Sometimes, even
when it’s super hot, I get the baking itch. In warm weather, spending time in
the even warmer kitchen is not ideal, but the delicious end result outweighs
the sweat and tears—well at least I think so. I spent much of two days
searching for a recipe and when I shouted “caramel or almond orange cake (or
whatever it was, I can’t even remember), I received a resounding chorus “Caramel!!”
So I set out to use Dr. Maya Angelou’s Caramel
Cake recipe found on Martha
Stewart’s website.
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Making caramel
always intimidates me, despite previous efforts (here,
here
and here),
but this time melting the white sugar with water to create the caramel syrup
only took longer than I expected, but was just as sweet.
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I have never
made a batter quite like this before, and the baked cake spoke volumes of
deliciousness. The technique of whipping the eggs separately might come in
handy with future cakes.
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Not only did I
use the frosting
that was linked to the recipe, I tried out this richer caramel
flavored frosting. The caramel made with brown sugar and butter, milk
and time, was a deeper stronger flavor, that intense brown and taste we are
used to. I used this variety in the middle. The frosting that was suggested
with the cake relied more on browned butter than caramel for its depth.
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Overall, this
cake was an impromptu sweet mess, worth it all the way through. The cake middle
was white and fluffy, and just sweet enough. While the frosting, both the dark
caramel buttercream and the lighter browned butter frosting on the exterior,
were sweet and commanding. The balance, however, was a little off, and erred to
saccharine delight. Just a little slice of this cake was just enough, perfect
to watch our figure in the smoldering heat.
Can you guess
what I made? I’ll give you a hint… it turned out absolutely delicious! Stay
tuned for the reveal, recipe and more photos. In the meantime, check out and follow the
foodie ventures on facebook, twitter, tumblr and instagram. If that’s not
enough check out my yelp reviews.
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Need more? Well, ask for it. Let me know what
you want to see, read, taste and explore. Any ideas for a collaboration or
recipe suggestions? I want to know! Send me an email. I am always looking for
foodie inspiration! Have a great holiday!
I was gifted a cornish hen; a cute 1.78 lb game cornish hen, basically a mini chicken. It had been purchased, frozen, thawed, and I had no clue. My mom quickly described the recipe she used once for this little gamey fowl, but when the time came to make the small bird, it was lost. And really, I had no clue. So we stumbled on this Emeril recipe and so began our fowl play.
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Speaking of fowl, the recipe required spatchcocked hens. Right, that is exactly what I thought...spatchcocked? Again, I had no clue. So we checked out the below video to teach us how to basically butterfly this baby cornish hen.
It was easy (I guess, I let my boyfriend take charge), but it was not pretty.
Of course we were not as elegant as the fine Emeril nor did we have all the same ingredients, but we made the recipe our own. It was fun scrounging around to see what we could use and what we had. We deffo squeezed soy sauce out of extra packets from our last Chinese Food take out, and threw some dried rosemary on the second after we tossed our cornish hen in the oven.
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Despite our loose interpretation of the recipe, and limited supplies (NOTE: one cornish hen is not sufficient sustenance for two not so small people, so be prepared), I thought the cornish hen turned out delicious. It was sweet and luxurious, moist and flavorful. The added rosemary at the end was really potent and beautiful, making the dish feel fresh and fragranced, which I really liked. The sweet and salty, with the strong rosemary, made me think of spring and dinner parties. We already decided we would love to do this recipe again... but next time, we need at least two hens.
