Ingredient: Juniper Berries

"A medium dry martini, lemon peel. Shaken, not stirred." - Sean Connery as James Bond 

James knew the secret to a good martini, not the shaken or stirred part but the gin. Now if you know me you know I am a Scotch Whiskey man myself but even I have to admit that on a hot summer day nothing can taste better than a cold class of gin and tonic. It's the fresh taste that gin has, I just love it. To break it down even more what I love about gin is the Juniper. It's right there in your face clean flavor.

Juniper berries are not something that you'll find in everyone's spice rack but you can find at pretty much any mega mart grocery store. They are almost a staple in Scandinavian food and when paired with meat...well let's just say it's divine. Typically you'd see juniper paired with wild game meat but as I'm not a hunter and don't really know anyone who is I've not tried them in that context. However I've used them with pork, beef and turkey. The wonderful thing about the berries is that they add such an unexpected flavor.

Now you know a little bit about Juniper berries lets dive into an easy way to incorporate them into your foods.

The Juniper Jump

First take your favorite stew recipe (I used this one from TheWay The Cookie Crumbles but subbed beef for lamb)
When you are adding your aromatics (thyme, rosemary, sage etc...) throw in 3-4 crushed juniper berries to the mix as well.

It's that easy!
Then sit back and allow your family and/or friends to shower you with culinary praise! I believe the key to good home cooking is the flavors, we get so used to the same tastes. This will be sure to shake up the taste buds and add a new depth to your cooking!

Recipe: Three Cheese Tomato Tart

You know the scenario;  finally come home after a long day, frustrated from work or school or kids, and the last thing you want to do is cook. 
Even though you know you are yearning for something warm and delicious. Something to make you forget all the frustrations of the day and just relax. A transition into the evening if you will.  
That is exactly how I was feeling last week. I needed something easy and ever so tasty. So I dug deep into my recipe index and found this little gem just begging to be made. I happened to have most everything, finally my obsession with cheeses pays off, and in about a half hour I was enjoying a warm and unique meal. 


I got this recipe from Dishing Up Delights a while back and only now have gotten around to making it. I have kept the recipe mostly the same I tweaked a few things here and there for personal preference.  I also left out the changes I had to make due to not having all the exact ingredients on hand, but this is such an easy tart to make.  I know you'll be tempted to think of this as a variation on pizza but although some similar tastes do come though I assure you it's quite different. 


Three Cheese Tomato Tart
Software: 
          4 small roma tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick (I only had larger vine on to use)
          1 sheet Trader Joe's all butter puff pastry frozen
          1 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
          1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
          1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese (I didn't have any and used Munster)
          Smoked finishing Salt (like This)
          Salt and pepper
          2 tablespoons-1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
          1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
Hardware: 
         Parchment lined cookie sheet


First slice the tomatoes and place on a paper towel to soak up some liquid. This will help the tart from getting soggy. If you do this first then by the time you're puff pastry is thawed you're tomatoes will be good to go. 


Once the puff pastry is thawed, about 15-20min, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Take your cookie sheet and place the puff pasty on the parchment paper. Prick holes all over the sheet with a fork to prevent the pastry from puffing up while baking. If you have the smoked salt now is the time to sprinkle it about on the pastry. 


Next spread a thin layer of mayonnaise over the puff pastry. Mix the cheddar and mozzarella (or my case Munster)  together and spread over the pastry. 


Line the tomatoes evenly on the pastry. Sprinkle each tomato with just a pinch of salt and then pepper.  When I say pinch of salt here I mean a little pinch especially if you used the smoked salt.  


Finally spread the Parmesan over the whole thing and sprinkle the basil.  Bake the tart for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is brown and bubbling and the crust is lightly golden. 
Let it cool for five minutes if you have a wire rack use it. Cut and serve warm!

Recipe: Warm up Chili!

