or cake decorators success. I would recommend the Master Tip Set - Wilton, which is pictured above. This tip set has a variety of tips to suit every need including tips such as round tips, basketweave tips, petal tips, and some specialty tips. A total of 52 tips are included in this tip set. It is sold in local craft stores, but can also be found on Amazon.com.

2. Cake Stand

Cake stands are an extension of any beautiful cake. My favorite cake stand is pictured above. I love the color of the base and the vintage feeling of the stand. This cake stand in ceramic, but cake stands come in many different mediums. Some wonderful cake stands can be found at Target and Williams-Sonoma. An Acrylic 4-in-1 Cake Dome is a versatile cake stand that can be used for many things.

3. Bakers Blade

This Baker's Blade - Wilton has so many uses in the kitchen. It can be used to chop or measure with a ruler on the blade. It can also be used to measure what you chop with a 1/2 cup measuring cup within the handle. I am constantly using this item for one thing or another. Pictured above I have used it to chop pecans. If you give this as a gift I guarantee that is will be used a lot and much appreciated.

4. Mixing Bowls

Another thing that has many uses in the kitchen are prep and mixing bowls. I found these Nordic Ware 3 Piece Mixing Bowl Set at Target. I love the festive holiday colors that these mixing bowls are in and the fact that they are dishwasher safe and break resistant. You can never have enough bowls in the kitchen in my opinion and these would make a great gift. These Kitchenaid Classic Mixing Bowls would also make great mixing bowls.

5. Cookbooks

Cookbooks make a great gift and can be kept for years to come. They are the heartbeat of the kitchen and can be shared through generations. Some of my favorite cookbooks are pictured above. The KitchenAid 3 Cookbooks in 1: Pies & Tarts; Cakes & Cupcakes; Breads is a favorite due the variety of recipes. The pictures are quality as well as the binding of the cookbook. Handheld Pies: Dozens of Pint-Size Sweets and Savories is great for the pie lover. This book has bite sized versions of the pies that are comforting to us as well as some that may be new to you. Sweet Celebrations is great for all cupcake lovers. Not only is it a cookbook, but I love how Katherine and Sophie give personal stories surrounding the recipes in the book. If you love the show DC Cupcakes then this cookbook is for you. Not pictured is one of my favorite cookbooks from Joy the Baker, because it is on my iPad for easy access to it wherever I may be. The Joy the Baker Cookbook has sweet and savory recipes to satisfy every sweets lover.

6. Apron

A great apron serves as the personality and wardrobe for any baker or cake decorator. One of my favorite aprons is pictured above. I like that it is black and white and I like that it is lace even more. It gives it a feminine quality, which I love. TheApronPlace.com and thesmartbaker.com have great aprons that can be personalized and have great designs.

I hope that you have enjoyed this gift giving guide. If you buy any of the gifts that I have suggested comment below or email me at savorthebaking@hotmail.com to let me know how the receiver liked them or how you like them. Merry Christmas and Happy Hoildays!!!

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

 

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Purse Cake: Black Crocodile with Gold Accents

Over the weekend I took a purse cake class with Kristin Clark of Just Think Cake and I had a great time. I already had in mind what kind of cake that I wanted to make and I knew that I wanted it to be black, so with that I created this cake.

It all started with two things, a 15 x11 sheet cake and buttercream. The sheet cake was a homemade vanilla sour cream pound cake. The buttercream was mocha cappuccino flavored. This is the first time that I made this flavor of buttercream, so I was looking forward to tasting it combined with the cake.

Now building the structure of the cake comes along. The sheet cake was divided into 3 equal parts vertically and stacked with buttercream filling in between. The cake was then crumb coated. For stability I inserted 6 staggered dowel rods into the top of the cake.

The fun part of putting the cake together was applying the fondant and adding the gold accents, which really made the purse pop. This is edible gold, which is a mix of lemon extract and liquid gold, which can be found at Global Sugar Art .

