Sweet, Sweet Babies!

Wow, I've truly been gone far too long! I'm sure I've said it before and meant it, but I'll say it anyway, I hope to be back for good and on a REGULAR basis now. I greatly appreciate all the encouragement and well wishes I've received from y'all. I've been in and out of the hospital a few more times since my last post, but I'm doing much much better. Life is very different these days from how it was a year ago. I'm still not where I want to be with my health, but I've come a long way and I refuse to give up and think I'll never reach the level of health I desire and pray for. In some ways I'm pretty healthy again, I'm doing well, I wake up everyday feeling great and I'm loving life. There's one thing I can say for sure, the crisis I (and the rest of my loving family) have dealth with this year has truly changed my life. I've learned so much about myself and the love and support of my family. As strange as it sounds, sometimes amid tragedy you discover there are blessings in there somewhere. So, with that said, who wants to talk about some food? I do! My Big, Bad Dad does pretty much all the cooking these days. What can I say? I love his cooking! I haven't been doing a great deal of baking, but I am getting back into the groove. I recently got a chance to preview Christmas with Southern Living 2007 and decided to try out a recipe for Baby Pound Cakes that looked pretty promising. The result was a sweet and buttery moist cake. Although not really what I would call a typical pound cake these little babies were definitely worth baking. Overall a pretty simple recipe and definitely got good reviews from my taste testers. Baby Pound Cakes 1 1/2 c. butter, softened 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened 3 c. sugar 6 large eggs 3 c. all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp. salt 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. almond extract Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed using an electric mixter for about 2 minutes or until cream. Gradually add sugar, beating well for 5 to 7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears. Combine flour and salt. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended; stir in vanilla and almond extracts. Spoon batter into paper-lined muffin tins (standard size), filling three-fourths full. Bakeat 350 degress for 22 to 25 minutesor until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire racks. Yields approx. 2 1/2 dozen. Alternatively, pound cakes can be made in fluted mini pound cake pans: size varies according to brand. Pans should be greased and floured. Fill pans three-fourths full and bake at 350 degrees. Length of time will vary according to pan size. Cakes can also be baked in mini-muffin tins following same instructions baking for 16 to 18 minutes. Yields approx. 9 dozen.

I'll gain more than a pound from this cake..

Here goes a super late Happy Birthday shout to my big bad dad. Yup so pop's is another year older, a little bit crankier and thanks to the cake I made him, I'm a little bit fatter..lol ok, so he's not a little bit crankier - thank goodness!! but I swear I couldn't help but be a little bit fatter, after indulging in all those sinfully delicious calories.. It doesn't matter how many different types of cakes I bake, no matter what flavors or fancy new recipes I find, my dad always says.."why can't you just bake something normal, like a pound cake?" Normal?? Yup, I guess growing up a southern boy, pound cake was normal..Pound cake is definitely a traditional dessert in the south, a culinary staple even. But yanno what? Pound cakes aren't the easiest thing to make. Yes the recipes are pretty straight-forward, there aren't alot of complicated steps or special ingredients, but the outcome is what's tricky. It's not uncommon for a pound cake to sort of colapse in the middle, resulting in what my grandfather always called a "sad streak", ironically in our family, those sad streaks were usually our favorite part of the cake. It certainly doesn't ruin the taste of the cake, it just doesn't look very pretty. Luckily there were no sad streaks to be found in my big bad dad's birthday pound cake. For me, a pound cake should be moist with a dense crumb. This cake came close, but wasn't quite as dense as I think a pound cake should be. The batter was pretty thick, so I actually expected the cake to be dry, but much to my surprise it wasn't. Would I make this cake again?? Definitely! I'm still on the look out for a lemon pound cake with lemon glaze like my grandma used to make. So if anyone has a recipe you recommend let me know! The Bag Lady's Favorite Chocolate Pound Cake 3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 5 tablespoons cocoa 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 3 cups sugar 5 eggs 1 cup buttermilk 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan. 2. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cocoa and set aside. 3. Using an electric mixer, cream together butter, shortening, and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Add flour and buttermilk alternately to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and mix well. 4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 3/4 hours, or until cake is done. Remove from oven and allow cake to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto cake plate and serve. Chocolate Ganache 4 oz bittersweet chocolate 4 oz semisweet chocolate 1 cup heavy cream 2 tsp vanilla extract 1. Break chocolate into small pieces and put in a medium sized bowl, set aside. 2. In small saucepan, heat heavy cream over medium-high heat, bringing just to a boil. 3. Remove cream from heat, and pour over chocolate. Allow to sit until chocolate has melted completely. 4. Add vanilla extract and stir using a whisk until completely combined. Pour over cake.