Cold has set in and now begins the arduous process of trying to keep warm! Some try to wear layers, others it's a nice fall jacket but I know the best way to keep warm is a pipping hot bowl of goodness. Whether it's a stew, a soup, gumbo or chili if it's in a bowl and it's warm it's prefect for fall! For my first official warm up I went with chili. I know later on into winter I will be taking requests from friends and family for their favorites so I wanted to get my favorite in right away.

This is a pretty standard chili recipe feel free to play with the heat to get it to a level you like. Usually I like my chili pretty spicy so I'll throw in a few fresh jalapenos or a habanero. I like to add those not just for the spice but for the clean taste that fresh peppers add.

I also like to use a combination of half organic grass fed beef and half bison to keep it on the healthier side. I know that organic beef is still pretty expensive but I found that Costco carries an organic beef that is significantly cheaper than your usual mega mart.

Finally mix up the ratio of beans I'm not a huge fan of pinto beans so I add some black beans to the mix too.


Warm up Chili! (Adapted from Thick and Hearty Chili by Brown Eyed Baker)

Software:
          3 lbs. ground beef (or 1.5lb beef and 1.5lb bison)
          1 large yellow onion, chopped
          5 cloves minced garlic
          1 15-ounce can stewed tomatoes
          2 cups beef stock
          1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
          1 15-ounce cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
          1 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
          3 Tablespoons chili powder
          1 teaspoon dried oregano
          ½ teaspoon cumin
          2 teaspoons salt
          1 teaspoon ground black pepper
          ¼ cup cornmeal
          

          More Onion, Cheddar Cheese, and Sour Cream for fixings!

Hardware:
          Your favorite soup pot (mine is a 12 quart)

First brown the ground beef/bison with the onion and garlic over a medium heat. Drain the excess liquid and return to the heat.

Next add the beef broth, beans, stewed tomato, seasoning and cornmeal. Stir everything together well and cover. Keep it over low heat for about two hours and give it a stir occasionally.

After those two hours it's ready to eat, however, I know that chili is always better when left overnight so if you can let it rest overnight in the fridge do it! 

 

Recipe: Crêpes with Chocolate Hazelnut Butter

By now I'm sure you're all assuming that I only eat breakfast related meals.  A fair assumption indeed, and I do tend to lean toward breakfast foods in general. However I promise I will put up some more dinner/lunch ideas in the near future, especially with the holidays coming up soon. 

This post is a breakfast idea for you and in my opinion a little different way to look at crepes. I was at a French bakery that I frequent for their amazing croissants, when I spotted a Mille Crepe (literally translated: a million crepe) which in essence is a cake made with crepes. This one was layered with strawberry and cream and looked absolutely delicious! I resisted the urge to spend a pile of cash and exited the bakery with my half dozen croissants...and a few Madeleine. 

Now fast forward to a few days later when I was sitting in my living room trying to figure out something for breakfast, and poof, I had my inspiration. A toned down version of Mille Crape with Justins Chocolate Hazelnut Butter and stacked to a max of 6-7 crepe high (opposed to 12-14). Also I omitted adding sugar and extract to the batter as this is going to be sweet enough. 

I know you're thinking a couple things when you look at this idea and let me tell you: 

No, it's not going to be hard. 

No, it will not take a long time. 

Yes, it is probably as bad for you as it looks (just remember the mantra 'everything in moderation'). 

Crêpes with Chocolate Hazelnut Butter

Software:

          2 large eggs

          3/4 cup milk 

          1/2 cup water

          1 cup flour

          3 tablespoons melted butter

          1 cup Justins Chocolate Hazelnut Butter

          Butter for coating the pan

Hardware:

          10" frying pan

          Long flat spatula (a cake spatula works well)

          Large cutting board

First whisk together the eggs, milk, water, flour, and melted butter.  Make sure the batter is smooth and combined but don't over do it. A minutes or so should be fine. 

Put the batter in the fridge for 5 minutes to rest and get any air bubbles out. This isn't a necessary step but it will help prevent your crepes from tearing in the pan.  

Heat the pan to medium, if at first you find this cooking a little too slow you can notch it up a little but it's always easier to add heat than take away. 

Coat the pan with butter and pour about 1/4 cup of batter in. 