 

Above are some detailed photos of the cake highlighting different things. The first photo highlights the handles of the purse. I gave them some stitching detail and put gold dragees to look like the hardware. The second photo gives you a closer look at the zipper. I hand sculpted the zipper and the zipper pull and painted both of them with the liquid gold.

The third photo is a closeup of the crocodile imprint that is on the fondant. This turned out really nicely and it looked so authentic.

 

Here is a picture of me at the cake decorating class. I had a great time making this purse cake and I will be making more in the near future. I want to play with sculpting more purse shapes out of cake and adding even more detail to them. I hope that you all have a great week and stay safe during this Thanksgiving week.

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

 

Friday, November 16, 2012

Feature Fridays: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

I love the smell of nutmeg and cinnamon and I wanted to pair those flavors with pumpkin for the fall. I found a Pumpkin Bread Recipe on Joyofbaking.com that I thought would be perfect for the task at hand. I have adapted that recipe into my own.

This Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread is the perfect bread for a fall day along with a cup of hot cocoa or even paired with a Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino. This bread would be great as a Thanksgiving dessert with a bowl of vanilla ice cream. The cream cheese swirled on top gives the top of the bread some visual interest, while the cream cheese in the middle gives it an element of surprise.




Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

Adapted from Joyofbaking.com

Yields 2 loafs







Cream Cheese Filling Ingredients

1 egg (room temperature)

1/3 cup sugar

8 ounces (1/2 pound) Philadelphia Cream Cheese

 

Cream Cheese Filling Recipe Instructions

1. With hand mixer smooth cream cheese

2. Add sugar and egg

 

 







Pumpkin Bread Ingredients


1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 cups sugar

4 eggs (room temperature)

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 - 15 ounce can (1 3/4 cups) pure pumpkin purée

1/2 cup orange juice

1 cup unsalted butter (melted)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 

 

Pumpkin Bread Recipe Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 2 loaf pans with non-stick spray

2. In a large bowl, combine baking soda, baking powder, salt, spices, and flour and whisk together.

3. In another large bowl, whisk the eggs (lightly beaten). Add the sugar and melted butter.

4. Whisk in the pure pumpkin puree, water, and vanilla extract.

5. Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture and stir until all ingredients are combined.

6. Pour half of the pumpkin batter into loaf pans.

7. Top batter with cream cheese filling. (Save a little)

8. Pour other half of batter into the loaf pans. Put remaining cream cheese filling on top swirling it with a toothpick.

9. Bake loafs at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.


I hope that you enjoy this recipe and make it a fall tradition in your home. In the picture above you can see the cream cheese swirled into the top. Have a blessed Thanksgiving everyone and a blessed weekend.
 
 
Savor the Baking,
Chineka
 

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Sugar Flowers: Cattleya Orchid Flower Arrangement

Yesterday was my husbands 27 birthday and I wanted to make a handmade gift in addition to to items that I bought for him. He said that he wanted a sugar flower arrangement for his desk at work so I figured that this would be the perfect time to make it. The flower arrangement above is what I came up with. It is all made out of gumpaste.

The star of the flower arrangement is the Cattleya Orchid. I love the name of this orchid. The petals on this flower are very delicate and they come in many colors. I chose to go with a pale yellow color dust on the bottom of the petals and in the throat to bring the flower to life in a subtle way.

Bamboo sticks compliment the Cattleya Orchid with their color and texture. These are shaded and textured to look like real bamboo sticks. These would go great in a lot of flower arrangements that need a natural feel to them.

I put black and white rocks in the vase per my husbands request. They go great with the theme and they look classic. White and black have always been one of my favorite color combinations. It will bring sophistication and class to any of your floral projects.

Here are two more views of the flower arrangement. I matched the colors so that they are relaxing as well as calming. I love the whole look of the flower arrangement. I hope that you all had a great Veteran's Day weekend and remembered those who served and are currently serving for your freedom. Have a blessed week everyone.

Savor the Baking,

Chineka


 

 
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