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The Perfect White Layer Cake

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I ran across this white cake recipe while searching for the perfect cake to bake for my beautiful granddaughter’s first birthday. I wanted a cake that wasn’t too heavy or too sweet.   This cake is moist, delicious and relatively easy to make.

Two very important steps for a perfect cake are:

1.  all ingredients must be at room temp

2. DO NOT open the oven door during baking.  Your cake will fall!! I speak from experience.  Wait until the baking time is done and the edges of the cake just start to pull away from the pan.

I frosted the cake with the perfect crusting butter cream frosting to get the beautiful look of this “rose cake”.  Thanks to “I Am a Baker ” for the inspiration.

This will be my go to White Cake recipe!

 

The Perfect White Layer Cake

This cake is moist, tender and delicious! A definite keeper!

  • 2 1/4 C. cake flour ((9 ounces))
  • 1 C Whole milk (at room temperature)
  • 6 large egg whites (3/4 C. at room temperature )
  • 2 1/2 t. Vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 C granulated sugar (12 1/4 ounces)
  • 4 t. baking powder
  • 1 t table salt
  • 12 T. unsalted butter ((1 1/2 sticks, softened but still cool ) )
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray; line the bottoms with parchment rounds. Spray the paper rounds, dust the pans with flour, and invert pans and rap sharply to remove excess flour.

    Pour milk, egg whites, and vanilla extract into bowl and whisk until blended. Combine cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add butter; continue beating
    at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks remaining. Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed (or high speed if using handheld mixer) for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup of milk mixture
    and beat 30 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium (or high) speed and beat 20 seconds longer.
    Divide batter evenly between two prepared cake pans; using rubber spatula, spread batter to pan walls and smooth tops. Arrange pans at least 3 inches from the oven walls and 3 inches apart. Bake until thin skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes. Let cakes rest in pans for 3 minutes. Loosen from sides of pans with a knife, if necessary, and invert onto wire racks. Reinvert onto additional wire racks. Let cool completely before frosting, about 1 1/2 hours.

Shortbread Cookies

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I love the simplicity of a buttery shortbread cookie.  They’re great at mid-day with a cup of coffee or hot tea.  Using a really good quality butter and fresh ingredients will yield the best cookies.

Shortbread Cookies

  • 3/4 pound unsalted butter (at room temperature)
  • 1 cup Granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon table salt
  • 6 to 7 ounces very good semisweet chocolate (optional)
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

    In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment,mix together the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt,then ad them to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with the flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

    Roll the dough 1/2 inch thick and press into your cookie mold or cut into your desired shape. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. If using a shortbread mold pan, let cool 8 minutes, flip, remove the pan and cut where indicated.

    Optional: Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler. Carefully, dip the back of the cookie in the chocolate, letting all the excess drip back into the bowl, place chocolate side up on a parchment lined sheet until chocolate is set.

The Perfect Crusting Buttercream Frosting

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When researching cake ideas for my grand daughters first birthday I came across this recipe.  It is the “perfect crusting” frosting needed to decorate a birthday cake AND it tastes wonderful!

The Perfect Crusting Buttercream Frosting

This quick and easy frosting recipe is perfect for piping decorations onto your favorite cakes. AND, most importantly, it’s delicious!

  • 2 lb powder sugar
  • 1/2 C. unsalted butter (room temperature)
  • 1/2 C. Crisco shortening (room temperature)
  • 2 t. Vanilla extract
  • 1/2 – 3/4 C Whole milk
  1. Place room temp. butter and shortening in mixer. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and 1/2 cup milk. Turn mixer on low speed and mix until all ingredients are incorporated. Turn mixer up to med-high and mix for 2-4 minutes.

Pecan Crispies

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This recipe is a family favorite and was passed down to me from my Mother. I hope your family enjoys these cookies as much as my family does.

Pecan Crispies

A buttery pecan treat.

  • 1/2 C Shortening
  • 1/2 C Butter (softened)
  • 2 1/2 C light brown sugar
  • 2 Large eggs
  • 2 1/2 C All purpose flour
  • 1/2 t Baking soda
  • 1/4 t Unsalted butter
  • 1 C Pecans (coarsely chopped)
  • 1 C Pecans halves
  • 1 t Vanilla extract
  1. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients and set aside. In another bowl, combine the shortening , butter, vanilla and brown sugar and mix until light and fluffy.
    Add in eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition.
    Stir in all dry ingredients into the butter mixture.
    Stir in the chopped pecans.
    Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop dough onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Gently press 1 pecan half into each mound of dough. Bake at 350 degrees for 9 -12 minutes. Cookies should be a light golden brown. Remove immediately onto a wire rack to cool.

Flour Tortillas

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There’s nothing better than a fresh homemade tortilla hot off the comal!

I was so blessed to grow up surrounded by wonderful women who were passionate about food. Their kitchens were always well stocked and they would spend whatever spare time they had preparing wonderful meals for their families.

When I was a young girl, my family would routinely make the six hour drive from Houston, Texas to Laredo, Texas  to visit my grandparents; my Ula and Papa Grande.

My grandmother was a big influence on my love for home cooking.  She routinely prepared three hot meals a day and always set a perfect table including table linens and her light  blue Fiestware dinner plates. At the time, I was too young to understand or appreciate the effort and work involved in providing those meals.  Fifty years later, I have a very different perspective and appreciation for all the meals she, along with my own Mom, so lovingly prepared for her family. One of her kitchen staples, and that of many Hispanic families,  was tortillas de harina.

Now days, tortillas are served everywhere.  Packaged tortillas are found in any supermarket or corner store. While you can find a decent packaged tortilla, I find most packaged tortillas are spongy, chewy, rubbery and have little flavor. It is quite easy to make fresh tortillas at home and with a little practice you’ll be quickly rolling out fresh tortillas in no time.

Tortillas de Harina

There’s nothing better than fresh homemade tortilla hot off the comal, and, with the use of a kitchen scale, it couldn’t be faster to pull this dough together .

  • 16 Ounces All purpose flour
  • 4 Ounces Pork Lard or Shortening
  • 1 C Boiling water
  • 2 t Salt
  1. In a large bowl add flour and shortening. Using your hands or a pastry blender, work the shortening onto he flour until the mixture resembles wet sand.

    Bring to boil a cup of water. Remove from heat and add salt, stir until the salt dissolves.

    Stir in hot water to the dry ingredients until just combined. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until a smooth ball forms. About three minutes. Wrap dough in plastic a set aside to rest for a minimum of two hours. Do not refrigerate.

    Separate the dough into small round balls. Roughly 1.5 ounces makes a nice size tortilla.

    Flatten the ball on a lightly floured surface and roll once, turn 1/4 turn and roll again, repeat a few more times and continue to roll out until paper thin. Roll out all the dough.

    Heat a cast iron comal or griddle to medium heat. Splash a bit of water to check if the comal is at the proper temp. The water will sizzle and quickly evaporate when ready.

    Place a tortilla on the comal and cook until it just begins to get tiny bubbles, flip and cook until light golden, flip to finish cooling.

    Lay out the hot tortillas onto a clean kitchen cloth to cool flat. Stack the tortillas and store in a plastic bag. They will keep refrigerated for several days or frozen.