Immediately swirl the pan around to evenly distribute the batter. 

Cook for about 30 seconds (yes it is that fast) then flip the crepe and cook for a further 10 seconds. 

Slide it out of the pan onto the cutting board to cool. 

Repeat this for the remainder of the batter. Your first few crepes will either be unsatisfactory or a complete disaster depending on your luck. It takes a little bit to get used to the heat and cooking time so allow yourself to make a few throw-a-ways.

After all the crepes are made put the hazelnut butter into a microwave safe little bowl and melt it down. High power for about 20-30 seconds should make it workable. You want it to be nice a spreadable but not a runny liquid.  

For the assembly lay our first crepe down and spread a decent amount of the hazelnut butter on it. Then place the next crepe down, so on and so forth. As you can tell from my picture I just topped it off by melting the nut butter a little more and drizzling it about. 

Recipe: Candied Apples

Have I mentioned I love autumn? Granted it hasn't felt like fall here in Minnesota this week. I'm ready for the smells, the crispness of the air, the food... oh the food! If you don't much care for fall I can bet that you at least enjoy the food!

Now I have lived in Minnesota for most of my life but I still remember what it was like on the East Coast growing up. I remember fall most vividly, the trick-or-treating, Columbus Day and the beautiful trees. I store all these as precious memories and every year I strive to feel that innocent love of autumn again! It’s much harder when you grow up and life moves so fast, pretty soon October will be over and winter will be here before we know it!

So what do I do to try and achieve this dream of an autumn to remember? Well I take walks in the woods, I always watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and I make candied apples!

I know that some of my born and bred Minnesota friends at this point are wondering why I keep calling caramel apples, candied apples. Well it’s because my taste stem a lot from the east coast traditions and although I do enjoy caramel apples as well, I long for the candied variety. So read on and maybe you’ll be intrigued, if so try these out this year and have a little taste of the east coast this autumn!

Simple Candied Apples


Software

8 apples (The ever popular Macintosh)

8 wooden chopsticks (you can use skewers too)

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup hot water

1/2 cup red cinnamon candies

Hardware

Candy Thermometer (VERY IMPORTANT)

Baking sheet

Aluminum Foil

Medium sized saucepot

Pastry brush (Optional)

First we want to get the baking sheet ready by lining it with aluminum foil then spray it with nonstick cooking spray.

Prep the apples now; wash and dry , remove the stems, and stick the chopsticks in the end where the stems were.

Put the corn syrup, sugar and water into sauce pot and turn the burner onto medium-high heat.

Stir until the sugar dissolves, then stop stirring and let the mixture reach 250 degrees. While you’re letting the mixture sit you can use the pastry brush to wash down the sides of the pot, however I didn’t and still had plenty of candy coating.

When it reaches the 250, add the cinnamon candies stir just enough to make sure the candies are mixed in well.

Keep going until it reaches 285 degrees. Again you can wash down the sides here if you’d like, and again I didn’t.

Watch the thermometer and when it hits 285 take the pot off the heat and start to stir the candy again until it is smooth and even.

Now the fun part! Holding an apple by the chopstick, tilt the pan and dip and rotate the apple to cover it completely with an even layer.

TIP: if your candy mixture starts to harden, just put it back on the burner and gently warm it again until it turns to liquid again. If you do this don’t heat it too fast!

As you take it out of the candy twirl it a bit to remove the excess.

Set it on the sprayed baking sheet and let it cool at room temperature.

When you have all the apples finished place them in the fridge.

Recipe: Simple English Breakfast

Leaves are changing, the air smells of fire and I am already planning my Thanksgiving menu. That's right fall is here! So what do I love more than Autumn in Minnesota? Brinner! (Breakfast for Dinner) Lucky for me I've had both this past week. 

I view this as a little twist on a traditional English breakfast, minus the English baked beans.  The flavours here are what tips you off that this isn't you're everyday American meal, tomato with eggs is rare over here across the pond. Then using Speck rather than bacon or rasher just elevates the taste even more.

However the real trick to this dish is in the English style scrambled eggs. The technique is different than you're used to I'm sure but the results will amaze and delight you!

An American, English Breakfast

Software: (good for one sandwich)

3 large eggs

1/2 of an avocado

1 vine on tomato

1/4 cup Muenster cheese (or mild cheese of your choice)

1 tablespoon chives

3 strips Speck/Bacon/Rasher

1 slice of rustic or artisan bread 1/2in thick

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons cream

Salt/Pepper to taste

Olive Oil for drizzling

Hardware:

1 small sauce pot

1 small skillet 

Toaster

First you want to get everything prepped. That means slice up your tomato, avocado, chop your chives and grate you cheese.  Also now it a good time to toast your bread. I just set my panini press to a moderate heat setting so the bread doesn't burn while I'm working on the eggs and if I time it right the eggs get done just before the toast. I do the same for the Speck. Lay the speck in the skillet on medium heat and it should be done about the same time as the eggs. 

Now the eggs, turn your burner on to medium high heat add all three to the sauce pot along with the butter. That's right the small sauce pot is for the eggs, don't worry I promise this will all be ok.  This next piece is important do not, I repeat DO NOT add salt and or pepper to the eggs. Salt breaks down the yoke and will result in watery scrambled eggs, and we don't want that!

You will need to continually stir the eggs just as if you were making a custard. Along with that you'll need to practice a little heat control, if you notice the eggs cooking too fast take it off the heat and continue to stir. 

When they've started to come together and are looking fluffy take off the heat and add the cream. Continue to stir until the cream is incorporated. Now you can add the chives and season with salt and pepper. 

Take you're toasted bread and drizzle a little olive oil on top. Now we assemble! First put the tomato, then avocado, eggs and finally the cheese.  Lay the speck, or bacon if you chose that route, next to the sandwich and finally the best part enjoy!

Recipe: Steak au Poivre

I do love the French! I know most people (Americans) don’t have much good to say about the French, however when I was in Europe we met the nicest and most helpful people in Paris. It completely changed my view of the French. We met some wonderful people, and had a great time enjoying the city and the food!

Me outside the Moulin Rouge

I know that if for nothing else people will always like the French for their food!

I don’t do too many French dishes, mainly because of the old joke; “what are the three main ingredients in French cooking? Butter…butter…butter!”

Although every once in a while a nice French inspired dinner is welcome. I’ve had Steak au Poivre (ow-pwav) not only in French restaurants but also had to try it when I was in Paris and it is just marvelous. When I found a recipe for it online I was pretty impressed at how simple it is to make at home. Most French food does require a little more expertise but this was easy and relatively quick to make. The key to this dish is really the sauce, and to make a good French sauce you need fond!

Fond is the leftover juices and bits that are left in the skillet after you cook the meat. A good fond is what makes a great sauce!

Software

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (I used white truffle butter for additional flavor)

1 medium shallot, minced

1 cup beef broth (I used stock, didn’t go as well. I had a hard time reducing)

3/4 cup chicken broth (Same note as above)

1/4 cup heavy cream (organic!)

1/4 cup brandy (you see I did use VSOP for a little better flavor)

1 tsp champagne vinegar (this is expensive, so if you want use lemon juice)

Salt

4 steaks (I used sirloin but would have rather used strip, mine were about 6-8oz)

1 tbsp crushed black peppercorns (I used coarse ground and that was a mistake)

Hardware

Large skillet

Second slightly smaller pan

Tongs

Aluminum foil

First we are going to start the sauce! Put the skillet on the burner and set the heat to medium. Add 1 tbsp of the butter and let it foam. When that subsides, add the shallot. Sweat the shallot stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes.

Then add the broths, crank the heat to high, and keep it boiling until it’s reduced to 1/2 cup should be about 8 minutes for this part.

After that’s reduced pour the sauce base into a container for later and wipe out the skillet.

For the steaks you want to start by hitting both sides with salt. Then rub one side of each steak with about 1 teaspoon crushed peppercorns, use the heal of your hand to press peppercorns into steaks that will make them adhere better. (again I used coarse ground pepper and it was not a good idea, the steaks were a little too peppery for me, stick with the peppercorns)

Put the skillet back on the burner over medium heat until it gets hot, 4 minutes is a safe point. Then add the steaks with the unpeppered-side down. When you have added all the steaks crank up the heat to medium-high.

Here is the little secret; press down firm on steaks with bottom of that second skillet I had you grab! Resist all urge to move the steaks! We want them well browned and crusted, which should be about 6 minutes.

Use the tongs and flip the steaks. Again do the same thing with the skillet as before, figure about 4 minutes longer for a medium-rare. (5 if you want medium)

Transfer steaks to plate and loosely place aluminum foil over them to keep warm.

DO NOT CLEAN THE SKILLET!!!! Remember we need the Fond!

Now let’s finish the sauce! Pour the reduced broth back in the skillet, also add the cream, and brandy. Increase the heat to high and bring it all to a boil.

As it comes to a boil start scraping the bottom of the skillet with wooden spoon to break up the fond. When you have most of the fond up gently whisk it to incorporate it into the sauce.

Keep simmering until the sauce is a deep golden brown and thick enough to coat back of a spoon, this should take at least 5 minutes.

When you reach that point take it off the heat and whisk in the remaining butter and the vinegar. Taste it and add salt to your liking.

Then we plate it all! Put the steaks down on their serving plates and spoon the sauce over them, cut, eat and enjoy!

Recipe: Lemon, Spinach, and Orzo Soup

“Lemon soup? Hmmm” His reaction did not look promising. “Yes, I haven’t tried it before but it sounds good!” I replied with enthusiasm, not letting on that I was just as skeptical as he was. “Alright we have frozen pizza just in case…”

Yes that is the true story of my cousins reaction when I announced that I would be making this soup. He and his wife are no strangers to being my culinary guinie pigs. I have made them some, to put it dramatically, horrendous failures. Yet Still they trust me with the taste buds and stomachs.

Honestly (to my surprise) it turned out to be quite a good, and yes indeed quick, soup. There are a few things I would change for next time but I am planning on a next time so that is promising to say. Final thought before we move on although you may be skeptical try it and hey if you don't like it make sure frozen pizza is on hand. ;o)

On a bit of a business note if you like what you see or have further questions please post it in the comment section! If you really like it please share on facebook, twitter or any of the other easy options I put below the post. If I get enough readers who post comments then I'll start running give-a-ways or drawings for cool food related stuff!! So comment comment comment and enjoy!

Well, let's dive in shall we?

Software

2 tablespoons olive oil (not pictured)

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 large sweet (yellow) onion

2 tsp. red pepper flakes (for the spicy side of life, use less if you don't like spice)

1 tsp. dried thyme

2 cups of chopped, packed fresh spinach (original recipe called for frozen :o( yuck!)

1 1/2 cups orzo

8 cups chicken (you can also use vegetable broth, but veggi broth is only worth it if it's homemade)

4 eggs

2 lemons (I know there are four in the picture and this is one of those changes)

Fresh flat-leaf parsley

Grated Parmesan (I cheated and just bought some pre-grated but I trust my source for good cheese)

Hardware

My Giant pot! (12qt. and you can do smaller but I just love this pot)

Spoon

Alright first heat the olive old in your pot.

On medium heat sweat the garlic and onion. (i.e. just slightly translucent not brown, sweating is like a sauté light)

Crank the heat to medium high and add red pepper flakes, spinach, and orzo. Let that go for a minute, then add the broth.

Let it come to a light simmer, then turn the heat down and continue the simmer for 15 minutes, basically you want the orzo to be barely tender.

Take the soup off the heat and let it cool down for a minute. This is very very important!

While that is cooling whisk the eggs in a large bowl (you will be adding soup to this bowl so a larger bowl is key)

Next whisk in the lemon juice (this is why I dropped it to two lemons, you don’t really have a chance to add to taste here)

Whisk until your egg/lemon juice mix is thick, creamy and a pale yellow color.

Here is the tricky part! We need to temper the egg mixture. Start by adding a small ladleful of the soup broth to the eggs and immediately whisk your little heart out! To really be sure not to scramble the eggs, take a second and even third ladle of soup and whisk each well and letting them cool before adding it. If your eggs do curdle/scramble try again with another set of eggs and let everything cool a little more than last time.

After you temper the egg mix add to the soup pot, whisking all the while.

Bring it all back to low heat, stirring the whole time and carefully warm over the low heat until the soup starts to thicken. When it has thickened to your liking bring the heat up again a notch or two and warm for 3-4 minuets.

Finally serve it garnished with parsley and Parmesan!

(This was Adapted from gimme some oven)

Ingredient: Lavender

Lavender oils, lavender candles, lavender body splash, lavender this and lavender that! Lavender seems to be everywhere these days! Honestly I just can't stand it! I once got a massage with lavender oil and it was horrible, oh the smell. I gag as I walk by lavender candles in Triple B (Bed, Bath and Beyond).

All that aside I do think lavender is good for the purpose of cooking!

You: What?? Did you say cook with a FLOWER?

Me: Oh yes indeed I did!

You: You are crazy man! I'm outta here!

But seriously I have made some pretty awesome and dare I even say romantic dishes with lavender as a central theme.

I wanted to talk about lavender because I don't feel that many people understand how easy it is when you step out of the standard spice rack to make something elegant and fun. That is kind of my goal with this ingredient post. To talk about an uncommon ingredient or a common ingredient used in an uncommon way. I want this to help you break the mold and try something different.

My first cooking experience with lavender was a couple years back. I remember walking through my local giant mart and meandering into the spice area. So many daunting choices, I think this is why people just go and buy those prearranged spice kits. As I was standing there lavender caught my eye and I thought "There must be something awesome to make with this!" So I spent the semi outrageous price (I buy it online now for refills) and went home to investigate.

I found when I started digging that there are thousands of lavender recipes! With fish, chicken, rice, candies and on and on! With so many options and plenty of the ingredient on hand (a little goes a long way) I dove into it. Of all the things I've done and have seen to do with lavender I posted my favorite below. It's so simple and to add just a pinch will take any dish from routine to elegant with no real effort. I hope this makes you think about lavender in a different way and I challenge you to at least try my fun little experiment below. You never know with this on hand you may try something more amazing later on! Enjoy!

Lavender kissed sugar:

(Software)

1 cup sugar in the raw (or other raw sugar, I would only use raw large crystals this is meant to be a finishing sugar)

2 tbsp. of culinary lavender

(Hardware)

1 glass jar for storage

1 piece of cheesecloth 4x4in

1 piece of string

First take your cheesecloth and lay it on a flat surface

Then take your lavender and place it in the middle

Bring the corners of the cheesecloth up to make a pouch or purse

Tie the string around the top and leave a length of string about 3in

Pour a small amount of sugar in the glass jar about 1/2in deep

Place the lavender pouch in the jar

Finally fill the jar with the remaining sugar making sure to keep that length of string from being buried. You'll use that to extract the pouch later

Shake it once daily and after two weeks take out the pouch, and you will have wonderfully tasting lavender kissed sugar. Perfect for sprinkling on pancakes, cookies, add to coffee or tea, the possibilities are really endless!

Recipe: Fruity Pebble Cake!

I have to start by saying I am SO not usually a baker! I have dabbled here and there but never hardcore like this. I am so sick of box cakes. They do serve a purpose but I they just taste so...from a box. So my endeavor here was to make everything from scratch and I succeeded. I only have the one picture for now but I will get more put up soon!

This cake was in honor of my friend's birthday, really I wanted an excuse to make a cake and she provided me with the perfect one! I got the idea for this from Whisk Kid's blog. From the second I saw her creation of a rainbow cake I wanted one too! (food jealousy runs high with me) I liked her idea and presentation but I wanted to expand on it. I added some extracts and thus was born Fruity Pebble Cake! (I put the full recipe at the bottom of the post for convenience!)

First let's talk about the cake. I originally wanted to make it a six layer cake representing the six main flavors of Pebbles, however due to batter loss and time constraints (I am a last minute cook i.e. 2 hours before the party I started) it ended up with only five layers.

I pulled out an old colonial cooking book that I've had for years, I purchased it at Valley Forge when I was quite a bit younger. In the book there was a basic cake recipe so I used that. And I took a cue from the lovely miss Whisk Kid for the frosting and used her Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

For the cake:

(Software) A nod to AB!

2 cup white sugar

1 cup butter (I lean toward organic)

4 egg whites

2 whole egg

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup milk (I used whole)

Extracts 1/2 teaspoon of each (I think I would bump that to 1 to 1.5 teaspoon next time)

-Cherry

-Raspberry

-Orange

-Lemon

-Grape

-Lime (part of the missing layer)

Coloring Gel (Only use Gel! liquid coloring will not be vibrant enough)

(Hardware)

2 9x9 square baking pans (Any shape or size is ok however adjust cooking times accordingly)

Stand Mixer

Cooling Racks

Dolly (for frosting and optional)

Plenty of bowls! (you will be dividing the batter remember)

Spatula for utilizing all batter made (I didn't use one and that was the aforementioned loss)

Now for the Frosting:

(Software)

5 egg whites

1 cup sugar

2 sticks butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

(Hardware)

Stand mixer

Double boiler (or a makeshift one like I did)

Let's get started on the cake!

First get all your ingredients measured out and ready to be used. There is a good reason on every cooking show you watch they have all that set to go before they begin cooking! (It took me a long time to realize that was half my battle with learning to cook)

Get out the stand mixer (or hand mixer) and use a whisk attachment. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

We'll start by sifting the flour and baking powder.

Then we'll cream the butter and sugar together. Start the mixer off slow as they begin to incorporate into each other crank up the speed. You'll know it is ready when the mixture looks light and fluffy about 3-5min of mixing total.

Now we want to add the eggs, flour/baking powder mixture to the party. The best way to do this in order to ensure a light a fluffy cake is to alternate between one egg at a time and a little bit of the flour mixture. I started with the egg first I don't think there is a prescribed method to which should come first the flour or the egg (ok semi bad pun) but that's what I did. Also bring the mixer speed down, unless you want to have flour face!

After that is incorporated we'll slowly add the milk and keep mixing until the batter is smooth.

Now we have to split up the batter into 6 equal parts. Miss Whisk kid did this by weight. I didn't have a proper scale so I did it by volume. I took a 1/4 cup measuring cup and dealt the batter like I deal cards into 6 six bowls. After the batter is divided take a toothpick and add a fair amount of the coloring gel to each batter. Start with a little bit and after mixing it though decided upon how deep you want the color and add more if necessary. (I wanted the red and blue to be darker than it turned out but oh well)

Then let's add the extracts to each batter and mix thoroughly.

Now we bake them. I did them in shifts of two colors at a time. Pour the batter for one color into one of the 9x9 pans. Then do the same for another. Bake them for 10 minutes and do the toothpick check to see if its done if not give it a couple more minutes and check again, I would say that the longest it should take would be 15 minutes but don't use that as a benchmark you will end up with over baked cake.

When they are done cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. In no time you'll have 6 vibrant and flavorful layers!!

Now for the frosting. I think that Whisk Kid did such a good job at explaining it I will tell you to check her out here.

Follow her directions on making the frosting and then we'll put it all together here. I'll give you some time to check her page out...

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Ok back? Good good. She really knows her stuff!

So now we need to put it all together! Take one of the layers and put it on the surface you'll be frosting on. (mine was a dolly that spins) add a dollop of frosting to the top and smooth it out. I just used enough to make the layers stick.

Continue on this way until you reach the top and then frost the rest accordingly!

Final thoughts:

This cake was in the end not only easier to make than I had originally assumed but turned out to be a bigger success than I thought it would. Again I'll say next time I would add more extract but still it was a success after all! Finally Thanks to Sami for the picture of my work!